So, you guys see any good movies lately? Haha, of course not, it cost three days worth of food rations to afford a movie ticket these days, eh comrade? And what's the deaaaal with movie popcorn?
But at least some people in this country have made it out recession proof, as evidenced by the fact that the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace did way better in the box office than any other Bond film, ever.
That means blond, craggy-faced Daniel Craig did better than Sean Connery's 007. Even with that stupid title of this film and all the obvious marketing tie-ins.
We already knew QoS was doing well overseas, where it's been out since Halloween and already made $322 million. That's like…Dark Knight money. And over here, it's already garnered $70 million in American dollars, $30 more than Casino Royale did.
So as it turns out there is less of a gender inequality than we originally thought: blonds have more fun, regardless of how big their breasts are.
A new series of portraits by conceptual photographer Sam Taylor-Wood features some of Hollywood’s most sought after leading men – Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Daniel Craig, etc – in tears. According to Taylor-Wood, the idea’s pretty simple: “It’s about the idea of taking these big, masculine men and showing a different side.” Yay, straightforward, unpretentious art.
Daniel Craig is an expert at looking handsome in a tuxedo and stripping down to squarecuts on the beach. He should also be a life coach, because he seems to be the only one trying to reach out to Amy Winehouse to put a shirt on over her bra and get her act together to record the new James Bond theme song. And by "reaching out," we mean "delivering niceties in the press," like so: "It would be amazing if she could, she's got an amazing voice and would blend herself beautifully to this. But…we'll see." [BBC] At the very least, producers could bestow her with a clever, pun-y name, like "Beehive Urself." Or "Heroin Addict."
Sometimes you come across a story that starts in one place and ends somewhere else entirely. Take, for example, this piece from List. We dove in to read what actor Tamer Hassan had to say about his Layer Cake co-star Daniel Craig’s Oscar ambitions.
Craig, says Hassan, wants an Academy Award so badly that he’d do a gay scene in the next James Bond flick: “That’s Daniel dying for an Oscar. Ever since Brokeback Mountain everyone wants to have a gay scene to win an Oscar.” Ah, yes, the gay for gold card. Cute, but not the most original punchline.
While we would have ended there, we wanted to “hear” what else Hassan had to say for himself - and we’re kind of grossed out. With regard to playing gay:
Most of you naysayers who poo-pooed Daniel Craig's blonde Bond shut your mouths after you saw him walk out of the ocean in a square cut swim trunk. Now Sony would like to casually remind you that Craig's Casino Royale just notched $300 million in worldwide ticket sales, making it the best-selling James Bond flick to date.
But with Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ having topped that number domestically – and soared past the $600 million mark worldwide – it remains comforting to know we still prefer to see a man tortured naked on a cross than to see a man tortued naked in a seatless chair.
• Those barely believable Nielsen numbers might get its ass whooped by the British competition.
• Ex-Spin-ster Andy Pemberton reduced to blogging. Anonymously.
• Keith Olbermann says sorry for commenting about Bill O'Reilly's manhood.
• After a scuffle with local Indian families, Angelina Jolie's bodyguards are out on bail. Must promise to save the world to avoid jail time.
• Congrats to BlackBook editor Steve Garbarino on his upcoming nuptials. Perhaps by the June ceremony, his scandal will have died down and he'll be able to enjoy the honeymoon.
• Daniel Craig's box office draw matches the size of his package.
And suddenly, producers knew Daniel Craig was right for James Bond.
• While Daniel Craig may have nearly locked in the James Bond spot, it's not definite. What is definite? That he's making Sienna Miller scream louder than Jude Law ever could. [R&M]
• So much for Anna Anisimova's dreams of becoming a better looking Donald Trump. Her plans to trash Diane von Furstenberg's former West 12th Street HQ (for which she paid $23 million) to build a 150-foot condo complex got the kabash when the city council sided with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, capping building heights at 100 feet. Though there's always a Hamptons summer to make headlines again. [Page Six]
• Katie Holmes' dad Martin is about as pleased with her as Brooke Shields is with Tom Cruise, sounding off on his daughter and movie star fiance about their shotgun wedding. Meanwhile, the duo's uber-handler Lee Ann DeVette is asking parishioners at Katie's families Christ the King Church not to speak to reporters. [The Scoop]
• Rush Limbaugh feels left out of yesterday's Top 10 Ubersexuals list, which explains his running his mouth over Bono landing the No. 1 slot despite Rush's claims of the U2 frontman having a mistress. [Page Six]
• Donny Deutsch finally admits what we've known all along. It's an "ego trip" to do his low rated CNBC show The Big Idea, and he wrote his latest book because "seeing your name on a book is really a big f - - - - - - deal." [Cindy Adams]
• Apprentice wanna-be Raj Bhakta is venturing into politics. The bow tie wearing, babe chasing former contestant is considering running for Congress in the 13 th District in Fort Washington. Even if The Donald won't endorse him, maybe he can meet some cute campaign workers to hit on. Or at least a receptionist. [R&M]
• Paris Hilton may have broke up with Paris Latsis on the phone with new beau Stavros Niarchos listening in, but it's the new Greek shipping heir that's laughing last: he's "just having fun" with the heiress. [Page Six]
• We're really not sure what's going on with Michael Jackson's legal woes (something about missing a deadline to file a multi-million dollar counter claim), but we do know he's still hot for young boys with smooth bodies. [Fox 411 & R&M]
• After an 18-month search for the new James Bond after Pierce Brosnan's $20-plus million dollar salary demands, producers went with 37-year-old Daniel Craig rather than Colin Farrell or Ewan McGregor. [This Is London]
• Boy George didn't exactly make an effort to prematurely defend himself from his recent cocaine charges, neglecting to set the record straight on his sobriety. Not that the Howard Stern show is the best place to do that. [R&M]
• There will be no diamond-encrusted bra to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, as Britney Spears decided to pull the item from her eBay charity auction so nobody is "misled" into thinking it's something that it's not. That is, she wore it during her HBO special, not her … Baby One More Time video. [AP]
• Heath Ledger enjoyed kissing Jake Gyllenhaal about as much as Al Reynolds enjoys kissing Star Jones. [NYP]
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