Jon and Kate are packing legal heat, now; so is Evan Dando, and Kobe Bryant's maid, which finally gives TMZ the opportunity to teach readers about legislative law. Also, Marilyn Manson and Nazi Pubes. Your Saturday Morning Gossip Roundup:
• Madonna's kicked boytoy Jesus Luz to the curb and is thrilled to be single again, reports Britain's Daily Mail based on the things she's been telling fans on Twitter. But as the Times reminds us today, lots of celebs only pretend to use Twitter, so you don't have to give up hope entirely just yet. [DM]
• In related news, Madonna is expected to arrive in Malawi this weekend so she can add another baby to her collection of human accessories. [NYDN]
• Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr. only broke up recently, but she may have already moved on: She was spotted at a "rebound dinner" earlier this week. [P6]
• More trouble for CNBC: The network's golden boy, Dylan Ratigan, may be heading out the door after clashing with management. [P6]
• Ivana Trump may have reunited with her ex, Rossano Rubicondi. [P2L]
• Mega real estate broker Kathy Sloane has been hit with $248K tax lien. [P6]
Let's get this out of the way: Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor make just about the cutest, most gaga-in-love couple we'll likely see in any movie at Sundance.
Sundance affords as many opportunities for career setbacks in 10 days as it does for meteoric advancement — not even Robert De Niro or Dakota Fanning could get out of Park City alive.
Studios found no happy surprises beneath the Chrismukkah bush today, as snowed-in audiences opted out of Will Smith's messianic broodiness and Jim Carrey saying "yes" more times than Tara Reid at the Promises buffet line.
Welcome back to Defamer Attractions, your guide to everything new, noteworthy and/or potentially toxic at the movies. This week: Will Smith is bad, Jim Carrey is affirmative, and Mickey Rourke takes a beating for Oscar.
When did Ellen DeGeneres turn into such a yenta?
Plan B-List. Were the last words you said to your laid-off assistant as he carried a cardboard box of personal effects out the doors of your office for the very last time, "I cannot BELIEVE they cut $25 million from my budget! What the fuck is the world coming to? We're screwed!!!" Fret not: Your tentpole might not have collapsed just yet. Empire has a list of perfectly serviceable alternative to costly A-list stars—some even arguably less box-office-poisony than the originals! [Empire]
For all those hopeful that the success of Brokeback Mountain would lead to more films with A-list male stars in the throes of gay romance, here is what you have wrought: the Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor romcom I Love You, Phillip Morris. A trailer for the film just emerged from France (of course it would be France!), detailing the wild true story of Steve Russell (Carrey), who was a devoted family man until a car accident turned him gay. Watch out, Morgan Freeman! The newly liberated Russell quickly turns into a con artist, eventually ending up in jail, where he falls head over heels for the incarcerated titular character (McGregor). Suddenly, a gay audience that's clamored for more on-screen kisses will be forced to confront the terror that is Carrey initiating them. The clip, after the jump:
Mountain Men: The Sundance Film Festival broke out its non-competition selections for 2009 this afternoon, a starrier, funkier twist on yesterday's slate of barbershop docs and Pierce Brosnan weepies. At the top is Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor's gay prison romance I Love You Philip Morris, which we've been anticipating since first spying Carrey's frolicsome South Beach sojourn. Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle will be around for the cop drama Brooklyn's Finest, while Billy Bob Thornton is bringing two films — the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Informers (also with Winona Ryder and Mickey Rourke — stay off the slopes, guys!) and the crap-salesman comedy Manure. Robin Williams, Uma Thurman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Spacey, Zooey Deschanel and Kristen Stewart bring up the rear; here's hoping Winona leaves them their gift bags. [SFF]
A veritable murderer's row of egos, tempers and divas, Defamer's All-Strop Team is on fire in recent weeks with heavy-hitters from Mike Myers to Edward Norton to Eddie Murphy digging new box-office holes around the country. But the heart and soul of the line-up, Jim Carrey, will get at least one more chance this fall to knock a bomb out of the yard with his forthcoming Yes Man; based on the memoir by British humorist Danny Wallace, the film follows the life changes of a downbeat man who decides to say yes to everything. The A-list set-urinator reportedly accepted no money up front for the title role, inspiring us to wonder exactly who is benefiting from the aggressive product placement spotlighted in this new trailer. Is Zooey Deschanel really commanding such lucre already? This has All-Strop rookie of the year written all over it. [YouTube]
Temperamental and/or difficult actors are nothing new, of course, but as alluded to earlier today in our glimpse at the new-and-slightly-spiritually-improved Mike Myers, it takes a special kind of difficult to make the "stroppy" cut. To wit, does your rep for tantrums, whining and/or demanding final cut equal or exceed your rep for such actions making your films better? Then you might be headed for the All-Strop Team, as laid out today by Guardian contributor Andrea Hubert: Folks like Edward Norton (the captain), Eddie Murphy (the leadoff hitter, if only for knowing when to take a walk on Pluto Nash), Gwyneth Paltrow (the cleanup hitter, for publicly referring to her film View From the Top as View From My Ass) and others.
There has been no shortage of potential cross-pollenation opportunities for Paramount Pictures over its 90 years in business, but for sheer monolithic stature and creative promise, nothing tweaks our loins quite like the just-announced Paramount Movie Park Korea. While we're mildly disappointed to hear that the park is slated for Seoul and not Pyongyang (tell us you wouldn't have been first in line for "Kim Jong Il's Marathon Man Experience"), we're glad to see the studio back in the theme-park business and eager to have a go at the 30-plus attractions planned for a 2011 opening.
Snapped at Cannes by Cinematical, it's the only known billboard for Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor con-on-con gay prison romance I Love You Phillip Morris. At first glance, the tasteful campaign seems to be going for something like an Anderson Cooper Christmas card. A mere ten seconds later, however, the slats on the mechanized sign rotate, revealing a far edgier tableau of a Versace-clad and spray-tanned Carrey offering horsey rides to a bethonged and delighted Rodrigo Santoro.
OK, OK, Hollywood Reporter — we get it. The trade paper today took 1,600 words, three pie charts, two line graphs, and a half-dozen adorable floating-head info boxes to confirm the long-suspected word on the street that — are you ready? — the star system is dying. Jim Carrey can't open! Brad Pitt's last film did $4 million! Julia Roberts hasn't broken $70 million since 2001! Shriek!
