WHY SO SERIOUS? Olsen Twin Refuses To Speak To DEA Without Immunity NEW YORK — Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidental overdose death, but she’s refusing to talk without immunity, a law enforcement official said Monday. Olsen’s lawyer has twice refused requests for her to speak with investigators, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The lawyer, Michael C. Miller, said the “Full House” actress has nothing to do with the drugs, and has already told the government everything […]
BREAKING: Elizabeth Taylor Taken Off Life Support
DAILY MAIL: Elizabeth Taylor was put on a life support machine after suffering congestive heart failure, it was reported this evening. The 76-year-old’s condition was said to have deteriorated after she was initially diagnosed with pneumonia last week. Her children were at her bedside and doctors warned she might not survive, said the U.S. publication National Enquirer. UPDATE: LOS ANGELES — Elizabeth Taylor was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason but was expected to return home soon, representatives for the Oscar-winning actress said Thursday. A statement released by Dick Guttman, her Los Angeles-based publicist, did not say where Taylor was staying, […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR While his Office character may take himself seriously, actor Rainn Wilson seems to be all about the laughs. Wilson plays beet-farming, archery-loving middle-management kook Dwight Schrute on the NBC hit television series. Now, Wilson is trading his crossbow for a guitar in the new film The Rocker. In The Rocker, Wilson plays a failed hair metal musician. After he’s kicked out of his band, the group goes on to achieve great success. But when he joins his nephew’s garage band, he gets a second chance at fame. Wilson made his breakthrough as an actor playing an eccentric mortician […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR We humans have long wondered what separates us from the other animals — but neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga may have given the topic more consideration than most. Gazzaniga, a pioneer in what’s called split-brain research, has just published Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique. He talks to Terry Gross about his work, which involves investigating the varying functions of the left and right sides of our brains, and about how that research informs our understanding of the brain and human consciousness. Gazzaniga has spent the past 45 years studying the functions of the left and right brain. […]
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON: Apollo 14 Moonwalker Says Alien Visitations Been Covered Up For 60 Years
NEWS.COM: Former NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell – a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission — has stunningly claimed aliens exist. And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions — but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades. Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as ‘little people who look strange to us.’ He said supposedly real-life ET’s were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head. Chillingly, he […]
ROLL THE CREDITS: Ebert Closes The Balcony
BY JAMES DOOLITTLE Mom’s Italian. 100%. And while she could have poured the over-exuberant passion that is the genetic cross my people bear into anything obvious — food, language, Catholicism, music, Sophia Loren — she opted at an early age to funnel my genetic disposition into her love for the cinema. We’d go every week, right after church, our reward for the penance that was 10AM mass. And without cable television, without a VCR, my cinematic cravings were only sated on the homefront via the weekly sit-down with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Thankfully, then as now, they were accessible […]
SUN: Batman’s Mum & Sis Tried To Shake Him Down
THE SUN: Legal sources told The Sun the women said sister Sharon needed £100,000 to help her bring up her three children. They said Bale, 34, snubbed the plea and a row flared in his suite at the Dorchester Hotel in London’s West End. Welsh-born Bale was alleged to have “pushed and shoved” mum Jenny, 61, and Sharon, 41. But sources close to 6ft 2in Bale, who has another sister called Louise, said Jenny inflamed the situation by hurling insults about his wife Sibi, 38. A source close to the case said: Christian is a very wealthy young man and […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR The team behind Step Brothers has an enviable life. Director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly get to hang out together, make jokes and get paid for it. The three first worked together on the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and they enjoyed collaborating on the film so much that they thought another film was in order. Leaving behind the world of car-racing, Step Brothers centers around two grown men who never managed to leave their respective parents’ houses. Drama ensues when their single parents marry and the two adults become […]
ALPHA OBAMA: No Sleep ‘Til Jerusalem!
ASSOCIATED PRESS: AMMAN, Jordan — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations “starting from the minute I’m sworn into office.” In a news conference here before departing for Israel, he said any U.S. involvement in peace talks must recognize not only Israel’s security concerns but also the economic hardships facing Palestinians. He said he would continue to regard Israel as a valued ally. “That policy is not going to change,” he said. “What I think can change is the ability of the United States government and a United States president […]
DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL: Batman Star Christian Bale Arrested For Assaulting His Mother And Sister
TIMES OF LONDON: Christian Bale, the actor who plays Batman, was arrested today for allegedly assaulting his own mother and sister before last night’s premiere of The Dark Knight. The Welsh-born actor was in custody at a central London police station today being questioned over the incident which is thought to have taken place in his Dorchester Hotel suite on Sunday night. MORE THE GUARDIAN: The actor Christian Bale, 34, was arrested on Sunday night after his mother and sister reported him to police for an alleged assault. His mother Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 40, are said to have […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Best Batman Movie Review As National Security Critique We Have Ever Read
BY SPENCER ACKERMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT The thought of Vice President Dick Cheney in a form-fitting bat costume might be too much for most people to bear. But the concepts of security and danger presented in Christopher Nolan’s new Batman epic, “The Dark Knight,” align so perfectly with those of the Office of the Vice President that David Addington, Cheney’s chief of staff and former legal counsel, might be an uncredited script doctor. Insofar as it’s possible to view an action movie that had the biggest three-day-opening in cinematic history as a comment on the current national-security debate, “The […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR The Dark Knight lived up to its hype. The latest installment in the Batman film series set records with its opening weekend, taking in an estimated $155 million at the box office. Spider-Man 3 previously held the record, taking in $151 million last year. Director and screenwriter Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale are two of the driving forces behind the blockbuster’s success. The Dark Knight is the third collaboration for the pair, who previously worked together on Batman Begins and the dueling-illusionists thriller The Prestige. Nolan first made a name for himself with the Oscar-nominated low-budget hit […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Post-BBQ Beatdown Of The Truth
Shyamalan To Shoot Next Flick At Soon-To-Be-Built Phillywood Studio GROUNDBREAKING on an $85 million Hollywood-style movie-production studio in Delaware County won’t begin for at least a couple months, but one director already wants to shoot his next film there: M. Night Shyamalan. The studio’s developers – Philadelphia real-estate attorney Jeffrey Rotwitt and Santa Monica, Calif.-based Pacifica Ventures – say they could be only days away from securing crucial tax breaks. Their Sun Center Studios would be built in Chester Township on the 33-acre site of the Tri-State Sports complex. They also are in advanced negotiations with Paramount Pictures – which […]