Fan Fare

Did Gervais go too far at Globes?

The day after the Golden Globes, and, in Britain at least, there is as much media chatter about show host Ricky Gervais and his no-holds-barred approach as there is about Colin Firth’s acting award for his portrayal of the stammering King George VI in “The King’s Speech”.

Normally the reaction on this side of the pond to major U.S. movie award shows is to champion the victorious Brits, or otherwise bemoan their failure. This year would have been no exception — joy for Firth, otherwise disappointment for the film about the British monarchy — were it not for Gervais and his less-than-gentle jokes that took aim at, among others, Charlie Sheen, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp of “The Tourist”, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Cher, the actresses in Sex and the City, prominent Scientologists and Hugh Hefner.

The Gawker website’s reaction summed up its jaw-dropping bluntness: “Holy wow. Ricky Gervais … just opened the show with one of the most unrelentingly harsh and uncomfortable monologues in awards history.”

Some of the stars there on the night felt the need to hit back — Robert Downey Jr., the butt of one of Gervais’ less-than-flattering jibes, suggested that the host’s words were “hugely mean-spirited, with mildly sinister undertones”. The LA Times called the event a “snarkfest” and wrote of the “corrosive tone” Gervais set. Reflecting how taken aback some viewers were with his repartee, there was even online speculation that he had been sacked mid-show when he failed to appear for nearly an hour.

The BBC has just quoted a statement from Gervais saying: ”I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap. The atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great.”

Entertainment Weekly came out on Gervais’ side, commenting: “Oh Ricky, you’ll never work in this town again, and we love you for it”. And The Hollywood Reporter also speculated that the British comedian may have just hosted his last major awards ceremony in the United States:  “‘I warned them.’ Returning Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais did indeed let it be known that he wasn’t going to hold back in skewering Hollywood’s most famous celebrities. And, in what will undoubtedly be his last hosting gig for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (and, who knows, maybe any Stateside awards) he didn’t disappoint.”

Did Gervais go too far? Was he merely voicing what the wide public thinks and says? Should such thoughts and words be kept private, rather than aired on an awards show viewed by millions of people around the world? Are celebrities paid enough to deserve the odd bout of public humiliation?

What do spies do on their day off?

What do international spies do on their day off? Go on a “spy tour,” says former CIA chief of operations Jack Devine.

While stationed in London as head of CIA operations in Britain, Devine — a 32-year CIA veteran — said he decided to go on one of the city’s walking tours that tells tourists tales of espionage.

“I was with my counterpart from the British (intelligence) service. This is how we spend our exciting days,” Devine told a panel discussion in New York on Wednesday to launch AMC’s new conspiracy drama series “Rubicon.”

But there was one moment on the tour when Devine, who is a tall man, and his British counterpart thought their cover could be blown. “(The tour guide) said you can spot (spies) all the time, they tend to be short and pudgy,” he said, laughing.

Devine was on the panel with former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey and former New York Police Department counterterrorism chief Michael Sheehan and they discussed intelligence and conspiracy theories since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The 13-episode series “Rubicon,” which premiers on Aug. 1 and stars James Badge Dale and Miranda Richardson, tells the story of an analyst at a New York City-based federal intelligence agency who is thrown into a story where nothing is as it appears to be.

George Clooney: My Italian villa is not for sale!

Poor George. If it’s not his latest girlfriend the celebrity media is speculating about, it’s got to be his fondness for living in Italy. We can empathize, somewhat, because we spend a lot of time chasing George Clooney stories — some, not so true.

Today’s latest was that Clooney was selling his mansion at Lake Como in Italy. The story was picked up in a lot of newspapers, including here. Some sites said David Beckham was going to buy it. Read one of those, here. The problem is, it’s simply not true, says Clooney.

The Oscar-winning movie star on Wednesday answered the reports of an impending sale of his home with a statement from his Los Angeles spokesman that reads:

“A story saying that George Clooney was sellig his Italian home in Lake Como and was going to by a home in Loreto Island, which is near Lake Como, has been republished in one form or another by various outlets. According to Clooney, ‘To complete the news cycle. I’m not buying an island and am not selling my house in Italy. The story was made up…then picked up…and now denied…end of another day of false news.”

It reminded us on Fan Fare of last month’s story that Brad Pitt and Angelina were on the brink of breaking up. That bit of gossip — which by-the-way has been around almost since the day Brangelina went public with their relationship — has caused the Hollywood couple to sue the publication for printing what they claim is a false story. Read about that one here.

Brad and Angie — together!! — in Cannes

As if to dispel all the rumors of discord in the relationship between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the glamour couple strolled the red carpet at the Cannes film festival premiere of Brad’s “Inglourious Basterds” on Wednesday night. They also showed up at the after party.

The party was jam packed with media on the outside and studio execs inside, and we couldn’t get anywhere near the couple at the party — security being what it was. Actually, it was more like onlookers four-deep using their peripheral vision to sneak peaks at the Hollywood couple. We didn’t want to play that game. In any case, we promised we’d take Fan Fare readers inside, so click below. You’ll see Harvey Weinstein walk across one sequence, and stay to the end where you’ll get a fan reaction to the Quentin Tarantino-directed film.

Angelina Jolie is world’s top beauty — Vanity Fair poll

In a landslide, actress Angelina Jolie has been voted the world’s most beautiful woman in an online Vanity Fair magazine poll, earning 58 percent of the vote — well ahead of second-place getter supermodel Gisele Bundchen on 9 percent.

“Of the billions of women on this planet, only 19, we believe, could start wars,” Vanity Fair said on its web site. 

“These modern-day Helens of Troy come from both hemispheres and include legends and ingenues, a Queen (Rania of Jordan) and a first Lady (Carla Bruni of France), and at least two bedmates of Leonardo DiCaprio (Bundchen and Bar Refaeli),” it said. 

Actress Halle Berry came in third place with 4 percent of the vote.

Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams top movie romance list

With Valentine’s Day coming up on Saturday, many movie fans will be looking for a good romance film to spark their own love life. But not all movie couples can convince fans they belong together, either on-screen or off.

Online ticket seller Fandango conducted a poll of customers buying tickets for February movies, asking people about their favorite and least-liked romantic movie pairings. On Tuesday, Fandango released a top 10 and worst 10 list.

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams lead all couples for their performance in the 2004 movie “The Notebook.” They won 14 percent of the vote, four percent more than runner-ups Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the 2005′s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” The other couples on the list were, in order: Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (“Pretty Woman”); Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey (“Dirty Dancing”); Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (“Titanic”); Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore (“Ghost”); Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”); Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”); and at No. 10, Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche (“Chocolate”).

Pitt and Jolie became inseparable after their on-set meeting in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”  and the two have since become a Hollywood supercouple with six children, including three adopted kids.

But Harry Medved, spokesman for Fandango, said that off-screen romance only counts for so much. “When it comes to classic mismatches, like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in ‘Gigli,’ the fact that the two stars may have been a couple off-screen didn’t make the on-screen chemistry between them any more convincing,” Medved said.

But JLo and Affleck, who since their 2003 movie “Gigli” have separated and are married to other entertainers, are not the most mismatched couple, according to Fandango customers.

Leading Fandango’s top 10 most mismatched couples were Jessica Alba and Mike Myers in 2008 movie “The Love Guru,” which was panned by critics and made only $32.2 million worldwide. That couple got 9 percent of votes, followed in second place by Woody Allen and Charlize Theron in “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,” a 2001 movie that came out when the acclaimed actor and director was 65 and she was 26. The other names on the list in order were: Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up”); Adam Sandler and Kevin James (“I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”); Anne Heche and Harrison Ford (“Six Days Seven Nights”); Kate Winslet and Jack Black (“The Holiday”); Julia Roberts and Woody Allen (“Everyone Says I Love You”); Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron (“Hairspray”); Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes (“Maid in Manhattan”); and at No. 10, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (“Gigli”).

From London: “The Golden Gloats”

It’s that time of year again. Right about now the British media is either wringing its hands in despair over the state of UK cinema or blowing its trumpet loudly in praise of its prodigious acting and directing talent as the movie awards season gets underway.

Kicking things off was the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, and, judging by reaction on this side of the pond, we could re-name it the “Golden Gloats”. True, Brits and their films did fare pretty well this year, but I wonder if it’s not better to hold off until the big one — the Oscars.

Kate Winslet grabbed most of the headlines, winning both best actress in a drama for “Revolutionary Road” and best supporting actress for “The Reader”. While British journalists were clearly happy at her success, she was not spared some acerbic asides for what was seen as a gushing, very un-stiff-upper-lippish performance on stage.

The 33-year-old, the Telegraph wrote, “turned on the Hollywood histrionics and delivered a masterclass in stealing the show, joining the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Sally Field in the annals of over-the-top thank yous.” It also noted how she briefly, but rather embarrassingly, forgot the name of co-nominee Angelina Jolie.

And then there was “Slumdog Millionaire”, directed by Brit Danny Boyle who picked up the best director prize. His film was the big winner on the night with four prizes, including best drama. Sally Hawkins was named best actress in a comedy or musical for “Happy-Go-Lucky”.

Golden Globes fashion: hits and misses

The Golden Globes were back this year, and no one was more excited than the stars themselves, who celebrated by walking down the red carpet in all their finest. But whose primping and preening paid off the most? And who fell horribly flat?

US Weekly Fashion Director Sasha Charnin Morrison listed Anne Hathaway and Angelina Jolie as two of her favorites, saying Marisa Tomei and Renee Zellweger’s looks were “clunkers.” Meanwhile, style expert Michael O’Connor said his top choices were Eva Mendes and Drew Barrymore.

But what did you think? Check out some of the looks below and let us know.

    Angelina Jolie in Versace

Jen’s still a “sweetheart” in Brad’s eyes

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis) 

For years,  the media has seized on the slightest signs of a feud between actresses Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie over their man-in-common, Brad Pitt.

But in an interview with W magazine released online on Wednesday, Pitt tried to put all that to rest. Pitt addressed a comment Aniston made in December, saying that Jolie was “really uncool” for talking about how her romance with Pitt blossomed on the set of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” in 2005 – when Pitt and Aniston were still married.

“Listen, man, Jen is a sweetheart,” Pitt said. “I think she got dragged into that one, and then there’s a second round to all of that Angie versus Jen. It’s so created”       Pitt also told W that filming “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” took a year.      “We were still filming after Jen and I split up,” he said. “Even then it doesn’t mean that there was some kind of dastardly affair. There wasn’t. I’m very proud of the way that it was handled. It was respectful. (The film) will mean something to our kids. It will, that’s all.”      The interview with Pitt appears in the February issue of W.

Hollywood’s best movie contenders — did they get it right?

Hollywood’s movie awards season got seriously underway with the Golden Globe nominations on Thursday. But have those who pick the best movies and actors of the year got it right?

Some pundits are already crying foul over the absence of Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt’s co-star in ”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”,  from the Golden Globe contenders, not to mention the fact that the San Francisco gay drama “Milk” got just one nomination, for actor Sean Penn.

And how about “The Dark Knight” –  the biggest box office success of the year — which picked up a single nomination for the late, beloved actor Heath Ledger but came away empty-handed otherwise?.

Since several of the movies, including “Benjamin Button” and “Revolutionary Road” haven’t been released in theaters yet (awards voters get sneak previews of those arriving at the end of the year), it’s hard for regular movie goers to make a fair assessment at this stage of the game.

This year’s list of Golden Globe nominees is top-heavy with A-list stars. Everyone from Brad and Angelina to Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway will likely be walking the red carpet when the awards are handed out on January 11.

But who do you think got unfairly shut out,  and which nominations were most surprising? Most importantly who deserves to win the top Golden Globes, or Oscars, for 2008?