Mila Kunis: 'People Can Lose Weight If They Want To'

Well, for me it's not whether I can lose, but if I want to. I think that's what she's getting at. See London's Daily Mail, "'People who say they can't lose weight are lying': Mila Kunis on how losing 20lb for Black Swan changed her views on body image."

More at WeSmirch.



PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Raunchy Women Highlight Summer Movies

I'm going to have catch some of these on cable, as we're behind on our summer movie-going, but this story made the front-page at yesteday's Los Angeles Times, so here you go: "In summer comedies, women belch just as well as men."

Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies

I caught True Lies on AMC early yesterday morning. Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious.

Smurfette

Katy Perry on Twitter, tweeting to Neil Patrick Harris.

My son's all hip to this flick. I'm not making any promises, because we're behind on our movies, but it looks fun:

And at MTV, "Katy Perry 'May Take Over The World,' 'The Smurfs' Co-Stars Say."

Kenneth Turan Movie Review: 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

At Los Angeles Times.

I'll probably take my youngest boy to see it today:

What's Camilla Belle Wearing?

Photos at InStyle, "Who's Wearing Who."

I saw Camilla Belle in Push (2009), with Chris Evans (and he's starring in Captain America: The First Avenger, in theaters this Friday).

Filming the Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake Sex Scenes in 'Friends With Benefits'

Seriously.

'Friends with Benefits' director Will Gluck discusses how he did it, at Entertainment Weekly.

Give your actors time to get to know each other. Justin and Mila had never met before, but instead of making them do trust falls or a ropes course I decided to shoot the first half of the movie in New York City. I figured spending 16 hours a day working together out in public, surrounded by 8 million people, would give them time to foster “chemistry.”

Well they sure look good.

Previously: "Mila Kunis a Conservative Hottie!"

Marilyn Monroe Rule 5

At London's Daily Mail, "Work of art or a pervert's paradise? Risqué 26ft statue of Marilyn Monroe is unveiled in the Windy City" .

Via Robert Stacy McCain: "Biggest Celebrity Upskirt Photo Ever!"

And some Rule 5: Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart" (c/o Proof Positive, "Saturday Linkaround").

Also at Pat Austin's FMJRA "Swamp Edition."

'Twilight Saga' on Showtime

I'm watching movies. My oldest son was watching "Twilight" when I came downstairs earlier. We have it on DVD, but Showtime's playing the full saga and I kept watching. A nice break from reading and watching cable news all afternoon. (My youngest son's working on his Legos. More about that later. He's got some new ones.)

Mila Kunis a Conservative Hottie!

Argues David Swindle, at Pajamas Media, "Mila Kunis on Casual Sex: ‘It’s like communism — good in theory, in execution it fails’."

PREVIOUSLY: "Mila Kunis GQ Photoshoot August 2011."

Emma Watson and Co-Stars Say Farewell to 'Harry Potter' Films

At London's Daily Mail, "Tearful Emma Watson and her Harry Potter co-stars give an emotional farewell at final film premiere."

Also at Telegraph UK, "Emma Watson steals the limelight at the Harry Potter premiere."

'I think everyone was kind of suspicious how I was going to be a sexual being, missing key pieces of equipment'

Says British actress Imogen Poots, at Interview:

[CARY] FUKUNAGA: Can we talk about boobs and why they’re necessary for Fright Night?

[IMOGEN] POOTS: Oh, the boob situation. I had to have a bra that made me look like I had bigger boobs because, you may know from being my friend and hanging out with me, that’s not a big situation, regarding my bust [laughs]. So we had to try all these props. I think everyone was kind of suspicious how I was going to be a sexual being, missing key pieces of equipment.

FUKUNAGA: Did you feel like somebody else?

POOTS: I did. The first bra we tried on was so big I got kind of emotional, and Craig Gillespie, the director, was standing there, and the tears were brewing in my eyes—and I’m sure I was blushing so much. I said, “I just feel like a cartoon.” And Craig turned to me and was like, “Okay. We’ll take them a size down.”

There's a Fright Night trailer at the interview, but she's seen here across Michael Douglas in "Solitary Man":

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz Married!

What a couple!

I like them both a lot.

At London's Daily Mail, "The name's Craig, Mrs Craig: Rachel Weisz marries James Bond star Daniel."

The Bond films are great, although I liked Craig in "Defiance," which I wrote about at the time, a couple of years back:

And I enjoyed Rachel Weisz's sexy, stoical character in "Enemy at the Gates," a thrilling World War II film. Both of Weisz's parents escaped the Holocaust:

Sarah Palin Heads to Iowa on Tuesday

For the premiere of "The Undefeated," the big new documentary that's perfectly timed for a major Palin announcement.

At National Journal, "Palin to Iowa Tuesday":

Just as some pundits were counting her out as a presidential candidate, Sarah Palin has laid on plans to visit Iowa next week -- one day after her tea party soul mate and potential rival, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is set to launch her presidential campaign in the same state.

Distributors of The Undefeated, a flattering documentary about Palin's political career, announced Saturday that the former Alaska governor and her husband, Todd, will attend a premiere of the movie Tuesday in Pella, Iowa.

The town, about 40 miles east of Des Moines, is home to an historic opera house where the movie will be shown.

"We are very excited to visit historic Pella and its opera house and look forward to seeing the finished film for the first time with fellow Americans from the heartland," Palin is quoted as saying in a release announcing her plans to attend the event.

The national rollout for the movie begins July 15.

Also at the Victory Film Group, "GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN TO ATTEND PREMIERE OF THE UNDEFEATED AT PELLA OPERA HOUSE IN PELLA, IOWA" (via Memeorandum).

Peter Falk, 1927-2011

My parents let me and my sisters stay up to watch "Columbo" back in the day.

But I'll never forget seeing Falk in "Wings of Desire," in 1987:

An obituary is at Los Angeles Times, "Peter Falk dies at 83; actor found acclaim as 'Columbo'." And at New York Times, "Peter Falk, Rumpled and Crafty Actor on ‘Columbo,’ Dies at 83."

'X-Men: First Class'

When we saw "Super 8" a couple of weekends back, the movie previews were wicked: "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Captain America," Green Lantern," "Zookeeper," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2," and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1."

I thought my youngest son would give me fist-bump during "Transformers," but it might have been a little scary, so he kept his fist to himself. But when "Captain America" previewed, he looked over and said, "You and me, you and me!", so I guess we're going to that one.

Anyway, on Father's Day my oldest boy said let's go to the movies, and we saw "X-Men: First Class," which as great. That said, mixed reviews at Los Angeles Times and New York Times:

'Super 8'

My mom's visiting. We're heading out right now to take the boys to "Super 8."

Reviewed at the Los Angeles Times. And New York Times.

BONUS: At Pajamas Media, "Super 8: A Return to Vintage Spielberg?"

Summer Movies, Male Bodies

Interesting piece, and funny.

At Los Angeles Times, "Ripped Ideals: Muscular Summer Action Heroes Have Swaggered Back Into Style, But What Do They Say to Male Audiences?" It's long. This quote goes with the video, and I'm looking forward to Captain America, so what the heck?

In the World War II-era comic book Captain America, a weak and sickly young man named Steve Rogers is injected with an experimental serum designed to build a super-soldier. In the movie “Captain America: The First Avenger,” directed by Joe Johnston and due in theaters July 22, dozens of tiny needles inject the serum into Rogers’ major muscle groups, and then he enters a pod where “vita rays” stimulate his growth. On paper and on screen, the result is the same: Rogers emerges as a picture of physical perfection, a gleaming, rippling, flag-wearing, Nazi-killing machine.

“The transformation is absolutely key to understanding Steve Rogers as a character,” said Johnston. “He is essentially Everyman, a 98-pound weakling who is chosen for the rebirth program not for his physical attributes but because of who he is as a human being, with his sense of justice and compassion. It’s crucial that we know and love Steve as the kid who’s been bullied and rejected all his life so we’ll appreciate and relate to who he is as Captain America.”

Evans, the actor playing Captain America, has the kind of square-jawed good looks that lend themselves to roles as prom kings and superheroes — he’s best known for playing the football star in the spoof “Not Another Teen Movie” and the Human Torch in the “Fantastic Four” films.

To achieve the dramatic transformation “Captain America” required, Johnston relied on a combination of techniques, including shrinking Evans’ body with CGI and using a smaller actor as a body double for the “weakling” stage. For the “after” scenes, Evans did push-ups in between takes to pump up the broad new chest he’d built for the role.

For any real-life 98-pound weaklings — or even for the average 5-foot-9, 194.7-pound American male — all this physical perfection can potentially create the kind of body insecurity that was once considered the exclusive province of women.

“Men are increasingly getting the message that their muscles are important, that appearance matters too,” said Katharine Phillips, co-author of “The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession” and professor of psychiatry and human behavior of the Alpert Medical School at Brown University. “Men want to be bigger and want on average 15 more pounds of muscle than they have.”

Oh brother. Overthink that much?

Poliwood: 2011 Cannes Film Festival — Anti-Semitic or Simply Boring?

With Roger L. Simon and Lionel Chetwynd:

Also, a Steven Crowder clip at Barking Moonbat.

'The Best Part of Easy Rider is the Last 20 Seconds'

See Kathy Shaidle, "Leftists strangely silent about Peter Fonda’s death threat against Obama."

Well, actually Joe Gandelman sees an opening to slam the "fringe" right-wing: "Further Proof that Not All Nuts are in Stores or on the Right."

Full story at Telegraph UK, "Cannes 2011: Peter Fonda encourages his grandchildren to take up arms against President Barack Obama" (via Memeorandum). Says Fonda: "I’m training my grandchildren to use long-range rifles," with Barack Obama in mind.

Well, at 1:30 minutes, Fonda (Wyatt) gets trained from a short-range scattergun:

BONUS: An amazing flashback. Exactly two years ago, I attended a 40th anniversary screening. Hey, great flick, "'Easy Rider' in 40th Anniversary Screening at L.A.'s Nuart Theatre."