Some sad news today as the long weekend winds down to a close -- Oscar nominated actor Michael Clarke Duncan has passed away at the age of 54.Know for his imposing physique, it perhaps should come as no surprise that Duncan began his career as a bodyguard to actors and hip hop stars, a vocation he stepped away from after the death of Notorious B.I.G. But given his size and distinctive voice, it wasn't long before the movies came calling, and after a few bit parts, he landed his first substantial role in Michael Bay's "Armageddon." It was there he struck up a friendship with Bruce Willis, appearing in "Breakfast Of Champions" with the actor, who also recommended him for "The Green Mile."
And it's with this film that Duncan truly proved himself as actor whose skills ran deep. Playing a man on death row convicted of murdering and raping two young girls, who also has a special, seemingly supernatural gift, he was nominated for a number of honors including an Academy Award and Golden Globe. "I have started to suspect that when we talk about 'good acting' in the movies, we are really discussing two other things: good casting and the creation of characters we react to strongly. Much of a performance is created in the filmmaking itself, in photography and editing and the emotional cues of music. But an actor must have the technical and emotional mastery to embody a character and evoke him persuasively, and the film must give him a character worth portraying," Roger Ebert wrote in his review of "The Green Mile." "....the goodness of Coffey...is embodied by Duncan in a performance that is both acting and being."
And "acting and being" very much seemed to define Clarke on the big screen whose work ranged in everything from genre fare like "Daredevil," "Sin City" and "Green Lantern" to more dramas like "Slipstream" and "Redemption Road" to comedies like "The Slammin' Salmon" and "The Whole Nine Yards" to blockbuster fare in "The Planet Of The Apes" and "The Scorpion King." Duncan also had a healthy career as a voice actor, lending his unique pipes to various animated films and video games.
Clarke suffered a cardiac arrest in July and didn't seem to fully recover leading to his death. Few people in Hollywood seemed as genuine or just plain down to Earth as Michael Clarke Duncan, and he will be missed.
Michael Clarke Duncan, 'Green Mile' Actor, Dead at 54
Michael Clarke Duncan, an Oscar nominee for “The Green Mile” died Monday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 54.
Publicist Joy Fehily released a statement from Clarke’s fiancée, the Rev. Omarosa Manigault, saying that Duncan died Monday morning after nearly two months of hospitalization following a July 13 heart attack.
Duncan, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of death-row inmate John Coffey in 1999's "The Green Mile," most recently starred as Leo Knox in the Fox series "The Finder." He also appeared in the film hits "Armageddon," "The Whole Nine Yards," "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda."
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Duncan "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," the statement said.
Duncan was born in 1957 and grew up on the south side of Chicago in a single-parent household with his sister, Judy, and mother, Jean Duncan. He attended Alcorn State University, but left early to support his family when his mother became ill.
Duncan worked as ditch digger and nightclub bouncer after his college years and moved to Los Angeles to launch an acting career in 1995.He became a bodyguard for actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and began to draw attention after appearing in 1998's "Armageddon."
Comedian Steve Harvey was among those offering condolences on Twitter. "I will miss my friend, Michael Clarke Duncan. What an incredible soldier in God's Plan," he tweeted.
"Rest in Peace to my brother who paved the way for me and many Black actors," tweeted actor Terry Crews. "Honored to have known him and called him a friend to me and my family."
Clarke served as a spokesman for a number of causes. Earlier this year, he appeared in a video for PETA, the animal rights organization, in which he spoke of how much better he felt since becoming a vegetarian three years earlier.
Duncan also starred in a public service announcement for the American Stroke Association to raise awareness of strokes.
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Emma Watson : Glamour UK [October] 2012 (behind the scenes)
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Starz Picks Up ‘White Queen’ Drama Series, Colin Callender To EP In 2-Year Starz Deal
EXCLUSIVE: Starz has picked up The White Queen, a 10-episode drama series based on the best-selling historical novels by Philippa Gregory. The pay cable network has brought in former HBO Films president Colin Callender as executive producer for the series, produced by the UK’s Company Pictures. Callender’s duties on White Queen are part of a larger two-year agreement his company Playground has signed with Starz.Under the pact, Callender also will serve as an exec producer on the second season of Starz’s period drama Magic City.
(bad news for Mitch Glazer with Colin basically the co-showrunner for the new season. It means the Starz big wigs were really unhappy with Magic City overall reception compared with the lavish budget spent on it. It's not necessarily be the end of the show with Colin being seen as middle-man to make it a smooth transition. Will he push for more sex/nudity? God I hope so! Colin with his tremendous experience and silky English accent could be the one to charm Dominik García-Lorido into baring it all)
It reunites Callender with his former HBO boss Chris Albrecht, now CEO of Starz, and Starz’s managing director of original programming Carmi Zlotnik, a former 20-year HBO veteran. “Carmi and I have worked with Colin for many years, and we are excited to have such a world-class movie and television visionary lending his talents to our Starz series,” Albrecht said.
Set against the backdrop of England’s Wars of the Roses, The White Queen is an adaptation of three books from Gregory’s The Cousins War series: The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker’s Daughter.
Max Irons (Red Riding Hood), newcomers Rebecca Ferguson (hot Swedish babe) and Faye Marsay, newcomer Amanda Hale (The Crimson Petal and The White), James Frain (The Tudors) and Oscar nominee Janet McTeer star in the series, which is slated to premiere on Starz in 2013. Starz has acquired U.S. domestic distribution rights to The White Queen from Company Pictures’ parent company ALL3Media International. It also has picked up worldwide multiplatform rights — with the exception of television rights in the UK, where the series will air on BBC One, and some TV/home video rights in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.White Queen is described as a tale of love and loss, seduction and deception, betrayal and murder woven through the stories of three different yet equally driven women caught up in the ongoing conflict for the throne: Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville. The year is 1464 and England has been at war for nine years battling over who is the rightful King of England — it is a war between two sides of the same family, The House of York and The House of Lancaster, whose heraldic symbols were a white and red rose, respectively, giving the power struggle its name. The House of York’s young and handsome Edward IV (Irons) is crowned King of England with the help of the master manipulator Lord Warwick “The Kingmaker” (Frain). But when Edward falls in love and secretly marries a beautiful young widow, the commoner Elizabeth Woodville (Ferguson), Warwick’s plan for control over the throne comes crashing down around him. Meanwhile, Woodville becomes a queen with the help of her mother Jacquetta (McTeer), a self-proclaimed sorceress. Elizabeth’s most fierce adversary is the staunchly loyal Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort (Hale), a damaged and highly religious woman who would willingly lay down her life to see her young son Henry Tudor take the throne. And then there is Anne Neville (Marsay), Lord Warwick The Kingmaker’s daughter — a pawn in her father’s battle for control who finds her strength and ambition when she takes control of her destiny and marries the King’s younger brother Richard Duke of York (Aneurin Bernard). “The period of England’s Wars of the Roses makes for a sensational historical backdrop as a time fraught with violence, mystery and intrigue,” Zlotnik said.
The cast of The White Queen also includes David Oakes (as George Duke of Clarence), Juliet Aubrey (Countess of Warwick), Eleanor Tomlinson (Isabel Neville), Frances Tomelty (Lady Beauchamp), Michael Maloney (Henry Stafford), Ben Lamb (Anthony Rivers), Hugh Mitchell (Richard Welles), Simon Ginty (John Rivers), Eve Ponsenby (Mary Woodville) and Robert Pugh (Baron Rivers). Lamb is with Luber Roklin and Independent Talent Group.
The White Queen joins three other upcoming period Starz series that are in pre-production: Da Vinci’s Demons, Black Sails and Marco Polo.
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Lizzy Caplan on 'Masters of Sex'
By Fred Topel
Lizzy, I got to see a preview of “Masters of Sex” on Showtime. Can you tell us about your character in that show?Lizzy Caplan: Virginia Johnson of the sex researcher team Masters and Johnson. They were these two sexologists in the Midwest in the 1950s. While Kinsey did a lot of amazing work, his work was basically interviewing people. What these two people did is they wired them up to machines and actually watched them have sex to monitor the body’s physical responses. So it’s pretty out there but it all really happened and it is one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever read.
In the clips, you have some outrageous moments yourself. We were you gung ho to do that or were there any reservations?
Lizzy Caplan: It was sort of a prerequisite even in going after this part that this character Virginia is so sexually secure, especially in a time where that was sort of unheard of and a location where it was even more frowned upon. So whoever ended up playing this part had to be really game for all of the explicit material because that’s who she was. I mean, the show is about people who study sex. If you were squeamish at all about that I think you’d have a very, very rough time making this show.
What is the speed of doing an hour long drama on cable?
Lizzy Caplan: It’s much different than network because you only shoot for about four months I think out of the year, which is fantastic. But everything takes a little bit longer so we haven’t started shooting the series yet, it won’t air until 2013 which will end up being a couple years after my first audition. Whereas network television happens much, much quicker.
Read the rest here
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HORROR ICON OF THE MONTH :
KATHARINE ISABELLE
Better late than never. Rhiannon Irons, a.k.a Ahlephia, here with the new face that’s gracing the walls of the Horror Icon Hall Of Fame. Talented, alluring and sexy, this young woman has what it takes to make it in horror.Scream Queen is a title that is thrown around too easily these days, but this month’s inductee into the Horror Icon Hall Of Fame fits the criteria. This month’s honors go to a lady with a powerful presence on screen (and a powerful set of lungs to boot). This month’s icon is Katharine Isabelle.
Born on November 2, 1981 in Vancouver, Canada, Katharine Isobel Murray made her debut. Born to parents Graeme and Gail Murray, Katharine was destined to live life in the spotlight. Her father created the special effects for the The X-Files and her brother is renowned actor, writer and director Joshua Murray.
Her career started in 1989 when she was just eight years old. Working under the name of Katie Murray, Katharine starred in Cousins alongside big names like Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, Lloyd Bridges and William Petersen.
That same year she starred in Cold Front, The Last Winter and Immediate Family. Katharine also made an appearance on the widely popular TV series, MacGyver.
In 1991, she changed her accredited name from Katie Murray to Katherine Isobel for the TV Movie Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.
For the next few years, Katherine Isobel starred in numerous TV movies and shows, including Children Of The Dust, Lonesome Dove: The Series and The Prisoner Of Zenda, Inc. But in 1996, along came the spookiness that is R.L. Stine and Katherine Isobel was given a chance to shine in the TV series of Goosebumps. The episode was It Came From Beneath The Sink.
Starring as Kat Merton, one of the leading characters, Katherine Isobel scored many new fans, especially those that loved the Goosebumps books and TV Show.
That same year, she underwent another name change in the film credits, this time changing a single ‘e’ in Katherine to an ‘a’ so it spelt Katharine. This change was first notable in Salt Water Moose as well as the TV movie, Titanic.
In 1998, she had the pleasure of working with her father when she appeared on The X-Files for a single episode. That same year Katharine made her mark in horror with two thriller/horror styled movies; Voyage Of Terror and Disturbing Behavior. (Fun Fact: By this time, the name we all know her as, Katharine Isabelle, was used in the movie credits. The first time it appeared as such was in the episode of The X-Files).
Teaming up with V actor, Michael Ironside and Martin Sheen, Voyage Of Terror is about an infectious disease researcher is on a cruise with her daughter when an Ebola-type virus attacks the ship’s passengers and crew. It has a typical TV movie feel about it. The characters aren’t fully developed, especially that played by Sheen, who was a back-stabbing presidential adviser. Katharine’s performance as the teenage daughter was good. Not outstanding, not memorable, but she did her job convincingly.
Disturbing Behavior came about in the late ‘90’s riding on the coattails of the successful Scream, Scream 2 and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Mind control is the bases of this film with unruly high school students being turned into upstanding citizens. Katharine starred alongside James Marsden, Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl and held her own. Playing the kid sister of James Marsden’s character, Katharine was convincing in her small role. While she didn’t have a big role, Katharine was important in the critical escape of the characters from Cradle Bay. If you haven’t seen Disturbing Behavior, hire it out and watch it. Recommended film.Returning to TV the following year, Katharine appeared in The Net, Da Vinci’s Inquest and First Wave. Little did anyone know that this sweet, baby-faced Canadian was about ready to show the horror world what she was made of.
In the year 2000, Katharine teamed up with fellow teen stars Emily Perkins and Kris Lemche (Final Destination 3) for the horror/comedy Ginger Snaps.
Ginger Snaps is about two outcast teenager sisters, Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle), who are very connected and have a weird pact of death between them. Their hobby is photography, more specifically morbid pictures of violent death scenes. On the full moon night the sixteen year-old Ginger has her first period, she is bitten by a wild animal, indeed a werewolf, but she omits the attack to her mother Pamela (Mimi Rogers). A couple of days later, Ginger changes her behavior; her body is covered by excessive hair; and she has the need of attacking dogs and other animals. While her mother believes that the menstruation is causing her changes of attitude, Brigitte seeks the cure with the local drug dealer Sam (Kris Lemche).
Now, I may get some arguments for what I’m about to say, but I believe that Ginger Snaps is one of the best werewolf movies around. I know it’s a big favourite among my girlfriends because it’s an original concept that’s executed perfectly. If you haven’t seen it, do yourselves a favour and go get it. You won’t be disappointed.
2001 saw an unusual pairing. Katharine found herself starring alongside rapper Snoop Dog in Bones. The basic storyline for Bones is over 20 years after his death by a gunshot, Jimmy Bones comes back as a ghost to wreak revenge on those who killed him and to clean up his neighbourhood. Not a great film, though it does start out in a promising manner. It continues to feel promising until about half way through. The one issue I had with this was the writing. Snoop’s character wasn’t a villain and yet the script unjustly makes him out to be one. It’s certainly for fans of B-Graded movies. Katharine as Tia was disappointing. After her performance in Ginger Snaps, there were high hopes that she’d move up on the cast list, not disappear into the background. Regardless of her role, she still delivered 110%.
In 2002, Katharine founded herself in a movie alongside funny man Robin Williams, Hilary Swank and Al Pacino. Insomnia is one of those rare movies in which Robin Williams isn’t cracking jokes or dressing in drag. Insomnia’s storyline is two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn’t set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises), Insomnia is highly recommended.
Also that year, Katharine found herself as a supporting character in the TV movie remake of Carrie
(Fun Fact: Carrie is currently being remade – again).
Playing Tina Blake and starring alongside Angelia Bettis and Patricia Clarkson, Katharine stepped up her game. Despite the film falling flat when compared with the original, Katharine’s performance could not be faulted. I don’t think the storyline for Carrie needs to be retold but just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Carrie is the story of Carrie White, a lonely and painfully shy teenage girl with unbelievable telekinetic powers, and is slowly being pushed to the edge of insanity by frequent bullying from both cruel classmates at her school, and her own religious, but abusive, mother. Soon, she discovers she has telekinetic powers; and when the most gruesome of gags is played on her on prom night, all bets are off.
2003 saw Katharine take on not one, but two, of horrors greatest psychos. Freddy Vs. Jason was a highly anticipated duel between the two big bads of New Line Cinema and Katharine’s character Gibb was caught in the middle. (Fun Fact: This would be the first film in which Katharine co-starred Brendan Fletcher)Katharine was outstanding. Her character was a drinking, chain-smoking, but surprisingly not foul mouthed. And her kill was what set Freddy Krueger off on his rampage against Jason Voorhees. If you remember, Freddy was taunting Gibb, flashing her images of her dead boyfriend, before trapping her in his boiler room. Just as he’s about to rip into her with his claws, she died, spurting blood into his face. Jason had found her and rammed a pole through her unconscious body and that of the guy on top of her.
In 2004, Ginger returned. Ginger Snaps: Unleashed saw Katharine team up again with Emily Perkins for a sequel to their wildly popular Ginger Snaps. For a sequel, it’s not bad. The storyline is as follows: The late Ginger’s sister Brigitte, now a werewolf herself, must try to find a cure for her blood lust before the next full moon while hiding out in a rehab clinic from a relentless werewolf. The only issue I really had with the film was the gratuitous masturbation sequence. Whilst it was a dream and a link between being a werewolf with werewolf instincts relating to sex, it did take me out of the movie. I don’t think it was set to offend, nor do I feel like it degraded the film in any sense. It just took me out of the film and while it was happening, I was sitting there with a look of WTF on my face.
That same year there was another instalment of Ginger Snaps released. Ginger Snaps: The Beginning sees the film set in 19th Century Canada, where Brigitte and her sister Ginger take refuge in a Traders’ Fort which later becomes under siege by some savage werewolves.I’ll be honest when I say that I felt this film was the weakest of the series despite my love of Katharine and Emily returning as Ginger and Brigitte. It was shot back-to-back with Ginger Snaps: Unleashed, and clearly they were running out of ideas with this werewolf inspired tale. Get it to complete the series, but it’s not worth the watch.
2006 was a busy year when it came to TV movies and shows for Katharine. From appearances in Stargate SG-1 and Reunion to the TV movies Eight Days To Live and Engaged To Kill, Katharine showed that she wasn’t just a pretty face with a powerful set of lungs.
In 2007 Katharine made an appearance on the hit TV show Supernatural. Playing Ava Wilson, Katharine made two appearances in separate episodes, and secured her place in Supernatural history.
In 2008 Emily Perkins and Katharine teamed up again, this time for Another Cinderella Story also starring Jane Lynch, Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley. That same year saw Katharine team up with another Ginger Snaps star, Brendan Fletcher, in the TV movie Ogre.
There must be something in the horror water because in 2009 a little thriller movie called Rampage starring Brendan Fletcher crossed Katharine’s desk and sure enough she appeared in it but as an extra only.
In 2010, Katharine returned to straight up horror with Hard Ride To Hell. Highly underrated movie Hard Ride To Hell is about a group of family and friends on a camping trip through the Texas badlands are taken on a one-way ride to Hell after they inadvertently witness a ritual sacrifice at a deserted campsite. Pursued by the devil worshiping biker gang responsible, they hole up in an abandoned church near the border, only to discover that they are pawns in a decades-old battle between good and evil. (Fun Fact: Ads taken out in popular horror magazines promoted Hard Ride To Hell as an ode to the very popular exploitation films)
This was one film that stirred the pot within my group of horror loving goons. Half loved it, deeming it to be cheesy and an exploitation film while the other half hated it because, whilst it had everything, it didn’t quite mesh together. At times it was tedious and some of the actors weren’t as convincing as they should have been, but for the purpose of watching Katharine show off her many talents, this film nailed it.
2010 also saw 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days. Katharine played the role of Stacey in a film about Stella Olemaun, who survived the incidents in Barrow, Alaska, relocates to Los Angeles, where she intentionally attracts the attention of the local vampire population in order to avenge the death of her husband, Eben.
Truth be told, it’s not a great sequel, though it does have promising moments. It is a film that rages a lot of debate about why Stella would return, however, where it counts it does fall flat.
Currently, Katharine is promoting her new film directed and written by the Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska, American Mary. The story follows medical student, Mary Mason, as she becomes increasingly broke and disenchanted with the surgical world she once admired. The allure of easy money sends Mary into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called ‘freakish’ clientele.She also has a few other projects in the works including a new horror entitled 13 Eerie which, surprise, surprise, also stars Brendan Fletcher. (If these two keep this up, Brendan might find himself in this Horror Icon Hall Of Fame too) There is also another thriller entitled Primary and a comedy/horror film called Crazy Fat Ethel.
Katharine Isabelle. Underrated actress? At time yes. Talented? Undoubtedly. Over the course of her career, Katharine Isabelle has shown how talented she is in numerous films and television appearances. One thing is certain. Her constant return to the horror the genre has us begging for more and is why she is crowned this month’s Horror Icon Of The Month.
Ahlephia’s Top 5 Katharine Isabelle Movies
1) Ginger Snaps (2000) – See where the horror began…
2) Freddy Vs. Jason (2003) – My introduction to Freddy but also to Katharine. Her performance as Gibb, while small, was incredible.
3) Insomnia (2002) – Fantastic film that is vastly underrated
4) Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (2004) – The return of Ginger. Pretty good for a sequel.
5) American Mary (2012) – Anything by the Twisted Twins has to be outstanding, but team them with Katharine and we have an unstoppable force of nature.
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The Avengers Burlesque : Pics And Video (NSFW-ish)
Frazer Brown writes (and photographs) for Bleeding Cool;
When Rich asked me to review a Cosplay themed burlesque show in New York City, it was of course with a VERY heavy heart that I agreed! My journalistic integrity FORCED me to comply and sit through three hours of Avengers inspired semi-nude performance art.The official blurb for the night was:
Cherry Pitz and Joe the Shark proudly present Hotsy Totsy Burlesque, New York’s only episodic, monthly burlesque show. Featuring a different script each month and a rotating cast, Hotsy Totsy is a high camp soap opera featuring some of the best burlesque talent New York has to offer. Manchego, Cherry Pitz and Joe the Shark wrote this episode of Hotsy Totsy.
Shortly after arriving at the R bar in downtown New York (which was also hosting a poker tournament) the show began.
After a brief stint from go-go girl Apathy Angel, we were into the main event, full title: “What if…Johnny Angel had joined the Avengers?” (Johnny Angel being the boyfriend of co-host Cherry Pitz and part-time superhero).
Our two hosts for the evening were a frizzy haired Christopher Lloyd-lite ‘Manchego’ and the ‘Pink Widow’ played by the talented and multitasking Producer/Writer /Performer Cherry Pitz. The plot for the evening involved Manchego trying to take over the world with some sort of love juice but to be honest it got lost in the fray as the rest of the evening was so entertaining.
The producers knew their stuff, as the puns and comic book in-jokes came thick and fast throughout the evening (most of which would have been lost on the crowd gathered). Hoity-Toity have a history of producing eccentric geek-centric burlesque tributes, most recently creating a Game of Thrones and Mad Men show, as well as an upcoming Doctor Who Parody. In fact, Producer Joe the Shark is the burlesque stage name for Joseph Naftali, former publisher/writer of such comic books as Foodang: Clown with a Gun, The Mighty Mites, and The Dark. The Dark featured art by such comic greats Mark Bright, Larry Stroman and frequent covers by George Perez.
To further stake their clam in the land of nerd, overheard backstage were some of the burlesque dancers discussing the merits of seaQuest DSV versus seaQuest 2032. With so many geeks in one place (a word I always use as a term of endearment) it was a surprise to see so many DC and non-Avengers characters make an appearance in the show. Of course this is a minor quibble as the show was a blast.
The issue of the DC characters and inaccuracy was addressed at the very start when a stereotypically large comic book fan stormed the stage to tell the hosts why they were wrong, pulling out comic books to prove the correct lineup. He was directly asked if he would rather discuss the merits of comic books or see naked women? His response? “I just disassembled in my pants” thus with the comedy bar set to lowbrow for the evening and before the Scarlet Witch could say “no more clothes” we began.
First up, was ‘Aurora’ as the aforementioned Scarlet Witch, one of the most impressive costumes of the evening, very accurate in a mid 1990s Matt Salinger/Capt America kind-of-a-way (but with more cape twirling and nipple tassels).
Next up was Hazel Honeysuckle as Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. DC Comics The Penguin (the first cross gender performance of the night but by no means the last). One minute in I had banished all thoughts of Danny DeVito and marveled at Miss Honeysuckles prowess with a giant oversized umbrella.The next character (and first ‘actual’ Avenger) to appear was The Incredible Hulk, or in this case the Incredible Cook, presenting us with a rage filled culinary lesson (one of the comedic highlights of the evening). The skit concluded with a backpack-wearing Bruce Banner walking across the stage to the end credit theme from Bixby’s ‘Hulk’.
Cherry Pits was up next as Diana Prince rescuing Major Steve Trevor from the clutches of the evil Cheetah in an elaborate staged fight that ended with most of the costumes ‘accidentally’ torn off and Wonder Woman triumphant.
The next skit will stay with me a while; if you want an image that will haunt you to your grave then you need to witness the Red Skull performing Burlesque. ‘First Avenger’ would have been an entirely different movie if Hugo Weaving had tried this tactic.
The evening ended with a performance from Supergirl, which seemed the most out of place, this skit involved Supergirl changing into her costume and eventually being forced to “kneel before Zod”.We had a quick wrap up of the plot that I had half been paying attention to, with Johnny Angel finally arriving to save the day and defeating the villain Manchego.
There was also an interval raffle with some pretty decent prizes up for grabs including graphic novels, comics memorabilia, Captain America tassels and a collection of the Joe The Sharks previously published works signed by the likes of George Perez and others. Unfortunately most people seemed to have forgotten to buy a ticket, which meant all of the prizes went to one lucky winner in the front row. The pause as we waited for people to come forward was filled by Cherry Pitz humming the end credits theme from the Incredible Hulk TV series (used earlier) in yet another display of Hotsy-Totsy’s geek credentials.
So, a fun and entertaining evening if not entirely accurate from a comic book standpoint. Would the inclusion of an Iron Man or a Miss Marvel or an actual Black Widow improve the evening? Not really it was a fun night, if you have an avid interest in burlesque, the female form and comic books you can’t go far wrong.
Hotsy-Totsy Burlesque will be presenting their Doctor Who parody show on the 18th September, tickets available from their website.
The cast (for completists only)
Scarlet Witch – Aurora
Wonder Woman/Cherry Pitz – Cherry Pitz
Cheetah – Apathy Angel
Major Steve Trevor/Johnny Angel – Handsome Brad
Nerd Boy at beginning of the show – Rory Scholl
Penguin – Hazel Honeysuckle
Supergirl – Creamy Stevens (with the Fresh Prince of Darkness as General Zod)
Minnie d’Moocha
Dr Who Show:
R-Bar * 218 Bowery (between Prince and Spring)
8pm * September 18, 2012 * $10
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At this year's Live Arts Festival, nudity sends a message
If you're looking for a way to be cool - not just comfy but cool - take off all your clothes.
At the 16th annual Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe, which runs Friday through Sept. 22, nudity seems to be the prevailing fashion statement. In the Live Arts portion - 16 productions invited and backed by the organizers - five acts include nudity, and in one of them, a movement-theater piece, Untitled Feminist Show, no one wears anything at all for an entire hour.
[Featuring Becca Blackwell, World Famous *BOB*, Amelia Zirin-Brown (aka Lady Rizo) - hottest among the bunch, Hilary Clark, Katy Pyle, + Regina Rocke]
That's the most ever: Last year, no Live Arts show listed in its description that its production "includes nudity" (though one actually did). The most before this year was three in 2007.
The other part of the festival, the Philly Fringe, a free-for-all, 136 productions this year by artists and troupes who invite themselves, doesn't as a rule list nudity in its short, mostly fuzzy one-paragraph descriptions in the festival's guidebook and online. So some years, Fringe with birthday suits as costumes are a surprise.
This year, one Fringe show, Rub, already has defined itself in the guide as "performance erotica" and the blurb featured a highly suggestive picture of one of the cast's women that is apparently a piece of truth in advertising.
Why so much nudity this year? Partly, it's happenstance - the festival doesn't build itself each year on a theme. But two of the Live Arts shows with nudity, plus an excerpt of a work in progress about onstage nudity, are purposely being presented because they explore a common element: female gender politics.
In fact, a Sept. 16 discussion of body politics in arts and culture that has artists from those three shows on the panel is a part of the festival. A description of the panel lays out part of the premise: This year, it says, several Live Arts shows consider artistic, medical, and sexual rights of control over one's body, as well as the nude body and identity in performance.
"If artists can transcend, on stage, the political and cultural identities that our genders, our clothing, and the opinions of others stamp onto our bodies, is it possible to do this in the real world?"
Heady stuff, the sort of left-field approach that has made the festival essential for many of the 40,000 or so people who attend - and that has powerfully helped nurture an audience of Philadelphia theatergoers unafraid to encounter new or unusual work. (There's much of that in the festival, and clothed.)
No one knows better than Nick Stuccio, the festival's co-founder and producing director, that nudity sells; he has said so for years as he's watched tickets fly out of the box office (not this year, though - there are no printed tickets, only Web images) whenever the odd show included bare bodies.
But most of the shows weren't grounded in anything like prurience, and stage nudity has come a long way since the mid-'60s, when ripping off your clothes to perform was a fresh and simple statement of shocking radicalism in theater (as in a two-minute slice of the musical Hair) or an aesthetic one in dance (Anna Halprin's Parades and Changes, which earned its artists arrest warrants).
"Nudity is used for all kinds of reasons," Stuccio said, pointing out that in some work this year, "the people who are nude are not people that we want to normally see nude. There's a reason we're wearing clothes. To turn those people loose nude and to say, 'That's right, what about these people? What about the other people in this culture?' - that has nothing to do with aesthetics at all, and it's not to be salacious in any way."
He was referring specifically to Food Court from the Australian troupe Back to Back Theatre, with live music by the Necks. Its plot, set in a suburban mall, includes unclothed performers with disabilities. "We never encounter that on stage, we never dare see a person with a disability naked [publicly]. But why not? Here, it's about perception. That's what their work is about."
In the new work Bang, theater artist Charlotte Ford, veteran of many festival productions, is creating a show that, according to the guidebook, "answers the question, under the glow of a pink neon sex-show sign, what happens if you get what you want?" She appears in it with Lee Etzold and Sarah Sanford - all are members of the city's boundary-changing Pig Iron Theatre Company - and it includes nudity (as well as what is called an "orgasm chair.")Other Live Arts entries that feature costume design by Mother Nature are Private Places, a dance by Philadelphia choreographer Jumatatu Poe and his troupe, idiosynCrazy productions; The Gate Reopened, by another Philadelphia choreographer, festival favorite Brian Sanders and his company, Junk, set in Pier 9, a warehouse on the Delaware River; and the aforementioned Untitled Feminist Show.
That work, performed by six completely naked dancers to an intense, driving soundtrack, was acclaimed in New York earlier this year. Its delivery is based on movement, but Young Jean Lee, the Korean American who created it, runs a theater company under her name, so theater critics came to see what "may well be her most daunting attempt to push her talent in a new direction," as the New York Times' Charles Isherwood wrote. The New Yorker's Hilton Als called it "one of the more moving and imaginative works I have ever seen on the American stage."
Stuccio saw it, and so did Sean Buffington, president of the University of the Arts, who said he was "completely blown away by it" and called Stuccio to offer to cosponsor it in the festival. "I found it profoundly moving, disturbing, and also funny," Buffington said. "It is a piece about gender and it is a piece about the body, but it's not only about those things."
Lee wanted a piece whose performers had "a range of realistic female body types who were 100 percent confident, fierce, and fabulous. Women are trained to have so much shame about their bodies and looks, and I thought it would be amazing to see female-bodied people who didn't seem to experience any of that, even without clothes or makeup.
"I wanted the nudity to be the opposite of titillating and objectifying."
As for Rub, whose Fringe performances were moved at the last minute to the Latvian Society off Spring Garden Street after the tavern it had booked closed down, the idea is that we're in 2040. Society has "made robots and all the people die off and they're kind of left there," says its cocreator, Gunnar Montana, who, among other things, is responsible for choreographing much of the aerial work the women perform at Delilah's Gentlemen's Club and Steakhouse.
"And the only thing they know how to do is put on this kind of this weird, futuristic sex show that they just do over and over and over again in the postapocalyptic future." Now that's the classic blurb for a Fringe show, naked or not.
To find complete schedules, locations, descriptions of the Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe shows, and ticketing information, go to www.livearts-fringe.org.
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* someone sent me this article. To keep an eye out for Maika Monroe @ Maika Buckley......
by Salli Paradisio (February 14, 2012 )
BLONDE AMBITION. Eighteen-year-old beauty Maika Monroe is a world-class kiteboarder with a budding career as an actress and a role in an upcoming Ramin Bahrani film alongside Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron. The blonde beach girl from Santa Barbara has been in a couple of minor flicks and the TV show Eleventh Hour along with a handful of TV ads.
In 2011, she passed up on her senior yearof high school in California to focus on kiteboarding in the Dominican Republic. Maika has also dabbled in fashion, designing a special collection for AirBound Apparel.
DA MAN: You’ve had small roles and an episode on the TV show Eleventh Hour, as well as a couple of TV ads, how did you first get involved in acting and get those roles?
Maika Monroe: When I was 12, my swing dance teacher told our class about a film that wanted kids to be background line dancers. I was the only one in my class that jumped at the opportunity. I didn’t know how to line dance, but knew practically every other style of dance. On set, it turned out I was the only child that showed up. I was fascinated from the very start at the whole filming process from filming to special effects. The director and producer saw it in my eyes and actually wrote me into the script. I had one line! From there, all sorts of doors opened because I was able to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild because of my speaking role. At 12, I signed with my manager, who helped me get an agent and I have been auditioning nonstop since.
DA MAN: As is well documented, you are world-class kiteboarder, and from other things we’ve read, you intend to pursue both acting and kiteboarding. Do you think you’ll be able to put in the necessary work in both to be successful?
Maika Monroe: Good question. Many times people have tried to give me the ultimatum—’one or the other.’ But I am passionate about both. They balance each other out and keep me grounded. I definitely am not able to put in the time to train that I would like to with kiteboarding. All my competitors spend 12 months training and I try to get as much water time as I can. I had planned on training for six months in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, but then I landed this latest film. So, instead of six months, I had a month and a half of training. So it is tough to compete against these girls that train year-round, but I would never give that up. On the other hand, when I am training I have to send my auditions via video. I Skype with an acting coach and then tape it. I would prefer to be in the room for the auditions, but it is what I have to do. It is difficult to do both, but it just makes me more disciplined.
DA MAN: With all your sports and acting, and having recently finished high school, are there any plans for college?
Maika Monroe: I definitely plan to go to college. I worked hard in high school to get a 4.2 GPA, so I am not going to let that go to waste. I may do my [General Education] classes online and then transfer to a university. My dream has always been to go to NYU and I still plan to do that.
DA: Another thing you’ve been involved in is designing a sporty girls’ line for AirBound Apparel. Is that something you intend to pursue?
Maika Monroe: Yes! I love it so much. I have always been interested in design. I am so fortunate that Airbound Apparel took me onboard. They are such a cool company that really gives back. They sponsor young Dominican riders whose only dream of escaping poverty is to become professional kiteboarders. They also donate proceeds to nonprofits in the D.R. to help with education of the Dominican children.
DA MAN: How serious are you about fashion designing, or was that just a one-off deal?
MM: I will always be involved in fashion designing … I have to be designing, I do it in my sleep. Ever since I was five years old, I have been interested in fashion. I loved thrift stores. To me, clothing is a piece of art, it’s how you express yourself.
DA MAN: You are all set to be in the latest Ramin Bahrani film, how did you get that role?
Maika Monroe: I was living in the Dominican Republic and my agent asked me to send an audition via video. It was hard because the Internet was so sketchy over there and I had to work with an acting coach via Skype. I really loved the role and felt a connection. My mom filmed the audition in our hotel room. I did not hear a thing for about three weeks, so I assumed I didn’t get it. I was on the beach with my kiting coach and my mom came walking up the beach with a huge smile on her face. She told me the director wanted to meet me. Happiest moment of my life. I was on a plane the next morning.
DA MAN: What can you tell us about the film? Does it have a title yet?
Maika Monroe: It’s still untitled as of now. I play Zac Efron’s girlfriend. I like the role because the girl is very strong, independent and not pushed around by anyone. Her parents are not there for her so she is street-smart. All the things I admire in a girl. Great role.
DA MAN: How has it been working with superstars such as Ramin, Zac Efron, etc. on this film? Did you ever feel intimidated?
Maika Monroe: Sure, at first I was intimidated, but once I met everyone all the nerves were gone. Zac is so down to earth and Dennis [Quaid] is hysterical. I love them both. I got to work with a dream cast, and one of the most incredible directors I could ever ask for. Just an amazing experience from start to finish.
DA MAN: Where are you at in the process, still filming? Or post-production?
Maika Monroe: We started filming in the beginning of July [2011] … and finished filming in September. Ramin, the director, told me I couldn’t go in the ocean because he did not want my hair to get too blonde again. They had to darken it for the film because I was supposed to be a Midwestern girl, not a California beach girl. It killed me to not be able to kite in that time.
DA MAN: What experiences have made you a stronger person?
Maika Monroe: Living in a [developing] country, going to countless auditions and not getting the part, training to get my kiting to the next level where I am competitive worldwide.
DA MAN: What regrets do you have?
Maika Monroe: That’s an interesting question, because I think about that daily. I am happy to say that so far I have no regrets. I know if I was forced to choose between acting and kiting I would always wonder, ‘what if?’ I don’t want to live with a ‘what if?’ I want to do it all. And until one is out in front of the other, I will continue to do both.
DA MAN: What has been the key motivation for you to choose to pursue acting?
Maika Monroe: The first time I was on set I fell in love with it. The whole process. I was only 12 and it was a horror film, so most of the filming was at night continuing to the early morning. I was fascinated with the fake blood, the fog machines, everything. They would start filming at 6 p.m. and continue until around 4 a.m. My mom was with me and I begged her to let me stay and watch until they wrapped every day. The director would let me see behind the camera, the special effects guy would let me help him with the fake chopped-off heads. I was hooked, I knew I wanted to work in film.
DA MAN: What quality do you most like in a guy?
Maika Monroe: A good sense of humor; I need a guy to be able to make me laugh and, more importantly, that can laugh at himself.
DA MAN: What quality do you most like in a woman?
Maika Monroe: Confidence.
DA MAN: What do you most value in your friends?
Maika Monroe: I have a handful of close friends. Girls are a funny breed. There is so much competitiveness and jealousy. What I value most in my friends is their genuineness. They aren’t phony and truly appreciate me for who I am and see the work I have put in to being where I am.
DA MAN: In early January, you had a fairly serious injury from kiteboarding, are you all recovered from that, and were there any repercussions?
Maika Monroe: I still have nightmares about the accidents. The water was really shallow in New Caledonia where the competition was held. I had no idea there were rocks until I landed on one headfirst. It was scary. I had to get my head stitched up in a medic’s tent on the beach. Kind of seemed barbaric, my mom fainted! Also, the language is French so it complicated things more. I am grateful that the injury was right above my hairline, because the scar is pretty ugly. I have had X-rays here in the U.S. and they have told me there is no permanent damage to my neck. I could not move my neck for a week and my forehead was really swollen. But all is good now and I am happy to be back in the water.
DA MAN: What have you had to say ‘no’ to in order do what you have done in both your sport and acting?
Maika Monroe: Drugs. I don’t think I would be where I am today if I was involved with drugs or alcohol. I am always the designated driver for my friends. As an athlete, I have to be super-disciplined with my workouts and nutrition.
DA MAN: How important is it to you to have lots of social network ‘followers’?
Maika Monroe: It’s crazy how everyone has Twitter now. And it’s starting to matter how many people are following you and it’s annoying [laughs]. People always ask me how many followers I have like it’s this popularity poll. I hate social networking, but I feel I have to in this generation. With that said, if you want to follow me on Twitter or like my Facebook fan page that is totally fine with me [laughing].
DA MAN: Who has been your biggest influence and encouraged you to pursue an acting career?
Maika Monroe: My mom was the one that really believed in me. Both my parents were athletes, so this acting stuff was foreign to them. I think my mom saw that I was totally passionate about it. She thought after countless auditions and coming really close but not getting the part that I would give up. But I didn’t. I didn’t take it as a rejection. She would finish work, come pick me up at school and then drive the two hours it took to get to L.A. Sometimes, my audition lasted two minutes and we would be back in the car driving the two hours home. She never complained; it was just something we did. And because of all that car time together, we are very close. She wouldn’t talk on the phone and I wouldn’t text, that was the rule, so we had a lot of time to talk about everything. To this day, she is my closest friend.
DA MAN: What is your motto?
Maika Monroe: Feel the fear, and do it anyway—veni, vidi, vici.
DA MAN: What is your dream of happiness?
Maika Monroe: I am living it. I love my life as it is now. One foot in the sand, one foot in Hollywood. It is perfect.
DA MAN: Do you have other films or TV shows in the pipeline?
Maika Monroe: This [Ramin] movie has obviously opened up many doors for me. I have the best manager and agent anyone could ask for and they are keeping me very busy with lots of scripts and meetings, so we shall see.
DA MAN: Tell us more about your decision to go to live in the Dominican Republic during your senior year in high school, in order to train.
Maika Monroe: All my friends thought I was completely crazy, because senior year is the most fun with prom and everything. I didn’t think twice about leaving. I had spent three months in the Dominican the previous summer and loved the culture and, of course, the consistent trade winds. I feel like it is my second home. It definitely is a [developing country]. I didn’t have a car or phone and barely had Internet, so texting stopped. No TV, so I became very close with the Dominican kiters and the kids on the beach that were always there to help me. Before I left this last time, I set up a donation box at my high school for old baseball mitts, boardshorts and surfing clothes. I also asked the local kiting community for any old equipment to bring to the kids. It was such a good feeling to see them using the mitts, kiting equipment and wearing the boardshorts on the beach. They were so appreciative. I don’t think a lot of people ever experience that. It was life changing and keeps everything in perspective when I am in Hollywood.
DA MAN: What sacrifices have you had to make to get into acting?
Maika Monroe: Definitely, I have made many sacrifices for acting. I live in Santa Barbara, so I would spend after school driving to L.A. with my mom. I couldn’t join any sports teams, because I was in L.A. so often. Also, I would have to stay home and study scripts while my friends were going to parties. I missed out on a lot of social stuff in high school.
More here
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A snippet from a glowing review of Keira Knightley's Anna Karenina........
Best of all are Domnhal Gleeson and Alicia Vikander, as faltering would-be lovers Levin and Kitty. They're the least well-known names among the principal cast, but on this basis, it's unlikely to remain that way for long. Gleeson effortlessly shows the good-hearted nature of Levin, but isn't afraid to dig into the hypocrisy of the character, while Vikander does wonders with a tricky part that's written on the page as to be almost saint-like, but she never lets you forget the real human being there as well. The two have great chemistry together, as well, with one scene involving letter-blocks that's more romantic and sensual than a dozen sex scenes. The lone disappointement is Taylor-Johnson; he acquits himself fairly well for much of the film without ever quite impressing, and starts to feel a little out of his depth by the time the stakes are raised.
* it seems the Brits are jumping on outsourcing the nudity bandwagon as well. Alice is Swedish by the way.
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"Bottle Girl" Is Busted For Lewd Truck Display
Public nudity rap filed over explicit viral videoAUGUST 31--The Indiana woman who became Internet infamous this week--earning the nickname “Bottle Girl” along the way--has been charged with public nudity for her explicit
videotaped performance in a truck bed.Belinda Dobrowolski, 24, was hit yesterday with a criminal rap for her lewd August 26 public performance in a Terre Haute parking lot.
As seen on an X-rated viral video--which was shot after the close of the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza at the nearby Vigo County fairgrounds--Dobrowolski (seen in the adjacent video grab) removed her dress as various onlookers filmed her standing naked.
Dobrowolski is then seen engaging in explicit sexual acts with liquor bottles (she is, um, aided at points by two unidentified men). The graphic activity is met by hoots from an approving crowd of guys, one of whom exclaims, “This is awesome!”
Terre Haute cops began investigating the clip after it began circulating online this week. After identifying Dobrowolski--and determining when the video was filmed—cops charged her with misdemeanor public nudity.
Appearing this morning in Terre Haute City Court, Dobrowolski waived formal arraignment and had a November 28 hearing date set by a judicial officer.
Dobrowolski, pictured at left in her Facebook profile photo, does not appear overly concerned about fallout from her alcohol-fueled performance.Yesterday, she sought suggestions on her Facebook page for what should appear on a proposed t-shirt memorializing the incident. Though she did bristle at negative comments posted to her sister’s Facebook page. “anyone has something to say to my sister about this shit say it to me leave her out of this ill fuck someone up,” Dobrowolski wrote this morning.
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Is Nudity Having Another Major Moment?
Upon opening a fashion magazine, we anticipate a luxe look at the season's most covetable wares. Especially with September issues piling up (who has time to read 'em all!), the next few weeks are going to be filled will planning our future (dream) wardrobes.But, between the designer profiles and hard-hitting Q-and-A's, you may feel as though your glossies are missing the exact thing you had been looking for — clothing. That's right, more and more stars are stripping for the lens, undoubtedly jumping aboard the nudity bandwagon. Of course, A-listers have been in various states of undress for ages, but it seems like everyone and their moms (literally, in some cases), are dropping trou for the world to see.
And now, editorials and covers aren't the only places you catch a glimpse of a star's naughty bits — ad campaigns are selling dresses, jewelry, and shoes by featuring very little of the actual product being worn by the models. Case in point: Natalie Portman just went topless for Dior, and Scarlett Johansson posed in nothing but a bedsheet for Dolce and Gabbana — only fueling the frisky flame.
So, is baring it all the new black? Before you answer, play peeping Tom and take a peek at the Hollywood hotties who have left little to the imagination. Good thing today's a government holiday, because this slideshow is somewhat NSFW! (The Hollywood Reporter)
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old but gold : teen auditioning to be future JAV star.
(Just kidding.....likely another wannabe K-pop princess)
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Sherlyn Chopra to continue posting nude pics, doesn’t care about the world! 
The attention seeking wannabe model, Sherlyn Chopra is using every possible method of grabbing attention. The Playboy cover model recently posted her masturbation pictures on twitter and today, she has tweeted a naked picture with a bold caption under it.Her nude picture with colour on her body, was tweeted with a caption that read, "As a adult I’m free 2 make choices as long as I’m ready 2 face d consequences of the same – SC#TheSherlynChopraLeague’."
The queen of sleaze is trying to make a name for herself with pictures like this, but she doesn’t have the courage to face the music. And if that's not all, she's has abused the media, which has criticised her and her fans. In a tweet about the same, she wrote, “A humble note 2 the media: The day I have something substantial 2 say….a commendable body of work 2 showcase…I shall contact u myself…”
She also added, “To all d mother fuckers who consider my confession 2 b a publicity stunt- ‘I chose 2 speak d truth and it set me free. Untill then…please leave this ‘wanna be’, ‘evil person’, ‘queen of sleaze’, ‘desperado’….etc. etc. ALONE….more luv n more power…”
On of her fans wrote, “2 d Media: She’s a brave n bold girl… India is goin through Revolution pls don’t try 2 make quick bucks!”
We wonder, if the wannabe model is trying to be a porn star or just loves posing naked in front of the camera!
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Maggie Wu Leaked Nude Sex Photos With Justin Lee In The Taiwan Celebrity Sex ScandalWow, someone cannot claim to be an innocent victim unaware of her boyfriend’s creepy sexual antics anymore. In these sordid leaked naked pics Taiwanese model turn actress Maggie Wu Ya Xin is seen engaging in several sexual private photoshoots with playboy Justin Lee formerly Li Zhong-Rui on many different occasions.
The 28 year-old model even take a shower in front of the camera while her lover take pictures. Maggie Wu is seen topless and looking into the camera while posing with Justin Lee in several photographs and she is also seen with Justin’s penis in her month while her eyes are closed.
She also seen lying on a bed naked with her legs spread wide open for the camera.
While in other images Maggie and Justin are seen engaging in sexual intercourse. She seem to be sleeping in several of the photos but in others she is fully conscious and is seen willingly posing nude for Justin Lee. After seeing this pics there is no wonder as to why Maggie Wu canceled the press conference at the last minute last week.
* have resisted posting the vids and photos because majority of the chicks appeared to be either in drunken stupor or drugged as Justin plow them which in my book is a sexual assault. Justin is a dumb fuck. He had a hot girlfriend to play around with only to believe the girls will spread their legs willingly if he throws money at them. Apparently chicks in Asia have higher standards than I thought. Justin could face a shitstorm if it was proven he was drugging the girls before assaulting them.
You can tell from Maggie face she was in the relationship purely for the material comforts just like most of the girls her age inclined to do - leasing their face/body to get ahead - if they're too lazy for honest work. She had what-the-fuck-I'm-doing-with-this-ugly-mother expression in some of the pics. Justin knew Maggie loved the cash, jewelries and whatnot more than his cock. It's a standard but admittedly suitable trade-off between these wealthy young men with too much time on their hands and super hot women desperate to escape middle/working class family background.
More here and here
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VOD Vs. DVD Battle Goes Day-And-Date In Australia
Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney
September marks a new watershed in the fight for home entertainment dollars in Oz. Nearly every Hollywood film, including new releases The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Men In Black 3 and The Five-Year Engagement, and most indie titles, will be available simultaneously on VOD and DVD. The collapsing of windows has been driven by the U.S. majors looking to boost VOD revenues to help compensate for the contracting DVD business. The strategy has been welcomed by Oz’s many VOD services who say it’s resulting in a lift in buy-rates. Brendon Moo, general manager of Foxtel On Demand and Pay Per View, says subscribers per capita buy four times as many movies as those who subscribe to Britain’s BSkyB. 
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Pune: Porn party busted at ATS officer's hotel, over 300 detained
Pune: Police on Sunday claimed to have busted a high-profile party at hotel Maya owned by teh wife of an ATS officer in Wagholi area of the city.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided the party where over 300 youngsters were seen drinking, smoking and busy in all sorts of sleazy acts in the name of fun.
According to some media reports, Some of those detained were caught in a compromising position at the 'porn party'. Semi nude women were seen dancing to English music and others were throwing the currency notes at them.
Police also found a BMW parked outside the party venue. The car is said to be owned by a well-known politician in the city. A Pune Municipal Corporation sticker was fixed on the windshield.
Sources said the son of a well-known political leader also attended the party.
Maharashtra Police have also seized a large number of liquor cartons from the spot.
Those detained have been booked under sections 110 and 85 of the Mumbai Police Act.
Police is awaiting their medical reports to initiate further action.
A police officer said: "It is shocking that a policeman could buy a plush hotel. The hotel is built on about half acre land."
Chinese executives deny sex and sushi with Japanese porn stars
According to an article published in Japanese magazine Flash, a number of senior executives from the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CITIC Group and China National Petroleum Corporation traveled to Japan last autumn and paid a 20,000-yen (US$255) entry fee to experience nyotaimori, or "body sushi," the erotic culinary practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman.
The source, a staff member from a Japanese business consulting firm, said the dinner took place at a high-end restaurant in Tokyo's lively Roppongi district and involved a famous actress from Japan's adult film industry whose popularity rivals that of Sora Aoi, China's most beloved Japanese porn star. At the end of the night, the attendees were given a special offer to take the star back to their hotel room for 150,000 yen (US$1,915) per hour, the source added.
Another source claimed that he chaperoned a provincial Communist Party leader and officials from state-owned enterprises during a visit to Japan in May. The trip was said to be aimed at strengthening ties with Japanese corporations and politicians but the true purpose was to party with stars from Japan's adult film industry, the source said. The officials also allegedly organized nyotaimori with a famous porn star, who went back to the hotel room of the most senior official at the conclusion of the meal. None of the other officials left empty-handed either, the source added.
In late April, state-owned PetroChina was also involved in a scandal where it was alleged that executives were bribed with sexual services from porn stars in a sex party of S-and-M and costume play.
The reports have sparked a furious backlash on China's microblogs, with many suspecting that the services were paid for with public funds. "We don't care what you do with porn stars as long as it's not paid for by our tax money!" wrote one angry netizen.
Others were more (sarcastically) understanding, claiming that it was merely part of an anti-Japan strategy stemming from the ongoing Diaoyu (Senkaku) islands territorial dispute between the two countries.
"They couldn't go to the Diaoyu islands, so they decided to penetrate the enemy from behind instead!" a netizen said.
Egypt's sexual harassment of women 'epidemic'
Campaigners in Egypt say the problem of sexual harassment is reaching epidemic proportions, with a rise in such incidents over the past three months. For many Egyptian women, sexual harassment - which sometimes turns into violent mob-style attacks - is a daily fact of life, reports the BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo.
Last winter, an Egyptian woman was assaulted by a crowd of men in the city of Alexandria.
In video footage of the incident, posted on the internet, she is hauled over men's shoulders and dragged along the ground, her screams barely audible over the shouts of the mob.
It is hard to tell who is attacking her and who is trying to help.
The case was one of the most extreme - but surveys say many Egyptian women face some form of sexual harassment every day.
Marwa, not her real name, says she worries about being groped or verbally harassed whenever she goes downtown. She says it makes her afraid.
"This is something that scares me, as a girl. When I want to go out, walking the street and someone harasses or annoys me, it makes me afraid.
"This stops me from going out. I try to be excessively cautious in the way I dress so I avoid wearing things that attract people."
'Deeply rooted'
The day I met Marwa, she was wearing a long headscarf pinned like a wimple under her chin, and a loose flowing dress with long sleeves over baggy trousers.
But dressing conservatively is no longer a protection, according to Dina Farid of the campaign group Egypt's Girls are a Red Line.
She says even women who wear the full-face veil - the niqab - are being targeted.
"It does not make a difference at all. Most of Egyptian ladies are veiled [with a headscarf] and most of them have experienced sexual harassment.
"Statistics say that most of the women or girls who have been sexually harassed have been veiled or completely covered up with the niqab."
In 2008, a study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights found that more than 80% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment, and that the majority of the victims were those who wore Islamic headscarves.
Said Sadek, a sociologist from the American University in Cairo, says that the problem is deeply rooted in Egyptian society: a mixture of what he calls increasing Islamic conservatism, on the rise since the late 1960s, and old patriarchal attitudes.
"Religious fundamentalism arose, and they began to target women. They want women to go back to the home and not work.
"Male patriarchal culture does not accept that women are higher than men, because some women had education and got to work, and some men lagged behind and so one way to equalise status is to shock women and force a sexual situation on them anywhere.
"It is not the culture of the Pharaohs; it is the culture of the Bedouins," Mr Sadek says.
Mr Sadek and women's campaign groups also blame what they call the lack of security enforcement. They say the police should do more to enforce laws protecting women from harassment.
'Provocative dress'
And the harassers are getting younger and younger.
On the Qasr al-Nil bridge in central Cairo, a hotspot for harassment, I met a group of teenage boys hanging out near street stalls blaring loud music.
When I asked them about a recent case of mass harassment in which women at a park were groped by a gang of boys, they told me the girls brought it on themselves.
"If the girls were dressed respectably, no-one would touch them," one of them said. "It's the way girls dress that makes guys come on to them. The girls came wanting it - even women in niqab."
One of his friends told me the boys were not to blame, and that there was a difference between women who wore loose niqabs and tight ones.
A woman who wore a tight niqab was up for it, he added.
But attitudes like these horrify many Egyptian men - like Hamdy, a human rights activist.
"I really feel very upset myself because I think about my family, my sisters and my mother," he said.
"Before Eid [the festival at the end of Ramadan], I was downtown and I had my sisters with me. It gets very crowded and I had my eyes everywhere, looking around and I shouted at a pedlar who got in their way. In our religion this is something that is not allowed."
The new government says it is taking the problem seriously - although many campaigners argue it is not a priority yet.
For women - like Nancy, who lives in central Cairo - it is a question of freedom.
"I want to walk safely and like a human being. Nobody should touch or harass me - that's it."
Acting on a tip-off, police raided the party where over 300 youngsters were seen drinking, smoking and busy in all sorts of sleazy acts in the name of fun.
According to some media reports, Some of those detained were caught in a compromising position at the 'porn party'. Semi nude women were seen dancing to English music and others were throwing the currency notes at them.
Police also found a BMW parked outside the party venue. The car is said to be owned by a well-known politician in the city. A Pune Municipal Corporation sticker was fixed on the windshield.
Sources said the son of a well-known political leader also attended the party.
Maharashtra Police have also seized a large number of liquor cartons from the spot.
Those detained have been booked under sections 110 and 85 of the Mumbai Police Act.
Police is awaiting their medical reports to initiate further action.
A police officer said: "It is shocking that a policeman could buy a plush hotel. The hotel is built on about half acre land."
Chinese executives deny sex and sushi with Japanese porn stars
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| The popularity of the Japanese porn star executives allegedly dined from is said to rival that of Sora Aoi, above. |
Three state-owned Chinese enterprises have denied rumors that their executives ate sushi off the naked bodies of porn stars — and had sex with them — during a trip to Japan last year, reports the World Journal, a US-based daily Chinese-language newspaper.
According to an article published in Japanese magazine Flash, a number of senior executives from the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CITIC Group and China National Petroleum Corporation traveled to Japan last autumn and paid a 20,000-yen (US$255) entry fee to experience nyotaimori, or "body sushi," the erotic culinary practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman.
The source, a staff member from a Japanese business consulting firm, said the dinner took place at a high-end restaurant in Tokyo's lively Roppongi district and involved a famous actress from Japan's adult film industry whose popularity rivals that of Sora Aoi, China's most beloved Japanese porn star. At the end of the night, the attendees were given a special offer to take the star back to their hotel room for 150,000 yen (US$1,915) per hour, the source added.
Another source claimed that he chaperoned a provincial Communist Party leader and officials from state-owned enterprises during a visit to Japan in May. The trip was said to be aimed at strengthening ties with Japanese corporations and politicians but the true purpose was to party with stars from Japan's adult film industry, the source said. The officials also allegedly organized nyotaimori with a famous porn star, who went back to the hotel room of the most senior official at the conclusion of the meal. None of the other officials left empty-handed either, the source added.
In late April, state-owned PetroChina was also involved in a scandal where it was alleged that executives were bribed with sexual services from porn stars in a sex party of S-and-M and costume play.
The reports have sparked a furious backlash on China's microblogs, with many suspecting that the services were paid for with public funds. "We don't care what you do with porn stars as long as it's not paid for by our tax money!" wrote one angry netizen.
Others were more (sarcastically) understanding, claiming that it was merely part of an anti-Japan strategy stemming from the ongoing Diaoyu (Senkaku) islands territorial dispute between the two countries.
"They couldn't go to the Diaoyu islands, so they decided to penetrate the enemy from behind instead!" a netizen said.
Egypt's sexual harassment of women 'epidemic'
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| Some Egyptian women are now scared to appear alone or even with female friends in public places |
Last winter, an Egyptian woman was assaulted by a crowd of men in the city of Alexandria.
In video footage of the incident, posted on the internet, she is hauled over men's shoulders and dragged along the ground, her screams barely audible over the shouts of the mob.
It is hard to tell who is attacking her and who is trying to help.
The case was one of the most extreme - but surveys say many Egyptian women face some form of sexual harassment every day.
Marwa, not her real name, says she worries about being groped or verbally harassed whenever she goes downtown. She says it makes her afraid.
"This is something that scares me, as a girl. When I want to go out, walking the street and someone harasses or annoys me, it makes me afraid.
"This stops me from going out. I try to be excessively cautious in the way I dress so I avoid wearing things that attract people."
'Deeply rooted'
The day I met Marwa, she was wearing a long headscarf pinned like a wimple under her chin, and a loose flowing dress with long sleeves over baggy trousers.
But dressing conservatively is no longer a protection, according to Dina Farid of the campaign group Egypt's Girls are a Red Line.
She says even women who wear the full-face veil - the niqab - are being targeted.
"It does not make a difference at all. Most of Egyptian ladies are veiled [with a headscarf] and most of them have experienced sexual harassment.
"Statistics say that most of the women or girls who have been sexually harassed have been veiled or completely covered up with the niqab."
In 2008, a study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights found that more than 80% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment, and that the majority of the victims were those who wore Islamic headscarves.
Said Sadek, a sociologist from the American University in Cairo, says that the problem is deeply rooted in Egyptian society: a mixture of what he calls increasing Islamic conservatism, on the rise since the late 1960s, and old patriarchal attitudes.
"Religious fundamentalism arose, and they began to target women. They want women to go back to the home and not work.
"Male patriarchal culture does not accept that women are higher than men, because some women had education and got to work, and some men lagged behind and so one way to equalise status is to shock women and force a sexual situation on them anywhere.
"It is not the culture of the Pharaohs; it is the culture of the Bedouins," Mr Sadek says.
Mr Sadek and women's campaign groups also blame what they call the lack of security enforcement. They say the police should do more to enforce laws protecting women from harassment.
'Provocative dress'
And the harassers are getting younger and younger.
On the Qasr al-Nil bridge in central Cairo, a hotspot for harassment, I met a group of teenage boys hanging out near street stalls blaring loud music.
When I asked them about a recent case of mass harassment in which women at a park were groped by a gang of boys, they told me the girls brought it on themselves.
"If the girls were dressed respectably, no-one would touch them," one of them said. "It's the way girls dress that makes guys come on to them. The girls came wanting it - even women in niqab."
One of his friends told me the boys were not to blame, and that there was a difference between women who wore loose niqabs and tight ones.
A woman who wore a tight niqab was up for it, he added.
But attitudes like these horrify many Egyptian men - like Hamdy, a human rights activist.
"I really feel very upset myself because I think about my family, my sisters and my mother," he said.
"Before Eid [the festival at the end of Ramadan], I was downtown and I had my sisters with me. It gets very crowded and I had my eyes everywhere, looking around and I shouted at a pedlar who got in their way. In our religion this is something that is not allowed."
The new government says it is taking the problem seriously - although many campaigners argue it is not a priority yet.
For women - like Nancy, who lives in central Cairo - it is a question of freedom.
"I want to walk safely and like a human being. Nobody should touch or harass me - that's it."
Chinese Ferrari sex death mystery
Details of the March accident in Beijing, which also left the women injured, have stayed under wraps in China but are leaking out via media in Hong Kong. The media blackout underscores official fears that the public will be outraged by another instance of excess and recklessness among China's power elites.
The incident follows the jailing of the wife of a top leader who poisoned British businessman Neil Heywood. Both scandals have become bargaining chips in the jockeying for power ahead of a major leadership reshuffle this autumn.
The South China Morning Post cited an unnamed official in Beijing as confirming that Ling Gu, the son of a loyal aide to president Hu Jintao, was the person killed in the March 18 Ferrari accident which initially had minimal and cryptic coverage in China's state media.
The report said Ling was half-naked when the crash occurred and his two passengers were naked or half-dressed, suggesting they had been involved in some kind of high-speed sex game.
The Post's story came just days after the Chinese government announced Ling Gu's father had been transferred to a new position, a move that analysts say ended his ambitions for a post in the upper ranks of the top leadership. They said the shift appeared linked to his son's scandalous death.
On Saturday, Ling Jihua was named as the new head of the United Front Work Department and his old job as director of the general office of the Communist Party's central committee was given to Li Zhanshu - thought to be a close ally of Xi Jinping, the man tapped to the China's next president.
Some analysts have said the shuffle appears to be a victory for Xi and a blow to Hu's camp.
Joseph Cheng, a professor political science at the City University of Hong Kong, said Ling's shift was not a "serious demotion" but one that clearly removes him from the centre of power.
"This Ferrari accident certainly caused his stepping down," Mr Cheng said. "This means that instead of going further up, he has to go to the second line."
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| A top Chinese official's son has died crashing his Ferrari while dallying with two women |
China's political elite has been shaken by a lurid new scandal over the death of a senior official's son who crashed his Ferrari during what appeared to be a sex session with two women.
Details of the March accident in Beijing, which also left the women injured, have stayed under wraps in China but are leaking out via media in Hong Kong. The media blackout underscores official fears that the public will be outraged by another instance of excess and recklessness among China's power elites.
The incident follows the jailing of the wife of a top leader who poisoned British businessman Neil Heywood. Both scandals have become bargaining chips in the jockeying for power ahead of a major leadership reshuffle this autumn.
The South China Morning Post cited an unnamed official in Beijing as confirming that Ling Gu, the son of a loyal aide to president Hu Jintao, was the person killed in the March 18 Ferrari accident which initially had minimal and cryptic coverage in China's state media.
The report said Ling was half-naked when the crash occurred and his two passengers were naked or half-dressed, suggesting they had been involved in some kind of high-speed sex game.
The Post's story came just days after the Chinese government announced Ling Gu's father had been transferred to a new position, a move that analysts say ended his ambitions for a post in the upper ranks of the top leadership. They said the shift appeared linked to his son's scandalous death.
On Saturday, Ling Jihua was named as the new head of the United Front Work Department and his old job as director of the general office of the Communist Party's central committee was given to Li Zhanshu - thought to be a close ally of Xi Jinping, the man tapped to the China's next president.
Some analysts have said the shuffle appears to be a victory for Xi and a blow to Hu's camp.
Joseph Cheng, a professor political science at the City University of Hong Kong, said Ling's shift was not a "serious demotion" but one that clearly removes him from the centre of power.
"This Ferrari accident certainly caused his stepping down," Mr Cheng said. "This means that instead of going further up, he has to go to the second line."
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