The Flip Side

Gwen Stefani

From popsugar.com:  Gwen Stefani, a Southern California native, has announced that she is donating the profits of her upcoming San Diego concert to a fire relief charity. It’s always nice to hear when celebs don’t forget where they came from.

Here’s to Gwen!

Universal has supplied us with the first pictures from Timur Bekmambetov’s “Wanted”.  It doesn’t open til March but these stills have caught my interest.  You may remember that he gave us “Night Watch” and the soon to be released in the U.S. “Day Watch” (the sequel).  “Night Watch” was probably the most innovative horror/fantasy movie to come along in decades. It had amazing action sequences and special effects.  Timur is the best thing to come out of Russia since Smirnoff.  “Wanted” is an action movie, based on Mark Millar’s graphic novel series.  It stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Common, and Angelina Jolie.  The pics are large, but save ‘em down and enjoy them.

Matthew Jordan Smith

He’s appeared on “ America ’s Next Top Model” and for good reason.  He has worked with some of the most well known names in entertainment. Matthew has a way of getting personal with his subjects and that garners some really great portraits.  He has a  book out with celebrity interviews and photos call “Sepia Dreams:  A Celebration of African-American Achievement Through Words and Images”.  You can see lots of photos here:  http://www.matthewjordansmith.com/.  I’ve posted just a few samples of his work.

Jennifer Connelly

According to Ugly Overload it’s called Bleeding Tooth Fungus because:

They ooze a red liquid.
They grow little 4 mm teeth on their underside.
It’s a mushroom.

Yup, sounds reasonable to me.

Adam Sandler

Adam just donated $1 million to the Boys and Girls club in his hometown of Manchester, New Hampshire. He made a video announcement during which he told of his memories of that Boys and Girls Club.  It’s a very nice donation and I’m glad he has such great memories of the club.  I bet a lot of people are now also happy he has such great memories of it.

Drag the mouse around the image…

Parasite and Host

It’s easy to picture someone reclining in the bed of this New England cottage for the mentally ill. The bright snowscape and generous space evoke a sense of peace and harmony—until one looks closer to discover frantic scratch marks still left on the walls.

A chair is all that remains in this former dance hall in Connecticut . The wooden floor is now soggy and overgrown with moss. The foundation slowly sinks into the earth.

This gingerbread-trimmed train station once served summer tourists in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Since the decline of the railroad, the station sits covered in ferns with only occasional birds and insects passing through its halls.

This New England asylum cafeteria, with its graffiti-covered walls and fallen chandelier, withstood numerous assaults by vandals—only to be felled by a wrecking ball in 2006.

Maple syrup was boiled down to make sugar as a part of this rural refinery in Vermont . This tin-roofed, shingle-sided shack still contains rusted machinery. Utensils and moth-eaten aprons litter the floor.

This is what happens when you leave your windows open too long. This former bedroom in an abandoned family home near the Mississippi River has been infiltrated by vines that nearly reach the opposite wall.

I love Halloween.  At no other time of year can so many horror movies be seen on TV.  At no other time of year are so many horror DVDs released at one time.  Yes, it’s adult trick or treating and I’ve been busy sampling the goodies.  Let’s examine my trick or treat bag this year.

I saw both of these and thought them both really good in their own ways.  “Death Proof” was more a “hang onto your seat” action movie with a few truly disturbing scenes.  My only complaint was that it moved a bit slow in the first half.  Considering that Quentin Tarantino modeled those after the Grindhouse movies of his youth, that’s understandable.  They did always move slow in the first half.  It was worth watching though, and those few truly disturbing scenes will haunt me for a long long time.

As for “Planet Terror”….just what you might expect.  It was gruesome and frantic.  Robert Rodriguez did a wonderful job with that style of movie and even the “way out there” scenes were funny (as they were meant to be). 

Black Sheep

Sorry, I just can’t bring myself to watch a movie about killer sheep.  I just can’t.

I haven’t seen this one yet, but actually plan to.

David Cassidy

So after finding out what John Taylor has been up to, I was asked to look into another idol.  Few heartthrobs ever reached the stratospheric adulation that blessed and cursed 70s teen idol David Cassidy.  I’m sure you all know by now, having seen the biopics.  David spent much time escaping his predicament and now in later years is enjoying a more sedate version of that worship.  David has done a lot of work in theatre and has been enjoying shows in Vegas.  His daughter, Katie, is making a name for herself and can currently be seen as Ruby on “Supernatural”.  She’s actually quite good in the role.

Katie Cassidy