February 2014

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–Robin Thicke is now free to be “twerked upon” as much as he wants. After months of speculation and grossness, he and Paula Patton have announced their separation.

–Oprah took her very first selfie and Idris Elba was in it, proving she’s totally got this internet thing down pat.

–Alec Baldwin penned an epic rant in New York magazine titled “Good-bye, Public Life.” (It should have been titled “Goodbye, Any Pretense of Not Being an Asshole”.) He actually raises some good points, but then buries them in brattiness and bigotry. He claims he’s not a homophobe and realizes that he needs to be more careful with his word choice, and then he casually drops the word “tranny” like it’s NBD. He tries to make Shia LaBeouf seem like an entitled ass (which, no doubt, he is), but then he lets it slip that Shia showed up to work knowing all of his lines, while “I, however, do not learn my lines in advance.” Um, what? Isn’t that your job? And if you really want to walk away from the spotlight of public life, isn’t there a better way than penning a click-baity, troll-y cover story? Like maybe…just walking away?

–Jessica Biel was photographed looking very non-pregnant, for those of you at home keeping score. She’s also scheduled to present at the Oscars on Sunday.

-The full list of Oscar presenters have been announced, and Biel isn’t the only head-scratcher. Zac Efron? Kate Hudson?

-Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel announced all the guests scheduled to appear on his post-Oscars show, and it sounds like it’s going to be stacked.

-So pretty much no one in America has seen this year’s best picture nominees. Captain Phillips was the most-watched one, and that was only seen by 15% of those polled.

–Liam Neeson says Bono was really nice to his kids when Natasha Richardson died.

-Did the prospect of random drug testing cause Justin Bieber to reject a plea deal in his Miami Beach DUI case?

-But look, he’s recording a song with his mommy! That makes everything all better, right?

–Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint had a hairy Harry Potter reunion.

-It looks like Josh Brolin‘s assistant has been upgraded to his girlfriend.

–Anna Kendrick (wearing a very cute romper — words I rarely put together) helped pal Miles Teller celebrate his birthday in Vegas.

-Aw nuts. Harold Ramis has died. Let’s all raise a glass of ectoplasm and listen to “I’ve Got You, Babe” on repeat.

-I’m glad to see Bill Murray put out a statement about Ramis. The pair reportedly hadn’t spoken since a falling out on the set of Groundhog Day.

-This is admirable: Ukrainian born actress Milla Jovovich is raising money to help the victims of violence in Kiev.

–January Jones shared a photo of her 9-year-old self on Instagram and it made me almost like her.

-When I heard this weekend that NBC was planning to bring back Heroes, I assumed it was a joke. How is it not a joke?!

-In other NBC news, Jennifer Lopez is coming back to TV as a single mother cop. Let’s hope it’s more Out of Sight and less Gigli.

–Julianne Moore says she does her own housework, so there.

-A girl from Pretty Little Liars is engaged to a guy from Suits. Please don’t make me learn their names.

-Oopsie! Avatar star Sam Worthington was arrested in NYC after allegedly punching a photographer. It sounds like the paparazzo first kicked Sam’s girlfriend in the shins, though.

-Warner Brothers seems to realize that Veronica Mars will probably do better on VOD than at the box office, so they’re making the film available as a digital download and rental the same day it opens in theatres. That pretty much never happens.

-Scandal returns on Thursday. Celebrate by staring a Kerry Washington’s belly bump.

-Speaking of Kerry‘s belly bump, she had a baby shower at Shonda Rhimes‘ house.

–Amanda Seyfried has landed the role of the female lead in Ted 2.

-Meanwhile Mila Kunis, who was in the first Ted movie, is busy getting old-timey in her new ad for Jim Bean.

–David O. Russell says he accidentally spoiled Anna Karenina for Jennifer Lawrence. I did the exact same thing once to a coworker. Who knew 140-year-old classics need to come with spoiler warnings?

–Seth Meyers‘ Late Night hosting gig starts tonight.

-I’ve mentioned before how I just don’t buy the “True Detective is the best show ever!” mantra that’s floating around (I was momentarily onboard last week and then I saw the latest episode and have jumped back off the train). However, I’m LOVING all the thoughtful analysis being written about the show’s depiction of women. The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum called it out in an article today, which was posted at pretty much the exact time as Slate’s Willa Paskin’s piece about how the show’s objectification is intentional. And that led to a bunch of other smart TV critics throwing in their (very eloquent) two cents, either defending the show, critiquing it, or pleading with us all to hold our judgment until the season finale airs in a few weeks. This might be the first time I’m more entertained by reading about a show than actually watching it.

-The first full trailer for Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley on HBO has landed.