Kandi Burruss, the Grammy-winning songwriter who appears as a regular cast member on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta, has spoken out regarding the murder of her ex-fiance Ashley "A.J." Jewell on Friday. Jewell was beaten to death outside of the popular Atlanta strip club the Body Tap Club, where he was part-owner. Police charged club employee Frederick Richardson on Saturday with voluntary manslaughter. Read Burruss's comments after the jump.
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More developments from the bombed-out front of the Roman Polanski Culture War:
· Offering a little context to Samantha Geimer's avowed support of her recently apprehended rapist, the L.A. Times got a hold of court records saying that Polanski settled the woman's civil suit in 1993 for a cool half-million dollars. Interest had increased the amount to more than $600,000 two years later after Polanski failed to pay up and Geimer's lawyers attempted to garnish Polanski's directing fees. The records don't indicate if or when the parties ever squared up, but they haven't been in court for more than a decade, and Geimer's forgiveness and urge to put the put the matter behind her seem to suggest a resolution was achieved.
After the jump: Cokie Roberts calls for an execution, Bill Maher distances himself, and France shrugs as usual.
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The Paris fashion firmament was rocked Sunday when Lindsay Lohan introduced her first collection as the "artistic adviser" of Emanuel Ungaro. The reaction? "We love Lindsay Lohan -- as an actress," said one observer. "Period." Others weren't even that kind, with the billowing jackets and skin-tight frocks inspiring one noted magazine editor to bolt and some attendees to be photographed with their hands over their faces in mock tribute to the starlet. Ungaro's CEO acknowledged Lohan's appointment was intended to draw publicity; mission accomplished. Now if only he could tap into the market for Lohan's heart-shaped pasties, he'd really be on to something. [NYT]
· After receiving relentless crap from the Hollywood establishment for daring to spend $100 million on what amounted to an art-house gangster movie (and a modestly performing one at that), Michael Mann will downsize with Columbia for a biopic of war photographer Robert Capa on the cheap. Adapted from the novel Waiting for Robert Capa, the film would focus on his two-year affair with fellow photographer and fascism refugee Gerda Taro. Mann promises a "gritty, low-budget film," which probably just means he'll try to talk Leonardo DiCaprio down to $10 million and a few points. [Variety]
The Next Three Days moves closer to casting all of Hollywood, remembering Miramax, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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The clouds have finally parted on the recently plagued box office, only to reveal a baby grand piano tumbling from the sky and splatting zombie guts across a 14-foot radius. Congratulations, Cynthia Knickerbocker -- your deadly ingenuity has saved Hollywood.
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In our new box office landscape, where zombies prowl the earth and earn an easy #1 for the weekend, there is one depressing new maxim: Movies made by, for, and starring women are going to ta-ank. Witness the heavily-hyped Whip It, which opened in sixth place yesterday; not only will it pale in comparison to the already-brutal Jennifer's Body opening numbers, it couldn't even beat The Invention of Lying, for Christ's sake. And it was released by Fox Searchlight! Ladies, what do you want from the movies? I'm not a mind-reader over here.
Full figures after the jump:
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It was a week of tests, travails and international meltdowns, and Movieline observed the results with diligence. Take a rest and reminisce with us about the good times, the hard times and everything in between. And most importantly: Have a fantastic weekend.
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Disney announced today that Miramax will be undergoing a restructuring that will reduce the amount of films the studio releases per year. This year, Miramax has only released four (with one more -- Everybody's Fine -- to go), so there's not a whole lot of room for downscaling. That sound you hear is Harvey Weinstein indulging in the only thing he can afford right now: schadenfreuede. [Deadline.com]
· Kristen Stewart's "edgy" spread in Interview magazine suggests she's reluctant to publicly take a side in the whole Team Edward/Team Jacob debate.
· Looking back at the whole Letterman thing, the signs were there.
· Indiana Jones and the Trove of 'Saturday Evening Post' Covers: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are combining their collections of Norman Rockwell paintings for a retrospective of the artist's work at the Smithsonian.
· Esquire declared Kate Beckinsale the Sexiest Woman Alive. It's a big year for the actress, what with critics touting Whiteout as the "best movie about liquid correction fluid you're likely to see this year."
· This isn't the Anne Frank movie we had in mind, but we'll take it: The only existing filmed image of the diarist, leaning out of her window to get a look at the bride next door.
It's time once again to scan the culture for fissures, frays and other signs of wear from Roman Polanski's first official week back in the harsh light of Hollywood justice:
· If his testimony last night on The Jay Leno Show is any indication, Chris Rock will not likely be signing any petitions of support for the embattled filmmaker. "He made good movies -- 30 years ago! Even Johnnie Cochran doesn't have the nerve to go, 'Well, did you see O.J. play against New England?'" (The video is after the jump.) Tom O'Neil, however, begs to differ, arguing that if Polanski had simply capitalized on the goodwill of his 2002 Oscar for The Pianist and returned to America to have his sentence squashed, then the filmmaker, his victim, a delegitimized documentary and the rest of us might have avoided this whole sorry mess. Obviously we'll never know, but oh, how one can only wish.
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There's no denying that last night's stunning, riveting, intermittently humorous and deeply uncomfortable revelation from David Letterman that he'd been the target of an extortion attempt made for great television. But just why Dave, so deeply private a man, would choose to fling a laundromat's worth of dirty clothes off the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee is a matter of debate. But he did, which means we're all implicated at this point, to some extent. Here's what we've learned about the blackmailer, the mistress and the $2 million screenplay since then:
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As mentioned in Wednesday's Buzz Break, a Zapruder-filmesque conspiracy emerged this week when some freak attempted to convince the world a vagina-slip occurred on So You Think You Can Dance. Fox reps insisted whatever the slo-mo obsessive saw between a contestant's legs was merely a "wrinkle in her panties," and finally released photos last night confirming the labial-bunchery theory. Such a relief! Now, Fox: Please explain the Lady Gaga hermaphrodite tape. [The Live Feed]
· As Hollywood dramas go, we might look back on the Great MGM Panic of 2009 as a little overreaching: While the flagging, restructuring studio remains more than $3 billion in debt, a temporary forbearance from repaying the interest on that debt will keep some of its prized franchises (including The Hobbit and James Bond) from imminent liquidation. We'll catch up with them in December, when the panic should begin anew like clockwork despite all our best wishes. Poor lion. [DHD]
The Future is now at Warners, NBC leans on J.J. Abrams, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Welcome back to Movieline Attractions, your regular guide to everything new, noteworthy and unusually crowd-pleasing and good at the movies. This week we reap a harvest bruising, lying, zombie-whacking pleasures; no matter where you turn, from the multiplex to the art house, your satisfaction seems guaranteed. And it's about time. Run down the weekend outlook with Movieline after the jump.
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· Sesame Street's shift towards an all-pop-culture-parody curriculum seems to have reached its logical conclusion with this nod to iPod ads. We'd say something highly critical of how corporate plugs have managed to infiltrate the Children's Television Workshop, except ... Snuffleupagus with an iPod! OMGZ. So cuuuuuuute. How does he get the earbuds to stay in?! [via The Daily What]
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