The Killer Inside Me is set for release in 2010; its five minute trailer promo gives away a good chunk of the plot, which seems to involve quite a lot of graphic violence against women. This isn't particularly surprising, considering the long-standing media fascination with sex crimes, and the rising acceptance of rape scenes on prime time television (we're particularly reminded of the Last House on the Left trailer, which clearly showed a very young actress being raped). However, the level of violence shown in the clip is striking, and given the context, quite disturbing.

The film is based on a 1952 novel by the same name by writer Jim Thompson. According to Wikipedia, the novel centers around a young deputy sheriff living in a small town in western Texas, who has always felt the presence of some sort of "dark rider," to use the Dexter-terminology. Lou Ford is a sadistic monster, but he generally keeps his sociopathic tendencies under wraps (except for that one time when he sexually abused a young girl as a teen). As an adult, Ford takes up with a prostitute, in an apparently consensual sadomasochistic relationship that ends in her death. He then attempts to cover her murder by embarking on a series of killings, which ultimately ends up exposing his "sickness" to the world.

Judging by the clip, director Micheal Winterbottom has decided to stay pretty close to the source material. It's clear that Ford is a fucked up dude, who escalates from isolated acts of torture to beating his lover until her face is memorably described as "stewed meat, hamburger." Gwen from Sociological Images writes:

Clearly, Casey Affleck's character is a sadistic asshole (the cigar on the guy's hand), but in the promo, at least, the graphic, sexualized violence is reserved for women…who also appear to like it, at least for a while. Jessica Alba gives in to him, and apparently starts a relationship with him, after he pulls her pants down and whips her. Perhaps that's because she's a prostitute; of course she'd like a dominant man who plays rough, right?

The thing is, you could make this movie and tell the same story without actually showing all the violence in such a graphic way. Movies imply things all the time. It's a choice to show this type of violence toward women as a form of entertainment…and to show the women liking it.

Full disclosure: I'm a horror movie fanatic, and I generally don't shy away from violence on film. I have no problem with Tarantino, and I've seen more of the Saw franchise than I'd like to admit. And yet, Gwen's final comments hit the nail on the head as to why this is particularly bothersome. Not only do we get a truly horrific glimpse of Jessica Alba's face after she's been beaten to death, but we also see the start of their relationship, which begins with a beating, followed immediately by passionate, consensual sex.

It's this series of events that bothers me. Less than a minute in, we see him carry a screaming Jessica Alba to the bed, where he turns her over and whips her with his belt while she screams in pain. Suddenly, something changes - he's no longer an abuser, but a lover. Now, there is nothing wrong with enjoying some healthy, consensual BDSM, but those relationships don't start out as a brutal attack. As far as I can tell, it appears that the first time these two characters meet, he begins to act out his violent fantasies upon her, but it's turns out O.K. (for awhile), because she likes it! This is a dangerous way of approaching sexual violence, for although she may be enjoying the spanking, it is clear that she is never in control. And this is the main problem with portraying rape fantasies and BDSM sex: If there is no discussion of power-play, it just ends up sending the message that women like rape or want to be beaten. Furthermore, Lou Ford's penchant for violence is explained away simply as a "sickness," which, while it may be good for the plot, glosses over the prevalence of rape culture. In making this an illness, particular to one individual, the movie is able to dabble in the same tropes that we see over and over again, and exploit the thrill of watching violence against women, without touching the greater issues at play. So unless Winterbottom is willing to delve into the dynamics of consent/control, The Killer Inside Me will be no better than a snuff film.

"The Killer Inside Me" Promo [Sociological Images]
The Killer Inside Me (Novel) [Wikipedia]
The Killer Inside Me [IMDB]

• John Mayer did not, repeat did not buy an engagement ring for Jennifer Aniston. [Us Magazine]

• In fact: John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston may have broken up. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Brad Pitt: Considering public office? [Variety]
• Chris Brown pulled out of the Kids' Choice Awards of his own accord; Nickelodeon didn't make the decision. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Chris Brown is firing his manager and looking for a "whole new team." An insider claims he wanted to apologize for the beating earlier and was advised not to… [Page Six]
• Rihanna went out clubbing in West Hollywood Tuesday night. [Concrete Loop]
• "Julia was all smiles for fans and stopped to do a few autographs, but as soon as she stepped inside the cinema her mood changed. She shouted at photographers to leave her alone then asked staff to bring her a glass of champagne before she would answer any questions."  From a spywitness report on Julia Roberts' behavior at the Duplicty premiere in London. [The Sun]
• Here, Julia Roberts dishes on 10 of her favorite leading men. [EW]
• A French "society" magazine is reporting that Prince William will marry Kate Middleton this summer. ZOMG royal wedding askjdkfflasjdk!!! [Daily Mail]
• A hospital official inspected Nadya Suleman's new house yesterday, to insure that it is safe for the octuplets. The babies will be released, two at a time, any day now. [E!]
• Noted marijuana enthusiast Michael Phelps has been interviewed by Matt Lauer; look for footage on the Today show on Friday and Sunday on Dateline. [ET]
• Jesus Luz is back in Rio. He claims he has "always" been interested in kabbalah, before ever meeting Madonna. He's going to be in Brazil for a month while waiting for his work visa, then back to New York! [Made In Brazil]
• Madonna and Guy Ritchie have come to a custody agreement regarding the kids: Rocco and David will live with Madge but guy will get regular visits and see the children in the UK during the holidays. [The Sun]
• If you miss Project Runway, Heidi Klum thinks you should do something about it: "I think that people should be demonstrating outside of [company co-chairman] Harvey Weinstein's house. If it were up to me, it would be on by now." [MSNBC]
• Prince has decided that Prince will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno four times, coinciding with the release of Prince's albums, LotUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND. Oh, and also coinciding with the last time Leno hosts. [ET]
• Ricky Gervais to appear on the finale episode of The Office? [Mirror]
• Early buzz on Sacha Baron Cohen's new flick, Bruno: "Shocking, jaw-dropping and TOTALLY FUCKING HILARIOUS." [Mother Jones]
• Joaquin Phoenix was rapping at a Miami Beach nightclub when someone in the audience started heckling him, so naturally he jumped into the crowd and had some sort of confrontation before being dragged away by security guards. Did Casey Affleck get the whole thing on video? Yes, yes he did. [Yahoo News via AP, Daily Mail]
• Mickey Rourke will be the Russian villain in Iron Man 2. [Deadline Hollywood]
• Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French spoofed Mamma Mia for Comic Relief and Sienna Miller played the Amanda Seyfried role. Click for the photo, which in itself is funny. [Daily Mail]
• Geri Halliwell dumped her fiancé, but he'd done an interview with an Italian magazine the same day  in which he talked about how much she's "changed his life." Awkward! [The Sun]
• The guy who owns the Beverly Hills mansion where MTV shot the Live From The Hills Season finale says the production company trashed his house. The damage? $158,250.07. Please don't forget the seven cents. [TMZ]
• Balthazar Getty, who recently left Brothers & Sisters, will guest star on an episode of Medium. At least he's working? [EW]
• Kiefer Sutherland used to babysit Gwyneth Paltrow. True story. [The Star]
• 50 Cent and Rick Ross are in a feud and Fiddy's latest move is to release a porn tape featuring Ross's former girlfriend. Classy! [TMZ]
• Lance Bass is a matchmaker. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Jada Pinkett Smith's school is now open, and accepting kids pre-K through sixth grade. Does it have ties with Scientology, you ask? Well, the "study technology" is that developed by L. Ron Hubbard. Pinkett Smith says the school stresses "100 per cent mastery," encouraging students to retake exams until they score 100 per cent. Fun? [Yahoo News via AP]
• Shannen Doherty will return to 90210 for the season finale, if you care. [E!]
• Ashley Jensen is definitely leaving Ugly Betty, because she just got cast as a regular on a new CBS show, Accidentally On Purpose. That's the one where Jenna Elfman plays a movie critic who finds herself "accidentally" knocked up after a fling with a younger man. [EW]
• Beck is playing a charity show tonight, with proceeds going to Educating Children International. Turns out that's a Scientology organization. If you feel icky inside, you're not the only one. [LA Times]
• Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs has a third band, the Dead Weather. The new group includes Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Greenhornes. Album drops in June. [USA Today]
• Handsome devil Chris Cornell has a new album, produced by  wait for it  Timbaland. [Yahoo news via AP]
• Dr. Phil's wife promised some skin care company she'd get them on her husband's show. The company was so psyched, they spent $650,000 on stuff the public would surely be clamoring for. Except the products never made it to the show. So the company is suing. [TMZ]
• Kathy Griffin was booed off the stage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. [Village Voice]
• Al Reynolds is not getting a reality show, even though he wants one. [Extra]
• If you remember the '90s, then you may remember blond bro rockers Nelson. Well Matthew is getting divorced and asking his wife for spousal support. Yeah. [TMZ]
• Blind item: "Which newly engaged lesbian would be horrified to discover her main squeeze has been sleeping around ... with men?" [Gatecrasher]
• "I've come into my own head a little bit really, being a bit more honest and open, rather than hiding in a crack pipe or wherever and just not turning up most of the time."  Pete Doherty. [The Sun]
• "Artemis has a few really great lines because she plays everything – even the humor – very straight. The one that made me laugh out loud when I read it was when she tells Hippolyta that they shouldn't have let Diana go out into the outside world. Hippolyta asks, 'What could we have done to have stopped her?' And Artemis says, 'Well I could have shot her in the leg with an arrow. Not in an artery, of course.' It's just so deadpan – she wouldn't kill her, but she would've shot her. It's so dry, and it's so honest. And I love that."  Rosario Dawson, on her role in Wonder Woman. [Toon Zone News]
• "It's amazing to me that the tabloids such as the National Enquirer print such negative stories about me and my health when there are so many positive things going on in my life right now. I've started a new chemotherapy and, once again, I am one of the lucky ones with pancreatic cancer that is responding well to the treatment."  Patrick Swayze, who denies he has reached "the end." [People]
• "I'm not quite sure why, but the strongest female characters I've found have predominantly been in period films, more than in modern-day films. At least with the stuff that's been sent to me. I love watching period movies because I think that watching films is about escapism and about fantasy and I find it easier to dive into a fantasy that I don't know anything about, you know, that I don't live day to day. I love that feeling of escapism that period films give me, and that books about different times give me, or paintings give me. But I wasn't setting out to go, 'OK, I'm only going to do period films.' I work in a very instinctual way and I respond to certain things and I have no idea why, but for some reason the last couple of films have all been period."  Keira Knightley, whose new film, Edge Of Love, is set in the 1940s and depicts the poet Dylan Thomas. [Salon]
• "You know, the company that financed this film, they came to me about two weeks before we started filming and said watch out for Malkovich, he's a badass, he will fuck you - I don't know if I'm allowed to curse - he will really, you know, ride a director into the ground. And then he showed up and he was nice and cool and funny and sweet and I never had a single problem. Kind of disappointing; I almost wish that at some point he had really let me have it, but he never did."  Director Sean McGinley, on John Malkovich. [New York Mag]
• "I hate all that calorie counting. I eat what I want and then if my weight starts to go up, I cut back. Of course, I've aged a bit in the face, but not enough to worry about it. I have common sense enough to know that if I'm nearly 70, something has to happen."  Tina Turner. [Daily Mail]

• Joaquin Phoenix's rap career: An elaborate hoax? Sort of.

More of an "art project," in which he's pretending to have a meltdown and change careers. While bro-in-law Casey Affleck films it all. [EW]

• Amy Winehouse. Topless. Playing Scrabble. [The Sun]
• Oh no: Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, is making robocalls for Scientology. Using Bart Simpson's voice, and saying, "Hey, this is Bart Simpson  Just kidding!" This is bad news bears. [Perez]
• Gary Oldman has a simple explanation for how he came to accept Heath Ledger's SAG award: "We went for a wonderful meal with [Heath's] family in New York, we got on very well. [Later] they called and said, 'Would I pick it up for [Heath] if he won?'" [Mirror]
• Did Kate Winslet "blow her chance" to win an Oscar by forgetting Angelina Jolie at the Golden Globes? [Telegraph]
• The parents of two kids in Slumdog Millionaire claim the movie may be making millions, but they continue to live in "grinding poverty." One father says: "I am very happy the movie is doing so well, but it is making so much money and so much fame and the money they paid us is nothing." [Telegraph]
• More Slumdog issues: A social activist in Mumbai has filed a complaint in a local court against director Danny Boyle, saying the film's title is damaging and discriminating. The guy has also named some stray dogs after the Danny Boyle and the stars of the film. He explains: "When the British ruled India, they called Indians 'dogs'. Why do we want to call these poor children 'dogs' 60 years after we got independence?" [Yahoo News via Reuters]
• Jessica Simpson's workout 2005 video was squashed by Big Daddy Joe Simpson, but if you follow this link you'll find a clip from the tape and audio from Jessica's business manager, in which he calls Jess a bitch and Joe an asshole. [Defamer]
• Guy Ritchie's dad, John, is pretty damn pleased his son is not with Madonna anymore. He tells In Touch: "The worst thing would be if they reconciled" and he's happy Madge has "lots of boyfriends" since it means she'll leave Guy alone. He also says: "There are no big arguments between them. All they discuss is the children." [Perez]
• Will Paris Hilton hit on Prince Harry now that he's single? "I think he's a nice guy, I love Chelsy though - I think she's so sweet - so I wouldn't try anything." [Telegraph]
• Why did Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy break up? Maybe time and distance pulled them apart. Maybe the relationship had "run its course." [People]
• Wait a minute: Kate Middleton is allergic to horses? Does polo-playing Prince William know? Does the Queen know? [Daily Mail]
• Whoa: Kelly Rowland has fired manager Matthew Knowles, who's always been like a dad to her. Was she sick of playing second banana to Beyoncé? [Bossip]
• Michael Jackson has serious, serious problems, including massive debt and, um, the Thriller musical. [Fox 411]
• Salma Hayek and Harvey Weinstein threw a Hollywood Hills bash to honor Penelope Cruz's Oscar nod, and everyone was there: Scarlett Johansson and hubby Ryan Reynolds, Ashton Kutcher and wife Demi Moore, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Antonio Banderas and wife Melanie Griffith, Charlize Theron and partner Stuart Townsend, and Angela Bassett and hubby Courtney B. Vance. Oh, and Colin Farrell. And Prince. ScarJo has dark hair now. [Gatecrasher]
• Catherine Zeta-Jones has homegrown kitchen beauty secrets: Honey and salt to exfoliate; beer shampoo; apple or strawberry for toothpaste. [Daily Mail]
• Apparently, when Jessica Alba called Bill O'Reilly "kind of an a-hole," he shot back and called her a pinhead for telling a reporter to "Be Sweden about it," assuming she meant Switzerland. Alba blogged on her MySpace: "Last week, Mr. Bill O'Reilly and some really classy sites (i.e.TMZ) insinuated I was dumb by claiming Sweden was a neutral country. I appreciate the fact that he is a news anchor and that gossip sites are inundated with intelligent reporting, but seriously people... it's so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland." Turns out Sweden was neutral and Alba was right. And O'Reilly is an a-hole. [MSNBC]
• Who comes from royalty? Whose family owned slaves? Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon will star in NBC's genealogy reality series Who Do You Think You Are? Lisa Kudrow is executive producing the show, which explores celeb ancestral histories. [Reuters via Hollywood Reporter]
• The ladies pictured with Russell Brand yesterday have spoken to the press. "Russell took his clothes off as soon as we got through his front door. He was definitely wanting a threesome  and he thought he was going to get one," says the one who was wearing a blue onesie and white stilettos for the night. The women left because they "had a photoshoot." Russell gave the paper a different version of events: "Those women were at Brand Towers as they assured me they were qualified engineers and could fix my washing machine. I only took my clothes off 'cos I wanted to bung a load in. The washing machine is still broke but my clothes are remarkably unstained." [Daily Mail]
• Keith Olbermann, Tyra Banks, Suze Orman, Gus Van Sant, k.d. lang, Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow: All nominated for GLAAD awards. [Page Six]
• NYC socialite Olivia Palermo wants to be a serious actress. That's why she is on The City, a "reality" show. [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which married Oscar winner was caught pants- down in a club closet, getting naughty with a tranny? The waitress who walked in on the pair was so stunned, she dropped her drink tray." [Gatecrasher]
• Hotel mogul and Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn has split with his wife Elaine. [Page Six]
• Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy crossover alert! Kate Walsh, Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs will be on the February 12 episode of Grey's. [UPI]
• Kylie Minogue has recorded a song with kiddie band The Wiggles, because she has a 2-year-old nephew she wants to impress. "Now Charles really will think I’m cool," she says. "I hope he likes the song. It was fun to do. I might even grab a shirt and go on tour with the boys. I’m not sure what colour I will be." [The Sun]
• Debbie Matenopoulos's ex-husband claims she "pays for nothing" related to their multimillion-dollar Los Angeles home. He's demanding that she help pay the mortgage, agree to refinance, or move out and sell the home. He also admits that they both "continuously lived beyond our means during our marriage." Messy business! [People]
• Paul McCartney's publicist on the Paul McCartney wedding rumor: "No truth to it." [Yahoo News via E!]
• 50 Cent's manager is among the many who lost money via Bernie Madoff. How much? "Nothing to talk about. It's not life-threatening." [Page Six]
• Lauren Hutton was seen yelling at her help. [Page Six]
• Gene Simmons has signed on with Universal Music Canada and created his own record label, Simmons records. He writes: If you’re reading this and you’re in a Canadian band (only!!!)….and you believe you’re the next Elvis or Beatles (don’t we all…)…go to SIMMONSRECORDS.COM and we will tell you how YOU can submit your electronic demo. This is serious.” Well okay then. [Rolling Stone]
• Noel Gallagher says Oasis saved him from a life of crime: "There’s one less criminal in Burnage because I picked up the guitar. There’s one less shoplifter in Manchester." [The Sun]
• Michael Crichton left money to tons of people in his will. [TMZ]
• Isla Fisher has joined the cast of Rango, a Gore Verbinski-directed animated flick about a pet who goes on an adventure; Johnny Depp is the lead voice and Abigal Breslin has also been cast. [Variety]
• Chic people like Liz Goldwyn, Emmanuelle Seigner and Lou Doillon were at the Givenchy show in Paris, and you were not. [WWD]
• What do we think about Solange covering a Coldplay song? [Concrete Loop]
• This was bound to happen: Kanye West has changed his name. You may now call him Martin ‘Louis’ The King Jr., because he has his own Louis Vuitton shoes now. [Pop Crunch]
• "Love and light is mentioned a lot on the album. Parts of it are dark and edgy. It could be because I’ve been through a dark place. I am a man who needs love. Every man needs love, guys like romance. I do anyway."  Paul McCartney on his latest album, and maybe that "dark place" is the soul of Heather Mills. [The Sun]
• "That sweat is real and there is a lot of it. I said, 'Listen, we're going to show me exactly as I am and I'm going to sweat. Just towel me up.' Luckily, I had good waterproof makeup on and my hair stayed looking kind of cute. But that's the real deal. I'm sweating like a pig."  Lisa Rinna on her workout DVD. [Parade]
• "For five seasons I was stuck doing this character. It was kind of hard always having to play that character when it's not who I am… I just say jokes but people think I'm serious which I think is funny and I think I kind of play up to the image sometimes because - whatever - it's entertainment."  Paris Hilton. [Mirror]
• "My typical morning these days would be to get up at 6:30am, make breakfast, get Beatrice up, get her dressed and watch some TV. I don't have a nanny I do all the regular stuff myself. I take her to school, talk to all the mums, talk to the teacher then pick her up from school. I love every second of it and I'm not exhausted at all. People say, I'm up at 6:30am, what is going on? But I genuinely love it. It's a thrill bringing up a young kid, it's such an education. I am a different dad now but it's good."  Paul McCartney, 66, on life with a five-year-old. [Telegraph]
• I am completely disgusted by the headlines concerning my sister's weight. A week after the inauguration and with such a feeling of hope in the air for our country, I find it completely embarrassing and belittling to all women to read about a woman's weight or figure as a headline on Fox News. All women come in different shapes, sizes, and forms and just because you're a celebrity, there shouldn't be a different standard. Is this something you would say to your wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, or even a friend? I seriously doubt it. How can we expect teenage girls to love and respect themselves in an environment where we criticize a size 2 figure? Now can we focus on the things that really matter."  Ashlee Simpson. [ONTD via MySpace]

• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony had trouble getting into the Neighborhood Ball last night, because they were late. You gotta get there before the President! [Page Six]

• An aside: Was Jennifer Lopez seen sneaking out of the Scientology Center in L.A.? Even though her dad and her friend Leah Remini are Scientologists, J. Lo has always said she's not into it. [Gatecrasher]
• Whoa, the American Music Ball was canceled hours before it started. Performers George Clinton, Ben Vereen and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes had to go to the Heroes Ball instead. [Page Six]
• Susan Sarandon got a Politico blogger kicked out of a Creative Coalition brunch in D.C. What did the blogger do? Ask Sarandon if she'd say a word or two about Obama's speech. [Politico]
• Here's how Kerry Washington watched Barack Obama's swearing-in yesterday: "I dressed as if going for skiing. I had many layers — tights, jeans, thermal underwear," she says. "We stood in line for the hours everyone else did. I had a seated ticket to the swearing-in, but I gave up my seat and went up to the front area and kneeled." [USA Today]
• By the by, a new musical called Obama On My Mind opens in March in London. No, really. [People]
• Get ready: Thursday morning, Forest Whitaker will announce this year's Academy Award nominations. Then the Oscars will air live on February 22. [People]
• Presenters at the SAG Awards include Christina Applegate, Kyra Sedgwick, Jon Hamm, John Krasinski, Angela Bassett and Eric McCormack. The event takes place Sunday night at 8 p.m. and will be simulcast on TBS and TNT. [Variety]
• Date alert! Renée Zellweger was spotted having dinner with MSNBC legal correspondent Dan Abrams. [Page Six]
• Amy Winehouse is a heroine! Not on heroin, but a lifesaver: A tourist was having a sailing lesson in the Caribbean when she was thrown out of the boat by a big wave. The woman landed on some rocks and Amy dashed to her side, keeping her from being swept back into the sea. [The Sun]
• Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot who saved Flight 1549, was seen dining on bird (chicken) at a D.C. restaurant called Hudson last night. [TMZ]
• Joaquin Phoenix threw a fit when Casey Affleck and the documentary crew arrived late to his rap performance in Las Vegas. "Thanks for fucking everything up," Phoenix yelled before throwing a CD on the floor. A source says: "Nobody can tell if he is for real or if this is all a big joke." Sorta hoping it's a joke. [Page Six]
• Oh God: When he was performing in Vegas, Joaquin Phoenix's pants had a massive hole in the crotch. "It was hard for anyone to focus on his singing," laughed one witness. "The worst was that the hole was at eye [level] for most of the crowd." [Gatecrasher]
• Sean Penn's been criticized for meeting with people like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, but his publicist says: "Sean is a champion of civil rights." [Perez]
• A California appeals court has put the Roman Polanski case on hold. [Reuters]
• A month after his brother died of a gunshot wound, Mark Ruffalo is back at work, directing and starring in Sympathy For Delicious, a flick about a paralyzed DJ who seeks out the world of faith healing. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Kristen Stewart is at Sundance plugging a new flick, Adventureland, but she reluctantly spoke about the Twilight sequel, sorta. Click for "um, like" video. [E!]
• Kevin Federline's new girlfriend "played mommy" when she and K-Fed took Sean Preston and Jayden James out to dinner over the weekend. [TMZ]
• Jude Law was wearing a neck brace after "tweaking" his neck while working out, but you can relax, he's fine. [Page Six]
• Danny Boyle is in Mumbai, defending Slumdog Millionaire: "The thing that I wanted people to take away from the film was ... this breathtaking, breathtaking resilience of people and the joy of people despite their circumstances, that lust for life," he says. "What we tried to do in the film was include as much of the city as possible." This paper notes that half of the city's 17 million people are homeless. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Blind item! "Which married morning-show producer rumored to be having an affair with a married on-air colleague was 'fidgeting incessantly' during inauguration weekend parties with her recently ringless ring finger?" [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which supermodel had to have an uber-rocker’s teeth marks photoshopped off her bared bottom after her magazine photo shoot?" [Gatecrasher]
• Simon Cowell has fired Britain's Got Talent judge Kelly Brook after just six days on the job. Guess she didn't "bring the crazy," which is what a "judge" has to do these days. [Perez]
• Paul Giamatti plays himself in a Sundance flick called Cold Souls and says: "I kind of forgot that I was playing myself in this... I kind of felt that [director Sophie Bart] captured, in a funny way, an archetypal type of neurotic New York self-involved actor." [ONTD]
• Star Jones and chef Herb Wilson: It's on. [Perez]
• Ralph Macchio is not happy about the Karate Kid remake Will and Jayden Smith are plotting. Macchio says: "From my personal view, filling the void of what Mr. Miyagi was - and the magic of that character - is going to be the toughest task. I don't know where the romantic story-arc goes [with Jayden Smith] at that age." [Perez]
• Alyssa Milano has received a restraining order against a man who has "increasingly" harassed and stalked her. [ET]
• James Taylor wore a hat and sunglasses during his performance at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday because he either "fell during rehearsal" (official story) or had some sort of fisticuffs with a "wooden parrot in his hotel room" (unofficial story). Either way, he got 50 stitches in his forehead. Stupid parrot. [Page Six]
• Wesley Snipes has a pending three-year jail sentence for tax evasion, but has been loading up on tax-free swag at Sundance. [Page Six]
• "If someone rapes a girl he should be bent over and the same thing done to him. I’m sorry that’s just the way I feel. I’m very strict. If someone is done for drink-driving they should have their licence taken away for life. And if someone steals they should have to wear a dye on their skin, like a tattoo on their ear or somewhere it can be seen – like across their face! That would stop people stealing."  Katie "Jordan" Price. [The Sun]
• "I really know how to think. If I decide to make a coat red in the show, it's not just red. I think: is it communist red? Is it cherry cordial? Is it ruby red? Or is it apple red? Or the big red balloon red? I mean there's like so many fucking different kinds of red. And so you have to say, well, what are we trying to say in this scene? Is it a happy red? Or a sad red? Is it a lace red? Or a leather red? Or a wool red? It's like there are so many components to making a show and making art… I strive to be a female Warhol. I want to make films and music, do photography and paint one day, maybe. Make fashion. Make big museum art installations. I would be a bit more mixed-media than him probably - combining mixed media and imagery and doing more of a kind of a weird pop-art piece."  Lady GaGa. [Guardian]
• "I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that Wolverine will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations."  Hugh Jackman. [Page Six]
• "It's intense, and there are no weights involved. And some of it's like girly stuff, like just kicking your leg, but it’s muscles you don’t really ever work at. Men don’t usually go to the gym and say, 'I’m going to develop my ass. This’ll be the J.Lo workout.'"  50 Cent, on his fitness regimen. [Gatecrasher]
• "His attitude in the play is, 'Hey, I'm pretty kickass. Sure, I made some mistakes, but any president does, and, for the most part, I did a good job.'"  Will Ferrell on playing Dubya in You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush. [Village Voice]

• None other than the National Fisheries Institute has responded to Entourage actor Jeremy "Thermometer" Piven's claims that he has suffered from mercury poisoning.

The organization says: "People in Japan eat 154 pounds of fish a year on average. If Piven ate 6 ounces of fish a day for his whole life, he'd still eat less than the average Japanese. Despite this, there is no public health concern about mercury in Japan." [YouTube]

• The good news? We have more info about Amy Poehler's new sitcom: She'll play a mid-level bureaucrat in an Indiana city parks and recreation department who's looking to get ahead. It's a "comedic take on how government works in an American town." The bad news? It doesn't start until April. [AP]
• Hollywood will descend on Washington, D.C. for the inauguration festivities. Between the Creative Coalition party, the MoveOn.org bash, the Huffington Post party and the DNC Hispanic Caucus Gala, the town will host Sting, Adrian Grenier, Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trudie Styler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Saarsgaard, Rosario Dawson, Michael Stipe, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Sheryl Crow, Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Ron Howard, among others. Oh, and, of course, Oprah. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Aretha Franklin loves Barack Obama! She says: “I heard him sing a fabulous version of "Chain Of Fools" at an event in Detroit last year. He has a good, melodic voice.” [Daily Express]
• Beyoncé will sing for the Obamas' first inaugural dance. Will it be a version of Etta James' "At Last"? [Concrete Loop]
• Sigh: The end of the Bush administration means the end of David Letterman's "Great Moments In Presidential Speeches." There will be a retrospective tonight! [AP]
• What's up with the Sex And The City sequel? Even though Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall seem to think the next flick is a realistic possibility, Chris Noth "doesn't think it's gonna happen" and Evan "Harry Goldenblatt" Handler says: "I have no idea whether it will happen or not." Maybe there are no dudes in part 2? [E!]
• Toni Colette says of United States Of Tara: "When I read the script, it was like a juicy page-turner that was full of surprises, and it made me laugh out loud. It was very moving, and as soon as I finished reading it, I was like, 'Yep, I'm doing it.'" The series starts Sunday! [USA Today]
• Uh-oh: Hollywood studios are going to cut back on the lucrative pay deals movie stars get due to a decline in DVD sales. This is how it starts! Next thing you know, you're merely rich instead of incredibly wealthy. [FT]
• St. Lucia's Tourism Minister is thanking Amy Winehouse for bringing publicity to the Caribbean island; he says every picture shows Winehouse smiling or interacting with the locals, and the overall impact has been positive. "Any edge that you can get, you hang on to it," says Allen Chastanet. [Mirror]
• Lance Bass has been talking about a 'N Sync reunion, but JC Chasez says: "No. We haven't discussed anything like that. I don't know. Honestly, I can't speak for him or as to why he would say that but I know nothing about one." Ouch. Tearin' up my heart! [Perez]
• Little Edie enthusiasts: How do we feel about this "first look" at Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in Grey Gardens? [Just Jared]
• Lily Allen has done this before, but she recently showed Dutch TV her third nipple. In addition, she reveals she has a Homer Simpson tattoo, but when she finds out that Krusty The Clown also has a superfluous nipple, you can almost see her thinking "Dammit, maybe I should have gotten the clown." Click for video! [Perez]
• Oh, Lily Allen is not wearing pants on the cover of Spin. [ONTD]
• Isla Fisher's eyebrows sorta jump out at you from the cover of Allure, but maybe that's due to the nude lip? [ONTD]
• A dude who runs a head shop talks about how Brad Pitt used to come in all the time. "He came in once and was excited about smoking with one of his very big-name co-stars. 'We blaze (smoke pot) every day in his trailer,' Brad boasted. He had a huge grin on his face." [ONTD]
• Edie Falco is coming back to TV: She'll shoot a Showtime series called Nurse Jackie, which airs this summer. And! She might return to 30 Rock as Jack's love interest, even though she says when she first worked on the show: "I was actually very scared. You watch Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey; it's like they are speaking Swahili. It's like, 'What the hell is this?' " [E!]
• Conan O'Brien will officially be out of work come February 20, and Jimmy Fallon starts March 2. [Yahoo News via E!]
• Cindy McCain was supposed to be on Dancing With The Stars, but John put the kibosh on it? [Page Six]
• Blind item! "What funnyman’s wife caught him in bed with another man? Sister straight-up dumped her dude after catching that class act." [Gatecrasher]
• So. The Gossip Girl spinoff. A teen romance between Lily van der Woodsen and Rufus Humphrey. Set in the '80s, in the L.A. music scene. Could be awesome, could be awful. [Gatecrasher]
• Whoops, Whoopi Goldberg accidentally called Josh Brolin James at an awards show. [Gatecrasher]
• Whitney Houston will perform at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party? We want to see! [Page Six]
• Ugh: Why the hell is accomplished race car driver Danica Patrick showering in this web domain commercial? [USA Today]
• This paper says of Kylie Minogue's new Spanish hunk, who sorta looks like Olivier Martinez: "He's tall with smouldering Latin looks and a fear of commitment. Is it true love for Kylie or DEJA PHEW!" [The Sun]
• Casey Affleck is directing a documentary feature on Joaquin Phoenix, his friend and brother-in-law. Phoenix's new career? He is becoming a rapper, and his album will be produced by Sean Combs. This is not a joke. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Sean Combs says of the Notorious BIG movie: "My experiences with Biggie happened when we were still young, and to be honest, it was kind of weird to see myself that way on screen." [WSJ]
• Howie Mandel says that since he's a germaphobe, being in the hospital for an irregular heartbeat was very difficult: "I wouldn't put on the gown or the customary clothing. I remained clothed and in my boots on the gurney and in the hospital!" [People]
• Billy Ray Cyrus was seen riding his motorcycle without a helmet in L.A., which is illegal. Doesn't he know the helmet gives you anonymity? Ask Brad Pitt! [Perez]
• Congrats to Monica Seles, who was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame yesterday. [UPI]
• TV adventure man Bear Grylls and his wife Shara have a new baby boy: Huckleberry Edward Jocelyne Grylls. Welcome to the world, Huck. [People]
• Aerosmith's in Venezuela and Joe Perry's in the hospital; he had a knee replacement last March and suddenly needed a second operation, stat. [E!]
• By the by, Steven Tyler says he and Joe Perry never battled over women: "Well, we didn’t compete, but we did share. And the crabs won." He also says his first sexual experience: "was at the age of seven with twins." And the band had a rule: "You didn’t have sex for 10 days at the end of tour, but that was so you’d be sure to go home with a full cup of chowder." As the kids say: Vom. [ONTD]
• Oh dear, is there bullying going on in the Celebrity Big Brother house? And is Coolio at the center of it? A communications watchdog organization is investigating. [The Sun]
• Boy George will be sentenced today for falsely imprisoning a male escort. He could get three months in jail or 300 hours of community service. [Daily Express]
• Guy Ritchie was seen dining at a NYC restaurant and not paying attention to the table full of "young model types" he was with. [Page Six]
• Nostalgia alert: The Trumps used to race the Kennedys on the ski slopes. [Page Six]
• "The reality is that Kids was my first film, and when I did it people thought that I was like the character, and that is one of the reasons that Spike Lee wanted to hire me for He Got Game. When he met me and saw that I wasn't that person he appreciated that I had actually acted in that part, and he was really great with me and forced me to be stronger in my acting."  Rosario Dawson. [Independent]
• "I still love everybody that I’ve ever had a relationship with. I am friends with them all. When I met Chris [Robinson] it was like nothing else. I had no question that I was going to have a kid with him. Every rule went out the window. We were telling each other we loved each other by the fourth day and I moved in within a week. I had no question that we were going to get married. He’s still a permanent fixture in my life, But I believe our love changed its form, it shifted. I don’t think we were meant to be married, but I think we were meant to have a child and we have this amazing little boy together – therefore we’ll be together our entire lives. Whoever he ends up with, whoever I end up with, we’ll always be together."  Kate Hudson. [Mirror]
• "I have never really understood how I should feel or behave in a relationship,” the former child star reveals. “I didn’t have the kind of childhood or family life that would have given me any perspective on what a happy home or relationship would feel like. So I haven’t had as much success in my relationships as I would have liked… You can’t live your life blaming your failures on your parents and what they did or didn’t do for you. You’re dealt the cards that you’re dealt. I realised it was a waste of time to be angry at my parents. The best thing I can do is use all the things I’ve learned from them, good and bad, have my own family someday and just keep on going." — Drew Barrymore[Mirror]
• "Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt's child, or to me, it's going to a handful of Jew loan officers, Jew private banks, it's going to lawyers who are also bankers."  Ladies and gentlemen: Ms. Courtney Love. [Page Six]

• Last night TMZ reported that Lindsay & Sam broke up. [TMZ]

• E! also reported that after fighting on New Year's Eve, the couple is dunzo, quoting a source who claims that Lindsay has already moved out. [E!]
• Here's the thing: Late last night, Lindsay Lohan wrote an entry on her MySpace blog which reads: "RUMORS. little piece of TRUE information: we did NOT break up! access hollywood, extra, et, every tabloid, page six... AND every GOSSIP website. Get your stories straight please. It's really annoying to have all of your friends emailing you saying, i saw, i read, etc... NOT TRUE. :) xoxox Lindsay." [ONTD, Perez Hilton]
• Lindsay also writes: "Samantha and I have had a wonderful past few weeks and in spite of what the stories say I did have a wonderful new year." [ONTD]
• Miffed at the reports that Scientology might have been responsible for the death of Jett Travolta, Tommy Davis from Scientology International says: "Scientologists seek conventional medical treatment for medical conditions. Scientologists use prescription drugs when physically ill and also rely on the advice and treatment of medical doctors. The church does not involve itself in the diagnosis or classification of any medical condition." [MSNBC]
• John Travolta will be flying his son's body home in his own plane. [Mirror]
• Did Madonna spend New Year's in the Maldives with some hot young Brazilian model named Jesus? [Made In Brazil]
• And did Alex Rodriguez "get very close" to designer Donna Karan on New Year's eve? [Page Six]
• Check out pix of Amy Winehouse in the Caribbean with some "rugby player-turned-actor." The dude, Josh Bowman, says: "She's just a cool girl, very nice, and we're just very friendly." [Telegraph]
• Craig Ferguson's holidays included a secret wedding; Jezebel's Anna pouts, "My boyfriend got married." [People]
• Rihanna is playing Malaysia next month, which means she can't wear the skimpy little outfits she tends to sport on stage. She plans to abide by the government guidelines, which state that a female performer must be covered from the top of her chest, including her shoulders, to her knees. Disturbia! [Yahoo News]
• Holy hammer! Daniel Craig may play Thor in a film based on the Marvel comic. [Daily Express]
• Kate Hudson is on the cover of the new Elle magazine, and inside she spills: "When I was a teenager, like, when I turned 16, I loved boys. That was just my thing. I still love boys." We noticed. [Yahoo News]
• Queen Latifah has signed on for another year of promoting Jenny Craig. Her highness lost 20 pounds last year! [People]
• Kate Moss told her nanny to expect an "increased workload" in 2009. Does it mean Miss Moss is planning on getting pregnant? [This Is London]
• The Barbara Walters interview with Patrick Swayze airs tomorrow, January 7th on ABC. "You can bet that I'm going through hell," Swayze tells Baba Wawa. "And I've only seen the beginning of it." [ABC News]
• By the by, Barbara Walters says The View's ban on Kathy Griffin has been lifted! Will the D-List diva return? [Perez Hilton]
• David Beckham (and some other footballers) will be asked to speak out against homophobia in a video produced by gay rights group Outrage!. A spokesperson from the group also says the piece could encourage gay players to come out. This is a good time to point out that there was once a gay soccer movie called Guys & Balls. No, really. [Independent]
• Moammar Khadafy's son Saif paid Mariah Carey a million bucks to perform at his New Year's Eve party on St. Bart's. Dirty, sexy money! Oh, and spies say Mariah's not pregnant, since she drank lots of Champagne and ate oysters. [Rush & Molloy]
• Unreleased recordings by Tupac and Snoop Dogg will be part of a Death Row records auction on January 15th. But buying the tracks could mean pissing off Suge Knight. Scary! [Rush & Molloy]
• Jamie Foxx and Joaquin Phoenix were seen partying in Miami Beach, on the stage in a club, dancing around and acting like clowns as Casey Affleck filmed them. A witness claims: "They said they were making a documentary." Things must not have gone well, because Foxx and Phoenix came back the next night and did it again. Reshoot! [Gatecrasher]
• Does Jeremy Piven have a hairpiece? (We've often marveled at the weirdness of his tresses.) [Gatecrasher]
• Jessica Simpson is not married  or engaged  to Tony Romo, yet she has contributed recipes to the 2008 Cowboys Family Cookbook, presented by "the wives of the Dallas Cowboys." [Gatecrasher]
• Will Rod Stewart show up at the 400th anniversary of a church in Edinburgh? His son was baptized there and he vowed to return one day… [Daily Express]
• Tim Allen and his wife Jane Hajduk are expecting their first child. The only words that come to mind are "Tool Time," but that is just mean, huh? [People]
• News you can't use: Coolio had a threesome when he was 12 years old. [The Sun]
• La Toya Jackson, who, like Coolio, is a participant on Celebrity Big Brother, claims that The Jackson 5, will, indeed, reunite. Of course, she was never in The Jackson 5, and seems a wee bit loony tunes, but whatevs. [The Sun]
• Kate "Jordan" Price was banned by Facebook after her personal page exceeded the friend limit. Raise your hand if you do not get her appeal. [The Sun]
• Paris Hilton speaks: "I’d like three or four children. I want a boy first, to watch over my girls, and I’ll name my first girl London – I love that name." Oh! And UK residents, be forewarned! The heiress also says: "I would like to move [to London] one day and raise my kids in the UK so that they have British accents and manners." [The Sun]
• Kathy Bates regrets not going public with her battle with ovarian cancer: "I think it may have helped more people because it's such a difficult disease to diagnose early; I was very, very lucky." [Daily Express]
• Pictures of Zhang Ziyi half-naked on a beach have stirred up new controversy for the already controversial actress. [Time, Zona Europa, China Smack]
• Roman Polanski's lawyers have asked that his case be moved from the L.A. Justice system. [NY Times]
• Actor Rip Torn has pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges after being caught motoring in the breakdown lane with a Christmas tree tied to the top of his car on December 14. Too much egg nog? [AP]
• Back in 1965, The Beatles received MBEs (Members of the British Empire). John Lennon sent his back to the Queen in 1969 as part of a peace protest. It was recently found in a vault after not being seen in decades. [Times of London]
• “I’ve been on so many bad dates. I went on one where I just left because he was so boring. I felt really bad, and I didn’t want him to pay for dinner. It’s like, ‘It’s really nice to meet you’ – moving on! Then you call your friend and you’re like, ‘Really? Really? Is that who you think I would have a great night with?!’”  Kate Hudson. [MSNBC]
• "[I'm] not rich rich. Rich is Spielberg. Lucas. Gates. Steve Jobs. Jay-Z! Bruce Springsteen. I'm not complaining. But that's money. Will Smith. Oprah Winfrey - that's a ton of money. Compared to them, I'm on welfare!"  Spike Lee. [Page Six]

• Before Blake and Amy had even hit puberty, Whitney and Bobby were acting completely bonkers in public all the time. And it sounds like the gruesome twosome is back together again!! They've been spotted on romantic dinners and their daughter is allegedly itching for them to reconnect. Resist, Whitney, resist! [TMZ]
  
• Joaquin Phoenix is filming a documentary to "showcase his transition from acting to music." More importantly, last night he was hanging out with Casey Affleck and Ryan Gosling, creating a triumverate of hotness. [People]
• Perez Hilton continues to be totally outraged about the fact that the Speidi wedding was a mere publicity stunt for Us and probably not legal. "The mag was very well aware of the wedding laws in Mexico for foreigners and they failed to even report if Speidi obtained a marriage license or not," he says. In other news, Perez is really angry that water is wet. [Perez]

• But don't worry, you'll be able to see extensive footage of the fake nuptials on The Hills, since the cameras were there to capture the entire heartfelt, intensely private ceremony. [People]
• Spencer continues to insist that the ceremony was 100% real. “We’ve never been happier. And, like other elopements that happen outside the country, we’ll take care of the legal details when we get home," he tells the AP. [AP via Just Jared]
• In other shocking Hills news, Whitney Port has a new vlog and it's spectacularly boring. [NY Mag]
• Ewan McGregor is selling one of his vintage motorcycles on Ebay to raise money for Unicef. "I collected this bike from the Moto Guzzi factory in Italy and rode it back to London and I've loved riding it ever since. Whoever wins this bike will not be disappointed," he says. Does he come with the bike? We would not be disappointed about that.
• Habitual rehab visitor Scott Weiland says he isn't completely clean. "I still drink, I'm not perfect ... you know?" [ TMZ]
• Hugh Jackman will play magician Harry Houdini in an as-yet-unnamed Broadway musical. We already knew he was a magician because he has us in a trance. Zing! [Perez]
• "I'm just blessed to have two very lovely children in my life, and health. It's something people don't think about a lot. I'm very lucky to be healthy and have healthy kids," says Reese Witherspoon. To read about what other celebs are thankful for, click here. [AP]
• Speaking of Reese, Ms. Witherspoon says she'd like to guest star on 30 Rock. "I love Tina [Fey]," Reese gushes, "and I think she does such a great job, and she really understands comedy for women." [A Socialite's Life]

[Los Angeles, March 27. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

Best Supporting Actress:
Cate Blanchett  I'm Not There
Tilda Swinton  Michael Clayton
Amy Ryan  Gone Baby Gone
Ruby Dee  American Gangster
Saorise Ronan  Atonement

Best Supporting Actor:
Casey Affleck  The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier bardem  No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman  Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook  Into The Wild
Tom WIlkinson  Michael Clayton

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett  Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie  Away From Her
Marion Cotillard  La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney  The Savages
Ellen Page  Juno

Best Actor:
George Clooney  Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis  There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones  In The Valley Of Elah
Viggo Mortensen  Eastern Promises

Best Director:
Ethan and Joel Coen  No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson  There Will Be Blood
Julian Schnabel  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman  Juno
Tony Gilroy  Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay:
Tamara Jenkins  The Savages
Diablo Cody  Juno
Nancy Oliver  Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy  Michael Clayton
Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco, Jan Pinkava  Ratatouille

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Atonement  Christopher Hampton
Away From Her  Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly  Ronald Harwood
No Country For Old Men  Ethan and Joel Cohen
There Will Be Blood  Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Picture:
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

No Country, Blood Lead Oscar Nominations [Reuters]