Jonathan Demme

Very sad news today...

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar winning director, producer and screenwriter and screenwriter, has died at age 73.

Born in Baldwin, Long Island, Demme has had one of the great filmmaking careers of his era, rising to prominence in the 1980s with his comedy films Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986) and Married to the Mob (1988). He won his Oscar for directing The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and later helmed the acclaimed films Philadelphia (1993) and Rachel Getting Married (2008), along with many seminal documentaries such as the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. 

Like more than a few iconic directors Demme cracked into features making exploitation films for Roger Corman, directing such films as Caged Heat, Crazy Mama and Fighting Mad for Corman’s New World Pictures. His first breakthrough was Melvin and Howard, not a box office hit but a film that was critically acclaimed. He established his eclectic, energetic style with Stop Making Sense, followed by the manic Something Wild, the Spalding Gray monologue Swimming to Cambodia and the New York comedy Married to the Mob. 

Demme followed that with The Silence of the Lambs, one of the last films for Orion which was released in February and was the rare film to win all five major categories — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay for Ted Tally, Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins & Best Actress for Jodie Foster –even though the studio didn’t have a ton of money to spend on a campaign, and horror is almost always overlooked by the Academy. Demme followed with Philadelphia, an early film that focused on the hypocrisy and prejudice surrounding the AIDS crisis, which won the Best Actor Oscar for Tom Hanks, who starred alongside Denzel Washington.

He directed some great films, was highly respected as a director, and beloved for his ability to work so well with actors and creative teams on each of his projects.

He will be missed.

Wedding Belles

It looks like Jodie Foster has finally tied the knot…

Jodie Foster is a married woman! The Oscar-winner and photographer Alexandra Hedison made their relationship official this past weekend, after dating for nearly a year.

Alexandra is a photographer and actress who appeared on Showtime’s The L Word. Alexandra publicly dated Ellen DeGeneres, before breaking up in 2004.

Jodie, 51, ended her longtime relationship with Cydney Bernard back in 2008, after 20 years together. 

My invitation was likely lost in the mail along with the winning lotto numbers.

I really should get a P.O. Box.

Golden Globes

"We are of peace. Always."

The Golden Globes were entertaining to watch last night. I think Ricky Gervais held back a notch, but certainly managed to keep people entertained. I was pretty happy with most of the wins, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, George Clooney and all of the Descendants and Downton Abbey awards.

So, good times.

I'm usually not all the focused on what people are wearing (they're all pretty and can afford to look their photoshopped-best), but a couple of gals really looked great last night. Besides Angelina Jolie (who as I hinted at above, just looks otherworldly in the best possible way), I thought Sofia Vergara looked amazing (loved her "translated" speech when Modern Family won)...



She's beautiful and very funny.

Jodie Foster looked great and seemed to be having a great time at the awards with her two kids, even during Ricky's rant about not being able to talk about Jodie's "beaver".






I also thought that Lea Michele (from Glee) chose a beautiful dress and it looked great on her. As annoyed as I get with her character on the show, I like that she took a chance on an outfit that you'd normally expect on Charlize Theron or...Angelina.



But, honestly, I hope that scientists are stockpiling ample amounts of Brad and Angelina's DNA for use to repopulate our species after the Apocalypse.

They're mighty purty folks.

Here is Brad on the cover of the new W Magazine.

Allegedly

And you didn't hear it from me, BUT....

Since Anderson Cooper has never officially discussed whether he is a homosapien or not, the press will just continue to do what they do best, speculate. Mr. 360 never goes out of his way to deny it (the Jodie Foster mantra), so it's likely true and he just doesn't feel the need to burst out of the closet in a shower of glitter waving his well-manicured jazz hands.

Which, I think, is just fine.

Until that changes, we can just follow stories like this one from Gawker, which lists a few of his "rumored business associates" (just like Beverly Leslie and Benji)...

This summer the Coop apparently dated an assistant to fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. This is funny because she is the beard for gay man Barry Diller. Anderson supposedly wanted this young gent to move in with him. It looked like true love, though some suspected that the kid was just using poor Coopy-Poopy for his vast riches.

They said "Coopy-Poopy".

Insert Beevis and Butthead laugh here.



Then, later in the day, Gawker followed up with this story on a possible ex of Mr. Coopy-Poopy being on the new "Real World: Brooklyn" this season...

Just read your article on the dolphin trainer said to be Anderson's ex boy toy and I wanted to confirm that it's true. I'm from Miami and was actually at the club Buck 15 when I met J.D. He drunkenly informed me who his boyfriend was and when I didn't believe him he showed me pictures from his camera phone with Anderson and some dolphins...this was around the beginning of June...just wanted to give you a head's up!

I hope it's all true and that Anderson is doing everything he can to be happy, whether it's with JD, JR or JLo. He should be able to splash and splatter all he wants in private, just like the rest of us.

I'm just happy that I got to write my new favorite term, "Coopy-Poopy", three times in one posting.

It's the little jewels like that, in life, that make all the difference....