Tag: George Clooney

Quote of the Day: George Clooney Squashes Steve Wynn

george clooney 3George Clooney and Steve Wynn have been in a very public war of the words since Wynn called President Obama an “asshole,” and Clooney responded in kind. When Wynn went to the press about the incident, he took little responsibility and blamed Clooney instead. If you know Clooney, you’d quickly realize that Wynn made a huge error. While Clooney is an intensely private man, he’s also notorious for calling out bad behavior amongst the Hollywood elite, and Wynn is no exception. Read his quote in its entirety below, courtesy of People Magazine.

 
“Steve Wynn and I have met three times, two times for dinner. That is the extent of our knowledge of one another, so I will refrain from trying to categorize him based on the little time we’ve spent together, but I will not let his version of the truth go unchallenged.

“He now says he didn’t call the president an ‘a——.’ That is false. He bellowed ‘I voted for the a——,’ and then called him the same thing several more times as the dinner came to an abrupt end.”

“Again there were eight people at the table, eight witnesses. I did in turn, call him the same body part, and walked out. Again he can make up whatever story he wants, but these are the facts. He said I drank 16 shots of tequila. I didn’t drink one shot of tequila, not one. We were drinking but it was early and we still had two events to attend.”

“He said I live in a bubble. More of a bubble than Las Vegas? Honestly? He says I’m ‘molly coddled,’ that I’m surrounded by people who coddle me. I would suggest that Mr. Wynn look to his left and right and find anyone in his sphere that says anything but ‘yes’ to him. Emphatically. I did not attend a private boys’ school, I worked in tobacco fields and in stock rooms, and construction sites. I’ve been broke more of my life than I have been successful, and I understand the meaning of being an employee and how difficult it is to make ends meet.

“Steve is one of the richest men in the world and he should be congratulated for it, but he needs to take off his red sparkly dinner jacket and roll up his sleeves every once in a while and understand what most of the country is actually dealing with … or at least start with the fact that you can’t make up stories when eight people who are not on your payroll are sitting around you as witnesses.”

George Clooney v. Gwyneth Paltrow v. Vanity Fair — OUCH

In an effort to annihilate her haters, Gwyneth Paltrow garnered some more. For months it’s been rumored that Vanity Fair will run a “take down” piece on Paltrow, which will focus on why the public likes to pounce on the star and why her likability leaves a little to be desired. While I find the interest entirely confusing (i.e. WHO CARES), Paltrow’s reaction is more notable, given that she emailed everyone in Hollywood to bully them into boycotting the magazine altogether. That list allegedly included George Clooney, who objected to be dragged into her mess. Watch Clooney poke fun at Paltrow during his Vanity Fair shoot, and watch Julia Roberts’ very hilarious reaction.

Keibler on Clooney: “It Wasn’t Going to Work”

Stacy Keibler deserves a medal for her post-Clooney media wrangling. When asked about her romance while co-hosting The View, Keibler proved herself a class act, simply saying she doesn’t prioritize marriage, and she’s grateful to the time they shared. When Walters read her a quote about Clooney’s anti-marriage stance, she smiled sweetly and took the card “as a memento.” It’s clear that Keibler is a pistol in a pretty package. Only a titan could handle that.

Vintage Quote of the Day — George Clooney

george clooney 3“I do commercials overseas. I’ll do a coffee commercial and if that lets me live in the house I live in and have a nice life, and I get to make the films I want to make, then I’ll sell coffee. I don’t have a problem with that.” George Clooney on ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio,’ speaking about the low salary he received for his passion-project, ‘The Ides of March.’

Movie Review: ‘The Ides of March’

George Clooney is a good director. But he’s not great. The first two acts of ‘The Ides of March’ lacked the movie magic necessary to keep me entertained. Translation? — It was boring.

This is the third Clooney-directed film I’ve seen, and I’ve noticed it’s a common issue. Where’s Jack Nicholson screaming, “you can’t handle the truth!” Where’s the fist fight? Where’s the heavy-hitting music to create suspense? When actors turn to directing, they leave behind these essential elements in favor of an understated approach (remember Robert De Niro’s ‘The Good Shepherd,’ for example?). I think they feel above it. I think they resent having spent so much time executing cheesy dialogue while running from a burning vehicle that they feel they can accomplish the same task without it. But like it or not — those things are often necessary to make a movie enjoyable. Otherwise, it’s as if I’m watching a documentary.

The movie stars Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers, the Junior Campaign Manager for Mike Morris (George Clooney), the Pennsylvania Governor who is trying to win the Democratic Primary to later run for President. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Paul Zara, his Senior Campaign Manager. The campaign can be cutthroat at times, and by the end of it, it really doesn’t matter what anyone’s political belief is as long as Morris wins. The plot is relatively expected, with the exception of an interesting twist in act three. Unfortunately, by the time act three hit I had already mentally checked out of the film.

OVERALL RATING: 3/5 DISHES

Dear Celebrities Everywhere — Fire Your “People”

There’s a big secret in Hollywood that many outside Tinseltown don’t know. When you hear about a celebrity being an asshole, it’s usually their handlers that are assholes, and the celebrity gets blamed. I went to a party last night and I tried to score a picture with an A-lister (whose name I won’t mention). This is something I never do, but because the event warranted picture-taking, it seemed fine to ask. He was surrounded by his handlers, who told me that he wasn’t taking any pictures. I found that suspicious, and I told them that I’ve heard through the Hollywood grapevine that he’s the nicest guy in the business, and I’m certain he wouldn’t mind. They still said no, until I dropped some names, which peaked their interest. They assured me they’d ask. I then noticed that they were instead escorting him out of the event altogether. I was snowed. I’m less annoyed that I didn’t get my coveted picture, and more annoyed by his handlers. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first experience with this type of thing. I once tried to get Brad Pitt to speak at an event I was hosting. Without getting into details, I was certain he’d be interested. I went through the proper protocol by first contacting his publicist. She wrote me back “no” within seconds, making it clear that she never even asked him. I was therefore forced to call in reinforcements, and I used connections to actually get the invitation to Pitt. It turns out he would have said yes, but his shooting schedule overlapped. And there you have it.  I’m sure Pitt still has that publicist.  George Clooney once discussed this issue, admitting in an interview that he’s had to fire people in his camp, because they act like assholes while throwing his name around. That’s probably why Clooney has managed to uphold his nice-guy reputation. I’m told through the rumor mill that Christopher Walken is the only celebrity that specifically instructs his “people” to extend every single offer his way (which includes student films). I’m sure that’s how he ended up in that Fat Boy Slim video. As a tribute to Christopher Walken, who I think consistently gets it right, I’ve posted the Fat Boy Slim video below.

Vintage Playboy Interview: George Clooney

threekingsIt’s no secret that Playboy has the best interviews in history, and as a tribute to the revolutionary magazine, I’ve decided to share an anecdote from a George Clooney interview, because it confirms what a great guy he is.  Clooney revealed his on set war with director David O. Russell while shooting the 1999 film, Three Kings.  Clooney said Russell yelled at everyone on the set, including a camera car driver.  Clooney confronted Russell, saying, “You can yell and scream and even fire him, but what you can’t do is humiliate him in front of people. Not on my set, if I have any say about it.”  Russell then screamed at a second assistant director, who quit on the spot.  Clooney addressed him again, saying, “you can’t shove, push or humiliate people who aren’t allowed to defend themselves.”  Russell responded to Clooney’s criticism by challenging him to a fist fight, and the two men came to blows.  Clooney “had him by the throat,” confessing that he was “going to kill him.”  Though they finally finished the movie, Clooney said it was “without exception, the worst experience of [his] life.”  My favorite part of this story is the idea that George Clooney stuck up for the little guy at the very beginning of his career before he really became the star he is today.  It’s no secret that directors can be demeaning assholes, but it’s up to the power players to put a stop to it.  To add to this story, Lily Tomlin later worked with David O. Russell on I Heart Huckabees, and a tape was released of a fight between Russell and Tomlin.  Many accused Clooney of circulating the tape, which he later denied.  Watch below to see Russell lose it half-way in.

Did You Know: George Clooney’s Ex-Wife is Married to John Slattery?

When I first read that John Slattery’s current wife was once married to George Clooney, I thought: “does the woman have a golden p***y!?  I apologize for the vulgar language, but hopefully my sneaking suspicion is correct, and my father doesn’t actually read my blog.  Anyways, Clooney and Balsam were married for three years.  When once asked about his divorce, Clooney said,

[Talia] was the girl I chased and was in love with, the girl I always wanted to marry. I was 28, and in Kentucky when you get to be that age, you’re supposed to get married, and you know exactly what the marriage should be like. I had this image of marriage. When ours didn’t exactly fit that image, I thought it didn’t work. I wasn’t very bright about it. We had to reconstruct our marriage a little bit, and I wasn’t willing to do that. I walked away. I could have been scared. Maybe I wasn’t ready to be married. It was my fault all the way down the line.

Talia, insists that they maintain a “cordial relationship.” In fact, the three of them are so cordial that George Clooney produced the show, K Street, which starred John Slattery, and Talia appeared in four episodes.  Now that’s some healthy ex-files.  Talia has since played Roger Sterling’s wife, Mona Sterling, on Mad Men.

George Clooney’s Girlfriend Will Appear on TNT’s ‘Leverage’

If you want a career in America, just date a celebrity.  Clooney’s girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis (the one that could not be bothered to smile at the Oscars), scored a role as an Italian woman in Season 3 of ‘Leverage.’  To be fair, Canalis always aspired to be in entertainment, and she is a an actress in Italy.  Maybe I am just jealous that she gets to date Clooney.  See a picture of her not smiling below.