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In Praise of Snoop Dogg
Defying convention yet again, Snoop Dogg makes the scene at Monday night's CMT Awards. (AP) Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay, Snoop Dogg's in the [expletive] house. I may take some heat here for giving props to a man who is too hot (hot = packing heat) for most airports and one entire country (Great Britain), but in the past year or so Snoop Dogg -- aka Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. -- has been quietly ripping a stereotype he helped create to shreds. He's emerging like a butterfly from his Crip-enabled chrysalis to transcend his former image of a gang-banging rhyme slinger. He may not be perfect, but hey, he's trying. Last week he risked a big time street cred reduction when he sat down with the harpies of "The View" to talk about his new album and line of clothes. And while Barbara Walters and Elisabeth Hasselbeck...
By Liz | April 15, 2008; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (24)
In Praise of Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts walks the red carpet at the L.A. premiere of 'Charlie Wilson's War.' (AP) Every so often we take a break from the snark, push aside our vitriolic hate of Diane Keaton and get all doe-eyed here at Celebritology central. Like any other average Jane, we're (I'm not putting on airs. I refer to myself and my dog, Page.) susceptible to the charms of brilliant, shimmering star power -- especially when that wattage is the equivalent of green energy. Which is a nerdly way of saying "good." And so today, we gather to sing the praises of one Julia Roberts -- who has again been popping up on red carpets to promote her new movie, "Charlie Wilson's War." She of the big eyes and big smile. She who lives her life largely away from the wack crowd we normally track here. She who pretty much plays herself in...
By Liz | December 11, 2007; 10:42 AM ET | Comments (65)
Remembering Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman at the height of her 'Falcon Crest' reign. (HO/AFP/Getty Images) I don't claim to know any more about Jane Wyman than the average bear. She was a starlet back when "starlet" meant someone who actually punched a clock at one of Hollywood's major studios. She was the first wife of Republican deity Ronald Reagan. And she presided over one of last of the great primetime soaps, "Falcon Crest." It was in this last role that she entered my orbit. As a snot-nosed Army brat living in Naples, Italy in the early '80s, I hungrily devoured tapes of American TV shipped overseas for trade in the ex-pat "Betamax club." These tapes were my first introduction to the sublime canon of early-80s TV -- "The Facts of Life," "Too Close for Comfort," "The Barbara Mandrell Show," "Simon and Simon" and, of course, "Falcon Crest." While "Dallas" left me somewhat...
By Liz | September 11, 2007; 10:42 AM ET | Comments (21)
In Praise of Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt in New Orleans Tuesday. (AP) Considering the battering Brangelina has taken in the press since, well, the two were first linked, it's only fair that we pause today to consider a bit of commendable behavior on the part of one William Bradley Pitt all by his lonesome. Inevitably, comments about Pitt's unceremonious dumpage of that sweet Jennifer Aniston after falling under the spell of the duplicitous harlot Angelina Jolie will mitigate some of this praise. Ancient history. Jen has moved on -- let's join her. Let's separate the man from his choice of mates. Besides, when I see an A-list star donning a hard hat to build homes for someone other than himself, I'm impressed. And so it was that Pitt toured New Orleans's lower ninth ward this week, replete with hard hat and rough-hewn good looks, to check up on the construction of the Holy Cross...
By Liz | August 22, 2007; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (67)
In Praise of Johnny Depp
Who are you wearing? Johnny Depp arrives at the Tokyo premiere of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.' (AP) If you're asking Johnny Depp, the answer could only be "myself." Not many 43-year-old men can successfully pull off the polo shirt/paramilitary/hippie/beatnik look, but then Depp is no ordinary man. The actor, who first surfaced in 1984's "Nightmare on Elm Street" and unwittingly cast a spell over a generation of teen girls on Fox's "21 Jump Street," sported just such a look today in Tokyo while promoting the latest installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean." And rather than make him walk the plank for an outfit that would approach fug on anyone else, I find myself instead delighted by this man who isn't afraid of looking a little bit silly in support of his fierce individuality. While most Hollywood men tend to stick with a safe less-is-more wardrobe for public...
By Liz | May 23, 2007; 09:37 AM ET | Comments (80)
Tyra Banks: A Lot to Love
Tyra Banks (right) shakes it for Janet Jackson. (AP) There's so much love floating around this blog lately, I'm starting to feel like a Care Bear (this one, actually). Yesterday I gushed about Mark Wahlberg and today I can't seem to stop myself from praising Tyra Banks, who in defiance of her kooky/corny talk show persona, went and said something sensible. Here's what Banks did to deserve such a big Valentine: In the latest issue of People the 161-pound former supermodel strikes back at tabloids that ran a photo of her in a bathing suit accompanied by the headline "America's Next Top Waddle." Says Banks: "I get so much mail from young girls who say, 'I look up to you, you're not as skinny as everyone else, I think you're beautiful.' So when they say that my body is 'ugly' and 'disgusting,' what does that make those girls feel...
By Liz | January 25, 2007; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (72)
In Praise of Marky Mark
Mark Wahlberg at last week's Golden Globe Awards. (Getty Images) From time to time I like to take a step back from my daily diet of Tara Reid pictures (a friend dubbed this one "Skank Sandwich") and press releases for events like the "Twelve Hours of Diddy" party ("There is no doubt that Miami is one of the hottest cities in America for the grown and sexy looking to party." Puh-leeze.) to muse about someone who needs no press release, no crude photo ops to generate buzz. So today I'd like to take a moment to give thanks for Mark Wahlberg -- guy's guy, eye candy, solid actor, producer and, now, Academy Award nominee for his supporting role in "The Departed." From his early days rapping with the Funky Bunch and baring his abs and his undies for Calvin Klein, it was obvious that Marky Mark was not destined...
By Liz | January 24, 2007; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (50)
In Praise of Kate
Winslet arrives at the premiere of her new movie, 'The Holiday,' in London. (Getty Images) Let's take a time-out from the escalating game of starlet-inspired schadenfreude to praise Kate Winslet. That's right -- I've nothing catty or even mildly salacious to say about this woman and neither, it turns out, does anyone else. This is because (unlike some others who shall remain nameless), Winslet makes news for her professional achievements, not off-set shenanigans. A quick spin around the Web reveals the usual Kate-sized "gossip": Winslet Embarrassed by Swayze Crush, Winslet Was Girl Who Never Got the Boys, Winslet Stunned by Trailer. It's almost enough to restore one's faith in celebs. More importantly, Winslet is famously proud of her curves -- a sharp contrast to the skeletal dress racks we're so used to seeing stalk the red carpet. And though Winslet starred in one of the biggest movies ever ("Titanic"),...
By Liz | December 6, 2006; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (40)
