Entertainment Weekly

‘What color is he?” When I saw those words in print, then heard the recording of the actual question, my first thought was: What century is this from?

Certainly not the 21st century.

» Click to enlarge image

Rick Telander, Sun-Times sports columnist
(Chris Sweda/Sun-Times)

And in a sense, I was correct.

It was Don Imus, 67, radio host of his own ”Imus in the Morning” show on WABC Radio, speaking Monday morning.

Imus, you’ll recall caused a stink a year ago on WFAN Radio in New York when he called players on the Rutgers women’s basketball team ”nappy-headed ho’s.”

He was fired for that, but there he was at his new show at his new station asking his on-air sidekick Warner Wolf what color troubled NFL player Adam ”Pacman” Jones was.

Jones, Wolf had been saying, had been involved with a nightclub shooting and had been arrested six times in recent years.

”He’s African-American,” Wolf replied, which is not, in fact, a color.

”Well, there you go,” Imus replied. ”Now we know.”

Now we know what?

Mostly, sadly, what we know is that Imus, who has an oddly demented look to him these days and, in truth, bears a passing resemblance to Katherine Hepburn in her later years, is out of touch and in danger of losing his grip on the modern scene entirely.

Let me state right here that I am not among the critics who say Imus must be fired, he must be censored, he must be sent off to the penal colony for racists and hammer rocks of moral indignation until he dies.

Imus came back on his radio show Tuesday and said he had been trying to ”make a sarcastic point” when he did the ”color” thing, and people simply didn’t understand him.

I’m not exactly buying the explanation. Sarcasm is always a dicey product, and when you have a track record of being a tad over the top on race matters, you might have had your sarcasm card revoked for life.

But, again, I am not one who believes in constant firings. I would prefer Imus stew in his own vitriol, in the hot and final judgment of the public.

Pacman Jones himself, not exactly a role model in any hue, said he was upset by the racial implications of Imus’ words and would pray for the man.

People do make mistakes when it comes to issues of race, and if we are going to grow as a multicultural, multipigmented, melting-pot society, we ought to show tolerance for the miscues — if not always forgiveness and let’s-let-bygones-be-bygones good cheer.

You go too far — and we all know what too far is — you’re outta here.

Jemele Hill, the young, gifted, insightful columnist for ESPN.com’s ”Page 2” section, recently went over the edge with a written comment, meant to be satirical, hip and hyperbolic, but which actually was just dumb.

She wanted to make a riveting point in a column about Detroit Pistons fans rooting for the Boston Celtics, and she felt inclined to bring Adolf Hitler into a sentence that had no reason for it.

Hitler is one of those items that is pretty much banned from the casual sports column forever, in any context, till hell freezes over.

On Monday, Hill apologized, over and over.

Nothing, Hill stated changes ”the fact that I wrote it and, at the time, found humor in making a moronic comparison between a man who was responsible for killing millions to Detroiters who root for the Boston Celtics.”

Seeming to be truly shamed, Hill continued: ”This is about my living up to a standard I expect of everyone else — respect, awareness, honesty and accountability.

”I got too comfortable with my own knowledge and history of dealing with racial issues. I forgot to ask questions, perhaps subconsciously thinking I knew it all. I’ve served on numerous diversity panels, and regularly work with the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. I had a this-would-never-happen-to-me attitude, instead of a let-me-make-sure-this-doesn’t happen-to-me attitude. I dropped my guard.”

And being a double-minority herself in the sportswriting biz made no difference.

”Just because I’m a black woman doesn’t mean I’ve got an automatic sensitivity chip for cultures outside of my own.”

So we forgive the 31-year-old Hill — though we remember and we file her transgression — and we try to explain Don Imus.

And here is something — age.

Imus may be too old to control himself, and too old to comprehend how the world has changed.

There are studies that seem to indicate that aging sometimes robs people of the filter in their brains that keeps them from blurting out insensitive things.

That’s not to excuse Imus. But think of the other white men who have harmed or destroyed themselves with racial stupidities.

Jimmy ”The Greek” Snyder was 68 when he said on TV, ”The black is a better athlete to begin with because he’s been bred to be that way — because of his high thighs and big thighs that go up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs.”

Al Campanis, 70, then the Dodgers longtime general manager, destroyed himself on ”Nightline” when he told Ted Koppel on the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut that blacks ”may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager.”

Even the legendary journalist Mike Royko had Mexican-Americans protesting and burning his effigy in front of the Tribune building for what they felt were insensitive racial and ethnic comments. The offending column was written not long before Royko died in 1997 at 64.

Age comes to us all.

Britney Spears has ordered a customised six-foot tall bunny from a Los Angeles store. The mother-of-two - who became an auntie for the first time last week after her teenage sister Jamie Lynn gave birth to a baby girl, Maddie Briann - splashed out $600 on baby accessories at exclusive boutique Petit Tresor, including several ‘Bunsies’ by Bunnies by the Bay.

As she left the store, Britney is believed to have requested a special one-off rabbit toy, but refused to elaborate on who it was for. Earlier this year, it was claimed Britney had ordered a six-foot tall elephant for Jamie Lynn’s nursery. The troubled singer - who has two sons, Sean Preston, two, and 21-month-old Jayden James with ex-husband Kevin Federline - reportedly spent more than $30,000 on her future niece.

A source close to the star said: “Petit Tresor is designing the nursery for Jamie Lynn’s baby. Britney is picking up the tab. She also ordered a custom made, six-foot tall elephant with a blue bow which she wants to sit in the middle of the nursery.”

US actress Heather Locklear, best known for starring in Dynasty and Melrose Place, has checked into a clinic in Arizona that treats depression.

A spokeswoman for the 47-year-old star said: “Heather has been dealing with anxiety and depression.

“She requested an in-depth evaluation of her medication and entered into a medical facility for proper diagnosis and treatment.”

Locklear and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora divorced last year.

They have a daughter together called Ava Elizabeth.

In June last year Sambora entered a treatment facility in Los Angeles, but it was not clear what he received treatment for.

Locklear is reportedly dating her former Melrose Place co-star Jack Wagner.

Her film roles include The Perfect Man and Uptown Girls.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. rapper 50 Cent was ordered to surrender any guns he might have after a judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order requested by the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, lawyers said.

A lawyer for the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, said he would contest the order and that 50 Cent did not have guns or access to guns. “To my knowledge, he has no guns,” said lawyer Brett Kimmel.

The order bars 50 Cent from being in contact with Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of his 10-year-old son, without the court’s permission, lawyers said.

50 Cent and Tompkins have been locked in a legal fight over money. Tompkins has argued that she is entitled to half of 50 Cent’s estate, based on an oral agreement.

The dispute escalated last month after a fire destroyed the rapper’s $2.4 million (1.2 million pound) Long Island home, where Tompkins lived with their son.

Police said they were investigating the fire as suspicious.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based rapper has denied any involvement in the fire and separately on Friday filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit in a Connecticut Superior Court against Tompkins for statements she made to the media.

“It’s completely baseless and it’s retaliatory,” Tompkins’ lawyer, Paul Catsandonis, said of the defamation suit. “It’s nothing more than an attempt to rehabilitate his image.”

Since his debut album in 2003, 50 Cent has built a business with a record label, a clothing and footwear line, ringtones and video games. He has also starred in a movie based on his life, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

NEW YORK — What Sex and the City: The Movie was to women, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is to their far younger counterparts.

The film adaptation, based on the popular American Girl dolls, stars Abigail Breslin as the titular Kit. It opens in limited release June 20 and expands nationwide July 2.

American Girl aficionado Isabella Rhodes, a 7-year-old, Brooklyn-based second grader, hit the Manhattan premiere Thursday night to grill the cast about dolls, dogs, and tree houses:

•Producer Julia Roberts on going behind the scenes: “It’s fun. It’s challenging, but we got really good actors. We were very lucky.” When she was a kid in Georgia, Roberts preferred the written word to the big screen: “I loved Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but it was really more books. I didn’t watch a lot of movies. I read a lot of books.”

•Abigail Breslin on being an American Girl: “The most fun thing about making the movie was getting on the set. Everyone was so nice to work with. Also, I liked coming on set and working with the dog and the monkey. It was really cool in the tree house. It was cool to learn how to climb up the ladder and get into the tree house. Everyone was so nice to work with. We always hung out after work.”

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Georgia | Manhattan | Charleston | Girl | Chocolate Factory | Lily | Abigail Breslin | Willy Wonka | Kit Kittredge An

Jane Krakowski, who plays the film’s dance instructor, on learning the film’s cool moves: “I enjoyed it because I do dance in real life. What was fun about this one was that I had to learn the dances of the time period. I learned how to Charleston and Jitterbug — dances that were popular back then.”

Chris O’Donnell, who plays Breslin’s dad, had one highlight from filming: “It was when I got to have my daughter, Lily (who’s 8), visit on set. It was a great daddy-daughter weekend. I’ve had a very good experience playing a father in real life, and it was fun to be Abigail’s dad on screen.”

He’s playing a supremely spiritual guy this weekend, but Love Guru star Mike Myers seems firmly planted in the material world. And not necessarily focused on the big picture.

New York Post gossips say that before an appearance Wednesday on Late Night With Conan O’Brien the star drove staffers bonkers when he sent several interns off on a hunt for Twizzlers, Silk nondairy creamer and raspberry seltzer.

Nothing earth shattering there—it’s not like he wanted to bathe in Cristal à la Mariah Carey. But we hear that manic Mike sent the slaves scurrying again later, when they brought back the wrong brand of raspberry seltzer.

It could have been much worse, of course, had they brought back Red Vines instead of Twizzlers. The horror!

Stan Winston, the renowned makeup, creature- and visual-effects wizard whose memorable work on “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Jurassic Park” earned him four Academy Awards, has died. He was 62.

Winston died of complications from multiple myeloma Sunday at his home in Malibu, said his son, actor Matt Winston.
“The entertainment industry has lost a genius and I lost one of my best friends,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, of “Terminator” fame, said in a statement Monday. “Stan’s work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever.”

In a nearly four-decade career that began on television in the early ’70s, Winston earned five Emmy Award nominations and shared Emmys for his makeup on “Gargoyles” (1972) and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” (1974), for which actress Cicely Tyson was aged into a 110-year-old woman.

Winston, who segued into the movies the same decade — he was the special makeup designer on “The Wiz” — became a seminal figure in special makeup effects and animatronics.

“Stan has been involved in landmark, blockbuster movies for decades,” J. Alan Scott, an animatronic effects supervisor at the Stan Winston Studio in Van Nuys, told The Times on Monday. “He was an innovator and a groundbreaker with new technology and new techniques for creating fantastical characters.”

Winston, as the New Yorker magazine described several years ago, was known for “almost single-handedly elevating the craft of creature making from the somewhat comic man-in-a-rubber-suit monsters of the 1950s and ’60s to animatronics — electronically animated, part-robot, part-puppet creatures that have terrified millions of moviegoers.”

Indeed, among the creations to come out of the Stan Winston Studio: the menacing, 14-foot-tall Alien Queen in “Aliens,” the extraterrestrial jungle creature in “Predator,” the futuristic cyborg assassins in the “Terminator” movies, and the life-size dinosaurs in the ” Jurassic Park” movies, which included a frightening life-size Tyrannosaurus rex.

Winston and his team also designed and created the makeup and the scissors and blade appendages for “Edward Scissorhands.”

Among his other film credits are “Interview With the Vampire,” “Lost World,” “Batman Returns” and “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.”

He shared Oscars for best effects, visual effects for “Aliens” (1986) and “Jurassic Park” (1993) and shared Oscars for best effects, visual effects and for best makeup for “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991).

More recently, Winston and his team created the crystal skeletons for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and the character suits for the superhero Iron Man and the 10-foot-tall super-villain the Iron Monger in “Iron Man.”

“He was a giant in the industry of practical visual effects,” Jon Favreau, director of “Iron Man,” told The Times on Monday.

Favreau, who first worked with Winston on the 2005 film “Zathura: A Space Adventure,” said he was “lucky to have him work on my first effects film and then to be there for ‘Iron Man,’ which is clearly an important moment in my career, and Stan’s contribution to the success of that film is unquestionable.”

Noting that Winston “went from being a hero of mine to somebody who was a mentor,” Favreau added that “while he was definitely a legend in the industry, he never lost his childlike enthusiasm.”

Steven Spielberg, who worked with Winston on numerous films, said in a statement: “Stan was a fearless and courageous artist/inventor, and for many projects, I rode his cutting edge from teddy bears to aliens to dinosaurs. My world would not have been the same without Stan.

“What I will miss most is his easy laugh every time he said to me, ‘Nothing is impossible.’ ”

For Winston, his job was to get the audience “involved” with the characters he and his colleagues created.

“We use the tools and techniques of special effects to create characters for films,” he told the Orange County Register in 1997.

“Special effects, by themselves, don’t mean diddly squat in a movie. If the characters I created can’t perform, can’t act and aren’t interesting, it just isn’t going to work. It doesn’t matter how good the technique is if you have not created interesting characters.”
Jody Duncan, author of the 2006 book “The Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio,” said Winston “brought a lot of class and respect to the art form of creating makeup and creature effects for movies.

“No. 1, he ran a beautiful and clean and high-class shop,” Duncan told The Times. “Instead of it being something done in a dirty warehouse somewhere, he created a beautiful place. Another thing he did was he campaigned for makeup artists to be recognized both in credits and financially. They just became more prominent, partly through his efforts.”
And, she said, “he did almost a one-man campaign to create a makeup-effects category for the Academy Awards. It used to be they’d give one out every once in a while as a special thing. He went on talk shows, he wrote letters to the editor — he did all kinds of things to get that to happen.”

Born April 7, 1946, in Arlington, Va., Winston as a child developed an interest in drawing, puppetry and classic horror films. He graduated from the fine arts and drama programs of the University of Virginia in 1968.

After heading to Hollywood in 1969 with a dream of an acting career that was quickly dashed, he entered a three-year makeup apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios and launched Stan Winston Studio in the garage of his Northridge home in 1972.

Stan Winston Studio, which now has a staff of about 50, has contributed characters and effects to more than 75 feature films, several music videos and numerous commercials, including those featuring the Aflac duck, the Budweiser frogs and lizards, and Burger King’s king.

The energetic Winston was always looking to the next project.

“The audience expects more each time, but I expect more than they do,” he told the Washington Times in 1992. “It’s very important — so that I don’t get bored — that I do more the next time than I did the last. It has nothing to do with technology. It has to do with wanting to be dazzled and excited.”

“If I can dazzle myself, I’m pretty sure I can dazzle you.”

Winston’s illness kept him out of the studio for some time, but colleagues said the company plans to stay in business and current projects will continue.

In addition to his son Matt, Winston is survived by his wife, Karen; his daughter, Debbie; his brother, Ronnie; and four grandchildren.

Instead of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research in West Hollywood, Free Arts for Abused Children in Los Angeles, or United States Fund for UNICEF in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) — Still reeling from Tim Russert’s death, NBC News must now contemplate replacing the man who not only dominated the Sunday morning talk shows, but served as chief political commentator and ran the Washington bureau.

The “Meet the Press” host had what was arguably the most important and far-reaching job in television news, particularly in an election year. He died of a heart attack Friday while preparing for another week’s edition of “Meet the Press.”

NBC wasn’t talking about potential successors while planning Russert’s wake on Tuesday and memorial service Wednesday that will be televised on MSNBC from the Kennedy Center. Top anchor Brian Williams cancelled an appearance Monday at the Peabody Awards to be with his stricken staff.

NBC has potential successors to Russert on “Meet the Press” already within the company. The decision has big financial implications, since the show reportedly earns more than $60 million a year in profits with relatively few expenses and often has a waiting list of potential advertisers.

A wrong move can provide an opportunity to ABC News’ “This Week” and George Stephanopoulos, which has averaged 2.8 million viewers this year. That’s second to NBC’s 4.17 million, with both networks up from last year during a period of heavy political attention.

“Hardball” host Chris Matthews is the best-known internal candidate. He already has a Sunday talk show syndicated by NBC Universal that’s very competitive with the networks, despite taping on Friday. “The Chris Matthews Show” averages about 2.3 million viewers, less than CBS’ “Face the Nation” and more than Fox’s show with Chris Wallace.

Matthews was considered a candidate to replace Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation” earlier this year, until Schieffer decided to stay on a few more years.

Matthews, a relentless talker, would have to change his style to fit in to Russert’s “Meet the Press” reportorial template. Along with MSNBC’s “Countdown” with Keith Olbermann, he represents an opinionated style that would change the course of the show, and already caused controversy this political season by saying Hillary Clinton became a senator and a candidate for president because “her husband messed around.”

Matthews’ long history of strong opinions is in stark contrast to Russert’s nimble, middle-of-the road approach — and could be reason enough for NBC to look elsewhere. And moving Matthews to “Meet the Press” would likely end his syndicated show, another disincentive to NBC.

Washington hands David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell are lesser-known, but fit into the objective reporting format that made “Meet the Press” with Russert the first stop for Washington newsmakers. Outsiders Gwen Ifill of PBS’ “Washington Week,” a former NBC correspondent, and CNN’s John King could fit the same mold.

There’s some sentiment within NBC News to have Williams or retired anchor Tom Brokaw — who filled in this past Sunday — to sit in temporarily, perhaps through the election. That course would give NBC the chance to find a new host and build a format around that person’s strengths outside the crucible of an election season.

But that could impose a brutal 7-day-a week schedule on Williams and keep the semi-retired Brokaw busier than he’d like to be.

Russert was a fixture beside first Brokaw, then Williams, on election nights with his contagiously enthusiastic analysis. He was a frequent guest of the “Today” show, explaining the latest political developments. His loss likely means a larger on-air role for Chuck Todd, the network’s political director, who was recruited to NBC News by Russert. Todd has been increasingly visible this political season, particularly on MSNBC.

For all that Russert did onscreen, his job as Washington bureau chief was also vital. Wendy Wilkinson was Russert’s chief deputy there, but no one came close to his role for all things political.

As the most powerful Washington figure in electronic journalism, Russert was a sponge for tips, story ideas and complaints. He was dragged into the Valerie Plame CIA leak case because White House aide I. Lewis Libby called Russert to complain about Matthews.

White House aides called Russert to complain about Campbell Brown when she worked at NBC News, too, said Brown, who now works at CNN. He always defended her, she said.

He would also frequently call her with story tips.

“Tim knew it would help me impress the bosses in New York,” she said. “He always let me take the credit.”

Miley Cyrus’ father Billy Ray Cyrus didn’t know Vanity Fair was going to “strip down” his daughter for the controversial June issue photo shoot, he told the “Today” show on Tuesday.

“I didn’t know they were going to strip her down and wrap her in a blanket,” Cyrus, promoting his NBC show “Nashville Star,” said.

Of the seemingly topless shot of his 15-year-old superstar daughter, the country singer said, “I was surprised when I saw it … but, hey, that’s life. Stuff happens.”

Click here to watch the interview

Cyrus also says he didn’t complain about the shoot after the fact because he didn’t want to make it an even bigger deal.

“I didn’t,” he told the show, “’cause my dad always said, ‘The more you stomp in poop, the more it stinks.’”

At the time, Miley Cyrus apologized for the photos, which were taken by Annie Leibovitz.

As for the photo of Miley with her dad that seemed to some like an uncomfortably romantic shot, Billy Ray said, “That’s just a daddy who loves his daughter a whole lot.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Incredible Hulk” was a box-office bruiser, yanking in $54.5 million over opening weekend and laying to rest the stigma of his unappreciated big-screen adventure five years ago.

“The Hulk got a second chance, got angry and came back with a vengeance,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “This was a big question mark going in. The film had a history or a checkered past.”

Ang Lee’s “Hulk” opened in 2003 with a whopping $62.1 million weekend but then rolled over and died in subsequent weeks amid terrible word of mouth. That movie crawled to $132.2 million in sales, seemingly a respectable total but actually meager considering its huge first weekend.

Marvel Studios, which financed “The Incredible Hulk,” and distributor Universal hope the new movie, starring Edward Norton as the scientist who turns into the Hulk when maddened, will have a longer shelf life and eventually top out with better numbers than its predecessor.

Also rebounding off a bad last movie was director M. Night Shyamalan, whose fright flick “The Happening” with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel opened at a sturdy No. 3 with $30.5 million.

Shyamalan, whose blockbusters include “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” flopped two years ago with “Lady in the Water.”

“Night rocked,” said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released “The Happening,” a tale of an airborne toxin that prompts people to kill themselves in ghastly ways. “Any time you’re coming off an effort like `Lady in the Water’ that was perceived as a disappointment, movie-goers and critics tend to be a little gun-shy, but the numbers speak for themselves.”

Fans and critics definitely were gun-shy on “The Incredible Hulk,” some expecting the movie to bomb because of the bad taste “Hulk” left in audiences’ mouths.

“With all the naysayers, this is a huge accomplishment,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. “For months, they thought this was going to be a bomb.”

The new movie is not a sequel to 2003’s “Hulk” but, in Marvel’s terms, a reboot. Fans found the earlier movie too dark and brooding.

This take is more action-oriented, casting Norton’s Bruce Banner as a fugitive in the vein of “The Incredible Hulk” TV series starring Bill Bixby in the 1970s and ’80s.

Despite solid reviews and fan buzz, “The Incredible Hulk” did nearly $8 million less over opening weekend than “Hulk.” That gap widens even more factoring in today’s higher ticket prices.

But the new flick still put up some of the best numbers ever for a movie opening in June. The studio’s exit polls show audiences are recommending the movie to friends, giving it a good shot to surpass the total gross of “Hulk,” Rocco said.

The movie also pulled in $31 million in 38 other countries, putting its worldwide total at $85.5 million.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount’s “Kung Fu Panda,” the previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, slipped to second place with $34.3 million, raising its total to $118 million.

A solid June lineup has pushed Hollywood ahead of last year’s record box office pace. Since the first weekend of May, domestic grosses total $1.46 billion, up 4.6 percent from 2007’s, according to Media By Numbers. Factoring in higher ticket prices, actual movie attendance this summer is up 1.6 percent.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Incredible Hulk,” $54.5 million.

2. “Kung Fu Panda,” $34.3 million.

3. “The Happening,” $30.5 million.

4. “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” $16.4 million.

5. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” $13.5 million.

6. “Sex and the City,” $10.2 million.

7. “Iron Man,” $5.1 million.

8. “The Strangers,” $4.1 million.

9. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” $3 million.

10. “What Happens in Vegas,” $1.7 million.