The huge ad takes up the entire side of a building on the corner of Houston Street and Lafayette Street in Soho, New York City. Residents there want it taken down.

What do you think? Too sexy for a billboard? And is that guy’s…? I must admit, I’d have to shield my kids’ eyes if we walked by that.

Here it is up close. After the jump, check out the far-away version. Would love comments from someone in that neighborhood.

More after the jump…

Images: Bauer-Griffin

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Then there was that whole nasty child porn scandal and things sort of when kaput for Paul Reubens’ career. Who really knows what happened, but the charges were eventually dropped.

But there’s no denying that the guy was a creative genius, and he’s hoping to bring back some of that magic. The Emmy-winning, 57-year-old actor is donning that skinny suit again for an elaborate live show and an upcoming movie, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Movie.” In an interview with Details Magazine, he talks about his comeback, saying that he hopes he’s still “relevant.”

“What I’m trying to prove now is that I still have it,” says Reubens. “I’m still around. I still am Pee-wee Herman, and Pee-wee Herman is still funny.”

As for those nasty child-porn charges, he says, “All this stuff that happened — the quote-unquote treatment I received — was not an inducement to come back to work. To wait for somebody to give me permission to have a career wasn’t going to happen, you know?

“It’s a drag to have tabloid baggage. It’s weird to have your career be a footnote to that, especially when you love what you do. I’m not giving people that power anymore.”

Are you a Pee-wee fan? Or did the porn charges turn you against him for good?

Image: INF

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According to Showbiz411, Haggis wrote a letter explaining his decision to Tommy Davis, the celebrity wrangler for Scientology and the son of Scientologist actress Anne Archer.

Two things played into Haggis’ decision to leave the church: Scientology’s backing of Proposition 8 in California banning gay marriage (quite the move, considering they’re always looking for celebs to join the church); and Haggis’ wife, actress Deborah Rennard (J.R. Ewing’s loyal secretary, Sly, on “Dallas”) being ordered to cut ties with her parents because they’d violated some code of the sect.

Haggis is the Oscar-winning writer-director whose credits include “Crash,” “Million Dollar Baby,” and Letters from Iwo Jima.” He’s currently filming “The Next Three Days” with Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson, and former Scientologist Jason Beghe. After the jump, a portion of Haggis’ letter…

Tommy,

As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make
a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology
of San Diego. Their public sponsorship of Proposition 8, a hate-filled
legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and
lesbian citizens of California — rights that were granted them by the
Supreme Court of our state — shames us.

I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of
the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good
conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was
tolerated.

In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year,
you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it
and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action
was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded
press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took
no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.

The church’s refusal to denounce the actions of these bigots,
hypocrites and homophobes is cowardly. I can think of no other word.
Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.

I joined the Church of Scientology thirty-five years ago. During my
twenties and early thirties I studied and received a great deal of
counseling. While I have not been an active member for many years,
I found much of what I learned to be very helpful, and I still apply
it in my daily life. I have never pretended to be the best Scientologist,
but I openly and vigorously defended the church whenever it was criticized,
as I railed against the kind of intolerance that I believed was directed
against it. I had my disagreements, but I dealt with them internally.
I saw the organization — with all its warts, growing pains and
problems — as an underdog. And I have always had a thing for underdogs.

But I reached a point several weeks ago where I no longer knew what to
think. You had allowed our name to be allied with the worst elements of
the Christian Right. In order to contain a potential “PR flap” you
allowed our sponsorship of Proposition 8 to stand. Despite all the
church’s words about promoting freedom and human rights, its name is
now in the public record alongside those who promote bigotry and
intolerance, homophobia and fear.

The fact that the Mormon Church drew all the fire, that no one noticed,
doesn’t matter. I noticed. And I felt sick. I wondered how the church
could, in good conscience, through the action of a few and then the
inaction of its leadership, support a bill that strips a group of its
civil rights.

This was my state of mind when I was online doing research and chanced
upon an interview clip with you on CNN. The interview lasted maybe ten
minutes — it was just you and the newscaster. And in it I saw you deny
the church’s policy of disconnection. You said straight-out there was no
such policy, that it did not exist.

I was shocked. We all know this policy exists. I didn’t have to search
for verification — I didn’t have to look any further than my own home.

You might recall that my wife was ordered to disconnect from her parents
because of something absolutely trivial they supposedly did twenty-five
years ago when they resigned from the church. This is a lovely retired
couple, never said a negative word about Scientology to me or anyone
else I know — hardly raving maniacs or enemies of the church. In fact
it was they who introduced my wife to Scientology.

Although it caused her terrible personal pain, my wife broke off all
contact with them. I refused to do so. I’ve never been good at following
orders, especially when I find them morally reprehensible.

For a year and a half, despite her protestations, my wife did not speak
to her parents and they had limited access to their grandchild. It was a
terrible time.

That’s not ancient history, Tommy. It was a year ago.

And you could laugh at the question as if it was a joke? You could
publicly state that it doesn’t exist?

To see you lie so easily, I am afraid I had to ask myself: what else
are you lying about?

The great majority of Scientologists I know are good people who are
genuinely interested in improving conditions on this planet and helping
others. I have to believe that if they knew what I now know, they too
would be horrified. But I know how easy it was for me to defend our
organization and dismiss our critics, without ever truly looking at what
was being said; I did it for thirty-five years. And so, after writing
this letter, I am fully aware that some of my friends may choose to no
longer associate with me, or in some cases work with me. I will always
take their calls, as I always took yours. However, I have finally come
to the conclusion that I can no longer be a part of this group. Frankly,
I had to look no further than your refusal to denounce the church’s
anti-gay stance, and the indefensible actions, and inactions, of those
who condone this behavior within the organization. I am only ashamed
that I waited this many months to act. I hereby resign my membership in
the Church of Scientology.

Sincerely,

Paul Haggis

Ps. I’ve attached our email correspondence. At some point it became
evident that you did not value my concerns about the church’s tacit
support of an amendment that violated the civil rights of so many of our
citizens. Perhaps if you had done a little more research on me, the
church’s senior management wouldn’t have dismissed those concerns quite
so cavalierly. While I am no great believer in resumes and awards, this
is what you would have discovered:

[Haggis lists his numerous awards]

The full text of the letter can be found here. I wonder how it will affect other celebrity Scientologists, and if more of them will leave the church, too. I would imagine that Prop 8 would be a pretty big deal among the Hollywood crowd.

Image: INF; Paul Haggis and Deborah Rennard, 2008

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But no, it was Tom Cruise that Bale looked to for inspiration. According to director Mary Herron, Bale based his character on Cruise’s “intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes.”

Hmmm … I wonder what that says about Tom Cruise. That he’s really a psycho inside? That his maniacal laugh comes from a deep-seated psychosis involving aliens and spirit guides?

In an interview with BlackBook, Herron talked about how she and Bale created the delusional Bateman. “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave.”

She added, “And then one day he [Bale] called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.”

“American Psycho” stars Bale as a wealthy New York investment banking executive who hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends. Buy it on Amazon.

Image: © Copyright 2000 – Universal Studios – All rights reserved.

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Here’s a thumbnail via TwitPic, but you can see the full pic here!

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In addition to exclusive on-set photos, interviews, and previews of the second installment of the “Twilight” series, the special edition also includes an exclusive shot of “Eclipse,” the third chapter (pictured, right).  

“Twilight” earned nearly $200 million last year, and “New Moon” will continue the story of vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), and werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).

‘Twilight’ is about first love; ‘New Moon’ is about heartbreak,” says director Chris Weitz. “That requires the actors to go to some very dark places.”

For Taylor Lautner, “New Moon” represents a big responsibility. “I get nervous trying to represent Team Jacob in the right way. This guy is some pretty good competition,” he says, referring to Pattinson’s Edward. “The fans would love anybody who played Jacob. I’m just lucky to be the one who got the chance.”

More after the jump…

The special collector’s edition also delves into the chemistry between Kristen and Robert in both their professional and personal lives. It’s no secret that the couple has been letting the sparks fly both on and off-screen.

Says Pattinson, “When I read ‘Twilight,’ and there are these moony descriptions of Edward as a godlike figure, I thought there was no way I could play him. But when I got in the room with Kristen, there was a certain chemistry. She’s basically the reason I did the movie.”

Catherine Hardwicke, director of “Twilight,” recalls one scene when things got a little steamy and Pattinson ended up falling off the bed. And co-star Ashley Green, who plays Alice Cullen, says their off-screen romance is the real deal. “They’re genuine, and they’re very talented. It’s like a secret potion that you can’t really pinpoint, but they both have it.”

The cast is already filming “Eclipse,” with the fourth installment, “Breaking Dawn,” on tap for the near future. “We’re all crossing our fingers, and we all want to finish the series,” says Kellen Lutz, who plays vampire Emmett Cullen. “And we want Stephenie Meyer to write more books if she could!”

Images and Source: People Magazine

Post from: Film Gecko

According to ETonline, the two actors were in a parked van when a firetruck hit them. The truck was reportedly pulling out of the Deutschtown Fire Station earlier this afternoon when it hit the front end of the van.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, and both Crowe and Banks emerged from the vehicle just fine. A worker at a local bar said everyone was cheery about it, and that Crowe waved back at her when she waved at him.

I don’t know if it was an emergency situation and the firefighters were rushing to or from somewhere. Either way, I’m glad to hear no one was hurt. At least the driver has a good story to tell his or her grandkids (”Hey, kids, want to hear about the time I smashed into Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks?”).

Image: INF

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You can catch Aniston right now in “Love Happens” with Aaron Eckhart (the two have zero chemistry onscreen – seriously, she’d have better chemistry with John Mayer). 

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She’s really working it, isn’t she? Whatever “it” is. Do you think she needs to tone it down? Or are you in the “go for it” camp? I mean, if we’re talking hooker, she’d definitely be a high-class one, right?

For all of Film Gecko’s coverage of the movie, click here. The slasher-cheerleader flick opens in theaters Sept. 18, 2009.

Image: splashnewsonline.com

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The film is a scathing critique of Wall Street, capitalism, and what some would call greedy bankers across America. Moore admits that many of the companies that financed this film will probably be unhappy with the final product.

“Why would these companies give money to me, a guy who is diametrically opposed to everything they stand for? One of the beautiful flaws of capitalism is they will use the rope you give them to hang themselves, if you can make a buck.”

He adds, “I think this will be the last time they will give me that money.”

Even without financing, he hopes to continue making documentaries. “I’ve been saving up my money from “Sicko” to get to this day. I will always make my own movies, now I have the money to make them."

Image: INF; Source: Wenn News

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