Sean Penn on The Huffington Post

Robin Wright Starts Over, Dyes Hair Dark (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-11-17T08:19:54Z

Robin Wright, who filed for divorce from Sean Penn (for the second time) in August, tried out a new look Sunday night at a screening of 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' in NYC.

"This is all about new beginnings for me," she said, according to the New York Post.

PHOTO:

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Sean Penn Visits Hugo Chavez, Talks Politics And Obama's Nobel Prize

2009-10-30T08:48:09Z

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said he met privately with actor Sean Penn on Wednesday, and that the Oscar-winning celebrity may film a movie in Venezuela.

Penn may shoot a film based on a novel by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, which is set largely in the jungle along Venezuela's southern Orinoco river, Chavez said. He appeared to be referring to Carpentier's 1953 novel, "The Lost Steps," about an American anthropologist and composer's journey into the jungle region.

Jessica White, Sean Penn's Girlfriend, Is A Swimsuit Model, 25

2009-09-15T09:05:28Z

The ink's barely dry on the divorce filing between Sean Penn and soon-to-be ex Robin Wright Penn, but the actor didn't waste time getting back on his feet with new girlfriend Jessica White in New York City.

On Friday night, Penn, 49, and White, 25, had dinner at Hotel Griffou (both ordered the chicken and drank vodka) before heading to the Mercer Hotel.

Madonna's Many Lovers: Who's The Hottest? (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-09-07T19:30:11Z

Madonna accumulated her share of bedtime stories before meeting her current beau and Israel travel buddy, 22-year-old Brazilian model Jesus Luz. Which liaisons were hot, and which are better forgotten? You decide.

You can watch Madonna's new video costarring Jesus Luz here.

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Inside Sean Penn & Robin Wright's Rocky Relationship

2009-08-23T08:13:35Z

When Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn attended the 2009 Academy Awards together in February, the couple -- whose 13-year marriage had its share of ups and downs over the past two years -- seemed to be on-again.

But six months later, the reconciliation ended with Wright filing for divorce Aug. 12. According to the legal papers in Marin County, Calif., the estranged couple "agreed to division of all property" and "[shared] custody" of son Hopper Jack, 16. They also have a daughter together, Dylan, 18.

Penn And Wright Agree To Division Of Property, Custody

2009-08-19T16:12:29Z

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Robin Wright and husband Sean Penn have already agreed on how they will divide property in their divorce, according to court records.

Wright, 43, filed for divorce Aug. 12 in San Rafael, Calif., citing irreconcilable differences with Penn, 49, her husband of more than a decade. The couple have agreed to share custody of their 16-year-old son Hopper Jack.

Robin Wright Penn Files For DIVORCE From Sean Penn

2009-08-18T08:21:07Z

Robin Wright Penn has filed for divorce from her husband Sean Penn, PEOPLE has learned.

Papers were filed in Marin County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

William Bradley: When Should Gay Marriage Advocates Try to Reverse California's Prop 8?

2009-08-11T09:19:59Z

Whether we like it or not, gay marriage opponents had a devastatingly effective advertising campaign in California.

When should Californians try to reverse last November's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage? That's the question on tap this week, and for awhile going forward.

While Barack Obama won a 61% to 37% victory in California last November, the Prop 8 amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage also passed, 52% to 48%. It was a striking rebuke to pro-gay rights forces, who had just won the right in a notable California Supreme Court decision, and seemed poised to hold it in the election.

This week, a few organizations championing same-sex marriage will announce their opinions as to to whether to try to reverse Prop 8 in 2010 or 2012. In order to place an initiative on the November 2010 ballot, initiative language must be submitted to California Attorney General Jerry Brown by September 25th. Equality California and Courage Campaign will announce their decisions this week. This won't end the process, of course, as key funding decisions are yet to be made.

So, the question for human rights advocates is, when best to try again, the seeming slam dunk of 2008 having been screwed up in various ways.

California's same-sex marriage advocates have heard from their pollsters, they've heard from selected political consultants, and they've heard from activists. Now they need to decide whether to try to reverse Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment adopted last November, in 2010 or in 2012.

The pollsters said that 2012 would be a better option. The political consultants said that 2012 would be a better option. The activist leaders prefer 2010.

If there is to be an initiative to bring back the right to same-sex marriage -- established by the California Supreme Court last year and overturned by California voters last November -- ballot language is due by September 25th.

Here are some points to consider.

**The Polling

Gay marriage advocates -- and please excuse this sympathetic straight guy for using the short form rather than the full, and politically correct, LGBT language -- commissioned a poll on this point. Which was conducted before the Republican majority California Supreme Court, which had granted the right in the first place, predictably upheld Prop 8 last spring. Predictably because most gay rights advocates had sued on the technical basis that Prop 8 constituted a fundamental revision of the California Constitution rather than an amendment. Ignoring the fact that the Prop 13 property tax amendment was actually was actually far more far-reaching.

On June 3rd, I went on a media conference call sponsored by same-sex marriage proponents. Pollsters Amy Simon and David Binder discussed their poll, which indicated that the opponents of same-sex marriage have an eyelash thin one to two-point edge over proponents among all California voters. Not unlike other polling before the passage of the gay marriage ban.

The advocates' pollsters read is that 2012 is a marginally better year in which to do a gay marriage initiative than 2010, due to higher turnout of more Democratic voters in a presidential election. They're less pronounced, however, in the view that 2012 is preferable to 2010 than are the two leading public pollsters remaining in the state: Field Poll director Mark di Camillo and Public Policy Institute of California poll director Mark Baldassare.

There is a sort of inexorable quality to this. As time passes, the opponents of gay marriage increasingly pass away.

Nothwithstanding what their pollsters, or any others, think, the impression I got from the groups represented on the call before I had to move on to the next task is that they intend to move ahead on a same-sex marriage initiative for 2010. And are planning public events promoting same-sex marriage in dozens of cities.

**The Political Consultants Gay marriage advocates Equality California asked a selected panel of supportive California political consultants which year is best to reverse Prop 8, 2010 or 2012. The unanimous view? 2012.

Former Los Angeles Times pollster Jill Darling said: "Did the 2008 campaign move voters? Are the post-elections efforts having any effect? Nothing measurable."

Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman, named campaign manager of the year by the American Association of Political Consultants for defeating Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2005 special election initiatives, notes that an initiative for November 2010 needs to be submitted to the Attorney General by the end of September. "Has the perfect initiative been drafted? Is everyone who should be consulted on the legal language, not to mention whatever nuances we want to add, signed off? Is the campaign structure in place to sustain the process that goes along with the beginning stages of an initiative campaign?

"I pose these questions because I think I know the answer. And I think the answer is 'No,'" Kaufman said.

This late ad by Samuel L. Jackson casting opposition to gay marriage in a long line of anti-civil rights moves was too little to counter problems with the Latino and African American communities.

**The Activist Groups Older, more established groups are more skeptical of the idea of going right away back to the ballot. Others, are more into it. Of course, action equals funding in the world of activist politics.

Constant campaigning equals constant mobilization equals constant funding.

A gathering of activist group leaders last month in San Bernardino showed most in favor of going to the ballot in 2010. 93 voted to go in 2010, with 49 in favor of 2012, and 20 undecided.

** The Initiative Dynamic. California voters have dealt with hundreds of initiatives over the past several decades. The dynamic has become well established.

It is much easier to defeat an initiative than to pass one.

This is why 2008 was such a gigantic missed opportunity for the gay rights movement.

Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown provided the appropriate frame for the initiative, casting it in ballot language as taking away a right. Which infuriated the far right forces behind the initiative. But which was entirely accurate, given the fact that a Republican majority state Supreme Court had just granted the right.

And so the No on 8 side had a good lead in the polls starting out last year.

However, the obvious frame for the election proceeded to be completely blown by the No on 8 campaign until the last few weeks. First by a campaign which emphasized a sort of "getting-to-know-us" theme and, ultimately, by mistakes made by gay marriage proponent Gavin Newsom.

Same-sex marriage stalled out earlier this year in liberal New York, after a much-ballyhooed introduction.

**The Overall Environment Today's California political environment is dominated by the sharp economic downturn and by a closely aligned reality, namely California's chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. In this context of ongoing economic, financial, and fiscal emergency, gay marriage is not a top-rung issue for most Californians.

As a wild card indicator, there is the relative failure of the movie, Bruno. Some gay rights advocates saw it as a leading edge into the culture. Others worried that it was an unnecessary stereotyping of gay culture. I noted that its sharp fall-off after its opening day was no surprise, given its aggressively in-your-face nature. Putting aside the longer analysis of the movie, which I provided here on the Huffington Post, a relevant fact is that it will end up less than half as popular as Sacha Baron Cohen's previous provocation, the 2006 hit Borat.

And as a fine a movie as Milk is -- with its Best Actor Oscar for Sean Penn for his great portrayal of the intriguing Harvey Milk, with whom I was acquainted, and Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for former colleague Josh Brolin for his great portrayal of Milk assassin Dan White -- the movie makes Bulworth look like a blockbuster.

A same-sex marriage ceremony at San Francisco City Hall a few weeks before the election, presided over by Mayor Gavin Newsom, with first graders in attendance, effectively countered Prop 8 opponents' arguments that the schools were being raised as a scare tactic.

**The Newsom Factor San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom catapulted himself into a role as chief proponent of gay marriage with his swiftly overturned declaration in 2004 that same-sex marriage was legal in San Francisco. When the California Supreme Court declared it a right in 2008, Newsom promptly made himself the inadvertent star of the Yes on 8 TV ads with his notorious, braying declaration that gay marriage is inevitable in America, "Whether you like it or not."

Which is, probably, true, in the long run. Not that you want to say it as Newsom did. Because few things are inevitable in politics. And anything can be lost with enough arrogance and stupidity.

Later, with the No on 8 side's lead declining, Newsom presided over a lesbian wedding at San Francisco City Hall. Which first graders in one of the newlywed's classes attended. This provided endless ammunition for gay marriage opponents, who had been struggling to prove their contention that the right to same-sex marriage means that the gay lifestyle will be promoted in the public schools.

Newsom is trying to run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010. He's not doing well. He's just had major blow-ups in both his political and City Hall operations, and has less than one-eighth the campaign funds available to spend that frontrunner Jerry Brown has.

Nevertheless, his prominent role, at least for now, in the politics of 2010 places him front and center in the debate over the repeal of Prop 8. Given his record of boneheaded moves, gay marriage opponents are happy about this.

**The History The right to same-sex marriage will, in the end, win out. It's the getting there that is messy. And it need not have been as messy as the passage of Prop 8, and its expected upholding last spring by the California Supreme Court, has made it. (Fortunately, the 18,000 same-sex marriages legally carried out under the short-lived law will stand.)

Ironically, it was this very court that granted the right of same-sex marriage just last year.

Overturning an earlier anti-gay marriage initiative, Chief Justice Ron George, a Republican, wrote in his majority opinion: "An individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon an individual's sexual orientation. ... An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis to deny or withhold legal rights."

The state Supreme Court's decision fueled a right-wing drive to enshrine opposition to same-sex marriage in California's constitution.

Gay marriage opponents got a huge gift immediately from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's comments. Newsom had enraged top national Democrats, including Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, by unilaterally declaring same-sex marriage lawful in San Francisco in the midst of the 2004 presidential race. Though it was a move that was predictably easily overturned, national Republican strategists credited the furor it caused with playing a propulsive role in turning out huge numbers of fundamentalist voters in Ohio, the lynchpin of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election.

In the spring of 2008, Newsom delighted the proponents of what became Proposition 8 by delivering a gloating set of remarks.

"By the way, as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation," he said. "It's inevitable. This door's wide open now. It's gonna happen. Whether you like it or not. This is the future. And it's now."

The foolish remarks helped galvanize religious conservatives around the country, and they poured millions into the California campaign. It also formed the cornerstone for the Yes on 8 ad campaign.

A few weeks before the election, with opponents of Prop 8 fighting back against distracting assertions that the right to same-sex marriage means that "homosexuality" will be promoted in the public schools, Newsom presided over the same-sex wedding of a first grade teacher at San Francisco City Hall. 18 of her students were on hand to toss rose petals and blow bubbles on their just married teacher and her new wife.

The Yes on 8 forces had a field day with this, successfully pushing back against new No on 8 ads. And what seemed like the likely defeat of Prop 8 turned into a 52% to 48% victory.

And so the question remains: When best to try to roll back the ultimate failure of 2008? In 2010 or in 2012?

The emotional answer is clearly the former. The more measured answer the latter. But politics frequently turns, for better or worse, on emotion.

You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com.

Robin Wright Penn: Marriages Have Their Phases

2009-06-22T12:39:35Z

If anyone would have a perspective on marriage it would be Robin Wright Penn, whose union with husband Sean Penn has been one long roller-coaster ride.

"All marriages have their phases," Wright Penn, 43, tells the British magazine :Psychologies" for its July issue. "It's life. We go through it, if we're married long enough. If you're lucky you grow and you work it out."

Sean Penn Pulls Out Of Stooges And 'Cartel' Movies

2009-06-16T23:51:25Z

LOS ANGELES — Sean Penn will not be one of "The Three Stooges" or join "Cartel."

A spokeswoman for the Oscar winner said he is dropping out of the films. Penn spokeswoman Mara Buxbaum did not specify a reason, but said if the start dates on the productions were to be postponed, Penn would remain involved.

Tom Gregory: America 2009: Hand Sanitizer, Safe Babies, and Prop 8

2009-05-27T17:46:48Z

As a kid I was raised Baptist. At seven, I bought the whole story hook, line and sinker. It sounded great. At death I was promised eternal perfectness -- a world awash with streets paved in gold, eternal life surrounded by those I loved, living in a perfect palace, no need to worry, fret -- no disease, no sickness; you know the drill, you get the idea. But even as a child I saw flaws in that paradigm. I asked mom, "If all the streets are paved with gold, won't gold be... worthless? Then again, won't we get sick of that constant gaudy glare? If money is not the barometer by which society paces us, what will be? What will be the friction that keeps us fighting, striving...living? Mom, won't we all just want to be God? Mom if God so loves -- why hell? If he's the boss why did he have to kill his beloved son? Mommy, it seems to me that he could have just forgiven us with the whole gory cross thing? If Adolf Hitler repented and accepted Jesus Christ as his own personal savior, will he be up there too? Just why does God need a building fund? Shouldn't we be spending all the money on the poor? "Get away kid, you're bothering me."

In all fairness to my congregation, they were a fine group, the backbone of American ideals. I don't recall any of the right-wing rhetoric that so readily spews from pulpits and Pat Robertson et al today. Just three years ago, my childhood church pastor from New Jersey, Rev. Wesley Evans, visited my home. I had arranged a VIP tour of Hollywood for him, his wife, and my aunt and uncle with whom they were traveling. He was a great guy. If all the churches were like my childhood church, I suspect none of today's right wing fodder would have ever infected law or the White House. I still respect that chapel and its congregants, but something tragic has happened to the American church. They have become a pawn in a game of wicked ridiculousness. Power has been sucked up from the church by a tornado of political and animalist hate that has its eye on gay America.

Earlier this month in Ramona California, sixth grader Natalie Jones was censored from giving her a presentation on politician Harvey Milk. She had seen Sean Penn's Academy Award winning performance, which inspired her to share his story with her class. Milk, was of course the first openly gay official to ever be elected to public office in America.

The day before Natalie was to give her presentation to her class (she had gotten a score of 98% on the written report), she was called into the principal's office and told she could not share his story with the class.

To quote the original article written by the ACLU:

When Bonnie Jones spoke with the superintendent about the presentation, he said Natalie couldn't give her presentation because of a district board policy on "Family Life/Sex Education." A few days later, the school sent letters to parents of students in the class, explaining that her presentation would be held during a lunch recess on May 8, and that students could only attend if they had parental permission.  "The principal and superintendent grossly misinterpreted school policy. They illegally censored student speech protected by the First Amendment and the California Education Code," said David Blair-Loy, Legal Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "Writing or talking about a gay historical figure who advocated for equal rights for LGBT Californians is in no way the same thing as talking about sex, and school officials should not pretend otherwise."  The Ramona Unified School District policy on "Family Life/Sex Education" reads in part:  "Parents/guardians shall be notified in writing about any instruction in which human reproductive organs and their functions, processes, or sexually transmitted diseases are described, illustrated, or discussed. In addition, before any instruction on family life, human sexuality, AIDS or sexually transmitted diseases is given, the parent/guardian shall be provided with written notice explaining that the instruction will be given..."  "Schools that act as if any mention of the existence of gay people is something too controversial or 'sensitive' to discuss are doing a disservice to their students," said Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU's national LGBT Project. "This school completely overstepped its bounds in trying to silence Natalie Jones by shunting her presentation off to a lunch recess time and misusing a school policy to justify requiring parental permission to see it." 

I am tired of all this anti-same-sex silliness. If a superior being disagrees with anyone's lifestyle based upon sexual orientation, let him/her/it deal with the issue after death. I suspect many religious people feel that their God is watching them, and if they don't fight against homosexuals (Pat Robertson called them "self-absorbed hedonists") they too might be damned to hell.

I realized years ago that the first big mistake was allowing churches to broadcast on television. Like Wal-Mart, mega churches have taken money from local communities that used to go to neighborhood churches. They've funneled funds into a few hands that use it in vile ways. Imagine if the money funneled into Prop 8 had gone towards feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and helping the man or woman next-door who has lost his job. My partner and I gave more money to PROP 8 than anyone else (over 1.1 million). We have firmly decided no more. Through our foundation and through our individual giving I would rather give it to the animal shelters, gun buy-back programs, mass transit issues, or more hands-on LGBT issues.

America has run on unwarranted fear for far too long. Our parents and grandparents lived in a world without hand sanitizer; they washed their diapers instead of throwing them away, and only bought homes mortgages if they could afford them. Today I read that we are supposed to paint our roofs white to combat global warming. It seems to me the real answer to environmental issues is birth control, but unlike the "zero population growth" movement of the early seventies, you just can't talk about national birth control today.

I'd never want to go back to the America of yesterday. The "good old days" never really existed. But America survived pretty well on Ivory soap, an errant sneeze in the face, and the letting the two guys who lived together next door alone. God Bless America -- but my God is each one of us.

Sean Penn Calls Off Divorce

2009-05-21T10:46:36Z

LOS ANGELES — Sean Penn has withdrawn his petition to separate from his wife of 13 years.

The Academy Award winning actor was granted a dismissal Tuesday of his request for a legal separation from actress Robin Wright Penn.

Natalie Portman Slams Sean Penn Rumors: "Completely Untrue"

2009-05-15T18:58:11Z

Natalie Portman has taken the unusual step of releasing a statement about her personal life to shoot down rumors that she has or has had a romantic relationship with Sean Penn, newly split from wife Robin Wright Penn.

"Sean Penn is a friend and colleague. The reports that we are romantically involved are completely untrue. I normally do not respond to rumors about my private life, however, this repeatedly fabricated story has forced me to do so."

The pair were both judges at Cannes in 2008, and Star Magazine and the NY Post have each linked the pair.

Robin Wright Penn On Cannes Jury Year After Sean Presided

2009-05-12T14:00:21Z

CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival faced a problem this year _ how to replace passionate, attention-grabbing actor Sean Penn as jury president?

For starters, organizers recruited a 2009 jury that includes actress Robin Wright Penn, who is in the midst of divorcing the Academy Award-winning "Milk" star.

Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald: Drew Barrymore, Nutrition, and 25 Cents A Day

2009-05-02T10:23:34Z

As a clinical nutritionist, I spend my days reminding my patients of the virtues of balancing protein and carbohydrates, eating organic when possible, and having a good breakfast. They are often in search of losing a few pounds, lowering cholesterol, and preventing such maladies as heart disease and diabetes.

Earlier this week, at the Conversation About World Hunger and the Economic Turndown event at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, I was reminded that for one out of every seven people in the world, the idea of nutrition is simply to have any food to eat. I frequently inform parents that a high sugar breakfast can affect their child's concentration in school (let alone their health). However, in impoverished communities, school is often missed because of a lack of food. If a child doesn't get food in the morning, they simply cannot go to school because they can barely think. Children often spend the day in search for food. You can see how food is essential to getting a basic education. And a basic education is often a child's only way out of poverty.

I accepted the invitation to this event because I appreciate the opportunity to support a good cause. To be perfectly honest, I was prepared to hear overwhelming statistics about world hunger and feel like there was no real solution. I was ready to kick in a few bucks so I would feel like I was doing something.

I wasn't prepared to actually be inspired. However, I found the opposite to be true. What I learned that evening is that the issue of world hunger is solvable, and the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) is hot on the trail.

Arianna Huffington did a brilliant job of moderating the event as she sparked a thought-provoking discussion among WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, Actress and WFP Ambassador Against Hunger Drew Barrymore, and the audience.

Drew Barrymore was quite impressive. She was wonderfully spirited and articulate as she shared her passion and what she believes to be her life's mission: to make sure that no child is hungry. She spent time in Africa, learning about WFP, getting involved politically, and filming a documentary.

What is extraordinary about Drew's involvement is that she has truly earned her title as WFP's Ambassador. She spent time in the trenches in third world countries with conviction and commitment. She is not a mere figurehead--she's the real deal.

During her presentation, Drew proudly held WFP's famous red cup, the cup that feeds children around the globe. She explained that 25 cents a day is all it takes to make sure a child is fed. The audience was captivated. Holding the red cup and knowing that what is inside actually saves lives was a very powerful symbol. It was the connection between the comfortably-seated audience and the hungry child on the other end.

The tirelessly dedicated Josette Sheeran shared with us the risks that WFP takes to deliver the food to those in need. WFP goes into approximately 80 countries to deliver food. The people who deliver the food deal with war zones, political conflict, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. They use whatever transportation they can to deliver: helicopters, boats, donkeys, elephants, and camels.

Josette really got the audience's attention when she presented the fact that it takes only three billion dollars a year to make sure no child in the world goes to school hungry.

Only three billion? Check out the reality-check PSA where Sean Penn compares three billion to other expenses such as the economic bailout:

Oh, those Wall Street bonuses could be put to good use....

Call To Action

The audience was an eclectic mix of several hundred entertainment industry folks and two adorable kids. After the presentation, members of the audience asked questions which prompted a discussion about a call to action. The question from a young boy really got the discussion going. He asked, "How do you motivate kids who have plenty of food to care about kids who need food?" He shared how he goes to a school where kids spend money so easily and don't seem to be in touch with the need to help and lack the knowledge of how to help.

Drew's already strong passion was amped by this boy's spirit. She invited him to brainstorm with her for ways to reach young people and make ending world hunger as cool as having the latest version of the ipod. The young man didn't hesitate to accept Drew's invitation.

World Food Programme

Some quick facts about the World Food Programme:

It is the largest humanitarian organization and the United Nations' frontline agency mandated to combat global hunger.

In 2008, WFP reached 102 million beneficiaries in 78 countries with 3.9 million tons of food.

WFP keeps their overhead low. 93 cents of every dollar goes directly to getting food to those who need it.

WFP is not just helping people who are hungry today by providing food. They have developed strategies to ensure long-term food production by working with and training local farmers to grow food. There's that "teaching them to fish vs. just giving them fish" idea at its best.

WFP relies entirely on voluntary contributions.

Spreading the Word

You can learn more about how to fill the red cup and stop hunger in its tracks at wfp.org. You can become a Facebook friend of WFP or follow them on Twitter so you don't ever forget about this important issue. Maybe Drew will start twittering and keep us posted on her philanthropic adventures. Tweets to remind us of what's important. Instead of being bombarded with useless trivia, I'd rather be regularly reminded to feed the children.

Sean Penn Separates From Robin Wright Penn

2009-04-29T13:00:46Z

NEW YORK — Sean Penn and Robin Wright apparently tried to make it work but now, it seems their marriage might be over for good. Penn and his actress wife are separating after 13 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

The double Oscar winner filed the petition on April 23 in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, Calif., according to court papers.

Sean Penn: Smiles for Smirks

2009-04-21T20:38:21Z

Once again the simple-minded media and its pundits are confused about the nature of Americanism and language. When President Obama today inferred consideration of holding former administration officials accountable to law, he was immediately accused of violating his belief that we should "look forward." Had President Ford "looked forward" in his decision as to whether or not to hold Nixon accountable, he perhaps would have seen the Bush administration abuse of power coming and chosen to be genuinely tough on crime -- you know, "tough on crime" -- sending Nixon to jail and deterring this recent avalanche of abuse.

Further, the criticisms of President Obama's warm greeting toward President Chavez of Venezuela have been the posturing of our nation's most bitter and humanly impotent voices. Why is anyone listening to former Vice President Cheney? He's the one person alive proven wrong on virtually every topic. Then there's Newt Gingrich, who commented on the Chavez greeting as being approached wrong. He suggested that the meeting itself may not be improper, but that it should have been handled with a cold demeanor. This is a pattern of bad acting advice from bad actors. (All wimps think playing a tough guy is done in one-note coldness.) With a friend, or an enemy, our president will gain greater strategic position with a smile.

I know President Chavez well. Whether or not one agrees with all his policies, what is certainly true of Chavez is that he is a warm and friendly man with a robust sense of humor (who daily risks his own life for his country in ways Dick Cheney could never imagine). To treat such a man coldly is akin to spitting on him. As a country we've done enough of that. Say what you will, but it has only resulted in the self-celebration of our smirking spitters, while costing us international respect, American lives, and left wounds in the hands of our children's future. The Cheneys, down to the O'Reillys and Hannitys and Limbaughs, effectively hate the principles upon which we were founded. They are among the greatest cowards in all of American history. I applaud an American President who's tough enough...to smile.

Sean Penn Wanted Ann Coulter For Valerie Plame Movie

2009-04-16T09:34:14Z

Sean Penn, who plays Plame's underemployed husband Joseph Wilson, was pushing to have Coulter in a scene where she'd be screaming invectives at him. But Coulter said no.

Richard Valeriani: March 30, 2009, news update

2009-03-30T23:50:25Z

MARCH 30, 2009, NEWS UPDATE

President Obama rejects bailout money for GM and Chrysler and tells them to go back to the drawing board with their re-structuring plans. Car companies now seeking advice from AIG.

AIG re-names itself A.I.U. Holdings. Is there a negative version of "A rose by any other name....."?

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner forced to resign by White House. C'mon guys, that's not fair. Since Wagoner took over in 2000, GM's share price has fallen 95%. He only had another 5% to go.

Michigan Gov. calls Wagoner "sacrificial lamb." Poor little lamb will have to make do with $23 Million pension.

Chrysler forming "strategic alliance" with Fiat. Lee Iacocca to make a comeback?

President Obama interviewed on "Face The Nation," following appearances on "60 Minutes" (was CBS a campaign contributor?) The Tonight Show, ESPN with March Madness brackets, White House news conference and online news conference, etc. TV bloviators bloviate that he runs risk of being "overexposed." What's really overexposed is the bloviators, as well as over-rated and over-paid.

Aware of the carping, White House sources say Obama will not appear on "American Idol" because he can't sing. But "Dancing With The Stars"...........?????

Online town hall draws 62,000 viewers to White House web site. TV news conference had audience of 40million plus. The tube not done yet.

Online conference flooded with questions about legalizing pot. Obama says he doesn't know what this says about internet audience. What it says is that the internet audience knows how stupid the so-called war on drugs is.

Secretary of State Clinton acknowledges that "insatiable" demand for drugs in US helping to fuel drug-related violence on border with Mexico. Has it occurred to you, Madame Secretary, that the 40-year-old War on Drugs is a bad joke and that legalizing drugs would end the violence and save the US tens of billions of dollars?

Latest popular bloviator is Glenn Beck on Fox, who says if you take what he says as "gospel," you're an idiot. Frankly speaking, if you tune in at all, you're an idiot.

Michelle Obama's organic White House garden criticized as harmful to chemical industry because it discourages use of fertilizers. But we don't want the White House smelling like fertilizer, do we? No jokes, please.

Brazilian President says global financial crisis caused by "white people with blue eyes." NY Post labeled it 'Lula's lulu" by a "Brazil Nut."

Comment came as Obama meeting at White House with Citicorp chief Vikram Pandit (dubbed 'Pandit the Bandit" by Maureen Dowd). Neither white nor blue-eyed. Also, Mr. President, may I introduce you to Kenneth Lewis, head of Bank of America?

Senate group moving to lift travel restrictions against Cuba. Cigar smokers salivating.

Bloviator Bill O'Reilly says he boycotts Sean Penn's movies because he doesn't like his politics. Well then, Mr. O'Reilly, I guess Sean Penn just won't watch your show.

Dan Abramson: Has Sean Penn Told A Joke in The Last 20 Years?

2009-03-27T17:27:47Z

Sean Penn has been cast in The Three Stooges. This would be great news if Sean Penn was funny.

But Sean Penn is not. Sean Penn is the most serious person in the world.

Now all you naysayers will likely ignore that he's the most serious person in the world, and point out that he's Spicoli, the precocious surfer from Fast Time at Ridgemont High. I'll admit, Spicoli's hilarious. But I think he's been a little over-hyped in all of our minds. Part of the fun of watching Spicoli is watching the most serious person in the world play a stoner. Plus, that character would've been funny if anyone played it. Sean Penn saying "Learning about Cuba and having some pizza" didn't make that line funny. Pizza did. And Cuba helped.

If the most serious person in the world delivered that line, it would've been "Human rights in Cuba can not be ignored. I think this pizza has cancer. I want to say 'thank you' to everyone but my wife."

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Sean Penn isn't even the funniest actor in that movie. You know who makes me laugh more? Judge Reinhold. And that guy who plays Mike Dimone. When the Farrelly's cast Judge and Dimone as the other two stooges, that's when I'll get excited. "If you really want to smack Curly with a frying pan, you'll play side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV."

Sean Penn is a great actor. Perhaps he can pull this off. But I'd rather see him stick to what he's good at: saving Katrina victims and crying in Clint Eastwood movies. You know, really depressing things that make me sad when I think about them.

Maybe Sean Penn's plan is to encompass every type of pain a human can experience. We all know that drama can hurt, but comedy can literally crush your soul. He must know that there's a banana peel waiting to take him down and break his tailbone. That's real pain right there. That's range.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the I'm looking forward to the most serious person in the world getting smacked in the face. That's seriously funny. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

"Three Stooges" Film Cast: Sean Penn, Jim Carrey & Benicio Del Toro

2009-03-25T15:13:26Z

NEW YORK — Sean Penn is going slapstick.

The studio MGM says the double Oscar winner has signed on to play Larry in the Farrelly brothers' big-screen update of "The Three Stooges."

Lindsay Lohan: Seth Rogen Won't Call Me And Sean Penn Back

2009-03-19T23:30:14Z

Nylon has Lindsay Lohan on its cover to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

In a Q&A transcript partially posted on the magazine's website, Lohan claims she may be working with Sean Penn on something for which they would like Seth Rogen.

The problem? He won't call them back.

On her future:
I'm talking to [lots of people]. One is Sean Penn - I spoke to him again the other day. We're trying to get Seth Rogen for this project, but Seth won't call us back. So call us back, Seth, if you're reading this!

She also gives Britney Spears her due in a backhanded compliment:

On Britney Spears:
She's marketed as an entertainer, which is what she is. Not necessarily as, like, an artist. And I respect that about her, cause she doesn't want to pretend.

Shawn Amos: Rihanna and Chris, You Are Not Alone: Troubled Musical Couples

2009-03-19T19:17:53Z

Now that Oprah has said her piece, it's my turn to weigh in on this whole Chris Brown/Rihanna thing. There are too many sad stories of tortured, codependent celebrity relationships. Two people whose accomplishments -- however credible or not -- are completely overshadowed by their crazy, dysfunctional relationships. You look at them, and all you see is the baggage of their personal drama. This is not a part of music history that Chris and Rihanna want to join.

I don't claim to be a fan of their music, but I am a fan of peace. Folks deserve to live in peace and stability, especially in their own home. Life is short, and all of these decisions add up. We need to be making good ones: in our own lives and toward each other. Dudes need to keep their hands to themselves, stand up, and act like men. Chicks need to cut the drama, realize their full power, and use it. Wisely.

I'm glad Chris and Rihanna are taking some time to chill out and grow up. Apart. And while they're getting their heads on straight, here's a list of troubled relationships for them to study. Like I said, history is filled with couples who sold themselves short and kept each other down. Let's get back to making music that lifts us up.

Sermon over. Now I'll pass the collection plate.

GALLERY: See all the tortured musical couples

SID & NANCY
The most tragic of all the troubled rock relationships, theirs was a "Romeo and Juliet" epic played out in an alternate, drug-fueled punk universe. Nancy Spungen was a groupie who moved to London to follow the burgeoning punk scene. When Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten showed no interest, she went after Sid Vicious, the doomed bassist. Together, they quickly spiraled into every abuse imaginable. Nancy was found stabbed to death in New York's Hotel Chelsea. Sid was arrested for her murder but died of an OD before he could go to trial. They were 20 and 21 years old.

KURT & COURTNEY
The Nirvana mastermind and his wife, Courtney Love, were the John & Yoko of their day. People certainly hated Love as much as '60s Beatles fans reviled Ono. Regardless of whether she was as sinister as portrayed, the two were mutually self-destructive. Love stated that their early courtship consisted of "bonding over pharmaceuticals." They had a baby and ruled as the grunge king and queen. Then Kurt shot himself dead. Courtney has carried on her tortured freak show ever since.

IKE & TINA
Before Tina Turner was the '80s comeback queen with "What's Love Got to Do With It," she was one half of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Tina was discovered by Ike, who recorded what many consider to be the first rock 'n' roll song, "Rocket 88." Many people who care about Rihanna point to the Turners' marriage as the cautionary tale of a relationship with years of physical abuse hidden from the public. Thankfully, Tina busted loose and after a long stretch playing lounge gigs in obscurity, bounced back. Ike Turner, meanwhile, died of a cocaine overdose in 2007.

JOHN & YOKO
To many, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's relationship typifies the ultimate in codependency. To others, it's the best rock 'n' roll love story of all. However, no one can dispute that the two had their share of ups and downs, including John's famed "Lost Weekend": an 18-month binge in L.A. with Yoko's personal assistant, May Pang. Once he returned home, he never left her side. Some wish he could have at least left her out of the studio when he recorded "Double Fantasy." Admit it, you skip over the Yoko songs too.

OZZY & SHARON
Another lesson in codependency. Sharon Osbourne worked for her dad, Don Arden, who was Black Sabbath's manager. Like Sharon, her dad had a reputation for being less-than-charitable toward people with whom he disagreed. Sharon took over as Ozzy's manager when he was booted from Sabbath in '79. When your wife is your manager, many things can happen, but one thing is for certain: your wife is your manager. And if that manager is Sharon Osbourne, and you're a semi-fried, former addict named Ozzy? Well, let's just say we know who wears the bigger crucifix.

AMY & BLAKE
Amy Winehouse has more trouble as an individual than any relationship could bring her. However, her marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil (an elementary school dropout who worked as a video production assistant) comes pretty close. They got hitched in 2007, and Amy spent the next year beating on him, then confessing her love for him while torturing mice on YouTube, and then ultimately filing for divorce after he went to jail. That's a whole lotta messed-up love.

MADONNA & SEAN
Before she tortured Guy Ritchie, the Material Girl spent three years married to Sean Penn. The couple was not exactly the model of calm. Their brief union was marked by paparazzi punch-outs, public tantrums, and their teaming up on the worst film of all time, Shanghai Surprise. In fact, the movie was probably the most troubled aspect of that troubled relationship.

Michael Giltz: DVDs -- Pinocchio Looks Better Than Ever

2009-03-13T16:18:25Z

PLEASE, BLUE FAIRY. MAKE ME A REAL BOY -- Walt Disney's Pinocchio is one of the crown jewels in the classic Disney canon and rightly so -- it's beautifully hand-drawn, filled with wit and charm (albeit in a story that considerably softens the satirical tone of the original novel) and taps into some elemental fears and desires. Is there a scarier transmorgification than the scene on Pleasure Island where Pinocchio and other boys get to go on a rampage of smoking and fighting and smashing only to literally turn into asses? And it's nearly equaled by the attack of Monstro the whale. All of it is leavened by Pinocchio, a little puppet who is lulled or teased into trouble and can't see why he should tell the truth when a perfectly good lie is always on the tip of his tongue. A standard two DVD set costs $29.99 and a BluRay combo pack costs $34.99, but it also includes a standard DVD of the movie. (Both look just stunning.) That's perfect for parents who have a BluRay player in their living room but not in the kids' room or perhaps in the car for road trips where portable DVDs are so popular. Even better would be if they included a digital copy of the movie, made the whole thing $29.99 and eliminated the standard DVD-only set. People could just buy the movie and get three different versions of it to watch on whatever platform they wanted. Released in 1940, Pinocchio came out one year after Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels ($14.98; E1 Entertainment), an animated film that has long been in Disney's shadow, and rightly so. The animation is quite a bit softer and less precise, even in this nicely restored edition that greatly improves on the prints that have been circulating for years. Pinocchio is a movie; Gulliver feels like a cartoon. But for animation buffs, it's nice to see this film looking better than ever. I didn't get a copy of the BluRay version, but on Amazon, the sale price is 50 cents LOWER than the regular DVD, which is great to see. If you want to see a film that builds on the legacy of Disney by being true to itself, I can't recommend highly enough The Prince's Quest ($19.98; Weinstein/Genius), known simply as Azur & Asmar when it was briefly released in select cities. This gorgeous French film tells a Persian myth about a noble-born boy and his best friend, the son of a nurse, who band together to rescue a fairy. In an echo of Persian art, the characters are often seen in profile. Further, the backgrounds are often static -- but the backgrounds are even more often stunningly detailed interiors that capture the beauty of Persian art and tile design that are so marvelous to look at it takes you breath away. Really, a delightful film.

PAUL RUDD: MOVIE STAR -- It happened quietly, but I couldn't be more pleased: Paul Rudd is a movie star. He's been a stellar talk show guest for years, whether charming David Letterman or dancing with Jon Stewart. He's had a major role in a string of terrific movies, dating back to Clueless all the way to Knocked Up. And now suddenly, he's the man: the lead in successful comedies like Role Models (Universal; $29.98), a typical goof with Rudd and Sean William Scott as power drink pushers who have to do community service that was a strong box office hit; and I Love You, Man (opening Friday) with Rudd as a sad sack guy trying to find a male friend so he can have a Best Man at his wedding. Throw in voice-over work on the blockbuster-looking animated flick Monsters Vs. Aliens (opening March 27), and a clutch of upcoming projects like a caveman comedy with Jack Black and a James L. Brooks project and Rudd is on top of the world. In fact, he's appeared in movies that have grossed just about $1 billion in the US alone and $1.6 billion worldwide.

He's been charming ever since that breakout role in Clueless (hey, if he were your (step) brother, wouldn't you make out with him too?), including notable TV stints on Friends and Reno 911, as well as cult faves like Wet Hot American Summer and the solid hit but still under-appreciated Anchorman.

Frankly, I'm besotted with the guy, who turns 40 on April 6 but still looks almost the same as he did in Clueless 14 years ago. (Do he and Dick Clark have the same deal with the devil?) He's shown greater range on stage, but in movies Rudd has been mostly limited to comedies, which clearly he has a flair for. Still, it would be nice to see if he could have the range of a Cary Grant and sink his teeth into at least romantic dramas if not even weightier fare instead of just wise-cracking comedies. Clearly, Paul Rudd has the talent and the fan base. All he needs is some smart director to realize how much bigger a star Rudd could be.

So what's your favorite Paul Rudd movie and do you think he could branch out into dramatic acting?

P.S. I started writing this last Friday and just saw the New York Times had a feature profile of Rudd with the same angle here.

THE LAST LAUGH -- Surely that's being had by F.W. Murnau, whose stature keeps rising as his movies are restored. Hot on the heels of the gigantic boxed set Murnau, Borsage and Fox comes this 6 DVD set Murnau ($99.95; Kino) with exemplary renditions of classics like Faust (a new edition), previously released Nosferatu, The Last Laugh and Tartuffe plus two new films The Haunted Castle and a romantic comedy (!) The Finances Of The Grand Duke. Why Tabu isn't included is a mystery probably explained by rights lapsing or some such thing. If you don't own any, this is essential and you can be certain that all of the titles are lovingly restored and offered with bountiful extras. I can't quite wrap my head around a romance by Murnau, but the "old dark house" genre of The Haunted Castle is a natural for him and I've never seen his Faust. If you bought earlier Murnau boxed sets, rest assured that those three are also available on their own.

GOT MILK? -- I'm looking forward to giving Gus Van Sant's solidly conventional, well-acted drama about Harvey Milk ($29.98; Universal) another chance. I enjoyed it but rewatching the classic documentary about the same story just before seeing the film didn't do it any favors. In every way, the documentary was superior and indeed the most powerful moments of the film were footage taken from the era of San Francisco in the 70s when Milk fought for basic civil rights for gays. Penn is very good and has nice chemistry with James Franco but I was delighted to see Lucas Grabeel of High School Musical in a small role and thought Emile Hirsch stole the show as a volunteer always ready to volunteer for a little one-on-one with anyone and everyone. The extras are quite modest, which is a shame for a film that took so many years to get to the screen and features such great craftsmanship.

THE GOOD DOCTOR -- You never forget your first Doctor and mine was Tom Baker, arguably the definitive Doctor Who until David Tennant put his stamp on the role of the time-traveling busybody in recent years. Baker held sway from 1974 to 1981 and while I've been clamoring for years that they do the obvious and release boxed sets devoted to the entire run of each Doctor, I must admit that Doctor Who: The Key To Time Special Edition ($99.98; BBC America) comes close -- it presents an entire season, which just happens to be one long story arc. A similar set was released (at a lower price) in 2002, but this one is jam-packed with all the extras of that one plus many more, including making-of documentaries. Family viewing is probably damning with faint praise but that's exactly what this is.

THOSE FR%#@ING KIDS -- I'm relieved to say that South Park: The Complete Twelth Season ($49.99 on regular DVD and a too-high $69.99 on BluRay; Paramount) is NOT sheer delight from beginning to end. Why am I glad it's not great from start to finish? Because I've been enjoying this show so much for the past four or five seasons (when it really became a great, great sitcom) that I'd feared I'd lost the ability to critique it impartially. In fact, I hadn't just lost my mind -- the last four seasons have been superlative. This season is merely good Actually, make that very good. The Heavy Metal spoof is a bit drawn out and the two-part Pandemic (with giant guinea pigs trashing the town and pan flute bands the secret to destroying them) is tiresome in the extreme, but otherwise it's a solid season, from the day the internet goes down (creating a Mad Max-like future) to Canada On Strike, which has one of their patented musical numbers. When oh when will they make another feature-length musical?

CRITERION TREASURES -- Criterion continues to mine cinema history for lost treasures. Akira Kurosawa is perhaps the most Western of Japanese directors and almost certainly the most popular one over here. But I still have nooks and crannies of his work to explore. Best known for his period samurai epics, Kurosawa also delivered acclaimed films like Dodes'ka-den, a 1970 film -- his first in color -- about down and outers on the fringes of Tokyo. A 30 minute documentary talks about the making of the film and there's a substantial new essay by film historian Stephen Prince and one of Kurosawa's collaborators. But while Kurosawa is very well known here, Hiroshi Shimizu is virtually unknown, something that should change with the release of Travels With Hiroshi Shimizu ($59.95; Eclipse), a four movie set covering movies from the 30s and 40s that also focus on the marginalized and the working class.

HAGRID FIGHTS CRIME -- For heaven's sake, keep the kiddies away from Cracker: The Complete Collection ($119.99; Acorn). Yes, it stars Robbie Coltrane but the boozing, whoring and gambling criminologist Cracker (brilliant at his job, dismissive of his colleagues, mess of a home life -- in short, the typical British crime fighter) couldn't be more different from the Hogwarts fellow. This set contains all 11 of the feature-length mysteries from the show's run, which blessedly ended before Cracker could turn into a caricature, the way Jane Tennison threatened to do. Great stuff and a nicely compact set, but awfully expensive for a 13 year old series that was never a huge hit in the US anyway.

ESCAPE TO THE ORIGINAL WITCH MOUNTAIN -- The Number One movie of the week is Race To Witch Mountain. But I can't handle the idea of substituting kindly Eddie Albert with The Rock, even if he has made a string of family films. So why not check out the gentle original from 1975, whose special effects seemed so nifty at the time. (Heck, I was even excited by the scene where the kids sat in bed and communicated with each other...telepathically!) You knew the brother was going to be prey to bad influences in the sequel Return From Witch Mountain ($19.99 each; Disney) because he was wearing a horrible turtleneck and in general the very modest magic had gone. But you can never go wrong with a story where kids feel special and misunderstood. I asked my sister the night after seeing the first movie if we should try to speak to each other telepathically when we went to bed and she told me I was a loser. But she cheated by saying it out loud. Fine for the very young.

LOVEJOY'S DISTANT COUSIN -- In the very small subgenre of mystery series revolving around the art world, you can add The Baron ($59.98; Koch) to the list (which I think includes Lovejoy and precious little else). One of an endless string of interchangeable British action series, The Baron was the first live action UK show that premiered in color and starred a Texan who fought crime with his handsome assistant until American networks said "Give us a broad" and they dumped the guy in favor of a glamorous female sidekick. You get the entire 30 episode series which is fine but will appeal mostly to those who are already fans of the show.

BLUE EYES -- The death of Paul Newman means the usual flood of releases and tributes, but naturally an actor who worked steadily for decades can't have made ALL good movies. The Silver Chalice ($19.98; Warner Bros.) was a plodding Biblical epic and the first showcase for Newman, who loved to make fun of the film. Indeed, it's a strange, miserable little movie, with the sets either bizarrely stylized (the outdoor scenes look like leftovers from Fritz Lang's Metropolis or maybe the dream sequences from Hitchcock's Spellbound) or in the case of the interior scenes cavernous and echoing to a ludicrous degree. The Helen Morgan Story ($19.98; Warner Bros.) was a little better thanks to the great director Michael Curtiz, but Newman is still a boy toy. When Time Ran Out ($19.98; Warner Bros.) was a Seventies disaster movie trading on the success of The Towering Inferno and The Outrage ($19.98; Warner Bros.) is an oddball western costarring Laurence Harvey where Newman plays (gulp) a Mexican. But fans can treasure Rachel Rachel ($19.98; Warner Bros.), in which Newman made his fine directorial debut and provided a great showcase for his brilliant wife, Joanne Woodward.

BLURAY -- Let The Right One In ($34.98; Magnolia) is a Swedish vampire flick that genuinely deserves the moniker of cult hit after playing in theaters for months and months. Plus, on sale it's only $1 more than the regular DVD. Vanishing Point ($34.98; Fox) is the 1971 car chase flick about a guy traveling from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours that's a classic cult film in its own right. Maybe B movies shouldn't be spruced up but it deserves to be seen in all its seedy glory and this edition contains both the US and UK versions plus other extras. Too bad in this case the BluRay is an absurd $25 more than the regular DVD and even $16 more when on sale at Amazon. Jonathan Demme enjoyed a modest comeback with Rachel Getting Married ($39.95; Sony). It didn't make a lot of money but is probably his best well-reviewed feature film since Philadelphia in 1993 and scored Anne Hathaway an Oscar nod. It's an unfortunate $11 more than the regular DVD and $7 more on sale on Amazon. Finally, there's Primal Fear ($29.99; Paramount), a B movie crime thriller which immediately made Edward Norton a name to watch. It's almost twice as expensive as the regular DVD. Studios need to lower BluRay prices unless they want this positive tweak of DVDs to crash and burn immediately.

THE MEN OF THE 12TH PRECINCT -- For years, if you asked cops which TV show got it right, it was never Hill Street Blues or Kojak or NYPD Blue and probably wouldn't be upcoming Southland. The answer was always Barney Miller. The mundane duties, the "regulars" among the people you dealt with, the camaraderie of the men and women in blue -- Barney Miller got it just right. Barney Miller Complete Third Season ($29.95; Sony) catches the show at a peak, just before Abe Vigoda would leave for his spin-off. Among the terrific episodes is the cast's personal favorite, the one where they all accidentally eat funny brownies and get stoned. One of the all time greats.

FINALLY --

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas ($29.99; Miramax) -- A heart-tugging Holocaust drama, which is not exactly a phrase that belongs together.

Dear Zachary ($29.99; Oscilloscope) -- A hard-to-believe documentary about a woman who apparently murders her husband and then seeks custody of the son she was carrying when allegedly committing the crime. The sort of tale that makes work easy for the folks on Law & Order.

SpongeBob Vs. The Big One ($19.99; Paramount) 90 minutes of nerdy fun, including Johnny Depp doing the voice of Jack Kahuna Laguna.

The Starter Wife Season One ($34.98; Universal) -- Debra Messing proves conclusively she's not a one-hit wonder with this miniseries turned hit TV show about a dumped woman in Hollywood.

Howard The Duck ($14.98; Universal) -- Sadly, NOT a cult favorite or a reviled film that deserves a new look. Just a very, very bad movie that retroactively ruined the reputation of the comic it's based on. George Lucas's biggest folly until Star Wars Episodes 1-3.

L'Innocente ($24.98; Koch) -- One of Visconti's less convincing period epics, this one set in the 1800s where a wealthy man cheats on his wife but is infuriated to discover she's cheating on him as well.

Crowley ($26.97; Anchor Bay) -- Simon Callow gloriously hams it up as "the Wickedest Man In The World," Aleister Crowley, whose soul takes over the body of a college professor prompting a lot of extracurricular activity for his more nubile students.

The Librarian: Curse Of The Judas Chalice ($24.96; Sony) -- ER may be coming to an end but Noah Wyle can take comfort in this TV movie franchise where he plays Flynn Carson, librarian by day and vampire hunter/adventurer by night.

Transporter 3 Special Edition ($34.98; Lionsgate) -- Once to the well too often for this simple-minded series about a "transporter." Star Jason Statham had a much better time this year with The Bank Job ($19.98; Lionsgate).

Hotel Babylon Season 3 ($39.98; BBC Video) -- The Brits can do some brilliant comedy and great period miniseries, but the US still kicks their butt when it comes to trashy soaps like this one, a spin on the old Hotel series. The staff never seems quite sexy enough and the tawdry goings-on not quite tawdry enough. Still, better than that low-rent show about flight attendants.

Head Case Season 1 ($19.97; Anchor Bay) -- A would-be "outrageous" series about a therapist for celebrities with an oddball staff (including a one-armed assistant) and a parade of celeb guests who parody themselves. This ain't no Garry Shandling, but it is nice to see Steve Landesberg of Barney Miller back in action.

Paul Jenkins: Hannity, The Kiss and Barney Frank, Gay Superstar

2009-03-04T15:55:00Z

Sean Hannity's meltdown about Sean Penn's fictional same-sex Oscar night kiss is absurd if only because, as GLAAD points out, there were many more heterosexual kisses just in that one show. More perniciously, though, it is absurd because Hollywood remains one of the country's most conservative institutions for gay people. At a time when, say, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is an openly gay man, there are barely any openly gay actors of note. Yes, it's great that Penn kisses James Franco. Yes, it's nice that untold numbers of agents, studio executives, costume designers, producers, directors and assorted movie industry workers are openly gay. And, yes it's even nicer that Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow have top-ranked TV shows in their categories (wither the boys? but that's another story). It would be yet nicer, though, if one could name more than, perhaps, one openly gay movie star.

It is a measure of Hollywood's insecurity that we are probably months away from it being more acceptable to be a gay soldier than to be a gay actor. How did that happen? And how is it that we have been discussing this very same issue for decades, and yet find ourselves in about the same place as we were circa 1950 when Rock Hudson's agent commanded: "No two men can live together and have a career in Hollywood. It is not allowed. You'll ruin it all if you live with this other man." Apparently, it is still not allowed in 2009: one would be hard-pressed to think of a top male actor living with another man. Presumably, this is the same for women, although Jodie Foster did finally come busting out of that closet and, believe it or not, she still has a career (which is sadly more than can be said for many of her ostensibly straight female contemporaries).

Even the music industry has evolved dramatically, although the current wave of ambiguity and androgyny seems timed for the business's usual cycle: glam rockers such as David Bowie in the early 1970s, The Flock of Seagulls et al in the 1980s, boy bands in the 1990s, and now MGMT and Pete Wentz. Nonetheless, there has been progress: it was not quite stunning when Elton John, George Michael and Michael Stipe finally revealed their homosexuality in the last 15 years or so, but it was still an important step, and one that no actor of equal prominence has taken while still working, except for Foster. Even Clay Aiken overcame a strictly Christian upbringing to finally come out last year, as a "gay dad," again not exactly a shocker, but a significant move forward for a multi-platinum artist.

This leaves Hollywood competing with professional team sports as the last bastion of entertainment homophobia, not great company, going by the autobiography of openly gay former NBA player John Amaechi. With Hollywood, the situation is especially frustrating, as it is hidden behind a veneer of gay-friendliness (witness The Kiss on Oscar night). In reality, there appears to be a complex, well-oiled machine focused on keeping gay actors in sham opposite-sex marriages or in eternal bachelorhood. Except, that is, for a few male court jesters so flamboyant that even the magic of Hollywood cannot remake them into its image of heterosexuality. Or, of course, it could all simply be the inevitable result of a risk-averse industry's herd mentality and reliance on conventional wisdom. After all, this is a business in which it was assumed for years, and often still is, that African-American stars do weakly overseas, despite the fact that Will Smith has comfortably outranked all other actors as a worldwide box office attraction for years.

It is extraordinary that at a time when gay people are gaining the right to marry, state by state and country by country, Hollywood remains so essentially fearful for (or is it of?) its gay actors. This anxiety so deeply ensconced in the industry's DNA historically goes well beyond its attitude towards the possibility of openly gay actors. In an industry founded by Jewish immigrants, says writer Gene Lichtenstein, the America projected in films "was a glorified land of promise and happy endings, of small-town family life brimming with virtue and filled with a mythic Western past. And it contained no Jews." In a bit of a twilight zone twist on that attitude, modern Hollywood films do occasionally include gay characters, but we are lead to believe that it is real life that does not contain gay actors.

At a stretch, Hollywood executives will piously repeat that it is up to individuals to make the "difficult" choice to come out, and the industry will bear down with every ounce of its weight on the merest suggestion that an actor may be gay. This leads to the absurd situation where gay fans are portrayed as villainous or silly in their attempts to figure out whether an actor is gay (they will inevitably be lectured that every attractive person is not gay.) The PR machine has become more sophisticated than when an actor's publicist would respond with anger at the "slur" directed towards her client. The standard line now is: "If I were gay, of course I would say so, there is nothing wrong with it, blah, blah." The stupidity of such a statement cannot be overemphasized: if in fact there are no top out actors, then by definition there is a problem with being out and, no, of course none of these actors would say they are gay. Unless, of course, we assume that all actors are straight and that is precisely what Hollywood wants us to believe: big box-office acting draws are a kumbaya gay-friendly group of straight people. Some of them are even flattered at the attention from their gay fans, but no, they are emphatically not gay themselves.

It is ironic that Hannity should focus his homophobic wrath on Hollywood when, in many ways, it should be his friend: with some rare exceptions (Milk, Brokeback Mountain), gay people in Hollywood films remain a deeply asexual bunch of best friends, flamboyant uncles, and butch single cops, with very little to offend Hannity's hothouse flower of a crew at Fox News. And, in Hollywood real life, gay people, or at least gay actors, simply don't exist. What could be better than that for Hannity? He would be much better off going back to assaulting Congressman Barney Frank, the aforementioned Committee Chairman, a homosexual and a liberal, and also a far more interesting gay icon than Hollywood could ever muster.