MELTDOWN!

Well, it's happening. The BRITNEY SPEARS MELTDOWN seems to be in full swing. Here's a highly sexy before shot to which you can compare her shocking new look:

And now, a moment of silence for what she has become:

Why Forest Whitaker will win

This is a short article I wrote for Buzz Weekly on why I think Forest Whitaker is a shoe-in for the Best Actor Oscar. It's a little more formal than most of what I write for BTS but check it out anyway:

As the final and most anticipated awards show of the season, the Academy Awards ceremony has a knack for surprising audiences. Last year’s frontrunner for Best Picture, Brokeback Mountain, was upset by the better controversial drama, Crash. This year’s ceremony has no apparent frontrunner in the Best Picture category, but the prize for Best Actor is all but set to go to Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland.

Whitaker plays Idi Amin, the larger-than-life former dictator of Uganda. Amin was a dually charismatic and terrifying man, and Whitaker plays the character as such. He makes sure none of his scenes are wasted and that the fear Amin evoked in Ugandans during his reign of terror is palpable throughout.

Whitaker plays Amin as both ruthless and terrifying, but also jovial and reflective. Amin is plain evil in some scenes, yet in others, Whitaker hints that there may just be a method to his madness. Consider a scene in which Amin talks of his affinity for the Scottish culture; Whitaker is brilliant in the way he conveys Amin’s humor, obsessive tendencies and possible lunacy all at once.

The dark horse in the Best Actor category is veteran actor Peter O’Toole for his role in Venus. Having never won an Oscar (not even for Lawrence of Arabia), he is the emotional favorite. Leonardo DiCaprio’s work in Blood Diamond was exceptional, but he was better in The Aviator and still has a long career ahead of him. Ryan Gosling’s nomination for Half Nelson, as well as Will Smith’s for The Pursuit of Happyness, are rewards in themselves.

It would have been easy for Whitaker to play a cartoon version of Idi Amin, but he infuses his performance with enough nuances to suggest a deeper humanity, however warped. This is Whitaker’s award to lose.

A review of Norbit

This is slightly different from what I normally do on here, but I figured I'd post the short review of Norbit I wrote for Buzz Weekly. Check it out:

There is a certain type of person who goes to see a movie like Norbit, and I am almost positive that person is not reading these words right now. Eddie Murphy stumbled upon this critic-proof formula 11 years ago with the release of The Nutty Professor, a surprisingly heartfelt work of comedy with a likeable protagonist. With Norbit, the fat suits and raunchy comedy are back, but gone is the innocent sweetness audiences loved in The Nutty Professor movies.

Eddie Murphy plays the title character as a soft-spoken, awkward and insecure wreck. Norbit is married to Rasputia (Murphy in a fat suit), one of the most vile characters in recent movie history - and yes, I'm aware the new Hannibal Lecter movie opened this weekend. She is mean beyond redemption and so highly offensive that, naturally, the movie relies heavily (ha!) on her for its laugh-out-loud moments. Consider the montage of sex scenes, which showcase Rasputia taking running leaps onto Norbit and obliterating their bed.

The comedy in Norbit is lowbrow, but Murphy has become such a safe onscreen presence that it all seems less crude and racist than it actually is. Consider a scene in which Norbit's Asian father figure, Mr. Wong (also played by Murphy), tells Norbit, "I don't like black. I don't like Jew either. But black and Jew love Chinese food." These are indeed hateful words but Mr. Wong, one of Norbit's more fully realized characters, manages to turn it into a sort of compliment.

Three months after Borat, however, this all seems as lighthearted and inoffensive as can be - and a lot less funny. If one gets a kick out of fat suits, fart jokes and sight gags that feature a pug in a doggy wheelchair, Norbit is the movie to see.

Justin Timberlake wants you to know he does drugs

Justin Timberlake, who's on the cover of the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, admitted to the E.W. reporter that he was high when he got Punk'd on Ashton Kutcher's TV prank show.


When asked about getting Punk'd by Kutcher, JT volunteered the following info:

"I'll give you a little hint on that Punk'd thing. That was back in my first-album creative days. That's why I looked the way I did, if that makes any sense to you."

Like any good reporter, the E.W. guy pressed on and flat-out asked JT if he meant he was high:

"Incredibly. Yeah, that was a trippy experience. That was why I was completely glassy-eyed. As a matter of fact, I was like, okay, I got to stop doing this. I don't do that anymore!"

And with that, I refer you this pic of JT and high profile stoner and uber-producer Pharrell Williams in Miami last week:

Yeah, they're not high at all.

All this drug talk started last July when, while in Britain promoting his second solo album, JT said this:

"The drugs that I do have been done in my own private time. I've never been arrested - though that's not to say that I won't. I've done way too many drugs already. I've already inhaled and I've already - who knows? Some drugs haven't been legalized because it will ruin the other drugs, like nicotine and tobacco. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin....We all make mistakes. I'm just like everyone else - I get completely plastered, I've done my fair share of drugs and been caught places with my pants down. It's just that I make sure there are no cameras around."

I'd like to point out that in his attempt to up his edge-factor, JT only made millions of us YouTube that Punk'd clip and remember all over again that when the situation got scary (read: hilarious), he teared up and called his mom.

I'd do the same thing, but still...

The Superbowl Roundup

First things first: It was outrageously sad to see the Chicago Bears lose to the Colts, 29-17. I don't blame Rex Grossman, but much of Chicago does. Moving on.

The commercials this year were mostly just alright. Some didn't even seem Superbowl-calibur. Here are a few standouts worth mentioning:

--- I'm not quite sure how to say this, but Kevin Federline's ad for Nationwide Insurance was hilarious. The way K-Fed snapped back to reality when his boss at the fast food restaurant called out his name showed surprisingly on-point comedic timing. It's weird when he's in on the joke, but the result was one of the night's best commercials.

--- Did you catch the Budweiser commercial in which the celebratory handpound is replaced with the celebratory bitch slap? That one's bound to cause problems in bars and at frat parties nationwide. Just you wait.

--- There was a sad one about a GM assembly line robot's suicidal daydream.

--- And a Budweiser commercial where a guy wins a game of rock-paper-scissor by actually throwing a rock. Simple, but classic.


--- Dave Letterman and Oprah's super-quick promo for The Late Show was another winner mostly because of its surprise factor. Check it out (above).

--- Oh, and there was another Budweiser commercial with a lot of crabs on a beach that thought a big red Budweiser cooler was their king crab. Kind of made me want to see a Pixar movie about crabs.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

And how about that half-time show? Prince was as weird and amazing as I expected him to be. Yes, he's a strange guy but there's no denying he's massively talented... and he would probably be EXCELLENT at Guitar Hero. He rocked the f***k out! I liked how he covered a couple rock songs ("Proud Mary" and a recent Foo Fighters song) and the way his two lady dancers were flat out going crazy the entire time. The stage, shaped like his signature symbol, along with the array of pyrotechnics in his show -- the lightning, the fireworks, the flames -- made it exhilarating from end to end. In just 15 minutes, we got an unpredictable and exciting crash course in all things Prince. Plus, how cool was it that he closed with "Purple Rain" standing atop a purple-lit stage as it was raining balls?! Don't hate. You know that was badass! People are talking: Best half-time show ever?

[Note: This is a big entry for me because it was one year ago today that I posted my first item on BetterThanSteak. It was about the Superbowl and the "Code Black" episode of Grey's Anatomy that followed it.]

I didn't know people, let alone rich celebrities, really did this

This is so broke-ass, I had to post it. Check out this recent pic of Britney Spears attending a NYC fashion show wearing something she obviously plans on returning:

The yellow arrow is pointing to the tag she left on, but tried to hide. Gotta love those flash bulbs.

But seriously, Britney Spears... What are you thinking? Were you going to try and return that? I know this divorce might hit your $150 million pockets rather hard, but are you really hurting for money this bad? Were you planning on buying yourself cigarettes, Red Bull and diapers with the return money? Last time I stopped into Walgreens for toothpaste and toilet paper, your perfume still seemed to be selling. And you did sell photos of your first baby to Harper's Bazaar for millions of dollars, didn't you? And word is, the reason no one's seen your second baby is that you plan on exploiting him in the same way -- that ought to be a big cash cow for ya! So why are you pinching pennies? Or is wearing your clothes with the tag still on a "country" thing we just don't get? Like driving with your baby in your lap, or dressing like a crack whore but thinking it's okay since you have cowboy boots on -- is it something like that? Why don't you just disappear for a little while? Spend the time -- oh, I don't know -- hanging out with your sons or running on a tred mill. Seriously, you've been a successful pop star but, right now, you're a 25-year-old divorcée with two children and a fledgling career. Get. Your. Shit. Together.

The movie's rated R and so is this preview...

Read the previous entry and then check out the trailer for Knocked Up, with Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen.