Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was hit by a car yesterday morning in Santa Monica while she was out for a jog. The driver of the vehicle was an 84-year-old woman. Witherspoon suffered minor injuries in the accident and was treated at a local hospital, but don't worry--America's Sweetheart is going to be okay!
Reese Witherspoon Hit By Car Driven By Elderly Lady
Extra, Extra
In tonight's Extra, Extra, a cancer survivor paddles the ocean, Reese Witherspoon is injured, you too can buy Liz Taylor's jewelry, and SoCal has pretty bad cities for the jobless. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.
Weekend Movie Guide 04/22: Put The 'Eat' In Earth Day
The Do Something Reel festival continues this Earth Day weekend at the Laemmles (here's a series refresher from a previous Film Calendar) with Planeat. The British documentary highlights how simple changes in diet - fewer animal-based meals and more plant-based meals - can have profound effects on personal health, global society & the environment. Less incendiary than Food Inc. & less guilt-inspiring than Eating Animals, the Planeat trailer promises practicality & personal choice rather than militant gross-outs.
Witherspoon Whoops it Up on Walk of Fame
Reese Witherspoon enjoyed the Walk of Fame limelight today as she celebrated her own star being added to the famous sidewalk. With the support of her two children and her Legally Blond Chihuahua co-star Bruiser, Reese played-up her Elle Woods part in a polka-dot dress worthy of the paper-scented-resume toting legal eagle.
DVD Review: It Was Funny!
Still not quite sure why so many branded Funny People an unmitigated disaster. Sure, it wasn't as big of a box-office performer as your standard Apatow or Sandler joint, but it was hardly a huge bomb ($51M). Plus, the reviews were fairly solid across the board (68% positive on RT). Something tells me that this is a film that people will find on DVD and VOD, and it will eventually become a basic-cable classic. It's not saying much, but Angels & Demons was a hell of a lot better than The Da Vinci Code. If you want to see a great movie that takes place in the same basic neighborhood, try out the fascinating Gomorrah.
Weekend Movie Guide: I'll take Monsters over Aliens
Does anyone else have the same feeling about Monsters vs. Aliens that I do? Namely, "Gee, I wish Pixar had made this movie instead of DreamWorks." It's either very sad or very cynical that two fine actors like Martin Donovan and Virginia Madsen are doing rote horror pics like The Haunting in Connecticut. The premise of 12 Rounds is that a criminal is manipulating a cop after the cop kills the criminal's girlfriend. Is it just me or does that seem like a reasonable response? Skip The Education of Charlie Banks and wait for next week's very similarly-toned Adventureland. Spinning Into Butter stars Sarah Jessica Parker. So...I won't be seeing it.
Box Office Review: Bad Movie Wins Again
Despite not being terribly funny, opened to a relatively disappointing $12.3M ($18.5M).
Weekend Movie Guide: Ferrell + Sports = Comedy?
I'll go on the record and say that I think Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is the funniest movie in the last ten years. Will Ferrell's subsequent pictures--most of them amusing to varying degrees--have never lived up that early, brilliant standard. Semi-Pro is his latest picture and if its previews are any barometer of its quality, it looks like Ferrell has fallen short yet again. Don't get me wrong--I'm sure I'll laugh plenty, but I doubt that Jackie Moon will linger with me for very long after I've left the theater. Whither the apocryphal Anchorman 2?!
DVD Tuesday: Break out the wallets!
Wow! Most weeks I'm happy if there are a couple of new DVDs worth picking up. Today, I count at least eight that would be solid editions to any library. even though it inexplicably got better critical attention. Has Ang Lee ever made the same movie twice? Is he the most under-appreciated major director working today? Can you say the same thing about Paul Haggis--only in reverse? Having seen the Don Rickles special several times on HBO, let me tell you something--go buy it, you schmuck.
Mr. Blackwell's Worst-Dressed Women of 2007
Yesterday, famed and veteran Los Angeles fashion designer, Mr. Blackwell, talked up his worst-dressed women list, just released this morning, with LAist. He began the annual list 48 years ago. "I was sick of the ugly clothes that were being presented in the fashion industry and as dress designer I wanted to express my opinion. I never expected it to be this big."
LAist Interview: Mr. Blackwell on The 10 Worst-Dressed Women List
When Sharon Stone wears a gown that looks like she's been shot or Lindsay Lohan goes out in public in an insanely sheer dress, Mr. Blackwell considers their candidacy for his annual top 10 worst dressed. Countless actresses and singers made questionable wardrobe choices in 2007. The overexposed, the under-dressed, and the over-the-top take center stage in this yearly ritual. Tomorrow Mr. Blackwell, the well-known fashion critic and designer, will unveil his 48th Annual Worst-Dressed Women list. LAist asked Mr. Blackwell about dressing movie stars, his favorite style icon, and of course our fascination with fashion disasters.
Extra, Extra: Jump for Joy! It's Finally Raining!
Producers and writers have been talking and numbers are starting to be released. Nothing's final yet, but this strike could be soon over. What does $9.3 million buy the LAPD? It will finish the job on a backlog of 6,700 of DNA testing for sexual assault cases. Les Deux Cafe, a club where celebiatches Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears hang out, was scene to a fight early this morning that led to...
End of the Week Gossip Roundup
Happy Halloween Britney! Her pink leopard print leotard is amazing. Exactly what I would be doing after I lost custody of my kids- partying at Heidi Klum's Halloween party - Daily News
Box Office Review: Vampires Reign!
To no one's surprise 30 Days of Night topped the box office this weekend, though its 16 million dollar take hardly qualifies it as a hit. Year-over-year, it is the fifth down weekend in a row and relief doesn't appear to be in sight for a few more weeks when American Gangster and Bee Movie should pull some asses into seats. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? held up fairly well in its...
Weekend Movie Guide: Drinking human blood is cool!
For what seems like the 300th time this year, Hollywood is giving us a movie based on a graphic novel. That movie is 30 Days of Night and stars the lethally inexpressive Josh Hartnett as a small-town sheriff charged with the task of protecting Barrow, Alaska from a rampaging horde of hungry (or is thirsty?) vampires. All I can say is, "at least it's rated R". I'll probably sit this one out and wait...
Scary Movies: Hard Candy and other Tales of Revenge
Whether or not the movie Hard Candy frightens you is going to depend entirely on whether or not you have testicles. My male friends cringed throughout this movie and tell me it scared the hell out of them. I had an entirely different experience. It was the first thriller I have ever watched without being frightened. The entirety of the film is based on the interplay between two characters alone together in an isolated house. The male character might be a child molester and pornographer. Or he might not. The young girl may just be totally batshit. I don't want to give too much away, because much of the suspense hinges on uncertainty. But I have become so used to watching women get victimized, that it was kind of refreshing to see the tables turned. I even caught myself rooting for the girl as I questioned her sanity. Does that make me a bad person?
Rufus Wainwright at the Hollwood Bowl
Sunday night was in a word, magical. Rufus Wainwright transformed the Hollywood Bowl into a beautiful tribute to Judy Garland. At one point he thought he felt a drop of rain, but unlike Judy's 1961 performance at the Bowl, the weather remained cool and cloudburst free. The audience showered Rufus and his guests, his mother Kate McGarrigle, his sister Martha Wainwright, and Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft with love and affection and a few standing...
Sherman Oaks Porn Candy
Too often one walks into Ralph's Grocery in Sherman Oaks store at 1 or 2 am to find porn stars shopping. andPOP reports that Body & Soul Tattoo at Ventura Blvd./Van Nuys Blvd. "has been inundated with new customers since the pop star's impromptu visit." The local Business Improvement District (BID) and Chamber of Commerce owe Britney Spears a thank-you letter. Daily News thinks celebrities feel comfortable flipping out in the Valley. Interesting observations,...
American Idol Hits Big Birmingham
American Idol hit Birmingham, Ala., last night – home of former Idolers Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice. It took Ryan Seacrest less than 15 seconds to get a Lynryd Skynyrd reference (“Sweet Home Alabama”) in there. (But then again, it is Ryan Seacrest, so he was probably thought the scriptwriters were referring to the Reese Witherspoon movie.) There were a few things apparent from the get-go:Paula either had a bad night or...
The never-awarded Oscars
Leaving Hollywood we saw a pile of fancy envelopes next to a dumpster in an alley off Selma. We braved the cast-off catering debris and found these:
SAG gives awards to really good actors
9:40 Jake and Heath stumble and laugh over the sappy script written for their Brokeback Mountain intro. They look darling, don't they?
And they're off!
Horseraces! Handicaps! No sooner had we posted about the not-quiet-announced Oscar host than the SAG Award nominees were announced. The biggest surprise must be the nomination of Hustle & Flow in the "best performance by a cast" category (SAG's version of "best picture"), while none of the cast members were nominated individually. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Terrence Howard was robbed.
40 lbs of Power?
Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 for Women in Entertainment issue was released yesterday (Anne Sweeney is #1 again). As Defamer noted yesterday, Ms. Sweeney got a fresh new headshot to go with her continued perch at the top rung and, apparently, Lifetime Television and the Reporter think the rest of the ladies need to freshen up. Our own top-secret Hollywood operative - who will only own up to be a female power player-in-training and not a full fledged elite - had breakfast with Barbara Walters, Reese Witherspoon and the rest and walked away with a 40 lb gift bag filled with...beauty products?

