Tag: Things That Are Sad (61-70 of 335)

Nov 9 2011 06:45 PM ET

'Requiem for a Dream' director Darren Aronofsky makes drugs even more petrifying with new PSAs -- VIDEO

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The anti-drug PSA has been an institution on television for decades now, but rarely have the well-meaning ads ever seemed to make an impact on TV-watching youth. Can you even recall one since Rachael Leigh Cook’s “this is your brain on drugs” spot? (And we mostly just remember that ad because Cook rose to stardom with She’s All That the next year.)

Well, embedded below is just one new anti-drug ad that you will remember. Why? Because it’s one of the most horrifying ads ever created. Not completely unexpected when you consider the source: The commercial — as well as several others from anti-meth group The Meth Project — is directed by Black Swan helmer Darren Aronofsky, also renowned for Requiem for a Dream. I’ve always felt Requiem should be required viewing for all high schoolers — I saw it in college and it petrified me so much, I was hesitant to even think about drugs, let alone take them. But good on Aronofsky for offering a more PG-13 option. See other ads from Aronofsky, advertising agency Organic, and The Meth Project here. Warning: The one embedded after the jump is graphic. [Gawker] READ FULL STORY »

Nov 9 2011 03:40 PM ET

Morgan Freeman to receive Golden Globe lifetime honor: Is 'Seven' his best non-God, president, civil-rights figure, narrator performance?

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Tags: , , , , , Golden Globe Awards
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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Though Dolphin Tale is a long shot for any serious awards, it’s still been another banner year for Morgan Freeman. This summer, the American Film Institute honored him with its Life Achievement Award, and today, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced that he’d receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at this year’s Golden Globes. Freeman’s career has been extraordinary, and not just because of the extremely high quality of his work. Though we remember him from his early stint as Easy Reader on Electric Company, he didn’t receive his first Academy Award nomination — for 1987′s Street Smart — until he was 50 years old. That’s highly unusual for someone with five or more Oscar nominations. (Only Judi Dench waited longer for her first at age 64, and ultimately received more, six.) Since that time, though, Freeman’s became an iconic figure — and voice — playing mostly benevolent authority figures whose weary eyes convey both a gentleness and an understanding of man’s cruelty. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 8 2011 12:32 PM ET

A haiku for Michelle Duggar's 20th baby

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Tags: , , , , , , , Those Crazy Kids!

The news makes me wince.
It’s like a horror movie.
The Womb. I’d see it.

Watch the trailer (not really) after the jump: READ FULL STORY »

Nov 8 2011 12:00 PM ET

Michael Jackson's sister: No sympathy for Conrad Murray

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Tags: , , , Music

Rebbie Jackson, Michael Jackson’s oldest sister, told Ann Curry on Today that she “felt really numb” when the guilty verdict was announced yesterday in the Conrad Murray involuntary manslaughter trial. Jackson admitted that her brother was addicted to prescription drugs, but she placed all the blame in his untimely death on Murray. When Curry asked her is she had any sympathy for the convicted doctor, she responded, “No, I don’t. Not in that way, I don’t. Because if you love someone, you’re going to do what you think is best for them, not what they want you to do.” Watch below. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 8 2011 11:05 AM ET

Joe Frazier: Remembering a fighter with a glorious record in the ring (and a few he sang on too!)

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Tags: , , , , Music
Joe-Frazier

Image Credit: AP Images

Joe Frazier, who died yesterday at age 67 after a short bout with liver cancer, was a boxing legend. But if you were around in the ’70s, you may remember that his pursuit of hits went beyond his devastating left hook; the champ put out a number of R&B 45s, mostly on small labels, but also including a 1975 single on Motown called ‘’First Round Knockout.’’

With Frazier a top draw in the ring in the early ’70s — encompassing three legendary battles with Muhammad Ali and a fascinating loss to a young George Foreman — he would make guest appearances on talk shows, particularly on the Mike Douglas Show, which taped in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia. On these leisurely visits, he would talk boxing, but also would get up to sing a tune from time to time. As it turned out, Smokin’ Joe recorded a number of singles over the years. He covered “Knock on Wood,” and “My Way”; songs with a vague boxing theme “The Bigger They Come (the Harder They Fall)’’ (not the Jimmy Cliff classic, but it did have boxing gloves on the label); would-be heartstring-tuggers like “Little Dog Heaven”; and a few more.

Joe Frazier even had competition on vinyl from his legendary rival Ali, who would even one-up his opponent’s ode to a passed-away pooch on the weird record scale. But what was always nice about seeing Frazier sing was that, while you had a pretty good sense these records were not going to be hits, that didn’t seem to bother him a bit. He seemed to be enjoying it, and gave the impression he’d genuinely have liked us to be enjoying it too.

As a tribute to Smokin’ Joe Frazier, boxing legend and would-be chart-topper, here’s a clip that brings his two passions together, a live performance of ‘’First Round Knockout’’ against a backdrop of highlights from his ring career. Boxing fans surely will be singing his praises for as long as they’re touching gloves and coming out fighting. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 7 2011 07:21 PM ET

Magic Johnson and AIDS: 20 years later

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Image Credit: Craig Fujii/AP Photo; Paul Spinelli/AP Photo

The story goes that the United States didn’t really wake up to AIDS until Rock Hudson went public with his deadly illness in 1985. But even though Hudson’s passing gave the growing epidemic a celebrity face, there remained a popular misconception that AIDS was a disease only homosexuals had to worry about — until Earvin “Magic” Johnson stood in front of a microphone on Nov. 7, 1991 and announced to the world that he had contracted HIV. For me and my collegiate peers, Johnson’s announcement made an enormous impact. For the students in my freshman dorm, the immediate question was, “How?” How could this happen to Magic Johnson, the athletic, charismatic basketball god who’d led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA titles. Our second thought was that he’d be dead before Christmas. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 3 2011 09:40 PM ET

'Funny Girl' revival postponed on Broadway and in Los Angeles

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Broadway babes are weeping into their Playbills: The revival of Funny Girl – which was scheduled to hit Broadway this spring after a stint in Los Angeles — has been postponed, the producers announced today.

“We have made the extremely difficult decision today to postpone our production of Funny Girl,” said producer Bob Boyett in a statement. “Given the current economic climate, many Broadway producing investors have found it impossible to maintain their standard level of financial commitment. Our desire to produce Funny Girl on the scale it deserves required a capitalization of $12 million making it one of the most expensive revivals in Broadway history.”  READ FULL STORY »

Nov 3 2011 06:00 PM ET

The Kim Kardashian divorce: How could she do this to 'us'?

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Image Credit: Michael Simon, Albert Ferreira/Startraks and Nick

There’s more than a touch of irony — and hypocrisy — to the public’s angry reaction to Kim Kardashian’s announcement that she is divorcing Kris Humphries after only 72 days of marriage. Many fans felt duped — Was the dream wedding a sham, a ploy to boost ratings for the Kardashians’ E! reality show? “My wife is invested in this show,” Fox & Friends’ Eric Bolling told Kris Jenner this morning. “She falls in love with your family. She gets involved. When the wedding broke up after 72 days, she was, like, devastated, because people — they watch and they want to believe in you.”

People are actually upset — not because Kardashian is doing this to Humphries, but because she’s doing it to us. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 1 2011 05:20 PM ET

'Reality' check: Which has a longer shelf life -- frozen meat or a Kardashian 'I do'?

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For a Hollywood marriage, Kim Kardashian’s 72 days of matrimonial miss were downright average. What’s more, groom Kris Humphries bested fellow NBA star Dennis Rodman by 800 percent, which is an old-fashioned butt kicking if you ask any statistician. But where does this soon-to-be-dissolved union stack against real world quantities? Keep reading…  READ FULL STORY »

Nov 1 2011 10:50 AM ET

Harold Camping apologizes for once again messing up our Rapture plans

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Image Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images

Seemingly always-surprised prophesier Harold Camping may have finally realized the old adage “If at first you don’t succeed…” doesn’t necessarily apply to him. After two fake-outs regarding the end of days (his first Rapture prediction was back in May and then rescheduled for October) Camping apologized once more to his followers in a Family Radio address on Oct. 28.

ChristianPost.com posted a transcript of Camping’s apology (which is for the best, because in my head it sounded something like this) in which he stated, “Why didn’t Christ return on Oct. 21? It seems embarrassing for Family Radio. But God was in charge of everything. We came to that conclusion after quite careful study of the Bible. He allowed everything to happen the way it did without correction. He could have stopped everything if He had wanted to.” READ FULL STORY »

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