Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, American Prometheus

At Amazon, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Saturday Evening Movie Thread

At AoSHQ, "In the absolute most basic sense, the producer's job is to supply money to a movie production. This is why independent productions tend to have so many producers because the money comes from so many sources. So, some banker supplies $15,000, and he's a producer in the credits now. However, with money comes the ability to control a lot if one so chooses. A producer, even up to a studio executive, could supply the cash and walk away, waiting for the opportunity to use his tuxedo at the film's premiere..."

Justine Bateman Defends Her 'Old Face' (the Decision to Grow Old Naturally and Forego Cosmetic Surgery, Etc.)

She says she doesn't give a s***, but you know she does. Why is this even news?

See, "Justine Bateman confronts obsession with her ‘old’ face: ‘I don’t give a s–t’."

She appeared recently on "60 Minutes Australia."

Excerpts from the @60Mins Australia piece on being free of the fear of one’s face aging.
(Entire segment is on @60Mins’ YouTube channel)

Don’t be distracted from all the opportunities coming your way.
Read @FACE_the_book for more.https://t.co/qGDP9IDOxB pic.twitter.com/Chv012SJCy

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) March 21, 2023

Tom Sizemore’s Family Weighs End-of-Life Matters After Actor Has Aneurysm, Stroke

So sad. The guy's exactly my age. It hasn't been all roses for the guy in Hollywood. He's great. A heroic soldier in film.

At the Wall Street Journal, "The ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Black Hawk Down’ actor is currently in a coma, according to his manager."

And at ABC 7 Los Angeles:

"Today, doctors informed his family that there is no further hope and have recommended end of life decision. The family is now deciding end of life matters and a further statement will be issued on Wednesday," a statement said. https://t.co/eXJ7UnWl0f pic.twitter.com/KXXxw0LwdO

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 28, 2023

Did Anyone Check on 'Miserable' Ben Affleck After the Grammy Awards? (VIDEO)

At LAT, "Ben Affleck attended the 65th Grammy Awards arguably for the sake of Twitter, which could not get enough of the Oscar winner’s “I’d rather be anywhere else” reaction shots during Sunday’s telecast":

The “Gone Girl” star accompanied his wife, actor-singer Jennifer Lopez, to the ceremony and, due to the power couple’s prime seating inside Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, were seen throughout the night reacting to performances, speeches and quips. But Affleck — no stranger to memes of exasperation — appeared disengaged in the background of host Trevor Noah’s frequent roaming monologues and bored or “miserable” during performances throughout the night, much to the delight of social media.

“Someone please check on Ben Affleck #GRAMMYs,” tweeted the Chicks in the Office account.

For the record, we did check on Affleck and a representative for him and representatives for Lopez did not immediately respond Monday to The Times’ requests for comment.

Meanwhile, images and videos of the subdued “Argo” star-director lighted up the social-media platform, especially a clip of a tense moment between him and Lopez that piqued the interest of amateur lip readers searching for trouble in paradise. Affleck and Lopez wed last year.

“When the publicist checks Twitter tells your wife to make you smile for the camera. Oh Ben Affleck,” wrote a user who tweeted the clip.

“Ben Affleck worrying if P Diddy was going to perform in 50 Years of Hip Hop ….” added another, referring to Lopez’s ex’s possible involvement in one of the evening’s standout performance collaborations.

Spliff Star, left, and Busta Rhymes perform onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards. MUSIC

Beyoncé, Harry Styles, hip-hop history and everything else that went down at the Grammys Feb. 5, 2023

And although music legend Stevie Wonder’s and Chris Stapleton’s joint performance got the “Argo” star to his feet, Affleck half-heartedly nodded along to the Motown tribute.

“Ben Affleck would rather be anywhere else than front row at the #Grammys2023 watching Stevie Wonder crush Higher Ground,” tweeted Daily Beast writer Matt Wilstein.

“Ben Affleck wants to go home Jen. Everyone in this video looks like they are vibing to a different song,” tweeted another user.

“Ben Affleck is every introvert everywhere. You can see his batteries draining in real time. Man is already at 23% #GRAMMYs #SaveBen,” wrote another.

“Ben Affleck is the 8-year-old dragged to a wedding, wants to go home and play video games,” tweeted NFL veteran Matt Leinart.

“Ben Affleck giving off big ‘Only sober guy at a wedding where you know nobody other than your wife’ vibes,” wrote another...

'The new Oppenheimerfilm by Christopher Nolan features a nuclear explosion done without CGI...'

I'd like to see that!

At AoSHQ, movie talk, in particular, what's up with "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One"?

See, "Is This Something?"

He's talking about this video, "The Biggest Stunt in Cinema History (Tom Cruise)."

Gal Gadot Not 'Booted' From DC Cinematic Universe

James Gunn is the co-CEO of DC Studios. He's responding to reports that Gal Godot has been fired as "Wonder Woman," from the DC cinematic universe.

Twitter blew up yesterday, though we have reports to the contrary today.

At Deadline, "James Gunn Shoots Down Claim Gal Gadot Was “Booted” From DC Universe After ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Axing."

And on Twitter today, Gal Gadot's all, "Hey, your loss, not mine": 

Anne Hathaway for Interview

Man, she's as hot as ever.

See, at Interview, "Anne Hathaway Answers 20 Questions From Her Friends and Fans."

"Really, the Word You're Using to Fight Antisemitism is 'Jewface'?"

Wait for it, from Bill Maher, on Real Time:

Actress Anne Heche on Life Support, Not Expected to Survive (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Anne Heche not expected to survive after fiery Mar Vista crash that left her in coma."

And from ABC 7 Eyewitness News Los Angeles: 

How Crazy-Ass Tom Cruise and 'Top Gun' Saved America (VIDEO)

I saw this movie. Folks are right: It's very good.

From Matt Taibbi, on Substack, "America needs to get back to meaningless fun, and "Top Gun: Maverick" delivers in colossal doses." 

The Origins of Erika Jayne's $800K Diamond Earrings — a Mystery

 At the Los Angeles Times, "Unraveling the mystery of Erika Jayne’s $800K diamond earrings — and Tom Girardi’s finances":

Not long after they started dating, Tom Girard presented cocktail waitress and aspiring actress Erika Chahoy with a pair of $800,000 diamond earrings.

“It was the first significant gift I had given her,” Girardi recalled years later to tax authorities.

The earrings set the tone for the private-jet-and-haute-couture lifestyle the pair would enjoy as a married couple.

Now, with the demise of the Girardis’ relationship and fortune, the jewelry has become a plot point in the quest to unravel the disgraced lawyer’s finances.

The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Girardi’s famed firm, Girardi Keese, has moved to seize a pair of diamond stud earrings, with plans to sell them to compensate cheated clients and other creditors. Erika Girardi at first agreed to relinquish them, but last month, her attorney announced that she was switching strategies and would battle for the baubles in court.

The earrings’ current location — a safe deposit box — is one of the only certain things about them. Neither the trustee nor Erika has described them in detail. There are no confirmed pictures of the jewelry, despite the star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” having been a red-carpet regular who was photographed by paparazzi as she conducted her life in Los Angeles.

When Times reporters attempted to trace the gems’ provenance, they found a tangled web of contradictions that pointed to a deeper mystery.

By his own account, Tom Girardi loved showering his third, much-younger wife with expensive jewelry.

The diamond earrings he gave her around the time of their 2000 wedding, when he was 60 and she was 28, were part of a collection that grew to include rings, bracelets, watches and other jewelry with a total value he once estimated at $15 million.

The earrings and other pieces came from M.M. Jewelers, a small shop tucked in a warren of similar outfits in downtown L.A.’s jewelry district. As a lawyer for the store’s owners, the Menzilcian family, acknowledged, “The relationship goes back a long way.”

Minding the store on a recent morning, Ared “Mike” Menzilcian said his father, 85, had a decades-long relationship with the lawyer, 83. Menzilcian declined to provide specific information as to the cut or clarity of the diamonds in the earrings, but he said the two stones — one for each ear — were “near flawless,” adding, “They were extremely large.”

Erika Girardi possessed the earrings until at least 2007, when she embarked on a career, bankrolled by her husband, as pop singer “Erika Jayne,” according to court records...

Also, "Tom Girardi’s epic corruption exposes the secretive world of private judges."

Bette Midler, Tipping Point

I don't know if we're tipping or not, though I wouldn't have thought old Bette would be sounding the tocsin.

On Twitter:

Tipping point? https://t.co/5B1wkJxssq

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) July 4, 2022

A Jury Has Awarded Johnny Depp $15 Million in Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard (VIDEO)

I watched about an hour of Depp's testimony a couple of weeks ago, and he looked pained, an abused and harried man with a dangerous, unstable wife. 

There's been a lot of piling on, especially on Ms. Amber, who was probably abused herself. It's a matter degrees. She actually won her case two, but was award $2 million to Depp's $15 million.

I find it actually sad, a horrible statement not just on the couple, but on society. 

At WSJ, "Jury Rules in Favor of Johnny Depp in Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard":

Jury awards Mr. Depp $15 million in damages; Ms. Heard receives $2 million in damages.

A Virginia jury ruled in favor of actor Johnny Depp in his case against Amber Heard, closing a widely watched and emotional trial centered on defamation and abuse accusations between the former couple.

The seven-member jury found Mr. Depp proved all three counts of defamation against his former spouse in an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018, awarding him $15 million. The jury also found Ms. Heard was able to prove one of three counts of defamation against Mr. Depp, based on statements made by one of his attorneys. The jury awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages.

The trial, which started in April, drew massive attention on social media, where viewers attempted to analyze details of the proceedings. Fans of Mr. Depp gathered outside of the court Wednesday cheered in response to each of the verdicts coming down, according to a live stream of the scene.

The case began in 2019 when Mr. Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit against Ms. Heard over the 2018 op-ed she wrote. In the piece, Ms. Heard referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

Mr. Depp alleged that, while Ms. Heard’s op-ed didn’t specifically mention him by name, the actress falsely implied he was a domestic abuser and wrote the piece “with actual malice.”

He claimed the accusations of abuse damaged his reputation and career. The lawsuit also alleges Ms. Heard abused Mr. Depp.

Ms. Heard has denied his abuse accusations and accused Mr. Depp of defamation for claiming she fabricated injuries related to alleged abuse.

Ms. Heard countersued Mr. Depp for $100 million for defamation in August 2020. She has said the op-ed is accurate and that the actor emotionally and physically abused her throughout their relationship and marriage, often when he was drunk or high. The counterclaim also accused Mr. Depp of orchestrating efforts to destroy her career.

Mr. Depp has denied accusations of abuse, her claims that he made defamatory statements and sought to “destroy her career.”

Mr. Depp didn’t appear in court for the verdict due to “previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial” and would watch from the U.K., a person familiar with the matter said before the verdict was read. Videos posted on social media over the weekend showed the actor performing alongside singer Jeff Beck at a concert in England.

Ms. Heard sat between her lawyers in the courtroom as the verdict was read Wednesday.

Judge Penney Azcarate ordered the names of the jurors to be sealed for one year after the trial, according to court documents.

Mr. Depp previously lost a libel case in the U.K. in 2020 against a British tabloid that referred to him as a “wife beater” over his alleged treatment of Ms. Heard...

 

Video Shows Moment Before 'Rust' Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' Death (VIDEO)

On Twitter, "The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has released evidence related to the deadly shooting on “Rust” movie set in New Mexico last year. Included is this clip of the scene where the film’s cinematographer was killed by a gun in Alec Baldwin’s hands."

Baldwin is shown pulling the trigger without a doubt, contradicting his claims that "I didn't pull the trigger..."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Hutchins family surprised by massive ‘Rust’ data dump, calls for discretion":

The family of Halyna Hutchins was taken aback by the extraordinary data dump from the “Rust” movie set shooting investigation released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Monday.

The rising star cinematographer‘s final moments were captured on film released by the authorities, as she fought for her life after Alec Baldwin accidentally shot her on the set of the low-budget western last fall. Included in the haul were personal details such as social security numbers and home phone numbers of other crew members.

Lawyers for the Hutchins family, who have filed a wrongful-death suit against Baldwin and the production, called for restraint in sharing the footage.

“We were surprised by the decision of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office to release such a large amount of evidence given that the investigation is still ongoing and active,” Brian Panish, attorney for the Hutchins family, said in a statement. “We hope the press will exercise discretion in how they use the graphic images and videos of the fatal events.”

Hutchins’ death sent shockwaves through the film industry, which is still grappling with how to respond to the accident. Hollywood has not seen a case like this since 2014, when Sarah Jones, a camera assistant, was killed during unauthorized filming on a train track in Georgia.

The fact that a household name such as Baldwin pulled the trigger on the prop gun, killing the mother of one, has brought intense scrutiny to the investigation.

Legal experts said the amount of information released was unprecedented: It included a 204-page case report, several videos of witness interviews, dash cam footage from officers arriving at the set and crime scene photos.

“This is just something that you don’t see,” criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter, a former prosecutor with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said in an interview. “We’re not talking about a few hand-picked reports or videos, but it’s almost like they’ve released their entire file and it’s just remarkable to me.”

He added that the move would put the New Mexico district attorney in an “untenable” position. “They’ve almost invited public opinion to weigh in on whether or not they think criminal charges are strong or not,” Ritter said.

The Sheriff’s Office said that the release of the information was in reaction to requests for records, which it is required to comply with under New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act. The law requires that the public and media get access to public information.

“We had received many requests for the information since the beginning of the investigation back in October when the incident occurred and it took us a lot of time to compile the data,” Juan Rios, a spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday. “When information is requested in New Mexico that is a public record, which these files are, we’re obligated to release them.”

The release, which included all the information the office has, was not any indication of the timing of any charges that might be filed, Rios said in an interview.

Not included in the release are FBI firearm and ballistic forensics along with DNA and latent fingerprint analysis, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator findings report, and the analysis of Baldwin’s phone data, which the Sheriff’s Office has yet to receive.

The decision to release the documents was made by Sheriff Adan Mendoza, Rios said. He confirmed that the release included telephone numbers and social security numbers that had not been redacted and that anyone who had requested the records received them.

New Mexico has a victim’s rights law that requires that victims be treated with fairness and with dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process, as well as timely disposition of the case. Rios said the data release was in compliance with New Mexico law.

Lisa Torraco, attorney for “Rust” assistant director David Halls, said the Sheriff’s Office was negligent in releasing the information.

“We are very very disappointed the sheriff released personal information,” Torraco said in a statement...

Keep reading.

 

Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard: Defamation Trial (VIDEO)

I watched this and it's pathetically depressing. 

First, these two shouldn't have been under the same roof. With all of his and her resources, why not live apart and figure out what to do with the marriage. I don't read the tabloid magazines so I have no idea, but it's completely disheartening. 

Second, it's very sad that all of this is out in the open, on public display. You can hear them fighting at the audio, both yelling (and she screaming), and you know this isn't their best moments as humans. That is, the negative spotlight stays a while. Depp looks old and tired. Heard looks shamed and on the verge of tears. 

And these are beautiful people. Johnny Depp is by far one of the most talented actors of his (or my) generation. He's amazing and I love him, but not like this. I'm not familiar with Ms. Heard's work, but I followed her on Twitter some time back, for some reason, and she posts frequently (or at least she was before the trial) and looks full of life and love. 

All of this is a travesty. 

Scroll forward at the video a bit and you'll hear the tape-recorded fight scenes. Neither party comes out well, and, actually, Ms. Heard comes off the worse.

Yesterday, at the New York Times, "Johnny Depp, Accused of Spousal Abuse, Says Ex-Wife Was the Aggressor":

The actor testified in a defamation case that he filed against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, who has said he often struck her during their relationship.

The actor Johnny Depp took the stand for the second day on Wednesday to describe his turbulent marriage to the actress Amber Heard, whom he has sued for defamation, accusing her of “demeaning name-calling” that often escalated into physical violence.

“It could begin with a slap, it could begin with a shove, it could begin with throwing a TV remote at my head, throwing a glass of wine in my face,” Mr. Depp told a jury at Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.

Ms. Heard has accused Mr. Depp in court papers of repeatedly assaulting her throughout their relationship, from slapping and kicking to dragging her across the floor by her hair and grasping her throat, making her fearful that he would kill her.

But over the past few years of legal wrangling in the United States and Britain, Mr. Depp has maintained that Ms. Heard was the one who was violent toward him. In testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Depp denied ever striking Ms. Heard or any woman.

Ms. Heard denied in court papers that she had ever struck Mr. Depp except in self-defense or in defense of her sister.

Mr. Depp has sued Ms. Heard for defamation over an op-ed she wrote in 2018 in which she said she was a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The article did not mention Mr. Depp’s name, but he testified that the time-frame reference in the op-ed was clearly in reference to their marriage, which lasted less than two years.

The seven-person jury will also consider Ms. Heard’s countersuit, which asserts that Mr. Depp defamed her when his former lawyer made statements saying that her allegations of domestic abuse were a hoax.

During more than five hours of testimony on Wednesday, the jury heard snippets of recorded arguments between the couple. Those included audio of Mr. Depp confronting Ms. Heard about kicking a door into his head the previous night and Ms. Heard asking, “Why are you obsessing over the fact that I can’t remember it the way you remember it?”

During his testimony, Mr. Depp strove to present his side of several incidents that have surfaced as their problems in their relationship became public, including the time Mr. Depp’s middle finger was severed. The injury occurred in 2015 while the couple was in Australia for the filming of the fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie.

Mr. Depp told the jury that, at the time, Ms. Heard was angry about a meeting she had with a lawyer about a potential postnuptial agreement and threw two vodka bottles at him, one of which missed while another shattered into his hand, causing his finger to bleed “like Vesuvius.” He testified that he then experienced a “nervous breakdown” and used his bloody finger to write on the walls messages that “represented lies that she told me.”

Ms. Heard, who is expected to take the stand later in the trial, has given a very different account of the incident in Australia, writing in court papers that Mr. Depp became violent with her during an argument about his drug use. She has said that at one point he grabbed her by the neck and collarbone and slammed her into a countertop, then hit her with the back of his hand and slammed a phone against a wall until it “smashed into smithereens,” injuring his finger.

Upon her return to Los Angeles, Ms. Heard wrote in court papers that “I had a busted lip, a swollen nose and cuts all over my body.”

In 2016, Ms. Heard was granted a temporary restraining order against Mr. Depp after telling a court in California that Mr. Depp had thrown a phone at her face at close range, bruising it. (Mr. Depp testified that he “flopped” the phone onto the couch and has asserted in court papers that Ms. Heard’s facial marks were of her own doing.)

Many of the accusations being lobbed back and forth in Virginia have already been aired in a court in London. After Mr. Depp sued The Sun newspaper there for a headline in which they referred to him as a “wife beater,” citing “overwhelming evidence” during their marriage, a British judge ruled against the actor...

 

Brie Larson Stuns

At Giant Freakin' Robot, "Brie Larson Stuns In Backless Dress In New Post."

And on Instagram.

Old Instagram Live Video of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Goes Viral

The video is available here.

Now viral, of course. 

At Newsweek, "Will Smith Pleads With Jada to Stop Discussing Marriage in Old IG Live Clip."

Will Smith Expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The headline claims he resigned, but when you read his comments, it's clear the Academy left him with no other choice. 

At the New York Times, "Will Smith Resigns From Academy After Slapping Chris Rock at Oscars":

The producer of the telecast said that Smith had been asked to leave after slapping Rock, and that he had urged officials not to “physically remove” him.

LOS ANGELES — Will Smith, who slapped the comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, said Friday that he was resigning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, saying that he had “betrayed” its trust with conduct that was “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.”

The sudden announcement came late Friday afternoon, days after the Academy had condemned Mr. Smith’s actions and opened an inquiry into the incident.

“I have directly responded to the Academy’s disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct,” he said in a statement on Friday.

“I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work,” he said in the statement. “I am heartbroken.”

He said that he would “accept any further consequences the board deems appropriate.”

“Change takes time,” he concluded, “and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”

Now that he has resigned, Mr. Smith will no longer have access to academy screenings and events. He will also not be able to vote in the Academy Awards. However, he could still be nominated for an award, since being a member is not a requirement for eligibility.

Mr. Smith’s resignation came roughly 12 hours after Will Packer, the lead producer of the Oscars telecast, spoke publicly about the episode for the first time.

In an interview with Good Morning America” on ABC, the network which also broadcasts the Oscars, Mr. Packer said that after Mr. Smith had been asked to leave the ceremony, he urged the Academy leadership not to “physically remove” him from the theater in the middle of the live broadcast.

Mr. Packer said he had learned from his co-producer, Shayla Cowan, that there were discussions of plans to “physically remove” Mr. Smith from the venue. So he said he immediately approached academy officials and told them that he believed Mr. Rock did not want to “make a bad situation worse.”

“I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time,” Mr. Packer said. “Because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. It has been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave.”

In the interview, Mr. Packer also said that Mr. Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair was unscripted “free-styling.”

“He didn’t tell one of the planned jokes,” he said of Mr. Rock.

Someone close to Mr. Rock who asked to speak anonymously because the Academy’s inquiry into the incident is ongoing said that Mr. Rock was never asked directly if he wanted Mr. Smith removed. Had he been asked, it was not clear how Mr. Rock would have responded, the person said. Mr. Rock was only asked if he wanted to press charges, and he said that he did not, the person said...

 

Emily Ratajkowski at Vanity Fair Oscar Party

At London's Daily Mail, "Emily Ratajkowski puts on a VERY busty display in racy orange split top at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar party."

Wow, she did!

PREVIOUSLY: "Flashback, "Nude Emily Ratajkowski Stars for Jonathan Leder´s Limited Edition Photobook."