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Questionable Choices: Kim Kardashian’s Burka Shopping In Dubai
Investigating the local culture’s clothing = good. Letting the paparazzi take photos of you as if you’re shopping in LA? Questionable. More »
5 Facts About American Horror Story Star Taissa Farmiga
Last night was the series premiere of Ryan Murphy‘s American Horror Story, which follows the Harmon family as they try to rebuild their lives in a spooky house in Los Angeles. Although Murphy cast the well-known actors Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott as the parents, the actress playing their teenage daughter is a relative unknown: 17-year-old Taissa Farmiga. That surname sounds familiar, huh? Read on for five facts about this young star. More »
Video: Snooki Refuses To Hide Her Party Hats From God
Snooki will not be slut-shamed by anyone, not even a man of God. I knew there was a reason I liked this lil’ noodle. More »
Mel Gibson Inexplicably Wants to Make a Movie About Jewish Hero Judah Maccabee
We think maybe Mel Gibson doesn’t know the meaning of anti-Semitism? More »
Gallery: 4 Cheaper David/Goliath Pairs If The Rock/Taylor Lautner Casting Doesn’t Work Out
Relativity Media is courting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Taylor Lautner to star in the big-screen retelling of the most badass Biblical tale, the fight between puny (but divinely blessed) shepherd David and the monstrous Goliath. The problem is, both actors’ acting prices are pretty steep, at $10 million or more. We’ve done some legwork and come up with five other little-guy-giant-villain combos that Relativity can look to if The Rock and Taylor end up costing too much. More »
Meme Alert: Tumblr Mocks Justin Bieber’s VMAs Thank-You Speech
Justin Bieber certainly stood out at Sunday’s VMAs, but probably not in the ways he meant to: He made immature jokes about his pet snake Johnson, had an awkward kiss with girlfriend Selena Gomez, and then was blank-faced for the entire show. Oh, except for when he won, and gave a strange thank-you speech: I just wanna say thank you so much not only to God but to Jesus. More »
CollegeHumor’s ‘Religious People Are Nerds’ Video Makes More Sense Than the Creation Story
My high school was a Catholic private school, where the religious kids were the most popular and there wasn’t much of an arts scene. I was agnostic and into geeky things, so I didn’t hang out with the popular kids. Little did I know, however, that we were virtually the same people! Or so CollegeHumor says. Their new video “Religious People Are Nerds” makes several scarily-logical arguments, like how both social groups get fanatic about their beliefs and take their rules from bearded men. More »
Parting Tweet: Sarah Silverman Makes An Eloquent Case For The Separation Of Church And State
So eloquent she had to cheat and link to her blog to finish the thought. Click through for the rest of her penis-laced diatribe. More »
The ‘Red State’ Trailer Is Kevin Smith’s F-You to Hollywood
First off, the newest trailer for Red State looks fantastic. Unflinching, gory, dogmatic, even pretty funny — it’s the tale of three boys (Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano, Nicholas Braun) who go searching for a lady to have sex with and end up getting royally screwed by the fundamentalist family that’s lured them to their twisted congregation. So, the content seems to completely back up director Kevin Smith‘s decision to self-distribute Red State through social networking and a fifteen-city screening tour. But there’s something you should notice about the presentation of the trailer, too. More »
New ‘Dexter’ Season 6 Promo Invokes God’s Name in Vain
Instead of this stylized promo with religious iconography, I would’ve rather my first look at Dexter season 6 be actual footage from the next chapter of serial killer killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall). This doesn’t do much aside from give us Hall’s signature wry eyebrow arch and play on words.
Unless… What if the teaser weren’t being glib and Dexter actually finds God this season? As I’ve said before, each season’s pathos comes from poor, perpetually lonely Dexter believing that he’s found someone who really gets him. More »
Pasta Strainers Are Now Officially Recognized as Religious Headgear
This might still be on a case-by-case basis, but what a great case it is: Niko Alm labored for three years to convince Austrian authorities a) to let him wear a pasta strainer on his head for his driver’s license photo, and b) that he was psychologically fit to actually drive a car. Alm, you see, is a pastafarian, or one who worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster. More »
Interview: Matthew Chapman Is Darwin’s Great-Great Grandson, an Atheist, and the Devil’s Spawn
I had a ton of fun talking with Matthew Chapman, the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin and writer-director of The Ledge. Though he’s written two books grappling with faith versus reason, this is his first feature film; the thriller sympathizes with atheist Charlie Hunnam, who steals fundamentalist Patrick Wilson‘s wife Liv Tyler. A UK native who’s lived both in Los Angeles and New York, Chapman might be considered someone who lives on the fringes of Hollywood, but he’s had enough experience to judge Tinseltown’s relationship to religion.
It’s always exciting when an interview turns into an actual intellectual discussion, as when Chapman and I talked about the labels of “atheist” versus “agnostic,” the concept of original sin, and unforgivable acts. He was also just really funny. But then again, I’m biased since I’m agnostic. More »
Brad Pitt Needs to Stop Taking Roles That Don’t Fit Him
Brad Pitt has something of a “finders, keepers” thing going on with several upcoming film projects: Just because his production company Plan B picks up a project, doesn’t mean that Pitt is the best choice for the lead role. He’s matched himself to the unlikely part of the narrator of World War Z, and now the Latino priest from The Sparrow. More »
4 Old Testament Lessons That Will Make Christian Bale a Good Noah
After dropping out of the running for the new Wolverine movie, Darren Aronofsky wants to make Noah, an edgy retelling of the Bible story. This isn’t the first time that Aronofsky has stepped back in the past: His 2006 film The Fountain, a meditation on faith and reincarnation, spends some time in the 16th century. And the star that Aronofsky wants has even played Jesus Christ at one point in his career: Christian Bale. More »
Girl Crushable: Alicia Jo Rabins and Girls in Trouble
For all of my issues with religion, I’m grateful that I grew up with a Catholic school education, because the rich stories and characters became ingrained in my subconscious. Whether I actually believed passages from the Bible didn’t matter as much as the emotional attachment I had to these people — especially the women.
Girls in Trouble, an American folk/underground rock group comprised of husband and wife Alicia Jo Rabins and Aaron Hartman, enlivens these archetypal women through beautiful, multi-instrumental songs and haunting lyrics. I’m no music expert, but Girls in Trouble reminds me of singers like Joanna Newsom and Patty Griffin — whimsical melodies that have real weight to them. More »
STD Week: 12 Other Things That STD Stands For
And here we thought that venereal diseases had the monopoly on the acronym “STD.” After all, why would you want your wedding/life insurance company/sorority tarnished by such a stigmatized set of letters? But they went ahead and kept their names. More »
Crushable Quotable: Kirk Cameron Thinks Stephen Hawking Has An Unfair Disadvantage
Teen heartthrob turned hardcore Christian Kirk Cameron is taking aim at physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, who recently said that there’s no such thing as heaven. Hawking said in a recent interview, “There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” More »
Westboro Baptist Church Will Picket Elizabeth Taylor’s Funeral
Not content to simply condemn most celebrities — most people, really — to hell, the kids of the Westboro Baptist Church want to remind us of the sins of these dearly departed, by picketing at their funerals. In December it was Elizabeth Edwards; now their latest target is Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away yesterday.
While the rest of us were saying “Rest In Peace” to this film icon, Megan Phelps-Roper and Margie Phelps, both daughters to hateful pastor Fred Phelps, tweeted offensive messages deriding her memory. More »
The Duggar Family Is Taping an Episode at Focus on the Family
The Duggar family, who star in TLC’s series 19 Kids and Counting, keep a close hand on the editing of their show. Although they do talk abstractly about their religion, they steer clear of delving into specifics. They have long been accused of being part of the Quiverfull movement, an evangelical strain who believes in actively trying to have as many children as possible in order to create an army for Jesus. Though they’ve publicly denied their affiliation with Quiverfull, they have quietly (and off-camera) attended events associated with the movement. They’ve never attended church services on camera (possibly because their church is in their basement), but they have done things like take a trip to the Creationism Museum.
Now, fellow large-family-haver Chris Jeub (whose family appeared in an episode of TLC’s now-cancelled series Kids By the Dozen) has announced on his blog that the Duggars will be attending a Focus On the Family event this weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. More »
Megan Phelps-Roper and Family Attend Kevin Smith’s ‘Red State’ Screening, Walk Out
Less than a week after Kevin Smith invited fundamentalist pastor Fred Phelps and his family/congregation to attend a screening of Red State — a horror film inspired in part by the Westboro Baptist Church’s antics — Phelps’ Twitter-savvy daughter Megan Phelps-Roper brought several members of the clan to the Kansas City, KS, screening.
In a blog post prior to the screening on March 12, Smith warned attendees of the Phelps’ intention to join in, comparing it to watching Star Wars with Darth Vader in the audience. He briefly turned serious and added, If they’re on my stage, that’s one less bereaved family they’re harassing for a few hours. Then it was back to snark, as he dutifully livetweeted the experience. More »
