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18 Mar 2010 09:41

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Culture: Apparently, winning a Best Actress Oscar ruins your marriage

  • Sandra Bullock is going through hell right now. She’s been married to Jesse James, West Coast Choppers CEO and stuntman, since 2005, but it appears her marriage is publicly falling apart. As far as Best Actress Oscar winners go, she’s not alone. Here are a few examples of the Best Actress Oscar curse:
  • Halle Less than a year after winning for “Monster’s Ball,” she divorced from singer Eric Benet, who reportedly had a sex addiction.
  • Reese The “Walk the Line” star didn’t make it past seven years marriage with her husband, Ryan Phillippe, separating months after she won her Oscar.
  • Hilary The “Million Dollar Baby” star, was married to Chad Lowe for 11 years; they divorced soon after she won. (She also won for “Boys Don’t Cry.”)

03 Mar 2009 23:45

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Culture: “Slumdog” is slummin’ among best-picture winners

  • 31st “Slumdog Millionaire’s” rank on the list of the Oscar best-picture winners (out of 82 flicks) source

23 Feb 2009 01:53

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Culture, Offbeat: And now, a guy balancing an Oscar on his chin

The popularity of “Man on Wire” should skyrocket based on Phillippe Petit doing this. source

12 Feb 2009 11:06

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Music, World: Is M.I.A. an apologist for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka?

  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence. source
  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence.
  • In her words M.I.A., born Maya Arulpragasam, recently commented on the crisis in an interview on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show. “Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said “There’s a genocide going on.” source
  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence.
  • In her words M.I.A., born Maya Arulpragasam, recently commented on the crisis in an interview on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show. “Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said “There’s a genocide going on.”
  • Fighting art with art Many Sri Lankans who have seen M.I.A.’s videos claim that her imagery either glorifies or supports the cause. M.I.A. says she doesn’t support terrorism, but at least one rapper has taken her head-on: DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in L.A., put up a video remix which directly attacks the singer’s stance. source

11 Feb 2009 21:38

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Culture: NYC transplants: Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

  • I met a lot of people who I worked with in New York or got to know in New York — transplants — who said to me, ‘When I first arrived here in New York, I had this strange desire to find Sesame Street.’
  • Michael Davis • author of a new book, “Street Gang” about the popularity of the “Sesame Street” phenomenon and the people responsible for creating it • source

27 Jan 2009 14:22

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Culture, Music: HOLY CRAP! THE “ONCE” COUPLE BROKE UP!

  • It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn’t what we really wanted to do. So we’re not together now. We’re just really good friends.
  • Glen Hansard • Lead singer of The Frames, who recently broke up with his on-screen/off-screen musical partner in the Oscar-winning 2007 movie “Once,” Marketa Irglova. That, my friends, is the biggest news story of the year. But wasn’t it a really great ride while it lasted? • source

15 Jan 2009 12:10

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Culture: Mickey Rourke pulls out a late-arriving comeback

Rourke notes the painful parallels between his career and that of his character in “The Wrestler.” source