George Lucas has been based in Marin County, California, since 1978, when he famously built his Skywalker Ranch. The facility sits on 19 km² of land, and contains a barn with animals, vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center, the man-made "Lake Ewok," a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theatre called "The Stag," as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.
Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building.The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome. Lucas does not live on the Ranch.
The ranch also has its own fire station, which is part of the Marin County Mutual Aid system, and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood.
Sounds pretty sweet, except that Lucas' rebellious neighbours are targetting his empire. But as some salty space pirate once said, "It's not wise to upset a Wookiee film legend."
Amid all the rumours about Ashton Kutcher dating Rihanna, Ashton Kutcher dating Mila Kunis, even Ashton Kutcher dating his own step daughter, Ashton Kutcher is starring in an ad for a dating service.
In the ad, Ashton plays a Bollywood producer, an English stoner, a "Karl Lagerfeld" guy, a tattooed redneck, and then himself. All of them looking for love, all of them kind of odd.
It's supposed to be funny, and although it's more creepy than funny, what's creepier is that Ashton is associating himself with a dating website. Worldwidelovers.com, to be exact.
Except that it's not exact... as in it's a parody for Popchips, the "delicious, all-natural, healthier" chips that are "popped! Never fried, never baked." It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Popchips do turn up in the video, but only for a second, and it's when the "Lagerfeld" guy lets his dog lick a popchip before eating it himself. Gross!
Update: In the last 24 hours Kutcher and Popchips have gotten a lot of flack for the 'Raj' character, with critics calling the 'Bollywood producer' "racist and offensive". According to The Associated Press a spokeswoman for Popchips says the ad was "created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone." She added that the company hopes "people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended."
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber not only put his foot in his mouth late last week, but nearly swallowed it. When asked about a song on his new album, Believe, Bieber described it as being recorded in some "random country."
"I recorded it in a studio. Some little place," Bieber said. "They didn't know what they were doing."
The problem is that the "random country" is Indonesia, with a population of 240 million people. It has the third largest Facebook community in the world, and the fifth-biggest number of Twitter accounts.
Celebrity blowhard Rosie O'Donnell weighed in earlier this week with her two cents about Lindsay Lohan. In other words, a washed up has-been clung to the very last string of controversy she could grasp, as her own career quickly slips under the radar for the last time.
Rosie, on the Today Show, was suggesting that Lohan is not in a place in her life to be working at all, and that she should be taking time away from the Hollywood machine to take care of herself.
“I feel very sorry for (Lohan),” O'Donnell, who's last movie of note was 1996's Harriet the Spy (Remember that one?...No? Me neither.), said Tuesday. “I think she needs a lot of time away... She’s had a lot of trouble doing every single movie, including ‘SNL.' She was out and not in rehearsal. I think she’s not in a place to work."
Because Rosie was there at every day of filming for everything Lindsay has ever done, and knows the full story.
In celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the song "God Save the Queen" has become news again. Or rather the songs "God Save the Queen," as there are two, in case you didn't know.
There is a move afoot to have the Sex Pistols 1977 anti-monarchy anthem re-released at the same time as the traditional British national anthem, creating a rivalry in the charts to see which side will get to number 1 in the UK singles chart first.
30-year-old Lissa Hermans will pay tribute to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth with a charity single which will serve as an antidote to the Pistols' re-release of their song.
So, here's the thing about writing blogs, especially when you're getting paid to do it: you have to write about something. Some days there just isn't that much going on. Hollywood, you would think, is rife with juicy, debauched, craziness, 24/7, right? Wrong.
Often there isn't much worth writing more than a sentence or two about. Sure, someone is so insecure that they posted yet another bikini pic on Twitter (Rihanna), and two big name actors are finally getting married after 6 kids (Brangelina), but that's not news that's going to hold people's attention for very long.
That's why, often, bloggers or "journalists" make stuff up. And when one makes up something so almost believable, the rest will follow. So it is with Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
Charlie Sheen is world famous for his substance abuse problems, and his stubbornness when it comes to dealing with them. His public meltdown last year, which was precipitated by a crack cocaine binge of legend, saw the troubled star go on a public rampage in an obviously impaired state that drew as much attention to his addictions than to any point he was trying to get across.
Recently Sheen revealed to Matt Lauer on the Today show that he still drinks. Lauer responded that he didn't think he could find any addiction specialist who would say to Sheen "It's okay to drink." To which Sheen responded, "Well, if you do, I should probably go to that guy!"
Last month the Anger Management actor was seen drunk at a Guns & Roses concert, although he claimed he was sloppy because he rarely drinks, and his state proved that he can't handle his liquor like he used to.
Now a commercial for the Dutch brewing company Bavaria Global's latest alcohol-free brew, Bavaria Lemon, has been released starring Sheen. The commercial shows the actor leaving rehab, only to discover that everyone, from cops to a pregnant lady, is drinking beer all around him. The catch, he soon realizes, is that the beer has no alcohol.
Warning: Sheen says the f-word during the commercial, something Dutch may have missed.
The Summer Olympic Games are being held in London, England this year. It has been confirmed that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will officially open the games, and Daniel Craig will play James Bond in a short film during the opening ceremony.
Closing the ceremonies, August 12, will be the Symphony of Rock, a celebration of British pop culture, and will feature musicians who have brought British rock 'n' roll to the world. Sirs Paul McCartney and Elton John are rumoured to be playing, along with the Rolling Stones, Adele, and... er... the Spice Girls.
One thing British rock gave the world were some excellent drummers, so why not include one of those? Since Led Zeppelin's John Bonham is dead, why not get the legendary Who drummer Keith Moon? That's exactly what the Olympic organizers sought to do. Which makes sense...except Moon has been dead for 34 years. Oops.
Wow. It just keeps getting better weirder. Last year I devoted way too much time to the car wreck that is Kim Kardashian, mainly because this is an entertainment blog, and her life was so messed up it qualified as entertaining.
First there was an engagement ring that cost way too much, leading people to theorize that her beau at the time, Kris Humphries, couldn't actually afford it, and that the network airing her reality show, E!, had bought it, aiming to cover the engagement and the wedding. Then there was the ridiculous wedding itself, an over the top affair that was supposed to (but didn't) rival the royal wedding. Then there was the short period where everything seemed all right. Then there was the break down of the (sham) marriage, and the fallout that had both Kim and Kris throwing stones and claiming they'd been duped by the other.
So what better way to put that typhoon of embarrassment behind you than to start dating someone famous for being as outspoken and outlandish as he is talented, Kanye West.
Grammy award winning singer Mary J. Blige is back...singing about chicken. Or rather she was back, until Burger King pulled the ad yesterday. The fast food chain said that the ad was pulled due to "licensing issues," and not critics claiming an African American woman singing about chicken is racist.
The ad features Blige singing soulfully about a new “crispy” chicken sandwich, which is smothered in cheese and ranch dressing and wrapped in a flour tortilla wrap. She is standing on a stage, mic in hand, nowhere near any actual chicken. David Beckham, Jay Leno, Salma Hayek and others also appear in new Burger King ads, a campaign to promote their new, healthier menu.
