May 2009 Archives

On the surface Kathy Griffin's "reality" show, My Life on the D-List, may be about the comedienne's relentless quest for A-List acclaim. However, in reality (of the real variety), Griffin's Emmy Award-winning Bravo show pokes fun at and undermines the very institution she purports to covet above all else: fame.

Furthermore, while other reality stars make a virtue out of their genuinely mean spirits in a desperate attempt to make the most of their fifteen minutes, Griffin delivers the wickedest lines with the kind of underlying warmth that lets all that "get it" know that no malice is intended.

It's this overwhelming sense of bonhomie that makes the show so watchable. It's also why, despite being the butt of many of her jokes, the gay community chose to honor Griffin with this years Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vanguard Award, which is given to those who have "increased the visibility and understanding" of the GLBT community. As Grifin says in our interview, "I'm genuinely a fan of most of the people I trash in the act." And "the gays" have no bigger fan than Griffin.

SuicideGirls caught up with Griffin by phone to get the skinny on her headline-grabbing minimal GLAAD outfit (she's the only member of the Hollywood community with the balls to accept a high-profile award in a bright blue bikini -- which revealed a hot SG photoset-ready bod). Griffin also gave us the scoop on the no-so-D-list fifth season of My Life on the D-List, which premieres June 8.

Click HERE to read the interview at SuicideGirls.

Chris O'Dowd's breakthrough role was playing uber geek Roy Tenneman in the Emmy Award winning British sitcom The IT Crowd. His character is well endowed in the information technology department but not so blessed when it comes to social skills. It's safe to say, however, that in real life the exact opposite is true.

The highly personable Irish actor, who's starring in three upcoming films -- The Boat That Rocked (written by Richard "Bridget Jones" Curtis), Hippie Hippie Shake (with Sienna Miller and Derek Jacobi), and Gulliver's Travels (with Jack Black and Emily Blunt) -- displayed a distinct lack of prowess when it came to dealing with digital phone technology during SuicideGirls protracted attempt to interview him.

The first time Chris called in, he'd just embarked on a hike in the cell phone black hole that is Hollywood's Runyon Canyon park. Thus our conversation was unintentionally aborted just as it had begun. It would take a total of five phone calls, including two more entirely aborted ones, before our interview was complete.

Click HERE to read.

The makers of Star Trek can thank their lucky stars that the spacetime continuum isn't thought to be very continuous these days. The new Star Trek film turns its back on everything that Back To The Future ever taught us about time, and embraces the possibilities of infinite alternate universes that come along with the relatively recent science of string theory.

In the domain of string theory, the paradox issues created by time travel are resolved by a split in the fabric of time, with new offshoots creating alternate futures. This non-linear vision of temporal theory, which is now favored by many scientists, has conveniently allowed Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who worked with J.J. on Alias and Fringe), to reboot the series and open Star Trek up to a whole new world of possibilities.

The character of Spock lies at the dramatic center of the alternate universe depicted in the new Star Trek movie, with Leonard Nimoy's original Spock traveling back in time to aid a United Federation of Planets inhabited by his younger self, played by Heroes' Zachary Quinto. In this timeline, which was created by the elder Spock's leap through time, the young Spock (and not Kirk) gets to kiss Uhura (played by Zoe Saldana).

In an otherwise utterly brilliant film, it's this one storyline that may have hardcore Trekkies and Trekkers up in arms. Science fiction fans might need to remind themselves that the word "science" comes before "fiction" in this genre, where multiple alternate timelines/universes are (quite literally) the way of the future. Fans can also console themselves with the fact that a Spock/Uhura relationship is perhaps not without precedent in Star Trek's hallowed canon -- as actor Karl Urban (who play Dr. Leonard "bones" McCoy) points out in this group discussion with Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

Click HERE to read on.