Sundance kicks off with porn-obsessed 'Don Jon

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PARK CITY, Utah — The 2013 Sundance Film Festival got off to a rowdy and wry start Friday with “Don Jon’s Addiction,” written, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and co-starring Scarlett Johansson and Tony Danza.

As a wanna-be womanizer hooked on porn, Gordon-Levitt (“Looper”) lends his charming smile to a role that highlights his offbeat sensibility. Johansson plays the woman who could reroute his libido to the real world.
ohansson — whose current Broadway role in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” kept her from attending the festival opener at the Eccles Theatre — adds mainstream marketability to “Don’s” indie spirit, still the hallmark of Sundance as it laps its 25th official year.
ScarJo may not have had to endure the frigid Park City temperatures, which struggled to hit the double digits, but Naomi Watts was looking great to promote “Two Mothers,” which also bowed Friday.
The film, about lifelong friends (Watts and Robin Wright) who fall in love with each other’s grown sons, marks the Australian star’s return to edgier material. Female audiences at the Eccles may have been distracted by Watts and Wright’s on-screen objects of affection, newcomers Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville.
Earlier, festival-goers got a look at “Kill Your Darlings,” part of “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe’s transition from boy wizard to grownup. Playing gay Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg, Radcliffe is unrecognizable in dyed black hair and horn-rimmed glasses (on the red carpet, he added some chin scruff).
The film, co-starring Elizabeth Olsen as the Beats’ guardian angel, Edie Parker, is one of two Beat flicks at the fest, sharing space with the Jack Kerouac flick “Big Sur.”
Keri Russell, TV’s former “Felicity,” gives a comic turn in the adaptation of the best-selling novel “Austenland,” as a woman so obsessed with Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” that she heads to a theme park devoted to the 19th-century author. And Shailene Woodley sparked the high school dramedy treat “The Spectacular Now,” which was met with thunderous applause
Kristen Bell goes from box-office sinker “When in Rome” to the thoughtful indie “The Lifeguard,” about a frazzled New York reporter going back to her Connecticut hometown to take a job at a local pool.
The serious-minded “Mud,” a chewy Southern tale from “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols stars Matthew McConaughey as a criminal hiding out in a swamp who is discovered by two Arkansas kids. A de-glammed Reese Witherspoon co-stars as his wild girlfriend.
Another buzz-maker was “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes,” in which Jessica Biel plays a mysterious neighbor to a troubled girl (Kaya Scodelario).
Finally, one of Saturday’s midnight slots was occupied by the hyperjumpy horror flick “S-V/H/S.” A sequel to a cult hit about videotapes that reveal ghastly happenings, it debuted in the spot that unleashed “The Blair Witch Project” from Sundance nearly 15 years ago. If that kind of success happens again, it’s an example of another thing Sundance does best — create heat even when the temperature is crazy cold.

Swami claims Indian rape victim was 'as guilty' as her attackers

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A so-called “spiritual leader” threw more verbal gasoline on the raging fire over the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman, saying the victim was “as guilty as her rapists” for the Dec. 16 attack.
Self-styled swami Asaram Bapu said Jyoti Singh Pandey should have “taken God’s name and could have held the hand of one of the men and said, ‘I consider you as my brother.’”
Pandey died from her injuries two weeks later — but that apparently wasn’t enough for Bapu.
"The victim is as guilty as her rapists,” he said. “She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop. ... This could have saved her dignity and life,” the 71-year-old spiritualist said, according to Indian papers.
Bapu, who was speaking at a religious conference, also reportedly said Pandey could have saved herself by praying and chanting.
“The six were drunk. If the girl had chanted hymns to Goddess Saraswati and to Guru Diksha then she wouldn't have entered the bus,” Bapu said.
His remarks stunned political and cultural leaders in India, where the Pandey case has drawn international sympathy and focused national attention on the country’s pervasive sexual violence.
A leading political party condemned Bapu’s comments as “regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful,” local papers reported.
A spokeswoman for Bapu later tried to clarify his mean-spirited talk.
“He was only suggesting that women should try their level based to come out from such situation by using diplomatic ways,” spokeswoman Niam Dubey told Asian News International.
She insisted Bapu’s words had been misinterpreted, even as she admitted he’d made the offensive remarks.
“Yes, he said that the girl had made a mistake by taking an empty bus in night. If she had taken ‘Matra-Diksha,’ the God has might save her anyhow,” Dubey said.
Five of Pandey’s alleged attackers were formally charged with abduction, gang rape and murder Monday. The sixth suspect, 17, was charged in a juvenile court separately.
Reporters and photographers were barred from the courtroom as the charges were read Monday. The attack has triggered weeks of protests and forced the government to address demands for swifter justice, safer streets and heavier sentences in rape cases.

Maldives girl faces flogging after alleged rape

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A 15-year-old in the Maldives whose father is accused of repeatedly raping her and killing the resulting baby risks being flogged for "fornication" with another man under the nation's strict Islamic law, a police source said Monday.


In the course of inquiries into the rape case, investigators say they unearthed evidence of the girl having had consensual sex with another man, which is an offense in the Indian Ocean holiday destination, the source told AFP.
Women, including minors, having consensual sex outside marriage can be charged in the Maldives, where convicts can be publicly flogged. Minors receive the punishment when they reach 18, the age of majority.
The child's step-father is accused by police of repeatedly raping the girl and fathering a child by her which he subsequently murdered. The girl's mother has been charged with helping dispose of the infant's body, police said.
"We completed the investigation (into the murder of the infant) and gave a report to the prosecutor general's office," Maldivian police spokesman Hassan Haneef told AFP by telephone.
He declined to give details saying that Maldivian common law did not allow the discussion of any case involving a minor.
The local Haveeru newspaper quoted an unnamed official from the prosecutor's office saying that the fornication charge was unrelated to the rape which had been separately dealt with.
The legal system of the Maldives, a nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims known for its coral-fringed islands and sandy beaches, has elements of Islamic Sharia law as well as English common law.
The country carries out the flogging of women despite calls from the UN Human Rights Council to drop the practice.
In September, a Maldivian court ordered a public flogging for a 16-year-old girl who confessed to having pre-marital sex. Her 29-year-old lover was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The gang-rape last month in the Indian capital of a 23-year-old student who subsequently died has also sparked protests over crime against women in neighbouring South Asian nations including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

SEE Channing Tatum and wife show off buff bods on St. Barts beach

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The 32-year-old actor showed off the abs that received top billing in this summer's "Magic Mike" Thursday while on a romantic St. Barts getaway with his pregnant wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum.
Dewan-Tatum, 32, wasn't exactly chopped liver, looking bewitching in a purple sarong and an orange bikini that showed off a slight swell of her emerging baby bump. The child, which reportedly came as a bit of a surprise to the Hollywood hotties, will be the couple's first.
Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Channing Tatum are pleased to announce that they are expecting the birth of their first child next year," a rep for the actor told Us Weekly on Dec. 17.
On Christmas Day, Tatum posted a picture of himself caressing his wife's stomach, After starring in four movies this year — including "Haywire" and "The Vow" — and with another four scheduled for release in 2013, he has also said he will take an extended break around the birth of his child.
"I'm ready; I think she's ready (for a baby)," Tatum told People when the magazine named him "The Sexiest Man Alive" earlier this year. "The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we'll see where we go after that.
But on their tropical vacation at least, the couple, who met on the set of 2006’s "Step Up" playing on-screen lovers and married in 2009, only had eyes for each other.
Photographers captured the tender side of the "21 Jump Street" star as he cradled Dewan-Tatum in an embrace on the white-sand beach.

What a body of work! Painted naked ladies

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Bodyspectra body painting festival
Art doesn't get much more lifelike than this! Using the naked body as their canvas, students at the City Varsity School of Media and Creative Arts in Cape Town, South Africa showcased their artistic talents at Bodyspectra 2012, the country's premier body painting event. From the beautiful and whimsical to the downright strange

Petraeus’ extramarital affair unacceptable, but his resignation a loss to the CIA, the country

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It was the late, great Warren Zevon who first wrote and sang about “making out like Charlie Sheen,” long before we met the goddesses. Now we find out that Gen. David Petraeus, a military hero and the head of the CIA, thought he was allowed to make out that way himself.
Petraeus becomes another famous American who thought sitting behind a big desk meant you could act like a slob underneath it. It is rather amazing, historically speaking, that if you give a big guy the slightest opening, he will behave like Charlie Sheen. Sometimes in military khakis.
But does it mean he should have lost his job for exhibiting what even he called “extremely poor judgment”? Why, because he was the first in a position of authority to think that it was all right to have a girl on the side, in the general’s case an extremely frisky, married biographer?
Petraeus first met Paula Broadwell — her book about Petraeus would eventually be called “All In,” go ahead and make up your own joke — when he was still in Afghanistan. It happens to be the place where Petraeus established himself as a star of both the military and counterterrorism. Is his work in Afghanistan, and Iraq before that, now diminished because he clearly — and pathetically — started thinking of Broadwell, herself a West Point grad, as some kind of soul mate?
Petraeus obviously loses here. His wife, who deserves none of this, who has become a hero to military families herself, is humiliated because a man described in The New York Times as the “preeminent military officer of his generation” turned out to have the morals of a drunken cadet on a weekend furlough.
But if he was going to have the body of work with the CIA that he did in Iraq and Afghanistan, the country also loses with the resignation of David Petraeus.
And please spare me the instant yammering from those who now act as if somehow Petraeus was somehow putting national security at risk because of this affair. You can already see the conspiracy nuts lining up and taking numbers, as if Petraeus’ resignation, coming when it does, is a way to hide the real facts of what happened when four Americans were killed in Benghazi, including our ambassador there.
Right away you see and hear the narrative shifting on President Obama, whose opponents and enemies couldn’t defeat him last Tuesday. With congressional hearings about to begin on Benghazi, it is only a matter of time until somebody stands up and starts shouting about impeachment.
The last guy they impeached was William Jefferson Clinton. He not only had an intern on the side, he had her with him in the Oval Office. Maybe it figures that his middle name is what it is, since Thomas Jefferson supposedly had enough free time on his hands while shaping the future of the country to sire out-of-wedlock children with Sally Hemings.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had an affair, with a woman named Lucy Mercer. The married Dwight Eisenhower, the military hero of Normandy and a future President, had a great and good friend in Kay Summersby. And John F. Kennedy might have been the most noted political philanderer in American history.
If making a mess of marriages and a personal life in general disqualified you from being the mayor of New York, then Rudy Giuliani wouldn’t have even been on the job on Sept. 11, 2001.
This is no defense of David Petraeus or what he has selfishly done to his wife of 38 years, a child of the military herself, a woman who became a powerful voice for financial education for military families.
Eventually Holly Petraeus worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, operating the part of that bureau dedicated to consumer complaints from military families. You hope she soldiers on the way her husband does not.
Petraeus chose to resign, the President chose to accept his resignation. The CIA loses, and the country loses, an exceptional leader of men and a truly lousy husband.
Petraeus committed a crime against marriage, absolutely. But he also committed the crime of being this stupid and getting this caught in the modern world. Imagine what it would have been like for JFK in a world like this.
Petraeus now joins a long list — immoral leaders, all-time — that stretches back to the Old Testament, and the affair between King David and Bathsheba. All they did with the big guy in that dirty affair was write a Bible story about him.

Why ‘Dead’ is better than sex

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Two episodes into Season 3 of “The Walking Dead” and we, the living “walkers,” are multiplying faster than the dead ones on the show.

That means that “Dead” has become the No. 1 non-sports TV show in the 18-49 age group, which is the only age category that TV suits un-die for.

Didn’t I tell you from day one that the series was the best thing since sliced dead?

The interesting thing about these viewer numbers is that it proves that regular Joes are smarter than those big-bucks smarty-pants big-shot Hollywood suits who snub their noses at the show because they think it’s low-brow and not sexy enough for their sophisticated tastes. Yeah, well their sophisticated tastes — especially this season — have produced too many massive bores that are tanking.

Gene Page/AMC
ZOMBIE INVASION: “Walking Dead” is killing in the ratings.
The whole conundrum has network execs scratching their shaved heads in bewilderment.

They need to wake up and smell the blood.

Have you noticed that every network show is trying to ape cable’s hard-core sex by opening their premieres with a gratuitous sex scene of insanely good-looking 20-somethings in their underwear rolling around a bed or bumping up against a sink. They think that’s what the coveted target audience wants.

Meantime, a show with no sex — gratuitous or otherwise — is, er, killing them.

OK, so Lori did have sex with Shane. And then with Rick. But it ended badly with Shane going all zombie on their asses.

It’s not about sex, it’s about good storytelling.

And good storytelling is no more about sex than “Dead” is about disgusting, disintegrating zombies — although I defy anyone else to use intestines as decorative neckwear.

While shows like “666 Park Avenue” were handing us a bunch of unscary bull, “Dead” was keeping us glued to our sofas in trancelike fear.

I’m therefore calling upon all “Dead Heads” to join together in a mass “up yours” to the Emmys that snubbed it and the Hollywood snobs who ignore it.

Let’s all throw up our middle fingers at 8:59 next Sunday night before the start of the show.

With any luck, a lot of those fingers will fly off and head towards Hollywon’t, a town with more fake body parts per capita than Atlanta on zombie extras day.

Two teenage brothers charged with murdering South Jersey girl Autumn Pasquale; their mother called cops after reading one's Facebook post about the girl's death

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A teenage boy used bike parts to lure a 12-year-old South Jersey girl into his house and then, with his older brother, killed her, police said Tuesday.
The pair then allegedly dumped Autumn Pasquale’s strangled body next door in a recycling bin.
One of the cruel teens even posted something about her murder on Facebook while her parents and dozens of other terrified residents in tiny Clayton, N.J., searched frantically for her, Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said.
When the boys’ mother saw the posting, she turned in her 15- and 17—year-old sons, he said. “There’s evil everywhere, even in the small town of Clayton,” Autumn’s uncle, Paul Spadafora, said.
It was a horrific development in a fast-moving tragedy that began Saturday when Autumn rode off on her bike, bound for a nearby park — and vanished without a trace just days before her 13th birthday.
Dalton did not name the teens, but residents said they were neighbors of the freckle-faced victim. They also said the accused teens’ house on East Clayton Ave. was a known hangout for other teenagers.
The girl died of “blunt force trauma, consistent with strangulation,” but there was no sign of sexual assualt. the medical examiner said.
Investigators said it was the younger teenage boy who lured Autumn. A third teen boy also lives in the hell house where the girl died, officials said, and one of the trio traded in BMX bike parts. Autumn was riding a white BMX bike when she disappeared.
The brothers are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, among other counts. The younger brother is also charged with luring.

Rihanna tweets ‘Nude’ Instagram picture to promote her newest fragrance, but nudity was not required

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The Instagram photo Rihanna directed her Twitter followers to, which was attached to a tweet that read: ‘Here is my new add for a brand new fragrance #NUDE !!! Make sure you smell sexy, especially naked, this fall!!!’

Daring pop star Rihanna tweeted a “Nude” picture Friday, but she didn’t have to get naked to do so.

The “We Found Love” singer — who has more than 26 million followers on the social networking site — is releasing a new fragrance called Nude next year and took to Twitter to share her latest ad.

The Tweet links to an Instagram picture featuring a scantily clad Rihanna, smiling and sporting platinum blond locks. She wears lace lingerie and covers the rest of her body with what looks like some lightly colored gossamer.

“Here is my new add [sic] for a brand new fragrance #NUDE!!! Make sure you smell sexy, especially naked, this fall!!!” she wrote to accompany the picture.

Rihanna’s new ad generated a lot of love from fans, with 153,000 liking the picture as of Saturday afternoon.

EARLIER: CHRIS BROWN AND RIHANNA CAUGHT 'KISSING,' DISAPPEARING INTO BATHROOM AT NYC CLUB

Nude will be Rihanna’s third fragrance: she released Reb'l Fleur in the spring of 2011 and Rebelle in December of that year, to much acclaim from fans.

Posting her Nude picture wasn’t the only controversial move Rihanna made in the twittersphere this week.

It has been no secret this fall that Rihanna and abusive ex Chris Brown have been taking a second stab at their relationship.

This week, sources told the Daily News that the pair were kissing at Griffin in New York’s Meatpacking District. They then reportedly headed to the bathroom together for nearly 20 minutes.

And Chris Brown opened up to fans in a video to claim he feels like it’s possible for him to love two people. He had previously announced his split with model girlfriend Karrueche Tran.

Still, sources close to the stars called the romantic rekindling a “disaster in the making” this week.

SEE THIS: CHRIS BROWN DECLARES HIS LOVE FOR BOTH RIHANNA AND KARRUECHE TRAN IN NEW VIDEO

"Chris and Rihanna just love the drama. They know their fans don't support them getting back together, and that it's a terrible PR move since Chris was convicted of beating Rihanna,” Radar reported.

"However, this is what Chris and Rihanna thrive on. There are still major trust issues that Rihanna has with Chris, with good reason, he was hooking up with her while he was still dating Karrueche. Chris and Rihanna back together in any capacity is just a disaster in the making."

Seeming to respond to the chatter surrounding her romantic life Thursday night, Rihanna tweeted, “Ain't nobody bidness..... But mine and my baby!

Teacher attacks teen wearing Romney T-shirt, compares it to KKK, student says

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High school sophomore Samantha Pawlucy says her teacher asked her why she was wearing the pink Romney-Ryan shirt in a 'democratic school,' then asked her to leave class or change. 'She said that's like her wearing a KKK shirt,' the teen said.



A Philadelphia high school student says she was harassed for wearing a Mitt Romney T-shirt her teacher likened to the Klu Klux Klan.

“The teacher told me to get out of the classroom. I said no,” 16-year-old Samantha Pawlucy told NBC Philadelphia.


“She told me to take off my shirt and said that she has another one if I need one. And then the teacher asked me, ‘Are your parents Republican?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’

“She said that’s like her wearing a KKK shirt.”

Pawlucy, a sophomore at Charles Carroll High School, said she was mortified last Friday when the teacher went into the hallway to urge other students and teachers to check out the shirt.

“I was really embarrassed and shocked,” she told Philly.com. “I didn’t think she’d go into the hallway and scream to everyone.”



The teacher has been moved to another class at Charles Carroll High School, the district says.

Pawlucy wore the pink Ryan-Romney shirt for the school’s “dress-down” day.

The teacher wanted to know why Pawlucy was wearing a “Republican shirt” when “this is a democratic school,” her father Richard Pawlucy told local radio station, WWIQ.

Pawlucy’s parents met with the teacher, who apologized and explained she was only joking.

“If it was a joke between two adults, I can take a joke like that,” Richard Pawlucy told NBC Philadelphia. “But [Samantha] didn’t know how to take it, she doesn’t understand. She actually thinks she did something wrong.”

Pawlucy’s mother Christine said she could “picture her sitting there feeling ashamed for just wearing a T-shirt.”

The Philadelphia school district says the case is under investigation and the teacher, whose name has not been released, has been moved to another classroom.