Ben Stiller’s new movie starring himself, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. has offended some people with it’s repeated use of the word ‘retard’.

The movie is set to be released on Wednesday, but the premiere is tomorrow evening and Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver says that he and a group of people will be picketing the event.

Shriver, who has also worked in the film industry, (he co-produced the DreamWorks film, Amistad) says the movie is full of “hate speech”.

Chip Sullivan, a DreamWorks spokesman, did some clean-up work saying that the movie is “an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations.”

He adds that the intention of the film was not to offend, and that, “No changes or cuts to the film will be made.”

You probably saw the naked photos of Sienna Miller on the set of her upcoming film, Hippie Hippie Shake, that were leaked online last October.

In the film, Sienna is a 60s peace & love child, and has two sex scenes in the film, requiring her to put all her (well used) ladyparts on display.

There was only one problem. Sienna lacked the wild and crazy ‘bush’ that women in those days rocked.

A studio source told UK’s Mirror,

“The film is set in the swinging 60s when fashion was wild and body hair even wilder. Sienna was an absolute star throughout filming and her performance was flawless. The only slight problem being that she’s very much a girl of the Noughties, and this extends to her personal upkeep. Unfortunately, Brazilians weren’t common in the 60s and Sienna’s part involved one or two nude scenes. Meaning that her grooming habits were on full display.”

He added, “A merkin or pubic wig simply wouldn’t have done the trick, but luckily computer wizardry came to the rescue. Sienna’s private parts were digitally enhanced, giving her a rather unruly, loud and proud bush.”

A merkin? Can someone tell me how it is that I have have never heard this word before - because it’s totally my new favorite word. I had to Google a merkin (I just said it again, heh) and see what one of these creatures looks like. I wasn’t disappointed. For only $38, you too can have a lovely full on beard for your clam- made of real human hair, from men’s chest hair, of course.

What an awesome April Fool’s joke.

Heh.

So, did anyone see it?

Heath Ledger’s family attended the New York premiere of The Dark Knight yesterday to see him in the final performance of his life.

His father, Kim Ledger, and stepmother Ines snuck into the theater, dodging the red carpet and the spotlight.

Heath’s mother Sally Bell, her husband, and his older sister, Kate, also came to watch the film.

Although you would think it would have been almost impossible to watch their son/brother on the big screen after his tragic death, Heath’s father left feeling positive about the experience. He showed a thumbs-up to reporters and said it felt “very good”.

Ledger’s Dark Knight co-stars as well as a slew of other celebs showed up to honor the memory of the late actor.

Co-star Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the film, praised Heath’s work.

“Working with Heath was fantastic. He steals the movie and I’m quite happy to say that. He’s a hell of a talent and created a joker that’s very iconic and one that will become a classic portrayal of the ages.”

Michael Caine, 75, plays butler Alfred Pennyworth, says that Heath’s performance was intense and ferocious, and that he could flip it on like a switch.

“When we were sitting down between takes, he was completely ordinary. He wasn’t preparing himself or saying ‘Please leave me alone, I’ve gotta do this.’ Instead he was talking to me. We would sit and chat and have a cup of coffee, then suddenly they’d say, ‘We’re ready, Heath,’ and he’d go straight into The Joker. His energy was astonishing, especially when it came from this kind of calm. He’s certainly the best villain I’ve ever seen.”

“I thought Sex And The City was supposed to be about cutting-edge fashion and there was nothing remotely memorable or interesting about what I saw . . I went to the premiere and left after ten minutes.”

- Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, 67, wasn’t impressed with the fashion in Sex and the City despite creating the dress worn by ‘Carrie’ on her wedding day.

So for those of you who are anxiously awaiting your chance to see Sex and the City this weekend, here’s your sneak peek.

This review was published in this morning’s The New Yorker. Of course I’m not sure I agree with it or not, as I haven’t seen the film yet, but it’s well written and super snarky. Just up our alleys, sweethearts.

Article: Anthony Lane/The New Yorker
Illustration: David Hughes

Secrecy has clouded “Sex and the City” since it was first announced. When would the film appear? Who would find a husband? Would one of the main characters die? If so, would she commit suicide by self-pity (a constant threat), or would a crocodile escape from the Bronx Zoo and wreak a flesh-ripping revenge for all those handbags? As the release date neared, the paranoia thickened; at the screening I attended, we were asked not only to surrender our cell phones but to march through a beeping security gate, as if boarding a plane to Tel Aviv. There was even a full-body pat-down, by far the biggest turn-on of the night. Not a drop of the forthcoming plot had been leaked in advance, but I took a wild guess. “Apparently,” I said to the woman behind me in line, “some of the girls have problems with their men, break up for a while, and then get back together again.” “Oh, my God!” she cried. “How do you know?”

What followed was not strictly a movie. It was more like a TV show on steroids. The televised episodes, which ran from 1998 to 2004, lasted for no more than half an hour each. So, spare a thought for the director of the film, Michael Patrick King, who also wrote the screenplay. Faced with the flimsiest of concepts, he had to take it by both ends and pull until he stretched it out to two and a quarter hours. Two and a quarter! When Garbo made “Anna Karenina,” in 1935, she got happy, unhappy, loved, left, and under the train in less than a hundred minutes, so how the hell are her successors supposed to fill the time?

To be fair, there are four of them—banded together, like hormonal hobbits, and all obsessed with a ring. As the story begins, two are married already. First, there is Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), who has a job, a child, and not enough sex with her husband, Steve (David Eigenberg), perhaps because he reminds her of Radar, from “M*A*S*H.” Then comes Charlotte (Kristin Davis), who is blissfully wedded to—well, what is she wedded to, exactly? He goes by the name of Harry (Evan Handler), but he’s a ringer for Dr. Evil, from the “Austin Powers” franchise, with all the evil sucked away; what remains is fey and shiny-headed, smiling sweetly about something known only to himself. For a movie about the need for real men—lusty, loyal, and loaded—this unusual earthling is truly a most peculiar advertisement for the gender.

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