Because I know all you young ‘uns are going to be like “Who the fuck is Edward Woodward?  What the hell is the Equalizer?” I found a little tribute clip that some genius on YouTube put together two years ago.  The Equalizer was a fantastic, albeit short-lived show that ran in the ’80s.  ”Got a problem?  Odds against you?  Call the Equalizer.”  There were tons of famous and yet-to-be famous people who appeared on that show (Macaulay Culkin, Melissa Joan Hart, Kevin Spacey, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Ant, David Grier, John Goodman, Lori Petty, Bradley Whitfor, Laurence Fishburne, Patricia Clarkson, Jennifer Grey, Laurie Metcalf, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Roma Maffia, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Moriarty, Chris Cooper, Michael Rooker, David Strathairn, Charles S. Dutton, Cynthia Nixon, Laura San Giacomo, Kasi Lemmons, Ving Rhames, Amanda Plummer,Jon Polito, Jasmine Guy, Mark Linn-Baker, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci … shall I go on?) and the theme song was written by Stewart Copeland.  Just a fantastic show.

The actor who played Robert McCall (the Equalizer!), Edward Woodward, did a bunch of movies and theater and also appeared on The Eastenders.  In 1987, Woodward told the AP “I think I’ve probably [sic] more television than any actor living.  I’ve done over 2,000, could be 3,000 now, television productions.”

Woodward passed at 79 due to an illness.

Did anyone actually see Couples Retreat?  I didn’t, but according to my research, the black couple played by Faizon Love and Kali Hawk, had roles that were featured as prominently as the other couples appearing in the movie.  Then why did Universal Studios give them a big ol’ delete off the movie posters as they promote this film in the UK?

The studio claims their reason for the edit of the image and names of Love and Hawk was to “simplify” for the UK audience.  You hear that, folks across the pond?  Universal Studios thinks you can’t handle the visual stimulus of eight actors and their names on a movie poster.  They think you need simplification.  They are putting their act of racism on the shoulders of UK citizens.  It’s your fault this happened.  I hope your knickers are in a serious twist over this.

Movie critic Jason Solomons wrote:  ”We don’t cater much for the black cinema-going audience in this country, which is a great shame, so it seems strange that when there are black stars in a major feature film this fact isn’t promoted. And, in terms of business decisions, this seems a pretty counter-productive one.”

2012 was number one at the box office this weekend, raking in $65 mil domestically and a whopping $160 million worldwide– the fifth biggest international opening weekend ever.

And while most of us probably just get a weird, self-destructive kick out of seeing apocalyptic visions of California falling off into the ocean, we don’t really believe that on December 21st two years from now, the Earth will break apart and the only survivors will be enigmatic limo drivers who also happen to be experts on the Mayan calendar, a la John Cusack in this flick. At least, I’d like to think that most of us wouldn’t believe that… but I must be wrong.

NASA, an organization responsible for such things as vacuum toilets and freeze dried beef wellington, has launched a website aimed at dispelling claims of a 2012 apocalypse. It answers such burning questions as “Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?” I know that’s been on my mind for quite some time. It’s good to know that rocket scientists are out there, spending our tax dollars on answering all the really important questions.

Not that dispelling any possible panic incited in legions of idiots by a John Cusack movie aint important, but maybe you could get back to that whole, “Holy shit, there’s a ton of water on the moon” thing.  (It’s called “science.”)

I was so confused.  I knew there was some sort of country music award ceremony this week and pictures from the 57th Annual BMI Country Awards came across the wire this morning.  Now, I wouldn’t attend an awards show that reminded me of my body mass index either, but I was surprised to see how few celebs attended.  Like, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and Taylor Swift were there, but not too many more notables (if you can count Chris Sligh of American Idol “fame” as a notable).

It took a little bit of research for me to learn that the awards that people actually pay attention to, the CMAs, are tonight.  Prepare for a blinding photo gallery tomorrow full of the over-whitened teeth and liberal use of sequins that I’ve come to expect from Nashville.

Okay, okay, it’s possible that he didn’t really mean that he struggled with mental illness, even though lots of media outlets are reporting it that way.

Robert Pattinson — I think his people are transitioning to “Rob Pattinson” now — has admitted in an interview in New magazine that he’s a bit all over the place when it comes to relationships. The actor said “You over-analyze everything — you analyze how if you say one thing, someone likes you, and if you say another, they don’t. You begin to experiment on people, which isn’t good for real life. I don’t think I’m very romantic any more — just manic depressive.”

Well people characterize themselves as bipolar or manic-depressive all the time (as well as crazy, psycho, schizo).  It’s a bad habit that our society has picked up (I’m certainly very guilty of it) to use mental illness terms in common speech.

I don’t know if Pattinson was being serious or not — he did say that he hasn’t been officially diagnosed — but he can pretty much assume that the “mental illness” label (as well as the Kristen Stewart’s boyfriend label) will be brought up at every single press junket and interview that he ever does for the rest of his career.

I just wanted to drop you guys a note about my friend Brent’s boutique perfume line, Smell Bent. I’ve blogged about him before. He sent me a sampler of his first round of scents, and I am not even exaggerating when I say they totally changed the way I think about wearing perfume. These scents are like nothing I’ve ever worn before — so fun and sexy and creative and original. I feel like a million bucks when I wear them. I know a bunch of you guys ordered the sampler, too, and loved it. Your response was overwhelmingly positive — and that is NEVER the case with this audience. ;)

Well, he’s just released his new line of holiday scents, and they sound AMAZING — and they’re tailored for Jews and gentiles alike! Here’s what’s in the new line:

père noël coward – sweet immortelle, atlas cedar, balsam fir and pinõn sap
elf-fulfilling prophecies – a little velvet pocket full of cinnamon sugar cookies, naughty pipe tobacco and toy shop sawdust
hippie holidaze – a late night combo of tangerines, maple syrup and aged patchouli
gelty pleasures – sultry, spiced amber mixed with rich milk chocolate
2010 – new spaceship smell, pressurized cabin, jet fuel, and a blast of intergalactic plants and blossoms

So head on over to SmellBent.com and pick some up for yourselves!!!

Oftentimes I’ll put up a heading that makes you wonder what the article is truly about.  Not today.  Today is a day for blatant statements.

Colin Firth is the star of an upcoming film titled The Single Man.  This is Tom Ford’s — yes, designer Tom Ford — directorial debut and he’s responsible for Trailer #1.  The Weinstein Company is responsible for trailer #2 in which they basically threw visual bleach over the entire preview.  It tells a completely different story of the film; almost all references to homosexuality have been replaced by movie critic quotes.  People who only ever see the second trailer are going to be in for a big surprise when they get to the theater.

Are we still living in a day and age where we have to protect the public from two men kissing?  What the fuck is wrong with Hollywood and how did Tom Ford, a gay man, allow this to happen to his movie?