andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The line between relevant celebrity gossip and absolute nonsense is a fine one, almost indistinguishable at times. But as ridiculous as the following stories may seem, they are actually more entertaining than any Hills’ off-screen drama or Britney snafu.

First of all, TMZ had the rare - almost supernatural - occasion of reporting the headline “Clark Gable stabbed in the chest.” Seriously. But before your time-space continuum spins into a frenzy, let’s clear this up. It was actually the grandson of the original Clark Gable, Hollywood’s revered leading man.

Gable III was stabbed in the rib cage at a house party in Los Angeles, where he was involved in a verbal dispute and then rushed to hospital following the incident. He spent a week in hospital but is reported to be recovering. One person has been arrested and police are still searching for more suspects. I’m sure Gable III will cast this as an epic tale, but it hardly holds a candle to Gone With the Wind. Shame.

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5. George Clooney

This actor, was dubbed the sexiest man alive, is slowly shedding that reputation in place for one as one of Hollywood´s leading activists. Clooney is known for his passionate beliefs about ending the violence in Darfur and has said he will build support for the work the UN carry out,”critically important work in some of the most difficult, dangerous and dire places in the world”.

4. Sir Bob Gedolf

Best known for organising the 2005 Live 8 and 1985 Live Aids benefit concerts, this scruffy singer/journalist is tremendously well-informed on a broad range of global and national issues. Currently, he is heavily involved in the Make Poverty History Campaign, a campaign against third world poverty.  Bob was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 2005 European Hero’s and made the front cover of their European Edition in 2005. With such an impressive portfolio, it´s a wonder this philanthropist has any time for making music.

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There’s something about certain male actors over the age of 40 (but have yet to hit the 50 mark) that makes ladies and men of all ages goo-goo-gaa-gaa for them.

You know who these men are. They are the actors that straight men will shamelessly admit that even they would fantasize about these stars.

These men are charming, attractive and, most importantly, talented.

So whether you are fifteen years their junior or ten years their senior, here are five (although there are many more) contemporary actors who still capture our hearts and make us blush like little schoolgirls.

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George Clooney has been in more than a few all-star casts, and his latest project is no exception.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges are all in negotiations to star opposite the “Burn After Reading” and “Ocean’s” trilogy actor in the Iraq-set movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats.”

The film, based on a book by Guardian columnist and documentarian Jon Ronson, follows a desperate reporter (McGregor) who comes across a huge story when he encounters Lyn Cassaday (Clooney), a man who claims he was a secret U.S. military psychic soldier and says he was reactivated after Sept. 11.

As the two men travel through Iraq, bizarre details emerge about the supposedly real Army unit put in charge of creating soldiers with paranormal powers.

Bridges will play the founder of the psychic soldier program and Lyn’s mentor, while Spacey will play a ex-psychic soldier who is now running a prison camp in Iraq.

The story is based on a supposedly real-life U.S. government program, with the title referring to attempts by members of the unit to kill goats and other barnyard animals simply by looking at them.

Clooney and Grant Heslov are assembling the movie through their Smoke House production company, with Heslov set to direct from a script by Peter Straughan (”How to Lose Friends and Alienate People”).

Shooting will begin in October.

McGregor has a string of upcoming movies, including “Angels & Demons,” “I Love You Phillip Morris” and “Amelia,” while Spacey will next appear in “Shrink” and “Telstar.”

Bridges was recently seen in the summer blockbuster “Iron Man.”

George Clooney is in talks to star in “Up in the Air,” the latest project from Canadian filmmaker Jason Reitman.

The Oscar-winning actor would play a shallow corporate downsizer who is obsessed with collecting one million frequent flyer miles.

The dark comedy from Dreamworks is based on the 2001 Walter Kirn novel of the same name and was adapted by Reitman himself, who began writing the screenplay five years ago.

Reitman, who received an Oscar nomination for last year’s indie hit “Juno,” will also direct.

“Up in the Air” won’t be the first time Kirn receives the big-screen treatment — the author’s previous novel “Thumbsucker” was adapted into a 2005 movie starring Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn.

Clooney, who directed and starred in this year’s “Leatherheads,” is currently promoting the Coen brothers’ comedy “Burn After Reading,” in which he plays a CIA agent.

He is also voicing the title character in “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Wes Anderson’s animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel.

Since the term “bromance” entered the zeitgeist, I’ve been adamantly rejecting the phrase, along with “showmace” and “homance” and really, any other word conglomeration ending in “mance”. But recently, I’ve come to realized precisely why the idiom exists. Two reasons. Two men. The perfect example and epitome of a true bromance. Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Not only are they two of the sexiest men alive. Literally. Just hands down, universally gorgeous. Not only are they ridiculously good-looking but they are witty, laid-back and just plain cool. And if they aren’t all of the above things in reality, they are just really good actors- on and off-screen.
Off-screen the stars appear to be best buddies, like the two popular jocks in high school, fun-loving frat boys, sitting on top of the social food-chain hamming it up for the little people. They laugh; they take lighthearted jabs at each other; they play their roles (Brad the family man and George the eternal bachelor) and most importantly, they know how to work a press conference.

While promoting their latest flick, Burn After Reading at the Venice Film Festival, Pitt and Clooney have been practically inseparable, leaving behind a trail of drooling paparazzi and salivating reporters.

The fascination is self-explanatory. Brad has six incredibly cute, multi-cultural kids with the Sexiest U.N Ambassador Alive. George is, well, George Clooney- the guy who will forever be every woman’s fantasy and no one’s reality since he’s determined to stay single for the rest of time. Together, they are the Batman and Robin of Hollywood, the dynamic duo of Tinseltown.

And at the press conference in Venice, like true cronies, they had each other’s backs. When reporters inevitably asked the two personal questions, the responses were funny, on-point and of course, evasive.

“I am so surprised to hear that question,” George quipped when some genius asked him when he’d be starting his own family. “This honestly is the first time I’ve ever been asked that question. I’m getting married and having children today. Brad?”

To which Brad responded: “And until then I’ll be sharing mine with him. I’ll have two more by next year.”

The reporters didn’t let up of course and continued to ask about the Twins, aka The Chosen Ones. Clooney didn’t miss a beat and intervened with: “The twins are fine,” then joked that he and Pitt were sitting at opposite ends of the table because of a restraining order. Pure hilarity. I just wonder who would win in a game of beer-pong.

I don’t even care if this Cohen Brothers’ movie they are pushing is even remotely good. I don’t care if the Ocean’s franchise has been exhausted beyond its limit. I want more Pitt-Clooney shenanigans.

They’ve got the whole world eating out of their sexy, sexy hands – yes even their hands are sexy. It’s making me giddy just thinking about when the boys will be in town for TIFF. Throw in Matt Damon and Don Cheadle (who will be here for the annual OneXOne gala) and we’ve got ourselves a big bromantical soiree. I’ll bring the keg stand.

Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon have joined up for another project, but it’s not “Ocean’s 14.”

The trio lent their star power to an advertising campaign aimed at boosting aid for Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), which was devastated by a cyclone last month.

The campaign is sponsored by the U.S.-based activist group “Not On Our Watch,” which is headed up by Pitt, Clooney and Damon alongside fellow actor Don Cheadle, producer Jerry Weintraub and human rights lawyer David Pressman.

The full-page ad, which the group took out in Indonesian English language daily “The Jakarta Post” Wednesday, urges neighbouring countries to push Myanmar’s junta to allow more foreign aid into the country, which the reclusive regime has been reluctant to accept.

“Burma’s neighbours have the power to help victims who remain desperately in need,” says the advertisement, which is signed by Asian political figures and Nobel laureates.

According to the junta, the cyclone on May 2 and 3 left around 138,000 people missing or dead, and the UN estimates that 2.4 million people are still in need of aid.

Rumours are flying that George Clooney and girlfriend Sarah Larson have split.

Though his publicist has not yet confirmed the breakup, In Touch Weekly magazine is reporting that Clooney is relieved to be single again and called it quits because he does not want to be tied down.

Clooney and Larson met in Las Vegas four years ago when Larson was working as a cocktail waitress.

The couple has been dating for a year.

Academy Award winning director Sydney Pollack died of cancer on Monday, at the age of 73.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Pollack succumbed to his illness in his home in the Pacific Palisades, just hours after the premiere of an HBO show he produced, called “Recount.”

Pollack won the Oscar for his direction of “Out of Africa,” and was nominated twice more. He won an Emmy for “The Game” in 1965, and was a founding member of the Sundance Film Institute.

“Sydney made the world a little better, movies a little better and even dinner a little better,” said George Clooney, who worked with Pollack on “Michael Clayton. “A tip of the hat to a class act. He’ll be missed terribly.”

George Clooney is donating his entire football uniform from his recent movie “Leatherheads” to a museum in Kentucky. The Oscar winner is dedicating the complete outfit, cleats and all, to the museum in honour of his late aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney.

Curator Steve Henry, of the Rosemary Clooney House Museum in Augusta, told the local paper that he would like to add at least one costume from all of Clooney’s new films to the display collection. The museum already has a set of Clooney’s “ER” scrubs.

The new display is set to open this June 7.