andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Playboy model Shauna Sand, ex-wife of Lorenzo Lamas, is attempting to stop the release of a sex tape featuring her and her Miami boyfriend, reports TMZ. Vivid Entertainment reportedly plans to release the tape Oct. 19.

“Yes I did make a sex tape with my boyfriend earlier this year,” said Sand. “In fact, I’ve made several sex tapes, but I certainly didn’t sign off on this and Vivid has no right to put it out. I am trying to get a hold of my attorney now.”

READ MORE »

After 32 years on the run from the American government, Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski, 76, could finally see a resolution to his outstanding charges. He was finally detained in Switzerland where border officials acted on an American arrest warrant from 1977, but that move could lead to Polanski’s release.

In the seventies, Polanski pleaded guilty to charges for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (Samantha Geimer, 13.) After he fled the country, American investigators have been passively keeping tabs on him, waiting for their chance to pounce.

Polanski fled to France before he was formally sentenced and has been on the lam ever since. His capture now could lead to extradition to the U.S. but now that the American, French and Swiss governments involved, the whole process could be fuddled. Polanski could be released entirely, or his time served prior to the initial court case will translate to his sentence.

READ MORE »

The poster for Michael Jackson’s This Is It has officially been released by Sony Pictures, who are producing the film. This Is It hits theatres on October 28th and features the legendary singer preparing for his last performance which would have taken place beginning this summer starting at London’s O2 Arena. The Estate of Michael Jackson is in full support of the release of the film.

Michael Moore’s documentary about the collapse of the global economy will hit theatres Oct. 2, the film’s distributors announced Thursday.

According to Overture and Paramount Vintage, the still-untitled documentary will explore the “root causes of the economic meltdown,” as well as “take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans” that resulted in the financial meltdown.

“The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth,” Moore said in a statement. “So they systematically set out to fleece the American people.”

READ MORE »

In promotion of the iPhone 3G’s Canadian launch on July 11, Rogers Wireless has announced that select Roger Plus retail stores will be opening in advance of regular hours. Starting at 8 a.m. on July 11, Canadians will have the opportunity to purchase the new iPhone 3G at special launch day events held at six Roger Plus stories across the country.

The latest version of the iPhone 3G features faster networking capabilities than the last generation of the product. The iPhone 3G also has a built-in GPS system, iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Micosoft Exchange ActiveSync and, and can run hundreds of third-party applications.

The following Rogers Plus stores in these cities will open their doors at 8:00 a.m. (all times local) on Friday, July 11 for advance purchases of the Apple iPhone 3G:
Toronto: 112-10 Dundas Street East
Montreal: 1015 rue St. Catherine Ouest
Ottawa: 690 Bank Street
Halifax: Unit 265, 7001 Mumford Road
Calgary: 5244 Falsbridge Gate, NE
Vancouver: 2097 West Broadway

Customers who attend these events will receive a complimentary breakfast from Rogers and will have the opportunity to win various Rogers Wireless prizes.

Effective July 11, as a promotional offer for customers who activate by August 31 on a three year contract, a data-only offering of 6GB of data for $30 per month is being made available that can be added to any existing voice plan. For example, with 6GB of data, iPhone 3G users can visit 35,952 web pages in a single month. This plan, however, does not include a calling (voice) plan, but can be purchased separately. After the end of August, customers can still purchase separate voice-and-data plans, but at an increased rate.

Jack White definitely knows how to keep things interesting.

His band, The Raconteurs, are releasing their second album next week, entitled “Consolers of the Lonely.” Haven’t heard of it? Well, that’s because the band is changing the way albums are released.

Instead of releasing the album to press and promoting it beforehand, the band is releasing it to everyone in all mediums at the same time.

“The Raconteurs are happy to announce that in one week’s time their second album, entitled Consolers Of The Lonely, will be available EVERYWHERE Tuesday, March 25th,” their press release reads. “‘Album’ meaning: full length vinyl, CD and digital formats; and ‘everywhere’ meaning: local mom and pop Indie retailers, corporate superstores, supermarkets, iTunes, Amazon, the band’s own website and any other location that could get the record up and going this quickly (some places couldn’t move this fast, so they will join in as soon as they can).

The timeline for the album is amazing. It was “mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE.”

The band prefers that fans download the album together, not just as individual tracks.

Access Hollywood reports that Pamela Anderson’s film “Blonde and Blonder” has officially been given the kiss of death: it’s going straight to DVD.

The flick, co-starring Denise Richards, finds the ladies as insipid women who are mistaken for hit men after witnessing a murder.

Even during filming in British Columbia in 2006, all was not well for the film. Richards famously tossed two laptops belonging to paparazzi off a balcony, injuring two elderly women. Commenting on her actions, Richards told Access Hollywood at the time that “It was wrong. I saw one of the photographers, went up to him and offered to give him a few nice shots and asked him to please leave so we can focus on our scene. He wouldn’t and he got really belligerent and he was saying vulgar, nasty things to me and made a derogatory remark about my family. I just did what I did and I feel terrible.”

Sure to be a high quality piece of art, “Blonde and Blonder” will be released February 5. Pre-order your copy today!

California band Strata have released their new video, “Stay Young.”

While the lyrics urge listeners to keep their youthful innocence in a scary world, the video tells the story of a world collapsing due to global warming. Featuring some great special effects, the video can be seen here.

The song is off the band’s second album with Wind-up Records, “Strata Presents The End Of The World.” The album was written during two hard years for the band, mainly while lead singer Eric Victorino dealt with his mother’s cancer diagnosis. Victorino wrote on the band web site that the inspiration for the album was the mood of America, saying that it is like “living in what mostly feels like the end of times.”

Victorino continued to say that though the album deals with a lot of difficult emotions, it also focuses on hope. “Our collective mood is like quicksand and whenever we feel ourselves starting to sink, we rely on any little bits of hope we can find to keep us going. For most of us the only thing left that brings us hope is love. There’s nothing wrong with an honest love song… Has the whole world outgrown love? When did this happen? I don’t care, we write songs about real love because we believe in it, just as much as we believed in tolerance, violence, apathy, loss, corruption and all those terrible things. Each song on the album tells a different story and describes another part of our lives. From love to loss and everything in between. We live in a country at war with the world. This terror culture permeates everything in our lives. It’s not something we can avoid writing about anymore.”

Strata are currently on tour in the U.S.