Comments (0)The Simpsons
Safed Meets Springfield
March 18, 2010On Sunday night, March 28, America’s favorite dysfunctional TV cartoon family, “The Simpsons,” hits the Holy Land, as previously reported in this column.
So what should we expect? According to the first reported images of the episode titled “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed,” Homer and Bart visit the Western Wall with an Israeli tour guide, voiced by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
Homer, it seems, comes down with a bad case of “Jerusalem Syndrome,” believing he is the messiah. (Yes, it happens.) In addition, Mr. Cohen’s character gets in a bitter war of words over Middle East politics with the left-leaning Marge (voice by Julie Kavner).
”This is an episode that people from all three religions will be equally offended by,” promises Al Jean, producer of “The Simpsons.”
Let’s just hope Krusty The Clown or Groundskeeper Willie stay out of trouble and don’t wander into Hebron.
Corey Feldman
Feldman’s Farewell
March 17, 2010Corey Feldman says he never, ever gave up on his longtime pal, Corey Haim, who died recently of a suspected accidental drug overdose at age 38.
Mr. Feldman did not attend the March 16 funeral for his best friend and former co-star. Mr. Feldman said he skipped the levaya out of respect for Haim’s family, who expressed a strong desire to keep the funeral private and out of the media spotlight.
Mr. Feldman did write an open letter to Haim, who struggled with substance abuse issues, on his blog.
“I never gave up, I tried …I walked away, but I always came back, to let you know I was there. In a dark and lonely world with spiteful angry people we always understood each others pain,” Mr Feldman wrote.
To prove his solidarity with Mr. Haim, Mr. Feldman went to T Man Tattoo in Studio City, Calif., on the day of the funeral and got the number 222 inked on his arm, along with an illustration depicting a hot air balloon being lifted into the clouds featuring the name of his son, Zen. The basket portion of the hot air balloon tattoo was a peace sign, which Mr. Feldman converted from a tattoo of his ex-wife’s name.
Mr. Feldman explained the number represented Haim, who also had that number tattooed on his body. “Now we’re matching,” he said.
Mr. Feldman said in an earlier statement that he was planning a separate memorial for Mr. Haim, sometime within a month, at which family, friends and fans can grieve together.
“I will do my very best to help give you a memorial that is a celebration of your life the way you would have wanted it,” Mr. Feldman wrote, “with everybody laughing and rocking out!”
BTW, despite claims by Mr. Haim’s Israeli-born mom, Judy, the city of Toronto, Mr. Haim’s hometown, reported it did not cover the expenses for the funeral. Friends and fans paid for the service.
Hundreds of people attended Mr. Haim’s funeral at a Toronto chapel. Maytal Kotler, a second cousin of Mr. Haim’s, described the service as a “touching” affair.
“There was laughter, there was crying,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears. “He was a good soul. A very fun, loving guy with a big heart.”
Ms. Kotler said Mr. Haim’s mother, his father, Bernie, cousins and aunts were all in attendance.
David Schwimmer
Ross Gathers No Moss
March 17, 2010Finally, it seems that David Schwimmer, aka Ross Geller of “Friends” fame, is tying the knot. And Zoe Buckman, 24, a British photographer, appears to be the lucky gal.
Mr. Schwimmer, 43, reportedly met Ms. Buckman while he was in London directing the 2007 film “Run Fatboy Run.” This will be the first marriage for both The Schwimm and Ms Buckman.
Speaking of marriages, Tinseltown was taken aback recently to hear news that Academy Award-winning Kate Winslet (“The Reader,” “Titanic”) and Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty,” “Road To Perdition”) are splittin’ up. The couple separated earlier this year, according to their attorneys.
Ms. Winslet, 34, was conspicuously “sans Mendes” recently at the Oscars ceremony in L.A. Brit media claims that working on the film “Revolutionary Road” broke up the couple. (Ironically, the flick is about the disintegration of a marriage.)
In other random celeb relationship news, Sarah Silverman told Playboy that she still believes in love in her post-Jimmy Kimmel era. (Thank heavens!) Sarah and Jimmy were together from 2002-2009 (off and on, on and off).
“I’d like to find that person,” said the comedian, 39, who is currently dating “Family Guy” writer Alec Sulkin. “I think Jimmy and I had every intention of spending the rest of our lives with each other. I love love. It’s my top priority. Jimmy will tell you, I’m a good girl.
”We were together for so long and tried our best to make it work,” Sarah said. “I can think of him now and don’t have that edgy feeling anymore. I just love him to pieces. … Sometimes loving each other isn’t enough. You have to be responsible for your own happiness. You can’t stay in a relationship because you’re afraid of the unknown. But I will always love him. Sometimes, I think maybe we’ll die together in our old age or something.”
Um, OK.
So what about Smart Alec? “When we finally met, he came over to my place, walked in the door, put out his hand and said, ‘Hi, I’m Alec.’ We’ve spent every day together since. … He isn’t ruled by ego. He’s just himself.”
So is matrimony in the cards? Not so fast, warns Sarah.
“Marriage, to me, is like eating meat,” the vegetarian Sarah says. “I think it’s gross and [expletive] crazy. It’s this super-barbaric, old-timey tradition that no one remembers we don’t have to do anymore.”
All we can say is good luck, Alec.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Pampered Starlet
March 11, 2010When it comes to changing diapers muy rapido, Freddie Prinze Jr. claims he’s in a league of his own.
“I’m good at it. I’m fast,” the handsome Mr. Prinze, who portrays agent Cole Ortiz on “24” this season, told George Lopez recently on “Lopez Tonight.” “I can time myself—46 seconds.”
Mr. Prinze—the son of the late “Chico And The Man” actor/comedian Freddie Prinze—and his beautiful wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, have a 4-month-old daughter, Charlotte Grace.
While extolling his speed-diapering skills, Mr. Prinze admitted he’s not the be-all-to-end-all in parenting.
“Diaper, that’s it. That’s all I got,” he said. “I just tried to work the car seat. You gotta, like, adjust the seatbelts. `Adjust the seatbelt’ is so much more complicated than what my brain can handle.”
But the laid-back Mr. Prinze takes it all in stride. “My mom drove like Britney Spears with the steering wheel and me right [in her lap],” he said. “I’m fine, I turned out OK. We had a Volvo.”
No doubt Britney probably could’ve lived without that comment.
Corey Haim
The Lost Boy
March 10, 2010
Sadly, the drug epidemic in this country has claimed yet another famous victim, actor Corey Haim.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Haim, 38, who battled substance addiction for several years, was found unresponsive in an Oakwood, Calif., apartment last Wednesday morning and pronounced dead at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center. His Israeli-born mother, Judy, was reportedly in the apartment at the time.
A Toronto native, Haim is best known as an ‘80s teen icon. He made his first movie appearance in 1984’s “Firstborn,” starring Sarah Jessica Parker and her then-boyfriend, Robert Downey Jr. Haim co-starred in such films as “Lucas,” “The Lost Boys,” “Murphy’s Romance” and “Dream A Little Dream.”
He also collaborated frequently with Corey Feldman, and the two were known around Tinseltown and elsewhere as “The Two Coreys.” A reality show with that very title ran on A&E from 2007-2008. The show reportedly ceased operations when Mr. Feldman refused to have further contact with Haim until he recovered from his addiction.
In a 2007 interview with Larry King, Haim called himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life. … I think I have an addiction to pretty much everything. I mean, I have to be very careful with myself as far as that goes, which is why I have a support group around me consistently.”
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Crossing?
March 8, 2010
Will Chelsea Clinton pull an “Ivanka Trump” and join the gefilte fish set? The Jewish world waits with bated breath.
Ever since the former First Daughter, now 30, and her Jewish fiance, Marc Mezvinsky, 32, announced their engagement in November, people have speculated about the wedding, which is expected to take place in the summer. (So far, the families are saying zilch about it all.)
“If they had a Jewish wedding officiated by a rabbi, I think that would be something really positive,” Ed Case, president of InterfaithFamily.Com, told Associated Press. “It’s so important for the Jewish community to have interfaith couples engaging in Jewish life.”
Last year, Ms. Clinton, who was raised Methodist, was spotted attending Yom Kippur services with Mr. Mezvinksy at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan.
So will Chelsea take a dip in the mikvah? Some Jewish folks are counting on it, maybe even praying for it. But even if she doesn’t convert, Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben of Kehillath Israel in Pacific Palasades, Calif., said Ms. Clinton should still be considered part of the Jewish community.
“There are Jews-by-birth and Jews-by-choice and Jews-by-association,” said Rabbi Reuben, who officiated at the 2003 second wedding of rock star Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Sharon. “[Ms. Clinton is] marrying into the Jewish family.”
One thing’s for sure. Chances are that one Jewish gal – namely Monica Lewinsky—won’t be attending the affair.