The Week: Most Recent Arts+Life Posts

Reports: Sopranos star James Gandolfini is dead

By The Week Staff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:47:00 -0400

James Gandolfini, best known for his star turn as mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit HBO series The Sopranos, has died at the age of 51, according to numerous reports. Variety reports that Gandolfini may have died of a possible heart attack in Italy.

Gandolfini won three Emmys for his portrayal of Soprano, the troubled gangster who brought all the sordid elements of Mafia life — family squabbles, blood vendettas, and Bada Bing! — to the psychiatrist's office. The show, spurred by strong performances by Gandolfini and others, helped launch what many consider to be a golden age of television...

The daily gossip: The 50 Shades of Grey movie finally has a director, and more

By Scott Meslow — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:54:00 -0400

1. The 50 Shades of Grey movie finally has a director
After a long and breathlessly reported search, the 50 Shades of Grey movie has finally wrapped its chains around a director: Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is best known for her 2009 film Nowhere Boy. "Sam's unique ability to gracefully showcase complex relationships dealing with love, emotion, and sexual chemistry make her the ideal director to bring Christian and Anastasia's relationship to life," said producer Michael De Luca. He added that the film will capture the novel's "characters and vivid storytelling," which are, of course, everyone's favorite...

INTERVIEW: Futurama star Billy West thinks the series isn't really ending

By Scott Meslow — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:45:00 -0400

You might not recognize Billy West if you passed him on the street — but you've almost certainly heard at least a dozen of his voices. Over the past 25 years, West has proven to be one of the most talented, versatile, and sought-after voice actors in the business, with credits in everything from Nickelodeon's Doug (as both Doug Funnie and Roger Klotz), The Ren & Stimpy Show (as both Ren and Stimpy), and Space Jam (as both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd).

But since 1999, Billy West's career has been synonymous with another show, which he considers "the best thing I ever did": Futurama, on...

WATCH: Ray Allen's dramatic last-second shot saves the Heat's championship hopes

By Keith Wagstaff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:35:00 -0400

It seemed almost certain last night that the Miami Heat were going to lose Game 6 of the NBA finals, and the series, to the San Antonio Spurs. With four minutes left in the third quarter, the Heat trailed by 13 points. With less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, they were down by five.

Then LeBron James hit his only three-pointer of the night, cutting the lead to two. Out of timeouts, the Heat had to immediately foul the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard. He missed one of two free throws. The Heat trailed by three.

James spotted up behind the arc for a game-tying shot. He missed. Chris Bosh scrambled...

What's keeping the Oakland Athletics from moving to San Jose?

By Jon Terbush — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:56:00 -0400

The city of San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday escalated a bitter baseball turf war, voting to file suit against Major League Baseball in an attempt to finally bring the Athletics franchise to town.

The sticking point is that the San Francisco Giants claim territorial rights to the whole region — including San Jose, some 40 miles south of the Giants' stadium. Unwilling to risk losing market share to a relocated, rebranded team, the Giants have effectively blocked the A's from moving down there for years.

San Jose seeks to negate that extensive land claim, arguing that it violates state and federal...

The daily gossip: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have allegedly chosen a baby name, and more

By Scott Meslow — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:31:00 -0400

1. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have allegedly chosen a baby name
Can we finally stop calling the recently arrived progeny of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West the 'Kimye' baby? Perhaps. According to a report at Media Takeout, a nurse at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Hospital leaked that the celebrity couple have dubbed their newborn daughter Kaidence Donda West. And though the report remains unconfirmed, it does fall in line with the blood oath the Kardashian family swore to give their spawn names that begin with the letter "K." Adjust your skepticism accordingly. [New York]
………&hellip...

WATCH: Scott Disick channels Christian Bale in a shot-for-shot remake of an American Psycho scene

By Scott Meslow — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:33:00 -0400

Yes, Scott Disick knows that you think he's a dead ringer for Patrick Bateman, the serial killer played by Christian Bale at the heart of 2000's American Psycho — and Disick is just fine with it. In a new promotional video for Kanye West's Yeezus, Disick replaces American Psycho's references to Huey Lewis and the News' Fore! with those to West's new album. Disick calls Yeezus the rapper's "most exciting album so far" before donning a raincoat and murdering fellow Kardashian hanger-on Jonathan Cheban with an ax.

Disick first popped up alongside girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian on Keeping...

How 8 famous writers chose their pen names

By Matt Soniak — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:27:00 -0400

Scottish author Iain Banks died recently after battling gall bladder cancer. With him died his nom de plume Iain M. Banks, under which he wrote science fiction. I admit I'm not familiar with the work Banks wrote under either name, and when I heard the news, I initially thought it weird that two writers with such similar names died on the same day. I wasn't alone, and my Twitter feed was soon littered with realizations from others that they were the same guy.

Some pen names are fairly well-known for what they are. Most people know that Mark Twain was the alias of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The...

5 smart takes on Kanye West's Yeezus

By Scott Meslow — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:47:00 -0400

There are few artists whose new albums are met with as much anticipation and fanfare as Kanye West, the rapper/singer/producer/provocateur who's become as notorious for his outsized personality and social media presence as he has for his brilliant, deeply innovative music. The title of West's sixth and latest album,Yeezus — which, after a leak late last week, is officially seeing release today — is a non-too-subtle hint to the characteristically grandiose themes contained within. (Spoiler alert: The album contains a song titled "I Am A God.")

Critics are nearly as enamored with Yeezus...

The Boston Bruins, a Stanley Cup run, and the echoes of tragedy

By Jon Terbush — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:55:00 -0400

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins stumbled into the NHL playoffs, winning just three of their final 10 games and slipping to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Then, after blowing a 3-1 series lead in the opening round to the Maple Leafs, they escaped a dramatic Game 7 in overtime only after clawing back from a two-goal deficit with 90 seconds to play.

Since then, the Bruins have rolled through the competition, and now find themselves with a 2-1 edge in their Stanley Cup finals matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks, with the next game set for Wednesday night in Boston. History is on the Bruins...

Did Vladimir Putin steal a Super Bowl Ring?

By Jon Terbush — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:18:00 -0400

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a man of many macho accomplishments. He has hugged a bear, neutralized an escaped tiger, and hung out with Steven Seagal. And though he has never won a Super Bowl, he does own a Super Bowl ring.

But like many of his other trumpeted achievements, the story behind how Putin came into possession of that ring is the subject of dispute.

What's certain is that the ring formerly belonged to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. During a 2005 visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, with other business leaders, Kraft met Putin and let him admire his diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl...

The daily gossip: The Kimye baby, and more

By Scott Meslow — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:05:00 -0400

1. These are the things we know about the Kimye baby
As you probably heard — or, perhaps, just felt somewhere in your heart — Kim Kardashian gave birth to her daughter with Kanye West over the weekend. And though we know almost nothing about the so-called "Kimye" baby, including its actual name or time of birth, the race to scoop the gossip websites has resulted in a firestorm of non-news. So here, in brief, what you might have missed so far: Kris Kardashian says the baby is "beautiful"; Khloe Kardashian calls it a "miracle"; Kim Kardashian is "doing amazing and couldn't be happier,...

Reality show drive-by: Rock My RV with Bret Michaels

By Jessica Jardine — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:30:00 -0400

Bret Michaels is a bit of a unicorn in the reality television pantheon — if only for the sheer length of time he has remained compulsively watchable. No matter how many cartoonish, nightmarish women he sucked face with on his hit VH1 dating show Rock of Love, Michaels remained likable (and even sincere). Anyone who remembers Michaels' exploits with Destiny, Heather, Daisy, and Frenchie knows that it was a far less family-friendly Bret who charged his way through three seasons on Rock of Love before shifting into a new and comfortable career as Bret Michaels, Reality Star 2.0.

In his second...

A woman is kicked out of college for being a lesbian -- and she's stuck with the bill

By Harold Maass — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:40:00 -0400

Danielle Powell was expelled from Grace University, a conservative Christian school in Omaha, Neb., after she became romantically involved with another woman. That was in 2012, but Powell's fight with the school was just beginning. Now Grace administrators want her to pay back $6,000 in federal grants and loans for her final semester, because she didn't finish it.

Powell says she shouldn't have to pay the bill. She agreed to undergo months of counseling, spiritual training, and mentoring in the hope that the university would let her finish her final semester and graduate — but administrators...

WATCH: The madcap trailer for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street

By Scott Meslow — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:06:00 -0400

"My name is Jordan Belfort," says Leonardo DiCaprio, playing the real-life flashy stockbroker behind infamous investment firm Stratton Oakmont in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. "The year I turned 26 I made $49 million — which really pissed me off, because it was three shy of a million a week."

From there we're off, into the hard-living, hard-partying life of Belfort, whose stock market manipulations earned him a massive fortune — and provided fodder for two bestselling memoirs — in the 1990s. "Was all this legal? Absolutely not. We were making more money than we...

WATCH: Miss Utah spectacularly flubs her Miss USA question

By The Week Staff — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:16:00 -0400

Congratulations are in order for Erin Brady, a 25-year-old accountant who, as Miss Connecticut, won the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday. Brady, however, isn't the most famous contestant from Sunday evening's ceremony. That would be Melissa Powell, Miss Utah. And her success challenges the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Miss Utah's infamy is due to her answer in the questions portion of the pageant. (Watch above.) The question, from judge NeNe Leakes, was about the recent Pew study about "breadwinner moms": "A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families...