“Certainly I’ve moved into a different world from driving around in my Tercel…”
– Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Hines has all the best qualities for a sexy woman, she is beautiful and most importantly, FUNNY! She is best known as Larry Davids wife Cheryl on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now she is teaming up with another famous funnyman, Robin Williams, in the surprisingly funny RV.
Read our exclusive interview with Cheryl Hines on SuicideGirls.com.
by ExAddict
Late last summer, a controversy erupted in National Hockey League circles after three prominent on-ice enforcers passed away during the off-season. Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard died of a tragic combination of mental illness and addictions. The three were so called ‘tough guys’ – called on by other players to keep the action rough, and let goal-scorers do their jobs.
Much of the media-driven controversy of course was centered around the amped-up Don Cherry, a highly-charged broadcaster who labeled three other former league bruisers as ‘pukes’ for stepping outside of the shadows and linking NHL fighting to substance abuse and depression.
In typical NHL fashion, sports fans’ tongues went wagging and opinions varied from demands for a crackdown against unfair hits to protect players from concussions (the current enemy #1 in pro-hockey) to banning fighting outright.
So that’s what’s happening in hockey, a so-called ‘real sport’. We can expect that because it is one of the big four pro-sports leagues, the issues surrounding mental health and drug abuse will be addressed both by the player’s association (NHLPA) and NHL league executives.
That’s all well and good to save lives and protect athletes on the ice. But there might be another sport that needs the attention of media….
Unfortunately for fans of sports-entertainment, or ‘pro-wrestling’ as it once was called, voices calling for an increased examination of the cause and effects of mental illness, tragedy and death in this highly-athletic profession are few and far between.
With respect to the squared circle, there is a much more horrific tale lurking beneath the surface excitement of the storylines and dramatics put on by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Impact Wrestling (TNA) and the hundreds of other smaller grappling organizations that operate worldwide.
Every week, for the past eighteen years, WWE and Monday Night Raw has been entertaining millions of fans who clamor to follow and cheer on names like John Cena, CM Punk, and The Undertaker as they do battle with evil-doers like R-Truth, The Miz, and Mark Henry.
Yet beyond the spotlight, there is a tough road of dues-paying and hardship for up-and-coming wrestlers as well as a path of serious discontent for names from the past. Even the biggest name in wrestling history – the immortal Hulk Hogan – now toils for the #2 wrestling organization, hobbled by numerous surgeries to repair a body damaged by nearly thirty-five years of competitive action. On average, an NHL player can expect to play five to six seasons.
For wrestlers, there is no off-season or players’ union. If it was any other sport, there would be a Congressional investigation concerning the numbers of athletes dying before age fifty.
For once-famous grapplers who fall through the cracks, hanging on to the spotlight can be mentally devastating.
Scott Hall, a former champion in WWE, is the latest tragedy to garner attention. An ESPN feature that compared the journeyman wrestler to the fictional character portrayed by Mickey Rourke in the film The Wrestler was completed in mid-October but this did little to address the susceptibility of once-popular celebrities to mental illness and substance-abuse problems.
Earlier this summer, former Impact Wrestling and WWE superstar Matt Hardy ran into his fair share of legal trouble after crashing his car and getting arrested for possession of illegal substances. His brother, the equally-as-famous Jeff Hardy, encountered similar difficulties.
So what happens after the spotlight fades and wrestlers are left fighting for fame and the few dollars that past glory affords? Hopefully, a change is afoot. Perhaps gone are the days when wrestlers used to performing in front of tens of thousands in packed arenas are left toiling in front of a few dozen fans in high school gymnasiums, left alone and isolated as they slowly descend into mental illness.
In response, WWE has instituted a tough Wellness Policy for current superstars and pays for substance abuse rehabilitation of former “independent contractors.” The Wellness Policy serves as a “three-strikes-you’re-out” safety net meant to protect current and former wrestlers from life on the road. WWE has even gone as far as to ban infamous chair-shots to the head and remove blood from broadcasts – an effort to maintain a PG friendly atmosphere and to protect the long term health of employees.
Christopher Nowinski, a Harvard graduate and former WWE Alumni himself has much to say about sports-related injuries in his book Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis and in 2007 became the founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, dedicated to researching brain trauma in professional and amateur sports. That same year, former WWE World Champion Chris Benoit killed his wife and son in a brutal double murder suicide.
An examination of Benoit’s brain revealed that extensive injuries and concussions suffered by the Canadian could have caused dementia. Since that time, the stigma of mental illness has meant he’s all but been erased from the record books. Benoit’s name is never mentioned on WWE broadcasts and his reign as champion is scrubbed from history.
For pro-wrestling a.k.a. sports-entertainment to truly address the demons of mental health and addictions, gone must be the notion that those addicted to drugs or the spotlight are criminals or unrepentant. It’s time that all professional sports addressed the 1-in-5 statistic of mental illness that effects all North Americans. If more wrestlers are willing to speak out about mental illness in sports, it may very well set a precedent for other athletes in other sports to address these issues in a very public way.
For WWE, it’s time to take the bull by the horns and end the stigma of mental illness in sports. Lives are on the line. To save just one, I’d pay top dollar.
Images: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
By Fred Topel
“[When] a group of guys sees me, they’ll just go, ‘Rudy! Rudy!”
– Sean Astin
In May of last year, I found myself sitting alone in the stands of a race track with Sean Astin. He was filming an independent movie about horse racing, and I was invited to visit the production at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. When Astin had a break in shooting, we walked into the stands to sit for an interview.
You may not think of them as a whole, but several of Astin’s movies have become seminal films for more than one generation. I grew up with The Goonies, where a teen Astin led his friends on a quest for pirate treasure. A young adult Astin portrayed college football legend Rudy Ruettiger in the football classic Rudy. To today’s kids, he’s perhaps best known as Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Astin was happy to stroll down movie memory lane with me. His recollections of even the earliest film are as vivid as his descriptions of the film he was shooting. And They’re Off cast Astin as Dusty, a disgraced jockey who gets another chance with an underdog racehorse. It’s a comedy in mockumentary style. The independent film played the Hollywood Film Festival and is now open in select cities, including racing centers like Kentucky.
Read our exclusive interview with Sean Astin on SuicideGirls.com.
by A.J. Focht
Even the prequels are getting sequels. British actor Jason Flemyng who played Azazel in X-Men: First Class has said that a follow-up could soon be in the works. First Class was a surprisingly good addition to the franchise; hopefully tacking another one in won’t kill the series on a bad note.
Iron Man 3 is being shot in Wilmington, North Carolina. If you want to make the trip out there (or are lucky enough to live nearby), you can register to try and be one of thousands of extras needed for the shooting.
Over the last few weeks, dozens of set pictures and several videos from the shooting of The Dark Knight Rises have been leaked – see roundup here. A couple of major spoiler could be contained, including a characters death scene.
Not everyone is convinced that the Metropolis project is happening. For those of us still holding out hope, the Metropolis IMDb page now lists Joe Davola and Alfred Gough as the executive producers; Gough being one of the original creators of Smallville.
On the comic front, DC Comics continues to dominate. The New 52 has really paid off as DC pulled in over 50% of all comic sales last month.
J.J. Abrams reportedly is after Benicio Del Toro to play the roll of the villain in the up coming Star Trek 2. No one is quite sure who the main villain will be. Theories range from the return of Khan to the Klingon’s and everything in between. The last movie created an entire new timeline so the possibilities are endless.We’ve known that there were plans to another Blade Runner film; Ridley Scott says the project is likely to be a direct sequel. Scott also said that the project is quite a ways along, and they are close to finding a writer.
Reports from Middle Earth have been scarce lately. Last week, Peter Jackson and the crew released the new video blog. The video covers the finer points of shooting The Hobit in 3D, with several on set shots. The first part of The Hobbit is set for release holiday 2012.
Do you want to forever immortalize yourself in the Whedon-verse? Well, if you’ll settle for a walk on role, this could be your chance. A walk on role in Whedon’s next project, In Your Eyes, is being auctioned on eBay. At the time of this writing, the bidding is up to $2,550. So how bad do you want it? Oh, and did I mention the proceeds go to The Adrienne Shelly Foundation.
Sad news from the land of Oz. Bruce Campbell’s cameo scene has been cut. Bruce tweeted that such things happen in epic flicks, and that there were no hard feelings toward Sam Raimi.
Barnes & Noble has revealed their tablet, complete with Marvel comics. As if almost in response to the Kindle Fire’s deal with DC, Barnes & Noble has released their own tablet featuring several of Marvels comics. The tablet is starting at $249 and is available on November 18.
by A.J. Focht
After a few weeks with no new updates, The Dark Knight Rises released several updates this last week. The first photos of Joseph Gordon-Levitt on set have spread across the internet. A full synopsis of the film has been leaked, but it doesn’t reveal much more than what we’ve already known. Finally, the movie’s second official trailer will release with Sherlock Holmes:Game of Shadows on Dec 16.
That’s not the end of the Batman news either. WB Interactive has announced Batman: Arkham City has shipped 4.6 million copies for PS3/Xbox360. Despite some tough competition, Arkham City is looking more and more like Game of the Year.
Iron Man 3 is taking a change in scenery. After shooting the past two films in California, the next installment in the franchise is filming in North Carolina. The change in location is likely the first in a wave of updates bound to come now that The Avengers has wrapped.
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel will use the infamous villain General Zod, but unfortunately, the character is not likely to use the immortal line, “Kneel before Zod.” It’s sad to see such a famous line being excluded; it would be like not having The Terminator say, “I’ll be back.” Even Smallville used the line when they introduced General Zod.
Speaking of Smallville, it looks like the show isn’t as dead as we may have thought. A new IMDB has been created for a show titled, Metropolis. Currently, Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Aaron Ashmore, and Michael McKean are listed in the credits. Is it possible the show is getting a reboot/remake?
While we’re on the note of remakes, that’s apparently exactly what the new Evil Dead project is, minus Ash. A synopsis has been released for the film that sounds exactly like Evil Dead with different characters.
Five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin where they discover a Book Of The Dead and unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.
Evil Dead isn’t the only undead movie making a return, reports confirm that Michael Keaton is returning to his role in the Beetlejuice sequel. I’m not sure how I feel about a sequel, but it sounds like they’re at least trying to do it right.
One last thing, I present you the best video game based movie to date, and it’s based on Duck Hunt. This new ten minute short film is by far one of the best video game to film adaptations I’ve ever seen.
“It’s funny because it’s not cool sex.”
– Louis CK
Along with such comedy geniuses as Robert Smigel and Dino Stamatopoulos, Louis CK is a master of sketch comedy. Thats why it will be very interesting when his sitcom, Lucky Louie, premieres on HBO. Not only is CK applying his comedic skills to the sitcom but it will be the first time he is stretching himself as an actor.
Read our exclusive interview with Louis CK on SuicideGirls.com.
by A.J. Focht
Joss Whedon is no mere mortal in need of rest and relaxation. After wrapping up The Avengers, Whedon used his month long vacation to do a secret shooting of an adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece Much Ado About Nothing
JOSS WHEDON: Well, it’s not a bit secret that I’ve done these [Shakespeare] readings before, and I always had a vague notion of shooting Much Ado. But I didn’t really have a take on it. And then, for some reason, I kinda sorta did. As we were finishing The Avengers in New York, my wife and I were planning our vacation for our 20th anniversary. And she said, “Let’s not take the vacation. Make a movie instead.” I was like, “I’m not even sure if I can adapt the script, cast the movie, and prep it in a month.” And she was like, “Well, that’s your vacation time, so you do it.” And so I did.
Starring several members of the Whedonverse, the cast includes: Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof (Angel), and Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), amongst others. Shooting the film in only twelve days, the entire cast managed to keep the project secret until it was announced via a press release.
Whedon isn’t the only one moving past The Avengers in a hurry. Marvel has announced several superhero sequels for 2013. All the usual suspects are present: Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, and the long rumored Ant-Man is still on the list.
With three exceedingly mediocre movies based on The Punisher, it’s surprising to hear that he’s getting another chance, this time on TV. If anything could make this situation more shaky, Fox has purchased the rights to the series. Odds are it will either be fantastic and immediately get cancelled, or it’s going to be another agonizing hour of prime time that they’ll keep around for years to come.
Mark Hamill tweeted his goodbye to voice acting as the Joker after Arkham City was released. The goodbyes weren’t so final as he quickly reneged on his statement when asked about an adaption of the graphic novel The Killing Joke. After his confirmation he’d come back for such a project, a fan movement started to get the project in motion.
Zombies survive another year. After only two episodes this season, The Walking Dead has been renewed for a third season by AMC.
With so many other interesting TV series popping up, is it surprising to learn that Stephen King’s The Dark Tower has gone from film to television? Producer Brian Gazer reports that the series has been picked up by HBO. There is still the possibility of a movie, but they intend to ‘do it right.’
For those Star Wars fans not heart broken by the series being rereleased in 3D, the trailer for Episode I has made it online (though it was subsequently pulled from YouTube by Fox).
Moving onto more exciting sci-fi movies, Ender’s Game the movie has received an official release date of March 15, 2013. The film is still over a year out, but after a long rollercoaster ride of the project being off and on, it’s great to see a solid date.
First they released the sneakers from the Back to the Future movies, then they announced the rerelease of the DeLorean. As if in an attempt to make Back to the Future’s timeline absolutely correct, development of a real hoverboard is underway. The board currently needs a rail to guide it, but they have two years to fix that.
Pulling one straight from the Disney playbook, Warner Bros. will pull all Harry Potter DVD titles off the shelves on December 29, 2011; this includes the soon to be released Deathly Hallow Part 2. If you haven’t finished your collection, now is your chance. Who knows when Warner Bros. will release the films back into circulation? I’m betting no less than ten years.
Not the most shocking news, but Rockstar has officially announced Grand Theft Auto V. The preview will be released on November 2. I’m hoping they change things up a bit, perhaps a female protagonist?
On a final note, massive video game convention Blizzcon 2011 has come and passed. Several major announcements were made for World of Warcraft, including the introduction of the first neutral race, Pandaren. Most impressively, it looks like Blizzard plans on releasing three games next year, the expansions for World of Warcraft , Starcraft, and Diablo III.
