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Love It or Hate It? Hilary Swank's Retro Bouffant

BellaSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:18 -0700

If you don't believe that big hair is back, here's pouf - er, proof. Last night at the Hollywood Awards, the always-soignée Hilary Swank appeared wearing a bouffant worthy of Ladybird Johnson. (Hers wasn't even the only crunchy-meets-sleek look of the night, just the most voluminous.) Hilary's long been known for a certain brand of demure elegance, and while this look was certainly classy, it was also a lot more formal and constructed than we usually see her hair. What do you think? Is Hilary ringing in a new style, or does her hair just look kinda like a bell?

Ed Westwick Tugs at Jessica, Ashley and Hilary's Heartstrings

PopSugarUK — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:54:10 -0700

Ed Westwick hosted a party for the opening of artist Todd DiCiurcio's "Heartstrings" exhibition at the Confederacy store in Los Angeles on Saturday night. He was joined on his trip to the West Coat by Jessica Szohr and their fellow Gossip Girl star Hilary Duff, and the trio looked like they enjoyed some time off from filming scenes in New York. Ashley Greene also looked thrilled to hang out before heading to the U2 concert on Sunday night. The gorgeous couple were on display in more ways than one, as Todd's painted portraits of Ed and Jess.

To see more pictures of Ed and the gang, just read more.

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Images include: Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Ashley Greene, Hilary Duff, Todd DiCiurcio, Megan DiCiurcio

Amelia: Never Really Takes Flight

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:30:00 -0700

I love the way a biopic makes me feel - like I'm treated to a back-in-time look at an amazing life. They're epic, and that's why I'm willing to sit through the slow moments (and often for more than two hours) for the payoff. This is the experience I hoped for from Amelia, directed by Mira Nair and starring Hilary Swank as the pioneering aviator who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

There's plenty of opportunity for grandness, even though Nair chose not to focus much on the circumstances of Earhart's disappearance during her flight around the world. Earhart had an extraordinary life, eschewing social conventions for her gender and never giving up her one true love: flying.

Unfortunately, Amelia misses the epic mark and lands instead somewhere in the mediocre, underusing its cast's talents and history's treasury. However, it's not an altogether unpleasant journey, so to see my thoughts on the film, just read more.

First, the film is beautiful - Mira Nair knows how to shoot a gorgeous scene (she was behind the richly-styled films Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake), and she really takes advantage of the oceans, the landscapes of jungles, beaches, and moors. Much of it is seen through Amelia's eyes as she's soaring over it, and occasionally you feel the same freedom in flying that she so desires.

Along with the scenery, the minor success the film does achieve is ascribed to Hilary Swank's acting. I was expecting the two-time Oscar winner to be fantastic, and she didn't let me down. From transforming her looks to match the androgynous icon's to altering her voice to a Katherine Hepburn-ish gravel, she captures the pre-feminist aviatrix in all her glory.

The problem is that intriguing parts of Earhart's life are introduced but merely glossed over. For instance, Earhart's marriage to publisher George Putnam (played by Richard Gere) is complicated by the fact that she carries on an affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). However, this affair is only briefly touched on (they meet, they kiss, it's suddenly over). For his part, Ewan McGregor is given little more than a cameo role, which is an unsatisfying tease for any fan of the actor.

While I'm on unsatisfying, if you've ever been fascinated by the mysterious circumstances of Earhart's death (she disappeared over the Pacific on a round-the-world-flight), you'll get no gratification here. Understandably, there's no speculation about what happened, but there's no closure either.

That seemed justified, because when this project was announced, it was reported that Nair wouldn't focus on the mystery, but Earhart's remarkable life instead. Unfortunately, there's not enough focus on that remarkable life to do the woman's memory justice.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Ewan McGregor's Out in New York to Air Amelia

PopSugarUK — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:09:02 -0700

Ewan McGregor was looking gorgeous on the red carpet yesterday as he attended the New York premiere of his new movie Amelia. Hilary Swank stars as Amelia Earhart in the biopic, and looked gorgeous in her green dress as she posed alongside costars Ewan and Richard Gere. Directed by Mira Nair, the film is not out in the UK until November 13, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing Ewan back on the big screen - check out the trailer under the cut and let me know if you'll see it or skip it!

To watch the trailer, and see more photos, just read more.

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Reebok Promises to Make Your Boobs Jealous of Your Butt - Hilarious or Horrifying?

TresSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:00:24 -0800

On its website, Reebok claims that its new line of EasyTone shoes, which are displayed against the backdrop of a naked woman, will help you make 88 percent of men speechless and 76 percent of women jealous. Hoping to drum up some hype for these kicks, Reebok has also unveiled a whole slew of commercials touting the shoes' butt-toning abilities. In this commercial, Reebok pitches the shoes by reducing a faceless woman to two talking breasts. You see, the breasts are jealous of the woman's butt, which is now getting all the attention thanks to the shoes. Do you find this ad effective or offensive?

Hilary Mantel Has Won the Booker Prize

PopSugarUK — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:35:50 -0700

Hilary Mantel has won the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Wolf Hall. The historical novel is based on Henry VIII's adviser Thomas Cromwell, and it took Hilary 20 years to decide to write it. The original long list of 13 books was whittled down to a shortlist of six, and Hilary beat JM Coetzee, Sarah Waters, AS Byatt, Adam Foulds and Simon Mawer to win the £50,000 prize at London's Guildhall last night. At the ceremony, Hilary said:

"When I began the book I knew I had to do something very difficult, I had to interest the historians, I had to amuse the jaded palate of the critical establishment and most of all I had to capture the imagination of the general reader."

Penn Shows Season 3 Passion As Gossip Girl Starts Tonight!

PopSugarUK — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:05:47 -0700

Spotted: Hilary Duff and Penn Badgley getting pretty passionate on the set of Gossip Girl in New York yesterday. These exciting pics from season three of the show couldn't come at a better time, as the first episode of the new series starts tonight on ITV2 at 8pm! Over the next few episodes we'll get introduced to Hilary's character, and we know that there's some more appearances coming up from Tyra Banks and Kevin Zegers, as well as catching up with all our favourite Upper East Siders! So tell me, will you be watching tonight?

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Penn, Hilary, Chace & Jess Have Lots to Talk About on Set

PopSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:00:02 -0700

Hilary Duff was back on the set of Gossip Girl this morning with costars Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford and Jessica Szohr. Duff's Olivia was a welcome new addition last night and managed to grab Dan's - and our - attention in her hot black and gold dress. We also couldn't help but be distracted by the amazing hotel room where Serena dealt with Tyra Banks's diva character. Tyra's cameo was a one time deal, but she was entertaining as she changed up her hairstyles throughout the episode. Gossip Girl is growing up this season and they're taking on some more mature plotlines - according to rumors, not only is Lady Gaga going to be making an appearance, but we'll be seeing a threesome during November sweeps though we don't yet know who will be participating.

For more photos from the set of Gossip Girl just read more.

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Hilarious or Horrifying? Trojan Can Prevent Rude Moviegoers

TresSugar — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:00:39 -0800

When lovers not planning on making a baby start to get busy, the last thing they want to think about is what type of person their potential child would be three decades down the road. But in this commercial, Trojan wants to remind you that you should wrap it up, lest you end up with a child who turns out to be the most obnoxious grown man ever to enter a movie theater!

Avoiding children, annoying or not, is a major reason for using protection, but this commercial sends a somewhat confusing message about contraception. If this guy weren't annoying, would it have been a good thing that his parents didn't use a condom? Do you think this is an effective message, or does it miss the mark?

One Week Until Gossip Girl Season Three Hits The UK!

PopSugarUK — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:11:45 -0700

Hilary Duff, Taylor Momsen, Jessica Szohr and Penn Badgley were continuing to film Gossip Girl yesterday in New York City, shooting scenes for the third season of the show which is currently airing in the US. Season two was released on DVD this week, and ITV recently announced that they will be showing series 3 on ITV2 from October 7! So in just one week from today Chuck, Blair, Nate, Serena, Dan and the rest of the gang will be hitting our screens - the smaller gap between the US air date and UK air date following in the footsteps of shows like the excellent FlashForward on Five. Are you counting down the days like me?

To see more photos of the cast on set, just read more.

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