samhexum

80s pop star arrested after alleged drunken plane meltdown I'd melt down too if my plane were drunk. BTW, it was Samantha Fox.

SEEMS WORTH SEEING: Kieran Culkin is amazing in ‘A Real Pain’ at Sundance Johnny Oleksinski https://nypost.com/2024/01/20/entertainment/kieran-culkin-is-amazing-in-a-real-pain-at-sundance/ Making Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin the leads of a heartwarming movie about family bonds (the non-back-stabbing kind) and self-discovery would seem counter-intuitive. Culkin has just finished up playing Roman Roy, the cutthroat, foul-mouthed media scion on HBO’s “Succession.” And Eisenberg, even though he’s had a long and varied career, is still best known for his role as subzero Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2011’s “The Social Network.” Maybe, you think, these guys would be better off portraying a duo of quirky serial killers. But thrown together, this awkward pair is magic in “A Real Pain,” an enriching dramedy that had its world premiere Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival. A story of two cousins’ trip to Poland to connect with their late grandma’s roots, it’s one of the best movies of this year’s fest so far. And it marks a major improvement from Eisenberg’s last go-round as a writer-director, 2022’s “When You Finish Saving The World.” The spark was there, yes, but not quite the execution. Everything falls into place here. His screenplay for “A Real Pain” — inspired by details of his own life — is funny, aching and wise; the vantages of the European country he captured are steeped in history and tragedy; and he gets a performance out of Culkin that’s every bit as good as his extraordinary turn from “Succession.” Except, you know, he’s not a complete jackass. Eisenberg has framed the duo as a tried-and-true comedic combo — a Felix and Oscar from “The Odd Couple” — leading us to think we’re getting “National Lampoon’s Genealogic Vacation.” But the filmmaker subverts our expectations at every kilometer. David (Eisenberg) is an introverted, responsible, successful tech worker who lives with his wife and child in New York City, while Benji (Culkin) is an unemployed life of the party up in Binghamton who loves pot and can’t control his honesty. There is, we learn, much more to these two than sit-com tropes and frat house barbs. They hop on a tour group in Warsaw to visit important sights of Jewish history en route to their grandmother’s childhood home that she fled in 1939. Also clutching cameras are the recently divorced Californian Marsha (Jennifer Grey), a curious Brooklyn couple (Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy) and a Rwandan-Canadian named Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan) who converted to Judaism after escaping the genocide of his home country. “A word of warning,” says their British guide James played by Will Sharpe from “The White Lotus.” “This will be a tour about pain.” But, the scholar adds, it’s also “a tour that celebrates a people — the most resilient people.” Impressive throughout is the way Eisenberg balances reverence for his locations and belly-grabbing comedy, while using those elements to support each other. When they visit the Warsaw Uprising Monument, honoring Poles who stood up against the Nazis, wild-and-crazy Benji hilariously (but beautifully?) gets the buttoned-up group to pose like they’re also insurgents fighting along with the sculpture. Later, Eisenberg depicts their solemn walk through the Majdanek concentration camp with the stoicism and straightforwardness it deserves. Words are sparse, and back on the bus a pan across the blood-drained faces that ends on a shattered, crumpled Benji knocks the wind out of you. A few minutes later comes the funniest line in the movie. The pacing is spot-on. Making a new European road trip flick comes with some baggage, so to speak, but even as Eisenberg walks the path many other filmmakers have, he doesn’t easily give into contrivance. Surprises abound, and his unique brand of sentimentality isn’t exactly sentimentality as we have come to understand it. For instance, in “A Real Pain,” somebody getting slapped in the face — hard — brings tears. Culkin gives viewers the pull-the-fire-alarm quality they love about his untethered personality on “Succession” or during award show speeches in which he muses on his ear hairs. Removed of Machiavellian motives, this would appear to just be him. Benji blurts out totally inappropriate comments that other people could never get away with. Yet, very un-Roman, his default mode is kindness; he always goes in for the hug. Culkin’s brotherly chemistry with Eisenberg, also wonderful, is totally believable. That he is so good here comes as a relief and another sign that we are living in a Kieransance. Eisenberg said at the end of his premiere that, with this film, his aim was to explore pain on a smaller scale (a dead grandparent, a flailing life) and on an epic one (the Holocaust). He’s succeeded and, in so doing, made a big punchy film that’s intimate and nuanced at the same time. In short, a real pleasure.

Florida political candidate allegedly stabs daughter, husband after accusing them both of being 'the devil': 'Satan lives in my home' well, we know she has the exorcist vote...

Dear Abby: A month ago, I reconnected with a woman, “Fran,” I have known since seventh grade. We are both divorced (I, 20 years; Fran, four years) with grown children and live 90 minutes apart. We have enjoyed hour upon hour of telephone conversations and have spent two weekends together. We have been very emotionally intimate, but not sexually, by choice, as to not distort the “purity” of our relationship. My problem is, Fran has a large, high-energy dog that has free roam of her home (and her bed). “Goliath” travels with her virtually everywhere she goes, including when she visits me. Goliath is good-natured and extremely fond of me, but I don’t have pets, nor do I care to have her dog jump onto the furniture and sleep with us in my bed. She thinks it’s cute, but Goliath sheds black hair ALL OVER the place, including in my bed (I have white bed linens so the contrast makes it all the more obvious). I care deeply for Fran and will likely be in an exclusive, meaningful relationship with her for a long time. But I don’t want her dog to be a reason for anger and frustration. How do I politely “enforce” any restrictions on her beloved pet without possibly creating friction between us over Goliath “just being a dog”? — Vacuuming Again Dear Vacuuming: The way to “politely enforce” restrictions in YOUR home is to have the conversation you were afraid to have with Fran the first time she and Goliath came to visit. TELL her that while you adore her, you are not as much of a dog person as she is, and you are not comfortable having Goliath share a bed with the two of you. (Notice I didn’t say jump on your couch, because a compromise may be necessary.) IF GOLIATH IS A FEMALE, THIS COULD BE CONFUSING… KILL THE BITCH! OR… LOOSEN UP, BUY SOME BLACK SHEETS, & TELL FRAN YOU ONLY ALLOW DOGS BELONGING TO WOMEN YOU HAVE SEX WITH IN YOUR BED. (whichever course of action is easier)

A day of celebration quickly turned into a horror show when a tech CEO plunged 15 feet to his death in an on-stage mishap in front of horrified employees in India. Vistex CEO Sanjay Shah and Vistex President Vishwanath Raju Datla were inside an iron cage that was being lowered onto a stage as part of their grand entrance to a company party when a wire snapped, the Times of India reported. Shocking video showed the moment the yellow cage hovering near the rafters began to wobble as fireworks exploded and a voice implored the crowd to “put their hands together” for the pair. The cage then quickly dropped to one side, sending the two heads of the Illinois-based company hurtling 15 feet to the ground — roughly a one-story drop. One of the men completely flipped over, landing head-first on the ground, the video shows. Shah was killed in the accident. Datla was left in critical condition. Although the cause was attributed to a snapped wire, officials are investigating the incident and faulty cage, which was pulled by a rolling machine and had iron wires and grills. Shah and Datla were in India to celebrate their Vistex Asia’s silver jubilee, which was being celebrated across two days at the famous Ramoji Film City. “Shah and Raju being lowered from the cage onto the dais was a planned event to kickstart the celebrations,” a company official told the outlet. Vistex, founded by Shah in 1999, is an advisory service company with more than 20 global offices and a hefty client list that includes GM, Yamaha, Coca-Cola and more. The Mumbai, India native immigrated to America more than a decade earlier to attend Lehigh University’s business school, where he earned his MBA in 1989 at the age of 21, according to the institution. He went on to donate $5 million to establish the Vistex Institute for Executive Education at the school in 2017. Shah was a philanthropist who also established the Vistex Foundation, which provides grants to nonprofits focusing on health, education, and basic needs programming. In 2020, he opened the Vistex Hospital in Bihar, India, which became recognized as a national model COVID-19 facility.

knowing when the bird is done can also be a problem

Privates property: NYC pre-war building endowed with a roof that resembles a penis A well-endowed co-op building on the Upper West Side boasts a roof deck with a resemblance to a certain male appendage when viewed from above.

or an interested one

I went to college in Syracuse. A foot of snow could fall overnight and there would be less kerfuffle than when 2 inches fell in NYC.

You're a jockstrap?!?!?

Not sure if Jockey makes athletic supporters.

I must disagree with you, @WilliamM. Masturbation is more of a hobby than a sport.

Heterosexual perverts! (or is that term repetitive?) No wonder they're called breeders.

Jim Palmer alleges hair stylist befriended family, then defrauded them of nearly $1M

Brooklyn Pizzeria Owner Spent $60K to Pick Up Street Trash that is an awful lot to pay for a hustler

Will there be a legal fund set up to handle pregnancies? (I got a million of 'em...)

Ghislaine Maxwell could use a job. (too soon?)

Don't most corporations have a CTO - Chief Trafficking Officer?

sar·casm /ˈsärˌkazəm/ noun the use of irony to mock

My best friend demands I wear a bra to her wedding — I have small boobs, I won't do it that's why I stopped going to weddings. (sigh!)

"Feud: Capote vs The Swines" might elicit squeals of delight.

Not if their pets are a matabele ant farm