Here are some photos from last night’s Venice Film Festival premiere of Ad Astra, aka Brad Pitt’s Melancholic Masculinity In Space Movie. That’s too wordy, which is why they named it Ad Astra. This was really the first time I’ve seen Brad on a red carpet where I felt like… damn, Brangelina is no more. Back in the day, Angelina would have been there and they would have posed like crazy with his hand on her ass. As it was, he looked like he didn’t know what to do with his hands or how to pose solo.

So, basically, his female costars were much more interesting on this red carpet. Liv Tyler plays his wife in Ad Astra, and she wore this crinkly Givenchy gown which… this is taffeta, right? And it looks like cheap taffeta. I’m sure this dress costs thousands of dollars, but wow is this bad fabric. Ruth Negga wore a custom Louis Vuitton gown – I could have done without the quilted jacket/cape, honestly. The dress would have been lovely enough on its own.

Here are pics from the photocall in Venice. Liv wore Stella McCartney, and the shoulders, sleeves and neckline are all wrong here, but the fabric is sort of interesting. Ruth wore a Louis Vuitton Cruise jumpsuit, and she looked cute as hell.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are some photos of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver at the Venice Film Festival. They’re there to support and promote Marriage Story, which is really a story of a marriage and divorce told through the wife’s eyes and the husband’s eyes. Scar and Adam play the husband and wife. It’s getting great reviews out of Venice. The fashion and styling, on the other hand… wow. To be fair, Adam Driver looks great and I love him and I would marry and divorce him twenty times. But Scarlett… my goodness.

I covered some fashion photos from Venice yesterday and I noted that Juliette Binoche was bizarrely doing a “wet look” hairstyle. Now I kind of wonder if there’s one big-name hairstylist on call in Venice and he’s like “DAH-ling the wet look is tres chic, don’t you know anything?” And ScarJo believed him, because she thinks she’s the chicest person ever. When really she just wore a boring AF Celine gown and styled it with “drowned rat” hair. ScarJo also attempted an odd look for the photocall too – the striped midriff-baring shirt and palazzo-Capris, both by Michael Kors. Her makeup and hair look fine for the photocall, it’s just the outfit that sucks.

As for the film, it was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and the story is loosely based on his marriage to and divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh. ScarJo also said, in the press conference, that she was “going through a divorce” when she first met with Baumbach about the movie, which means she read the script as she and Romain Dauriac were falling apart. She also said she felt “fated” to do this movie. They all say that! They all say that to get Oscars.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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I’m betting that the number of people who apply to The University of Texas at Austin because they are interested in careers in radio, television, and film might go up just a tad now. One of UT Austin’s well-known alumni, Matthew McConaughey, is going to be an instructor of record soon, and so will be teaching a course!

Matthew McConaughey has been appointed a professor of practice at his alma mater, the University of Texas, according to the Austin school.

The Oscar winner — whose Hollywood career was launched with his role as Wooderson, the pot-smoking ladies’ man in “Dazed and Confused” — will teach at the Moody College of Communication starting this fall.

He has been teaching the Script to Screen film production class with faculty member and director Scott Rice since 2015 as a visiting instructor, shaping the course’s curriculum and giving students a behind-the-scenes look at film production.

“It’s the class I wish I would have had when I was in film school. Working in the classroom with these students gives me a chance to prepare them,” said McConaughey, who graduated from UT with a film degree in 1993.

[From Page Six]

This is neat! I admit that I was a tad skeptical when I saw this headline. (I wasn’t sure whether this was another James Franco situation.) But, Matthew has been a visiting instructor for 4 years (I didn’t know this) and has had a hand in designing the course while working with another faculty member, Scott Rice. He’s clearly serious about this work and is the real deal. Here’s his page on the department website. He lists his expertise as “Production” and “Narrative filmmaking.” It’s apparent that the department knows that Matthew would be a draw. At the bottom of his faculty webpage is the caveat, “Please note that the script-to-screen advanced producing course is only available to RTF [Radio-Televsion-Film] upper-division students who have completed specific prerequisites; non-majors will not be admitted to this course.”

Matthew said that he’s teaching the class that he wanted to take when he was a student. Since he’s someone who is “in the industry,” I’m sure that he’s been creating a class that students find both engaging and useful for their own development as filmmakers. Kudos to Matthew for wanting to give back to his alma mater and the students. There’s a world of difference between excelling at a particular collection of skills (e.g. those relating to filmmaking) and being able to teach others those skills. Teaching well is incredibly difficult. The fact that the university is allowing Matthew to teach on his own means that he has proven himself to be a decent instructor, and congratulations to him for that. (I’m choosing to be optimistic rather than cynical here. Obviously, the university knows that Matthew can bring in a lot of aspiring filmmakers, but since he’s been teaching there for a few years already, before being given his own course, I don’t think it’s completely naive to assume that he’s a good instructor.) I hope that he and his students enjoy the experience, and am curious to see what, if anything, we might learn about his course.

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Photos credit: Getty

Last year, Kim Kardashian found herself mired in controversy (shock!) and facing widespread accusations of cultural appropriation (also shocking!). What was the controversy that time? It was because Kim had smallish cornrows in her hair – for a photoshoot – and she posted photos on her social media referring to them as “Bo Derek braids.” They are Fulani braids or cornrows, not “Bo Derek braids.” Kim was bashed across the board, for appropriating a hairstyle usually worn by black folks, for not even giving credit to black hair culture for the braids, and for not acknowledging or apologizing for her privilege and ignorance.

One year later… Kendall Jenner stepped out several days ago in LA, with her sister Kylie. Kendall had cornrows halfway through her hair. She wore the cornrows for about a day, getting pap’d with that hairstyle and even posting stuff on her Instagram Stories with the same hair. To be completely fair to Kendall… to my knowledge, she didn’t claim that Bo Derek invented this. So at least there’s that, and yes, I know that’s setting the bar very low. Still, Kendall was accused of cultural appropriation, which isn’t surprising in the least considering her entire family built their empire on culture-vulturing and famewhorism. Some comments online:

“I’m EXHAUSTED of white people constantly appropriating black culture and wearing hairstyles that we are always ridiculed/ chastised for having and just doing it because they want to ‘look different’ or ‘stand out,’ ” wrote one user. “We wear these hairstyles to PROTECT our natural hair from damages but they wanna wear it because it looks cool. It shouldn’t be worn by them period.” Another noted Kendall’s previous controversies, claiming, “She never learns.”

“Yet another time that Kendall Jenner has appropriated black culture,” said one user. “These white women no longer have to think for themselves. They just exploit and steal from black women but are the ones who are praised for it.”

“Can she come up with something else???” someone wrote. “This act is getting redundant now.”

A rep for Kendall did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

[From People]

I’m not black so I’m keeping my mouth shut. I will say this though: I think if it was a one-time thing, one moment where someone appropriated without understanding what they were doing, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. But, again, this family does it all the damn time. Kendall and Kylie famously tried to sell t-shirts of their faces superimposed on top of iconic photos of Tupac and Biggie. Kendall knows better. Or rather, she knows what she’s doing.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

In 2019, if you’re a celebrity under the age of 60, you get to interview yourself. If you’re over 60, you have to sit down and actually spill your guts about every single detail of your life, sexual history and career. That’s the trend. So it is with Joel Schumacher, director of such feature films like Flatliners, St. Elmo’s Fire, Batman Forever, The Client and A Time to Kill. He knows everybody. He helped “discover” Julia Roberts. He discovered Brad Renfro. He got career advice from Woody Allen in the ‘70s. He’s had sex with 20,000 people. Seriously, this Vulture interview with Schumacher is BONKERS. Some highlights:

Becoming friends with Woody Allen in the ‘70s: “He and Diane Keaton had broken up, and he was sort of a bachelor-around-town in New York. Many times we were both single. There was a New Year’s Eve when we took all our invitations, his and mine, and we decided we were going to go to every single party together. From a small gathering to a huge thing. That was fun. Woody taught me, at a very early stage in my career, things that have carried me. So did everyone I’ve ever worked with. All I know about Woody is he couldn’t have been a more generous friend. And Mia was fantastic to me.”

His thoughts on Dylan Farrow’s story: “I saw the interview with Dylan. She believes it happened. Her brother certainly believes it. Mia absolutely believes it. And I’m not saying it happened. I’m just saying they believe it happened. But she was so young at the time that I don’t know.

How Ewan McGregor was cast as Joel’s dear friend Halston: “Well, I mean, with all great respect for Ewan, but he doesn’t look anything like Halston. Armie Hammer should have played Halston. He’s perfect.”

On Colin Farrell & star-power: “When he came in, it’s like the whole room was filled just with his presence. There was something about him. It was like when I first saw Demi [Moore] at a distance. Kiefer [Sutherland] had like one shot in At Close Range, just one. He had a larger part that was cut out, and I remember I said, “Bring that kid in for The Lost Boys.” I didn’t know he was Donald’s son. It’s kind of like falling in love. You know there’s someone out there, but you haven’t met them yet. And then Julia Roberts comes in at 19 or 20, and you say, “Thank you, God.”

On Julia Roberts: “Julia didn’t change, the world changed. Overnight, when Pretty Woman opened, she became the No. 1 female box-office star in the world, and she was not prepared. It was a fish bowl — “Let’s watch this girl handle this bucking bronco,” and let’s see any time she makes a mistake. Did she drink too much? Did she meet the wrong boyfriend? What did she do wrong?….[one night] she looked up at me, crying, and said, “I never needed to be this famous.” And it was so profound to me because I realized you can’t decide how much fame you want or get. It’s not up to you. You now belong to them. I think she did eventually become very strong. She had to be. What was her other choice?”

On how Tommy Lee Jones is an a–hole: “He was fabulous on The Client. But he was not kind to Jim Carrey when we were making Batman Forever. And I didn’t say Val [Kilmer] was difficult to work with on Batman Forever. I said he was psychotic. [Tommy Lee Jones] wasn’t kind to Jim. He did not act towards Jim the way an Oscar winner with a star on Hollywood Boulevard, being the oldest member of the cast, and having such a distinguished career and the accolades to go with it, should have acted towards Jim. But what happens on the set stays on the set.

How he had sex with men when he was underage: “I never felt abused….I would think people know the difference between being molested and mutual consent. Legally, a minor is considered not able to make up their own mind, and they’re taken advantage of, but I never, ever, felt that in my life. I know what other people have suffered.”

Whether those sexual situations (when he was a minor) were creepy: “Listen, I mean, if I say this I’m gonna be killed — there are very seductive children. I was one of them. I was very seductive at a very young age. That doesn’t mean that anybody who was older should’ve said yes or just complied, but I feel in my lifetime I’ve always been a very results-oriented person.

Trying to guess the number of partners he’s had: “It would be in the double-digit thousands, but that is not unusual…10, or 20 [thousand]. It’s not [amazing] for a gay male, because it’s available.

[From Vulture]

There’s a lot more, obviously, about all of the actors he’s worked with and he still remembers who said what to whom and why. He remembers Brad Renfro and how he and Susan Sarandon tried to protect Renfro but couldn’t. He remembers how much fun George Clooney always was. He remembers a lot about Halston, one of his dear friends (but they were never lovers). The “seductive children” comment really grossed me out and I really don’t want to dissect it. Have at it.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

National Geographic reports that about 76,000 fires were burning across the Brazilian Amazon at last official count, according to data from INPE, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research. A majority are being set by humans and are the result of deforestation efforts. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance foundation pledged $5 million in aid. Another celebrity who has stepped up in a big way is Bethenny Frankel. She’s sending the Global SuperTanker (a 747 manufactured by Boeing that is now able to fight fires) to the Amazon:

“Gearing up to attack the Amazon crisis,specifically saving the lives of indigenous tribes & animals,” she wrote in a tweet on Saturday. “Tomorrow I’ll get specific but,i’m chartering a full size supertanker(fire truck in a plane)to spray massive area. I’ll reach out w details for you to donate.Planning trip.#bstrong”

Over the next several days, Frankel, 48, responded to several tweets about her plans and specifically stressed the need to share real information — several celebrities have been calling for action to stop the fires, but sharing photos that were taken years ago.

“The reason people are posting historical inaccurate pictures is because there is basically no access,” she wrote in a tweet on Monday. “My team is meeting with the government army & I should have photos by Th then a plan and more detail within the next weeks.#bstrong #globalempowermentmission.”

On Tuesday, she shared several photos of what she says is the blazing Amazon, saying that the pictures were “legitimate” and taken within the past week.

“These are photos of the #AmazonFires that have been taken in the past week, verified by the local officials as legitimate,” she said. “I have these photos because my #BStrong team is on the ground now working on emergency response in the form of humanitarian aide & fire fighting support.”

[From People]

Bethenny also tweeted a link to a CrowdRise fundraiser that she started, the #BStrong for the Amazon Initiative, with a goal of $300,000. As of Thursday evening, just under $13,000 has been raised.

We are fundraising now to make this mission possible – but my team is already on the ground because we KNOW that we can count on your support! Learn more below, and donate NOW at the link in my bio to help #SaveTheAmazon!https://t.co/LMYg4svz9d

— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) August 27, 2019

This is a fantastic gesture by Bethenny and I hope that it manages to have a positive effect and help stop or slow the spread of fires. People spoke with Dan Reese, who is the president of Global SuperTanker Services. He said, “‘In all honesty, I think it’s going to take rain [to put out the fires].” And Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is cut from the same cloth as Trump, has agreed to accept the G-7?s offer of $22 million in aid if President Macron apologizes for saying for saying that “the fires are a world environmental crisis that Bolsonaro has allowed to worsen.” Macron also accused the Brazilian leader, whom NPR describes as a climate change skeptic, as having “lied about his effort to combat deforestation.” Bolsonaro is apparently more concerned about his ego than the fact that the Amazon is burning at a devastating and dangerous rate. Thank goodness for Bethenny, Leo, and everyone else who is stepping up to help, whether with donations or on the ground. Here’s a link to an article on how you can help support the efforts to end the devastating fires in the Amazon.

Warning that the last image in the slideshow below shows a deceased capybara.

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These are photos of the #AmazonFires that have been taken from the scene in the past week, verified by the local officials as legitimate. I have these photos because my #BStrong team is on the ground now in Bolivia working on emergency response in the form of humanitarian aide and fire fighting support. We are fundraising now to make this mission possible – but my team is already on the ground because we KNOW that we can count on your support! Learn more below, and donate NOW at the link in my bio to help #SaveTheAmazon! . . . My #BStrong for the Amazon Initiative is joining our partner, the Global Empowerment Mission, to enact a major mission in response to the fires in the Amazon immediately to aid in this crisis situation. #thisisacrisis . #BStrong teams arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on August 26. Upon arriving, we began to assess the situation to determine the needs on the ground and the means with which aid could be brought in. Then, after some logistical planning, we will work to provide humanitarian and fire fighting aid IMMEDIATELY. . This effort is particularly challenging because chartering fire fighting planes presents unique logistical issues and is extremely expensive to do. Right now, Bolivia is ground zero for this emergency fire situation, so this is where we will stage our team to provide resources, fire fighting, and direct humanitarian aid. Not only are these fires devastating plant and animal life, they are are also harming and displacing millions of people living in the area in already economically disadvantaged situations. . We are situated to provide these services because of our relationships with the people on the ground who have been working in these communities for many years, along with officials in the areas impacted. We have the team, connections, expertise, and experience needed to quickly and responsibly fight these fires and help the people and animals on the ground who are suffering.

A post shared by Bethenny Frankel (@bethennyfrankel) on Aug 27, 2019 at 10:21am PDT

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A post shared by Bethenny Frankel (@bethennyfrankel) on Aug 22, 2019 at 3:30pm PDT

Jennifer Lopez turned 50 this year. 50 is a big deal for most people, the usual card and slice of cake won’t cut it. But it especially won’t do for JLo, so she created her own birthday celebration and took it on a worldwide tour. Jennifer just wrapped her It’s My Party Tour, which included an international leg. Jennifer took a video log of her travels/celebration that included behind-the-scenes clips, concert footage and personal moments with family so we could celebrate right along with her:

Jennifer introduced the video with a voice-over explaining why she choose to take her birthday global. JLo wants everyone to realize that women don’t have to hide in the shadows once they turn 50.

Everybody thought I was crazy when I wanted to go out and let everybody know that I was 50. That was something, like, “Why are we highlighting this, again?” But for me, was important. It was important as a woman to do that. To let people know that you don’t get to write women off at a certain point in their life. You don’t get to write people off. You’re getting better and better as you go, so long as you are open to the experience of growing and evolving. And to me that was very important to put out there. And until we started the show, it just seemed like a fun idea to me, to have a party, all summer. Also, on the other hand, that it would be so much fun to celebrate my 50th birthday in this way.

I mean, I love it. You all are tired of hearing me wail about complimenting a woman on her appearance with the caveat “for her age.” I am exactly like JLo, I’ll look for opportunities to tell people I’m 50. If I’d thought of it, I would have totally taken my birthday on the road (and am possibly mildly miffed she didn’t think to make our turning 50 in the same year a joint thing, but whatever).

She’s right, women need to remember that we can shine for as long as there is light left in us. And we need to do it in any way that makes us happy. Whether it’s filling laugh lines or rocking grey hair, I just want to see women out there being their version of 50 and not trying to imply there’s anything wrong with aging. I love that JLo blew the f—king doors off her birthday. If she’s turning her milestone into a movement, sign me up.

Photo credit: WENN Photos and YouTube

We are now in the back half of 2019 which means 2020 is not that far away…and we are still talking about Hot Felon, Jeremy Meeks. Jeremy’s been having some love drama with Chloe Green, because no one saw that coming. Is it love or is it desperation? You know what’s hard? Going from a billionaire lif…

We are now in the back half of 2019 which means 2020 is not that far away…and we are still talking about Hot Felon, Jeremy Meeks. Jeremy’s been having some love drama with Chloe Green, because no one saw that coming. Is it love or is it desperation? You know what’s hard? Going from a billionaire lif…

I wrote earlier today about love and its unpredictability, especially young love and its unpredictability. How do you know, when you’re young and in particular when you’re famous whether or not your love will still be the same in eight to ten months? Last year, at this time, Pete Davidson was engage…