John Lennon's Death 31 Years Ago Today

John Lennon was killed 31 years ago today and, shortly afterward, Roxy Music added his song "Jealous Guy" to their set while on tour in Germany, as a tribute. They recorded and released it a few months later... just a beautiful remembrance of John.

The NFL Won't Share 'All-22' Television Footage

This is interesting.

At WSJ, "The Footage the NFL Won't Show You: Despite Its TV Ubiquity, the League Won't Share 'All-22' Footage; Second-Guessing the Coach."

'Girl Panic'

Via Cindy Crawford:

More supermodels from Duran Duran.

Heidi Klum Skinless Dead Body Costume

A report at New York Times, "Project Halloween."

Kim Kardashian Divorce: 'This was not an easy decision'

Yeah, but it wasn't the least bit surprising.

At London's Daily Mail, "'This was not an easy decision': Kim Kardashian files for divorce from Kris Humphries after just 72 days of marriage (that's $250,000 earned every 24 hours)."

Lindsay Lohan Nude!

Well, not yet actually.

It was the big celebrity buzz yesterday, in any case.

At LAT, "Lindsay Lohan may be in Playboy — now use your imagination."

Jennifer Lopez Breaks Down on Stage

At People Magazine.

And lots of pics at London's Daily Mail, "Jennifer Lopez runs off stage sobbing after singing about lost love... (but at least she looked sensational in nude skintight catsuit)."

PREVIOUSLY: "Jennifer Lopez Hot New Fiat Ad."

'The Ides of March'

Saw it Friday night.

I enjoyed it, although a number of things about the film tell me more about director and star George Clooney than about politics. Clooney's character is Mike Morris, a governor of Pennsylvania running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Morris is portrayed as a matter-of-fact progressive, proclaiming his unabashed secularism. He says his only religion is "the Constitution" and within ten days of taking office he'll pass legislation putting internal combustion engines on a bee line to extinction. It's really eye-rolling stuff. Morris repeats the mantra that he wants to make America great again. The closest model is Bill Clinton in 1992, and not just with echoes of economic nationalism. Morris is not the model of propriety we find out, in a plot twist that's key to the entire show. For me it was the movie's Machiavellian power games that ring true, and I'd recommend it in that sense, and for the crisp cinematography, solid acting, and for bringing things toward the climax relatively quickly. In any case, I'm avoiding plot spoilers here, so let me hand it over to A.O. Scott for some more background: "Estranged Bedfellows." And also, Kenneth Turan, "Movie review: 'The Ides of March'." If you're out to the movies this next week you might give this film a go.

Scorsese's George Harrison Documentary Was on Again Last Night...

Hey, HBO's been showing it pretty regularly if you've missed it: "'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'."

And Wikipedia has the background on this video:

"In 2004, George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' was played in tribute by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Ferrone and Dhani Harrison, along with fellow inductee Prince."

Demi Moore Seeks Divorce From Cheatin' Ashton Kutcher?

At Daily Mail, "'Humiliated' Demi seeks divorce after last-ditch bid to save marriage fails."

But People Magazine has this, "Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore Spotted at Services."

Neither of the pair's reps have responded for comment about the status of their relationship.

Ashton the asshat is blowing it. He's the one who should be humiliated.

RELATED: "Ashton Kutcher's Mistress Sara Leal Bares All In Topless Photos."

Paul McCartney Marries Nancy Shevell

This is great.

At London's Daily Mail, "Introducing Lady McCartney! Nancy and Sir Paul can't stop smiling as they emerge as husband and wife."

Give Me Love: Thoughts on the George Harrison Documentary

German photographer and Beatles groupie Astrid Kirchherr is interviewed at Part I of "George Harrison: Living in the Material World." She said that George Harrison was kind to everyone he met. And that sense of Harrison is expressed again and again in interviews throughout the documentary. My personal policy is to avoid meeting stars and celebrities, to avoid the disappointments, but I would have never missed the chance to meet George Harrison. Part II was perhaps better than Part I, in that it focuses on Harrison's post-Beatles life and legacy. The New York Times stresses these disparate aspects as well, "A Life of Guitars, Girls and Gentle Weeping."

"Give Me Love" is one of the George Harrison songs I often forget about, but it came to me out of the blue while I was in the car yesterday, and parts of it are played in Part II, during the coverage of Harrison's commercial successes as a solo artist. And that reminds me, the Phil Spector interview is one of the more amazing segments of the film. And Olivia Harrison is a fascinating woman as well. She has an interesting manner of speech, and her affection for George is almost scholarly in its expression. I'm watching an encore broadcast on HBO as this post goes live. Try to catch it if you can.

'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'

I watched Part I last night.

And the day before, Los Angeles Times had this: "Documentary examines George Harrison."

When Martin Scorsese and Olivia Harrison first sat down about five years ago to strategize about a documentary on the life of George Harrison, both quickly zeroed in on a letter the young Beatle wrote to his family at the height of Beatlemania.

"It was a letter George had written when he was not more than 22," Harrison said of the man to whom she was married for 23 years before his death from cancer a decade ago. "It was in 1965, and the Beatles would have been really cresting at that point. He was writing home and told his family, 'I know that this isn't it. I knew I was going to be famous, but now I know I can reach the real top of what man can achieve, which is self-realization.' He knew then that [material reward] wasn't it."

That letter figures into a pivotal moment in Scorsese's film, "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" (taken from the title of Harrison's 1973 album), which premieres on HBO over two nights Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate its 31/2-hour length.

In the scene, George says how lucky the Beatles were to acquire so many of the material goods early on that most people spend their entire lives yearning for, because they learned relatively young how hollow such things ultimately ring.

Olivia Harrison gave Scorsese and his team virtual carte blanche access to home movies, family photos, audio recordings and other items from her husband's estate for use in the film, which paints a richly detailed and unvarnished picture of the man initially pigeonholed as "the quiet Beatle."

A more accurate sobriquet might have been "the spiritual Beatle" to reflect the inward quest that seemed to capture Harrison early in a life about which he once famously said that his biggest break had been getting into the Beatles; his second biggest, getting out.

More at the link.

Also, "TV review: 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'," and "George Harrison: A video miscellany."

'Someone Like You'

Some music until later:

RELATED: At Entertainment Weekly, "Adele releases heartbreaking, beautiful 'Someone Like You' music video," and Billboard, "Adele Wanders Paris in 'Someone Like You' Video."

Keeping MTV Hip

I loved MTV when it first came out. I hardly watch it nowadays. I just liked the music videos, I think, like Wall of Voodoo, "Mexican Radio." Anyway, an interesting piece at Los Angeles Times, "MTV remakes itself for the millennial generation."

Lady Gaga or Britney Spears?

During the drive out to Rincon for the Don Henley show, my wife said she'd like to go see Lady Gaga in concert. I wasn't surprised, although I quickly replied that I'd rather see Britney Spears. She just seems so much more wholesome. And that statuesque beauty is irresistable:

Farewell to DVDs?

Well, I wasn't that big of a collector anyway.

At LAT, "Hollywood downloads a post-DVD future."

Across Hollywood, a quiet revolution is brewing that's about to transform living rooms around the world.

After desperate attempts to prop up the industry's once-thriving DVD business, studio executives now believe the only hope of turning around a 40% decline in home entertainment revenue lies in rapidly accelerating the delivery of movies over the Internet.

In the next few years, the growing number of consumers with Internet-connected televisions, tablets and smartphones will face a dizzying array of options designed to make digital movie consumption a lot more convenient and to entice users to spend more money.

With films that can be accessed on any digital device, downloaded as iPhone apps or shared on Facebook as easily as a photo, it may be the biggest shift in Hollywood's business model since the explosion of the DVD in the late 1990s.

"The days of baby steps on the Internet are over," said David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures' home entertainment unit. "It's now critical that we experiment as much as possible and determine how to build a vibrant market for collecting digital movies."

More at the link.

The Times previewed the Sunday paper yesterday, and I mentioned the end of the DVD to my oldest son. He's been watching movies and TV shows online for years. But when I asked him about it he said, "Oh, that's lame. DVDs are cool." I agree. They're fun to have around, as a physical object. That said, I can't seem to find any of my old 8-track tapes anywhere. So what can you do?

Naomi Watts Opens Up About Her Romance with Tragic Heath Ledger

Watts was awesome in "The Ring," although I haven't seen her in too many flicks since then, my bad. She's starring in "Dream House," out in theaters next weekend, so maybe I'll check that out.

Anyway, at Daily Mail, "'We had a beautiful relationship'":

Naomi Watts has opened up about her ex Heath Ledger saying the late actor was a 'very special soul' who 'made a great impact on my life.'

The 43-year-old actress - who is currently promoting her movies Dream House and J Edgar - dated the Australian star for nearly two years.

Their relationship ended in 2004 and he died four years later at the age of 28.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Childhood Being Eroded by Modern Life

At Telegraph UK, "Childhood is being eroded by a “relentless diet” of advertising, addictive computer games, test-driven education and poor childcare, a powerful lobby of more than 200 experts warns today."

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, the group of academics, teachers, authors and charity leaders says children’s wellbeing and mental health is being undermined by the pressures of modern life. They urge the Government to address a culture of “too much, too soon” in Britain.

This includes a ban on all forms of advertising aimed at the youngest children, the establishment of a play-based curriculum for infants and a public information campaign warning of the dangers of screen-based entertainment.

The comments came five years after many of the same experts sent similar letter to the Telegraph that criticised politicians and the public for failing to allow children to develop properly at a young age. It led to a debate on the state of childhood in Britain and coincided with the publication of Labour’s Children’s Plan — a policy document covering all aspects of young people’s lives.

But the group, which includes Philip Pullman, the children’s author, Baroness Greenfield, the Oxford University neuroscientist, Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, and the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, claims that the “erosion of childhood in Britain has continued apace since 2006”.

I'll take the consumerism over this decrepit nanny statism. Kids should spend more time with their families, or, well, if they have families, and I mean in the traditional sense of a mother and father, with regular employment and good values. Given what we saw with the London riots earlier this year, it can't be said that those prerequisites are firmly in place in Britain.

Bristol Palin: 'Is it Because You're a Homosexual?'

Bristol Palin asked a perfectly good question. And of course, "homosexual" isn't a slur, but the progressive media's gay-hate enablers are on the case nevertheless. At Hollywood Gossip, for example, "Bristol Palin Harassed by Heckler, Responds With Unnecessary Gay Remark." And The Examiner, "Bristol Palin makes homophobic remarks during barroom altercation." Plus, New York Magazine calls it "polite homophobia":

Palin, who is flanked by her own film crew and the paparazzi, is clearly playing up the confrontation for the cameras, barely holding back a smile as she engages in an argument that can only go ugly places. That said, besides the relatively polite homophobia, her defense is spirited and her opponent can barely put together a sentence. It almost looks staged as Bristol taunts the guy until he screams, "Fuck you, you fucking bitch!" There couldn't be more perfect fuel for the Palin family fire.

Again, nothing homophobic about asking that. And note this from a decent fellow in the comments at Towleroad:

Sorry, folks, but that guy was way out of line. From what I saw in this video, he was the one behaving poorly, while Ms. Palin was just defending herself and her mother. I'm not fan of Sarah Palin, but that doesn't mean it is ok to heckle and harrass her daughter, and it certainly wasn't ok to heckle her about her relationship with Levi. That guy set gay rights back a few steps with his bitter, hysterical behavior.

More at ABC News, "Bristol Palin Gets in Verbal Brawl at Bull Riding Bar."