Posts Tagged ‘Amanda Seyfried’

“Red Riding Hood” hits theaters Friday, March 11, but yours truly was lucky enough to see an advanced screening!  In this new take on the old story, Red Riding Hood is not “little”; she’s a young woman in medieval times about to be married off to a handsome blacksmith, Henry.

The problem?  She’s in love with a handsome wood smith, Peter.  Just as Valerie and Peter are plotting to run off together to escape her arranged marriage, a bell tolls;  the wolf, who has not killed for twenty years, is back.

The gorgeous Amanda Seyfried looked amazing throughout the film, but that seemed to be the only constant;  good looks.  Amanda’s character Valerie is caught in a love triangle with two very handsome hot young men, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching my favorite afternoon soap opera.

Now, when I tell you I think this movie is for kids, I don’t mean the nursery rhyme set.  I’m talking about about kids who are old enough to see a PG-13 movie, but need their Mom to drop them off at the theater.  It should come as no surprise that director Catherine Hardwicke of “Twilight” fame also directed this movie.  Hmmm…gorgeous damsel in distress, two men fighting over her…why it’s practically the same plot!  And there are werewolves in both movies!  And the same Dad!  (Yes, actor Billy Burke plays the father in this movie too)!

Unfortunately, “Red Riding Hood” is no “Twilight.”  Major plot holes, bad acting and a very fake set with very fake snow take away from a great performance by Amanda Seyfried.  But, if you can get caught up in the whodunit story and lost in the eyes of three young and gorgeous people lusting after one another, you might love it!

I’m going to assume the ‘big’ actors who signed on for this movie were pitched on the “Twilight” success theory; with all of the similairities and the same director, what could go wrong?

Familiar faces in the film include Gary Oldman, who stars in the latest installment of Batman movies as good cop Jim Gordon and as Siruis Black in the “Harry Potter” series; Oscar-nominated Virginia Madsen as Valerie’s mother; Oscar winner and legend Julie Christie as Valerie’s grandmother (Grandmother, what big eyes you have!); and Lukas Haas of “Inception,” who still looks like he did when he was seven and starred in ”Witness” with Harrison Ford.  Unfortunately, all the star power didn’t add up to a hit.

For me, the movie was a miss, but if you love suspense and young love stories, this one might be a must for you!

Elle magazine is facing backlash after Internet rumors surfaced that they lightened the skin of their cover girl, Gabourey Sidibe.

The 27-year-old “Precious” star is one of four celebrities featured on four separate front covers to celebrate Elle’s 25th anniversary issue. The other covers feature Megan Fox, Lauren Conrad, and Amanda Seyfried, dubbing the foursome as examples of young women who are changing the world.

However, on Gabby’s cover, her skin appears to be several shades lighter than her normal skin tone. Elle is also being criticized for showing the other three girls in full length, yet cropping Gabby’s photo at her chest.

Elle released a statement insisting they did “nothing out of the ordinary” to Gabby’s photograph. They add, “…Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others. We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is.”

What do you think? Has Elle gone Photoshop crazy?

Anytime a celebrity slims down, rumors run rampant about how they lost the weight. You can barely watch the local news, let alone open a magazine, that doesn’t have information on a new diet trend.

But with this great influx of information, how are we supposed to know which diets are legitimate and which are simply as strange and gimmicky as they sound? Sari Greaves, RD spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and Nutrition Director at Step Ahead Weight Loss Center in Bedminster, New Jersey helps shed some light on the subject of some of the popular celebrity diets we’ve seen in the media.

Remember, it’s best to consult your doctor before embarking on any diet, inspired by a svelte celebrity, or not.

The Master Cleanse

Also known as the “Lemonade Diet,” The Master Cleanse is a diet that claims to cleanse your body through drinking a homemade lemonade comprised of maple syrup, cayenne pepper and lemon juice mixed with water. If you think that sounds terrible, it actually gets worse. This lemonade is meant to be all you consume for at least 10 days, if you can follow it for that long, supplemented only by brackish water and laxative tea to help stimulate bowel movements.

According to Stanley Burroughs, the creator of the diet, The Master Cleanse is meant to rid the body of toxins, increase energy levels and aid in weight loss. Singer and actress Beyonce Knowles famously lost 20 pounds in less than two weeks on this stringent diet to slim down for her role in “Dreamgirls” and model Naomi Campbell said that she also does The Master Cleanse when she last appeared on Oprah.

So does it work? According to Greaves, the answer is yes, if your goal is to see a lower number on the scale. “The diet is only 600 to 1200 calories per day,” she explains. “No one should dip below 1200 calories per day for weight loss without professional supervision, which is one reason why The Master Cleanse may be dangerous. Essentially, this regimen is a fast and puts the body into a state of starvation. During starvation your fat cells are burned for energy, but your body also breaks down muscle to provide enough fuel to vital organs such as the brain and heart.”

This type of starvation slows the dieter’s metabolism, making any weight loss extremely difficult to maintain once you return to a normal eating routine. But that’s not the only downside to The Master Cleanse, according to Greaves. “More importantly, starving your body of vital nutrients for a prolonged period can wreak havoc on your system. Risks include frequent liquid bowel movements, vitamin deficiency, muscle breakdown, weakened immune system, hair loss, pallid complexion and even brain damage. The bottom line is that there are definitely much safer and more sustainable ways to lose weight that do not incur long-term health risks.”

The Baby Food Diet

What’s the fastest way to get a new fad diet in the news? Ask the hottest trainer in Los Angeles what she and her A-list clients are doing to stay slim.

The latest diet buzz has been surrounding The Baby Food Cleanse, which is a diet based on eating pureed food, whipping your meals to a consistency similar to the contents of a Gerber jar. This is a new type of cleanse that celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson developed for her clients which include Jennifer Aniston and Madonna. Anderson told Hollyscoop that this type of diet is cleansing, yet still allows you to eat, technically.

“It calls for a daily 14 servings of pureed fruits, vegetables, grains and meat. In other words, baby food from your local supermarket followed by a healthy adult dinner,” says Greaves. “The 14 servings throughout the day deliver 1,000 calories and the calories included in the nightly meal depend on your own math.”

So should we all be making a mad dash to the baby food aisle in the grocery store? Not yet, says Greaves. “There’s no study saying whether this diet really works. Possibly because it’s so new that researchers haven’t had time for a thorough examination. It’s also important to point out that The Baby Food Diet doesn’t have any solid guidelines to follow or an exercise component, which is essential for leading an overall healthy lifestyle, not matter what you’re eating.”

Raw Food Diet

Read any celebrity gossip magazine and you’ll see that there are many interpretations of what qualifies as a “raw food” diet, but in most cases, this eating plan encourages followers to stay away from processed foods, and bread. This basically means fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. However, true raw foodists don’t let anything pass through their lips that is cooked at a temperature over 116 degrees in order to avoid breaking down important enzymes.

“A raw food diet is just what it sounds like- you only eat raw food. As in at least 75 percent of your meals and snacks are not heated above 116 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is chosen because the diet’s creators believe that the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables wither away when cooked at high heats,” explains Greaves.

Actress Demi Moore has been said to be a longtime fan of a raw diet. But younger ingenue, Amanda Seyfried, sounded more reluctant to embrace this diet although she also goes raw, telling Esquire that it’s “awful” and that her lunch consisted of “spinach and some seeds.” ”While on a raw diet you can expect to eat vegetarian or most likely vegan. That means no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no animal ingredients and most importantly, no processed foods,” says Greaves.

Does going raw do a body good? Definitely when you eliminate processed foods from your diet, Greaves says. “Research has linked eating processed foods to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Plus, they’re rather high in sugars and empty calories and low in essential vitamins. Almost all meals in a raw food diet are based on the same key ingredients including: fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, dried fruit, and seaweed. All of these foods are high in essential vitamins and lack trans and saturated fats.”

An added benefit? Eating more fruits and vegetables aid in digestion, reduce risk of heart disease, increase energy levels, result in clearer skin and, weight loss. However, before you jump on the raw food bandwagon, Greaves suggests you do your research and make sure you know how to eat balanced meals while going raw. “Doctors have seen raw foodists experience calcium, iron, zinc and B12 deficiencies. And a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that a raw food diet increased levels of homocysteine – an amino acid in the blood linked to heart disease- due to vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Switching to a raw food diet might not be the best choice for children, pregnant or nursing women and people with anemia or at risk for osteoporosis, since research has found that people on the raw food diet often have lower bone mass than those who do not follow a raw diet.”

Best surprise: With song/dance man Hugh Jackman as host, surprise presenters, and funny gag bits, the Oscar’s was one of the most entertaining it’s been in a long time. (Ratings were even up 6 percent from last year’s telecast.)

Worst surprise: Chances are you won your office pool because just about no surprise winners threw off our ballots. “Slumdog Millionaire” cleaned up winning 8 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay as predicted, and Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, and Penélope Cruz won as expected. The biggest upset was Sean Penn winning Best Actor over Mickey Rourke, but really we all knew it was between the two anyway.

Worst use of presenting the Best Pictures:  Up until the last ten minutes of the show, you wouldn’t even know which films were nominated for Best Picture, and isn’t this what the night was really all about? Instead of showcasing clips throughout the night like usual, the clips were only shown right before the award was handed out. Even worse, they were intermingled with previous films that have similar themes making the clips confusing and taking attention away from the nominees.

Best presentation of movies: The montages of film genres recapping the best of 2008 were done so in great pop culture fashion. Coldplay’s “Lovers in Japan” played to the great romance flicks, Wall-E the adorable robot found a tape of the best animation movies, and the hilarious James Franco and Seth Rogen reprised their “Pineapple Express” roles as they watched DVDs of the funniest comedies.

Worst use of presenting the Best Songs: The song nominees, which are usually played in their entirety throughout the night, also weren’t given their full due. The two “Slumdog Millionaire” songs and “Wall-E” song were shortened and played one after the other. We all knew “Jai Ho” was going to win, but “Wall-E” should have been given it’s own set piece rather than making John Legend sing with “Slumdog’s” Indian back-up dancers and drummers.

Best use of presenting awards: Rather than randomly presenting awards, the telecast walked the audience through the making of a movie starting with the screenwriting process to art direction to editing. Stars associated with the category was also a nice touch like action hero Will Smith presenting Best Visual Effects and Sound Mixing and “Religious” filmmaker Bill Maher presenting Best Documentary.

Best presenters: Steve Martin and Tina Fey presented the screenplay awards humorously (“Don’t fall in love with me” Martin stoically told a googly eyed Fey) and controversially (poking fun at Hollywood-favorite Scientology). And don’t forget about Ben Stiller who delivered a dead-on impression of Joaquin Phoenix’s bizarre appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” while presenting with Natalie Portman. It would have been even funnier though if it wasn’t just parodied at the previous night’s Independent Spirit Awards.

Best use of presenters: Keeping most of the identities of the presenters top-secret beforehand made for a more exciting show because you never knew who was going to come out next. Hello Will Smith, hello Reese Witherspoon!

Worst use of presenters: While it was fun seeing past winners like Nicole Kidman, Robert De Niro, and Christopher Walken, presenting the nominees, it came off too self-congratulatory. Instead of comments like “You really nailed it” and Marion Cotillard clasping her hands together cooing “Thank you” to Winslet, let’s see some clips instead. Most viewers at home haven’t seen all the movies, so it’d be more interesting to see the performances for which they’re nominated. 

Best acceptance speech: Instead of the director or co-stars accepting on his behalf, the acceptance of Heath Ledger’s Oscar by his family was much more touching. “Tonight we are choosing to be happy and celebrate what he has achieved,” his mother, Sally Bell, said.

Funniest acceptance speeches: Where to begin? First there’s Phillipe Petit, the subject of the documentary, “Man on Wire,” who not only balanced the Oscar on his chin, he also made a coin disappear.  Then the Japanese director of the Best Animated Short, “Kunio Kato thanked Mr. Roboto.” Finally, Best Director, Danny Boyle, bounced up and down in homage of Tigger for his children.  

Worst camera shots: Awkward alert… Not only did Jennifer Aniston have to present an award mere feet away from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the camera cut away to Brangelina twice! At least Jolie and Pitt made nice and weren’t giving dirty looks.

Best use of teeny boppers: While baby faced stars like Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Robert Pattinson, and Amanda Seyfried presented and performed on stage to most likely draw in the younger audience, their presence was downplayed and didn’t make the Oscars feel like the Teen Choice Awards.

Best secret talent: Anne Hathaway showed off her really good voice in her pretend-impromptu song and dance number with Jackman. Look out Beyoncé. Maybe you won’t be needed next year.

Here are the winners of the major categories:

Best Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”