Gawker: defamer, barry sonnenfeld

Painful Admissions: Without Hooker Heels And Make-Up, Gwyneth Paltrow Is Still A Knockout

Molly Friedman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:30:00 EDT

We’ve given Gwyneth Paltrow some flack lately for her sudden determination to vamp up her prim and proper image using everything from dominatrix footwear to bizarre backless jumpsuits but, with the need to promote Iron Man no longer an issue, the mother of Hollywood’s most promising cross-dressing duo is back to basics. And as it turns out, all those goopy mascara-drenched lashes and see-through mini-dresses pale in comparison to the makeup-free, covered up version of Gwyneth 1.0. In these photos, taken over the weekend at a party in the Hamptons, see why the Madonna make-out partner should give up the hooker heels for good and stick to (painful as it may be to admit) her lucky genetic makeup-free makeup:

Attending a charity dinner hosted by huggy bear and lovable eccentric extraordinaire Barry Sonnenfeld, Paltrow ditched her splashy call girl aesthetic in favor of a simple baggy black dress and according to that incredibly silly quote-heavy Brit tab we rarely trust but always adore, The Mirror, "despite the mouth-watering dinner most of the guys spent the night feasting their eyes on her." Okay, it's more than plausible that the new and improved Gwyneth caught a few glances from male attendees, but nobody except the annoyingly and totally unrealistically articulate self-obsessives of Dawson's Creek speaks like this. That aside, we're tempted to officially join Team Gwyneth in lieu of her return to makeup-free living, especially after noticing her favorite accessory, a glass of red, in her hand amid a display of water bottles.

[Photo credits: Splash via Celebitchy, FilmMagic]

EXCLUSIVE: PICTURES OF GWYNETH WITHOUT ANY MAKE-UP [Daily Mirror]

Yes, Barry Sonnenfeld, We Admit It: Defamer Hates America

STV — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT

There's something kind of magical about coming to work every day at Defamer HQ: The migraines; the server issues; the chronic ADD ... you get the picture. We're alerted today, however, to one of the perks we had apparently overlooked while basking in all this bleary-eyed glory. To hear the erstwhile auteur behind Wild Wild West and RV tell it, we and the rest of the Internet are now destroying American democracy!

According to the Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld waxed dystopic yesterday in a speech at the National Association of Broadcasters convention:

"The medium is the message, and the medium has invaded our home and taken over our minds. ... The really scary part is how hypnotic it is. The 'Net is so pervasive that kids are on it all day."
Sonnenfeld fears that children today will grow up with "no concept of the right to privacy and in fact not understand the need for it. Because the Facebook generation is not concerned with what people know about them ... they will have no problem with additional governmental supervision, spying and intervention. They will be thrilled that the Internet will be able to follow their every move.

"I suspect," he said, "we are probably looking at the last generation of Americans that exist in a democracy. Totalitarianism is not far in our future, and the next generation will go down that road happily."

Cheery! Anyway, we're of two minds here: The Oscars already capitulated to this notion of "democracy" the other day, setting entertainment culture back a full two days at a time when we need it most. Nevertheless, we'll consider meeting the Analog Stallion halfway if and/or when he takes a hiatus from the multiplex assembly line; he doesn't have to go back to shooting masterpieces for the Coen brothers like he did in the '80s (they wouldn't want him anyway, but we digress), but how about a Web satire? Maybe a present-day follow-up to the prescient Network? We hear the discriminating Sonnenfeld likes sequels. Help us help you, Barry!

Barry Sonnenfeld talks Internet fears [THR]

NBC's Silverman, ABC's McPherson Fail To Provide Expected Bloodshed At HRTS Panel

Mark — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:06:37 EDT

Even though yesterday's Hollywood Radio and TV Society luncheon and panel discussion has to be declared an overall disappointment because NBC perfect storm Ben Silverman and combative ABC president Steve McPherson, appearing together for the first time since McPherson challenged the network rival who took his best buddy's job to "be a man," failed to come to the blows the assembled journalists not-so-secretly hoped for, director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld did earn positive notices ("One of the HRTS' more lively moderators in recent memory!" raves Variety) for his hosting work at the event. THR compiles a greatest hits package of Sonnenfeld's attempts at comic relief:

Sonnenfeld quickly set the tone Tuesday by opening with a story about the size of his penis.

He followed up by asking such off-the-cuff questions as "Do you get more sex as an independent producer or an executive, and has sex changed?" (to NBC's Ben Silverman); "Do you agree that Peter Liguori is so handsome, you have to punch him in the face?" (to Fox's Kevin Reilly); "Has Les Moonves ever threatened to kill one of you?" (to CBS' Nina Tassler and the CW's Dawn Ostroff); and, to all of them, "If death was not an option, who would you rather drive in a car with cross country — Les Moonves in a really bad mood or Steve McPherson?"

While Sonnenfeld kept much of the attention on himself with his lighthearted dick jokes and fun, hypothetical questions about potentially fatal road trips with TV's deadliest personalities, at least one panelist managed to make a trade paper's highlights list, as TV Week chooses its top "Oh no you di'int, Mr. Sassy Programming Executive!" moment:

Even by softball HRTS standards, Sonnenfeld seemed mainly interested in his own personal musings — such as asking why his pitch meetings take so long, and how many hours executives spend reading scripts instead of spending time at home.
Actually, that latter question did prompt one exchange that for some was worth the price of admission. Silverman tried to gamely poke fun at his partygoer image by saying that, instead of spending time with his family like the other network executives, he's busy "dating their kids." Reilly leaned over and said, "I have two boys," and the audience hooted.

Now twice-shamed by the barbs of his network rivals in a public forum, an atypically dejected Silverman was later overheard quietly muttering into his BlackBerry, hinting to an NBC underling that he'd be "totally psyched" if when he returned to the office following the panel, everyone "surprised" him with a party where he and his staff would share pieces of a delicious cake depicting him ripping out Kevin Reilly's small intestines with his razor-sharp peacock claws, "you know, just if we have one of those laying around somewhere."

[Photo: Getty Images]

Sonnenfeld steals show at HRTS panel [THR]
HRTS Smackdown: Network Chiefs on Best Behavior [TV Week]