I admire Bradley Cooper’s pluckiness in this year’s Oscar fight. He hasn’t given up on the Best Actor award although a win would be a major upset. If it’s any consolation, BCoop won a Reuters poll where a group of random theatergoers said he should win. This is a crazy result, but more people have watched American Sniper than the other Oscar movies. Bradley received the ‘Murica vote. The poll also said Julianne Moore wouldn’t win Best Actress, which …. sure.

This year’s Oscar race also collides with the trial of Chris Kyle’s killer. So the film is on people’s minds. Bradley is also everywhere without being anywhere. He’s holed up on Broadway (where he’s working on a potential Tony), but he’s handing out interviews like candy. Bradley spoke with 60 Minutes, and he brought his mom along. She will be his Oscar date. He confessed to the LA Times how much he loves Chris Kyle, and nothing else matters but honoring Kyle’s legacy.

Coop gave a huge interview to Deadline, which reveals how involved he was in shapping the film’s narrative. The most interesting part is where Bradley namedrops actors who say he should win:

On finding the moment when Chris Kyle cracks: “That scene in the bar, that second scene, the reason why that became the crack is because I loved Chris so much. I still remember, it was the second take. And I remember on the phone I felt like I was going to really lose it. I’m on the phone, and because of the way it was written I could hear the kids in the background. When we shot her side there were no kids, but the way I was playing it, I could hear the kids. And then the camera’s coming and I had the hat on and I kind of turned away, because I didn’t want the camera … [I wanted] to protect Chris.”

This movie isn’t about war at all: “To me, it was always just a soldier’s story. And on purpose, there’s no talk about the war, why we’re in it, nothing. It is not what that movie’s about.”

All the actors want him to win: “Just insane. The calls I got from people. I don’t even know Tom Hardy, and he sent me the most incredible email. Anne Hathaway said something publicly and I called her and I just said, hey, we don’t know each other, but it got back to me what you said, and it means everything. Ashton Kutcher, Ryan Reynolds, guys I don’t really know. Sean Penn, I couldn’t believe it. Now, Ben’s my friend and I would do anything for him, but for him to host that thing in a year where he could be up for Best Actor, too? They don’t make many like that dude.

[From Deadline]

The last time I talked about BCoop, he was playing dumb and pretending not to know the movie would be a hit. His tune has changed. Now Bradley confirms the stories we heard about Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and Josh Brolin pushing hard for a BCoop coup d’etat. Affleck even hosted special Sniper screenings, which is a strong show of support. Was it right for Bradley to mention his supporters by name before the Oscars? It feels like a Gwyneth Paltrow move.

Movie stills courtesy of Warner Bros; photos courtesy of WENN

Girls Season 4 Episode 5 recap

Oh man. After the breezy openness that is Iowa, this episode is claustrophobic, empty of any oxygen, and kind of frantic and immobile at the same time. Every time Hannah opens the door someone else is there in her space – it feels like a Sartre play. …      

Last Thursday, Kanye West did his big Kanye + Adidas show during NYFW. The attendance was star-studded, with Rihanna, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Puffy, Anna Wintour, Alexander Wang and more sitting front row. It was a huge media event too, with tons of photos and coverage. Lens focused on bored-looking celebrities watching Kanye march endless panty-hose inspired looks down the runway. The header photo is a decent glimpse of Kanye’s line – that’s what he “designed.” That his “genius” at work as a designer. So would it shock you to learn that Kanye needed 30 STYLISTS to achieve “the look” for his show?

Kanye West used 30 stylists at his Fashion Week show, according to his friend Russell Simmons.

“I was there the night before,” Simmons told us at Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s Valentine’s Day luncheon at the Plaza. “Kanye had been locked in that studio for 72 hours .?.?. I left, went to Chris Rock’s birthday, came back, he’s still there at 2 a.m. .?.?. He had like 30 French and Italian guys running around, and everything that they did was inspired only by his direction.”

While one critic called Kanye’s show “clothing a homeless person would wear after the apocalypse,” Simmons is a fan.

“His style and influence is so obvious .?.?. I’m old, I’m 57, and I’ve got drop-crotch pants,” he laughed. “There is no reason why his collection, which really is meticulously designed and overseen by him, should not be a big hit .?.?. [I wonder] if [those] who are supposed to be judging understand how much detail, how thoughtful that show was.”

A source close to West would only say of the 30 stylists, “There was a team in place to make sure they were ready for the performance.”

[From Page Six]

Thirty French and Italian men? Ooh la la, Yeezington. I wonder if they were buff gentlemen or Yeezy likes his stylists to be sleek, pale and exclusively European. In any case, I am SHOCKED that it took the work of Kanye and thirty male stylists to create this runway show. Sigh… Poor Kanye.

Last thing… prepare yourselves for a DEMON.

Wolves

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 15, 2015 at 8:46pm PST

Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN, Fame/Flynet.

The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 10 recap.

Oh for Christ’s sake, they invoked the name of the show. I groaned out loud when Rick declared, “We’re the walking dead.” What a ham-fisted handling of Rick & Co.’s shifting emotional state. Of course, this en…      

Here are some photos of Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter arriving at LAX yesterday, after flying for hours and hours from Heathrow. Bendy and Sophie only spent one night together in the Isle of Wight for their honeymoon, and they will be spending the next week (or more, perhaps) in LA for their working honeymoon. He’s working – sort of. Oscar voting ends today. So I suspect the rest of the week will be spent preparing for the Oscars and going to parties. When I mentioned to my mom that Bendy and Sophie weren’t having a real honeymoon, she bet me that I wouldn’t write what she said (challenge accepted!): my mom said, “Sophie’s super-pregnant, right? All she’s going to do is complain about how her feet hurt, her boobs hurt and she has to pee. She can do that anywhere. She might as well do it in LA.”

I’m also including photos of Benedict outside of Jimmy Kimmel Live last night. I’m including the videos below. First video: Kimmel makes jokes about Bendy’s honeymoon and they talk about the Cumberbaby and baby names.

Second video: Cumby talks about his first Oscar nomination. He looks really tired and like he’s wearing a lot of makeup. I don’t believe him about NOT knowing what day the Oscar nominations were announced.

You can see the third video here – it’s just Benedict talking about TIG.

So, there you go. Bendy is now wearing a shiny yellow gold wedding band and all’s well that ends well. I’m interested in seeing if Benedict gave away/sold his wedding photos to any publication. I’d also like to see Sophie’s wedding gown. But I’ll have to make my peace with just waiting to see her Oscar gown.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Dear Gossips,

If it was a long weekend for you as it was for me (Family Day in parts of Canada/Presidents Day in the US), I hope you’re rested. Because, finally, it’s Oscar Week!

But first…

Chinese New Year on Thursday!

We have a few more signs to get through be…      

Here are some photos from last night’s London premiere of The Gunman. Charlize Theron is not in The Gumman, but Sean Penn is the lead, so Charlize came out to support her lover. Charlize’s gown is Halston Heritage and it’s an okay look. It doesn’t say “look at me, this is my film.” It says “my boyfriend stars in this junk.” So, completely suitable and nothing more. I don’t have a problem with her styling here, only that I sort of miss Charlize with really short hair. She rocks short hair better than nearly any other celebrity woman.

I watched the trailer for The Gunman for the first time just now, as I was writing up this post, and let me tell you… I guess Sean Penn needed money? Because this film looks like the kind of shoot ‘em up action/thriller “dude movie” that you would see Bruce Willis starring in. I’m actually sort of shocked to see Penn in the lead role. Girl, are you poor?!

It’s got good people in it. Javier Bardem looks like a sexy beast and it’s always nice to see Idris Elba, of course. Idris came out to the premiere too (I’m including a photo below). Also: Idris is scheduled to present at the Oscars this year. So far, Charlize and Sean are NOT scheduled. Huh.

What else? Charlize isn’t that much taller than Sean in real life, without shoes. She’s probably only an inch or two taller than him. So why does she wear three-inch heels (Stuart Weitzman) and then slouch beside him? Just wear flats! Or maybe he likes how tall she is. You ever know.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

This ^^ is a photo of Lady Gaga out and about in NYC yesterday, carefully hiding THAT ring finger. It’s like a siren call to paparazzi and tabloid editors alike: if you make a point of hiding your ring finger, that’s just an excuse for people to write about “engagement rumors.” Well, at least Gaga didn’t play that game for very long. Shortly after these photos were taken, she posted this on her Instagram:

He gave me his heart on Valentine’s Day, and I said YES!

A photo posted by @ladygaga on Feb 16, 2015 at 1:06pm PST

Yes, Lady Gaga is engaged. Taylor Kinney proposed on Valentine’s Day and Gaga said yes. I know I should find all of this hopelessly cliché, getting engaged on V-Day and wearing a heart-shaped diamond and all of that… but for Gaga, it’s sort of refreshingly normal. I know I should hate her heart-shaped diamond too, but in my humble opinion, heart-shaped diamonds are always going to be prettier than pear-shaped diamonds. I never understood the appeal of pear-shaped diamonds. Diamond flame war!

Us Weekly says that Kinney did propose on V-Day and after Gaga said yes, they went out to eat at Joanna Trattoria, the Gaga-family eatery. Gaga has been dropping hints publicly about engagements, and I guess Taylor Kinney finally caught on. They’ve been together four years with surprisingly few scandals. I used to wonder what they were doing together but after all this time… eh. Whatever. They must make each other pretty happy.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and Pacific Coast News.

Kristen Bell was on Ellen yesterday, just seven weeks after the birth of her second child, daughter Delta. (You can watch clips from her interview on YouTube.) Kristen and her husband, Dax Shepard, also have a 23 month old daughter, Lincoln, at home. On Ellen, Kristen quipped that the interview was a vacation for her, since “everyone here speaks in full sentences, and no one’s asked me to wipe their buns.” She then told an animated story about how awesome she felt when she had an epidural for Delta’s birth. Kristen had an emergency c-section, and the way she tells it, it all went a little too smoothly.

On her epidural
Aas someone who has never experimented with drugs, I really enjoyed it. It was kind of a wonderful experience for me. While they were doing it, I actually thought, ‘What else could we get done down there? Maybe lengthen the shins? I’ve always wanted to be like 5’7?. Just anything to keep the epidural flowing

She was jonesing for more drugs
I’m sitting in my hospital bed and I say to Dax, ‘Well, I think the epidural has finally worn off,’ And he looks over and I am scratching holes in my face like a meth addict, and I’m like, ‘I think it might be time to re-up. I don’t know, um, it’s definitely worn off.’

On if she’s going to have more kids
No. No, no. We don’t want to be outnumbered,. Until, I suppose, I accidentally get pregnant and my third child watches this clip and realizes that he was an accident. Sorry, honey. No, but we’re gonna cap it at two.

How Dax feels about having two daughters
He likes to say he never thought he’d be surrounded by so many women and not having this much sex

[From Ellen via US Magazine]

From what I know, itching is very common when drugs wear off after surgery. I itched terribly after I had my appendix out last year. It wasn’t pleasant at all, but of course Kristen is putting a positive spin on it for an interview. She’s working hard to be entertaining and she seems a little unhinged. Two kids under two at home will probably do that to you.

After that Kristen told a story about how her little dog, Lola, got into a fight with a big coyote. Kristen sounded really proud of her, especially after she took Lola to the vet and the vet refused to believe that Lola had tussled with a coyote. She said “it was a coyote, I saw it, and my dog rules.”

Here are pictures of Lola from two years ago when Kristen was just pregnant and Lola was a pup, she’s super cute. Kristen calls her “a corgi rescue mutt.” Kristen also has another rescue named Pat whom she calls “utterly useless and always writing checks his butt can’t cash.” There’s also a photo of Pat as a puppy from last year.

The newest member of our family comes in the form of this little black man: pic.twitter.com/DaQxyOTSKl

— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) June 17, 2014

Photos are screenshots from the Ellen show

This story has grown more complicated since I started writing, but I’ll try to keep things simple. The latest development is a massive argument between Amber Rose and Khloe Kardashian. The original matter involves a silly, long-standing feud between Amber Rose and the Kardashian Klan. Perhaps “feud” isn’t the correct word, but there’s a lot of history. Amber Rose used to date Kanye West, who (as everyone knows), is now married to Kim. Amber is now best friends with Blac Chyna, who used to be best friends with Kim. Kim and Blac Chyna fell out because Blac Chyna used to be engaged to Tyga (25), but he’s now with Kylie Jenner (17). And Tyga works with Kanye, but that doesn’t really matter much.

Amber visited Power 105.1 to promote her fabulous self. She may have been pushing her New York fashion week appearances. She modelled underwear-less chainmail for the Laurel DeWitt show. Amber talked some trash about Wiz Khalifa using up his “three hall passes” and cheating too much. The more interesting part is when she talks about Kylie and Tyga:

Amber has changed: “I became a mother. I’m not at the club every night, downing shots. My priorities changed for sure.”

On Tyga datying Kylie “She’s a baby, she needs to go to bed at 7 o’clock and relax. That’s ridiculous. [Tyga] should be ashamed of himself. For sure. He has a beautiful woman and a baby and left that for a 16-year-old who just turned 17.”

Her upcoming self-help book: “Every mistake that I’ve made so far, I’m showing these girls how to not do that. It’s like I’m Jesus. I made the mistake for them.”

[From Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club on YouTube]

Oh? Amber Rose thinks she’s like Jesus. Now I see why she stuck with Kanye so long. Her book will be called How to Be a Bad Bitch, for real.

Amber pulled out the claws for Tyga, who’s dating underage Kylie. I’ve seen a lot of people say the same thing for months. Of course Kris Jenner doesn’t care about the age of Kylie’s boyfriends. The more controversial, the better when it comes to attention for her family. The age gap between 25 and 17 is significant. Kylie is still a minor until she turns 18. Under California law this is statutory rape and is at least a misdemeanor.

Now Khloe Kardashian has entered the argument. She and Amber are tossing “wh*re” at each other on Twitter. You can see those tweets here. No one is winning.

Here’s a clip of Amber’s 105.1 interview.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN