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Al Gore Gets the Lindsay Lohan Brushoff James Hirsen
THE LEFT COAST REPORT Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Madonna Accused of Bribing Adoption Official Suspicions surrounding Madonna's Malawian baby adoption are being fueled further by reports that a government official who was working for the ministry that handled the case is now living and going to school in Britain on the pop singer's dime. Four months before she was granted temporary custody of Baby David, according to the London Daily Mail, Madonna reportedly committed to pay for Willard Manjolo's living expenses and tuition fees, which were thought to be about 39,000 U.S. dollars.
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Manjolo started college at Swansea University a month before Madonna left Malawi with her new baby boy. Justin Dzodzi, a prominent attorney in the impoverished African nation, has gone on record as saying that Madonna's financial support of Manjolo "could be construed as payment for the adoption." Dzodzi is among those who seek to challenge the adoption in court. Purportedly, he fully intends to bring these new facts to the attention of the Malawian judges. "The entire circumstances surrounding the case need to be re-examined and this latest disclosure is something we would wish to bring before the courts," Dzodzi said. As for Manjolo, he claims that he was not involved in the adoption process and has never met the singer. "It is unfortunate if people use their wealth to manipulate events, but I don't think it happened in this case. Her application was considered on merit," Manjolo said.
2. Al Gore Gets the Lindsay Lohan Brushoff Last month Lindsay Lohan met former veep and Oscar contender Al Gore at a posh Beverly Hills event. A short time later Lohan reportedly sent a typo-riddled e-mail to her friends and attorneys indicating that she was seeking help with her image from the much-ballyhooed alpha-male. "Al Gore will help me. He came up to me last night and said he would be very happy to have a conversation with me. If he is willing to help me, let's find out," the e-mail read. A Gore rep told "Access Hollywood," "I can confirm for you that Mr. Gore has only met Ms. Lohan once, very briefly, at the GQ Men of the Year dinner last week. There were hundreds of other guests." However, apparently after promising she'd be there, Lohan blew off a personal invitation to an event that the inventor of the Internet was hosting. Gore, a regular now on the Hollywood scene, hosted a December 2006 Tinseltown event called "Seeds of Tolerance," which honored liberal documentary filmmakers.
The Left Coast Report guesses that now that Lohan has dissed the nation's top pseudo-scientist, she'll have to rely on the unadorned advice of Britney Spears. 3. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Homespun Holiday Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's recent vacation stands in stark contrast to the impoverished Third-World countries they've been championing of late. The power couple reportedly arrived at the 170-acre Caneel Bay resort in the Caribbean "with 97 pieces of luggage and a whole entourage," a source told the New York Post. Angelina, Brad, the kids, nannies, and staff were apparently ensconced in a five-bedroom, $8,000-a-night beachfront villa that was once the private get away of Laurance Rockefeller, the developer of the Virgin Islands destination. Now Jolie is blasting Madonna for what she calls an illegal adoption. In an interview with Gala, a French magazine, Jolie said, "Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he [Baby David] was born. It's a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption." The "Tomb Raider" star added, "Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal." The Left Coast Report wonders who the public will side with — the pop royal or the African queen. 4. John McCain's Populist Film Position Folks may disagree with Sen. John McCain's political positions, but when it comes to his film favorites the aspiring Republican presidential nominee has pretty good taste. McCain recently revealed to Variety his cinematic preferences. In terms of favorite actors, they spring from Hollywood's Golden Age. McCain apparently "was always taken with John Wayne," vividly remembers meeting Jimmy Stewart and describes Marilyn Monroe as "one of the great actresses in history." As for his political choices, his top picks are the original "All the King's Men" and the original "Manchurian Candidate." Regarding the pre-Sean Penn "Kings Men," McCain expressed his admiration for the Southern populism of Huey Long. "I think that Huey Long was a larger-than-life figure in American politics. He was one of the real populists in American political history. He was able to galvanize the masses of poor underprivileged Americans in a way that very few politicians in history have. He had these slovenly ways, and he was a caricature of himself, but the fact is, he was one of the most effective and impactful politicians on the American scene. He scared the hell out of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," McCain said.
McCain believes that "Manchurian Candidate" was "very plausible at the time — perhaps more than now. The phrase 'brainwashing' was coined because of the very extensive indoctrination the Chinese gave American prisoners in Korea, so it was very plausible that they could have brainwashed one, sent him back to the United States and given him the triggering mechanism," he said, adding that "after Kennedy was assassinated, the film was taken off the screens. It's a testimony to how compelling that movie was." McCain's potential primary opponents would be wise to take note of his all-time favorite film, "Viva Zapata!" The media-crowned maverick apparently resonates with a populist peasant rebel and hero of the Mexican Revolution, Emiliano Zapata. "I'm sure I've seen it four or five times," McCain explained. "It was one of Elia Kazan's least appreciated films. I thought [Emiliano] Zapata was a genuine, authentic, uncorrupted leader who fought to improve the plight of his countrymen. He held true to his principles." The Left Coast Report started thinking about the big-screen fancies of other politicos:
5. Hollywood Flick Boosts Real Life Museum Box Office Movies don't influence behavior? Curators may beg to differ. Reuters recently reported that, as a result of the success of the hit movie "Night at the Museum," the number of visitors to New York's American Museum of Natural History jumped by nearly 20 percent during the past holiday period. Ben Stiller stars in the film as a security guard who works at a natural history museum. When darkness falls, the museum exhibits come to life. Not to be left out of the Hollywood related museum box office boom, the Field Museum of Chicago has introduced a program that extends to the public the opportunity for an overnight stay among the great wonders of natural history.
Ever since the release of the Stiller flick the Windy City's sleepover program has been sold out. The exhibit's name explains part of its far-reaching appeal. Who wouldn't want to go "Dozin' with the Dinos?" Editor's Notes:
The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax — The Left Coast Report Archives Get your FREE copy of James Hirsen's new book 'Hollywood Nation' — Click Here Now.
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