These are some photos of Jennifer Lawrence on the set of the untitled David O. Russell movie (now referred to as Abscam). JLaw is wearing her character’s 1970s-style updo to match the period era of the movie. Jennifer went straight from the Oscars to pot smoking in Hawaii to Catching Fire reshoots in Hawaii to shooting this latest movie in Boston. She plays Marie, who was the wife of Christian Bale’s FBI informant, Mel Weinberg. Their relationship was complicated, Marie was said to be very unhappy in the marriage and went on to commit suicide in the early 1980s. Mel, of course, had a history of adultery and even kept a separate home for one of his mistresses at the time of Marie’s death. By all accounts, he was a pretty terrible husband.

Of course, there’s an obvious age discrepancy between Christian and Jennifer, and he is 16 years her senior. The age difference between Mel and Marie was smaller — just 8 years. What’s even stranger is that JLaw’s character should have been in her 40s at the time the movie takes place. While I don’t doubt that Jennifer can play someone older, I don’t think she can realistically manage to jump two decades ahead in time. She’s a talented actress, but give me a break. Bale has obviously gotten some help in the hair and makeup department with his on-set combover wiglet, but it’s hard to mistake him for a 50 year old as well. Mostly, I think David O. Russell wanted to work with his favorite actors again and doesn’t mind bending the ages even to the point of utter ridiculousness.

Amy Adams plays one of Mel’s earlier mistresses, and she was also photographed on set with both curlers and flowing waves. She’s just so cute.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

These are some new photos of Christian Bale and Amy Adams on the set of David O. Russell’s latest film, which is still untitled, but it’s about the 1970s Abscam investigation. Just drink it in. THAT is Christian Bale. The same Christian Bale who almost always signs on to roles where he has to lose a crazy amount of weight so that everybody can talk about how hardcore and Method he is. I guess Christian Bale wanted to change it up a bit this time around. This time, he wanted a donut with sprinkles and some cheesy fries. My favorite parts of these photos: the pitch-perfect costume choices (my father dressed like that well into the 1980s), the NOT-ironic aviator shades and the absolutely amazing combover-wiglet work. BEST SUPPORTING WIGLET!!!!

Christian and the cast are filming this in Massachusetts, it seems. Amy and Christian already worked together on The Fighter, another David O. Russell film, also filmed in Massachusetts. The film is set in the 1970s, obviously, and it’s about the FBI investigation into the bribery of Congressmen and state officials. The investigations brought down sitting Congressmen and it will probably be a really good movie. Jennifer Lawrence will play Christian’s character’s wife. The film also stars Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Louis CK and Alessandro Nivola.

PS… Is it just me or does Amy Adams’ beauty manage to work in literally any time period?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Has anyone else noticed how chilled out Christian Bale has been lately? By “chilled out” I mean “he hasn’t raged at anyone (that we know of)” and by “lately” I mean “since he won his Oscar, I think.” Like, these are some photos of Bale, his wife Sibi and their daughter Emmaline a few days ago, out to lunch at Katsuya in Brentwood and… nothing. The paparazzi snapped some photos of Christian with his wife and daughter, and nothing happened. Christian didn’t punch anybody. He didn’t scream at the pap. He didn’t throw anything. Could it be that Christian Bale has matured? Could it be that he’s learned to play the game a little bit? Or maybe he was just tired and he had a full stomach. He seems really dressed down too. His Emmaline is a cutie, isn’t she? It’s not a full-on Dimple Parade, but it’s nice to see Christian out with his girls.

Christian’s post-Batman career is still moving along steadily, just as you would expect, quite honestly. Before, during and after Batman, Christian was and is considered one of the great working actors, so of course he still gets to work on interesting projects. Next up for Bale is a now-untitled film (formerly called American Bullsh-t) reuniting Bale with his Fighter director, David O. Russell. The project is getting buzz because Russell has also signed up his Silver Linings actors for the film too – Jennifer Lawrence was just cast as Bale’s wife and Bradley Cooper got a part too, as did Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. Sounds like a really good ensemble.

And this week, Deadline reported that Bale is “in early talks” to star in a film called Everest, a “mountain climbing disaster film… based on the 1996 disastrous expedition to scale Mount Everest. Three different expeditions were hit by a sudden blinding storm and by the time it was all over, eight climbers died.” Apparently there are like a dozen Everest-themed films in the pipeline at various studios, so don’t get your hopes up. You can read more about the project here.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

After Warner Bros. canceled the European promotion for The Dark Knight Rises, it seems like Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Anne Hathaway were brought back to LA via Warner’s private jet. All three of those actors issued personal statements of condolence to the victims of the Colorado mass-shooting, and everyone involved with the film seems genuinely devastated by what happened. Batman himself, Christian Bale, even decided to make a personal, non-studio-endorsed trip to Colorado to meet with some of the survivors of the massacre:

Christian Bale is making a quiet trip to Aurora, Colorado to visit with the victims of last week’s movie theater massacre.

With free time thanks to the cancellations of premieres and press appearances for The Dark Knight Rises in Mexico and Japan, Bale took it upon himself to visit, a rep for Warner Bros. told The Denver Post.

On Friday, the Oscar-winner issued a brief statement expressing his sympathies to those impacted by the mass shooting, allegedly carried out by James Holmes, at the midnight screening of Bale’s final Batman film.

“Words cannot express the horror that I feel,” he said at the time. “I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”

Last week, a petition urging Bale to visit the victims in Colorado emerged online.

[From THR]

I was fine until I read the part about the petition. Really? That makes me feel queasy – while I think it’s a really nice thing that Bale would take it upon himself to fly to Colorado and meet with these people, I hate the idea that some people were like, “Yeah, he SHOULD do that. Start a petition.” It negates Bale’s good intentions and makes it seem like he was giving into external pressure, or that it’s a PR move – which I doubt it was, honestly. Mostly I don’t think it’s a PR move because Bale doesn’t seem to give a sh-t about good PR. He probably just wanted to spend time with the injured kids, and I bet most of those kids just wanted to shake his hand and have their photos taken with Batman. Maybe we should start a petition to have Christian Bale scream at and berate the POS shooter for the next 40 years too. That should be a petition.

Speaking of good PR moves mixed with good intentions, Warner Bros. has also made some large donations to the charities working with the victims of the Colorado shooting. Considering TDKR made $160 million-plus in its opening weekend, and it’s in line to make a billion (or more), Warner can definitely afford it. Still, they don’t NEED to do it – it’s just a really nice gesture:

The studio behind ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has been in contact with the state governor’s office and will make a lump sum contribution. Warner Bros., the studio behind The Dark Knight Rises, is making a donation to charities supporting victims of the Aurora, Colo., shooting rampage.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the studio has been in contact with Colorado governor John Hickenlooper’s office and will contribute to a fund identified by the governor on the website givingfirst.org, which is a program of Colorado’s Community First Foundation. The fund distributes monies across several charities that will support victims of the July 20 killing spree that left at least 12 dead and dozens injured.

The studio will not release publically the amount of the lump sum donation but sources say it is “substantial.”

Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer also is set to send a companywide email on Monday evening advising employees of the donation and explaining how they can donate personally to the victims.

Warner Bros. has reacted swiftly in the wake of the July 20 killing spree at a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie. The studio quickly released a statement saying that Warners “and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time.”

The studio then canceled a planned Paris premiere and other press events and declined to release box office figures for Dark Knight Rises over the weekend out of respect for the families of the victims. The Christopher Nolan-directed film grossed a robust $160.9 million in three days, the best opening ever for a 2D film.

Warners is the first of the Hollywood organizations to make a charitable gift. Cinemark, which owns the Century Aurora 16 theater where the shooting took place, has yet to announce any donation, nor has the MPAA or the National Association of Theatre Owners.

[From THR]

I have to say, I think Warner Bros. hasn’t made a false step thus far. It was very smart for them to go through the governor’s office and existing charities instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and create their own, separate victims’ foundation or something. They’ve treated the victims of the tragedy with respect, they avoided being drawn into the debates about violence and guns, and what could have been a huge PR disaster for Warner ended up becoming an example of a Hollywood studio managing a crisis with timely, respectful efficiency. Someone at Warner Bros, knows what the hell they’re doing, you know?

PS… If you want to have a good cry, you should read this story about how three of the young men died protecting their girlfriends.

UPDATE: Here are some photos of Bale in Colorado, meeting with some of the victims.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

As I said on Friday, we’re not going to cover the hard-news aspects of the Colorado theater massacre and I’m definitely not going to spend any time on the POS shooter. But I will cover some aspects of the story that have to do with studio, the director and the actors involved. Warner Bros. canceled Friday’s Paris premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, and I assumed (wrongly) that Warner Bros. would probably end up coming back to their set promotional schedule next week – I imagined that there were scheduled premieres all over Europe and perhaps in Russia and several in Asia as well. Well, Warner Bros has pulled all of the actors from France, and the actors were seen flying back to America on a private plane (owned by Warner Bros.). So… I guess promotion is over. Which is fine, really. A source tells People Magazine, “The cast was completely shocked and several – Anne and Marion [Cotillard], a couple of the men – were in tears. There was enormous, enormous sadness.” Warner Bros. is also withholding the box office numbers for their opening weekend until Monday – traditionally, studio executives would be bragging about every little movement at the box office, with press releases for the first 24 hours of release, then 48 hours, then on Sunday they would declare victory.

Christian Bale released a statement on Saturday, saying: “Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.” And before that, late Friday, director Christopher Nolan issued a public statement about the massacre:

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community,” Nolan says. “I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime.”

“The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me,” Nolan adds, referring to alleged shooter James Holmes, whose attack resulted in 12 deaths and more than 38 injuries. “Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.”

[Via Us Weekly]

As public statements go, I think Nolan adequately and eloquently described his horror and his grief. I think what bothers Nolan – and incidentally, what bothers so many people on all of these movie and gossip blogs, including me – is that these people at a midnight screening were simply die-hard film fans. They were one of us. These were people who had been waiting months, gleefully anticipating arguably the biggest film event of the year. They couldn’t wait another hour, and that night was probably something they had been looking forward to for weeks and weeks. And don’t all of the film-fans out there relate to that? I don’t mean to diminish anything about the lives of the victims – I’m merely saying that it struck me so hard (and so many people out there) because all of us love movies so much, and Nolan is right – many of us do treat the theater like a “home,” a safe place where we can let our geeky film-fanatic freak-flags fly.

Incidentally, I went to see The Dark Knight Rises on Saturday. I’m not going to do a full review or anything, partly because I do think the focus should be on Colorado victims and their families, and partly because… well, TDKR doesn’t need MY review, you know? You already know if you want to see it, and you probably already have. So, NO SPOILERS, I’ll just say that I enjoyed it very much. Tom Hardy was great as Bane, Morgan Freeman was terrific, Gary Oldman was awesome, and Christian Bale… well, he was good too. He was noticeably smaller (less muscled) in this one than in the previous films, which makes me think that Bale’s body is finally putting up a big fight about his constant weight fluctuations. My favorite parts were every scene with Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon Levitt, honestly. JGL was ah-mazing! Annie was great too – sexy and vulnerable and tough. At first, the politics and some of the motivations of some of the characters made no sense to me, but it all comes together beautifully in the last 30-40 minutes. It was a really great way for the trilogy to go out.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

I’ve believed, with all my heart, that Christian Bale has been a d-bag for years now. Maybe it was the recording of Bale ripping some poor bastard a new one, maybe it was his too-extreme, too-“Method” absorption into his roles, maybe it was just a general vibe. Whatever it is, I’ve never really been all hot and bothered for Bale, and I’m often left with a feeling of utter bewilderment when some of you ladies are all “OMG, Christian Bale is My Fassbender.” Different strokes, etc, and I understand the urge to have a fantasy bone with a d-bag. But Bale is too douchey for even my fantasy life. Anyway, Bale was recently working with Natalie Portman on a film called Knight of Cups. According to The Enquirer, Natalie quickly grew a giant hate-on for Bale.

Natalie Portman is so fed up with her “Knight of Cups” co-star Christian Bale, she’s ready to walk off the film set. But since she’s too much of a professional to actually quit, she’s quietly trying to come to terms with his unbearable behavior, an insider told The Enquirer.

“Natalie can’t stand him,” the insider said. “She thinks he’s tedious, arrogant and a disgrace to the acting profession.”

Natalie and Christian have just an hour’s worth of scenes to film together, but Christian’s need for perfection and to be the center of attention is causing the shoot to drag on forever. And that’s driving Natalie nuts, says the insider.

“Christian is constantly frustrated by his own work and incredibly intense and highly stressed over each scene,” noted the source. “He’ll insist they shoot over and over again because he didn’t like how he punctuated a line or something. Sometimes they wind up spending all night on the set just to satisfy Christian’s obsessive perfectionism.”

“Natalie’s really offended by Christian’s behavior and feels he’s completely dismissive of her… she thinks he’s all about his ego, and he doesn’t care who he insults or inconveniences.”

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

I believe some of this, and I’ve put the rest of it on co-sign lay-away. I do think it’s a matter of interpretation – Bale is known for being an OCD perfectionist, for going to extreme lengths with his “Method” and for being a difficult actor to work with. Does it follow that Natalie would label hin as “tedious, arrogant and a disgrace to the acting profession.” Tedious? Sure. Totally. Arrogant? I could see that. But a disgrace to the acting profession? Eh. Even though I’m sure he’s a miserable person in real life, and a miserable coworker, he does put all of it on screen. He is one of the best actors out there right now. He’s a great actor… and a terrible person.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

These are “the boys” from the UK premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. Quick question: Does Tom Hardy’s fiancée Charlotte Riley remind you of anyone? HOW ABOUT NOW? Right? All of a sudden, Ol’ Charlotte wants to remind everyone that she scored the Hardy Dong. Of course I’m jealous – I’ll admit that outright. I wish I was getting Hardy Dong on the regular, and that the Hardy Dong had given me a diamond ring. But even then, I’m not sure I would be posing on the red carpet like the English version of LeAnn Rimes. As for Tom… I have no idea why my biscuits aren’t feeling him these days. Maybe it’s the lack of fur (glorious fur!). Maybe it’s his fiancée’s LeAnn-Face. Whatever it is, nothing is happening in my drawers. *sad face*

Next up: CUMBERBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATCH!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately for Benedict Cumberbatch, the photo agency was especially crackie last night, and they labeled these two photos “Benedicte Cumberbatch” (fancy!) and “Bernard Cumberbatch” (BERNIE!). Still, he looks nice. Any excuse for a good ‘Batching. These days, with Tom Hardy de-furred and with his LeAnn-looking fiancée, I’m leaning more towards giving my biscuits to Cumby. Take ‘em, Bernie.

Prince Harry was there! I have no idea if this premiere was affiliated with any charity that Harry might be involved with, or if Harry just wanted to see a Batman movie. I’m leaning more towards Harry being a Batslut. Who do you think Harry prefers: Anne Hathaway or Marion Cotillard? Neither, probably. He likes blondes. But Annie would probably do in a pinch. PS… I have no idea why Harry is rubbing his nips. I would imagine it just feels good. So why not do it in public?

Christian Bale looks nice. Sibi seems to only wear black dresses. She’s not very adventurous, but then again, she maintains a sort of classic, elegant look. That hair needs to go, though. Her hair has never looked worse.

Cillian Murphy. I’m sorry, Cillian-bitches. This guy just doesn’t do it for me.

Joseph Gordon Levitt looks so much better here than at the NYC premiere.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Last night was the big New York (“Gotham”?) premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. Everybody was there! Except for Michael Caine… he was a no-show…? I can’t find photos of him in any case. But even Tom Hardy came in from the Mad Max set overseas. Let’s just start with Tom, shall we? Tom Hardy isn’t doing much for me in these photos, but I suspect that he’ll be doing more for you ladies who were pissed off with his burly, gnarly beard. He’s still got facial hair, but now he just looks… I don’t know. His styling isn’t doing much for me. Neither is the fact that his on-again fiancé Charlotte is all over him. Don’t get me wrong – I would still hit it. HARD. But I’m lighting a candle for his old gnarly beard, because I was pretty much the only one who loved it.

I know you bitches love some Cillian Murphy. Interesting factoid: WENN labeled him “Gillian Murphy”. Because why not? I think he pretty and talented, of course, but… he still seems like he might be kind of psycho. It’s the eyes.

Christian Bale does nothing for me, but he looks really nice these days. I mean, style-wise. His hair’s a good length, he looks well-fed and clean.

Morgan Freeman!

Joseph Gordon Levitt – I dislike his suit. And it looks like he’s wearing too much foundation. And he seems… I don’t know… beefy? It’s that movie he’s doing where he’s playing a bodybuilder. He’s bulked up and it doesn’t look good on him.

Gary Oldman is looking NICE. And he’s got a hot wife, so you know he knows what to do. I just re-watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy over the weekend – Oldman is the best!

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

These are some photos of writer/director Christopher Nolan’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater hand-and-footprint ceremony over the weekend. Almost all of his Dark Knight Rises actors came out for the ceremony, so it was sort of like a low-key premiere red carpet. In attendance: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Perhaps it’s a sign that actors love Christopher Nolan. Perhaps it’s a sign that everyone is going to kiss Nolan’s ass from here on out because he rebooted the Batman franchise to incredible results, as TDKR will probably make more than a $1 billion… in just a few months’ time.

Anyway, I just liked the photos. Anne Hathaway caught my eye because with her short hair, she’s looking particularly gamine in these photos. I generally dislike it when any C-list brunette tries to pull the “Audrey Hepburn look” but Annie is actually coming somewhat close. I still think Anne looks better with longer hair, but I no longer think Anne was courting unmitigated disaster when she cut everything off.

Should we talk about Anne’s body language with Christian Bale? I feel kind of bad for even mentioning it, but LaineyGossip and others have already discussed the idea that Bale and Hathaway might have had an on-set fling, and that the fling ended badly. If you didn’t know that or believe that, would you be able to tell from the body language? I think Anne looks like she’s trying to avoid touching Bale in particular – she’s happy enough to embrace everyone else BUT Bale. That’s just how I read it. Poor Anne. This publicity tour is going to be a bitch.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Last night at the MTV Movie Awards, Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Gary Oldman and Christopher Nolan introduced an exclusive clip for The Dark Knight Rises. From what I gather, a new trailer-commercial also debuted during the show too. We’re lucky to get these videos because MTV is clinging to their exclusivity for whatever reason. Be forewarned: these videos may give you a nerdgasm.

I could watch Tom Hardy/Bane on the plane for hours. That part still looks so cool/amazing to me. As for Annie Hathaway as Catwoman… I feel like I’m the only person defending her at this point. Anne can ACT. Anne is a lot better than you think. I don’t know if her Catwoman will be any good, or whether she’ll be like January Jones in X-Men: First Class – the weakest link of an otherwise awesome movie. I have high hopes for her. And JGL better bring it.

Posters for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ courtesy of Collider, additional photo by WENN.