These are some photos of Daniel Craig at the 2013 New York Auto Show earlier this week. Daniel showed up, looked grumpy as the Range Rover Sport was revealed, and then… nothing. From what I can see, very few blogs even ran these photos because they were super-boring. When I glanced through them when they were new, my thought was: “Huh, Daniel Craig is doing car shows now? SELLOUT. Literally, he must be getting paid.” Turns out I was right, but it’s even weirder than you think:

Seven must be a lucky number for James Bond star Daniel Craig. According to reports, the actor who plays 007, was paid a massive $1 million to appear at a Range Rover event and stuck around for barely seven minutes!

Fans were left fuming after the 45-year-old Brit dashed in and out of the New York Auto Show event, the NY Post is reporting.

One guest told the newspaper: “He didn’t even give a speech.” Another said: “I couldn’t even tell if he was actually here!”

During the event Daniel appeared in a video driving the $70,000-plus 2014 Range Rover Sport.

In footage reminiscent of his appearance during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics last year, the footage shows the car being driven from the company’s UK manufacturing plant into New York, crossing the Manhattan Bridge and ending up on the red carpet.

Daniel then reportedly appeared live, walked along a line of photographers and guests and posed for a quick photo session. Then in a flash the Skyfall secret agent was apparently gone!

A rep for Land Rover told the NY Post: “We won’t comment on our relationship with Mr. Craig beyond confirming that Land Rover supports the charity S.A.F.E of which the actor is a patron and will continue its charitable efforts with a vehicle donation later this year.”

S.A.F.E is a Kenyan and UK charity that fights a number of social issues in the African country including HIV/AIDS and female circumcision.

[From Radar]

I think the subtext is that Range Rover paid Daniel Craig $1 million to do seven minutes of work at a car show AND Range Rover promised to donate a car to the charity of Daniel’s choice. Do you know what I would do for $1 million? A lot more than look grumpy on a red carpet for seven minutes. There would at least be a sloppy beej involved, and I don’t mind admitting that whatsoever. Which is what I don’t understand about A-list actors – if you’re going to take a gig like this just for the money, own it. Shill like you’re determined to EARN that $1 million. But I guess that’s pocket change for someone like Daniel.

Speaking of, a few weeks ago, Daniel threw a hissy fit – complete with screaming – at a fan who dared to take his photo while he was out with Rachel Weisz. Apparently, Rachel had to get in-between Daniel and the fan and calm him down. You can read more about that incident here.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

“Sparkles. Double-Oh Sparkles.”

This is one of the funniest stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while. That’s the way it’s been with so many Twihard stories lately though – remember the story about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart having sex “seven times a day” allegedly? That was a great one. And much like that story, this one seems to be written by a teenage Twihard who doesn’t understand anything about anything. OK! Mag (via HL) claims that Daniel Craig (!!!) is trying to convince producers that Robert Pattinson should take over the role of James Bond when Daniel is done. Think about that. SPARKLES as James Bond. As the suave lady-seducer with a license to kill. Yeah. And that’s not all! Kristen Stewart wants to be a lip-biting, eye-rolling, sullen Bond Girl. Seriously.

Robert Pattinson‘s career is going from strong — could he be leaving behind his vampire ways to become a suave international spy? The current James Bond star Daniel Craig is singing Rob’s acting praises, and according to a new report, he told Rob that he would “make a brilliant Bond.”

Well, we know Rob looks good in a tuxedo! This could be a great career move for him, and funnily enough, Daniel previously said that Rob’s girlfriend and former co-star, Kristen Stewart, would “make a great Bond girl.”

Daniel is lining up Rob as his replacement, as he plans to hang up his spy tools in the near future in order to start a family with his wife Rachel Weisz.

“Daniel told Rob he’d make a brilliant Bond and would like to see a young talented British actor take on the role,” a source tells OK! ”Daniel’s signed on for two more Bond movies but is convinced he’ll do no more — for one thing, he hopes to start a family with Rachel soon and wants to focus on that.”

And apparently Rob is flattered! ”He’s a monumental fan of Daniel’s and told him so, but he was completely taken aback when the compliments were returned,” says the source. And it looks like Daniel isn’t just impressed with Rob’s onscreen presence.

“Daniel really admires how Robert has handled the intense scrutiny of his personal life — he and Rachel are obsessively private,” says the source. “He really felt for Rob when Kristen Stewart’s cheating played out in the media. To go through that, but also maintain a level of professionalism and carry on working, shows amazing strength of character.”

It looks like Rob will go for the part! In the summer of 2012, Rob revealed in an interview that he would be up for playing the iconic English spy. ”Yeah, I’d definitely go for Bond,” said Rob. And, Kristen has expressed interest in being a Bond girl! When asked if she would like to be one, Kristen said, “As long as I get to have a gun, yes, hell yeah!”

[From Hollywood Life]

We could laugh and laugh and refuse to take this seriously, but you know there are people out there who DO take it seriously and who honestly think that Robert Pattinson should play one of the most iconic characters of the past century. Here’s a real question: do you think Robert actually thinks he has a shot at the role? I don’t. I think Rob is smart enough to realize that while teen girls (and their moms) love him, he still has a lot of work to do to build a career and learn his craft. I think Rob’s goal is to simply keep working and to work on interesting projects, and all of this “he should play Christian Grey, he should play James Bond!” stuff is just noise. As for Kristen playing a Bond Girl… well, Denise Richards did it. So… if we’re setting the bar there…?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are some of the biggest couples of the Golden Globes… where to start? Let’s start with the couple that I was most looking forward to, and who were the biggest disappointments: Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig. As soon as they arrived, I could only see them from the shoulders up, and I thought, “Ahhh… HOTTEST COUPLE.” But no. Rachel’s Louis Vuitton dress is just… just… NO. It’s awful. It’s not flattering or attractive or occasion-appropriate! Rachel is such a beautiful woman, and if we were just judging this from the shoulder up, she would win everything. But this dress is such a NO. I did like that she and Daniel walked the carpet together, hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm. It’s nice to see them at an awards show.

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber – she wore Zac Posen. I actually LOVED this from the back and I only want to make out with it a little bit from the front. The back was open and sexy and stunning. The fit on this dress was incredible too – she really took the time to have it fitted perfectly.

Bonus Hugh Jackman and his wife Deb. LOVE THEM. And they know how to do a red carpet too. They just seem so connected and lovely together.

Nicole Kidman wore Alexander McQueen… it wasn’t my favorite but it was inoffensive. She looked so tiny. Her waist is crazy. My favorite part of Nic’s look was her big hair – I love it when she does big, fluffy, sexy diva hair. Now, I absolutely hate Keith’s insistence on perfectly maintained and totally ‘90s highlights. His hair looked awful in closeup. As for her face… it didn’t look quite as crazy as it did at the pre-Globe events.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

I already covered the ladies of the National Board of Review Awards (go here), so this is the post for the gentlemen. The other day, CB and Bedhead and I were discussing how exciting or not-exciting this year’s awards coverage would be, and I lamented the fact that I didn’t have one big crush to follow throughout the awards season this time around. Last year I had Michael Fassbender, who got a lot of big nominations (except for an Oscar nomination, BOO). It was such a joy to follow Fassy’s awards show path. But who am I following this year? No one really. I’m excited for Anne Hathaway (mostly because of the fashion), but I’m not crazy for any of the dudes who are going to be everywhere this awards season. I like Hugh Jackman. I think Eddie Redmayne is cute. I love Ewan McGregor, but he’ll probably only get to the Golden Globes & the BAFTAs. I miss Fassy.

Anyway, I was just thinking about that as I went through these “hot guys” at the NBRs. I’m pretty much over Ben Affleck, although he did look nice last night, and I think he works a beard really well.

Bradley Cooper looks… um… not well. What’s going on with him? He wants an Oscar nomination so, so much, but surely that desire should ensure that he actually makes an effort with his appearance? Dear B-Coop: SHAVE. And put some product in your hair, because you look like a jackass.

Bradley should be taking his cues from Eddie Redmayne. Eddie is youngish (31), he’s a hardworking actor and sometimes model, and he knows how to dress. He always looks pulled together and handsome. He’s always clean-shaven and beautifully turned out. I love his pocket square.

Daniel Craig, looking kind of grumpy and amused. I would hit it.

But my new favorite is Jason Clarke!! He was in Lawless and he’s in Zero Dark Thirty, and he has that scary-eerie-sexy vibe that I sort of like. I don’t even mind his wonky hairline, honestly. He’s HOT.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I can’t shake the feeling that Daniel Craig is a moody curmudgeon. That’s how he always seems in interviews, and I don’t think it’s just my American-ism not being able to interpret when an Englishman is being tongue-in-cheek. I actually think Daniel is sullen and grumpy – that IS his personality. It doesn’t make me less hot for him, although nowadays I want to hatef—k him more than I want to talk to him.

Why was I bringing this up? Oh, right – remember Daniel’s grumpy/funny/obscene Rolling Stone interview? Go here to review some excerpts. When RS asked Daniel about whether or not he’s a jealous, grumpy bastard in regards to his wife, Daniel said: “I’ve always been very good at avoiding fights, having worked in pubs and seen pools of blood everywhere. Actually, the only thing to ever get me in trouble would be someone looking at my girl the wrong way. That always got me going. I still get jealous now, but I don’t get jealous the way I used to. I was in a bar in France once and this guy pinched my girl’s ass, and I flew across the room, kind of lifted the guy up. These days I’m much more happy to have a quiet word with somebody.” So, Daniel admits that he’s a jealous guy, and the one thing that can get him going is when someone hits on his wife?

Daniel Craig, 44, gets shaken and stirred when it comes to other men hitting on his gorgeous wife, actress Rachel Weisz, 42. The normally cool-as-a-cucumber actor is so jealous that it’s even causing a rift in his marriage.

According to our own spy, “Daniel is the nicest guy, but when it comes to his wife, he has huge control issues. He doesn’t want Rachel to go out without him. And if he sees someone flirting with her, he will aggressively tell the guy to back off.”

The insider says Rachel has never given her husband of a year and a half any reason to be jealous and has told Daniel he needs to chill out.

“She says he needs to be flattered when other men hit on her, because he’s the one she’ll be with forever,” notes the source.

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

I can believe that Daniel gets jealous and possessive, because he just admitted as much in that Rolling Stone interview. The rest of it just sounds like low-rent 50 Shades fan-fiction. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. These days, Daniel and Rachel are my pick for “Hottest Celebrity Couple”. I’m not going to lie, I would love to see their sex tape. And if it has a 50 Shades flavor, then so be it. If I was Rachel (and God, I wish I was), I would flirt with other guys just to piss Daniel off so he would get all mad and possessive. Then again… it would only be fun for a short time. After a few months, it just gets kind of creepy and abusive.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

A few weeks ago, I had some early excerpts of Daniel Craig’s Rolling Stone cover interview. In my mind, Daniel seemed like an a—hole in the excerpts (big surprise, he’s a moody bitch), but many of you yelled at me for what you claimed was my unfair interpretation of his remarks. When asked about the possibility of doing more James Bond films (this was asked before he knew Skyfall was a massive hit), Daniel said: “I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it, but they won’t let me go, and I’ve agreed to do a couple more, but let’s see how this one does, because business is business and if the sh-t goes down, I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with.” I still take that to mean that the moody curmudgeon is bitching about someone outright FORCING (!!) him to sign a lucrative contract for two more Bond films. But whatever.

Anyway, I kind of forgot about the Rolling Stone interview until now, when I recently chanced upon some additional excerpts. Daniel was really on fire during this piece – like, he was obscene and moody and neurotic and funny. Some highlights:

Craig on Skyfall: “It’s quite good. It’s got a lightness of touch and a wink to it, because, after all, this is a James Bond movie, for f-ck’s sake”

He tells a dirty joke (he’s kind of drunk at this point): “What’s the most disgusting thing you can think of?” He doesn’t pause. His Liverpudlian accent jumps right to the punch line. “Shoving five oysters up your grandmother’s c–t and sucking out six!”

Some “street urchins” referred to Bond films as “white man p0rn”: “I completely understand that. That’s where I fit into the pecking order. That’s my place. I’m that guy. I’m the guy who does the white-man p0rn.”

On whether he Googles himself: “I don’t — I mean, I really try not to. I really truly try. But then I can’t help myself and I disappear up my own ass and that starts a whole cycle where I gotta look. I mean, I could probably put a lock on the computer, but, yeah, anyway, it’s a sickness. But that’s it. Except for maybe I’ll look up some p0rn occasionally. Hey, I’m only human.”

He’s jealous when people look at Rachel Weisz: “I know I play a tough guy, but that’s genuinely, genuinely not me. I’ve always been very good at avoiding fights, having worked in pubs and seen pools of blood everywhere. Actually, the only thing to ever get me in trouble would be someone looking at my girl the wrong way. That always got me going. I still get jealous now, but I don’t get jealous the way I used to. I was in a bar in France once and this guy pinched my girl’s ass, and I flew across the room, kind of lifted the guy up. These days I’m much more happy to have a quiet word with somebody.”

Drinking: “I drink wine. I don’t drink spirits. Well, I do, occasionally, so that’s a lie. But I try not to, because they f–k with me. Especially scotch. It sends me crazy.”

His adolescence: “When puberty hit, my head exploded. You want this nice, lovely image of me having my first kiss with hearts sparkling in the background? All I wanted to do was get in the girls’ knickers. I’ve been kissing girls, like stolen kisses in playgrounds, for as long as I can remember.”

[From Rolling Stone]

I love the description of Bond films as “white man p0rn”. Most apt description ever. And that dirty joke is f—king disgusting. I mean, I love a good dirty joke but even I blanched a little. Oh, and he’s jealous about people looking at his girl and he “occasionally” looks at p0rn online. I kind of have to give him a slow-clap for admitting that stuff in a Rolling Stone interview. Most dudes wouldn’t admit it.

Rolling Stone also teases some additional stuff, but I haven’t been able to find the quotes online. If anyone has the magazine (or you subscribe to RS online), I would love to hear Daniel’s quotes about his “trips to the shrink” and anything involving his stories about “finger-banging” girls. You can email me (kaiser@celebitchy.com) or tweet me if you have those quotes!

Cover courtesy of RS, additional pics courtesy of WENN.

Most big action films open in the American markets first. We like to road-test our blockbusters before we send them out into the world. But the dynamics of how films are sold and how they make money, that’s all changing. Thus, Skyfall – the latest James Bond movie – opened in Europe a few weeks before North America got it this weekend. Skyfall had already made hundreds of millions of dollars before it ever came here… and I think that more films might be doing that in the future. Skyfall debuted in the US with a huge international buzz and great reviews, and in its first weekend in the US and Canada, the film brought in an estimated $87.8 million. It’s the best opening weekend for a Bond film ever in America, and Skyfall is set to be the highest-grossing Bond film of all time. Taking into account the international markets, Skyfall has already made nearly $430 million.

I kept saying that Skyfall was my most anticipated film of the fall/winter season, so I did manage to see the film over the weekend. Shall we discuss? First, let me put up a spoiler warning…

SPOILERS AHEAD – Mini-review of Skyfall

I went into Skyfall as a huge fan of the Bond franchise in total, and as a fan of Daniel Craig’s “reset” of the Bond franchise. I LOVED Casino Royale and I loathed Quantum of Solace. QoS was just a POS – awful script, bad plot, nonsensical villain, etc. Skyfall felt like the film that should have been made right after Casino Royale. I love the evolution of Daniel Craig’s Bond, although I got bored with all of the references to how “old” this Bond is. Daniel Craig is only 44! Yes, he’s not a young dude, but he’s hardly ancient.

The plot of Skyfall is simple enough – someone is out to get MI6 in general and M (played by Judi Dench) in particular. It’s a very personal motive, and the film ends up being one of the most personal stories ever told in a Bond film. You get to see M’s home. You get to see Bond’s childhood home. You get more backstory on Bond, and you get to see M try to wade through the politics of her office, and her affection for James.

What I loved: I loved everything about Naomie Harris’s character. I loved the flirtation between Naomie and Daniel Craig, and they had a lot of chemistry together. I loved seeing James acting to protect his mother-figure, M, and how it was so personal to him. I loved Ralph Fiennes! He felt very natural in his role, and I think he made a great addition with his smaller but vital role. Javier Bardem’s villain… well, he came into the film too late. But once he finally got there, he was gross/amazing/awful/scene-stealing. Also: I LOVED BEN WHISHAW. What a fantastic little part for a talented young English actor. And I’m glad James Bond finally got his “Q” – and I loved that Q became a shy young nerd. He was adorable.

What I disliked: there were certain parts of the M storyline that were just… too drawn out. Like, it felt like they wanted to give Judi Dench a meatier role for what she said was her last Bond film, but there could have been other ways to give M stuff to do without making her a helpless mother-figure for James to protect. As for Javier’s villain… at one point, he’s been captured and he’s been put into this all-glass cell and I swear it was like “Oh, so he’s Hannibal Lector now?” The Albert Finney digression was a bit too Freudian too, it was like “We don’t need to be banged over the head with this, we get it. They represent Bond’s parents. Enough.” Last complaint: the film was too long. I enjoyed it overall, but they could have shaved 10-15 minutes off and it still would have been a great film.

PS… I was asked to say something about the rumors that Skyfall will be Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond. I don’t know. He just signed a new contract for two more Bond films a few months ago, and considering the success of Skyfall, I doubt the producers will let him out of his contract. That being said, I fully expect Daniel Craig to bitch and moan all the way to the bank. He’s a total f—king curmudgeon, and no, it’s not “self-deprecating”. He’s just a moody bitch.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are some photos from the “2012 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards Presented By BBC AMERICA”. I thought it was, like, some kind of LA premiere of Skyfall, but it’s not. It’s just that several of the stars of Skyfall were there. Still, I think Skyfall has one big problem: most people really don’t care about the ladies of Skyfall and what they are wearing. Which is unfortunate because I really like talking about fashion. So I’ll include the ladies in a moment, and let’s discuss Kerry Washington.

Kerry is in ABC’s Scandal, and she’s gotten great reviews for her performance. She’s also in Django Unchained, one of the most anticipated films of the Christmas season. So, everything is looking good for her career. I also think Kerry has quite a style-eye too – she’s not afraid of color, she knows what flatters her body, she knows well enough to avoid the “trashier” looking dresses. So what’s my problem with Kerry in this hot pink Temperley London dress? Nothing really. She looks beautiful. I take issue with those little bows (WTF?), but it’s fine. I guess we’re not supposed to talk about how drastically skinny she’s become over the past few years? Sure.

Daniel Craig is such an a—hole, but he knows how to wear the hell out of a tuxedo, doesn’t he?

Naomie Harris in Miu Miu. Girl, you need to fire yo’ stylist. Naomie is so pretty, but her style is SO TRAGIC.

Olivia Munn in Temperley London. It’s a pretty dress… but it doesn’t really work on her. The dress is all “Showgirl!” and Olivia is all “not a showgirl.”

Berenice Marlohe in Oscar de la Renta. Nice. She has an eyemakeup problem, though.

Quentin Tarantino! I can’t help it, I love him. He cray.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Because why not? They look so cute!

Natasha Henstridge has gained weight since I last saw photos of her. It looks really good on her – she’s curvy and lovely.

Franka Potente or Alanis Morissette?

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Daniel Craig is such a curmudgeon. Sometimes I enjoy it – like, I still love that he bitched about the Kardashians, just because it was really funny. Sometimes I don’t enjoy it so much – hearing Daniel talk about politics or critical opinion just reminds me that he’s kind of an a—hole with a bad attitude. I think Daniel feels that this is part of his public persona now – he’s the curmudgeon who curses throughout an interview in an attempt to “keep it real”. He’s the dude who hates most people and most things but can’t really explain why in a mature and thorough way. And now Daniel is trying to explain why he’s just “over” the whole James Bond thing. And he sounds like an a—hole.

Daniel opened up to Rolling Stone magazine before the release of the movie to reveal how keen he was to get out of his lengthy contract with producers. And he even dismissed it saying he would happily ‘wipe a**’ with his contract.

He told the publication: ‘I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it. But they won’t let me go, and I’ve agreed to do a couple more, but let’s see how this one does, because business is business and if the **** goes down, I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their a** with.’

Although he may have since had a change of heart thanks to the popularity of Skyfall, his first offering as the superspy since 2008′s Quantum of Solace. The 23rd movie in the spy franchise has now certainly made a huge impact.

Not only did it smash box office records in the UK in its opening weekend, but the movie instantly became the number one film in an astonishing 25 markets overseas.

And if that wasn’t enough, it also grossed $77.7 million with its opening weekend of release.

The film, starring new Bond girls Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe, opened to an astonishing $32.4 million (£20.1 million) in Britain alone.

According to Deadline.com, the figure means that it is the biggest opening weekend for a film in 2012 so far, it smashed the all-time Saturday attendance record AND was even the second biggest Friday to Sunday opening off all time in the UK.

[From The Mail]

Lovely. Like someone forced him at gunpoint to sign a lucrative new contract for two more Bond films, and he’s publicly declaring that if Skyfall doesn’t make bank (which it is), he’ll wipe his ass with his new contract, or the producers will wipe their asses with his contract. How professional. How diplomatic. How charming.

I mean, I would still hit it. But I’m getting to the point where the sexual fantasy is more of a fullblown hatef—k in which Daniel is wearing a ball-gag rather than passionate lovemaking.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I haven’t been covering much of the European publicity tour for Skyfall, just because I found most of the photos kind of boring. Naomie Harris got kicked off many of the European stops, and it’s mostly just been Daniel Craig and Berenice Marlohe, with Javier Bardem showing up in a few cities too. Anyway, these are photos from Berenice and Daniel stop in Berlin yesterday. I’m including photos from last night’s premiere as well as the earlier photo call.

The premiere photos have Berenice in a really bad black Armani gown, and the photo call pics have her in that beautiful blue suit. The suit is by Ports 1961. It would stand out more if she wasn’t standing against a ‘Skyfall’ backdrop that was the exact same shade of blue-purple. But other than that, I like the look. I like how winter-y she looks. I get tired of starlets just wearing whatever is “new” rather than what’s suitable for the season and the city. As for the black Armani… God, it’s awful. AND HER HAIR.

As for Daniel Craig… well, he always looks good during these tours. Daniel is getting great reviews for this Bond film, and the film is making buckets of money in Europe right now – but it doesn’t come out in the US until November 9th! I can’t wait. Also: riding on the success of this 007 outing, Daniel has just signed on to work with George Clooney! Clooney has finally put together his long-gestating project The Monuments Men, based on the true story of the team that recovered thousands of pieces of European artwork during and after World War II. Clooney has co-written the screenplay, and he’s direct and star. Daniel joins an impressive cast that also includes Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban. If you ever want to watch the documentary about the exact same subject matter, it’s called The Rape of Europa, and it’s excellent.

Photos courtesy of WENN.