One of the overriding complaints thus far about The Hunger Games promotion is that the actors, as featured within promotional stills, don’t really appear to be starving, near-death subjects of Panem. They look too clean. Too airbrushed. Too healthy. Too Hollywood. Further worries arose with a series of lackluster character posters and a Vanity Fair spread that looked like pages ripped from a J.Crew catalog. Although Jennifer Lawrence, who portrays Katniss, attempted to distance this adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed trilogy from Twilight Saga, the comparisons were inevitable. Not to mention those people (who may not have even read the books) who insist upon comparing Hunger Games to Battle Royale without a trace of irony. Bitches, please.

Fans of the books should now prepare to have all hope restored, for Lionsgate has released the first full trailer for The Hunger Games. The trailer does an excellent job of both satisfying fans of the source material as well as offering an altogether thrilling presentation of the story’s framework for those who haven’t read the novels. It also only details the first half of the story so as not to spoil too much of the action. Check it out, and then we’ll discuss:

CB and I both agree that this trailer looks fantastic. The voiceover by Donald Sutherland (as President Snow) gave me chills, and the grittiness of District 12 stands out in stark comparison to the clinical feel of District 1. The three leads (Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth) all fit the bill here, and the love triangle is significantly downplayed as well, which is the exact opposite of what I feared would happen. The supporting players all get their moments as well, with Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz at their mentoring best, and little Rue (Amandla Stenberg) peeking around a corner to break our hearts. While I’m not entirely satisfied with Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket (I thought she’d be a bit more vivacious), that’s not a huge complaint. Overall, this trailer is solid and should do a bang-up job at driving holiday-based interest for The Hunger Games before its March 23 release.

Movie stills courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

While I have read both the entire Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games trilogy and can attest to the inherent differences between the two, it’s also easy to concede to the similarities between target audiences when it comes to the movie adaptations for both franchises. While Hunger Games (based upon Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy) is obviously based upon more complex and universal themes than those of Stephenie Meyer’s weepy Twilight vampire-werewolf romances, both of them appeal to a tween-age audience. Of course, Collins has widely stated that she got the idea for her books not from (as many have speculated) Battle Royale but from watching the footage of both the Iraq war and reality television. In the spirit of defending Collins’ works against Twilight-geared accusations, Jennifer Lawrence has been interviewed by Vanity Fair:

On How She Got Involved With The Hunger Games: “I had read the books before I even knew I would be auditioning for the movie, and was a huge fan of the material. Actually, my mom read them first and thought it was an incredible role and story. She did the same thing with Winter’s Bone, so she must be a clairvoyant, or just has really great taste. Katniss is an incredible character: she’s a hunter but not a killer, a 16-year-old who’s being forced into the arena. These kids are killing one another only because if they don’t they’ll die. It’s needless, pointless, unjustified violence. It’s heartbreaking. When I auditioned, I told [director] Gary [Ross], ‘I understand if you don’t hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass.’ So there’s nothing cool about her. It’s not like she looks around the arena and goes, Yeah, I got this. I think she looks around helplessly, and thinks, I made a promise to my sister that I would survive; now I have to kill in order to do so.”

On Comparisons With Twilight: “I try not to think too much about it. Hunger Games is not Twilight, and while I hear the comparisons, it’s really premature to say that it will be the same phenomenon. I’m so proud of the work we did on the film-Gary and the entire cast and crew were amazing, and I can’t wait for it to be brought to life because I think it’s an important story. If it does become a crazy phenomenon, I’ll soak up my freedom now!”

[From Vanity Fair]

Naturally, I very much appreciate that Lawrence has read the subject matter at hand but would also be much more likely to understand her argument if, say, this interview hadn’t appeared on VF.com, which also (not coincidentally) features eight pages of very similarly-structured archives of Twilight-related promotional material. In addition, there’s also the matter of the above Hunger Games photoshoot, which appears to feature the cast members in advertisements for Abercrombie & Fitch clothing instead of a movie based upon a post-apocalyptic literary trilogy.

Further, I have to relent and accept arguments that Lionsgate’s marketing thus far of Hunger Games has been both airbrushed to the max and far too mass-marketed to be authentically believable in terms of the books themselves. AFter all, this film is supposed to portray characters that are both starving and in fear for their very lives. So why do the film stills look so bloody clean?

In addition to the above-described promotional materials, Lionsgate has also just released eight character posters — among them is the Lenny Kravitz as Cinna poster for which I’ve been anxiously awaiting. However, I must admit that the end results are … sadly lacking. Presenting Katniss, Cinna, Effie, Peeta, Haymitch, Gale, Cato, and Rue:

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair and Lionsgate

A few years ago, in the early days of Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP newsletter (what halcyon days those were), Dame Goop deigned to name-drop, as she often does. Except that the name she dropped made everybody do a big “WTF?” Goop made reference to Billy Joel’s then-wife, Katie Lee Joel, and mentioned Billy in passing, writing, “The summer before last, a mutual friend brought the lovely Katie Lee Joel and her husband William over for dinner. Much to my delight, she brought a fresh batch of these cookies with her. I adore the contrast of the dark chocolate and the cherries — heaven.” William Joel. Because Dame Goop thinks it’s gauche and peasanty to refer to someone as their nickname or stage name or the name they prefer to be called. At the time, Billy Joel’s rep basically said that no one ever calls him William and that Goop is an idiot (I’m paraphrasing).

Anyway, yesterday Lenny Kravtiz tweeted this photo (below) with the message, “The only person in the world that calls me Leonard.” You guessed it.

Is the point that Gwyneth simply is too elegant and classy to exist in our modern world, what with the abundance of tacky “nicknames”? Probably. I think there’s another point, though: that Gwyneth is super-cool. She’s so cool that she hangs out with Leonard Kravitz and William Joel and Beyonce Knowles and Christopher Martin. She’s so super-cool that not only does she hang out with all of these super-cool people (who all think she is amazing, did she mention that?), she also tries to teach these super-cool people some old-fashioned class, like calling people by their proper, Christian names.

Also: I wonder if she refers to her exes as William Bradley Pitt and Benjamin Geza Affleck? Does she always call her husband Chris, or Christopher?

Photos courtesy of Lenny’s Twitter and Fame.

The August issue of Details magazine features an interview with Lenny Kravitz. Unfortunately, it’s not a feature piece, so there’s no photoshoot to go along with his words; but we’ll take what we can get from the always delicious Mr. Kravitz, who is promoting his upcoming album, Black and White America, which arrives in U.S. stores on August 30. In addition to shilling for the new record, Lenny also discusses his upcoming role as Cinna in The Hunger Games, which instantly gained some sex appeal merely by way of casting the man. Oh, and he’s also got some choice words to say about Zoe stealing his fashion! Here are the highlights:

On His Mixed Race: My mother never really brought up race because our house was full of color. But she did have an intelligent way of putting it. I was 5 years old and she said, “You are just as much white as you are black, just as much Russian Jew as you are African-American. But society is only going to view you as black.” If you have a drop of black blood, they put the black stamp on you. If I have to fill out a form that asks what race I am, I check both boxes.

On Looking Back At His Past Fashion: I look back at some of those pictures and I’m like, “Wow, that was really crazy.” I would try anything: furs, boas, platform boots. It’s funny how you never think you’re going to change. I met Mick Jagger at the beginning of my career and asked him, “Where’s that outfit with the omega on it? Where’s that cape?” He said, “I don’t know. I think my daughter has it in her closet.” I was so bummed. But now my daughter, Zoe, has a lot of my stuff. She took all my boas from the Mama Said era. They were in storage, and I yelled at her, “Don’t steal my boas!” She laughed and said, “Those words would not come out of most fathers’ mouths.”

On His Relationship With Zoe: I’m old-school about the father-daughter thing, but she’s also my best friend. She grew up with me. I didn’t hide a lot. She learned by listening and observing what I was doing.

On Whether He Dreads Walking Her Down The Aisle I’m not. I look forward to it. But I’m hoping she doesn’t ask me that, like, tomorrow.

On Whether He Read Hunger Games Before Being Cast: I honestly hadn’t heard of them before the director called me. I hope the fans don’t hate me for that. He had seen my work in Precious and called and offered me the part of Cinna, who is the stylist for the main character, Katniss. He saw how I played a caregiver in Precious and figured I might be good for Cinna. I didn’t have to audition, so I’m lucky.

[From Details]

See, Kaiser was completely correct when she pegged Zoe’s style as very early ’90s because those boas that Lenny mentions are all from Mama Said, which came out in 1991. So she’s basically inspired by her father’s style of that era. Likewise, Zoe’s mother, Lisa Bonet also reached the height of her fame in the early ’90s as well, and I imagine that a lot of Zoe’s closet is also filled with stuff that she’s snagged from her mom (worn at that point in time) too. Does that make sense? Zoe wants to be cool, and her parents were coolest back in the early ’90s; hence her “vintage” emulation. Anyway, it sounds as if Lenny’s hoping that Zoe and Michael Fassbender don’t head down the aisle at any time in the near future, so that’s a good sign for all of us. Especially Kaiser.

As a side note, I recently devoured the Hunger Games trilogy after learning that Lenny was cast as Cinna, and I think he’ll be perfect in the role even though his Cinna will obviously be older than the literary counterpart. In fact, I can just hear Lenny, dressed flamboyently, uttering the words, “Katniss, the girl who was on fire!” He’s gonna be effortlessly convincing, and the rest of the casting (Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson) sounds rather promising as well.

Lenny Kravitz in NYC on 6/24/11 courtesy of Fame

In terms of lucrative film adapations of best-selling young-adult literature, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games shall certainly be the next Twilight phenomenon in terms of audience fervor and ability to cash in upon an already successful franchise. However and unlike Stephenie Meyers’ sparkly vampire saga (which is widely acknowledged to be terribly written), The Hunger Games has drawn much critical acclaim and even the praise of Stephen King. So far, the movie counterpart to the first book has captured a rather compelling cast, including Jennifer Lawrence (and her Katniss hair), Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, and Stanley Tucci. Oh yes, and now Lenny Kravitz has signed on as well:

Lenny Kravitz has joined the cast of The Hunger Games in a role that fans of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy have been anxious to see filled.

The actor-musician will play Cinna, the fashion stylist assigned to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she prepares to take part in the Hunger Games. His stunning and unique designs play an integral role in her performance in the Games.

“When I saw Lenny’s work in Precious, I was just knocked out,” director Gary Ross said. “It was quiet and strong and understated and open-hearted: all qualities which define this character.”

Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth also star in the movie, which Lionsgate is set to release March 23.

Kravitz was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and an ensemble SAG Award for his role in Precious. He also has appeared in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Zoolander. He is set to release his ninth studio album, Black and White America, on Aug. 30.

[From Hollywood Reporter]

Wait, a fashion stylist assists Katniss in her fight to the death? Maybe I really do need to read these books before the movie comes out. In related news, Lenny’s daughter, Zoe, is currently a subject of much debate due to a set of pictures (which we don’t have access to, but you can see them here) from a London photocall to promote X-Men: First Class. In those photos, not only is Michael Fassbender blonde (and I don’t like it, yet I suspect that Kaiser would still totally do him), but he’s got a James McAvoy buffer between himself and Zoe, who has been his girlfriend for at least a few months now. Although the couple hasn’t made a habit of posing together on the red carpet (as in the Jane Eyre premiere), this is a movie that they’ve filmed together, so it seems signficant, right? Kaiser thinks they’ve split up, and I hope she’s right. Also, I hope Fassbender restores his hair back to its original color, stat!

As an added note, I still can’t get over the fact that Zoe is so, well, average looking since she’s the daughter of two otherworldly beautiful parents (that is, Lenny and Lisa Bonet). Admittedly, I’m probably just saying that because she’s banging Fassbender.

Photos courtesy of Fame Pictures and WENN

Last night after the Oscars and local news Jimmy Kimmel aired a funny skit called The Handsome Men’s Club featuring cameos by such attractive souls as Sting, Patrick Dempsey, a shirtless Gilles Marini (from Sex and The City), Rob Lowe, John Kraskinski, Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hartnett, Taye Diggs, Tony Romo, Keith Urban, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The bit went on way too long and was just an excuse to add cameos by countless celebrities. Every time you turned around it seemed a new celebrity was shown sitting around the ever-expanding table. The premise was that Kimmel was the head of the self-obsessed Handsome Men’s Club and was being voted out by the members for not being handsome enough. Matthew McConaughey challenged Kimmel’s presidency and then Rob Lowe pointed out that Kimmel was wearing Spanx. Kimmel countered that he looked just like Taye Diggs, to which Taye and the members objected.

The whole thing was ridiculous and was capped off in true Kimmel style with his buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Affleck voted against Kimmel, shamefaced, and then Damon entered at the end and laughed maniacally, telling us we were out of time (a long running Kimmel gag). Next we saw Kimmel in bed spooning with his lover Affleck, realizing the whole thing was a bad dream. Affleck reassured Kimmel that he was attractive and was his “big daddy handsome,” at which point Ben’s wife, Jennifer Garner, popped out of bed and said “Ben, that’s enough, it’s getting weird.”

I didn’t think Kimmel could top his “f’ing Ben Affleck” response to then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s viral video, “I’m f’ing Matt Damon.” He did, though, sort of. It was more by sheer star power rather than hilarity, although I was pretty amused, particularly by Damon. He always manages to crack me up.

The Madonna/A-Rod spiritual cheating and subsequent A-Rod divorce story keeps getting more interesting. Yesterday we heard that Cynthia Rodriguez went on a wild spending spree in Paris after the news broke of her estranged husband’s alleged affair with Madonna. Rodriguez is said to have blown six figures on a lavish first class vacation for herself, two friends and their daughter at a time when she was rumored to have been on a getaway with musician Lenny Kravitz. It turns out she did spend time with Kravitz and friends in Paris during his tour stop there, but the two are not romantically involved. She spent more time getting spa treatments, going to the best restaurants, and generally letting off steam.

The NY Post reports that Kravitz had just dumped his manager, Guy Oseary, after learning of the way that Oseary used a maybe purely cult-driven relationship to generate publicity through a fake cheating story. In retaliation for being fired by Kravitz, Oseary is said to have leaked the story that A-Rod’s wife Cynthia had jetted off to Paris to be with him:

Dodd Romero, the hulking fitness trainer who accompanied Cynthia to Paris, told The Post that Kravitz blames his former manager, Guy Oseary, for entangling the rocker in the twisted tales about Madonna and the Yankee slugger.

Romero called Kravitz two weeks ago to tip him off that Oseary – who managed Kravitz, Madonna and A-Rod – was about to “pimp out Madonna and A-Rod,” said a source. But Kravitz didn’t approve and told Romero, “I’ll take care of this” – and fired Oseary.

Kravitz was shocked when he was then accused of having a fling with the slugger’s wife, said the source. Romero believes Oseary planted the story in retaliation for being dumped.

Kravitz, Cynthia Rodriguez and Romero were all in Kravitz’s tour bus when the reports broke in Paris. “Lenny looked like he was going to throw up,” Romero told the Post. “Lenny said, ‘I worked so hard to clean up my image and now I’m gonna get dragged into this.’ ”

The trio planned to fly to Spain to meet up with Denzel Washington, whom Romero also trains, but canceled when Kravitz’s alleged tryst made news. The group agreed it was best for Cynthia to instead head back to Miami to “sort out the mess.”

A rep for Kravitz confirmed he dumped Oseary two weeks ago.

[From The NY Post]

The Post’s source, Dodd Romero, is the same trainer who said earlier in the week that A-Rod was “totally brainwashed” by Madonna and that “he got pulled in by the dark side.”

Speaking of the “dark side,” Rodriguez was photographed having lunch yesterday with Rabbi Michael Berg, the director of the Kabbalah Centre. If A-Rod thinks his wife is trying to take him to the cleaners he should wait and see how much cash he ends up giving that organization for whatever enlightenment they’re going to bestow on him. It doesn’t sound like his involvement in the cult has benefitted his career or personal life so far.

Here’s Lenny Kravitz on the set of his Levi’s commercial in Prague on April 27th. Header of Cynthia Rodriguez at Madison Square Garden for Justin Timberlake’s concert last August 15th. Photographer: Doug Meszler. Images thanks to WENN.

Alex Rodriguez’s wife Cynthia is blaming Madonna – and Kabbalah – for the demise of her marriage. Cynthia has said she thinks Madonna is using the religion to convince Alex that they are soul mates, and has some sort of “mind control” over him. And while I’d normally laugh at stuff like that, it would absolutely not surprise me at all if Madonna were using Kabbalah for evil instead of good.

Pop icon Madonna is using kabbalah to brainwash Yankee star Alex Rodriguez into believing they are “soulmates,” the ballplayer’s estranged wife is telling friends. While Madonna’s flack has vehemently denied any hanky-panky, insisting the slugger and the singer “are just friends,” Cynthia Rodriguez is convinced otherwise. She has privately insisted to pals that the “Hard Candy” singer beguiled A-Rod by introducing him to the mystical Jewish teachings of kabbalah.

“I feel like Madonna is using mind control over him,” Cynthia Rodriguez told the friend. “I don’t recognize the man he’s become. He was a sweet, beautiful, loving husband and father. Today he’s very cold and calculating.”

“This all started with kabbalah,” said the friend. “Alex told Cynthia that he’d discovered that he’d been looking for his soul mate. And now, he said, he’d found her.”

Three weeks after the birth of their daughter Ella, A-Rod dropped a knee-wobbling bomb on his wife, the friend said. Alex “came to Cynthia and claimed their marriage was over,” the friend said. “That was news to her. She’d had no clue. She said, ‘I was devastated,’” the friend said. “I’ve been with him for 13 years,” she told her friend. “I stood beside him through all his struggles.”

[From the Daily News]

This isn’t the first time A-Rod’s been accused of philandering. He’s often been seen at strip clubs in New York and Vegas. In May 2007 the New York Post published a front page photo of Rodriguez with a Las Vegas stripper at a hotel in Toronto. A month later, Cynthia got a bit of bad publicity for wearing a tank top that said “F#@% You” to a Yankees game. Many thought the shirt was a public response to what was already going on in her marriage.

While I would never, ever defend Madonna, it sounds like the biggest problem is Alex Rodriguez’s attitude towards his marriage. And probably some private things within that marriage. I doubt Madonna has figured out some evil spell to cast on the guy – it sounds like he was looking for an affair, and he probably got one. I met A-Rod a few times when I was a teenager through a relative that had a business relationship with him. This was back when he was playing for the Mariners. He already had a “I’m better than everyone else” attitude about him, which I figured was kind of expected.

In other news related to this debacle, it sounds like Lenny Kravitz really has been a good guy who got a lot of crap for doing a decent thing. The Daily News reports that Cynthia went to Paris on A-Rod’s suggestion – along with the godparents of one of her children – who is also Alex’s trainer – and his wife and their daughter. Kravitz has been out of the country, and played a gig in Belgium last night. He loaned his place to Cynthia as an act of kindness. Many think A-Rod or one of his friends planted the idea in the press – after his suggestion that Cynthia go to Paris to get away from the paparazzi, photographers were already waiting for her at Kravitz’s place when she arrived.

Here’s Alex Rodriguez leaving his Manhattan apartment on his way to the New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers game on Wednesday. Photographer: A. Miller. Header of A Rod, Cynthia, and their daughter Natasha at FAO Schwarz in NYC for a reading of his book ‘Out of the Ballpark’ on July 20, 2007. Images thanks to WENN.

An older photo of Alex Rodriguez out with his wife, Cynthia
Yesterday Maddona and her husband of seven years, Guy Ritchie, made a strained public outing in light of rumors that each of them has consulted divorce attorneys. There’s also a story in the upcoming issue of US Magazine that claims that Madonna, 49, has been carrying on an affair with NY Yankees player Alex Rodriguez, 32.

Madonna’s rep has of course denied that there’s any infidelity or plans for divorce. Madonna and Guy followed their standard operating procedure whenever there are rumors questioning the fitness of their marriage – they went out together and invited the paparazzi to document it. If they’re willing to do that they’re probably willing to work out whatever issues they have that boiled over to the press. They might just stay together.

The NY Daily News adds some credence to the story that Madonna and Alex Rodriguez were having an affair. They report that Rodriguez and his wife of five years, Cynthia, are separated. Cynthia and Alex have two daughters together, aged three and half and two months. There’s a questionable rumor that Cynthia is now having an affair with rocker Lenny Kravitz, and has joined him in Paris for a few days while he’s on tour. Her mother denies that’s true, and I can’t see the mother of a two month old jetting off to Paris for a new guy, but it’s possible. To make this story more complicated, Madonna dated Lenny Kravitz back in 1990.

Yankee star Alex Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, have split after about three months of problems in their marriage, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Daily News Wednesday…

“It’s true,” the source said of A-Rod’s separation from his wife of five years. “They’ve been having problems for about three months.”

Word of the couple’s marital strife comes less than three months after they expressed how “thrilled” they were with the April 21 birth of their daughter, Ella Alexander.

Rodriguez, 32, didn’t join his wife in Miami until 10 minutes after she gave birth, and spent only a day with her and their newborn before rejoining the Yankees.

Revelations of the couple’s not-so-great-nuptials came as new rumors surfaced on the Internet that Cynthia Rodriguez, 34, was having a fling with rocker Lenny Kravitz.

The gossip item on PerezHilton.com quoted a “family friend” claiming C-Rod had gone on a romantic getaway in Paris with Kravitz.

“She is not! I know that,” Cynthia Rodriguez’s mother, Evangeline Scurtis, told The News yesterday. Scurtis refused to discuss the status of her daughter’s relationship with Rodriguez, repeatedly saying, “No comment.”

Kravitz, 44, is in the middle of his “Love Revolution Tour” in Europe.

Coincidentally, A-Rod, Madonna and Kravitz all share the same manager, Guy Oseary.

[From NY Daily News]

If A-Rod has been visiting Madonna’s apartment late at night at least he’s not doing it while his wife waits at home thinking he’s out with the guys. There is speculation that Madonna and Guy have an open marriage, or maybe Madonna had a fling and is ready to go back to work on her marriage with the same focused zeal she approaches every other area of her life. She’ll whip it into shape just like she molds her body into a tiny powerhouse. I have a feeling this whole story will die down and it will soon be back to Madonna gyrating to her throbbing music, making us pay attention to her upturned crotch and astounding athletic ability instead of her troubled personal life.

Header image thanks to Lawrence Schwartzwald for Splash News.

Lenny Kravitz hasn’t had sex for three years. Why would you share that with anyone, particularly the whole world? Because you’re looking for a wife, of course.

Kravitz, 43, told Maxim magazine: “It’s just a promise I made until I get married. Where I’m at in life, the women have got to come with something else, not just the body, but the mind and spirit. It usually trips them out, but that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m looking at the big picture.”

Sydney Morning Herald

I think we can assume that Lenny’s celibacy is not the result of a lack of offers. He has in the past dated desirables such like Nicole Kidman, Adriana Lima, Natalie Imbruglia, Madonna and Penelope Cruz. He was also married for four years to the very attractive actress Lisa Bonet.

This is actually a very sensible resolution to make. Lenny Kravitz really had has as much lady love as he is entitled to, time to give all the less attractive guys in the world a chance. And at age 43, I wonder how much longer Lenny will be able to continue his career as ‘rock n roll sex symbol’. He may need to learn to play another instrument or something. I suspect he’s had lots of time to practice since taking this vow of celibacy.

Lenny is currently on tour, promoting his appropriately titled It Is Time for a Love Revolution album. He plays most of the instruments on the album.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Lenny Kravitz is shown at the 2007 American Music Awards on 11/18/07, thanks to PRPhotos.