These are photos from today’s London Film Festival photo call for The Black Swan, which is probably one of the bigger “Oscar bait” films this year. Critics are already saying Natalie Portman will likely get a Best Actress nomination for her work, but Natalie didn’t show up to promote the film today! Instead, we get my lover Vincent Cassel (love) and little Mila Kunis. Mila has been MIA in promotional duties thus far, so it’s nice to see her getting some press – this is probably her bid for Best Supporting Actress, although I doubt that will happen. Mila is rocking the hell out of that leather skirt too – I love that skirt. It’s the perfect length, and the perfect fit. She doesn’t look biker chick, but it doesn’t look demure either. The blouse is meh, but whatever. It’s all about the skirt.

Vincent Cassel, meanwhile, is still rocking my world. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much press he’s been doing for the film. He looks very interesting in his role as the ballet coach/trainer/whatever dude. Intense and sexy and brooding and mean. Too bad he’s just so lovely!

Sigh… Le Cassel. I want him, and I want the leather skirt.

By the way, producers just released four new posters for Black Swan… and they’re kind of awesome. Old-school and beautiful, like pieces of art.

Photos courtesy of WENN, posters courtesy of Digital Spy.

This week’s US Weekly has a story suggesting that Justin Timberlake is cheating on his longterm girlfriend, Jessica Biel (again) with his adorable co-star, Mila Kunis. Only US just suggests that something could be happening between them and then ends with a rep denial and a supposed insider’s statement that Mila would never get with a guy who had a girlfriend. I can definitely see Timberlake drooling all over Mila as this article suggests, and we know he has a long history of stepping out on Jessica and getting reined back in again. Whether Mila is game or not is up to question.

Justin Timberlake: Betraying Jessica

The singer finds Friends with Benefits costar Mila Kunis nearly irresistible.

Justin Timberlake is really getting into his new role as Mila Kunis’ love interest in Friends with Benefits, currently shooting in L.A. “He is absolutely obsessed with Mila,” says a source of the star, 29, who met his leading lady, 27, on set. Seconds another pal: “He’s smitten!” And no wonder. “Mila is beautiful, funny and no bullsh*t,” says the pal of Kunis, who has been involved with Macaulay Culkin, 30, on and (currently) off for eight years. So what about Timberlake’s girlfriend of three-plus years, Jessica Biel, 28? “Justin has strayed before and he’ll do it again, but he has no intention of ending things with Jess,” a Timberlake source says of the star, who’s well-known wandering eye has landed on everyone from Rihanna to Ciara. His rep insists, “There is absolutely no truth” to the Kunis crush. (Timberlake and Biel were seen running errands in L.A. September 11.) As for Kunis, “Mila would never go for a guy with a girlfriend,” says a pal of the actress. “And he’s not her type!”

[From US Weekly, print edition, September 27, 2010]

I love how the “pal” adds that Timberlake isn’t Mila’s type. So is Timberlake fawning all over her and getting turned down? Maybe, I could see it happening. He just seems like a dog who is too weak to admit that he doesn’t want to be in a relationship. I don’t know much about Mila but maybe she’s smart enough to realize that it’s not a good idea to mess with a guy she’s working with who has a girlfriend who could bench press her.

These photos are from the set of Friends with Benefits and are from 8/31/10. I also included a picture of Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) in his underwear on the set of that movie just because it’s the first time I’m seeing it. He’s an awesome actor. Credit: Fame Pictures.

Previously, we’ve done some substantial coverage of the new, as-yet-unreleased film, The Black Swan. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream), and it stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and my French lover Vincent Cassel. Initially, the script for this thing leaked very early, and the basic plot was always known – Natalie plays the star ballerina, with Vincent Cassel playing the director/mentor/lover/tormentor role. Natalie disintegrates, and Mila Kunis, a rising star in the ballet world, enters her life. Crazy, druggy lesbian sex ensues. Maybe. This was also the film where Natalie met her current boyfriend, ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied, certified hottie. Anyway, the trailer was just released and it looks… f-ck, it looks really good.

CASSEL!!!! Oh, I’m so SO happy there’s so much Cassel in this trailer, because it gives me hope that there’s lots of Cassel in the film. Mila Kunis looks pretty awesome too – it’s nice to see her playing an interesting, dark dramatic role with a challenging director, and judging her solely by the trailer, it looks like she held her own. Natalie… well, she’s doing a good job of looking kind of crazy and strung out. Thoughts? Would you still see this movie even though Natalie is kind of a smug bitch in real life? I would. But I’m doing it for Cassel and Mila.

I dedicate the rest of this post to Cassel:

Header poster courtesy of Collider. Additional promotional images courtesy of USA Today.

I’ve grown to like Mila Kunis more and more as I continue to read interviews with her. She’s charming, confident, intelligent, engaging and funny. Sure, I kind of think she’s on the “too thin” side, but since I’ve begun to like her so much, I’m willing to buy the explanation that she’s working really hard, or that she’s just naturally that thin, or whatever the excuse may be.

Anyway, she’s got a supporting part in Date Night, the comedy starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. According to GQ, Mila plays a “foulmouthed stripper turned blackmailer who helps ruin Tina Fey and Steve Carell’s nice, suburban lives.” Sidenote: Mark Wahlberg is also in this film too – what the hell is up this strange, wonderful casting? Anyhoodle, Mila did a little mini-interview with GQ, which ended up being mostly about Jason Segel’s wang. Mila also did a very pretty photo shoot too (slideshow here).

There are things in this existence that are fair, and there are things that are not. The rules of backgammon are undeniably fair. That Macaulay Culkin gets Mila Kunis is not. It’s not just that she looks like an anime cartoon. Or that she’s the ultimate guys’-girl, having starred in everything from The Book of Eli to Family Guy. Or that she is the type of comedian that steals every scene she’s in, most recently (and perhaps most impressively) as a foulmouthed stripper turned blackmailer who helps ruin Tina Fey and Steve Carell’s nice, suburban lives in this month’s Date Night. She is all those things, of course. But Mila Kunis also happens to be one of the funniest women we’ve ever had the good fortune to speak with.

“I love a good dick joke,” she says, in a tone usually reserved for topics like Iranian nuclear enrichment or troop levels in Waziristan. “Fart jokes. Poop jokes. They’re hilarious. They never get old. But especially not a dick joke.” Given that kind of setup, it’s impossible not to bring up 2008′s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which Ms. Kunis acted opposite a stark-naked Jason Segel. “Look, I want it on the record, okay?” she says. “It’s a nice dick. Well proportioned. Handsome. I have nothing but good things to say about Jason Segel’s penis.”

Funny? Smart? Generous, too? Jason Segel is welcome to join us in sticking pins in our old Home Alone dolls anytime.

[From GQ]

Yeah, not much of an interview. They just wanted to photograph Mila as a sexy cowgirl (I think that’s the theme of this shoot – but I can’t really tell). And she just gets prettier and prettier, so I think a sexy cowgirl photo shoot was in order. In some of these shots, she looks like a little mini-Angelina Jolie. Which is exactly what she played when Mila was cast in Gia – she played Gia as a kid, where Angelina played Gia as an adult. Interesting casting, right? Anyway, I’d like to see Mila billed as Jolie’s heir – Mila is so much better than Megan Fox.

Mila Kunis in GQ, courtesy of GQ’s online slideshow.

Little Mila Kunis is profiled in February’s Esquire Magazine in their feaure “12 Things You Didn’t Know About…”. The photos from Esquire are very pretty, and Mila doesn‘t look as tired and drawn as she did on the red carpet for The Book of Eli earlier this week. But I think Mila is trying a bit too hard to be a sexy vamp, when her personality shows that she’s more bubbly and sweet. But that’s common enough for magazines – they turn the brunettes into the vamps and the blondes into the “girls next door”. Anyway, the “12 Things” are funny enough, so here are some the highlights, including her thoughts on whether Megan Fox could be an evil genius:

She’s not sure what to make of Megan Fox.
“She has a tendency to say absurd sh-t and then see what happens. I hope she’s fully consciously aware of what she’s doing, because if she is, she’s brilliant.”

Aside from those eyes, she’s actually on the wee side.
Mila has got amazing eyes, caramel-colored and big. Really big. Immense. “Yes, I look like Japanimation,” she says. “I’m aware of that.” The rest of her, on the other hand, is small. “My friends call me Hobbit,” Mila says. “I come across as shorter than I am. People will say, ‘You’re not five foot four. And I’ll say, ‘People, I know my height.’ I’m constantly winning bets. Hundreds of dollars.”

She’s kind of a geek.
“I read The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report. I spend hours researching products. I’m a product whore. Like soaps and creams. And just crap. I love Yelp.” She also likes Colbert. Or maybe Man vs. Wild. “I love that he gets so excited about carcasses. He’ll be like, ‘Mmm, look at that sexy dead goat, look at those eyeballs.’ Then he digs into the goat’s eyeballs because they have protein. It makes me want to vomit. And of course I watch it.”

She wants a better class of paparazzi.
“Sometimes I’ll get paparazzi, but it’s only because someone else was here before me, and I’m like, ‘Crap, I got the leftovers.’”

She’s not buying the gossip on plastic surgery.
One site alleges Kunis had a nose job, even though the before and after photos look identical. “Where are my boobs? If I were going to get plastic surgery, I’d get some real work done.”

She hates talking about Ashton Kutcher’s romantic prowess.
“Journalists will ask, ‘Is he a good kisser?’ It’s no longer a cute question. It was ten years ago. I’m no longer fifteen. What am I going to say, ‘He’s such a soft kisser, it was delightful.’”

Contrary to reports, she never dated her co-stars on That ’70s Show.
“I never dated Wilmer [Valederrama]. I never dated Danny [Masterson]. They’re like my brothers. That’s disgusting. That’s wrong.”

She can legitimately claim to be the young Angelina Jolie.
A fifteen-year-old Kunis starred as the younger version of Gia, the heroin-addicted bisexual model, in HBO’s biopic. Jolie played Gia as an adult. Kunis’s parents didn’t quite know quite how lurid the movie was until it came out. “They were like, ‘What did we put you in?!’ They were as dumbfounded as I was.”

She wasn’t always American.
Mila grew up in the Ukraine, and didn’t taste American food until she was seven. “I remember having my first Coca-Cola at the Moscow airport. It was awful. I hated it. I’d never had fizzy water before; I’d had juice and water my whole life, and I just couldn’t understand it. Of course now I love me some Diet Coke.”

She learned to fight from Chuck Norris.
When Mila was fourteen, she had a guest role on Walker, Texas Ranger, and during the lunch break, the official toughest man in the world gave her lessons on punching. “He told me you don’t want the thumbs on the inside of the fist. When you hit, bring your hands back quickly to protect. And make sure you hit at face level so your own face is protected,” she says. “It wasn’t cool back then, because I didn’t really know who he was. Now I’m like, ‘Chuck Norris taught me to fight!’”

[From Esquire]

Okay, I have to admit, this interview converted me. I’m now I’m a fan of Mila’s. She’s very funny and charming. And I’m so, so glad she never dated Wilmer Valderrama. I thought they went out for a year or so…? Maybe that was just a rumor started by Wilmer because… well, we all know he’s sleazy. But Danny Masterson? I don’t mind admitting that I would hit that. Although I think Danny and his brother are Scientologists, which kills my desire as quickly as Xenu can say “All-Powerful Suri Cruise.”

Images from Esquire, courtesy of Esquire online.

This is Mila Kunis making a red carpet appearance last night at the premiere of The Book of Eli. Mila is in the film, also starring Denzel Washington. I think Mila is wearing too much makeup and she looks tired, but Lainey thinks she’s getting scary skinny. Now, Mila has always been a very small girl. She’s always been skinny, verging, in my opinion, on the “too skinny.” But I don’t really see a huge difference in last night’s red carpet appearance. Her collar bone looks slightly more prominent, and like I said, she looks tired. It could be that she’s been working really hard on Black Swan, and she was just having a bad night.

In a recent interview to Metro Canada, Mila talked about how much she enjoyed working with Denzel: “He’s a very powerful man. At this point in my career, I like to work with people that I admire and people I respect and can learn from, and an opportunity to work with Denzel Washington, you can’t really pass it up.” The film is one of those endless apocalypse movies, with Mila and Denzel both playing survivors of some sort of catastrophic event, and then Denzel must protect a “sacred book” and “fulfill his destiny.” Boring, yes? I liked it better when it was called The Stand, and I could read it.

Anyway, here’s one of the trailers for the film. Oh, Gary Oldman is in it. He looks like hell too:

Mila Kunis at the premiere for ‘The Book of Eli’ on January 11, 2010. Credit: Bauer-Griffin and WENN.

Mila Kunis is the cover girl for the December/January issue of Blackbook Magazine. At 26 years old, Mila has found herself on the precipice of movie stardom after being one of the best parts of the ensemble of That 70s Show, and stealing scenes away from Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Now she’s playing in the big leagues, working with Darren Aronofsky and Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Mila is promoting her supporting role in The Book of Eli, but all anyone wants to talk about is her angry, druggy sex with Natalie Portman in Black Swan, which is filming right now and won’t be out until next year. But Mila can’t or won’t talk about the movie, so what’s the point, really? I guess the pictures are the point. She does look pretty – but she kind of sounds like an a-hole in the interview (full Blackbook piece here):

On ballet training for Black Swan, her new Darren Aronofsky-directed ballet drama starring Natalie Portman and Winona Ryder: “I just skipped about 10 years of ballerina training and started as if I’m a professional. (laughs) Every day, I tore the ligaments in my calves and I would think, What am I doing to myself?”

On being secretive for Black Swan: “I just feel like such a douche because I can’t talk about it. It’s not even that big of a deal. It’s a f—ing movie. It’s not like I’m saving the world.”

On her rumored sex scene with Natalie Portman in Black Swan: “It’s two girls making out, and guys have a thing for that. And Nat is like every guy’s dream. She’s a nerd’s idea of heaven. The whole thing is silly, but I can see why people care.”

On being an actress: “I didn’t come to L.A. to become a famous actress. I lived in L.A. and I was an actress, and it was just like, Who am I? I loved what I did, but I didn’t like the judgment that came with it. It took me until I was 21 to realize that this is what I was going to do. I finally decided I’m not going to be embarrassed to write ‘actress’ on my medical forms.”

On the prospect of marrying her boyfriend Macaulay Culkin: “Not to say that I don’t believe in it, but it’s just not something that’s important to me. But I will have children. I’m too selfish to have them now, but when I do, I don’t feel like I need to be married. I need to have a person in my life who will care for me and my children—nothing else.”

[From Blackbook Magazine via Just Jared]

Here’s the thing – I think Mila is a really pretty little thing, and some of these photographs of her are gorgeous… but doesn’t she seem strange, and not in a good way? Granted, I only skimmed the full Blackbook interview, and she is self-effacing and nice, sometimes. But I think she’s gotten into that groove that a lot of young actors have where they think they’re always going to be getting work, and they’ll always have a steady paycheck, and so they get a bit of chip on their shoulder. I could be off-base, completely. Mila could totally be a nice girl, and I’m just reading the interview the wrong way. But she seems full of herself.

Blackbook Magazine cover and additional images courtesy of Just Jared.

This is Natalie Portman on the cover of September’s Interview Magazine. The actual interview hasn’t been released yet on Interview’s site, so I have no idea what Natalie is talking about. What I do know is that this is a gorgeous cover. This is amazing. God, she’s beautiful.

I could go on and on about how I think Natalie is a very classy and talented young actress, but that would destroy the strange news I just found. Natalie has just been officially confirmed for Black Swan, which will be directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain). What’s startling about this project is that it apparently calls for Natalie to do some crazy stuff – being a hardcore ballerina, taking drugs, being victimized by men and having “ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex” with a woman, who will be played by Mila Kunis. This is not your mother’s Natalie Portman film. But it’s not the fanboys’ fanatasy film either:

Black Swan will star drool-worthy starlets Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis and is being helmed by visionary director Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky originally tried to set up the project in 2007 but Universal put it in turnaround. Thanks to “The Wrestler” doing so well though, Portman twirled onto the project a couple of months ago and everything’s been full steam ahead since.

Can I just tell you why none of my review matters? Can I just tell you why my review is absolutely pointless? Because in this movie, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis have sex.

Yeah. You read that right. And not just nice sweet innocent sex either. We’re talking ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex. Yeah so…this movie is already on the must-see list of 2010. But how good is it? Does the story that surrounds the sex disappoint or excel?

Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in one of New York City’s top ballet companies. She appears to be the only sweet girl of the bunch however, as it’s established early on that these companies are packed with jackals, every seemingly sweet-natured princess scheming to backstab the girl next to her if only it gets her one rung higher on the ladder. High School’s got nothing on these bitches. Nina’s sorta friend, Beth, who has been the school’s running lead in all the productions, is nearing the end of her career, and everyone’s gunning to take her place in the next big ballet: Swan Lake.

The lead role is the part of Odette, the Swan Queen. The role is complicated by the fact that the ballerina must be able to play both sweet, the “White Swan,” and dark, the “Black Swan”. It is the ultimate challenge. Of course, Nina has the white swan down. But does she have the darkness to nail the Black Swan?

The director of the production is the handsome but sinister Yevna. He sees something in Nina but before he gives her the part, he wants to speak with her privately. It is there, in his office, that he pries into Nina’s mind, searching for her dark side, even going so far as to force a kiss on her. But it’s unclear whether Yevna is trying to seduce Nina or simply seeing how she’ll react. As the sweet polite girl she is. Or as the raging disturbed woman she will have to be. In the end, Nina is given the role. But it’s clear Yevna has doubts as to if she can pull it off.

As the days go by and Nina searches desperately to find her darkness, she begins noticing another girl around town and at the ballet company who looks exactly like her. But not just “exactly.” We’re talking identical. Yet every time Nina tries to get close, the girl turns away or hides her face. Finally, Nina meets this mysterious doppelganger after rehearsal. Her name is Lily (Kunis). And while she definitely looks like Nina, she’s by no means an identical replica. Was it Nina’s imagination perhaps?

Whereas Nina is calculated about every move she makes, Lily is the opposite – uncaring and uninterested in perfection. Everything she does seems so…effortless. The two begin a tepid friendship, one which Nina is constantly trying to pull away from. But while she is afraid of Lily, she is also drawn to her in some way. And then there’s those strange fleeting moments where Lily looks exactly like her.

As they get closer to production, Nina’s world starts to spin out of control as Lily befriends Yevna and continues to move up the ballet company ladder. The girls will go out, get drunk, and Nina will show up at rehearsal late the next day only to find that Lily is standing in for her. Is Lily scheming to steal her role as the Swan Queen? Or is Nina making this all up in her head in order to find her dark side? That is the ultimate question.

As in all Aronofsky movies, there are some controversial moments. In one scene, Nina basically gets raped by Yevna. It’s cold and off-putting, and yet it’s an important moment as it demonstrates just how high the stakes are in this seemingly innocent world. The script is steeped in darkness (surprise surprise) and makes you feel so uncomfortable at times that you can’t read it without constantly resituating yourself.

[From ScriptShadow]

Yikes. While I think Aronofsky makes interesting, challenging, thought-provoking films, this one seems especially intense. I should mention to all of Natalie’s fan boys out there that you’ll really have to work for this lesbian scene. Natalie is no Megan Fox – she’s not just going to make out with a girl because “it’s cute” or “boys will think it’s funny”. Natalie is doing a hardcore lesbian sex scene because it’s art. And it probably won’t be sexy in the least.

Here’s Natalie Portman leaving Nobu Berkeley restaurant in London, having spent around 3 hours inside dining with friends on July 6th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

So I’m feeling kind of dumb. Did everyone else know that Macaulay Culkin and Mila Kunis have been dating for six years? She was one of the stars of “That 70’s Show” and is currently great on “Family Guy.” And he’s of course the kid from “Home Alone” and nothing else really. Not that they’re super high-profile, but I thought I would have run into it while perusing People or something, but nothing. I can’t really explain it, but they seem like an odd couple. Culkin seems like he should be with someone more… weird. I don’t know. But apparently they’re a super laid-back, normal couple. So laid-back that they have interviews with prestigious “Parade” magazine. Yeah, the free one that comes with your Sunday paper.

“Put away your assumptions about Macaulay Culkin. The former child star’s girlfriend says he’s a homebody. Culkin, star of the 1990 comedy ‘Home Alone,’ has been dating actress Mila Kunis for nearly six years; Kunis, who co-starred on TV’s ‘That 70′s Show,’ says they make a low-key couple. ‘We enjoy each other’s company,’ the 24-year-old actress says in an interview on Parade.com. ‘We like to read books or play video games or watch TV or go to the movies. And he’s an amazing cook. He makes dinner every night.’

“‘He’s an amazing, simple guy, who is probably the most brilliant person I’ve ever met,’ Kunis gushes. ‘He’s so, so smart and so aware and so kind and so sweet. Unfortunately, that’s not what people want him to be, so they write stuff.’ Kunis says journalists misconstrue facts – or ‘just make stuff up’ – about their relationship. ‘At one point, they were like, `Seen shopping in Beverly Hills for engagement rings,’” she says. ‘We were in Japan working. What is wrong with these people?’”

[From the Associated Press]

Um, Mila Kunis, by “misconstrue” do you actually mean “completely ignore”? Because I would definitely agree with you there. I knew that thing a few years ago about Culkin getting busted for drug possession, but I assumed he’d died in jail or something by now. Maybe moved to North Dakota to just get away from it all. I did not think he was cooking dinners for a hot girl. And something tells me that even if everyone else really did know you two were dating, the paps still aren’t camping outside your home every evening. I’m guessing it’s just more that you wish they were. You two are going to have to do a lot more drugs for that day to come. I wish you the best of luck.

Macaulay Culkin and Mila Kunis are shown on 1/21/04 at the Motorola Lodge at Sundance in the header and on 8/25/06 at Culkin’s 26th birthday, below.