It’s been a hard week to say the least. I started this blog to get a break from the hard news, because there’s joy to be found in talking about celebrities, entertainment, and all that glitters. It’s nice to think about their lives instead of our own problems, and to realize they’re no different than we are, they’re just pampered and catered to and have access to the best of everything without having to pay for significant amounts of it. There I go getting down again, damnit.

The celebrities can’t isolate us from everything. There are things that happen that affect us all, that change things in a way that can’t be buffered or ignored. Matt Damon remains my favorite celebrity, so I wanted to talk about him, to focus on him and his sexy voice, and to try to let him talk me/us through this crappy week. US Weekly has some quotes from Matt, given before the Boston Marathon bombing, about what the marathon meant to him. When he was a kid, Matt’s dad ran the marathon and he was there to see him through the finish line. Now I’m getting teary imagining that poor kid who didn’t get the chance to see his dad finish. Matt’s words that have a lot more significance now, just like that photo of a sweet 9 year-old boy holding up a peace sign. Anyway, here’s what Matt had to say about it:

The piece, excerpted from a new book, The B.A.A. At 125: The Official History of the Boston Athletic Association, describes the Promised Land star’s earliest memories of the marathon, which he calls “a sporting spectacle like no other, overwrought with nerves and excitement.”

“I’ll never forget standing there in the crowd with my brother, Kyle, as we looked first for [famed marathoner] Bill Rodgers, and then, in the very same race as some of the most talented runners on earth, our smiling (and grimacing) 40-year-old dad,” he says. Later, he tells of how Kyle followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the festivities as an athlete, leaving his own sons to watch from the sidelines.

“To this day both my father and brother have their bib numbers archived with their most prized possessions and describe their experiences as some of the most emotional moments of their lives,” he writes. Of the varying participants in the race, he says: “These people are champions.”

Those words have taken on a new poignancy in the wake of the Boston attacks on Monday, April 15. Following the explosions, the Bourne Identity star, 42, released a statement to Entertainment Weekly in which he expressed his condolences for the victims in his beloved hometown.

“My heart goes out to the people of the city of Boston,” he said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones in such a senseless and heartless way.”

[From US Weekly]

Maybe we need to cry. Maybe there’s no other way to process bad things that happen, and it’s not normal to act like everything is fine, which is my default setting most of the time. I just want to focus on the good things, on people helping each other and offering their homes, their support, anything they can do. All around the world right now there are parties, birthdays, engagements, weddings and births. The good times far outweigh the bad.

Getting back to Damon, there are some lovely far-range photos that came out of his vow renewal over the weekend. We don’t have those photos as they’re exclusives, but you can see them here. Everyone was dressed in white and the effect is striking. Lucy’s wedding dress was designed by Naeem Khan, and People has a photo of it on the runway. It’s beautiful and Grecian-looking. That’s what we prefer to focus on, nice stories, but some weeks there aren’t enough to go around and that sucks.

These photos are from the Berlinale in February. Credit: WENN.com

All of you are aware by now that yesterday brought us the awful tragedy of explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. As of this morning, information is still forthcoming and will be for quite some time. According to CNN, three people are dead (including an 8-year-old boy who wanted to watch his father finish), and over a hundred more were injured with many victims suffering lost limbs. Police have searched an apartment in connection with the explosions, but the investigation is still in its very early stages.

This is the worst terror attack on US soil since 9/11, and the sheer timing of the explosions — which went off at about 4:09, the average finish time on the Boston course — is chilling. Just about everyone realizes the Boston Marathon is huge in terms of the sport. Any runner can tell you that it’s easily the most prestigious race in the entire country and one that you will work for many years to qualify for, if ever. Only the best of the best make it to Boston at any point in their lives, and now all those runners (and their families) who worked so hard to make that goal happen have been rocked by this horrific act of violence.

What struck me most poignantly about the news coverage is one particular video that played on repeat on all of the news channels. The footage shows the initial moments of the blast and the reaction by runners on the course. These people were already wearied and discombobulated by 26 miles of running, and they were all completely shocked to hear the first explosion. It absolutely killed me to watch a runner named Bill Iffrig get knocked off his feet by the sheer force of the blast. Fortunately, Bill is okay and (miraculously) only suffered a scraped knee, and he was able to walk to the finish line. Sadly, so many people in attendance at that event were not so lucky.

Naturally and since we are a celebrity blog, here’s a quick rundown of Bostonian celebrity responses to the tragedy. First up, Mark Wahlberg tweeted, “Thoughts and prayers with my hometown Boston today.”

Wahlberg also spoke to Us Weekly last night at his latest film premiere. Here’s what he had to add to the melee:

“It’s just so upsetting,” Wahlberg, 41, told Us Weekly at a Cinema Society screening of his new film, Pain & Gain, in New York City April 15. “Obviously I’ve got a huge family and so many family and friends back in Boston. I don’t know what exactly happened, and I don’t know if everyone’s okay. I’m just trying to be here [at the screening] and put on a brave face and just be a professional.”

The Oscar-nominated actor added, “The world obviously needs to change. If you think about all the events over the last couple years, if we can’t protect our innocent women and children, then we have a serious problem.”

[From Us Weekly]

Many other celebrities — including Ben Affleck, Mindy Kaling, Chris Evans (from Sudbury), and Eli Roth (from Newton) — who hail from the Boston area took to their Twitter pages too. Here are some of their responses to this terrible tragedy.

Ben Affleck: “Such a senseless and tragic day. My family and I send our love to our beloved and resilient Boston.” [From Twitter]

Mindy Kaling: “My heart aches for my hometown. My love and support to the many worthy Boston area hospitals who are helping the wounded, St. E’s, Mass General, Beth Israel and many more.” [From Twitter]

Chris Evans: “[T]houghts and prayers are with everybody in boston. heartbreaking… [From Twitter]

Eli Roth: “Thoughts and prayers for everyone in Boston. Can’t believe what I’m reading. Stay safe.” [From Twitter]

UPDATE: Several of you have requested that we mention Patton Oswalt’s amazing Facebook post on the subject. He’s not Bostonian, but it’s well worth reading his essay, which in which he concludes, “When you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”

Photos courtesy of Boston Herald and WENN

You guys know I’m a Ke$ha apologist. I like her. And I had already downloaded “Die Young” last month and it was part of my workout jam. I never really gave too much thought to the lyrics: “I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums/Oh what a shame that you came here with someone/So while you’re here in my arms/Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young/We’re gonna die young” – it’s a song about young love. Teenage love. Staying up all night and making out LOVE. It’s part and parcel of the “Hollywood Martyrdom” of people like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, the idea that everything is so intense when you’re young and when you get old, you lose that intensity and focus and passion.

But, of course, in the wake of Sandy Hook tragedy, the lyrics took on a different meaning, and radios across the country pulled Ke$ha’s song (which had been steadily rising on the charts for weeks). I really don’t think anyone really blamed Ke$ha for the tragedy, do they? Something similar happened here in Virginia (where CB and I live – not together!) – Virginia radio stations refused to play Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” because that song is about a kid playing with a gun, and many people around here were deeply affected by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Anyway, Ke$ha has spoken! She’s fine with her song being pulled, mostly because (she says) she was “forced” to sing those lyrics. The hell?

Ke$ha has just — shockingly — come out and said she never wanted to sing the controversial lyrics in “Die Young” — even though she’s listed as one of the writers of the song.

TMZ broke the story … Ke$ha’s hit song has been yanked from a huge number of radio playlists since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Ke$ha just tweeted, she understands why her song is now inappropriate, adding, “I had my very own issues with “die young” for this reason. I did NOT want to sing those lyrics and I was FORCED TO.”

The lyrics include this: “Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young. We’re gonna die young. We’re gonna die young.”

A bunch of people lashed out at Ke$ha on Twitter, slamming her for the song in the wake of the tragedy.

Ke$ha is listed as a co-writer of “Die Young,” along with Dr. Luke and others. She does not explain why she was forced to sing those lyrics.

[From TMZ]

Part of the reason I’m a Ke$ha apologist is because I think she’s a talented pop songwriter and I usually like her interviews and her “Whatever, dude, I’m just partying with my glitter bombs” attitude. But I feel like Kesha is copping out by saying that she was “forced” to sing those particular lyrics. Maybe there’s more to the story, and if so, I’d like to hear it. But I think she probably should have just stuck with a more general statement about the tragedy and how devastating it is for everyone, and not made it specifically about her and her lyric dramz.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Oh, where to begin on this topic. Nothing I could ever say would be adequate or add in any meaningful way to the discussion of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. I think most of us can willingly admit to shedding more than a few tears in regard to the 20 children and 6 adults who lost their lives at the hands of a sick gunman (whom I refuse to dignify by typing his name), and the tragedy has also stirred up a massive political debate in regards to the readily available access to firearms in this country as well as mental health issues. To state the obvious, there are no easy answers here as to why this happened, and I think the best thing to do is to continue to honor the victims instead of immediately falling into a left-right hate debate. That’s easier said than done, I know.

The day after the shootings, a press junket was held for Django Unchained, which is (of course) Quentin Tarantino’s revenge movie on the subject of black slavery in the United States. Naturally, the subject of the Sandy Hook massacre came up, and Quentin stated his opinion that violence in film has absolutely nothing to do with anything that happens in real life. Django himself, Jamie Foxx, respectfully disagrees with QT’s opinion. Here are the details:

Don’t blame Quentin Tarantino for Friday’s tragic Newtown, Conn., shooting.

The Django Unchained director is tired of having to defend his use of violence in film.

“I just think, you know, there’s violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers,” he said Saturday at a press junket, per the BBC. “It’s a Western. Give me a break.”

Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx, however, disagrees with Tarantino. “We cannot turn our back and say that violence in films or anything that we do doesn’t have a sort of influence,” the actor said. “It does.”

Christoph Waltz, another actor in the flick, said that the “media’s responsibility is greater than the storyteller is because… Django is violent, but it’s not inspiring violence.”

Kerry Washington added, “I do think that it’s important when we have the opportunity to talk about violence and not just kind of have it as entertainment, but connect it to the wrongs, the injustices, the social ills.”

[From E! Online]

Okay, Tarantino sounds a little punchy here because he probably went into the junket wary of precisely this type of question. Yes, he was asked to defend his work in the context of last Friday’s tragedy, and it must have been a very uncomfortable situation for him to withstand such scrutiny. What QT says does make some sense even if he didn’t exactly phrase his answer in the most sensitive way. I mean, I grew up on violent films, and I remember the height of HBO when Commando, Terminator, and the Death Wish movies would essentially play on repeat during the entirety of summer vacation, and my parents let me freely watch this stuff. Lots of other people my age grew up the same way, and the vast majority of us are (mostly) well-adjusted adults now.

Certainly, the argument can be made that violence in movies (as well as music, video games, etc.) can influence unstable minds and provoke them to imitation. Right now, all thoughts should be with the victims of the shooting as well as their suffering families. Throughout the media and social media outlets, however, so many people are quick to point the blame at something, anything, that could possibly be held accountable for one sick man’s actions. Personally, I’d like to hold his mother responsible for at least providing the weapons used for mass slaughter, but that’s kind of a no-brainer at this point. Overall, it’s just a terribly sad situation with no easy solution for future preventative measures coming anytime soon.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Immediately following Thursday night/Friday morning’s tragic events in Colorado, Warner Bros. made a series of steps to ensure that they were being respectful to the victims of a POS bastard. Warner Bros. canceled Friday’s premiere in Paris, and then pulled the cast of The Dark Knight Rises out of Europe, effectively canceling the European promotion for TDKR. Warner also announced that they would not be announcing or releasing their box office numbers throughout the weekend. Well, it’s Monday and Warner still hasn’t released any official numbers, although other media outlets are doing their own estimations. By the way, I’m covering this now because it’s legitimate industry news and we’re not just a few hours from the tragedy (cough, Nikki Finke). So, how did TDKR do at the box office? It didn’t break any records, which is what the studio hoped for before the tragedy. Still, TDKR is on track to become one of the biggest films of the year:

While steeped in tragedy, “The Dark Knight Rises” continued to bring in big bucks at the box office this weekend.

Out of respect for the victims of the Aurora shooting, Warner Bros. — as well as other studios — would not release their debut numbers this weekend. (This past Friday, 24-year-old James Holmes shot 12 people during a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado.)

However, various media outlets have reported that Christopher Nolan’s finale brought in $160 million to $162 million. That sum would make “TDKR” the highest 2-D opening ever, besting its brethren “The Dark Knight,” which earned $158.4 million its first weekend. The film comes in third overall, behind this year’s gangbusters “The Avengers” ($207.4 million) and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″ ($169.2 million).

The Batman flick benefited from its overseas release, as well. Reportedly, the film earned $70 million from various countries all over the world. This weekend’s official numbers will be released later today.

[From Moviefone]

The AP and Reuters say the figure might end up coming in around $173 million. Before the tragedy, Warner really hoped to set a new record and pull ahead of The Avengers’ opening of $207 million, but my guess is that Warner is simply trying to be as respectful as possible. $160-170 million for an opening weekend is nothing to scoff at, and Warner probably thinks that the film will dominate the box office for the next month anyway, regardless of the tragedy. Reuters has an interesting piece (here) about the changes various studios and theater chains are making in the wake of the tragedy, including re-editing several violent trailers.

Meanwhile, Catwoman finally issued a statement. Anne Hathaway (who was great at Catwoman!) told ET online, “My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act. I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”

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.

These are photos of Tom Hardy in London yesterday, the day after the UK premiere for The Dark Knight Rises. As you can see, Hardy was wearing a promotional t-shirt for TDKR, and he looks really happy and jazzed, especially with (what I’m assuming is) his promotional matte-black Bat-car. These photos were taken roughly ten hours before the horrific mass-shooting at a late-night screening of TDKR in Aurora, Colorado. We’re not a hard-news site – we only bump up against real news stories when they have some kind of celebrity attached, or when they involve pop culture in some way. So, I’m not going to be covering the hard-news developments of the deaths and injuries of these poor people who just wanted to see TDKR, and I won’t be giving any time to the POS a—hole shooter. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those injured or killed.

Here’s People Mag’s coverage thus far:

At least 12 fans attending a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises Friday morning were killed when a gunman opened fire on the audience in Aurora, Colo., a suburb of Denver.

Another estimated 50 were wounded, including a 6-year-old girl, Police Chief Dan Oates told reporters, CNN reports.

Police apprehended 24-year-old suspect James Holmes – a local resident who was said to be heavily armed and wearing a bulletproof vest – in a rear parking lot of the Century 16 Theater in Aurora’s Town Center Mall, police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN. “He did not resist. He did not put up a fight,” Fania said.

Holmes remains in custody. His home is currently being searched for possible explosive materials or devices.

Holmes’s mother, who lives in San Diego, confirmed to ABC News that her son was the shooter, saying, “You have the right person.” According to ABC News, she was unaware of the shooting until she woke up and had not been contacted by authorities. She also expressed her concern, and told ABC, “I need to fly out to Colorado.”

The attack in the theater began when the suspect tossed a canister of tear gas into the crowd through an emergency exit door, reports CNN affiliate KUSA. He then opened fire. Some moviegoers thought he was part of the show.

“We saw people running around and screaming,” an unidentified man told KUSA. Another moviegoer said the gunman wore a gas mask and moved through the theater, firing randomly.

Of the wounded, at least 20 were being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital for minor to critical gunshot wounds, spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery told CNN.

At the moment, the Dark Knight Rises cast – including Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman and Marion Cotillard – is in Paris for a scheduled red carpet premiere on the Champs-Elysees Friday night. PEOPLE has been told that Warner Bros. has canceled all interviews related to the movie opening, as well as the premiere itself.

In a statement, the studio said: “Warner Bros. is 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.”

[From People]

Warner Bros. has pulled Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale and the other actors from all of their promotional work in Europe for the time being. Warner Bros. also canceled tonight’s premiere of TDKR in Paris. According to Radar, the whole cast had already flown to Paris (from the UK) before they heard about the Colorado massacre. My guess is that the Paris premiere will be canceled for good, and Warner Brothers will do a media blackout for the weekend, and then the actors’ promotional duties will resume on Monday. That’s just my guess, btw, I have no inside information. Also – Nikki Finke is already talking about how this devastating tragedy will affect TDKR’s opening weekend. Too soon, Finke.

Photos courtesy of WENN.