Coffeecup

Reviews on the first I Am Cait episode are coming in. Episode 1 was shown to the media TV critics. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2015/07/i_am_cait_on_e_reviewed_caityln_jenner_s_reality_series_would_benefit_from.html Slate is lukewarm about the show: "I Am Cait is not invasive or crass, but it’s something more surprising — a bad reality show." The Slate critic thought the show was dull, with not enough dramatic tension between the people. http://variety.com/2015/tv/reviews/i-am-cait-tv-review-caitlyn-jenner-e-doc-1201544080/ The Variety critic liked the show better but thought the Kardashians should be kept off the show: "... [the show is] mucked up to a degree by bringing her famous daughters and stepdaughters into the mix, including a visit from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. While Jenner’s interactions with her extended family are clearly part of the narrative, there’s a pandering quality to shoehorning the couple and daughter Kylie into the premiere, as if E! and the producers needed a security blanket to make sure they catered to that audience too." http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/22/i-am-cait-review-reality-tv-has-never-been-this-essential-or-this-good.html The Daily Beast loved it: "I Am Cait... is reality TV in its highest form. It’s responsible, but not stuffy in the way that word might suggest. It’s a joyous, emotional, and only occasionally preachy depiction not only of a woman’s coming into her own, but of her acceptance of the influence that’s been bestowed on her merely by her high-profile decision to live as her truest self." So there you go. Three quite different reactions to the show, and there are lots more reviews posted.

Bruce has done a lot of motivational speaking. Here she is in a YouTube video from 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ou_aHt6pH4 This website says Bruce did motivational speeches for Merck, Coca Cola, VISA, Anheuser Busch, MCI, Toyota, Kawasaki, Maytag, Mack Trucks, Chrysler and IBM Corporation, among others. http://www.mcpspeakers.com/Speaker/28/Bruce-Jenner.html E Online and other media said Caitlyn will return to motivational speaking. http://www.eonline.com/news/652047/bruce-jenner-to-return-to-motivational-speaking-following-his-tv-interview-about-transitioning TMZ says Caitlyn's speaking fee will be five times the size of Bruce's fee. http://www.tmz.com/2015/06/04/caitlyn-jenner-endorsements-more-money-than-bruce/ "Sources who worked for years on booking speaking gigs for Bruce tell TMZ, Caitlyn is worth 5 times what Bruce commanded. Our sources say Bruce used to get $25,000 a pop for motivational speaking ... and they say Caitlyn can pull well over $100k. "There's a big reason Caitlyn is a hotter commodity ... social media. Bruce hated social media and wouldn't play ball. A lot of the companies that hire motivational speakers are big into social, and Caitlyn is fully on board and breaking records. "Another obvious reason for the bump ... Caitlyn has quite the story to tell."

Yes. Rich and famous Caitlyn won't have to face age discrimination like other 60+ senior citizen women looking for a job. She won't face sex discrimination in a job search; she'll never have to prove she can do a job as well as a man, and she will never have to do the same job as a man for less pay. In fact, I heard that she'll make even higher fees on the motivational speaker circuit as Caitlyn than she made as Bruce. With all the publicity and the reality show, she will never have to endure the awful feeling of being "invisible," which is experienced by many older women. Well, more power to her in getting the money, but she'll never be able to comprehend what it's like to be an ordinary elderly woman.

As a practical matter, how in the world did she go through her entire first pregnancy wearing Spanx? When you're pregnant, you have to pee frequently because the expanding uterus puts so much pressure on the bladder. She already said "I pee all over my Spanx" because the cutout in the crotch isn't big enough. So does she go through pregnancy wearing damp smelly Spanx all day? Eewwww.

Thanks for the link. Now I see it -- the $2 million plastic surgery reference is on the caption to photo no. 4. It's sad that Kylie has been led to believe that her only chance at success in life is to become a copy of her sister. I really hope Kylie doesn't start doing nude photo shoots or a sex tape as soon as she turns 18... but knowing the "sex sells" strategy and greed of Pimp Mama Kris, I'm not optimistic.

I'm another big fan of Westward the Women. It's one of my favorite Westerns, and I try to watch it every time TCM shows it. We didn't see much from Hollywood in those years that gave realistic portrayals of the women of the West. Frontier women had to be as tough as their men, and needed skills such as riding, driving wagons and shooting to survive with their families in isolated places. I am glad the movie was filmed in black and white. It made the landscape look more forbidding, and allowed us to concentrate on the actors. If it had been in color, we might have been distracted by the scenery -- pretty blue sky, red rock cliffs, etc. I hated it when the little Italian boy died in the gun accident too, but that was a reflection of reality. The frontier was hard on children.

Great post, millennium. I am perplexed by people calling Jenner a "goddess" too. That's ridiculous. Yes, she looks good, but so would anybody else, with that much plastic surgery, a glam squad and designer clothes. But "goddess"? Oh, please! *rolling eyes*

http://okmagazine.com/photos/kylie-jenner-40000-plastic-surgery/photo/1001243840/ Is this the OK magazine article people are citing? The link here is the April 2015 article. It doesn't say she spent $2 million on surgery. Headline is "Kylie Jenner Spent $40,000 On Plastic Surgery To Upgrade Her Look—Get The Details!" It's a photo gallery of 9 pictures with a little text. They did ask doctors to speculate on the types of surgery she's had. (The doctors said the same things we've guessed here.) The text on photo no. 2 said she spent $2.7 million on her house. Maybe somebody got the $2 million confused with the $40,000. I agree with the rest of you that she's ruined her natural cute looks and made herself look much older than her real age. Not just older, but almost like a different personality. She looks hard and fake now. There is nothing fresh and youthful about her any more. Most kids her age look as if they have an attitude of looking forward to the future. Her looks project the attitude that she's already seen it all and done it all; I mean, she looks jaded. I am sorry to see this happen to a 17-year-old... also sorry her no-account parents signed off on all this surgery.

http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/15/kendall-jenner-braless-photo/ "Kendll Jenner: How can you be so braless?" Photo of Kendall doing the ho stroll. Her shirt has a wide neckline that is open almost to the waist. She's not wearing a bra. So much is showing that TMZ had to photoshop a star over her nipple. She was walking around outdoors in that outfit! Anybody near her could have seen her full boobs. Doesn't Kendall care that any random stranger on the street could see her bare breasts? Do these Kardashian-Jenner women have some rule that they have to show their tits at every opportunity?

I am really enjoying the Friday night film noir movies. I've seen most of them, but last Friday one popped up that was new to me: "Raw Deal," with Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland and Raymond Burr. This was a story about convict Dennis, who had been framed by criminal associate Burr. Dennis escaped from prison, aided by his girlfriend Claire in the getaway car, and he kidnapped social worked Marsha who had been counseling him in prison. During the story Dennis fell in love with Marsha, leading to a conflict with the loyal Claire. They had several dangerous adventures while evading the police. The movie was engrossing. The camera work was absolutely fantastic. I've always thought actors looked better in black and white, and this film reinforced my opinion. The closeups of the faces were incredible, especially the lighting. It didn't look artificial like "key lighting" (correct term?), but looked completely natural, as people would look outdoors on a cloudy day. The plot was a little unbelievable. One glaring example: Dennis and Claire took Marsha and ran away to hide in the woods. The three had a small campfire going. Suddenly they heard a horse coming (film had already shown a rider approaching). Dennis drew his gun and hid behind a tree. The rider came up to the two women. I assume they were in a state park and he was a park ranger, since he was in a uniform. He cautioned them about fire risk from their campfire; they apologized, said they were just out camping and promised to put the fire out thoroughly. He smiled and rode away. Marsha did not say anything to the ranger about being kidnapped. When Dennis asked her why, she said it was because she wanted to protect the innocent man from being shot by Dennis. That started Dennis thinking, and you could see he was beginning to re-evaluate his plans. Anyway, back to the unbelievable thing. What distracted me about this scene was that Claire and Marsha were wearing dresses and high heels. So the park ranger believed two women in skirts and heels, and without any camping gear, were out camping? I can believe that in the 1940s some women might have worn skirts to go camping, but NOT high heels. It didn't make sense for the ranger to ignore that little detail. Another detail that aggravated me and distracted me throughout the movie was that throughout a few days of the three traveling together as Dennis tried to evade the police, neither Claire nor Marsha ever had a handbag! Hello... not even a little duffel bag with toothbrush and clean underwear for Claire, who knew ahead of time she'd be traveling. Also, all three of them were smoking constantly but I didn't see where Claire and Marsha carried their packs of cigs. They never reached into their pockets. I was able to ignore their hairdos staying perfect the entire time (that's just Hollywood rules -- the hair and makeup must remain perfect, or at most artistically mussed, no matter what else happens), but the absence of handbags really annoyed me. I enjoyed watching Raymond Burr in another one of his villain roles. He could get a cold hard psychopath look in his eyes that was totally convincing, especially in the tight closeup shots. It amazes me that he didn't stay typecast as a bad guy throughout his career. He was able to turn himself into the noble good guy on TV as Perry Mason and later as Ironsides. P.S. Didn't want to get into a long discussion of 1776 in a post about Raw Deal, but I love 1776. The appeal of 1776 to me is the sharp contrast -- the balancing act between a serious historical drama and a musical. The actors stand there discussing crucial things about the American revolution, and then suddenly they start singing and dancing. Then they switch right back to serious dialogue as if nothing happened. Fabulous!

Movies where the actress looked best: I think Lana Turner was at the height of her beauty in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Hedy Lamarr in Algiers.

She wore bright colors then! She looks good in colors. Now she's stuck with all that black, gray, white and beige.

New article in The Guardian on Kanye: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/25/kanye-west-glastonbury-festival-2015-worlds-biggest-pop-star The Guardian, June 25, 2015, "The enigma of Kanye West – and how the world's biggest pop star ended up being its most reviled, too." "Everything Kanye West does is an event, from the smallest interview to the biggest show. As he prepares to headline Glastonbury, one writer considers how West became the divisive figure he is..." The article is mostly praise of Kanye, not very balanced. The author, Ben Westhoff, is obviously a fan because he keeps saying Kanye is a genius and is every bit as good as he thinks he is. But it's still an interesting article because it includes a lot of detailed background on Kanye and some psychological discussion about why he acts as crazy as he does. "He believes himself to be the best, and won’t rest until everyone agrees" says the author. I don't think Kanye is a musical genius (or any other kind of genius). I think he's a conceited ass who gets his way because he's rich and well-connected. The article says "Even the birth of his daughter and his marriage to Kim Kardashian have done little to improve his reputation." Uh, why would marrying a Kardashian improve anyone's reputation? The author says Kanye seems to be insisting on making the public think Kim is talented in order to build up his own image: "Though Kim is widely perceived as a beautiful airhead, he defends her as a brilliant business mind and entertainer who deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s great when a man sticks up for his wife, but one gets the feeling that such comments are really about Kanye himself."

I was surprised to hear about Kim's "lecture" too. Why would anybody want to hear about objectification of women from a woman whose goal seems to be exactly that? Is it supposed to be all right to make yourself into a sex object as long as you make a lot of money doing it? Pathetic if you're poor, but admirable if you get rich? Ugh!

Kylie is exaggerating when she says "Kris cut me off at age 14 and I pay for everything," and the tabloids are jumping all over her statement to get a clickbait headline. It's all very misleading, because she is not an emancipated minor. No, she does not pay for "everything." Kylie's parents, have and still do provide her with free housing (mortgage, insurance, property taxes, maintenance), unless they have been making her pay rent since she was 14! They have also provided her with food and medical/dental care. They paid for her education, pathetic though it may be. Kylie may "own" a multi-million dollar house, but since she's under 18 she could not legally have signed a contract to buy the property. She had to have an adult sign the contract, either one of her parents, one of her older siblings, or some other adult. The house can't be in her name alone until she's 18. A parent or legal guardian would have had to open and co-sign Kylie's checking account and credit card accounts because she was under 18. Yes, Kylie has made a lot of money from the reality show and other Kardashian business ventures as a minor, but she still could not sign any contracts on her own. Isn't it interesting that Kylie said "Kris" cut her off, not "my parents cut me off"? What about Bruce? (He was still Bruce when Kylie was 14.) He was her father. Didn't he have any say in the matter? Or does Kris control every single dollar that comes into the Kardashian empire? (I guess that was a silly question! Of course Kris controls all the money.)

I didn't see the TMZ show. Did they say why the shoulder trim feathers on Kim's dress caught on fire? I saw a few articles about the feathers fire but nobody ever said what set them alight. Was somebody smoking next to Kim and a spark landed on the feathers? Did she lean over a lit candle? I don't think the feathers fire was a publicity stunt. Why would Kim want any flames so close to her face? It might melt some of her fillers.

They could name him Ricardo. *evil cackle*

Me too. If they wanted people to pronounce it as "Ginger," they should have spelled it Jinjer.

At least Alana has started to lose a little weight. June posted on Instagram that Alana has lost eight pounds in the past month, going down from 125 lbs. to 118. She is still way too large for a nine-year-old girl at 118, but at least it's a start. June also said Pumpkin has lost 26 pounds. June said her own weight loss is 45 pounds. http://www.people.com/article/honey-boo-boo-weight-loss-mama-june

You're probably right. It's just that I find it hard to imagine anybody being in love with Kris. But Bruce said the other day that she's a great person and he still loves her. If I remember correctly, he told Diane Sawyer that if Kris had been willing to accept the gender transition, they would still be together [not divorced].

*rolling eyes* All she does is cry? Nope. All Kris ever does is count her money.

What I don't understand is why Bruce stopped his transition back when he married Kris. He said that he was taking female hormones at the time and had developed B cup breasts. So he had made the decision to become a woman many years ago, and had started the process. Why did he give up seeking his "real" self, marry her and have two more children? What was it about Kris that he wanted badly enough to keep on living as a man, even though he was convinced that he was really a woman? Kris was moderately attractive back then, but based on what we've heard about her behavior while married to Kardashian, she was already a sleazebag. Edited to add: HumblePi, you have a good point in saying that Bruce delayed his transition until now because he didn't want to ruin his image as an Olympian and potentially lose income for his family. But if he had gone as far as taking hormone treatments and developing breasts before marrying Kris, it seems that he was already being somewhat open about the transition. Maybe he just chickened out?

Kylie is getting "off track"? Huh? What "track" is she supposed to be on? The Taking Selfies track? The Plastic Surgery track? The Ho Stroll track? The Get Your Own Reality Show track? For sure she is not on the College Education track or the Become a Responsible Adult track. This young lady is only 17 and she hasn't developed good judgment yet. She is just flailing around, trying to be a copycat sex symbol like Kim. She needs guidance, needs some adult's direction to help her develop into her own unique person, but she's not getting any. Pimp Mama Kris and Brucilla don't care. Bruce is only interested in himself and doing his gender change reality show for big bucks. Kris is only interested in making as much money as she can off her children; they're just a bunch of cash cows to her. She won't make much money when Kylie turns 18 if Kylie runs off and marries Tyga and gets pregnant right away. PMK might be planning to try to replicate Kim's success with a Kylie porn tape and nude photo layouts for magazines. It would be hard for a young married woman to get away with doing things like that; the public wouldn't accept it. Or maybe they would. As disgusting as this whole family is, they still have plenty of fans, and they still have millions of dollars rolling in.

I had a ball watching Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple today. Love her. Those Miss Marple films are little jewels; they can stand alone, and people can enjoy them independently from the Christie stories. "The Alphabet Murders," also shown today, was interesting because Tony Randall played Hercule Poirot. I just couldn't get into his performance, though, because I'm so spoiled by David Suchet's wonderful Poirot portrayal. But I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Robert Morley. He's always so good. Also enjoyed seeing Anita Ekberg, who passed away in January 2015.

It's about time she admitted she uses fillers. Nobody believed her lips suddenly got that huge with lip liner.