Live Q&As

Anyone who believes Scientology had nothing to do with the divorce.

Of course, we don't know what was really going on so maybe that's true. It certainly doesn't square with other reports about Suri and her religious upbringing going forward, though.

Well, it's a bit of one. But ultimately it's not exactly a happy, "Yay, isn't stripping so much fun?" experience. I anticipated that but perhaps not everyone did.

Isn't it?

Related question: does this mean Jane Krakowski gets to reprise her role as cousin Vicki?

Interesting question. I doubt it, but if one is covered in them, it certainly does present a make-up challenge that will require more time before reporting to set each day.

I wonder: if  a heavily tatted actor and a semi- or non-tatted actor were both basically tied for a role, would the studio go with the non-tatted one? Is there some ink-scrimination going on if that's the case?

A lot to consider here.

Aw, really? It's still a nice name.

There may be a blog post in this somewhere: Vacation characters who must return in the reboot.

Given all the jokes about Mitt Romney and his poor dog, this new "Vacation" comes at a timely moment, doesn't it?

That Us item, which I linked to in the morning mix, was pretty silly.

I agree with you: they compete for roles, including that one, and maybe there's some bitterness there because of that. I will say that Garfield has displayed more acting chops at this point than Pattinson has. But maybe Cosmopolis will change that? Not sure.

This has been noted repeatedly in the blogosphere during discussions of that show.

I understand the criticism. I think in general in "The Newsroom," a lot of the dialogue doesn't ring true, on either side of the gender divide. To be fair, though, I missed the beginning of last week's episode. I caught the Waterston/Fonda scene, though, and I thought that was the strongest moment on the show so far.

Emily Nussbaum's review indicated that episode four -- this week's installment -- will be seen as the worst yet amongst people who don't like the show.

I don't know why he left, honestly. There are various theories circulating online, including one that involves a blind item error (Google it, it's easy to find) but his farewell note suggests it was just time to move on.

No, I'm not! I should totally make that my profile photo from now on.

Three days after posting that item, I'm only now able to look at that e-mail without laughing. And most of the time, I still do.

Bless Vanessa Hojda, who was such a good sport about this.

I agree with every single statement in this comment.

Also, the answer to your questions are 1. No and 2. Yes, it would be super-fun. Let's create one.

Great question. I think mainstream media, aside from reporting on the lawsuit threat, will probably avoid it.

For one thing, the Edwards story, while a bombshell, was far less inflammatory. The Cruise story is really over the top. It's hard to believe that Suri was kept in a windowless room or some of the other things that story says. You may think Cruise is weird or you may not agree with Scientology, but I think most would have a hard time leaping to the conclusions that story suggests.

I was wondering to myself this morning whether it was wise or not for Cruise's attorney to threaten that lawsuit. Obviously, he did not intend for that letter to get leaked. That only drew attention to the Enquirer story, which I think most of the blogosphere might have missed under other circumstances.

Yes, I've found my calling! A Tumblr of frightening and or frightened famous faces.

That's it. I'm giving my notice tomorrow.

As far as I know, she hasn't yet. At least not as of a couple of days. But she's doing more media appearances -- I think she was on CNN yesterday -- so maybe it will lead somewhere.

Yes, it was great.

I think the previous chatter was referring to the drunk Sam Waterston Twitter feed, but both are delightful.

If I could find it, I could. It's old enough that a standard Google search won't cut it. I'd have to pull it out of the archive, which I can try to do post-chat.

My threshhold for what constitutes pop cultural shame is somewhat high, but still: of course you should not be ashamed.

Tatum has a down-to-earth quality that makes him attractive. Personally, when it comes to Magic Mike matters, I'm more of a Bomer/McConaughey girl myself. But plenty of people responded to Tatum as you did; he is quite a dancer.

I don't know about the last two, but that Bowie story -- which is in a new book about Jagger -- has been around for decades. It's one of those things that's been said so much it feels true, whether it is or is not.

In any case, I would abolutely not be surprised if one of them said it were true. I could also believe it's a celeb myth that became fact due to repetition.

I think this is a great new direction for Cyrus. The quotes she chooses will only get more scholarly until pretty soon, her entire body will be required reading for some Political Science 101 class.

Reading list:

David McCullough's "John Adams."

Miley Cyrus's entire right arm and part of her left thigh...

You are exagerrating, my friend. Yes, I answer questions about TV. So far, we've also discussed TomKat and Ted Casablanca and Miley Cyrus. I think the balance is just fine.

Yes, I had seen that. That's not a new paying job, though.

I'm sure he'll wind up somewhere.

Well, we don't know if they monitored. It's possible they did. It's also possible she was just being incredibly cautious.

Like, if she used her regular phone to call lawyers, and they called her back when she was away from the phone but Cruise saw it -- that would give away the plan, right?

The fact that she had to be secretive indicates that she felt that she was being scrutinized or something. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Cruise or anyone else was following all her phone calls.

Thanks for this recommendation.

I believe O'Toole or his reps indicated that he is working on another volume of those memoirs now, post-retirement. Now would be a good time to catch up with the initial writings.

The inevitable question: I don't think there will be a movie because anyone who tried to make it would be smacked with lawsuits.

That being said, I think Anne Hathaway does a pretty impressive Holmes, though she would never do a movie like the one you describe.

See how this also brings us back to Miley Cyrus?

Giving you this link means I am talking about TV again, but I insist.

Here's Nussbaum's review.

I endorse this only because every girl born in America is no longer named that.

In the 70s, when I was born (yes, I'm old), everyone had that name and it was the pits.

It's a sad situation. And I'm sure it's not pleasant seeing one's face on that Enquirer story.

True.

But I also reserve the right to talk about TV, especially when some chatters do want to discuss it. I don't want the chat to be dominated by any one topic, if possible.

The mind reels.

Also, I think anyone who is planning a surprise divorce is now going to use this same tactic.

In addition to "The Wire," it also reminds me of the second cell phone issue in Breaking Bad.

Lucky her.

I kept my maiden name when I got married because so many people call me by my last name -- to differentiate from the many other Jens we all know -- that it feels like my first name.

With such a focus now on coming up with unique baby names, I doubt we'll ever have a situation as dire as the Jennifers of the 1970s again.

I'm not a huge Tatum fan necessarily, but that is one of  the best celeb profiles I ever read. I loved it so much, I blogged about it.

Yes. And I turn thirty-ten next month. So also, still quite young.

Nice: Baby's dad in "Dirty Dancing" as a dancer.

Who would want to watch that? It's so upsetting that I don't think most people would.

Mark it further by reading this Style piece on Guthrie.

Well, that's the big question. She clearly wanted to have the upper hand in the divorce negotiation, and it seems like she got it. Without it, she might have a harder time getting primary custody of Suri.

I suspect -- and again, this is just speculation -- that was her primary concern and not even necessarily because of Scientology, although clearly that could have been part of it. Kidman has had little contact with her children with Cruise post-divorce, and Holmes may not have wanted to see that scenario repeated.

So, to repeat what's been said already by other commenters and media reports, she did to Cruise what Cruise allegedly did to Kidman: the blindsiding break-up.

We will. I do not know what it will be yet, but there will be something. Suggestions are welcome.

Oh, "There's Something About Amelia." I remember watching that even though I probably wasn't supposed to.

The difference there is that it was a work of fiction made, in part, to raise awareness about child abuse. ABC aired a lot of movies like that back in the '80s. I vividly remember the one about teen suicide with Zach Galligan and Molly Ringwald, "Surviving."

I even remember that Pat Benatar's "We Live for Love" was on the soundtrack. The Sandusky case is about real people and has played out publicly, devastating the victims and an entire community. I can't imagine any of those individuals supporting a film, though it's not out of the realm that someone could try to make it.

Hilarious.

And on that note: we're 23 minutes over time with the chat, so time to shut 'er down.

Thanks for your questions and comments. Let's reconvene next Thursday at 2, shall we?