First Look at Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s New Twins

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have shared the first photo of their twin daughters.

Twin baby girls, Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick and Tabitha Hodge Broderick were born Monday, June 22nd at an Ohio hospital to a surrogate mother.

The photo above was taken last Monday in New York and shows a happy, new family of five with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick each holding a twin and their six year old son, James Wilkie Broderick gazing down at the new arrivals.

We wish the family absolutely nothing but the best. I always thought it was ironic how Sarah Jessica Parker, famously known as the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw on Sex And The City, had a son. Now she has the daughters to pass down all that love of fashion and other super girly stuff we get giddy over.

Public Viewing Scheduled for Michael Jackson at Neverland

Fans who wish to take part in saying goodbye to the King of Pop have the chance to do so this Friday at the Neverland Ranch, north of Santa Barbara, California, where Michael Jackson’s family has arranged a public viewing. The family also has a private service scheduled for Sunday.

Just this morning, more than two dozen TV satellite trucks were lined up in a narrow, two-lane road leading to Neverland Ranch in hopes of reserving space for the public viewing. Planning is currently underway for a 30-car motorcade carrying Jackson’s remains to leave Los Angeles at 10 a.m. Thursday morning to arrive in Santa Barbara County.

As for Michael Jackson’s final resting place, the family has given no indication on where that will be, but they have already ruled out Neverland Ranch. Many people have been asking about the future of Neverland Ranch, and Tom Barrack Jr. gained control of the ranch through his company, has said that the property’s future will be discussed at a later date and that the focus currently is to ensure that grieving fans who gather there are treated properly.

Michael Jackson Dead at 50 After Cardiac Arrest

The “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PT on Friday after having suffered cardiac arrest, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office. He was 50 years old.

An autopsy is scheduled Friday, he said. Results are expected Friday afternoon, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles coroner’s office, who also said Jackson was unresponsive when he arrived at the hospital.

Law enforcement officials stressed that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but they would conduct interviews with family members and friends, opening an investigation into Jackson’s death. At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards; even staff members were not permitted to enter the area where Jackson was. People gathered in the waiting area of the medical center, some of the crying, and vigils have been conducted throughout the day in honor of Michael Jackson. Outside of Jackson’s home, police arrived on motorcycles and the road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic; but that did not stop several people from gathering outside of the home.

Michael’s former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said that she was “shocked and saddened” [by the news of Jackson's death] “My heart goes out to his children and his family.”

Michael Jackson has had a greatly successful career that many people around the entire world have benefited from and idolized Jackson for. Known as the “King of Pop,” Jackson has many No. 1 hits and “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time. But while he has undoubtedly had more success in his life than imaginable, he also had legal troubles later in his life.

Prosecutors charged Michael Jackson with four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment or extortion. He was acquitted of these charges after a well-publicized trial in Santa Maria, California, in March 2006.

Michael Jackson will surely be missed all around the world.

First Look at Tim Burton’s Remake of Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s remake of classic book and movie Alice in Wonderland is set to hit theaters in Spring 2010, but the hype for this remake has been accumulating for many years now. Some information on the Alice in Wonderland remake, which will hit theaters in 3-D, has been released and after seeing the cast (so far) along with photos of their looks, I have to say that I am not surprised. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite books and movies of all time and always has been and after seeing what Tim Burton did to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I’m very, very skeptical about what is to become of my beloved Alice in Wonderland.

The cast for the remake didn’t bring any big surprise either, besides perhaps the casting of Alice, who will be played by 19 year old unknown Mia Wasikowska from Australia. The Mad Hatter will be played by Johnny Depp, which I saw coming years ago, the Red Queen will be played by Helena Bonham Carter, again which I saw coming years ago. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter alike have been targeted by Tim Burton movie after movie and because of this, they have both become the standard “creepy” actors to fill any roll that calls for something of the macabre. Lastly, we officially know that Anne Hathaway will play the White Queen.

Take a first look at the new Alice in Wonderland characters:

Watch the Season Premier of Army Wives

Season 3 of Army Wives premiered on Lifetime last night and for anyone who missed it or just wants to watch it again (i can relate, I’ve already watched the episode twice!) it is available to watch online! Watch it on Lifetime or watch it below right here on Woman Tribune!

Because it’s so early in the season, if you’ve been following Army Wives, please feel free to put your predictions for the rest of this season in the comments!

Time to Get Ready for Army Wives Season 3

It’s summertime and with the beginning of summer comes a brand new season of Army Wives! The third season will premier Sunday night, June 7, at 10pm.

With the season premier just days away, now is the perfect time to catch up on the second season so you know what’s going on in the show when you watch the premier. Luckily Lifetime has the entire second season of Army Wives available to watch online. Along with the new season, Lifetime is also introducing an Army Wives blog and other great goodies for the new season. So review the second season (for the second time, or more if you’re an Army Wives fanatic) and don’t miss the season premier on June 7 at 10pm!

Book Review: Kinky Gazpacho by Lori Tharps

Lori Tharps grew up in the white suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, went to private school, attended a prestigious college, and continuously never felt a sense of belonging among her own people and a part of her own culture. While her life may not be too unlike the lives led by thousands of other American people, her accomplishments and her journey through life makes for an intriguing and captivating memoir.

Tharps’ memoir starts off when she is in the third grade, listening to her teacher tell the class about an International Day bazaar where the students would be participating by sharing their cultures in the form of food, games, decorations, and dress reflecting their native countries. Being the only black girl in her class and one of only a handful in her entire private school, the prospect of International Day weighed on her mind and brought her to the conclusion that on that day, her classmates would realize that she was different than they were; that she was less than them. Deciding not to attend school in costume that day because she did not want to attend school dressed as a slave, she went throughout the day in a panic, hoping that no one would ask her why she was not dressed in a costume reflecting her heritage. Throughout the following school years of Tharps’ life, similar thoughts and memories arise very much like her third grade International Day bazaar. She was raised in a privileged household and attended private school and for a fraction of one particular school year when she was nudged into the public school system, Tharps was received as a snob who was trying to “act white” by the other black girls she had wanted to fit in with, was ostracized by other black young women during her college years, and that was just the beginning of the racial dilemmas she would encounter throughout her life.

From a young age, Tharps became infatuated with Spain; knowing that Spain was her destiny and that she would someday live there. While in college, she traveled to Morocco with the American Field Service, but later studied abroad in Spain, where she came face to face with the culture she never knew Spain to have. She notices that a great deal of products, such as something as simple as a chocolate bar, has racist connotations, but when she brings them to the attention of Spanish natives, they are quick to declare that Spain is not a racist place. But after falling in love with a Spaniard, getting married, and having children, she spends a great deal of time traveling to Spain and her memoir becomes a detective story on how Spain had been involved in slavery. Throughout her life in Spain, Lori Tharps had searched for where the kinky mixed with the gazpacho.

I absolutely loved this memoir; it was a simple and lightweight read that packed a punch of reality that is undeniable. I devoured her memoir in utter anticipation of what her next move in life would be and was overjoyed over her boldness and determination to uncover a black past in a country where most of its citizen were unaware of the world that had come before and still revolved around them. The only flaw with the book is that it leaves you wanting to know and experience more of her life and general thoughts. Kinky Gazpacho will bring you on a journey that is so much more than merely a life led by a woman who dares to open her mouth and question her surroundings.

Rating:
Buy the Book!

Movie Review: Born Into Brothels

I watched the 2004 Academy Award winning documentary Born Into Brothels last night. Yes, I know I’m about five years late with this, but thanks to Netflix I have been watching a ton of movies I should have seen a long time ago–As well as some movies I wish I never came across that left me wondering how they managed to get funding to make it–But that’s what you get when a company tries to cater to everyone–They also cater to people with sucky taste in movies.

Born Into Brothels is a chilling documentary that brings you right into the red light district of Calcutta, India. But instead of its focus being on the lives of sex workers, it brings you into the lives of the children who were born into the red light district; the girls who are being bred to take after their mothers and grandmothers as prostitutes and the boys whose lives won’t be much better. Photojournalist Zana Briski lived in Calcutta for several years and teamed up with Ross Kauffman to make this film. Although the people of the city being enraged over having their pictures taken, or worse, the women being “found out” for being sex workers, Briski found that the children of the red light district were intrigued by the camera; and so she gave a group of eight children ranging in age from 10 to 14 cameras to take pictures of their own with. She also met with the children to teach them more about how to use the camera and how to get the best results when taking pictures of their subjects.

Throughout the documentary, we sit in on the children’s lessons with Briski and we see their creativity soar and their self confidence rises just by being given the chance to experiment with a form of art. Though she has made a tremendous effort to bring art into the lives of these children, Briski knows that there is so much more to be done, saying that without her help, these kids are doomed to fall into the same life of their parents. Lives of prostitution, poverty, and nothing else. Because these kids yearn for a life outside of the red light district, she begins to take measures to help them escape that life and searches for boarding schools that will accept children born to sex workers; but she finds that very few will.

After finding boarding schools that will accept the red light kids, Briski takes the measures to enroll these children into the programs she has found. The filmmakers were extremely respectful of the children’s wishes, they made their own decisions whether or not to attend the boarding schools and by the end of the movie, after filling out endless forms for the children and also ensuring that none of them were HIV-positive, the children did decide to attend the schools and to escape life in the red light district. They were also given the opportunity to travel when their photographs were shown at an art gallery.

By the end of the movie I was full of more questions than I was given answers to. We were caught up on the lives of the children up to the point of when the film came out and most of the children either dropped out of the boarding school they enrolled in or were taken out of school by their parents. I wanted to know what happened to them; if they were taken out of school to follow in the footsteps of the females who came before them and now working as prostitutes to provide for their families. If photography is still a part of their world and if they are still being encouraged to pursue art.

Overall, Born Into Brothels is heartbreaking, especially knowing that most of the children did not get to receive an education, as all of them had seemed overjoyed by the opportunity to do so. However, this is one of the best documentaries that I have seen.

For more information on Born Into Brothels, check out Kids with Cameras for a bio on each of the children, their photographs, and more about the film and you can also purchase the book Born Into Brothels, a book of photographs taken by the children of Calcutta.

Rating:
Buy the Movie!

Paulina Porizkova Got the Axe from ANTM

And then there were three?

Paulina Porizkova recently announced that she had been fired from America’s Next Top Model on the Late Late Show with Craig Furguson. She delved deeper into the situation revolving around her current unemployment, saying:

“The reason I was told I was fired was because, it seemed that ‘America’s Next Top Model’ has gotten too fat and they needed to cut some fat and the fat was me.

So I figured it was either that or my gigantic huge ego, which I wasn’t aware of until I was told by the producers that I have an ego problem.”

Access Hollywood contacted Porizkova to confirm her being fired from the show, but a CW television rep would not confirm she was fired; although they did state that Porizkova is no longer with America’s Next Top Model.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Paulina has a huge ego, at least not from what we are shown through the show, I would say that she has no true personality. She can critique based on her own opinions with absolutely no industry knowledge to back her up and while it is important what she personally thinks about someone’s look or photo, to be in a position where she has been in her life with the modeling industry, she should have a little more meat to back up her claims. I have found her incredibly annoying on more than just a few occasions and while Tyra, Nigel, and Miss Jay are fine on their own, I do hope that they find a replacement for her. If at all possible, I’d like to see Twiggy back on the panel. Mr. Jay wouldn’t be bad on the panel, either; we hardly get to see him anymore, it seems.

What do you think? Are you sad to see Paulina Porizkova go?

Nicole & Joel Expecting a Boy

While it has yet to be formally confirmed, it is believed that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are expecting a boy to join 16 month old Harlow, arriving in late summer/early fall.

A friend of the couple said that Joel bought paint for the nursery–Blue paint. Another friend of the couple said that Nicole refers to the baby as “he” and recently ordered some stuffed animals and toys and everything just happens to be blue.

I guess only time will tell, but you know, blue doesn’t suit a little girl’s room too well. Waiting for confirmation, Nicole and Joel.

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