Archive for the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ Category
Did Tom Cruise’s humbling before Oprah Winfrey improve his Oscar chances? : Gold Derby by Tom O’Neil : The Envelope – Los Angeles Times
Posted on: May 6, 2008
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There something’s weird about the timing of Tom Cruise groveling before Oprah Winfrey this past week. Why now? I think it’s no coincidence that it comes just a month or so after the news that the release of his next big pic, “Valkyrie,” got bumped from this fall to next spring — and therefore out of Oscars competition.
Sure, Tom Cruise appeared on Oprah’s show to celebrate his 25th year in films. But if the powwow had been, say, two months ago, back when “Valkyrie” was still skedded to launch the next Oscar derby, I don’t think we would’ve seen Tom so eagerly gobble up a dozen humble pies. He would’ve done damage control for his ole couch dance, yes, but in the past few days we’ve witnessed a surrender that has, I’m convinced, an underlying Oscar message.
In the past, Cruise was the kind of guy who never backed down, even daring to bully poor Matt Lauer on the “Today” show. But at Oprah’s knee these past few days, he caved on every point. He admitted that he shouldn’t have badgered Matt about kids taking psychiatric medication. Parents should make that decision for themselves, Tom now says. He shouldn’t have attacked Brooke Shields either. He regrets that his Scientology videos were “taken out of context.” Etc. Etc.
Just eight weeks ago “Valkyrie” was still skedded to launch Oscar derby season this fall and confident Cruise was poised to make another run for the gold he’s lost three times (“Magnolia,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Born on the Fourth of July”). But I think Tom learned a scary lesson over the past two months and he saw it through Oscar’s eyes.
At first glance, “Valkyrie” looks like pure Oscar bait. It’s based upon a real, heroic person during wartime — even better, one with a handicap (that eye patch) — being the story of a Nazi officer who schemed to bump off Hitler. Seems like a perfect vehicle for a superstar ridiculously overdue for a chunk of academy gold, eh? (CLICK HERE – read MORE!) Early buzz within United Artists was that the actual film by wunderkind director Bryan Singer (who got an Oscar for Kevin Spacey in “The Usual Suspects”), was great, so it seemed like a no-brainer to sked its release at the start of the derby season.
But back in February there were early warning signs of trouble. At the end of the Razzies ceremony, “Valkyrie” was not only flagged as a film widely expected to be in the running next year, but the audience howled and cheered when a pic was shown of Tom Cruise donning that eye patch. (READ MORE)
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“This is so normal!” Oprah Winfrey exclaimed as Tom Cruise took her through the vast, pristine, wood-paneled kitchen in his mountaintop estate in Telluride, Colo. Ms. Winfrey sounded relieved, almost as if she were half expecting to find space helmets and a teleporting station wedged next to the stove.
Oprah Winfrey with Tom Cruise in Colorado on Friday.
There was nothing normal about the conversation between Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Cruise, of course. Mr. Cruise, whose unhinged exuberance and acrobatic leap onto Ms. Winfrey’s couch in 2005 was the first in a torrent of embarrassing YouTube moments, was back on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to repair the damage. He had agreed to a two-part interview, and tellingly, the first one on Friday was on his couch, a reversal that they joked about, gingerly.
“I’m on your sofa now,” Ms. Winfrey said, mugging. Mr. Cruise laughed and said, “And we’re sitting.”
When Ms. Winfrey’s car drove up the Cruises’ driveway, Mr. Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes, emerged from the house hand in hand to greet her. Like the first lady, Laura Bush, welcoming reporters to the family ranch in Crawford, Tex., Ms. Holmes was warm and gracious and quickly made herself scarce, hugging her husband and saying, “I love you,” as she walked out the door.
Mr. Cruise then sat winsomely through a barrage of questions about his marriage; their baby, Suri; Scientology; and in particular his rant to Matt Lauer in 2005 on “Today,” ridiculing the use of Ritalin and attacking Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression.
“I mean, what I regret is that it just came out wrong,” he said. “What I regret is that even discussing Brooke in any way.”
This was not a promotional gimmick to boost box office sales. Mr. Cruise does not have a movie coming out imminently. (“Tropic Thunder,” in which he briefly plays not a leading man but a sleazy studio executive, is scheduled for an August release.) Mr. Cruise employed his charm — and taut stagecraft — in an effort to rehabilitate his reputation.
Pregnant US man hails ‘miracle’
Posted on: April 4, 2008
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Oprah interview
A US man who is six months pregnant, 10 years after undergoing a sex change operation, has said he considers his unborn child a “miracle”.
Thomas Beatie, 34, said it was his right to have a child. The medical procedures he underwent a decade ago did not affect his reproductive system.
His wife says she inseminated him using sperm from an anonymous donor. Their doctor says it is a normal pregnancy.
Mr Beatie told chat show host Oprah Winfrey he had always wanted a child.
“It’s not a male or female desire to have a child,” he said. “It’s a human desire. I have a very stable male identity.”
‘Daddy’s little princess’
Mr Beatie, of Bend, Oregon, had breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest after deciding to become a man 10 years ago.
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 This baby is totally healthy, this is what I consider a normal pregnancy  Dr Kimberly James
Mr Beatie’s obstetrician |
“I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day,” a thinly bearded Mr Beatie told Oprah Winfrey.
“I didn’t know how. It was just a dream.”
He has been married for five years to wife Nancy, who also appeared on the show along with her two grown-up daughters from a previous marriage, Amber and Jen. They spoke of their admiration for their mother and Mr Beatie.
Mrs Beatie said the couple’s roles would not change once the baby was born.
“He’s going to be the father and I’m going to be the mother,” she said.
They revealed Mr Beatie – a former Hawaiian beauty queen – had conceived by artificial insemination, carried out with a syringe by his wife in their home, with sperm purchased from a bank.
In their first TV interview, for The Oprah Winfrey Show and People magazine, the couple were shown at home in the room that will be the baby’s nursery.
Viewers across the US on Thursday saw footage of Mr Beatie’s ultrasound scan and heard a heartbeat.
He said: “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe she’s inside me. We see her as our little miracle.”
The baby would be “daddy’s little princess”, said Mr Beatie, who described himself as a tomboy growing up.
The couple say they had been refused medical assistance by eight different doctors, before finding one who was prepared to help with the pregnancy.
Mr Beatie’s obstetrician, Dr Kimberly James, told Oprah Winfrey: “This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy.”
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