1. The 22 pieces of custom-made furniture Michael Jackson commissioned for his planned home in London during the This Is It tour (including a leopard-print chair trimmed with ostrich feathers) are going on the auction block. [via Salon]
2. Joaquin Phoenix will presumably be shaving off his crazy person beard to play Edgar Allen Poe in a film adaptation of The Beautiful Cigar Girl by Daniel Stashower. [via The Playlist]
3. The National Book Critics Circle awards were last night, and Hilary Mantel won the fiction award for her Tudor-era novel Wolf Hall which previously scored the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. [via WSJ]
4. Can a comedy that’s being shot by half a dozen different filmmakers turn out funny? With Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Elizabeth Banks, Johnny Knoxville, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse also involved, then perhaps. [via Wired]
5. Jay-Z‘s involvement with the controversial Atlantic Yards project has earned him some new enemies in brownstone Brooklyn. [via The Awl]
Coachella giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.
Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Michael Jackson, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive a copy of Michael Jackson: This Is It, and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Good luck!
1. Wolverine and musical theater fans cry into their cereal this morning as Hugh Jackman turns down a repeat Oscar hosting gig. [via Variety]
2. We wonder whether the steak will be served rare at the new Twilight-themed eatery in Washington state. [via Eater]
3. Lady Gaga will join fellow pantsless dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet in a Francesco Vezzoli-directed performance for rich LA art patrons at MOCA‘s 30th anniversary bash. [via ArtInfo]
4. Natalie Portman claims Jonathan Safran Foer’s veggie manifesto Eating Animals turned her vegan. Did it also inspire her turn on this week’s Top Chef? [via HuffPo]
5. From the cradle to the grave: Wal-Mart is now selling coffins, ready to ship in 48 hours. [via BBC]
Bonus video after the jump: Scranton‘s very own Kelly Kapoor and Erin Hannon performing their dance jam “Male Prima Donna.” Read More »
1. Don’t believe the trending Twitter topic: Kanye West is not dead. [via NME]
2. Yesterday Barnes & Noble launched an unfortunately-named but rather cool e-reader set to rival the Kindle: the Nook. [via LAT]
3. Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and James Gandolfini are largely responsible for one of the strongest fall seasons for Broadway ticket sales in recent years. [via NYT]
4. Tom Cruise’s publicist has responded to Cousin Balki’s accusations of the star’s homophobia on the set of Risky Business. [via TV Guide]
5. A bathroom run disqualified Dave Chappelle from topping Dane Cook’s record for longest set at the Laugh Factory — seven hours, 34 minutes remains the number to beat. [via AP]
1. Flea will be part of the band that performs Thom Yorke’s solo material. [via Pitchfork]
2. A new book reveals that Bush administration officials refused to give JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom because the Harry Potter books “encouraged witchcraft.” [via The Guardian]
3. Sarah Palin’s memoir Going Rogue — which took her four months to write — will be out November 17, just in time for holiday gag gifting. [via NPR]
4. When a preview performance of A Steady Rain was interrupted by a cell phone, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig taunted its owner. (video) [via The Guardian]
5. Charlie Cox, Donald Sutherland, Gillian Anderson, William Hurt, and Ethan Hawke will star in a $25.5 million made-for-TV movie version of Moby Dick. [via Variety]
1. Modest Mouse’s Heath Ledger-directed video for “King Rat” premieres on MySpace today. [via Pitchfork]
2. Are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson romantically involved in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming adaptation, or are Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. having a laugh? [via NYP]
3. Hugh Jackman will play P.T. Barnum in a contemporary musical written by Sex and the City scribe Jenny Bicks; British artist Mika may write the music/lyrics. [via Variety]
4. Stephanie Meyer is be being accused of ripping off parts of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in her Twilight series. [via TMZ]
5. The creators of 2001′s The Laramie Project are finishing work on a follow-up that explores the effects of Matthew Shepard’s death on Laramie residents. [via NYT]
1. Joe Simpson is shopping around a Michael Jackson covers album from his daughter Ashlee. [via NYP]
2. Perez Hilton is launching his own music label. [via Perez]
3. Vampire Weekend has almost finished their second album and they’re taking you on a video tour of the Brooklyn studio where the magic’s happening. [via NME]
4. Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman will star together as a pair of Chicago cops in A Steady Rain on Broadway. Previews begin on September 10. [via BBC]
5. Aaron Sorkin has been hired to save Moneyball, that Steven Soderbergh/Brad Pitt movie that Sony killed. Soderbergh is no longer involved. [via Gawker]
1. Simon Cowell is about to make more money than “the 2008 salaries of Miley Cyrus, Ryan Seacrest, Jessica Alba, Carrie Underwood, Eli Manning, 50 Cent, Scarlett Johansson, and Albert Pujols combined.” [via Zap2It]
2. Quincy Jones is hoping to bring Vibe magazine back online. [via Idolator]
3. Beyoncé and her mother plan to launch new junior apparel label named after and inspired by the star’s crazy alter-ego, Sasha Fierce. [via @womensweardaily]
4. Good news for Michael Bay: “For decades, summer blockbusters have vacuumed up people’s money in spite of how bad the reviews are.” [via WaPo]
5. Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, and most of Judd Apatow’s Frat Pack have all been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [via THR]
Donald Trump is letting Carrie Prejean keep her freaking title. Even after she engaged in opposite dressing. [via Tucson Citizen]
Eminem and Jimmy Kimmel are flying 200 laidoff autoworkers from Detriot to LA for a taping of the show. Perhaps this is an attempt to one up Leno? [via Billboard]
Showtime has confirmed that Alanis Morissette will play Nancy’s doctor in at least seven episodes of the upcoming season of Weeds. [via @EWAusielloFiles]
4. Obsessed- $6.6 million
Why not just rent Fatal Attraction?
5. 17 Again- $4.4 million
How did we miss this piece on HuffPo where Elizabeth Banks slams the movie for being pro teen pregnancy? Also: she’s secretly way older than we realized.
