Tag Archives: Mark Wahlberg

‘Transformers 4′ Opened with $100 Million in Sales Despite Critics and Fanboys’ Distaste

Read pretty much anything written about the film, and it’s easy to see that movie critics alike have not cozied up to Transformers: Age of Extinction. The movie received a 17% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 32 (out of 100) score on Metacritic, and a slew of shade from cinema connoisseurs everywhere, including Richard Lawson’s (for the win) with:

“So, it’s been five years since the Battle of Chicago, from the third Transformers movie, and Shia LaBeouf’s character is nowhere to be seen. Instead we’ve got Mark Wahlberg, playing a robotics-obsessed inventor from rural Texas. And if there are two things everyone thinks of when they think of Mark Wahlberg, it’s “science” and “Texas,” so already this movie is off to a logical start.”

But what Transformers films do have (this one, the three before it, and the likely hundred that will proceed), is the support of unrelenting fanboys. So much so that, critics be damned, the film was able to rein in an estimated $100 million during its opening weekend. Add another $200 million (you read that right) and you’ve got the international sales included. This is easily the top movie debut of the year and a career high for the film’s star Mark Wahlberg.

Giving no care to the air, director Michael Bay recently spoke out about some of the franchise’s more critical fans saying, “They love to hate, and I don’t care. Let them hate. They’re still going to see the movie. I think it’s good to get a little tension. Very good.”

That Michael Bay, so sensitive.

Images courtesy of Collider and Paramount Pictures.

Mark Wahlberg Bleeps His Way Through MTV Generation Award Speech

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Image: Rolling Stone.

In his acceptance speech for the Generation Award at last night’s MTV Movie Awards, Mark Wahlberg commented that like past winners—including Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Jennifer Aniston—he is now a part of a group who is, in MTV’s gaze, “f*cking old” and “f*cking done.” He spanned the breadth of his highs and lows commenting, “I’m a lucky guy in so many ways to have worked with so many talented people, to have gone from literally being incarcerated to having a one-hit rap career to having an underwear modeling career to getting a real chance from Penny Marshall,” he continued, pausing only to lay down a few more bleeps, commanding the audience to shush. “I’m about to cry in a minute — hold on!”

Image: NYDaily News.

The rambling-but-coherent speech came from a “truly blessed man” with an “extraordinary life.” He also managed to plug the upcoming Entourage movie, Ted 2, and his Victoria’s Secret wife (“I don’t know how the f*ck that happened, but this is America and anything is possible!”). In the end Wahlberg proved that ten-fold.

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The Ten Most Iconic Photos from Calvin Klein’s Career

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Calvin Klein rose from a young, immigrant’s son in the Bronx of New York to a household name and a legacy in American fashion. In honor of the designer’s birthday today (Happy 71, Mr. Klein!) we pay homage to his long lasting and slightly-controversial career with our ten most favorite and iconic photos from the man who changed runway and retail, for better or worse:

1. Vogue-Featured B&W Bachelor

For its 1975 November issue, American Vogue highlighted the designer's then newly-finished apartment on New York's Upper East Side. His first marriage had ended a year earlier, and in response, Klein enlisted famous contemporary designer Joseph D’Urso to create a black and white industrious bachelor bad for his new, stylishly-single life.

Image courtesy of Cristopher Worthland.
2. Master of Denim

Although he technically founded cK Calvin Klein Jeans (arguably the first collection of American designer denim) in 1976, it wasn't until 1977—when Klein modified the fit to accentuate both the crotch and buttocks—that his jeans became a must-have fashion item. Here is the designer photographed above with supermodel Janice Dickinson in Vogue Paris of the same year.

Image courtesy of Devorah MacDonald.
3. Supermodel Support

At just 14-years-old Brooke Shields appeared in 1980 in a now-iconic photo campaign and television ad shot by photographer Richard Avedon. In the latter Shields so cooly says, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

Image courtesy of Calvin Klein.
4. After The Jean, The Underwear

In 1982 US Olympic pole-vaulter Tom Hintanus starred in the campaign for Klein's first underwear collection for men shot by Bruce Weber. The success of both the brand and the image is still widely acknowledged to this day, with the latter having been named one of American Photographer Magazine's “10 Pictures That Changed America.”

Image courtesy of Calvin Klein.
5. Mark and Moss

At the height of the 90's AIDS epidemic, reign of the supermodel, and rule of the jean, Kate Moss starred with Mark Wahlberg—then, still just Marky Mark—in a controversial Calvin Klein campaign titled, “The best protection against AIDS is to keep your Calvins on" shot by Herb Ritts.

Image courtesy of Fashion Journal.
6. One For All

After finding success with his first two scents, Obsession in 1985 and Eternity in 1988, in 1994 Klein releasef cK One, a citrus aromatic fragrance for both women and men.

Image courtesy of Calvin Klein.
7. Body, Body, Body

In 2001, Australian model and actor Travis Fimmel became the first male in the world to secure a six-figure deal to model exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year. During this time, famed photographed Steven Klein shot Fimmel for a campaign for Calvin Klein body.
8. Buy For Now

Phillips-Van Heusen, the world's largest shirt company and owner of American brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Izod, purchased Calvin Klein from its founder in 2003, ending Klein's footprint on the American fashion house for at least the time being.

Image courtesy of WWD.
9. Still Keeping Face

Although nominally out of the game, Klein still remained active in both fashion and social circles. Above he is pictured in 2008 with John Demsey, Donna Karan, Anna Wintour and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at a gala for New York-based charity God's Love We delivery.

Image courtesy of WWD.
10. Work Or Play?

In 2010, Klein became romantically linked to model and adult film star Nick Gruber, although the exact details of their relationship has been highly contested in the media by Gruber earlier this year.

Image courtesy of Perez Hilton.