We’re going to go ahead and relate today’s blog-dominating clip to Michael Jackson, because both M.I.A. and Jackson believe in uniting every color (of people and fashion accessory, respectively), and know the power of dance. M.I.A.’s video for her Baltimore friend Rye Rye’s “Bang” is, well, very colorful and full of dancing. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like at one of those mythical Baltimore D.J. parties — or to trip balls in a mid-eighties JCPenney — then these three minutes and 38 seconds are for you. But the real credit goes to rapper Rye Rye herself, who, in addition to looking positively dangerous in the way her limbs fly, managed to collaborate with M.I.A. on a song called “Bang” without resorting to samples of guns going off.
So that's why they wear sunglasses inside ... 
"[My dad] called it the worst song he'd ever heard in his life." —Fergie's dad was not a fan of her first single, "London Bridge" [Spinner]
"See, we always had the idea that he would rock the mullet, it’s his trademark. But the top of the hair is definitely where we take the most liberties. To us, Kenny has the 'I just woke up,' and he has the 'I'm in school,' where his mullet is a little more in control, and then he has the 'I’m going out,' where it’s slicked back. So, it’s kind of like his clothes, he has the slicked-back look, it’s like a uniform, and the uniform says 'I'm in my prime.' [laughs] I gotta admit, it’s Danny. He’ll come out on the set with the right amount of hair gel and shit like that." —Jody Hill on Danny McBride's mullet on Eastbound & Down [/Film]
Plus: Sacha Baron Cohen wants to give you herpes.
On The Philanthropist, which premiered last week on NBC, James Purefoy plays Teddy Rist, a billionaire playboy whose life is forever changed when he saves a small boy from a flood in Nigeria. From that day forward, Rist focuses on charity, and jumps from country to country helping people. Purefoy, the British actor who played a full-frontally nude Marc Antony in HBO’s Rome, spoke with Vulture about real-life do-gooders, Obama’s TV tastes, and how he missed the James Bond boat.
"I read the script and said, 'Preposterous! Come on! What kind of billionaire does this?! It'll be laughed off the television screens.'"
No, not Del Taco (although we would FLIP if they brought that chain to New York City). We're talking about Guillermo del Toro, the visionary director — sorry, Zack Snyder — of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy series and, perhaps most important, the upcoming series of Hobbit films. He's seven months deep into the preproduction phase of the $300 million project, which will be released as two separate movies in the years 2011 and 2012 (so far away!). One might think that he would be fully consumed with all things Tolkien at the moment, but that turns out not to be the case. In an interview with Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times, Del Toro confesses that what he's currently most interested in is getting someone, anyone, to turn his best-selling vampire novel, The Strain, into a television series.
"It's too expensive, first of all, and what we would really love is a vampire comedy."
TMZ continues to so thoroughly own the Michael Jackson story today that we're beginning to suspect they might have Tito bugged. Here's what you need to know:
• Jackson's will was filed today in Los Angeles and TMZ has the five-page PDF. He left everything to his family trust (including the Beatles catalogue, presumably), which means it's all going to his children and mother. Also, Katherine Jackson is given sole custody of Jackson's three children — but if she doesn't want them, they'll go to Diana Ross, which hardly seems like a good idea.
• According to the AP, Jackson's nurse says he'd been begging for Propofol, a powerful anesthetic drug used to sedate patients before surgery. Additionally, TMZ says the drug was found in his home, along with Lidocaine — another drug used to ease the pain of Propofol injections — which investigators discovered near Jackson's body.
Plus: Port-a-potties arrive at Neverland! Oktyabrskoye gets a new name!
At $310 million, J. Ezra Merkin is getting less than he had hoped for his art collection, insiders say — but he still may be making more than the collection is worth. The business partner and alleged collaborator of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff is being forced by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to sell off his trove — including several Mark Rothkos, Alberto Giacomettis, and an Alexander Calder — in an effort to compensate wronged investors. And though Merkin thought his collection would sell for more, according to an art dealer consulted on the deal, art appraisers and auction-house officials say the $310 million was surprisingly good, given the issues involved.
What sort of issues, you ask?
Another week, another musical number from Garrity — this one starring our man in a white suit, singing to a mystery blonde about how she (literally) takes his breath away. But things promptly turn dark. Everyone’s burning up: The horrifically killed little girl from the episode’s fire; Lou, who’s filled with love and forgiveness and jumping wholeheartedly back into Candyland (which still doesn’t quite feel like a good idea); Franco, who’s channeling his anger into some fierce boxing; and most of all Tommy, who chars his own thigh with a blowtorch. His drinking is back in full force, and with it guilt and ghosts in major doses.
Endless supply of whiskey and enabling.
Clooney Out: George Clooney has taken Smokehouse, the production company he runs with Grant Heslov, from Warner Bros. to Sony for a two-year first-look deal. There are still a bunch of Smokehouse films in production at WB, including John Grisham adaptation The Innocent Man and Aaron Sorkin legal drama The Challenge, and no imminent plans at Sony. There’s been no reason given for the split, although Variety implies it has to do with Smokehouse's track record of having an easier time making movies outside of WB than inside. We think it’s the goddamned frog’s fault. [HR]
Cornelius Crane Does TV: Indie movie The Kids Are Alright has added a few name actors to its cast. The flick stars Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska as a brother and sister who seek out their same-sex parents’ sperm donor, who then upsets the family unit once he is found; Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play the parents, and Mark Ruffalo the donor. Be prepared for the possibility that Ruffalo’s stubble will be set to extra scruffy in order to fully communicate “shadiness.” [Variety]
Plus: Day man! Fighter of the Night Man!
Nine
Did You Hear About the Morgans? Premiere
A Little Night Music Opening
Premiere of It’s Complicated
VEVO Launch Party
Doctor Parnassus Screening
Eight Year-End Films Vie for Oscar Contention
Sondheim and Lansbury on a Lifetime in Theater
The Black Keys Release Their Hip-hop Debut 
How the BQE Became an Artistic Muse
