· The Guardian uses the word "triumph" and gives it four stars out of five, calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy that couldn't be in bigger contrast" to No Country for Old Men, but that the Coens film it most closely resembles is "the divorce-lawyer comedy Intolerable Cruelty." Everyone gets a chance to shine comically, but "Pitt, in fact, gets the best of the funny stuff, [though] has by some way the least screen time of all the principal cast." [The Guardian]

· Counterpoint! Variety hated it. Calling it a "dark goofball comedy about assorted doofuses in Washington, D.C.," Burn "tries to mate sex farce with a satire of a paranoid political thriller," with "with arch and ungainly results." Further, a "seriously talented cast" has been "asked to act like cartoon characters," with everything turned up to a "grotesquely exaggerated extent." [Variety]
· Yeesh. That last one didn't go so well. Let's go back to loving it again! The Times Online also gives it four stars. Noting it's the first Coen-penned screenplay since 2001's The Man Who Wasn’t There, they compare it to Raising Arizona and Fargo (yay!) in its "savagely comic taste for creative violence and a slightly mocking eye for detail." Carter Burwell’s score is a "brilliant...paranoid piece of film music," though if the movie lacks for anything, it's "warmth." [Times Online]

Clooney accepted the blame for the incident - and made the generous gesture of giving her a brand new car.

When the woman went to collect her vehicle from the repairers, she discovered the movie star had splashed out $28,000 on a new replica of her Lancia Ypsilon model.

And he had even left her a note of apology on the windscreen, saying: "I'm so sorry. Hope you'll forgive me. George Clooney."

Meanwhile, ex-girlfriend Sarah Larson inhaled sharply on her Camel Light, muttering, "He gave me the exact same goddamned note, Unnamed Woman — and if I got a car for every time I got rear-ended in Italy, you think I'd have to settle for Playboy and a stint on Fear Factor?"

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

• George Clooney Buys Crash Victim New Car [Showbiz Spy]

• WATCH VIDEO

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While out burning rubber with his motorcycle gang in Italy, popular actor/director/producer George Clooney was hounded by an aspiring writer. The writer had been waiting for face time with the Oscar winner for nearly four days, during which time she completed four rewrites of her blockbuster script. The woman described her spec as Mad Men meets Silent Running by way of Judd Apatow and believed it to be the perfect vehicle for the Cloonester. The woman said, "Nobody has pushed the limits of the science fiction genre quite this hard and I think George is the perfect individual to bring this unique vision to the screen." Clooney instructed the woman to leave a copy of her script at a nearby coffee bar and he'd pick it up right after his ride.

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

"I kept thinking to myself, 'God, if this was just, like, Kal Penn or George Clooney, or any of the other [Obama] surrogates or supporters ... there wouldn't be [any] question about it," the actress, 23, tells the Associated Press. "Nobody would even talk about it."

..."I was merely trying to express my delight at Obama's commitment in his campaign in every aspect, and his interest and his support [in] his surrogates, and his staff and his fellows, and how wonderful and refreshing that is," she says. "And it was manipulated into such an unfortunate media frenzy of kind of a non-story."

Au contraire, Scar-Jo! We here at Defamer can promise you that if Kal Penn or George Clooney would simply follow your lead and pose provocatively in an open cardigan (see above), we'd mock up a Photoshop before you could even say, "si se puede." Or was that your clone?

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• Scarlett Johansson Blames "Extreme Sexism" for Hoopla Over Obama E-Mails [Us Magazine]

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Before embarking on a sailing expedition to U2 front man Bono's house, silver fox George Clooney went over all the safety procedures for the yacht with his passengers. After his presentation — which included a PowerPoint slideshow explaining which side is port and which is starboard — Clooney wore a life preserver until the seafaring vessel docked at Bono's. While some of his passengers laughed at him, The Cloonester stood firm, largely because his aunt Rosemary always told him that he should be a leader, not a follower.

[Photo Credit: X17]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

To be fair, George isn't exactly showing off those dance moves Sarah is so enamored with in these shots, but one would think you can judge a man's skills based on the way they jog (far left), stumble out of bars (second to left), waltz down a red carpet (center), "pretend dance" for magazine covers (top right), and point their pinkies out for the cameras. Despite Gayle King assuring us that he's "very good" after her impromptu boogie with Clooney a few months ago, it sounds like George has the most fun showing off his moves in the company of men. Which isn't surprising, considering his devastating free-for-all country bumpkin dance-a-thon in O Brother Where Art Thou, a dance sequence so painful to watch, we nearly lost our lust for both George and the Brothers Coen.

• SARAH LARSON ON GEORGE CLOONEY SPLIT: 'I WILL MISS HIS DANCE MOVES' [Us]

Apparently Damon held out hope that he might join George Clooney and Brad Pitt among the only actors to nab the cover two years in a row, despite the fact that the two former tiara winners all but bent over in a public campaign to name him last year's winner. Initially joking to the mag on a recent red carpet about his fears of losing the crown, Damon launched into an explanation regarding his current aesthetic: "It wasn't necessarily that I needed to be fat...it was that I needed to be 'doughy.'" And Matt even apologetically curses his age for the ability to gain weight so quickly, adding that he used to be able to maintain his girlish figure while inhaling burgers and beer but, now that he's in his 30s, those habits only helped his transformation. We personally think Damon should stop being so defensive about the new look — any time he can aid off-the-radar buddy Ben Affleck in making the pages of a glossy these days is worth more than a hundred heavily airbrushed sash-wearing covers.

[Photo credits: People, Splash]

• MATT DAMON: MY 'SEXIEST MAN' TITLE IS IN JEAPORDY [People]

At the risk of being yet another actor giving his opinion about the ongoing fight between SAG and AFTRA, I'm hoping that there might be a way out of this. Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for.

Both are, of course, right. AFTRA feels that a work stoppage would be devastating to its members and SAG believes that if they don't draw a line in the sand, the studios will repeat what they did with DVDs.

There are a couple of fundamental facts that both sides have to start with ... first is that the WGA, DGA and IATSE all agreed to a certain model (DVDs not being a part of it). Breaking that model for AFTRA or SAG would retroactively break the other models ... so you can be pretty sure that the AMPTP isn't going to do that.

Jesus, this totally throws our SAG Strike Mad Libs™ out of whack. That said, neutral as Clooney sounds, his recognition of the models already in place and the whole "quarterback-protecting-the-linemen" metaphor that follows both support the rumors he leans pro-AFTRA. But we don't really care either way, now that Kim Masters has unequivocally attested there will be no SAG strike anyway:

Already, production has slowed way down in Hollywood because no one wants to be caught with the cameras rolling if the actors were to walk. But SAG hasn't even called for strike authorization (which would take three weeks and the approval of 75 percent of those voting). The reason seems obvious: The union wouldn't get it. The economy sucks, and the rank and file simply don't have the appetite for a strike after the Writers Guild walkout earlier this year. ... We're just sticking with something that makes a lot of money for industry executives these days even if it kind of sucks: reality.

Great. So now what are we supposed to do with our stockpile of bottled water and canned goods?

[Photo Credit: Teeny Manolo]

• George Clooney pens letter over SAG talks [THR]
• Reality Bites: Why the actors' strike won't happen [Slate]

The rest of the picture is still taking shape, but after the jump we have a few educated guesses as to where things might land — and it looks curiously like Bollywood.

Led by Anil Ambani, by Variety's count the world's sixth richest man (and the husband of a Bollywood actress), Reliance is apparently taking over Hollywood one A-list player at a time. Its film funding arm, Reliance Big Entertainment, made headlines at Cannes last month when it announced development deals with the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and others, splitting with studios the costs of new productions costing up to $1 billion. Reliance's latest venture is decidedly more ambitious, expanding its vast media footprint to claim what will be roughly half of the new DreamWorks: Six or so films a year through a studio to be determined (probably Spielberg's old stomping grounds at Universal, where he still keeps an office).

The deal also continues Asia's incursion into Hollywood, perhaps epitomized by Sony's $4.8 billion takeover (with Comcast) of MGM in 2005. But India has been even more active in the last year, with TV producer UTV Software buying into Fox's The Happening and Lionsgate entering a development deal with Mumbai-based shingle Eros International. The Reliance/DreamWorks pact is the biggest by far, but as noted by WSJ, the Snider connection gives Reliance stable executive footing for its grand Hollywood experiment.

The paper also adds, however, that DreamWorks would be dealing with an Indian conglom with its own internal drama: Anil Ambani is embroiled in a feud with his older brother Mukesh over a multi-billion dollar acquisition in South Africa. The trouble would only touch DreamWorks if the communications arm were ever sold; the brothers have reportedly been fighting over controlling interest in that case.

Spielberg will obviously cross that bridge when he comes to it, as will he face inevitable concerns about investor influence over his and Snider's slate. To wit, are the Clooney/Hanks/Pitt et. al. projects earmarked for the 'Works? How will Reliance play ball with Universal, Fox or another studio enlisted to distribute DreamWorks' films? Will press inquiries forevermore be rerouted to a call center in Bangalore? So many questions!

• Spielberg, India Firm Near Deal to Ally With DreamWorks [WSJ]

[Photo: Bauer-Griffin]

• Ocean's two: George Clooney messes about on the water with a pair of beautiful brunettes [dailymail.co.uk]

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Popular actor George Clooney began his break up recovery process by taking a boat ride near his Italian Villa. Clooney's friend thought that the recovery process was going to be something a little different than a simple boat trip. Clooney's friend said, "I appreciate the trip to Italy and all, but I thought we were going to be doing something different, you know?" Clooney asked what he thought that they were going to be doing instead of being one with nature and relaxing. The friend said that he assumed the recovery process was going to be filled with drugs, kegs and girls. Clooney said, "No girls, right now. Just nature and good wine and good food, but mostly good wine. That's what we need this weekend. Next weekend, there will be girls, but that's only because the Ocean's guys are going to be out here. No offense, but you're married. And worse, you haven't been on the beautiful people list."

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

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A George Clooney superfan got one step closer to finishing his scrapbook featuring signatures of the Good Night & Good Luck actor/director's former flames. Kevin Marr of Reseda started the book merely as a joke amongst friends in his divorced men group, but took on a life of its own. Marr said, "When I started to Google and Wikipedia things, I realized that the ole Cloonester is a major poon hound like me. So, I had to pay my respects to the maestro."

Marr began seriously pursue the autographs sometime in 2006 when his pool cleaning business fell apart, and the new hobby has taken him all over the world. Wednesday's autograph from Clooney's recent ex-girlfriend, Sarah Larson, has brought him one step closer to completion (that is, until Clooney dates again). Marr said, "I have mixed feelings about George settling down. A part of me wants him to keep on going on until he can't do it anymore. Then the other part of me wants him to stop because I can't spend all this money flying all over the place to meet with some girl that Clooney may have made out with on the set of Return Of The Killer Tomatoes." After Larson signed his scrapbook, Marr unsuccessfully asked Larson for a date to Spumoni.

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

George Clooney broke up with his model girlfriend, Sarah Larson, shortly after she had a breast augmentation in mid-May. Was surgery the final straw in their already fractured relationship?

“George really didn’t want her to get the boob job,” an insider says. But she needed a place to rest after the operation. “She asked George if she could do her recovery at his house and he agreed,” says the insider. Despite the split, the 29-year-old former cocktail waitress is pleased with her new look

“She likes her new body so much that she would consider posing for Playboy,” says a friend.

If true, the elective surgery would be just the latest active measure taken by the former Nevada cocktail-dispensation engineer towards increased visibility, and as such would fit in nicely with the widely accepted theory that Clooney was growing uncomfortable with her steadily growing stature. Now, join us, won't you, for an image gallery of famous boob-jobs that broke up classic Hollywood relationships. Just kidding. We really couldn't give a fuck.

• In Touch Weekly

“She thought they were getting married. Instead, she got dumped,” a friend said. “She’s really upset. Devastated.”

As things got serious with Clooney, Larson had moved into his Los Angeles mansion, subletting her home in Las Vegas. Tongues wagged that she might be "the one" when he took her to the Oscars this year.

"She’s totally heartbroken and doesn’t deserve this,” a friend said. “It came out of nowhere. They had made all these plans.”

Turns out those plans called for little more than Larson to find the nearest WiFi hotspot, enabling her to surf Yellowpages.com to find the number of a local U-Haul with an available truck. You see, Clooney has a history of dating women that are young, pretty and anonymous. From Celine Balitran to Krista Allen, once people in the fly-over states begin to recognize the name of the girl who he's schtupping, history and habit dictates that Clooney lowers the boom on them. And although we're pretty positive that The Charming One will never publicly address the reasons behind the breakup, we're pretty sure that her sketchy past and the anonymous phone calls left on Clooney's visual voicemail didn't help her cause much.

So fare thee well, Sarah Larson. We're confident that The Maloofs will take you back. We look forward to the next time you refresh our drink at The Palms.

• Sarah Larson 'Devastated' After Getting Dumped by George Clooney [Fox News]

George Clooney has broken up with Sarah Larson after nearly a year of dating.

According to a friend of Sarah's, the Leatherheads star recently moved out of his LA home while the 29-year-old former Las Vegas cocktail waitress removed her belongings. "George is relieved to be single again," says an insider. "He thinks Sarah is sweet and that is why it was so hard to break up with her." [...]

"The truth is that they had little in common and he just doesn't want to be tied down," explains the insider. George's rep told In Touch: "I can only confirm that we have never commented on George's personal life."

One can only imagine how painful that last, longing glance backwards was for the young, comely Larson, her arms loaded down with two beach bags full of gritty bikini components, massage oils, and European fashion magazines, as she called out behind her, "Goodbye lovingly tended shrine to Max the pig! Goodbye Villa Oleandra and its dedicated pizza room! Goodbye Wii bowling tournaments in Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's office after Darfur press conferences! And goodbye, George. I think I'll miss your new smile most of all."

• George and Sarah split! [In Touch]

· She toured the country following the band Phish, making bracelets and sandwiches to trade for gas money. (Although Harper’s fails to mention what she traded for spending money.)

· She studied microbiology (pot?) at Evergreen State College (pot school) and worked in the school’s lab (presumably making pot).

· In 2002, Larson moved to Las Vegas to be close to her ailing father. Who lived in Palm Springs. 300 miles away. Because family's always there when you need them, sort of.

· After working at a homeopathic medical company (need I say pot?), Larson “discovered” that she could make a lot more money working at the Playboy Club. Yes, just as Columbus discovered the New World, so Sarah Larson discovered that jiggling her junk pays well: "It's funny, you go into cocktailing and you're making a thousand dollars a night.” Yeah, that’s what they call it.... cocktailing.....

· Larson had a boyfriend when she first met Clooney (apparently while cocktailing) but had totally lost that chump by the time she tracked Clooney down at the Vegas premiere of Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007. Hooray for happy accidents.

· She was attracted to Clooney because of his work in Darfur. Not his wealth, or fame, or good looks. All she could think about while wrapping her cooch around a pole in Vegas was, “I just want a man who cares about the struggle of the Sudanese people.”

· George has introduced Her Arm Candiness to the Dalai Lama. We’re sure the holy one took well to, “Cool robe thingie. It looks yellow, but it’s kinda orange too. Do you like Rock of Love?”

· She was scared to leave behind a steady income as a cocktail waitress to focus on modeling. Because giving up your shitty job can be tough when a movie star’s taking care of you. And at almost 30, it’s never too late to pick up a career like modelling, right?

· Larson has taken to following The Secret to get what she wants out of life. Hopefully there’s a chapter about nailing down your movie star boyfriend before he gets bored and puts you back on the plexiglass stripper platform where he found you.

• It Girl: Sarah Larson [Harper's Bazaar]

· Rob Estes gets work—on 90210, no less!—which should keep the paychecks rolling in until his network gets canceled. [THR]
· Pitch Perfect, comedy based upon the book of the same name about the competitive world of college a cappella groups, will be An Elizabeth Banks Production for Universal. Go Whiffenpoofs! (The only one we can name off hand.) [THR]

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In the continuing fallout from his daughter's recent Vanity Fair scandal, Billy Ray Cyrus decided to change up his image to reflect a more sophisticated lifestyle. Cyrus felt that one of the reasons that Miley was taken advantage by Vanity Fair was their perceived image as yokels. In order to combat this misconception, Cyrus has decided to step up his appearance and quickly has become the smoothest and best dressed man in Tennessee. Cyrus said, "If you look rich, people will think you're rich. And when you're rich, people might think you're smart and hopefully won't persuade your boy crazy daughter to take her clothes off."

[Photo Credit: INF Daily]

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While making their way into The Metropolitan Museum Of Art Costume Institute Annual Gala, George Clooney once again attempted to work the patented "Clooney Charm" on frequent co-star/longtime friend Julia Roberts. Clooney tried convincing Roberts that a little post-party romp would be in her best interest, going as far as to add in that his gal pal, Sarah Larson, is way, way into her. When Julia Roberts rebuffed him, he concluded his plea with the statement, "Come on, you used to be so cool. What happened?" Roberts replied, "Having three kids made me uncool, George." George nodded, then turned to Sarah and whispered, "What about the Olsen Twins? I think we could do that, yeah?"

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

Burn centers on Osbourne Cox (Malkovich), who has hit a bit of rough patch. He was recently fired from the CIA and decides to write his memoirs, naturally documenting government secrets along the way. His wife (Swinton) decides to steal the material to use in their upcoming divorce proceedings, but the CD mistakenly ends up in the hands of two doltish gym employees, Chad (Pitt) and Linda (McDormand). In response to Linda and Chad conspiring to sell the material to help pay for Linda's plastic surgery, the CIA dispatches Harry (Clooney) to sort it all out at whatever the cost.

• New Photos: Coen Brother's Burn After Reading [firstshowing.net]

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Actor/director George Clooney faced the United Nations Movie Director Court on Thursday afternoon. Clooney was there to argue his case for not being placed into movie jail for his most recent directional outing, Leatherheads. Clooney attempt to defend the film on its merits as a throwback to the screwball comedy genre and what not, but the jury was simply not buying it. Clooney, realizing that his back was against the wall, boldly admitted that the film was simply a vanity project and asked if Good Night and Good Luck provided him a "get out of jail for free" card. The jury pondered for a moment and asked Clooney if he had any intentions of making any more films with Steven Soderbergh. Clooney shook his head no and stated that it could happen one day, but he had no immediate plans to do so. The jury deliberated a bit longer and came back with a verdict: Clooney was on directorial probation meaning that Clooney would have to act in or at least help finance a film by an arty director like Terry Zwigoff or Pedro Costa.

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

It seems that Larson and Clooney's love story actually began three or four years ago at George's birthday party in Las Vegas, where Larson says she was "with some friends. We were all dancing, taking pictures, being silly." In Larson's case, "taking pictures" and "being silly" tends to mean styling her own Penthouse spread with girl-on-girl action and plenty of You Caught Us! poses and kissy faces. But apparently that was all it took to catch Clooney's attention, and the star instructed his on-call detectives to look up her place of work and track her down. One month later he was inviting her to Italy and now, she's even met his parents. So there you have it. Dating a movie star is not as difficult as it sounds; all it takes is one eye-catching rack and one friend to feel you up in your star of choice's line of sight to launch your own fable worthy of Hans Christian Anderson.

• SARAH LARSON: HOW I MET GEORGE CLOONEY [People]

"It's still very much George's place, but she's got her clothes there and she thought [Jo Malone scented candles and fresh flowers] would be nice."

According to OK! George is simply delighted. As Clooney is fond of reminding the entire world, he once had a pet pig named Max. A pet pig! Because he's quirky! And though Max is now trotting around Celebrity Pet Heaven, his aura still lingered in the form of odd smells. And Clooney "has been joking to his hotelier friend Rande Gerber that finally his home...smells good!" We just hope Sarah and her cocktail waitress friends don't go too wild shooting Penthouse-esque photos and levitating above fireplaces, leading to a scented candle inferno.

• SARAH LARSON PLAYS HOUSE [OK!]

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At the after party for the London premiere of Leatherheads, Clooney made a bet with a couple of pals that he could probably get more numbers with one eye shut than they all could with both eyes open. The score at the end of the night? Clooney 12, Other Guys 3.

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

Renee made yet another tight-lipped and prim appearance for the photographers on the carpet, but couldn't quite stay balanced leaving the after-party in Mayfair. Looks as though she even needed the assistance of far-meatier arms to make it to her ride intact.

Once inside her car, we catch a glimpse of a very Britney Spears-esque lipstick stain on her neck. We don't know which is more disturbing: the possibility that Renee partook in some girl-on-girl action or that she got so drunk she nodded off and stained herself.

Either way, we are happy she appeared to make it home in one "squiffy" and "tiddly" piece.

[Photo Credits: Isoimages, Big Pictures, Matrix, Wireimage via The Daily Mail]

• SQUIFFY RENEE ZELLWEGER ENJOYS THE POST-PREMIERE PARTY V. V. MUCH [Daily Mail]

1. 21 - $15.1 million
The geeks-take-Vegas opus shocked observers by not only sustaining its top spot for a second consecutive week, but also by outlasting consistently sluggish reviews (thus establishing critics' rumored irrelevancy beyond a doubt and putting in motion a unilateral purge of the eight remaining full-time reviewers working in the United States).

2. Leatherheads - $13.4 million
George Clooney's latest directorial/starring effort was easily the week's most stirring disappointment, pulling in woefully less than the $20 million forecast by observers last week. Analysts point out potential stumbling blocks from a misleading marketing campaign to a football film opening on a basketball/baseball weekend, but let's face it: No film can survive an opening-weekend torpedo from the influential critical duo Reel Geezers, who "felt bad for the cameramen and everyone involved."

3. Nim's Island - $13.3 million
Before this morning we'd never even heard of this movie, the script for which a Fox executive is said to have discovered under his passenger seat while searching for his dropped Bluetooth earpiece. Was this actually released, or was this just a WGA-engineered ploy to make its newly fi-core archenemy Clooney feel worse about Leatherheads?

4. Horton Hears a Who! - $9.1 million
Plunging nearly 50 percent from its bridesmaid perch last week, Horton nevertheless sustained a Top-5 berth. Jim Carrey spent the weekend calculating the dynamics of his newfound leverage, which should be just enough to get his and Spike Jonze's Ripley's Believe it or Not adaptation pushed up to a 2017 release.

11. Stop-Loss - $2.3 million
Is Hollywood out of touch when it comes to the Iraq War? Oh, wait.

In a too-close-for-comfort profile in this week's New Yorker, Clooney apparently plays the message for both a reporter and Larson for the first time. Her insta-defense? "I've never been a stripper. You know, just because I'm from Las Vegas, I must be a stripper. Because I'm a cocktail server, that means I'm an escort." Whoa, Sarah! This guy didn't drop the prostitute bomb, but thanks for reminding us of your skill set. And Clooney, who quipped, "It's not a prank - none of my friends would do that," may not care how many cocktails she served back in the day considering the games Larson likes to allegedly play in the bedroom. A "rock musician" named Tommy McKaughan is dishing to The Sun about the pair's extracurriculars: "She made up special love potions and rubbed them into every part of my body...She loves nothing more than getting naked in a forest." Yeah, we'd let that "investigation" run cold too if we were dating a sand-loving forest nymph like Sarah, too.

• CLOONEY TRAILS MYSTERY CALLER [NY Post]
• EX-BOYFRIEND REVEALS SEX ROMPS [The Sun]

"When your own union doesn't back what you've done, the only honorable thing to do is not participate."

So, where did it all go wrong between George and the Guild? Clooney claims that he found the 17-year-old-script for Leatherheads, written by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, and gave it a major overhaul. In fact, he feels he wrote all but 2 of the scenes in the period football comedy, and was incensed that the Guild refused to recognize his efforts. Clooney would have resigned from the Guild altogether, but that would mean he couldn't work on WGA-coverd productions anymore, so instead we went Fi-Core. According to producing partner Grant Heslov:

"Financial core was his form of protest, but when he did it, he didn't want it public. We're both big union guys. Between us, we belong to 12 unions. I think they made the wrong decision, and he was within his rights to respond by going financial core."

Amazingly, this all happened before the strike, but George decided to keep it quiet until now so it wouldn't have a negative impact on the protest. Damn you, Clooney. Even when you're angry, you're still a mensch!

• WGA, Clooney at odds over credit [Variety]

Did you watch? See, totes charming, right? Now, compiled here for your convenience, are the five most interesting things we learned from that little exchange:
1) Clooney wears a robe while getting ready for bed.
2) Brittney Spears is his neighbor.
3) He has an assistant named Angel who sometimes lives in his guest house.
4) He is not afraid to grab a baseball bat and confront a robber.
5) He would make a terrible hostage negotiator.

That is all.

• Late Show With David Letterman [CBS.com]