5 Ways Movie Stars Make Money Between Films

Most movie stars like to take breaks between big films, but they don’t necessarily want to stop making money. Check out these five ways movie stars make money between films.

Working as Musicians

Creative types often use their off time pursuing other crafts, such as visual art or music. Keanu Reeves played bass in a band called Dogstar until the Matrix Trilogy hurtled him into a new level of celebrity. Donald Glover, who acts in movies as well as the television series Community, spends quite a bit of time pursuing his career as a rapper under the pseudonym Childish Gambino. By all accounts, Glover is considerably better at his musical craft than Reeves.

Inventing New Technologies

Few actors have successful careers as inventors. 1930’s film star Hedy Lamarr, however, had a flair for mathematics that made her an outstanding inventor as well as an actress. In fact, Lamarr co-created a technology that made it nearly impossible for enemy armies to jam radio communications from US soldiers. The military didn’t fully understand the importance of her invention, but her frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum patent played an instrumental role in developing Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth.

Endorsing Products

Jenna Fischer, who has performed in hit comedies such as Blades of Glory and Hall Pass, made some extra cash by endorsing Proactiv products in 2010. While endorsing products like Proactiv’s dark spot corrector, she also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance on The Office. That must have been a busy year!

Appearing in Foreign Commercials

A lot of actors don’t want to appear in commercials because they worry the work might tarnish their reputations. When they’re away from home, though, many of them will appear in commercials for extra cash. Jennifer Aniston appeared in a German Heineken commercial. Leonardo DiCaprio starred in a TV ad for an Italian telephone company. One of the weirdest examples, though, comes from Nicholas Cage, who played himself in a commercial for a Japanese gaming device. In the ad, he becomes crazed by blonde triplets, jumps on top of his car while yelling “fever!”, and speeds off without warning.

Investing in Businesses

Movie stars have a lot of money, so they are key targets for any entrepreneur who needs startup capital. Planet Hollywood is probably the most popular example of this. Without investments and endorsements from Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s unlikely that this chain would have become as popular.

Ashton Kutcher has invested his money in companies that seem much hipper by today’s standards. Some of his investments include Foursquare and Spotify. He also bought into Skype before it became popular. Even if he hadn’t gotten rich off his romantic comedies, that well-timed investment would have made him extremely wealthy.

Actors have to do more than just sit around looking attractive when they’re between films. What other celebrities have you seen participating in side projects?

  

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Men: Don’t Even Think About Getting These Valentine’s Day Gifts

Choosing the right gift for your wife can be a challenge if you’re not looking in the right place. But this doesn’t mean you settle down for anything. Valentine’s Day is special and your gift should be special. Here are a few gifts that you should avoid giving to your wife…

1. Stale Candy: Yes, candy is a big part of Valentine’s Day and it’s a common gift. However, if you’re going to give it, do it properly. It’s a bad idea to give a box with missing pieces, and a few other cracked open. You should always, always ensure that the candy you’re giving is new, fresh and tasty. Also, don’t forget to add flowers with the candy. You’ll find a good selection of flowers online to choose from.

2. Cheap Dinner: Valentine’s Day is when your woman expects you to treat her extra special. She wants you to take out in the best possible way, which is why dinner on cheap is a bad idea to start with. You can definitely put that change you found under the sofa to a better use. But for dinner, make sure you treat her royally.

3. A Virtual Gift: Yes virtual gifts are all rage and happening. People give them to each other all the time. But a virtual gift for Valentine’s Day? It’s a strict no-no! Whether you buy a picture of a lava lamp, or a graphical heart – the point is that virtual gifts don’t work for Valentine’s Day. Period.

4. A Stuffed Animal: Women expect you to buy them gifts that are especially bought for them. So when it comes to expressing your love to your woman, keep away from stuffed animals. Your wife is an adult and she has no use of a stuffed animal. The solution is to avoid giving any stuffed animals and instead focus on donating to a local charity as it makes for a thoughtful gift.

5. Racy Sleepwear: When you buy lingerie for your wife, you know it yourself that it’s a gift that’s more for you than her. It’s just another excuse to gift your woman some racy sleepwear. Valentine’s Day is is an occasion couples feel happy and want to remain together. It’s not a day to ask your partner to put on some lingerie so that she feels sexy.

6. A Local Gym Membership: Do not make the mistake of using Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to suggest your Valentine that she can lose a few pounds. That’s right – women are highly self-conscious about their weight and you gifting a gym membership will only make it worse.

There you go! Six gifts that you should stay away from on Valentine’s Day if you want to make the most out of it.

  

Justified 4.03: Truth and Consequences

SPOILER WARNING: This post will appear following a new episode of Justified. It is intended to be read after seeing the show’s latest installment as a source of recap and analysis. As such, all aspects of the series up to and including the episode discussed are fair game.

“Truth and Consequences” has a more literal title than most episodes of Justified (sure, they packed in a pun, but that’s almost cheating when the character central to the season’s big mystery has a name like “Waldo Truth”). It begins with Boyd paying a visit to the Last Chance Holiness Church, still struggling to figure out what game the preacher and his sister are playing. He’s sure there’s a game, though, there has to be. Boyd would never go to all the trouble the St. Cyrs have if he wasn’t getting something out of it, so he can’t believe anyone else would either. So what’s the truth he’s not seeing?

Half-jokingly, Boyd questions Cassie’s claims that she was merely “putting her brother to sleep,” implying the two are sexually involved and that the sibling act is merely part of their scheme (either that or it’s incest, after all, it’s Kentucky). But that isn’t it, and to his surprise, it isn’t that Cassie uses her brother’s faith and charisma to extort local criminals, either. Cassie turns down Boyd’s “donation,” insisting that what he’s smelling isn’t a con but the fact that “unlike the rest of these sorry souls, we’re not afraid of you.” Boyd quips back, “In that case, ma’am, I think we’ve misjudged each other,” words that turn out prophetic.

Having tried the carrot, Boyd decides to try the stick—sending his henchmen in to intimidate the St. Cyrs—which results in the one who isn’t Colton (apparently his name is Jimmy) being bitten to death by snakes, or so it seems. Given the severity of his injuries, Jimmy should’ve died hours before he got medical help. And just like that, a lightbulb goes off in Boyd’s head. So he heads back to the Last Chance Holiness with another gift, only this time, “it’s not to the church, it’s to the congregation. And it ain’t money, it’s knowledge.”

The main characters aren’t the only ones dealing with truths and consequences this week. Billy St. Cyr’s faith (and hubris) is cemented by the fact that he and his followers continue to survive snakebites without medical assistance. Seeing it as proof of divine intervention, he fearlessly handles snakes as a testament to his omnipotent and benevolent God. As it turns out, however, Boyd was right. There was a scheme afoot, and Cassie had the wool pulled over the eyes of her brother and his congregation both. She’d been “milking” the snakes of their venom to ensure their bites wouldn’t be fatal.

Ever the true believer, Billy insists on handling Boyd’s “gift” nonetheless, though his sister begs him not to. Having gotten what he came for, Boyd too tries to talk him out of it, saying, “You know what, son? I once stood where you’re standing now, mistaking my own hubris for God’s touch. That ain’t religion, son, that’s self-glorification. Best you leave this thing alone.” After that, things go about as you’d expect. Billy is bitten and, given his conviction, I’m willing to bet he’ll die as a result. The preacher was presented with the truth, refused to recognize it, and now he’ll face the consequences. For now, it seems the St. Cyrs weren’t out to get the Crowders. They were nothing but true believers in a place with no room for such. Boyd did what he did not because they were affecting his business interests, but to come to terms with the man he was, the man he saw reflected in Billy St. Cyr’s face.

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Super Bowl commercial teaser: Live Más and Viva Young with Taco Bell

The Super Bowl commercial blitz is officially underway with the unveiling of a 60-second online teaser video from Taco Bell, found above. This minute-long production is a preview of the company’s new Super Bowl commercial, a LIVE MÁS® brand commercial called “Viva Young,” set to debut during the third quarter of the game February 3 on CBS. The full commercial, which will show that anyone at any age can “live más,” will be set to the music of Taco Bell Feed the Beat® artist and six-time GRAMMY® Award nominee fun.’s “We Are Young,” which will be sung in Spanish.

Check out the teaser above and be sure to keep your eyes open during the third quarter of the big game next week!

  

Down goes Frazier!!!

Today is the 40th anniversary of this epic call from Howard Cosell as George Forman knocked down and then knocked out Joe Frazier. It’s one of the greatest sports call of all time.

It’s amazing watching this now. In today’s world there’s no way the ref lets Frazier keep fight after that second knockdown.