Was Jennifer Lawrence too well fed for 'The Hunger Games'?

It can't be all victory tours and dessert buffets for "The Hunger Games": The film has some critics making controversial statements about star Jennifer Lawrence -- specifically regarding her weight.

The film tells of a malnourished North American nation, Panem, under the control of a sleek and excessive capitol city, with the participants in the annual fight-to-the-death Hunger Games depicted as skin-and-bones teenagers clawing for survival.

Some folks find that Lawrence looked a little too well-fed to play the bow-toting Katness Everdeen.

"A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission," said Manohla Dargis of the New York Times. 

A bold indictment, if you ask us, of a 21-year-old star who currently captivates the attention of impressionable young females and her same-aged peers in show business. But are the critical sentiments -- Vulture has a comprehensive roundup -- correct? 

On the one hand, the content adapted from Suzanne Collins' dark novels dictates that these oppressed citizens are in fact emaciated. But by all standards Lawrence is hardly overweight, though widely attributed with that dread celeb magazine buffer of "curvy." 

Chew the fat on this "Hunger Games" debate in comments. And if you need some photographic evidence, check out how Lawrence killed it on the carpet at the Los Angeles "Hunger" premiere. 

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-- Matt Donnelly
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Photo: Jennifer Lawrence attends a special screening of "The Hunger Games" hosted by the Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection on March 20 in New York. Credit: Evan Agostini / Associated Press

  

John Mayer's vocal trouble returns, U.S. tour canceled

John Mayer has every right to sing the blues, as the crooner can't sing at all thanks to a returning throat condition.

Mayer spent the bulk of 2011 recovering from a granuloma, an inflammation, in this case in tissue where his vocal cords touch, only to make a triumphant return at the top of the year with a completed album and a slate of U.S. tour dates.

Sadly, his conditioned has returned, and Mayer has been advised to take an indefinite vocal rest to ensure proper healing.

"I’m pretty emotionally burnt out at the moment, but please know how hard I tried to resolve this and how disappointed I am that I can't perform this record yet," he wrote to fans on his blog.

"The only thing that stops me from devolving into a puddle of tears is knowing that it's a long life, and the greatest gift in the world is being able to create music no matter what the circumstances."

The new record, "Born and Raised," will be released as planned May 22. While Mayer will go silent for an undetermined amount of time, he says writing his next record will be his saving grace.

"I feel really vibrant as a writer at the moment and there's no reason not to begin the next album project in the time I would have been touring. Somewhere in all of this is another surgery and a very long chemically-imposed period of silence, so I hope you’ll understand that I have to really pick that date carefully," he said. 

The first single, "Shadow Days," hit radio earlier this month, but there's no word on what modified promotion Mayer might participate in. Here's wishing a speedy recovery, John. 

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— Matt Donnelly
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Photo: John Mayer at the 2011 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Credit: Kirk McCoy / Los Angeles Times

Adele breaks her silence, shows off newly restored voice [Video]

Adele fans, rejoice: The sassy British songstress is in full control of her voice after months of silence during recovery from throat surgery. 

Sitting down with Anderson Cooper, Adele opened up about her vocal timeout and even sang her hit "Rolling in the Deep" a capella. The result was casual but stunning.

Not speaking during recovery "was really hard," she said. "I love talking ... I had a notepad and an application on my phone. You type the words into it and then it speaks it. The great thing is, I love to swear ... and I found one where you can swear, so I could get my point across."

Whether it's four-letter words or weepy ballads, we're just glad Adele is back up to speed. We're also glad Cooper admitted "Rolling" is on his daily jogging playlist (see the clip below).

Adele is nominated for six Grammy Awards, including album of the year. We suggest the Grammy producers be ready with the censor button, as any acceptance speech might be tres colorful. 

 

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Photo: Adele in concert in 2009. Credit: Paul Bergens / Getty Images

Demi Moore plot thickens: Pursuing Zac Efron, fountain of youth?

Demi Moore isn't having the best week, as far as newsstands are concerned. The actress has reportedly been battling massive insecurity with age and weight, as well as chasing young things like Zac Efron.

After her January hospitalization, allegedly thanks to a bad reaction to nitrous oxide and a smoke inhalant, reports are charging the "Margin Call" star with massive insecurities surrounding the breakdown of her marriage — all leading to this current crisis.

"She's been really down, and she's surrounding herself with young people to make her feel better," Us magazine cites one source as saying.

And by "surrounding" the report suggests Moore "tracked down" 24-year-old actor Zac Efron for companionship. This proposed hunt led to a party in L.A.'s Venice Beach neighborhood, prior to Moore's medical treatment. 

"As Demi got older, she convinced herself that she needed to stay young and skinny to remain attractive to her husband," People magazine added to the party, via their own inside source.

"[She] was always fixated on being young. And the only thing that tied her to that, as she got older, was her marriage to a younger guy and hanging around young people."

Following the hospital visit, Moore's rep said she would seek "professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health." On the work front, Moore was replaced by Sarah Jessica Parker in the adult film biopic "Lovelace."

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Photo: Demi Moore attends the premiere of "Margin Call" in New York on Oct. 17, 2011. Credit: Peter Kramer / AP Photo

Gwyneth Paltrow will take her wrinkles over Botox

Gwyneth Paltrow makes a living on creative expression, and she intends to keep her face just as animated as she ages.

Paltrow made the bold move of announcing she'll keep her wear and tear as the years go by, avoiding more common solutions like injections -- used widely by her actress peers. 

"I’ll take my wrinkles," she told the March issue of Harper's Bazaar. "I don’t like the Botox thing."

It seems a rite of passage lately, women of a certain age declaring their surgical intentions (to freeze or not to freeze?), but at the very least Paltrow has some consistency: in her lifestyle empire, GOOP.

"Everything I’ve done has been completely organic, and that’s why the brand is a strong brand, because there is no ulterior motive behind it," she says of the newsletter, blog and app. 

GOOP often cultivates the highest-brow experiences for everything from travel and cooking to holiday rituals and Gwyn's beloved diet cleanses. But Paltrow can't be bought, sold or injected, it seems.

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-- Matt Donnelly
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Photo: Gwyneth Paltrow with co-star Matt Damon at the "Contagion" premiere during the 68th Venice Film Festival. Credit: Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images

 

Gwyneth Paltrow cures your hangover and advises Courtney Love

Gwyneth Paltrow is all about sharing the wisdom, be it ways for pal Courtney Love to have an awesome 2012 or for the masses to nurse the hangover from the 2011 New Year's Eve celebration.

Just before the weekend festivities kicked off, Paltrow's weekly lifestyle newsletter Goop offered Gwyneth's various solutions to get rid of that champagne-induced headache. Such as ...

Quick fixes: Gwyn recommends some plop-plop-fizz-fizz in the form of "Resolve," a pharmacist-recommended Alka-Seltzer-like product, and "Mercy," a health elixir that Paltrow disclosed she's an investor in. Check our their contents here.

First-World Fix: In a move that got her a bit of criticism, Gwyneth recommended a sort of, say, icy-hot hangover cure called Hydrotherapy. It only really requires a well-appointed bathtub, steam room and shower, and a lot of walking back and forth.

"Start in a hot, dry room and then move into an even warmer steam room. Then splash yourself with cold water (or even dunk in cold pool or under a cold shower)," Paltrow wrote, "follow it with a full body scrubdown, which is typically followed by a massage. At the end you'll be sent to a cool room to relax and cool down."

Sure, some thought the suggestion was a bit highbrow, but we know one lady who isn't complaining -- Love. The rocker got all kinds of fancy advice without having to subscribe to the newsletter.

"Getting the best advise for the new years from a true friend, love you @GwynethPaltrow @Goop," Love tweeted on New Year's Eve. And what a Dec. 31 -- the Goop newsletter indicated that Paltrow was headed to Abu Dhabi for the ball drop.

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Photos, from top: Gwyneth Paltrow works the Emmy carpet in Pucci; Courtney Love, left, gets a cuddle from the "Country Strong" star. Credit: WireImage / Twitter.com

Prince Philip leaves the hospital, heads back to Sandringham

Prince Philip is on the mend and apparently in good spirits in photos that show the husband of Queen Elizabeth II after being discharged from a Cambridge hospital Tuesday.

Smiling and waving from the front seat of a Range Rover, Philip left Papworth Hospital, located about an hour outside of the royal family's luxurious Sandringham estate -- where the entire titled clan celebrates the Christmas holiday annually.

After complaining of chest pains on Christmas Eve, Philip was transported for a "minimally invasive" procedure to unblock a coronary artery. The prince (aka Duke of Edinburgh) was visited by family members including Charles, Prince of Wales, and his grandsons William and Harry, among others.

Philip "thanked the staff at Papworth for the excellent care he has received during his stay," according to a statement from Buckingham Palace, which added that he was "very much looking forward to rejoining his family."

The Prince will certainly need his rest, as 2012 is jam-packed with appearances and events in celebration of the Queen's diamond jubilee, which marks 60 years of her reign.   

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Photo: Prince Philip leaves Papworth Hospital after heart surgery, waving en route to Sandringham estate. Credit: Chris Radburn / EPA 

Prince Philip spending Christmas recovering from heart surgery

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is recovering from heart surgery this holiday.

On Friday at the expansive eastern England estate of Sandringham, where the royals gather annually for a formal holiday celebration, Philip complained of chest pains. The 90-year-old was taken to Papworth Hospital, near Cambridge.

After what doctors called a "minimally invasive procedure" to mend a blocked coronary artery, official word from Buckingham Palace was that Philip, aka Duke of Edinburgh, enjoyed a good night following the experience.

Bedside visitors to Papworth included his sons, Princes Charles, Edward and Andrew, as well as Her Royal Highness Princess Anne. Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles' wife and Duchess of Cornwall, also reportedly popped by.  

With his hospitalization, the duke is missing the fun at Sandringham, where the schedule includes proper luncheons, a gift exchange and a hunt on the 20,000-acre estate. Perhaps his recovery will excuse him from the weekend's rigorous pace: The royal Christmas can mean up to five costume changes a day for the family.

Kate Middleton, now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, won't be so lucky. 

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Photo: Prince Philip arrives at the April 2011 nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency / Getty Images

  

Giuliana Rancic plans family's future, keeps her sense of humor

As Giuliana Rancic and husband Bill bid goodbye to 2011, the TV host and reality star is a lot more enthusiastic than one might expect, given that she's about to undergo a double mastectomy. 

She and Bill are already considering their family-planning goals, taking a lot more time to smell the roses and even making a few jokes along the way.

"Every woman recovers differently," Giuliana Rancic told the Ministry last week. Her healing period, she said, will unfold as she undergoes the procedure and gets right back to work in January hosting red carpets for award season.

"Some start trying for kids after two months, some wait a year, but Bill and I will let my body and our hearts decide when to start trying again," she said regarding in vitro fertilization.

A mammogram ordering as part of an earlier round of IVF revealed her breast cancer, which led to a double lumpectomy. After that operation failed to eradicate cancerous cells, Rancic announced she'd in fact have the double mastectomy. 

One coping mechanism the couple have found is partnering with Nivea for a New Year's Eve contest "Kiss of a Lifetime," where Giuliana and Bill search for America's most deserving couple. The winning pair will join the Rancics in Times Square on Dec. 31 for Nivea's kiss-platform telecast, nabbing complimentary accommodations, party passes and an appearance on "The Wendy Williams Show." (For more on Bill and Giuliana's "Kiss of a Lifetime" and to vote for the winning couple, click here.)

So who are couples that Giuliana and Bill look up to in real life, especially in trying times? "Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries," she cracked.  

"Giuliana's parents have been together for 50 years," Bill Rancic said, "and my parents were together until ... [my father] passed, so there's plenty of examples in our own immediate families."

While work and expanding their brood will take focus in her recovery, Bill says this experience has taught him the value of their time together.

"It's cliche, but we need to take time and smell the roses. Travel is a big priority for us," Bill said, with their wish list including South Africa, an Alaskan cruise and perhaps a return to Capri. 

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Photo: Bill Rancic and Giuliana Rancic in New York on Oct. 13. Credit: Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images.

'Breaking Dawn' birth scene causing seizures in the audience?

Apparently some of the fainting at screenings of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" isn't over the epic romance between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Folks are allegedly having epileptic seizures.

A report Friday said a California man and his girlfriend were watching the vampire love story when, during a particularly gory scene, he started convulsing.

"I didn’t really remember what happened after that I think I blacked out. According to her [his lady, Kelly Bauman], I was shaking and mumbling different noises," Brandon Gephart told ABC News.

The scene in question involves Kristen Stewart's Bella giving violent birth to half-human, half-vampire spawn, a situation not only bloody and frenetic in nature but also featuring special effects including sudden bursts of light. This kind of content has been known to trigger "photosensitive epilepsy," which can send a viewer into mini-seizures.

Another man who asked to remain anonymous reported similar symptoms after watching the scene at a theater in Salt Lake City. (Don't worry, dude, your "Twilight" secret is safe with us.)

A request for comment from "Twilight" production company Summit Entertainment wasn't immediately returned Friday. The frequency, intensity, pattern and size of a flashing light source, as well as the viewer's distance from the light, all factor into photosensitive epilepsy, according to the nonprofit Epilepsy Therapy Project.

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Photo: "Breaking Dawn" stars Robert Pattinson, left, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner arrive for the U.K. premiere of the film on Nov. 16. Credit: Jonathan Short / Associated Press