Jenny McCarthy Santa's Hat Photo Shoot

Well, compared to her Playboy shoot earlier this year, her Santa's shoot is pretty mild.

At London's Daily Mail, "Now that's a Christmas gift! Jenny McCarthy gets in the festive spirit as she poses in bed wearing a Santa hat for racy new shoot."

Added: From Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Christmas Countdown: 24-Dec-12."

Britney Spears in Tight Leather Dress at X-Factor Viewing Party

Love the leather.

At London's Daily Mail, "Britney Spears shows cleavage in tight leather dress at X Factor viewing party... but Khloe Kardashian's retro glamour steals the show."

Hitchcock's Blondes

Here's MoDo, at NYT, "Spellbound by Blondes, Hot and Icy":

Certainly, the master of the dark side had “a murderous fascination with blondes,” as the British Film Institute once noted in a tribute.

And now comes Hollywood’s murderous fascination with Hitchcock’s murderous fascination.

HBO’s “The Girl” depicts the making of “The Birds” and “Marnie,” with Toby Jones playing Hitch and Sienna Miller playing Tippi Hedren, fighting off rapacious birds and rapacious director at the same time.

In theaters, “Hitchcock,” with Anthony Hopkins as the auteur and Helen Mirren as his wife and collaborator, Alma Reville, depicts the making of “Psycho,” with Scarlett Johansson taking Janet Leigh’s place in the shower to be stabbed by that crazed mama’s boy Norman Bates. (The long-suffering Alma at one point erupts at her husband about his glittering fixation, snapping that she is “not one of the contract blondes you badger and torment with your oh-so specific direction.”)

Next spring, A&E will run “Bates Motel,” a prequel series to “Psycho,” featuring a young, creepy Norman, with Vera Farmiga as his (blond) mother.

Why the fresh fascination with the man with the famous profile? Perhaps the more Hollywood churns out rancid movies, the more it appreciates Hitch, who never got an Oscar. (“They take sadistic pleasure in denying me that one little moment,” Hopkins’s Hitchcock says.)

When he was asked about plot construction, the martini-dry director would echo the advice of the 19th-century playwright Victorien Sardou: “Torture the women!” And the Brit would slyly observe: “Blondes make the best victims.”

Well, it's a nice start at the essay, but collapses after that in some post-modern cultural psycho-babble that's not very well related to Alfred Hitchcock. Keep reading at that top link if you're not bothered by Ms. Dowd.

What the heck? A good chance to post the video trailer. The movie looks good, in any case.

Hugh Hefner Engaged to 26-Year-Old Playboy Centerfold Crystal Harris

Man, how old is this guy, 80?

No, he's 80-freakin'-6!

At DListed, "Hugh Hefner Is Going to Marry His Runaway Bride":

You know it's real love when your groom looks like a drunk trout making out with bait on a hook (or an old Popeye smoking an imaginary pipe) when he kisses you.

Sad excuse for a gold digger, 26-year-old Crystal Harris, was supposed to marry 324-year-old Hugh Hefner two summers ago, but she dumped him just days before the wedding. For the next year, Crystal spent her days gargling on the douche dick of Dr. Phil's son and when she wasn't doing that, she was talking shit about how Hef grossed her out. But because nothing will make a gold digger realize she's made a huge mistake like an eviction notice on her condo door or the repo man taking her Mercedes, Crystal ran back into Hef's wrinkly arms this past May. And now, the wedding is back on.

More at the link, and at TMZ, "Hugh Hefner & Crystal Harris — We're Getting Married!" (via WeSmirch).

More at New York Daily News, "Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris engaged again: Playboy honcho, 86, set to wed 26-year-old ex on New Year's Eve."

Photo: Crystal Harris on Twitter. And more of the hottie at Centerfold.

Halle Berry's Fiance Olivier Martinez Makes Quite the Mess of Stalker Gabriel Aubry's Face

This story's getting exposure even on Fox News.

Here's this, for example, at TMZ, "Cops Believe Gabriel Aubry Was Aggressor in Olivier Martinez Thanksgiving Brawl."

Also, "Gabriel Aubry's Face -- Bruised and Beat Up [PHOTOS]."

Hot Momma! Natalie Portman Smokin' Film Set Photos From New Terrence Malick Movie

Another round of pre-debate Rule 5, via London's Daily Mail, "Hot momma! Natalie Portman sizzles on the set of her latest film as she cozies up to Michael Fassbender."

And recall that Ms. Portman was my original Rule 5 hottie, "Natalie Portman Gets Results!"

Even Robert Stacy McCain was impressed, "Natalie Portman on a slim pretext."

And speaking of the Other McCain, from yesterday, "Rule 5 Sunday: Pulchritudinous Power Hour."

I'll have some post-debate analysis later...

President Baracky Secures the Highly Coveted Honey Boo Boo Endorsement!

Seems to me that Honey Boo Boo's family's more the religion and gun-clinging demographic, but hey, no doubt O will take what he can get.

At London's Daily Mail, "Fidgeting Honey Boo Boo endorses 'Marack Obama' in hilarious Jimmy Kimmel appearance."

How Lincoln Emerged in the Stratosphere of Greatness

From Conrad Black, at the New York Sun, "As Daniel Day Lewis’ Portrayal of the 16th President Is About To Hit the Silver Screen, Our Columnist Offers an Assessment of the Original" (via Ed Driscoll at Instapundit):

The mighty American star system has elevated and demoted thousands of people over the 236 years since the propagandistic arts were first torqued up in the Declaration of Independence. But the supreme champion of the American personality cult has been Abraham Lincoln. Given the hyperbole which frequently attaches to much-admired Americans, there is a temptation to assume that Lincoln could not possibly deserve the stratospheric elevation he has received. But he does.

Lincoln was born on the Sinking Spring Farm in Hardin County, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809, received only about a year of formal education, and moved with his family to the frontier country of Indiana, and then, at 21, to Illinois. He largely educated himself as a voracious reader, worked at a variety of jobs, had his first, disturbing, look at slavery on a trip down the Mississippi in 1831, and toiled in a law office until he became a member of the Illinois Bar in 1836.

His mother died when he was young and he had little rapport with his father. But he got on, was a tall and rugged man, companionable, and a fine raconteur with a good sense of humor, who gradually built up his legal practice and became a leading attorney.

He was troubled by slavery as fundamentally wrong: “I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our Republican example of its just influence in the world.” This seems an obvious position to hold now, but America was largely founded and built by slave-holders. Although Lincoln did not at first consider African Americans to be equal in talent and intelligence to Caucasians, he eventually amended that view, when he came to know more of them.

Lincoln came gradually to believe that the incongruity to proclaimed American values, and the outright evil of slavery, were so profound that the nation could not survive. He was for, above all, the preservation of the Union, and favored various methods of curtailing and gradually eliminating slavery. These included support for the original idea of paying for the emancipation of slaves and their voluntary return to Africa, to the purpose-created country of Liberia.

Continue reading.

I haven't been this excited about a new movie in a long time. Abraham Lincoln is my favorite president. The more I read about him the more fascinated I become. And I love sharing things like the Gettysburg Address with my students, especially because they too are fascinated by him, and of the sacrifice that he eventually made for the preservation of American democracy.

The trailer is in theaters. My oldest boy and I saw "Taken 2" over the weekend and we watched it. Daniel Day Lewis, when viewed at some angles, looks like he's Lincoln himself. It's an amazing likeness. I'm excited.

Lindsay Lohan Endorses Mitt Romney

No surprise, but Robert Stacy McCain got right on that story.

See, "Further Proof That Chicks Dig Mitt UPDATE: @Tawny_Kitaen, Too? OMG!" (Via Memeorandum.)

More at Business Insider, "Lindsay Lohan Endorses Romney, And It's Actually a Really Big Deal."