The Entertation Index: December 17

Cage, Nicolas — Guess what? If you guessed “Nicolas Cage had a Romanian freak-out,” you guessed right! Christmas came early to the Index this year as Cage — overseas filming whatever the hell this next Ghost Rider is supposed to be (A remake? A sequel?) — lost his marbles outside a Romanian nightclub. And it was all caught on tape. Cage screamed at an unidentified group of people about “dying for honor” and shouting “if you want to kill me, go for it, brothers!” Sources say when the tirade finished, the Romanian crowd all clapped enthusiastically, because none of them had any idea what he was saying.

Link: Nicolas Cage Loses His Cool (NY Daily News)

Edwards, Blake — Yesterday saw the passing of one of our great directors. Blake Edwards, director of iconic comedies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 10 and Victor/Victoria, passed away at the age of 88. Edwards also directed the great Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movies, which will undoubtedly live forever as brilliant, brilliant comedies and, on a personal level, are longtime favorites of this writer and always will be. Our thoughts go out to his family.

Link: Director Blake Edwards Dies (CNN)

M*A*S*H — HGTV’s website this week featured a man who has built an entire replica of the set of the sitcom M*A*S*H in his backyard, which is awesome. Alternately, the man also built an entire replica of a mobile army surgical hospital from the Korean War, which is depressing.

Link: M*A*S*H Set Backyard (Roomzaar)

Paltrow, Gwyneth — Staunch vegetarian Gwyneth Paltrow told Conan O’Brien recently that fried food is one of her biggest weaknesses and that “you could fry a cockroach in batter and basically I’d eat it.” I think that’s a fair trade, since Paltrow expected me to swallow Duets, View from the Top and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Link: Why Gwyneth Would Eat a “Battered Cockroach” (Toronto Star)

Ryder, Winona — The Heathers and Girl, Interrupted star, interviewed in the latest issue of GQ, speaks of a drunken run-in with a young Mel Gibson at a party wherein he spewed homophobic and anti-semitic rhetoric and made several offensive jokes to the actress. Ryder said she tried to tell people of his radical views but no one believed her at the time. She also reportedly added, “Listen guys, I’ll talk bad about anybody. Anyone you want. Don’t turn off the cameras. No no, the interview isn’t over — I’ve got lots of crazy stories! I’ll tell you them all! Where are you going? Come back! I used to be famous, you know! Also I stole stuff! We can talk about that!”

Link: Winona Ryder on Mel Gibson, in GQ – “He’s Anti-Semitic and Homophobic” (GQ)

Year’s Eve, New — As the end of the year approaches, it’s been announced that December 31st’s Times Square New Year’s Eve telecast, hosted as always by Dick Clark, will feature the live music of New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys. You guys, I have a really good feeling that 1993 is going to be a great year.

Link: New Kids, Backstreet Boys Mash up to Close 2010 (Yahoo)