Happy Hallowe’en, y’all!! As some of you may be well aware, Hallowe’en is the pagan new year and is said to be the time of the year when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest … meaning that ghosts and ghouls can cross over into the world of the living to either trick or treat us with spooky fun. Hollywood is never immune to the infectious pull of Hallowe’en each year … here are a few photos of some celebs all dressed up in Hallowe’en costumes this year:

I love that Ellen DeGeneres dressed up as Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, Mickey Rourke dressed up as … well … I’m not sure what he dressed up as but it’s fun that he covered up his normally leathery tanned skin. The O’Connell brothers, Charlie and Jerry, dressed up as a shark and Shamu the whale respectively at the Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times 17th annual Halloween Carnival held this week at Universal Studios … and Matthew McConaughey dressed up as the Bee Girl from the Blind Melon music video. See … it’s fun to dress up for Hallowe’en. I urge y’all to get in on the fun and dress up, too!! I am so excited for my costume! I wore a fun Incredible Hulk costume (see it HERE) to the Dead Man’s Bones concert last night but my main Hallowe’en costume will be revealed later on today (watch my Twitter). If YOU dress up today, I want you to snap pics and send them in to me via email (pinkisthenewblog @ gmail.com) and I’ll post as many of them on the blog as I can :) Have Fun! Happy Hallowe’en!!!

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Academy Award-nominated actor, and villainous star of Iron Man 2, Mickey Rourke sure knows how to have a good time. For example, while walking back to his hotel after a late night of gallivanting in London, England last night, he pretended to get arrested when he ran into a nice police officer on his way home:

To be completely honest, it’s hard to tell if Mickey was really just playing around or he confusedly believed he was gettin’ busted … the poor bobby looked a bit confused, too. Ah well, it’s all in a day’s night’s fun, I suppose … well, for Mickey Rourke, that is.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

It looks like Croatia is really turning out to be the celeb vacation hot spot du jour … last week we learned that Beyoncé and Jay-Z spent some time holidaying off the coast of Croatia on their vacay to Dubrovnik and today we learn that Mickey Rourke has made his way there as well. Here are photos of Mickey soaking his goods in Croatia this weekend:

Mickey Rourke has been lapping up the sunshine and in mucking about in the sea with a mystery woman in what seems to be the new celebrity hotspot. The 55-year-old is in Croatia, where Beyonce and Jay-Z holidayed last week – with the female friend – and everything seemed to be going swimmingly between them. The Wrestler actor looked fit and toned as he helped the pretty girl into the cold water from the rocky beach and then appeared to pull her down in one swift movement so she was swimming. he star is in the country for the Dubrovnik Film Meeting where he is promoting the film. The actor was wearing floral swim shorts during his dip in the sea, and the dog tag of his Chihuahua Loki, who died earlier this year at the age of 18. His female friend seemed to be enjoying lapping up the sunshine in a small black bikini. The pair swam and messed about in the water at the beach of their hotel, before retiring to sun loungers for a drink. During a press conference in Croatia, Mickey wore sunglasses, smoked and told jokes about the filming of The Wrestler.

No word on who the mysterious woman in the black bikini is but surely she was drawn to Mickey’s tiny shorty shorts … I mean, one look at those babies and you can see how the ladies would be lining up. I, personally, would prefer it if Mr. Rourke wore longer board shorts (or just pants) when next he goes for a swimming jaunt but, hey, homie’s gotta work with what God his plastic surgeon gave him.

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

Entertainment Weekly magazine scored a bit of a coup this week as they are able to feature the principal stars of the much-anticipated sequel Iron Man 2 on their cover this week. Additionally, EW is also giving us the exclusive first look at Scarlett Johansson in the role of Black Widow! Here is the cover of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly that features Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke):

Entertainment Weekly’s second annual Comic-Con preview issue features Iron Man 2 on the cover, and inside it’s packed with exclusive first looks at highly anticipated TV shows, comic books, and movies. The first Iron Man blasted Robert Downey Jr. back to stardom, and the superhero franchise is readying to return to the big screen on May 7, 2010. Iron Man will battle new villain Mickey Rourke, size up Scarlett Johansson (exclusive photo of ScarJo as Black Widow, after the jump!), and, hopefully, prove that the success of the first movie wasn’t a fluke. Downey knows the movie isn’t an underdog this time around. “There are a lot more invisible eyes on us now,” he says. When Marvel Studios first announced the sequel, no one was sure what the movie would be about. Downey, director Jon Favreau, screenwriter Justin Theroux, and the rest of the creative team struck upon the idea of introducing two very different foes for Stark. On one side is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a fast-talking weapons manufacturer who fancies himself the next Tony Stark; on the other, Vanko, who, while incarcerated in a Russian prison, creates his own battle-suit, which shoots devastating, whip-like beams. Hammer and Whiplash join forces to take down Downey’s character, Tony Stark. Rourke, for his part, wanted to instill some lightness into the role of the heavy. “I told Favreau, ‘I don’t want to just play him as a one-dimensional p—-,’” he says. “He let me have a cockatoo, who I talk to and get drunk with while I’m making my suit.” Just as the deals were being hammered out, Terrence Howard — who had played Stark’s best friend — fell out of the sequel in a public salary dispute. The role was re-cast, with Don Cheadle stepping in. “We had to make some tough deals,” says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “When they got public, you go, ‘That sucks. Okay, you want a peek behind the curtain? Here you are!’” Says Cheadle, “Terrence and I couldn’t be more different. We address it head-on in the movie in one exchange. We’re not trying to fool people.” (Cheadle admits he didn’t know much about Marvel’s superhero before the first movie came out: “I always thought Iron Man was a robot.”)

It may seem a bit early to be featuring characters from Iron Man 2 on a magazine cover, especially since the film doesn’t open in theaters until Spring of next year, but with Comic-Con taking place in San Diego, CA next week it makes sense that EW would want to put a big name attraction on the cover. After the jump, check out the first promo pic of Scarlett as Black Widow that has been released to the media …

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Back in March we learned that Mickey Rourke, the Comeback Kid, had traveled to Russia to prepare for his role as Ivan Vanko (Whiplash) in the upcoming sequel film Iron Man 2 and then in early May we got our first look at the first photo from the film (Tony Stark chillin’ in his Iron Man laboratory). Today we get to see the second photo released from the film and our first look at Rourke in full costume as Whiplash … behold:

In Iron Man 2, the scarlet and golden-metaled hero must face an adversary with some amazing gadgets of his own. Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) sports a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) uses. “The technologies are definitely related,” says director Jon Favreau. “That’s part of the core theme of the film.” The villain’s alter ego, Ivan Vanko, is a Russian who “has constructed his own version of a suit,” Favreau says. Among the creative innovations: a pair of whips, powered by the suit’s glowing chest piece, that are expected to keep Iron Man cracking. Whiplash “is going to light them up,” Rourke quips. This first image of the character shows Whiplash making an appearance at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. Favreau as usual is tight-lipped about plot points and declines to discuss whether the big-screen Whiplash is, as in the Marvel Comics, a weapons designer who works for Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a competitor of Tony Stark/Iron Man. “We like to play into and against the expectations that people might have, so we mixed it up a bit,” Favreau says. Rourke’s performances in Sin City and The Wrestler helped convince the director that the actor was the best candidate to face Downey in his sequel to last spring’s blockbuster that grossed $318.4 million. “It was very important that the villain be as compelling as can be. … Once I thought of Mickey in that role, it made me understand how to shape the story.”

Hahahaha … the pic is kinda cool but I’m not sure I quite see Whiplash just yet. All I see is The Wrestler wearing bondage gear. Mickey does have that gnarled look that makes him look like a badass … but until we can hear him speak or see him in action we won’t really get a good feel for his take on the character. Even still … I’m loving that director Jon Favreau loves to release photos like this so early in production … the film doesn’t open in theaters until May of next year but we’re already getting photos like this. My guess is that if another “first look” photo gets released it’ll be of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow. So … what do y’all think of this photo of Whiplash?

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After initially turning down an invitation to appear at the 25th anniversary of the WWE’s WrestleMania extravaganza, The Wrestler star Mickey Rourke finally succumbed to pleas that he at least attend the event and showed up in Houston, TX this weekend to make an appearance. After telling reporters that he had no intention in participating in the wrestling show, he ended up “surprising” the crowd by climbing into the ring to lay the smack-down on professional wrestler Chris Jericho. Here are a few pics of Mickey’s real-life stint as a real-life wrestler at WrestleMania 25 this weekend:

Mickey Rourke loves wrestling, but he is putting Hollywood first. The actor brought a slice of Hollywood to Texas on Sunday as he — and later “Pussycat Dolls” lead singer Nicole Scherzinger — talked to reporters at Reliant Stadium ahead of WWE’s annual pay-per-view extravaganza “WrestleMania 25.” Rourke addressed talk several weeks ago that he may get involved at “WrestleMania” in a wrestling role instead of a support role. “My agents said it would be detrimental to my career” to take the focus off of acting after making a comeback in “The Wrestler,” he told reporters, which included local TV stations and international wrestling media. Also, “I’m doing ‘ Iron Man 2′ now, and the insurance company said under no circumstances could I get into the ring,” he added. Rourke was in town to take a seat Sunday night at the anniversary edition of the mother of all wrestling pay-per-views in support of wrestling legends Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. With “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in their corner, the legends took on Chris Jericho, who has bad-mouthed them and Rourke’s character in “The Wrestler” on WWE TV shows in recent weeks. After training hard and getting hurt a lot, “I started really enjoying it,” Rourke said about wrestling. “I gained the respect for a sport I knew nothing about.” Asked by one reporter if he would have loved to become a wrestler in retrospect, Rourke said: “Oh, God, yes.” Rourke, flanked at the press conference by Flair and Steamboat, said WWE and its stars had supported “The Wrestler” so much that he wanted to show support for the wrestlers at “Mania” as well. “I’m very honored,” he said. “I was out of the movie business for 15 years. The wrestling movie has given my career a boost.” Meanwhile, Flair called Rourke “one of us” and said his portrayal of a wrestler was an inspiration. “He makes us look really good,” he said. Rourke quipped that after gaining weight for “The Wrestler,” he is still working on his weight. “I’m still trying to get in shape for ‘ Iron Man 2,”‘ he said. Later on at “WrestleMania 25,” Rourke couldn’t quite restrain himself after all. After Jericho won his 3-on-1 match against the legends, he provoked the former boxer Rourke who ended up getting into the ring very slowly and taking his cowboy hat off before punching and knocking down the WWE superstar to gain a measure of revanche for the legends. Rourke then celebrated in the ring with the legendary Flair to big cheers from the audience.

I never once doubted that Rourke would climb into that ring, if only for a brief moment, once it was confirmed that he would be attending WrestleMania this year. It was too perfect an opportunity to not capitalize on. The Wrestler really gave him his life back, it only made sense that he would want to return the favor by appearing at the sport’s biggest yearly event. Not that I was every a wrestling fan but I used to play with the toys and watch the WWF cartoon back in the 80’s. I might’ve been struck by a little of the Hulk-a-mania back in the day. I cannot believe that WrestleMania is already 25 years old … it used to be such a big deal to be able to watch the event on Pay-Per-View. Hahahahaha! In any event, Mickey deffo keeps scoring the cool points by keepin’ it real in this manner. While the sport of professional wrestling may be nothing more than sport theater, Mickey’s decision to get involved is very awesome in my eyes. He prolly ain’t got many more chances to do something like this so … good for him for playing along.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Mickey Rourke famously decreed from the Golden Globes award stage earlier this year when he won the Best Actor trophy that, “Sometimes when a man’s alone, all you got is your dog” … which is never more evident than when Rourke is traveling with his beloved pets. Sadly, Mickey lost his loyal companion Loki last month but he seems to be doing okay with his other pooch Jaws shown here in these new photos snapped this week at LAX Airport:

These photos are just too damn cute. You can actually FEEL the love that Mickey has for Jaws … it’s really too adorable. I love that life has given Mickey Rourke a second chance and I love that he’s got a very loyal companion to share it with. I’m not a dog person, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I can understand the love that a person can have for their pooch. These photos of Mickey and Jaws really brightened up my day, I hope they brighten up yours as well :)

[Photo credit: Splash News]