With the hazy, nut-hugging memory of Comic-Con thankfully behind it, the world has begun to take stock of the actual news that came out of San Diego last weekend. But perhaps the biggest story broke today as an erstwhile fanboy overcame his quivering long enough to capture this preview of The Wolfman, Benicio Del Toro's riff on the hairy horror classic. The (mildly spoiling) touchstones are all there for a hit in the making: tortured brooder Del Toro slashing top-hatted limeys; Anthony Hopkins's furrowed, torch-lit brow; Hugo Weaving getting out of a carriage; Emily Blunt in soft-focus peril; and surprisingly grisly flashes of the title character's prey. Seriously, this looks pretty good (the movie, not the video) but don't get us wrong — it's no Red Sonja. Really, though, what is? Judge for yourself after the jump. [TrailerAddict via /Film]

Next time you see a paparazzo camped out on the sidewalk outside of Hyde, won't you toss him a nickel? Times are tough all over, and the recession that swallowed America is now threatening to put Hollywood's most aggressive celebrity photographers out of business — only, the blame for this financial crunch falls squarely on a newly sane (and thus unphotographable) Britney Spears. Says the L.A. Times:

"She's boring. She doesn't even have a boyfriend," said Francois Navarre, the co-owner of X17, the photo agency that set the standard for aggressive 24/7 coverage of Britney Spears.

...Her spacey ramblings and constant wardrobe changes made her a tabloid photographer's dream. Every rant meant salable video; each new outfit meant fresh photos. The prices that photos fetch are often overstated, but Navarre said an exclusive photo of Spears today would only bring a 10th of what it did during her most erratic times.

"Then it could sell for $10,000 to $15,000, but now it would be hard to get over $1,500," he said.

How can Britney Spears stand idly by while the ranks of her closest companions (and sometime lovers) diminish like this? When will this selfish starlet realize that every time she puts her panties on, she's taking food off the plate of the paparazzo who needs it most?

[Photo Credit: AP]

• Britney Spears is gone in a flash [Los Angeles Times]

Whether gathering the family 'round to marvel at the sheer Coors-can-devastating force of Busty Heart's exercise-ball-sized melons, or simply gasping in amazement as octuple-jointed youngster Victoria braids her limbs into a human challah bread, you never quite know what form America's talent will take on America's Got Talent. On last night's show, for example, we were treated to that Las Vegas showroom mainstay—the celebrity impersonator—effecting the guise of addled Godfather of Metal, Ozzy Osbourne. So chillingly spot-on was the performance that Ozzy's own wife, Talent judge Sharon Osbourne, admitted not even she could tell the impostor from her own husband. She then insisted he drop his pants and proceeded to examine the contestant thoroughly; satisfied he bore none of Ozzy's distinguishing cigarette burns or The Catheter Bag of Darkness, she was happy to move the doppelganger onto the next round of competition.

• America's Got Talent [NBC]

boomp3.com

Love Guru star Verne Troyer was the person to hang out with at the ESPN X Games Celebrity Golf torment on Tuesday afternoon. Troyer's audience at the tournament included reality TV mavens Brody Jenner and Frankie Delgado, the latter of whom compared the pint size actor's golfing skills to Phil Mickelson. Jenner said, "He's good, but he's nowhere as awesome as K-Fed. He's like the Tiger Woods of celebrity golfers, but Verne is kind of cooler cause he has that sex tape."

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

Ask Don: Confused? Conflicted? Lingering regrets? Maybe everyone's favorite Madison Ave. iceberg—10% cool exterior, the other 90% lurking beneath the surface—can help you at What Would Don Draper Do: "Dear Don Draper, I was thinking about getting the 3G iPhone. Thoughts?: Stop thinking about it as a phone with a touch screen. Start thinking about it as a way to touch each other." [What Would Don Draper Do?]

It's hard to place a value on irreplaceable Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn, and once upon a time, the Weinstein Company didn't even try. According to testimony this month from beleaguered mogul Harvey Weinstein (who's currently being sued by Bravo in the wake of Runway's network hop), Gunn was reimbursed during the first season of Project Runway for the low, low price of $0 per episode:

Tim Gunn did something when he started out on "Project Runway" that he'd probably never advise his design proteges to do. He worked for nothing. In testimony in N.Y. State Supreme Court this month, movie/TV mogul Harvey Weinstein told the judge that the fashion mentor wasn't paid anything in the show's first season.

The second season wasn't much better for Gunn: He got only $2,500 per episode, according to testimony in the court battle, which pits NBC/Universal against the Weinstein Co., which owns "Project Runway," over taking Heidi Klum's popular show from NBC's Bravo to Lifetime.

That's right: by the time Chloe Dao (who?) accepted the season two grand prize, Tim Gunn had made a combined $35,000 for seasons one and two. Let's hope that Gunn has since been able to caucus with Weinstein and raise his price; earning such a low figure for his tireless Runway work is less than "fierce"...in fact, it's not even "'licious."

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• Tim Gunn's 'Run'-pay: Thin's in [New York Daily News]

While we refuse to believe Nielsen actually spent money to discover that R-ratings hinder comedies more than horror films, the results of its recent survey dovetail interestingly today with a companion piece about Tropic Thunder's potential for August domination. We've seen Tropic and can vouch for it living up to most of its hype, from Tom Cruise's sociopath studio boss to Robert Downey Jr.'s otherworldly, meta-Method blackface turn. But rating and timing are everything, as always, prompting The Hollywood Reporter to foretell a relatively floppy future:

Produced for an estimated $90 million, Tropic also has been supported by $30 million or more in advertising, a media campaign roughly comparable to other R-rated comedies. Meantime, promo appearances by its ensemble cast have included the three amigos showing up in person on American Idol, the MTV Movie Awards, by video at Comic-Con and at Cinema Expo. ...

All the humor-laced promos, combined with sustained tubthumping by publicists, have lent the air of an event film that's out of proportion to any reasonable earnings prospects.

Superbad, an R-rated comedy released last Aug. 17, opened to $33.1 million and fetched $121.5 million domestically. The Apatow-produced comedy bowed a week after action comedy Rush Hour 3 debuted with $49.1 million.

In this case, Tropic opens a week after Pineapple Express, another gleefully naughty R-rated comedy from Team Apatow. So we've got one stoner flick, one Hollywood satire, both essentially unpromotable by conventional prime-time standards. What could the difference between that and a steaming Ratner mean for Paramount/DreamWorks? Likely nothing on opening weekend, when Tropic could ride to $45 million on Cruise and Downey buzz. After that, though? Watch out for a gruesome bout of box-office cannibalism, interrupted every few minutes by innocent bystanders requesting two more tickets for The Dark Knight. The horror, indeed.

• August's hot topic is 'Tropic Thunder' [THR]

For anyone who had a sneaking suspicion that yesterday's earthquake was just the beginning of the end, we offer you more proof: marginally recognizable drunk driver Khloe Kardashian has taken it upon herself to give advice to accident-plagued Shia LaBeouf ... and she suggests exactly what countless Defamer commenters have already recommended (namely, why don't these rich kids have drivers already)? Says Us Magazine:

Reality star Khloe Kardashian – who served 173 minutes in jail last week for a 2007 DUI charge – has some advice for actor Shia LaBeouf, who was arrested for DUI after getting into a car accident on Sunday.

"Just be smarter," she told Usmagazine.com at the Annual Style L.A. Runway show benefitting the Facial Paralysis Foundation & Stop the Violence/Face the Music benefit, which she co-hosted with sisters Kim and Kourtney at the The Viceroy Hotel, Santa Monica, CA on Monday.

"Think about your actions and get a driver!" the 24-year-old counseled. "It's so much cheaper in the long run!"

What is this unfamiliar feeling? Could a reality TV star actually be right about something? What next, Elisabeth Hasselbeck deftly parsing Newtonian physics on The View? David Hasselhoff interrupting America's Got Talent to read aloud from Kierkegaard? Rene Fris speaking coherently on the set of Shear Genius?

• Khloe Kardashian to Shia LaBeouf: "Be Smarter" [Us Magazine]