I read a great article in the opinion section in the Daily Trojan today. All I have to say is, Amen Jason Kehe. Speak!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Obama's Frist 100 Days
I read a great article in the opinion section in the Daily Trojan today. All I have to say is, Amen Jason Kehe. Speak!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
HUGE Merger, HUGE
William Morris Agency and Endeavor agreed to merge on Monday to create THE premiere mega-agency in the business. There is no question they will change the landscape for talent representation and most likely out-perform their biggest competitor, Creative Artists Agency. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment will be led by WMA CEO Jim Wiatt as chairman and Endeavor head honchos Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, and WMA's Dave Wirtschafter will serve as co-CEO's. This is foundation-shattering news for the biz but the question remains, despite the culture clash will everyone be able to get along?
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Vindicated!
Says Lance on his Twitter account:
"Just got the word from the French agency AFLD on the shower gate incident. Case closed, no penalty, all samples clean. Onward."
All this because he took a shower 20 minutes before testing.
Hollywood Money
The Motion Picture Association of American held a symposium to educate U.S. lawmakers about the entertainment industry in efforts to highlight its importance, especially in creating jobs (about 2.5 million with about $41.1 billion in wages, and 1.7 million indirect jobs) and having a global trade surplus in these times of recession, in addition to encouraging federal involvement in trade issues such as fighting copyright piracy; Vice president Biden was among those who spoke. All of this information indicates that the entertainment industry is actually an integral part of the American economy and thus can have “a big, important, positive factor to economic renewal,” as said by Dan Glickman, chairman and chief executive of the MPAA. Lawmakers apparently failed to see this point as seen by their recent legislation.
The symposium was held in light of the fact the U.S. Senate took away $246 million in tax breaks for entertainment companies in February, excluding the industry form President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package. This was an ill-advised move from the Senate, since it did not get much debate, and may prove detrimental for the industry. As said by Eileen Burke, the principal of West End Capital Advisory, “Consistent with the financial markets as a whole, film lenders and investors are taking a much more conservative approach to structuring deals than they previously had.” As a result, it is becoming more and more challenging to get films financed and made. It does not help that the industry has also lost its tax breaks on top of the challenges it is already facing.
Up until 2008, major banks from Merrill Lynch to Lehman Brothers, supplemented by hedge funds, pumped about $15 billion into Hollywood. However, due to some box office duds and the credit freeze, these banks, with the exception of JP Morgan, have all cut back. Though these moves may not directly affect current films being released, they will have an impact on the kinds of deals able to be made for the financing of future films. As reiterated by Tom Adams, president and senior analyst with Adams Media Research, “It’s a different era from four years ago when people were clamoring to be in film deals.”
To justify recent legislation, lawmakers are using better than average box office sales as an excuse to take away tax incentives, saying there is no need for tax breaks, despite the obvious challenges Hollywood is facing. However, they fail to understand Hollywood depends on much more than just the weekend box office to operate. Willing investors are necessary to keep the Hollywood machine running as aggressively as it has been. Because of the recent actions taken in Washington and the condition of the economy, it is very likely the industry will experience a noticeable slow down. Not only is there less money being pumped in, there is more money being pumped out via taxes. A few good box office numbers may be able to sustain the business in the short term, but the situation will look dire further down the road, especially with big-time investors like banks closing their pocket books.
The credit crisis has forced banks to become much more conservative in their Hollywood investments, and to add to the challenge of getting films financed, DVD sales have slipped 6% in the last year. They are expected to fall further due to the maturing market slowly making its transition to high-definition Blu-ray and digital distribution models, both of which offer lower profit per transaction. This is problematic because operating margins at film studios have come to rely on DVD sales. Bankers say falling sales are factoring into financing negotiations between lenders and studios like Warner Brothers, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Corporation, and Walt Disney Company. As said by Burke, “If a company’s business plan relies on robust DVD revenues, it’s likely to be an area where lenders will haircut projections and their lending advance rates. It’s part of the overall analysis you do when determining how much ‘lending currency’ is available for a particular deal.”
In agreement, Stephen Prough, founder of Salem Partners, which advises investors on how to maximize on film investments, said, “The decline of video revenue is something the industry will have to deal with. Economic expectations will have to be adjusted and production costs will have to come down,” noting that studios run “green-light” models to analyze releases. This model means studios determine a film’s ability to turn a profit by calculating potential high and low box office ranges and video and TV revenue. Due to lower video estimates, studios are opting either to scrap films altogether or fix elements on the cost side (most of which are cuts at the expense of talent). While some studios like The Weinstein Company and DreamWorks is seeking financing, others like Paramount are co-financing on a film-by-film basis after many of the big slate deals over the last couple of years failed to delver.
Recent box office hits are not necessarily indicative of the trouble Hollywood might experience in the future, something lawmakers fail to see. The downward economy has clearly affected studios and financing of future projects. The industry deserves fair representation in Washington and the MPAA is taking the appropriate steps to see this gets done. Thankfully, Hollywood is not asking for a bail out, yet.
The symposium was held in light of the fact the U.S. Senate took away $246 million in tax breaks for entertainment companies in February, excluding the industry form President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package. This was an ill-advised move from the Senate, since it did not get much debate, and may prove detrimental for the industry. As said by Eileen Burke, the principal of West End Capital Advisory, “Consistent with the financial markets as a whole, film lenders and investors are taking a much more conservative approach to structuring deals than they previously had.” As a result, it is becoming more and more challenging to get films financed and made. It does not help that the industry has also lost its tax breaks on top of the challenges it is already facing.
Up until 2008, major banks from Merrill Lynch to Lehman Brothers, supplemented by hedge funds, pumped about $15 billion into Hollywood. However, due to some box office duds and the credit freeze, these banks, with the exception of JP Morgan, have all cut back. Though these moves may not directly affect current films being released, they will have an impact on the kinds of deals able to be made for the financing of future films. As reiterated by Tom Adams, president and senior analyst with Adams Media Research, “It’s a different era from four years ago when people were clamoring to be in film deals.”
To justify recent legislation, lawmakers are using better than average box office sales as an excuse to take away tax incentives, saying there is no need for tax breaks, despite the obvious challenges Hollywood is facing. However, they fail to understand Hollywood depends on much more than just the weekend box office to operate. Willing investors are necessary to keep the Hollywood machine running as aggressively as it has been. Because of the recent actions taken in Washington and the condition of the economy, it is very likely the industry will experience a noticeable slow down. Not only is there less money being pumped in, there is more money being pumped out via taxes. A few good box office numbers may be able to sustain the business in the short term, but the situation will look dire further down the road, especially with big-time investors like banks closing their pocket books.
The credit crisis has forced banks to become much more conservative in their Hollywood investments, and to add to the challenge of getting films financed, DVD sales have slipped 6% in the last year. They are expected to fall further due to the maturing market slowly making its transition to high-definition Blu-ray and digital distribution models, both of which offer lower profit per transaction. This is problematic because operating margins at film studios have come to rely on DVD sales. Bankers say falling sales are factoring into financing negotiations between lenders and studios like Warner Brothers, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Corporation, and Walt Disney Company. As said by Burke, “If a company’s business plan relies on robust DVD revenues, it’s likely to be an area where lenders will haircut projections and their lending advance rates. It’s part of the overall analysis you do when determining how much ‘lending currency’ is available for a particular deal.”
In agreement, Stephen Prough, founder of Salem Partners, which advises investors on how to maximize on film investments, said, “The decline of video revenue is something the industry will have to deal with. Economic expectations will have to be adjusted and production costs will have to come down,” noting that studios run “green-light” models to analyze releases. This model means studios determine a film’s ability to turn a profit by calculating potential high and low box office ranges and video and TV revenue. Due to lower video estimates, studios are opting either to scrap films altogether or fix elements on the cost side (most of which are cuts at the expense of talent). While some studios like The Weinstein Company and DreamWorks is seeking financing, others like Paramount are co-financing on a film-by-film basis after many of the big slate deals over the last couple of years failed to delver.
Recent box office hits are not necessarily indicative of the trouble Hollywood might experience in the future, something lawmakers fail to see. The downward economy has clearly affected studios and financing of future projects. The industry deserves fair representation in Washington and the MPAA is taking the appropriate steps to see this gets done. Thankfully, Hollywood is not asking for a bail out, yet.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tea Party
Americans showed up by the thousands all over the States to participate in a Tax Day Tea Party. The event was like an elaborately coordinated Civil War reenactment, but instead of guns, people wielded signs that read “No Taxation Without Deliberation,” “Taxed Enough Already,” and “Stop Generational Theft,” to name a few. Reminiscent of a certain other tea party held in 1773, crowds cheered in Massachusetts as a group dressed in 18th-century fashion tossed crates of tea into the Boston Harbor.
The idea for the tea party has been attributed to a few Seattle bloggers who first brought together conservatives on February 16 to rally against too many government handouts. Colorado and Arizona followed suit, lighting a small fire primarily under Republican Americans that was fanned into flame by CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s public blasting of Obama’s policies on air. He voiced, “The government is promoting bad behavior,” and said that he wanted a tea party to happen in Chicago. Santelli angrily declared, “No more.”
Expectedly, media and “news” outlets had a field day, turning the demonstration into a downright spectacle. It is strange because up to this date, there was little to no media coverage, with the exception of Fox News. One would think that a nationwide demonstration of this size, that has gathered momentum in the way it has, would be news worthy, or at least worth mention. Funnily enough, all of this was breaking news to even the Boston Globe, a newspaper in the city in which the original Tea Party took place; they decided to report from Kentucky and disregard their local angle. The rest of the media finally caught on and “covered” the event.
Putting all political affiliation aside, the unprofessional journalism and biased media coverage was jarring, and Susan Roesgen of CNN is a prime example. In a field report in the middle of the Chicago Tea Party, Roesgen interrogated a young father holding his 2 year old son, asking why he had attended the protest. He began to say, “"Because I hear a president say that he believed in what Lincoln stood for. Lincoln's primary thing was he believed that people had the right to liberty, and had the right…" when Roesgen interrupted and asked, “What does this have to do with your taxes? Do you realize that you’re eligible for a $400 credit?” In response, the man said “Lincoln believed that people had the right to share in the fruits of their own labor and that government should not take it. And we have clearly gotten to that point…" before being, again, rudely interrupted. Roesgen combatively responded, “Did you know, that the state of Lincoln gets $50 billion out of this stimulus? That's $50 billion for this state, sir." She concluded the said interview with, “I think you get the general tenor of this,” and wrote off the entire event as not friendly for family viewing, anti-government, and most laughably, anti-CNN because in her opinion, it was “highly promoted by right-wing, conservative network, Fox.”
Roesgen is right, Fox did advertise the Tea Parties, but she mistakes promotion actual coverage and giving it the appropriate amount of attention, when no other media outlet cared to. In fact, it appears that CNN and others (MSNBC included) ended up ceding coverage to Fox News, but then used Fox’s coverage as a reason to discredit the event.
However, the reprehensible journalism did not stop on the field. CNN and MSNBC anchors in studio made sexually suggestive puns by referring to the event as “tea bagging” and calling the demonstrators a bunch of “tea baggers” (look up the terms on Urban Dictionary if they do not immediately disgust you).
I had no idea that journalistic standards had fallen so low such that reporters and anchors create the news and become the news. I had no idea it was appropriate to outlandishly confront an interview subject or discount what an estimated quarter million Americans have to say. As the Augusta Chronicle commented, “Illegal immigrants marching in U.S. streets demanding tax-paid services and citizenship from the country they entered illegally got better treatment from the media.”
What media outlets should have reported is the objective truth. The common grievance among the party-goers seemed to be a general anger among Americans concerned about excessive government spending, bailouts, and taxes. Much of this anger was aimed at the Obama administration and its recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill, mostly by Republicans but by Democrats and Independents alike. The threat of big government was another common theme as former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who helped to organize the nationwide event said, “The biggest problem we have is the government is too big… real people understand that and say we can’t take the burden of a burgeoning government.”
See, that wasn’t so difficult. The real news is nice and dry. It is supposed to be. Save your comments and opinions for your blogs and cable network mock-news shows. It seems the BBC News has been the only one to consistently get it right.
The idea for the tea party has been attributed to a few Seattle bloggers who first brought together conservatives on February 16 to rally against too many government handouts. Colorado and Arizona followed suit, lighting a small fire primarily under Republican Americans that was fanned into flame by CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s public blasting of Obama’s policies on air. He voiced, “The government is promoting bad behavior,” and said that he wanted a tea party to happen in Chicago. Santelli angrily declared, “No more.”
Expectedly, media and “news” outlets had a field day, turning the demonstration into a downright spectacle. It is strange because up to this date, there was little to no media coverage, with the exception of Fox News. One would think that a nationwide demonstration of this size, that has gathered momentum in the way it has, would be news worthy, or at least worth mention. Funnily enough, all of this was breaking news to even the Boston Globe, a newspaper in the city in which the original Tea Party took place; they decided to report from Kentucky and disregard their local angle. The rest of the media finally caught on and “covered” the event.
Putting all political affiliation aside, the unprofessional journalism and biased media coverage was jarring, and Susan Roesgen of CNN is a prime example. In a field report in the middle of the Chicago Tea Party, Roesgen interrogated a young father holding his 2 year old son, asking why he had attended the protest. He began to say, “"Because I hear a president say that he believed in what Lincoln stood for. Lincoln's primary thing was he believed that people had the right to liberty, and had the right…" when Roesgen interrupted and asked, “What does this have to do with your taxes? Do you realize that you’re eligible for a $400 credit?” In response, the man said “Lincoln believed that people had the right to share in the fruits of their own labor and that government should not take it. And we have clearly gotten to that point…" before being, again, rudely interrupted. Roesgen combatively responded, “Did you know, that the state of Lincoln gets $50 billion out of this stimulus? That's $50 billion for this state, sir." She concluded the said interview with, “I think you get the general tenor of this,” and wrote off the entire event as not friendly for family viewing, anti-government, and most laughably, anti-CNN because in her opinion, it was “highly promoted by right-wing, conservative network, Fox.”
Roesgen is right, Fox did advertise the Tea Parties, but she mistakes promotion actual coverage and giving it the appropriate amount of attention, when no other media outlet cared to. In fact, it appears that CNN and others (MSNBC included) ended up ceding coverage to Fox News, but then used Fox’s coverage as a reason to discredit the event.
However, the reprehensible journalism did not stop on the field. CNN and MSNBC anchors in studio made sexually suggestive puns by referring to the event as “tea bagging” and calling the demonstrators a bunch of “tea baggers” (look up the terms on Urban Dictionary if they do not immediately disgust you).
I had no idea that journalistic standards had fallen so low such that reporters and anchors create the news and become the news. I had no idea it was appropriate to outlandishly confront an interview subject or discount what an estimated quarter million Americans have to say. As the Augusta Chronicle commented, “Illegal immigrants marching in U.S. streets demanding tax-paid services and citizenship from the country they entered illegally got better treatment from the media.”
What media outlets should have reported is the objective truth. The common grievance among the party-goers seemed to be a general anger among Americans concerned about excessive government spending, bailouts, and taxes. Much of this anger was aimed at the Obama administration and its recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill, mostly by Republicans but by Democrats and Independents alike. The threat of big government was another common theme as former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who helped to organize the nationwide event said, “The biggest problem we have is the government is too big… real people understand that and say we can’t take the burden of a burgeoning government.”
See, that wasn’t so difficult. The real news is nice and dry. It is supposed to be. Save your comments and opinions for your blogs and cable network mock-news shows. It seems the BBC News has been the only one to consistently get it right.
Simon Cowell Ready to Jump "Idol" Ship?
Simon Cowell confirmed with a laugh that he will indeed leave "American Idol" if it ever slips from the No.1 spot, guffawing at the idea of settling for anything less. Though "Idol" ratings are not what they used to be in the Kelly Clarkson days, it still remains the overwhelmingly most poplular televsion program on air, with 22 million viewers per episode. However, wth Cowelle's deal with Fox expiring at the end of next season, his next move is still up in the air. Perhaps he will renew with Fox and bring "The X Factor," UK's wildly popular singing competiton to the States. Cowell was quoted saying, “We have to bring in another music show. In the U.K., there is more than one type of music show running throughout the year. And I think the same thing could happen here, because for the fall, nothing really happens. It’s something we’ve been thinking about … I would definitely do it now.”
Simon, ever hear of something called "Idol overload"? Please, do not even tease us like that.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
LOLLAPALOOZA!!!!
And the lineup is...
Headliners: Depeche Mode, Tool, the Killers, Jane’s Addiction, Beastie Boys and Kings of Leon.
Other Notable Perfomers: Lou Reed, Ben Harper, Thievery Corporation, Snoop Dogg, Rise Against, Andrew Bird, TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, the Decemberists, Neko Case. STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), Animal Collective, Band of Horses, Of Montreal, Arctic Monkeys, Coheed and Cambria, Ben Folds and Fleet Foxes.
Additional Acts:
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Dan Deacon
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2
DJ sets etc. at Perry's Place
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noise
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)
Headliners: Depeche Mode, Tool, the Killers, Jane’s Addiction, Beastie Boys and Kings of Leon.
Other Notable Perfomers: Lou Reed, Ben Harper, Thievery Corporation, Snoop Dogg, Rise Against, Andrew Bird, TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, the Decemberists, Neko Case. STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), Animal Collective, Band of Horses, Of Montreal, Arctic Monkeys, Coheed and Cambria, Ben Folds and Fleet Foxes.
Additional Acts:
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Dan Deacon
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2
DJ sets etc. at Perry's Place
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noise
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Yakuza
The global recession is really hitting hard, at every level of society. Out-of-work gangsters of the Yakuza, Japan's most notorious gang, are livid over the repercussions of their move away from the instability of drugs, gambling, and prostitution, to legitimate business. The gang's investment in high finance has resulted in heavy losses and now the higher ups in the Yakuza are making some major cuts. Sound familiar? Accomplished gangsters, some with management positions and decades of service under their belt, are finding themselves out on the streets and unqualified for the work force. The once revered and exclusive gang has become subject to the economic downturn and is being downsized just like the rest of us. Isn't life funny that way? I suggest extra work; Hollywood just can't get enough of Japanese gangsters.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Kumar Goes to the White House
Kal Penn, famous for his role as one half of the dynamic duo, Harold and Kumar, is off to the Washington. After a good run on Fox's House Penn left the show in style with a sudden suicide in last night's episode. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, Penn admitted "there's something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while." Penn is set to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. When asked exactly what that entails, he said "they do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House." The public much appreciates when public figures go out to Washington and do good things for the public. Well, what is John Cho of Harold and Kumar up to? He's in the new Star Trek Movie, a total feast for the senses.
Wait just one second, does that mean no more Harold and Kumar?! Noooooooooo!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
This Weekend's Box Office
"Fast and Furious" drifted it's way to the top spot in this past weekend's box office, bringing in a whopping $72.5 million. The numbers broke several records for the franchise and industry overall with several "bests":
- Best April opening ever, beating "Anger Management's" $42.2 million
- Best Universal Pictures opening ever (three-day), beating "The Lost World: Jurassic Park's" $72.1 million
- Best F&F franchise opening ever, beating "2 Fast 2 Furious'" $50.5 million.
- Best opening yet in 2009, easily beating the bows of the more-buzzed-about "Monsters vs. Aliens" ($59.3 million) and "Watchmen" ($55.2 million).
- Best opening ever for stars Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster, as well as for director Justin Lin.
- Best opening ever for a car-themed movie, beating "Cars'" $60.1 million
The $72.5 million was an obivous shock to Hollywood, since no one expected for washed-up actors Paul Walker and Vin Diesel to be able to carry the the franchise anymore. I think the sucess of the fourth installment has a lot of implication for what we might continue to see in the theatres. With the recent successes of sequels like "Hell Boy II," "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," and "The Dark Knight," to name a few, I feel many more sequels coming our way. As long as we never have to see a debacle like the "Indiana Jones" sequel, I'll be more than happy to revisit with some familiar characters I feel invested in.
- Best April opening ever, beating "Anger Management's" $42.2 million
- Best Universal Pictures opening ever (three-day), beating "The Lost World: Jurassic Park's" $72.1 million
- Best F&F franchise opening ever, beating "2 Fast 2 Furious'" $50.5 million.
- Best opening yet in 2009, easily beating the bows of the more-buzzed-about "Monsters vs. Aliens" ($59.3 million) and "Watchmen" ($55.2 million).
- Best opening ever for stars Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster, as well as for director Justin Lin.
- Best opening ever for a car-themed movie, beating "Cars'" $60.1 million
The $72.5 million was an obivous shock to Hollywood, since no one expected for washed-up actors Paul Walker and Vin Diesel to be able to carry the the franchise anymore. I think the sucess of the fourth installment has a lot of implication for what we might continue to see in the theatres. With the recent successes of sequels like "Hell Boy II," "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," and "The Dark Knight," to name a few, I feel many more sequels coming our way. As long as we never have to see a debacle like the "Indiana Jones" sequel, I'll be more than happy to revisit with some familiar characters I feel invested in.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Golden Globes Live
It seems like just yesterday award show season folded up its tents and rolled up its red carpets. However, it seems producers are planning for next year's shows already. The 2010 Globes will be broadcast live coast to coast, getting rid of that pesky 3 hour delay over here on the west coast. Previously, networks enforced the delay to boost ratings in later slots, but I think it's a great idea to broadcast live. By the time the people on the east have finished watching, information of the winners and mishaps has already been disseminated all over the internet, giving us over in the west less of a reason to watch.
The Hollywood Reporter says that scheduling around the awards shows will be slightly different for next year, but it should be interesting to see the difference, if any, in ratings.
The Hollywood Reporter says that scheduling around the awards shows will be slightly different for next year, but it should be interesting to see the difference, if any, in ratings.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
XXX Footage
A revised R-rated version (a notch down from its former NC-17 rating) of the Bruno trailer finally made its way to the internet via Myspace today. Fans can now catch the first few glimpses of Sasha Baron Cohen as an outrageously homosexual Austrian reporter. The promotion period should be interesting. I'm sure movie goers will show up in mass dressed up as Bruno opening weekend. Oh, the humanity.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"Project Runway" Finds a Home
A settlement has finally been reached after a year-long legal battle between NBC Universal and the Weinstein Corporation. The courtroom drama started after a shocking announcement that Bravo's successful "Project Runway" was being moved to Lifetime.
NBC Uni released a statement Wednesday saying that they "have resolved their disputes" with TWC and Lifetime and the delayed sixth season will air this summer. The statement also said TWC has agreed "to pay NBC for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime."
Hooray!!
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