Full Service Don Murphy

If you want a crash course on Don Murphy, it is offered on this recent thread at his website.
He manages to rip…
Jon Favreau
Avi Arad
Mark Steven Johnson
Tim Story
Kevin Smith
Tom Cruise
Katie Holmes
And Ain

Batman II (VI) – The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger as The Joker for Chris Nolan.
Old news. Now offical. But I couldn’t stand looking at Travolta on the top of the page either.
ADD 9:48p – The full press release…
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN TO DIRECT
WARNER BROS. PICTURES

First Look: Travolta Tries Out His Edna Turnblad Make-Up

Source

Checking Out On Gibson

After three days of this, I have made the decision – on the MCN side, along with my partner, Laura – to get out of the Mel Gibson DUI business until there is actual news and not just a bunch of people looking for someone else to quote for the next “EXCLUSIVE.”
I have made my position clear. I will respond as appropriate to the blog comments on existing entries. But enough is enough. (I’ve already written too much, really.) How much longer before we get David Hasselhoff and Danny Bonaduce on record EXCLUSIVEly on this incident?
I can’t really scream about all the shit kicking going on today because I have been a part of it. So, in a few days, my shoes may be clean, even if there is still some shit embedded in my soles. (Or is that soul?)
I wondered in The Hot Button today about all these media pieces fit together. And now, by instinct, I have my answer.
We have seen the enemy… and it is ourselves.
We in the media have too often become like children who won’t stop eating the candy until the cupboard is empty or we throw up. I just threw up.
ADDED, 12:08a, 8/1 – Anne Thompson takes an honorable position on stopping the madness
ADDED, 12:18a, 8/1 – Proud moment for Slate… a serious web magazine…

Logo A Go Go

When New Media Breaks The Story

Variety kind of went out of its way last night to suggest that they and other Traditional Media were taking the high road on the Gibson story as it came to light on Friday. The truth is, they got their asses kicked and showed that they could fall even farther behind as they took the weekend off.
“When that line between news and gossip gets too blurry to see clearly, relying on the old rules seems to fall somewhere between anti-competitive and moldy. But when two stories like this, which really do seem to be news, are reported first and exclusively by a gossip website, Traditional Media needs to learn to just clear themselves of their biases against the internet and move along on the story as they would on a story broken by one of their own. And then, they have to learn not to overreact to being late to the party.”
Where is it all leading?
The full THB column

Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned On The View

Of course… a gross exaggeration

Sunday Estimates by Klady

Well, there you go

Pop Quiz

What child star hasn’t been in a movie in 13 years, but will be in two, count ’em, two Oscar contenders this season, with a pivital role in one of them?
I will offer only one hint (not a great one)… Summer 2005.
Update – The correct answer comes early in the comments… so I’m putting his current picture after the jump…

Read the full article »

The Gibson Thing

You’ve probably read the TMZ coverage…
Now, there is the first public statement…
BREAKING NEWS: Mel Gibson Makes Statement
Statement from Mel Gibson re DUI arrest July 29, 2006

Friday Estimates by Klady

The sturm & drang by the Axis Of Idiots over the opening of Miami Vice is silly. It will be Mann’s best opening ever and no doubt, Universal hopes it is his best international performer ever. Does anyone out there really think that Universal green lit the film without being aware of Mann

iKlipzin'

I loaded up some video on iKlipz…
1. The ET segment on Infamous which got me worried about Toby Young.
2. The MSNBC segment that Joe Leydon suggested I check out on faux direct-to-dvd movies that are showing up at DVD stores in the wake of major hits, including the aforementioned Snakes on a Train.
3. A classic trailer for Pink Flamingos, Bob Shaye’s breakthrough film, even before he came up with the name, New Line.
4. Last but certainly not least, the world changing scene with Divine that closes the film… don’t watch if you are squeamish… but there is something about the verite’ of it… the raw, anything-for-art, “what, and give up show business?” insanity of it that makes it, to me, one of the seminal moments in movie history. (And if you are thinking of a sexual pun based on that last part of the sentence, you’ll need to watch the whole film… there’s that too.)

What Would The MPAA Say?

Rose McGowan, Charmed To Have A Leg Replacement

Marley Shelton, The New Weinstein Blonde

Bad Form

The most interesting thing about the letter, leaked to The Smoking Gun, is not that it surprised anyone regarding Ms. Lohan’s behavior or Jim Robinson’s temper or even that it got to the point where the agents have given up trying to make the situation better….

…it’s that someone on the inside inside leaked this to The Smoking Gun with what seems like the undeniable intent to embarrass Ms. Lohan publicly.
As you probably know, TSG is generally made up of public documents, found by research and tips. This is the rare private document on that site. Had to be intentional. With 10 people in the distribution chain, you can be sure that at least half that group knows exactly who did the deed.
Fortunately, as Georgia Rule teaches, making up in Hollywood isn’t all that difficult…

(I know… crude… but it struck me funny… must be Friday…)
Ironically, this weeks Lunch With David is about secrets.

Trying To Fill Ebert

ADDED, Friday 11:51a – Jay Leno As Guest Host
I guess I need to speak to this, after having spoken to the Kevin Smith thing…
Again, Leno will be great. He really loves movies. (He used to call in on our Saturday afternoon radio show here in L.A. and never wanted to be JAY LENO, but really wanted to just talk movies.) And obviously, he knows how to be on TV.
They are shooting in L.A., on a makeshift set. Of course, the heart of this show has always been that it is in Chicago and doesn’t stunt in NY or L.A.
What is interesting to me, as I think about it, is that the bigger the name opposite Roeper, the more I will miss Roger… the more distant the whole thing will be from The Man. I know this is not the intent of Mr. Leno or Mr. Smith. But it is what I think I will feel.
I suspect that there will be a lot of discussion about getting Joel Siegel or David Ansen or Richard Corliss or Tony Scott (Manohla won’t do it, I don’t think) into the E-seat in the 3rd guest slot, just to bring the show back to some sense of its roots. But good ratings for Leno would probably kill that and send Regis Philbin into the spot.
And really, much as I respect Leno and his love of films, bumping Kevin Smith like a talk show guest who steps back because your “A” guest finally said “yes,” is kinda grotesque.
It’s getting sordid.
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Kevin Smith To Fill Ebert