The Curious Case of Brad’s Vacant Pit

Brad Pitt was recently asked by German magazine Bild if he believed in God. Pitt smiled and answered: “No, no, no!”  Then, asked if his soul was spiritual, he once again said: “No, no, no!” Adding: “I’m probably “20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic.” With that, the shrieks of millions of women who dreamed of a storybook church wedding with Mr. Pitt could be heard crying out across the planet.

The comment is sure to cause a few ripples from the man who once played the son of a preacher man in the spiritual A River Runs Through It.  What’s more, Pitt advises there is no use thinking about God or a higher power — we’ll find out when we get there, he says.  Umm, get where Brad?  The Beverly Hills Hotel in the sky?  It never ceases to amaze to hear celebrities speak out about religion – or a lack thereof.  In a business where vainglory is king, perhaps it is not surprising many in Hollywood are said to lack religion.  Que Sera Sera — free country, right?   (more…)

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Tags: angelina jolie, brad pitt, charity, faith, Katrina
Posted Jul 29th 2009 at 7:17 am in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Religion | 191298161 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/07/29/the-curious-case-of-a-godless-man/The+Curious+Case+of+Brad%27s+Vacant+Pit2009-07-29+14%3A17%3A46Jason+Killian+Meath

‘NewsBusted’ 6/09/09 — Fake News from the Right

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Tags: angelina jolie, David Gergen, Dick Cheney, Homeless Condos, nancy pelosi
Posted Jun 9th 2009 at 8:03 pm in Political Humor, Video | 155098No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/newsbusters/2009/06/09/%e2%80%98newsbusted%e2%80%99-60909-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%98NewsBusted%E2%80%99+6%2F09%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-06-10+03%3A03%3A03NewsBusters

Madonna’s Adoption Quest: Mission of Mercy or Latest Publicity Stunt?

Despite being told “no” regarding her bid to adopt a second child from Malawi, Madonna remains hopeful that her appeal will be successful. She wants what amounts to a companion piece to little David, the boy she adopted from that nation in 2006. That adoption had its problems, as critics said she used her wealth and fame to skirt laws that prevent non-Malawian citizens from adopting.

The idea that she wants to give little Mercy “a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health-care possible” is admirable. But if her final goal is, as she says, to give David and Mercy the tools they need to “one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country,” why doesn’t she just stick with the school she is planning on building? Or perhaps invest in the local economy, providing jobs for parents who are unable to adequately care for their own children? Wouldn’t that go further than holding what amounts to a kind of lottery and then whisking the lucky winners away to a fantasyland of luxury? (more…)

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Tags: angelina jolie, Christian Toto, Lourdes, madonna, Malawi
Posted Apr 14th 2009 at 1:31 pm in Celebrity News, Politics | 105074No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/04/14/madonnas-adoption-quest-mission-of-mercy-or-latest-publicity-stunt/Madonna%27s+Adoption+Quest%3A+Mission+of+Mercy+or+Latest+Publicity+Stunt%3F2009-04-14+20%3A31%3A12Pam+Meister

Casting ‘Atlas Shrugged’: Professionalism Before Politics

I was head of the film and broadcast department for a talent agency in the Detroit Metro area. As a casting agent my job was to get the character breakdowns, hold auditions and cast roles for film, TV and radio. My staff and I cast Zebrahead, Hoffa, Renaissance Man to name a few and many award winning commercials. I left the casting biz to coach voice-over artists and produce their CD’s, along with doing free-lance talent coordination for ad-agencies, where I negotiate celebrity talent.

I recently read Apocalypse Near? Liberal Actresses Line Up to Star in ‘Atlas Shrugged’  by Pam Meister and wanted to offer the perspective of someone who has experience in casting. The post told of Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie having an interest in the role of Dagny Taggert. It was offered up, and several commenter’s mentioned that they feared Julia Roberts might change the script to reflect her liberal viewpoint. I don’t really think that should be a concern because many times certain actors are mentioned only to create buzz for a project, or to get their name out there, or both. I believe such is the case with Julia Roberts in this story. (more…)

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Tags: "Atlas Shrugged", angelina jolie, casting, jodie foster, julia roberts
Posted Apr 8th 2009 at 2:37 pm in Daily Gut, Politics | 9878626 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jshaffmaster/2009/04/08/jane-shaffmaster/Casting+%27Atlas+Shrugged%27%3A+Professionalism+Before+Politics2009-04-08+21%3A37%3A00Jane+Shaffmaster

Adventures in the Scream Trade, Take One

If you’re wondering if I was about to opine on the craft of gut-twisting horror stories, you’d only be half right. I’m actually talking about real life here. As many of you may know from my earlier posts, I first flame-throwered onto the scene here at Big Hollywood about a month ago, on the occasion of Team Oscar’s could-not-be-more-ill-advised taking off for the unfriendly skies of Islamist Iran.

I knew they were going to get punked! They were going to Punkedville! In fact, I was so sure of it, I was the one who broke the story in the US off the French wires to Drudge and Nikki Finke.  One Hollywood Jihadi PR roadside bomb detonated. War Is Hell.

Look at their trip from my POV. I remember the whole balls-to-the-wall anti-Apartheid campaign from the mid-eighties. ‘I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City,’ remember? By the way, wasn’t Little Stevie great in that video? Love him! Point being, if the racist South African apartheid regime was unworthy of cultural exchange, why was the gay-hanging, women-stoning, child-executing, blogger-killing, hostage-taking fascist regime in Iran worthy of a gold-plated Academy PR kiss? (more…)

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Tags: AMPAS, Andrew Breitbart, angelina jolie, Annette Bening, ben stiller
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 5:58 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, News, Politics | 9749410 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/04/06/adventures-in-the-scream-trade-take-one/Adventures+in+the+Scream+Trade%2C+Take+One2009-04-06+12%3A58%3A54John+T.+Simpson

Overlooked: The Top 10 Best Performances of 2008 that you may not have heard about!

The Academy Awards for 2008 have been handed out, and the “popular kids” have Oscars on their mantles, but the dirty little secret about winning awards is that you’ve gotta campaign for them. Thousands of dollars were spent by the distributors and filmmakers behind Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Milk (Focus Features), The Reader (Weinstein) and other assorted winners and nominees, but not all performances received that sort of big money backing.

I am an unabashed lover of the acting craft. I see virtually every movie, large and small, that passes through the US marketplace, and, taking nothing away from Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Heath Ledger, not all of 2008’s best performances have been recognized. I’m not going to be obvious here. Clint Eastwood was snubbed for Gran Torino, but he received lots of acclaim for the role including being named Best Actor by the National Board of Review. My goal is to highlight 10 performances from last year that have received virtually no acclaim in the US. Many of these roles can be found in hardly-seen, under-appreciated movies that came and went without much notice. Each and every one of these movies deserve a spot in your Netflix (or Blockbuster) cue. (more…)

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Tags: "Traitor", 2008, academy awards, acting, alan rickman
Posted Mar 1st 2009 at 2:10 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story | 7013043 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/01/performances/Overlooked%3A+The+Top+10+Best+Performances+of+2008+that+you+may+not+have+heard+about%212009-03-01+22%3A10%3A58Steve+Mason

The Oscars are Important

While watching the Academy Awards last night, I got to thinking about what an important role the Oscars play in our global community. And of course, there’s no more blatant case in point of Hollywood’s positive impact on society than Al Gore’s 2007 Oscar win for his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” What a speech too, huh? Just listen: “My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue; it’s a moral issue…”

And solve it he did! Just look at what’s happened since that magical evening: (more…)

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Tags: academy awards, Al Gore, angelina jolie, Global warming, Jennifer Aniston
Posted Feb 23rd 2009 at 5:55 pm in Political Humor | 6497837 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/rlconover/2009/02/23/the-oscars-are-important/The+Oscars+are+Important2009-02-24+01%3A55%3A47Rodney+Lee+Conover

Oscar odds: SLUMDOG, Rourke, Winslet, Cruz are favorites, but Penn, Streep and Tomei are live underdogs!

On Sunday, the Academy Awards will be handed out at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and there are some clear favorites. Slumdog Millionaire, the feel-good Danny Boyle Mumbai opus made for just $14M, is a heavy favorite to win Best Picture. It’s hard to imagine Slumdog missing out on Hollywood’s biggest prize, having won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA Award and just about everything in between.

But, in the world of gambling, you always want to look for value. What are the films and performances with longer odds that would be worth a wager on Sunday? My purpose here is to establish a betting line for each of the six major categories, and then find the value bet in each category.

(more…)

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Tags: academy awards, alexandre desplat, Amy Adams, amy ryan, angelina jolie
Posted Feb 15th 2009 at 6:29 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5191848 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/15/oscar-odds/Oscar+odds%3A+SLUMDOG%2C+Rourke%2C+Winslet%2C+Cruz+are+favorites%2C+but+Penn%2C+Streep+and+Tomei+are+live+underdogs%212009-02-16+02%3A29%3A27Steve+Mason

DVD Review: George Wallace

Produced for television in 1997 and just released on DVD, director John Frankenheimer’s three-hour docudrama on the adult life of Alabama governor George Wallace (Gary Sinise),  plays like a quality theatrical film, and not just because of impressive production values. A winner of multiple awards, including 2 Golden Globes and 3 Emmys, “George Wallace” is a welcome throwback to the classic biopics of old.

Crafting a screenplay around the life of a historical figure is no easy task. Screen stories demand a three-act structure and reality isn’t always so convenient. For the last couple decades, screenwriters have too often leaned on a stormy marriage or substance abuse – or both – to solve this dilemma, but as last year’s spoof “Dewey Cox,” made clear, this framing device is long past cliché and needs to be retired. (more…)

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Tags: angelina jolie, gary sinise, george wallace, john frankenheimer, mare winningham
Posted Jan 27th 2009 at 2:35 pm in Reviews | 3237017 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/27/dvd-review-george-wallace/DVD+Review%3A+George+Wallace2009-01-27+22%3A35%3A42John+Nolte

“On the Side of Sanity” at a Hollywood Party

It was a typical Hollywood working party. Fox brought their TV talent out to a club in L.A., all black leather and rocker skulls, to mingle with reporters. Loud music playing. Open bar flowing. Familiar faces surrounded by unrecognized and unidentified minions. Keifer Sutherland, star of “24,” stood in a hip courtyard, reporters shoving recorders in his face. American Idol’s new judge, Kara DioGuardi, held court on a square modern couch, explaining she hasn’t yet had time to watch the show. David Boreanaz of “Bones” cozied up to the bar, while co-star Emily Deschanel laughed with friends on a couch downstairs.

Then….in a side room…Jon Voight fielded questions about “24.” He plays this season’s resident bad power player. The show has received more than its fair share of criticism because critics interpret it as an endorsement of Bush’s counter-terrorism tactics, which they consider torture. His response to the questions? (He very logically, but incorrectly, assumed this reporter was a lefty.)

“You gals are on that side of things. From my side, I’m glad to say I’m glad we haven’t had another 9/11 and that took a lot of work. And we don’t know all the work it took or all the things they stopped because nobody wants to scare us. But we’re dealing with a serious enemy.

“We take for granted a lot of things here. We’re very complacent. Thank God we have people looking out for us. It’s a very dangerous world out there and it’s quite easy to do damage. I hope they’re doing their job. I hope they’re doing things I don’t see. I hope they do everything possible. I hope we give them every tool to keep us safe.” (more…)

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Tags: angelina jolie, fox, hollywood, Jon Voight
Posted Jan 18th 2009 at 8:09 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment | 2029734 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/rcusey/2009/01/18/on-the-side-of-sanity-at-a-hollywood-party/%22On+the+Side+of+Sanity%22+at+a+Hollywood+Party2009-01-18+16%3A09%3A44Rebecca+Cusey