Let the Media’s Michael Moore Lovefest Begin

Director Michael Moore has a new movie coming soon – “Capitalism: A Love Story.”

It could only mean one thing – OK, many, many things:

• Rave reviews from at least 80 percent of film critics. And I’m being conservative.
• More press coverage than any documentary filmmaker could ever dream of.
• Few, if any, labels associated with him in the press. Liberal? Nah, he’s a muckraker, an iconoclast, a rebel, a truth teller…
• Oscar buzz aplenty. Feel badly for any other documentary filmmaker who did great work this year. Chances are you won’t be taking home the Oscar for your troubles. Better luck next year.
• More softball questions thrown his way by alleged journalists – this time, Oprah herself will get in on the action.

Moore, who won the Best Documentary Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine” and gave us the factually challenged “Fahrenheit 9/11,” has helped shape the film industry for better and worse. (more…)

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Tags: bush, Capitalism: A Love Story., hollywood, michael moore, Oprah
Posted Sep 7th 2009 at 1:14 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism, Politics | 216938128 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/09/07/let-the-michael-moore-lovefest-begin/Let+the+Media%27s+Michael+Moore+Lovefest+Begin2009-09-07+20%3A14%3A55Christian+Toto

‘Slumdog Millionaire’: A Leftist View of a Globalized World

Well after its phenomenal success of eight Oscars, four Golden Globes, seven BAFTA’s, and $350 million at the boxoffice, “Slumdog Millionaire” has managed to stay alive. As much an amazing longshot victor as its hero, an urchin from the Mumbai slums cum tea server at a phone call center who wins a fortune in an Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,” “Slumdog” has kept making news in ways deeply rooted in its own depiction of the world.

Recently the film’s British director Danny Boyle, serving as jury president of the 12th Shanghai Film Festival, confided during a panel discussion that on “Slumdog” he had shed the patronizing, “imperialist” mentality, relying heavily on a local Indian crew. Boyle also observed that while it was “regrettable” that Beijing imposed censorship restrictions on its filmmakers, he’d nonetheless love to work in China, as it would be a “challenge learning Mandarin.” Boyle neglected to mention that on “Slumdog” he’d skipped the challenge of learning Hindi, necessitating an Indian co-director, and also skipped the patronizing practice of paying Western wages, and the low pay for local child actors would fuel most of the subsequent controversies. (more…)

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Tags: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", Amitabh Bachchan, BAFTAs, Bandra, Bollywood
Posted Jul 27th 2009 at 6:52 am in Culture, Politics, Religion, Reviews | 19112630 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/eazlant/2009/07/27/slumdog-millionaire-and-topdog-fantasies/%E2%80%98Slumdog+Millionaire%E2%80%99%3A+A+Leftist+View+of+a+Globalized+World+2009-07-27+13%3A52%3A03Edward+Azlant

One Critic’s Review of ‘Roxana: A True Story’

Now that ‘Roxana: A True Story’ has come to a most satisfying and happy conclusion for Roxana Saberi, her parents, myself and millions of others around the globe (a conclusion not always assured, and which looked very grim in some scenes), it is now time for Your Most Humble and Obedient Critic to give you the full skinny on ‘Roxana: A True Story.’

Or, by its Hollywood acronym, RATS. Funny. I actually found that startling contraction fitting, not for Roxana (not hardly), but for all of the major black hats and clueless morons who populated this nerve-wracking Thugocracy Studios production, which had civilized people everywhere both riveted and outraged in its most grueling and suspenseful moments.

Not to mention for Roxana and her parents. But before we get to heroes and villains, let us look at the story to date with all its dramatic twists and underpinnings, many with significant international implications. Just like a good Hitchcock drama should. And I caught ‘em all!

By pure happenstance, Your Most Humble Critic and Boy Reporter was already hot on the job covering Iran (unlike some people) and hammering AMPAS for their tea and finger-cookie soirees with these guys, when I saw what Iran was pulling with Roxana and called it for what it was: a hostage crisis. And on the same day HRW called it the same in a press release on March 13th, which I didn’t find out until the 19th thanks to our on-the-ball Vein Stream Media. (more…)

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Tags: -1, abc, Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, Ahmadinejad, al qaeda
Posted May 13th 2009 at 8:13 am in Entertainment, Politics | 132142One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/05/13/one-critics-review-of-roxana-a-true-story/One+Critic%27s+Review+of+%27Roxana%3A+A+True+Story%272009-05-13+15%3A13%3A00John+T.+Simpson

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

The Newsrape Emails – #1

My Dear Scudworm -

Congratulations on the fine work you did with the recent Hollywood hoopla thing.  What are those golden statues called again…Arthurs?  Oscars?  Ollivers?  No matter.  The fine art of idolatry is becoming your forte, my dear nephew.  With the powers of a willing media and the brilliance of commercialism prevalent, it’s no wonder the masses turn to your town for direction and meaning.  I chuckle with delight to see how real meaning and substance is more and more becoming passé, and overlooked for the sizzle and bling of the ephemeral.  You make your uncle proud to see that you are once again the year’s big producer for thirty years running…and gaining even more new customers every month.

Your work on the special interest groups is particularly impressive.  You are keenly aware that, pound for pound of effort, this is where we gain the most purchase in our clawing scramble over the human psyche.  Continue to stress their inherent oppression and victimization, so that our aims may be met.  Nothing makes a poor soul feel more empowered than believing itself to be a part of a large, aggrieved and neglected group.  Build on their individual sense of outrage and anger, along with their helpless sense of futility.  Remind them that they are being victimized, and must demand their rights!  I know you are laughing right now, as am I.  But drive the seriousness of their indignant and violated pride, and demand restitution for the wrongs perpetrated upon them.  (As for the specific nature of these ‘wrongs’, either real or imagined, simply fill in the blank; a group is a group, and we can use any and all of them for our purposes.) And good that you can work the golden idols into so many hands that help legitimize our work. That Penn character is an excellent poster boy.  In fact, increase the irreverence, step up the hatred of our Enemy and brighten the public celebration of him, as his flippant outrageousness masquerades as gravitas.    We can trade on his magnetic popularity, and draw the proverbial moth to the flame.  Continue your brilliant work in framing his disrespect and hatred of Judeo-Christian ethics and traditional values as hip and ‘progressive’.    (more…)

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Tags: Christina, insidious influence, Islam, Kaballah, movies
Posted Mar 24th 2009 at 1:59 pm in Media Criticism, Politics | 88270One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggraham/2009/03/24/the-newsrape-emails-1/The+Newsrape+Emails+-+%2312009-03-24+20%3A59%3A51Gary+Graham

One Critic’s Review of ‘Mr. Ganis Goes To Tehran’

If anyone wrote a script like this, no one would believe it.

But I already read the book.

That they even went to Iran in the first place was an abomination, especially given their three-hour gay rights infomercial called The Oscars just five days earlier.

And it only kept getting worse. (more…)

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Tags: Alfre Woodard, Ali Larijani, Alireza Davudnejad, AMPAS, Annette Bening
Posted Mar 9th 2009 at 3:07 pm in Celebrity News, News, Politics | 7465419 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/03/09/an-open-letter-to-hollywood-and-gay-rights-activists-on-iran/One+Critic%27s+Review+of+%27Mr.+Ganis+Goes+To+Tehran%272009-03-09+22%3A07%3A51John+T.+Simpson

WATCHMEN with $25.2M opening day, but “ticking downward,” now targeting $57M 3-day & $145M domestic!

“Who is watching the Watchmen?” Just about everyone…or so it seems.

The brand new film adaptation of the classic graphic comic Watchmen is a hit of monstrous proportions on its opening weekend, but not everyone loves it. In fact, not only is there a prominent character named Rohrschach (played by Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley), the film itself is serving as a Rohrschach Test for critics, fanboys and the broader public.

The Zack Snyder-directed $120M epic started with $4.5M in Thursday midnight business which is outstanding. There was no way for Watchmen to approach the $18.5M midnight start for lat summer’s The Dark Knight. First off, it is March and not the middle of summer blockbuster season. Kids have school. People are working. These are not the lazy days of July when it is easier for many to see a movie at midnight on Thursday, and hit the office late on Friday. The other factor is the movie’s rating. This is an R-rated movie, not PG-13 like The Dark Knight. (more…)

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, 300, a.r. rahman, academy awards
Posted Mar 6th 2009 at 10:32 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Steve Mason's Box Office | 7469826 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/06/estimates-7/WATCHMEN+with+%2425.2M+opening+day%2C+but+%22ticking+downward%2C%22+now+targeting+%2457M+3-day+%26amp%3B+%24145M+domestic%212009-03-07+06%3A32%3A56Steve+Mason

And the Oscar for Best Non-Sexual Nudity goes to…

The film industry in Hollywood is the most rewarded vocational field in the world. Having been a part of the “Big Hollywood” launch team, I followed roughly forty-eight award shows this year. Generally, I would characterize them as slightly self-aggrandizing. By the way, I’m not confused; awards are nice (consult my bio), but why are there so many award shows? The people who win awards are rarely underappreciated.  Take Kate Winslet for example, one of Hollywood’s most overrated actresses.  I always feel I’m watching her act. Peter Mayhew was more organic as Chewbacca than Winslet as a suburban housewife in the off-putting “Revolutionary Road.” But Hollywood seemingly invents awards to celebrate Winslet and her ubiquitous bare breasts.

What irritates most is that while the shows may differ, the awards are roughly the same.  In sports, there’s only one MVP, one Rookie of the Year.  Yet every year, we are bombarded with the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, and the BAFTAs.  Not to mention all those snooty little film festivals in upscale ski towns. (more…)

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Tags: ashton kutcher, award shows, BAFTAs, Beyonce, big hollywood
Posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 3:17 pm in Entertainment | 7174690 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/amarlow/2009/03/03/and-the-oscar-for-best-non-sexual-nudity-goes-to/And+the+Oscar+for+Best+Non-Sexual+Nudity+goes+to...2009-03-03+23%3A17%3A44Alexander+Marlow

Gay Marriage By Any Means, Except Democracy

Sage Advice

It was clear everyone at the Oscars got the memo: “No Obama, no Iraq, but gay, gay, gay, all day.” It’s depressing the Oscars must always have an agenda.  What will it be next year?

The people of California exercised democracy twice over the gay marriage issue.  Whether you agree or not, at this time, Californians do not want gay marriage, period. As for Proposition 8, I abstained, yet I deplore the tactics Leftists have used since the election. I put forth that gays should be allowed to marry, but it must be accomplished by democratic means. (more…)

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Tags: Gary Cole, gay marriage, oscars, prop 8, sean penn
Posted Feb 25th 2009 at 3:02 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 66702295 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jromano/2009/02/25/the-gay-oscars/Gay+Marriage+By+Any+Means%2C+Except+Democracy2009-02-25+23%3A02%3A29John+Romano

Actors Don’t Create Themselves, They Just Think They Do

I can’t watch the Oscars.  Before this year, I literally cannot remember the last time I did.  A few years ago my wife had to have an Oscar party because a visiting friend insisted, so I set up a television in the garage and watched “Team America: World Police” with a bunch of friends.  Of course, we had to watch it twice, since the slobbering, tongue-kissing self-congratulation went on for over 4 hours. 

This year was different. My friends and I wanted to see two things. I wanted to see Jerry Lewis get his award in the hopes he’d come out with thick glasses, buck teeth, and make a “Why didn’t I win for THE PATSY, you putzes!” speech. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. Instead, they treated Lewis like a Great-Aunt at a wedding nobody knows but is allowed to make a toast anyway.  I guess today’s egomaniacs don’t respect their elder egomaniacs.  (more…)

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Tags: Acting ability, Athletic ability, oscars, sean penn, Thank God
Posted Feb 25th 2009 at 9:31 am in Entertainment, Politics | 6636688 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mrwrestler/2009/02/25/thank-god/Actors+Don%27t+Create+Themselves%2C+They+Just+Think+They+Do2009-02-25+17%3A31%3A33Mr.+Wrestling+IV

Favorite Movies, Least Favorite Award Show

When I first thought about writing this piece, I was only going to list my all-time favorite movies, breaking them down by decade.  I was going to explain that these weren’t my idea of the greatest or most innovative films of the past 80 years or so, but merely the ones I have enjoyed the most, and in most cases have seen more than once.  

Because the choices are totally subjective, a lot of movies you might expect to find — movies such as “Gone With the Wind,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “The Godfather II,” “Easy Rider,” “All That Jazz,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Bringing Up Baby” — aren’t included.  The reason is that I didn’t enjoy them. 

But before I got to it, along came the Oscars, and it would seem like a serious oversight not to comment.  (more…)

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Tags: Bill Maher, Favorite Movies From Each Decade, oscars, sean penn
Posted Feb 24th 2009 at 11:17 am in Entertainment, News | 65618101 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/02/24/65618/Favorite+Movies%2C+Least+Favorite+Award+Show2009-02-24+19%3A17%3A51Burt+Prelutsky

Spicoli’s Rant

Though seeing Sean Penn deliver a “best actor” Academy Awards acceptance speech that was more taunt against political enemies than expression of gratitude toward industry friends made me click off, reading Ben Shapiro’s transcription of Penn’s graceless tirade clicked on a few neurons. “I think it is a good time for those who voted against gay marriage to contemplate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes.  We need to have equal rights for everyone.”

Contra Sean Penn, and speaking as a Massachusettsan and not a Californian, I think it is a good time for those who imposed gay marriage to contemplate their great shame and the shame in their grandparents’ eyes. Liberals, perhaps out of contempt for what has come before or an agnosticism in the afterlife, don’t care or think about how they appear to the past. The imaginary future, where Sean Penn’s every view is conventional wisdom, instead serves as the anchor of their morality.

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Tags: Gay Mariage, oscars, prop 8, same sex marriage, sean penn
Posted Feb 24th 2009 at 6:21 am in Celebrity News, Politics | 64966230 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dflynn/2009/02/24/spicolis-rant/Spicoli%27s+Rant2009-02-24+14%3A21%3A54Daniel+J.+Flynn

Anne Hathaway

Her eyes are following me around the room again.  But seriously, do people REALLY think she’s good looking? I simply do not get it. She’s a bag of antlers. When are we going to stop this skinny/skank look? Take a close look and ask yourself if you’d believe it if she came out as a transvestite? Maybe I’m just still pissed that she dared to get into Barbara Feldon’s pumps.

Kate Winslett rules. Mmm…

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Tags: anne hathaway, antlers, oscars, trannys
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 at 5:29 pm in Uncategorized | 585388 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/rlconover/2009/02/22/anne-hathaway/Anne+Hathaway2009-02-23+01%3A29%3A26Rodney+Lee+Conover

Mickey Rourke with another priceless acceptance speech! Stage set for Oscar glory?

Mickey Rourke won the Independent Spirit Award last night in Santa Monica, possibly setting the stage for a memorable Oscar moment tonight. Randy “The Ram” Robinson, the character that Rourke plays in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) is a blazing, raw, “broken down piece of meat” of a professional wrestler, and it is a once in a lifetime performance for the not-that-long-ago has-been.

His speech is so entertaining that as I was hosting an Oscar Eve radio special on 790 KABC in Los Angeles last night, every guest that had been at the Spirits could talk about nothing else, including Best Supporting Actress nominee Taraji P. Henson from Benjamin Button, E!’s Ben Lyons, Associated Press film critic Christy Lemire, James Marsh, the writer/director of Man On Wire (favored to win Best Documentary Feature tonight) and Emmy winning actor Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad (set to return on AMC on March 8). (more…)

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Tags: academy awards, acceptance speech, best actor, Darren Aronofsky, eric roberts
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 at 10:39 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5738215 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/22/mickey/Mickey+Rourke+with+another+priceless+acceptance+speech%21+Stage+set+for+Oscar+glory%3F2009-02-22+18%3A39%3A02Steve+Mason

Prelude To The Oscars

Friday morning I awoke to this wonderful headline on Drudge:  “TAX YOU BY THE MILE.”  Clicking the D-link (shorthand for a link on Drudge) lead to a story about the government moving toward taxing us humans per mile driven, instead of per gallon of gasoline purchased.

Obama has since denied that his own Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was speaking in turn.  However, look for a reintroduction of this idea in the future.  Nothing comes out of Obama House without consent.  Well, maybe the musings of Joe Biden are occasionally off script but, not much else.  They were test ballooning this idea, no doubt. (more…)

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Tags: Lucas, Obama, Octomom, oscars, Spielberg
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 at 7:07 am in Entertainment, Media Criticism | 5629830 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jromano/2009/02/22/prelude-to-the-oscars/Prelude+To+The+Oscars2009-02-22+15%3A07%3A02John+Romano

Final Oscar Predix: SLUMDOG, Rourke, Streep, Ledger, Cruz; BEN BUTTON could win just 2 of 13!

I am forecasting a coronation for Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) at Sunday’s Academy Awards. My final predictions call for Slumdog wins in 8 of the 9 categories it is competing in including Best Picture and Best Director: Danny Boyle. The only place I think it will fail is in the Sound Mixing category where The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) may trump it.

Slumdog Millionaire is about to win the Hollywood's Grand Prize

The “Battle Royale” of the night is Mickey Rouke from The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) vs. Sean Penn in Milk (Focus) in the Best Actor category. There have been two ties in major categories in Academy Award history. The first was in 1932 when Frederic March in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde shared Best Actor with Wallace Beery for The Champ. (March had one more vote, but in that era, any finish within 3 votes was rules a tie.) Then in 1968, Katherine Hepburn for The Lion In Winter and Barbara Streisand for Funny Girl tied for Best Actress. If there was any justice, Rourke and Penn would share the award. In any other year, either of them would be a lock. Forced to make a pick, I’m going with Rourke.

(more…)

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, Amy Adams, andrew stanton, anne hathaway
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 at 1:01 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5711436 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/22/final-oscar-pix/Final+Oscar+Predix%3A+SLUMDOG%2C+Rourke%2C+Streep%2C+Ledger%2C+Cruz%3B+BEN+BUTTON+could+win+just+2+of+13%212009-02-22+09%3A01%3A24Steve+Mason

Even if you wanted to see the Best Picture nominees this weekend, you might have trouble finding a theatre!

Tyler Perry’s decidedly un-Oscar Madea Goes to Jail (Lionsgate) is the box office story of Oscar weekend selling a massive $14.65M in opening day tickets with a possible $38M in sales expected for the weekend. But what about the Best Picture nominees, the supposed cool kids on the box office block?

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) is the odds-on Best Picture winner, and it expanded to about 600 additional playdates this weekend for a total screen count of 2,224. The other four contenders for Hollywood’s biggest prize, however, are on a combined 2,508 screens. That means that they are essentially done with their theatrical engagements in the US (barring a truly shocking upset). Even if you wanted to see the other four nominees, you might have trouble finding them at your local multiplex – especially if you live outside a major city.
(more…)

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, alexandre desplat, as good as it gets, Bernard Schlink
Posted Feb 21st 2009 at 3:55 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5696612 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/21/oscar-weekend/Even+if+you+wanted+to+see+the+Best+Picture+nominees+this+weekend%2C+you+might+have+trouble+finding+a+theatre%212009-02-21+23%3A55%3A11Steve+Mason

Studio Estimates: Tyler Perry is the undisputed box office king of Oscar weekend as MADEA GOES TO JAIL grabs a stunning $14.65M opening day for a $41.12M start!

Tyler Perry is the king of the Hollywood box office for Academy Awards weekend. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) debuted with just 2,032 playdates on Friday and scored a monstrous $14.65M for a Per Theatre Average of over $7,000. The final weekend take could be $41.12M.

The box office king....err....queen of Oscar weekend

Although I am not necessarily a fan of Tyler Perry movies, I am a Tyler Perry fan. He traveled the country for years doing live stage shows in order to fine-tune his act, and he identified an under-served audience – African Americans, and more specifically black, Christian women. Now he makes two movies a year, and he has two television series’ on TBS – House of Payne and Meet the Browns. He built a multi-million dollar studio in an under-served area in Atlanta, taking advantage of tax credits for building in a blighted neighborhood. Now he is building a mini-empire. He produces, writes, directs and stars in his projects, and he even helps to finance them.

(more…)

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Tags: 3-d, a.r. rahman, academy awards, adam sandler, atlanta
Posted Feb 20th 2009 at 11:21 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 5665825 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/20/estimates-6/Studio+Estimates%3A+Tyler+Perry+is+the+undisputed+box+office+king+of+Oscar+weekend+as+MADEA+GOES+TO+JAIL+grabs+a+stunning+%2414.65M+opening+day+for+a+%2441.12M+start%212009-02-21+07%3A21%3A10Steve+Mason

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

What Recession? Biggest President’s Day Weekend in Hollywood History as FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH scares up $19.3M Friday and has a stab at $47M for 4 Days!

Although America is suffering through its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, there is no recession in the movie business. Led by the Warner Bros reboot of Friday the Thirteenth and a couple of surprisingly strong chick flicks, Hollywood’s top twelve grossing movies may grab a combined $201.5M over the long President’s Day weekend holiday, which marks an all-time best for the annual 4-day movie-going bonanza.

TOP GROSSING PRESIDENT’S WEEKENDS FOR HOLLYWOOD
- combined gross of top 12 films -
1. 2009 – $201.5M (estimated)
2. 2007 – $167.8M
3. 2008 – $141.1M
4. 2003 – $141M
5. 2005 – $137.1M

Director Marcus Nispel (2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) and the Platinum Dunes production company have gotten the all-new Friday the Thirteenth off to a spectacular $19.3M opening day. That could translate to a well-above-expectations $47M by Tuesday morning. The new Jason restart quickly follows the Platinum Dunes success of The Unborn, released on January 9 to a $19.8M 3-day take. That David D. Goyer written and directed genre pic was made for just $16M, and The Unborn has generated an estimated $42M in the US.

(more…)

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Tags: 3-d, a.r. rahman, academy awards, adam sandler, box office
Posted Feb 13th 2009 at 11:02 pm in Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 506709 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/13/estimates-5/What+Recession%3F+Biggest+President%E2%80%99s+Day+Weekend+in+Hollywood+History+as+FRIDAY+THE+THIRTEENTH+scares+up+%2419.3M+Friday+and+has+a+stab+at+%2447M+for+4+Days%212009-02-14+07%3A02%3A02Steve+Mason

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the toast of the UK, winning 7 BAFTA Awards including Best Picture!

There was not a great deal of drama surrounding this year’s British Academy of Film & Television Arts Awards, commonly known as the BAFTA Awards. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) is a movie with deep roots in the UK. Director Danny Boyle was born in Manchester, England, lead actor Dev Patel is the star of the popular British television series Skins, and the movie is a gigantic hit in the British Isles with an impressive $20.6M (US dollars) in box office for Pathe, since its release there on January 6.

BAFTA Winner Mickey Rourke

The two major uncertainties entering Sunday’s ceremony were whether Kate Winslet, twice-nominated for Best Actress, would split her own vote and miss out on her second BAFTA Award and who would prevail in the Sean Penn-Mickey Rourke battle for Best Actor. Aside from that, it seemed like a Slumdog sweep, and that’s exactly how it played out.

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, alexandre desplat, andrew stanton, anthony dod mantle
Posted Feb 8th 2009 at 2:04 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, News, Steve Mason's Box Office | 4539010 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/08/baftas/SLUMDOG+MILLIONAIRE+is+the+toast+of+the+UK%2C+winning+7+BAFTA+Awards+including+Best+Picture%212009-02-08+22%3A04%3A55Steve+Mason

2009 Oscars doomed? – FROST/NIXON, THE READER and MILK are among the 6 weakest grossing Best Picture nominees of the last decade!

There is a phenomenon known as “the Oscar bounce.” When a movie receives Academy Award nominations, especially one of the five coveted Best Picture slots, ticket-buyers generally follow. The Oscar seal of approval used to mean something to the rank-and-file moviegoer, but that seems to have changed.

Only one of this year’s Best Picture nominees has inspired any real passion from the broad public. The almost-certain Best Picture winner is Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), and its devotees, including critics and members of the Academy (not to mention yours truly), have made it a word-of-mouth smash hit. The Danny Boyle-directed feel-good Bollywood fusion movie made for a meager $14M added another $2.05M or so on Friday and is charting a 3-day course for about $7.4M. That will give the Slumdog a $77.4M take, and it could reach $90M-$95M before it’s through in American theatres.

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, alexandre desplat, babel, ben button
Posted Feb 7th 2009 at 10:47 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Reviews, Steve Mason's Box Office, Video | 4505871 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/07/oscarboxoffice/2009+Oscars+doomed%3F+-+FROST%2FNIXON%2C+THE+READER+and+MILK+are+among+the+6+weakest+grossing+Best+Picture+nominees+of+the+last+decade%212009-02-08+06%3A47%3A17Steve+Mason

Does Jen sell more tickets than Brad? – HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU easily wins the weekend with $27.4M 3-day!

The Drew Barrymore-produced romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You has made the jump from catch-phrase to self-help book to movie hit. With an all-star cast this classic ‘chick flick” appears to be winning the weekend after posting a spectacular $10.5M in opening day ticket sales. That should mean a 3-day start of $27.4M or so, easily out-pacing holdover Taken (Fox) and three other new wide releases. With this kind of opening, Not That Into You could reach almost $60M by the end of next weekend (a 4-day Presidents/Valentine’s combo), which would forecast a potential $90M in US ticket sales.

The new movie developed by New Line and now released by Warner Bros is based on the book of the same name co-written by former Sex & the City scribes Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo. The line itself has come to be a reassuring fallback for women in the dating scene (and I’m guessing single guys have adopted the mentality as well in the rough-and-tumble world of dating).

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Tags: 3-d, a tale of two sisters, a.r. rahman, aaron eckhart, academy award
Posted Feb 6th 2009 at 11:20 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 4449432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/06/estimates-4/Does+Jen+sell+more+tickets+than+Brad%3F+-+HE%27S+JUST+NOT+THAT+INTO+YOU+easily+wins+the+weekend+with+%2427.4M+3-day%212009-02-07+07%3A20%3A14Steve+Mason

Oscar the Ouch

There are few things more unappealing than the orgy of self-adulation one witnesses during a celebrity awards show.

Yes, the Oscar nominations are here, and America simply can’t afford to stand idly by anymore. Not after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had the audacity to misleadingly claim that Brad Pitt had not only engaged in acting this past year, but that he was among the finest to practice the craft.

Absurdity of such scope is one of the reasons the Oscars continue to lose viewers and hemorrhage influence. Sometimes it seems the academy has a desire to disconnect from the average moviegoer. Last year’s Oscar telecast, accordingly, logged the show’s tiniest audience on record. (more…)

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Tags: brad pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Wahlberg, oscars
Posted Jan 23rd 2009 at 7:18 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment | 2846516 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dharsanyi/2009/01/23/oscar-the-ouch/Oscar+the+Ouch2009-01-23+15%3A18%3A22David+Harsanyi

LOWEST RATED OSCAR TELECAST IN HISTORY?: Snubs of THE DARK KNIGHT, Clint Eastwood and Bruce Springsteen point toward a new ratings nadir for the Oscar show; The five Best Picture nominees have combined to gross only $186M, about what TDK delivered in first 4 days!

Nobody is ever completely satisfied with the Academy Award nominations, but with several key snubs, Oscar voters may have ensured that the 2009 telecast hits an all-time ratings low.

Investor Warren Buffet coined the phrase “skin in the game” to describe a situation where executives use their own money to buy shares in their company. The so-called Oracle of Omaha likes companies where insiders have their own money invested because they work harder, care more and generally are more emotionally invested.

The problem with the Oscars is that voters are nominating films that relatively few people have seen. The five movies nominated for Best Picture this week – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Reader and Frost/Nixon – have combined to gross just $186.7M. The Dark Knight passed that box office total early in its fifth day of release. (more…)

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, Alicia Keyes, Bernard Schlink, Best Picture
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 at 11:09 pm in Steve Mason's Box Office | 2839775 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/01/22/oscarsnub/LOWEST+RATED+OSCAR+TELECAST+IN+HISTORY%3F%3A+Snubs+of+THE+DARK+KNIGHT%2C+Clint+Eastwood+and+Bruce+Springsteen+point+toward+a+new+ratings+nadir+for+the+Oscar+show%3B+The+five+Best+Picture+nominees+have+combined+to+gross+only+%24186M%2C+about+what+TDK+delivered+in+first+4+days%212009-01-23+07%3A09%3A27Steve+Mason

And the Oscar goes to – who cares?

With its stubborn refusal to nominate Dark Knight, the second-highest grossing movie of all time, for Best Picture, the Academy seems determined to fade into irrelevancy.

This year’s Oscars will be the lowest-rated ever. How do I know? For one thing, the average box office gross of the Best Picture nominees is the lowest since 1984. Considering that today’s ticket prices are more than double what they were then, that’s stunning.

Also, Hugh Jackman is hosting. Who? Exactly. But hey, he was great hosting the Tonys. And we know how popular those are.

Of course, the Academy shouldn’t nominate films based solely on box office. But there was a time when critical success and mass appeal weren’t mutually exclusive.

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Tags: dark knight, hugh jackman, oscars
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 at 12:49 pm in Entertainment | 2748561 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/01/22/and-the-oscar-goes-to-who-cares/And+the+Oscar+goes+to+-+who+cares%3F2009-01-22+20%3A49%3A19Andrew+Leigh

FINAL TRACKING: UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS could reach $24M with MALL COP at #2; Eastwood’s TORINO and INKHEART battle for third; SLUMDOG, THE WRESTLER and REV ROAD set for solid expansions!

Michael Sheen has two movies in release this weekend. The classically-trained Welsh actor plays Lucien in the wildly commercial Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony), opening on about 3,000 screens, and he plays David Frost in Frost/Nixon (Universal), expanding to about 800 playdates.

He is a classically-trained stage actor, who has starred in heavyweight UK productions of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Amadeus and The Dresser, was somehow overlooked by both Hollywood Foreign Press and Oscar voters when he starred as Tony Blair in 2006’s The Queen. (He was outshined by Helen Mirren, who won every acting prize imaginable). This year, he is in the shadow of Frank Langella’s towering portrayal of President Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon.

As an aside, The Queen was the second in screenwriter Peter Morgan’s Tony Blair trilogy. The first film was called The Deal for British television and tells the story of the rivalry between Blair and current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (This is a great title to put in your Netflix or Blockbuster cue.) The final film will be called The Special Relationship, which will focus on the intimate friendship between the British PM and President Bill Clinton between 1997-2000. Sheen has signed on, but there is no word on who will play Clinton. Morgan says the idea for the third film began to germinate when he heard that Blair and Clinton were alone together when Vice President Al Gore conceded the 2000 election.

In the meantime, Sheen will almost certainly have the #1 movie in America this weekend with Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. This is the third Underworld movie, but it is a prequel set in the dark ages with Sheen as Lucien, a young werewolf, who leads a war against Bill Nighy as Viktor, the leader of the vampire race. (more…)

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Tags: a.r. rahman, academy awards, adam sandler, Al Gore, Angela Bassett
Posted Jan 21st 2009 at 11:40 pm in Steve Mason's Box Office | 2725319 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/01/21/tracking-2/FINAL+TRACKING%3A+UNDERWORLD%3A+RISE+OF+THE+LYCANS+could+reach+%2424M+with+MALL+COP+at+%232%3B+Eastwood%27s+TORINO+and+INKHEART+battle+for+third%3B+SLUMDOG%2C+THE+WRESTLER+and+REV+ROAD+set+for+solid+expansions%212009-01-22+07%3A40%3A34Steve+Mason

Is He Really That Crazy? Why Would Mickey Rourke Defend George W. Bush?

After years of suffering the downside of a career in an industry that is famously vicious and unforgiving, Mickey Rourke is now back near the top. Last night he won the Golden Globe for “best actor in a drama” in “The Wrestler.” (Guess that means I gotta go see it.)

But would the Euro-waiters, otherwise known as The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who vote for Oscar’s overinflated pre-cursor take back their votes knowing that Rourke is guilty of filmdom’s ultimate sin: Defending the President of the United States, George W. Bush?

And will Hollywood’s partisans pull back their forthcoming Oscar votes for not toeing the “Bush is Evil” line?

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Tags: george w. bush, Golden Globes, jamie kirchick, Mickey Rourke, oscars
Posted Jan 12th 2009 at 9:29 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, News, Politics | 16137181 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/01/12/is-he-really-that-crazy-why-would-mickey-rourke-defend-bush/Is+He+Really+That+Crazy%3F+Why+Would+Mickey+Rourke+Defend+George+W.+Bush%3F2009-01-12+17%3A29%3A38Andrew+Breitbart

Your Not-So-Ultimate Golden Globes Wrap-up

Some quick thoughts on the snoozefest known as the Golden Globes:

The big question, of course, is always how the Globes will affect the Oscar voters. My guess – somewhere ranging from “not at all,” to “completely and utterly.” And I’m kind of an expert on these things, so you can quote me on that.

There was pretty much no political posturing, except for Laura Dern, who bless her heart just couldn’t help herself. Dern of course won Best Supporting Actress for the HBO film Republicans Bad, Democrats Good. Or some such.

Kate Winslet winning two acting awards is pretty damn impressive, if you’re the kind of person who finds that sort of thing impressive. If you’re not, you probably weren’t impressed at all.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle looks an awful lot like Bradley Whitford as Danny Tripp in Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. (Other than the five of you who actually watched Studio 60, you’ll have to google to see just how dead on I am here.) (Sorry, the four of you. I’m actually the fifth.)

After American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, I think it’s fair to ask: what the hell did the suburbs ever do to Sam Mendes?

Shouldn’t Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull disqualify Steven Spielberg from receiving any lifetime achievement awards for awhile?

Ricky Gervais should be hosting every awards show Hollywood produces.

How much hell to pay will there be for The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky flipping off Mickey Rourke? And I guess we’re now saying “balls” on network prime time television!

It was nice to see Mickey Rourke win Best Actor. Which I guess was the whole point of giving him the award.

Colin Farrell was a jittery winner. Question of the day: nerves, or meth?

Farrell also said – with all the fake modesty he could muster – that the votes must have been counted in Florida. Nothing like an eight-year-old callback!

And lastly: For this I missed 24?

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Tags: academy awards, Balls, Golden Globes, oscars
Posted Jan 11th 2009 at 8:43 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment | 1586173 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/alevy/2009/01/11/your-not-so-ultimate-golden-globes-wrap-up/Your+Not-So-Ultimate+Golden+Globes+Wrap-up2009-01-12+04%3A43%3A28Andy+Levy

Boycott George Clooney? How Un-American!

This recent attempt at a SAG Awards’ boycott of eight actors by some Hollywood members of the Screen Actors Guild got me thinking about an Oscar night from almost ten years ago when the Academy was honoring Elia Kazan with a lifetime achievement award.

I remember being on sets or in casting-session waiting rooms and getting into heated “discussions” with actors about The Red Scare Blacklist, and how we should “never forgive anyone who named names to save their own skin.” 

But Kazan only ever admitted to doing what he thought was right. But my actor friends, most of whom were born long after the period in question, and whose knowledge of The House Unamerican Activities Committee was usually limited to lectures from their favorite college professor, wouldn’t buy it. “Phooey,” they said. There was only one explanation: anyone who cooperated with HUAC was a coward motivated by ruthless career ambition. Anyone who refused to testify, however, did so only out of a high minded commitment to principles.

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Tags: academy awards, blacklist, Elia Kazan, HUAC, oscars
Posted Jan 10th 2009 at 4:06 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Video | 1430553 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tshillue/2009/01/10/how_unamerican/Boycott+George+Clooney%3F+How+Un-American%212009-01-11+00%3A06%3A10Tom+Shillue