1. CABLE RATINGS: ‘BASKETBALL WIVES’ AND ‘RIDICULOUSNESS’ TROUNCE STEWART, COLBERT
Stewart 1.744
“The Five“: 1.504
Colbert 1.249
—-Weekly Cable Ratings: Stewart And Colbert Not Even In Top 25
2. WHERE HAVE ALL THE COWBOYS GONE? — “By the 1970s the lure of seeing the wide-open west…”
By the 1970s, the lure of seeing the wide-open west on the silver screen was gone. Replacing sheriffs and U.S. Marshals were gritty cops who cared less about justice and more about bloodlust. Clint Eastwood, icon for years for playing The Man with No Name, traded his poncho in for a suit. Dirty Harry went on for several years before he donned a cowboy hat again, in “Unforgiven.” With “Unforgiven,” Eastwood deconstructed the genre. Gone was the squint-eyed rascal who saved the day, and in his stead was a broken down old man. The sheriff is no longer a saintly figure like Gary Cooper in “High Noon,” but a cold-blooded tyrant. The stranger who waltzes into town doesn’t save the locals; he ends up the victim of an humiliating beat down. In fact, the only hope for the damsel in distress (prostitutes this time around) is a former murderer of women and children. After thirty years, Clint had put the genre down for good.
3. THE DEATH OF BUNDLED CABLE IS NOT EXAGGERATED: “Now that Time Warner Cable, AT&T and…”
Now that Time Warner Cable, AT&T, and Verizon have kicked off the latest round of quarterly earnings reports by multi-channel operators late last month — a series that continues Wednesday when Comcast releases its first-quarter numbers — a case can be made that the cable industry has a better future in providing broadband services rather than TV/video bundles. And they have Netflix and YouTube to thank for that.
4. HULU’S TYRANNICAL CABLE AUTHENTICATION MODEL INTERESTS CBS: “Added Moonves: ‘We are doing…'”
Added Moonves: “We are doing extremely well being nonexclusive with the Netflix and the Amazon [deals] and, more importantly, with our CBS.com site, [where] we keep 100 percent, 100 cents on the dollar.”
When the authentication-focused Hulu comes out, “we will, of course, have a conversation with them,” Moonves said. “On the CW side, we are doing business with Hulu Plus right now. So we do talk to them, but right now we are very happy with our strategy.”
5. ANOTHER ‘AVENGERS’ RAVE: “In many ways, “The Avengers” feels like…”
In many ways, “The Avengers” feels like the truest adaptation of the original comics to the motion picture screen. It doesn’t mythologize or minimize or condescend or get lost in fanboy minutiae. Instead, it plays up the clash of personalities — and the simple act of acknowledging that superheroes can actually have personalities may be its boldest move — while never skimping on the popcorn thrills. It gives superhero movies, and even summer movies in general, a good name.
6. CONTROVERSIAL ‘MEN’ SHOWRUNNER STEPS DOWN: “Aronsohn has been with the show since…”
Aronsohn has been with the show since the beginning, but he came under fire in April for comments he made to THR about female-driven shows at a Toronto screenwriting conference.
“Enough, ladies. I get it. You have periods,” he said when discussing the current boom in women-centric television. He applauded such creators as Whitney Cummings, Chelsea Handler and Tina Fey for discussing formerly taboo subjects on TV. “But we’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation,” he said.
7. SCHWARZENEGGER ACTUALLY SAYS ‘I’M BACK’: “I realize that at 1:21 Sylvester Stallone…”
I realize that at 1:21 Sylvester Stallone is delivering a kind of tribute to a line spoken by William Holden’s Pike Bishop in the opening minutes of The Wild Bunch: “If they move, kill ’em.” Except Stallone seems to be saying, “Jarapneem find ’em, kill ’em.”
8. AMPAS CELEBRATES GENE KELLY’S CENTENNIAL: “Even during the height of his career…”
Even during the height of his career, Kelly frequently encountered technical barriers and studio resistance in his efforts to build dance numbers into the structure of film and bring the dance, quite literally, into the streets. The program will discuss how he overcame those obstacles and will also explore the innovative ways that he used cinematography, animation and sound to create some of his most iconic scenes.
9. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT ‘THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 6‘: ” Flushed with the unexpectedly huge success…”
Flushed with the unexpectedly huge success of “Fast Five” (Or “Fast & Furious 5,” or whatever it’s called in your particular canton), director Justin Lin’s currently compiling his cast for a sequel. It’s all but certain that Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel will reprise their leading roles as the car-crazy cops and robbers of last year’s movie.
Gina Carano’s set to star alongside Johnson as a law-enforcing side-kick, and Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson are returning once again, too (the former’s reappearance certainly makes sense, given the post revelation that – gasp – her character didn’t die at all in the fourth film).
10. THE TEN GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME
- Aguirre, Wrath of God (Herzog)
- Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
- Citizen Kane (Welles)
- La Dolce Vita (Fellini)
- The General (Keaton)
- Raging Bull (Scorsese)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
- Tokyo Story (Ozu)
- The Tree of Life (Malick)
- Vertigo (Hitchcock)
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1.POLIWOOD RETURNS: DOES ‘THE HUNGER GAMES’ ADVANCE A CONSERVATIVE AGENDA?
2. HBO OPTS OUT OF ADAPTATING FRANZEN’S ‘THE CORRECTIONS’
3. WILL NETFLIX GIVE ‘JERICHO’ (ANOTHER) NEW LIFE?
4. ‘WINGS,’ ACADEMY’S FIRST BEST PICTURE WINNER, TO HIT THEATERS AGAIN
5. EW’S SEASON FINALE CALENDAR
6. SECOND END CREDITS SCENE FOR ‘THE AVENGERS’ CONFIRMED
7. SECOND FEATURETTE ON TIM BURTON’S ‘DARK SHADOWS‘
8. 2012 TONY NOMINATIONS: MISERY CONTINUES FOR ‘SPIDER-MAN‘
9. LOOKING BACK AT JIM HENSON’S ‘THE STORYTELLER‘
10. ELIJAH WOOD TO STAR IN RIDICULOUS PIANO RECITAL THRILLER ‘GRAND PIANO’
11. TOM CRUISE WILL HUNT MONSTERS IN A ‘VAN HELSING’ REBOOT
12. FIVE REASONS WHY I’M MORE EXCITED FOR ‘DARK KNIGHT RISES’ THAN ‘THE AVENGERS’
13. THE TIME GROUCHO MARX DID THE CHARLESTON ON HITLER’S GRAVE
14. 10 SHOWS BETTER WHEN VIEWED AS ONE LONG LAZY MARATHON
SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR
R.I.P. FILM/TV COMPOSER JOEL GOLDSMITH (‘STARGATE SG-1,’ ‘WITCHBLADE,’ ‘STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT’)
PETER JACKSON, 48FPS, AND THE BATTLE BETWEEN ART AND TECH
AFTER RICH ROSS, WHO SHOULD RUN DISNEY?
CONCEPT ART FROM ‘GAME OF THRONES‘
THE 10 GREATEST MOVIES ABOUT WRITING/WRITERS
EXPLORING DIRECTOR ALFONSO CUARON’S LOVE OF LONG SINGLE TAKES
COOL INFOGRAPHIC: THE SAMUEL L. JACKSON VENN DIAGRAM
10 FICTIONAL CHARACTERS YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE
NEW TO HOME VIDEO
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME: Debuts on Blu-ray and DVD (both with UltraViolet™) June 19, 2012 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film will also be available On Demand and for Digital Download on June 15, 2012.
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME is the story of one man’s hilarious search for the meaning of life. As slacker Jeff stumbles towards enlightenment, he uncovers answers to his nagging family’s problems. Jeff has no idea where he’s going but when he finally gets there, he might just find out what it’s all about. Judy Greer (The Descendants) and Rae Dawn Chong (“St. Elsewhere”) also star in this delightfully entertaining film that is “funny, tender and ultimately moving” (Mark Adams, ScreenDaily.com) and is filled with “moments of comedy gold” (Lou Lumenick, New York Post).
The JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.
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Joe + Belle: Writer/director/actor Veronica Kadar’s dark romantic comedy “Joe + Belle” debuts on DVD from Wolfe Video on July 3rd. Two women who are relative strangers become an unlikely team when they accidentally shoot a guy – twice! – and must figure out how to get rid of the body and escape the authorities. They go on the lam together, and surprisingly fall in love amidst car chases, falling rocket bombs and other surprising misadventures.
“Joe + Belle” won Best Director at the 2011 International Women’s Film Festival in Israel, as well as Best Screenplay at Cinemascope Festival and Best Alternative Feature at Cinema South’s International Film Festival in Israel. Currently the film is travelling the U.S. and International film festival circuit, with stops including LA’s Outfest, San Francisco’s Frameline, and LGBT festivals in Seattle, Boston, London, Paris and dozens of other cities.
Synopsis: Things get very complicated very quickly when Joe (Veronica Kedar), an angsty drug dealer, meets Belle (Sivan Levy), a buoyant suicidal psychopath, in this dark comedy. After an outlandish accident in Tel Aviv leaves the pair with a body to dispose of, they embark on a madcap journey to lose the cops – and end up finding love in Sderot (the target of ongoing rocket attacks). Gritty but tender, “Joe + Belle” offers an absurd portrait of life in contemporary Israel.
J”oe + Belle” is in Hebrew, French and English (with English subtitles) and has a running time of 80 minutes. The film is not rated.
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“Father of the Bride” 20th Anniversary Edition & “Father of the Bride Part II” Arrive on Blu-ray™ May 15th: Celebrate the platinum anniversary of the unforgettable comedy classic “Father of the Bride” plus the uproarious follow-up “Father of the Bride Part II” on Blu-ray™ for the first time ever. Screen legends Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short star in these warm and witty family favorites, complete with a new digital restoration.
Things get out of hand for befuddled father George Banks (Martin) when his young daughter unexpectedly announces her plans to wed. Life gets even crazier in the sidesplitting sequel when his daughter and his wife (Keaton) both announce they are pregnant, and George desperately tries to capture the wild and crazy days of his youth.
Relive every heartwarming and hilarious moment in this special 2-Movie Collection
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“BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE” Available For The First Time On Blu-ray™, May 15, 2012: The laugh-out-loud comedy “Bringing Down The House” will be available for the first time on Blu-ray™, May 15th, with a stunning new digital transfer!
The hilarious Steve Martin (Father Of The Bride) and Academy Award® nominee Queen Latifah (Best Actress In A Supporting Role, Chicago, 2002) star with Eugene Levy (American Pie) and Betty White (The Proposal) in this hysterical culture clash hit.
When Peter Sanderson (Martin), a divorced, uptight lawyer, meets Charlene (Latifah), a street-smart soul sister who’s just escaped from prison, his life is turned upside down. Crazy complications abound, and Peter soon discovers he may need Charlene just as much as she needs him. It’s a houseful of fun your family will enjoy again and again.
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