What’s the point of making Hair II if you can’t get Treat Williams back? This was what was going through my head as the trailer for Across the Universe played. The comparison people are going to be using is Moulin Rouge, since the movie, a musical about a group of hippies in the 60s, uses … Continue reading
Last week, THUD reported that Spike Lee signed to direct the pilot M.O.N.Y. for NBC. At the time, I said that the project – about an ordinary guy who becomes the mayor of New York – sounded like an ideal match for Lee and that it was one of the new pilots to pay attention … Continue reading
The most shocking thing about Joss Whedon being off the Wonder Woman movie is how quickly it was announced. Just yesterday, Warner Bros bought a non-Whedon Wonder Woman script, claiming they were trying to head off a potential lawsuit. Many people were skeptical – those people were justified today when Whedon announced he was off … Continue reading
Ryan Gosling is one crafty fella. Lightweight (Remember the Titans!), heavyweight (The Believer!) and weird choices in between (The Notebook), the dude has earned himself a rep as a true thesp, as evidenced by his recent Academy Award and SAG nomination for Half Nelson. In the mean time, while toying with the idea of whether … Continue reading
On his Hollywood Elsewhere blog Jeffrey Wells has begun a campaign to “take down” Eddie Murphy in the Oscar race. We’re not even going to get into whether or not a blogger can “take down” anything besides the buffet at a junket – we’ll take Wells at his word. The reasoning for his new campaign … Continue reading
Quick, what was the last great volcano movie? Now, just as fast, what was the last great Roman Polanski movie? The second question is easier to answer, but that doesn’t make it much easier to get excited about the fact that Polanski has taken on Pompeii as his next project. Based on the book by … Continue reading
“Why is this day different from all others?” is a question every Jewish family hears at the Passover seder. “Why is this biopic different from all others?” is a question that no one seems to hear in Hollywood. Factory Girl is the latest in a string of disposable and interchangeable biopics about people whose lives … Continue reading
Jason Schwartzman has never been someone I’ve paid attention to one way or the other. The best way I can describe the guy is chicken broth. By that, I mean, he’s a good person for other people to play off of and he’s reliably consistent. But if people rave or complain about something you make … Continue reading
Way back in 2002, when Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise could do no wrong and were cuddling and snuggling with Paramount, the two worked out a deal to buy the remake rights to the Chinese horror film, The Eye. Now that it’s the morning after, Lionsgate received the studio handoff and will be releasing the … Continue reading
I don’t know what this site would be today without Smilin’ Jack Ruby. Working the screening and junket circuit in LA, he helped the site straddle the line between fanboyism and professionalism, and many of the contacts I have today in the film business started with him. Without his lead, I don’t know if I … Continue reading