http://www.showbizsandbox.com Showbiz Sandbox is a podcast featuring industry professionals J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward and Michael Giltz’s humorous viewpoints, insightful analysis and insider opinions on the latest entertainment news headlines. The weekly podcast features renowned industry guests, as well as phone calls and emails from listeners who voice their own opinions on the child’s play of the entertainment business. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:48:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Showbiz Sandbox is a podcast featuring industry professionals J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward and Michael Giltz’s humorous viewpoints, insightful analysis and insider opinions on the latest entertainment news headlines. The weekly podcast features renowned industry guests, as well as phone calls and emails from listeners who voice their own opinions on the child’s play of the entertainment business. J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz sperling@showbizsandbox.com sperling@showbizsandbox.com (J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz) 2009 The podcast that brings you all the dirt on the news making headlines around the entertainment world. Entertainment, Movies, Film, Television, TV, Music, Theater, Broadway http://www.showbizsandbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/showbiz-sandbox-podcast-artwork-with-photos.png http://www.showbizsandbox.com http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/12/14/showbiz-sandbox-33-avatar-is-a-100-hamburger/ http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/12/14/showbiz-sandbox-33-avatar-is-a-100-hamburger/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:15:02 +0000 J. Sperling Reich http://www.showbizsandbox.com/?p=556 http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/12/14/showbiz-sandbox-33-avatar-is-a-100-hamburger/feed/ 0 "Avatar","Conveyor Belt of Love","Flight of the Conchords","It's Complicated","Jersey Shore","The Princess and the Frog",Academy Awards,Al Pacino,Billboard,Boston Society of Film Critics,Franklin Leonard,James Rocchi James Rocchi was one of the lucky entertainment journalists invited to the “Avatar” premiere and press junket in London and he joins us this week to tell us all about it. Rocchi also helps us dissect all those year-end "Top 10" critics lists, James Rocchi (http://rocchireport.com/) was one of the lucky entertainment journalists invited to the “Avatar” premiere and press junket in London and he joins us this week to tell us all about it. Rocchi (http://www.twitter.com/jamesrocchi) also helps us dissect all those year-end "Top 10" critics lists, not to mention one that rates the year's best unproduced screenplays. Who do you think will be on the red carpet at Oscar time? And the Best of 2009 lists extend into television and music territory as well. The Los Angeles Times rounded up the TV winners and losers for the season (and we compare them to our own predictions for this year's television series from Episode 22). Meanwhile, SoundScan released the best selling albums and artists of the decade. Guess how many of them were released before 2002? Listen to the podcast to find out. We sail through some of the week's top entertainment news headlines in our Big Deal/Big Whoop segment, including the possibility of a "Ghostbusters 3" sequel in the works. We close out the show with some seriously insider Inside Baseball: Daily Variety got a new editor, and the Finkelstein Group bought the Billboard (hey, maybe Michael Giltz (http://www.michaelgiltz.com) can take over their website), The Hollywood Reporter, and a few other trade publications. Lachlin Murdoch, however, was not a part of the group purchasing Nielsen Business Media, as he opted to buy a 50% stake in an Australian Radio Station. What does this say about the future of print? "Avatar" Embargo Smashed http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2009/12/avatar_embargo.html (http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2009/12/avatar_embargo.html) Critics Group Awards Roundup: 'Avatar' and 'Hurt Locker' Win Accolades http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/12/13/critics-group-awards-roundup-avatar.... (http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/12/13/critics-group-awards-roundup-avatar-takes-ny-online-critics-top-honor-the-hurt-locker-rakes-in-accolades/) http://www.afi.com/ (http://www.afi.com/) Muppet Fur Flies Over Jim Henson Script http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/muppet-fur.... (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/muppet-fur-flies-over-jim-henson-script.html) The Black ist - Top 11 Unproduced Screenplays of 2009 http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/12/11/black-list-2009-screenplays/ (http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/12/11/black-list-2009-unproduced-screenplays/) New Paramount Division Will Think Small http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-paramount11-2009dec11,0,155266.story (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-paramount11-2009dec11,0,155266.story) Network TV Winners and Losers http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-winners-losers16.... (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-winners-losers16-2009nov16,0,1996196.story) MTV's 'Jersey Shore' Garners Critics Over The Use Of The Term 'Guido' http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mtv-show-jersey-shore-angers-italian.... (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mtv-show-jersey-shore-angers-italian-american-groups/story?id=9292815) ABC Rolling Out 'Conveyor Belt Of Love' http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/12/abc-rolling-out-conveyor-belt-of-love.html (http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/12/abc-rolling-out-conveyor-belt-of-love.html) Billboard's Year End Lists http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/hot-100-songs?year=2009 (http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/hot-100-songs?year=2009) http://www.billboard.com/#/../../charts-year-end/the-billboard-200?year=2009 (http://www.billboard.com/#/../../charts-year-end/the-billboard-200?year=2009) Flight Of The Conchords Is Grounded http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/12/flight-of-the-conchords.... (http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/12/flight-of-the-conchords-is-grounded.html) Academy Screenings of "Invictus" and "Nine" Rained out http://goldderby.latimes. J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/11/30/showbiz-sanbox-31-blind-sided-by-adam-lamberts-double-standard/ http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/11/30/showbiz-sanbox-31-blind-sided-by-adam-lamberts-double-standard/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:41:01 +0000 J. Sperling Reich http://www.showbizsandbox.com/?p=524 http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/11/30/showbiz-sanbox-31-blind-sided-by-adam-lamberts-double-standard/feed/ 0 "Avatar","FlashForward","The Blind Side","Twilight Saga: New Moon","Up In The Air",Adam Lambert,Eminem,George Clooney,James Cameron,Jason Reitman,Jay Leno,Lachlan Murdoch While we all still may be sluggish from all the turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving, the North American box office sure wasn't. It set a record for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as once again "The Blind Side" surprises everyone. While we all still may be sluggish from all the turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving, the North American box office sure wasn't. It set a record for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as once again "The Blind Side" surprises everyone. The Sandra Bullock m... J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/10/26/showbiz-sandbox-26-hollywood-struggles-with-new-business-models/ http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/10/26/showbiz-sandbox-26-hollywood-struggles-with-new-business-models/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:30:06 +0000 J. Sperling Reich http://www.showbizsandbox.com/?p=452 http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/10/26/showbiz-sandbox-26-hollywood-struggles-with-new-business-models/feed/ 0 "Glee","Melrose Place","Paranormal Activity","This Is It",Francis Ford Coppola,Hulu,Joss Whedon,Kanye West,Lil Wayne,Netflix,Paramount Pictures,Reed Hastings Freelance entertainment journalist Todd Gilchrist joins us this week to talk about movies, music, and journalism. (But he recused himself from discussing TV because he doesn’t watch a lot of it. [gasp!]) Fine. We’ll start with movies then. Freelance entertainment journalist Todd Gilchrist (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author/author-8531/) joins us this week to talk about movies, music, and journalism. (But he recused himself from discussing TV because he doesn’t watch a lot of it. [gasp... J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/08/24/showbiz-sandbox-17-twitter-makes-movie-critics-important-again/ http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/08/24/showbiz-sandbox-17-twitter-makes-movie-critics-important-again/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:36:52 +0000 J. Sperling Reich http://www.showbizsandbox.com/?p=329 http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/08/24/showbiz-sandbox-17-twitter-makes-movie-critics-important-again/feed/ 0 "Avatar","Dancing With The Stars","Dirty Dancing","Inglorious Basterds","Shutter Island","Yellow Submarine",Anne Thompson,IndieWire,Paramount Pictures,Radiohead,Redbox,Thom Yorke Anne Thompson of “Thompson On Hollywood” joins us again this week, with big news of her own: Her blog is now a part of the indieWire network, where she will shine the Hollywood light on outlet which has traditionally covered the indie scene. Anne Thompson of “Thompson On Hollywood” joins us again this week, with big news of her own: Her blog is now a part of the indieWire network, where she will shine the Hollywood light on outlet which has traditionally covered the indie scene. Thompson can now be read at http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood (http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood), and you can always follow her on twitter at twitter.com/akstanwyck (http://www.twitter.com/akstanwyck). Speaking of Twitter, is the social media platform responsible for the successful opening weekend of “Inglorious Basterds”? “Bruno” and “GI Joe” plummeted at the box office within their opening weekends, and box office watchers posit that social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have a lot to do with it. Bad news travels fast. Obviously so does good news – and the best news is that studios may have to start making – gasp – watchable movies! Friday, August 21st was Avatar Day, when fans could hustle over to their nearest IMAX theatre to watch 16 minutes of 3D footage from James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The web site on which people could reserve tickets crashed on the first day because demand was so high, but apparently many theaters were near empty. Could that have anything to do with the trailer being available online beforehand? Entertainment journalist Michael Giltz (http://www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz) saw both versions of the trailer and didn't think either were engaging. Paramount is pushing “Shutter Island,” the Leonardo DiCaprio movie directed by Martin Scorsese, to February. This may be a sign that the film isn’t Oscar worthy, or perhaps it’s not meant to be Oscar worthy. It's certainly ture that Paramount doesn’t have the budget to both market the movie's release and promote an Oscar campaign. Paramount seems to be doing a lot of dumping these days following the shuttering of Paramount Vantage. Of course when one of those movies is “The Goods” starring Jeremy Piven, it probably deserves to be dumped. Studios are clearly looking at the bottom line these days, as the recent hulabalu over Redbox demonstrates. TimeWarner chairman Jeff Bewkes compared Redbox to second-run movie theatres. According to Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times, by trying to keep their product away from Redbox for as long as possible, the studios are doing what all businesses do when threatened by dramatic change -- they're trying to hang on to their business model for as long as possible. Meanwhile, the Redbox antitrust suit against Universal was upheld… This is starting to sound like a movie that should star George Clooney. And we start our remake watch in this episode! Disney is in negotiations with Bob Zemeckis to direct a remake of the Beatles’ animated movie “Yellow Submarine,” Lionsgate is putting Baby back in the corner again (“Dirty Dancing”), and Bryan Singer is developing an “Excalibur” remake. Meanwhile in television is giving us plenty of reality shows, such as “Dancing with Stars,” which announced the line up for its ninth season, a list that included disgraced Congressman Tom Delay. In music news, Radiohead’s Thom York dissed the album format but that doesn’t mean free business models don't work…just ask, well, Radiohead and Thom York. Turns out they leaked their latest song on bittorrent. Someone who still believes in records is Willie Nelson, who is now following Giltz on Twitter. Giltz (http://www.michaelgiltz.com) thinks Nelson's new record "American Classic" is one of his best. And our Inside Baseball news this week focuses on the Hollywood Health Report. When this many deck chairs are about to be rearranged, folks in Hollywood start speculating which studios are on the rise and which might be in trouble. Anne Thompson helps us sort it all out. Twittering May Have Impact At The Box Office http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081904279.html?hpid=artsliving (http://www.washingtonpost. J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/06/22/showbiz-sandbox-9-i-loves-me-a-good-ouster-story/ http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/06/22/showbiz-sandbox-9-i-loves-me-a-good-ouster-story/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:50:25 +0000 J. Sperling Reich http://www.showbizsandbox.com/?p=152 http://www.showbizsandbox.com/2009/06/22/showbiz-sandbox-9-i-loves-me-a-good-ouster-story/feed/ 0 "Middlemarch","Moneyball","Public Enemies","The Proposal","The Three Stooges",Adam Goodman,Brad Pitt,David Letterman,Jon Lesher,Lou Lumenick,Michael Giltz,Paramount Pictures Entertainment journalist Michael Giltz provides his insight and wit again this week. - “The Proposal” topped the box office, and was Sandra Bullock’s biggest movie opening ever. Which begs the question, why is this not also “a Ryan Reynolds movie”? Entertainment journalist Michael Giltz (http://michaelgiltz.com/ ) provides his insight and wit again this week. “The Proposal” topped the box office, and was Sandra Bullock’s biggest movie opening ever. Which begs the question, why is this not also “a Ryan Reynolds movie”? Sean Penn is taking a year off for some “personal time,” or perhaps he just wants to get out of “The Three Stooges.” Other people taking time off are Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt, after Colombia Pictures President Amy Pascal pulled the plug on the Steven Zallian-scripted “Moneyball” which was set to shoot on Monday, June 22. Sam Mendes is having better luck, having just signed a two year deal with Focus Features, and he will direct the film adaptation of George Eliot’s classic “Middlemarch.” It was a shoot ‘em up between NY Post Critic Lou Lumenick and Universal over Lumeneck’s early review of “Public Enemies.” Turns out there was an embargo on when the reviews could be published. Lumenick claims he didn’t know that, but according to Michael Giltz, it’s a rule of thumb that all reviewers know. Is the Weinstein Company going out of business, or is all the gossip surrounding Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s production company just a lot of hot air meant to bring down the brothers W? They’ve hired a company that specializes in bankruptcy, so things don’t look good. Speidi – that’s Spencer and Heidi Pratt for the uninitiated – allowed themselves to be bullied by a weatherman on “The Today Show” this week. Who knew Al Roker was such a relentless interviewer? David Letterman apologized for his off-color joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter. David Letterman apologized again for his off-color joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter. And….David Letterman apologized for his off-color joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter. Texas Instruments produces a bombshell for the motion picture exhibition industry by announcing they will be releasing a digital cinema chip with twice the resolution as what’s on the market today. But what do theatre owners do with the equipment they’ve already installed and how long will they have to wait for the new technology to be ready? In Inside Baseball news: Paramount is “streamlining” - i.e. firing Jon Lesher and promoting Adam Goodman. 'Proposal' Accepted At The Box office http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i34e2ede5adb7e1e8aad375728197fb9e (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i34e2ede5adb7e1e8aad375728197fb9e) Sean Penn Taking Year Off http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/sean-penn-is-taking-next-year-off/ (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/sean-penn-is-taking-next-year-off/) Sony Scraps Soderbergh's Moneyball http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005208.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2854 (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005208.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2854) Sam Mendes Inks Two Year Deal With Focus Features http://www.playbill.com/news/article/130401-Mendes_Inks_Two-Year_Deal_with_Focus_Features (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/130401-Mendes_Inks_Two-Year_Deal_with_Focus_Features) Sorry Public Enemies Is Shooting Blanks http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2009/06/oscar_watch_pub.html (http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2009/06/oscar_watch_pub.html) Media Buzzards Circle Weinstein Co http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/media-buzzards-circle-weinstein-co_3523 (http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/media-buzzards-circle-weinstein-co_3523) Weinstein Company May Not Have The Cash To Market Inglorious Basterds http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/06/weinstein-company-may-not-have-the-cash-to-market.html (http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/06/weinstein-company-may-not-have-the-cash-to-market.html) Weinsteins Try To Rebuild A Film Studio http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/business/media/08weinstein.html?_r=1&ref=media (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/business/media/08weinstein.html?_r=1&ref=media) J. Sperling Reich, Karen Woodward & Michael Giltz no