Showbiz Sandbox 63: Mel Gibson Wishes It Were All A Dream
July 19, 2010
Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film “Inception” jumped to the top of the North American box office upon release. The follow-up to the director’s blockbuster “The Dark Knight” has some critics buzzing about a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Academy Award nominations are the least of Mel Gibson’s problems. After being caught on tape screaming obscenities and death threats at his ex-girlfriend, the actor and filmmaker should be happy if his next film,“The Beaver”, simply makes it into theaters.
A number of important court decisions were handed down this past week having to do with First Amendment rights. These include a ruling about “fleeting epithets” and whether broadcasters can be fined for airing them. An appeals court told the Federal Communications Commission their definition of “indecency” was too vague and may encroach on the freedom of speech.
We go over all the week’s top entertainment headlines during Big Deal or Big Whoop, including why the R.I.A.A. has spent $17 million suing music fans only to collect $391k, whether Tom Cruise will be cast in “Mission Impossible IV” and e-book sales outpacing those of real books on Amazon. Read more
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 60: Reality TV Doesn’t Kid Around
June 28, 2010
If you are a minor working on a reality television series it turns out there are no child labor laws that protect you. A month long investigation by the Los Angeles Times found dozens of kids appearing on reality programs without legal safeguards due to widespread uncertainty about how to classify the shows. Times staff writers Matea Gold and Richard Verrier reveal that most of the popular shows had not obtained work permits to employ minors. Gold joins us this week to provide all the details.
It was good news and bad news at the box office. Good news for “Toy Story 3”, which finished in first place for the second week and bad news for Tom Cruise, whose latest movie, “Knight and Day” didn’t open to boffo numbers. If you’d like to place a bet on how much Cruise’s next movie might make, you might never get the chance. The U.S. Congress is set to pass a financial reform bill that would prevent two box office futures exchanges from operating.
The government is also getting involved in the annual Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, and not in a good way. The events promoters was subpoenaed last week for an anti-trust investigation. Turns out the “radius clause” in Lollapalooza’s contract is preventing Chicago night clubs from booking musical acts. Maybe Coachella’s booking rules aren’t so bad after all.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 58: Celebrities Take Over Broadway
June 14, 2010
The Tony Awards were held on Sunday evening honoring the year’s best Broadway productions and performances. Brian Scott Lipton the editor-in-chief of TheaterMania.com was there and he stops by to fill us in on all the big winners, memorable moments and why so many movie stars are currently working in theater.
The 11th Annual Golden Trailer Awards also took place this past week and Stephen Garrett of Kinetic Trailers won two big prizes. He joins us to discuss the current state of movie promos and what its like to win the award for Trashiest Trailer.
At the box office “The Karate Kid” knocked “Shrek Forever After” out of first place after three weeks and provided a little hope for this summer’s poor ticket sales. “The A Team” on the other hand opened to poor reviews and even worse box office receipts.
In television news, the final ratings for this past season’s television shows have been released. We’ll fill you in on which shows finished on top as well as the ones nobody cared to watch. You’ll never guess where “The Jay Leno Show” came in (hint: it’s not in the top 100).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 42: Tom Cruise Takes A Pay Cut, And Other Indignities
February 15, 2010
We only talk about “Avatar” for a couple of seconds in this week’s podcast, thank goodness. Instead, we focus on actors campaigning for their Oscars (and a few who aren’t). We also discuss what we call “the 3D movie brouhaha” which has made Jeffrey Katzenberg irate.
In TV news, co-hosts Karen Woodward and Michael Giltz are passionate about the Olympics and the absurdity of “Lost” (even recaps are confusing!) And, after 28 years, MTV is changing its logo to reflect that the channel is no longer just about “music television”. They may be about 10 years too late.
Co-host J. Sperling Reich jumps into one of his favorite topics – new media – and reminds us that this guy named Steve Jobs sits on the board of Disney and is one of the top shareholders. No wonder Disney CEO Robert Igor called the underwhelming iPad “a really compelling device” that could be a game changer. We’ll hold off our thoughts on the new Apple product until we see if it really will change the way entertainment is distributed. Read more
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 1: The Replicability Podcast
April 27, 2009
Talks to merge the William Morris and Endeavor talent agencies continue, while the Screen Actors Guild and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers may have finally reached an agreement on a new contract. Critically acclaimed movies tank at the box office. Fox closes Atomic, reshuffles release dates and hires Angelina Jolie for a biopic. David Slade is selected for the third “Twilight” film.
MPAA visits Washington D.C., script doctors are kept busy writing for Tom Cruise. Cannes unveils it’s festival lineup and Francis Ford Coppola is not in it (though he is down the street at the Fortnight). Jay Leno visits the hospital and Rod Blagojevich visits Hollywood (but not Costa Rica like he wanted).
A classic Pedro Almodovar film gets remade for the small screen, PBS goes online with its content and Oprah learns Twitter etiquette.
WMA Finds Devil In The Details
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002694.html?categoryid=29&cs=1
SAG National Board of Directors Approves Tentative Television and Motion Picture Contacts
http://www.sag.org/press-releases/april-19-2009/sag-national-board-of-directors-approves-tentative-television-and-motio
Flush times for theatrical movies? Don’t tell A.O. Scott
http://www.riskybusinessblog.com/2009/04/good-movies-struggle-at-box-office.html
Down Economy = Dumbed Down Movies/TV? Stop the Inanity!
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20269754,00.html
Fox Folding Atomic Label
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002584.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/exclusive-fox-atomic-shutting-down/
Fox Shuffles Film Schedule
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002645.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Angelina Jolie Teams With Fox 2000
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002704.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1
Slade Slated For Third Twilight
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002751
MPAA Reaches Out To Lawmakers
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002688.html?categoryid=18&cs=1
Script Doctor’s In For Tom Cruise
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002702.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1
Digital Governator Set For Termininator
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002743.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Robert Rodriguez Wields “Machete”
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002792.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1
Cannes Unveils Lineup
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1118002762&cs=1
Coppola’s Thinking Outside The Cannes
http://www.riskybusinessblog.com/2009/04/by-steven-zeitchik-we-remember-interviewing-francis-ford-coppola-last-year-upon-the-release-of-his-slightly-lugubrious-you.html
Coppola’s “Tetro” To Open Fortnight
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1118002806&cs=1
Leno Misses First Tonight Show in 17 Years
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53N0BE20090424
Blagojevich Says Still Wants Piece Of Reality Show
http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/showpatrol/2009/04/blago-to-be-part-of-im-a-celebrity-.html
Pedro Almodovar On “Verge” Of TV Series
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i360cdd62fc9ca5a8db5e24f4b2b51779?imw=Y
ABC Announces Several Renewals
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i202b681b4f137513e078e67f0d29aa46
Watch PBS Online? You Can If You Visit Its New Video Portal
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-fi-ct-pbs22-2009apr22,0,56403.story
Oprah Gets Pwned By Shaq On Twitter
http://news.cnet.com/oprah-gets-pwned-by-shaq-on-twitter/?part=rss
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
