A terrific monologue, a passionate deconstruction of the whole political process by one Craig Ferguson.  Well worth watching:

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Old news, but still worthy of mention. Don LaFontaine, the man who more or less invented modern voice over, especially in the realm of film trailers, has died at the age of 68 from complications from pneumothorax (a collapsed lung issue).

Maybe I should feel a little guilty, but, as/…

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Sorry folks. There will be no gratuitous ass shots of Zack Efron. There will be no shower scenes with Vanessa Hudgens. There will be no hot hook-ups between Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel, although I presume that their relationship will continue to border on incestuous (the cardboard stand up ads s… Read full post »

 by Scott Mendelson

I'll be doing a pieces on this in the coming weeks, but this is week two in Lionsgate's end of 2008 blitz. Eight major films released nine weeks in a row, followed by four more by year's end.

Disaster Movie tanked last weekend, and the next… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

And so it ends, as summer always does, with a whimper.  It's been a hell of a ride, but summer unfortunately always ends with the doldrums… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

Last night's fire-breathing, heavily sarcastic speech by Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin was exactly what she needed to do in order to solidify her position and prove her worth in rallying up the base (it seems to be working, my boss is a Republican who doesn't lik… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

This story was released today, in order to refute this story.

 

It should be stated that the new story doesn't explain many of the issues with the old story. If Palin's daughter has a sudden miscarriage in the very very near future, then one can make… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

Once a narrative gets going, especially a juicy one, it's hard to put back in the bottle. In the last two weeks, the official talking point, both of righteous conservatives and allegedly offended liberals, is that Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight explicitly endorses the 'War On Terror… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

First off, congrats on McCain from completely swiping the news cycle away from Obama. If this was going to be the pick, I'm genuinely surprised that they didn't 'accidentally' leak it yesterday as was rumored to be the plan.

Since everyone is noting the slight similarities, I wonde… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

I like Michael Moore.  I like his movies, I love some of them (Roger And Me, Bowling For Columbine, the first half of Sicko).  I like his books and his lectures.  My issues with Fahrenheit 911 and the hoopla that followed were not so much with the film, but… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

With summer winding down and everyone taking stock (full summer analysis coming soon), now is a good time to reflect on what comes next. The big story of the summer was of course the colossal success of The Dark Knight. But, with success comes possibly insurmountable expectations. O… Read full post »

As most of us know, Lionsgate is releasing the fifth film in the ongoing Saw series in late October as they always do. Yet, this time, for the first time since the original, there is genuine competition. This time, there is the juggernaut known as High School Musical 3: Senior Year.… Read full post »

It's about dang time...

As mentioned above, Warner Bros. is developing the dynamite comic book spy thriller Sleeper into a feature that may or may not star Tom Cruise and may be directed by Sam Raimi.

For those not in the know, Sleeper was a 24 issue miniseries of sorts that ran from/…

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Entertainment Weekly probably ought to send out a revised version of its Fall Movie Preview from last week. In just the last eight days...

In a stunning (and stunningly intelligent) move, Warner Bros moved Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince moved from November 21st to July 17th, 2009. Then,… Read full post »

I've been saying this for years. In the last decade or so, the box office business has become more like politics in one very important way: The management of expectations. As weekend box office has become a mainstream sport, the studios have used alleged tracking and alleged punditry to attack the… Read full post »

 by Scott Mendelson

Yup, Entertainment Weekly's new Fall Movie Preview issue has Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince on the cover.  Of course, said movie just got moved all the way to July, 2009.  Um... at least Entertainment Weekly has a sense of humor about it. "Entertainment W… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

Yet more Punisher drama. Apparently Lionsgate wants to further bowdlerize The Punisher: War Zone. Not content to remove the director, re-edit the film, and replace the score with heavy metal music, they are now aiming for a PG-13. Yes, that's right, a PG-13 Punisher film. Remembe… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

Of course, now that Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince has been moved into mid-summer 2009,  a relatively weak 2008 holiday slate becomes incredibly weak (basically you have Quantum Of Solace, Walt Disney's Bolt, Twilight, and Madagascar 2). For what it's worth, if I were P… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

As noted above, Warner Bros. has shockingly decided to move Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince from November 21st, 2008 to July 17th, 2009. Yes, it's the same slot where Warner Bros. scored huge with Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix and The Dark Knight in… Read full post »

by Scott Mendelson

Let's presume for the moment that it's high moral outrage to cheat on your wife and then use your strong family ties as a core point of appeal for your political reputation (ie - if Chris Dodd had been caught in this situation, it wouldn't have been nearly as… Read full post »