Karina Longworth: 10/01/2006

Evangelical School From Documentary Jesus Camp Shuts Down

Alec Baldwin backs out of anti-Schwarzenegger film

If you find it surprising that the famously-liberal actor Alec Baldwin is speaking out against a film which shows California's easily-mocked Governator in a bad light, imagine what the filmmakers are thinking. "It's been a rough week for us," Running with Arnold producer Mike Gabrawy told me via email last night. "I knew we'd get resistance to a film about the most prominent Republican in California, we're all just a bit shocked that it's coming from a supporter of the film and arguably the most outspoken Democrat."
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'Studio 60' Cancellation Imminent at NBC

"Two weeks ago, NBC/Universal laid off 750 employees and announced plans to consolidate some of the resources of their news division. Television CEO Jeff Zucker even had the bright idea to sell this restructuring to the media as something called "NBC 2.0" - downsizing branded as futurism. This didn't do much to cover up the embarrassing truth: NBC is failing because somebody had the stupid idea that they should be chasing ratings with quality."

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film art and Film Art

I'm really loving David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's blog, which I discovered last week (or was the week before that?) via Movie City Indie. One of my big problems with academia (and, it seemed, the academic study of film in particular) was the institution's apparent unwillingness to engage with contemporary journalism, even (or, especially) where areas of interest overlapped. In the latest entry, Thompson responds to a recent piece in the WSJ, in which Joe Morgenstern manages to indict the iPod shuffle for crimes originally committed by Last Year at Marienbad.

Death of a President Interview

CNN & NPR Won't Hawk Fake Dead President Movie

"This marks the second major media "boycott" of Gabriel Range's movie, after Cinemark and Regal, two of the largest theater chains in the U.S. declined to screen it. But as many bloggers and critics are pointing out, neither corporate shutout should be assumed to be a mortal blow to the film."
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The Ethicist on Borat

"When faced with an ethical quandary about a comedy, who better to consult than Randy Cohen? The man behind The New York Times Magazine column The Ethicist, Cohen is also an Emmy-winning television comedy writer, whose credits include Late Night with David Letterman and Michael Moore's TV Nation. Yesterday I emailed Cohen some of the information I had gathered in regards to the questionable practices employed by the producers of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, and today I gave him a call to get his response..."
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How Borat hoaxed America...

"Sacha Baron Cohen has made a career out of coercing public figures to submit to "interviews" with his alter egos, Borat and Ali Gi. If you're like me, you can't watch Ali G getting kicked out of Andy Rooney's office without asking the question, "Why do people like Rooney -- and Gore Vidal and Ralph Nadar and countless others -- let this guy in the door in the first place?" The article linked to this post answers the "why" -- they're apparently duped, and then paid. I went looking for a few additional details as to how Cohen and his producers pull it off..."
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Oh, to be young, beautiful, and able to convince corporations to fund your every whim:

Scarlett, I am told, has signed a deal to make her first record. "Scarlett Sings Tom Waits" is being recorded now and through the winter, with a possible release next spring from Rhino Records' recently reactivated Atco label. The eventual release date will be coordinated with Johansson's movie schedule.

From Variety:

After steering clear of political controversy with 9/11 heroism tale "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone and Paramount Pictures are venturing into edgier territory with "Jawbreaker." Pic will focus on America's response to the terrorist attacks with the invasion of Afghanistan and hunt for 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.

"Edgier territory", huh? Are we sure this isn't just the sequel to World Trade Center, hinted at in that one scene where the mysterious marine guy stands on a pile of rubble and announces that there is evil that needs avenging? Regardless of what you think of Stone's movies, it's hard to argue with his talent for revising history; it's interesting that the process here seems to be 1) Take a politically thorny historical event in desperate need of artistic confrontation and remake it into a highly commercial product roughly the consistency of oatmeal; 2) Cash large checks; 3) repeat.

From Variety:

After steering clear of political controversy with 9/11 heroism tale "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone and Paramount Pictures are venturing into edgier territory with "Jawbreaker." Pic will focus on America's response to the terrorist attacks with the invasion of Afghanistan and hunt for 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.

"Edgier territory", huh? Are we sure this isn't just the sequel to World Trade Center, hinted at in that one scene where the mysterious marine guy stands on a pile of rubble and announces that there is evil that needs avenging? Regardless of what you think of Stone's movies, it's hard to argue with his talent for revising history; it's interesting that the process here seems to be 1) Take a politically thorny historical event in desperate need of artistic confrontation and remake it into a highly commercial product roughly the consistency of oatmeal; 2) Cash large checks; 3) repeat.