defamer
The LA Times Is Doing Exciting Things In The Cake-Scented Movie Promotion Space
mark · 09/04/07 03:39PM
With the family-friendly nature of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium probably precluding the possibility of a cutting-edge web campaign featuring clips of Dustin Hoffman trying to blow away the child patrons of his magical toy store with a gun made of enchanted Tinker Toys, the marketers at Fox Walden have decided to instead gently push the envelope of the print medium, bringing the first! ever! ad that uses scented ink to simulate the smell of cake for understimulated LAT readers. Adorable!
Jerry Lewis Raises $64 Million, Ire Of Gays On Annual Telethon
seth · 09/04/07 03:16PMIt was hard to really find fault with Jerry Lewis after he recently announced to Entertainment Tonight's cameras that Merv Griffin "deserved to die," seeing as the sentiment was fundamentally well-intentioned, and probably originated in the defunct part of his brain devoted to censoring statements about how deceased friends had it coming to them. But Lewis was clearly pushing his luck with this impromptu comic riff from his annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon, in which the Cinderfella star made light of the various social challenges being met by a particular camera operator's son.
Bill Murray's Drunken Swedish Golf Cart Joyride Explained!
mark · 09/04/07 02:36PMBill Murray, who became a plaid-knickered folk hero to drunken, globe-hopping duffers everywhere after being pulled over by the killjoy Swedish police on suspicion of silently whirring down the streets of Stockholm in a borrowed golf cart while under the influence of too many vodka-infused Arnold Palmers, has finally answered for the antics that briefly rocked the world of Scandinavian law enforcement two weeks ago. Explains Murray about the post-party shuttle service he offered to some fellow revelers:
James Bond To Learn How To Kill People As Excitingly As Jason Bourne
mark · 09/04/07 01:39PM
· Starz tries its hand at scripted programming, hoping not to jar viewers expecting to see famous faces on their rerun movies by centering its strategy around two celeb-driven half-hour comedies: one about a house-renovating TV show and one about a shrink-to-the-affordable-celebrity-guest-stars. [Variety]
· Endeavor welcomes fussy Six Feet Under funeral director and Dexter psychopath Michael C. Hall into the family. [THR]
· The just-concluded Telluride Film Festival snags 12 world premieres, including Dylan biopic I'm Not There and Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding. [Variety]
· Perhaps tiring of hearing about how Jason Bourne could easily kick James Bond's ass, the producers of Bond 22 bring on Bourne franchise action designer Dan Bradley as their second unit director. [THR]
· ABC promises that it will hire a fifth View co-host soon, probably before Elizabeth Hasselbeck leaves to pop out the baby she's seemingly been carrying for two years. [THR]
mark · 09/04/07 01:31PM
When Howard Met Larry: Rita Cosby Drops A Dirty Bomb
seth · 09/04/07 01:26PMLast week, we were teased with news of "shocking" material contained within the pages of former MSNBC host Rita Cosby's bombshell-laden new book, Blond Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. For a conspiracy-hungry public who never quite warmed to Howard K. Stern's svengali-like presence and his sudden coziness with overly highlighted babydaddy Larry Birkhead, it instantly conjured up a host of sordid scenarios—everything from lusty man-on-man trysts to black market baby sales, from systematic bimbo-druggings to involuntary face-painting. Now, a leaked manuscript reveals that Cosby's claims include all of the above, and more:
mark · 09/04/07 01:14PM
After seven months of suffering through the unrequited love of their favorite actor, the proprietors of If I Blog It, They Will Come finally entice Kevin Costner to visit their online shrine to the Field of Dreams star. Tears are shed and new friendships are forged in what will doubtlessly prove the feel-good link of the day. [If I Blog It They Will Come]
Studios Torn By Conflicting Desires To Tout Their Box Office Successes And Torture Greedy Guilds
mark · 09/04/07 12:42PM
While film executives would like nothing better than to celebrate Hollywood's unprecedented $4 billion summer by boasting about the current quality of their cinematic product and commissioning a two-page spread in the trades depicting the heads of the major studios slathering their naked bodies in peanut butter and rolling around in stacks of hundred-dollar bills the size of freshly raked autumn leaf piles, they know that the looming labor war with the various guilds requires public restraint over showy exuberance. In today's NY Times story on the studios' ongoing attempts to remind everyone about how producing nine-figure-grossing blockbusters is a terrible way to make money, execs cry poor while WGA officials lick their chops over every report of another box office record shattered:
Crazed Fan Attempts Potentially Lethal Hug-Attack On Defenseless Brad Pitt
mark · 09/04/07 11:29AMWe recommend that you steel yourself before viewing this YouTube clip of an obviously crazed fan bum-rushing universally worshipped movie star Brad Pitt at the Venice Film Festival, as the footage demonstrates how easy it is for virtually any deranged admirer to penetrate a celebrity's defenses and attempt to embrace him in thanks for the urchin-collecting good works that have alleviated overcrowding in a variety of Third World orphanages. Make sure you watch the the video all the way to the end; most chilling is the moment where Pitt's Italian assailant cheerily waves to the camera, a gesture clearly meant to signal a fresh wave of hug-based attacks on Hollywood's goodwill ambassador by a legion of smiling stalkers emboldened by the fact that one can lay hands on the actor without so much as a tasering by his permissive security detail.
The End Of A Record-Shattering, Sequeltastic Summer
mark · 09/04/07 10:44AMBy now it should be sinking in as you sit down at your computer on this post-Labor Day Tuesday morning: Summer is over, burned off in this weekend's triple-digit heat. Make peace with the unofficial beginning of Fall by reviewing the long weekend's box office numbers (we'll list the four-day grosses because we don't want to cheat any studios out of a few million extra holiday dollars):
