· "If I ever was going to torture somebody, I'd put them in a room where they can't leave and have someone new come in every three minutes and ask the same question over a number of days and then weeks." Love you, too, Russell Crowe! [LAT]
· We'll have Louis Virtel's take on the premiere of Sarah Palin's Alaska a little later on, but here's the basic gist, according to one pundit: "It trumps Bridalplasty as the hands down most dangerous reality show ever conceived." Admittedly I missed it, but come on. That's not effing possible. [Salon]
· An early, early viewer of the Alexander Payne/George Clooney-go-to-Hawaii collaboration The Descendants reports that it's "an entirely worthy addition to the Payne canon" and a probable fixture of Fox Searchlight's 2011 Oscar campaign. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
· Veteran TV and film director Gregory Hoblit reportedly walked off TNT's untitled Steven Weber/D.L. Hughley cop pilot 36 hours after signing on, incapable of working with hotshot creator/producer Allan Loeb. I have no idea what happened, but if the guy who directed the pilots for L.A. Law and NYPD Blue and was an original co-producer on Hill Street Blues recommends a few script/story modifications ahead of the new show, maybe you should just make them? [Deadline]
· Joshua Cohen has devised possibly the greatest cure(s) ever for writer's block. Hint: Scotch, Adderall, plagiarism and/or suicide are all on the table. A ball-busting must-read for scribes in any discipline. [The Paris Review]
· Speaking of suicide, here are Bill Maher and Michael Moore debating the integrity and intellectual capacity of the American voting public. Happy Monday! [via Hollywood Elsewhere]