The NRA finally broke its week-long silence after the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut today with a press conference — technically a speech, as no questions were answered — that proved once again that reactionaries are as terrible at popular culture as they are at generating positive outcomes from their preferred policies. The real culprit to blame for tragedies such as Newtown, according to NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre? Movies.
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Eat your heart out, Strasberg: Actor Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans), in Atlanta filming Ten with Arnold Schwarzenegger, was pepper-sprayed by a doorman after allegedly becoming disruptive on Saturday, then was handcuffed and arrested for disorderly conduct — and still managed to remain in character! Kinda.
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A trailer for a little-known anti-Muslim film that went viral on YouTube sparked outrage and violent attacks overnight at the U.S. Embassy in Libya that left over a dozen wounded and four Americans dead, including U.S. ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. In a press conference today President Obama condemned the acts and promised justice to those responsible, said to be Muslim protesters angry over insults against the Prophet Muhammad made in a film called Innocence of Muslims.
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Aspiring actors are a dime a dozen in L.A., but few would go as far as attempting to extort one of Hollywood's most powerful movie moguls for their big payday. (One would hope... but we all know a few kooky actors, don't we?) Not so for Vivek Shah of suburban Illinois by way of West Hollywood, who was arrested this week for allegedly threatening Harvey Weinstein and his family if the superproducer didn't pay him millions.
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So much for those concealed carry advocates. NBC News describes the snafu that befell one patron with a permit to carry a concealed firearm at a recent showing of The Bourne Legacy in Sparks, Nevada. "Witnesses inside the theater told officers the gun fell from the man’s pocket as he was adjusting himself in the seat," according to the report, "and it fired when it dropped to the floor, striking him in the buttocks."
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Last night's landing of the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the rover Curiosity, had all the excitement, drama and pathos of a major Hollywood film. Or, at least, the pre-title sequence of a major Hollywood film. If we do soon find ourselves re-living the historic moment on the big screen, we've got some casting suggestions for last night's adventure. Big shot producers, you don't owe us a thing — just save us a room on the Ark when it's time to move to Venus, m'kay?
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