Full disclosure right off the bat here, some die-hard Romney fans and those with hyper-sensitivity to the F-Bomb and haters of politics generally may not want to proceed, so if you do, go at your own peril. A tidy little vid starring Barack supporter-extraordinaire Samuel L. Jackson has hit the internet, and though a tad longer than the typical 30 second political spot flooding the airwaves in this election season, it is quite a bit more clever and funnier - though it helps if you're a supporter of the incumbent, naturally. And while it is unabashedly supportive of Obama, the prez does not come in and say he "supports this message" like in most other political ads. In this version, Jackson invades a home of a quiet suburban family of lackadaisical Obama '08 supporters to tell them to, "Wake the F**** Up."
more »
Also in Tuesday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, The Collection is set to open an L.A. horror fest. And a slew of films find U.S. homes and are headed to theater.
more »
The feature documentary had a limited roll out in Texas and other locations in mid-July, but after expanding to additional screens in the lead-up to the Republican convention, it has reaped more than $10.5 million to date at the box office. (The doc is second only, so far, to Katy Perry: Part of Me , which has earned in excess of $25.3 million domestically, as the top non-fiction film of the year.)
Those box-office numbers could get a boost now that the anti-Obama doc has scored a high-power endorsement from conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The embattled News Corp. chairman gave 2016: Obama's America his thumbs up via Twitter, even as questions arise about the veracity of the film's assertions.
more »
Also in Wednesday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Toronto 2012 Sci-Fi horror John Dies at the End heads for theatrical release. Also headed to theaters is Ernest Borgnine's final film. Ellen DeGeneres is in talks to reprise a Pixar favorite. And Tribeca Film Institute gives $400K in grants for transmedia projects.
more »
A longtime proponent of gun control, New York City Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the tragic shooting early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, that left 12 dead and dozens more wounded at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises. Twenty-four year-old suspect James Holmes was arrested after allegedly opening fire in the crowded theater and carrying a rifle, handgun and gas mask. The tragedy prompted Bloomberg's police commissioner to announce increased security at screenings of The Dark Knight Rises in NYC to prevent any possible copycat incidents.
more »
This morning's horrific Colorado multiplex shooting, which left at least 12 attendees of a midnight Dark Knight Rises screening dead, has prompted an ongoing wave of reactions from Hollywood to the White House and beyond.
more »
Good morning! By which I mean just go back to bed: "'Bane' is the terrorist in the new movie who drives the caped crusader out of semi-retirement in the final Batman movie. Democrats, who believe they have Romney on the ropes over the president's assault on his leadership at Bain Capital, said the comparisons are too rich to ignore. 'It has been observed that movies can reflect the national mood,' said Democratic advisor and former Clinton aide Christopher Lehane. 'Whether it is spelled Bain and being put out by the Obama campaign or Bane and being out by Hollywood, the narratives are similar: a highly intelligent villain with offshore interests and a past both are seeking to cover up who had a powerful father and is set on pillaging society,' he added." [Washington Examiner via Big Hollywood]
The market for films addressing Barack Obama's 2008 presidential candidacy and his term to date in the Oval Office has proven volatile at best: Hagiographies like the all-access, Edward Norton-produced By the People co-exist alongside a cottage industry of microbudget anti-Obama slam pieces like Hype, The Obama Deception and this past weekend's 2016: Obama's America. And thanks in part to election-year grassroots mania (and an interview with the president's Kenyan half-brother), the latter film may yet prove to be the most lucrative of the Obama subgenre to date. But this weekend's other release, The Obama Effect? Not so much.
more »
A week ago brought the first teaser for The Road We've Traveled, a Davis Guggenheim-directed, Tom Hanks-narrated, campaign-driven lighting round through the Obama presidency to date. Last night brought the full 17-minute video, and while it squeezes a lot — from the economy to healthcare to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — into 17 minutes, it's probably most interesting around the 10:35 mark as Joe Biden takes us behind the scenes on the night Osama bin Laden was killed.
more »
Because of his unique brand of hilariously discomfiting stand-up comedy and, in particular, his mock-confrontational talk show satire Between Two Ferns, which lampoons the celebrity interview itself with clear-eyed vitriol, you might not peg Zach Galifianakis for a warm interviewee. But, like most comics, he's nothing like any of his own characters -- including Alan Garner, the delusional man-child who, along with his fellow "Wolf Pack"-ers (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and, this time around, a monkey) wakes up in a seedy Bangkok hotel room after yet another night of black-out debauchery in The Hangover Part II.
more »
Is it too early to coin the phrase "pulling a von Trier?" Because Peter Fonda added even more outspokenness to the controversy-laden Cannes Film Festival this week, calling President Barack Obama out during at Tuesday press conference for his BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill documentary The Big Fix. Not riding so easy anymore, eh Pete? Read Fonda's expletive-laden accusations after the jump.
more »
Sunday's news from President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan brought closure to a nation still grieving the tragedy of 9/11. Deadline reports that Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow has been prepping her follow-up to the Iraq-set The Hurt Locker, entitled Kill Bin Laden, which could become the first feature film to depict the historical events of May 1, 2011.
more »
