Friday, November 12, 2010
Academy News (AMPAS): "Funny Girl" Monday Nights With Oscar Returns
In more Academy news, the “Monday Nights With Oscar” series returns to the Academy Theatre at Lighthouse International in New York city after being put on hold for most of the year due to renovations. The AMPAS series will resume on November 15th with a showing of “Funny Girl,” starring Barbara Streisand.
“Funny Girl,” was released in 1968 and is based on a Broadway musical that debuted earlier that decade in 1964. Along with Barbara Streisand the film also stars, Kay Brice, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Alan, and Omar Sharif. William Wyler directed the film by screenplay writer Isobel Lennart. Barbara Streisands performance as Fanny Brice in the movie earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. Kay Brice’s contributing performance in the movie also earned an Academy Award nomination and the film received 8 Academy Award nominations in total.
Admission to the screening of “Funny Girl” for the “Monday Nights With Oscar” series is 5 dollars a ticket to the general public and 3 dollars with a student ID or membership to the Academy. Tickets may be purchased online, by mail, or at the box office. The Lighthouse International theatre is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City. The show will begin at 6:30 and there is no reserved seating available. To obtain more information on the event please visit www.oscars.org and click on the events calendar, or you can call (212) 821-9251
Academy News (AMPAS): "Contemporary Documentaries" Series
In Academy news this week, the AMPAS announced that it will be hosting the final installment of their “Contemporary Documentaries” Series on November 17th at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood. The 29th Annual “Contemporary Documentaries” series has been running influential documentaries, both full feature and short length, every Wednesday in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards ceremony. Documentaries selected for the series were those that were nominated, or considered for the 2009 Academy Awards. The final installment is comprised of the documentaries, “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” and “Capitalism: A Love Story.” “The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant” follows the aftermath caused by the shutting down of a General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio, through the eyes of the former employees. The documentary follows the disenfranchised workers for 6 months as they try to cope with the difficulties created by their loss of income. This Academy Award Nominated documentary was directed and produced by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. “Capitalism: A Love Story” was produced by Michael and Anne Moore and presents the viewer with the scope of influence that “corporate dominance” has over, not just Americans, but people worldwide. The final installment of the AMPAS “Contemporary Documentaries” series will begin at 7:00pm at the Linwood Dunn Theatre on 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Admission is free and free parking is also available one block north of Fountain Avenue at the entrance to the theatre on the Homewood Avenue side. To receive more information concerning this event you can go to www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.
John Bobst
John Bobst
Atlanta Falcons and QB Matt Ryan Defeat Baltimore Ravens With 4th Quarter Drive
Down by 6 points with just over 1 minute in the game, Ryan directed an 80 yard drive, capped with a 35 yard pass to Falcons Wide Receiver Rodney White for the go-ahead score.
The Falcons came in with an excellent game plan that featured quick passes out of shotgun formations, and play action. They threw a whopping 50 times, completing 32, for 316 yards and three touchdowns, against no interceptions. Ryan finished with a quarterback rating of 101.8, and sent a message.
For teams that believed they could load up their defense to stop the Falcons ground game, and place the ball in the hands of Ryan, the message was simple: he will beat you. Ryan showed an ice-cool calm, and seemed to welcome the 4th quarter situation he was placed in.
The Falcons of 2010 are a fun team to watch, and it's not too much of a stretch to say we may see them play either the Oakland Raiders or the same Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl.
But they've got a big test to come against the red-hot Green Bay Packers November 28th at The Georgia Dome.
Gene Shalit And "Critic's Corner" Gone After 40 Years On NBC Today
The "Critic's Corner" lasted for 40 years on The Today Show. According to The Huffington Post, Today Show Executive Producer Jim Bell said that such a span of time on one show is "a feat unlikely to ever be matched."
Given the volume and flow of media today, he's right.
Gene Shalit was given a great sendoff on Thursday's Today Show, as he walks into a comfortable retirement fitting for an 84-year-old giant of the entertainment industry.
Chevron Ecuador Case: Steven Donziger In Big Trouble With Judge Kaplan
In seeking a motion to quash Chevron's request to dipose him, Steven Donziger, the ringleader and mastermind of the plot to defraud the American Oil Giant of up to $27 Billion by claiming it left the Ecuadorian Amazon envrionmentally damaged, when it did not, placed himself in big trouble.
The resulting 52-page ruling by heavyweight New York U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan casts a dark light on the legal career of Steven Donziger, and rubber-stamps every assertion this blogger made in this video below on August 14th 2008:
Particularly damning is this statement by the judge:
It's for those activities that legal observers have said Donziger is in possible criminal trouble. All of this he's done can result in the loss of his ability to practice law.
Stay tuned.
The resulting 52-page ruling by heavyweight New York U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan casts a dark light on the legal career of Steven Donziger, and rubber-stamps every assertion this blogger made in this video below on August 14th 2008:
Particularly damning is this statement by the judge:
On behalf of the Lago Agrio plaintiffs, Donziger, directly or indirectly, has lobbiedthe Ecuadorian and United States governments, raised money to support the litigation efforts,organized the plaintiffs’ media campaign, and solicited and interacted with celebrity supporters. Donziger’s statements, conduct, and demeanor in Crude and the outtakes, as well as other evidence,suggest that many of his activities have had little to do with the performance of legal services anda great deal to do with political activity, intimidation of the Ecuadorian courts, attempts to procurecriminal prosecutions for the purpose of extracting a settlement, and presenting a message to theworld media. This becomes even clearer when one considers still other statements and incidentsdepicted in Crude and the outtakes.
It's for those activities that legal observers have said Donziger is in possible criminal trouble. All of this he's done can result in the loss of his ability to practice law.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Daily Beast Merges With Newsweek, Creating "BeastWeek"
When it's completed, this blogger will call it BeastWeek.
According to The New York Observer, Brown, the web and editorial staffs will merge, and Brown will be in charge of the combined tribe. The merger itself will be a 50-50 ownership split. Reportedly, Newsweek owner Sidney Harman and IAC Chairman Barry Diller could not agree on an operating system for BeastWeek, but have worked through their differences and are close to something they can agree on. (Really, they should have spent more time on a New Media business plan, but I digress.)
Newsweek and The Daily Beast are both just not performing well, so without a sound plan and financial backing, it's not likely BeastWeek will fair much better. It's not enough to merge two media organizations, but roll the dice and create a new way of distributing media in a cost effective yet impactive way.
The model Harman and Diller should copy for BeastWeek is Associated Content or The Examiner, and with an eye toward eventual acquisition by a large web organization like AOL. But BeastWeek has to form itself into a must-be-at product (note that), and even with the sure-fire combination of Megan McCain's sexy intellect, nothing short of a complete overhaul of the media delivery system between Newsweek and The Daily Beast will really turn things around.
BeastWeek. Because it will either grow to a beast of an organization that devoirs the week in news, or be the dying media beast spending weeks on life support.
Time will tell.
Tucker Carlson Fakes Keith Olbermann, Breaks NY Law
Tucker planned to establish that ability back in July of this year, when he purchased Olbermann's domain name, taking advantage of the fact that Keith and his people at MSNBC would be so careless as to leave a domain name that should be owned by him available for just anyone to buy.
Then, when Keith was suspended by MSNBC President Phil Griffin last Friday, Carlson pounced.
Bykofsky innocently used the email keith@keitholbermann.com to contact the person he thought was Keith, only to unknowingly get Carlson, who was in a mood to clown around.
Carlson, posing as Olbermann, had written a series of biting emails in response to a column Stu wrote that concluded FOX News' Bill O'Reilly was more "fair and balanced" than the real Keith Olbermann. Here's a sample of the emails exchanged:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: [SPAM] From the Philadelphia Daily News
From: “Bykofsky, Stu”
Date: Fri, November 05, 2010 1:44 pm
To:
Mr. Olbermann:
I’d like an opportunity to speak to you about your current situation.
I am doing a column for publication Monday. I will be here until 6 p.m., but won’t finish until 1 p.m. tomorrow.
If you would rather respond via email, what I want to know, essentially, is the following:
Do you think you were treated fairly by MSNBC?
Do you consider yourself a journalist or a commentator?
If a journalist, is it proper for you to give your opinions?
If a commentator, should you be anchoring a newscast, such as Tuesday night’s election program?
Do you regret chastising others (Rupert Murdoch) for making political donations?
Is there a difference between what he did and what you did?
Thank you.
Stu Bykofsky
Columnist
Philadelphia Daily News
215-854-5977
From: keith@keitholbermann.com [mailto:keith@keitholbermann.com]
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 2:46 PM
To: Bykofsky, Stu
Subject: RE: [SPAM] From the Philadelphia Daily News
Mr. Bykofsky:
Unfortunately your column (which I just saw) had already run before I read this email. What a shame. I assume you saw the irony in attacking someone for betraying journalism, while you, a self-described journalist, failed to get a single quote from the person you were attacking. Pathetic. Indeed, beneath contempt. How dare you pose as the heir to Murrow.
You didn’t wait for the facts before writing your screed, but for what it’s worth I, unlike you, am a journalist, not a hack. Was I treated fairly by MSNBC? It’s hard to imagine a dumber question, as I don’t work for MSNBC, but for NBC News. As I’ve said publicly before, Phil Griffin is not my boss (thank god), nor is he intellectually qualified to be. Phil pretends otherwise in public. I’m not his shrink, but I assume it makes him feel better. The remarkable thing is that fools like you believe his fantasies. That pleases Phil, but only exposes your ignorance. The proof? I’ll be anchoring on election night 2012, long after Phil Griffin has moved on to a job for which he’s actually qualified, perhaps on QVC.
I hope that clears up your misconceptions.
KO
You get the idea.
It goes on and the exchange is posted at the blog site Phawker. But the bottom line, as Stu admitted over at Phawker, he'd been punked.
And Carlson's little stunt appears to be illegal. Stu uses the text from, then link to a legal website by Lisa J. Sotto of Hunton & Williams, and informing that New York State made Internet impersonation a crime in 2008:
Specifically, New York’s Internet impersonation law amends section 190.25 of the Penal Law by adding Subdivision 4, making it a crime to impersonate another person by electronic means, including through use of a website, with the intent to obtain a benefit or injure or defraud another person.
But even with that information, neither Stu, nor Keith has said they would file charges against Tucker Carlson.
Stay tuned.
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