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Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed both &#8220;Avengers: Infinity War&#8221; and &#8220;Avengers: Endgame,&#8221; issued a forceful response to film icon Martin Scorsese&#8217;s claim that Marvel movies are not cinema.
Speaking with <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/avengers-endgame-directors-break-silence-martin-scorsese-attack-1255560?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid-parsed="slk">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, the directing duo said their movies have made an “unprecedented impact” around the world, arguing that the Marvel movies had the magic to gather people for an emotional experience.
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&#8220;Ultimately, we define cinema as a film that can bring people together to have a shared, emotional experience,&#8221; Joe Russo told THR.
&#8220;When we look at the box office [of] &#8216;Avengers: Endgame,&#8217; we don&#8217;t see that as a signifier of financial success, we see it as a signifier of emotional success,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It&#8217;s a movie that had an unprecedented impact on audiences around the world in the way that they shared that narrative and the way that they experienced it. And the emotions they felt watching it.&#8221;
&#8220;But, at the end of the day, what do we know?&#8221; Joe Russo jokingly said. &#8220;We&#8217;re just two guys from Cleveland, Ohio, and &#8216;cinema&#8217; is a New York word. In Cleveland, we call them movies.&#8221;
Anthony Russo added that nobody owns the word &#8220;cinema.&#8221;
&#8220;The other way to think about it, too, is nobody owns cinema. We don&#8217;t own cinema. You don&#8217;t own cinema. Scorsese doesn&#8217;t own cinema,&#8221; Anthony Russo said.
Last month, Scorsese stoked the ire of millions of Marvel fans when he said the MCU movies were more like theme park rides than cinematic experiences. “I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/martin-scorsese-shreds-marvel-movies-says-theyre-not-cinema">told Empire Magazine</a>. “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
After mounting criticism and charges of elitism, Scorsese penned a lengthy and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/martin-scorsese-pens-beautiful-op-ed-defending-cinema-amid-marvel-backlash">heartfelt op-ed</a> in The New York Times where he clarified his position, lamenting how utilitarian the industry has become.
“That’s the nature of <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/business/dealbook/review-the-big-picture-chronicles-a-changing-entertainment-industry.html?module=inline">modern film franchises</a>: <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a26232993/iron-man-marvel-loan-bankruptcy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">market-researched</a>, <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://screenrant.com/avengers-endgame-runtime-3-hours-reactions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">audience-tested</a>, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption,” wrote Scorsese. “In the past 20 years, as we all know, the movie business has changed on all fronts. But the most ominous change has happened stealthily and under cover of night: the gradual but steady elimination of risk. Many films today are perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption. Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist. Because, of course, the individual artist is the riskiest factor of all.”
Last week, while receiving the Kirk Douglass Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-all-an-illusion-scorsese-warns-against-algorithms-formulas-and-business-calculations-over-artistic-expression">also warned against</a> the illusion of an industry that runs on algorithms and formulas.
“I realize that commitment and dedication to the art form are always rare so, you know, when you see it, this incredible commitment and dedication, please don’t take it for granted,” Scorsese told the audience. “Today, it’s a new world, of course, and we have to be extra vigilant. Some actually believe that these qualities that I’m talking about can be replaced by algorithms and formulas and business calculations but please remember it’s all an illusion because there’s no substitute for individual or artistic expression as Kirk Douglas knew and as he expressed through his long film career.”

#IMDboat At San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three

‘Avengers’ Directors Respond To Martin Scorsese: ‘Nobody Owns Cinema&#8217;

Hollywood

Martin Scorsese

Marvel

The ultra-woke feminist lecturing vehicle that was the &#8220;Charlie&#8217;s Angels&#8221; reboot crashed at the box office this weekend with an abysmal $8.6 million at the domestic box office, and a global haul of just $19.3 million, for a worldwide total of $26.1 million. The film had a $48 million budget before marketing costs.
&#8220;While &#8216;Charlie’s Angels&#8217; got off to a better start abroad than in North America, the action-comedy majorly stalled in its global debut,&#8221; <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/box-office-ford-v-ferrari-charlies-angels-international-1203407381/">Variety</a> reports. &#8220;The movie earned $19.3 million from 26 markets, along with $8.6 million at the domestic box office for a worldwide bounty of $26.1 million. The international box office will be key in recouping &#8216;Charlie’s Angels&#8217; $48 million budget. So far, the film has seen the strongest showing in China with an uninspiring $7.7 million, along with Indonesia ($2.9 million), Australia ($1.3 million), Russia ($1 million) and the Philippines ($1 million).&#8221;
Given that theater owners split the ticket sales, &#8220;Charlie&#8217;s Angels&#8221; pulled in no more than $13 million in total profits. For the movie to so much as break-even, it would have to earn upwards of $100 million at the global box office, and that&#8217;s assuming Sony Pictures spent frugally on marketing costs.
Earning the top slot this weekend, the Matt Damon/Christian Bale star vehicle &#8220;Ford v. Ferarri&#8221; over-performed expectations with a global box office haul of $52.4 million.
&#8220;Director James Mangold’s racing drama collected $21.4 million from 41 foreign markets, representing 67% of its overseas rollout,&#8221; Variety continued. &#8220;&#8216;Ford v Ferrari&#8217; also kicked off with $31 million in North America, bringing its global total to $52.4 million. Russia had the biggest debut with $3.2 million, followed by the United Kingdom and France with $2.3 million each, and Australia with $1.7 million. It opens in key territories, including Korea and Japan, in December and early January, while a release in China has yet to be determined.&#8221;
Earning a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charlies_angels_2019/">60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes</a>, critics were largely divided on whether to praise “Charlie’s Angels” strictly for promoting the right social agenda or to knock it for treating the characters like stick figures designed specifically to tickle the fancies of SJWs. Over at <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/charlies-angels-review-1254087">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, Beandrea July praised the film for “unapologetically raising a feminist flag, championing female friendships, and subtly making a point about the urgency of the ongoing climate crisis.”
“These lady spies aren’t leading with cleavage or dumbing themselves down to shore up the egos of their clueless boyfriends like the Angels of the past,” wrote July. “Rather, they express their femininity and sexuality in ways that give their characters depth and agency rather than reducing them to objects. The movie also wants us to know that Stewart’s character is queer, but it wisely reveals this without much fanfare or woke sketch comedy.”
Writing at <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/11/charlies-angels-bombs-at-box-office-reasons-why-1202787938/comment-page-6/#comments">Deadline</a>, Anthony D&#8217;Alessandro argued that the movie simply failed because it did not acquire top talent and strictly catered to a &#8220;one quadrant&#8221; audience of 13 to 39-year-old women.
&#8220;Some will claim that Banks’ version was never intended to emulate the meat and potatoes version of McG’s films; that this version was expected to be more comedic, and more feminist,&#8221; wrote D&#8217;Alessandro. &#8220;Unfortunately, after McG set the table here with the franchise as an action film, you can’t reverse it. You can only outdo him. And with a franchise movie like Charlie’s Angels, you can’t make it for a one quadrant audience.&#8221;

Theangels

Get Woke, Go Broke: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Bombs At The Box Office

Charlie’s Angels

Woke

“Charlie’s Angels” 3.0 basks in feminist groupthink before finding its true north.
It’s “Fast &amp; Furious” lite. Very, very lite.
The unnecessary reboot for a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels">marginal TV series</a> exists for two reasons. Branded properties remain Hollywood’s higher power. Plus, writer/director Elizabeth Banks wanted to send a message about girl power over and over again.
The studio handed her <a href="https://m.the-numbers.com/movie/Charlies-Angels-(2019)">$48 million</a> to do just that.
Banks should have used some of that cash to hire a better screenwriter. “Charlie’s Angels” offers some modest rewards, but the screenplay is so tin-eared it’s like Al Bundy wrote it in a pique of full-on misogyny.
Only a woman-hater would force <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829576/">Kristen Stewart</a> to say such terrible dialogue.
Right?
You don’t have to wait long to learn just how woke the umpteenth “Charlie’s Angels” reboot is. Stewart goes there with the film’s opening line. Literally.
“I think women can do anything,” she says to her target, a man we’ll assume would rather Stewart’s Sabina stay barefoot and pregnant. “I want all my options available so I can decide for myself.”
Does anyone talk like this, beyond Elizabeth Warren volunteers?
Of course not. And “Charlie’s Angels” is just clearing its empowered throat. Sabina describes how women are “invisible” in society and arrive with “low expectations.”
This passes for small talk, by the way.
One generic action scene later we’re watching young girls doing stuff during the opening credits because, you know, feminism.
Why, it’s almost like we haven’t seen girls and women “do stuff” on screen for decades. Yes, Hollywood has a gender imbalance, and yes the industry should make an effort to right that wrong. Is this really the way to address it? So boldly, so clumsily?
The action moves forward one whole year … giving Sabina a running joke that’s as D.O.A. as 75 percent of her lines.
Sabina and partner Jane (Ella Balinska) are on a new mission, helping a whistleblower who fears her company’s negligence could hurt innocent people.
Naomi Scott of “Aladdin” fame is the “accidental” Angel, rounding out the trio. Her Elena works for a firm with a breakthrough product in the clean energy field. Only she knows a design flaw that could be weaponized in the wrong hands.
She teams up with the Angels to stop her unctuous boss (Nat Faxon, perfectly slimy) from making that happen. We know he’s slimy following a meeting with Elena where he dismisses her views and puts his hand on her leg.
We’ll bet that happens more than it ever should. It still plays out like yet another feminist lecture.
“Remember to smile!”
Yes, a male character actually says that, taking us out of the frothy adventure. Again. Is there any doubt we’ll hear the phrase “mansplaining” when we watch the Blu-ray deleted scenes?
Banks is a gifted comic actress, and she proved she could handle a comedy franchise by directing “Picture Perfect 2.” She’s no scribe, if “Charlie’s Angels” is any indication.
The action takes the trio across the globe, fighting baddies, looking badass and swooning over one massive closet.
Empowerment, shmempowerment. Some stereotypes can’t be shaken.
We’ve never seen Stewart so unbridled on screen before. She’s a live wire, but either the gig doesn’t quite suit her or that awful dialogue would trip up the brightest of stars.
Example: The Angels must jet to Hamburg, wherein Sabina says, “Hamburg …. where hamburgers weren’t invented.”
Really.
How ’bout this?
“Or we go to German prison, where it’s shnitzel all the time.”
Scott fares better as the scientist who slowly embraces her inner strength. Balinska, in her big screen debut, doesn’t leave much of an impression beyond her gorgeous appearance and slick moves.
That leaves us with some acceptable action sequences, boosted by the silent but deadly menace posed by Jonathan Tucker’s character. The “Justified” standout should play a villain in every other movie. He’s that mesmerizing.
Banks boasts a sharp eye for composition via “Charlie’s Angels,” but her action chops are several rungs below the best in the business. That matters with a spy caper, particularly one that gleefully clings to genre tropes like 007-like gadgets.
The screenplay offers a big, dumb twist, one that makes absolutely no sense but gets us, finally, to the third act. That’s hardly fatal for a spy adventure. It’s still a squandered opportunity to tweak the genre.
To be fair, “Charlie’s Angels” leaves the woke lectures behind after the first, torturous 20 minutes (they reappear on steroids during the end credits). The movie’s first act is blindingly bad, awkward, and unsure of its purpose. The film eventually finds a passable rhythm, but it hardly merits a franchise renewal.
Want to empower women? Drop the lectures and craft a better movie.
HiT or Miss: “Charlie’s Angels” is as woke as you fear, distracting from a generic adventure that might leave some action fans satiated.
A version of this article was also published on <a href="http://hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

Charlie’s Angels.

TOTO: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ – Kicks, Punches, And Feminist Lectures

Feminism

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Following the shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita on Thursday that left two teenagers dead, celebrities and Democrats were pushing gun control, scolding politicians for refusing to take action.
Speaking on his program “The Late Late Show” on CBS, comedian James Corden said that  America needs to elect politicians with the &#8220;moral courage&#8221; to address gun laws.
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“We’re horrified that another place of innocence, learning and education has become instead a site of violence and trauma,” said Corden, as reported by <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-corden-santa-clarita-shooting_n_5dce83e7e4b0294748154172">HuffPost</a>. “Our hearts break for the families, they really do.”
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“Whilst we continue to elect politicians without the moral courage to address gun laws, these tragedies are destined to keep repeating themselves,” he continued. “Tonight, we grieve for the families of the victims and the community that’s been shattered. Tonight, we send our love to Santa Clarita.”
Corden&#8217;s call for gun control in the wake of the shooting was just one voice among many on Thursday. As reported by <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democrats-call-for-stricter-gun-control-mere-hours-after-shooting-at-california-high-school">The Washington Examiner</a>, Democrats were calling for gun control mere hours after the incident occurred.
&#8220;The obvious point is that part of what we all have to say is enough is enough, and we need reasonable gun safety laws in our country,&#8221; Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) said on CNN. &#8220;Stop with the nonsense.&#8221;
&#8220;We don’t yet have all the details of the horrifying events in Santa Clarita,&#8221; Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted. &#8220;But we do know that in America today, children are scared to go to school. Parents and teachers are terrified. And that can’t stand.&#8221;
&#8220;To me, it just says with complete and utter clarity, we don’t have a choice but to flip the Senate and to get somebody in the White House who is going to make this a priority,&#8221; said former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA). &#8220;So, regardless of your other political beliefs, if you think that the safety of our kids matter, then that’s to me what needs to get you to the polls.”
Celebrities from Michael Moore to Alyssa Milano were pushing similar gun control messages in the wake of the shooting.
&#8220;This week’s school shooting, 7:38 am PT this morning at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. 6 students shot, 2 dead as of now,&#8221; tweeted Michael Moore. &#8220;I have NO prayers, but MANY thoughts. We Americans are a strangely frightened people with 340 million guns in private possession. Madness! We Americans are a violent people. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill Indians. Lynch black people or shoot them in their homes. Invade nations. Assassinate leaders. A Senate that kills the Violence Against Women’s Act. Not one bishop in jail for allowing rape of children. The list is endless.&#8221;
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We Americans are a violent people. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill Indians. Lynch black people or shoot them in their homes. Invade nations. Assassinate leaders. A Senate that kills the Violence Against Women’s Act. Not one bishop in jail for allowing rape of children. The list is endless
&mdash; Michael Moore (@MMFlint) <a href="https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/1195077683048329218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Another day. Another school shooting. When will we demand meaningful change? When will our voices mean more to our elected officials than their funding from the NRA? How many children need to suffer? How many need to die?&#8221; tweeted Alyssa Milano.
&#8220;Not AGAIN. OMG. I am praying for all the people physically hurt and spiritually traumatized by the [Santa Clarita] school shooting. This MUST STOP. We must protect our children,&#8221; tweeted Debra Messing.
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2020 Breakthrough Prize &#8211; Red Carpet

Democrats, Celebrities Push Gun Control Following Santa Clarita Shooting

Democratic Party

Guns

Shooting

Woke, James Woke.
The news out of the Bond camp this week is depressing for anyone clinging to Hollywood’s classic franchise.
Before Harry Potter, the MCU or Luke Skywalker there was 007. The spy series flourished for five decades. New Bonds. New gadgets. New stunts. New songs.
Similar box office results.
The last Bond adventure, 2015’s “Spectre,” disappointed many but still hauled in <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2379713/?ref_=bo_se_r_1">nearly $900 million</a> worldwide.
If it ain’t broke … but maybe they just attempted to “fix” it.
If so, it’s part of a growing trend in Hollywood &#8212; appealing to Social Justice Warriors while leaving the hardcore fans scratching their heads. In case the industry didn’t notice, consumers have more content than ever to pick and choose. You need to fight for their hard-earned dollars, not tut-tut those who love the existing brand.
Sony had a sure thing on its corporate hands three years ago. The public clamored for more “Ghostbusters” films featuring their favorite slime warriors.
Instead, Sony hopped aboard the ill-advised gender swap trend, ditching the franchise’s original stars for four funny ladies.
That wasn’t all Sony did, though.
The film’s creative team slammed anyone aghast at the gender swap, or even those who disliked the film’s awful first trailer.  <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/ghostbusters-exposed-media-bias/">Journalists sided with Team Sony</a>, declaring any objections to be the work of sad Internet trolls.
Guess what happened next?
The expensive film crawled over the $100 million mark at the U.S. box office, costing Sony a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ghostbusters-box-office-loss-sequel-unlikely-918515">reported $70 million</a> in the process.
Going woke derailed the franchise, which will return next year with a whole new look and the return of its core characters. The untitled sequel will pretend the 2016 reboot doesn’t exist.
Take two, as they say in the business. And, so far, the folks behind the movie aren’t lecturing fans or wagging any fingers at them.
Yet.
Earlier this year, Paramount started peddling the sixth film in the “Terminator” franchise as more female than ever. It didn’t matter that the first two films (the best by a country mile) already showcased Linda Hamilton’s gritty, guns-a-blazing Sarah Connor as the key character alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800.
No, the first teaser photo for “Terminator: Dark Fate” left Ah-nold out entirely. In his place, three bedraggled women, including two unfamiliar faces, in a heavily airbrushed portrait. The usual press suspects hailed the image. “Terminator” fans likely had a different reaction.
Director Tim Miller <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2019/07/tim-miller-terminator-dark-fate-scares-internet-trolls-1202156922/">then blasted the project’s critics</a> weeks before the film’s theatrical release.
“If you’re at all enlightened, she’ll play like gangbusters. If you’re a closet misogynist, she’ll scare the f*** out of you, because she’s tough and strong but very feminine,” Miller said. “We did not trade certain gender traits for others; she’s just very strong, and that frightens some dudes. You can see online the responses to some of the early sh** that’s out there, trolls on the internet. I don’t give a f***.”
Those “trolls” stayed home, apparently. The “Dark Fate” flop is expected to cost Paramount <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/terminator-dark-fate-box-office-flop-1203391309/">north of $100 million.</a>
The actual film focused primarily on entertainment with a sampling of woke nods, and while it recycled too many existing themes delivered sci-fi escapism. Now, you can point to several factors for “Dark Fate’s” box office collapse. The project’s woke marketing scheme hardly helped.
Which brings us to “No Time to Die.”
The 25th Bond film features several sops to the social justice crowd. You know, the same group that probably hasn’t watched more than a single Bond film since 1962’s “Dr. No” introduced us to the super spy.
Daniel Craig’s Bond will tie the knot with a woman who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-james-bonds-wife-will-refuse-to-take-his-name-phrase-bond-girl-banned-from-set">refuses to take his name</a> in the new film. It’s not like its Hitler, James Hitler or a surname you can’t pronounce.
Plus, our hero will be driving an electric car and failing to score with select ladies for comic effect (the horror, the horror). The screenwriter even flirted with a tampon disposal scene. Perhaps they’re saving it for the next Bond outing … “The Spy Who Got His Period?”
Does anyone at Team Bond know what they’re doing to the red meat franchise?
This week’s “Charlie’s Angels” reboot is <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/charlies-angels-review-2019/">as woke as you’d expect</a>. That may not be as much of a problem as the prior cases. The show’s feminist legacy is part of its cultural DNA. Sure, the 1970s version featured plenty of skimpily clad “Angels.” It still let women save the day at a time when that proved far less common on the small screen.
The new film’s feminist bona fides may take you out of the movie, but they don’t clash with the franchise’s prime directive.
That’s not the case for the Bond saga.
Now, compare all of the above to the “Fast &amp; Furious” franchise. That series features plenty of diversity and strong female characters. It’s not woke, though, at least not yet. The stories hinge on physics-defying action, heroism and an expansive take on the term “Family.”
It’s feminism without The Big Speeches or Finger Wagging. The series is so strong it just enjoyed a successful spin-off, “Hobbs &amp; Shaw” ($173 million stateside, $585 million international).
Even if the new Bond disappoints at the box office, expect more woke virtue-signaling across the Hollywood landscape. The industry’s cultural bubble, like a 007 car modified by Q, remains bulletproof.

James Bond &#8220;No Time To Die&#8221; Photocall

TOTO: Woke Broke ‘Ghostbusters,’ ‘Terminator’ … Is Bond Next?

Social Justice

The anti-Trump vandals are out in force on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, proving once again that they have no respect for private or public property.
According to footage <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/11/12/president-donald-trump-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-vandalized-graffiti/">released by TMZ</a>, an unidentified woman approached &#8220;the Hollywood Blvd star around 9:30 Tuesday morning,&#8221; where she proceeded to &#8220;pull out what appears to be white spray paint&#8221; before coating the star in a matter of seconds before fleeing the scene. A final photo released by TMZ showed Trump&#8217;s name marred in white paint. Take a look:
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The anti-Trump vandals have no respect for public landmarks. <a href="https://t.co/x4nabyxKz2">pic.twitter.com/x4nabyxKz2</a>
&mdash; Paul Bois (@PaulBois39) <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulBois39/status/1195002671897333762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Though minor in comparison, the latest hit at President Trump&#8217;s Hollywood star is just another act of vandalism in a string of incidences that have been ongoing since the 2016 election.
In 2017, an unidentified assailant used a black marker to write “<a href="https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/856259637322162178">F*** Trump” </a>on the president’s star. Months later, another vandal placed a golden toilet beside the landmark that invited passersby to “take a Trump.” In late 2016, as the election loomed closer, a vandal named James Otis destroyed the star almost completely with the swing of a pick-ax. The 53-year-old was later tried and ordered to pay $700 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and another $3,700 to the Hollywood Historic Trust.
In September 2018, a vandal named Plastic Jesus, who billed himself as a street artist, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vandal-puts-prison-bars-over-trumps-hollywood-walk-paul-bois">placed a set of metal bars</a> over President Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, which he claimed represented the jail cell Trump’s critics have been calling for since the day of his election
“There have been calls to jail Trump since the day he was elected, and today he was certainly put behind bars,” Plastic Jesus wrote in an email to <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-hollywood-star-prison-bars_us_5ba371b0e4b069d5f9d04190">HuffPost.</a>
“Although it was very quickly damaged by a Trump supporter trying to remove it the bars did appear to be stuck fast and were there several hours later ― to the amusement of thousands of passing tourists,” he added.
The bars were made with instant-drying “industrial-strength double-sided sticky tape” so that they could be hinged to the ground long enough without him being fined thousands of dollars to repair the star, an act of “protest art.&#8221; During the height of the 2016 election, Plastic Jesus similarly lampooned Trump’s border wall with Mexico policy by erecting his own border wall around Trump’s star.
As noted by <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/470132-trumps-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-vandalized-with-spray-paint">The Hill</a>, the vandalism became so frequent that the &#8220;West Hollywood City Council approved a proposal urging the Los Angeles City Council and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove Trump&#8217;s star from the Walk of Fame.&#8221; The move was subsequently turned down by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Rana Ghadban, the president and CEO of the Chamber, told The Hill that the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an “institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees.”
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark,” she said. “Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”
Ghadban said that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will prosecute vandals with the fullest extent of the law.

Wall Placed Around The Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Of Donald Trump

Trump’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Vandalized Again

Donald Trump

The original &#8220;Wheel of Fortune&#8221; host, Chuck Woolery, claims that his open support for President Trump has destroyed his career.
Speaking on &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/shows/fox-and-friends" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fox &amp; Friends</a>&#8221; Wednesday, Woolery said that he has been &#8220;shadow-banned&#8221; by Twitter and that his best moment on the social media platform came when he told his massive follower count last week about his professional woes due to his open conservatism.
&#8220;To answer your question. Yes I have pretty much destroyed my career by openly supporting Trump and letting all know, I am a conservative. Painful at times, but true. After all is said and done. It was my choice and I can live with it. I would do it all again,&#8221; he tweeted last week.
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To answer your question. Yes I have pretty much destroyed my career by openly supporting Trump and letting all know, I am a conservative. Painful at times, but true. After all is said and done. It was my choice and I can live with it. I would do it all again.
&mdash; Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) <a href="https://twitter.com/chuckwoolery/status/1192551844113002503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It was kind of a self-deprecating tweet I sent out because I know I&#8217;m shadow-banned. I&#8217;ve got about 650,000 or 700,000 followers,&#8221; Woolery told host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday. &#8220;I know the half of them don&#8217;t get what I say. So I sent this thing out just as kind of a test — because it made me look [like] I was losing in life. And it just went crazy — it was the biggest tweet I ever had in my life. So as long as you&#8217;re a loser, they love you.&#8221;
In the same interview on &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends,&#8221; Woolery slammed cancel culture, which he described as a small minority of people sitting in basements firing off tweets to make corporations think the masses care about what one person thinks.
&#8220;My career kind of phased into commercial life. So I have several companies I represent. And they are bombarded,&#8221; said Woolery. &#8220;These people sit in their basement, and they make it look like there are thousands of people complaining about Chuck Woolery or about the products and who he represents — and &#8216;how could you let this fascist, racist guy represent your company&#8217; — when none of it is true. And these are the same people by the way who get on Twitter, [saying] &#8216;I watched you when I was growing up. I loved you &#8230; what happened to you?'&#8221;
Woolery lamented how political discourse has devolved into a game of destroying lives over the disagreements of individuals.
&#8220;What you have wrong is &#8230; the companies who you represent are just inundated with all of this negative [stuff]. It&#8217;s not true,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They just make this stuff up and throw it out [there] because they want to destroy your life. They don&#8217;t just want to disagree with you. They are so vehement and so virulent. They just want to destroy you and that&#8217;s their purpose.&#8221;
Chuck Woolery&#8217;s reflection about the state of cancel culture comes on the same week that veteran sports commentator Don Cherry <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-don-cherry-fired-for-telling-immigrants-to-honor-fallen-vets-responds-to-backlash">was let go from his job</a> on Sportsnet for asking immigrants to celebrate Canadian veterans.
“You people love — you, that come here, whatever it is — you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life, that you enjoy in Canada,&#8217;” Cherry said.

WE tv Presents &#8220;The Evolution Of The Relationship Reality Show&#8221; &#8211; Inside

Game Show Host Chuck Woolery: Supporting Trump Ruined My Career

Cancel culture

Leftism

Trump Supporters

The &#8220;Charlie&#8217;s Angels&#8221; reboot directed by abortion champion Elizabeth Banks has been hailed by some critics for waving an unapologetic feminist flag with a little climate change messaging on the side.
Earning a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charlies_angels_2019/">67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes</a>, critics are divided on whether to praise the film strictly for promoting the right social agenda or to knock it for treating the characters like stick figures designed specifically to tickle the fancies of SJWs. Christian Toto of HollywoodInToto <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/charlies-angels-review-2019/">said the movie</a> was every bit as &#8220;awkwardly woke&#8221; as audiences could expect:
<blockquote>The unnecessary reboot for a marginal TV series exists for two reasons. Branded properties remain Hollywood’s higher power. Plus, writer/director Elizabeth Banks wanted to send a message about girl power over and over again.
The studio handed her $48 million to do just that.
Banks should have used some of that cash to hire a better screenwriter. “Charlie’s Angels” offers some modest rewards, but the screenplay is so tin-eared it’s like Al Bundy wrote it in a pique of full-on misogyny.</blockquote>
As displayed in the trailer, the film&#8217;s opening scene pushes its social justice message by having Kristen Stewart immediately say to a man: “I think women can do anything. I want all my options available so I can decide for myself.”
In another scene, as noted by Toto, Kristen Stewart&#8217;s character laments about how &#8220;invisible&#8221; women have become in a society that has &#8220;low expectations&#8221; of them.
Over at <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/charlies-angels-review-1254087">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, Beandrea July praised the film for &#8220;unapologetically raising a feminist flag, championing female friendships and subtly making a point about the urgency of the ongoing climate crisis.&#8221;
&#8220;These lady spies aren’t leading with cleavage or dumbing themselves down to shore up the egos of their clueless boyfriends like the Angels of the past,&#8221; writes July. &#8220;Rather, they express their femininity and sexuality in ways that give their characters depth and agency rather than reducing them to objects. The movie also wants us to know that Stewart’s character is queer, but it wisely reveals this without much fanfare or woke sketch comedy.&#8221;
&#8220;There’s even an opening montage of images of optimistic, powerful girls from every corner of the globe,&#8221; continued July. &#8220;It feels out of place until you gradually begin to realize that Banks is making a meaningful effort to get young girls to see themselves in the film. When was the last time an action movie did that? Banks puts a spotlight on a wide swath of women and girls that mirrors what the world, not just the U.S., looks like. It’s a touch that effortlessly draws attention to the rarity of experiencing this kind of wide-ranging feminist gaze in big-budget action films.&#8221;
Other critics were dismissive of the film for essentially failing to craft believable characters that operate more like political puppets and less like human beings.
&#8220;For all of its #MeToo heavy lifting, though, the film still doesn&#8217;t work, mainly for the same reasons as before: Constructed as symbols (not human beings), these characters have too much spy stuff to do and yet, not quite enough,&#8221; wrote Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out.
&#8220;All the feminist virtue-signaling in the world can&#8217;t conceal the film&#8217;s creative conservatism,&#8221; wrote Michael Rowen of Slant.
The big question, of course, is whether or not &#8220;Charlie&#8217;s Angels&#8221; will deliver the box office goods. According to <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/11/ford-v-ferrari-charlies-angels-box-office-opening-preview-1202784822/">Deadline</a>, the movie is tracking at a miserable $10–12 million dollar opening, though the film&#8217;s arguably low $48 million price tag could keep it from being a total box office disaster.

Premiere Of Columbia Pictures&#8217; &#8220;Charlie&#8217;s Angels&#8221; &#8211; Arrivals

‘Charlie’s Angels’ Goes Ultra-Woke With Feminist Lectures And Climate Change Messaging

In honor of Veterans Day, Chris Pratt, beloved by middle America as one of the few big names in Hollywood willing to defend traditional values and openly discuss his faith, posted a statement on Instagram on Monday expressing his admiration for his veteran older brother, Cully, and urging his followers to &#8220;look at our veterans for who they are, actual people, with siblings and parents, with children and funny pasts&#8221; and, in doing so, &#8220;approach our relationships to them with compassion and understanding.&#8221;
&#8220;This is my older brother Cully. #happyveteransday,&#8221; Pratt declared on Instagram Monday in a post that includes a picture of his brother in uniform.
&#8220;I always wanted to be exactly like him. We were the same size despite our three year difference in age so as a kid I would wear the same clothes he wore, literally the day after he wore them — picking them up off the floor in his room. What can I say? He knew how to match and I liked the smell,&#8221; continues Pratt, famous for his self-deprecating humor. &#8220;One day his friends started to notice and he kindly urged me to wear my own clothes.&#8221;
&#8220;He is a good big brother,&#8221; writes the &#8220;Jurassic Word&#8221; and &#8220;Guardians of the Galaxy&#8221; star. &#8220;He’s always led with love. Growing up we wrestled for hours every day and smashed every bit of furniture in the house but never actually fought. He taught me everything. He put up with me and my incessant hyperactivity and forced his friends to do the same.&#8221;
&#8220;I say all this to point out that he’s a real person,&#8221; Pratt explains. &#8220;And the more we can look at our veterans for who they are, actual people, with siblings and parents, with children and funny pasts- the more we can approach our relationships to them with compassion and understanding.&#8221;
&#8220;My brother didn’t join the Army because he wanted to be Rambo,&#8221; he continues. &#8220;He joined because it was an opportunity for a hard-nosed kid who couldn’t afford college, somebody who wanted to get the hell out of his small town and probably wanted his own clothes.&#8221;
&#8220;We have the greatest armed forces the world has ever seen,&#8221; Pratt stresses. &#8220;It’s made up of real people who joined for myriad reasons. Brave men and women who sacrifice a whole hell of a lot. Today is their day. So celebrate a veteran today.&#8221;
&#8220;Today I celebrate Cully, as well as my cousin Curtis, Uncle Steve, Uncle Skip, second Cousins, Joey, Ryan and Alex, besties Jared and Jeffrey, all those I’ve fished for hunted with, those who’ve blessed me with their challenge coins as I’ve encountered them on press junkets and in my travels, the many in the film industry working both in front of and behind the cameras,&#8221; Pratt concludes. &#8220;To those currently serving and those out thanks for your service. We appreciate you!&#8221;
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<a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ueswlJoLc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">This is my older brother Cully. #happyveteransday I always wanted to be exactly like him. We were the same size despite our three year difference in age so as a kid I would wear the same clothes he wore, literally the day after he wore them- picking them up off the floor in his room. 🤷🏼‍♂️ What can I say? He knew how to match and I liked the smell. One day his friends started to notice and he kindly urged me to wear my own clothes. He is a good big brother. He’s always led with love. Growing up we wrestled for hours every day and smashed every bit of furniture in the house but never actually fought. He taught me everything. He put up with me and my incessant hyperactivity and forced his friends to do the same. I say all this to point out that he’s a real person. And the more we can look at our veterans for who they are, actual people, with siblings and parents, with children and funny pasts- the more we can approach our relationships to them with compassion and understanding. My brother didn’t join the army because he wanted to be Rambo. He joined because it was an opportunity for a hard nosed kid who couldn’t afford college, somebody who wanted to get the hell out of his small town and probably wanted his own clothes. We have the greatest armed forces the world has ever seen. It’s made up of real people who joined for myriad reasons. Brave men and women who sacrifice a whole hell of a lot. Today is their day. So celebrate a veteran today. Today I celebrate Cully, as well as my cousin Curtis, Uncle Steve, Uncle Skip, second Cousins, Joey, Ryan and Alex, besties Jared and Jeffrey, all those I’ve fished for hunted with, those who’ve blessed me with their challenge coins as I’ve encountered them on press junkets and in my travels, the many in the film industry working both in front of and behind the cameras. To those currently serving and those out thanks for your service. We appreciate you! 🙏♥️🇺🇸</a>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" href="https://www.instagram.com/prattprattpratt/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> chris pratt</a> (@prattprattpratt) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2019-11-11T13:07:38+00:00">Nov 11, 2019 at 5:07am PST</time>
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Pratt also linked to his Instagram post on Twitter:
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This is my older brother Cully. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/happyveteransday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#happyveteransday</a> I always wanted to be exactly like him. We were the same size despite our three year difference in age so as a kid I would wear the same clothes he wore, literally… <a href="https://t.co/5WSJnRkZEA">https://t.co/5WSJnRkZEA</a>
— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/prattprattpratt/status/1193877964024360960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Response online to Pratt&#8217;s tribute to his brother has been overwhelmingly positive, many thanking him for taking a moment to honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans.
&#8220;Let’s hope people listen to what you just said sir,&#8221; wrote one fan. &#8220;We all need to respect, love and be eternally grateful for every single man or woman who has ever served our countries. No matter what political party you belong to. We all owe respect, and gratitude for these selfless people.&#8221;
&#8220;Beautifully stated about being real people,&#8221; wrote another. &#8220;My spouse is a police sergeant, and it saddens me how people forget they are humans with lives. Blessings to all the veterans.&#8221;
&#8220;Love it Chris!&#8221; exclaimed another. &#8220;Amazing tribute!&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tv-guide-warns-readers-about-chris-pratts-james-barrett">TV Guide Warns Readers About Chris Pratt’s ‘Problematic’ Offscreen Life</a>

Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt Posts Terrific Tribute To His Veteran Brother

Military

Veterans

According to leaks reported by <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7668333/Bond-gets-electric-car-wife-refuses-second-Time-Die-film.html">The Daily Mail</a>, the upcoming James Bond sequel &#8220;No Time to Die&#8221; will be the secret agent&#8217;s wokest outing yet. Among other things, Bond will have a wife who refuses to take his surname.
&#8220;The script has Bond marrying Dr Madeleine Swann &#8212; the psychologist played by French actress Lea Seydoux who first appeared in 2015&#8217;s &#8216;Spectre.&#8217; But she refuses to take her new husband&#8217;s name,&#8221; the Mail reported. &#8220;The morning after their wedding, Bond wakes sleepy-eyed and says &#8216;Good morning, Mrs. Bond,&#8217; to which she replies: &#8216;Don&#8217;t you mean Ms. Swann?'&#8221;
On top of that, a source close to production told the outlet that the phrase &#8220;Bond Girl&#8221; was banned from the set while filming.
&#8220;The phrase &#8216;Bond girl&#8217; was outlawed from the set,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;The women in this film are all strong, brave and fiercely independent. These women are not helpless girls who jump into bed with Bond — their reactions are very different from what people might think. Bond tries his usual seduction techniques but they fail miserably. It&#8217;s very funny.&#8221;
The Daily Mail also reported that James Bond will be driving an electric car, but that rumor has been <a href="https://www.driving.co.uk/news/james-bond-never-slated-drive-electric-car-says-aston-martin/">debunked multiple times</a> in the past several months.
&#8220;We have no idea where that rumor came from,&#8221; said car manufacturer Aston Martin. &#8220;The three cars for the new Bond film were decided ages ago, well before that rumour emerged.&#8221;
The phrase &#8220;Bond Girl&#8221; was also not the only thing reportedly outlawed from the &#8220;No Time to Die&#8221; set; plastic water bottles were also nowhere to be seen.
&#8220;Crew members were given reusable water bottles which they filled from taps, saving an estimated 230,000 single-use plastic water bottles,&#8221; The Daily Mail continued. &#8220;More than 11 tons of packaging waste was also recycled, while producers sent 30 tons of food waste and biodegradable packaging to &#8216;anaerobic digestion,&#8217; in which micro-organisms break down material, producing a gas that can be used to generate electricity.&#8221;
Amid reports, however, that James Bond will be ushered into the #MeToo age, screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/08/james-bond-didnt-need-make-no-time-die-feminist-phoebe-waller-bridge-clears-role-new-007-movie-11066029/">recently attempted to clarify</a> that she had no intention of turning the iconic spy into some feminist superhero.
&#8220;They were already doing that themselves. They’re having that conversation with themselves the whole time,&#8221; <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/08/james-bond-didnt-need-make-no-time-die-feminist-phoebe-waller-bridge-clears-role-new-007-movie-11066029/">she told</a> BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme. &#8220;They were just looking for tweaks across a few of the characters and a few of the storylines.&#8221;
&#8220;[My involvement] was much more practical. Just, &#8216;You’re a writer, we need some help with these scenes.&#8217; And you come up with some dialogue for these characters,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women. I think that&#8217;s [nonsense]. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly.&#8221;
Last week, actress Lashana Lynch, who will reportedly make history as the first black woman to play 007, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-an-evolution-james-bond-actresses-talk-bringing-the-famed-spy-into-the-metoo-age">told The Hollywood Reporter</a> that the makers of &#8220;No Time to Die&#8221; worked hard to usher James Bond into the #MeToo age.
&#8220;Everyone was really responsive to having her be what I wanted,&#8221; Lynch said of her character. &#8220;You’re given a fresh perspective on a brand-new black woman in the Bond world.&#8221;
&#8220;I didn’t want someone who was slick. I wanted someone who was rough around the edges and who has a past and a history and has issues with her weight and maybe questions what’s going on with her boyfriend,&#8221; she later added.
Lynch even suggested to Waller-Bridge the possibility of a scene in which her character is on her period. &#8220;We had one conversation about her maybe being on her period in one scene, and maybe at the beginning of the scene — and I spoke to Cary about this — throwing her tampon in the thing,&#8221; said Lynch.

REPORT: James Bond’s Wife Will Refuse To Take His Name, Phrase ‘Bond Girl’ Banned From Set

James Bond

The Hollywood Reporter

Tinseltown&#8217;s abortion propaganda machine continued with the latest episode of &#8220;Grey&#8217;s Anatomy&#8221; about a pregnant mother who ingests herbs in order to self-induce an abortion.
According to <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/karen-townsend/2019/11/08/greys-anatomy-dont-force-poor-mom-against-her-will-continue">Newsbusters</a>, the November 7 episode featured a 25-year-old woman named Cassidy who is brought to the emergency room after a fall down her basement steps. The woman, who is 8-10 weeks pregnant, is disappointed to learn that the baby survived, and admits she ingested herbs to induce an abortion since she could not afford to visit a clinic.
&#8220;Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) volunteers to talk to Cassidy, though Amelia doesn’t practice at the hospital,&#8221; reports Newsbusters. &#8220;Upon finding out that Cassidy wanted an abortion, Amelia said that Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) can ask an OB-GYN to do abortion during her spleen surgery. Owen contradicts Amelia’s offer, though, and tells Cassidy he just wants to take care of the bleeding spleen and then the pregnancy can be dealt with later.&#8221;
In a conversation outside the room, Amelia questions Owen for not ordering the OBGYN to perform an abortion during the spleen operation. Though not entirely on the nose, the dialogue flows rather predictably:
<blockquote>Amelia: What are you doing?
Owen: You really overstepped in there. I’m a trauma surgeon. I don’t order abortions.
Amelia: You would have if the fetus hadn’t survived.
Owen: But it did.
Amelia: Owen, she’s eight weeks. She doesn’t need a full d&amp;c.
Owen: Exactly. It’s not emergent, but her internal injuries are. So I’m gonna deal with those, and then she can go see an ob.
Amelia: She seems pretty clear in her thinking and committed to her plan. Why not just give her the help she’s asking for?</blockquote>
Though Owen conducts the surgery without scheduling the OBGYN for the abortion, Amelia orders a nurse to give the woman two pills that induce abortion. When Owen confronts Amelia for her actions, she slaps him with talking-points that could have been lifted directly out of a Planned Parenthood pamplet.
&#8220;Owen, did you really want to force that poor mom to bring another human being onto the planet against her will, or did you refuse her an abortion because I wanted to help her have one?&#8221; Amelia tells Owen.
&#8220;You don’t get to come to my place of work and order me around, ok?&#8221; he responds.
The &#8220;Grey&#8217;s Anatomy&#8221; episode comes amid reports about Tinseltown pushing the most pro-abortion propaganda in its history.
“So far, halfway through the year, nearly two dozen characters in streaming shows, movies and television have had or talked about having abortions, many unapologetically, a development that would have been unthinkable a decade ago – and one that has angered some abortion foes,” reported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/arts/abortion-hollywood.html">The New York Times </a>earlier this year.
Last month, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/law-order-svu-episode-pushes-cringe-worthy-abortion-propaganda">an episode</a> of &#8220;Law &amp; Order: SVU&#8221; featured a plot that focused on a 13-year-old girl from an evangelical Christian family in Ohio who escaped to New York in order to obtain an abortion after her stepfather raped her. The episode ended with her receiving the abortion, but only after the characters routinely spouted dialogue about the backward thinking of pro-life conservatives.

ABC&#8217;s &#8220;Grey&#8217;s Anatomy&#8221; &#8211; Season Sixteen

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Pushes Abortion Propaganda

Abortion

On Thursday, GLAAD published its annual “<a href="https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/GLAAD%20WHERE%20WE%20ARE%20ON%20TV%202019%202020.pdf">Where We Are on TV</a>” report, which examines the number of LGBTQ characters on television.
In the opening paragraphs of the report, GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis states that television plays a crucial role in our culture when it comes to “changing hearts and minds.” She adds that according to a study, “less than one-quarter of Americans have a close friend or family member who is transgender,” which means many Americans “learn about trans people from what they see in television, movies, and news.”
Due to this statistic, Ellis says, the casting of trans actor Brian Michael Smith in Fox’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” is important.
The report then cites an <a href="https://www.glaad.org/files/aa/2017_GLAAD_Accelerating_Acceptance.pdf">online survey</a> of 2,037 adults conducted by Harris Poll suggesting that 20% of Americans ages 18-34 identify as LGBTQ, and that approximately 12% of overall respondents identify as LGBTQ.
However, according to a 2017 <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx">Gallup survey</a> that conducted “telephone interviews with a random sample of 340,604 U.S. adults,” only 4.5% of the U.S. population identify as LGBT.
According to Gallup: “The percentage of millennials who identify as LGBT expanded from 7.3% to 8.1% from 2016 to 2017, and is up from 5.8% in 2012.”
The GLAAD report issued a final challenge to the television industry:
<blockquote>GLAAD is calling on the industry to ensure that 20 percent of series regular characters on primetime scripted broadcast series are LGBTQ by 2025. Further, we would challenge all platforms to make sure that within the next two years, half of LGBTQ characters on every platform are people of color. While broadcast has actually hit this mark two years in a row, cable and streaming have yet to reach this goal. These two steps are key moves towards ensuring that entertainment reflects the world in which it is created and the audience who consumes it.</blockquote>
Even if one uses GLAAD’s survey data as a real estimate of the percentage of LGBTQ persons in the United States, the organization’s challenge that “20% of series regular characters on primetime scripted broadcast series” should be LGBTQ by the year 2025 would amount to severe overrepresentation.
Using GLAAD’s data, LGBTQ television characters would outweigh the actual LGBTQ population by 40%. Using Gallup’s data, the difference would be even more stark, with LGBT characters on television outweighing the actual LGBT population by 77.5% by 2025.
GLAAD’s push for overrepresentation could be a factor in the overestimation of the actual LGBT population by many Americans.
In 2019, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/259571/americans-greatly-overestimate-gay-population.aspx">Gallup</a> asked respondents: “Just your best guess, what percent of Americans today would you say are gay or lesbian?”
The average respondent believed that 23.6% of the population is gay or lesbian. Broken down further, 35% guessed that the gay and lesbian population was “more than 25%”; 19% guessed that it was between “20% to 25%”; 10% guessed that it was “15% to less than 20%”; and 14% guessed that it was “10% to less than 15%.”
Only 8% guessed that the percentage of gay and lesbian persons in the United States was “less than 5%.”

LGBT.

GLAAD: We Want ‘20% Of Series Regular Characters’ To Be ‘LGBTQ By 2025’

GLAAD

LGBT

Television

Transgender

Singer Deana Martin, daughter of the legendary Dean Martin, has few kind words to say about John Legend&#8217;s feminist, #MeToo friendly update of the Christmas classic, &#8220;Baby It&#8217;s Cold Outside.&#8221;
“You do not change the lyrics to the song,” Deana Martin told “Good Morning Britain,” as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/dean-martins-daughter-deana-criticizes-john-legend-baby-its-cold-outside-remake">Fox News</a>. “He’s made it more sexual with those words that he has just said. It’s absolutely absurd.&#8221;
Speaking with <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/john-legend-and-chrissy-teigen-cover-story">Vanity Fair</a>, Legend revealed last week that he and songwriter Natasha Rothwell rewrote the song to reflect a more woke mindset – one that will include such feminist lyrics as, “it’s your body, and your choice.” He performed the male voice while Kelly Clarkson performed the female.
“The new lyrics hear Clarkson sing ‘What will my friends think?,’ with Legend replying: ‘I think they should rejoice.’ Kelly, 37, then sings: ‘… if I have one more drink?,’ with John singing: ‘It’s your body, and your choice,&#8217;” Metro <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/29/john-legend-kelly-clarkson-update-baby-cold-outside-lyrics-metoo-era-11002195/?ito=twitter">reported</a> of the song changes.
In 1959, Dean Martin transformed the Frank Loesser song (originally written for &#8220;Neptune&#8217;s Daughter&#8221;) into a Christmas staple that, to this day, remains the most popular iteration. Last year alone, even as controversy about the song raged throughout the culture, the Dean Martin version <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/baby-its-cold-outside-surges-sales-after-feminists-paul-bois">still saw a 257% increase in sales.</a>
In the same interview with “Good Morning Britain,” Deana Martin lamented how Legend&#8217;s version disrespects artist Frank Loesser&#8217;s original intent as well as her father&#8217;s legacy.
&#8220;I think what he&#8217;s done is, he&#8217;s stealing the thunder from Frank Loesser&#8217;s song and from my dad,&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;He should write his own song if he doesn&#8217;t like this one, but don&#8217;t change the lyrics. It&#8217;s a classic, perfect song.&#8221;
“[Dean] would say it’s absurd. I think John should’ve just left it alone,” she added.
Deana Martin&#8217;s denunciation of the new version essentially echoes the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sharon-osbourne-john-legends-woke-baby-its-cold-outside-is-ridiculous">criticisms made by Sharon Osbourne</a> (wife of Ozzy) earlier this week, who also said that Legend should have left the song alone.
“To change an innocent lyric, to what is it, ‘Your mind and your body’? What the hell are you on? That’s ridiculous,” Osbourne said. “I have to tell you, I love John Legend. I love John Legend’s wife, his family. He’s an amazing artist that I really respect. Why do you do this? That’s not right.”
Speaking with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/dean-martins-daughter-deana-martin-responds-to-kelly-clarkson-john-legends-baby-its-cold-outside-lyrics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fox News</a>, Deana Martin thanked fans of her father&#8217;s song for helping to popularize it again last year.
“I&#8217;d like to thank everyone for helping bring my father Dean Martin’s original version of ‘Baby&#8217;s It&#8217;s Cold Outside’ back to the top of the Billboard charts in 2018,” she told the outlet. “Dean’s song is included in his hugely successful 1959 album ‘Winter Romance,’ and I’m very proud that it has become an evergreen favorite that is played every holiday season.&#8221;
“I personally love performing ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ and will continue to do so,” she continued. “This song is a cute, flirtatious and romantic song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and it won the Oscar for best original song in the 1949 film ‘Neptune&#8217;s Daughter.’ It has been recorded by dozens of the world’s top recording artists for over 60 years. Happy Holidays to all!”

Deana Martin Visits &#8220;FOX &amp; Friends&#8221;

Dean Martin’s Daughter Blasts John Legend’s Woke ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’

John Legend

MeToo

News that actor James Dean will be getting a CGI resurrection in a forthcoming Vietnam War film after being dead for 60-plus years has not gone over well in some Hollywood circles, prompting a philosophical debate about the ethics of using an individual&#8217;s likeness for a creative enterprise in which the deceased artist necessarily has no say.
On Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter ignited a social media firestorm with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/long-deceased-actor-james-dean-to-have-a-cgi-resurrection-in-vietnam-war-film">announcement</a> that a CGI version of actor James Dean will be playing a prominent role in the Vietnam War action drama &#8220;Finding Jack.&#8221; Director Anton Ernst said the decision to cast James Dean came after &#8220;months of research&#8221; and that the production will involve complex character arcs.
&#8220;We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean,&#8221; said Ernst. &#8220;We feel very honored that his family supports us and will take every precaution to ensure that his legacy as one of the most epic film stars to date is kept firmly intact. The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/broadcast-tv-increases-lgbtq-regulars-boosts-lesbian-representation-study-finds-1251737">CNN</a>, people on social media were not nearly as excited. Several Hollywood actors, including Chris Evans of &#8220;Captain America,&#8221; also voiced strong disapproval.
&#8220;I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;d be thrilled,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/1192137540842733568">tweeted Evans,</a> with an eye-rolling emoji, referencing what he believed would be Dean&#8217;s reaction to such news. &#8220;This is awful. Maybe we can get a computer to paint us a new Picasso. Or write a couple new John Lennon tunes. The complete lack of understanding here is shameful.&#8221;
&#8220;NOPE. this shouldn’t be a thing,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/elijahwood/status/1192221224228683776">tweeted</a> &#8220;Lord of the Rings&#8221; actor Elijah Wood.
Actor Dylan Sprouse <a href="https://twitter.com/dylansprouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1192193876993417217&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Few.com%2Fmovies%2F2019%2F11%2F07%2Fcelebrities-criticize-james-dean-new-movie%2F">tweeted</a>: &#8220;Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide says in addition to other famous, deceased personalities; the film &#8216;opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us.&#8217; TO BE READ AS: &#8216;Found a new way to rob graves of dead icons and milk the masses for less!'&#8221;
Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, was equally repulsed by the concept of actors getting a CGI resurrection.
&#8220;I have talked to friends about this for YEARS and no one ever believed me that the industry would stoop this low once tech got better,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/1192141551171854338">said Williams</a>. &#8220;Publicity stunt or not, this is puppeteering the dead for their ‘clout’ alone and it sets such an awful precedent for the future of performance.&#8221;
Other social media users pointed out the potential ethics violations that would erupt by forcing deceased actors to implicitly promote messages or ideas with which they never agreed.
&#8220;I need a full day to lay down and process that they’re using James Dean CGI to project him into a Vietnam War movie when he was actively anti-war and would never been in this movie in life &#8230; like how soulless and dystopian was the executive making that decision,&#8221; tweeted one user.
&#8220;I also feel they can use them to endorse things that they never really believed in. For instance, they could turn Charlton Heston, who stood w/ MLK Jr., into a bitter racist cuz they didn&#8217;t like his stand on the 2nd Amendment,&#8221; tweeted The Daily Wire&#8217;s Jacob Airey.
James Dean will be playing the character Rogan, a secondary lead role, in a story adapted from Gareth Crocker&#8217;s novel about the abandonment of more than 10,000 military dogs during the Vietnam War.

James Dean During The Filming of &#8220;Giant&#8221;

Backlash Erupts Against The CGI Resurrection Of James Dean

A star is born &#8230; again.
Stars truly never die, do they? With the advancement of modern CGI (and potentially robotics), stars may be with us for as long as their estate can keep the flame of their remembered existence alive, generating new fanbases decades after they have departed from the earth.
That brave new world became all the more evident with the announcement that actor James Dean, who died in a car crash 60-plus years ago at age 24, will be resurrected via CGI in the Vietnam War action-drama &#8220;Finding Jack.&#8221;
&#8220;Directed by Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh, the project comes from the filmmakers&#8217; own recently launched production house Magic City Films, which obtained the rights to use Dean’s image from his family,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-james-dean-reborn-cgi-vietnam-war-action-drama-1252703">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR). &#8220;Canadian VFX banner Imagine Engine will be working alongside South African VFX company MOI Worldwide to re-create what the filmmakers describe as &#8216;a realistic version of James Dean.'&#8221;
James Dean will be playing the character Rogan, a secondary lead role, in a story adapted from Gareth Crocker’s novel about the abandonment of more than 10,000 military dogs during the Vietnam War.
Director Anton Ernst said the decision to cast James Dean came after &#8220;months of research&#8221; and will involve complex character arcs.
&#8220;We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean,&#8221; said Ernst. &#8220;We feel very honored that his family supports us and will take every precaution to ensure that his legacy as one of the most epic film stars to date is kept firmly intact. The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down.&#8221;
&#8220;Our partners in South Africa are very excited about this, as this technology would also be employed down the line to re-create historical icons such as Nelson Mandela to tell stories of cultural heritage significance,&#8221; he added.
While another actor will voice James Dean, THR noted that he will be recreated via &#8220;full body&#8221; CGI using photos and footage.
&#8220;Multiple Oscar nominated songwriter Diane Warren wrote the key song for the film and acclaimed composer Laurent Eyquem is on board to score the film,&#8221; continued THR. &#8220;Preproduction on Finding Jack starts Nov. 17, with a goal for a worldwide release on Veterans Day 2020. Magic City Films is handling foreign sales.&#8221;
The filmmakers are now hoping that the CGI technology used to bring Dean back to life on-screen could soon be deployed on other well-known figures.
Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, told THR that James Dean&#8217;s inclusion in the film opens up a whole new era of possibilities for deceased actors.
&#8220;This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us,&#8221; said Roesler.
While the casting of James Dean represents the first time a deceased movie star has been employed for a major role in a feature film, he is not the first actor to be given such a treatment. In 2016, Disney made waves with the casting of actor Peter Cushing to reprise his role as Grand Moff Tarkin in &#8220;Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,&#8221; a move that received mixed reviews in terms of its rendering. Catherine Shoard of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/21/peter-cushing-rogue-one-resurrection-cgi">The Guardian</a> referred to it as a &#8220;digital indignity&#8221; that raises some serious philosophical questions:
<blockquote>The people who are actually driving this form of immortality are the living, whether to cope with their own loss or negotiate problematic plot-holes. Access to such tools will soon be devolved further. If it’s possible for loved ones to bridge the great beyond by feeding old emails into a machine, why not complete strangers with access to our Twitter feed?
But there’s a deeper unease too, as testified by the fact that Cushing’s comeback was so well done. This suggests the problem is not quality of execution but simple concept. Jesus aside, resurrection has been primarily employed by fiction which seeks to unsettle. The power of Christianity derives in large part from that final-reel twist. The power of a lot of horror comes from the subversion of the natural order.
The dignity of death ought to be preserved.</blockquote>

James Dean

Long Deceased Actor James Dean To Have A CGI Resurrection In Vietnam War Film

James Bond will finally be ushered into the age of #MeToo and Time&#8217;s Up, according to actresses Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas, who will both be playing opposite Daniel Craig in the upcoming Bond flick &#8220;No Time to Die.&#8221;
Speaking with <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/how-lashana-lynch-ana-de-armas-are-helping-modernize-james-bond-1252345">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR), the actresses said that James Bond will be experiencing an &#8220;evolution&#8221; as the makers attempt to modernize him to keep the character in tune with current culture. Much of this new take on the famed MI6 agent has been credited to screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge, whom Lynch praised for her on-screen portrayal of women.
&#8220;I very literally squealed when I first heard her name,&#8221; Lynch said upon first learning of Waller-Bridge&#8217;s involvement. &#8220;I thought, &#8216;Oh my gosh, British girl just like me. She&#8217;s going to know how to actually take care of women on-screen.'&#8221;
Lynch&#8217;s role in the upcoming film will be novel, as she is set to become the first black woman to play 007.
&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty obvious that there is an evolution in the fact that Lashana is one of the main characters in the film and wears the pants — literally. I wear the gown. She wears the pants,&#8221; de Armas said of Lynch&#8217;s character.
Lynch praised the &#8220;No Time to Die&#8221; creative team for making the character everything she wanted. &#8220;Everyone was really responsive to having her be what I wanted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You&#8217;re given a fresh perspective on a brand-new black woman in the Bond world.&#8221;
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want someone who was slick. I wanted someone who was rough around the edges and who has a past and a history and has issues with her weight and maybe questions what&#8217;s going on with her boyfriend,&#8221; she later added.
Lynch even suggested to Waller-Bridge the possibility of a scene in which her character is on her period. &#8220;We had one conversation about her maybe being on her period in one scene, and maybe at the beginning of the scene — and I spoke to Cary about this — throwing her tampon in the thing,&#8221; said Lynch.
When news of Lynch&#8217;s role as 007 first broke, THR noted that although Twitter trolls expressed outrage, Lynch said that none of the criticism has disheartened her. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t dishearten me. It makes me feel quite sad for some people because their opinions, they&#8217;re not even from a mean place — they&#8217;re actually from a sad place,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not about me. People are reacting to an idea, which has nothing to do with my life.&#8221;
Ana de Armas added that the &#8220;Bond Girl&#8221; in this outing will be taking a different trajectory than have those in previous installments. &#8220;[The women] have been sexualized before, a stereotype, a kind of woman who will always be in danger and waiting to be rescued by Bond,&#8221; she said.
Producer Barbara Broccoli, who oversees the franchise with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, has previously stated her desire to see Bond films arrive in the #MeToo era.
&#8220;#MeToo has influenced our culture, which is a great thing, so of course it&#8217;s going to influence everything we do on Bond,&#8221; Broccoli told the Daily Mail in April. &#8220;The films are representative of the times they&#8217;re in.&#8221;

&#8220;Bond 25&#8221; Film Launch at GoldenEye, Jamaica

&#8216;It&#8217;s An Evolution&#8217;: James Bond Actresses Talk Bringing The Famed Spy Into The ‘#MeToo Age’

Hollywood Reporter

Film icon Martin Scorsese is refusing to back down from his defense of cinema amid swarms of Marvel fanboys denouncing him as some kind of snobby elitist for daring to liken the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to vapid theme park rides designed solely to line Disney&#8217;s pockets.
In a beautifully written op-ed for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html">The New York Times</a>, the &#8220;Goodfellas&#8221; director explains that while he admires the talented individuals who help craft the Marvel movies, he ultimately laments how the MCU (and other franchise films) have jettisoned what he calls &#8220;revelation.&#8221;
&#8220;For me, for the filmmakers I came to love and respect, for my friends who started making movies around the same time that I did, cinema was about revelation — aesthetic, emotional and spiritual revelation,&#8221; writes Scorsese. &#8220;It was about characters — the complexity of people and their contradictory and sometimes paradoxical natures, the way they can hurt one another and love one another and suddenly come face to face with themselves.&#8221;
&#8220;It was about confronting the unexpected on the screen and in the life it dramatized and interpreted, and enlarging the sense of what was possible in the art form,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And that was the key for us: it was an art form.&#8221;
Playing devil&#8217;s advocate, Scorsese admits that his dismissal of Marvel movies as cinema could stem from the lack of an acquired taste, but on that front, he points to a director who would&#8217;ve been classified as a franchise filmmaker during his youth: Alfred Hitchcock, who, in some ways, shares similarities with director Christopher Nolan.
&#8220;I suppose you could say that Hitchcock was his own franchise,&#8221; argues Scorsese. &#8220;Or that he was our franchise. Every new Hitchcock picture was an event. To be in a packed house in one of the old theaters watching &#8216;Rear Window&#8217; was an extraordinary experience: It was an event created by the chemistry between the audience and the picture itself, and it was electrifying.&#8221;
Though he notes that &#8220;Hitchcock films were also like theme parks,&#8221; in some ways, Hitchcock&#8217;s contributions to cinema have lived decades beyond their sell-date, are studied regularly for their artistic merits, and frequently revisited time and time again, arguing how their interior life accentuated the spectacle, imparting an emotional depth unseen in today&#8217;s franchise fare.
Fixating his attention back on Marvel, Scorsese applauds the cinematic elements in the MCU while emphasizing how their sameness drains the stories of all tension, stakes, or &#8220;emotional danger.&#8221;
&#8220;What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger,&#8221; he argues. &#8220;Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes. They are sequels in name but they are remakes in spirit, and everything in them is officially sanctioned because it can’t really be any other way.&#8221;
All of that aside, Scorsese&#8217;s real concern (and this may be why he criticized the MCU in the first place) is how the entire film industry has shifted toward an assembly-line method of filmmaking, or, as one YouTuber aptly described, &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Ag4f_9VEI">the homogenization of blockbusters</a>.&#8221; This, according to Scorsese, has created an atmosphere in which few executives (if any) take risks, leaving genuinely eager filmmakers with unique visions (perhaps even a potential Hitchcock) out in the cold. Add China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/has-china-taken-over-hollywood-aaron-bandler">into the mix</a> and one can only conclude that the game is rigged.
&#8220;That’s the nature of <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/business/dealbook/review-the-big-picture-chronicles-a-changing-entertainment-industry.html?module=inline">modern film franchises</a>: <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a26232993/iron-man-marvel-loan-bankruptcy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">market-researched</a>, <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://screenrant.com/avengers-endgame-runtime-3-hours-reactions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">audience-tested</a>, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption,&#8221; says Scorsese.
&#8220;In the past 20 years, as we all know, the movie business has changed on all fronts. But the most ominous change has happened stealthily and under cover of night: the gradual but steady elimination of risk,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Many films today are perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption. Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist. Because, of course, the individual artist is the riskiest factor of all.&#8221;

Premiere Of Netflix&#8217;s &#8220;The Irishman&#8221; &#8211; Arrivals

Martin Scorsese Pens Beautiful Op-Ed Defending Cinema Amid Marvel Backlash

With the upcoming release of &#8220;Honey Boy,&#8221; actor Shia LaBeouf has been making a serious effort to publicly exorcise himself of the demons that have so plagued him in recent years. Now, two years after his infamous arrest for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, he has publicly thanked the officer from that fateful night for being the spark that helped turn his life around for the better.
&#8220;I want to thank the police officer who arrested me in Georgia, for changing my life,&#8221; LaBeouf said at the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/entertainment/events">Hollywood Film Awards</a> on Sunday night, as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/shia-labeouf-arrest-police-officer-changing-my-life">Fox News</a>.
In July 2017, while Shia was filming &#8220;Peanut Butter Falcon,&#8221; an officer with Savannah PD arrested the actor for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct after he launched into a profanity-laced tirade at someone for not giving him a cigarette. Fox News has more:
<blockquote>Investigators said <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime">the former child actor became disorderly</a>, “using profanities and vulgar language in front of the women and children present.” When he was told to leave, police alleged he refused and became aggressive toward an officer, then ran to a nearby hotel to avoid arrest.
LaBeouf pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction, was ordered to pay $2,680 in fines and fees, perform 100 hours of community service, enroll in anger management counseling and complete a drug and alcohol evaluation.</blockquote>
Indeed, the arrest appears to have helped turn Shia&#8217;s life around; during rehab, he wrote the script for &#8220;Honey Boy,&#8221; a semi-autobiographical piece inspired by his life as a child star in which he plays his own alcoholic and abusive father. Critics have since been hailing &#8220;Honey Boy&#8221; as a masterpiece with a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/honey_boy">97% on Rotten Tomatoes</a>.
&#8220;The director Alma Har&#8217;el does play with time and reality throughout but there remains a genuine heart to LaBeouf&#8217;s script, the clear-eyed work of a man at pains trying to figure out how delving into his past might help fix his present,&#8221; wrote Benjamin Lee of The Guardian.
&#8220;In many ways [it] resembles other films about chaotic childhoods, alcoholism, and abuse. It distinguishes itself in the manner it weaves the concerns of an actor into that trauma,&#8221; said  Emily Yoshida of New York Magazine.
Actor Robert Downey Jr., who presented LaBeouf the award for breakout screenwriting over the weekend, hailed the movie as &#8220;damn near perfect&#8221; and &#8220;easily the best and bravest film I have seen in years.&#8221;
Aside from the police officer, LaBeouf <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shia-labeouf-explains-how-co-star-with-down-syndrome-saved-his-life">recently thanked</a> his co-star in &#8220;Peanut Butter Falcon,&#8221; Zack Gottsagen, an actor with Down syndrome, for contributing to his recovery.
“I had never worked with an actor like him,” said LaBeouf, as reported by <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/shia-labeouf-costar-down-syndrome-saved-life/?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook">Live Action</a>. “I’d never been involved in a project like this. It felt like it was going to be a really freeing experience, and to be quite frank, I was terrified. I knew that he’d be playing lead guitar, you know, and I’d be playing bass to him. If he went left, I’d have to go left. I’d never been in a situation where so much is dependent on staying open, and reacting, and listening to another performer. I’ve been quite selfish in my choices and my way of working before.”
“The kid in me died and I just got over all this,” he continued. “This roller coaster wasn’t fun after a while. You ride the same roller coaster, it just loses its appeal. Then you go on it with someone who hasn’t been on it before, and somehow, it sparks back up.”

23rd Annual Hollywood Film Awards &#8211; Arrivals

Shia LaBeouf Thanks Police Officer Who Arrested Him ‘For Changing My Life’

Robert Downey Jr.

Shia LaBeouf

When approaching her role in Lionsgate’s “Bombshell,” actress Charlize Theron was apprehensive, reports <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/02/entertainment/charlize-theron-megyn-kelly-bombshell/index.html">CNN</a>.
“This was not a person who was easy for me to wrap my arms around,” Theron said at a recent panel in L.A.
<blockquote>From afar it looks like we have nothing in common – obviously, I&#8217;m a liberal and a lot of these women have said things that have been deeply upsetting to me. But at the same time, as a woman, understanding what each of them went through and understanding what Megyn was facing, especially in those two weeks where she didn&#8217;t step forward and she didn&#8217;t support Gretchen [Carlson], that&#8217;s when I emotionally tapped into her because I started to see similarities between us, dare I say that.</blockquote>
“Bombshell,” a film that chronicles the downfall of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes after allegations of sexual misconduct, stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. It was written by Charles Randolph, who co-wrote 2015’s “The Big Short,” and directed by Jay Roach, who directed political dramas “All The Way” and “Game Change.”
“I saw a woman with ambition, with drive, and all of a sudden I realized, ‘S***, this is the kind of stuff that&#8217;s been weaponized against me. I relate to that.’ That&#8217;s when it became clear to me just how important this story was,” Theron stated. “Because if we can see the power of the message through someone who we may not agree with or somebody who might even anger us, that tells you there&#8217;s something real there.”
Theron added that it was difficult to analyze Megyn Kelly as a person because so much of the available footage of the former Fox News anchor is from her doing her job as a journalist.
Theron had previously <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/charlize-theron-megyn-kelly-bombshell-monster.html">discussed</a> the role, and the way in which actors are supposed to engage with character research, with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, saying:
<blockquote>You forget sometimes – all of us do this – we think we know people, we have our preconceived ideas of them. As an actor, you have to have that ability to put all of that aside and do research, and to actually find out about somebody.</blockquote>
Theron added that there were certain aspects of the part that “bothered” her. It wasn’t until she came to the understanding that the movie was a portrait of the women who took on an alleged abuser at Fox News, rather than a Megyn Kelly biopic, that it “felt &#8230; like a story worth telling.”
In her 2016 memoir “<a href="https://people.com/books/megyn-kelly-memoir-9-things-we-learned-about-roger-ailes-alleged-sexual-harassment/">Settle for More</a>,” Kelly describes an incident that allegedly took place in January 2006: “Roger called me up to New York and we had a shocking exchange. I was nervous about going into his office, concerned he might start in again. Sure enough he did. And then he crossed a new line – trying to grab me repeatedly and kiss me on the lips.”
Kelly also claims that Ailes had made sexually charged comments toward her. The Fox News anchor left the network in January 2017.
In July 2016, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who is played by Nicole Kidman in “Bombshell,” <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/06/fox-settles-with-gretchen-carlson-for-20m-and-is-expected-to-offer-apology-report.html">sued</a> Ailes for sexual harassment. Two months later, the suit was settled, and Carlson was paid $20 million.
Announcing the settlement of the suit, 21st Century Fox issued a statement that read in part: “We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve.”

Charlize Theron.

Charlize Theron Says Playing Megyn Kelly Was Difficult, But Ultimately ‘A Story Worth Telling’

Charlize Theron

Fox News

Gretchen Carlson

Megyn Kelly

Roger Ailes

We didn’t need another “Terminator” movie. “Dark Fate” proves it.
The sixth film in the series essentially rehashes the plot from James Cameron’s 1984 classic.
Been there, terminated that.
Still, “Terminator: Dark Fate” gets just enough elements right, from a key character’s return to a refreshingly streamlined plot, to temporarily revive the saga.
That’s about the best one can say about a franchise that should have called it quits back in 1991.
“Dark Fate” opens in 1998, as a young-ish Sarah Connor watches her son, John, get killed by a T-800 model Terminator. AKA Ah-nold.
The sequence is amazing for purely technical reasons. The de-aged Sarah, John and Schwarzenegger robot look exactly as they did nearly 30 years ago.
Exactly.
We can’t marvel at the technology too long, though. The story quickly shifts to 20 years later in Mexico City. Young Dani (Natalia Reyes) is working on an assembly line along with her brother. Unbeknownst to her, a slick new Terminator,  the Rev-9 edition, wants her dead. Gabriel Luna does the Terminator honors here, but his grim visage is no match for “T:2′” standout Robert Patrick.
Why does the Rev-9 want to erase Dani? Cue the Sarah Connor Story 2.0. Dani plays a pivotal role in humanity’s rage against the A.I. machine.
That means Dani gets her own guardian angel from the future, according to the Terminator blueprint. Only this time he’s a she. Grace (Mackenzie Davis, “Tully”) isn’t quite human like Kyle Reese back in the franchise day. She’s “augmented” and tough enough to stare down any Terminator.
Just keep her hydrated!
Before long ol’ Sarah Connor herself enters the scene. She’s been notified about Dani’s plight from a mysterious source that could be their last, best hope. Maybe Sarah doesn’t need any backup. She spent the last two decades drinking and defeating other Terminators, and she’s confident she can “hasta la vista” Rev-9, too.
Huh? How?
Because we’re in a post #MeToo world, and every female character must be an elite warrior who defies the laws of physics.
So how does Schwarzenegger fit into the story? And are we really fighting against a Skynet clone? Might as well throw in a Death Star while we’re recycling things, eh?
Director Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) keeps the story chugging so fast there’s little time to ask any more questions. It’s all about protecting Dani … and reminding us this is a very 2019 franchise entry.
The girl power elements are front and center, ignoring the fact that the original two films already delivered one of sci-fi’s most empowered heroines.
Kudos to Team Terminator for avoiding overt lectures in between the action. They flirt with 21st century finger wagging on another front, though.
The story finds our heroines fleeing Mexico City for a small Texas town. That means they have to smuggle themselves across the border, giving the film enough time to portray border patrol agents as the bogeymen.
Once again, Miller keeps tight control of the material, letting the adventure beats take charge.
So where’s Arnold? Wait, he’s coming, and he’s the most innovative part of this retread. His Terminator, older, wiser and darn near human, gets a killer back story and plenty of well-earned sparks with Sarah.
Schwarzenegger the actor has come a long way, baby.
Neither Dani nor Grace can match the charisma of the franchise’s key players.
Recent attempts to reboot the franchise, from “Terminator: Salvation” to “Terminator Genisys” failed or failed miserably, depending on who you ask.
Still, “Terminator: Dark Fate” is different. It’s lively, brimming with sharp action sequences. James Cameron is back, too, and his professional touch is obvious throughout the story.
His ham-fisted dialogue is, too, robbing the new characters from making a strong impression. Davis, enchanting in “Tully,” overcomes that hurdle, to a degree. She’s a nimble warrior, even if some action scene editing gets too aggressive.
Reyes, by comparison, lacks dimension. Blame a script with little interest in giving her anything approaching a complex character trait. She’s one speech away from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue"> Mary Sue territory</a>.
The battle sequences mostly sparkle, even if they tend to go on too long. Miller’s visual gifts are beyond reproach by now. The more he depresses the accelerator, the less we wonder about the story’s gaping plot holes.
The bottom line? “Terminator: Dark Fate” laps the last three “T” features, the very definition of faint praise. There’s even less reason to continue the franchise at this point, but “Dark Fate” at least wraps the saga on a satisfying, if maddeningly familiar note.
HiT or Miss: “Terminator: Dark Fate” is the prototypical unnecessary sequel, but it’s slick enough to merit the ticket price.

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