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Jodie Foster Sending Mel Gibson Film ‘The Beaver’ To All Academy Members

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 2:19pm PSTTags: Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, Summit Entertainement, The Beaver
Pete Hammond

EXCLUSIVE: In an unprecedented move this late in Oscar season, two-time Academy Award winning actress and director Jodie Foster, with the help of her film’s distributor Summit Entertainment, is sending DVD screeners of The Beaver (the Mel Gibson film she directed and co-starred in) to the entire membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Summit tells me they expect to start shipping Monday so the Academy  members should have this in their mailboxes by Wednesday.

That’s right. The Beaver. It’s NOT nominated for a single Oscar — or any other award for that matter. It opened and closed quickly last May in the wake of  Gibson’s latest scandal and grossed just under $1 million in its brief, unsuccessful U.S. run. Although reviews were mixed it did receive a 69% fresh rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and, despite his personal woes, Gibson got some of the best personal notices of his career. But when awards season arrived Summit nixed a campaign and did not send out screeners to the Academy as they did for two other movies, 50/50 and A Better Life (the first screener sent to Academy members on September 7).

The fact that there were no screeners and no Oscar nominations has not deterred Foster who feels strongly about her movie and wants it to be seen by her peers. In a letter that will accompany the DVD (read the letter here), Foster begins by writing: “It is unusual to get a screener after the Oscar nominations have been announced, as the final chapter of award season is nearing, when nearly all of this year’s movies have been viewed and assessed. That is because this screener of The Beaver is not ‘For Your Consideration’. It is simply for your enjoyment.” Later she says “The Beaver is an unusual film, to say the least, with a voice and tone unlike any other. Mel Gibson’s performance is undeniably deep and raw. I am so proud of the work we did together.”

The DVD that will be sent to Oscar voters is the commercial consumer version, usually forbidden by Academy rules. Distributors must make special screeners and adhere to strict, no frills packaging. The Academy rules also don’t allow a letter to be sent as Foster is doing. In this case Summit got special permission from the Academy in order to send it out in this form. Because it has no nominations, and write-in votes haven’t been permitted in decades, what’s the harm?

Sure Foster wishes the film had been sent earlier to really be considered but in a phone conversation this morning she told me it wasn’t her decision. It is now and she is personally paying for all the expense of the mailing. ”I am not the distributor. That’s their decision. It’s a pretty simple desire on my part. You work incredibly hard on a movie. I’ve made a lot of movies and I don’t think in the last twenty years since they’ve had the screener process, even when they had videos, I don’t think I’ve had a movie that didn’t come out on the screener, even the ones that really honestly should not have been for any consideration,” she laughed.

So why do this now? “I think it’s become at the end of the year it’s the way people see the films, view the films in the independent world as well as the mainstream world that they might not have gotten to any other way. It’s increasingly the way people see the films. Whether we like it or not it’s the way the film community really keeps up. And we had a bit of a compromised theatrical release, and Blockbuster is out of business,” she says. She talked to Gibson yesterday and said he’s pleased she’s doing this. “I think Mel is happy as am I that this is an opportunity for just the film to be viewed and really for Mel not to be talked about, except that he gave a wonderful performance that I am incredibly grateful for. I didn’t get that opportunity when it was released.”

She has no animosity toward Summit for not including the film in their Oscar campaign plans. “It’s their purview. I have to say I do love these guys and I have had a great experience with them, and if anything I have an even fonder feeling for them because we went through World War II together. We were in the trenches together and they were really amazing,” she said.

Foster wasn’t even put off at the Golden Globes (where she was a nominee for Best Actress — Musical or Comedy for Carnage) when host Ricky Gervais made her film the butt of one of his jokes. Talking about NBC’s guidelines for his monologue he said, “I musn’t mention Mel Gibson again…even Jodie Foster’s Beaver. I haven’t seen it myself. I’ve spoken to a lot of guys here. They haven’t seen it either. That doesn’t mean it’s not any good,”he said as cameras caught Foster in the audience laughing harder than anyone.

“It (the Globes) was fun. We had a great time. Honestly I made a movie called ‘The Beaver’. Do you really think there isn’t a joke about it?” she says. But clearly she is happy her peers will get a chance to judge the movie on its own terms this Oscar season, even if it isn’t part of the Oscar conversation.

“I didn’t become an actor or director to make a hundred gazillion dollars. I make movies because it is my art form. It’s the thing that I love and how I express myself. And to not be seen by the people you talk to and work with that are part of that experience is really sad. I have to say I discovered a lot of interesting movies this year that I am so glad I got to see that may not be talked about in the Oscars, may not have any consideration in the Oscars, didn’t get nominations but were really enormous experiences for me and I am so glad I got that (DVD) box and was able to see them, films like We Need To Talk About Kevin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, In The Land of Blood and Honey. I would not have seen them any other way,” she says.

And now she’s hoping her peers will discover her lost film the same way. Get ready Academy, The Beaver is about to become your final screener of the season.

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SAG-AFTRA Info Meeting Set February 9

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 2, 2012 @ 8:46pm PSTTags: SAG AFTRA

Shape the Future of Your Union: Learn More about the Proposed Merger of SAG and AFTRA Featuring SAG National President Ken Howard, AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon, SAG Secretary-Treasurer Amy Aquino, SAG 1st VP Ned Vaughn, AFTRA 2nd Vice President Gabrielle Carteris and AFTRA National Treasurer Matt Kimbrough
…
All paid-up SAG and AFTRA members in good standing are urged to attend an important educational/informational meeting in Los Angeles to learn the facts and impact of the merger. On January 27 and 28, the national boards of SAG and AFTRA overwhelmingly approved the merger agreement to form one union. Now the decision is in your hands. Ballots will be mailed on February 27 to all eligible AFTRA and SAG members to vote on this historic change for your union. Learn the facts, so that you can cast an informed vote.

What: SAG and AFTRA informational meeting to discuss the terms of the proposed SAG-AFTRA new union.
When: 7-9 p.m., Thursday, February 9, 2012
Where: Museum Square Building (SAG and AFTRA Headquarters)
5757 Wilshire Blvd. Promenade, Lobby Level
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking will be validated.

Read More »

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Hactivists Attack MPAA And Universal Music Sites Following Megaupload Indictments

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday January 19, 2012 @ 3:28pm PSTTags: Anonymous, Justice Department, MPAA, Universal Music Group

MPAA Cheers Federal Assault on Megaupload
Feds Shut File-Sharing Site Megaupload

The group Anonymous appears to have crashed sites for the Justice Department, Universal Music, and the MPAA — apparently to retaliate for the Justice Department’s effort to close Megaupload. … Read More »

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Nikki Finke: Live-Snarking Golden Globes (…Why Ricky Gervais Stunk Tonight And How Harvey Weinstein Became God)

By NIKKI FINKE | Sunday January 15, 2012 @ 9:23pm PSTTags: Golden Globes, Nikki Finke, Ricky Gervais

Full Golden Globes Coverage:
GOLDEN GLOBES TV: Big Night For Freshmen, Pay Cable And 20th TV
Ricky Gervais Critiques His Own Performance As Golden Globes Host
Backstage At The Golden Globes
Golden Globes Studio/Network Scorecard
Golden Globes Winners List
Golden Globes Fashion: Who Wore What?

UPDATE: My live-snark of the 69th Annual Golden Globes started at 5 PM tonight based on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 2012 nominations. Come for the cynicism. Stay for the subversion. Add your comment. Warning: Not for the easily offended or ridiculously naive.
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The 2012 Golden Globes take place inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom at a star-studded dinner broadcast live by NBC and emceed for the 3rd time by Hollywood’s enfant terrible Ricky Gervais. Only this host can’t resist openly loathing everyone including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association putting on the show. Perhaps Christian Bale summed it up best when he took the stage last year and called the HFPA ”those oddball characters”. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Golden Globes are completely meaningless awards bestowed by a scandal-riddled organization on a network desperate for ratings. (More on this at the end of the post…)

I only hope that Ricky Gervais can live up to his performance last year when he ensured the meanest Golden Globes on record. NBC has been hyping him as “the host we can’t control”. Considering that NBC is in dead last place again among the networks, that’s encouraging. Bring it on, Ricky, even if Hollywood and the HFPA will hate you later. The show is about to start:

Last year Ricky wanted to come out in a Nazi uniform. He chickened out this year, too. “So where was I? Nervous?,” Gervais asked the audience. Then he immediately dissed NBC and the Golden Globes themselves. “The Golden Globes are just like the Oscars — but without all that esteem.”

This is definitely toned-down Gervais. He’s obviously been muzzled or muzzled himself. What a sell-out. Making never-was Kim Kardashian jokes is beyond easy. Same with washed-up Eddie Murphy jokes about Norbit. Ricky is too chicken to go after the bonafide Hollywood stars. Doesn’t lay a glove on Adam Sandler even though the comedian just had a big film bomb. (“Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler played all the parts in The Help.”) And arrogant asshole James Cameron jokes. (“I’ve sat through longer James Cameron acceptance speeches” than Kim Kardashian’s marriage.) Gervais pretends he’s not cowed: “The Hollywood Foreign Press warned me if I cause any controversy whatsoever they’ll invite me back next year. He reads the rules he’s been given: “No profanity, no nudity, not to libel anyone, and I mustn’t mention Mel Gibson this year and especially not Jodie Foster’s Beaver.” With that, Jodie gives the thumbs-up sign.

This is the best Gervais can do to open the show? Incredibly stale stuff. It’s going to be a loooong night…

Gervais asks Johnny Depp if he’s on recreational drugs. “Have you seen The Tourist yet?” Johnny replies, “No”. And I believe him.

“Oh, he’s fun,” Depp mutters about Gervais.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A
SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – BEGINNERS

Plummer affectionately calls Ewen McGregor “that scene-stealing swine”.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
LAURA DERN – ENLIGHTENED

Dern thanks Lucille Ball. Nice warmth.

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
DOWNTON ABBEY (MASTERPIECE) – PBS – A Carnival/Masterpiece Co-production

Was there any doubt that Julian Fellowes would take this home to Britain?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
KATE WINSLET – MILDRED PIERCE

Oh, Kate, please stop memorizing your speeches. They lose all their spontaneity. And not a word about Joan Crawford? Shame on you… Once again, HBO bought a Globe. This mini-series was tepid at best. maudlin at worst. And not Kate’s finest hours to be sure.

Really, I can’t believe how sanitized the opening half-hour of the Golden Globes has been. What happened to all the danger NBC was hyping by having Gervais host again? Real disappointment. Step it up, Ricky, or you’re yesterday’s news.

Jakes Gyllenhaal looks good out of the Witness Protection Program that has become his thwarted career.

“We’re already 5 minutes over. That’s your fault,’ Gervais says to the audience. “Keep your speeches short. Thank God and your agent. I know for a fact that God and my agent have had exactly the same input in my career.” This stuff isn’t even amateur night at the Improv stand-up worthy.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
KELSEY GRAMMER – BOSS

Kelsey thanks Starz boss Chris Albrecht for his “balls” for ordering the show without pilot or all 8 episodes. I think Kelsey won for his performance pretending to still love his soon-to-be ex-wife Camille on Bravo’s The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
HOMELAND (SHOWTIME)
SHOWTIME Presents, Teakwood Lane Productions, Cherry Pie Productions, Keshet, Fox 21

Well the HFPA morons get at least one award right. Homeland was the best TV I’ve seen in a long, long time. Claire Danes was transformative. Damien Lewis even better than in Band Of Brothers. Mandy Patinkin not annoying like he usually is. Granted, it’s a remake of an Israeli show. But I’d follow 24‘s Howard Gordon anywhere that terrorism takes him.

What was Jimmy Fallon doing. Anybody? ANYBODY? Jimmy, stop trying so hard. At least you didn’t come out with your guitar. Calm down, sit tight, and in a year you’ll get Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show. Whether you deserve it or not. Might think about adjusting your meds, meanwhile.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
LUDOVIC BOURCE – THE ARTIST
This French guy from The Artist is really Bernie Rosenberg from The Bronx. He just doesn’t know it. But Harvey Weinstein does…

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“MASTERPIECE” — W.E.
Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

You honestly thought the HFPA had Madonna in its audience and wouldn’t give her an award? Oh you naive people. Granted the song is pretty good. But this was bought and paid for by everyone concerned. Meanwhile, could Madonna be more irritating? Between that fake British accent and her fake humility, she’s the reason why Lady Gaga is doing a more real Madonna imitation now.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
IDRIS ELBA – LUTHER

Considering that Tyler Perry stole Elba’s Alex Cross role, this is small comfort indeed for Idris. Really, Tyler, stick to cross-dressing in your movies and holding Oprah’s handbag the rest of the time.

Seth Rogan: “I am currently trying to conceal a massive erection.” Don’t believe it’s because he’s standing next to Kate Beckinsale. It’s because he actually has an audience watching him right now since few people go to his movies anymore.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

What a triumphant night for The Weinstein Company. (I just threw up in my mouth a little when I wrote that.) Will there be an Oscar backlash? The ‘Stop Harv’ line starts right outside the DreamWorks office (War Horse) or GK Films headquarters (Hugo). No wonder Scott Rudin is laying low this year.

Hey, if I want to see a boring awards show, I can watch the Oscars. Someone get the real Ricky Gervais onstage — and quick.

Piper Perabo and Sarah Michelle Gellar come out wearing two of the worst dresses I’ve ever seen. One looks like a Mildred Pierce bedspread. And the other looks like Wicked‘s good witch castoff. Trust me: inappropriate ballgowns on young women will never be chic.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV
PETER DINKLAGE – GAME OF THRONES

Nice touch that even Dinklage’s own mother thought Guy Pearce would win for Mildred Pierce. I think Pearce is among the most underrated actors working today. And he was wasted in that HBO mini-series which gave him hardly anything to do. The film role was so much juicier.

I’m truly embarrassed for Ricky Gervais that he felt the need to blow so much smoke up George Clooney’s ass. It’s as if Ricky is playing a part of a host instead of actually taking control of the podium. Someone must have read him the riot act for him to remain so tame. He’s killing his career right now. If Hollywood’s enfant terrible is meek and mild, no one will care about him anymore. Bye-bye Ricky…

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN – Paramount/Columbia/Hemisphere Capital/Amblin/Wingnut Films/Kennedy/Marshall Production

Steven Spielberg gets his moment solo because Peter Jackson is back in New Zealand making The Hobbit. “I want to thank Brad Grey for his courage,” Spielberg says. Hilarious, considering that Steven et al at DreamWorks did everything they could to get Grey fired when Paramount owned them. Who has the last laugh now? Actually both men. Doing well is the best revenge. Unless Reliance pulls the plug on DreamWorks 2.0.

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
WOODY ALLEN – MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

No Woody. Not even a taped piece from NYC. Long sigh… Read More »

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Ricky Gervais On Golden Globes: “I Don’t Care If You’re Offended”

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 13, 2012 @ 10:22am PSTTags: Golden Globes, HBO, Life's Too Short, Ricky Gervais

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

Ricky Gervais met the press this morning at TCA a mere two days before his third hosting gig at Sunday’s Golden Globes. And while he assured that even he has standards (“I won’t do real personal tragedy,” he said), the suspense and fear around town over which Hollywood stars he might target this time grows by the hour. As a panel session for his new HBO mock documentary Life’s Too Short, the upcoming Globes gig took center stage. “I did it the first time to have a show in front of a global audience, which is a lot of fun for a comedian.” Gervais said. “I did it the second time because I thought I’d improve on the first, and I think I did that. And I wasn’t going to do it a third time, but then I kept hearing the press saying I wouldn’t be invited back, so I did it to annoy them.”

Gervais was asked if he was nervous this time given the attention over his bad-boy ways. “Nervous? No. What’s the worst that can happen? I end my career once a week if you read the press. I do things that could end my career now. That’s my extreme sport. If you get fun with it, which I do and I demand, and you get your own way and are happy with what you’ve done, then nothing can happen to you. You’re bulletproof. Everything I say, I can justify it, I can stand by it, as I do every joke I did last year, then I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re offended.” Read More »

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TV Indecency Fight Reaches Supreme Court

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday January 10, 2012 @ 5:38pm PSTTags: FCC, Indecency, Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed disinclined during a hearing today to meddle with FCC rules governing decency on the public airwaves. The nation’s television networks seek to overturn a 1978 decision that upheld the FCC’s authority to regulate radio and television content, at least during the hours when children are likely to be watching or listening. For a long time following the 1978 ruling the FCC let slide without penalty occasional one-time uses of curse words. But following several awards shows with cursing celebrities in 2002 and 2003, the FCC toughened its policy. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York declared the FCC policy unconstitutionally vague. Chief Justice John Roberts, the only member of the court with young children, said “All we are asking for, what the government is asking for, is a few channels where … they are not going to hear the S-word, the F-word, they are not going to see nudity.” Justice Antonin Scalia also favored regulation. “These are public airwaves. The government is entitled to insist upon a certain modicum of decency.” Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested the indecency rules were “an important symbol for our society, that we aspire to a culture that’s not vulgar in a very small segment.” Read More »

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News Corp In Talks With DC Attorney For Corporate Counsel Post

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 22, 2011 @ 7:55pm PSTTags: Gerson Zweifach, News Corp, Phone Hacking

News Corp is in discussions with D.C. attorney Gerson Zweifach as its new general counsel, Bloomberg reported late this afternoon. Whoever takes the job could assume a crucial role for News Corp as investigations and Parliamentary testimony … Read More »

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MPAA’s Chris Dodd: Critics’ View Of SOPA As Censorship “Outrageous And False”

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday December 13, 2011 @ 6:06pm PSTTags: MPAA, Protect IP Act, Stop Online Piracy Act

MPAA president Chris Dodd today lashed out at critics of SOPA and PIPA antipiracy bills who equate the proposed legislation with corporate censorship and the repressive Internet policies of foreign governments. “It’s an outrageous and false comparison,” Dodd said … Read More »

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Phone Hacking Was “Perfectly Acceptable” – Or So Ex-News Corp Editor Testifies

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 29, 2011 @ 9:05pm PSTTags: Andy Coulson, News of the World, Paul McMullan, Phone Hacking, Privacy, Rebekah Brooks

In some of the most startling testimony yet in the British government’s investigation into press ethics and phone hacking, former News of the World deputy features editor Paul McMullan declared Tuesday that departed editor Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were well aware of and actively encouraged illegal voicemail interception. To a direct question of whether Coulson and Brooks knew phone voicemails were being intercepted, McMullan replied, “Yes.” Coulson and Brooks have repeatedly declared either their ignorance or denied that the activity was taking place. Defending the practice, McMullan said ”I don’t think anyone realized that anyone was committing a crime at the start” and asserted that “Phone hacking is a perfectly acceptable tool given the sacrifices we make, if all we are trying to do is get to the truth.” Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Shame’ Red Band

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 29, 2011 @ 4:12pm PSTTags: Carey Mulligan, Fox Searchlight, NC-17, Shame, Steve McQueen

Fox Searchlight today posted on Facebook another trailer for Steve McQueen’s Shame. The movie starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan opens Friday; it was nominated earlier in the day by the Spirit Awards for Best International Film.

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He’s Baaack! Rude Ricky Gervais Returns For Threepeat To Host Golden Globes

By MIKE FLEMING AND NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday November 16, 2011 @ 1:51pm PSTTags: Billy Crystal, Golden Globes, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais is returning to host the Golden Globes for a threepeat on January 15th. True, the Oscars brought back Billy Crystal. But today’s news is more of a surprise because Gervais eviscerated most of the movie and TV stars … Read More »

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Darren Aronofsky Creates Four PSAs For The Meth Project

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 15, 2011 @ 3:51pm PSTTags: Darren Aronofsky, Meth, Meth Addiction, Meth Project, Organic, PSA, Wild Plum

Darren Aronofsky, director of Requiem for a Dream and The Black Swan has created for the Meth Project four dark, blunt PSAs that bring the consequences of meth addiction into stark, gritty relief.  The video below is titled Deep End. The others you may watch by clicking … Read More »

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Hacking Update: At Least 28 Murdoch Employees Appear In PI’s Detailed Notes

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 7:37pm PSTTags: Colin Myler, Daily Mirror, James Murdoch, Neville Thurlbeck, News International, News of the World, Phone Hacking, The Sun, Tom Crone

The names of at least 28 employees of News Corp’s U.K. subsidiary appear in notes seized from a private investigator who specialized in phone hacking, the chief counsel for the government’s inquiry into the scandal surrounding News International and the shuttered News of the World tabloid says. “At least 27 other NI employees” in addition to the jailed former royal editor Clive Goodman appear in notes of Glenn Mulcaire, the PI who was also jailed for intercepting voicemails in January 2007. Chief counsel Robert Jay said the number of names that appear scribbled on Mulcaire’s notes “suggests wide-ranging, illegal activity within the organization.” Police also now suspect that phone hacking may have continued until 2009, which would include Murdoch’s tenure that began in 2007. Suspicion of wrongdoing has also spread to another News International paper, the Sun, and to a competitor, the Daily Mirror, whose parent Trinity Mirror’s spokesman said the company has no knowledge of ever using Mulcaire. Read More »

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Cars.com Yanks Sponsorship Of Penn State Game Broadcasts On ESPN

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday November 10, 2011 @ 11:55pm PSTTags: Cars.com, Child Sex-Abuse Scandal, ESPN, Penn State

Citing “allegations surrounding the Penn State Football program,” Cars.com has yanked its sponsorship from ESPN broadcasts of two upcoming Penn State football games, the Wall Street Journal reports. “As a proud, longtime supporter of ESPN College Football, it’s important … Read More »

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HAMMOND: Oscars Post-Ratner – What Now

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday November 9, 2011 @ 12:36am PSTTags: 84th Annual Academy Awards, Brett Ratner, Don Mischer, Eddie Murphy, Gil Cates, Laura Ziskin, Oscars, Tom Sherak
Pete Hammond

SHOCKER: Brett Ratner Out As Oscar Producer

The Brett Ratner situation is a sad mess all around. Sad for Ratner, sad for the Oscar show that he was to co-produce, and sad for the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. The Academy in the past has weathered its share of nightmares surrounding the show, but never something quite like this. In 1967, an AFTRA strike nearly KO’d the telecast until the walkout was settled just three hours before showtime. Similarly, a WGA strike in 2008 was threatening until it was settled a few days before the airdate. In 1968, the show was nearly cancelled after Martin Luther King’s assassination but postponed for two days instead. In 1981, the Oscars were delayed a day after President Reagan was shot. As for participants, actors have refused to accept the statuette for myriad reasons, and winners have gone to political extremes in their speeches, but the Ratner situation is a new one for AMPAS.

The interesting thing is that outcries for Ratner’s ouster targeted the Academy even though Ratner’s offensive remarks were made during appearances in support of his new film Tower Heist for Universal (Friday night’s Q&A at the Arclight, where he uttered the gay slur, and Monday morning’s radio phone interview with The Howard Stern Show, where he made derogatory comments about women.) His words had nothing directly to do with the Oscars, yet it points to the power of the Academy Awards as an iconic symbol.

Ratner was an unorthodox choice to produce the Oscars. But he was part of a movement begun by the Academy last year with the selection of hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco to make the show more young, hip, and different. Hathaway and Franco bombed. But I had the pleasure of moderating a panel with Ratner for this year’s TCM Classic Movie Film Festival in April and found him exceptionally bright, informed, and savvy. I think this real movie fan would have produced a great show. I know he had great ideas for it. Despite his terrible judgment and stupid actions this week, I am sorry we won’t get the chance to see what he might have done. Ratner already was shaking things up. He changed talent bookers by hiring Melissa Watkins Trueblood over 38-year Oscar booking veteran Danette Herman, who is now just a consultant. The writing staff also is all new, and many are Ratner cronies; I doubt they’ll stay on board. That’s not a huge problem since the Academy hasn’t officially announced the team yet.

On the other hand, host Eddie Murphy also has his writers attached and they will stay on board — if Eddie stays on. Murphy, co-starring in Ratner’s Tower Heist, has appeared on many talk shows lately saying how much he is looking forward to hosting the Oscars as well as giving props to Ratner, who talked him into taking the gig. There is some media speculation that, with Ratner gone, Eddie will follow him out the door. I see that as highly unlikely — and I also don’t think Ratner himself would let that happen. Granted, Ratner’s exit caused a big ripple inside Hollywood. But Murphy’s exit would be a high-profile PR nightmare inside and outside Hollywood, creating the impression to the general public that the Oscars is in complete chaos.

So what happens now? Read More »

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Academy’s Statement On Brett Ratner’s Resignation

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 8, 2011 @ 4:31pm PSTTags: 84th Annual Academy Awards, Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences, Brett Ratner, Oscars, Tom Sherak

SHOCKER! Brett Ratner Out As Oscar Producer
Brett Ratner Explains His Oscar Resignation

Beverly Hills, CA – This morning, Brett Ratner submitted his resignation as a producer of the 84th annual Academy Awards to Academy President Tom

… Read More »

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Rebekah Brooks’ $2.7M Severance Adds To James Murdoch’s Problems

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday November 6, 2011 @ 2:19pm PSTTags: James Murdoch, News Corp, News of the World, Phone-Hacking Scandal, Rebekah Brooks

Rupert Murdoch’s not-quite-so-apparent-heir James will face even tougher questioning Thursday when he returns to Parliament for more testimony about the phone-hacking scandal that has shaken the News Corp empire. In the latest of a string of disclosures since the UK’s culture media and sport select committee last interviewed Murdoch, The Guardian revealed over the weekend that News International’s disgraced former CEO Rebekah Brooks received $2.7 million, use of a London office and chauffered limousine for two years as part of her severance package when she was fired in the wake of the scandal. ”It is remarkably curious that such a generous package is given to Ms. Brooks when others have been cut loose,” said Tom Watson, the member of parliament who has taken the lead in efforts to expose the scandal surrounding News Of The World. “It is almost as if she hasn’t really left the company. I am sure Mr. Murdoch will want to explain the decision to his shareholders.” Scotland Yard on Friday arrested a journalist from News International paper The Sun as part of a related investigation into News Corp employees bribing police and other government officials. Brooks was editor between 2003 and 2009 before being elevated to chief executive of News International. Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday October 31, 2011 @ 7:48pm PDTTags: Columbine, Ezra Miller, John C. Reilly, Lynne Ramsay, Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Director Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin explores the relationship between a mother (Tilda Swinton) haunted by the murderous rampage of her psychopathic son (Ezra Miller). John C. Reilly plays the father. With cinematography by Seamus McGarvey, the movie based on a novel by Lionel Shriver screened in … Read More »

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Relativity Responds To Critics Of Filming In China: ‘We Would Never Knowingly Do Anything To Undermine’ Human Rights

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday October 30, 2011 @ 9:50pm PDTTags: 21 And Over, Chen Guangcheng, China, Relativity Media

Responding Sunday evening to criticism of Relativity Media for filming scenes from the upcoming buddy-debauchery movie 21 and Over in a province of China where a blind activist has been held under brutal house arrest, the company issued this statement:

“From its founding, Relativity Media has been a consistent and outspoken supporter of human rights and we would never knowingly do anything to undermine this commitment. We stand by that commitment and we are proud of our growing business relationships in China, through our partnership with Sky Land, its strategic alliance with Huaxia Film Distribution Company. As a company, we believe deeply that expanding trade and business ties with our counterparts in China and elsewhere can result in positive outcomes.”

Criticism in the news media from activists in China and via Twitter in the U.S. appeared to catch executives at Relativity off guard, with the dust still settling from recent but unrelated industry fallout over bad publicity surrounding Hilary Swank’s appearance at Chechnya tyrant Ramzan Kadyrov’s birthday party. Reports surfaced earlier Sunday about human rights activists protesting Relativity’s decision to film the now already completed scenes of 21 and Over in the Chinese city of Linyi. The city is tainted by its location in Shandong province where blind activist Chen Guangcheng remains under house arrest in his village of Dongshigu and reportedly subjected to government thuggery. Read More »

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