'Where The Wild Things Are' Runs $32.4M 
Oscar Can't Always Get What He Wants 
NBC Bright Spot Of Lousy GE 3Q Earnings; 4Q … 
Oops! Vivendi May Delay 20% NBCU Sale? 
65 Nations Vie For Foreign Language Oscar 
Elle's Women In Hollywood Power List 
HOW BIG IS BIG? AEG Predicts Michael Jackson … 
Sane Debt-Reduction Move By Redstone; But … 
EXCLUSIVE: Comcast Wants NBCU Deal Done … 
The UK press was weirded out by President Obama's gift to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of these 25 DVDs selected by the American Film Institute:
Some press read deeper meaning into the movie titles and content: "Like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, could Brown have been "a contender ... a somebody" if the US Congress had shown a little more interest in his global New Deal? Like Luke Skywalker on the Millennium Falcon, is Brown's history of support for light-touch financial regulation in the City of London now endangering the mission? The 25 films also include two from the end of the Great Depression."
Loading ...
He should have included Night of the Comet.Classic Sci Fi from the 1980’s.
Sure hope O gave Gordo Region 2 (ie playable in Europe & UK) DVD versions of those films and not Region 1 (playable in the USA) versions. Region encoding is kinda dumb if you ask most people anywhere in the world but I guess it appeals to the executives need to feel powerful and dominate distribution in the most capricious way possible (many players are hackable to become ‘region-free’ and there’s quite a trade in them around the world online)
Or maybe Gordo’s people will have to stop by Circuit City and pick up the right DVD player before he goes home thereby slightly stimulating the US economy? They better hurry if that’s the case…this is the last weekend they’re open.
GB go home GB go home, he stopped by CHINATOWN, then drove up SUNSET BLVD., to sing in the rain.
GB, got dizzy like VERTIGO and tried to find the yellow brick road back down to THE WIZARD OF OZ, dazed by the CITY LIGHTS, he tried to cool down, though SOME LIKE IT HOT.
GB, went ON THE WATERFRONT to cool down, and found it wasn’t a WONDERFUL life in America, It was THE GRAPES OF WRATH. So GB flew away he was GONE WITH THE WIND, back to the UK avoiding any PYSCHO.
I think this was a great gift, as a friend told me he saw six movies on his return trip back to Europe. So maybe GB will have something to look at on his return trip to the White house.
The UK media used to complain about Tony Blair being a “lap dog” to the President… Now how do they like being treated like a “bitch?”
Gordon Brown had priceless gifts to give Obama and his children, and he got a cheap DVD set and cheap marine one helicopters for his kids in return. Gordon Brown also has vision problems, with massive vision loss in one eye. Our President insulted our oldest ally because Obama’s aides say he is “overwhelmed”. Executive experience might have helped before seeking the toughest job in the world. Thanks for already pissing off our greatest ally in the world. A pen made from Britain’s anti-slave ship vs. a DVD set of movies. Epic fail! I thought Obama was supposed to be smart.
I miss W. He at least had class. Obama is just an incompetent boob.
Brown gave Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of a Victorian anti-slave ship, and in return he got a box set of DVDs, which he probably can’t watch as they are Region 1 and he is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other. Oh, that and Michelle got Brown’s kids a tacky model of Marine 1 from the White House gift shop.
I guess if your first real job is being President, you are going to screw it up.
Um, Luke didn’t “endanger the mission” until Return of the Jedi. And he wasn’t on the Falcon, he was on the Imperial Shuttle. Does this guy know anything?
The UK press is digging for stories. IT’S THE F***ING 2007 AFI TOP 25!!!! No thought when it into it. JFC!
all extremely white, all male. yawn. diversify your film portfolio Mr. President. Maybe add “All About Eve”, “Do The Right Thing”, “Friday”, etc.
One of the titles should have been “Idiocracy”, so that Brown and our good friends in the UK can see exactly where this country is headed.
As an American I am embarrassed, forget what some may think of our current President, this was one head of state to another and the President of the United States of America (or his assistants) gave the Prime Minister of Great Britain DVDs ?! Are they even compatible with British DVD players? I am truly embarrassed, all leaders and foreign dignitaries that come to this country deserve to be treated with respect (safe for the obvious exceptions), I thought that was one of the promises Mr. Obama made when he entered the White House.
How odd and utterly random…
Though “On the Waterfront” was more about McCarthy and Kazan’s excuse for naming names than the Great Depression, so that particular spin on why these films were picked seems unlikely.
I thought Gordon Brown didn’t have sight in one eye, with limited vision in the other – was this a real calculated gift, or what –
This is a consolation prize on a low-budget game show.
I gave a wedding gift like that once, and the dude wasn’t even class president.
Well, it IS a great list.
Wizard of Oz – “Ignore the man behind the curtain.” Rahm-Bo only runs the tele-prompter.
Some Like It Hot – Criminals on the run, just like Obama appointees. Maybe he is hoping to have his own Marylin Monroe.
Vertigo – Obama is possessed by Lincoln.
ET – ET on Earth is like Obama in the White House. Afraid, alone, and wants to go home. Those evil Talk-Show hosts are out to get him.
Sunset Blvd – Washed up, going nowhere, and living in a fantasy world. Main-Stream-Media, I am ready for my close up.
Wait til they figure out that US region DVDs won’t play in the machines at 10 Downing Street.
Well, at least it wasn’t a re-gift….was it?
Why give gifts at all. It should be all about business. This gift giving to people who have everything needs to go the way of the Dinosaurs.World leaders should spend their time onreal issues not gift giving.
Our Charlatan-In-Chief should have given only one movie: “The Candidate” and Obama should have autographed it himself.
Obama is hubris personified, classless and clueless. Michelle absolutely snubbed the entire UK delegation and treated them with impertinence, as if the entire party was there to pay homage to her and her husband and not actually try to formulate any degree of a cohesive plan on, well, anything. (And that doesn’t come from Fox News, but from people in the White House.)
This wasn’t an exception, this is an insight as to how Obama thinks. This nation will regret the Obama Experiment for a very long time.
But since this is a Hollywood blog, we ought to tie this in to our industry somehow.. so here goes… the economic plan that Obama has already passed (you know, the $2.4 trillion plan that was passed without anyone in Congress reading it) is formulated to destroy speculative investments, which means raising capital for Hollywood movies is gong to be damn near impossible.
Institutions (Bear, Lehman, Citi) who ran funds for media production are not just broke, the law is formulated so that any new funds though investment bodies will not be able to invest in anything Hollywood. This comes after 10 years of Hollywood Studios steadily reducing or eliminating their own funds from production coffers and relying on distribution fees and baked accounting books to get by financially – name anther industry where the major players (practically an oligarchy, nearly a monopoly) does not use its own money for its own product or process. It’s been a recipe for disaster long in the making, but the design of this bailout and accompanying legislated financial controls are going to absolute kill Hollywood in the only way it knows how to function.
Mix that is with digital distribution and soon the world will realize it no longer needs Hollywood to be a base of operations. Anyone with a $10,000 Mac and a $20,000 RED camera can make a movie, and some/many of those are bound to be good… and a touch of a button can already upload/distribute them on 1250 digital distribution screens in the US. It’ll be 4500 screens by the end of 2014.
Hollywood cheered for Obama, primarily because Hollywood never asked a single question of him. Hollywood enabled its own decline.
Yea go team.
the region coding is an ancient story people. we can play any disc we want here in Europe. region free players are all over the place.
How come “PINOCCHIO” wasn’t included?!
Oh, like Lend-Lease wasn’t enough. The exchange of gifts between heads of State is a matter of diplomacy that’s supposed to be guided by the respective countries’ protocol departments. Assuming that Obama and Brown didn’t work out some kind of secret side deal (trade agreements, military commitments, dollar vs. pound stability, etc.) for which DVD-Gate is a smoke screen, perhaps we’ll be seeing on eBay all the little shampoo bottles and shower caps that the Browns lifted from the White House bathrooms.
Gordon Brown would have gotten better swag at a Publicist’s Award Dinner.
Obama did a couple of other things during the visit to snub Brown as well. I’d say Brown must have really said or done something to PO Obama at some point before he was President. Wonder what it was…. THAT’s the real story.
What a gavone! Increasingly, it looks like President Obama is going to secure himself a neat place in history not for being the first black president, but rather as first ‘The Hot Pockets’ President.
The first true US leader from the microwave fast-food generation. A shallow, thoughtless knucklehead who thinks a boxed set of 25 DVDs is a great present for a world leader who’s vision has been failing for years. For the kids? 2 plastic replicas of Marine One. Some intern raced down to the White House Gift Shop and scored that one, huh?
A guy reputed as being so cerebral and thoughtful turns out to be shallow and unsophisticated. Knock me over with a feather.
The wide-eyed man-child, in over his head but putting up a noble act just the same, faking fewer and fewer people at every turn.
You get what you pay for. The Hot Pockets President.
I gave Obama those DVD’s after he was elected!!
He’s nothing more than a re-gifter….
Ok, I’m scared! Our new Secretary-of-State gives her Russian counterpart a plastic “Re-Set” Button with the wrong spelling on it (Probably used the Google Language Tool). Our new President gives the UK Prime Minister a set of DVDs…and meets with George and Brad in “secret meetings” … What kind of children are running this country?! Oh, yeah, almost forgot…and there’s that huge national issue of Rush Limbaugh…
In fairness, Obama probably figured Brown already had Spiceworld.
Anything that gets them to shut up about Brad and Angelina for 2 seconds gets a thumbs up from me. Obama could’ve offered him a pencil sharpener for all I care. We’re leveling insults at executives that don’t jetpool together to DC and we want Obama to give some extravagant present? Oh sure that’s not hypocritical at all. And since when is letting some of his rockstar rub off on Gordon not a gift in and of itself?
These DVDs weren’t even picked out *thoughtfully* by the President–that job was left to AFI who put these movies on the top of their best films.
How embarrassing–and this is supposedly the infallible, messianic Obama! HAR HAR HAR. Who’s not offended by this, coming home to open a worthless gift if it can’t even play on the DVD?
Obame, “repairing” our foreign status one thoughtless action at a time.
You know, there’s a study that shows NO CORRELATION between leadership and academic achievement. So for the elite snobs out there (I graduated from an Ivy school but thankfully got the nasty elitism out of my system), this is how stupid you look to other people. You pretend to know it all and end up looking like jackasses. Region 1 DVDs for a Region 2 country! LMAO.
How can they have a graphic called “what’s in the box” when the movie “Seven” wasn’t included in the list? Don’t they owe Brad Pitt a quarter every time someone says that out loud?
I think someone’s making a big deal out of a non-issue. Those are great movies, each with their own meaning and morality play. They are classics and wonderful in their own right.
If PM Brown doesn’t like it, fine. But it’s definitely not a slight. It tells something about the President’s love for American cinema. And I would imagine Hollywood should be glad for that.
I can’t believe one of the included films wasn’t Spike Lee’s “Bungle Fever.”
In full-frame.
And non-anamorphic.
Oh, sorry… I mean “Jungle Fever.”
My bad.
I don’t know what’s more pathetic: The British media or the right-wing shills whose born-again sensitivity towards the disabled is touching — like a finger jammed down my throat…
“Weirded” but not surprised.
How is this different from “Yo! Blair”?
No we can’t.
How’s about Titanic? Gordo has done his fair share in helping to sink the UK.
Are you trolling right-wingers insane??
Do you *really* imagine that #10 Downing – or any head of State of practically *any* nation – would not have the capability to play dvd’s from any region?
Do you *really* believe that Brown – or *any* head of state – has never had his eye treated, or fitted with corrective lenses, so that he can see in a theater? Do you think that the UK is some third-world disaster zone?
Films are one of the U.S.’s last unique manufactured original products that we still create here and export. The list was selected by AFI, not the President personally. Do you think that Brown personally crafted, or even selected, the pen for Obama? These are simply ceremonial trinkets – nothing more.
It is amusing to no end that conservative posters here are the same folks that had been carping two weeks ago about Obama’s “extravagant” flights using Air Force One on the job – a ridiculous critique that is so mind-bendingly petty that it has NEVER been uttered against any previous President. Yet you all seem to have NO PROBLEM whatsoever with critiquing ceremonial gifts to other (plenty-wealthy) heads of state for being ‘too cheap’?
What a bunch of silly hypocrites. Mountain from a molehill, indeed.
I loved watching BBC News’ coverage of Brown’s visit. I guess it is good to have people in a foreign country want the US to love them again, but it was a little amusing just how much Brown and the British back home came off as desperately hoping Obama asks them to prom.
Nikki, you should UPDATE this story.
Apparently, PM Brown is blind in one eye (from an early childhood accident) and VIRTUALLY BLIND in his other eye. TimesOnline is reporting it.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5870513.ece
Shows what incompetent people are running Obama’s protocol dept, let alone the nation. An important ally is coming and no one bothers to wikipedia him? OBAMA’s “gift” are even MORE THOUGHTLESS. Obama is a POSER who is addicted to adoration, and that will cripple his admin. That’s why instead of governing and making tough decisions, he picks on Joe the Plumber, Rush Limbaugh, and anyone who disagrees with him. is that Leadership??? Now they’re backing of Rush due to their obvious attempts. Jim Cramer, a liberal just blasted Obama for having “thin skin.” A recent NYT article actually asked Obama about socialism and he laughed the reporter off. Then Obama had to call the reporter to “clarify” some things he said,so that he can become beloved again. Obama uses people and could care less about them and that’s why he’s not thoughtful.
Basically, he gave Brown something *HE, messianic Obama* would like, all that fancy new tech stuff. TAKE NOTE: No consideration for Brown, no consideration for americans, either– Obama is also giving the public a stimulus bill gift of a bill of goods that only *HE and his gang* want, regardless of how the public feels about it. Hope! Change!
Jerry G,
You get what you give. I didn’t vote for Bush and can say that he did cause some negative perception of US, but as allies of Israel, that was a foregone conclusion.
Having said that…
Take a long hard look in the mirror–ever spewed vitriol against Bush? Ever mocked Bush for say trying to open a locked DOOR, or tied any inconsequential but very human mistakes we all make and used it to paint GWB and the govt to be incompetent? Did you level similar attacks on Obama walking into a WINDOW (which is not a door which is locked)?
Well, in my opinion, there isn’t enough vitriol and entertainment that the bumbling liberal media used to spew for Bush for actual serious things now like the economy. What’s fun with all the backside-kissing and sycophantic reporting now?
I’m mocking Obama because he deserves it–calling himself the peacemaker, “THE ONE” and others saying he’s a messiah who’ll bring nothing but world peace and world affection. That hyperbole was just ASKING to be mocked when it becomes proven as empty promises. So here it is, an example of his idiocy and shallowness. He’s not thoughtful (in fact, he’s only interested in his career and himself). He’s enjoying a Hawaiian-climate-controlled White House while telling people to sacrifice and lower their heating costs.
Hah! Jerry, go dig up some old anti-Bush posts you did and share it with us. Let us now find and replace those Bush terms to Obama. Haha. That’s fair. So stop whining while we have our fun at the expense of your comrade.
Wow,
Conservatives really think that executive experience has something to do with choosing a gift…. and that bush had class… why is it the cons are always looking for something unimportant to debate about? disgusting.
AvidFan:
My God, what are you: Three years old? But you did it first, wah wah wah… I’m sorry to get some reality back into the bong-smoke filled room the right-wing nutroots are living in nowadays, but Gordon Brown’s often said he and his wife are keen cinema-goers, it was hard on the heels of the best year the Brits have had at the Oscars for a while (and incidentally, the British government was indirectly a major funder of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’), and those DVDs were actually representative of a major and very high profile export industry for the US.
And here’s a little bit of etiquette advice Emily Post is far too polite to give you: Only ill-mannered pigs are impolite enough to whinge about gifts. I bet you’re the kind of person who puts his unwanted Christmas presents on E-Bay before lunchtime on Boxing Day, and makes sure everyone knows it.
No, “AvidFan”, I did not “mock” Bush for those silly moments, but thanks for the presumption. I happen to think that there are far more important things on the American agenda.
You have provided more evidence that your ’side’ is deludedly still grasping at straws. Obama merely mentions Limbaugh once, off-handedly (and, yes, Rahm is then asked about him on one Sunday show), and suddenly you all have talking points that Obama is “targeting” and “obsessed with” Rush?
Its really no more convincing than trying to painting him as “spoiled” or his supporters as “religiously following” him, or seeing him “messianicly”. Eight years was truly not so long ago. We all still have distinct memories of your leader who not only was *actually* religiously lionized by conservative evangelicals, but who himself spoke of asking for answers from a “higher father” and who described himself as having a “special calling” to be elevated to the Presidency during “turbulent times”.
Puh-leeze – you are not fooling anyone. Not even, I suspect, yourself.
@AvidFan — You’ve got it all wrong. Obama isn’t “THE ONE;” he’s “**THAT** ONE.” Remember that little gem from the “classy” side of the political aisle?
And to the guy who praised Bush for his “class,” thank you. In this rough economy, it was nice to have a genuine laugh.
Am I missing something? Did the smartest, most elegant (according to Sean Penn) man on earth assume he was performng some sort of cultural exchange and that the average Brit had never heard of these films?
The more I see of Obama, the more I realize the truth at the end of The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again.
“You have provided more evidence that your ’side’ is deludedly still grasping at straws. Obama merely mentions Limbaugh once, off-handedly (and, yes, Rahm is then asked about him on one Sunday show), and suddenly you all have talking points that Obama is “targeting” and “obsessed with” Rush?”
Hey Jerry G, better do some fact-checking:
Rahm Emmanuel brought up Rush unsolicited on the Sunday show. Obama didn’t ‘merely mention’ Limbaugh, he directed his chief of staff, the white house press secretary, white house pollsters and democratic strategists to attack Limbaugh. This was admitted by David Axelrod, his top advisor. What you have is a President who is targeting a radio talk show host and CNBC analysts at a time he’s also saying he’s too busy to give the Prime Minister of the UK an adequate reception or fill the huge gaps at Treasury, Justice and State. Either that or no one is in charge.
Change you can believe in…….
They forgot “HAMBURGER THE MOVIE”
{Pssst – Harkin:
That’s not actually how it went down. Even Fox News isn’t attempting to spin it THAT hard. Obama mentioned RL in the journalist’ roundtable, and Rahm was asked about Rush specifically by Schieffer on Sunday. Axelrod never “confirmed” anything like that (and what strategist actually would, if you give it a moment’s thought?) Everything else about the matter has been pundits-n-spin-produced hot air. That *was* our strategy.
But please don’t take it out of plausibiity, Harkin. We’ve managed to keep this alive for 2.5 weeks – don’t ruin it for the rest of us.
It’s all we got!]
Please
According to Foyle:
“That’s not actually how it went down. Even Fox News isn’t attempting to spin it THAT hard. Obama mentioned RL in the journalist’ roundtable, and Rahm was asked about Rush specifically by Schieffer on Sunday.”
Why rely on Fox News? Just check the ultra conservative Huffington Post for a recap:
“Appearing on CBS’s Face The Nation, Emanuel brought up Limbaugh without being prompted. Applauding the conservative radio personality for being upfront in his desire to see the president fail, Emanuel went to great lengths to make the case that Limbaugh, more than any other contemporary figure, is the leader of the GOP.”
and from that other reactionary rag, the NYTimes:
“The recent back-and-forth with Rush Limbaugh, for example, was explicitly authorized by Mr. Axelrod, who told aides that it was not a moment to sit quietly after Mr. Limbaugh said he hoped that Mr. Obama would “fail.”
Lastly, from the SF Examiner:
“Neither Democrat would say so, but a third source said the two [Begala and Carville] also began pushing the idea of targeting Limbaugh in their daily phone conversations with Emanuel.
Conversations and email exchanges began taking place in and out of the White House not only between the old pals from the Clinton era but also including White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Woodhouse.”
The only thing funnier than Obama being the exact opposite of what he promised in his campaign is the way the kool-aid drinkers make excuses, even to the point of lying, to cover for him.
Change you can believe in…….
First, I’m not a troll. I’ve been part of these boards since the writers’ strike and have been a WGA & SGA supporter. But I think I sometimes type the name “AvidTVFan”.
Jerry G.,
Good for you if you’re being honest and truly never spewed vitriol over Bush’s administration. That’s rare for Hollywood, isn’t it? Well sorry if that didn’t suit you–but I bet it struck a nerve with others who read that and are guilty. I voted for Kerry, but I never mocked Bush acts of small importance. I just thought these anti-Republicans, pro-Obama liberals could stand to get a dose of what they’ve dispensed. And I’ve found my answer by baiting out the response. Nope, they don’t enjoy getting back what they give. If they were entertained by Bush, why can’t I by Obama’s acts? I’d think they’d be thicker-skinned.
There’s a big difference between trying to channel some courage through faith/asking for God’s help. A lotta people are finding their faith now that they’re at a difficult time. Obama and his camp and media went a step beyond that and called HIM a messiah. Obama seriously spoke that he was the one.
What I said–the media should turn all that vitriol they had for Bush and by their standards, should also spew that level of outrage at what’s actually IMPORTANT–the economy and how it’s being handled. They don’t do that, whereas they used it as entertainment in the Bush years. They’re biased and based on previous performance, they should be mocking Obama for small things and big things, but are not.
Someone said, ‘gifts don’t equal executive experience.’ True, but this post is about DVDs. But since you brought it to a related topic…ok, being an executive leader… Well,Obama’s letting the Dems rule him as they write the bills… Not leadership. He didn’t contribute any words to it, didn’t edit it. The TREASURY DEPT is MISSING KEY STAFF!!! Almost 2 months after Obama was inaugurated and he created economic fear by calling this crisis-near depression, and HE CAN’T PRIORITIZE STAFFING? As executive, why doesn’t he yell at Geithner and say, “get this done! There’s a crisis, like I tell everyone, and I’m faking that we have a working govt by throwing money at the problem b/c you don’t have a staff to think of actual solutions!” What happened to the media & campaign promise of a “dream team” of the best people to lead the nation ever??? Leaders lead–if their employees can’t help them, they roll up their sleeves and do the WORK themselves! Push Geithner to the side and hire people yourself. How about leading by putting honest, good people in place? Richardson, Geithner, Daschle, and others? Way to instill confidence! People should be OUTRAGED that at this crisis, they’re not putting much effort into staffing the dept that can deal with it. So is economy priority #1? Or is pushing pet projects and stimulus the priority? Which is leading?
Let’s see…Obama agrees with school vouchers but the dems snuck in a provision that’s aimed at stopping that. If he signs the bill, he agrees to this against his own beliefs…and will throw out two african american kids attending the same school as his daughters. Let’s see how he leads–will he follow his principles, or cave to his party? We’ll see.
Barry and the Mrs. have no taste and no class to have given such a pedestrian gift to the our greatest ally. Don’t they have “people” to advise them on these kinds of things???
I am embarassed for America and hope Great Britain doesn’t assume that all Americans are as disrespectful as the Obamas toward their great country! We should all write to the British Embassey and aplogize for our President’s faux pas.
I find it hilarious that people have a problem with the gift. Wouldn’t people be shrieking if Gordon Brown was given an expensive gift? People’s heads would explode. They would carp on about how it send a negative message given the state of the global economy. Just wait till Obama actually gives an expensive gift. I wonder how people will respond then. Hypocrites all, I say.
Jon Stewart made fun of the situation, because hey, it’s mildly hilarious. But the insults that people have hurled at Mr. Obama’s wife shows that this has nothing to do with their displeasure with the gift, but rather their own hatred at even the man’s family. Sickening.