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Steven Soderbergh Will Interrupt Retirement To Direct And … 
Cannes: EOne Announces Itself As Player In U.S. … 
Will LIN TV Stations Go Dark On Time Warner Cable? 
Very Crowded Memorial Weekend Kick-Off: ‘Hangover … 
Shareholders Quiz Time Warner Chief On Political Ties And … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Modern Family’, ‘Law … 
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Hannibal Classics Sets Cast For Nic Cage Pic … 
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Hot Trailer: Jennifer Aniston And Jason Sudeikis’ … 
Warner Bros Tells Space Story, From The Bra Designers Who … 
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Banner Promotes Jeremy Kleiner To … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Don Jon’ 
Billy Crystal-Starring Comedy From Matt Nix & Larry … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ … 
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Hot Trailer: ‘Man Of Steel’ 
The venerable alternative newspapers plus 11 others are part of a buyout announced last night that will separate them from Backpage.com, the classified ad service that critics say promotes prostitution. The chief operating officer of Village Voice Media Holdings, Scott Tobias, led the team buying the papers, called Voice Media Group. Terms weren’t disclosed, except that Backpage.com is not included. The site known for its classified ads offering “escorts” had been a “distraction,” Tobias — who’s CEO of the new Voice Media Group – told AP. In March, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof said that Backpage played “a major role in the trafficking of minors or women who are coerced.” Goldman Sachs responded by selling its stake in the site. The Voice said that Kristof had it wrong, and that Backpage “dedicates hundreds of staff to screen adult classifieds in order to keep juveniles off the site and to work proactively with law enforcement in their efforts to locate victims.” READ MORE »
Village Voice And LA Weekly Distance Themselves From Sex Trafficking Ads
Tonight’s SNL Skit Mocked McCain… (But Al Franken Should Stick To Campaigning)
Video below. Politico says comedian turned U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken helped head writer Seth Meyers brainstorm tonight’s SNL opening sketch mocking John McCain. Ugh, it was lame. Not funny at all. In fact, the whole show stank.
Why Do NBC Anchors Love Aaron Sorkin?
Few people in Hollywood actually like Aaron Sorkin, least of all his fellow Writer’s Guild scribes who recently learned about his attempts to undermine the guild’s solidarity behind the writers strike. But NBC political anchors really really like him. Last night, NBC’s Brian Williams and MSNBC’s … Read More »
Michael Moore To Obama: Denounce Me!
Hot button documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has come out today on his website and in the media with his blueprint for “losing the most winnable presidential election in American history” taken from his new book, Mike’s Election Guide. The Oscar … Read More »
George Clooney Denies Advising Obama
George Clooney this afternoon just responded to published reports that he is phoning and texting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on everything from the Middle East to body language. FOXNews.com today posted an account by the London Daily Mail claiming Clooney and Obama regularly chat by email and text message, speak by phone at least twice … Read More »
Showbiz Smoking B.S. From Governator (& Similarities Between Hellboy & Arnold)
California governator Arnold Schwarzenegger is so useless — and not just because nearly every morning he sits around drinking coffee in a Brentwood cafe instead of tending to state business in Sacramento. Now, instead of helping the California economy by stopping the networks’ and studios’ runaway … Read More »
SAG vs AMPTP: The Nastiness Ramps Up
Tonight the AMPTP issued this statement on something they call “final offer retroactivity.” (But if you ask me, it just sounds like the Hollywood moguls don’t want their summer vacations interrupted…):
“The Producers remain committed to making a deal with SAG as soon as possible, which is why the AMPTP’s
Bernie Weinraub’s Second Act: Two Plays
Bernie Weinraub, the retired Hollywood and political correspondent for The New York Times (and my pal), has not one but two plays previewing. His drama The Accomplices about Jewish activists who sought aid from the U.S. government … Read More »
Obama Hardly A “Hollywood Candidate” — And Not Necessarily Sumner Redstone’s
News reports say Barack Obama raised nearly $5 million at yesterday’s celebrity- and mogul-packed fundraiser at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The asking price for a ticket to the gala’s general reception for Obama’s campaign was $2,300. Tickets to the VIP dinner were $28,500 for the Democratic National Committee. The Center for … Read More »
R.I.P. George Carlin
I’ve just been told by a source that George Carlin died this evening. This is indeed shocking. Last week, it was announced that on November 10th the veteran comic whose infamous “Filthy Words” routine reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court would be the 11th person inducted into … Read More »
Two 1st Places: 2008 AltWeekly Awards
The winners of the 2008 AltWeekly Awards were announced yesterday in Philadelphia at a luncheon held as part of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ annual convention for alternative newsweeklies across the United States and Canada. The contest administered by Northwestern University’s Medill School Of Journalism seeks to … Read More »
Tim Russert Blackballing Arianna At NBC?
UPDATE: Sources close to Arianna Huffington are claiming just that. Arianna Huffington is currently on book tour for her new political tome Right Is Wrong: How The Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded The Constitution, And Made Us All Less Safe, in which she goes after Tim Russert … Read More »
More About AMPTP’s Fabiani & Lehane
Hardball political consultants Lehane & Fabiani advising the AMPTP for $100,000 a month “may boost the likelihood of Washington-style political hijinks” in the WGA strike. “Things are going to get much more negative in Los Angeles — and the strike will increasingly be linked to the approaching presidential primary,” according … Read More »
TOLDJA! Warner’s Jeff Robinov Promoted
Here’s my post from October 12th that reported this would happen and my column from LA Weekly that fleshes out the story. So the Warner Bros news release was just sent to me about Jeff Robinov’s promotion … Read More »
Impact Of WGA Strike On TV Production
IATSE sources tell me that the number of TV shows that have shut down because of the writers walkout was 50 at the beginning of this week. And, by the end of this week, that number will be over 100. Here’s my latest LA Weekly column on the strike and … Read More »
Deborah Klein Moves To Jackoway Firm
So I told you last night that bigtime entertainment lawyer Deborah Klein is leaving the Century City law firm that bears her name, Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine and how it caught all her partners by surprise. I just learned she’s on her way to Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum … Read More »
Showbiz Law Firm Losing Name Partner
I hear that bigtime entertainment lawyer Deborah Klein is leaving the Century City law firm that bears her name, Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine. Her clients include Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Samuel Jackson, Paul Rudd. Sources tell me that her sudden desire to depart caught the firm … Read More »
Finke/LA Weekly: Strike Happy H’wood
In my latest 
column, Strike Happy, I pulled together much of my reporting about the strategy and snarking behind the scenes at the WGA and AMPTP. It begins:
“As the strike deadline draws near,
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