L. ROn Hubbard Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?" -- Jim Morrison

Fortunately Morrison did have enough to base a movie on (the inappropriately titled The Doors), but thousands of dead celebrities and historical figures would make horrible subjects for biopics. Just because they led famous lives doesn't mean they led dramatically entertaining lives. Of course, Hollywood is good at making up or manipulating events for dramatic purpose and therefore just about any person could be given the formulaic biopic treatment.

Some people are better served with made-for-TV movie, others with big-budget studio epics. The easiest subjects to imagine are those who would provide great soundtracks; the more difficult personalities are those without current relevance or some fitting resonance today. I picked seven dead people (and a bonus: one living dog) who don't already have films in development (as far as I know) whose lives we need to see on the big screen as soon as possible.

Well, It's official: Paramount has ended a long-standing production deal with Tom Cruise. The 14-year-long relationship included the release and box-office success of films like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Days of Thunder, but a memo released today cited Cruise's recent public behavior as "unacceptable." Cruise's recent pronouncements -- about anti-depressant drugs, parenting and his enthusiastic embrace of Scientology -- have all led to negative press and public scrutiny. The subscription-only Wall Street Journal has the original story, including quotes from Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone like: "As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal." As Martha noted last month, the deal actually expired at the end of July, with negotiations apparently going on over the past 21 days. In the wake of Mel Gibson's recent role as tabloid-fodder, is big Hollywood trying to be pro-active, making sure star behavior doesn't affect the bottom line? Or is it just the economic realities of a fading star's trajectory? At this time, there was no formal response from Cruise or his producing partner Paula Wagner; we'll keep you posted with more about this story as it develops.

It's been awhile since we covered anything Scientology related and, I don't know about you, but I desperately need a fix. Janeane Garofalo, star of such classics as The Truth About Cats, Dogs and Why I Shouldn't Be Acting, is stirring up a bit of controversy after publicly backing the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project on her Air America radio show, Majority Report.

The program, which is based on teachings by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, helps those who worked in and around ground zero during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 heal their mind, body and spirit. While, on paper, it sounds like a wonderful thing to be doing, many have blasted the program and questioned its validity.

Personally, if Janeane hasn't been cast in a live-action version of Daria: The Adult Years, then I really don't care to hear anything from her. If she's so hell-bent on promoting Scientology through her radio show, then perhaps she should change it from Majority Report to Minority Report. Then, maybe Tom Cruise can step in and predict a future crime or something. Eh, just an idea.