the hollywood reporter Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just when we thought we had seen the last of gossip columnist and part-time movie pirate Roger Friedman, it looks like the guy has found a new home at The Hollywood Reporter. The trade paper announced that they've hired the infamous writer to head up their new celebrity news feature. According to THR editor Elizabeth Guider, Friedman was joining the team because, "For some time, THR has wanted to beef up its coverage of the celebrity world and how it intersects with and influences the business of show business. Bringing Roger on board gives us a great leg up in that effort and will help extend our audience reach."

In case the name isn't ringing any bells, Friedman infamously covered the OJ Simpson trial back in 1995, and was also considered one of the 'leading authorities' on Michael Jackson after covering the pop star's 2005 child-molestation trial. Friedman always had a taste for the tawdry, and over the years, broke some equally seedy stories about Anna Nicole Smith and the collapse of Rudolph Giuliani's marriage. But after Friedman published a review of Wolverine using an unfinished print that had surfaced online, he was quickly (and publicly) fired. Granted, it didn't come as a big shock, but you almost felt sorry for the guy ... almost. Even if you didn't want to argue about the morality of Friedman's actions, you have to wonder: just what did he think was going to happen when he admitted to downloading an illegal copy of one of the summer's big releases?

Friedman already has a reputation for fighting dirty, but as periodicals jostle for position among a growing pool of online competition, I guess even THR isn't above playing fast and loose for a scoop -- and it looks like nobody is willing to bend the rules like Friedman.

According to a report conducted by Nielsen PreView published today in The Hollywood Reporter, R-rated comedies don't do so hot at the box office. The timing of these findings seems odd, considering that Step Brothers made a solid $30 million last weekend, while analysts are predicting that another summer comedy slapped with the restricted label, Tropic Thunder, will collect at least that much. Right in the middle of those two releases comes Pineapple Express, which, like Step Brothers and Tropic Thunder, has a built-in core audience interested in raunchy masculine humor. The findings of this report suggest that larger audiences don't want to attend R-rated movies, but it's sort of a pointless observation because R-rated comedies are only made for people who want to see them. Everyone else can check out You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

Of course, there is the occasional R-rated comedy with cross-over appeal, such as Knocked Up, but studios are probably hesitant to make many of those when a safely PG-13 Juno will suffice. Anyway, it's usually not difficult for Hollywood movies to trim a few vulgarities or the fleeting shot of exposed skin in order to knock down the rating a notch and maximize turnout. Horror films are a different story: They usually make bank with the R-rating intact.

Speaking to the 18 and over audience here: Do ratings play any role in the movies you choose to see?

A bunch of bloggers and Peter Travers have already weighed in with glowing early reviews of The Dark Knight, but you were justified if you reserved judgment. The bloggers who were fortunate enough to get a look at the film were pretty squarely in the geek demographic -- which is not any sort of indictment, but just an indicator that they had a very specific perspective on the film. And Peter Travers is... Well, he's Peter Travers. Now, though, come some reviews you shouldn't so readily ignore -- and they're gushy, (almost) unqualified raves.

This from Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter: "[Nolan] builds movies around ideas and characters, and "Dark Knight" is no exception. The ideas here are not new to the movie world of cops and criminal[s], but in the context of a comic book movie, they ring out with startling clarity. In other words, you expect moralistic underpinnings in a Martin Scorsese movie; in a Batman movie, they hit home with renewed vigor . . . . With the film's race-car pace, noise levels, throbbing music and density of stratagems, no one will follow all the plot points at first glance. Not that the story with its double crosses and ingenious plans isn't clear, but to enjoy the full glory of these urban battlefield strategies, multiple viewings are required."

Whoo! And then this from Justin Chang in Variety:

So I sent my wife out to a 7-Eleven by my apartment yesterday in hopes there would be something Simpsons-related left for me to devour, and all she came back with was two cans of Buzz Cola and a couple of weird twisty straws. Looks like this is going to be tougher than I thought. Anyone manage to grab a Radioactive Man comic? How is it? Can you send me one? While the 7-Eleven/Quik-E-Mart promotion has been the talk of the town this week, some more news regarding plot for The Simpsons Movie has arrived via The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, a 10-minute clip of the film was recently screened in London and a majority of the scenes suggested the film will carry plenty of environmental and religious themes. Not to mention there's one scene featuring Bart's private area.

Although folks have been talking up Bart's so-called full frontal nudity for quite some time now, some have suggested that you don't actually see anything. Instead, all the talk was more of a marketing ploy to get people in seats. Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that's definitely not the case. In describing the scene, they note (possible spoilers ahead): "Perhaps the biggest laugh was for Bart, who skateboards through town naked after being challenged to do so by Homer. After a series of scenes where strategically-placed extras and props protect his modesty, the audience gets a full view of his private parts through a gap in a hedge." Poor Bart. Speaking at a post-screening Q&A, Matt Groening said he expects some people to be a tad miffed by what they see. "In America there's someone willing to pretend to be offended by everything and so we annoy people and that's part of the appeal," he said. "It's to entertain people and also to annoy a certain segment of the audience as well."

Apart from the brief nudity, Simpsons family members will also be tackling some of the world's more pressing issues. For example, the band Green Day is booed by Springfield residents when it starts talking about the environment following a performance. Also, Lisa becomes a green campaigner and gives a lecture called 'An Irritating Truth,' based on Al Gore's Oscar-winning doc An Inconvenient Truth. But that's just the tip of the melting iceberg; I'm sure there's a lot more heading our way when The Simpsons Movie lands in theaters on July 27.

Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Anne Thompson has a compelling piece up about what it took behind the scenes for ThinkFilm to get Ryan Gosling that Oscar nod. Whether you're a filmmaker who thinks, "that'll never happen to me" or "Man, I wish that was me," or just your average cinephile who lives for that kind of geekerific stuff, it's an interesting read.

I remember hearing buzz about Half Nelson at Sundance 2006 and being irked that I'd not caught it there -- I didn't even manage to catch it until months later, at the Seattle International Film Festival. It's fascinating, looking back now, to read all that was going on behind-the-scenes at Sundance a year ago. A major fest like Sundance is this big hive of activity where what you see crawling around on the surface is maybe 20 percent of everything that's going on. And behind the scenes at Sundance last year, while Half Nelson was only quietly beginning to buzz for most folks, ThinkFilm's Mark Urman was already thinking, if only in a whisper, "Oscar?" And now here we are, a little over a year later, with Ryan Gosling actually nominated for Best Actor against some major studio muscle, which is pretty damn cool.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Oscar season, and the Hollywood Reporter has come up with a way to help studios tap into the ever-expanding internet audience by providing them with a venue to promote their top pics of the year. While most of those classic "For Your Consideration" ads usually appear in newspapers and magazines, most of the time they serve little purpose if folks don't know much about the film.

However, HR hopes to change all that with their For Your Consideration Studio Showcase, a web portal that showcases a number of different Oscar contenders from various studios. On the site, you can watch trailers, read screenplays and even RSVP to Academy screenings. Since it's still a little early, only Dreamworks/Paramount, Fox Searchlight and Universal have films on there now, but everyone else will likely follow as we get closer to nomination time. What do you think about this new form of advertising? Or are you the kind of person who doesn't care about Oscar statues and nominations -- you just want to watch a good film?

[via New York Times]