The media and bias

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Sadly, "objective journalism" is "stone cold dead," said Michael Graham in the Boston Herald, "sacrificed on the altar of service to Barack Obama." A recent Pew study found that 57% of John McCain's recent media coverage has been negative, while only 14% has been positive. For Obama, it was 36% positive, 29% negative. Unsurprisingly, Pew also found that only 8 percent of Americans think reporters are "objective and not favoring either candidate."

The problem with a study like that said John Riley in Newsday online, is "it can't tell you whether the coverage tilt was deserved, or undeserved." If one candidate has run a good campaign and the other a poor one, "should the differences be balanced with equivalent coverage?" That isn't the media's job.

True enough, said John Harris and Him VandHei in Politico, and McCain is "getting hosed in the press" largely because his campaign has been "going quite poorly." But there's also bias at work, just not "ideological favorisism." Political reporters "obsess about personalities," process, and momentum--they care about the "horse race," not "who would do more for world peace or tax cuts."

Racists for Obama

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

In a survey that "wouldn't fly with Gallup," we found that 75% of white supremacists support Barack Obama said David Peisner in Esquire, and black nationalists are voting for John McCain. Three of the four neo-Nazis and white-power extremists we talked with are voting for Obama, because they think he's race-conscious and that he dislikes President Bush and corporations. Our one black supremacist thinks Obama will sell out black people.

There are also white supremacist leaders, like David Duke, who think the whirlwind of interest in Obama is "a rising tide that will lift their sagging boats," said Max Blumenthal in The Daily Beast, bringing new members, money and "mainstream influence" to their cause.

Certainly, "openly racist white people for Obama" is "the hot new trend of late October" said Alex Pareene in Gawker. "But really, is there anything to it other than "random tales of canvassers" and other "illustrative anecdotes?"

Judging by the polls, it looks like there might be, said Martin Kettle in Britain's The Guardian. Are there racists? Sure. But if Obama wins, the surprisng lessons might be this: "The assumption that an inner racist demon lurks latent and uncontrollable in the would of all white Americans, waiting to jump to the Republican dog whistle, is simply untrue."

William Friedkin's must see horror movies

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Not much scares Exorcist director William Friedkin, but there are a few films that do give him the creeps and he lists "Rosemary's Baby" (filmed in 1968), as one of the all time scary movies.

"I think it's the nightmare of many women that they're gonna give birth to a child that is evil," he tells EW. "Not only evil, but the progeny of the devil. The young husband, played by John Cassavetes, makes a pact with a group of demon worshippers to allow the devil to have sex with his wife for the purpose of bringing onto Earth the child of Satan. And what is pershaps the most terrifying sequence of all, the mother played by Mia Farrow sees this baby which is clearly a demon, and like all mothers, she embraces it. It deals with the demon inside all of us."

"Then there's the Texas Chainsaw Massacre filmed in 1974. You're driving along on a country road and you're kidnapped by some people and taken to a house that looks ordinary from the outside and inside the whole family are ravenous cannibals that take great pleasure in nailing people to the wall and then cutting them up with a chainsaw. This represents our worst nightmare--and it, too, was based on a true story. It's highly brutal and violent and way off the charts in terms of human decency."

Friedkin also lists "Funny Games," and "The Spiral Staircase" as other top scary flicks for horror film fans.

David E. Kelley's Farewell to Boston Legal

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Once Boston Legal ends its run with a December 8 series finale, Emmy-winning writer-producer David E. Kelley won't have a series on TV for the first time in at least two decades. But fortunately, there's some good news for fans of his irreverent dramadies--NBC recently scooped up his latest script--about an aging lawyer and his adult daughter who world together at a Chicago firm--for a potential Fall 2009 premiere.

"It'll feature a cauldron of eccentric characters," Kelley says in an interview. "It's much more of a comedy than some of my other shows. Some of the touches will remind you of Boston Legal and Ally McBeal, but it won't be an issue or case-driven show. It's about a comedic relationship."

Tracy Morgan: 30 Rock's class clown speaks out.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

In a revealing interview in this Sunday's New York Time's Arts and Leisure section, comic Tracy Morgan says comedy is not just a means of achieving attention and fame--it is a mechanism that saved him from a life that should never have led him here and helps him cope with tragedies past and present.

If he couldn't joke around, Mr. Morgan said, "I'd be dead; my heart would be broken and I would die. I don't have to wait until I'm in some comedy club, onstage with a stoll and water and a mic," he added, "I'm funny everywhere."

On 30 Rock, Mr. Morgan plays Tracy Jordan, the pampered, impulsive star of a fictitious comedy show. He also had a hard-scrabble life.

He was the second of five children, raised in housing projects in Bedford-Stu, Brooklyn and the High Bridge section of the Bronx. His older brother, Jimmy Morgan Jr., was born with cerebral palsy; his father Jimmy Morgan Sr., was a Vietnam vet who developed a drug habit, abandoned the family and died of AIDS in 1987.

In his early 20s, Mr. Morgan's prospects seemed barely brighter: he was married with three sons and living on welfare. But his fondness for making fun of friends and customers at fried-chicken stands got him invited to perform stand-up comedy for local DJs, eventually leading him to the Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem.

In workshops there, Mr. Morgan learned to spin his real-life frustrations into stand-up routines. He quickly graduated from stand-up to a supporting role on Martin Lawrence's sitom "Martin," playing an upbeat schemer named Hustle Man. And in 1996 he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

Ivanka to convert to Judaism

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to Page 6, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kusher have selected an outspoken rabbi who once battled the New York Times, to convert her to Judaism for their upcoming nupitals.

As the Post reported earlier, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of Congregation Kehillath Jeshrun on East 85th street led his flock to boycott the Times over "biased and unfair coverage" of Israel and the Mideast and got 1,000 subscribers to bail.

Meanwhile, Trump's conversion is "going nicely," according to a source and she and Jared were in shul during all the holidays and ate in the sukkah every night.

It's the GREAT Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

This is by far the greatest Halloween special ever. I've been watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" since I was a kid and each year brings on just as many laughs. In short, Charlie Brown is finally invited to a Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red Baron in a dogfight and Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.

A bit of TV trivia--MAD TV parodied the special as "It's the Bigass Pumpkin Charlie Brown," which shows the Peanuts characters as African-Americans in an inner city neighborhood.
And The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XIX special will present a parody of the Great Pumpkin again this year.

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown tonight October 28, 2008 at 8p.m. ABC.

Movie planned about Muhammad

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The life of the Prophet Muhammad will be the subject of a new biographical film, Reuters reported. The film, titled "The Messenger of Peace," will be a remake of the 1977 movie "The Message," which starred Anthony Quinn as Muhammad's uncle, and was directed by Moustapha Akkad.

In "The Message," Muhammad is never actually depicted on screen, but is heard in off-camera dialogue. Mr. Akkad, who went on to produce "Halloween," horror films, was killed in a terrorist attack in a luxury hotel in Jordan in 2005.

Bono, New York Times Columnist

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The New York Times has found an unusual new contributor for its Op-Ed page, said Ben Chapman in Radar online. U2 front-man Bono will submit--without pay--up to 10 columns next year, writing about "Africa, poverty, and importantly, the music of Frank Sinatra." Op-Ed editor Andrew Rosenthal didn't say if Bono, or someone else, was replacing conservative columnist Bill Kristol, whose contract ends in January. But he did drop hints about writers he might like better.

The Times defintely seems to prefer pop stars to conservatives, said Sean Michaels in Britain's The Guardian. Rosenthal is no fan of op-eds by Condy Rice, but he likes opinion columns Bruce Springsteen has written. And the Times has expressed interest in bringing back Queen guitarist Brian May--who is also an astrophysicist and has written about space.

Bono is more than just a singer, too said Carol Eisenberg in Muckety. He's also "palled around with presidents and prime ministers and been nominated for a Nobel Prize." But certainly his celebrity could bring young readers to the "cash-strapped" paper. So everybody wins. Bono gets to "share his thoughts with the Times' influential readers," the Times get Bono--for free.

Defiance-Upcoming World War II Film

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Defiance is an upcoming WWII film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is based on the true story of three Jewish brothers who escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of West Belarus and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis. They build a village in a forest and manage to save some 1,200 Jews and other fugitives. Production began in early September 2007 and the film is scheduled to be released on December 31, 2008.

Edward Zwick began writing a script for Defiance in 1999 after he acquired film rights to the 1993 nonfiction book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. Zwick developed the project under his company, Bedford Falls and the project was financed by the London-based company Grosvenor Park with a budget of $50 million.

In May 2007, actor Daniel Craig was cast into the lead role. The following August, actors Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and Tomas Arana were cast into the movie. Filming took place for three months in Lithuania, which had beated out other Eastern European locations such as Poland and Romania due to lower production costs.

The only surviving Bielski brother, Aaron was jailed in 2007 in the United States. As of June 2008, toether with his wife Henryka Bell, Aron Bielski is facing a sentence of up to 90 years imprisonment.

Lonely Hearts

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Salma Hayek and Jared Leto star as the true-life 'lonely hearts killers,' who went on a murderous spree in America in the 1940s. John Travolta plays Detective Elmer C. Robinson, the man responsible for bringing them in.

The film begins as the handsome Ray Fernandez (Leto), hooks up with the beautiful Martha Beck (Hayek). Both are confidence tricksters. Ray well used to conning money from rich widows after luring them through lonely hearts columns in newspapers. Martha is one such 'victim' but she immediately sees Ray for what he is and after seducing him suggests they team up with her posing as his sister.

It quickly becomes apparent that Martha is crazy. When the pair are pulled over by a cop while Ray is driving, Martha proceeds to seduce the lawman. Returning to the car, she points a gun towards Ray saying, "Who's the best you've ever had?" Driven by jealously, Martha flips, killing one of their targets with a hammer blow to the back of the head. The pair go on the run. Enter Detective Elmer Robinson (Travolta) and his colleague James Gandolfini who pick up their trail.

The director, Todd Robinson, is the grandson of Elmer C. Robinson, the character played by Travolta. The story of Beck and Fernandez was also the subject of the 1970 film The Honeymoon Killers, directed by Leonard Kastle.

Nights of Cabiria a Fellini Classic.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina plays Cabiria Ceccarelle--a feisty but naive prostitute from a seedy section of Rome who survives one humiliation after another in her rather dismal life.
Nights of Cabiria was the last film in which Fellini tried to make sense of an increasingly fragmented chaotic Italian society. In Masina's brilliant incarnation of the simple-minded doomed prostitute--he found an ideal vehicle for attacking the church, the class system, movie star culture and all the other forces destroying the lives of ordinary people.

Cabiria maintains her dignity and fragile sense of hope even in the most dire circumstances which come quickly in an extended ultimately catastrophic love affair. Much of the film is a subtle study of class conflict, with Cabiria, in spite of owning a small cement house and having a bank account, in the lower ranks even of her fellow prostitutes.

This doesn't prevent her sudden, brief rise in status in one of Fellini's most celebrated scenes--a bittersweet encounter with the famous actor Alberto Lazzari (Almerdeo Nazzari). Everything good that their meeting implies is denied her, from a fancy feast of lobster and caviar to Alberto himself. When his girlfriend unexpectedly appears, he locks Cabiria in the bathroom where she sits until morning, when he sneaks her out with a few bucks for a taxi.

Nights of Cabiria

On Netflix
1957
Director: Federico Fellini

The World of Suzie Wong

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The World of Suzie Wong, is the romanticized story of a Hong Kong prostitute and an American artist and is for some, a simplistic racist view of the Chinese--for others, a guilty pleasure.

44 years after it's release this film is being re-evaluated and embraced by the Chinese-American community. The film is very adult and honest with the subject of the flesh trade and racism in 1960.

Forbidden love takes center stage in this movie starring William Holden as Robert Lomax, an American traveler visiting Hong Kong who meets and quickly grows smitten with local woman Suzie Wong (Nancy Kwan).

Nancy Kwan is great in the role of Suzie. This was a star-making turn for her and led to other good roles over the years. William Holden is perfectly cast as the "pushing forty" American who has come to Hong Kong to pursue his dream of being an artist. Together Kwan and Holden are an intoxicatingly romantic couple that share a chemistry on screen most films of this genre aspire to but few achieve.

You can rent "Suzie Wong" on Netflix.
2 hours and 6 minutes.
Paramount Pictures

Austrian National Day Reception

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A well dressed crowd of Angelenos and Austrians turned out in droves at the Brentwood home of Austrian Consul General Martin Weiss, today to celebrate the Austrian National Day. Also on hand was Her Excellency Ms. Claudia Schmied, Federal Minister for Education, Arts and Culture.
Guests munched on Austrian appetizers in the consul's house and outdoors by the swimming pool.

Speaking of Austria, you can get to know contemporary Austrian documentary filmmakers close-up at a series of movie screenings October 30th-November 13th, 2008 at the Goethe Institute Los Angeles.

One particularly interesting film is "Malibu Song," a documentary. California, at the beginning of the 21st century was an artists' colony with hippie roots in Malibu. The painter James Mathers sits in front of his Airstream trailer and sings the Malibu Song: a song for all the lazy poets who were not meant to be productive. Then he gets up and paints...."Malibu Song" is a film about the end of an important chapter in the history of American culture.
Thursday October 30th at 7p.m.

Following the screening will be a discussion of Topanga: The inside story on the end of SoCal's last hippie beach colony. Werner Hanak and Natalie Lettner will be on hand for a Q & A.

Al Pacino Honored at Rome Film Festival

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A lifetime achievement award for Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino kicked off the Rome film festival on Wednesday, bringing a Hollywood veteran to the movie showcase which this year has a markedly European flavor.

According to Reuters, Pacino received the award as one of the great alumni of New York's Actors Studio--the celebrated drama school where he and other actors like Robert DeNiro and Marilyn Monroe learned the ropes of the business.

He also took questions from members of the public--a trademark feature of the Rome festival where audiences get to meet their favorite stars. The 68-year-old who comes from a family of Italian immigrants to America, was nominated for an Oscar eight times for films like "The Godfather," "Serpico," and "Dog Day Afternoon."

"It's hard to put on a suit and getting harder--with a shirt and tie," he joked at a press conference, saying he was thrilled about the award. "You feel as though someone is giving you a party and you don't quite know what you did to deserve it," he added.

Playing with a famous quote by Tony Montana, the drugs boss in one of his best-known films, "Scarface," he said good actors need not be good liars.
"In life we act, but in our art we go for the truth," he said.

Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family

Book Review: By Vickie J. Rubinson

Making Jack Falcone is the extraordinary true story of an undercover FBI agent's years-long investigation of the Gambinos, which resulted in a string of arrests that crippled the organized crime family.

Jack Garcia found himself wearing a wire with some of the Mafia's top capos, he was one of the FBI's unlikeliest recruits. A Cuban born American, he stood six-foot-four and weighed 300 pounds--not your typical G-man. Jack jumped at the opportunity to infiltrate the shadowy world of La Cosa Nostra and the FBI even created a "Mob school" for Jack teaching him how to eat, talk and think like a wiseguy.

" I would be playing an Italian to the Italians for the first time in my career," notes the author. "The FBI had doubts about choosing me simply because I'm not Italian. Actually I like Italian food. At 300 pounds how could I not? So I had to go to Mob school. If I was going to dine with wiseguys, I needed to know about the food so the next aspect of Mob school focused on eating and drinking. I don't have to be called twice for dinner, so this was a part of the training I liked.

When it comes to food, the Mob guys know which restaurants to visit for which kinds of food. If you want meatballs, you visit Rao's in East Harlem. If you want a nice piece of veal, you go to II Mulino's in the Village. Once I got the hang of ordering like a true paisan, I started watching the Food Channel. These shows are like porn for the stomach, they made me so hungry! On top of that a wiseguy never even looked at a menu. Instead he bounces in like he owns the place, greets the waiter and maitre d like long-lost relatives and says "Hey! What am I gonna eat today?"

Using a series of carefully created aliases, Jack insinuated himself in the criminal world from Philly where he laundered money to the streets of Miami where he moved stolen and illicit goods and brought down dirty cops.

This is a page-turning account of the struggle between law enforcement and organized crime that will rank with such classic stories as Donnie Brasco, Serpico and Wiseguy.
257 Pages.

No sex on the beach please.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A word of caution to Westerners planning to visit Dubai said Karen Beaudoin in Maine Today. Leave your libido at home. A British couple convicted of having drunken sex on a beach in the United Arab Emirates have been sentenced to three months in jail, followed by deportation. "Sure doing the nasty in public is frowned upon unless the cameras are rolling or you're at a Sandals Resort, but yikes!"

The local authorities did nothing wrong, said Mark Blanksby in the British construction magazine Building. "Dubai is extremely welcoming and tolerant"--probably more so than any other city in the region. But these two lovebirds--Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer--wore out their welcome by trampling on the rules of their conservative Islamic hosts, so they deserve to be punished."

Palmer lost her publishing job in Dubai over this, too said Janet Porter in the British daily The Independent, but it's hard to feel sorry for her. She "behaved like a trollop"--even if she was only making out with Acors as she claimed. If police back home would punish drunken misbehavior half as severely, maybe expats would conduct themselves in ways that reflected better on Western culture.

Breitbart to Republicans' Rescue.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to The Hollywood Reporter.com, it's no secret that the entertainment industry is overwhelmingly liberal----political donations this presidential cycle from the movie and TV industries were running about 86% Democrat versus 14% Republican. But being outnumbered is one thing, being bullied by your liberal co-workers into keeping your opinions to yourself is quite another.

Is that what's going on? Yes, say many of the industry's conservatives. That's why secret organizations with such names as "SpeakEasy" and "The Sunday Night Club" spring up every so often. They're not conservative per se, they just let it be known that attendees of their gatherings may freely discuss politics without being chastised for not toeing the liberal line.

Kelsey Grammer said he even knows of a makeup trailer that sported a sign warning Republicans to keep out and of U.S. war veterans who keep their backrounds a secret from their Hollywood co-workers because they hear them belittle the military. He even added that earlier in his career, his job was threatened by a prominent sitcom director who demanded he donate money to Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate campaign. To keep his job, he gave $10,000 to Boxer and the Democrats.

But now there are some who are trying to make Hollywood more accommodating to political diversity. Andrew Breitbart is one. At Breitbart.com he's launching a "Big Hollywood" blog with 40 industry conservatives tasked with--among other things--highlighting liberal intolerance.

"There's an undeniably vicious attitude against those who dissent," Breitbart said. "Hollywood is the most predictable place on the planet because of narrow-mindedness."

Breitbart maintains that liberals have pushed conservatives too hard in Hollywood and that Americans have noticed. His intent is "to stop the bullying."

Tough Guys Rescue Cats and Dogs

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

They still hit the tattoo parlors and the highways. But these days 11 brawny bikers are more keen on saving cats, dogs and even turtles from harm as members of Rescue Ink, a non-profit animal welfare group in Island Park New York.

Founder Robert Misseri, 39, says the guys have delivered some 750 abused and neglected critters to safety since organizing in 2007. They even reunite owners with lost or stolen pets. How? Street smarts and imposing looks--tools used when a New York woman refused to return Bella, a missing Pug, to owner Danielle Cioti of Eastchester, New York.

Ink members showed up at the woman's door--and a week later Cioti got her dog back. Says Cioti: "They were so cool!"

Playboy cuts jobs.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to Crain's website, Playboy Enterprises Inc. eliminated 80 jobs and warned of a 3rd quarter loss as a worsening economy forces the entertainment company to make deeper cuts than originally anticipated.

CEO Christie Hefner blamed "current economic and media conditions," advertisers shifting to "other platforms," as well as higher costs for paper, ink and other expenses.

Some 55 employees will lose their jobs and 25 positions won't be filled. Other cost cuts outlined in Ms. Hefner's memo to employees include exiting the DVD business, outsourcing newsstand sales, switching to a lighter weight of magazine paper and replacing the corporate holiday card with an electronic version.

Does Oliver Stone go easy on Bush?

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Yet another curve ball is coming into play for the 2008 presidential election," said Roger Friedman in Fox News online. In Oliver Stone's new biopic, W, our current prez is painted as a "tortured son with a domineering father, a gullible lightweight who becomes almost a pawn in the hands of more demonic players." And Josh Brolin's performance as the president makes George W. Bush "real, human and suddenly very interesting."

Hardly, said Travis Tindell in The Daily O'Collegian online. Once again, Stone is "trying to push his political agenda on audiences," this time by taking "cheap shots a the president." It seems obvious that "Stone and his liberal cronies" are "trying to sway" the last of the undecided voters on their side.

W is "not fair (not a problem) and definitely not balanced," said J. Hoberman in the Village Voice. "But it "should prove mildly helpful to Deomocrats," during the "hurly-burly of the elections' final weeks"--cable news outlets "won't be able to resist the movie's most outrageous scenes."

Mafia threat against Italian author

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to Reuters, the author of a best-selling book about the Naples Mafia said he planned to leave Italy after reports that the mob made threats on his life. In Italy, "Gomorra," a nonfiction book about organized crime by the journalist Roberto Saviano, has sold more than 1.2 million copies; it has been adapted into a play and a film.

It has also forced Mr. Saviano, 29, to live under 24-hour police protection. The Italian police have recently been investigating an informant's tip that the Naples Mafia, known as the Camorra, planned to kill Mr. Saviano by the end of the year.

"I'm going away from Italy, at least for a while, then I'll see," Mr. Saviano told the newspaper La Repubblica. "Right now I don't see why I should keep living like this."

When sex doesn't sell

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"These are scary times for sex writers," said Tracy Clark-Flory in Salon. One publication after another has fired star columnists, including The Village Voice's Tristan Taormino and Valleywag's Melissa Gira Grant. Blame the recession--"friends, these are NOT sexy times."

So, sex doesn't sell after all, said Violet Blue in the San Francisco Chronicle. Gawker media has stripped its porn blog Fleshbot down to a "skeleton crew" because it wasn't bringing in enough money. "Just because something has sex in it, or it's about sex, doesn't necessarily mean that it will automatically be a success."

Sex doesn't always sell said Steve Hall in the AdRants blog, especially when it's used as a "lame cop-out" for creativity. But it plays a big role in advertising because people respond to it. That hasn't changed and never will,"as long as humans are having sex with each other."

Ringo Starr: No more fan mail!

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

(AP)--Ringo Starr doesn't want to hear from you. If you do write, your letter will end up in the trash. That's the message from Richard Starkey, aka Ringo Starr. After 45 years of stardom he doesn't want to spend anymore time answering mail or sending signed photos to fans.

The fan fatigue led the former Beatles drummer to post a sometimes angry sounding short video clip on his Web site telling fans that any mail sent to him after Oct. 20th will not be read or answered.

"It's going to be tossed," he says on the video. "I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love."

The drummer and singer did not elaborate on the reason behind his decision to stop answering fan mail. British television stations broadcast the video today.

'Wall Street'- The Sequel

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

As Wall Street continues to capture headlines due to market volatility, 20th Century Fox is moving forward with a "Wall Street" sequel.

According to Variety, Allan Loeb ("21") has been tapped to pen the screenplay, which is being fast-tracked by the studio as a Michael Douglas starrer, though the actor is not formally attached.

The modern day story will again center on Gordon Gekko, who has recently been sprung from prison and re-emerges into a much more tumultuous financial world than the one he once lorded over. The Bud Fox character, played by Charlie Sheen in the original, will not appear in the latest incarnation.

Scientologists to help Amy Winehouse

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Controversial singer Amy Winehouse is considering accepting a helping hand from the Church of Scientology, said the London Sunday Mirror this week. The British singer, reportedly still struggling with drugs--got a call from the organization's Los Angeles Celebrity Center. They told her they wanted to help her beat drugs and could tailor-make a program so she wouldn't have to go to a residential center.

Why 'Body of Lies' lost to 'Chihuahua'

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"Body of Lies" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, opened third at the box office over the weekend, while "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" took No 1 for the second week in a row. So how did a movie about a "funny dog" beat a "taut, relevant thriller" with huge stars?

It means that filmmakers "don't seem capable of understanding" one "simple rule" said Ben Child in the Guardian online. "If you want your movie to be a U.S. box office success, DON'T set it in Iraq." Now more than ever, American audiences are sick of films about terrorism.

Maybe they're just sick of DiCaprio and Crowe, said Mark Caro in the Chicago Tribune online. Or it could be that "Hollywood makes so few family-friendly comedies," B.H. Chihuahua "was bound to stand out."

Whatever the reason said Brooks Barnes in The New York Times, "escapism definitely ruled" again. And that "should ring alarm bells for almost all the Hollywood studios as they prepare to flood the market with somber awards-driven pictures."

Jorg Haider dead in car crash

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Jorg Haider, the charismatic Austrian politician who catapulted his rightest anti-immigration party with sharp attacks on rivals and provocative praise of the Nazi era, died in a car accident. He was 58.

Although he was commonly labeled a rightist, Haider was more a populist who defied categorization, often swiftly embracing positions contrary to his early reputation as a hater of foreigners. Often at odds with the telegenic Haider, politicians from across the ideological spectrum were in shock at his death.

Austrian President Heinz Fishcer described it a "human tragedy." Haider who never held a post in the national government was governor of the province of Carinthia at the time of his death and leader of the Alliance for the Future of Austria--formed after breaking away from the far right Freedom Party in 2005.

He lauded Nazis as creating "a good policy of employment." He condemned the "laziness of the Southerners"--meaning immigrants south of Austria, describing their countries as "the place of criminality and corruption."

But later in his political life, he also endorsed European Union membership for Turkey--out of line with most Austrians. He also apologized for some comments hateful of Jews and contemptuous of foreigners and stopped making others.

Haider's own public image was relentlessly cultivated to reinforce the perception of a handsome man of action: a permanently suntanned fitness fanatic who was a devil on the ski slopes, bungee-jumping and who completed the New York City marathon in 3 hours and 52 minutes.

His death came at a time of renewed personal political success and a resurgence of the fortunes of the Right in last month's national elections.

Authorities said an initial investigation showed no signs of foul play and that Haider had been speeding when he crashed into a concrete barrier. Said Freedom Party boss Heinz-Christian Strache--"Jorg Haider achieved great things...he was a great figure."

Christians dig Fireproof.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Kirk Cameron's "Fireproof," produced for under a million dollars and marketed to an evangelical Christian audience has made $13.3 million through Wednesday, according to Defamer and it is expected to draw at least $2 million this weekend.

An almost all-volunteer cast and crew, including a star who was an 1980s teen hearthrob and a plot about a firefighter who saves his marriage by turning to God--has spawned a box office success.

"For us most of what is coming out of Hollywood does not reflect our faith or values," said Alex Kendrick, one of the film's producers. "and so this is one way to throw our hat in the ring."

Movie-watching record set in Times Square.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

You may want to try this at home. Suresh Joachim of Toronto and Claudia Wavra of Germany claim to have broken the world record for continuous movie watching, after seeing 57 films in 123 hours in a plastic glass house in New York's Times Square.

The attempt began October 2 when eight challengers started watching "Iron Man." After 72 hours only two remained. They watched "Thelma and Louise" until the end on 3:10 p.m. Tuesday, actress Susan Sarandon, a star of that fil, dropped off the final film. Each movie had to be viewed until the last credit and they were allowed 10-minute breaks.

Disney expands into Middle East

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The Mouse has landed in the Middle East. According to Variety, Disney is in advanced negotiations with Lebanese filmmaker Chadi Zeineddine to finance and produce "The Last of the Storytellers." The Mouse House's first feature in Arabic will mark the start of an expansion drive by Disney execs into the region.

Disney has big plans for the Middle East. The Arab world has a population of some 300 million people and with two-thirds under age 30, the market is a natural for family-friendly Disney fare. Disney expects to announce two more Arabic-language features in time for the fifth edition of the Dubai Film Festival which debuts in December.

"There's a lot of opportunity for us in the Middle East," said one Disney exec. "There's a lot of room for growth for us. It's the international territory that we're most excited about expanding into."

Lebanon: Whose Hummus?

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to the Associated Press, the latest conflict between Lebanon and Israel is about food: a Lebanese trade group is accusing Israel of falsely taking credit for traditional Middle Eastern dishes like hummus.

Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, said that his group planned to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli. "It is not enough they are stealing our land," Mr. Abboud said. "They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine." He said his group would also seek to claim baba ghanouj and tabbouleh as Lebanon's own.

Sid Caesar Collection: The Buried Treasures on Netflix

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"There's a whole different language now," says comic genius Sid Caesar in an interview. "Back when we were filming "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" we couldn't even say damn. Pregnant was a dirty word. Our humor was self-deprecating. Today's humor is in your face. And the words they use! What do they say when they're mad?"

Half a century ago, a curtain parted and out stepped funnyman Sid Caesar. Over the next nine years, with the help of writers such as Neil Simon, Woody Allen and Mel Brooks, Caesar created the template for the TV skit shows and domestic comedies the world still loves.

Caesar was a champion of sketch comedy long before anyone had ever heard of Saturday Night Live. This new collection includes some of the renowned comic's best work from his 1950s TV shows "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour."

Giggle to your heart's content in this special compilation of rare and pioneering footage. This disc contains the hilarious sketches: "At the Movies," "Grieg Piano Concerto le Honere du Juelle," "Toy Band," "Health Food Restaurant" and "Prison Walls."

"We tested our old shows on a small group of theater goers and they loved them. They had never seen comedy like this before." said Caesar.
Visit Sid's website at: http://www.sidcaesar.com/

The Mata Hari of North Korea

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

She's called the Mata Hari of North Korea, a temptress-spy who for years used her sensual charms to seduce South Korean military officers into giving up secrets. The method was potentially lethal: Won Jeong-hwa reportedly plotted to assassinate South Korean agents with poisoned needles provided by handlers from Pyongyang.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 34-year-old North Korean native was arrested during the summer along with her 63-year-old stepfather and accused of engaging in espionage and deceit for seven years after defecting to South Korea. Under questioning, she detailed for investigators a double life working for one of the world's most repressive regimes.

The press has dubbed her Mata Hari, after the notorious dancer-turned WWI agent.
"I wanted to turn myself in but I couldn't because my family is in the North and they could be executed," she sobbed. Won told investigators that she is a second generation North Korean spy--the youngest daughter of an operative killed during an espionage mission on the South.

Won befriended and seduced South Korean military officers, authorities say. In all, Won maintained romantic relations with three or four officers and used sex as a tool, investigators said. She also lived with a South Korean army captain who knew she was a spy. He too was arrested.

Real Men Like Cats.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to the New York Times there are a growing number of single--and yes heterosexual--men who seem to be coming out of the cat closet and unabashedly embracing their feline side. To that end, they are even posting photos and videos of their little feline buddies on YouTube and Twittering about them to anyone who will listen.

Indeed, it seems that a man's best friend is no longer a golden retriever, but a cuddly cat named Fluffy,

When the Web site PetPlace.com asked readers, "Do Real Men Own Cats?" almost 84% of respondents said "yes."

Here are some famous male cat owners: writer Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, actor Victor Hugo and even Marlon Brando who reportedly found a stray cat on the set of The Godfather and incorporated it into the famous scene where Brando quietly strokes a black and white feline nestled in his arms.

"A dog is a lot of work," said Nader Ali Hassan, 29 of Ohio. "Maybe it's not the most masculine thing in the world, but I'm comfortable enough in my own manhood. The cat's nice. I come home after a long day of work, it sits in my lap, I pet it and then it goes about its business."

Philippe's French Dip hits 100!

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Philippe's, home of the French dip sandwich, turns 100 this year and for much of the last century local historians and foodies have been arguing over one question: How was the dish created?

Philippe "Frenchy" Mathieu was the founder of Philippe's in downtown Los Angeles and his 64 year-old grandson Philippe Gulheim took it over. Guilhem knows the story of the birth of the French dip from his namesake.

"One day a fireman complained that his roll was stale. It was probably a Monday and the roll was a leftover from the weekend. My grandfather was a thrifty person. He said, 'Give me the damn thing back.'He dipped it in the juices and said, 'You happy now?'"

According to the LA Times, the fireman was indeed happy. Yet it wasn't called a French dip right away. "People would just say,'Put it in the sauce like Frenchy does,'" Guilhem says.

Philippe's sells about 2,200 sandwiches a day on weekdays, 3,800 a day on weekends. Loyal customers wait in lines that are sometimes 20 people deep. Philippe's has been in its current digs up the street from Union Station since 1951.

Matheiu, being a Frenchman, would have no ketchup on the premises and the new owners, the Binders honored the ban in full until 1991. Philippe's has also all but given away coffee ever since it opened. It was only a nickel as late as 1977 and skyrocketed to a dime in 1991. It is now only 10 cents.

Popcorn Lawsuit

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

A New York man who broke his tooth on an unpopped kernel of movie theater popcorn has lost his bid for compensation. According to The Week, insurance broker Steve Kaplan says he bit into a hard kernel, suffering terrible pain and a subsequent $1,250.00 dental bill.

In dismissing Kaplan's lawsuit, Judge Matthew Cooper said that anyone who has ever eaten or made popcorn "soon learns the bitter truth: that the final product is almost always marred by the presence of unpopped, partially popped or burnt kernels."

Scorsese, DeNiro to 'Paint Houses'

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Paramount Pictures is plotting a return to organized crime for Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. According to Variety, the studio has set Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List fame), to adapt "I Heard You Paint Houses," the book about the mob assassin who many believe was involved in the death of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.

Scorsese is attached to direct. Hurray! DeNiro will play Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 mob murders. The picture's title refers to mob slang for contract killings and the resulting blood splatter on walls and floors. The book was writtenn by Charles Brandt, who befriended Sheeran shortly before the latter's death in 2003. Among the crimes Sheeran confessed to Brandt, according to the 2004 book, was the killing and dismemberment of Hoffa, carried out on orders from mob boss Russell Bufalino. I read "I Heard You Paint Houses," and it was excellent.

Scorsese also just completed a screen adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel "Shutter Island" for Paramount with Leonardo DiCaprio.