Hollywood: Shit or Garbage?

I never explained the title of this thread. It's a play on an old joke about media sensationalism and bias. National Lampoon, for example, wrote an article with the headline:

The joke is that the question is loaded. You're not allowed to say "UFOs aren't real" or even "Meh." You're only given two possibilities, and each possibility is a near-perfect synonym for the other.

Noted biased media mogul J. Jonah Jameson used the loaded headline for his archnemesis, Spider-Man:

On to the shit and/or garbage:

Even executives at the Disney Groomer Network know that soon-to-be-fired Jimmy Kimmel is an "asshole."

As Jimmy Kimmel's time at Disney draws to a close, it has exposed a fraught relationship behind the scenes.

As Page Six previously reported, the longtime late-night host is expected to end his show later this year after 24 years.

And sources tell Page Six he's partially to blame because he's "never played well in the sandbox."

For example, he's seldom appeared on the company's ABC shows like "Good Morning America" and "The View" because, we're told, "he doesn't want to be a shill."

"And when he does, he's a complete a--hole," according to one source.

The insider said he expects Disney shows to "prop up the stuff he was doing." "But he would never reciprocate," they said, "He would never have anyone on from ABC News... People would get upset."

Multiple sources shared similar stories, adding the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" star seldom invited New York talent to his show when he brings it to Brooklyn every year. "He's unmanageable," another source said and pointed out how he roasted Disney brass at the upfronts in May. "It was uncomfortable to say the least," they said.

WDW_Pro reports that Rosie O'Donnell was hoping the Disney Groomer Network would offer her a job on The View but they've passed.

She's also continuing to spread leftwing conspiracy theories which Jake Tapper continues to not notice because that would force him to condemn a fellow hyperpartisan Democrat.

Defiant L's @DefiantLs

Rosie O'Donnell suggests Elon Musk "is doing something" in November with his "satellites"

She's calling other people "conspiracy theorists" but goes on to say sht like this lmao

This ugly aging cave-man too:

Western Lensman @WesternLensman

Oct 4

Mark Ruffalo warns that Democrats need to be watchful for voting machine manipulation and suggests Elon Musk could be involved:

"We need to be on guard for what we may not see coming -- ELON."

"That's the cybersecurity of these elections."

"We know that these systems are vulnerable."

We have been reliably informed for years that this kind of rhetoric Undermines Faith In Elections and is Very Dangerous To Democracy

Spencer Pratt has a good rant about the Jew-hating conspiracy theorist Mark Ruffalo.

Mark Ruffalo is a Threat to Our Democracy

In an unhinged, tyrannical speech, reminiscent of a Hitlerian rally in 1930's Nazi Germany, an enraged Mark Ruffalo took to the stage and screamed into the microphone like a disheveled führer. While firing off outlandish conspiracies about Elon Musk rigging the election with space gadgets, flanked by signage that read "THEY" would "STEAL AN ELECTION". In the modern online parlance, "they" is code for "Jews", often indicated by triple parenthesis: (((they))). As if it weren't enough that he were accusing Jews of stealing the elections, his rhetoric soon would turn violent. Slurring his words, in an apparent drunken, profanity-laced tirade, Ruffalo then threatened to kill the President in an hypnotic and uncontrollable fit of rage, saying he was going to "Hulk out". He seemed to enjoy his violent fantasy, as he punctuated his terroristic threat with an ominous warning: "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." If it weren't clear what he wanted, he repeatedly urged them to physically assault Republicans, screaming at the raucous crowd to organize into coordinated terror cells by encouraging them "to train" and "to fight".

This kind of Nazi-like antisemitic rage is something of a pattern for Mark Ruffalo. As he has publicly grappled with his midlife crisis for the past several years, he has become infamous for his antisemitic dog whistles and non sequiturs, curiously and inexplicably dragging Jews and Israel into the discussion about the Paramount merger...

Now obviously, this is the least charitable and most hyperbolic characterization of Ruffalo's woke tirade, but it's instructive. For years, people like Mark on the communist left have attacked anyone who questions the undoubtedly crooked elections in California, calling them "election deniers". But with the same breath, they can immediately turn and wail off on unhinged conspiracy theories about Elon Musk rigging the elections. They impeached President Trump for calling his 2020 election "rigged", even after spending the prior 4 years saying his 2016 election was "rigged by Russia". It's totally incoherent bullshit, of course, but there's almost no point to calling this out. For the communist, it's not hypocrisy; it's hierarchy. The language of the communist is the lie, so they will say anything they must, in any situation, to weaponize your morality against you.

The left is dragging actor Glen Powell, as they previously dragged Taylor Swift, because he won't endorse the leftwing Gay Race Marxism party line and avoids talking about "divisive" ideology.

This is just the beginning of the campaign to force him to Confess the True Marxist Faith or lose his career.

Glen Powell is the latest Hollywood heavyweight to express a disinterest in talking about politics in press interviews. The "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Chad Powers" star is on the last cover of Esquire magazine and remembered growing up with parents who never brought up current events at the dinner table, to which Powell said "thank God" for that. "Politics interests him even less now," the magazine writes.

"Over time, I realized that politics divide people," Powell said. "People trying to prove their point -- for me, it's the worst version of a conversation. I genuinely do not like the discourse. It's not as healthy as it once was. [Engaging in politics] is not presently possible. I applaud people for jumping into those things and fighting for what they believe in. If I were a political person, I would be talking about it. For me, my calling is elsewhere."

Powell's comments are similar to that of Dwayne Johnson, who in his own Esquire magazine cover story earlier this year said he will no longer speak publicly about politics. Johnson had already told Fox News in 2024 that he regretted endorsing Joe Biden for president in 2020 because it caused division amongst his fans. He then told Esquire that he wants to keep the focus solely on his art.

"Politics is omnipresent and it's forever. I don't like it. I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the bullshit that comes with it," Johnson added at the time.

Vanity Fair trying to gin up a cancellation mob by demanding someone explain why he doesn't talk about what he doesn't want to talk about.

Woke 1 was crazyyy, man. I'm so glad we're on to Woke 2, which is not authoritarian or extremist or "crazyyyy" at all.

You know what they can never take away from him? This little smoocherooney he laid on fellow would-be cancellation victim Sydney Sweeney.

Louise Penny complains that the BBC is all DEI all the time.

Sometimes the ideology is laid on so thick that Albion TV shows [her term for prestige made-for-export crime dramas] veer into absurdism. In the first season of "Slow Horses," a nativist terror group literally named "Sons of Albion" kidnaps a student at a British university whose uncle is deputy head of Pakistani military intelligence. The actors playing the terrorists are all white, and affect exaggerated working-class accents. They plan to behead the young Muslim man live on camera (how typical of the British right!) but he escapes. In a climactic moment he tells his captor, "You make me ashamed to be British."

...

This class factor goes a long way toward explaining the question that American friends have repeatedly asked me of late: Why doesn't the British government put a stop to the illegal immigration that is causing so much pain and mayhem? The current situation is clearly ridiculous. Since the last general election in 2024, more than 83,000 people are believed to have arrived illegally by crossing the English Channel by dinghy, meaning that these migrants now outnumber the 82,000 personnel in the British Army. The taxpayer has been burdened with the costs of accommodation, and the hotels that have been put to this use have been the focus of repeated protests and rioting. Why doesn't the government simply say "enough" and send the illegal entrants home?

The short answer is that opposing immigration, illegal or otherwise, is a class signifier in Britain, and most middle-class people--including most politicians--aren't prepared to support a political cause that would see them associated with the lower orders.

...

In a country where violent offenders are currently being released from prison to relieve overcrowding, the government still somehow finds space for the [white, lower-class] throwers of empty plastic bottles. And yet this state of anarcho-tyranny isn't driving middle-class British people to take to the streets en masse. Nor will they do so anytime soon. They would rather sit at home watching fantasy visions of Britain on TV. The explanation for this strange behavior is best summarized by political scientist Peter Pulzer, who in 1967 described class as "the basis of British party politics; all else is embellishment and detail."

Monty Python alum John Cleese was reported to the UK's Speech Police, "Prevent," by an Islamist media outlet called "5Pillars."

John Cleese is not a terrorist

The former Monty Python star's criticism of Islam is a free-speech matter, not one for government intrusion.

...

We cannot even be secure in our use of the word "terrorist" any longer, given that so many are determined to abuse it. How else to explain the fact that comedian John Cleese, of Monty Python and "Fawlty Towers" fame, has been reported to Prevent, the British government program designed to stop people from becoming terrorists? Are dead parrots, silly walks and disgruntled hoteliers now deemed early warning signs of radicalization?

The complaint to Prevent against Cleese was made by a member of the public, and the details passed to 5Pillars, an Islamist media outlet based in London. In its report, 5Pillars characterized the complaint as alleging that Cleese's social media jokes and comments "go beyond legitimate criticism of Islam and instead portray Muslims collectively as violent, criminal and morally depraved." The complaint, quoted by 5Pillars, said Cleese's rhetoric may contribute to "radicalisation, communal tension, and hate incidents." (If you haven't heard of "hate incidents," they are those noncrimes that the British police seem to spend so much of their time investigating.)

None of this is true, of course. Cleese rightly rejects the term "Islamophobic" and instead calls himself "Islamosceptic." How could he be otherwise? This is a man who has brilliantly skewered closed systems of thought for many decades. Many readers will remember Python members' televised debate in 1979 with writer Malcolm Muggeridge and Bishop Mervyn Stockwood, who were furious at what they perceived to be a direct attack on Christianity in "Monty Python's Life of Brian."

Just imagine the conniptions if, instead of the priggish, outraged Muggeridge and Stockwood, the offended party were a representative from 5Pillars.

Cleese has responded to the Prevent referral in the best possible way: by mocking it. "One of the proudest moments of my life," he posted on X. "I would like to thank everyone concerned." The tyrannical mindset, always humorless, cannot bear to be ridiculed. Few will be surprised that there are those who wish to see Cleese silenced -- in August, 5Pillars said "The Islamophobic comedian John Cleese should be de-platformed" -- and that they will try to weaponize the law to that end.

But what exactly is 5Pillars? "Protecting our Democracy from Coercion," a 2024 British government report, described 5Pillars as having "expressed support for an Islamic caliphate, Sharia (Islamic principles and law) penal codes and physical jihad" and "repeatedly abused and intimidated Muslim liberals, counter-extremists, and human rights activists."

Yet the government, whether under Conservative leadership in recent years or under Labour now, has long been inclined more toward woke orthodoxy. A 2022 report by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee lists "cultural nationalism" as one of the ideological strands associated with "extreme right-wing terrorism." This same classification has been incorporated into the Home Office's Prevent guidance. Here is the gloss the committee provides for the phrase "cultural nationalism":

"A belief that 'Western Culture' is under threat from mass migration into Europe and from a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups. The ideology tends to focus on the rejection of cultural practices such as the wearing of the burqa, or the perceived rise of the use of sharia law. In the UK this has been closely associated with anti-Islam groups."

He said that he prefers a culture that doesn't perform female genital mutilations or kill infidels.

This is "controversial."

It is controversial to the weird minority who controls the culture. For the moment.

There are three actresses I love to see fail: Anne Hathaway, Olivia Wilde (real name Cockburn), and Jessica Chastain, the extremely divisive left-wing slogan-spitter who will "star" in The Savant -- a tv show about a Stronk and Empowered Left-Wing Woman who entraps dangerous right-wing manosphere types by sleeping with them -- if it's ever allowed to air.

Chastain was forced to take a role in a horror movie, which is, of course, beneath her.

Apparently, it's a disaster.

Even the left-wing-protection-racket outlet The Hollywood Reporter roasts it.

'Other Mommy' First Reactions: "Jessica Chastain's Worst Movie in a Long Time"

The first reactions are in the Universal horror film, which is being held back from most critics until the last minute.

First reactions finally in for Other Mommy, and some are pretty scary for Universal.

The horror movie isn't having official U.S. critics screenings until the last minute, with previews held tonight in New York and Los Angeles before the film opens Friday. But some international influencers, awards bloggers, and a few credentialed Rotten Tomatoes critics have seen the film, and are offering their hot takes.

...

Here are some of the early reactions to the film, which does have a few enthusiastic fans in the mix as well.

The Jam Report: "By the time Other Mommy staggered towards its ludicrous finale, the audience at my screening had abandoned any pretense of fear and erupted into laughter ... An excruciating parade of ineffective jump scares, woeful CGI, and increasingly nonsensical storytelling, Other Mommy is comfortably among the most disappointing horror films of the year. It had transformed a promising supernatural premise into an unintentionally hilarious endurance test, all while remaining blissfully unaware of its own absurdity. 1.5/5."

The Matinee Show: "Solid creepy premise, but it definitely starts to lose its grip. Some genuinely unsettling moments, mixed with a few 'okay... what the hell are we doing?' moments. Not bad, just messier than scary 3/5."

Global Box Office: "Other Mommy is a hot mess and Jessica Chastain's worst movie in a long time. The direction is sloppy, the score is unremarkable, and not even Chastain can save such a terrible screenplay ... What should be a straightforward premise is bogged down by cheap melodrama and repetitive, failed jump scares."

Goldwin Reviews: "Other Mommy is like a buffet of all the other horror movies rolled into one. It can get overwhelming, but that excess becomes part of a meaningful experience. Eventually, it becomes a feast for the soul that yearns for horror with substance. The film isn't content with settling into just one form. It has many layers, constantly reinventing itself. 4/5."

...

Screen Space: "Ponderously paced, over-directed with gimmicky flourishes and confusing in its half-baked message, Other Mommy wants to be 'elevated horror' but stumbles trying to climb above the better films it's seeking to be ... There's an extended sequence that rips off Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist and some realm displacement nonsense that doesn't make sense, on the way to an embarrassingly overwrought ending. 1.5/5."

Some other slams:

Herb Simon's PR Manager 👑 @HerbSimon1986

Well, Jessica Chastain did the best she could & I won't blame her at all. However, #OtherMommy is a pure mess and masterfully cringe, but it's also a bonker fun if you truly want something to killing yr time on 3am. It's like Rob Savage remaking "Boogeyman" with a prestige cast😕

Peter Gray @ratedPDG

16h

#OtherMommy: Despite that trailer and one surprisingly gory sequence, this INSIDIOUS-lite supernatural "horror" flick is more silly than it is scary. Jessica Chastain commits but that isn't enough to overcome the stupidity.

Why does everyone rush to protect this single-expression actress? Her face is almost incapable of movement, like she fell into vat of botox. Her one expression is Immobily Bitchy.

Doug Jamieson @itsdougjam

11h

OTHER MOMMY is truly dreadful. Despite one of the silliest horror plots of the year and a woeful script, it takes itself so staggeringly seriously. An endless parade of ineffective jump scares, awful CGI, and a finale that drew unintentional laughter several times. #OtherMommy

Justine Bateman has thoughts on Hollywood's plea to save the movie theaters:

Justine Bateman
@JustineBateman

Here's the thing about "Keep theaters alive!" and "Go watch this film in the movie theater!"

It's a two-way agreement.

The audience agrees to pay to see films in a theater only if:
- The filmmakers are shooting scripts that have a thesis statement/intention/point.
- The actors and director are giving it their all, and not phoning it in.
- The edit has trimmed off all the fat.
- The film isn't some didactic exercise, intent on jamming a "lesson" into us.
- The studio executives have paid close attention to the film from start to finish and have given the filmmakers useful notes to keep it all on-track.
- The film is entertaining.
- (And the theater managers are maintaining some order and decorum in the theaters themselves.)

Otherwise, the audiences will continue to stay home and wait for the films to come online, so they can maybe watch five minutes of it or scrub through, and then turn it off.

The film has to be excellent. Or at least try in that direction.

Much of what is released is just not good enough.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:20 PM

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