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Weekend Reading: What the Heck Happened to That Brad Pitt Baseball Movie?
Last weekend, the entertainment industry was shocked when Sony pulled the plug on Steven Soderbergh's baseball movie that was going to star Brad Pitt — just days before the movie was supposed to start shooting.
Based on a bestseller by Michael Lewis, Moneyball was going to be a feature-length film about the true story of Oakland Athletics' general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) who put together a successful baseball team based on a new way of measuring a player's skill via stats. It might sound kind of dry, but having read both the book and an early, leaked version of the script, I can vouch for it being a compelling story.
Weekend Reading: Thoughts on Michael Jackson
In the wake of the death of one of the world's most recognizable figures, the media coverage has and will continue to be voluminous. Tributes to Michael Jackson abound, as does speculation about the circumstances surrounding his death. In the midst of all this, I find myself drawn to the more thoughtful and reflective writing online that puts the man, his life, and his musical legacy into perspective.
Weekend Reading: The History of Sundance
This year marks the 25th anniversary for the Sundance Film Festival, which is about as long as some of us have been alive. It's easy to take for granted the fact that this festival held in a snowy little Utah town wasn't always the influential mega-event it is today. Recently the LA Times had an interesting retrospective about the festival's origins and the way it revolutionized independent film.
Weekend Reading: Representing the Peacock as a Page
Kenneth on 30 Rock might lack common sense, but he must be quite extraordinary if he's nabbed a page job at NBC. The New York Times recently profiled the page program for a story that includes interviews with current pages, famous pages (Regis Philbin, Ted Koppel), and Jack McBrayer, whose 30 Rock character is probably the best-known fictional page of all time.
Among the things I learned from the story:
- The page program is 10 times as competitive as admission to Harvard.
- Pages get a 75-page handbook full of NBC trivia, most of which they're supposed to memorize, and they have to pass a test at the end of orientation.
- About 70 percent of pages end up with jobs at NBC by the end of the program.
- Ted Koppel claims that when he was a page, he dated his way through the Rockettes.
- The real NBC pages recently got snazzy gray uniforms, which means Kenneth's look might be getting an update as well.
Weekend Reading: How Not to Get Sent Home First
I got a kick this week out of a piece Slate did on the doomed reality show contestants who have been voted or kicked off in the first episode, complete with tips on how to avoid their fate. At first I struggled to remember a single first contestant, but then this piece reminded me of Jerry and Nimma from Bravo's Project Runway and Top Chef.
If you are planning on competing on one of these reality shows, these are some pretty good tips for sticking around for more than one episode.
Weekend Reading: Alec Baldwin's Insecurities
It's funny, isn't it, how and when actors' personal lives begin to sabotage their professional lives? Lindsay Lohan, once a promising young talent, is in the process of rebuilding her career after issues with drugs, alcohol, and bar fights. Then there's Tom Cruise, who has been in career rehab ever since he jumped the couch.
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Brush Up on New Moon Before You See the Movie!
I don't know about you, but I read New Moon so long ago that I hardly remember all the happenings. That's why I've put together this handy little quiz to help you brush up before you head to the theater to see the movie this weekend. Warning: there are spoilers ahead!
Law Abiding Citizen: Deserves a Death Sentence
Oh, Gerard Butler, what were you thinking? You might be able to forgive the 300 actor for starring in this horror flick disguised as a meaningful thriller, but he also served as producer to help finance the train wreck. Did he not even read the script?
A Serious Man: Seriously Hard To Wrap Your Head Around
I like the Coen brothers. I loved No Country For Old Men, I still enjoy quoting Frances McDormand lines from Fargo — I even appreciated their most recent project, Burn After Reading despite lukewarm reviews. So I went into A Serious Man with high expectations.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell: An Unfunny Waste of Time
You're supposed to think that the jokes in I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell are so shocking, so offensive, that you laugh because you forget being PC for a moment. And if you don't laugh, you're the kind of square that Tucker Max, the lead character, takes aim at.
The real story is that the movie is offensive, but not because it's just so edgy.
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