Ernest Borgnine, Star of ‘McHale’s Navy,’ Dead at 95


By Dean Schabner
Ernest Borgnine, who began his career playing the heavy but won an Oscar for the gentle comedy “Marty” and may be best known for his starring role as the lovable, often aggravated skipper in the TV series “McHale’s Navy,” has died. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with his wife and children at his side.

“It’s a very sad day.  The industry has lost someone great, the caliber of which we will never see again.  A true icon,” his manager Lynda Bensky said.  “But more importantly the world has lost a sage and loving man who taught us all how to grow ‘young’. His infectious smile and chuckle  made the world a happier place.”

Borgnine’s smile was indeed infectious, spread from ear to ear across his large round face, but his early roles capitalized on his powerful frame, playing gladiators, thugs and toughs, such as in “From Here to Eternity,” when he may have earned the hatred of Old Blue Eyes’ legion of fans, beating Frank Sinatra’s character to death in the World War II epic.

But it was in “Marty,” the 1955 story of a lonely butcher who lives with his mother and looks for love with his hapless friend, that Borgnine proved that he was more than a character actor.

“The Oscar made me a star, and I’m grateful,” Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966. “But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn’t have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life.”

Borgnine went through four wives, including singer Ethel Merman — a marriage that lasted less than six weeks in 1964 — before he wed Norwegian-born Tova Traesnaes in 1973, and that one took.

In 2007, when the couple had been married 34 years, Borgnine told The Associated Press: “That’s longer than the total of my four other marriages.”

“McHale’s Navy,” in which Borgnine played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale, ran from 1962 to 1966, and spawned a movie.

“I didn’t have to reach very far for McHale because, I’ll tell you, I spent 10 years in the Navy,” he said. “Now, I had seen some rough and tumble officers and I also saw some officers that didn’t want to get their little panties wet, you know, and I played the rough and tumble kind.”

The show may have been a success with TV viewers, but the Navy wasn’t amused, at least not at first.

“We had a technical expert that came down the very first day, you know, and he was standing there and at the end of the first day he said, ‘Ernie, what are we making here?’ I said, ‘McHale’s Navy.’  He said, ‘Yeah, but this isn’t the Navy.’ I said, ‘It’s McHale’s Navy.’  And he said, ‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you,’ and he left.”

But Borgnine said that when it became clear how popular the show was, he got an invitation to Washington from the Navy’s top brass.

“I was invited down to Washington one day and was invited by the secretary of Navy to 
come to his office, where he congratulated me personally for having so many men join up into the Navy simply because they had seen ‘McHale’s Navy,’  and hoped that there was a McHale’s Navy somewhere that they could join,” he said.

The move to TV didn’t end Borgnine’s film career. He went on to play tough-guy roles in such movies as “The Dirty Dozen,” “Ice Station Zebra,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” and perhaps his greatest performance after “Marty,” in Sam Peckinpah’s end-of-the-west classic, 
“The Wild Bunch.”

Starring alongside a cast that included William Holden, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson and Edmund O’Brien, Borgnine drew on both his comedic talents and his tough-guy pedigree in Peckinpah’s violent yet elegiac and tender portrayal of a group of aging outlaws pursuing one last big score, knowing that their way of life is ending.

Borgnine continued acting, mostly in supporting roles, on TV and in movies nearly until his death. Youngsters who might not know his face would still know his distinctive voice from his role as Mermaid Man on “SpongeBob SquarePants.” He was also the oldest actor ever nominated for a Golden Globe and received the lifetime-achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2011.

“I keep telling myself, ‘Damn it, you gotta go to work,”‘ Borgnine said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. “But there aren’t many people who want to put Borgnine to work these days. They keep asking, ‘Is he still alive?”


Jeff Robinov Close to Deal With Investors Worth Up to $300M

by Clifford Coonan, Kim Masters
Chinese conglomerate Fosun will provide the bulk of financing while Huayi Brothers may also invest in the former Warner Bros. executive's Studio 8, which will distribute its films through Sony.


Former Warner Brothers executive Jeff Robinov is closing in on a deal to raise as much as $250 million from Chinese investors, and an announcement could come as soon as next week, according to individuals with knowledge of the situation.


Sources maintain that Chinese conglomerate Fosun will invest as much as $200 million, and Huayi Brothers, previously said to be the lead investor, may remain involved with a $50 million commitment. Sony Pictures could inject an additional $50 million, giving Robinov $300 million.

One source says Robinov has been offered more than the $300 million in equity that he was seeking. He is said to be assembling that amount in various increments from interested parties. In addition to Chinese companies, he also is in talks with potential European investors and strategic partners.

"Jeff is trying to build a real production company, not just a slate of films, similar to what Legendary or Skydance have done," said a source attending the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Robinov has declined to comment on ongoing negotiations due to the fluidity and complexity of such deals.
The original Huayi deal would have injected up to $150 million into Robinov's Studio 8, which would have been one of the biggest China-Hollywood team-ups so far.
Robinov has also had talks with the e-commerce company Alibaba, which is about to go public in the biggest tech listing ever and is keen to expand its involvement in the film business. There have also been discussions with the L.A.- and Beijing-based production company DMG and the Chinese distribution and production outfit Bona.
An announcement that a deal was done had been widely expected at Cannes.
Huayi Bros. was formed in 1994 and has grown into an entertainment conglomerate, with interests in film, TV, music, advertising and talent management. The company is known to have been seeking co-production and co-financing partners abroad.
Huayi had announced a deal with Legendary Pictures in 2011, but the deal foundered.
The company was behind two of 2013's biggest movies at the Chinese box office, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. The company's 2013 net profit more than doubled to $109 million.

'Diet Queen to the Stars' fined for drug tied to NFL suspensions

By By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A socialite who billed herself as "Diet Queen to the Stars" was fined $60,000 on Friday by a U.S. magistrate judge for drug misbranding of a weight-loss supplement that was linked to suspensions of several NFL players in 2008.
Nikki Haskell and her defunct company, Balanced Health Products Inc, were sentenced by a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the sale of a pill called StarCaps. [ID:nL1N0MN1TP]
Prosecutors had sought a $100,000 fine. Haskell, 73, also faced up to six months in prison under a plea agreement announced in March.
"I am so remorseful for this," she told the judge. "It was never my intent to do anything inappropriate my entire life."
A onetime television show host, Haskell has occasionally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six gossip column. Billing herself the "Diet Queen to the Stars," she was the chief executive of Balanced Health, which marketed StarCaps as an "all natural diet supplement" containing papaya and garlic.
But in 2008, the company voluntarily recalled StarCaps citing the presence of bumetanide, which is used to treat heart failure, renal failure and high blood pressure and that also carries health risks including fluid and electrolyte loss.
Bumetanide is also banned by several sports organizations including the National Football League as a potential steroid-masking agent.
Haskell during the hearing said she was "completely unaware" StarCaps, which was manufactured in Peru, had bumetanide it, adding she had "never even heard of the product until I heard these football players were using it."
"I'm still to this day shocked anything was in it," she said.
The NFL cited StarCaps in 2008 in announcing four-game suspensions to six players on the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings who tested positive for banned substances.
That year, two other players, Jamar Nesbit of the Atlanta Falcons and Grady Jackson of the Saints, sued Haskell and her company after receiving four-game suspensions because they tested positive for bumetanide.
Haskell subsequently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, listing potential multimillion-dollar claims by the NFL, players and teams including the Saints, Vikings, Falcons and Texans.
Ahead of Friday's hearing, Nesbit sent a letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Netburn seeking as part of the sentence what Chris Manicini, Haskell's lawyer, described as a "shocking amount of money." A lawyer for Nesbit did not respond to a request for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Morey said the NFL, meanwhile, had been aware since 2006 that StarCaps contained bumetanide, but did not tell anyone.
Morey called the NFL's lack of legal obligation to inform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "unfortunate," though she said the government found no evidence anyone was injured taking StarCaps.
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, declined comment.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

Mysterious Lights In The Sky Spotted Above OC, Camp Pendleton « CBS Los Angeles

Mysterious Lights In The Sky Spotted Above OC, Camp Pendleton « CBS Los Angeles

Critics' Choice Television Awards 2014 Winners List



by Bryn Elise Sandberg
Five series topped the nominees list heading into the ceremony: CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" and "The Good Wife," FX's "Fargo," Showtime's "Masters of Sex" and HBO's "The Normal Heart."
Television awards season kicked off Thursday night with the fourth annual Television Critics Awards, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer.
Ahead of the ceremony, FX led the network pack with 19 nods, followed by HBO with 18. Five series topped the list with six nominations apiece: CBS' The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife, FX's Fargo, Showtime's Masters of Sex and HBO's The Normal Heart.

The awards show, presented by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, made its network television debut on The CW.
Find the complete list of nominees below, with winners updating live.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC) (WINNER)
Josh Charles, The Good Wife (CBS)
Walton Goggins, Justified (FX)
Peter Sarsgaard, The Killing (AMC)
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan (Showtime)
Jeffrey Wright, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Bellamy Young, Scandal (ABC) (WINNER)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Annet Mahendru, The Americans (FX)
Melissa McBride, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Maggie Siff, Sons of Anarchy (FX)
BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Broad City (Comedy Central)
Louie (FX)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Veep (HBO)
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Louis CK, Louie (FX)
Chris Messina, The Mindy Project (FOX)
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley (HBO)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Robin Williams, The Crazy Ones (CBS)
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ilana Glazer, Broad City (Comedy Central)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
Wendi McLendon-Covey, The Goldbergs (ABC)
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Emmy Rossum, Shameless (Showtime)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
Keith David, Enlisted (FOX)
Tony Hale, Veep (HBO)
Albert Tsai, Trophy Wife (ABC)
Christopher Evan Welch, Silicon Valley (HBO)
Jeremy Allen White, Shameless (Showtime)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Allison Janney, Mom (CBS)
Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
BEST GUEST PERFORMER IN A COMEDY SERIES
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Sarah Baker, Louie (FX)
James Earl Jones, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Mimi Kennedy, Mom (CBS)
Andrew Rannells, Girls (HBO)
Lauren Weedman, Looking (HBO)
BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Americans (FX)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Masters of Sex (Showtime)
True Detective (HBO)
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Hugh Dancy, Hannibal (NBC)
Freddie Highmore, Bates Motel (A&E)
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective (HBO)
Matthew Rhys, The Americans (FX)
Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex (Showtime)
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel (A&E)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black (BBC America)
Keri Russell, The Americans (FX)
Robin Wright, House of Cards (Netflix)
BEST GUEST PERFORMER IN A DRAMA SERIES
Beau Bridges, Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Walton Goggins, Sons of Anarchy (FX)
Allison Janney, Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Joe Morton, Scandal (ABC)
Carrie Preston, The Good Wife (CBS)
Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones (HBO)
BEST MOVIE
An Adventure in Space and Time (BBC America)
Burton and Taylor (BBC America)
Killing Kennedy (National Geographic Channel)
The Normal Heart (HBO)
Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS)
The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime)
BEST MINI-SERIES
American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
Bonnie & Clyde (A&E/History/Lifetime)
Dancing on the Edge (Starz)
Fargo (FX)
The Hollow Crown (PBS)
Luther (BBC America)
BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
David Bradley, An Adventure in Space and Time (BBC America)
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS)
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge (Starz)
Martin Freeman, Fargo (FX)
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart (HBO)
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo (FX)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor (BBC America)
Minnie Driver, Return to Zero (Lifetime)
Whoopi Goldberg, A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime)
Holliday Grainger, Bonnie & Clyde (A&E/History/Lifetime)
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart (HBO)
Warren Brown, Luther (BBC America)
Martin Freeman, Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS)
Colin Hanks, Fargo (FX)
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart (HBO)
Blair Underwood, The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Amanda Abbington, Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS)
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven (FX)
Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic (Lifetime)
Jessica Raine, An Adventure in Space and Time (BBC America)
Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart (HBO)
Allison Tolman, Fargo (FX)
BEST REALITY SERIES
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (FOX/National Geographic Channel)
Deadliest Catch (Discovery)
Duck Dynasty (A&E)
Mythbusters (Discovery)
Top Gear (BBC America)
Undercover Boss (CBS)
BEST REALITY SERIES – COMPETITION
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
Shark Tank (ABC)
Survivor (CBS)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)
BEST REALITY HOST
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Carson Daly, The Voice (NBC)
Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)
Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef (FOX)
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo)
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (FOX/National Geographic Channel)
BEST TALK SHOW
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Time Telepictures)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Conan (TBS)
BEST ANIMATED SERIES
Archer (FX)
Bob’s Burgers (FOX)
The Simpsons (FOX)
Family Guy (FOX)
Phineas and Ferb (Disney XD)
Adventure Time (Cartoon Network)

Chelsea Handler Inks Mega-Deal for Netflix Late Night Show

by Lacey Rose

As part of the multi-tiered deal, the outgoing E! host will also front a stand-up special in October and four docu-comedy specials in 2015.

Chelsea Handler is taking her late-night brand to Netflix.

Upon wrapping her long-running Chelsea Latelyseries on E! in late August, the outspoken comic will kick off a multi-tiered deal that includes a stand-up special, docu-comedy specials and the streaming service’s first-ever talk show. The latter, mere speculation until this point, is set to begin in early 2016, and will debut simultaneously in all Netflix territories.
“If I was going to continue working in this industry, I knew I had to do something outside the box to keep myself interested. I wanted to sit with the cool kids at lunch so I approached Netflix to make sure they were as cool as I thought they were, and when I confirmed my suspicions, like with any other future lover, I made my move,” said Handler in a statement announcing the news Thursday, adding: “I’m more excited than I’ve been in awhile, and the team at Netflix is the most forward thinking, alert group I’ve sat down with in ages. No offense to the Shahs Of Sunset.”
The pact begins with an hour-long stand-up special on Oct. 16, which will be based on her sold-out tour, Uganda Be Kidding Me Live. She’ll be taping the special in Chicago June 20 at the Harris Theater. Handler will continue the following year with four new docu-comedy specials, which will feature her efforts to gain a better understanding on a variety of subjects including NASCAR, politics, Silicon Valley and the NBA draft. While the 2016 talk show’s format will be updated, a Handler entry will still include her often unfiltered opinions on topical entertainment and cultural issues, as well as guest interviews.
“The Internet has disrupted many of the conventions of traditional television and together with Chelsea Handler, Netflix is looking forward to reimagining the late night talk show for the on-demand generation, starting with the late night part,” said Netflix Chief ContentOfficer Ted Sarandos. “Chelsea has built a huge following on tour, on nightly TV and through her best-selling books, and we can’t wait to introduce her breathtakingly honest and irreverent voice to our global membership.”
The news comes three months after The Hollywood Reporter first reported that Handler was looking to part ways with her cable home of nearly a decade. At that time, her managerIrving Azoff noted that Handler, who spoke openly about his disdain for the reality fare that lines E!, had multiple suitors. At that time, he suggested Handler's post-E! act could includes either a radio presence or a series at another network or digital service.
Though her terms of her Netflix deal were not disclosed, the company is known to pay top dollar and it will allow Handler to do a series without the pressure of ratings. (Her E! series, part of a pact that paid her about $9 million a year, garnered about 572,000 viewers a night.) Handler will produce each of the Netflix projects with her Borderline Amazing production company partners, Tom Brunelle and Brad Wollack.  
For Netflix, this represents a continued pushing into original programming for its growing global subscriber-base of more than 48 million. In a recent interview with THR, original content VP Cindy Holland was asked about the possibility of late night, to which she noted she wouldn't shut the door on any kind of experimentation and that her colleagues have no preconceived notions about what will and won't work on the service.

KASEM WAS AN ISLAND OF CALM IN SWIRL OF POP MUSIC



BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY AND DAVID BAUDER

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 
In pop culture, Casey Kasem was as sweet and dependable as a glass of warm milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies, which only made the ugliness of his last few years of life seem more bizarre and tragic.

The radio host of "American Top 40" and voice of animated television characters like Scooby-Doo's sidekick Shaggy died Sunday morning at a hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington. He was 82. He suffered from a form of dementia, and his three adult children from his first wife fought a bitter legal battle with Kasem's second wife, Jean, over control of his health care in his final months.

That made Kasem a fixture on news outlets that feed on the sleazier side of celebrity life at a time when it wasn't clear he was aware of it or even able to understand.

This wouldn't seem all that remarkable for a bad-behaving pop star or actor who shed spouses with the frequency of changing characters. But this was Casey Kasem, whose work epitomized the gentler, romantic side of pop culture, of a time when stars were admired for their celebrity and worshipped for their talent.

"American Top 40," with Kasem's soft, homey voice counting down the hits, was a refuge from shock jocks or the screaming big-city radio voices. It was dependable, broadcast on some 1,000 stations at its peak, so if you were driving in Connecticut or Kansas, California or Kentucky, you could always take a measure of the pop charts with Casey.

Kasem weaved stories around the songs, anecdotes about interactions with fans or gee-whiz tales about how stars got their starts. Seldom was heard a discouraging word, unless it was a starting point for a narrative about coming back from hardship, the darkness before the dawn.

Interspersed in the countdowns were the long-distance dedications, songs played for a long-lost or distant lover in the hope a heart would be stirred. You'd wince at some of the hokey song selections, but only the truly cynic would laugh at the emotion that spilled out of the letters Kasem read.

At the end of the show, always, would come Kasem's signature words of advice: "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."

On the first "American Top 40" in July 1970, Kasem counted down to Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come" at the No. 1 spot. As the years went on, Kasem progressed through disco and punk, arena rock and rap. All were welcome under Casey's big tent.

Kasem was of Lebanese descent, born in Detroit as Kemal Amin Kasem, and he spoke out on issues promoting greater understanding of Arab-Americans throughout his life. He made his name as a disc jockey, and when his career blossomed in the Los Angeles area, he took on other voice work. He was Robin in the animated "Batman" series. He once said his work on "Scooby-Doo" would outlast anything he did.

He was succeeded at "American Top 40" in 2004 by Ryan Seacrest, a fan who said he used to imitate Kasem counting down the hits when he was a boy.

"When decades later I took over his AT40 countdown show, it was a surreal moment," Seacrest said in a statement. "Casey had a distinctive friendly on-air voice, and he was just as affable and nice if you had the privilege to be in his company. He'll be greatly missed by all of us."

"Scooby-Doo" may last longer, but we'll bet Kasem will most be remembered for "American Top 40" and his place in the continuum of pop music accounting, from "American Bandstand" to "Soul Train," `'Total Request Live" to Spotify playlists.

Hard feelings being what they are, it's difficult to imagine the fight between the people Kasem is leaving behind will simply end with his death. Kasem, at least, is at peace.

And instead of thinking about squabbling, his fans can imagine what it would have sounded like to hear Casey Kasem counting down to John Legend, Pharrell Williams and Iggy Azalea.
ASEM WAS AN ISLAND OF CALM IN SWIRL OF POP MUSIC

Movie Stars Have Become an Endangered Species


Summer blockbusters make studios happy, but they make stars nervous. That’s because a lizard is the real star of “Godzilla,” not an actor. And in franchises like “Captain America,” “Spider-Man” or “X-Men,” the superhero is the brand, while the casts seem interchangeable. The several tentpoles that emerged from “Pirates of the Caribbean” enhanced Johnny Depp’s salary, but the Depp brand didn’t enhance “Transcendence” or “The Lone Ranger.”


The art of managing a star’s career has become challenging in Hollywood’s New Economy. In years past, major projects could be pre-sold worldwide on star names, but distributors know they can’t be monetized to the same degree any more. Warners may pour $200 million or so into “Batman v Superman,” but its potential success won’t depend on Ben Affleck’s chemistry with Henry Cavill.
That’s why I have come to admire the aggressiveness, and unorthodoxy, with which young actors likeJonah Hill or Seth Rogen have set about building their careers. I even grudgingly respect the rampant egomania of Seth MacFarlane and James Franco. Rather than wait for roles to come along, these actors are so prolific in cobbling together their own projects that their fans don’t have time to notice the occasional missteps.
And there are a few: “Neighbors” is a big hit, but can’t Rogen recruit a sleek stunt double to do his sex scenes? Does MacFarlane really believe he’s the next Charlie Chaplin (Charlie also wrote, acted, directed and composed the score, as MacFarlane did in “A Million Ways to Die in the West”). In the same vein, does Franco really want to set a Guinness record for sheer ubiquity?
By contrast, Hill could easily obsess on “Jump Street” sequels, but he keeps turning up in ambitious films like “Moneyball,” “Wolf of Wall Street” or his upcoming picture about Richard Jewell, the security guard at the Olympics in Atlanta who was famously framed (Leonardo DiCaprio is again his co-star).
I also respect those stars who yearn to direct, though that is a still riskier path. Ryan Gosling found that out in Cannes where his “Lost River” got lost. Jon Favreau got clobbered by critics for directing “Cowboys & Aliens,” then made a superb new film, “Chef,” about a culinary artist’s battle with a malevolent critic. Angelina Jolie moved from her “Lara Croft” action films to directing the ambitious but box office-challenged “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” then rebounded with the idiosyncratic “Maleficent.”
Favreau’s disdain for critics is shared by other talent, including MacFarlane. “Trying to please critics is like putting on a puppet show for your parents,” the “Million Ways” director said recently. Critics, he noted, are not fueled by laughs but “by outrage.”
Then there’s Adam Sandler, arguably the most productive star in terms of generating product, but one who is so consistently hammered by critics that he won’t even talk to the print media. A.O. Scott of the New York Times, in his latest Sandler savaging, expressed shock at “the sheer audience-insulting incompetence” of his new film, “Blended.”
The best way to have the last laugh, of course, is to make a good movie. That’s what Mike Myers has done in a new documentary oddly called “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon,” which traces the bizarre career of the fabled manager who first repped Alice Cooper and other rock stars, then became the guru of celebrity chefs.
Myers admires odd careers. He stopped making “Austin Powers” movies more than a decade ago, and got bruised in films like “The Love Guru,” which bombed.
I would ask Myers why he’s been absent for so long — except he doesn’t talk to the media either.

FILED UNDER:

 

Warren Beatty Wraps 74 Day Shoot on Howard Hughes Movie


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Good news: Oscar winner and legend Warren Beatty has wrapped principal photography on his Howard Hughes movie. Total shoot came to 74 days according to sources. The much anticipated film stars Beatty, Lily Collins and a big cast including Annette Bening, Taissa Farmiga, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Chase Crawford, and Martin Sheen. No one knows the exact plot line, but apparently it’s about Hughes’s late in life affair with a young girl (Collins, daughter of rocker Phil in real life).
I’m told that as fitting every Beatty project, “there were a lot of takes per scene.” Beatty also joked on set that shooting is done, but now starts a year of editing. Let’s hope not. If I were a betting man, I’d say the “Howard Hughes” movie would debut in Cannes, May 2015.
Beatty hasn’t made or been in a movie since he directed himself in “Town and Country” in 1991. What a shame, too. He missed 15 crucial years of face time. He was reportedly offered “Kill Bill Pt. 1″ by Quentin Tarantino, but turned it down. Otherwise, he’s been busy raising kids and talking politics.
Crossing fingers, sending prayers, and good vibes…we need this movie to be good..What to do until then? Watch “Reds,” and “Heaven Can Wait” and “Shampoo” and “Bonnie and Clyde”…

12-hour Brady Bunch "Alice" marathon airs Saturday to honor "Alice"

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Join TV Land this Saturday, June 7th, in celebrating Ann B. Davis, who played lovable housekeeper and friend Alice on “The Brady Bunch.” Alice was an essential member of the Brady home -- shown by the fact that she was the center square in the title sequence!
The marathon features some of the most memorable moments with Alice and the Brady family – like when the house turns chaotic after Alice sprains her ankle; the time Alice decides to leave and the kids try to win her back; and when Alice’s cousin Emma (played by Davis) fills in while Alice is on vacation and ends up driving the Bradys insane! There’s no question that Alice is one of the most devoted and beloved housekeepers in TV Land.