FRIDAY • MAY 23, 2008
LEVINE JOINS LIEBERMAN IN STINGING CRITICISM OF YOUTUBE TERROR VIDEO POLICY;
"THIS COULD GET UGLY AND IS ALREADY SERIOUS," SAYS LEVINE:
Publicly scolding YouTube by stating, "[i]t's insulting to commonsense for YouTube to pretend racial Islamist groups don't use the service to share recruiting and training videos," media expert and author Michael Levine joined U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (Ind-Conn) in asking YouTube to remove all videos produced by terrorist groups.
"This has the potential to be a nuclear P.R. disaster for YouTube and in turn, Google" he said.
"Senator Lieberman and I are both passionate about defending the lst amendment but equally passionate about not aiding and abetting terrorists who seem to get great joy out of slashing the throats of innocents, including women and children.
" Click here for more on the story. Levine also pointed to 2 videos which were still up and running for all the world to see: 1 and 2.
***LBN READER POLL: Do you support YouTube's decision? -- E-mail:
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CLINTON CAMPAIGN IN TALKS WITH OBAMA ABOUT VP SLOT, CNN SAYS:
U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is in formal talks with Senator Barack Obama's campaign about becoming his vice presidential running mate, CNN reported, without citing anyone specific.
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LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:
***Ingrid Sischy hasn't let grass grow under her feet since resigning from Interview magazine last January when her partner, Sandy Brant, sold her 50 percent of Interview to her ex, Peter Brant.
Sischy and Brant have been in Mexico soaking up the sun and are now in Nice at their friend Elton John's villa.
The two are enjoying their new jobs as international editors of European editions of Vanity Fair and rubbing shoulders with movie stars in Cannes, where Sischy pitched in at the emotional press conference Ziyi Zhang held to remember the plight of Chinese earthquake survivors.
***CBS chairman Sumner Redstone says that the company never will be reunited with sibling Viacom, which he also controls.
A renewed combination will "absolutely not happen" despite a recent report suggesting that Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman is pushing for it sometime in the future.
***The New York Times is opening its archives online with its new TimesMachine, a collection of full-page image scans of the newspaper from 1851 to 1922.
Currently, all users can see a TimesMachine sampler of pages, but only home delivery subscribers will have unlimited access.
***U.S. mobile Web surfers spend more time on Craigslist than on any other Web site, says a study by researcher M:Metrics.
Users spend about 1 hour, 39 minutes per month on the classified-ad site. Factors in Craigslist's favor:
It's text-based for easy loading and it emphasizes local info.
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LBN-NOTICED:
***"Z Rock" star Alison Becker with Jimmy Carter in Covington, La., building houses for Habitat for Humanity
***Kevin Spacey in first class on a Continental night flight from Houston to Newark.
***Florida Gov. Charlie Crist devouring a sirloin at Gallagher's in NYC.
***Over 1,000 of Hollywood's elite - current and former - crowed into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for a special tribute to legendary producer Robert Evans last night.
The evening, which included a large media cocktail party featuring celebrities also featured a panel discussion of Evans illustrious career, featuring Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, Variety chief editor Peter Bart, director Bret Ratner and rock guitar legend Slash.
The evening concluded with a 40th anniversary screening of Rosemary's Baby.
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LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:
***Google billionaire co-founder Larry Page criticized a potential Microsoft takeover of Yahoo, saying it would concentrate too much power in the online communications market, stifling innovation and curbing competition.
But he discounted the idea that an advertising deal between Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.--one the two companies are now exploring--would present any potential antitrust problems.
a similar title from Simon & Schuster. Doubleday's "Face Off," by "Bringing Down the House" author Ben Mezrich, will battle with Simon & Schuster's "The Facebook Effect," by Fortune magazine writer David Kirkpatrick.
LBN-MISSION: To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
LBN-HEALTH WATCH:
***Repeated instances in which popular medicines proved deadly have prompted further monitoring of drugs already on the market.
LBN-COMMENTARY By STEPHEN HOLDEN:
David Cook's lopsided victory over David Archuleta on Wednesday was an unexpected triumph of poise and maturity over ingenuousness and promise.
LBN-COMMENTARY By ELIZABETH ROYTE:
An entire generation of Americans has grown up thinking public faucets equal filth. It's time to change that perception with public fountains.
LBN-COMMENTARY By L.P. MAZON:
***Rock may not be dead but it sure looks old. Did you see the Eagles on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone?
Listen to indie groups like SPOON, not the recent winner of American Idol to help revitalize rock.
****5 unknown artists/groups who deserve to be famous: Bill Mallonee, Kings X, Richard Thompson (also one of the greatest guitarists ever) Mark Heard, and Peter Case.
***For sheer sonic impact, the greatest album of all time may be the Who's "Who's Next."
It'll be interesting to hear how super-producer T-Bone Burnett captures the Who on their next record.
***Most over-rated bands/artists of all time: Nirvana (one great album does not put you on Mt. Olympus), The Doors, Elton John.
***3 most important singer-songwriters in rock history: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison...although his latest CD sucks.
***Sorry but: The Rolling Stones haven't released a masterpiece record since "Some Girls" in 1978.
***Killer CD you probably missed: "Let's Stay Friends" by Les Savy Fav.
***To reply directly with L.P. Mazon, e-mail: LBNElert@TimeWire.net.
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WHO READS THE LBN E-LERT?
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg along with approximately 280,000 other "influencers" in all 50 of the United States and 23 foreign countries.
LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:
***"Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women" may finally be turned into a movie.
The book by Michael Gross has been in print for 13 years and sold almost a half million copies
But past attempts to adapt it for the screen - first by Dawn Steel, then Joel Schumacher - involved fictionalizing the story.
Producers J.T. Allen and Jon Katzman of KDX Productions in LA, who just optioned "Model," plan a 10-part documentary.
***With a strong finishing kick from "American Idol," Fox captured the distinction of America's most popular television network for the first time since it began operation in 1987.
Fox took that title from CBS. It was the only major broadcast network with more prime-time viewers than the previous season, a distinction helped by its telecast of the Super Bowl.
Fox didn't show television's biggest event during the 2006-7 season.
***Josh Brolin has a vice president. Richard Dreyfuss could soon make the trip to Oliver Stone's White House, entering final negotiations to play Dick Cheney in the provcateur director's upcoming "W."
***Cult director Quentin Tarantino delivered an expletive-laden Cinema Masterclass at Cannes Thursday in which he mixed tips on movie-making with reflections on his own greatness.
"At the end of the day if there's one thing I'm doing it's forging a new type of comedy," he said, noting that his violence-filled oeuvre gave people a "thrill" because it made them "laugh at things that aren't usually funny."
***Bret Ratner is getting into the branded entertainment biz, launching Bret Ratner Brands as a consultancy to infuse some pop culture into clients' marketing campaigns, reports Variety.
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After nineteen years, Harrison Ford and Karen Allen return to iconic rolesBy Robin Rowe
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/21/08 –
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/21/08 –
“I love being in business again with Steven and George,” says ‘Indiana Jones’ star Harrison Ford, “and I’ve had a great time on this one.”
Director Steven Spielberg says, “This series would not have been as successful as it was if it were not for Harrison Ford playing that role.”
“Harrison was tenacious,” says Spielberg.
“He called me and said, ‘Why don’t we make another one of these pictures?
He called George [Lucas], and George got to thinking about it, and then George called me and said, ‘Well, Steve, what do you want to do?
It could be fun to make another movie.’
I have to give the credit to Harrison for starting the ball rolling and then to George for working to get me to consider the possibility of at least one more story.”
‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is looking at a $172 million weekend and bringing it to $200 million with Memorial Day.
‘Spider-Man 3’ opened in 4,252 theaters and did a record $151 million weekend.
‘Pirates 3’ opened in 4,362 theaters and did a $140 million weekend plus $25 million last Memorial Day.
So what’s up against ‘Indiana Jones’?
Buena Vista’s ‘Prince Caspian’ opened with a respectable but unspectacular $55 million last weekend, a disappointment when you consider the sequel did less than ‘Narnia’ that opened at $66 million in 2005.
‘Prince Caspian’ charmed little girls, but what little boy wants to imagine his name is Prince Caspian?
Paramount’s ‘Iron Man’ is a hit that will run for a long time, but after last weekend’s $30 million is entering the long tail of diminishing revenues.
Sony Pictures Classics is making a limited opening of ‘The Children of Huang Shi’.
Paramount has created a perfect storm where there’s practically nothing on American screens to compete with ‘Indiana Jones’.
‘Spider-Man 3’, with no competition it’s opening weekend, set the record.
‘Pirates 3’ did less as it had to contend with ‘Shrek 3’ and ‘Spider-Man 3’ still in wide release.
The big theater count isn’t the whole story with Indy because it’s dominating multiple screens.
With a showing every 15 minutes at many theaters, Indy can fill as many seats as it can sell.
‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’Running Time: 2 hrs. 3 min.Release Date:
May 22nd, 2008 (USA)Rating: PG-13 for adventure violence and scary imagesDistributor: Paramount Pictures
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