Les Moonves says ‘Dexter’ is ending after season eight
Plans for the future of Showtime’s long-running serial killer drama “Dexter” have been vague as the series heads into its eighth season. But in a discussion with Wall Street analysts, CBSCorp. Chief Executive Les Moonves may have revealed when the series will end.
Oscar show’s swinging, name-dropping closing song required on-the-spot updates
The musical numbers on Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast by most accounts were hit and miss, but in some respects the most impressive song wasn’t one of the big production numbers from “Les Miserables” or “Skyfall.”
It was the one host Seth MacFarlane and singer Kristin Chenoweth sang while the closing credits rolled, “Here’s to the Losers.”
In a drastically revamped version of the Jack Segal-Robert Wells ode to underdogs recorded by Frank Sinatra for his 1964 album “Softly, as I Leave You,” MacFarlane and Chenoweth served up a swinging musical salute to those who ended up with the short end of the Oscar stick Sunday.
Hollywood Theaters now part of nation’s largest theater chain
Regal Entertainment Group, the nation’s largest theater chain, has purchased Waco’s Hollywood Jewel 16 and 42 other Hollywood Theaters across the country for $191 million.
Hollywood Jewel 16 is located at 7200 Woodway Drive.
Regal Entertainment, based out of Knoxville, Tenn., operates 6,880 screens across 38 states.
Ex-Canada ambassador pleased Affleck thanks Canada
The former Canadian ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis said Monday it was good to hear Ben Affleck finally thank Canada after Affleck’s film “Argo” won the Oscar for best picture.
“Argo” came under criticism from some Canadians, including former ambassador Ken Taylor, who said he felt slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics. Taylor says it minimizes Canada’s role in the Americans’ rescue.
Iran scoffs at Oscar-winning ‘Argo’
Iranian officials on Monday dismissed the Oscar-winning film “Argo” as anti-Iran, state TV dismissed it as CIA commercial, some viewers disparaged it as U.S. propaganda while others welcomed a fresh view of their recent history.
All this is despite the fact that the movie based on the escape of six American hostages from the besieged U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 has not been screened in any Iranian theaters.
Despite that ban, many Iranians have seen the movie. In downtown Tehran, bootleg DVDs of “Argo” sell for about 30,000 rials, or less than $1.
‘Argo’ surprises with 3 big Oscar wins
The 85th Academy Awards promised lots of upsets and surprises, and they delivered.
The night’s big winner was “Argo,” the fact-based drama about a mission in which the CIA teamed up with Hollywood producers for a rescue during the Iran hostage crisis. Although the film received seven nominations, it was initially discounted as a serious contender because its director Ben Affleck was not nominated.
Students replace models as Oscar trophy carriers
You know those tall, leggy beauties that normally carry the Oscar trophies so the stars can present them?
They’ve been replaced this year by aspiring filmmakers. Six college students from across the country won a contest to help present the Oscar statuettes this year.
“This tradition of the buxom babe that comes out and brings the trophy to the presenter to give to the winner seemed to be very antiquated and kind of sexist, too,” said Neil Meron, co-producer of this year’s Academy Awards. “They’re just there to be objectified. Why can’t we have people who actually care about film and are the future of film be the trophy presenters?”
‘Argo’ seizes momentum from ‘Lincoln’ for Oscars
Historians say the lesson of history is that there’s no such thing as a foreseeable future. Honest Oscar forecasters would have to agree.
When Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane announced the Best Picture nominees Jan. 10, pundits immediately declared a front-runner. “The contest has come down to one film, and it’s ‘Lincoln,’ an excellent, very popular movie by a great director on a subject that inspires, uplifts, redeems. … It’s the perfect Academy movie,” wrote Wesley Morris, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for the website Grantland.
Netflix, DreamWorks Animation produce children’s series ‘Turbo’
Amid all the “House of Cards” chatter (e.g., ‘Hey, Kevin Spacey takes down the 4th wall Ferris Bueller-style!’ and “I watched all 13 episodes in five hours” OK, that was a stretch), Netflix has offered another talking point by announcing its partnership with DreamWorks Animation to produce a children’s series.
WikiLeaks founder obtains leaked film script, says film is an attack
If you’re making a movie about WikiLeaks, this is the kind of thing you probably see coming.
Julian Assange says he has obtained a leaked copy of the script for “The Fifth Estate,” a DreamWorks film about the maverick computer expert and his famed secret-busting site.
