CRITICS: OSCARS AMOUNT TO TEDIUM TV

Film critics wasted no time banging out reviews of Sunday night’s Oscars, with several of them posting their assessments of the affair within minutes after the ceremonies concluded. Indeed, Daily Variety‘s Brian Lowry posted his (negative) review of Billy Crystal’s opening as if he were racing a legion of tweeters. Actually, many of the reviews […]

CBS FILMS: MOONVES ADMITS IT GIVES NETWORK A BLACK EYE

The strategy behind CBS Films had been simplicity itself: make a small number of quality low-budget movies and hope that a few of them would generate excitement — and ticket sales — at the box office. The problem is that after four years, the company has yet to have a hit — and its last […]

SHEP SMITH: BIRTHER COVERAGE “IS FROM CRAZYLAND”

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith risked alienating the radical fringe of conservative viewers that his channel often attracts when he castigated Donald Trump for his victory proclamation on Wednesday. Following the release of President Obama’s “long form” birth certificate, Trump held a news conference to say, “I’m very proud. I’m honored. I have accomplished something […]

GRAMMYS: “THE NON-AWARDS AWARDS TELECAST”

In recent years, producers of the Grammy Awards show have made it more about the performances during the show itself than about the recordings that receive award recognition. Virtually throughout its existence, there have been complaints that the majority of Grammy voters are oldtimers who probably go “eeny-meeny-miny-moe” when considering some of the names on […]

EARLY REVIEWS ENOUGH TO RUST “IRON MAN”

Iron Man 2 is unquestionably the kind of movie studio executives like to call “critic proof,” and judging from early reviews, that’s a good thing. Each of the two principal Hollywood trade publications has slammed the movie. “Everything fun and terrific about ‘Iron Man,’ a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel,” wrote […]