By Chad Greene “This is Ricky Gervais,” says the voice on the telephone. “Obviously,” I reply. My intent is not to come off as curt, but to reference the opening line of The Ricky Gervais Show, listed in Guinness World Records 2007 as the Most Downloaded Podcast: “I’m Ricky Gervais obviously.” But there is silence on the other end of the line. Only a split second passes, but it’s time enough for a terrifying thought to occur to me: That I’ve just given a comic genius who’s built an empire out of awkwardness all the material he needs.
Read moreBy Chad Greene “So I’m Gilligan?” Oliver Stone asks, still puzzling over recent White House statements comparing the director of the upcoming presidential biopic W. to the main character of a ’60s sitcom. Strange statements out of the West Wing aren’t rarities, of course. Especially since the election in 2000 of President George W. Bush, a man so prone to malapropisms that members of the media long ago coined the term “Bushisms” to describe tortured declarations such as “they misunderestimated me.
Read moreBy Chad Greene As did W. before him, Josh Brolin has followed his father into Oval Office. Back in 2003, James Brolin earned Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominations for portraying President Ronald Reagan in the miniseries The Reagans. But even though they both followed in their father’s footsteps professionally, Josh Brolin says that slim similarity didn’t take him too far in his attempt to understand George W. Bush on a human level. “I tried to latch...
Read moreBy Phil Contrino After a record-setting summer that brought with it the extreme success of films such as The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man, the overall box office has just experienced one of its worst weekends in a long time. Final box office figures for the weekend of September 5 to September 7 are expected to come in at $66 million and the last time numbers were that low was during the weekend of 9/5/03, when the David Spade comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star finished in first place with $6.6 million.
Read moreBy Richard Mowe He has been labeled as a legendary perfectionist who has a confirmed belief that there is an inextricable link between life and art. Robert De Niro, 65, has emerged as one of the great screen actors of his generation, a two-time Oscar winner with such landmark films as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull and he has successfully gone behind the camera. De Niro has always been notoriously reticent about his private life. Although part Irish,
Read moreBy Phil Contrino Teacher's Pets: While Universal didn't have any massive blockbusters this summer, they were still able to release some solid money makers. Wanted, the hitman thriller starring James McAvoy and Anjelina Jolie, was able to gross $133 million domestically and it certainly planted the seeds for the launch of a new franchise. If it performs well on DVD, then Universal may push forward with a new installment.
Read moreBy Phil Contrino Teacher's Pets: Of all the major studios, 20th Century Fox has had the least successful summer. Still, there were a couple of academic standouts. What Happens In Vegas, which opened the weekend after Iron Man, was able to get the studio off to a solid start. Thanks to the star power of Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, Vegas was able to bring in $80.2 million domestically.
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