Monday, June 24, 2013

Jim Carrey withdrawing his support for his upcoming film

Jim Carrey has a big role in the upcoming film "Kick-Ass 2" and now he's sent out these tweets:  "I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to e" and "I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."

Okay, he's decided that he's not going to support the film.  Fair enough.  He's entitled to do that.  My question is, how much of his multi-million dollar salary does he plan to return to the producers, or donate to a Sandy Hook or other charity?  I'm not alone in wondering about this, many people are using social media to take him to task for this.

Maybe he has another agenda?  Maybe his purpose isn't to withdraw support from the film, but to make it as huge as can be.  By making these tweets and raising these issues, he has garnered tons of free publicity for the film.  Bad publicity?  Hardly.  The marketing of movies is all about brand awareness.

Take the recent kerfluffle over the posters for "The Heat".  Someone did some serious photoshopping on the face of Melissa McCarthy on this poster, making her appear much slimmer in the face than she actually is.  This angered many fans of the actress, who are happy with her just as she is.  She's a happy lady, doing very well in career and life.  So was it a dumb move by some artist, or a genius marketing campaign?  How many more people became aware of this film after all the outrage over this move?

Bottom line is, the more people who are aware of the name of a particular movie, the more likely the chances they may choose to go and see it.

* * *

For some reason, I awoke before four this morning.  I tried going back to sleep but between 4:30 and 4:40 a.m., I finally gave up and got up.  I've been less productive than I like with the writing of fiction and film reviews of late.  I don't know why, I just have been.

Between then and the time I started working on this, I finished a review that was only half-written, and wrote two more complete reviews.  I can't remember the last time I was able to finish three film reviews on the same day.  My backlog is down to just two and I may finish one of those before I leave for tonight's trivia event.  I can't explain it, but I can enjoy it.

* * *

Wow.  I missed it.  Barbara Vucanovich died earlier this month.  She was 91.  She spent seven terms representing the "North" of Nevada in Congress, mostly during a time when the state had only two representatives in the House.  One for Las Vegas and the immediate area, and Barbara Vucanovich for the rest of the state.

She was one of the first politicians I ever interviewed once I had moved from military journalism to the commercial news biz.  She was very passionate about the issues she supported and many retirees in the U.S. owe her a debt of gratitude.  She wrote the legislation that prevents more than one state from taxing the retirement/pension benefits of an individual.

Where was I at that time?  Oh, it was just after I got out of the hospital and I was trying to catch up.  Guess now I am all caught up.

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What's wrong with this headline? - "Selma Blair Replacement on Anger Management Gets Already Casted"

This is from a Craigslist ad:  "I have multiple offices and need a traveling personal assistant. If no resume and picture is emailed then I can not consider you for the position. To be considered for this job, you must do a three day intern."  Just what does ths guy (gal?) want applicants to do to their three day intern?  What happens on day four?

Why is it businesses will label themselves as "upscale" but never as "midscale" or "downscale"?  I guess for the same reason you see classified ads seeking applications asking for "motivated individuals" and never asking for "unmotivated people".

Is being a manicurist a "hands-on" or a "on-hands" type of job?

Should we be surprised, given that China has a "one child" policy, that it also has a "one dog" policy?  Still preferrable to the policy in Korea I guess, where someone may choose to wok the dog.

Does anyone else think there is something wrong with the fact that Dwayne Wade's son Zaire was just ranked as one of the top 5th grade basketball prospects in the nation?  Not that it was him in particular, but that someone's beginning the ranking process that early in the lives of children.

* * *

One of the long-standing battles in Southern California is about access to the beaches of Malibu.  Owners of beachfront property live under the illusion that the sand between the ocean and their home, and in fact the ocean itself that is adjacent to their property; is theirs and theirs alone.  It is not.  It is open to the public.

Some of these entitled individuals have broken the law in trying to keep the public off of what they consider their private property.  Fake "no parking" signs, fencing off public accessways and the like are commonplace.  Now there's an app (there's going to be an app for everything) that shows where every single public accessway to those beaches is.

Some of these residents are complaining that since there aren't trash cans and restrooms on those beaches, they aren't suited for use by the public.  That's a problem for government to solve, by bringing in trash cans and restrooms.  Not an excuse to keep the people out.  You want a private beach?  Go somewhere that allows you to own one.  That's not the case in Malibu.

* * *

This Date In History:

On this date in 1509, King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.
On this date in 1622, the Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.
On this date in 1846, the saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
On this date in 1880, "O Canada" is performed for the first time.  It would become the Canadian national anthem.
On this date in 1916, Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract.
On this date also in 1916, the Battle of the Somme begins.
On this date in 1939, Siam is renamed Thailand.
On this date in 1948, the Soviet Union begins the Berlin Blockade.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Ambrose Bierce
Ralph Wilson
Roy O. Disney
Jack Dempsey
Chuck Taylor
William B. Saxbe
Al Molinaro
Billy Casper
Sam Jones
Michelle Lee
George Pataki
Mick Fleetwood
Robert Reich
Nancy Allen
Adrienne Shelley (RIP)
Sherry Stringfield
Glenn Medeiros
Mindy Kaling
Minka Kelly
Solange Knowles

Movie quotes of the day today come from "RoboCop" (Nancy Allen was the female lead):

RoboCop: [after shooting perp in groin] Your move, creep.

#2

Miller: Something with reclining leather seats, that goes really fast and gets really shitty gas mileage!

#3

Sgt. Reed: Your client's a scumbag, you're a scumbag, and scumbags see the judge on Monday morning. Now get out of my office, and take laughing boy with you!