"Red Dawn," the oft-delayed remake of the 1984 invasion film, will finally hit theaters Nov. 21. The remake's trip to the big screen has been a traumatic one. First, the film had to escape the bankruptcy of its studio, MGM. Later, the villains in the piece were changed from Chinese to North Korean for financial purposes. Seems movie studios aren't keen on depicting a country becoming more essential to their bottom lines as the bad guys.
The review is a must a read.
Andrew Breitbart’s memoir, the New York Times best- seller, “Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World,” (which has just been released in paperback with a new chapter covering the Weinergate affair), will mean as much to those who knew him as it will to those who would’ve liked to. For the many who Andrew considered friends and colleagues, his memoir is a kind of keepsake of both his voice and mind, which come to life on most every page. Best of all, the book captures the many sides of Andrew, who was a complicated man in the very best sense of that word.Andrew was one of those rare beings who truly was everything he seemed to be to everyone: the merry prankster, the fierce warrior, the loyal friend, the devoted family man and, of course, a genius. He was also a man of many talents, one of his talents being to bring all those characteristics together at once, which is something that frequently occurs throughout “Righteous Indignation.”Much of the story represents Andrew’s emotional and intellectual journey - from a “pop culture-infused wannabe hipster” to the bete noire of what he accurately refers to as the “Democrat-Media-Complex.” Because Andrew was incapable of telling a lie, at times the book reads like a confessional, as though he’s sitting across from you over a glass of wine and telling you who he is. This isn’t an accident, by the way. This was a conversation Andrew wanted to have with everyone he knew, and he wanted to know everyone.
In a move that might prove controversial to fans of Part I, this new movie has been entirely recast—not a single actor reprises their role. Director Paul Johansson, meanwhile, has been replaced by John Putch (a TV veteran with many episodes of Scrubs and Cougar Town behind him).
“The message of Atlas is greater than any particular actor, so it’s one of those pieces of literature that doesn’t require in our view the interpretation by a singular actor,” Kaslow says. “But just from a practical standpoint when we set out to make Part I we had a ticking clock where if we didn’t start production by a certain date John’s interest in the rights could lapse. We didn’t have the luxury at that moment to negotiate future options with the various cast members.”
The article also discusses Part II release date.Their eagerness to keep the project moving made arranging schedules with the dozens of speaking roles in Part I hugely impractical, so they chose instead to concentrate on making sure the look of the movie created the world they needed it to create. As Kaslow put it, “we just gave ourselves a clean slate put together what we think is a real terrific cast.”
Go read the whole thing.Atlas Shrugged Part II is scheduled to hit theaters in October 2012, just before the election, with a screenplay written by Part I writer Brian O’Toole, working with Scott and Duke Sandefur. Scott notes that the decades-long effort to film Atlas might have been a blessing in disguise; he thinks right now is exactly the time when Atlas’s message will likely resonate the most with mass audiences. “The elements of this movie is so relevant to everything going on in this country, it’s a natural fit” for 2012, Scott says. “People will watch this movie and say, ‘This is what’s going on.’”
Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with American Bandstand, and whose trademark Rockin' Eve became a fixture of New Year's celebrations, died today at the age of 82, ABC News has learned.
Clark, who suffered a serious stroke in 2004 but returned to the airwaves, reportedly died from a heart attack.
Born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Nov. 30, 1929, Richard Wagstaff Clark began his lifelong career in show business began before he was even out of high school. He started working in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station in upstate New York run by his father and uncle. It wasn't long before the teenager was on the air, filling in for the weatherman and the announcer.
Clark pursued his passion at Syracuse University, working as a disc jockey at the student-run radio station while studying for his degree in business. After graduating in 1951, Clark went back to his family's radio station, but within a year, a bigger city and bigger shows were calling.
Clark landed a gig as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia in 1952, spinning records for a show he called Dick Clark's Caravan of Music. There he broke into the big time, hosting Bandstand, an afternoon dance show for teenagers.
Ryan Seacrest's 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' Preview Watch VideoWithin five years, the whole country was watching. ABC took the show national, and American Bandstand was born.
American Bandstand's formula was simple. Clean-cut boys and girls danced to the hottest hits and the newest singles. In between, Clark chatted with the teens, who helped "rate-a-record," turning songs into sensations. Everyone showed up on American Bandstand: from Elvis Presley to Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry to Chubby Checker.
A great icon of American TV has passed away but his legacy will always live on.When Dick Clark moved to Hollywood in 1963, American Bandstand moved with him.
