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Josh Olson and Joe Dante answer fan questions and comments.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy (1955) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Monster A-Go-Go (1965)

Infested (2002)

Straw Dogs (1971) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Joe Dante’s review

Straw Dogs (2011)

Mississippi Burning (1988)

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947) – Axelle Carolyn’s trailer commentary

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

Bad Boy Bubby (1993) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Mummy (1932) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Mummy (1999)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Slappy And The Stinkers (1998)

Casper (1995)

Invisible Man (2020)

The Invisible Man (1933) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

The Stewardesses (1969)

The Hole (2012) – Joe Dante’s US, Italian, British trailer commentaries, Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Love (2015)

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

McCabe And Mrs.

Before we delve too deeply into the weeds, this viewer finds it imperative to make two big caveats. First, any finished movie, as Tfh Fearless Leader Joe Dante often preaches, is a bit of a miracle. Completing a project, especially a low-budget indie like Bride of the Monster (1955) that culled resources together from disparate backers and was at one point shut down three days into production due to a lack of funds, is a feat to be applauded. I am fully aware of that reality, even though I will take pains to explore the many shortcomings of this notoriously flawed cheapie chiller. Second, the actual protracted production of this picture, which was at one time to co-star Bela Lugosi and his fellow Universal monster luminaries Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr., is as compelling as the movie itself. So we’ll be touching on some behind-the-scenes morsels, too.

Bride of the Monster...

On February 15, 2016, the National Review took unprecedented action. In an all-out plea to Republican voters to stop Donald Trump before it was too late, the magazine enlisted 22 of the right’s most prominent voices to band together and throw support elsewhere, to save the party.

The “Conservatives Against Trump” issue didn’t move the needle. Despite a lineup of pleas against Trump that included Glenn Beck, Cal Thomas, Mona Charen, Michael Medved and Dana Loesch, Trump surged in the polls that month, expanding his lead over primary opponents at a critical juncture of the race.

For those many aspiring artists who make the pilgrimage to Los Angeles in hopes of finding their silver screen dreams, the city can take on a magical and enticing air. More often than not, small town beauty queens and football stars hoping for fame shoot for the stars and land among the trash. As beautiful a city as it is, Hollywood is also a place where the strong eagerly use and discard the weak with a frightening frequency. Can’t take the pressure? Don’t fret. There is certainly no shortage of wide-eyed kids waiting to take your place.

In Knight of Cups, the latest film by Terrence Malick, Christian Bale stars as a Hollywood screenwriter drifting through the sights and sounds of contemporary Los Angeles. To mark the occasion, we’ve taken a look back at the finest films portraying the dark side of Hollywood — the broken hearts and crushed dreams.

The shadow of possible Academy prejudice has loomed large over this year’s awards. So which black actors were unjustly snubbed? Whose great performance went unrewarded? The Guardian’s chief film critic on the ones that got away

In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)

Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...

The shadow of possible Academy prejudice has loomed large over this year’s awards. So which black actors were unjustly snubbed? Whose great performance went unrewarded? The Guardian’s chief film critic on the ones that got away

In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)

Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...

Mike Huckabee compared the same-sex marriage decision to the Dred Scott decision of 1857 in an attempt to defend county clerk Kim Davis, during a radio interview on Wednesday. Mike Huckabee Says Dred Scott Decision Is Still “The Law Of The Land” Huckabee joined host Michael Medved on his radio show to support Kentucky county […]

The post Mike Huckabee Defends Kim Davis, Compares Same-Sex Marriage Decision To Dred Scott appeared first on uInterview.

In recent years there has been a real boom in documentaries surrounding popular culture. Films such as Electric Boogaloo, Video Nasties, The Search for Weng Weng and Adjust Your Tracking have captured the zeitgeist of fans across the globe, and in turn inspired more people to create their own documentaries about pop culture subjects that matter to them…

But not all these documentaries see the same success. Having been on something of a documentary kick lately, I thought I’d break down the ten of the best little-known, or better yet little-discussed, pop-culture documentaries from the many, many examples I have been watching. So here they are and, for once, they’re in order:

1) Slaughter Nick For President

There’s a good reason this film is at the top of my list. This is the documentary that kicked off my exploration of pop culture documentaries (eventually ending up at compliling this list) and,...

“Evan Sayet explodes pernicious stereotypes with refreshing humor that is simultaneously thought-provoking and hilarious…” — Michael Medved, nationally syndicated radio talk show host.There’s a weird schism happening in American politics. Shades of conservatism, liberalism and all of the things these two ideologies denote are bleeding over each other. People who consider themselves liberal find themselves excoriated by other “liberals” if they disagree on important national security topics like Islamic influence and the threat of sharia law creeping into American life. Many educated conservatives blanch when the evangelicals rail on about biblical literalism and Jesus, using these views to support what […]...

The Parents Television Council isn’t pleased with a Manhattan movie theater’s decision to let teens in to screenings of the sexually-explicit, Nc-17 French film, Blue is the Warmest Color. The coming-of-age film wowed critics at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the top prize and universal praise for its depiction of a teen lesbian’s struggle with identity and her sexual awakening. (It’s also been extremely controversial, especially after its lead actresses expressed regret over filming some of the scenes.)

Recently, the IFC Center announced that it would ignore the Nc-17 rating — a voluntary guideline — and admit teens.

Mediaite's Joe Concha joined CNN anchor Erin Burnett on Thursday night to talk Slate's bold stand against calling the Washington Redskins the Washington Redskins, because of the supposed racial insensitivity of the term. Concha clashed with CNN contributor Lz Granderson and radio host Michael Medved over whether the team should change the name, touting how a majority of Redskins fans don't want the name change, saying, "If the fans are voting right now, they're saying, 'Don't touch a thing.'"...

Jim Knipfel Oct 10, 2019

Stop calling Ed Wood "The Worst Director in History." His films have a unique energy and charm that should be appreciated.

Ed Wood is an easy target, a no-brainer cultural reference for people who’ve likely seen, at most, one or two of his films. Beginning with the 1980 publication of Michael Medved’s The Golden Turkey Awards, Wood was unquestionably and for time immemorial declared "The Worst Director of All Time," and his 1959 picture Plan 9 From Outer Space the Worst Film Ever Made. People have been parroting the party line ever since.

Everybody says it, so it must be true. There’s no reason to even bother with watching the films anymore so long as we’ve been given the answer. You could stick Wood’s name on the credits for, say, Touch of Evil or Rashomon and people would still laugh at the films, because they...

Jim Knipfel Oct 10, 2018

Stop calling Ed Wood "The Worst Director in History." His films have a unique energy and charm that should be appreciated.

This article first ran in 2013, but it's Ed Wood's birthday, so we need to pay tribute to him again.

Ed Wood is an easy target, a no-brainer cultural reference for people who’ve likely seen, at most, one or two of his films. Beginning with the 1980 publication of that asshole Michael Medved’s The Golden Turkey Awards, Wood was unquestionably and for time immemorial declared The Worst Director of All Time, and his 1959 picture Plan 9 From Outer Space the Worst Film Ever Made. People have been parroting the party line ever since.

Everybody says it, so it must be true. There’s no reason to even bother with watching the films anymore so long as we’ve been given the answer. You could stick Wood’s name on the credits for,...

From Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained to Lincoln and Life Of Pi, the Oscar-nominated Hollywood films champion hope, faith and vengeance – or the moral values of the wild west

After indulging Europe by garlanding The Artist last year and The King's Speech in 2011, the Oscars seem set to come home. Hollywood dominates the nominations, and in spite of the global focus it is supposed to have adopted, its nominees largely pay tribute to the American way. They certainly remind us of the optimism, innocence and joy with which America has gladdened the world since the big screen's inception.

The darkening cinematic mood that has engulfed even 007 won't be allowed to bedim the Dolby Theatre. Thus, Skyfall's gloomy proceedings and The Master's disturbing vision have been given short shrift. That a film about mental illness should bear the title Silver Linings Playbook aptly reflects the positivity to be lauded this Sunday night.

Inaccuracy in journalism is taken seriously, but film-makers happily play fast and loose with the facts

Should films that lay claim to truth be free to lie? The old question is raised again by two now on general release. Argo tells the story of the escape of American diplomats from Iran in 1979. Zero Dark Thirty tells of the more recent killing of Osama bin Laden. Both are already controversial.

The first, Argo, has understandably enraged the British ambassador in Tehran at the time, Sir John Graham, by stating that the Brits "turned away" the fugitive American diplomats. It left him "very distressed that the film-makers got it so wrong". He says the British embassy took in the fugitives and they moved to the Canadian embassy only when the British one became exposed to attack. One of the Americans, Robert Anders, has fully corroborated Graham's comments, saying the film "is absolutely untrue.

The French gave us the word “demimonde” – literally, half the world. But what it has come to mean in English, or so says Webster, is “a distinct circle or world that is often an isolated part of a larger world.”

Storytellers have always held a fascination with the dark side of human nature; that part of the psyche which is normally restrained and leashed, taught to be obedient, held in check – as Conrad wrote in Heart of Darkness – by the reproving looks of our neighbors. After all, what was Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but a probing of that other, id-driven half and the entrancing appeal of doing what one wants instead of what one should.

Film is no different than literature, and from its beginning the movies have produced a rich vein of stories about society’s fringe dwellers, those who operate by necessity,...

It might only be the end of February but it looks like The Devil Inside has the award for Worst Movie Of 2012 in the bag

When a rollover-and-beg quote-whore as easily placated as Rolling Stone's Peter Travers is moved to write of your movie that it will "make you puke for all the wrong reasons", it's time you quit making movies and re-enrolled in bartending academy. Such was the fate of The Devil Inside, widely lauded – or something – as the very worst movie of 2012, notching up a miserable 5% on the review aggregating site rottentomatoes.com, having occasioned a rare unanimity among fractious American film critics.

And, yes, it's bad. It's very, very, very, bad. And not bad in a good way, or so bad it's actually brilliant, or any of that. It's the kind of bad that gives bad a bad name. Lingering only on one screen in the single...

Who won Monday night's Gop debate? Michele Bachmann was the breakout star, Mitt Romney the most polished-and Herman Cain got lapped. Daily Beast contributors Howard Kurtz, Mark McKinnon, Michelle Goldberg, Michael Tomasky, John Avlon, and more weigh in. Plus, watch eight video highlights from the debate.

At Last, Some Gop ContendersBy Matt Latimer

Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters

For the first time this troubled season, the Republican candidates looked like plausible White House contenders. Matt Latimer grades the New Hampshire debate, from Bachmann's entry to Newt's return to the Paul Ryan debacle and Santorum's Leno gaffe.

This evening commenced with a warning from CNN moderator John King. Tonight's forum, he vowed, "would be different than any presidential debate you've ever seen." Uh-oh. I hate it when journalists say things like that-it always means there will be lame gimmicks, such as having random voters we...

Black and Hispanic kids spend way too much time on electronic diversions. Michael Medved on why TV addiction could cripple their future, and how it can be reduced.

Educators who worry about the persistent achievement gap between white and minority youngsters ought to pay more attention to a disastrous development hidden in plain sight: the terrible (and rapidly growing) over-use of entertainment media by children of color.

Related story on The Daily Beast: How Michelle Got Her Fashion Mojo Back

Focused efforts by parents, community groups, teachers and the students themselves to limit their immersion in electronic diversions might bring more immediate improvements in educational outcomes than expensive and bureaucratic schemes to restructure schools.

A powerfully disturbing new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that black and Hispanic kids consume 4-1/2 more hours of media every day than their white counterparts-investing a startling total of more than 90 hours a week on television,...

Ok, the Rapture didn't arrive as Harold Camping's Family Radio had predicted, but the believers had a valuable message for us about facing personal endings-and dealing with death.

Judgment Day (May 21, 2011) has come and gone without the predicted earthquakes and opened graves, but it's still possible to gain some important insight from the deluded true believers who so earnestly expected the end of the world.

Related story on The Daily Beast: A Reality Check for the Doomsday Unhinged

The Oakland-based Family Radio Ministries, with more than 200 broadcast stations and $56 million in assets reported to the IRS, purchased full-page ads in major newspapers, including USA Today, bought bus signs in major cities, and campaigned tirelessly to warn people of the Saturday apocalypse. On the Friday before the big day, I spent a full hour on my radio show with Gunther von Harringa, an articulate pastor and father of 15 affiliated with the group.

The 2012 presidential candidate has gone off the deep end in defending the right to sell sex and drugs as personal liberty-and stretched libertarianism past the breaking point, writes Michael Medved.

How would you describe a perennial presidential candidate who insists in a televised debate that government has no more right to interfere with prostitution or heroin than it does to limit people's right to "practice their religion and say their prayers" ?

Related story on The Daily Beast: Osama Eulogies: Ayman Zawahiri and al Qaeda Vow Revenge

The phrase "crackpot" comes immediately to mind-and in any contemporary political dictionary that term would appear alongside a photograph of Congressman Ron Paul.

The Mad Doctor, who proudly consorts with 9/11 Truthers, announced his third race for the nation's highest office on Friday the 13th (appropriately enough) by declaring that if he were president he never would have authorized a lethal strike against Osama bin Laden.

Former restaurant magnate Herman Cain stole the show at the first Gop debate. Michael Medved on how his long-shot candidacy could breathe new life into a struggling party.

The most intriguing question raised by the first presidential debate in Greenville, S.C., involves the way Republicans will characterize the surprising showing of Herman Cain.

Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters

Does the business leader and talk radio host represent the next Ronald Reagan-or the second coming of Alan Keyes?

Cain's fans and supporters cite the reaction to Thursday night's encounter to stress the Reaganesque qualities of their champion. According to a focus group conducted by Fox News analyst Frank Luntz, Cain gained more support from his self-assured and capable performance than any other candidate in the 35 debates the pollster has covered. Among 29 participants, only one favored Cain prior to the telecast; afterwards, a clear...

What's all this talk about "shared sacrifice" ? New Daily Beast columnist Michael Medved says the Gop needs to blow the whistle on rhetoric that's merely an excuse for more big government.

As conservatives suffer endless repetitions of the solemn, soggy Democratic mantra of "shared sacrifice," they need to resist the powerful temptation to snarl back, "I'm already sacrificing more than enough, thank you very much!"

Related story on The Daily Beast: Democrats' Negotiator in Chief

Of course it's only natural to feel righteous indignation toward some smug lefty who wants to take money out of your pocket, but it's more important in this situation to win the substantive argument by underlining the core distinction between what government gives and what government takes. As the euphoria fades following Osama bin Laden's demise and the nation gets back to the bitter business of coping with a looming fiscal catastrophe, Republicans need to...

Mike Huckabee's remarks about Natalie Portman's out-of-wedlock pregnancy weren't incendiary-until Eric Hananoki got his hands on them and found just the right snippet to get the media fired up. Howard Kurtz on how partisan groups are deploying sound bites to discredit public figures.

Mike Huckabee, whose nonstop book-flacking is keeping him on the political radar, was doing a routine radio interview when the talk briefly turned to Natalie Portman.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Al Sharpton: Obama's Go-To Black Leader

Seattle host Michael Medved questioned how the 29-year-old actress could tout her pregnancy at the Oscars when she had not yet married her fiancé. The once-and-maybe-future presidential candidate replied that it was "troubling" to see "a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts" of having a child out of wedlock, because "there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions...

Mike Huckabee has blamed Sirius Xm DJ Michael Medved for recent controversy surrounding comments he made about Natalie Portman's pregnancy. The possible Us presidential candidate appeared on satellite radio earlier this month, during which he slammed Portman for starting a family out of wedlock and accusing her of setting a bad example for younger girls. However, appearing on the program again this week, Huckabee insisted that he had no intention of discussing Portman, explaining: "I didn't bring Natalie Portman up at all. "In the context of the first chapter of my book - (more)...

In the wake of making perceivably critical remarks about actress Natalie Portman's pregnancy, Mike Huckabee addressed the comments on Tuesday.

"I didn't bring Natalie Portman up at all," said the potential presidential contender on Sirius Xm station Potus. He suggested that conservative radio host Michael Medved was the one responsible for dragging Portman into the exchange in question.

Mediaite relays what Huckabee went on to say:

In the context of the first chapter of my book, and that's how he kind of got into it, because I talk about the importance of the family as being the most fundamental unit of government. So in the course of that, he asked me about her acceptance speech. I used that as a segue, not to talk about Natalie Portman, but to talk about the economic realities of unwed mothers.

Huckabee also reiterated a compliment he paid to Portman last week in...

Mike Huckabee, the singular host of Fox News’s Huckabee, has some more thoughts about Natalie Portman. First—and this is important—his misguided moralizing about her pregnancy is not his fault. It was his interlocutor, radio host Michael Medved, who even brought her up. “He brought up her acceptance at the Oscars speech in the context of the first chapter of my book, and that’s how he kind of got into it, because I talk about the importance of the family as being the most fundamental unit of government,” Huckabee said on Sirius radio today, as transcribed by Politico’s 2012 team. “So in the course of that, he asked me about her acceptance speech. I used that as a segue, not to talk about Natalie Portman, but to talk about the economic realities of—” Producers, cue the music?...

Mike Huckabee criticizes unwed mother Natalie Portman, why? Unwed Hollywood mother Natalie Portman flamed by Mike Huckabee? [Mar. 4] Academy award winning actress Natalie Portman is being criticized as an unwed mother by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee former United States Presidential candidate nominee. In an interview with radio personality Michael Medved, he disclosed his thoughts about unwed Hollywood mothers and the incorrect images they are sending to millions across the country. Natalie Portman is currently expecting her first child with fiancé Benjamin Millepied whom she thanked for giving her the “biggest role” of her life (i.e. being a mother) as she accepted her Oscar on Sunday February 27, 2011. Natalie Portman won her Oscar for her role as the ballerina Nina in the movie “Black Swan”. Following the awards, Governor Mike Huckabee met with radio show host Michael Medved to discuss a verity of topics and to possibly ‘test the waters’ for a...

Potential Us presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has criticised Oscar winner Natalie Portman for having a child out of wedlock. In December, the actress confirmed that she was both pregnant and engaged to choreographer Benjamin Millepied. During an appearance on Michael Medved's radio program, the former two-term Arkansas governor insisted that Portman doesn't deserve praise for becoming pregnant before marrying. "You know Michael, one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children... we're not married, but we're having these children', and they're doing just fine," Huckabee said. He continued: "But there aren't really a lot of single mums out there (more)...

This worked out so well for Dan Quayle. Potential presidential nominee Mike Huckabee, apparently forgetting our former VP’s Murphy Brown drama almost twenty years ago, is criticizing Natalie Portman for having a baby with boyfriend Benjamin Millepied without getting married first. “One of the things that’s troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman who boasts, ‘we’re not married but we’re having these children and they’re doing just fine,” Huckabee said on Michael Medved‘s radio show. “But there aren’t really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie. And I think it gives a distorted image that yes, not everybody hires nannies, and caretakers, and nurses.” Medved also claimed that the “most wonderful gift” Portman thanked Millepied for should have been a wedding ring, not a baby, apparently forgetting that Portman and Millepied are engaged.

Getty Actress Natalie Portman with her best actress Oscar.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is criticizing Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s pregnancy because she’s not married.

In an interview with radio talk show host Michael Medved that took place on Monday but that’s getting traction today, Huckabee said that Portman’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy was “troubling.”

“It’s unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea” of having children without being married, Huckabee said on the program.

Huckabee is widely...

Getty Actor Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen pushed products on Twitter; Mike Huckabee criticizes Natalie Portman…

Charlie Sheen Pushes Products on Twitter: Would you buy a product endorsed by Charlie Sheen on Twitter? The “Two and a Half Men” star, whose show was canceled in the wake of his vitriolic statements in interviews, reportedly has signed on to Ad.ly, the same company responsible for Kim Kardashian advertweets. The company told The Hollywood Reporter that Sheen recently signed on as a...

Mike Huckabee was not celebrating for Natalie Portman as she accepted her Best Actress Oscar on Sunday night -- he was passing moral judgments.

During her speech, Portman thanked "Black Swan" co-star turned fiance Benjamin Millepied for "the most wonderful gift," -- their baby, due later this year. Huckabee took issue with that statement, and the entire premise of her pregnancy, in an interview with conservative radio host Michael Medved on Monday.

After a set up from Medved saying that most wonderful gift should have been "a wedding ring," Huckabee slammed the star actress -- and then all single mothers.

You know Michael, one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children, and they're doing just fine.' But there aren't really a...

American politician Mike Huckabee has launched a scathing rant at pregnant actress Natalie Portman, accusing the Oscar-winner of encouraging impressionable youngsters to have children out of wedlock.

The Black Swan star, who recently picked up an Academy Award for her portrayal of a ballet dancer in the film, is expecting her first child with her choreographer fiance Benjamin Millepied, who she met on set.

But former Arkansas governor Huckabee isn't happy with the example Portman is setting, telling radio host Michael Medved, "You know Michael, one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children,' and they're doing just fine.

"But there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie. And I think it gives a distorted image that yes, not everybody hires nannies, and caretakers, and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that's the story that we're not seeing, and it's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorise the idea of (out-of-wedlock children)."...

Have you heard? That dirty dirty slut Natalie Portman has done a bad thing. No, not have sex -- though she did do that bad thing, the nasty whore -- but parade around at the Oscars looking beautiful and happy even though her belly is swollen with a bastard child. She should have been hiding herself away in a garret until the demon spawn of her sinful fornicating was born and spirited away to proper parents. What’s more, she had the whorish, slutty gall to go on national -- nay, global! -- television and not only look radiant and pleased with herself but also to thank the scandalous rogue whom she let knock her up! Horrors. Get the smelling salts. Mike Huckabee -- Southern Baptist minister, former governor of Arkansas and U.S. presidential candidate, and current professional crazy person -- explained it all on the radio the other day,...

Natalie Portman has been criticized for being pregnant before being married. Former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee claims the 29-year-old actress, who is expecting her and her fiance Benjamin Millepied's first child together, is giving a "distorted" image of parenthood because she can afford to look after a child on her own, while many other American single mothers could not do the same.

In an interview with radio host Michael Medved, the ex-politician and Fox News Host said, "One of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children,' and they're doing just fine."

"But there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie. And I think it gives a distorted image that yes,...

Mike Huckabee talked about Natalie Portman on the radio this week, but it wasn't to congratulate her on the Oscar win. The former Arkansas governor and possible Gop presidential candidate in 2012 instead rolled the celebrity dice and used Portman as an example of the "distorted image" Hollywood supposedly provides of single motherhood. To be fair, conservative talk radio host Michael Medved brought up the "visibly pregnant" Black Swan star and the "problematic message" she's sending. But Huckabee, ever the politician, took the ball and ran with it... "You know Michael," Huckabee replied, "one of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman...

Conservative commentator Michael Medved appeared on Reliable Sources to continue his claim made earlier this week that some vocal conservatives "make a tremendous mistake on the idiotic proposition that President Obama is deliberately trying to harm the country." He also dismissed some of the criticism he's received and stressed that the best way to defeat Obama in 2012 is to focus on his policies rather than alleging he has a "secret agenda."...

Hey guys, tonight is the final screening in the 12 week run of the debut film from Drafthouse Films, Four Lions. If you haven’t yet seen it, please check it out. It screens tonight at 8:35pm at the Alamo South Lamar. The first 20 people to the theater tonight get a free Four Lions T-shirt. Don’t just take our word for it that it was good (we bought it, we are biased). Below is the recap of the end of year top 10 Accolades for Four Lions. We hope to see you tonight!

Time Magazine: Top 10 2010

#10 on Richard Corliss’ list

#9 on Ain’t It Cool News: Top Ten of 2010 (Massawrym)

#2 on David Germain’s Associated Press: Top 10 Films

Austin American Statesman: Top 10 Movies of 2010

#2 on Matthew Odam’s list

#10 on John DeFore’s list

#9 on Charles Ealy’s list

Boxoffice Magazine: 2010’s Top Films

#8 on Sara Maria Vizcarrondo’s...

This weekend, Harry Potter is the dominant force in theaters all over the world. If Jk Rowling isn’t your speed, I cordially invite you to consider a film featuring a slightly different take on the “group of young Brits banding together on a mission” genre. Check out Chris Morris’s critically acclaimed Jihadi comedy Four Lions instead. The New York Times, Time, Slate and the La Times are all raving about the film. Even conservative pundit Michael Medved says “Four Lions is outstanding, irresistible, utterly original–the funniest, fiercest movie of the year. Four stars.”

And if the quality of the film was not enough, at 10Pm at the Village on Friday 11/19 and 4Pm at the Ritz on Saturday 11/20 and Sunday 11/20, the first 25 patrons to arrive at the theater for the show will also receive a free Four Lions T-shirt!

The prolific Italian movie producer whose name was synonymous with grandiose spectacle, if questionable taste, has died aged 91

The age of the producer extraordinaire, whose name on the opening credits was a guarantee of operatic emotions and grandiose spectacle, looked one step closer to the end today, with the announcement that Dino De Laurentiis has died aged 91.

A man whose diminutive stature (he was 5ft 4in) was no obstacle to his enormous ambition or prodigious output (more than 500 films), De Laurentiis started his career selling his family's pasta. After serving in the Italian army in the second world war, he established himself as a film producer, and swiftly became famous for the 1949 classic Bitter Rice, directed by Giuseppe De Santis, and then a handful of neo-realist hits made in collaboration with Carlo Ponti, including Federico Fellini's La Strada in 1954 and Nights of Cabiria in 1957.

De Laurentiis went solo, and...

This week is the final airing of the syndicated movie review program At The Movies, marking a true end-of-an-era for those of us who grew up eagerly anticipating the weekly thumb wrestling of critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.

In September of 1975 Chicago Tribune writer Gene and Chicago Sun-Times writer Roger were reluctantly paired for the monthly PBS show Opening Soon at A Theater Near You, which ran for two seasons before being renamed Sneak Previews.

The show became a huge hit for PBS, which decided to syndicate it with Gene and Roger remaining as hosts until 1982, when contract negotiations fell through. They were replaced by liberal commentator Neal Gabler and human block of wood Jeffrey Lyons, who would become best known for siring a quote whore (more on that later.)

Gabler left after three years, unhappy with the direction of the show, and was replaced by Michael Medved, who...

While trying to make a point about racism, Laura Schlessinger said the N-word over and over during a call last week, setting off a firestorm of criticism. This week she said, come December, she'd end her long-running radio show, "The Dr. Laura Program." She spoke to THR about the controversy and anything else that came up.

The Hollywood Reporter: Are your sponsors and affiliates under constant attack, or only when controversy erupts?

Laura Schlessinger: Only when things erupt. Otherwise, we're all happy campers. I do good shows, I help people, and the sponsors get what they pay for.

THR: What's your opinion of the sponsors who cave into the pressure?

Schlessinger: Sponsors are companies and companies are made of people. I totally understand. I don't get mad. They're supporting their families. That's the problem -- situations where companies, sponsors, affiliates are injured by special-interest groups that don't want to debate an issue,...

San Diego-based 3D production and conversion studio PassmoreLab has some big plans. The company is about to take the Ed Wood, Jr. zombie "classic" Plan 9 From Outer Space, which was colorized a couple of years ago, and convert it to 3D. We don't know whether to laugh, cry, or consider this the most awesome undertaking in the world. Be sure to sound off in our comments section.

From the Press Release

The film, also known as the "worst movie ever made" due to its numerous continuity and production gaffes, has become an iconic sci-fi cult classic due largely to its reputation for being so bad. It was christened "worst movie" back in 1980 by Harry and Michael Medved in their book The Golden Turkey Awards, when they claimed to have found the "holy Grail" of bad movies. Since then, the movie has become very popular.

"Being dubbed 'worst ever' was...

New York, June 3 – A group of conservative activists are ganging up to condemn an animated program by Comedy Central called “Jc”, about the trials and tribulations of a young Jesus Christ.

The Coalition Against Religious Bigotry includes right-wing heavyweights Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Center), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), Michael Medved (talk radio host), Bill Donohue (president, Catholic League) and Tim Winter (president, Parents Television Council).

The group will be holding a press conference on June 3 in an attempt to lure advertisers away.

Well, it took them almost a month, but as predicted, religious bigwigs are preparing to square off against Comedy Central in protest of the network’s upcoming animated Jesus Christ project, Jc. According to The Hollywood Reporter, notable names like Brent Bozell, Tony Perkins, Tim Winter, and Michael Medved are forming the Citizens Against Religious Bigotry to protest Jc.

Mmm…CARBs. (As THR said, “If only it wasn’t the Coalition of the Religious Against Bigotry, because then it could be ‘Crab.’” And I would love to see Comedy Central duel with some Crab People.)

Carb has yet to see a pilot or script,...

Filed under: TV News

Oh, they're serious, but the idea of a supergroup (whose name spells out the acronym 'Carb') of protestors banding together to fight a cartoon that isn't even on the air yet? Well, you can imagine the fun the 'South Park' guys might have with that.

The group of TV watchdogs -- made up of Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Center), Bill Donohue (president, Catholic League), Michael Medved (talk radio host), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), Rabbi Daniel Lapin (American Alliance of Jews and Christians) and Parents Television Council president Tim Winter -- have formed the Coalition Against Religious Bigotry ('Carb') to take a stance against 'Jc,' an upcoming Comedy Central animated series that revolves around Jesus Christ.

 

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A coalition has been formed to fight against an animated series called "Jc" which is yet to be produced. Comedy Central has previously met a threat from Christian group Catholic League who said that they would contact the Muslim organizations as well in this fight. League's president Bill Donohue has since made his words come true but sans the Muslims.

Donohue made an alliance with president of Media Research Center, Brent Bozell, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, American Alliance of Jews and Christians leader Rabbi Daniel Lapin, talk show host Michael Medved and Parents TV Council president Tim Winter. They are all joined in Carb - Coalition Against Religious Bigotry.

Carb's main objective is to make sure "Jc" never coming to life. In order to do that, they plan to cross the path to advertisers. "After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central's previous characterizations...

But The Original's Still The Greatest: I'm not gonna tell any tales out of school, but I doubt that either A.O. Scott or Michael Phillips will balk if I say I have every confidence that they weren't particularly surprised at the cancellation of the syndicated television program "At The Movies," for which they took over the hosting duties in September of 2009. In the statement I made fun of on my blog, the faceless Disney corporation said that the show had a "rich history and iconic status," and, whether or not the faceless Disney corporation actually sincerely meant that sentiment or not, I have to say I'm on board with it. I'm so old that I can still remember when the show's progenitor, PBS's "Sneak Previews," debuted in 1976. I was a high-school student living in Lake Hopatcong at the time. And I've gotta say, for all the things that Lake Hopatcong has to recommend it,...

Before the new Sherlock Holmes movie came out, star Robert Downey Jr joked about the close friendship between the detective and his sidekick Watson, played by Jude Law.

He said: "I think the word bromance is so passé. We are two men who happen to be roommates who wrestle a lot and share a bed!"

Now he's taken the comments further and the executors of the literary estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle aren't too happy, saying a sequel will be halted if any gay storylines are introduced.

Andréa Plunket, who controls the remaining Us copyrights in the Holmes stories, was not amused when Robert Downey Jnr told the David Letterman talk show that he felt the two residents of 221B Baker Street were an item.

He introduced a clip from the film showing him wrestling with Law, with an invitation to the audience to decide whether he was the more "butch" of the two.