George Takei: Boy Scouts’ Gay Ban Is ‘Hogwash’
On his blog post, Takei noted that many well-meaning people counter that the BSA is a private organization, and as such should be able to keep whomever they want out. This is of course the same justification used to prevent minorities from eating in restaurants during the Jim Crow years.
TiVo Wants To Know Where You Shop, Nielsen Wants To Stay Relevant
The company that developed the first commercially available DVR announced on Tuesday that it is purchasing TRA, Inc., a marketing and analytics company whose products help advertisers know which TV commercials are the most effective based on consumers' shopping habits.
Andy Borowitz: New Yorker Blog Will Be As ‘Inaccurate’ As Ever
The New Yorker has just purchased the political-humor blog the Borowitz Report. News of the purchase comes as its parent company, Condé Nast Publications, puts the finishing touches on the final phase of its print and digital integration.
Gumby the Movie? DreamWorks Eyes Catalog Of Retro Characters
For fans of the DreamWorks Animation brand, there is a certain somber irony in its bid to acquire a catalog of pop-culture relics. The company, founded in 1994 out of a merger between DreamWorks SKG and Pacific Data Images, built its name on inventive storytelling and original offerings such as Antz, Shark Tale and Kung Fu Panda.
Rotten Tomatoes May Permanently Disable User Comments After ‘Dark Knight’ Debacle
Fans were apparently so appalled by the negative reviews of the final Dark Knight installment that they flooded the comments section with inappropriate and threatening remarks aimed at the critics.
YouTube Yanks Romney Campaign Ad After Copyright Complaint
A Romney spokesperson told the Washington Post that the clip clearly falls under fair use, a provision in intellectual property law that permits limited use of copyrighted material for the purposes of criticism and commentary.
Do Funny Ads Sell? Consumers Might Be Laughing At Advertisers' Expense
Ace Metrix looked at every national commercial released from January 2011 through March 2012, a total of more than 6,500 ads, to measure the effectiveness of humor in advertising. It found the best-liked ads may not be the most effective.
Madonna Sued Over Swastika: Did She Go Too Far?
Wallerand de Saint-Just, a lawyer for the National Front, told the European press that legal action would be filed later this week, adding that projecting such an image of Marine Le Pen with a swastika implies that she is a Nazi.
Microsoft, NBC Finalize Divorce: New Era In Online News Begins
The world's largest software maker announced late Sunday that it is pulling out of its partnership with MSNBC.com, a move that will allow the company to build its own online news service at a time when more and more consumers are finding their news online.
Racially Charged Casting Controversy Rocks Historic Theater
La Jolla Playhouse on Thursday set off a social-media firestorm over the casting of its upcoming production of The Nightingale. Although the Hans Christian Andersen tale is set in Feudal China, the cast contains few Asian actors.
Rupert Murdoch Puts The Daily On Death Notice: Does iPad Publishing Have A Future?
Launched just over a year ago, and touted by the newspaper-loving Murdoch as a savior for print media, The Daily boasts is drowning in estimated losses of $30 million a year.
Will Smith, Steven Spielberg And Russell Crowe To Resurrect Biblical Hollywood
Hollywood heavyweight Will Smith is setting his sights on a big-screen version of Cain and Abel, the biblical tale of sibling rivalry between the two sons of Adam and Eve.
Queerview Cinema: Outfest Turns 30, Looks Forward
Outfest, which kicks off on Thursday at various venues around Los Angeles, turns 30 this year, a milestone that presents its organizers with the opportunity to reflect upon both where it's been and where it's heading.
No Butts About It: Researchers Want R Rating For All Movies With Smoking
The researchers say they were able to show that adolescent smoking would be reduced by 18 percent if smoking in PG-13 movies were largely eliminated.
TV’s Most Powerful Moments? Kate Middleton Beats JFK In New Study
The study, conducted by Sony Electronics and Nielsen television research, measured the most impactful moments in TV history based on participants' recollections of televised events. The results were compiled through an online survey of 1,077 adults selected at random by Nielsen, the company that measures TV ratings.
Spin Magazine's New Owner Quashes Rumors Of Mag's Demise -- For Now
The question on everyone's mind is this: Why would a hot Internet company with an empire of music and culture blogs want to invest its resources in print? Tyler Goldman, Buzzmedia's CEO, said Spin is much more than a print publication.
What Men Want: Ad Age Sparks Bromance Between Marketers And Male Consumers
Advertising Age, the magazine that tracks the ins and outs of the advertising industry, is trying to help marketers understand the elusive male mind with a 40-page report called Dudes to Dads: U.S. Men's Attitudes Toward Life, Family, Work.
In Your Face, James Cameron: 4-D Movies Coming Soon to U.S. [VIDEO]
Welcome to 4-D, the latest technological leap in the evolution of movie theaters. The format employs a barrage of sensory effects to create a more immersive movie-going experience.
I Want My MTV To Suck Less: 'Jersey Shore' Helps Sink Viacom Stock Rating
UBS analyst John Janedis on Tuesday downgraded the stock of MTV's parent company, Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB), citing ongoing ratings weakness at the house that Snooki built as one of the primary obstacles for the media giant's future growth potential.
Anti-Obama Doc Likens Barack Obama?s Half-Brother To ?Slumdog Millionaire? [VIDEO]
George Obama, who lives in a hut in Nairobi, Kenya, will be featured in 2016: Obama's America, a new anti-Obama documentary by the conservative author and tedious flame-fanner Dinesh D'Souza.
China Doesn?t Want To Be Hollywood East: Analyst
This year, nine out of 10 of the top-grossing movies in China came from overseas. Most of those, including Men in Black 3, Battleship and The Avengers, are Hollywood blockbusters, which are apparently ruling the Chinese box office at the expense of Chinese films.
Comcast To Sell A&E TV Stake For $3 Billion
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) is shedding its stake in A&E Television Networks for $3.03 billion to its joint-venture partners Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Hearst Corp.
Congress Wants To Slash NEA Budget, But Artists Fight Back
Americans for the Arts, Actors' Equity Association and the New York Innovate Theatre Foundation (NYIT) are just three of the groups that have been urging artists and arts enthusiasts around the country to write their local representatives and voice their opposition to cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts.
Christopher Nolan: I?m Done With Superheroes
After an exhaustive Batman trilogy, writer/director Christopher Nolan believes he has said all he can say about the Caped Crusader.
Clone Wars: Reality Shows That Rip Off TV's Biggest Hits
While replicating a hit show can undoubtedly yield profitable results, the practice as a whole seems to produce far more misses than hits, particularly in today's era of increasingly fragmented viewing habits.
'Happy Days' Are Here Again: Legal Victory For Cast
The actors from Happy Days had claimed that CBS owed them back pay from DVD sales and other worldwide merchandise. The case was one of a series of recent legal spats involving former television stars who have sued for such pay.
As ?Spider-Man? Soars, 5 More Reboots You Won?t Believe They?re Making
Given their potential to breathe life into a stale property, reboots will only continue. But they're not just for superheroes anymore. Here are five unlikely, unbelievable or just plain unnecessary reboots in the works.
Hollywood?s TV Exodus: Why L.A. Is Turning Into A City Of No-Shows
A troubling new report shows that TV production in the Los Angeles area is in a state of rapid decline, with less than half of all TV dramas now filmed in the L.A. area.
CBGB Music Festival: 5 Historic Clubs That Rival The Punk Palace
Old-school punkers may argue that CBGB's influence could never be surpassed, but we thought it worth mentioning that other venues were similarly historic.
Is Screenwriting A Dying Art? WGA Reports Dramatic Drop In Employment, Earnings
The Writers Guild of America West released its annual earnings report on Monday, and for feature film screenwriters, the news isn't good.
