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One of the best pictures to come out of Hollywood in the late 1960s, Sydney Pollack’s screen version of Horace McCoy’s hardboiled novel is a harrowing experience guaranteed to elicit extreme responses. Jane Fonda performs (!) at the top of an ensemble of stars suffering in a Depression-Era circle of Hell – it’s an Annihilating Drama with a high polish. And this CineSavant review ends with a fact-bomb that ought to start Barbara Steele fans off on a new vault search.

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 120 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Dern, Allyn Ann McLerie.

Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop

Production Designer: Harry Horner

Film Editor: Fredric Steinkamp

Written by James Poe, Robert E. Thompson from the novel They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?...

President Trump ramped up his anti-media rhetoric this week during a rally in Arizona, leaving some observers to question whether journalists should be concerned for their safety. Trump took numerous shots at the “truly dishonest people” in the media during the Tuesday night rally, including calling the industry “pathetic,” “dishonest” and “liars.” Syracuse University journalism professor and media historian Robert Thompson thinks that journalists should absolutely be nervous on the heels of Trump’s speech. Also Read: 'Morning Joe' Hosts: Time for Trump to Resign (Exclusive) “I think it is a legitimate concern. We’ve certainly seen people...

Reviewed by Robert Thompson

MoreHorror.com

Three Tears on Bloodstained Flesh

Director: Jakob Bilinski

Writer: Jakob Bilinski

Stars: Bill Gobin, Jim Dougherty, Kayla Crance

Creativity makes up for a lot. Particularly, within filmmaking, creativity makes up for a lack of money. My favorite independent, low budget/no budget films, are ones that use creativity to the best of their ability. When cast, and crew take every chance they're given to make the most out of the little they have to work with. This is where “Three Tears” shines the strongest.

Three Tears on Bloodstained Flesh tells the story of Dominic Merrick, who comes back to his hometown, with his troubled daughter, after his niece is murdered. There is clearly foul play afoot, but the locals act as if nothing is wrong. Now Dominic must work to uncover the truth that plagues this quaint town, and it's inhabitants. The only real question,...

By Robert Thompson

MoreHorror.com

What do you get when you mix part action flick, part horror flick, part thriller, and part buddy comedy/road trip movie? Probably something fairly close to VANish. After getting to enjoy Dark Sky Film's most recent release, “Starry Eyes”, for review, I was in no way going to turn down the chance to enjoy their next one.

So, the story set up is this: Jack (Austin Abke), and Max (Bryan Bockbrader, who also writes, and directs) are buddies that decide to kidnap Emma (Maiara Walsh), and hold her ransom, wanting five million bucks from her father (Danny Trejo). Along the way they get help from Afghanistan Vet Shane (Adam Guthrie). However, as the story progresses, we learn that not everyone on this little road trip from hell are who they say they are.

That's basically all I want to give away, as I really enjoyed the flick,...

In the last episode of Resurrection, Marty learned that he was, indeed, Robert Thompson, and he died in a flood in Arcadia in 1934. He returned again in Chicago in 1972 as an abandoned 6-month-old infant, which makes him a double Returned. Marty wanted to meet his parents, but his government boss, Angela, told him that they disappeared from the virus. He did get to visit with his sister, Jenny. We also learned that Angela has a talent for predicting when and where people will return. That must be a neat party trick!

Marty, who had contracted the virus, received a 10 day supply of the medication, but gave some of it to Maggie to treat the other ill Returned patients. And Elaine's brother joined an anti-Returned group called "True Living."...

The television landscape took a hard shift toward the future this week with announcements from HBO and CBS that they were each launching freestanding video-on-demand services. The moves occurred within 24 hours of each other and have left television watchers wondering who will be begging for their streaming subscription dollars next? During their announcement on Thursday, HBO pointed to 10 million households in the U.S. that are broadband-only, cutting the cord from a regular cable subscription. Robert Thompson, a professor of Television and Pop Culture at Syracuse University, says it's only a matter of time before every network has their own.

When we last saw Resurrection‘s Agent Bellamy, he had run into trouble on the outskirts of Arcadia.

At the start of Sunday’s Season 2 premiere, we find him in a very similar predicament. And even though Bellamy uncovers a number of unsettling answers throughout the hour, Sunday’s episode left behind even more troubling questions.

Before you tell us your thoughts on the episode, read on for the finer details of “Revelation”:

Related Fall TV Spectacular: Exclusive Scoop and Photos on 42 Returning Favorites, Including Resurrection

Heart Trouble | Bellamy wakes up, startled, at the edge of town where he fled with Jacob last season.

We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes DVD release details for Compound Fracture, trailers for Altergeist and Aftermath, first details on Danger Word, the Stage Fright call for submissions, and the lineup from Sci Fest in Los Angeles, a review of the second season of Holliston, and much more:

Compound Fracture DVD Release Details: “Level 33 Entertainment announced today the release of the highly anticipated horror feature film Compound Fracture coming to DVD and VOD on May 13, 2014. Bringing together three iconic figures in the horror pantheon, Compound Fracture stars Tyler Mane (Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Hallowee), Muse Watson (Ben Willis in I Know What You Did Last Summer), and Derek Mears (Jason Voorhees in the new Friday The 13th). The movie will be available at all major retail and rental outlets including Walmart,...

Digging into the dark underbelly of the human psyche can be an ugly business. Just ask any of those involved in the making of some of horror’s most notorious movies. As filmmaking and storytelling methods evolve, it allows more freedom to those who choose to explore areas that many would prefer remain hidden. But this often prompts us to ask rabidly debated questions like, ‘Just how far is too far?’

Way before the days when watching a film banned in your country was simply a matter of a quick illegal download to side step the censors, the MPAA and BBFC were much more of a force to be reckoned with. Now it seems that films are usually old news way before the censors can even touch them.

We have highlighted seven films that were particularly contentious for audiences and censors alike. Most are from those dark days before the internet,...

10. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Written by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson

USA, 1969

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a wildly acclaimed 1969 American drama directed by Sydney Pollack that went on to receive nine Academy Award nominations. Like most of the films to appear on this list, it is based on a novel, a 1935 tome by Horace McCoy. Penned by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson, the film is an allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression.

So how does a movie revolving around a dance competition relate to The Hunger Games? Much like The Hunger Games, the participants (all teens) are broken down into couples in hopes of winning and taking home the prize money, cash that’s much needed during such hard economic times. There is even a sleazy opportunistic Mc who urges...

What do Adam Rodriguez, Eva La Rue, Wilmer Valderrama, Marisol Nichols, Cheech Marin, Jorge Garcia and Nestor Carbonell all have in common? Well, aside from the fact that they’re all Latin — they all lost their jobs on TV this week.

Over the weekend, CBS announced that it was pulling the plug on the long-running drama "CSI: Miami,” which stars Puerto Rican actors Adam Rodriguez and Eva La Rue in the lead roles of Eric Delko and Natalia Boa Vista, respectively.

On Sunday, the network also canceled the freshman comedy “Rob,” which centered on an architect (Rob Schneider) who marries into a tight-knit Mexican family. The show featured several Latino actors in lead roles, including Cheech Marin, Diana Maria Riva, Lupe Ontiveros and Eugenio Derbez.

And CBS wasn't the only network to cancel Latino-friendly shows this week -- the three other major networks ended shows starring Latinos as well.

ABC...

What do Adam Rodriguez, Eva La Rue, Wilmer Valderrama, Marisol Nichols, Cheech Marin, Jorge Garcia and Nestor Carbonell all have in common? Well, aside from the fact that they're all Latin — they all lost their jobs on TV this week.

Over the weekend, CBS announced that it was pulling the plug on the long-running drama "CSI: Miami,” which stars Puerto Rican actors Adam Rodriguez and Eva La Rue in the lead roles of Eric Delko and Natalia Boa Vista, respectively.

On Sunday, the network also canceled the freshman comedy “Rob,” which centered on an architect (Rob Schneider) who marries into a tight-knit Mexican family. The show featured several Latino actors in lead roles, including Cheech Marin, Diana Maria Riva, Lupe Ontiveros and Eugenio Derbez.

And CBS wasn't the only network to cancel Latino-friendly shows this week -- the three other major networks ended shows starring Latinos as well.

ABC decided...

Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- ABC is turning Nik Wallenda's attempted tightrope walk over Niagara Falls into a prime-time television event next month, devoting a full three hours to the daredevil's June 15 walk, the network said Friday.

Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of the famous daredevil family the Great Wallendas, also known as the Flying Wallendas, whose history as a traveling circus troupe dates to 1780.

"It's a return to some of the great events you've seen on television over the years," ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said. "I think back to my own childhood and Evel Knievel where literally the whole country would gather around the set and watch one of these extraordinary stunts."

That the event would grab three hours in prime time didn't surprise media expert Robert Thompson, who said the Wallenda legend together with the bygone tradition of daredevil attempts at conquering Niagara Falls are big draws – even...

Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- ABC is turning Nik Wallenda's attempted tightrope walk over Niagara Falls into a prime-time television event next month, devoting a full three hours to the daredevil's June 15 walk, the network said Friday.

Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of the famous daredevil family the Great Wallendas, also known as the Flying Wallendas, whose history as a traveling circus troupe dates to 1780.

"It's a return to some of the great events you've seen on television over the years," ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said. "I think back to my own childhood and Evel Knievel where literally the whole country would gather around the set and watch one of these extraordinary stunts."

That the event would grab three hours in prime time didn't surprise media expert Robert Thompson, who said the Wallenda legend together with the bygone tradition of daredevil attempts at conquering Niagara Falls are big draws – even...

6- The 10th Victim (La Decima vittima) (The Tenth Victim)

Directed by Elio Petri

Written by Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Ennio Flaiano and Elio Petri

Italy,1965

The 10th Victim was the first film to offer up the concept of a TV show wherein people hunt and kill one another for sport and to expand the idea into a satire on gameshows. Set in the 21st Century, the government and the private sector have joined forces to create a solution to crime by giving it a profitable outlet titled “The Big Hunt,” a popular worldwide game show in which contestants are chosen at random to chase one another around the world in a kill or be killed scenario. The winner of the first round moves on to the next. After ten wins, a player is retired from the game and gets a cash prize of one million dollars, but very few make it that far.

Los Angeles -- Oprah Winfrey is used to running the show, whether it was her hit daytime TV program or the fledgling cable channel named for her and which she rules as chairman and chief executive.

But this week's Oprah Winfrey Network shakeup, which included a 20 percent staff layoff, thrusts her into a new dynamic: power-sharing with a top executive from the company that's bankrolled Own with $300 million-plus.

It's a crucial moment for the media queen, who made Own her next big move after "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and for Own itself: Can Winfrey work as an effective corporate teammate with partner Discovery Communications to turn the struggling channel around?

There's another bedrock question: Does a big enough audience exist for the earnest, uplifting fare on Winfrey's Own, so antithetical to the blowsy charms of "Jersey Shore," "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and much else that's popular on cable TV?...

Los Angeles -- Oprah Winfrey is used to running the show, whether it was her hit daytime TV program or the fledgling cable channel named for her and which she rules as chairman and chief executive.

But this week's Oprah Winfrey Network shakeup, which included a 20 percent staff layoff, thrusts her into a new dynamic: power-sharing with a top executive from the company that's bankrolled Own with $300 million-plus.

It's a crucial moment for the media queen, who made Own her next big move after "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and for Own itself: Can Winfrey work as an effective corporate teammate with partner Discovery Communications to turn the struggling channel around?

There's another bedrock question: Does a big enough audience exist for the earnest, uplifting fare on Winfrey's Own, so antithetical to the blowsy charms of "Jersey Shore," "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and much else that's popular on cable TV?...

Los Angeles - Hollywood's in crisis. New technology is threatening upheaval of the movie industry and relentless winds of change are putting those who can't adapt quickly out of business. That scenario could describe the Us movie industry's struggle with dwindling box office numbers and the implications of the internet. But it's also the backdrop to current Oscar favourite The Artist, set in Hollywood of the 1920s when talkies spelt the end of silent movies. The parallels between past and present are striking. But The Artist is far from the only Oscar hopeful anchored in yesteryear, reflecting what Robert Thompson, a pop culture professor at Syracuse University, identifies as the overriding theme of this year's competition - nostalgia for...

New York — Kim Kardashian's lightning-quick marriage shouldn't have any impact on the E! Entertainment network's relationship with the reality TV family despite some shuffling this week, E!'s chief said on Wednesday.

E! moved up, and then moved back, a rerun of Kardashian's lavish wedding to pro basketball player Kris Humphries after Kardashian announced this week that the marriage was kaput. The network, feeling its reputation sullied, put out a statement calling rumors that it had orchestrated the wedding for TV to be "completely false."

"I don't even know if Kim has had a chance to emotionally process this the way that she needs to," said Suzanne Kolb, president of E! Entertainment. "I don't have any indication that this is going to change her career path."

Kardashian's wedding to Humphries, televised on E! to huge ratings last month, was the highlight of the 72-day marriage. The wedding took place on Aug.

New York — Kim Kardashian's lightning-quick marriage shouldn't have any impact on the E! Entertainment network's relationship with the reality TV family despite some shuffling this week, E!'s chief said on Wednesday.

E! moved up, and then moved back, a rerun of Kardashian's lavish wedding to pro basketball player Kris Humphries after Kardashian announced this week that the marriage was kaput. The network, feeling its reputation sullied, put out a statement calling rumors that it had orchestrated the wedding for TV to be "completely false."

"I don't even know if Kim has had a chance to emotionally process this the way that she needs to," said Suzanne Kolb, president of E! Entertainment. "I don't have any indication that this is going to change her career path."

Kardashian's wedding to Humphries, televised on E! to huge ratings last month, was the highlight of the 72-day marriage. The wedding took place on Aug.

Tilda Swinton stars in "We Need To Talk About Kevin," as a mother dealing with her grief after her teenage son opens fire on his high school, killing his classmates. In discussing the idea of "evil" the actress took the opportunity to share a dark secret of her own.

The 50-year-old actress admits that she recalled lost memories following intense media coverage of the brutal murder of two-year-old James Bulgar by 10-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993.

According to Us Weekly, the actress told The Telegraph, "Years ago when James Bulgar was murdered, every newspaper front page was talking about evil. At that point, having suppressed it for years, I remembered when I was four or five, I tried to kill my own brother. He was newly born and I was disappointed, because he was the third baby. That was enough as far as I was concerned."

Swinton told The Gaurdian,...

Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton has sensationally confessed she tried to kill her own brother when he was a newborn baby.

The Michael Clayton star was around four years old when she became resentful at having three brothers and decided to take the life of the youngest child.

But when she approached his cot, she saw the baby chewing his bonnet and removed it from his mouth - and was hailed a lifesaver by her parents.

Swinton admits she buried the incident deep in her memory and only recalled it in 1993 when the murder of two year old James Bulger by ten year olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson shocked her native Britain.

She tells the Telegraph Magazine, "Years ago, when James Bulger was murdered, every newspaper front page was talking about evil. At that point, having suppressed it for years, I remembered when I was four or five, I tried to kill my own brother. He was newly born and I was disappointed, because he was the third boy. That was enough as far as I was concerned.

"I went into his room to kill him, saw some ribbons from a bonnet going into his mouth, and began to pull them out. And I was discovered saving his life. So I had this strange reputation - my brother's saviour - and no one knew I wanted to kill him. It took the Bulger case for me to remember that I'd seriously wanted to."...

Fox News Latino:

So far, the new Latino Spider-Man has not received a very friendly neighborhood welcome from the Marvel Universe faithful.

When Marvel introduced Miles Morales, a half-black, half-Latino teen, as the new Spider-Man earlier this month to replace the deceased Peter Parker in its “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” series, reaction was mixed. Some fans celebrated the changing of the guard.

“I am really excited about this new change,” wrote one on Marvel’s message board. “I am very curious on how Miles will develop.”

Others, however, were a lot more skeptical.

“It is wrong to kill off Peter and replace him with anyone,” wrote one fan. “Race does not matter; it is wrong no matter what the color. Peter Parker is Spider-Man.”

“If this new Spidey is gone in a year, then this is a cheap and insulting ploy to get readers,” wrote another true believer. “As a minority,...

Irish American commentator Michael Moore has urged actor Matt Damon to run against Obama in the Democratic primary in 2012 . The leftist documentary filmmaker was expressing his frustration with Obama in a discussion with the liberal politics blog Firedoglake when he suggested that the 40-year-old actor would be a good choice for the presidency, reports the Guardian. Moore called Damon's political stances in recent years courageous and urged him to run. Referencing actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan, Moore said: "The Republicans have certainly shown the way that when you run someone who is popular, you win. Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win." Moore's suggestion quickly spread through the media. ------------------ Read More: President Michele Bachmann? Obama must be smiling, Gop establishment distraught Michele Bachmann: The audacity of nope Robbie Keane has just hours to save the Galaxy – the transfer deal that is ------------------ Damon, who has taken a stand...

The line between Hollywood fame and political power is often blurred, so suggestions that the liberal actor might run can't be dismissed

Even in the increasingly wild world of American politics, it seemed an especially crazy idea: Matt Damon for president? After all, the handsome actor, whose boyish good looks belie the fact that he has just turned 40, is still best known for his early role in Good Will Hunting, where he played a working-class Bostonian.

Since then, he has won plaudits in Hollywood for solid work in films ranging from action flicks to Invictus, which told the story of post-apartheid South Africa's rugby World Cup triumph.

So why is Damon's name being mentioned in the context of the 2012 race for the White House and a possible liberal challenge to Barack Obama? The simple answer is to blame leftwing firebrand Michael Moore.

Moore, in a discussion with the liberal politics blog Firedoglake,...

A married TV personality has been granted a permanent gagging order at the High Court. Mr Justice Eady issued a permanent injunction yesterday to prevent the publication of compromising pictures of the star, described as a 'household name', with an unnamed woman. The judge ruled that the TV personality had a reasonable expectation of privacy and that the woman in the photographs owed the celebrity a duty of confidence. The court granted a permanent 'contra mundum' injunction, which applies to print and online media worldwide for an indefinite length of time. Contra mundum orders have previously been used to protect the identities of child killers such as Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were found guilty of the murder of James Bulger (more)...

Some parents are up in arms over an Sat question that demands knowledge of reality TV. But Kyle Spencer argues that keeping kids sequestered from the boob tube will hurt them later in life. Plus, College Board chief Laurence Bunin defends the essay prompt.

A week ago, my neighbor told me she was banning TV completely in her house. This worried me: Were her kids headed for the hard-charging Ivies, while mine were going to languish in ill-performing community colleges because they'd clocked too much time in front of the tube? I wrung my hands about this until the other day, when a now-infamous Sat question hit the Web.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Princeton's Woman Problem

That's when I breathed a sigh of relief-apparently, knowing the finer points of reality television would help my kids get into college.

Unbeknownst to themselves, the long-venerated College Board, whose members include 5,600 academic institutions,...

The goofy muscle photo, the cheesy Craigslist email exchange-Rep. Christopher Lee may be the first politician ever driven from office for an intention to cheat on his wife. Michelle Cottle on why he may not have gotten further than "lust in his heart."

Let us begin by acknowledging that a man trolling for dates online-or anywhere, really-who touts himself as "a fit fun classy guy" is almost certainly not. Fun and fit, maybe. But "classy" is pretty much a self-negating term, especially under the circumstances.

Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Race Backslide

Gallery: Ranking the Worst Political Sex Scandals

  And whatever one's political leanings, most of us can agree that a married congressman emailing a shirtless photo of himself to a woman to whom he has never spoken, but with whom he nonetheless hopes to get busy, is, by definition, too stupid to hold high public office.

Los Angeles, California (X17online) - The iconic swimsuit worn by the late Farrah Fawcett in the now-legendary pinup poster, which sold over 12 million copies in 1976, was donated by Ryan O'Neal Wednesday to the Smithsonian Institution's popular culture history collections. "If you were to list 10 images that are evocative of American pop culture, Farrah Fawcett would be one of them. That poster became one of the defining images of the 1970s," Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, told The Times. Fawcett's long time love O'Neal was at the 1976 poster shoot when it was taken. He also included an original copy of the poster, a leather-bound book of the actress' personal copies of scripts for the first season of Charlie's Angels, magazines with her on the cover, a Farrah doll, a Farrah jigsaw puzzle and a Farrah's Glamour Center hairstyling toy. The Charlie's Angels star...

Experts think she could pull it off.

By Gil Kaufman

Jennifer Lopez

Photo: MTV News

The roster of rumored replacement judges for season 10 of "American Idol" has read like, well, the line-up for one of the show's traditionally big season finales: Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Bret Michaels, Harry Connick Jr, Chris Isaak and Jessica Simpson.

All of the above have either been debunked or dropped off the radar in the days since their names were first floated, but the one that rose to the top on Thursday, according to multiple reports, might just have what it takes to fill in the Paula Abdul Memorial Chair in the wake of Ellen DeGeneres' departure: Jennifer Lopez.

Despite some head-scratching upon word that the former fly girl and singer/actress was in final negotiations to join the judge's panel, Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jessica Shaw said the choice makes some sense. "On the plus side,...

Close watchers of the show say they saw this 'difficult decision' coming.

By Gil Kaufman

"American Idol" season nine judges

Photo: Michael Becker/ Fox

Ellen DeGeneres was the first to admit that her first, and as it turns out, last, season on "American Idol" was not smooth sailing. In the statement announcing her departure from the show, the daytime talk queen and veteran comedienne copped to feeling uncomfortable criticizing young singers. "It was a difficult decision to make," DeGeneres said, "but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings."

MTV News reached out to its panel of "Idol" experts for reaction on Friday (July 30), and each member said they were not shocked that DeGeneres pulled the ripcord on her three-year contract.

It seems that with James Bulger's family, and other victims, there are still too many instances of them being pushed aside

Two significant people featured in the sentencing at the Old Bailey of Jon Venables last week. The first, obviously, was Venables, appearing via video link for his own safety, receiving two years for downloading and distributing indecent images of children, some as young as two, one showing the rape of an eight-year-old girl. Venables had also posed online as a mother selling her daughter to a paedophile for cash.

Terrible as all this was, the fact that Denise Fergus, previously Bulger, was also back in court, to watch, listen, "patrol", seemed positively heartbreaking. We all know who Denise is – the mother of two-year-old James Bulger, who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by two 10-year-olds, Robert Thompson, and Venables – known initially as "Child A" and "Child B" – in Bootle, Merseyside,...

'Crystal entered the competition as the clear front-runner and peaked too soon,' Jim Cantiello says.

By Gil Kaufman

Lee DeWyze

For much of season nine, MTV News' panel of experts felt pretty confident predicting that Crystal Bowersox could (and should) win the competition. Even going into Tuesday night's finale, and especially after it, when MamaSox delivered a vocal knockout blow to the clearly nervous Lee DeWyze, our prognosticators felt like the former busker from Northern Ohio would be the next Idol.

But after DeWyze pulled out a victory — by an unrevealed margin of votes — the response was pretty universal: Yeah, we thought Crystal should win but figured that Lee would.

"I thought Crystal would win, but I can't say I'm that surprised," said veteran "Idol" watcher Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly. "Crystal was a bit polarizing. For everyone who thought she was fantastic, there were clearly more who disliked...

While he might have a smaller audience, the ratings expectations will be much lower on cable.

By Gil Kaufman

Conan O'Brien

Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Once the shock of former "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien's move to basic-cabler TBS had worn off Monday (April 12), professional TV watchers began to dissect the latest surprise from the red-haired late-night stepchild.

"TBS would not have been the first place I'd have thought he would go, but in a way it makes sense," said Mary McNamara, TV critic for the Los Angeles Times. "The whole late-night landscape seems like it's at a crossroads now. I mean, how long can the Leno/Letterman thing go on? Conan didn't succeed there like he wanted to, and you can blame Jay, and I do, but he didn't get the bump he expected to from the younger audience, so now he's going to basic cable, where...

Movie written, directed and financed by independent film-maker James Nguyen packs out screenings

Most aspiring Hollywood directors have a clear-cut dream: packed premieres, adoring crowds, and the sort of feverish internet buzz among film nerds that a marketing budget simply cannot buy.

James Nguyen has achieved all that. But not quite in the way he expected. His horror film, Birdemic: Shock and Terror, is now being hailed as the worst film ever made. Indeed its sheer awfulness is at the core of its rapidly growing success.

The movie, which Nguyen wrote, directed and financed, describes a bloody surprise attack by lethal flocks of eagles and vultures. If the plot appears to owe more than just a little to Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic masterpiece, The Birds, then the directing and special effects do not.

Birdemic features acting as wooden as a tree, clunky camera work that amply illustrates Nguyen's budget of...

It’s no secret that his affairs have ruined his marriage to Sandra Bullock, but Jesse James’ television career may well be over as well.

According to a report, Spike TV has decided not to renew his show “Jesse James is a Dead Man” for further seasons.

Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson told press, "He seems one of this long string of people who get this spectacular moment of attention - every late night comic in America is talking about him. But the possibility of rallying that into any long term career is not very likely."

"The problem with a personality such as Jesse James you don't have a a lot of time to wait it out. By the time a network is ready to wade back into the Jesse James waters, there may not be a lot of interest in going back into those waters anyway. If I was a trader in celebrity futures,...

Instead of individual pages, all the contestants will communicate with fans through one season-nine account.

By James Montgomery

"American Idol" top ten females

Photo: Fox

Want to tweet Katie Stevens? Or become Facebook pals with Tim Urban? Well, it might be too late.

On Wednesday (March 3), "American Idol" producers put the kibosh on season nine's grand social-networking experiment, consolidating the contestants' individual Twitter and Facebook accounts into a pair of official, show-related pages.

At roughly 6 p.m. Et, every season-nine hopeful sent out a generic tweet, advising fans that "all my updates from now on will be on our Official 'American Idol' 9 Contestant Page ... @AI9Contestants." And on each individual Facebook account, a message was posted that read, "Thanks so much for joining my Fan Page! All my updates from now on will be on our Official American Idol 9 Contestant Page, please become a fan there to read...

Unlike past years, semifinalists can now use social-media sites during the season.

By Gil Kaufman

Photo: Facebook/Fox/Twitter

Up until this year, when an "American Idol" hopeful made it to Hollywood and beyond, he or she had to maintain a strict radio silence or risk being booted from the show for blabbing. But on Wednesday night, as season nine's top 24 were announced, "Idol" brass also revealed that this year's semifinalists would be allowed to post to "Idol"-approved MySpace, Facebook and Twitter pages, a potentially monumental thaw in the "Idol" universe.

"I think it's a great idea," said longtime "Idol" follower Mj Santilli, who runs one of the leading "Idol" fan sites, MJsBigBlog.com. "[It's] a way for the contestants to keep in touch with their fans and reveal parts of their personalities we don't see on the show. For instance, I never realized what a great sense of humor...

Alums Megan Joy and Nikki McKibbin note the many benefits 'Idol' stardom offers young moms and dads.

By Gil Kaufman

Megan Joy

Photo: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/ Wireimage

This year's "American Idol" audition rounds presented a veritable baby boom of young parents aiming for their shot at stardom, often with a newborn or adorable moppet on their hip or clutching too-cute-for-words crayon pictures for the judges.

From the hyper-focused Andrew Garcia, himself the son of former Los Angeles gangbangers, who is in search of a better life for his own young boy, to hulking personal trainer and expectant father Michael Lynche, who might have already washed out because his father allegedly blabbed about his Hollywood experience to a local Florida paper, moms and dads were featured in nearly every audition episode for season nine.

There was scratchy-voiced rocker girl Danelle Hayes, who wanted to make it on "Idol" so...

Jay Leno is taking over "The Tonight Show" again March 1 -- and David Letterman is sharpening his knife. The two late-night hosts have been hurling rocks at each for the last two weeks in a feud so bitter and so personal, no one in TV can remember anything like it before. "When they all come back, this whole story needs a third act and that's going to be addressed on March 1," says Syracuse University media professor Robert Thompson. NBC Should Sell DVDs Of Conan's Final...

'There's a good chance of saying something really stupid,' expert says of micro-blogging service.

By Gil Kaufman

Chris Brown

Photo: Stephen Shugerman/ Getty Images

Years from now, Chris Brown's decision to delete his Twitter account might serve as an example of the moment the micro-blogging service began to eat its own tail. After being touted as a revolutionary means for artists to stay in touch with fans and update their thousands (and, in some cases, million or more) followers on their every move, Brown's epic Twittercide provided proof that sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Brown signed off of Twitter unexpectedly on Monday, following a weekend of expletive-spiked posts against music retailers and a music industry he alleged was "blackballing" him and under-promoting his new album, Graffiti.

Less than a day after alleging that a particular Walmart in Connecticut was not stocking his disc — claims...

Hollyoaks actor Kevin Sacre has voiced support for the soap's controversial child killer storyline. Next week, it will be revealed that former pole dancer Loretta Jones, played by Melissa Walton, killed a 12-year-old girl when she was the same age. Her shocking secret comes back to haunt her when old friend and accomplice Chrissy (Amber Hodgkiss) turns up in the village. The Channel 4 show's producers have faced criticism over the plot due to allegations that it mirrors the real-life case of James Bulger, who was killed at the age of 2 by 10-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson 16 years ago. However, Sacre, who plays Loretta's love interest Jake Dean, has now argued that the programme's bosses are making the right decision by tackling such a sensitive subject matter. Speaking to Pa, (more)...

"The Oprah Winfrey Show," an iconic broadcast that grew over two decades into a daytime television powerhouse and the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey's production company said Thursday night.Winfrey plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast on Friday, Harpo Productions Inc. said, bringing an end to what has been television's top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.A Harpo spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday on Winfrey's future plans except to say that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will not move to cable television.Winfrey, 55, is widely expected to start up a new talk show on Own: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc.

A man dressed up as KFC mascot Colonel Sanders has evaded security to be photographed with the new president of the Un General Assembly. Actor Robert Thompson was snapped with Ali Treki as part of a publicity stunt from the fast food chain, which is supposedly lobbying for the recognition of its 'Grilled Nation', Canwest News Service reports. Michele Montas, a spokeswoman for secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, said: "It should not have happened - that I will stress, and very strongly. There was some lapse in security and the individual in question (more)...

A group of performers in Merseyside are to release their own version of Michael Jackson's hit song 'Heal The World' to raise money for an appeal set up in memory of murdered toddler James Bulger. The late singer gave his permission for the project to go ahead before his death on June 25, the Liverpool Daily Post reports. Bulger was 2 years old when he was abducted and killed by 10-year-old boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993. His mother Denise Fergus, from Kirkby, Merseyside has since set up the James Bulger Red Balloon Centre Appeal to raise funds for a learner centre for bullied children who cannot attend mainstream schools. Fergus commented: "[Michael] was aware of James as he sent a personal (more)...

Michael Jackson wanted to meet the killers of toddler James Bulger and tell them that he "loved" them, according to reports today. The star is said to have made the confession during recorded interviews with his close friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is publishing transcripts of the conversations in a new book called The Michael Jackson Tapes. Bulger was abducted from a shopping centre in Merseyside by ten-year-old boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993. The pair then tortured the 2-year-old to death before leaving his body on a railway line. According to The Daily Telegraph, Jackson told Boteach that he once had an argument with his first wife Lisa Marie Presley when he discussed his desire to meet the killers. The late singer is quoted as saying: (more)...

Michael Jackson's 11-year-old daughter provided emotional highlight of the service.

By Gil Kaufman

Paris Jackson surrounded by Jackson family members as she speaks at the Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center on Tuesday

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

On a day full of memorable moments, it was the one that everyone was talking about on Tuesday, the one that brought tears to so many eyes. It was the first time the world heard Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, speak. The 11-year-old broke her silence at the end of the memorial service for her late father in a speech that was reportedly unscripted.

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, breaking down in tears as her aunt, Janet Jackson, comforted her. According to close family friend the Reverend Al Sharpton — who also stirred hearts with a fiery eulogy in...

NBC unveiled a flurry of midseason promos during its presentation of Sunday's mega-rated Super Bowl Xliii, a mix of ads that tried to get noticed amid the most lavish marketing efforts Madison Avenue had to offer.

The network launched the first commercial for its new Amy Poehler comedy (also revealing the show's title, "Parks and Recreation"), a teaser for Jay Leno moving to 10 p.m. and a special effects-filled ad that combined "Heroes" and football.

"I thought they did an excellent job of promoting 'Chuck' and 'Heroes,' " media analyst Jack Myers said. "The ads driving immediate tune-in worked; the ads driving overall brand awareness, while well-produced and interesting and attractive, I don't think will change anything."

Adam Stotsky, NBC's president of entertainment marketing, said the network's strategy was to embrace high-concept ideas that could compete visually with regular ads.

"The mission was: How do we make our promos Super Bowl-worthy?...

Global banks sit in crisis. Mortgage-holders sit in default. Bernie Madoff sits in his apartment. And Hollywood wonders whether it might be sitting on a storytelling goldmine.

A host of film projects in the indie and studio worlds are gaining momentum just as the biggest economic crisis in decades boils over. From giant studios to startups you've never heard of, from name-brand directors to up-and-comers, there's something swimming in development waters, and it's a story of economic woe.

"I wouldn't say it's a feeding frenzy just yet," one agent said. "But some development people I've talked to have let it be known that, if you do have these ideas, they will rise to the top of the pile."

Unlike the television world, where plot elements can go from conception to the screen in a matter of months -- shows including "Ugly Betty" and "Desperate Housewives" have added recession story lines in recent episodes -- the film world takes much longer to see stories through.

But that hasn't stopped companies from pushing forward.

Fox has restarted long-rumored talk of a "Wall Street" sequel, more than two decades after the era-defining original, though Oliver Stone's picture was set in and released into a world still in a bubble of economic prosperity. The studio has hired Allan Loeb to pen a new draft and intends the pic as a social comment of sorts: Gordon Gekko entering a world too cutthroat even for him.