Welcome to the April 6, 2015 edition of Outrage Watch, HitFix's (almost) daily rundown of all the things folks are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story: Mindy Kaling...'s brother has come under fire for some dumb stunt. After revealing on his blog AlmostBlack.com that he got into medical school 15 years ago only after pretending to be African-American -- and that he plans to write a memoir about his experiences -- the "Mindy Project" star's older brother Vijay Chokal-Ingam has become the target of criticism from folks who aren't too happy with his affirmative action-bashing. His most prominent critic may be his famous sister, who allegedly told Chokal-Ingam that his revelation would “bring shame on the family.” "Frankly, I think it’s kind of funny that Chokal-Ingam’s point seems to be that affirmative action is bad, but apparently riding on your sister’s coattails is just dandy," writes Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams,...
- 4/6/2015
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
Welcome to the March 10, 2015 edition of Outrage Watch, HitFix's (almost) daily rundown of all the things folks are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story: seems Madonna is having her Patricia Arquette moment. “Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights," said the superstar in a new interview with Out magazine. She added: "It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women. Women are still the most marginalized group." Uh-oh. "Dating Tupac — and Basquiat — doesn’t make you an authority on the black experience, and being interviewed in Out doesn’t make you intimate with the gay one," snipes Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams. "Madonna’s words stall progress for all social movements when she turns the fight for equality into a competition," gripes Carbonated.tv's Jessica Renae Buxbaum.
- 3/13/2015
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
It might be hard to recall, but the film that has now become a beloved holiday classic was one that initially received a flurry of mixed reviews when it was released a decade ago. "The worst Christmas movie ever," wrote Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon, and she wasn't the only one who wasn't feeling the holiday spirit. In honor of its anniversary, here are some of the not-so-favorable reviews.Bill Nighy was the best part."Most hilariously of all, Bill Nighy salts up the Christmas-eve-countdown scenarios as a spent, self-loathing rock star making a comeback with a seasonal revamp of his old hit, and his blisteringly honest media blitz stands as the film's only, badly needed chord of cynicism." —Michael Atkinson, Village Voice "It helps that the great Bill Nighy nails every comic line as an aging rocker who claims Britney Spears was a lousy lay. Nighy's rocker refers to...
- 11/14/2013
- by Lindsey Weber
- Vulture
In the aftermath of the Aurora theater shooting, which has left 12 dead and dozens injured, some fans who were eager to see "Dark Knight Rises" are now putting their plans on hold out of fear of copycat shooters.
On Friday morning, Warner Bros Studios took the lead by canceling the film's Paris premiere and released the following statement to the press:
"Warner Bros. is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time."
Regular screenings of the film will go on as scheduled and some fans, such as Joey Garcia of Texas, are undeterred by the tragedy. "I actually plan on watching the film today," he told Fox News. "It's terrible what happened but you can't cease to live your life out of fear of what may happen.”
Others, aren't quite so eager...
On Friday morning, Warner Bros Studios took the lead by canceling the film's Paris premiere and released the following statement to the press:
"Warner Bros. is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time."
Regular screenings of the film will go on as scheduled and some fans, such as Joey Garcia of Texas, are undeterred by the tragedy. "I actually plan on watching the film today," he told Fox News. "It's terrible what happened but you can't cease to live your life out of fear of what may happen.”
Others, aren't quite so eager...
- 7/20/2012
- by Stephanie Marcus
- Huffington Post
"'Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart': Filmic Horror, Popular Religion and the Spectral Underside of History," an essay that appeared in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture in 2005, piqued Michael Guillén's interest in its author, Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, "a native Montrealer and 'monster kid' who teaches courses on genre cinema and monsters in the Humanities department of John Abbott College." So they met up a few weeks ago at the Fantasia International Film Festival and Michael's transcription of their conversation — touching on national identities, filmmakers who straddle the high and the low, "the knowledge systems of ordinary people" and more — is one of the week's best reads, which is why I wanted to point it out right at the top of this little roundup of horror-related items.
The splashiest of these will surely be Jason Zinoman's survey of "a diverse collection of filmmakers about the scariest movie they'd...
The splashiest of these will surely be Jason Zinoman's survey of "a diverse collection of filmmakers about the scariest movie they'd...
- 8/21/2011
- MUBI
It's male timidity not chauvinism that has let women down on screen. But Bridesmaids has liberated them at last
Plenty of people seem to think that Bridesmaids is "groundbreaking". There's less consensus about what ground is actually being broken.
For some, the film marks a breakthrough for feminism. A mainstream comedy written by women, in which women dominate the action and men are pushed to the margins, has wowed both the critics and the public. It's incontrovertibly funny, and that's to be considered no mere laughing matter.
The assertion that women have no sense of humour has long been seen as a patriarchal slight. So, the devastating female-delivered quips in Bridesmaids make the film "more feminist than Thelma and Louise" for Zoe Williams. Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams goes further. Bridesmaids, she assures us, is "your first black president of female-driven comedies".
Others, however, take the opposite view and brand the film a landmark in misogyny.
Plenty of people seem to think that Bridesmaids is "groundbreaking". There's less consensus about what ground is actually being broken.
For some, the film marks a breakthrough for feminism. A mainstream comedy written by women, in which women dominate the action and men are pushed to the margins, has wowed both the critics and the public. It's incontrovertibly funny, and that's to be considered no mere laughing matter.
The assertion that women have no sense of humour has long been seen as a patriarchal slight. So, the devastating female-delivered quips in Bridesmaids make the film "more feminist than Thelma and Louise" for Zoe Williams. Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams goes further. Bridesmaids, she assures us, is "your first black president of female-driven comedies".
Others, however, take the opposite view and brand the film a landmark in misogyny.
- 6/27/2011
- by David Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Universal Kristen Wiig in “Bridesmaids”
Can a Judd Apatow-produced film appeal as much to women as it does to men? The answer appears to be yes if you’ve got a gang of crack female comedians as the stars. “Bridesmaids” depicts the relationship between Annie (Kristen Wiig) and the women around her against the backdrop of her best friend’s wedding. Like “The Hangover,” the film offers plenty of raunchy gags, but they’re tinged with enough sophistication and sweetness that critics are delighted.
Can a Judd Apatow-produced film appeal as much to women as it does to men? The answer appears to be yes if you’ve got a gang of crack female comedians as the stars. “Bridesmaids” depicts the relationship between Annie (Kristen Wiig) and the women around her against the backdrop of her best friend’s wedding. Like “The Hangover,” the film offers plenty of raunchy gags, but they’re tinged with enough sophistication and sweetness that critics are delighted.
- 5/13/2011
- by Julie Steinberg
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Did you hear the rumor? The word on the street is that geek culture is dead. I know, you're confused. "But, but," you cry out, "geek culture is everywhere!" It's true, geek culture is in ur summer blockbusters, plastered on ur ironic tees and messing with ur sentence structure. But that's the point, I guess, fellow geeks, now that we're mainstream, we're nothing. This was the thrust of Patton Oswalt's recent and much-lauded article for Wired magazine where he lamented:
Our below-the-topsoil passions have been rudely dug up and displayed in the noonday sun. The Lord of the Rings used to be ours and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books. Twenty years later, the entire cast and crew would be trooping onstage at the Oscars to collect their statuettes, and replicas of the One Ring would be sold as bling.
But, listen, my geek friends,...
Our below-the-topsoil passions have been rudely dug up and displayed in the noonday sun. The Lord of the Rings used to be ours and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books. Twenty years later, the entire cast and crew would be trooping onstage at the Oscars to collect their statuettes, and replicas of the One Ring would be sold as bling.
But, listen, my geek friends,...
- 5/11/2011
- by Joanna Robinson
Charlie Sheen's abuse of his bosses, flaunting of his sex life and Twitter psychobabble have made endless headlines, but mask a sad story of violence and abuse
For one small radio station, desperate for publicity and better ratings, getting actor Charlie Sheen on air must have seemed worth any stunt. So the producers at Wired 96.5 FM in Philadelphia hired a plane to fly over the actor's Beverly Hills home, trailing a banner that announced its love for him and included a phone number. "Call us 4 ur next role," it said.
Sheen, of course, spotted the plane last Thursday morning. So he called in. Twice. And so a previously obscure radio station thousands of miles from Sheen's home inserted itself into the orgy of coverage of his spectacularly public apparent breakdown. Sheen spewed his now trademark gibberish. "You guys are radicals! You hatched this brainstorm like the Vatican assassins that you are,...
For one small radio station, desperate for publicity and better ratings, getting actor Charlie Sheen on air must have seemed worth any stunt. So the producers at Wired 96.5 FM in Philadelphia hired a plane to fly over the actor's Beverly Hills home, trailing a banner that announced its love for him and included a phone number. "Call us 4 ur next role," it said.
Sheen, of course, spotted the plane last Thursday morning. So he called in. Twice. And so a previously obscure radio station thousands of miles from Sheen's home inserted itself into the orgy of coverage of his spectacularly public apparent breakdown. Sheen spewed his now trademark gibberish. "You guys are radicals! You hatched this brainstorm like the Vatican assassins that you are,...
- 3/6/2011
- by Paul Harris
- The Guardian - Film News
Twitter event of the weekend: Neko Case protesting that "ladies in bands don't get any action," soliciting fellow lady-rockers to back her up because "no one believes this," and then getting widespread affirmation from her peers, including Michelle Branch ("So True!") and Miranda Brown of Crooked Fingers, who reported, "I have gotten laid exactly one time on tour, and it was an ex. laaaaame," then specified, "an ex with coke dick." These are all good-looking women (just check out Neko Case looking good right up there), so what's the problem? At Salon, Mary Elizabeth Williams provides a nice overview of the discussion, then speculates that power dynamics and the fact that female groupies are considered less threatening by security guards than male groupies are to blame. Sounds plausible. In any event, Neko Case's Twitter feed is [...]...
- 2/22/2011
- Nerve
First of all, my little ghostbusters and mutant plants, I'll stop nicknaming you only when my tube of Love Spackle runs dry. So. . .not any time soon. Also, I realized after I wrote it that today's headline might give you the impression that Rick Moranis had shuffled off this mortal coil. This is not the case. He's just been retired forever and I miss him. More on that later. First, some of that serious, hard-hitting linkage you've come to expect from me.
Have I made my desperate love for Jurassic Park plain? If I have, you won't be surprised when I tell you that this nearly hour-long clip of the famous John Williams theme (a film score Is real music, haters) slowed down 1,000% made me very, very happy. And I played it a few times last night. So here it is, hold on to your butts. (Geekologie)
Have you met the gorgeous,...
Have I made my desperate love for Jurassic Park plain? If I have, you won't be surprised when I tell you that this nearly hour-long clip of the famous John Williams theme (a film score Is real music, haters) slowed down 1,000% made me very, very happy. And I played it a few times last night. So here it is, hold on to your butts. (Geekologie)
Have you met the gorgeous,...
- 2/1/2011
- by Joanna Robinson
A grisly collection of autopsy tools used to prepare Elvis Presley's body has been removed from auction after doubts were raised about their provenance and authenticity.Chicago-based Leslie Hindman Auctioneers last week said rubber gloves, forceps, lip brushes, a comb, eye liner, needle injectors, and a toe tag, all of which were used on Presley ahead of his funeral in 1977, would go on sale on August 12.The instruments were said to have been saved for years by an anonymous, retired embalmer at the Memphis Funeral Home. The auctioneer estimated a sale price of up to $14,000.But Mary Williams, a spokeswoman for the auction house, said the instruments had been withdrawn from auction after the funeral operator laid claim to them."Due to questions of ownership, the retired embalmer and his son have decided to turn over the property to the Memphis Funeral Home and its parent company, Service Corporation International,...
- 7/25/2010
- Filmicafe
Some critics find the fourth film in the franchise refreshing; others say it's full of 'contrived mania.'
By Eric Ditzian
The summer-movie season is a bastion of review-proof franchise flicks. First "Iron Man 2," and soon "Toy Story 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" — all these films and more were essentially guaranteed mega-box-office openings as soon as they got a green light.
Of course, that hasn't stopped critics from weighing in with opinions, positive and negative. Such is the case with "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and final installment of the green-ogre franchise. Hype it or slam it, the 3-D animated kids' movie might well pass the $100 million threshold during its opening weekend (which kicked off on Friday, May 21). Nonetheless, parents and their little ones want to know the bottom line: Does "Forever After" live up to the bar set by the previous installments?
Absolutely, argues Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post.
By Eric Ditzian
The summer-movie season is a bastion of review-proof franchise flicks. First "Iron Man 2," and soon "Toy Story 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" — all these films and more were essentially guaranteed mega-box-office openings as soon as they got a green light.
Of course, that hasn't stopped critics from weighing in with opinions, positive and negative. Such is the case with "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and final installment of the green-ogre franchise. Hype it or slam it, the 3-D animated kids' movie might well pass the $100 million threshold during its opening weekend (which kicked off on Friday, May 21). Nonetheless, parents and their little ones want to know the bottom line: Does "Forever After" live up to the bar set by the previous installments?
Absolutely, argues Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post.
- 5/21/2010
- MTV Movie News
Some critics find the fourth film in the franchise refreshing; others say it's full of 'contrived mania.'
By Eric Ditzian
The summer-movie season is a bastion of review-proof franchise flicks. First "Iron Man 2," and soon "Toy Story 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" — all these films and more were essentially guaranteed mega-box-office openings as soon as they got a green light.
Of course, that hasn't stopped critics from weighing in with opinions, positive and negative. Such is the case with "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and final installment of the green-ogre franchise. Hype it or slam it, the 3-D animated kids' movie might well pass the $100 million threshold during its opening weekend (which kicked off on Friday, May 21). Nonetheless, parents and their little ones want to know the bottom line: Does "Forever After" live up to the bar set by the previous installments?
Absolutely, argues Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post.
By Eric Ditzian
The summer-movie season is a bastion of review-proof franchise flicks. First "Iron Man 2," and soon "Toy Story 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" — all these films and more were essentially guaranteed mega-box-office openings as soon as they got a green light.
Of course, that hasn't stopped critics from weighing in with opinions, positive and negative. Such is the case with "Shrek Forever After," the fourth and final installment of the green-ogre franchise. Hype it or slam it, the 3-D animated kids' movie might well pass the $100 million threshold during its opening weekend (which kicked off on Friday, May 21). Nonetheless, parents and their little ones want to know the bottom line: Does "Forever After" live up to the bar set by the previous installments?
Absolutely, argues Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post.
- 5/21/2010
- MTV Music News
It's been said by many, including the editors of Smith magazine, that a six-word memoir can be a lot like an epitaph, the ultimate summation of one's life. We just launched a new six-word challenge: What's your six-word obituary for Michael Jackson? Leave your six words for Mj either at Smith, or, if that's too much work, as a comment here. Our three favorite entries win the six-word memoir book of their choice. The contest ends on Tuesday, June 30 at 5pm Est (note: the contest was going to end today at 5pm, but the responses have been too inspired to stop now). Since we set this one loose on Twitter--with six-word maven Mary Elizabeth Williams immediately replying wit "From ABC to Pyt to Rip."--yesterday, we've had some great responses. "Ebony to ivory, strutting in zero-g." - Steve Silberman...
- 6/29/2009
- by Larry Smith
- Huffington Post
For those who don’t know one of the 3.1 million people who were foreclosed on in the U.S. last year, the face of the subprime lending crisis may be limited to an incoherent interview on the news, or even just a dot on a rapidly filling map online. But before they were buyers, they were happy homeowners, many of them for the first time. Salon.com writer Mary Elizabeth Williams describes their roller coaster in sometimes excruciating detail in her first book, Gimme Shelter. A longtime resident of San Francisco, Williams became even more fiercely attached to ...
- 3/26/2009
- avclub.com
For those who don’t know one of the 3.1 million people who were foreclosed on in the U.S. last year, the face of the subprime lending crisis may be limited to an incoherent interview on the news, or even just a dot on a rapidly filling map online. But before they were buyers, they were happy homeowners, many of them for the first time. Salon.com writer Mary Elizabeth Williams describes their roller coaster in sometimes excruciating detail in her first book, Gimme Shelter. A longtime resident of San Francisco, Williams became even more fiercely attached to ...
- 3/26/2009
- avclub.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.