While there are some uniquely Hollywood issues at the core of the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes, they’re in many ways a reflection of broader economic issues in the U.S.
In a wide-ranging conversation about the strikes and the recent spotlight on C-suite pay in Hollywood, Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and co-founder of Inequality Media and the Economic Policy Institute, explained how the rise of monopolies and relative disappearance of unions has created market conditions primed to enhance economic disparity.
“The real power with regard to the entertainment industry is in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta,” Reich explains. “These giant technology firms are moving into the entertainment space at a very rapid clip. The firms I just mentioned have a total capitalization of over $8 trillion. To put that in context, $8 trillion is more than the entire national products of every country in the world,...
In a wide-ranging conversation about the strikes and the recent spotlight on C-suite pay in Hollywood, Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and co-founder of Inequality Media and the Economic Policy Institute, explained how the rise of monopolies and relative disappearance of unions has created market conditions primed to enhance economic disparity.
“The real power with regard to the entertainment industry is in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta,” Reich explains. “These giant technology firms are moving into the entertainment space at a very rapid clip. The firms I just mentioned have a total capitalization of over $8 trillion. To put that in context, $8 trillion is more than the entire national products of every country in the world,...
- 8/10/2023
- by Ashley Cullins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As Hollywood actors and writers strike together for the first time in more than half a century, executive pay is in the spotlight. Talent are posting residuals checks barely worth the postage it cost to mail them alongside captions criticizing Hollywood execs’ eight-figure pay packages.
SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America didn’t strike because of C-suite pay, of course, but the optics of such disparity are fueling the flames.
“What’s happening right now in Hollywood is a microcosm for what’s happening across America,” says Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute. CEOs of major corporations often earn hundreds of times the salary of the typical worker, he notes, and some entertainment companies have ratios even more jarring.
“Is this fair? Fairness is in the eyes of the beholder, obviously, but it certainly doesn’t feel it and it...
SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America didn’t strike because of C-suite pay, of course, but the optics of such disparity are fueling the flames.
“What’s happening right now in Hollywood is a microcosm for what’s happening across America,” says Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute. CEOs of major corporations often earn hundreds of times the salary of the typical worker, he notes, and some entertainment companies have ratios even more jarring.
“Is this fair? Fairness is in the eyes of the beholder, obviously, but it certainly doesn’t feel it and it...
- 8/3/2023
- by Ashley Cullins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On June 2, The Atlantic published a deeply reported look at the rocky tenure of Chris Licht, who took over as chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide last year. The colorful 15,000-word profile features his unvarnished opinions, as well as intimate access, including a morning session with the polarizing executive’s physical trainer, who Licht refers to as his “one-man focus group.”
Staff writer Tim Alberta drew out his subject over a period of months, during which an embattled Licht has dealt with a series of tumultuous episodes at CNN, including anchor Don Lemon’s departure and a poorly received town hall event with former president Donald Trump. The article portrays a brash manager struggling to lead the news division of a media conglomerate amid widespread distrust among his rank-and-file while also catering to the whims of his own fickle, meddling boss: Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav.
These days, rigorous,...
Staff writer Tim Alberta drew out his subject over a period of months, during which an embattled Licht has dealt with a series of tumultuous episodes at CNN, including anchor Don Lemon’s departure and a poorly received town hall event with former president Donald Trump. The article portrays a brash manager struggling to lead the news division of a media conglomerate amid widespread distrust among his rank-and-file while also catering to the whims of his own fickle, meddling boss: Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav.
These days, rigorous,...
- 6/2/2023
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bill Walton feels things more intensely than just about any human being on the planet. The former basketball star – a legend in college and the pros – communes with nature at almost a cellular level, taking in the beauty of his beloved Oregon, for instance, with rapt pleasure. He can tell you perhaps every body of water in the state, and its metaphorical significance (a river he compares to a fast-break in basketball).
There’s his ardor for the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and many other musicians; fandom for Paul Krugman, Timothy Egan, Robert Reich – “everything they write.”
UCLA Bruins’ Bill Walton on the cover of The Sporting News February 23, 1974.
It’s not just the present Walton feels intensely. That goes for the past, too. For example, the January 19, 1974 game when UCLA lost to Notre Dame 71-70, ending the Bruins’ unprecedented (and still never matched) 88-game winning streak. “Worst game ever,...
There’s his ardor for the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and many other musicians; fandom for Paul Krugman, Timothy Egan, Robert Reich – “everything they write.”
UCLA Bruins’ Bill Walton on the cover of The Sporting News February 23, 1974.
It’s not just the present Walton feels intensely. That goes for the past, too. For example, the January 19, 1974 game when UCLA lost to Notre Dame 71-70, ending the Bruins’ unprecedented (and still never matched) 88-game winning streak. “Worst game ever,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Greetings from Variety Awards Headquarters! Today is June 27, 2022, which means Emmy nomination round voting ends today. From there, it’s 15 days until Emmy nominations are announced on July 12; then 46 days until final round voting begins on August 12, followed by 62 days until final round voting ends on August 22 . Then comes the finales: It’s 68 days until the Creative Arts Emmys kicks off its two-night event on September 3; and then it’s 77 days until the 74th Emmy Awards takes place, live on NBC, September 12.
Listen, it’s obviously hard to put this newsletter out this week when the Supreme Court has just declared a war on women, stealing away their Constitutional right to autonomy over their own bodies… and promising that more rulings that curb other hard-fought freedoms may soon also be taken away. It’s the darkest time for this country, and sometimes it feels helpless as the fascist right-wing has...
Listen, it’s obviously hard to put this newsletter out this week when the Supreme Court has just declared a war on women, stealing away their Constitutional right to autonomy over their own bodies… and promising that more rulings that curb other hard-fought freedoms may soon also be taken away. It’s the darkest time for this country, and sometimes it feels helpless as the fascist right-wing has...
- 6/27/2022
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Just days after Fox made a portfolio pitch to advertisers at its upfront showcasing Fox shows, including The Simpsons, and Fox News in the same breath, Matt Groenig & Co. shot back.
Sunday night’s season finale of The Simpsons called out Fox News and Facebook for spreading misinformation, stoking fear and, well, a fondness for dictators.
At one point, a Tucker Carlson-like character is shown saying, “Putin for president, next on Fox News.”
At another point the lyrics, “Facebook feeds our fright. They convince us things were great when gas was cheap and men were white” are heard as a Mark Zuckerberg-like character presses a red button that reads “death of democracy.”
There’s also an eight-minute song and dance in which a musically-gifted janitor — voiced by High Jackman — helps Bart tune in to the collapse of the U.S. middle class.
“I’m saying you’ll definitely...
Sunday night’s season finale of The Simpsons called out Fox News and Facebook for spreading misinformation, stoking fear and, well, a fondness for dictators.
At one point, a Tucker Carlson-like character is shown saying, “Putin for president, next on Fox News.”
At another point the lyrics, “Facebook feeds our fright. They convince us things were great when gas was cheap and men were white” are heard as a Mark Zuckerberg-like character presses a red button that reads “death of democracy.”
There’s also an eight-minute song and dance in which a musically-gifted janitor — voiced by High Jackman — helps Bart tune in to the collapse of the U.S. middle class.
“I’m saying you’ll definitely...
- 5/24/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Simpsons” took aim at the Fox Corporation on Sunday in a musical number about the death of the U.S. middle class, during the finale of its 33rd season. At one point, the show pointed its criticism to the ever-controversial Tucker Carlson, who at one point in the number says “Putin for president, next on Fox News.”
The number was led by Hugh Jackman and economist Robert Reich, who challenged Bart on his belief that his father Homer’s job at the local nuclear power plant is a source of inspiration. As Lisa raps at one point, “You’ll never have the life our flabby dad had, what can he do that a robot can’t?”
“That job you see now needs a PhD / While paying student loans leaves you in poverty / No brand new car / No fancy house / No hot dinners cooked by your stay-at-home spouse / You’re...
The number was led by Hugh Jackman and economist Robert Reich, who challenged Bart on his belief that his father Homer’s job at the local nuclear power plant is a source of inspiration. As Lisa raps at one point, “You’ll never have the life our flabby dad had, what can he do that a robot can’t?”
“That job you see now needs a PhD / While paying student loans leaves you in poverty / No brand new car / No fancy house / No hot dinners cooked by your stay-at-home spouse / You’re...
- 5/23/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.
The Simpsons Season 33 Episode 22
Even with the ever-delightful Hugh Jackman at his most Broadway melodic as a magical singing janitor, “Poorhouse Rock” is the most punk episode The Simpsons has offered in a long time. It’s like having Johnny Rotten narratively croon a “Schoolhouse Rock” with the ultimate lesson: There’s no future for you.
Of course, The Simpsons would never make such a blatant musical choice for its most anarchic episode. The song suite which centers the episode is catchy, dammit, because the creators want it to get stuck in the audience’s head. Although, Robert Reich is probably not the most obvious choice for an earworm. The Simpsons, which began as an equal opportunity offender of political sensitivities, has firmly committed itself to progressive parody. They lay it out straight, targeting a large portion of their own audience, and the studio which keeps them gainfully employed.
The Simpsons Season 33 Episode 22
Even with the ever-delightful Hugh Jackman at his most Broadway melodic as a magical singing janitor, “Poorhouse Rock” is the most punk episode The Simpsons has offered in a long time. It’s like having Johnny Rotten narratively croon a “Schoolhouse Rock” with the ultimate lesson: There’s no future for you.
Of course, The Simpsons would never make such a blatant musical choice for its most anarchic episode. The song suite which centers the episode is catchy, dammit, because the creators want it to get stuck in the audience’s head. Although, Robert Reich is probably not the most obvious choice for an earworm. The Simpsons, which began as an equal opportunity offender of political sensitivities, has firmly committed itself to progressive parody. They lay it out straight, targeting a large portion of their own audience, and the studio which keeps them gainfully employed.
- 5/23/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Bridgerton — sorry, make that Tunnelton — fever hits Springfield in Sunday’s season finale of The Simpsons (Fox, 8/7c).
TVLine has an exclusive sneak peek of the episode, which finds Marge and her motley crew of gal pals — Sarah Wiggum, Bernice Hibbert, Miss Hoover and Luann Van Houten — collectively foaming at the mouth while bingeing their new streaming addiction.
More from TVLineBob's Burgers Finale: Tina's Diary Holds Disturbing Secrets in Sneak PeekFall TV Schedule 2022: What's on When? And Versus What?The Resident EP Explains That Conrad Cliffhanger, Teases Its 'Unexpected' Resolution in Season 6 Premiere
“The Springfield ladies had a marvelous...
TVLine has an exclusive sneak peek of the episode, which finds Marge and her motley crew of gal pals — Sarah Wiggum, Bernice Hibbert, Miss Hoover and Luann Van Houten — collectively foaming at the mouth while bingeing their new streaming addiction.
More from TVLineBob's Burgers Finale: Tina's Diary Holds Disturbing Secrets in Sneak PeekFall TV Schedule 2022: What's on When? And Versus What?The Resident EP Explains That Conrad Cliffhanger, Teases Its 'Unexpected' Resolution in Season 6 Premiere
“The Springfield ladies had a marvelous...
- 5/20/2022
- by Andy Swift
- TVLine.com
The Simpsons “How on Earth does Homer support his family as well as he does?” asks co-executive producer Tim Long. That excellent question gets explored tonight as Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) attempts to school Bart (Nancy Cartwright) on the value of money. Also, Music Man Hugh Jackman guest stars as a magical janitor—who sings with ex–Secretary of Labor Robert Reich about economic disparity! The Simpsons, Season Finale, Friday, May 20, 8/7c, Fox The Great North This Father’s Day finale—a Tobin family trip to an Rv park—shows pop Beef (Nick Offerman) “in a new light,” cocreators Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin hint. Enter: bad boy Beef! The Great North, Season Finale, Friday, May 20, 8:30/7:30c, Fox Bob’s Burgers An upset Tina (Dan Mintz) escapes into her journal and writes sci-fi fantasies in a two-part Blade Runner–inspired ender. “We wanted to see what happens when...
- 5/20/2022
- TV Insider
Updated: Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (NY) took to Twitter today in support of the IATSE strike authorization.
“Full support and solidarity to @IATSE workers in their vote to authorize a strike,” wrote Ocasio-Cortez. She called the 90% turnout with 98% voting “Yes” an “incredible accomplishment.”
Aoc said the vote was “exactly the kind of mass-movement organizing we need right now,” before finishing with a hopeful, “May your example inspire others!”
While the New York Democrat did not sign last week’s letter from over 100 members of Congress calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to negotiate a fair contract with IATSE, Deadline later learned from her spokesperson that the Congresswoman is “supportive of the strike.” The tweet today to her 12.7 million followers is further evidence of that.
Additionally Rep. Adam Schiff — whose district stretches fro Tujunga to Pasadena to West Hollywood and who led last week’s letter campaign — shared...
“Full support and solidarity to @IATSE workers in their vote to authorize a strike,” wrote Ocasio-Cortez. She called the 90% turnout with 98% voting “Yes” an “incredible accomplishment.”
Aoc said the vote was “exactly the kind of mass-movement organizing we need right now,” before finishing with a hopeful, “May your example inspire others!”
While the New York Democrat did not sign last week’s letter from over 100 members of Congress calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to negotiate a fair contract with IATSE, Deadline later learned from her spokesperson that the Congresswoman is “supportive of the strike.” The tweet today to her 12.7 million followers is further evidence of that.
Additionally Rep. Adam Schiff — whose district stretches fro Tujunga to Pasadena to West Hollywood and who led last week’s letter campaign — shared...
- 10/4/2021
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Maz Jobrani has an energy that permeates everything he does, says, and creates. It's a dynamic energy that equips him with the multi-tasking skills needed in a successful host, comedian, and producer.
Whether you know him from his stand-up comedy specials, his many appearances on talk shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden, or his numerous television roles, you know that he fills a room.
His most recent comedy special, Pandemic Warrior, is streaming on Peacock and beautifully illustrates his ability to adapt a project to suit the changing context of the world.
Speaking to TV Fanatic by phone from Los Angeles, Jobrani explains how this special, like many projects these days, needed its timeline (and its title!) to become flexible with the impact of the pandemic.
"We shot it in 2019 in Dubai. The idea was to finish the editing and...
Whether you know him from his stand-up comedy specials, his many appearances on talk shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden, or his numerous television roles, you know that he fills a room.
His most recent comedy special, Pandemic Warrior, is streaming on Peacock and beautifully illustrates his ability to adapt a project to suit the changing context of the world.
Speaking to TV Fanatic by phone from Los Angeles, Jobrani explains how this special, like many projects these days, needed its timeline (and its title!) to become flexible with the impact of the pandemic.
"We shot it in 2019 in Dubai. The idea was to finish the editing and...
- 4/26/2021
- by Diana Keng
- TVfanatic
More than 200 leaders from the fields of public health, medicine, global development, and racial justice, joined faith leaders, economists, Nobel laureates, former members of Congress and artists to sign a public letter calling on President Joe Biden to champion a People’s Vaccine for Covid-19 — a public good that is freely and fairly available to all, prioritizing those most in need at home and around the world.
At a time when millions of Americans and people around the world face the dual-ills of health and economic insecurity, with communities of color facing disproportionate burdens, and where too many households stand only one health crisis away from poverty, it has never been more important to deliver a vaccine that can serve to protect everyone, everywhere.
Signers of the letter include philanthropists Abigail Disney and Chelsea Clinton, singers Gloria Estefan and Sara Bareilles, actors Aisha Tyler, Forest Whitaker, Mark Ruffalo, and Bradley Whitford,...
At a time when millions of Americans and people around the world face the dual-ills of health and economic insecurity, with communities of color facing disproportionate burdens, and where too many households stand only one health crisis away from poverty, it has never been more important to deliver a vaccine that can serve to protect everyone, everywhere.
Signers of the letter include philanthropists Abigail Disney and Chelsea Clinton, singers Gloria Estefan and Sara Bareilles, actors Aisha Tyler, Forest Whitaker, Mark Ruffalo, and Bradley Whitford,...
- 3/1/2021
- Look to the Stars
DuckTales doesn't just have something to say about unethical business practices, it has solutions.
This DuckTales review contains spoilers.
DuckTales Season 2 Episode 5
Perhaps DuckTales' greatest strength is that it has something to say. While having fun, going on adventures, and making hilarious one-liners is integral to every episode, the fact it’s able to impart messages that don’t feel like they’re beating you over the head? That’s something to respect.
Especially when the messages of this episode are to find solutions in business that are sustainable, treat workers right, pay them enough, and that big businesses will do whatever they can to stay alive even if that means creating problems to keep themselves alive.
That sounds really dour and the subject of Robert Reich’s next documentary (which I’d totally watch) but when it’s wrapped up in Louie’s hilarious ego and Storkules’ misguided attempts...
This DuckTales review contains spoilers.
DuckTales Season 2 Episode 5
Perhaps DuckTales' greatest strength is that it has something to say. While having fun, going on adventures, and making hilarious one-liners is integral to every episode, the fact it’s able to impart messages that don’t feel like they’re beating you over the head? That’s something to respect.
Especially when the messages of this episode are to find solutions in business that are sustainable, treat workers right, pay them enough, and that big businesses will do whatever they can to stay alive even if that means creating problems to keep themselves alive.
That sounds really dour and the subject of Robert Reich’s next documentary (which I’d totally watch) but when it’s wrapped up in Louie’s hilarious ego and Storkules’ misguided attempts...
- 11/17/2018
- Den of Geek
"We do not have scarcity, we have selfishness." Freestyle Digital Media has released an official trailer for a documentary titled simply We the People, made by French filmmaker Emmanuel Itier, examining and questioning global politics and economics. This hasn't played at many festivals, but it's getting a full VOD release next month, for anyone interested in watching. The film is described as a "worldwide exploration" of politics and economics, with the aim of inspiring us to reach towards a better world. "At the end if we create caring economies and politics maybe we can build a sustainable planet full of Peace, Justice and Love for everybody." This is more of a discussion doc with a lot of talking heads, including notable intellectuals like Robert Reich, Deepak Chopra, Sharon Stone, Michael Beckwith, and more. We must keep striving for peace. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Emmanuel Itier's documentary We the People,...
- 10/28/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Real Time with Bill Maher features an interesting line-up tonight — with guests including Killer Mike, Robert Reich, and Ethan Hawke. Also on the show is Republican Congressman from California, Duncan Hunter, who kicks off proceedings as the top-of-show interview guest. Hunter is a legacy political player who is currently under investigation. A former marine, Hunter served three tours as an artillery officer in Afghanistan and Iraq and was later elected in 2008. His father served in the same position before he did. Hunter is in the legal crosshairs for allegedly using campaign funds for personal use. Author and Oscar-nominated […]
The post Killer Mike, Robert Reich, Ethan Hawke on Real Time with Bill Maher appeared first on Monsters and Critics.
The post Killer Mike, Robert Reich, Ethan Hawke on Real Time with Bill Maher appeared first on Monsters and Critics.
- 5/11/2018
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
Bill Maher: Triggered, the comic’s 11th HBO solo special since his first in 1989, will air Saturday, July 7, the network announced today. The live stand-up performance will air from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“The paradox of my life is, the more horrifying the country under Trump becomes, the more fun we have at my stand-up shows,” Maher said. “I guess it’s a release, or whistling past the graveyard, or a primal scream.
“They want me to be mean,” he continued, “and I am. Half of this show is about Trump, but I am determined to make half of it about me – my way of saying, ‘Trump, you don’t get to win!’”
Bill Maher: Triggered is executive produced by Maher, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Marc Gurvitz and Neal Marshall, and will be directed by McCarthy-Miller.
Maher’s weekly HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher is in its 16th season, and has been renewed through 2020. This week’s guests include Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, Ethan Hawke, author Robert Reich and activist rapper Michael Render (aka Killer Mike).
“The paradox of my life is, the more horrifying the country under Trump becomes, the more fun we have at my stand-up shows,” Maher said. “I guess it’s a release, or whistling past the graveyard, or a primal scream.
“They want me to be mean,” he continued, “and I am. Half of this show is about Trump, but I am determined to make half of it about me – my way of saying, ‘Trump, you don’t get to win!’”
Bill Maher: Triggered is executive produced by Maher, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Marc Gurvitz and Neal Marshall, and will be directed by McCarthy-Miller.
Maher’s weekly HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher is in its 16th season, and has been renewed through 2020. This week’s guests include Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, Ethan Hawke, author Robert Reich and activist rapper Michael Render (aka Killer Mike).
- 5/10/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s time to meet Jane Tennison (again).
Stefanie Martini, (Doctor Throne, Emerald City) will in effect playa young Helen Mirren in ITV’s Prime Suspect prequel, tentatively titled Tennison and written by creator Lynda La Plante. The six-part series will follow the title character, played by Mirren from 1991 to 2006, at the beginning of her police career in London circa the 1970s.
RelatedFall TV 2016: Your Handy Calendar of 90+ Season and Series Premiere Dates
Sam Reid (The Astronaut Wives Club), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), Alun Armstrong (Penny Dreadful), Ruth Sheen (Unforgotten), Lex Shrapnel (Hunted) and Jay Taylor (The Bill) are set to costar.
Stefanie Martini, (Doctor Throne, Emerald City) will in effect playa young Helen Mirren in ITV’s Prime Suspect prequel, tentatively titled Tennison and written by creator Lynda La Plante. The six-part series will follow the title character, played by Mirren from 1991 to 2006, at the beginning of her police career in London circa the 1970s.
RelatedFall TV 2016: Your Handy Calendar of 90+ Season and Series Premiere Dates
Sam Reid (The Astronaut Wives Club), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), Alun Armstrong (Penny Dreadful), Ruth Sheen (Unforgotten), Lex Shrapnel (Hunted) and Jay Taylor (The Bill) are set to costar.
- 7/18/2016
- TVLine.com
Robert Reich must be appalled. Reich, an economist who’s served in the administrations of three presidents and an outspoken critic of the roles of governments and corporations in furthering economic inequality, is also one of the more prominent speakers in vitamin salesman and natural-medicine guru Gary Null’s movie Poverty Inc., which covers much of the same ground as Reich’s own 2013 documentary, Inequality for All.
Null’s movie — not to be confused with another 2014 release of the same title from Michael Matheson Miller that is a critique of global charity programs — utterly fails to inform or guide. Every speaker seems to traffic in exclamation points, pretty much the only points that are made. The movie is a nightmare of at...
Null’s movie — not to be confused with another 2014 release of the same title from Michael Matheson Miller that is a critique of global charity programs — utterly fails to inform or guide. Every speaker seems to traffic in exclamation points, pretty much the only points that are made. The movie is a nightmare of at...
- 12/3/2014
- Village Voice
We live in an era of haves and have-nots, the fabulously wealthy and the impoverished. While the middle class still constitutes the majority of society, it is a shrinking part of the pie. Also read: NBCUniversal News Invests in Mobile News Start-Up NowThis News Famed economist Robert Reich recently tackled the dangers of income inequality and the erosion of the middle class in “Inequality for All.” This inequity also spawned the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is one reason for the ongoing debate about the minimum wage. The middle class is hurting in entertainment and media too. TheWrap‘s Lucas Shaw explains how.
- 1/14/2014
- by Wrap Staff
- The Wrap
Throne of Blood (Criterion Collection) I posted my review of Criterion's Blu-ray upgrade of Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood just yesterday. It was the first time I'd watched the film since first seeing it six years ago and really enjoyed it more than I did that first time, but I think that's just how it goes when you try and dive head first into these classic films. They're classics for a reason and sometimes it will hit you immediately and other times it takes a second viewing and just more film watching experience. For me Throne of Blood fell into the latter category and I'm glad it did. It doesn't always work out that way, but it's always better to find love in something rather than any measure of disappointment. You can read my full review here.
The Act of Killing I never wrote a review of The Act of Killing,...
The Act of Killing I never wrote a review of The Act of Killing,...
- 1/7/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Could a 2013 Oscar long-listed documentary about America's economic woes impact the outcome of the 2016 presidential election? Its director and famous subject hope so. Last week, I met up at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles with the director and subject of RADiUS-twc's Oscar long-listed documentary feature Inequality for All, Jake Kornbluth and economist/economics professor/former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, respectively, to discuss the film and its focus: the causes and effects of the widening disparity between the income of America's wealthiest citizens and that of everyone else in the country. "It’s hard not
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- 11/20/2013
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Indiewire's Editor-in-Chief, Dana Harris, sat down for an interview with filmmaker Jacob Kornbluth, and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, to discuss their eye-opening film "Inequality for All," following a screening at the Ida Documentary Screening Series in Los Angeles. A Special Jury Prize winner at Sundance, the film is currently playing in select theaters. "Inequality for All" looks to raise awareness on the pressing issue of the country's widening economic gap by exploring pivotal political events such as the occupy movement and other financial crises. Watch as award-wining filmmaker, Kornbluth ("Haiku Tunnel," "The Best Thief in the World"), joins activist Reich to consider what they want their audience to come away with from this film. "I'd like for this film to give people a sense of hope," says Reich. Watch the video below. For more on the Ida Documentary Screening series go here.
- 10/4/2013
- by Ohad Amram
- Indiewire
In what is sure to be remembered as this decade's An Inconvenient Truth, Jacob Kornbluth's documentary feature debut Inequality for All tackles the increasingly unbalanced distribution of wealth among America's workers. Developed from the concepts of leading political economist and former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich, the film uses Reich's wealth and poverty course at Uc Berkeley as the through line by which the history of income inequality is simplified, explained, and exposed.
Inequality for All screened on Thursday, September 26 in Los Angeles to kick off the Ida Documentary ...
Inequality for All screened on Thursday, September 26 in Los Angeles to kick off the Ida Documentary ...
- 10/3/2013
- by krelth
- International Documentary Association
U.S. government workers who find themselves with too much time on their hands today due to the government shutdown can treat themselves to a free movie. The Weinstein Company and Landmark Theatres are offering federal employees and members of the military free tickets to Radius-twc's doc Inequality for All at 13 Landmark Theatres across the country. The deal, announced by The Weinstein Co., is good for Thursday only. Story: Shutdown Special: AMC Will Hand Out Free Popcorn to Federal Employees The film, which premiered at Sundance, follows former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich as he investigates how the
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- 10/3/2013
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – One of the more underreported stories of the past year is that income inequality – the gap between the wealthiest one percent in the U.S. versus the rest of the population – is at historic highs. When that balance of power is tilted, the result is documented in the new film, “Inequality for All.”
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Wealth possession, and the power associated with it, is the destroyer of the concept of democracy, according to this film. Not only is the U.S. dealing with these numbers (taxed at record low rates), the country also deals with an information industry that runs counter to the inequality message. The one percenters are gaming the media system to serve their greedy purposes, and then producing information that propagandize that this is the way it ought to be. Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton, narrates the film with telling statistics and anecdotal examples.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Wealth possession, and the power associated with it, is the destroyer of the concept of democracy, according to this film. Not only is the U.S. dealing with these numbers (taxed at record low rates), the country also deals with an information industry that runs counter to the inequality message. The one percenters are gaming the media system to serve their greedy purposes, and then producing information that propagandize that this is the way it ought to be. Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton, narrates the film with telling statistics and anecdotal examples.
- 9/28/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There’s lots of talk about economy, but for all the pontificating and bloviating about taxes and jobs and poverty, is there any one person who can explain what happened, how we got here, and how we might fix it? Actually, there is, and his name is Robert Reich, the Former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, Uc Berkeley professor, and author of the book “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future,” which the new documentary “Inequality For All,” directed by Jacob Kornbluth, is based on. The situation is grim, to be sure, but it’s also deceptively simple, at least in the words of Reich, who makes these concepts particularly easy to understand but also crucially urgent: it’s the middle class we should be focusing on. Despite Reich’s clear cut answers about how the middle class has been systematically oppressed for the past 35 years, he (as well...
- 9/27/2013
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is a popular author and pundit, but in Inequality for All, filmmaker Jacob Kornbluth shows us Reich as a charismatic teacher at U.C. Berkeley. He asks his students to challenge their assumptions about our economy, and how it has evolved in recent years. If viewers can do the same, they will find much food for thought in this clear, well-reasoned film. When he screened it for my class at USC last week, Kornbluth lamented the fact that most media interviewers insist on politicizing his documentary. He believes that income inequality should be everyone’s concern, but liberals don’t find his movie liberal enough, and conservatives feel the same on...
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- 9/27/2013
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
At 4 feet, 10 inches and a resume long in academic and government posts and scant on big screen experience, Robert Reich may be the most unlikely leading man of the fall movie season. Yet the diminutive former U.S. Secretary of Labor is front and center in “Inequality for All,” serving as a dry-witted ambassador of sorts while guiding audiences through the problems of wealth disparity. The film’s director Jacob Kornbluth said that he knew that he couldn’t make such a dense, data driven film without Reich. He was an admirer of the Uc Berkeley professor’s work as a commentator on.
- 9/26/2013
- by Brent Lang
- The Wrap
New Release
Metallica Through the Never
R, 1 Hr., 32 Mins.
Metallica, those thrash virtuosos of doom, get the grand 3-D opera they deserve: a godless-apocalypse-meets-Vegas spectacle, full of fireballs and electric chairs. With its hell-bent rhythmic changeups, the music channels a dark freedom, and James Hetfield is still the boyish biker-jock; he teases the crowd into a feeding frenzy of raw metal power. The hybrid concert/fiction film didn’t need its “plot,” with Dane DeHaan as a roadie on a suicide mission. Hetfield and snarly drummer Lars Ulrich are storybook characters enough. A- —Owen Gleiberman
Haute Cuisine
PG-13, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
Metallica Through the Never
R, 1 Hr., 32 Mins.
Metallica, those thrash virtuosos of doom, get the grand 3-D opera they deserve: a godless-apocalypse-meets-Vegas spectacle, full of fireballs and electric chairs. With its hell-bent rhythmic changeups, the music channels a dark freedom, and James Hetfield is still the boyish biker-jock; he teases the crowd into a feeding frenzy of raw metal power. The hybrid concert/fiction film didn’t need its “plot,” with Dane DeHaan as a roadie on a suicide mission. Hetfield and snarly drummer Lars Ulrich are storybook characters enough. A- —Owen Gleiberman
Haute Cuisine
PG-13, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
- 9/25/2013
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
The rich get richer, the poor get the picture, as noted U.S. policy experts Midnight Oil once said. And in America at the outset of the 21st century, the picture for those at the ass end of the wealth distribution spectrum is getting very bleak indeed. As we learn in Inequality for All, earnings for the "1 percent" have doubled in the last 35 years, while wages for workers have diminished dramatically. Former Secretary of Labor (and current University of California, Berkeley, professor) Robert Reich, as informative and self-deprecating as always, examines this gulf. The doc is centered around a lecture to his public policy class and supplemented by interviews with some of these new über-rich as well as Americans in danger of falling through the cracks. Using income tax data going ...
- 9/25/2013
- Village Voice
Title: Inequality for All Radius/TWC Director: Jacob Kornbluth Screenwriter: Jacob Kornbluth Cast: Robert Reich Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 9/11/13 Opens: September 27, 2013 Leave it to the reactionary columnists with The Wall Street Journal to come up with a headline like this one (on September 10th): “The Weak Recovery Explains Rising Inequality, Not Vice Versa.” John B. Taylor holds that ….“tax cuts in the past 30 years are [not] responsible for the widening income distribution.” Our president “blames tax cuts that began under Reagan for today’s slow growth. The data don’t back him up.” Oh, but the data certainly do back up that tax cuts for the rich are [ Read More ]
The post Inequality for All Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Inequality for All Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/12/2013
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi adventure has a lot to tell us about poverty and privilege – but are we ready to listen?
• Peter Bradshaw's review
• Neill Blomkamp video interview
• Neill Blomkamp: 'You'd have to change the human genome to stop wealth discrepancy'
Box office chart-topper Elysium may be set in 2154, but according to its director it's about the here and now. "The movie's meant to be an allegory," says Neill Blomkamp. His film's message: the material inequality that pervades our world today is "an outrage".
Like other recent movies on this topic, from In Time to The Hunger Games, Elysium has struck a chord. Inequality of wealth and income has reached startling proportions, not just in the Us, where Elysium is set, or in South Africa, where Blomkamp is from, but also in Britain. Hence, big-screen cries of outrage such as Blomkamp's elicit plenty of hurrahs. At Sundance 2013, for example,...
• Peter Bradshaw's review
• Neill Blomkamp video interview
• Neill Blomkamp: 'You'd have to change the human genome to stop wealth discrepancy'
Box office chart-topper Elysium may be set in 2154, but according to its director it's about the here and now. "The movie's meant to be an allegory," says Neill Blomkamp. His film's message: the material inequality that pervades our world today is "an outrage".
Like other recent movies on this topic, from In Time to The Hunger Games, Elysium has struck a chord. Inequality of wealth and income has reached startling proportions, not just in the Us, where Elysium is set, or in South Africa, where Blomkamp is from, but also in Britain. Hence, big-screen cries of outrage such as Blomkamp's elicit plenty of hurrahs. At Sundance 2013, for example,...
- 9/2/2013
- by David Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Watch the new trailer and check out the poster for Radius TWC's Inequality for All documentary directed by Radius TWC distributes the film by Jacob Kornbluth which opens on September 27th, 2013. A passionate argument on behalf of the middle class, Inequality for All features Robert Reich—professor, best-selling author, and Clinton cabinet member—as he demonstrates how the widening income gap has a devastating impact on the American economy. The film is an intimate portrait of a man who's overcome a great deal of personal adversity and whose lifelong...
- 8/8/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The 56th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (April 25 - May 9) will feature 158 films, representing 51 countries. Among the films are 67 narrative features, 63 shorts, and 28 documentaries; including films by 25 female directors. Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s What Maisie Knew (starring Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgård) will open the festival. Jacob Kornbluth’s Inequality For All (featuring local economist Robert Reich) will be featured as the Centerpiece screening, and Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (the third film in the director’s acclaimed romantic trilogy starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke) will close the festival. Smells Like Screen Spirit has gotten a jump-start on Sfiff 2013 to prepare you with a preview of the films we have seen so far: After Tiller, Before You Know It, Blackfish, Computer Chess, The East, Fill the Void, Il Futuro, The Kill Team, The Kings of Summer, Let the Fire Burn, Leviathan, Much Ado About Nothing,...
- 4/23/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The San Francisco Film Society continues to roll out programs for the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 25-May 9). The festival will screen three familiar features which have already picked up momentum at previous festivals, for its Big Night series. San Francisco International kicks off with Toronto debut “What Maisie Knew.” A revamp of the eponymous Henry James novel from 1897, the film is directed by Bay Area locals Scott McGehee and David Siegel and stars Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan as a divorcing couple who ignore their little girl. Alexander Skarsgard co-stars. (Early Indiewire review here.) For its May 4 centerpiece, the festival screens Jacob Kornbluth’s “Inequality for All,” a documentary featuring Robert Reich on social justice and economics that nabbed the Special Jury Award at Sundance earlier this year. (Indiewire review with the filmmaker here.) Sf International concludes with another film hailing from Sundance, Richard Linklater’s...
- 3/22/2013
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Ted Hope has landed a peach of a job with the San Francisco Film Society. Here is his much distributed news on the Sundance track record of Sffs!
Sundance Proves A Filmmaking Renaissance Is Happening In The Bay Area
Written by Ted Hope
What would Variety, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, The Wrap, MovieCityNews, Filmmaker Magazine & Deadline report if a single film company took the following awards at Sundance this year?
Narrative Grand Jury Prize Audience Award For Narrative Film Best Directing of a Narrative Film Best Directing of a Documentary Film Special Jury Award For Documentary Film #1 Special Jury Award For Documentary Film #2
I can’t help but think they would announce the arrival of a powerhouse.
Well, allow me the pleasure of breaking such an announcement. In case you missed it: a filmmaking renaissance is happening in The Bay Area. All of the following films that premiered at Sundance and won an award there had a major Bay Area connection: Fruitvale, Afternoon Delight, Cutie and the Boxer, Inequality For All, and American Promise.
I don’t know when was the last time a film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance as Fruitvale did this year. Not only is director Ryan Coogler from Oakland, not only was the story and subject from The Bay Area, not only was the film shot in The Bay Area, and not only was it mixed at Skywalker, but the San Francisco Film Society & The Kenneth Rainin Foundation granted the film $200,000.
If that wasn’t enough to crow about, allow me the thrill of mentioning that this is the second year in a row that a film supported by the San Francisco Film Society & The Kenneth Rainin Foundation won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yup, Beasts Of The Southern Wild received similar support last year as Fruitvale did this year. Do we need non-profit support in order to make ambitious socially relevant cinema in America? It sure damn looks that way, and if it is not necessary, it sure helps! A market-driven entertainment economy encourages one thing; if we want diversity we must support our cultural institutions (and build new ones!).
But allow me to go on with the glory that this year’s Sundance has bestowed upon the cities by The Bay… I don’t know when the last time a producer had both a documentary film and a narrative film in each of the Sundance competition. I definitely don’t think a producer who managed that feat ever won awards for both films (okay, I once had a film in each section, but only one of them one an award). Winning an award for each of their films is exactly what 72 Productions accomplished with Afternoon Delight‘s Best Directing of a narrative film award (directed by Jill Soloway) and Inequality For All‘s U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award (directed by Jacob Kornbluth). And did you know that 72 Productions‘ Jen Chaiken sits on the San Francisco Film Society’s Board of Directors? And that the Sffs was Inequality For All‘s fiscal sponsor? Surely you know that I4A’s incredibly inspiring subject, Robert Reich, teaches and lives in Berkeley, and yup, that is in The Bay Area. I imagine your collective head is now reeling in wonder about what is happening here; I know I am impressed, verily.
Yes, it’s true that the Directing Award at Sundance is one of the great honors. Yes, the aforementioned Afternoon Delight won that award for Narrative, and Cutie and the Boxer, directed by Zachary Heinzerling, won for Documentary. The San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Film Fund gave Cutie and the Boxer‘s $50,000… That ain’t chicken feed. And that’s a Bay Area connection for both sections’ Directing Award. It must be something in the water!
But The Bay Area’s dominance continues on from there. It kind of takes your breathe away, doesn’t it? The other winner of a Special Jury Prize For Documentary Film, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s American Promise, also received funding from The San Francisco Film Society. How great is it to give money away to films that lift our culture up? I suppose you don’t know that feeling until you’ve done it, but know what? You too can do it and I will tell you how below…
Yup. Five films. Count ‘em and tells what it all adds up to…
That is five films, six awards, at Sundance 2013 with Bay Area connections. Pretty awesome. In addition to all of that, the Bay Area was represented by other filmmakers at Sundance too; Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman were there with Two films, one narrative, one doc: Lovelace and The Battle For AmFar. The list goes on and on and on.
That is not a rumbling you are feeling underground, that is the roar of a community’s heart beating as one, and quite rapidly at that mind you. You don’t just have to be from Poland to have that flutter (if you watched the Awards, you will understand the reference).
I think it is now abundantly clear that if you love independent film, if you want diverse, ambitious film to prosper, you have to act now. You must not delay. You can either pack your bags and get the hell out of town and arrive in Fog City or one of it’s many surrounding communities, or you can show your love for such cinema by helping to support the San Francisco Film Society. Either one will do. Just take some action. The momentum will carry you forward.
I am investing my time, labor, & mind to help building a better infrastructure for such cinema through the Sffs. But it takes more. Money almost always helps. Please consider doing what you can to keep this exciting time alive. Join Sffs & become a member. Support Sffs here. It takes more than a village if we are going to build it better. We can only do it together.
The San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest running film festival in the Americas. I hope to see you there this year (April 25- May 9th); we have some great stuff planned for you. The San Francisco Film Society was founded 56 years ago. It was built by the passion and commitment of several key individuals. We lost one of those individuals just as the Sundance Film Festival began this year. George Gund’s love and knowledge of cinema was as legendary as his great spirit and generosity. I can not help but think of how wide his grin would be now in knowing the legacy his support has helped build. Thank you, George.
Sundance Proves A Filmmaking Renaissance Is Happening In The Bay Area
Written by Ted Hope
What would Variety, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, The Wrap, MovieCityNews, Filmmaker Magazine & Deadline report if a single film company took the following awards at Sundance this year?
Narrative Grand Jury Prize Audience Award For Narrative Film Best Directing of a Narrative Film Best Directing of a Documentary Film Special Jury Award For Documentary Film #1 Special Jury Award For Documentary Film #2
I can’t help but think they would announce the arrival of a powerhouse.
Well, allow me the pleasure of breaking such an announcement. In case you missed it: a filmmaking renaissance is happening in The Bay Area. All of the following films that premiered at Sundance and won an award there had a major Bay Area connection: Fruitvale, Afternoon Delight, Cutie and the Boxer, Inequality For All, and American Promise.
I don’t know when was the last time a film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance as Fruitvale did this year. Not only is director Ryan Coogler from Oakland, not only was the story and subject from The Bay Area, not only was the film shot in The Bay Area, and not only was it mixed at Skywalker, but the San Francisco Film Society & The Kenneth Rainin Foundation granted the film $200,000.
If that wasn’t enough to crow about, allow me the thrill of mentioning that this is the second year in a row that a film supported by the San Francisco Film Society & The Kenneth Rainin Foundation won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yup, Beasts Of The Southern Wild received similar support last year as Fruitvale did this year. Do we need non-profit support in order to make ambitious socially relevant cinema in America? It sure damn looks that way, and if it is not necessary, it sure helps! A market-driven entertainment economy encourages one thing; if we want diversity we must support our cultural institutions (and build new ones!).
But allow me to go on with the glory that this year’s Sundance has bestowed upon the cities by The Bay… I don’t know when the last time a producer had both a documentary film and a narrative film in each of the Sundance competition. I definitely don’t think a producer who managed that feat ever won awards for both films (okay, I once had a film in each section, but only one of them one an award). Winning an award for each of their films is exactly what 72 Productions accomplished with Afternoon Delight‘s Best Directing of a narrative film award (directed by Jill Soloway) and Inequality For All‘s U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award (directed by Jacob Kornbluth). And did you know that 72 Productions‘ Jen Chaiken sits on the San Francisco Film Society’s Board of Directors? And that the Sffs was Inequality For All‘s fiscal sponsor? Surely you know that I4A’s incredibly inspiring subject, Robert Reich, teaches and lives in Berkeley, and yup, that is in The Bay Area. I imagine your collective head is now reeling in wonder about what is happening here; I know I am impressed, verily.
Yes, it’s true that the Directing Award at Sundance is one of the great honors. Yes, the aforementioned Afternoon Delight won that award for Narrative, and Cutie and the Boxer, directed by Zachary Heinzerling, won for Documentary. The San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Film Fund gave Cutie and the Boxer‘s $50,000… That ain’t chicken feed. And that’s a Bay Area connection for both sections’ Directing Award. It must be something in the water!
But The Bay Area’s dominance continues on from there. It kind of takes your breathe away, doesn’t it? The other winner of a Special Jury Prize For Documentary Film, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s American Promise, also received funding from The San Francisco Film Society. How great is it to give money away to films that lift our culture up? I suppose you don’t know that feeling until you’ve done it, but know what? You too can do it and I will tell you how below…
Yup. Five films. Count ‘em and tells what it all adds up to…
That is five films, six awards, at Sundance 2013 with Bay Area connections. Pretty awesome. In addition to all of that, the Bay Area was represented by other filmmakers at Sundance too; Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman were there with Two films, one narrative, one doc: Lovelace and The Battle For AmFar. The list goes on and on and on.
That is not a rumbling you are feeling underground, that is the roar of a community’s heart beating as one, and quite rapidly at that mind you. You don’t just have to be from Poland to have that flutter (if you watched the Awards, you will understand the reference).
I think it is now abundantly clear that if you love independent film, if you want diverse, ambitious film to prosper, you have to act now. You must not delay. You can either pack your bags and get the hell out of town and arrive in Fog City or one of it’s many surrounding communities, or you can show your love for such cinema by helping to support the San Francisco Film Society. Either one will do. Just take some action. The momentum will carry you forward.
I am investing my time, labor, & mind to help building a better infrastructure for such cinema through the Sffs. But it takes more. Money almost always helps. Please consider doing what you can to keep this exciting time alive. Join Sffs & become a member. Support Sffs here. It takes more than a village if we are going to build it better. We can only do it together.
The San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest running film festival in the Americas. I hope to see you there this year (April 25- May 9th); we have some great stuff planned for you. The San Francisco Film Society was founded 56 years ago. It was built by the passion and commitment of several key individuals. We lost one of those individuals just as the Sundance Film Festival began this year. George Gund’s love and knowledge of cinema was as legendary as his great spirit and generosity. I can not help but think of how wide his grin would be now in knowing the legacy his support has helped build. Thank you, George.
- 2/11/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Harvey Weinstein Opens Up at Producers Guild Sundance Breakfast, Mistakes and All: 'I Was Worst CEO'
Before Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob accepted their Milestone Award at the January 26 Producers Guild Awards, Harvey sat down at Sundance with PGA chief Mark Gordon for a remarkably candid chat. This year--in the midst of Oscar campaigns for "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Django Unchained," following back-to-back best-picture wins for "The Artist" and "The King's Speech"-- Weinstein came to Sundance with ten staffers to scout movies, and acquire them they did. Conceding the burgeoning market for VOD, his new RADiUS-twc arm bought several films, including Robert Reich doc "Inequality for All" and "Concussion," while Harvey brokered an all-night deal for Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale," which went on to win the Sundance grand jury and audience prize. Some highlights from his Q & A-- including queries from folks like me in the audience--are below. Harvey Weinstein on Sundance: It's become...
- 2/5/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The powerful documentary Inequality for All was an unexpected hit at the recent Sundance film festival, arguing that Us capitalism has fatally abandoned the middle classes while making the super-rich richer. Can its star, economist Robert Reich, do for economics what Al Gore did for the environment?
In one sense, Inequality for All is absolutely the film of the moment. We are living through tumultuous times. The economy has tanked. Austerity has cut a swath through the country. We're on the verge of a triple-dip recession. And, in another, parallel universe, a small cohort of alien beings – or as we know them, bankers – are currently engaged in trying to figure out what to spend their multimillion-pound bonuses on. Who wouldn't want to know what's going on? Or how it happened? Or why? Or if it is really true that the next generation down is well and truly shafted?
And yet…...
In one sense, Inequality for All is absolutely the film of the moment. We are living through tumultuous times. The economy has tanked. Austerity has cut a swath through the country. We're on the verge of a triple-dip recession. And, in another, parallel universe, a small cohort of alien beings – or as we know them, bankers – are currently engaged in trying to figure out what to spend their multimillion-pound bonuses on. Who wouldn't want to know what's going on? Or how it happened? Or why? Or if it is really true that the next generation down is well and truly shafted?
And yet…...
- 2/3/2013
- by Carole Cadwalladr
- The Guardian - Film News
Today is National Coming Out day, which is lent special significance this year given that there have been several teen suicides in recent weeks that have been tied to anti-gay bullying. I've seen more than a few messages of support on Facebook and references to The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project which are both things that everyone should be aware of, though I'm sure most people visiting this website already are. Honestly, in a lot of ways I'm a private person (...says the girl who writes about herself on the internet, but seriously, stick with me here for a minute) and I really and honestly believe that no one should have to define themselves by who they're attracted to and that as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult it's nobody's business what or who you do on your own time. Unfortunately, society's not there yet.
- 10/11/2010
- by Intern Rusty
HBO's fast-paced salon is back in a big way, as "Real Time with Bill Maher" featured roundtable guests actor Jon Hamm, political strategist Mark McKinnon and foreign correspondent Martha Raddatz; documentary filmmaker Michael Moore and economist Robert Reich. The show was fascinating last night, not just for the commentary, but for the delicious history Maher shared with his audience of Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, a frequent guest on his "Politically Incorrect" ABC show in the late 1990's. Maher used his first show of the season to remind O.Donnell that .I made you,. and warned that he would release an old clip of her weekly until she came to Real Time. She appeared on his show 22 times,...
- 9/18/2010
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
You might remember Robert Reich as President Clinton's Secretary of Labor, the man largely responsible for the Family and Medical Leave Act who successfully lobbied to raise the minimum wage, an economic powerhouse who was named one of the 10 most successful cabinet members of the century. Or, if you're more familiar with one-off sketches from Late Night With Conan O'Brien than with brilliant politicians whose far-reaching work has helped millions of Americans, you might remember him as being very short, and standing next to Conan O'Brien, who is very tall.
[youtube kWliylnxSrA]
Reich recently gave his two cents on the whole FTC investigation of Apple, and effectively offered a smack down. Why investigate Apple when the case is questionable to begin with, when the four largest U.S. financial institutions are legitimately controlling the U.S. economy? His argument on behalf of Apple, which is being investigated largely due to its decision...
[youtube kWliylnxSrA]
Reich recently gave his two cents on the whole FTC investigation of Apple, and effectively offered a smack down. Why investigate Apple when the case is questionable to begin with, when the four largest U.S. financial institutions are legitimately controlling the U.S. economy? His argument on behalf of Apple, which is being investigated largely due to its decision...
- 5/6/2010
- by Dan Nosowitz
- Fast Company
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