Oscar move?
“January is currently the official movie dead zone, but it may not be for long. Deadline Hollywood reported late [June 22] that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors are discussing the possibility of moving next year’s Oscars to January.
“The move would have major repercussions, and not just on what day the awards would air … . The way things shake out presently, nominations are announced just over a month before the awards (next year’s nominations announcement is currently scheduled on January 25th). If the Academy Awards moved to January, even taking into consideration the possibility of a condensed timeline, nominations would have to be announced by the beginning of January.
“That means the late December slots typically treasured by awards-bait movies may become far less valuable (a few of the movies sitting in those coveted spots this coming holiday season include Sofia Coppola’s ’Somewhere,’ Mike Leigh’s ’Another Year,’ and the Coens’ remake of ’True Grit’). If the Oscars move happens, don’t be surprised if some of these release dates shift.”
— Matt Singer, writing on “Academy Awards consider a move to January,” on June 23 at the Independent Film Channel blog Indie Eye
Israel move?
“Did you hear the one about the Jewish video blogger who interviewed a prominent female public figure who then made anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements? So I must be talking about Helen Thomas. But alas, I am not. The prominent female public figure to whom I am referring is Libby Davies. Okay, Davies isn’t exactly a prominent female public figure in the United States, but she certainly is one in Canada.
“Davies is a member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons and has represented the constituency of Vancouver East since 1997. She is also the deputy leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Canada’s democratic socialist political party. …
“[Blogger David] Katz approached Davies to ask her some questions of his own and would videotape this exchange as well. The first question Katz asked, ’When do you believe the occupation in Israel started? ’48 or ’67?’ An astonished looking Davies replied, ’Forty-eight. I mean, it’s the longest occupation in the world.’ For all intents and purposes, Davies effectively stated Israel was an illegitimate state. …
“Frankly, speaking from my experience as a former NDP activist, I cannot say her statements surprise me. This is, after all, the same woman who back in 1998 tried to lead a Citizens’ Weapons Inspection Team into Washington state to inspect U.S. weapons of mass destruction. Davies puts the loon in the loony left.”
— Aaron Goldstein, writing on “Canada’s Helen Thomas” on June 23 at the American Spectator
’Daily Show’ move
“Want to be a woman in comedy? Be funny, but not too funny. Be beautiful. Or don’t be beautiful, you sellout, you. Are you writing this down?
“That nagging discomfort we lefty, abortion-loving angry feminists feel toward a show we otherwise adore only intensified this month when ’The Daily Show’ brought in its first new female correspondent in seven years — and the plum, only occasional anyway position went to smoking hot Olivia Munn. In addition to recently co-hosting G4’s ’Attack of the Show!’ the 29-year-old also happens to have been a Playboy cover girl and fills out a pink bikini for a Maxim pictorial better than Lewis Black ever could. …
“The problem — one of them, anyway — for women in comedy is that the qualities that make for devastating humor — the aggressiveness, the sheer power of disarming an audience — aren’t particularly encouraged or appreciated as much coming from a female. Women frequently find themselves with the option of going all self-deprecating lady humor or finding that the raunchier and harder-hitting they are, the more criticism they get … female comics can either be regular-looking and struggle to get on TV, or Chelsea Handler-level babe-alicious and accused of getting by on their looks. In other words, you can’t win.
— Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing on “Is Olivia Munn too sexy for ’The Daily Show’?” on June 25 at the Salon blog Broadsheet
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