I\u2019ve been stockpiling links, so it\u2019s time to post another batch.<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/a> The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> says Bob Saget \u2014 whose adults-only brand of humour was one of the more, um, noteworthy elements in The Aristocrats<\/a><\/i> \u2014 is writing, producing and narrating a spoof of March of the Penguins<\/a><\/i>, to be called Farce of the Penguins<\/i>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe penguin film, and wildlife films in general have been so hugely popular lately that they can certainly use some serious spoofing,\u201d said Jeff Sackman, ThinkFilm president and CEO Jeff Sackman. \u201c(Saget\u2019s) unique ability to take sweet, clean-cut material and turn it upside down and inside out is second to none, and I can\u2019t wait to see him \u2018flip the bird\u2019 to the entire genre.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n A poster depicting penguins wearing a bra and panties with the tagline, \u201cWhat happens in Antarctica, stays in Antarctica,\u201d already has been created to attract buyers at the American Film Market underway in Santa Monica.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 2.<\/a> I had no idea Omar Sharif<\/a> was raised Christian and converted to Islam in the 1950s until I read about his most recent brush with Islamic fundamentalists, as reported in the Guardian<\/a><\/i>:<\/p>\n A message on a website linked to al-Qaida has threatened death to the veteran Egyptian actor Omar Sharif after he played St Peter in an Italian TV film.<\/p>\n In remarks widely reported in Italy earlier this month, the 73-year old actor, a convert to Islam, said he had \u201cseemed to hear voices\u201d during the filming of St Peter, a two-part mini-series shown last week. Sharif was quoted as saying: \u201cPlaying Peter was so important for me that even now I can only speak about it with difficulty. It will be difficult for me to play other roles from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n The Italian news agency Adnkronos International said that a message on a web forum used in the past by al-Qaida had a link to a site carrying the threat. \u201cOmar Sharif has stated that he has embraced the crusader idolatry,\u201d it said. \u201cHe is a crusader who is offending Islam and Muslims and receiving applause from the Italian people. I give you this advice, brothers, you must kill him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 3.<\/a> The Georgia Straight<\/a><\/i> asks why there are no Canadian war movies, especially during this so-called \u201cYear of the Veteran<\/a>\u201c:<\/p>\n Of the more than $300 million Canada spent investing in films last year, just one feature-length, nondocumentary war movie was completed: Eighteen<\/i>, by Vancouver\u2019s Richard Bell. The story, about an 18-year-old street kid who inherits his grandfather\u2019s war stories on audio tape, was supposed to be released for the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, in May of this year. Then the release was planned for Veterans\u2019 Week, November 5 to 11. Now it won\u2019t hit theatres until February next year, so the film will completely miss Canada\u2019s Year of the Veteran.<\/p>\n Theatres are instead full of stories about househusbands, supernatural horror, and love, love, love. All about our lighthearted lives, in other words, but nothing about the uniformed men and women who made it all possible. . . .<\/p>\n Through the lens of Eighteen<\/i>\u2019s postponements, the shadows on the Canadian film system come into focus. Telefilm, the National Film Board, and the provincial film organizations support one overall objective: to keep Canadian stories in front of Canadian eyes. On TV, there\u2019s success; unfortunately, when it comes to feature films, there\u2019s almost no government guidance in what gets made\u2014just what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n But if feature films are so pivotal to protecting Canada\u2019s culture, why couldn\u2019t we get a single commemorative film into theatres during Veterans\u2019 Week during the Year of the Veteran?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To this, I would add that it\u2019s striking to me how all of the \u201cVeteran\u201d ads I\u2019ve seen depict very old men in uniform, as though Canada stopped sending soldiers into combat after 1945. I am reminded of that incident where the American army wanted to bestow an honour of some sort on Canadian snipers in Afghanistan, and our own government seemed to get rather embarrassed by the fact that our soldiers were not only doing their job, but doing it well. Sad to say, we are not<\/i> a country that values its military.<\/p>\n 4.<\/a> The New York Times<\/a><\/i> reports that the Christian producers and non-Christian studio chiefs who collaborated on Left Behind: World at War<\/a><\/i> are still working out how to work together and how to market their franchise:<\/p>\n How comfortable is Hollywood with wooing the Christian audience? The question arose this week over Sony\u2019s release of its first high-profile DVD aimed at believers, \u201cLeft Behind: World at War,\u201d the third in a series about the biblical end of days but the first time a major studio has significantly backed evangelical entertainment. . . .<\/p>\n [Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin S.] Feingold disputed [producer Peter] Lalonde\u2019s contention that the studio was taking a low-profile approach to promotions. \u201cIt\u2019s not been our practice to shy away,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe you can go beyond the followers for these kinds of movies.\u201d<\/p>\n But the producer, who has hired his own publicist to promote the picture, said that potential viewers were being overlooked by Sony\u2019s refusal to spend more heavily. \u201cThe marketing budget was consistent with an everyday, direct-to-video release, and this is not that,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a direct-to-video phenomenon. We were really strangled there.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n Mr. Feingold said Sony had plans to make two more Christian movies next year, and intended to make more \u201cLeft Behind\u201d films. \u201cWe think it will be a nice franchise for Sony,\u201d he said. \u201cModestly budgeted, the \u2018Left Behind\u2019 books are a nice business.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Lalonde, however, said he was not certain he would proceed with the studio on the next round.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to do another movie,\u201d he said. \u201cDo we self-finance, take distribution back? Our position has been we have to build our own distribution systems, get our own financing, our own pipelines. We lack only one thing: real capitalization.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 5.<\/a> The Associated Press<\/a> asks if G-rated films \u2014 and especially cartoons \u2014 are becoming too grown-up for the children:<\/p>\n As pop culture mimics today\u2019s permissive social values, violence and veiled sexual references have crept into the seemingly innocent cartoon landscape, giving parents new reason to do research beyond the ratings.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that the Motion Picture Association of America\u2019s ratings board has become more permissive, said MPAA president Dan Glickman: \u201cIt\u2019s bound to be a reflection of society.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a reflection of movie studios following the formula of hits like the \u201cToy Story\u201d and \u201cShrek\u201d films, whose sophisticated scripts include plenty of subtle jokes aimed at adults.<\/p>\n So the octopus-armed alien robots in \u201cChicken Little,\u201d who shred a cornfield and use their laser-gaze to zap away the town\u2019s animal citizens, are just typical cartoon characters. The film\u2019s allusion to \u201cGirls Gone Wild\u201d is just another cultural reference. The melons held chest-high by the heroine in \u201cWallace and Gromit\u201d are just large pieces of fruit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 6.<\/a> Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher<\/a><\/i> has made the big time \u2014 a glowing review in Variety<\/a><\/i> magazine.<\/p>\n 7.<\/a> The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> and FilmStew.com<\/a> report that Owen Wilson is no longer attached to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty<\/a><\/i>, which is now in \u201cturnaround\u201d \u2014 i.e. on the back-burner.<\/p>\n 8.<\/a> The Associated Press<\/a> reports on some of the facts and nuances that were left out of George Clooney\u2019s Good Night, and Good Luck<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been stockpiling links, so it\u2019s time to post another batch. 1. The Hollywood Reporter says Bob Saget \u2014 whose adults-only brand of humour was one of the more, um, noteworthy elements in The Aristocrats \u2014 is writing, producing and narrating a spoof of March of the Penguins, to be called Farce of the Penguins: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n