Day: June 18, 2010

Hollywood Round-up, 6/18

"Mostly they cast me because of the tie."

By Jason Apuzzo. • Leonardo DiCaprio set to play J. Edgar Hoover in new biopic from Clint Eastwood. OK, I’m finding this casting incredibly strange but I’ll roll with it. Hoping this means J. Edgar is (finally) being treated in a more positive light, a la what DiCaprio did with Howard Hughes. For a liberal, DiCaprio sure loves playing right wingers.

• Toy Story 3 looking like the likely box office winner for the weekend, while Jonah Hex is tracking miserably. No surprises here. Btw, whose idea was it to feature Josh Brolin’s melted face in the Jonah Hex advertising more than Megan Fox’s?

• James Cameron’s gulf spill research group has issued its report. The report concludes that the second act of Avatar actually did not take place under water, it just felt that way.

• Sony chief Howard Stringer taking heat for his $8.8 million salary as Sony takes hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Sir Howard’s a big advocate of 3D, and that apparently includes the dimensions of his compensation package.

• In superhero news, Tron: Legacy will be coming to Comic-Con, and X-Men: First Class is already doing some casting.  I had completely forgotten there was still an X-Men franchise.  The only thing left about that series I like is Hugh Jackman’s jacket.

• New, retro-60’s poster released for George Clooney’s forthcoming thriller, The American. The only problem with this film is the misleading title.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … right across the street from the ongoing LA Film Festival, the Lakers won the NBA title.  And we’re still celebrating.

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 5:40pm.

LFM’s Jason Apuzzo on The Fred Thompson Show, 6/18

Jason Apuzzo
Fred Thompson

We want to thank Senator Fred Thompson for having LFM Co-Editor Jason Apuzzo on his national radio show today to talk about MGM’s forthcoming Red Dawn, and other issues we’ve been covering here at LFM.

We want to welcome Fred’s listeners to LFM.  Fred is a warm, engaging person whose extraordinary career has encompassed both Hollywood and Washington – and we thank him for his interest in what we’re doing here at LFM.

To hear the show, and for more information on Fred’s program, please visit the Fred Thompson Show’s official website.  To see Fred in action on-screen, LFM recommends two classics from early in Fred’s career: The Hunt for Red October, and Die Hard 2 …

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 11:12am.

Putin’s New Russia: LFM Review’s LA FilmFest’s Vlast (Power)


[Editor’s Note: LFM is currently covering a series of provocative films debuting this week and next at The Los Angeles Film Festival.]

By Joe Bendel. Over 200 former employees and directors of Yukos, the Russian oil company, have been in some way persecuted by the Putin regime.  If that sounds like a coincidence, Prime Minister Putin would like to thank you for your gullibility.  Unquestionably, the biggest fish amongst his quarry was Yukos’ former CEO, the visionary Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Khodorkovsky.  At one time the sixteenth richest man in the world, Khodorkovsky now resides in a tiny prison cell.  How he got there is a chilling story of the not-so-new Russia, compellingly recounted in Cathryn Collins’ Vlast (Power), which screens during the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival (trailer above).

Collins never confuses Khodorkovsky with a choirboy.  She makes it very clear Khodorkovsky’s early years are still shrouded in mystery and unsettling rumors.  However, she gives him credit for taking on the decrepit Yukos state enterprise at a time when the price of oil was at an all time low, eventually turning around the company – and yes, making billions in the process.

Khodorkovsky was one of the original so-called ‘oligarchs’ who largely reaped the benefits of Yeltsin’s privatization plan.  Yet he was a crony capitalist of a different color, becoming a prominent philanthropist and advocate of democracy in Russia.  He also started championing corporate transparency, only to suddenly find himself behind bars shortly thereafter.

Putin's New Russia: same as the old Russia?

First-time documentarian Collins is admirably even-handed in her profile of Khodorkovsky, never overstating her case or simply appealing to emotion.  While giving the incarcerated mogul credit for his business acumen, she is most impressed by his ability to identify and recruit smart, talented young people for his team.  Of course, the implications of his story are clear.  If a man with an estimated net worth over fifteen billion dollars is not safe in Putin’s Russia, nobody is.

Many of Vlast’s on-camera interview subjects participated at not inconsiderable risk to their well being.  In doing so, they definitely convey an unvarnished sense of life in Russia today.  Providing clear and concise historical background, Vlast provides the proper context for non-Russophiles and non-Russophobes to appreciate Khodorkovsky’s story.  Still, given the long history of Russian and Soviet anti-Semitism, the question of whether Khodorkovsky’s Jewish heritage has contributed to his persecution is strangely never really explored.

Vlast joins the growing ranks of valuable documentaries doggedly raising alarms about the lawlessness of the Putin regime.  Unfortunately, previous related films like Eric Bergkraut’s Letter to Anna and Andrei Nekrasov’s Poisoned by Polonium have largely fallen on deaf ears in the West.  Given its reasoned tone and access to Khodorkovsky’s inner circle, Vlast should impress viewers concerned about the current state of the world.  Well worth seeking out, it screens next Tuesday (6/22) and Wednesday (6/23) at the LAFF.

Posted on June 18th, 2010 at 9:47am.