Wooooooow Government Declines To Press Criminal Charges Against HSBC Bank Following Admission Of Money Laundering To Drug Cartels Think the alleged U.S. “war on drugs” applies just as much to corrupt corporations that make millions as it does to everyday piff-puffers? Well, you might want to think again. A recent settlement to the tune of $1.9 million between the U.S. Assistant Attorney General and big ballin’ financial giant HSBC has more than a few fans of that ooooo-wee giving the government a mean side-eye. via Rolling Stone If you’ve ever been arrested on a drug charge, if you’ve ever spent even a day in jail for having a stem of marijuana in your pocket or “drug paraphernalia” in your gym bag, Assistant Attorney General and longtime Bill Clinton pal Lanny Breuer has a message for you: Bite me. Breuer this week signed off on a settlement deal with the British banking giant HSBC that is the ultimate insult to every ordinary person who’s ever had his life altered by a narcotics charge. Despite the fact that HSBC admitted to laundering billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels (among others) and violating a host of important banking laws (from the Bank Secrecy Act to the Trading With the Enemy Act), Breuer and his Justice Department elected not to pursue criminal prosecutions of the bank, opting instead for a “record” financial settlement of $1.9 billion, which as one analyst noted is about five weeks of income for the bank. The banks’ laundering transactions were so brazen that the NSA probably could have spotted them from space. Breuer admitted that drug dealers would sometimes come to HSBC’s Mexican branches and “deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, in a single day, into a single account, using boxes designed to fit the precise dimensions of the teller windows.” This is a shady azz situation if we’ve ever heard of it. People get popped and sent to drop the soap everyday for wayyyyy less than what this money-hungry company managed to pull off AND admit to….and they barely get a slap on the wrist?? That’s that isht we don’t like!
Just in time for Christmas, the annual Black List of promising unproduced scripts has been released this morning. While this year’s list is about what you’d expect for a collection of scripts voted on by nearly 300 industry execs nmdash; a high number of ‘based on true events’ abound nmdash; there are a few with rather promising premises. For example, Americatown , by Ben Pool, is a crime thriller set in a near-future American expatriate enclave within the city of Hong Kong. Timely! Matt Aldrich’s The Ballad Of Pablo Escobar also deserves a mention for the craziest idea on the list, which is casting the notorious druglord as the protagonist in a battle to protect his family against rival cartels and his government. The list also includes a script by Zach Whedon (brother of Joss), and one by A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot writer Eric Heisserer, among many others. The full list, plus synopses, is available here . While you read, try to find out for yourself which of these titles will almost certainly die during production. My guess is that Cherries will get a far less provocative name, probably something like Father’s Day . The top ten scripts based on the number of votes are: #10 – 28 mentions. DEVILS AT PLAY by James DiLapo #8 – 29 mentions. ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews #8 – 29 mentions. GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard #7 – 31 mentions. EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie #6 – 33 mentions. WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison #5 – 35 mentions. STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer #4 – 39 mentions. RODHAM by Young Il Kim #2 – 43 mentions. A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong #2 – 43 mentions. SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart #1 – 65 mentions. DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman The full list is as follows: FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS by Brad Desch SOMACELL by Ashleigh Powell GEORGE by Jeff Shakoor AMERICATOWN by Ben Poole MIDNIGHT AT NOON by Nathaniel Halpern THE FINAL BROADCAST by Chris Hutton, Eddie O’Keefe WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison OUT OF STATE by Eric Pearson THE BALLAD OF PABLO ESCOBAR by Matt Aldrich COMANCHERIA by Taylor Sheridan CLIVE by Natasha Pincus FROM NEW YORK TO FLORIDA by Austin Reynolds STOCKHOLM, PENNSYLVANIA by Nikole Beckwith THE HOOVERVILLE DEAD by Brantley Aufill A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong WHIPLASH by Damien Chazelle GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard TRANSCENDENCE by Jack Paglen THE EQUALIZER by Richard Wenk COME AND FIND ME by Zack Whedon UNTITLED COPS SCRIPT by Blake McCormick MURDER CITY by Will Simmons MONSOON by Matt Ackley MAN OF TOMORROW by Jeremy Slater FUCK MARRY KILL by Neel Shah, Alex Blagg THE PAPER MAN by Sean O’Keefe PESTE by Barbara Marshall THE OUTSKIRTS by Dominique Ferarri, Suzanne Wrubel EX BOYFRIEND OF THE BRIDE by Matt Hausfater THE LIGHTHOUSE by Eric Kirsten BLEEDING KANSAS by Russell Sommer, Dan Frey KING OF HEISTS by Will Staples THE BROKEN by John Glosser WHO FRAMED TOMMY CALLAHAN? by Harry Kellerman GOODBYE, FELIX CHESTER by Max Taxe THE JUDGE by Bill Dubuque EL TIGRE by Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley HIBERNATION by Will Frank, Geneva Robertson-Dworet CHERRIES by Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Mark Hogan FLOWER by Alex McAulay THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by April Prosser TITANS OF PARK ROW by Mitch Akselrad BLACK BOX by David Guggenheim HEY, STELLA! by Tom Shephard DEVILS AT PLAY by James Dilapo OUR NAME IS ADAM by T.S. Nowlin THE KILLING SPREE by Derek Elliott, Jack Donaldson THE DISCIPLE PROGRAM by Tyler Marceca JOJO RABBIT by Taika Waititi SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM by Jason Micallef THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber TIMES SQUARE by Taylor Materne, Jake Rubin CONVERSION by Marissa Jo Cerar MCCARTHY by Justin Kremer THE SURVIVALIST by Stephen Fingleton RODHAM by Young Il Kim THE WINTER KILLS by Ben Carney SAND CASTLE by Chris Roessner ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews IF THEY MOVE… KILL ‘EM! by Kel Symons PENNY DREADFUL by Shane Atkinson DOPPELGANGERS by Evan Mirzai, Shea Mirzai BORDER COUNTRY by Jonathan Stokes WHALEMEN by Tucker Parsons DON’T MAKE ME GO by Vera Herbert DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman SWEET VIRGINIA by Paul China, Benjamin China ALMANAC by Jason Pagan, Andrew Stark EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie THE PORTLAND CONDITION by Dan Cohn, Jeremy Miller STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer ALL-NIGHTER by Brad Ingelsby SHUT IN by Christina Hodson HOLD ON TO ME by Brad Ingelsby THE KEEPING ROOM by Julia Hart THE EEL by Roberto Bentivegna Follow Ross A. Lincoln on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Michelle better watch her back!!! LLS We’re just kiddin’ around over here but dayum if POTUS didn’t look like he had a lil’ more to smile about on this trip. Yingluck Shinawatra is her name and she’s the Prime Minister of Thailand so it’s legit…but with the way she keeps eying up our Boy, we’re pretty sure she’s feelin’ him on more than foreign policy. According to GAWKER , Drudge Report described Obama’s diplomatic jaunt as “touchy-feely,” then swapped that out for the (less offensive? more offensive?) nonsense adjective “Flirtasian.” The Daily Mail called the President’s demeanor with the Thai Prime Minister “flirty.” “President Obama is practicing a new brand of foreign relations, appearing to flirt with Thailand’s attractive prime minister on his first stop of his three-day tour of Southeast Asia. The president and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra could be seen laughing together and exchanging playful glances through a state dinner at the Government House in Bangkok on Sunday.” Hit the flip while we thank God they’re all professionals…
Post-traumatic stress syndrome and the epidemic of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are not exactly popular subjects with the military community — or civilians, for that matter — but first-time filmmaker K. Lorrel Manning and actor/producer Michael Cuomo have made a tough, honest film that should spark plenty of debate over these issues. On Monday evening, the duo’s movie Happy New Year premiered in New York with a pair of special Veterans Week screenings and a reception at the Disney Screening Room on Park Avenue. Movieline Managing Director Gerry Byrne, producer Fred Zollo and Help USA Chairman Maria Cuomo Cole hosted the event, which was attended by veterans, active duty personnel and their families. Michael Cuomo gives a searing performance in Happy New Year as a physically and emotionally scarred veteran who returns from combat in Iraq to find that an even tougher battle — to regain his health, his dignity and his sense of self — awaits him with little help from the government that sent him to war. After the screening, Manning told the crowd that a chance encounter with Purple Hearts, Nina Berman’s book of photos of wounded Iraq war vets, inspired the film. The director also explained that he wanted Happy New Year to be “an apolitical film” that would convince “other veterans to be okay with saying, ‘I’m not okay.'” The movie opens Dec. 7 in New York and Manning and Cuomo say they intend to eventually expand to other cities theatrically and via video on demand. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter.
A moving and emotional powerhouse, Canadian director Kim Nguyen’s War Witch packs a punch worthy of the best of conflict thrillers, though more shocking is that the events depicted in the feature, which is Canada’s contender for Best Foreign-language Oscar consideration, are happening every day. The story of a teen girl who is kidnapped by Congo rebels after she is forced to execute her parents left audiences aghast at AFI Fest where it screened this week. Hailing from Canada, Nguyen may seem an unlikely filmmaker to take on some of the most notorious human rights tragedies of modern times, but he became interested in child soldiers after meeting a former youth who became lead a pack of others in a violent uprising in Africa. “There was this kid named Johnny who was a child soldier who was nine years old and smoked cigars everyday. He said he woke up one day thinking he was a reincarnation of God,” Nguyen told ML. “He had a [group] of soldiers that he lead in a rebellion against the government. The sheer madness of it all struck me and it pushed me to pursue this story.” The French-language feature, which won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, stars non-pro Rachel Mwanza who plays a 14 year-old girl who becomes an important spiritual figure for a brutal leader of a band of violent rebels. The “Great Tiger” as he is known to his followers, believes she is a war witch who is capable of seeing government soldiers in the thick jungle. She is given preferential treatment, but she is also aware that if she fails in her job, she will likely be executed quickly. Another child soldier whom she calls “Magician” looks out for her and convinces her to run away with him. He tells her that three previous “war witches” were gunned down by the “Great Tiger” after they failed to warn him of the presence of government soldiers on previous occasions. The pair flee to one of Magician’s relatives and are “married” though the rebels eventually track them down. “Learning about child soldiers eventually lead me to Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Nguyen. “I learned that there are actually more women child soldiers than men, which was surprising. What’s tragic, of course, is that they’re used as sexual slaves.” Initially, Nguyen thought of casting actual former child soldiers, but decided against it after meeting them because the trauma of what they had been through was too much. “I had this idea of working with ex-child soldiers but they were just so broken. There was this stare and they were just so broken. So I had an idea to work with people who had similar tough backgrounds as many of the child soldiers, but hadn’t actually [faced warfare].” War Witch won Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival last Spring in addition to another Best Actress win for Mwanza. The festival’s distribution wing, Tribeca Film will release the feature in theaters in early 2013 in addition to Video On Demand and other digital platforms.
Republican Government Officials Admit To Scheming To Keep Americans From Voting As we get closer and closer to election day, things are starting to look a whole lot like the shady Florida voting scandal that put President Bush in office back in 2000. First up, the Ohio Secretary of State, who happens to be a GOP goon aka Repblican, has admitted to “misplacing” thousands of Ohio voter registration forms… via News One 33,000 updated voter registration records were felled by a glitch triggered by “change-of-address” records and were resent by Husted’s office to local election officials. Voter rights advocates contend that thousands of absentee-ballot requests may have been incorrectly rejected in Ohio due to the software snafu between the secretary of state offices and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The Columbus Dispatch reports that county election boards did not have current addresses for a number of registrants. The glitch was immediately discovered, with the majority of the group able to be processed. The remaining 33,000 records are said to be undergoing process, and the state’s election board promises that there will be enough time to power through the erroneous data. And as if that’s not bad enough… Floridians across the state are asking Gov. Rick Scott (pictured) to extend early voting hours. But despite long lines at early voting sites and missing absentee ballots, the Republican governor is unlikely to heed their calls. Scott, who already passed a law last year limiting early voting days to 8 from 14, has the support of his fellow politicians. Republican officials, such as Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, have said they don’t plan on asking Scott for more voting time. This is expected to result in longer lines next Tuesday. So far, over 3 million Floridians had voted by mail Wednesday evening. Democratic voters lead in early voting. SMH. Incase you hadn’t already noticed, ish is real out here in these election 2012 streets. We hope you are paying attention to what’s going on Bossipers and we hope things like this help emphasize how it important it is to get out there and vote. Don’t let these GOP goons scare you away from the polls with their antics! Our voices will be heard.
Don’t trust them new ninjas over there 10 Rap Songs That Warn Against Trusting The Government Election time is almost upon us. But that doesn’t mean everyone is excited about either candidate or licking their chops to stand in line to place their vote. Lupe Fiasco has already stated that he is more than likely staying home on election day. But he isn’t the only rapper who may be skipping out on punching his ticket for the next President because he feels the government is corrupt as a whole. Read more at Hip Hop Wired
‘That’s a God-given American right to bitch about the government,’ ‘The League’ star Nick Kroll tells MTV News. By Kara Warner Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama Photo: Getty Images
In Casino Royale , Daniel Craig made a memorable impression as the sexy 007, wearing a snug swimming suit. But Craig had to work it to attain that physique and it’s not something he maintains between James Bond stints. But he didn’t have a hard time getting back to top-notch form. Speaking with a bit of tongue-in-cheek at a Skyfall press day over the weekend in New York, Craig told Access Hollywood. “It’s just quite a ball, quite frankly. I mean, [I’ve] just got to do it.” Craig said a doctor told him that his routine was the same as playing a football [soccer] match every day with little rest. “You’re playing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then taking Sunday off.’ Normally, football players would come Saturday or Sunday and take three days off at least,” Daniel said. “So I was sort of constantly sort of bashed up. So keeping in shape — it was just so I moved — at all.” In Skyfall , Craig switches a swim suit for a simple towel in one scene, and said producers gave him the heads up so he could get ready for his close-up. “I kind of have to work towards that. Luckily, we kind of plan those out beforehand, so I can kind of work to make sure I’m kind of in as good of shape as I can be for those scenes,” he noted. Aside from physical prowess, Craig gave his views on Bond who he sees as a spy in the traditional sense. In the latest version of the James Bond series, the character, Q, makes a return, played by Ben Whishaw. “What I love [about the film is] the story sort of brings in this idea of sort of the old world and the new world of espionage, and the government officials in the movies were talking about cutting corners and saying, ‘Well, we’ll send in drones and we can spy on people with satellites. We don’t actually need to have people in the field.’ Bond’s obviously opposed to that,” said Craig. “He thinks you’ve got to be there, you’ve got experience it, you’ve got to look people in the eye. So, with bringing Q back in, who’s sort of that new school and Bond, who’s of the old school – that clash – hopefully it’s going to be a quite exciting journey to go on with those two.” Skyfall opens in the U.S. beginning November 8th. It debuts in theaters October 23rd in the U.K. [ Source: Access Hollywood ]
Brad Pitt headed to WeHo in support of a documentary he produced and took a swipe at the decades-old war on drugs. Pitt apparently just said ‘yes’ back in the day, but said his days dabbling in illegal substances have long gone. Why We Fight director Eugene Jarecki bowed his latest The House I Live In and stopped in a West Hollywood theater for a Q&A with his super-star producer who flew in from Europe for a chat. “My drug days have long since passed,” Pitt told THR as reported by The Guardian . “But I could probably land in any American city and within 24 hours find whatever you want. But we still support this charade called the drug war. We spent a trillion dollars over 40 years and a lot of people have lost their lives over it.” Pitt felt compelled to get involved with the project which won a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January. He said that the “subject has bugged me for a long time. It’s a backward strategy. It makes no sense and we keep going on the path like we’re winning, when it perpetuates more drugs being used.” Jarecki added his two cents and jokingly called Pitt “a drug addict,” and likened the U.S. government’s anti-drug crusade to Prohibition. “After prohibition, we regrouped and said it was a bad idea what we’re doing. Now we have a system where alcohol is illegal for children; the government profits off it; grownups can use it responsibly, which means if I go out in my car and kill some one it’s manslaughter. But if I’ve been drinking, it’s an aggravating prosecutorial factor. So why is it that drugs – which are less damaging to public health than alcohol – why is it we treat them more severely?” [ Source: The Guardian ]
