Ann Curry has already been screwed over once by NBC. Now she’s determined for it not to happen again. With CNN reportedly wooing the anchor, sources tell Radar Online that Curry wants out of her NBC contract. Big time. “She has formally asked her attorney to explore exit options from the network,” the Curry insider claims . “However, NBC bosses have indicated they are unwilling to release Ann from the contract. If Ann were to just quit, there is a non-compete clause, which would prohibit her from working for another news outlet for two years.” Because Curry was demoted from The Today Show, she believes NBC breached the terms of her deal and she ought to be released. The CNN gig is especially attractive to the reporter because former NBC boss Jeff Zucker is now in charge there. He wants her to lead a program at 8 p.m. every night. In other morning show news: Folks are screaming at Matt Lauer . Robin Roberts will not return to Good Morning America until mid-2013.
When it comes to the host of the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, the network has made a perfect selection. A Pitch Perfect selection, we should say! Rebel Wilson will become the first female emcee of this event in six years, as MTV announced the 26-year old actress will helm its annual big screen celebration on April 14. Below, we’ve posted Wilson’s first MTV Movie Awards trailer, which aired last night during the Jersey Shore series finale : 2103 MTV Movie Awards Trailer
Get out your passports, kids, because we’re seeing the world. Director Godfrey Reggio’s epic Qatsi Trilogy, filmed around the world, will kick your home theater to the next level with its stunning visuals and complex soundtracks. Then it’s off to the Caribbean, where Michael Caine embarrassed himself in a Peter Benchley adaptation several years before starring in that really terrible Jaws sequel. Some people never learn. HIGH: The Qatsi Trilogy (The Criterion Collection; DVD or Blu-Ray, $79.95) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Three films from screen artist and environmental activist Godfrey Reggio: The legendary Koyaanisqatsi (1983), and its equally impressive follow-ups Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). (All three titles are words from the Hopi language; respectively, they mean “life out of balance,” “life in transformation,” and “life as war,” so basically this set is “The Life Trilogy.”) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: All three of these films defy easy synopsis, but here goes: Reggio uses compelling imagery and the music of Philip Glass to portray the stark contrast between the natural order and man’s inflicting of industry upon the planet (and upon his fellow men). A slow pan across a desert plain or along the face of a cliff might be contrasted with sped-up footage of cars driving through cities or hot dogs and Twinkies being processed in factories. One of the signature moments of Powaqqatsi shows a small child walking along the road, only to be engulfed in the sand cloud kicked up by a passing 18-wheeler. There’s no narration or dialogue, so what you take from these film is purely up to you. WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: This sort of non-verbal, non-narrative film generally gets relegated to museums and art installations, so for Reggio to have gotten mainstream theatrical (and DVD) distribution is something of a miracle. But even if you shy away from anything that even smacks of experimental, these movies are hypnotic and thought-provoking. (They may also play well in Washington and Colorado, if you get my drift.) WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): Just the fact that these films are being made available in Blu-Ray for the first time would be reason enough to plunk down for this set, but it’s a Criterion Collection release, which means it comes loaded with oodles of great extras. There are new and vintage interviews, TV spots, Reggio’s short film Anima Mundi , a demo version of Koyaanisqatsi with a scratch soundtrack featuring Allen Ginsberg , a chat with musicians Glass and Yo-Yo Ma, and a booklet featuring essays by film scholar Scott MacDonald, music critic John Rockwell and environmentalist Bill McKibben of 350.org. LOW: The Island (Scream Factory; $26.99 DVD+Blu-Ray Combo) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Written by Peter Benchley, based on his novel; directed by Michael Ritchie; starring Michael Caine and David Warner. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Caine stars as a journalist investigating the disappearance of ships in the Bermuda Triangle. Traveling to the Caribbean with his estranged son (Jeffrey Frank), Caine discovers a hidden colony of pirates, descended from French marauders of centuries ago, raiding pleasure boats to stay alive. Caine gets raped by one of the lady pirates (they’re excited to get some non-inbred DNA into the pool) while Caine’s son is won over by the scalawags (led by Warner). Can our hero escape — and will he be able to convince his son to go with him? WHY IT’S FUN: Something of a legendary dud upon its original release (particularly since this marked a reunion of Benchley with Jaws producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown), The Island has become a cult fave in the ensuing decades among Benchley fans and bad-movie lovers alike. I think the film’s strengths lie with director Ritchie, one of the more underrated American auteurs of the 1970s and ’80s. (His films include Fletch , Smile , The Candidate and The Bad News Bears .) While this isn’t anywhere near his best work, Ritchie does what he can with the often risible source material — don’t ask too many questions about how this cabal of hidden pirates has survived for three centuries — and keeps things moving at a brisk clip. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): Previously available only via Universal’s movies-on-demand label, this marks the first Blu-Ray release of the film. There’s not a single extra to be found, alas, and you you just know Caine would have some hilarious things to say about the experience if Scream Factory could have convinced him to do a commentary. Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap, Salon and MSNBC.com . He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network) . He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
RG2 says Rob Parker was just trying to “stir things up” with his comments regarding Robert Griffin III’s race “situation.” Via ProFootballTalk: Robert Griffin III has yet to specifically respond to Rob Parker’s bizarre rant regarding RG3′s refusal to be defined by his race. Griffin’s father, however, has. “He needs to define what ‘one of us’ is,” Robert Griffin Jr. told Jim Corbett of USA Today. “That guy needs to define that. I wouldn’t say it’s racism. I would just say some people put things out there about people so they can stir things up. “Robert is in really good shape on who he is, where he needs to get to in order to seek the goals he has in life . . . so I don’t take offense.” RG2 hit the nail on the head when he said “stir things up.” Parker’s comments flowed directly from ESPN’s desire to “embrace debate” via the only aspect of the now-defunct Cold Pizza show that was even remotely interesting. Comments like Parker’s don’t pop up out of thin air. Every segment of First Take is planned, with producers finding topics on which the on-air personalities either genuinely disagree or can be coaxed into disagreeing. As MDS pointed out last night, the segment in question started with RG3′s comments regarding his desire to not be identified by race. The producers picked the subject. The producers knew — or at least should have known — what Parker was going to say. The entire excursion is a product of the format, which ESPN president John Skipper recently defended in an interview with SportsBusiness Journal. “It’s just another show,” Skipper said of First Take. “It’s not journalism. Nobody goes, ‘Gee, look how awful it is that CBS does these awful reality shows. Doesn’t that taint their great news organization?’ We have seven networks. There’s 8,760 hours per year. We’re programming 50-60,000 hours per year. . . . But people say, ‘Gee, that awful debate that you’re doing, how can the great SportsCenter coexist with the debate of First Take. I don’t know, how do infomercials coexist with the great journalism they’re doing someplace else?” First of all, when has anyone recently accused SportsCenter of being “great”? Second, the CBS reality shows aren’t filmed on a set that looks a lot like the set of the CBS Evening News. Third, Skipper has done quite well for himself, considering that he is unable to come up extemporaneously with any quality synonyms for the word “awful.” Finally, infomercials rarely include content that the network later must acknowledge was inappropriate. Thoughts??
Louisiana meteorologist Rhonda Lee defended her short hair after being insulted on Facebook, only to be fired … and receive a groundswell of support online. A viewer took Lee, of Shreveport’s KTBS, to task October 1 for having short hair, rather than for any job-related issues. Lee, 37, responded in the comments. Instead of backing her up or deleting the offensive post, however, the network fired Lee , saying she had violated the company’s unofficial social media policy. Now, her fans are furious. Nearly 1,000 people have signed a petition asking that KTBS rehire Lee, saying she was victimized twice, once by the viewer “and again by KTBS.” “Rhonda Lee deserves to have her job back,” the petition reads. “Her eloquent response to the bigoted and sexist remarks of viewer Emmitt Vascocu were warranted.” “Employers such as KTBS-TV should stand by their employees and on-air talent whenever they are verbally attacked based on their looks, values or merit.” “I would never have dreamed in a million years that I would get all this support,” Lee told the Daily News. “It’s been a tough go at first to not be angry. But mostly I’m just sad. I genuinely loved where I worked. I loved my viewers. I made my home here.” For its part, KTBS says Lee “was not dismissed for her appearance or defending her appearance” but rather for the repeated violation of the company policy. “Unfortunately, television personalities have long been subject to harsh criticism and negative viewer comments about their appearance and performance,” the ABC affiliate said. “If harsh viewer comments are posted, there is a specific procedure to follow.” Rhonda Lee, however, says she never saw the policy in question, and that when she asked for it following her termination, higher-ups told her no. KTBS, on the other hand, says Lee received an email outlining the procedure, which states that it is “best not to respond at all” to viewer complaints. What did Lee write, and in response to what, exactly? “The black lady that does the news is a very nice lady. the onlt [sic] thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair,” wrote Emmitt Vascocu on October 1. “im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but its not something that i think looks good on tv.” Days later, when KTBS still hadn’t respond to the Facebook post on its page, Lee did. “Hello Emmitt I am the “black lady” to which you are referring. My name is Rhonda Lee. Nice to meet you,” she wrote on October 6, in the comments. “I am sorry you don’t like my ethnic hair. And no I don’t have cancer.” “I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward.” “Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary.” “I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. As women we come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty.” “Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society,” the TV personality concluded. “Little girls (and boys for that matter) growing up in this world need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals.”
Rachel Wray is transitioning to the world of MMA fighting from the NFL sidelines. That#39;s right, the cute blonde spitfire sporting cornrows in the octagon was, until very recently, dancing on the sidelines for the Kansas City Chiefs. Former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Rachel Wray (no, not Rachael Ray of Food Network fame) has ditched the pom poms for sparring partners as she made the transition from NFL cheerleader to MMA fighter, according to KCMMA.com. “Last year, I was a Chiefs ch
Will you give him the benefit of the doubt and watch an episode? Our favorite minstrel man is back on network television with not one but two new shows that are set for production next year. Tyler Perry’s teamed up with his number one cheerleader Oprah and her OWN Network, where he’ll be writing, directing, and executive producing “The Haves and the Have Nots”; a drama about a family and their housekeeper and “Love Thy Neighbor”; a multicamera comedy set in a diner. According to The Hollywood Reporter , this is just the first two of many projects the duo’s got planned: Two months after inking Tyler Perry to an overall deal and announcing its move into scripted fare, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network has announced the pair of series to be overseen by the multihyphenate. Perry will write, direct and executive produce a comedy and a drama for the Harpo and Discovery Communications joint venture, with both series hailing from his Tyler Perry Studios banner for OWN. The two entries will begin production early next year and bow in mid-2013. The Haves and the Have Nots is a drama about the dynamics of the affluent Cyrer family and the impoverished family of their housekeeper, Hanna, and the obstacles and secrets that exist within both. Love Thy Neighbor, meanwhile, is a multicamera comedy set at Love’s Diner, where every day the menu serves up good food, great laughs, valuable life lessons and a lot of love for its zany neighbors. Episode orders for both projects are unclear with additional writers and producers expected to be added. OWN inked Perry — the prolific writer, director, producer and actor behind the Madea features, among several other stage and small-screen projects — to a multiyear pact in October to produce original content for the cabler. Before the deal, Perry’s TV efforts were housed at Turner-owned TBS, where the network launched half-hours Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Meet the Browns and For Better or Worse. Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav, speaking Dec. 4 at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in London, expressed confidence in OWN, noting its recent ratings growth puts the channel as one of the top three growing networks and noting he expected it to be profitable in the second half of 2013 as he forecast its growth to go from 80 million to 85 million homes. “The cherry on top is we got Tyler Perry,” Zaslav told investors at the time. November marked OWN’s 10th consecutive month of year-over-year ratings growth. Will you watch? Images via WENN/tumblr
Celebrity Friends Or Family Who Slept With The Same People It’s a small world. And no one knows the reality of this better than people in Hollyweird. While it might seem like there’s plenty of fish in the land of the limelight to choose from in terms of dating, some celebs just can’t manage to steer clear of the people who are off limits by default. Six degrees of separation is more like one for these high paid peen and panty pandering peeps, cause they have just as much in common between the sheets as they do in public.
Let Aubrey cook… Drake And Guy Fieri Pictured Cooking Together Via Hollywood Drake’s official fansite posted this photo to Instagram, sending fans of Drizzy and Flavortown into a tizzy. What wisdom could celebrity chef and New York Times victim Guy Fieri be teaching Jimmy Brooks? Conventional wisdom (and Fieri’s tweets) suggest that Drake was simply cooking with the TV host at a Toronto haunt while Fieri was touring the city for his show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. After all, Drake is a native of the the big Tee-oh, so who better to show Fieri around? Representatives from the Food Network have not returned requests for confirmation at the time of publication, but the evidence is pretty stacked. What do you think these two are bumpin’ their gums about? Image via Instagram
If you thought Japanese animation was all horny teens and laser guns and rocketships, prepare to have your mind blown by a tragic tale of wartime and lost youth ( Grave of the Fireflies ). And if you thought French star Alain Delon was known only for his work for art-house directors like Luchino Visconti and Jean-Pierre Melville (and for appearing on the cover of The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead album), get ready to watch him buckle his swash ( Zorro ). HIGH: Grave of the Fireflies (Section 23; $19.98 DVD, $29.98 DVD) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on the novel by Akiyuki Nosaka. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Teenage Seita and his young sister Setsuko are on their own after their mother dies in the firebombing of Tokyo in the waning days of World War II. There’s never a good time for children to be separated from their loving parents, but there are few junctures of history worse than being in Japan in the final months of that bloody conflict. The two do what they can to survive, but hopelessness is hard to overcome. WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: My friends in the cartoon biz love to say “Animation is not a genre,” so even though this is an animated movie, and one about kids no less, Grave of the Fireflies is an intensely moving (and often disturbing) film that’s definitely not for the youngest of viewers. Director Takahata doesn’t have the PR in the Western world of his Studio Ghibli partner Hayao Miyazaki ( Spirited Away , My Neighbor Totoro ), but he’s made two movies (this one and Pom Poko ) that leave me a sobbing wreck every time. Fireflies deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with other antiwar classics like Forbidden Games and Spirit of the Beehive , both of which are also told from young people’s perspectives. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): It’s a gorgeous piece of work, even when the misery portrayed is hard to watch, so the fact that the film is finally getting a Blu-Ray release in the U.S. is exciting news. This version also features a new English-language dub, as well as storyboards for the film (and for some deleted scenes), along with the Japanese theatrical trailer. LOW: Zorro (Somerville House; DVD $19.98, Blu-Ray $24.98) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Written by Giorgio Arlorio; directed by Duccio Tessari; starring Alain Delon, Ottavia Piccolo, Stanley Baker, Moustache. (Yes, Moustache.) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Nobleman Don Diego de la Vega (Delon) masquerades as his dead friend and fills in as the governor of an embattled province so that by night, as masked swordsman Zorro, he can engineer the overthrow of the despicable Colonel Huerta (Baker) and his troops. Zorro fights on behalf of the oppressed peasants with the help of Brother Francisco (Giampiero Albertini) and the beautiful Hortensia (Piccolo). WHY IT’S FUN: The character of Zorro dates all the way back to the pulp magazines of the early 20th century, and he’s been a reliable standard of film and TV, portrayed by everyone from Douglas Fairbanks to Antonio Banderas. (And I will admit a soft spot for George Hamilton’s hilariously spoofy turn in Zorro, the Gay Blade .) If you’re a fan of spaghetti Westerns — those wonderfully grimy and wildly entertaining horse operas that inspired Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Django Unchained — you’ll enjoy watching Italian day players pretending to be South American peasants. Delon puts a fun spin on the material, and director Tessari (most known for his contributions to the screenplay of A Fistful of Dollars ) keeps thing exhilarating and exciting. This was my first Zorro movie as a child — it played theatrically in 1976 and then seemed to air perpetually on television soon thereafter — and it imprinted on me for life. (As did the catchy theme song, which will never, ever leave your head after you hear it.) WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): This Blu-Ray debut offers up a few extras, including trailers and radio spots, biographies of Delon and Tessari, and side-by-side comparisons that demonstrate how much better the digital restoration makes this zippy Euro-adventure look. READ MORE HIGH & LOW ON DVD! Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap, Salon and MSNBC.com. He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network). He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
