TV / Film News

Update: Screen Actors Guild Delays Strike Vote

Source: Michael Ricci
December 24, 2008

The union, which has been rocked by internal dissent, will convene a special meeting of its national board to discuss the matter.

Rocked by growing internal dissent that is splintering Hollywood's largest union, the Screen Actors Guild has postponed plans for a controversial strike authorization vote until after the union's national board meets to discuss the matter. The union's 120,000 members were poised to vote on the planned strike referendum next month, with ballots going out Jan. 2. But in ...

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Richard Bliwas Performs on Paula's Party

Source: All About Jazz
December 24, 2008

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Screen Actors Guild Postpones Strike Authorization Vote

Source: Michael Ricci
December 22, 2008

BREAKING NEWS

The Screen Actors Guild has postponed the strike authorized by the guilds board of directors last month. The mailing of ballots to the members was about to be sent January 2, 2009.

Securing such a vote in the current climate could be difficult for SAG. The referendum would require 75% approval from members who vote in order to pass. Although union members typically grant strike authorizations to leaders in negotiations, that could be a difficult threshold to meet ...

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Ten Moments That Shook 'American Idol' in 2008

Source: Michael Ricci
December 22, 2008

To some (myself included), it was the greatest season in American Idol history. To others, it was sagging proof that the series was overdue for a reboot.

We had controversies, surprises, tragedies, outrages and amazing triumphs, and in the end hints of big shake-ups in the year to come. Below is my list of the most earth-jolting moments that rocked the Idoldome in 2008. Which did I leave out? What were yours?

10. David Hernandez stripping controversy. The ...

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Australia' Boasts a Banquet of Music

Source: All About Jazz
December 21, 2008

Australia boasts one of the more complicated and diverse soundtracks in recent memory. But will the Academy reward what director Baz Luhrmann calls “as musically layered a world as the film is culturally layered"?

The Australia score is a patchwork quilt of David Hirschfelder's orchestral underscore, spiced with such indigenous Australian instruments as the digeridoo, wobbleboard and clapsticks; the folk music of the Northern Territories, from bush ballads to Aboriginal chants; music of the period, from “Over the Rainbow" to ...

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Roy Hargrove, Gloria Lynne, Sonny Rollins, and "Jazz for Obama" Featured in New Jazz It Up! Episode

Source: All About Jazz
December 20, 2008

New York, NY - The second episode of season 2 of Jazz it Up! is now available! To subscribe and see a five-minute preview of the new episode: Jazz it Up! Each episode of Jazz it Up! features two main artists; each performs two songs. This edition features ensembles led by trumpeter Roy Hargrove and vocalist Gloria Lynne. Roy Hargrove begins the show with fire and edge, cementing his reputation as one of the best trumpet men of his generation. ...

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Oscar Short Sparks Controversy

Source: Michael Ricci
December 19, 2008

The collision of entertainment, media and pop culture. If youre a documentarian, you know that while its a great honor to make the academys short-list for best documentary short, its almost impossible to get anyone in the media to write about your movie, since theyre almost totally obsessed with handicapping the ups and downs of the various actor and best picture races. But thanks to the Canadian government, in particular Albertas minister of culture, Leslie Iwerks documentary short Downstream has ...

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Extinction-Level Television Event

Source: Michael Ricci
December 19, 2008

IM a runt of Generation X, which means 1) Im supposed to define myself entirely through ironic references to pop culture, and 2) as a member of the last generation to come of age in an era of only three TV networks, I assume everyone will understand when I drop a quote from Scooby-Doo or The A-Team. But the generation immediately after mine has never known life without cable, and the generation after that wont know a life without streaming ...

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