Talkie

There was an ad for this on TV last night. It looked surprisingly funny, despite the fact that I can't stand Sandler and find the others unfunny. With good marketing to the '80s crowd it might do well, regardless of the critical reception.

Surely you remember Bella and the Huntsman?

The flat ratings are probably attributable to the annual ratings dip that happens for the majority of shows in the week after Daylight Savings Time rolls in. Only in Empire's case, there wasn't any dip, just steady ratings. It will probably rise for next week's finale. A rating of >6.0 in the demo wouldn't be surprising at all. Empire has become must-see TV for my friends. We've been glued to the screen in rapt delight, mixed with shock & awe. Next week we're going to have a viewing party to celebrate the insanity and mourn the fact that Empire will be gone until next Fall. Bet Fox gives it a longer season to capitalize on its popularity. Til then the Cookie Monsters are just gonna have to chill.

AOS scored 1.4 in the demo in the fast overnights, but was adjusted up .1 to a final 1.5. The episode managed to bore me to sleep, despite having Lady Sif and [redacted] along to cause mayhem. They've stupidly decided to make Skye and her "secret" the focus of most of the action, which once again exposes the weaknesses of both the character and the actress who plays her. She spent most of the episode whining and crying, causing me to root for either Sif or [redacted] to beat the snot out of her. The producers should have chosen any other member of the cast to become an Inhuman because most of them are better actors and all but one (Blood Hunter) are more likeable than Mary Sue Poots. Speaking of Blood Hunter, all he seems to do is lurk around and hump poor Bobbi like a mange-ridden dog. Someone on the production staff ought to decree that he is never to be seen shirtless again because the sight of his stringy body was just gross. It's weird that he's a permanent cast member yet only now is Hunter considering joining Coulson's team. Maybe that gives the producers an out to sent him packing now that Mockingbird/Palicki has been promoted to permanent status.

It'd be nice if some posters could drop their condescending attitudes towards America, but we all know that ain't happening.

After the MJ1 fanatics came into the GOTG thread for some premature gloating, I feel like doing a victory dance all over that bitch. But I won't. Trolling is for trolls. They know the score.

What's not to understand? The show is fantastic so great word of mouth is bringing in new viewers every week. Empire is becoming a water cooler phenom. People have to watch it so that they can talk about it with their friends and coworkers.

Excellent! When Peggy said to Howard, "You loved Steve. We both did," my slashy mind immediately went there. Love triangle or threesome? We need a second season and lots of fanfic to sort this out.

The whole episode was perfect! And the last few minutes bounced from triumph to humor to tragedy and ultimately ended in menace. Agent Carter is hands-down my favorite show. It will be devastating if it doesn't get a second season. The AOS promo afterward was a complete downer. Agent Carter is everything that AOS should have been. It's a damned shame that the Whedons squandered the opportunity they had to produce a brilliant show from day one.

Oscars Show Growing Gap Between Moviegoers and Academy In the end, it was the audience that got snubbed. Following the best picture win on Sunday night by “Birdman” — a brainy film seen by fewer than five million ticket buyers in North America — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences woke on Monday to soft television ratings for its Oscar telecast and fresh signs that its movie awards have become hopelessly detached from movie viewers. According to Nielsen data, the Oscar broadcast on ABC drew about 36.6 million viewers, down 14.9 percent from roughly 43 million last year. It was the lowest-rated show since 2009, which had about 36.3 million viewers for a ceremony hosted by Hugh Jackman, with “Slumdog Millionaire” in the winner’s circle. The bigger problem, as the results came in, were indications — visible amid a confusing tangle of awards that went in many different directions — that both the Academy and the echo chamber of Hollywood’s awards-system machinery have nearly broken their connection with the movies that many millions of people buy tickets to watch. “It’s sad, but most people have to finally accept that the Oscars have become, well, elitist and not in step with anything that is actually popular,” said Philip Hallman, a film studies librarian at the University of Michigan. “No one really believes anymore that the films they chose are the ones that are going to last over time.” The audience clearly cast its vote for Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” a reality-based Iraq war story that has taken in about $320 million at the domestic box office from nearly 40 million viewers. Box-office analysts predict that “American Sniper” will easily take in $340 million before its run is finished, making it the No. 1 film released last year, as measured in domestic ticket sales. Another telling statistic: “Birdman” collected about $11 million in ticket sales between the time it was nominated and Sunday; “American Sniper” took in $317 million over the same period. But “American Sniper,” one of eight best picture nominees and with six nominations over all, went home with nothing but a sound-editing statuette. “The Imitation Game,” the second-ranked ticket seller among the best picture nominees, with about $84 million in domestic sales from about 10 million viewers, did no better. After months of intense prize campaigning by the Oscar-savvy Weinstein Company, it lost in seven of its eight nominated categories, winning only for best adapted screenplay.

You've hit on exactly what the Oscars and the other dozens of awards shows have turned into over the past few decades: Marketing machines for small, unpopular movies that lack mass appeal. Hollywood gerryrigs these things so that movies no one outside a small audience actually wants to see get four months of nonstop publicity. The trophies go to the studios that conduct the best PR campaigns, not to the best nominees in any category.

That happens every year.

I've been a fan of Julianne since she starred in a soap opera with Meg Ryan & Ming-Na Wen. Happy to see her go so far.

REDMAYNE!!!!!!11!!1!!!! Not that I care. I really just want to soak up the hate that will surely flow in this thread.

I know, right? He wasted 12 years of everybody's life just to come up empty. (There is a God. )

So happy Birdman swooped in and took best director from Linklater!

It would be hilarious if they both lost BP. I'd love that even if AS won'

Who are these people??? I looked away for a minute and a tribe of goth zombies took over the stage.

Is there an award for Worst Wig? Whiplash editor would take it, follicles down.

That wench cannot act. Choosing her to play the producers' pet character just because Joss couldn't cast Eliza Dushku was a mistake. On topic: They're only on the editing award? This thing is going past midnight.

That's on the Academy for nominating so much unpopular dreck. They even filled the extra BP slots supposedly added so that more accessible films could get nommed with even more low-grossing artsy movies. The ratings will hopefully suffer for it.

And yet neither was a Marvel Studios film. I blame Arad (and Iger).

Can books give herpes to each other? I hope that libraries are stocking up on latex-free book covers, just in case.

Please tell an adult you trust about this abuse ASAP.

I'm right there with you, WTF. There is plenty of well-written erotica that could be adapted into hot, sexy, enjoyable films, but FSOG isn't in that league. Good erotica respects all parties, regardless of sexual identity or kinks. One can applaud FSOG for catering to female sexual fantasies and yet point out its many and glaring flaws. That's what we have to do if we're to have any hope of moving Hollywood in a more positive direction in the future. On another note, it's really unfortunate that Anne Rice's Exit to Eden was adapted into a wretched comedy back in the 90s. The novel is a BDSM romance featuring a dominatrix who trains and then falls in love with her sub. After the success of FSOG, the major studios will be looking for other such novels trying to make lightning strike twice. Making a more or less faithful version of Exit to Eden or a similar work could be a good way to go.