Has Howard Stern lost his edge?

"Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed King of All Media, has lost his crown."  So begins Greg Braxton's recent story on the shock jock's move to satellite radio and the toll it's taken on his public persona (not to mention his ratings).

Has Howard's show taken a nosedive?  Braxton says yes -- but no less a luminary than Tom Leykis argues, "I don't think you can count out Howard Stern." 

What's your take?  Weigh in here.

Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The Big Picture: Upcoming Bill Maher film mocks the religious

         

Is it still controversial, or at least funny, to point out the obvious absurdities of faith?  If not, Bill Maher's upcoming film may not do too well. He worked with "Borat" director Larry Charles to film interviews with people who did not realize that they were actually the subjects of a mockumentary, as opposed to an informative documentary.  The unwitting butts of Maher's cinematic joke included a rabbi, a preacher and other religious people, thus giving The Big Picture columnist Patrick Goldstein the accurate impression that Maher "thinks religion is a big crock of spit."  Though "Religulous" doesn't open until Oct. 3, Goldstein scored an early screening and an interview with Maher.  The "Real Time" host was happy to share his tactics on tricking religious leaders into thinking that they were being taken seriously, much to the amusement of some readers but to the dismay of others.

Milo will probably catch "Religulous" on the opening night: "Any moron who thinks the earth is 5000 yers old should not be working at a fast food restaraunt much less representing our country."

David clearly does need to turn to religion for comfort: "Now, if only 'humans' could be satisfied with simply living a full life; working hard; having some fun...then dying. The End.This planet would be truly better off. You live. You Die. That's it. Period.Now, Have a Good Day."

But Karl Engels tried to prove that spirituality and common sense do not always cancel each other out:  "From what I can tell this movie is meant only to mock religion by interviewing some of it's wackiest subscribers. Finding and interviewing a jesus freak, ignorant catholic or screaming muslim isn't that hard or creative."

dave wrote: "Many of the posters seem to believe that if we could simply eliminate religion, we'd somehow eliminate many of the supposed problems that come from such belief. But kids... think with me here: IF it is US that invented it, then the problem is with US. Eliminate religion and humans will find some other motive to misbehave."

In fact, all of the self-described religious readers kept their arguments on the rational side, mostly taking issue with Maher's comedic methods rather than his anti-religious stance. Do you think that the concept of "Religulous" is indeed an irreverent one, or do the super-devoted just make for super easy laughing targets? 

--Amy Silverstein

Photo by Alexandra Lambrinidis/Lionsgate 

The Dish Rag: Is the 'Dark Knight' cursed?

First it was co-star Heath Ledger's death from an accidental drug overdose. Then it was the police complaint filed against "Batman" star Christian Bale, accusing him of assaulting his sister and mother. And yesterday Morgan Freeman wrecked a 1997 Nissan Maxima and was airlifted to the hospital to be treated for injuries. All of these inconvenient coincidences have led The Dish Rag to raise the question: Is there a Batman "Dark Knight" movie curse?

Readers had their thoughts on the supposed hex. Some dismissed the connections, while others jumped on the spook train.

Billy, the master of sarcasm, wrote:

Oh my God! 3 distinct and unrelated things happened to those people in the film!

Divineness points out another related tragedy:

Don't forget the stunt man that was also killed during the filming of this movie.

David wasn't convinced:

curse-shmurse!!

Mark wrote:

Curse. Total Curse. Who's next? Another 100 million for Dark Night as it consumes the cast like "The Blob".

Zoki Z wrote:

I think you are disturbed and trying to create a news story from a string of coincidences.

Comedy Blog wrote:

Well this sure didn't take long.

Why couldn't we have a Spice Girls movie curse?

Would the curse make you think twice about acting in this box-office explosion, or is this curse idea just a bunch of hot air?

-- Mark Milian

Photo: WireImage

Hero Complex: Jolie is not a popular Catwoman candidate

Angelina Jolie might look hot in a cat suit, but can she actually act in one? After seeing "The Dark Knight," Hero Complex blogger Geoff Boucher thinks the star of action films such as "Wanted" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" would make "the purrfect Catwoman" in the next Batman installment. But many readers disagreed, to put it politely.

Erik wrote that "Jolie as Catwoman is pretty much the worst idea ever, considering the fact that Jolie couldn't act her way out of a paperbag. She would have fit nicely in the Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher 'visons' (I use that term loosely) that trumpeted style over substance, but she would stick out like a garishly hideous thumb in Nolan's realistic universe. This is an idea I would expect from a dimwitted Hollywood exec." 

Readers such as ibis agreed that Jolie's glamorous looks wouldn't fit in well with the grittiness of Gotham City: "Anytime you put a woman in skin tight leather is a sign of hollywood leeching for commercial success rather than quality story-telling. Did you NOT see ledger perform? You honestly think it was his sex-appeal that drove the success of this film?"

But not all readers put their feelings so articulately. sylvia's opposition to the Catwoman idea depended more on survival: "I think if they casted Angelina as Catwoman I just might shoot myself in the head."

And andy offered a more in-depth analysis as to what works and what doesn't overall in the Batman franchise: "The Batman movies before 'Batman Begins' were always too comical, I couldn't take them seriously. But now, with Nolan's psychological influence, the movies are great. That said, Catwoman doesn't fit the bill. She can't cause Batman terrible psychological troubles."