Advertisement

The Morning Fix: Angelina Jolie’s luxury problem. Larry King exits. Miramax and Weinstein ink deal.

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

After the coffee. Before asking if I’m the only one who thinks Vincent Cassel looks like a skinnier version of Jean-Claude Van Damme.

The Skinny: I don’t think I’ll be hitting any movies this weekend. What about you? It’s a slow news day today, a trend that will likely continue through the next two weeks. With Golden Globe and SAG nominations out, Oscar predictions are starting to heat up. Do you want a sequel to ‘Shakespeare in Love?’ Me neither.

Advertisement

Movies or shopping? Walt Disney Co.’s ‘Tron Legacy,’ the sequel to ‘Tron,’ is expected to finish on top this weekend, beating Warner Bros.’ 3-D ‘Yogi Bear’ (does that look awful, or is it just me?) and Sony’s romantic comedy ‘How Do You Know.’ My hunch is that overall attendance will be off this weekend as the holiday shopping rush hits fourth gear. My other hunch is that next week there will be lots of stories about what the poor showing for ‘How Do You Know’ means for its star Reese Witherspoon and director James L. Brooks. Box office forecasts from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.

Because we’ve all been waiting for a ‘Shall We Dance’ sequel. The new owners of Miramax -- Colony Capital, Ron Tutor and the Qatar sovereign wealth fund -- have struck a deal with old owners Bob and Harvey Weinstein to partner on potential sequels to some Miramax classics. The movies include ‘Clerks,’ ‘Copland’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love.’ Of course, there was already one disastrous sequel to ‘Clerks.’ Hopefully the other two won’t be tarnished by a lame sequel. Details on the deal from the Los Angeles Times.

Betting on Oscar. Vulture is looking at the Golden Globe and Screen Actor Guild nominations to make a betting line on who gets an Oscar nomination and who’s sitting at home. Per Vulture, it’s not looking good for ‘True Grit’ or Danny Boyle, director of ‘127 Hours.’

The King is gone. CNN’s Larry King ended his show last night. Joining him on the set were Bill Maher. Dr. Phil and Ryan Seacrest and his family -- which, given recent tabloid stories about King’s marriage, was a little awkward to watch. Washington Post critic Tom Shales wrote that King’s last show was ‘certainly no grandly emotional moment to rank with Johnny Carson’s famous farewell.’ The Wrap recruited TV scribe Gail Shister to write an appreciation of King. The Daily Beast has also assembled memorable King moments.

Watch out for those walkers on Wall Street. Rainbow Media, the programming unit of Cablevision and parent of cable channels AMC (‘Mad Men,’ ‘The Walking Dead’), WE, IFC and Sundance, is going to be spun off. Cablevision’s board of directors approved the move Thursday. Details from Bloomberg.

Talk about luxury problems. The Hollywood Reporter wonders whether Angelina Jolie, nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in ‘The Tourist,’ a critical and commercial disappointment, should attend the awards show. Well, if she decides to skip out, I’ll be more than happy to take her place.

Advertisement

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Legendary writer and director Blake Edwards (‘Pink Panther,’ ‘10,’
Victor/Victoria’ died at the age of 88. Kenneth Turan on ‘How Do You Know.’

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. I’m the one constant in a rapidly changing universe. Twitter.com/JBFlint

Advertisement