Entertainment

Industry News for Writers in my ASJA Monthly Market Monitor Column

Attention Writers! Stay ahead of the game with a Wordpress website, a strong social media presence, branding your image, building your platform. So many options for writers to sell their work. It’s a writer’s world out there. American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA.org).

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Lincoln, Obama, presidential inaugurations, Sundance and skewed media reports

The release of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” was ideal timing. It’s up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Daniel Day Lewis may win Best Actor. Tomorrow, President Barack Obama will be officially sworn in at the White House and begin his new term. He will swear with his hand not only on Lincoln’s Bible, but also Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Bible. The most insightful political film of 2012, “SPLIT: A Deeper Divide”

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‘Gangster Squad’ stars hotties Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone & Josh Brolin

In “Gangster Squad” the wrathful hand of God, in the form of Police Chief Nick Nolte, descends upon Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and his brutal mobsters. The problem is not guns and blood in movies. It is the lack of gun control combined with mentally ill individuals slipping through the cracks of society. If you are a fan of shoot ’em ups, run, don’t walk, to “Gangster Squad.” Feel free to drool over Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as they sizzle right off the screen. Cheer for Josh Brolin as he beats bad guys to a blood-soaked heap.

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The winners of the 85th Academy Awards nominations have been announced

The Oscars nominees for best movies of 2012 have been announced: Best Picture
Argo, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Amour, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”

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Q&A with Paul Giamatti about meat monsters and other weird horror stories

In an interview with Examiner Dorri Olds, Paul Giamatti said, “Madame Bovary,” I think will be made at some point this year. The HBO movie, “K Blows Top,” is about Khrushchev. Hopefully that’ll get made this year. “Turbo” is a cartoon. Nice. Fun. That probably comes out this year. It’s about snails. “Saving Mr. Banks” is something I just did. That was a movie about Walt Disney and the woman who wrote Mary Poppins. It’s about the making of Mary Poppins. It’s interesting. Very interesting. “Romeo and Juliet” should come out this year. “Twelve Years a Slave” is a wonderful movie. They’re all wonderful movies. I’m supposed to go do “Parkland” tomorrow in Texas. That’s about the Kennedy assassination. I’m glad to see I have lots of movies coming out. I didn’t realize that. That’s nice. I’ve been working and that’s good.

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Q&A with Don Coscarelli, writer & director of horror film “John Dies at the End”

“John Dies at the End” is Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti’s first horror movie gig. The screenplay, written by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep, Phantasm), is based on the comic horror novel by David Wong (aka Cracked editor Jason Pargin).

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Zero Dark Thirty

The year in review, part I: The best movies of 2012

2012 Best movies: Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, The Dark Knight Rises, Argo, Flight, Les Misérables.

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Bob Marley

The year in review, part II: The best movies of 2012

The year in review: The best movies of 2012. Part 2: Marley, A Royal Affair, Middle of Nowhere, Pusher, Headhunters, Seven Psychopaths.

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Dev Patel

The year in review, part III: The best movies of 2012

The year in review: The best movies of 2012. Part 3: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Hunter, Snowman’s Land, Hysteria, Happy New Year, Heleno.

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Q&A with rising star Rodrigo Santoro who shines in the must-see movie, ‘Heleno’

“Heleno” is the story of Brazilian soccer star, Heleno de Freitas (1920–1959), and his meteoric rise to fame, then his equally quick plummet. The stunning and mesmerizing lead in the movie, Rodrigo Santoro, won Best Actor in Lima Latin American Film Festival and Havana Film Festival. Santoro’s Heleno grabs hold in ways reminiscent of Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” This is a nuanced performance conveying the rage, arrogance and addictions that fueled Heleno’s tragic demise.

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