Free Republic

Japan’s entertainment industry has become so filled with idol groups that some call this is the age of the “idol war.” Finding commercial success amid this fierce competition can be tough, but an idol group that debuted this week is making no secret about its true intentions. The members of the group, called the Margarines, are out for money, pure and simple. The gimmick is that they’re pursuing the idol dream in order to pay off their debts. The nine members, ranging in age from 19 to 30, owe a total of around about ¥127 million.

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia described the reforms which resulted in the Prague Spring as “socialism with a human face.” The New York Times calls Madam Secretary, CBS’s extremely expensive prime time contribution to the Hillary campaign, “Hillary with a human face.” A network series can cost between $3 and $4 million an episode. Assuming that Madam Secretary runs even one season, instead of being canceled ignominiously like Commander in Chief, the 2005 attempt at giving Hillary a human face, it will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million. That’s double the $46 million that...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. This is the Labor Day weekendWe deserve a break from the grind. We also serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. Skip the tea, I need one of these.No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe....

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could...

Fans of singer Olivia Newton-John who are hopelessly devoted to the singer can now catch her live in Las Vegas -- where her new wax figure is on display. The Grammy Award winner did a double-take in Sin City as she stood next to her freshly unveiled Madame Tussauds wax figure....

I haven’t watched more than two episodes of any contemporary television series in twenty years, but I do watch baseball and football and so I get a fair barrage of commercials advertising what is supposed to be funny or “edgy” or seriously dramatic and so forth. My wife likes to watch home decorating shows and cooking shows, so that I overhear some of the stuff that comes on after the show she’s wanted to watch has concluded.It strikes me—and she confirms my impression by her observations—that there’s a real meanness in much of what comes on the air even...

The NBCUniversal-owned cable network has put into development Ghost Brigades, a drama based on John Scalzi's Hugo-nominated Old Man's War universe book series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The NeverEnding Story's Wolfgang Petersen will oversee development on the project alongside Scott Stuber (Safe House), with Jake Thornton and Ben Lustig (Winter's Knight) on board to pen the first script. The drama hails from Universal Cable Productions, Petersen's Radiant Productions and Stuber's Bluegrass Films. Ghost Brigades follows John Perry, who at 75 enlists in the Colonial Defense Force to fight a centuries-long war for man's expansion into the cosmos. Technology allows...

"We Are Groot." Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ruled the box office this weekend with a fantastic $94 million. That's easily the biggest debut ever for an August release; the previous record holder, The Bourne Ultimatum, opened to $69.3 million in 2007. Meanwhile, James Brown biopic Get On Up took third place with a modest $14 million debut. This weekend reversed the box office slump in a big way: the top 12 earned $172.6 million, which is up a whopping 40 percent from the same frame last year. With a packed line-up of major releases coming up, this August is...

I have to claim responsibility for the newest parody that’s now starring as president of the United States on TVs everywhere. If ever there were a Steven Colbert character assigned to play a faux president, Obama would get the nod. You see: he’s been nominated for an Emmy now. In a comedy, playing himself, in a tragedy. Seriously. His own incompetence has led to an Emmy nomination. And it’s my fault. When Obama visited Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame in May, ostensibly to promote tourism, I suggested with mock fawning that they should induct him into the HOF as the...

One person was killed and four others injured after a man opened fire at an overnight party early Sunday in East Hollywood to celebrate the upcoming Black Entertainment Television Awards. The assailant was a lone gunman who is still at large, said Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department. The shooting occurred at 5:17 a.m., when the gunman fired several rounds, Madison said. Ambulances transported three victims to a local hospital, where one died. The two others arranged their own hospital transportation. Investigators have not released information about the victims. The coroner’s office said early Sunday that it...

Jonathan Demme is set to tackle the world of evangelical ministers with the film Come Sunday and is enlisting Robert Redford to play the late Oral Roberts. The film, which will be financed and produced by Endgame Entertainment (Looper), chronicles the true story of Carlton Pearson, a renowned evangelical minister in Tulsa, Okla., who stirs up controversy with his revelation that there is no hell. He loses everything and must rebuild his church and his family and find his own personal faith. Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace) is in talks to take on the starring role of Pearson. EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS:...

Big-voiced rocker Caleb Johnson is the season 13 “American Idol,” winning the title over teenage pop singer Jena Irene.... The two-hour finale included performances by John Legend, Kiss, Demi Lovato and Lady Antebellum. It also showcased a song by judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr., with judge-turned-mentor Randy Jackson joining in. Even Seacrest took a turn crooning, proving as a singer he’s a great host. He was joined on Richard Marx’s “Right Here Waiting” by the singer-songwriter. NBC’s singing contest “The Voice,” which leapfrogged “American Idol” in the ratings, has leaned heavily on its performer-coaches to boost...

The new Godzilla is out, and while I'm not the biggest fan I saw it last night and enjoyed it. Some dissapointing statements were made by the filmmaker about the film being about climate change. Seeing the film, I don't understand how he would make that connection other than to score Hollywood points. That isn't what it is about. The original film was about the destructive power of the atomic bomb, and the beliefs that despite our technological arrogance, nature was still in control. This is the opposite of saying that emitting some carbon dioxide can destroy the Earth. Happily,...

Elisha Cuthbert stars in the half-hour midseason entry, which marks the network's third [pro-homosexual] comedy in as many years.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could...

Wednesday, 'Wheel of Fortune' had a very inspirational contestant in Trent Girone. The 21-year-old Peoria, Ariz., resident is a self-described "Wheel of Fortune" fanatic, but more important, he's the first special needs contestant ever to compete on the show.Girone has had nine brain surgeries and has both Asperger's and Tourette's syndromes, but that didn't stop him from taking early control of the wheel by successfully guessing the first puzzle, "a smashing success." Girone ultimately didn't win the game -- he hit the dreaded Bankrupt slot -- but he won viewer hearts from coast-to-coast.  WATCH:

The second "Sharknado" film doesn't premiere until this summer, but that hasn't stopped Syfy from plotting a third installment of the cult, social media-driven franchise. What we know is that more sharks and tornadoes are expected to follow in the third movie, but a cast and location have yet to be announced. The first film found sharks and storms wreaking havoc on Los Angeles, and the second one, titled "Sharknado 2: The Second One," is set in New York City. It debuts July 30 -- a year after the first movie premiered. Actress Vivica A. Fox, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sugar...

A contestant named Julian from Indiana University must be feeling pretty stupid right about now. And Hoosiers can't be feeling too proud. Julian had the chance to win $1 million Friday night, had the puzzle fully solved, and then lost because he pronounced Achilles like “A-chill-us.” Because of that mistake, the show decided not to give him the victory and instead, one of the other contestants who know the “mythological hero” got the chance to steal and did. (To win the full $1 million he would have had to overcome some other hurdles as well.) But alas, poor Julian' disastrous...

Madonna has detailed how she was raped not long after she moved to New York City at the age of 19, in a revealing account of her life to date. In an article for Harper's Bazaar magazine, the singer said she was forced on to the roof of a building at knifepoint and attacked. The first-person account, which accompanied a fashion shoot, spans Madonna's life from growing up in the US midwest and moving away from home, to her marriages and children. "New York wasn't everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms. The...

As a conservative, I have often bemoaned movies, tv shows, and musical acts that relentlessly push a progressive liberal agenda that is anathema to the American character. I know many others look at the entertainment industry and education and throw their hands up in despair or, even worse, meekly accept the garbage being spewed. Too often we are willing to turn the other cheek in the ongoing culture war, and I think that's a colossal mistake. I agree with the late Andrew Breitbart that we need to engage in the culture war as it impacts every facet of our lives...