Free Republic

Hollywood super-producer Shonda Rhimes says she finds it distressing that in 2017, women’s health needs to be protected as if it were an endangered species. In a speech at Planned Parenthood’s 100th anniversary gala in New York Tuesday night, where she earned the evening’s Champion of Change award, Rhimes — who recently joined the board at the organization — discussed how her hit television shows including Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy offer a glimpse into how the world would look if women were “running things,” and lamented that the female anatomy itself could become extinct in today’s political climate. “In 2017....

The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu is a horror story. It’s a world where a class of women are reduced to walking wombs with no right to their bodies or any babies that come out of them. Extreme violence and the looming threat thereof is everywhere. One of the main characters has lost an eye because she didn’t submit quickly enough. A cattle prod is used often. And everyone’s afraid of being sent to the camps where you’re worked to death.

Barbra Streisand argued that sexism cost her Oscar nominations for “Yentl” and “The Prince of Tides” during a spirited public interview at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday. But it wasn’t just men who balked at the idea of a woman calling the shots on a major motion picture. “There were a lot of older people,” Streisand told her interlocutor Robert Rodriguez. “They don’t want to see a woman director.” “I don’t know how many women wanted to see a woman director,” she added.

<p>When Hollywood writers went on strike in 1973, they were agitating for something new -- the creation of a health plan that would offer comprehensive coverage for its guild members.</p> <p>Since then, the writers’ insurance plan has grown to become one of the most envied in Hollywood. Members don’t pay monthly premiums and have deductibles far below the national average. Writers have access to a wide network of care providers, including top-notch facilities in Los Angeles where patients are responsible only for co-pays.</p>

SUPERMAN VERSUS THE KU KLUX KLAN WILL BE ADAPTED AS A MOVIE POSTED BY BLAIR MARNELL ON APRIL 29, 2017   Even among Superman fans, it’s a little known fact that the expression about the Man of Steel’s “never-ending battle for truth and justice” originated in The Adventures of Superman radio program, which also established Clark Kent’s alter ego as a “champion of equal rights, valiant, [and a] courageous fighter against the forces of hate and prejudice.” Superman lived up to that description on the show, and so did the people behind-the-scenes. Now, their story will be told on the big screen in an adaptation of Rick...

DiCaprio, Gore spotted at Climate March By Mallory Shelbourne - 04/29/17 04:19 PM EDT Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore were spotted among the thousands of demonstrators who participated in Saturday’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. In photographs posted on social media, DiCaprio could be seen holding a sign that read “Climate Change is Real," while Gore also took part in the march. Both Gore and DiCaprio are outspoken advocates for climate change awareness, and Gore is reportedly working on a sequel to his 2006 documentary about global warming. Thousands of people took part in Saturday's march,...

Hollywood is dealing with strike fever again, 10 years after the Writers Guild of America staged an acrimonious 100-day work stoppage. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and the NFL Players Assn. both issued strong statements of support Thursday. AFl-CIO President Richard Trumka cited WGA estimates that the major entertainment conglomerates made $51 billion in profits last year.“The members of the Writers Guilds deserve a fair return on their work at an incredibly profitable time for their industry,” he said.

Hollywood director Joss Whedon faced heat on Twitter Thursday after he sexualized and mocked a meeting between Paul Ryan and a group of young cancer survivors. “Tonight on White House Wife Hunt, Donny makes host P. Ryan give 2 more contestants the ‘Not a 10’ card,” wrote Whedon on Twitter, along with the picture of the meeting that shows two young girls with Ryan.

Exciting news, America! In case you haven’t heard, we’re living in The Handmaid’s Tale. Normally, I would take this shot of news with a chaser of instant panic, given that The Handmaid’s Tale — first published by Margaret Atwood in 1985 and now elevated to larger-than-life status with a much-ballyhooed new miniseries on Hulu — is a downright nightmarish story. In Atwood’s dystopian world, a sinister cabal of fundamentalist Christians (it’s always those dastardly Christians, it seems) seizes power, transforming what remains of the United States into the cruel Republic of Gilead. In this terrifying new world, certain fertile women...

Erin Moran's limo driver, Barton T. Wade, has shared with Breaking Christian News that years ago, Moran told him about how her friend and fellow actress, Lisa Welchel had led her to the Lord, and that she had accepted Christ.

Joy Behar slammed first lady Melania Trump as an illegal immigrant Wednesday when she said without sanctuary cities, “where’s Melania going to go.” “The View” co-host made the disparaging comment about the first lady during a panel discussion about part of President Donald Trump’s executive order that would withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities that was blocked by a federal judge. Whoopi Goldberg argued that there was already laws on the books that allows law enforcement to round up illegal immigrants who commit crimes. “I do believe that people…when the laws are in place, if there’s a criminal there’s nothing...

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who observed emphatically American characters with a discerning eye, a social conscience and a rock ’n’ roll heart, achieving especially wide acclaim with “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 73. His publicist, Leslee Dart, confirmed the death. Mr. Demme disclosed that he had cancer in 2015. Mob wives, CB radio buffs and AIDS victims; Hannibal Lecter, Howard Hughes and Jimmy Carter: Mr. Demme (pronounced DEM-ee) plucked his subjects and stories largely from the stew of contemporary American subcultures and iconography. He created a body...

Like her co-star, Strahovski is perturbed by parallels between the reality of the Hulu series and reality itself, finding the timing of the project to be particularly interesting, beginning production pre-election, watching the election results come in, and continuing on with the series following this apparent turning point. “The Handmaid’s Tale is a human story, and women’s rights are human rights, and it’s all about equality, but at the end of the day, it’s not equal,” the actress says of the series’ resonance. “You need a feminist movement—you need to label that with something in order to shed light on...

AWAKE, a Dream from Standing Rock is a new documentary from controversial filmmaker Josh Fox. And I'm using the “truthful” definition of “controversial filmmaker”—which apparently means that the ends justify the means and lies and omissions are acceptable as long as it helps promote the cause. I first came across Josh Fox's “controversial” (read: unethical) style of filmmaking in Gasland, the film that started the international anti-fracking movement. In Gasland, Fox claimed fracking led to people being able to light their water on fire. He promoted the shocking scene of a flaming household faucet and frightened millions in the process....

<p>President Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star was vandalized again over the weekend.</p> <p>"F-ck Trump" was written in marker above Trump's name on the star.</p>

On the run-up to the election, Michael Moore was one of the few public figures who correctly predicted that Trump would win the election. More to the point, Moore pointed out Trump's methodology for victory and sure enough, that's exactly what happened. You'd have to wonder how a middle-aged filmmaker managed to out-think the likes of Nate Silver and dozens of other pollsters, but here we are - living in the awful reality that a fat, corrupt hustler with spray-tan is now the leader of the free world. In a recent interview at the Tribeca Film Festival, Moore was asked...

Erin Moran, best known as Ron Howard's kid sister in the classic sitcom "Happy Days," has died, TMZ reports......

Last night, Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. A frightening and incredibly gripping piece of visual storytelling from cinematographer-turned-director Reed Morano, it stands as a remarkable piece of art that speaks to atrocities committed against women around the world and throughout history. While writer and executive producer Bruce Miller began developing the 33-year-old novel before the rise of Donald Trump, the story of women who have been stripped of all agency to exist solely as breeding vessels for the patriarchy seems all too prescient in a 2017 when immigrants are being separated...

Erin Moran who famously played Joanie Cunningham on "Happy Days" and its spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi" has died ... TMZ has learned. We're told authorities in Indiana got a call just after 4 PM ET Saturday from someone reporting an "unresponsive female."  EMT's arrived and found Erin Moran's body ... she was already dead.   Moran shot to spotlight in the early 70s when she was cast on "Happy Days" as Joanie, the younger sister of Ron Howard's character. She continued the role in 1982 alongside Scott Baio in "Joanie Loves Chachi" but the show only lasted one season.

Harvey Weinstein knows he can be temperamental, and he knows he's not above a good publicity stunt, but he said Thursday his complaints over an R rating for his company's upcoming trans teen family story "3 Generations" are worth the effort on behalf of prospective young trans viewers. Starring Elle Fanning as a girl who wants to transition, the Motion Picture Association of America assigned the restrictive R based on strong language, including some sexual references. The film, which opens with a limited release in Los Angeles and New York on May 5, also stars Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon.