Free Republic

Syd Mead, the visionary futurist who worked on such classic fantasy/sci-fi films as Tron, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049, died today in Pasadena. He was 86. Roger Servick, his spouse and business partner of 40 years, told Deadline that Mead had been in failing health due to lymphoma cancer and he was undergoing treatment at City of Hope in Duarte, CA. Servick, who was by Mead’s side when he died, said his last words were: “I’m done here. They’re coming to take me back.” Mead’s art department credits include Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Aliens, Timecop, Mission: Impossible III,...

Face it, George Clooney sucks By Kyle Smith It’s time for Hollywood to face facts: George Clooney is not a star. If you matched them up head-to-head, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson would crush him — and I don’t just mean literally. Clooney’s latest is the gargantuan flop “Tomorrowland” — a $190 million bomb (not including $100 million or so in worldwide marketing costs) that looks like it’s going to gross a little more than half of that at the North American box office. It’s delicately being referred to as an underperformer because no one in Hollywood wants to hurt the...

George Clooney’s new summer blockbuster shames us for our roles in global warming and a potpourri of other earthly calamities.

There weren't as many fireworks at the Memorial Day weekend box office this year as newcomer "Tomorrowland" disappointed with a $32.2 million debut. The science-fiction adventure stars George Clooney and was directed by Brad Bird of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" renown. The Disney release is expected to pull in a lackluster $40.7 million for the four-day period. -snip- "Tomorrowland" had been expected to generate $40 million over the three-day period and $50 million over the four-day stretch. With a $180 million price tag, Disney faces an uphill climb to profitability. Not helping matters, overseas figures were an underwhelming $26.7...

Megan McArdle, explaining why the federal loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra is more venture socialism than venture capitalism, concluded: [T]his isn’t much like a VC. Or anything else that makes financial sense in the private sector. It’s like… the government giving money to companies that sound whizzy. Instapundit Glenn Reynolds added: “A more cynical explanation is that the ‘sound whizzy’ is just meant to be a distraction from what’s really no more than a payoff to political supporters.” When the history of the Solydra debacle is fully written, Prof. Reynolds may well be correct about the political...