Free Republic

Surely, all “Star Wars” fans hope each new installment will be the best ever. But in the case of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” that seemed like an actual possibility. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, a Sundance alum who established his serious-filmmaker bona fides with his 2005 indie debut, “Brick,” before graduating to young Christopher Nolan territory via the relatively big-budget sci-fi movie “Looper,” Episode VIII seemed to have everything going for it.

FULL TITLE: Chelsea Handler Called Pro-Life White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders a “Whore.” Now She Has a New Insult For some reason, people on the left have repeatedly found it to be acceptable to mock White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her looks. The LA Times was forced to delete part of a column that referred to Sanders as a “slightly chunky soccer mom,” among other things, and the author apologized. She’s also been called a “butch queen.” And then there’s Chelsea Handler. On Thursday, Handler tweeted this attack at Sanders’ father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Handler...

Bender's NFL LIVE THREAD Week 15 Thursday, Dec 14, 2017 (All times Eastern) Denver at Indianapolis 8:25 pm NFLN (& NBC) Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday, Dec 16, 2017 Chicago at Detroit 4:30 pm NFLN Ford Field L.A. Chargers at Kansas City 8:25 pm NFLN Arrowhead Stadium Sunday, Dec 17, 2017 Arizona at Washington 1:00 pm FOX FedEx Field Baltimore at Cleveland 1:00 pm CBS FirstEnergy Stadium Cincinnati at Minnesota 1:00 pm CBS U.S. Bank Stadium Green Bay at Carolina 1:00 pm FOX Bank of America Stadium Houston at Jacksonville 1:00 pm FOX EverBank Field Miami at Buffalo 1:00 pm CBS...

If Tina Fey can do it, why not her 30 Rock co-star Alec Baldwin? And if their SNL commander-in-chief can honcho her Broadway show, why not his as well? Those were the questions raised Monday when Baldwin told Howard Stern he has Broadway in his sights for a solo show based on his Emmy-winning impersonation of Donald J, Trump, with Lorne Michaels producing. Michaels is also producing Fey’s musical adaptation of Mean Girls, slated to arrive on Broadway in the spring. Baldwin was interviewed on Stern’s Sirius XM program to promote You Can’t Spell America Without Me, his new book,...

Campaign Follows 2016's Widely-Awarded Film 'Evan' Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO New York have teamed up once again on the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook school massacre with a chilling PSA that warns of the importance of picking up on signs that someone may commit a school shooting. The new film, "Tomorrow's News," follows the organization's widely-awarded 2016 film "Evan," in which viewers miss the warning signs of a shooter because they're distracted by a romance, and only are made aware of them in hindsight. This time, the message is the same but the approach is more direct. The...

Seth Rogen will play legendary anchor Walter Cronkite in the upcoming film “Newsflash,” centered on CBS’ coverage of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. David Gordon Green is directing the drama from Ben Jacoby’s script. Former Warner Bros. production president Greg Silverman is producing through his Stampede Ventures, along with Adam Kolbrenner of Madhouse Entertainment. Cronkite, who began working as a radio announcer in 1935, had been named the anchor of CBS’ nightly newscast in 1962. The pic will also feature include Cronkite, newsman Dan Rather, producer Don Hewitt, and CBS network president James Aubrey. The network broke...

Alyssa Milano was slammed by her former “Charmed” co-star Rose McGowan for supporting disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein’s estranged wife. Milano appeared on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Thursday and was asked about Georgina Chapman, Weinstein’s fashion designer wife. Chapman in October said that she was leaving Weinstein after 10 years of marriage following numerous sexual misconduct allegations made against him. Milano and Chapman worked together on “Project Runway: All Stars.” Milano told Kelly that Georgina was doing well following the allegations.

A brand new video. "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" for the Ice Age movies.

The NFL's two-year TV downturn is taking a bite out of broadcast TV partners like Fox Sports that fork over billions for rights to live games. Fox Sports staffers in Los Angeles are bracing for a wave of possible budget cutbacks due to disappointing NFL advertising sales this season, sources tell Sporting News. Another important factor: With Team USA eliminated from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Fox can't count on soccer ad dollars next year to get well from an ad standpoint.

Bruce Brown, longtime surf filmmaker and director of the seminal “Endless Summer” just passed at 80 years old. Drew Kampion wrote the following for our Surfing A-Z entry on Brown: Prior to 1964, the media saw surfers as rebellious thugs, and Hollywood made them out to be a bunch of idiots. Filmmaker Bruce Brown single-handedly changed that with The Endless Summer. It portrayed the wave as a kind of Holy Grail and surfers as knights on a quest. In one stroke, he replaced Hollywood's buffoonery with the popular mythology that endures today.

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it will allow movie theaters to open in the conservative kingdom next year, for the first time in more than 35 years, in the latest social push by the country’s young crown prince. It’s a stark reversal in a county where movie theaters were shut down in the 1980’s during a wave of ultraconservatism in the country. Many of Saudi Arabia’s clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as sinful.

Four women made sexual misconduct allegations against 'The Chew' host. Celebrity chef Mario Batali has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. In an Eater New York exposé published Monday, four women accused the chef of "inappropriate touching in a pattern of behavior that spans at least two decades." On Sunday, without naming Batali directly, Anthony Bourdain tweeted that he knew who the chef was. Bourdain tweeted that "Monday is really gonna suck," and added in a follow-up tweet that "it’s where you stand when the people you care about and admire do awful things that matters. Keeping head...

The Simpsons team is looking at how to handle longtime Springfield resident Apu Nahasapeemapetilon after a recent wave of criticism of the controversial Indian character. Notably, Hari Kondabolu’s documentary The Problem With Apu examined how the character reinforced hurtful cultural stereotypes. But Hank Azaria, who has voiced the character since 1990, has remained quiet publicly about the matter. TMZ recently spoke with Azaria, who said that the documentary was definitely food for thought and could inspire change on the show. “I think the documentary did make some really interesting points, and gave us a lot at The Simpsons to think...

SNIP With Kenan Thompson as a department store Santa and Kate McKinnon as his elf, the sketch featured children sitting on his lap and, instead of asking for toys, asking questions about the news, such as, “What did Al Franken do?” “Is President Trump on the naughty list?” and “Why are football players kneeling? Do they hate the troops?” The approach was risky for two reasons. For one, depending on kids in a live TV setting led to a few line failings, although the risk was minimal here, as the few mistakes (save for Thompson answering one question that wasn’t...

I posted a similar thread about more modern films, and while I've seen almost all of them, virtually every response so far is "little" or "none". I thought it might be interesting to contrast a similar list from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Here it is: 1. The Ten Commandments 2. Lady and the Tramp 3. Peter Pan 4. Cinderella 5. Ben-Hur 6. Sleeping Beauty 7. The Bridge on the River Kwai 8. Around the World in 80 Days 9. Rear Window 10. The Greast Show on Earth 11. The Robe 12. Giant 13. From Here to Eternity 14. White...

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) Jurassic World (2015) Marvel's The Avengers (2012) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Beauty and the Beast (2017) Finding Dory (2016) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) Toy Story 3 (2010) Iron Man 3 (2013) Captain America: Civil War (2016) The Hunger Games (2012) Wonder Woman (2017) Frozen (2013) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011) The Secret Life of Pets (2016) Despicable Me 2 (2013) The Jungle Book (2016)

The first that comes to mind for me: "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". Sappy and overly sentimental. (And while I'm at it, "Titanic")

As more talent agencies find themselves drawn into the wave of Hollywood sex scandals, a prominent agent at Creative Artists Agency is facing accusations that he offered an actor sex in exchange for access to directors and a movie star. The agent, Cade Hudson, made the offers in 2013, according to text messages reviewed by The Times, as well as interviews with the recipient of the messages, actor Sean Rose. The texts show that Hudson offered to perform oral sex on Rose and solicited the actor for as much as $1,000, even though he was told the actor was heterosexual....

It "might be the best Star Wars movie ever." A long time ago in a galaxy, far, far....actually, slash a lightsaber through that sentence because audiences don't have to wait long to see the next Star Wars adventure. Yes, that's right. The wait is almost over. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is nearly upon us as Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, Breaking Bad) has the unenviable task of topping the box-office behemoth that was The Force Awakens. The fact that Johnson has already been given the responsibility to create a brand new trilogy is a very good sign, but what about...