Free Republic

Pitched battles between superheroes with huge fan bases? Check. Enough explosions to flatten several Manhattans? Check. Budgets over $250 million, not counting lavish marketing campaigns? Double-check. On paper, this season’s big superhero action films — “Captain America: Civil War” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — from the rival studios Disney and Warner Bros. could almost be the same movie, so similar are their plots, action sequences and allusions to heavyweight themes of topical interest.

I've watched some of it. Melania is a striking woman speaking four languages, is elegant, well-educated, refined and direct - you can't find a more ideal First Lady.

Disney Junior has a popular show for younger children called Doc McStuffins. The cartoon features a young Black girl who runs an imaginative clinic for doctoring toys and stuffed animals. In a recent episode the Doc noted that Michelle Obama was an "inspiration" to her. She even won a student contest and participated in a White House trip and danced with a cartoon slenderized Michelle Obama. But the specifics of this admiration for MO involved Michelle's fitness and nutrition initiatives which of course include her ever-unpopular school lunch influence. An earlier ad campaign for the show featured a Black female...

There has been a major push lately to gay all the things (read Dear Hollywood: Stop Gaying All the Things, Especially Straight Characters…. Surely you’ve noticed. Speaking of penises in your face, the latest move for the Gaystapo is heterosexual appropriation; that is taking a heterosexual character and turning him/her homo. Currently in the gaydar’s sights? Captain America. Yes, THAT Captain America. Well, we figured if the left wants to see Steve Rogers all gayed up, who are we to deny them said wish? VIDEO AT LINK OR HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JEBlfGZd4

“Sweetie,” Don Rickles says, welcoming us to his sumptuous Spanish villa near Beverly Hills. “Can I get anything for you, dear?” This is the comedian known as the Merchant of Venom, the Insult King from Queens, Mr. Warmth (as in precisely the opposite). But not once in a convivial afternoon will he lob an insult our way, the sort he hurls at friends and fans alike, the latter paying handsomely for a dose of Rickles ridicule. At one point, he takes our left hand, bows his bullet head and, in the custom of an Old World courtier, bestows a kiss....

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Beth Howland, the actress best known for her role as a ditzy waitress on the 1970s and ‘80s CBS sitcom “Alice,” has died. She was 74. Her husband, actor Charles Kimbrough, told The Associated Press that Howland died Dec. 31 of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. He said there had been no announcement, funeral or memorial service because that’s how she wanted it. “That was her choice,” he said.

They are trying to define the experience," says Sony's marketing chief as vocal (and sexist?) foes of the female reboot face off against a summer tentpole's trailers. When Sony Pictures' second trailer for its female-fronted Ghostbusters reboot appeared online May 18, fans initially had to find it on Facebook. The studio had switched from YouTube, which hosted the first trailer, in a deliberate effort to combat a cacophony of negative reaction emanating from a very vocal minority online.

Freudian slip? While talking about Bill Cosby’s appearance in a Pennsylvania courtroom over sex assault allegations, MSNBC anchor Steve Kornacki mistakenly said “Bill Clinton.” “We’re gonna begin with that breaking news we told you about at the top. Right now, out of Pennsylvania, Bill Clinton is set to arrive at a suburban — excuse me, Bill Cosby is set to arrive at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse any moment now for a key hearing in his criminal sex assault case.”

Were the 1950s the Golden Age of Science Fiction Cinema? I think so. What do you think? From Wikipedia: List of science fiction films of the 1950s A list of science fiction films released in the 1950s. These films include core elements of science fiction, but can cross into other genres. They have been released to a cinema audience by the commercial film industry and are widely distributed with reviews by reputable critics. This period is sometimes described as the 'classic' era of science fiction theater. Much of the production was in a low-budget form targeted at a teenage audience....

More than a decade after he was first accused of sexual misconduct, Bill Cosby will go to trial. Pennsylvania judge found enough evidence during a hearing Tuesday to proceed with a criminal trial. Cosby's next court date will be July 20; it's not clear when his trial will start.

Burt Kwouk, who played martial arts expert Cato in the comic “Pink Panther” films, has died. He was 85. Kwouk’s agent, Jean Diamond, said in a statement that he “passed peacefully” on Tuesday. She didn’t give a cause of death. Born in northwest England and raised in Shanghai, Kwouk had his breakthrough film role in “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” in 1958, and appeared in the James Bond films “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice.” …

Sony Pictures needs to keep male moviegoers interested in its “Ghostbusters” reboot after an Internet attack on its female cast. Hillary Clinton wants women to throw their support behind her presidential campaign. In a strange confluence, those agendas risk colliding this week on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Death Touch on Steve Harvey's Big Time.

Captain America: Civil War is the 897th installment — or something like it — in the Marvel comic franchise. This time round, the superheroes take sides, with the marketing asking if you’re #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan but not if you’re #TeamNeither, as would be most useful in my case. I swear this is the last Marvel film I will see as I never get anything out of them and whatever I say only sets the fans against me, which is not what you want at my age.

Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood claims that young actors in Hollywood are being sexually abused by predatory high-powered 'vipers' working in the industry.. The Hobbit actor, 35, told The Sunday Times that the child abuse is 'probably still happening'. Shocking allegations that top Hollywood figures have been protecting child abusers have circulated widely in recent years. Several industry figures have been convicted following claims of sex abuse and former child actors - including The Goonies actor Corey Feldman, 44 - claimed he was 'surrounded' by molesters when he was a teenager. Anne Henry, co-founder of Bizparentz - a...

American Graffiti (1973)

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders share a drink and reminisce during the opening of "Saturday Night Live." “I’m not going anywhere,” Sanders, played by Larry David, says as a bartender announces closing time. “I can stay here as long as I want.

Because Netflix doesn’t own the global licensing rights to all of the movies and TV shows it carries, a good deal of its programming remains completely unavailable to subscribers outside of certain geographic regions. Indeed, one of the reasons why Netflix is so intent on developing its own original programming is precisely because they don’t have to deal with thorny licensing issues. Now if you find yourself in the frustrating position of wanting to watch something on Netflix that is otherwise geographically restricted, there’s a new desktop app that can help turn that dream into a reality.

To survive, they must go beyond. Watch the new trailer for Star Trek Beyond now!