The Left Coast Report: A Political Look at Hollywood
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. George Clooney to Bring Dean Scream to Screen
2. MTV Rings In New Year With Snooki’s Rooftop Drop
3. Jillian Michaels Trades Hit TV Show for Motherhood
4. Man Becomes Awesome Because of NBC’s ‘Chuck’
5. Miley Cyrus Bong Video May Prompt New Drug Law
1. George Clooney to Bring Dean Scream to Screen
A story about a presidential primary loser doesn’t exactly sound like a contender for the big screen.
Nevertheless, a movie is coming out on the wacky hero of the Hollywood left, Howard Dean.
In 2008, Beau Willimon wrote a play based on Dean’s 2004 Democratic primary campaign. In case you’ve forgotten, that was the one with the Iowa meltdown, dubbed the “I Have a Scream” speech.
Willimon is not your run-of-the-mill playwright. He was a press aide for Dean’s 2004 campaign and worked on campaigns for Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Bill Bradley.
Along came George Clooney, who attached himself to the project and co-wrote the movie adaptation.
The flick quickly picked up financing from Exclusive Media Group and Cross Creek Pictures, and Sony is set to distribute it.
Sony will give “The Ides of March” a limited theatrical run in December 2011, just in time to qualify for Oscar noms, followed by wide release in January 2012.
The cast is perfect Oscar bait. Clooney plays the Dean character, Gov. Morris, an upstart seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination, with Ryan Gosling as his campaign consultant. Look for Paul Giamatti as a rival candidate’s strategist, Marisa Tomei as a New York Times reporter, and Evan Rachel Wood as an intern in the Morris campaign. Philip Seymour Hoffman reportedly is being cast as Morris’ lead strategist, a la Joe Trippi.
Everything is in place except the movie itself, which is yet to be shot.
2. MTV Rings In New Year With Snooki’s Rooftop Drop
For those who choose to stay home on New Year’s Eve, the networks provide a star-studded but usually predictable array of programming, which ultimately leads to a midnight countdown.
Celebrations generally include noisemakers, confetti, fireworks, ball drops, and the like.
This year, though, MTV plans to drop something unique during its New Year’s Eve special: “Jersey Shore” star Snooki, a.k.a. Nicole Polizzi.
Snooki will be placed in a ball that will be lowered from the roof of MTV’s corporate headquarters on Broadway into the crowd below.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino also will participate in the “MTV New Year’s Bash,” and other “Jersey Shore” cast members may show up as well.
Snooki joined the reality TV series after responding to a Facebook ad for auditions. She became so well-known that Snooki costumes were among the most popular Halloween options this year.
If the cards are played right, next year’s most popular costume may be the Snooki Ball.
3. Jillian Michaels Trades Hit TV Show for Motherhood
Jillian Michaels, who is best known as the tough-as-nails fitness trainer on the mega-hit “The Biggest Loser,” recently used Twitter to announce her departure from the show at the end of this season.
Considering the self-absorbed lifestyle of many of today’s celebrities, her explanation for the exit may be surprising to many in Hollywood.
Instead of setting her sights on further fame and fortune, Michaels has decided to concentrate her efforts on two things: “I want to take a year off TV and focus on becoming a mommy and doing more charity work,” she tweeted.
How did the Hollywood drill sergeant come to embrace motherhood and charity work?
Well, in a different NBC reality television project called “Losing It,” Michaels actually coached families on developing healthier lifestyles.
“Shooting ‘Losing It’ also had big impact on me,” she explained. “Living with kids, I saw firsthand what I was missing.”
Rather than losing, it looks like Michaels may soon be gaining when it comes to the most treasured things in life.
4. Man Becomes Awesome Because of NBC’s ‘Chuck’
In another glaring example of entertainment media influence, an Oregon man has changed his name to that of a TV character’s nickname.
Douglas Allen Smith Jr. switched his moniker to Captain Awesome, saying he was inspired by the character on the NBC series “Chuck.” The titular Chuck routinely refers to his brother-in-law, Dr. Devon Woodcomb, as Captain Awesome.
Smith appeared in the courtroom of a Lane County, Ore., judge who questioned his seriousness. However, the judge ultimately granted the request after making him vow that he wasn’t changing his name for fraudulent reasons.
The newly christened Awesome further arranged with the court to have his legal signature consist of a right arrow, a smiley face, and a left arrow.
Awesome’s bank refused to accept the symbol signature, telling him that it was too easy to forge.
5. Miley Cyrus Bong Video May Prompt New Drug Law
In our digital society, private moments can go public in a YouTube minute.
For a celebrity, the viral results can be devastating to a career.
It’s too early to know how things will play out in the long run for former Disney star and Walmart clothing endorser Miley Cyrus.
A two-and-a-half minute video clip of her made the Internet rounds all weekend long. In it, the teen phenom can be seen inhaling from a glass bong and then giggling, laughing heartily, and exclaiming, “Is that me tripping?”
“OK, I'm about to lose it now,” she also utters.
The talented singer-actor and daughter of “Achy Breaky Heart” hit maker Billy Ray Cyrus rose to fame playing the lead character in the smash Disney series “Hannah Montana.”
Dad used his Twitter feed to share his feelings about the footage, saying, “I’m so sad.”
“Sorry, guys. I had no idea. Just saw this stuff for the first time myself . . . There is so much beyond my control right now,” he lamented.
It turns out that the substance inside the bong was not marijuana, as many initially reported. Instead, it was a lesser-known drug, salvia.
Salvia divinorum, a.k.a. diviner’s sage, is a hallucinogenic said to produce similar effects to LSD. The drug is part of a tradition of religious practice by Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions.
It is legal in most countries and is also legal in California. Nevertheless, it is against the law to sell the substance to minors.
The only reason salvia is lawful in California is the connection to religious services. However, it said to be quite potent.
The Cyrus video has inspired a California GOP state assemblyman, who apparently sought the prohibition of the drug a few years back, to once again urge a salvia ban.
Assemblyman Anthony Adams admonished Miley for shirking her role-model responsibility.
“Miley is a star and young kids are going to emulate her behavior,” Adams told TMZ.com.
“It's time for state and federal governments to renew their push toward an outright ban,” the politician said.
A representative of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lent support to Adams’ ban effort, calling salvia a “drug of concern” and telling the “Sydney Morning Herald,” “We are taking steps to look further into it.”
If Disney and Walmart care about their brands, they’ll be doing some investigating of their own.
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