A Little of the Old In And Out



In: Harvey Weinstein. "Big Harv" lives to see another day in a town as notoriously cold to those who fail as it is hot, temperaturewise. Despite some residual ill-feelings in some media outlets, Harvey Weinstein pulled off a crucial win at the box office this weekend with "Inglorious Basterds." And he didn't do too bad on "Project Runway" either. Considering how many in the chattering classes that actively want to see him fail like a dirty yellow dog, that's not a shabby performance. From Medialifemagazine:

"More than a year after Lifetime wooed the show away from Bravo, and following a sometimes ugly court battle over rights to the reality program, 'Runway' made its Lifetime debut Thursday, becoming the top-rated premiere in the network’s history.

"'Runway' averaged a 3.3 household rating, up 32 percent over the show’s season five bow. Among Lifetime’s target women 18-49, the Heidi Klum-hosted show averaged a 3.2 rating, up 28 percent over last year.

"It was the highest-rated premiere ever for the network on those measures as well as women 18-34 (3.8 rating) and 18-34s (2.5).

"It drew 4.2 million total viewers in its new Thursday 10 p.m. timeslot."

Basterds made $37.6M, averaging $11,880 from 3,165 theaters beating out tarantino's previous career best, Kill Bill Vol 2.



(image via bbc)

Out: Kenny MacAskill. Last week I asked: Is Compassionate Release Just? Whether or not it is or whether or not MacAskill followed the letter of the law, everyone involved -- MacAskill included -- beleieve that trusting Col. Qadaffi to handle this on the hush-hush was naive. From FT:

"Scotland’s beleaguered justice secretary accused Libya on Monday of breaking a promise not to give the freed Lockerbie bomber a hero’s welcome on his return home.

"Kenny MacAskill told an emergency session of the Scottish parliament that it was a matter of 'great regret' that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was received in such an inappropriate manner.

"The Libyan was greeted by crowds, some waving Scottish flags, when he landed at Tripoli on Thursday after being released on compassionate grounds by Mr MacAskill because he is dying from prostate cancer.

"'It showed no compassion or sensitivity to the families of the 270 victims of Lockerbie,' said Mr MacAskill. 'Assurances had been given by the Libyan government that any return would be dealt with in a low-key and sensitive fashion.'"

Further, the internal disturbance suggests that MacAskill -- a Euro elite -- may have opened a hornets nest (as well as a question of a possible oil deal involving, tangentially, Tony Blair).