A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Tom Ford. This blog, more than any other, has given former high-end designer Tom Ford's move to film tremendous shit. Imagine our surprise when the buzz -- from respectable quarters -- of his new film was good (allegedly). From IndieWIRE:

"In a deal reminiscent of last year’s swift Toronto sale of 'The Wrestler,' CAA staged an all night negotiation, selling U.S. and German rights for Tom Ford’s 'A Single Man' to The Weinstein Company after the film’s first fest screening here. TWC will release the film this year, making it an immediate awards season contender, particularly in the best actor race.

"The 34th Toronto International Film Festival has crossed the midpoint, five days down and five days to go for the festival that concludes on Saturday. Critically speaking, a handful of films—three that explore a middle-aged male haze—immediately emerged as favorites over the first weekend, but many of others arrived in Toronto with momentum from other festivals. Meanwhile, on the business side, deals have been scarce thus far. Yet, while not many are expected, negotiating kicked up overnight with the TWC buy.

"Tom Ford’s 'A Single Man' came to the festival last night with significant buzz after a rousing welcome at the Venice fest last week where it was an unexpected hit."

Weinstein Co. reportedly put down $1 million plus for the U.S. and German rights, despite economic woes.



(Kanye and Amber at Paper's 25th anniversary party via Gawker)

Out: Kanye West. You know you are a jackass when President Obama -- the man who forgave someone who called him a liar -- calls you a jackass. It just goes without saying.

If you have been following Kanye's drunken shenanigans at Fashion Week, however, it seemed inevitable. There are lots of stories about Kanye -- and Amber's -- assy behavior at Fashion Week. Much of it involved Herculean amounts of booze, surliness, and Kanye's acting, increasingly, as if he were an Olympian God.



In: Jay Leno. Despite a spate of almost universally critically negative reviews, Jay Leno was the No. 1 U.S. broadcast show Monday with nearly 18m viewers.

Of course, those numbers fail to mention the kajillions of ads we were barraged with all summer. Operant conditioning. Whether or not Leno can hold on to those millions will be the real test. Still, it is a significant accomplishment; better than anyone else has done in that time period -- and far more cost-effective -- for as long as we can remember. Take a bow, Leno.