Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"The makers of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps know they're in enemy territory. The film scowls at the greed and excesses of the rich and powerful. Yet here they are, discussing it in the playground of the same. Four-story yachts cruising the shallow waters of the Mediterranean send waves rippling toward the grounds of the 130-year-old Hotel du Cap. On flinty cliffs in the distance, paparazzi armed with telephoto lenses perch precariously on the rocks. The tops of immense cypress trees shiver as a private helicopter delivers a guest to his villa on the property's peninsula. During the Cannes Film Festival, the hotel is the accommodation of choice for movie stars and filmmakers. Its glamorous past includes the patronage of such legendary writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. It also attracts the fearsome financial elite depicted as jackals gnawing on the bones of the working class in both the original Wall Street and this new follow-up, opening Sept. 24 in the USA. Oliver Stone is aware of the contradiction. 'There's irony. I've laughed about it for years,' Stone says. 'What do you want me to do? I've put my efforts into trying to do justice with my films to a certain degree. ... You work inside the system that you have.'" (USAToday)



"Think? You may wonder if I really mean that word in reference to a radio personality who is notorious as the nation’s number one 'shock jock.' I do, and I mean it on behalf of my son, too. Raising a male child alone it was helpful to have Howard’s humor and observations available, sticking pins in puffery, mocking the self-important, mocking himself, too, and making light of the 'boy' anxieties and fascinations that relate to sex and women. As a male role model, Howard provided a lot of teaching opportunities. He was the bad boy. But there’s more. When important or scary events were happening in the world we’d hop in the car and turn on the radio, asking, 'I wonder what Howard has to say?' What he said, laced with yuks, was thoughtful and perceptive; in particular about Washington. I don’t know if it’s because he briefly worked here, but he gets this town. In fact, he is my favorite political pundit – quicker, sharper and more authentic than virtually all the Washington-based pundit class, and including that other bad boy, Bill Maher, and the God to Washington media, Jon Stewart. Politics are not the principal part of his daily broadcast, but when he’s on them, he’s on them." (Carol Joynt/WashingtonSocialDiary)



"Roger Ebert has sold a memoir to Mitch Hoffman of Grand Central, in a deal brokered by Joel Gotler at Intellectual Property Group and announced last night on Publishers Marketplace. The book went for a sum in the high six figures at auction, and is due out in fall 2011. The film-critic-turned-Twitter-fiend has been having a bit of a moment lately--Hoffman pointed to the widely praised profile that Esquire ran in February as a testament to Ebert's publishing appeal. 'If all you saw was that article, it was immediately clear,' he said." (Observer)



"With less than six months until voters go to the polls, almost all of the most vulnerable Senate seats this cycle are in Democratic hands — creating an unexpected wealth of opportunities for the GOP, which just 12 months ago was headed for additional Senate losses. But the change in the national environment, combined with an angry electorate and a jobless economic recovery, has given Republicans the shot in the arm they needed, as well as a growing list of Senate takeover opportunities. Not all opportunities are equal, however, and there are a few clear 'tiers of opportunity' for the two parties." (Stuart Rothenberg/CQ)



"I gave up reading the rock biographies. They’re too self-satisfied, too 'Behind The Music'. But this is something different. This is the story of not only Tommy James and the Shondells, but America. If you were there, you will be nodding your head in agreement, constantly saying 'yup!' as you read along. If you weren’t, you’re gonna get an accurate glimpse of how it truly was. Buzz made me buy this book. All good. And when I finally picked it up this morning, I just could not put it down. I’ve read better writing, but never a better story. Because it’s my story. And yours. You’ll learn more reading Me, the Mob and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James & The Shondells than you will in a year’s worth of 'Billboard', days of poring over music blogs, hours of listening to record company bullshit." (LefsetzLetter)