Posts Tagged ‘HBO’
The Yes Men Take to the Airwaves Tonight but Still Unlikely to Change the World
You know the dog days of summer are upon us when the Washington Post’s television highlights include tonight’s The Yes Men Fix the World, a new HBO documentary about those zany activists/performance artists, who go around impersonating corporate executives.
Their particular form of protest comes from poking fun at serious issues such as world trade rules, corporate greed and the human role in global warming. And, they are so good at it that the suits usually don’t know the joke is on them until it’s way beyond face-saving time.
They’ve pinioned officials at the World Trade Organization, FEMA and Halliburton. In my book, I included their 2007 antics at a Canadian oil convention. Impersonating executives from ExxonMobil and the National Petroleum Council, The Men had a roomful of industry types on their feet and solemnly lighting candles made from what they claimed to be the next big renewable energy source: Vivoleum, a “fossil fuel” supposedly made from the human flesh of people killed in hurricanes, floods and other global warming-related disasters.
Given what's on TV this time of year, there are many worse ways to spend a Monday night. But even before seeing it, I have a complaint for the filmmakers: the title. The Yes Men certainly make it more fun to fret about corporate corruption and lack of political will, but change the world? At best, they call attention to its many dysfunctions.
Screen On The Green Films Announced
HBO, Comcast, and the Trust for the National Mall announced the full Screen on the Green Schedule yesterday. The stunted (compared to last year's) schedule includes only four films. Screenings begin Mondays at sundown (8 p.m.).
July 20: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
More dates and trailers after the jump.
HBO, Co-Sponsors Save Screen on the Green
No need for those "Save Screen on the Green!" T-shirts--HBO has found that crucial co-sponsor. DCist reports that SOTG has indeed been saved: "Comcast and the Trust for the National Mall have come on board along with HBO to sponsor the event."
DCist also reports that films will screen Mondays through August 10, starting with Close Encounters of the Third Kind on July 20.
‘Yes We Can!’ Save Screen on the Green
Ask Jesse Rauch if the beloved, now bereaved, Screen on the Green has a shot at resurrection and you'll get a resounding, "Yes we can!"
"We will have Screen on the Green this summer," Rauch said in an interview with Washington City Paper. "And if we don’t, we’re gonna have 16,000 people with DVD players and iPhones sitting on the mall, in a flash mob or something. We’ll find a way."
Screen on the Green Canceled?
We Love DC is reporting that HBO has canceled this year's Screen on the Green. The blog writes:
"HBO has cancelled the long-running Screen on the Green program for 2009, according to a representative from HBO’s consumer affairs department."
So no Double Indemnity on the Mall, no Rebel Without A Cause under the stars. No reason was given for the cancellation of this summer event.
DCist confirms the bad news.
Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore to Play Clintons
I don't see it, but then again, Josh Brolin wasn't exactly an obvious choice as Dubya, either.
Quaid and Moore will star in an HBO movie called The Special Relationship. Which would be totally gag-inducing if the story centered on Bill and Hillary instead of Bill and Tony Blair, and "the unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between the newly installed PM and the U.S. president."
Martin Sheen will again play Blair. (Already knocked that one out of the park in The Queen, as well as in the 2003 TV movie The Deal. Geez, Hollywood, how about giving someone else a chance?)
Story at Variety.
Ted Haggard Comes Clean About Man-Love
In light of Barack Obama's decision to include Bishop Robinson in the Inauguration, as well as Dan Savage's quest to come up with a sex definition for "Saddlebacking", I thought I'd post a little update on Ted Haggard, the gay-bashing pastor who resigned from his church in 2006 after he was caught trading meth for man-love. The news comes courtesy of Andy Dehnart, a television critic and the founder and editor of Realityblurred.com, who spent last weekend in Los Angeles at a press conference for television journalists:
