News: 'The Exorcist' is back, but don't jump to conclusions just yet. This might not suck.

The Exorcist is back but before you roll your eyes at the constant regurgitation of the same stories and perspectives in Hollywood, consider that even Ellen Burstyn is coming back on to see how things pan out this go around.

Father Merren is contemplating the $400 million+ Universal & Peacock paid for this new trilogy.

Father Merren is contemplating the $400 million+ Universal & Peacock paid for this new trilogy.

Universal Studios and Peacock (Universal’s streaming service) have purchased the rights to a new Exorcist trilogy. So, unless you’re paying for Peacock, you’re likely not going to get a chance to see this trilogy when it comes out, at least not right away. Regardless, it sounds like this might be a good thing for the story lines within The Exorcist franchise. Hopefully, breathing life into old stories produces something wonderful.

The trilogy will serve as a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s original “The Exorcist,” which Green has already confirmed in interviews. Per The [New York] Times, Burstyn will return as Chris MacNeil and Leslie Odom Jr. is set to play “the father of a possessed child” who “tracks down” Burstyn’s character for help. The Times adds: “The first film in the trilogy is expected to arrive in theaters in late 2023. Under the terms of the deal, the second and third films could debut on Peacock, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.”

Halloween is right around the corner so I felt justified in adding this extra image. Can you hear her giggling, because I can. Enjoy.

Halloween is right around the corner so I felt justified in adding this extra image. Can you hear her giggling, because I can. Enjoy.

Green confirmed to Total Film magazine earlier this month that he completed the script to the first “Exorcist” movie during the pandemic. Green’s 2018 “Halloween” also served as a direct sequel to the original movie and side-stepped more divisive sequels. But unlike that approach, the new “Exorcist” trilogy will continue the story told in the original Friedkin movie’s sequels.

New ‘Exorcist’ Trilogy Sells to Universal for Reported $400 Million, Ellen Burstyn Returning - indewire.com

The reclining chairs in movie theaters can kill you. One of them killed a man in the UK.

This went down in Birmingham, England at a Vue movie theater. Ateeq Rafiq was only 24. Mr Raafiq is survived by his wife and his one-year-old.

Vue Cinema Birmingham England.jpg

Vue Cinema has been fined £750,000 after a customer died at Star City when he was trapped and crushed under a faulty chair. … At the end of the film he realised he could not find either his keys or his phone and suspected they may have slipped down the side of the reclining seat, which had a footrest which pulled up.

He got up and went under the seat but very quickly the footrest started to come down on him.

Ben Mills, prosecuting, said: "He would not have been aware that the foot rest automatically returned to the closed position in a period of a few seconds.

"He tried to shuffle out but it was pushing down on him because of the faulty installation."

The ruling judge said, "It was an accident that never should have happened.”

"Others were exposed to the same risk of harm. There were 15 chairs in regular use throughout the cinema over the relevant period of time.

"The complete lack of risk assessment to identify the risk in this case was significant."

She said she had taken into account the company's lack of previous convictions, their positive health and safety record and the steps taken to remedy the problem.

Cutting corners should never be ok when it comes to safety. This poor man was just out for a movie with his wife and ended up losing his life. Glad the judge held the chain accountable and was crystal clear about why.

News: Robert Downey Sr. has died

Robert Downey Sr. was 85 and battling Parkinson’s. He’s survived by his children and his wife.

📷: irishamerica.com

📷: irishamerica.com

As a director, Downey made films such as comedies Babo 73, No More Excuses, Rented Lips and Hugo Pool, in which Downey Jr. starred in. The filmmaker became well known for low-budget underground projects such as the 1969 satire Putney Swope, in which African American executives take over an all-white agency. He was also active in numerous other departments, from cinematography to producing, writing and editing.


Robert Downey Sr., Actor and Counterculture Director, Dies at 85 - hollywoodreporter.com

News: Shannon Lee is fkn tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell her who Bruce Lee was

Rightfully so, Shannon Lee has some thoughts on how people portray her father in their work.

She makes an excellent point.

She makes an excellent point.

“I’ve come across enough of them over the years (and not just in Hollywood) who want to mansplain Bruce Lee to me and use Bruce Lee when and how it suits them without acknowledging his humanity, his legacy, or his family in the process that a bit of a pattern has emerged,” adds Lee, who is also the chief executive of the Bruce Lee Family Co. “I’m … not saying that no one is allowed to have a negative opinion of Bruce Lee. I’m saying your opinion might be colored by personal or cultural bias, and that there’s a pattern.”

Shannon Lee is tired of white men like Quentin Tarantino trying to explain Bruce Lee to her - latimes.com

News: James Cameron said he came up with the idea for John Conner while high on Ecstacy

James Cameron was high and contemplating music when he came up with the premise for what is now regarded as one of the best sequels of all time. Of course he was. Impossible not to start seeing things from a new perspective when you’re high as a kite.

Be responsible out there folks!

Be responsible out there folks!

News: With great advertising power, comes great responsibility

On the positive side for those of us who don’t make our money in advertising, this technology is something of a double-edged sword. Product placement makes lots of cash but it makes a lot of weird connections in people’s brains too.

[The technology] can [digitally add products/advertisements] if you are watching a film on a laptop, smartphone or smart TV, by tracking what you previously bought or looked at online. It works in the same way that online adverts pop up on websites based on your past purchasing or viewing history.

"The technology is an attractive bridge between the demand for high-quality content free from intrusive advertising, and alternative sources of content provider revenue," says Mr Taylor.

Cleopatra Veloutsou, professor of brand management at the Adam Smith Business School at Glasgow University, says these technological developments come as movie and TV advertising firms are trying to catch up with their online peers. "They have lost a lot of income, they are trying to find creative ways to catch up," she says.

However, associating your product with a particular film, TV programme or musical artist comes with risk, says Tamsin McLaren, a lecturer in marketing at the University of Bath's School of Management. "Things can go awry if there is a scandal or PR backlash," she says.

How product placements may soon be added to classic films - bbc.com

sad tobey maguire.gif

I understand the “need” to “carve open a new revenue stream” but can we just leave the classics alone? Of course we can’t because greed always wins. Sorry to be such a downer. But reality sucks sometimes.

Moving on…(sort of)

All I can see in my mind when I read about advertisements assaulting my eyeballs at every turn is this one scene from Minority Report: