Grumpy Editor

Some moviegoers not so gaga over La La Land musical

While the big excitement in Hollywood is the movie La La Land picking up 14 Oscar nominations, tying the record long held by Titanic and All About Eve, is it a musical to remember, asks Grumpy Editor.

Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling --- chronicling the love story of an aspiring actress and a jazz musician --- the film was directed by Damien Chazelle who also wrote the script. The movie is described by Associate Press film writer Jake Coyle as “the candy-colored love letter to musicals.”

Or is it?

Emily Yahr, writing in the Washington Post last week, notes a backlash has begun against the praised musical as more reactions are aired.

Grumpy Editor maintains that with the usual memorable Hollywood song and dance musical, the moviegoer departs the theater humming the sound track score. With La La Land, however, there is no such remembrance.

Compare La La Land with some of yesteryear’s top musicals that featured songs that are still remembered today. Among them:

Singin’ in the Rain

The Wizard of Oz

Guys and Dolls

Meet Me in St. Louis

The Sound of Music

West Side Story

My Fair Lady

With nearly 6,000 people voting for the Oscars --- awarded since 1929 for excellence in films --- apparently many of them have not viewed or recalled past great musicals.

Who are these folks? A Los Angeles Times survey finds Academy Awards voters are overwhelmingly white, mostly male with a majority over 60 years old.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

After a decade of getting to ask the first question at a White House press briefing, Associated Press has lost that role, at least in the first few days, as press secretary Sean Spicer has ignored the wire service to kick off the session…White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon called the media “the opposition party,” adding, “They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States,” and declaring the press should “keep its mouth shut and listen for a while”…NPR will avoid using the word "lie" to describe statements from President Trump and his staff, even when they contradict existing evidence, reports the Washington Examiner. "Our job as journalists is to report, to find facts, establish their authenticity and share them with everybody. And I think when you use words like 'lie,' it gets in the way of that,” explains NPR Senior Vice President for News Michael Oreskes.

Despite multi-storm-affected Los Angeles River’s wall to wall gushing water, growing as washes and creeks feed into it along a 51-mile path to where it empties (never to be seen again) in the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach, the Golden State refuses to say the drought is over. Perhaps some thought should be given to building additional reservoirs to capture the heavy runoffs, especially vital as the population and usage has built up over the years since the last reservoir was constructed…United Airlines cancels its subscriptions on a selection of newspapers offered to international passengers in first and business classes…Stars and Stripes notes the Army’s primary ground combat weapons such as tanks and cannons are old, growing outdated and, in some cases, being surpassed by those of foreign militaries, raising questions about their usefulness on future battlefields, according to a Congressional Research Service report…Boston-based General Electric signs a deal, said to be over $7 million a year, according to Advertising Age, with NBA's Boston Celtics to put the GE logo next season on the green-and-white jerseys of the basketball team. The Celtics also will use technology from GE's health, energy and data analytics businesses in daily operations.

 

Four-legged newspaper carrier.

In Boulder, Colo., Quincy, a golden retriever, finds bagged newspapers in front of homes on his street, picks them up and drops them at the doorstep of subscribers.

That’s something he has done for 11 years, reports the Daily Camera.

TV documentary details WWII Marine aviation disaster

Sometimes it’s a long road getting a “never-before-told” documentary on a World War II event to the television screen, finds Grumpy Editor, in the airing Sunday of “The Flintlock Disaster” involving the loss of 22 Navy aircraft in the Pacific when bad weather was encountered. 

How difficult was it? 

Los Angeles-based Leon Furgatch 15 years ago started work on the true story involving the Marine squadron in which he served as an aviation mechanic on F4U gull-winged Corsairs. 

Furgatch, an executive producer of the documentary, says he didn’t learn about the Jan. 25, 1944 tragedy until he attended a reunion of VMF-422 squadron mates in the early 1990s. 

“I was smitten with it and decided to break it to the American public because it was the greatest disaster in Marine Corps aviation history, where not a shot was fired in anger, and it also involved a cover-up by the general in charge of the Marine Air Wing," he relates.

The planes were lost on a flight from Tarawa to a safe haven.  The central Pacific atoll had been taken two months prior by Marines. 

Six pilots, including the squadron commander, died in the disaster, with remaining fliers rescued after several days at sea in one-man life rafts, notes Furgatch.  One pilot managed to get his aircraft through to the final destination 750 miles away. 

Narrated by veteran NBC newsman Tom Brokaw, the one-hour documentary airs at 5 p.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, on KOCE, the Public Broadcasting Service TV station that covers Los Angeles and Southern California. 

Hopefully, the full PBS network, or others, will get around to airing the program produced by Triple Threat Television. 

Furgatch says in an attempt to go the motion picture route, he ran into roadblocks “because producers or their reps informed me that WWII was out of style with the 18-to-49 age group who were the principal moviegoers.”

He adds, “Another excuse was that it was a ‘period’ piece and it would be too costly to film.”

Gina Lollobrigida still grabs space...in Wall Street Journal

Actress Gina Lollobrigida probably was the most surprised person in Italy yesterday when The Wall Street Journal selected a vintage Associated Press shot of her reading Variety to illustrate a story on the sale of the Hollywood trade paper, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The two-column photo of Lollobrigida, now 85, was snapped 42 years ago. 

So some editor, going through the art files, remains impressed by the Italian actress who was labeled “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” after the sex symbol appeared in a U.S. movie with that title in 1955. 

Penske Media Corp. finalized a deal with Reed Business Information, part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, to acquire 107-year-old Variety, a daily must-read for people in the entertainment business, for about $25 million.  The deal also includes weekly Variety. 

PMC, founded in 2004, is a key player in digital entertainment media. 

It owns Deadline.com, TVLine.com, HollywoodLife.com and Movieline.com. 

“We plan to rapidly build upon Variety’s foundation while extending this invaluable brand’s presence across the Web, broadcast, mobile and international markets," says PMC chief executive Jay Penske.

Burma or Myanmar? Media still split on identification

Is it Burma or Myanmar? 

Media confusion continued this week in identifying the often-in-the-news southeast Asia nation, this time in connection with its government ending direct media censorship, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Labeling it as Myanmar were the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, among others. 

Going with Burma included the Washington Post and Associated Press. 

AP seems as confused in identifying the country as some other news outlets. 

That’s because AP adopted Myanmar into its 2006 Stylebook after weighing such factors as widespread international use and its recognition by the United Nations. 

The New York Times began referring to Myanmar in 1989, the year the country’s name officially was changed. 

Some media solve the country’s identification in news stories with phrases “Burma, also known as Myanmar” or “Myanmar, also known as Burma.” 

The country was a province of British India from 1886 to 1937, then a separate crown colony from 1937 to 1948.  After a military coup, the ruling regime renamed the country Myanmar in 1989.  Opposition groups in the country continued to refer to Burma.

U.S. old timers, war veterans and historians remember the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II.  The famous Burma Road was constructed to supply Chinese forces in the fight against Japan during World War II. 

The periodically-seen (on TV) 1945 movie, “Objective, Burma!” starring Errol Flynn, was a highly rated WWII thriller depicting a company of U.S. paratroopers assigned to wipe out an enemy post.

That film wouldn’t sound right as “Objective, Myanmar!”

First lady's Monday L.A. fundraiser gets scant coverage

While there was much coverage of Michelle Obama’s visit to the Los Angeles area for two Sunday fundraising events plus a Monday appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, news reports were scant from a third fundraiser which yielded about half a million dollars at a Monday luncheon in a quiet residential area, notes Grumpy Editor.

Sunday’s show business-linked fundraisers were at rock star Gwen Stefani’s home in Beverly Hills, followed by another at the Brentwood residence of Barry Meyer, chairman and chief executive of Warner Bros., a Time Warner Co.

The Monday afternoon gathering at a home in little-known Ladera Heights, an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County about three miles northwest of Inglewood, was noteworthy because about 150 guests paid at least $3,500 each.

African-Americans represent about three fourths of the upscale community’s 6,500 residents.

Olu Alemoru, a reporter for the Southwest Wave, a community newspaper, mentioned the first lady’s 20-minute speech focused on “the vision and values she and her husband had for the nation and implored the audience to transmit that to at least just one person in their circle.”

The three fundraisers benefited the Obama Victory Fund.

 

Writers quickly label Breitbart died of ‘natural causes’

A few hours after conservative blogger and Tea Party favorite Andrew Breitbart collapsed on the sidewalk shortly after midnight near his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles last Thursday, news stories attributed the 43-year-old’s death to “natural causes” --- indicating the writers never worked on police beats, notes Grumpy Editor.

Long before official findings from an autopsy, reporters --- without raising an eyebrow --- almost immediately pinpointed the cause of death. 

Results of a Friday autopsy by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office will not be known until early to mid-April, when toxicology and other lab tests are finalized.

"It's standard procedure," said Craig Harvey, coroner’s office spokesman.

"We have a very young man who died suddenly and unexpectedly, so we want to make sure we cover all the bases,” he added.

Highly-active Breitbart collapsed while walking home from a bar-restaurant where he sipped red wine and spent almost two hours in what has been termed “a friendly debate” with a marketing executive.

Breitbart entered journalism editing the Drudge Report in 1994.  Eleven years later Breitbart and Arianna Huffington founded the Huffington Post. 

On his own, he later started several news websites including breitbart.com, bighollywood.com and biggovernment.com. 

Along with that, in recent years he became a favorite target of liberals in the media.

 

Deadly Hollywood fire report omits pinpointing ‘where’

In writing news stories, journalism students are taught to follow the five Ws and the H --- who, what, when, where, why, and how --- yet pinpointing the where sometimes gets lost in the excitement of covering events such as with a deadly Hollywood fire last Friday, notes Grumpy Editor.

An Associated Press story reported three seriously injured gunshot victims were pulled from a burning Hollywood home where two others, including the gunman, died.

The story described the blaze that required 130 firefighters two-and-a-half hours to knock down.

With photos, coverage took up as much as half a page, with AP photos, in some newspapers on Saturday.

The story included quotes from neighbors.

Was the scene amid luxury homes in the Hollywood Hills?  Was it close to famous Hollywood and Vine?  Or perhaps near the Sunset Strip?

Readers of the AP story (along with broadcast accounts picking it up) never learned exactly where the incident took place.

Location was not pinpointed in the lengthy account.

Thus, it made traveling out-of-town Hollywood residents uneasy and concerned on learning of the happening.

It wouldn’t have taken much additional space to insert the precise location of the single story home:  517 N. Harvard Blvd.

And while mention of Hollywood always grabs attention, the scene was in an older, far eastern end of Hollywood --- three and a half miles northwest of the Los Angeles Civic Center. 

 

Editors spotlight Disney CEO Iger’s departure --- in 2016

It was interesting to note Friday’s heavy press play that emphasized Robert Iger will step down as chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co. --- even though the event doesn’t happen until four years from now, observes Grumpy Editor. 

That action in The Wall Street Journal, for example, took up almost half a page under the headline, “Disney’s Iger Plans Exit.” 

Actually, the first paragraph of the Oct. 6 news release from the Burbank-based media conglomerate --- that includes ABC, ESPN and amusement parks in its family --- read, “The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced today it has agreed to extend Robert A. Iger's contract through June 2016 as part of the company's ongoing succession planning.” 

The Los Angeles Times version was more in line as to the development with the headline, “Disney CEO Bob Iger signs new five-year contract.” 

Under the agreement, effective 10 days ago, Iger will assume the role of chairman in addition to chief executive officer following Chairman John E. Pepper's retirement at Disney's annual shareholder meeting next March. Until then, Iger will remain president and chief executive officer.

Iger will hold the positions of chairman and chief executive officer through March 31, 2015, at which time a new chief executive will be named.

Then Iger will continue as executive chairman until June, 2016, when he is expected to retire from the company at age 65. 

The use of terms such as “will step down” and “exit” connote a right-away happening --- misleading to some readers and investors. 

Nevertheless, some editors got excited and gave it much print space.

‘Daisy Carnival’ near riot in L.A. not news in Las Vegas

While the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun provided pages of coverage relating to late June’s three-night Electric Daisy Carnival --- already booked to return in 2012 --- that drew up to 85,000 generally “well-behaved” attendees each night in Las Vegas, both dailies spiked news reports of a near riot by several thousand rowdy revelers in Hollywood last Wednesday night during a film premiere of the “Electric Daisy Carnival Experience,” notes Grumpy Editor.

Action on famous and busy Hollywood Blvd., where a massive traffic jam developed, showed unruly young people defying police orders to disperse, throwing bottles and stomping on several police cars, damaging roofs and windshields.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority --- eager for any gathering involving 100 to 100,000 attendees --- was delighted when Electric Daisy Carnival backers selected Las Vegas for this year’s music festival. 

The LVCVA cheered even more when EDC announced plans to return to Las Vegas next year, despite some negativeness associated with the mostly young crowd.

The EDC moved its music festival to Sin City this year after Los Angeles banished it following the death of a 15-year-old girl last summer.  Two others died at an EDC event in Dallas in early June.

At the June festival in Las Vegas, police were busy booking some attendees at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway grounds, site of the event.

Twenty-seven felony and 31 misdemeanor arrests were made in Sin City, according to a Las Vegas Sun tally.

The festival each day started around 6 p.m. and concluded at dawn. 

Last week’s near riot on Hollywood Blvd. where the screened film at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre documented one of the nation’s largest electronic dance parties, didn’t get much coverage in U.S. dailies either, although Los Angeles television stations were on scene.

The screening was a private, invitation-only affair.

The near riot in Hollywood was triggered following a Twitter invitation to attend a block party outside Grauman’s.

 

 

‘Will and Kate’ royal wedding boosts U.S. magazine sales

Britain’s royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William in April came to the rescue of U.S. magazines with an estimated $13 million in additional sales in recent weeks, observes Grumpy Editor.

In reporting that figure, Adweek writer Lucia Moses said the event provided “a much-needed boost at a time of an otherwise fragile newsstand environment.” 

The tally was compiled by Magazine Information Network, LLC, known in the trade as MagNet, the nation's leading supplier of magazine single copy sales data and analytics. 

But the sales boost continues and is expected to reach $31 million stemming from specials and features. 

Many magazine covers lured readers by featuring a photo of the royal couple kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the April 29 ceremony. 

MagNet figured most of the boost went to People magazine which came out with a special collector’s issue that sold more than 2.2 million copies. 

Us magazine and Time Inc.’s “Commemorative Special” also reaped additional sales from the royal wedding.

Look for another boost ahead. 

An 11-day “Will and Kate” trip starts later this week in Canada, then heads to Los Angeles on July 8. 

Mixing Hollywood with the royal couple points to another round of higher magazine sales --- especially when word leaked out that Kate will be traveling with 40 different outfits.