Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Fan Rant

Long story short: A two-year-old video featuring Heath Ledger at a party where drugs were being consumed was purchased by Entertainment Tonight for a large sum of money (some are saying $200,000), and the show, as well as The Insider, planned to air the video in an attempt to "understand why Ledger died." Ledger's former PR firm sent out a mass email protesting the video, folks everywhere cried "poor taste" and ET ultimately decided not to air it. One imagines said video will arrive on YouTube within 24 hours, and at that time it will be everywhere; the secret video everyone will pretend they didn't watch.

Here's my question: Where do you draw the line? Almost everything these shows put on the air is in poor taste. So, instead of the Ledger video, they'll do 15 minutes on Britney Spears -- what she wore to the hospital, what she said to the doctor, how big her sh*t was that morning. This stuff -- this stalking of Britney Spears -- is okay. Airing a video showing Heath Ledger drinking a beer, while some dude snorts coke in the corner? Not okay. That's in poor taste. You should respect the Ledger family. What about the family of every other actor or actress who's caught doing something stupid? Where's the respect for them? There is no respect. You think the folks at ET respect Ledger or his family? They couldn't give two sh*ts about these people ... unless something they do is going to bring them more viewers. Hence, the video.

It's a pretty sick world we live in. I've watched this TMZ show on television, where the staff gets together and they write a bunch of stuff on a board. At the top of that board, it should read: How Will We Ruin Someone's Life Today? Isn't it sick to know that all of these people -- the shows, the websites, the magazines -- make all their money off humiliating other people? That that's a huge business; the business of humiliation. And then they go home at night to their wife, their significant other, their children -- and they attempt to be a good role model. " Help Jimmy with his math homework after you're done photo-shopping that pic of Britney's vagina, please."

Continue reading Fan Rant: The Heath Ledger Video

Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Deals, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom

I always love it when Brett Ratner's name gets tossed into the pot with regards to a new, hip fanboy-ish project, because the fanboys run out to cry foul. It hasn't seemed to hurt his career, though, since moviegoers still flock to his flicks because the studios tend to sell them well with flashy trailers and whatnot. The latest flurry of Ratner rage was brought on by a story over at AICN which claims the director is Universal's choice to replace Mark Romanek on The Wolfman. Harry Knowles, who broke the news (and says it comes from a very reliable source), makes a pretty good argument as to why the studio should let Ratner's name go in one ear and out the other.

Knowles says, "Brett Ratner makes watchable films. Movies that go through your system as if consumed off a soapy plate. They're empty - hollow works. He's a terrible ACTOR's director. His basement is a disco, and the Wolfman has no disco in his soul. This is a PERIOD film - to make a convincing period film you need a director for an eye for details... Someone that knows this world and period. X3 was a financial success - but that was based on an incredibly successful franchise by Singer. Ratner killed it." Although I'm not as attached to The Wolfman as others are, I completely agree with Knowles opinion of the guy. Ratner's a joke -- he'll make your film look pretty, like the last girl left in the bar after six hours worth of vodka shots. But when you wake up next to her the next morning, the guilt -- coupled with a massive hangover -- leads to regret. Why, exactly, did I pay $10 bucks to watch that piece of sh*t? Oh yeah, the trailer looked good.

While the news is not official yet, there's definitely enough here to hurt your ears. Here's hoping Universal listens to the cries and goes in a different direction. What do you think?