A pitch for a horror movie may be something like…”Part Omen, part Jaws, part Bull Durham.”  The producer and studio will then sit back and digest the combination and see if it sounds marketable.

“It’s part Rambo, part The Sting!” A combination that sounds like money.

The Daily Helping loves a good pitch as much as the next blog, but there are certain pitches that sound too good to be true.  We think we found one that sounds pretty darn good.

“Middle Men” is an independent film that just found a home at Paramount following  lots of buzz at the recent Santa Barbara Film Festival.  What’s the pitch on “Middle Men”?  According to Variety’s Todd McCarthy, it’s “Boogie Nights” meets “Goodfellas”.

That sounds pretty good.

It has a fantastic cast.  Luke Wilson (“Royal Tenenbaums”, “Old School”), James Caan, Giovanni Ribisi and Gabriel Macht. In what is called the “true story” of  Jack Harris, a husband and father who helps re-organize struggling but potentially lucrative businesses. He goes to work on a company that launches one of the very first view for pay porn sites.  His clients (Ribisi and Macht) are geniuses who are suddenly flush with money, and up to their eyes in  women and drugs.  Harris (Wilson) must try to keep the business on the rails (not those kind of rails) and in doing so, becomes entangled with the Russian mob, a porn star, and the FBI.

Now that the movie has a distributor, a trailer has finally emerged. Take a look and see if this excites you as much as it does us.  It’s an extended trailer and we’re pleased to say, Not Safe For Work. (Look for great cameos by Kelsey Grammer (Frazier) and the great Kevin Pollack (Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men). Don’t ask when it’s going to be released because you won’t like the answer: Fall of next year.

Director Kevin Smith prior to being de-planed.

Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) has made some news recently, and it has nothing to do with the upcoming realease of his cop/buddy picture, “Cop Out“.

Over the weekend, Smith started Live-Twittering his removal from an Oakland to Burbank Southwest Airlines flight for being too fat.  He was told to leave the plane because he didn’t fit properly in the seat and thus considered a “safety risk”. Southwest’s “Customer of Size” policy requires larger passengers to purchase two seats if they cannot be comfortably accommodated in a single seat. It’s a policy that has been in place for the past 25 years.  Both Smith and the airline have acknowledged that he had bought two seats for his original flight from Oakland, where he had spoken at the recent Macworld Expo conference, but was flying standby in order to catch an earlier flight. There was only one seat available and the flight crew felt that one was not enough.

This embarrassing little escapade became a PR nightmare for Southwest because more people read Kevin Smith’s tweet account than see his movies. His Twitter account boasts over a million and a half followers and Smith was quick to report to his readers about his humiliation as soon as it was happening.

Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?

Shortly afterward, Smith kept his barrage flying.

Dear @SouthwestAir, I flew out in one seat, but right after issuing me a standby ticket, Oakland Southwest attendant Suzanne (wouldn’t give..last name) told me Captain Leysath deemed me a “safety risk”. Again: I’m way fat… But I’m not THERE just yet. But if I am, why wait til my..bag is up, and I’m seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who’d already I.d.ed me as “Silent Bob.”

And this….

So, @SouthwestAir, go fuck yourself. I broke no regulation, offered no “safety risk” (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?). I was..wrongly ejected from the flight (even Suzanne eventually agreed). And fuck your apologetic $100 voucher, @SouthwestAir. Thank God I don’t..embarrass easily (bless you, JERSEY GIRL training). But I don’t sulk off either: so everyday, some new fuck-you Tweets for @SouthwestAir.

The Tweets from Smith kept up well into his inevitable flight home. His anger was fuel for a growing fire, as other people of girth voiced their own frustration at such treatment.

(1/2) @pigz “I know several people bigger then u who have flown on other airlines” I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn’t (2/2) about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I’m being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like “Please don’t tell…”

On arrival in Burbank, Smith fires off a few more rounds.

Hey @SouthwestAir! I’ve landed in Burbank. Don’t worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.

(1/2) Hey @SouthwestAir? Fuck making it right for me just ’cause I have a platform. I sat next to a big girl who was chastised for not buy-(2/2) ing an extra ticket because “all passengers deserve their space.” Fucking flight wasn’t even full! Fuck your size-ist policy. Rude…

A Southwest employee who had a Twitter account associated with Southwest was flooded with hate tweets.  The airline would find it necessary to responded with a full blog post of their own they entitled cleverly ” Not So Silent Bob” (a character played by Smith in his string of slacker movies.  It was in this blog that Southwest apologizes for the inconvenience, but also discloses what seems like confidential information about their passenger’s original two-seat purchase was disclosed.

It’s doubtful this is over.

The rants are in their original German, but the subtitles are in English and absolutely brilliant.  Here’s one that’s a favorite of DailyHelping.  Hitler responds to Apple’s recently released, iPad.

Let me show you how to buy a vowel!

The Wheel of Fortune is an American institution as far as TV game shows go.  Created by the great Merv Griffin and hosted by the ever smirking host, Pat Sajak, the Wheel has become the longest-running syndicated game show in American television history.  For an added dash of sex appeal, the show has made the an institution out of statuesque letter-turner, Vanna White.

Such popularity breeds imitation and so it comes as no surprise that the game show (Three contestants compete against each other to solve a word puzzle for cash and prizes) is presented in 29 different countries around the world, with each version providing it’s own “spin”.

The Daily Helping salutes “La Roue de la Fortune” from France. Hosted by the shameless,  Christophe Dechavanne and elegant letter turner, Victoria Silvstedt, the show is every bit like it’s American cousin, except for the overtly sexual overtones.

An occasional contestant will be chosen not just for her bubbly personality and command of word play, but also for her cleavage.  With the wheel set nice and low, the contestant will find it necessary to lean forward and jiggle in order to give the wheel a decent spin.  The leering host (and other contestants) fail to hide their interest.  Enjoy….

or this one….

]]> http://dailyhelping.com/2010/02/06/la-roue-de-la-fortune-wheel-of-fortune/feed/ 0 http://dailyhelping.com/2010/02/02/your-academy-award-nominees/ http://dailyhelping.com/2010/02/02/your-academy-award-nominees/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:59:04 +0000 admin http://dailyhelping.com/?p=1331 Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Director
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, & Thomas McCarthy, Up

Adapted Screenplay
Neil Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci, & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Foreign Language Film
Ajami (Israel)
El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)

Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Freebird with plenty of cowbells. (and just an update, Viveca gave birth to their third son today. His name is Axel).

(Another update: NBC raided YouTube and disabled every version of this incredible performance they could find. The version now available was taped off of someone’s television, has poor sound quality and ends abruptly. It’s still worth taking a look. Screw you NBC. You keep making the bad decisions.)

A Hong Kong news program provides a terrific animated explanation of who is doing what to who, and who else is getting their licks in?

Also shown piling on is David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, who has been having a field day at Leno’s expense. The comedy has been sharp and it’s a miscue that NBC will have to contend with for a while. Leno in fact may never have the clout he once had.  This is the English version…click on the video below.

A new “Red Band” trailer has come out and it’s a taste of what may be a huge hit.  The movie is clearly not for the faint- hearted and may have some of the most amazing action sequences this side of Hong Kong.   Look for Nicholas Cage to hit one out of the park on this. He also stars in the recently released  re-make of the Bad Lieutenant, which is also generating some surprisingly positive buzz.  He may have lost a ton of money through bad professional management, but his script instinct is hot again.  Both roles are edgy and memorable and he leaves everything out on the screen.

The language provided in this trailer may be a bit much for work, so turn down your speakers if you work in a cubicle.

Meet Hit Girl.

Check this out….

Directed by Steve Pink ( screenplay for High Fidelity and an executive producer of Entourage), this absurd storyline looks to mine the same box office gold as the last big road trip, The Hangover.

Check out these clips for Hot Tub Time Machine, due out in Mid-March.

And this one….