The film industry has already pretty much abandoned Hollywood, devastating thousands of jobs, but now it is abandoning Georgia and other southern states, where it went after dumping LaLaLand. And it’s all about the Benjamins.
Hollywood
Conan O’Brien: ‘Late-Night Television Going to Disappear,‘ But Stephen Colbert ‘Too Essential to Go Away‘
Former late-night TV host Conan O’Brien is saying that his former genre is dead, but he is also sure that canceled CBS host Stephen Colbert is “too essential to go away” permanently.
You mean non-stop woke whining and insulting half of America every night wasn’t a rating success?
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
As subscription costs rise and choice diminishes on legal sites, film and TV fans are turning to VPNs and illicit streamers, with Sweden – home of both Spotify and The Pirate Bay – leading the way
With a trip to Florence booked, all I want is to rewatch Medici. The 2016 historical drama series tells of the rise of the powerful Florentine banking dynasty, and with it, the story of the Renaissance. Until recently, I could simply have gone to Netflix and found it there, alongside a wide array of award-winning and obscure titles. But when I Google the show in 2025, the Netflix link only takes me to a blank page. I don’t see it on HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, or any of the smaller streaming platforms. On Amazon Prime I am required to buy each of the three seasons or 24 episodes separately, whereupon they would be stored in a library subject to overnight deletion. Raised in the land of The Pirate Bay, the Swedish torrent index, I feel, for the first time in a decade, a nostalgia for the high seas of digital piracy. And I am not alone.
Hollywood Rocked by Amazon-Backed AI Tool, Showrunner, that Allows Viewers to Create Their Own Shows
Filmmakers, educators, and other entertainment industry professionals are reacting in alarm at a new Amazon-backed tool that will allow viewers to create their own TV shows using an artificial intelligence system called Showrunner.
Fable, a company backed by Amazon, is touting Showrunner as the “Netflix of AI,” and allows users to create their own animated series by using text prompts.
Gina Carano, Disney Settle Legal Dispute Over ‘Mandalorian’ Firing
Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Company have reached a mutual agreement in their legal dispute with Gina Carano following her firing from “The Mandalorian.”
A Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement provided to Variety, “The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect. With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”
The Real Controversy of ‘Superman’ Is a CGI Dog
Kelly Woods can’t stand Superman’s canine sidekick, Krypto. The 58-year-old retired truck driver grew up watching the Superman cartoons in the 1970s.
“When Krypto first came into the cartoons, it ruined it for me,” said Woods. He felt the creators were trying too hard to add unnecessary characters.
His 26-year-old daughter, Jackie, brought Woods along to see the new “Superman” movie a few weeks ago. She figured the unruly dog would make only a couple of appearances, maybe toward the end.
But within the first few minutes, Krypto was zooming through a snowy plain.
The use of CGI is awkwardly reminiscent of the backlash “Talkies” faced when their arrival ended the Silent era.
Turner Classic Movies: Pro-Communist, Anti-American
We now have conclusive proof that Stalin and his communist dupes were subverting Hollywood. But you wouldn’t know it watching TCM.
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on cable tv is the film-lover’s dream come true. It possesses a huge library of films from Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 30s to the 50s, newer films, and silents. They are presented with no commercials in their full, unedited versions. TCM hosts worthy series co-hosted by specialists, on topics such as African Americans in film.
Pedro Pascal and The Precariousness of Woke Celebs
It’s easy to see why Pedro Pascal was crowned as the internet’s new “unproblematic fave.” He is, as you would expect for a Hollywood actor, decently good-looking. He’s been in Game of Thrones, took the lead in Star Wars spin-off Mandalorian, featured in the TV adaptation of The Last of Us, and more recently had a starring role in the latest installment of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Equally as important for a celebrity nowadays, Pascal has some impeccably woke credentials. He is an advocate of ‘trans rights.’ He’s vocally anti-Trump. He makes all the right noises about Palestine. He embraces a nauseating brand of “non-toxic masculinity,” whereby he talks at length about his men’s mental health—specifically, his anxiety, which he copes with by… getting uncomfortably cosy with his pregnant, taken co-star?
Superman Captures the Fall of 20th-Century Liberalism
The 2025 iteration of Superman is worth a watch if the subject matter at all catches one’s eye. Eschewing a decade of attempts to twist the character into darkness, this reboot embraces the morality at the soul of an American icon.
Gone are the attempts at a moral middle ground or a blurring of the story in an attempt to subvert tropes. The film’s heroes are unquestionably morally good. Its villains are unquestionably depraved. In short, it represents a cinematic return to normalcy.
Nolte: Netflix, Disney Openly Embrace AI for Content Production
Netflix chief Ted Sarandos is making no secret of the fact his company is eager to use AI in “content production” because it’s faster and less expensive.
“Netflix Inc. has begun using artificial intelligence video generation software from startup Runway AI, testing the waters with a technology that’s controversial in Hollywood,” reports the far-left Bloomberg. “Sarandos said the company is using AI in content production. That includes creating special effects shots more quickly and cheaply than it previously had been able to with traditional visual effects tools and processes.”
Oopsie! Lame Colbert Protest Makes Paramount’s Point
Remember that hoary question from Philosophy 101 — If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a noise? Well, we now have a television equivalent.
Netflix CEO Says Artificial Intelligence will Make Movies and TV ‘Better, Not Just Cheaper‘
Streaming giant Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos says artificial intelligence (AI) will have a huge and largely positive impact on the film and TV industries in the near future.
Sarandos feels that AI will make it cheaper to produce our entertainment, but he also thinks it has the potential of making it better.
De-aged stars, cloned voices, resuscitated dead icons: AI is changing the art and business of acting
For filmmaker Scott Mann, three dozen F-bombs had the makings of a million-dollar headache.
When Mann wrapped “Fall,” a 2022 thriller about two women stranded atop a 2,000-foot radio tower, he figured the hard part was over. Shot in the Mojave Desert on a $3-million budget, the film didn’t have money to burn and seemed on course. But Lionsgate wanted a PG-13 rating and, with 35 expletives, “Fall” was headed for an R. Reshoots would cost more than $1 million — far beyond what the production could afford.
In the past, a director might have taken out a second mortgage or thrown themselves at the mercy of the ratings board. Mann instead turned to AI.
Colbert and the end of American humor
As Rodney Dangerfield might have said, Stephen Colbert got no respect.
Let me say this upfront, America stopped being funny when Johnny Carson went off the air May 22, 1992.
That’s 33 years of humorlessness. Yes, I exaggerate, to make a point, only I don’t remember what it is.
New York used to be the funniest town in the world, back when Catskill Jews ran the culture, but today, instead of Jackie Mason or Don Rickles, we’ve got Zohran Mamdani.
Did I spell it right?
Ba Dump Tss! https://t.co/1DkwoeZsgk pic.twitter.com/lS2YPoKEfP
— Blazingcatfur (@fancypants_s) July 23, 2025
A Grateful Nation Thanks You President Trump!
Ellen DeGeneres: I moved to the UK because of Trump
US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has made her first public appearance since moving to the UK, saying she decided to settle in England the day after Donald Trump was re-elected US president.
The comedian and host told a crowd in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, that life “is just better” in the UK.
Ellen said she and wife Portia de Rossi were considering getting married again in England after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage, and that America can still be “scary for people to be who they are”.