Small-Screen Stereotypes
By Vince Horiuchi
The Salt Lake Tribune

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – New rule: Television needs new jokes about Utah and its people.

TV’s view of Zion seems to be confined to ultraconservative, closed-minded Mormons who refuse to have sex. At least that’s the sense viewers might have after a recent barrage of TV series – ranging from HBO’s political comedy show “Real Time with Bill Maher” to “Desperate Housewives” and “Cold Case” – took well-placed shots at Utah.

For political comic Maher, whose talk show ends with a segment about the state of America called “New Rules,” the Beehive State is a favorite target. For example:

“New rule: The next reality show must be called ‘America’s Stupidest State.’ We’ll start at 50, and each week, if your state does something really stupid with, say, evolution or images of the Virgin Mary, you’ll move on to the next round. Of course, the final five will always end up being Alabama, Utah, Kansas, Texas and Florida. Sorry, Tennessee.”

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IT IS the Hollywood divorce that eclipses even Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston in sound and fury, but next month Harvey and Bob Weinstein finally break up their successful but tumultuous partnership with Disney after 12 years. And as with many divorces, the split has caused some devastation, since this is a divorce with children. As the company winds up, almost two dozen long-overdue films have been taken off Miramax’s shelves, dusted down and sent out into cinemas to face their uncertain futures.

When you watch The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Il Postino or Chicago, the first thing you will see is the stylised rendering of the Manhattan skyline at night, the brand image of Miramax. In the 26 years since founding the company, which they named after their parents Miriam and Max, the Weinstein brothers have become the most influential executives in the indie film world, charging up the art-house sector with a more competitive, more aggressive approach to marketing their movies to the mainstream. A Miramax movie carries the promise of a little darkness, a corkscrew of the conventional, emotion and danger.

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The daring director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) has a North American premiere of Mary, a complicated tale of an independent director (Matthew Modine) who casts himself as Jesus Christ in his film, while the actress (Juliette Binoche) who plays Mary Magdalene travels alone to Jerusalem after her shoot to continue her spiritual quest. A year later in Manhattan, a superstar network journalist (Forest Whitaker) investigates the life and times of Jesus Christ. His show receives high ratings, but he and his wife (Heather Graham) reach a relationship boiling point.

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Heather Graham and Jeremy Sisto, from Six Feet Under, have been cast in the indie thriller Broken. Variety reports music video director Alan White will be helming the movie from a script by Drew Pillsbury.

Graham will play a waitress who has to confront all the mistakes she has made in her life including the biggest one of all, her ex-boyfriend (Sisto) who is determined to get her back. Filming is due to start this month in Los Angeles.

Source: Monsters and Critics

Incase you’ve missed it, ABC’s Emily’s Reasons Why Not site has several video previews of the series and if I may say so myself, it looks very promising, funny and sexy! So many sure to go and check them out.

Emily Sanders has many things going for her. She’s young, single, has terrific friends and a great job in publishing. In fact, she’s got the hottest selling book in town. Unfortunately, she’s just closed the chapter on her relationship with the roguishly handsome, two-timing author.

Based on the bestselling novel of one successful single woman’s search for love, this smart and stylish comedy explores life, love and sex in the city from an independent woman’s point of view.