Nikki Finke on Disney's $4 billion purchase of Marvel empire.

Apparently if you're Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company board of directors, it's better to buy out the Marvel Comics empire (including its motion picture division) for $4 billion than to improve your in-house product (including the recent 3-D guinea pig nonclassic G-FORCE).

Here's Nikki Finke with details (including Paramount stating that they're hanging on to Marvel-produced movies including IRON MAN 2):
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/shocker-disney-buying-marvel/

Yes, there will be ten Best Picture Oscar nominees next year.

I share Nikki Finke's disgust about the recent announcement that next year's Academy Awards will have ten Best Picture nominees: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/but-why-academy-to-now-allow-10-films-in-best-picture-category/

As she noted in her post, the ten-nominee policy doesn't extend to acting categories. It's just a dumb ploy to get a few preordained-blockbuster films into the Best Picture contenders--and, presumably, boost Disney/ABC's ratings next year.

Here's Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com with his comments on the nomination changes: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/btm/2009/06/24/oscars/

And Sharon Waxman's THE WRAP also weighs in:
http://www.thewrap.com/article/attempt-academy-improve-ratings-oscar-telecast_3885

Regarding the Academy Award nominations.

First, here's the always-provocative Nikki Finke's article on this morning's Academy Award nominations: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/nominations-for-81st-academy-awards-this-am/

My take on two of the most notable omissions from the list:
1. The Academy rightly judged Clint Eastwood's GRAN TORINO as just-average formula filmmaking that marked an end to Clint's run of quality pix from MYSTIC RIVER to (some will argue with me on this) CHANGELING. If Clint had truly wanted a plausible shot at a Best Actor nomination/win, he wouldn't have turned down the lead in Paul Haggis' IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (Tommy Lee Jones gave a fine performance in the role).

2. I'm a bit annoyed at the Academy's music branch for only giving three nominees for Best Song--one of them a semi-forgettable end-credits Peter Gabriel number from WALL-E and two from SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Nothing against SLUMDOG (which now looks like a lock for a Best Picture win), but Bruce Springsteen's low-key end-credits song for THE WRESTLER (which can be heard on his soon-t0-be-released album WORKING ON A DREAM) was too good to ignore. It appears that the Academy wants only upbeat, ennobling fare which can make for big production numbers--unfortunately.

And congratulations to the documentary branch for nominating Werner Herzog's criminally underseen Antarctica documentary feature ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Highly recommended as a DVD rental--get the Blu-Ray version if you can.

Nikki Finke on delay of SAG strike authorization vote.

Whether or not the Screen Actors Guild "vote yes for strike authorization re the AMPTP contract" contingent or the actor/producer contingent (including George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Danny DeVito--thinking more of their production deals than of rank-and-file actors) urging members to vote no (and wait three years for the next negotiating period) wins out is an open question at this time.

Here's Nikki Finke with her opinion of the delay in the strike authorization vote--and why she thinks it may be a good thing: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/dhd-to-sag-forget-strike-authorization-ballot-vote-on-contract-proposal/

Regardless of who wins or doesn't win the issue of the current SAG contract, the switch of TV episode reruns to websites (aka New Media) from over-the-airwaves broadcasts is a big deal and actors deserve proper residual compensation. To my mind, regardless of the AMPTP propaganda (sometimes transmitted by Patrick Goldstein of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES), it's a lot better that SAG and the producers get this worked out now than waiting another three years--when there will be other AMPTP-created reasons not to deal with the New Media issue.