A Badge-Free Comic-Con: May the Force Be With Us!
July, 20, 2011 6:04 pm | Comments On #comic con, Comic-Con 2011, comic-con international, Media, San DiegoYou don't need no stinking badges to be part of the buzz of this year's epic Comic-Con, touching down in San Diego July 20-25.
There's plenty of stuff going on outside of the Convention Center's walls that showcases the largest collection of film-makers, network execs, celebs, geeks, storm troopers and super heroes descending at the this year's popular arts extravaganza to entertain you over the five days.
Comic-Con, or "Cannes for Blockbusters," as it's been referred to due to Hollywood's overwhelming presence, isn't just for the 130,000 attendees who braved the multiple online ticketing failures and scored a badge. Marketing efforts by movie and television studios spill out onto the streets around the downtown San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter in an effort to reach out to as many fans as possible.
For the badge-...
Read More'Judy Moody': Deliberately Annoying and Definitely Heartwarming
June, 13, 2011 5:47 pm | Comments On #film, judy moody, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, kids, Movies, summer movieGoing to the movies with the little ones is risky business. Lately, it's all too common to be taken by surprise by some of the high tech gimmicks, swaggering violence, or other age-inappropriate scenes and language that sometimes pop out of left field in a supposedly PG rated family film.
In this regard, Hollywood just can't help itself when making films intended for children.
This isn't the case with Relativity's release of John Schultz's "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" movie. This film is based on the beloved Judy Moody children's book series by Megan McDonald, who also wrote the screenplay.
Unlike the one-size-fits all family films of today, "Not Bummer Summer" is a safe movie for children of any...
Read MoreWhoever Was Stupid Enough to Pick Up This Botox-Mom Story Should Pay
May, 25, 2011 6:46 pm | Comments On #botox mom, hollyblog, Suzette Valle, TelevisionThis latest Balloon Boy-type hoax involving the 8-year-old girl getting pricked by her own mother’s Botox-laden hand might turn out to be a disgusting ploy used to tug at our heartstrings to sell us papers, magazines and television gossip shows.
I’m also sorry to say this Botox-Mom media scandal is looking like another amateur episode of Reality TV gone wrong, and there should be consequences for all parties involved in publishing this rubbish.
This piece of Reality TV-inspired journalism was first reported in the British tabloid The Sun, after they (allegedly) paid Kelly Campbell to reveal her minor daughter’s unconventional beauty routine.
When photos surfaced of Campbell (a.k.a. Sheena Upton) giving her 8-year-old daughter Botox injections to keep her in tip-top beauty-pageant shape, it was like watching a bad re-run of the...
Read MoreKeep Questions About Reality TV Out of the SAT Exam
March, 24, 2011 5:57 pm | Comments On #hollyblog, reality TV, sat, Suzette Valle, TelevisionI am not a fan of reality TV, or "junk reality" as I referred to it in this earlier post.
However, over at the College Board, the organization in charge of administering the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) -- used as the measurement of intelligence to determine college suitability -- someone must be.
During the last SAT session, the essay portion required test-takers to answer this question: “Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these...
Read MoreWhy MTV Should Shed the Public Service Spin on 'Skins'
February, 01, 2011 6:38 pm | Comments On #Media, Skins, Suzette ValleIf you read my last post of 2010, I wasn't intending to be prophetic, but it also didn't take a crystal ball to see that actor Charlie Sheen was spiraling out of control, or that Tiger Woods would continue to struggle with his game, or that all we've heard from Lindsay Lohan since she left rehab has been ... nothing.
What most of us didn't see coming was the intense focus on the exploitation of teen drama in the first month of 2011.
I'm not referring to the usual suspects like Miley Cyrus, who once again was (dis)honored with an award for "The Worst Celeb Influence" by Just So You know.com (beating out Lindsay Lohan).
I'm talking about the new cast of underage teenage actors in MTV's controversial TV show "...
Read MoreBye-Bye to a Decade of Celebrity Scandal
December, 30, 2010 3:42 pm | Comments On #Movies, Suzette ValleFarewell to 2010 and to some of the decade's scandalous celebrity news which, in my humble opinion, got too much airtime.
Looking back on the past 10 years of celebrity coverage, Hollywood reports certainly highlighted a twisted trend in the entertainment industry -- rehab, court-ordered or voluntary, is seemingly Tinsel Town’s latest legacy. An untamable teen singer, the party house on the east shore, teenage pregnancy, dating lessons, raising too many kids on television, the death of an embattled music legend, politicians and athletes failing their families and supporters, violent vocal rampages and less than shining Sheen behavior are only a few of this decade’s newsmakers.
I wish I could refrain from inking some of these bad boys and girls’ names one more time, but I’ll do it as a final parting gesture to illustrate the...
Read MoreHollywood's Too Eager to Sexualize Young Girls
December, 17, 2010 2:54 pm | Comments On #Parents Television Council, TelevisionA new study and website were launched by the Parents Television Council titled, "Tinseltown's New Target: A study of Teen Female Sexualization on Primetime TV," and calls for a reversal of the current trend of the sexualization of teen girls in the media. The study is based on a content analysis of the most popular primetime broadcast shows among 12- to 17-year-olds during the 2009-2010 TV season.
During a conference call with Tim Winter, PTC president, Dr. L. Monique Ward, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, and member of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, Nicole Clark, director of the documentary film “Cover Girl Culture” and former Elite International fashion model, Jeff...
Read MoreFinally, Humans Triumph Over Zombies
November, 09, 2010 6:23 am | Comments On #Movies, zombiesWho doesn’t like a feel-good zombie story? Something where humans triumph over the walking dead would give you the warm fuzzies, wouldn’t it?
It would be an especially good tale if the humans are a 12-year-old girl and her mother on the ride of their lives.
This is one such story.
At Comic-Con 2009, I did an interview for TheWrap with 17-year-old filmmaker Emily Hagins and her mother Megan about the documentary “Zombie Girl: The Movie.” It chronicles the making of the first feature-length film, “Pathogen,” Emily made as a mere pre-teen. Since then, this documentary has enjoyed a string of multi-award winning screenings and was released on DVD Tuesday on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com.
In 2004, Emily...
Read More'Glee'-Gate: Next Time Use Adults Dressed As Adults
October, 27, 2010 6:42 am | Comments On #Glee, GQ, Media, Parents Television CouncilSince the press won't let it die, I won't either.
It's been a week since the Parents Television Council made the public aware of the racy photo spread in GQ magazine's upcoming issue featuring a few selected cast members of the celebrated show "Glee." The spread shows three actors representing teenagers: two females, Dianna Aragon and Lea Michele, barely dressed, and one male,Cory Monteith, fully covered, posing provocatively -- knee-socked-legs spread apart, lollipop-sucking in underwear -- in a high school setting.
This shouldn't have been a big deal since this essentially is what the show is about: sexy high school kids engaging in edgy behavior.
But.The Parents Television Council made a...
Top Picks from the San Diego Film Festival
October, 05, 2010 5:17 pm | Comments On #gaslamp theatres, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Movies, people, san diego film festivalThe San Diego Film Festival, currently in its ninth year, took over the Gaslamp Theatres in downtown San Diego for five days last week, and remained true to its original concept of providing an intimate setting for filmmakers and fans to share their love for movies. The 85 screenings included Sundance 2010 notables "Welcome To The Rileys" and Audience Choice Best Documentary "Waiting For Superman" as well as the world premier of "The Kane Files: Life of Trial" and the U.S. premiere of "Conviction," starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank.
Opening night of the SDFF kicked off with the solemn movie "Morning" (seemingly a play on words about death), a raw and poignant motion picture about parents dealing with the death of a child. This powerful drama was written and directed by actor Leland Orser ("ER,"...
- Previous
- •
- •
- •
- •
- Next
Description
Suzette Valle was recognized by Time Warner Cable as one of San Diego's 50 Best Moms. Living in San Diego with her husband and two teenagers, she is a"golf and softball mom" who blogs about parenting and Hollywood's influence on children's daily lives and family values at www.MamarazziKnowsBest.com. Follow her on Twitter: @MamarazziKnows.
