Film

Who says being a NYT staffer who got laid off in the 2009 cuts won’t get you someplace?

Adam Chadwick wrote late last night with an unusual pitch: “I just wanted to reach out to you and let you know about “Fit to Print” – a feature-length documentary on the U.S. newspaper industry crisis and the changing dynamics of investigative reporting.This is an independent film that I have been working on for the past three years. It examines newspapers all across the U.S. and the threat to local watchdog reporting as staffs and resources are cut. This film is being made on a shoestring budget by myself and other former newspaper staffers, hoping to give voice to the thousands of newsroom employees laid-off over the past several years, while also examining the light at the end of the tunnel for the industry.”

Key words: “shoestring budget.” Chadwick needs cash. He has 22 days to reach a $10,000 goal. To entice potential investors he has offered a promo clip that includes NYT’s David Barstow, WaPo’s Bob Kaiser, and Laura Frank from the now defunct Rocky Mountain News and “other great newspaper folks from across the country.” Chadwick says they did a lot of filming at the Washington Post.

While most publicists for such a film would throw out a lot of formalities and hound reporters, not Chadwick. He writes humbly, “Full disclosure: I SUCK at anything promotional related for a film. But we’re trying to raise completion funds right now and I was hoping you could help us spread word on the film.”

Watch the promo. It’s well worth a look.

To reach Adam, write him at adamgchadwick@gmail.com.

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What are the chances of this weird coincidence? The Weight of the Nation, a new documentary series on HBO that takes “an unflinching look” at the severity of the obesity epidemic and its crippling effects on our health care system, is headed to Washington. And get this, one of the expert docs from the film to attend is the aptly-named Dr. William Dietz. He’s a nutrition, physical activity and obesity director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of course he is. We don’t know about you, but those shows depicting the obese guy who hasn’t left his bed in years and eats chicken all day definitely make us flinch.

HBO and the Institute of Medicine will host an advance showing on May 2 at the National Academy of Sciences for D.C. bigwigs, or as they put it, “leading health and medical officials, federal and local policymakers, and key stakeholders.”  Others who will be on hand: Francis Collins, Director at NIH, Harvey Fineberg, President of the Institute of Medicine and more.

Following the film will be a discussion with Dr. Dietz. We’d be disappointed if this wasn’t the case.

Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Educators Association, told attendees at last night’s screening of “Bully” that they were in for “an exciting, wonderful evening.” But clearly he was exaggerating. By the end of the film, half the audience, mostly female teachers, was sobbing and probably in need of a Xanax.

“Bully” is a documentary directed by Lee Hirsch about children who face ridicule and bullying at school. Two cases featured in the film concern kids, one 11 and another 17, who committed suicide after being picked on for years.

It was stirring and emotional, upsetting even. But not really “exciting” or “wonderful.”

The screening was held at the NEA’s headquarters on 16th street, NW.

Following the film WaPo‘s Jonathan Capehart moderated a discussion with Van Roekel, Hirsch, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, National Center for Learning Disabilities Director James Wendorf, Katie Butler of Change.org and Jackie Libby, the mother of one of the children in the film.

“Bully” will be released in theaters April 23. See here for more information.

Important side note:  The NEA headquarters bathroom facilities are probably the most environmentally friendly place on Earth. That is to say, highly inconvenient for everyone. To activate the sink faucet, you have to move your hands around like a magician to trip the “hands-free” sensor. And the paper towel dispensers offer exactly three inches of paper per use. On the plus side, a slew of unhealthy snacks like potato chips, Wise popcorn, soda and chocolate chip and raisin cookies were aplenty before the show.

Have you long wondered about any lingering mysteries of the Titanic (and this is not some veiled attack on Robert Allbritton‘s sinking TBD, we mean the real Titanic)? Do you have a hankering to see Leonardo DiCaprio in 3-D?

Then an upcoming cocktail party and screening at National Geographic HQ in downtown Washington on April 4 may be just the thing for you. An added bonus: There will be a special sneak preview of director James Cameron‘s documentary on the disastrous Titanic. “The Final Word with James Cameron” brings in experts, including engineers and architects who likely have a real clue about this stuff.

On Friday we reported that The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack was 98 percent that he wound up in Game Change as an extra. Over the weekend, thanks to technology and the Internet, that percentage gap tightened to 100 percent. In the photograph below, Cusack is situated to the left of the bottle sitting with the mustached man. Cusack has no facial hair, but due to lighting the picture makes him look as though he has sideburns, a beard and a goatee. That’s all an illusion, but it is him.

Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer noted Cusack’s “cameo” in “Game Change” during an interview this morning with Cusack on the 2012 presidential race. After Cusack noted it was a very small cameo, Hemmer quipped it was so tiny that he didn’t notice Cusack in the flick. He later called Cusack a “Hollywood star” and Fox anchor Jamie Colby chimed in that she wants Cusack’s autograph.

With a red carpet screening of “Game Change” happening Thursday night in Washington, TIME‘s Mark Halperin recently detailed the day he and New York Mag’s John Heilemann came up with the idea for their book.

“Game Change was born right there on North Capitol Street in front of C-SPAN as we sat [in a parked car] and talked,” Halperin said. “What we said to ourselves initially was not about a book, it was a movie.”

Watch here.

The Library of Congress is now home to Bambi, Thumper, Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan. On Wednesday James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, selected Walt Disney’s Bambi, Forrest Gump and 23 other titles ”to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures,” according to a press release.

Americans nominated 2,228 titles this year to be included in the Library. Billington then consulted other film curators and the National Film Preservation Board before selecting the final 25.

You can nominate titles for next year’s consideration at at the NFPB’s hideous website here.

MSNBC contributor Meghan McCain is also, like, totally a blogger! When not dispensing overpriced dime-store insight into the space between her ear she calls the young Republican mindset, she muses about stuff ‘n’ stuff on her website, McCainblogette.

Tuesday, Meghan took to her blog to offer some advice on “How to avoid 140-character regret,” four pearls of wisdom on how she tries to avoid exposing herself as an idiot by making embarrassing mistakes on Twitter.

She describes it this way: “Here are some rules I’ve set for myself to avoid any Tweet-centric mishaps or regrets.”

Overlooking the opening graph that would earn a D- in a third grade writing class, her points are as follows.

“1. Never tweet directly after a breakup, trust me no good will come of this. You are too emotionally raw and you don’t want to take it out on your twitter family.”

OK, not the worst advice ever. But it’s a lot like telling a kid “Don’t stare at the sun.” It’s gonna happen. But still, not a horrible start. Though referring to strangers on Twitter as “family” is a bit odd.

“2. Never tweet when you are angry in response to a follower. Take a step back and breathe- it’s just some anonymous person on the internet.”

First, the word “Internet” should be capitalized. Second, didn’t she just say people on Twitter were her family? Now they’re “just some anonymous person”? Where’s the love, Meghan? Third, if Twitter isn’t for fighting and letting the world see pictures of what you’re eating for dinner, what’s it for?

“3. Make sure that whenever you post a picture, you have looked over numerous times to make sure it’s correct. Tori Spelling’s husband recently tweeted a topless picture of his wife accidentally without realizing it- yikes!”

OK, there’s just a lot of stupid happening here. A LOT! Take a second and read that again, then realize that she’s a Columbia University graduate and PAID to write for The Daily Beast. The first sentence has a missing “it” and “Tori Spelling’s husband recently tweeted a topless picture of his wife accidentally without realizing it…”? Who would Tori Spelling’s husband’s wife be? And could you “accidentally” tweet something while realizing it? If this is what you get with an Ivy League education, community college for everyone! Tina Brown, that sound you hear is your brand tarnishing.

“4. And finally, try not to tweet anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with your mother, grandmother or sister reading – that’s my rule of thumb.”

Um…Uh…Why did she feel the need to make three points about her “rules,” then, in the final point, say THIS ONE is her “rule of thumb”?  What are the other three? General guidelines she thinks people should just ignore as long as grandma, mom and sis are cool with what you’ve said? “Rules of pinky”?

You have to wonder sometimes if Meghan ever reads what she’s written. More than that, you have to wonder how hard it is for colleagues at MSNBC and The Daily Beast to not laugh at her when she’s around. As for the rest of us, it’s a good thing she’s not around.

 

While the rest of the world was watching the new Twilight movie this weekend, we decided to check out The Muppets. It was filled with nostalgia and there were cameos at every turn. (We won’t ruin all of them for you). The one that stuck out most was cameo-whore and Democratic pundit James Carville. It’s towards the end of the movie and he’s caught up in an avalanche of celebrities, so don’t blink. Not to mention, the man looks like a real life Bunsen Honeydew.

We reached out to Carville to see if he is a Muppet fan. “I’m a little too old to be a lifelong fan, but since they’ve been around, I’ve certainly been a fan,” he says. When we asked who his favorite Muppet is, Carville answered “I’d have to say Miss Piggy. I’m pretty comfortable following Kermit’s judgment. It’s not easy being green, or a Democrat sometimes. Miss Piggy is a classy woman. I can see what Kermit sees in her. I’ve got a pretty classy woman in Mary Matalin, myself.”   Um, did he just compare his wife to Miss Piggy?

Finally someone genuinely impressive is coming to the nation’s capital.

It’s Clint Eastwood.

On behalf of Warner Bros. Pictures and The National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum, Eastwood will be at the Washington premiere of his new film J. Edgar on Nov. 8 at the Newseum. There will be a screening and a reception.