WRLTHD: July 2013

R.I.P. Dennis Farina

Dennis Farina, the former Chicago cop turned movie and TV tough guy has died in Arizona, according to his publicist. He was 69. The cause of death was not released. Best known for his co-starring role as Det Joe Fontana onNBC’s Law & Order, Executive producer Dick Wolf issued this statement:

“I was stunned and saddened to hear about Dennis’ unexpected passing this morning. The Law & Order family extends sympathy and condolences to his family. He was a great guy.”

Farina starred in at least 75 movies or television series but did not start acting until he was 37 years old. He served on the Chicago Police Department for 18 years before coming to Hollywood’s attention as a police consultant for Michael Mann.

Farina proceeded to moonlight among the Chicago theater scene until Mann used him to portray a memorable mobster inMiami Vice. From there, Mann chose Farina to star in the high-profile but short-lived Vegas period series Crime Story and again as an FBI agent in Mann’s Hannibal Lecter feature film Manhunter.

From then on, the character actor with the husky voice and craggy looks would play primarily mobsters, cops, feds, or very strict and scary fathers. He was equally comfortable in drama (Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and HBO’s Luck directed by Mann) as comedy (Midnight Run, and opposite Bette Midler in That Old Feeling and a recurring role on the Fox sitcom New Girl).

Why Did Facebook Block Kirk Cameron’s New Movie?

Jul 18, 2013 By Todd Starnes
It’s something of a social networking mystery.

Why did Facebook block Kirk Cameron’s upcoming faith-based movie, “Unstoppable”?
Cameron announced on his fan page Thursday that Facebook had blocked fans from posting any links to the website promoting his film because the content was labeled “abusive and unsafe.”

“We have been officially shut down by Facebook and unable to get any response from them,” Cameron wrote on his personal Facebook fan page. The film was made in partnership with Liberty University, the self-proclaimed largest Christian university in the world.
After Cameron alerted more than 500,000 Facebook fans of his predicament, the social networking site removed the block – without any explanation.
“This is a real victory,” he said, thanking his fans and supporters for reaching out to Facebook. “If we work together, we really do have a voice.”

“Unstoppable,” which is expected in theaters in the fall, aims to answer questions about suffering and recounts the personal experience of a Cameron friend whose son battled cancer.
“I would understand if there was something truly unsafe about my stuff,” Cameron told Fox News. “But I would encourage people to watch the trailer. Do you find anything offensive about faith, hope and love in the time of a tragedy?”
The film’s website does not contain any graphic photographs, video or profanity.
However, Cameron said he received a message from Facebook telling him the website’s content was labeled as “abuse” and “unsafe.”
“This is my most personal film about faith, hope and love and about why God allows bad things to happen to good people,” Cameron wrote. “What is ‘abusive’ or ‘unsafe’ about that?”
A Facebook media representative did not reply to an email seeking comment.
In recent months, the social networking website has come under criticism from conservatives and Christians who said their pages have been either blocked or banned because of “abusive” content.

Earlier this year, the “Chicks on the Right” Facebook page was shut down after they posted a message criticizing the White House. Facebook later apologized for that incident.
Cameron told Fox News he learned of the block several days ago when he tried to post a link to his website and Facebook denied the request. Thinking it was a mistake, he tried it again.

“My web technician along with Sony Provident Films were trying as well on their Facebook pages but nobody could post the website address for my film,” he said.
Cameron said they tried calling Facebook to find out why their content had been banned – but no one returned their calls. As a measure of last resort, he alerted more than 500,000 fans on his personal Facebook page.
“Whether Facebook did it internally or whether it was a group of people that labeled it abusive, somebody doesn’t like what I’m doing enough to make Facebook unwilling to let anyone post a link to my website,” he told Fox News.
Cameron, who achieved fame in the 1980s as the start of “Growing Pains,” is now a well-known Christian producer, actor and evangelist. He’s starred in a number of faith-based films including the “Left Behind” films and most recently, “Monumental,” a documentary about the nation’s founders and their biblical principles.
Michael Catt, the executive producer of Sherwood Pictures, called Cameron a stand-up guy. Cameron starred in Sherwood’s “Fireproof” film.
“I found him to be very kind and gracious to everyone on the set,” Catt told Fox News. “He also spoke in our church and was well received by our people.”

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I agreed with the verdict

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong. I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don't make it -- there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night, and I know -- that's probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.
I just feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form -- a lot of black people are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism, they say only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands.

MARIA BARTIROMO, CNBC: I'm glad you made that point.

BARKLEY: Obviously I feel sorry that young kid got killed but just judging by the evidence, I don't think that guy should have went to jail the rest of his life. Something happened bad that night, obviously.

BARTIROMO: I like what the juror said, they both should have walked away. And if there is a shadow of a doubt, there is a shadow of a doubt.

BARKLEY: And let me tell you, Mr. Zimmerman was wrong to pursue -- he was racial profiling. I think Trayvon Martin, God rest his soul, I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman. But it was just a bad situation. And like I said, the main thing I feel bad for, it gives every black and white person who is racist a platform to vent their ignorance.

That's the thing that bothers me the most because I watched this trial closely and I watch all these people are television talking about it. A lot of people have a hidden agenda. You know, they want their racist views, whether they are white or black --

BARTIROMO: The bias comes out.

BARKLEY: The bias, it definitely comes out. It was a bad situation, we all lost. And I feel bad for his parents. You don't ever want to see anybody lose a kid. (CNBC Closing Bell, July 18, 2013)

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong. I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don't make it -- there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night, and I know -- that's probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.

I just feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form -- a lot of black people are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism, they say only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands.

MARIA BARTIROMO, CNBC: I'm glad you made that point.

BARKLEY: Obviously I feel sorry that young kid got killed but just judging by the evidence, I don't think that guy should have went to jail the rest of his life. Something happened bad that night, obviously.

BARTIROMO: I like what the juror said, they both should have walked away. And if there is a shadow of a doubt, there is a shadow of a doubt.

BARKLEY: And let me tell you, Mr. Zimmerman was wrong to pursue -- he was racial profiling. I think Trayvon Martin, God rest his soul, I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman. But it was just a bad situation. And like I said, the main thing I feel bad for, it gives every black and white person who is racist a platform to vent their ignorance.

That's the thing that bothers me the most because I watched this trial closely and I watch all these people are television talking about it. A lot of people have a hidden agenda. You know, they want their racist views, whether they are white or black --

BARTIROMO: The bias comes out.

BARKLEY: The bias, it definitely comes out. It was a bad situation, we all lost. And I feel bad for his parents. You don't ever want to see anybody lose a kid. (CNBC Closing Bell, July 18, 2013)

Rupert Murdoch complains to MPs over ‘excessive’ hacking inquiry

By Robert Budden and Helen Warrell
Rupert Murdoch has complained to MPs about the protracted and “excessive” police investigation into phone hacking and other abuses by journalists at News Corp’s UK newspapers.

In a letter to Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs committee, the executive chairman of News Corp questioned whether police had approached the investigation “with an appropriate sense of proportion”.

He was writing to clarify his views after the broadcast this month of secretly recorded comments to Sun journalists in which he dismissed parts of the police probe as “the biggest inquiry ever over next to nothing”.

Mr Murdoch expressed regret for his choice of words “in that highly emotional meeting” and insisted he “did not intend to suggest that any violations of the law are tolerable or acceptable”.

However, he made clear his frustration with the “human cost” on his journalists, some of whom are still awaiting charging decisions after more than a year under investigation.

Mr Murdoch said he should not have questioned the competence of police but added: “My personal view is that this has gone on too long.”

Mr Vaz wrote to Mr Murdoch last week seeking clarification of his views. “I am glad that he has confirmed he does not think the police investigations are incompetent,” the Labour MP said.

In the secret recordings Mr Murdoch had referred to News Corp’s internal management and standards committee (MSC), which co-operated with police investigations, as “a mistake”.
But, in his letter, he stressed how the media group had “volunteered the material that fuelled all these investigations”.

“It would not be fair even to suggest that our company has impeded the [Metropolitan Police]. The opposite is true,” he wrote.

He revealed for the first time the extent of the MSC’s investigations, saying it reviewed more than 23m electronic documents and disclosed more than 500,000 documents after 185,000 man hours of work.

The total cost was over £65m, he writes.

The comments will be seen as an attempt by the media mogul to dampen criticism of News Corp just weeks after the company’s faster-growing entertainment assets were split from its newspaper and publishing businesses and shortly before the trials of former News International journalists and editors begin.

Mr Murdoch has agreed to appear before the culture, media and sport select committee this year.