Cash for clunkers? Desperate Diesel begs for 'Furious' funding



Brother, can you spare $300 million?

Vin Diesel wants to make an 11th “Fast & Furious” movie, but the Universal suits think he’s high on his NOS supply.

'This is very, you know, it’s very white, this movie.'

The blockbuster franchise is running on fumes, creatively and financially. Did you see the ninth installment where they drove into space? Plus, “Fast X” made just $146 million stateside. It performed dramatically better overseas. These films don’t come cheap, and “Fast X” proved to be one of the most expensive films ever made.

That film ended with a cliffhanger, and Diesel went to social media to beg for closure.

“Universal… Please tell the best fans in the world, when the next movie is coming out. Please.” Diesel posted on Instagram.

You shouldn’t treat family this way …

The dork side

Disney is having trouble making “Star Wars” movies. Yes, the Mouse House scooped the saga up from George Lucas in 2012 for a cool $4 billion, but the studio hasn’t released a “Star Wars” film since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”

If you’ve seen that film, you can stop rolling your eyes.

Now, we have firm news about a new installment coming our way. The project is called “Star Wars: Starfighter,” and it features Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine").

Imagine having all the resources at Disney’s disposal, and that's the title you settle on? The Force remains weak with this studio …

60 candles (and still kvetching)

She. Just. Won’t. Stop.

Molly Ringwald spent the 1980s capturing teen angst, courtesy of great John Hughes films like “Pretty in Pink,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “The Breakfast Club.”

She turned on those films in recent years, blasting them as unwoke and problematic.

The horror, the horror.

She did it again recently when “The Breakfast Club” cast reunited for an emotional moment at the C2E2 pop culture convention in Chicago.

Her castmates reminisced about the movie and their talented director. Ringwald played the woke card again during the appearance, when they were asked about a possible sequel or remake.

I believe in making movies that are inspired by other movies but build on it and represent what’s going on today. This is very, you know, it’s very white, this movie. You don’t see a lot of different ethnicities. We don’t talk about gender. None of that. And I feel like that really doesn’t represent our world today.

Sure, “The Breakfast Club” endures, but imagine a 2025 version where the characters spend detention debating inclusion and gender roles …

Kimmel's scream therapy

So that’s why “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” gave up on comedy.

The show’s far-left host opened up about life under Trump 2.0, revealing a mind that can’t process why voters rejected a party pushing a dementia-addled candidate.

The Rolling Stone chat pulled back the Oz-like curtain behind his ABC talk show and its true purpose.

Laughter didn’t even make the final cut. Says the not-so-funnyman:

A year ago, I would’ve said I’m hoping to show people who aren’t paying attention to the news what’s actually going on and hoping to change things that way. Obviously, that didn’t have enough impact before the election, so now I see myself more as a place to scream.

To be fair, screaming is better than crying, although Kimmel did cry post-Election Day …

Clooney's civic doody

“The Simpsons” remains a meme-lover's dream. One favorite? “Stop, he’s already dead,” a phrase uttered to ask someone to stop what they’re doing. The job is already done.

Cue George Clooney.

He’s still doing a victory lap for putting down President Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign. The actor’s oh-so-public letter in the New York Times last year suggested what we all knew at that point. Biden was too mentally compromised to continue his campaign.

“Well, I don’t know if it was brave. … It was a civic duty,” the actor told “journalist” Jake Tapper, who personally helped cover up Biden’s brain fog before co-authoring a tell-all book on the subject.

The truth-to-power Clooney went on.

“When I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought that was time,” he said.

Except he didn’t.

Clooney saw Biden’s decline up close at a June fundraiser. He waited until after the June 27 presidential debate and Biden’s crashing poll numbers to crank out that infamous op-ed.

Some civic duty.

'I don't need anyone else talking s**t': NASCAR's Frankie Muniz says he may be at 'a new low' after insane string of bad luck



Actor turned professional driver Frankie Muniz said he did not need anymore trash talk from fans and drivers following a one-in-a-million instance over the weekend.

Muniz finished 23rd at the Black's Tire 200 on Friday in the NASCAR Craftman's Truck Series, a result that could have been much worse if Muniz did not push through a remarkably rare showing of bad luck.

At the Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina, Muniz told reporters he felt his truck was "really good" and "really fast" — that was until his power-steering line burst, forcing him to start the second stage with no power steering.

"I don't know if a rock hit it or if something hit it, you know, it literally burst it. Burst the line," Muniz told reporters after the race.

Muniz showed off a gigantic blister on his hand caused by the freak incident and said pushing through the race was the hardest thing he had ever done.

"I just lost all power steering, ripped a hole in my hand, just trying to hold on to it," he said, raising his hand. "But then we started the second stage with it like that, and that was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

The race was separated into two stages, the first with 45 laps, then 90, then finished with 65 laps in the third stage.

'Maybe it's you. Like, maybe you're just not good.'

Muniz explained he did his best to stay out of the lead drivers' way while still trying to finish the race; he had received criticism the week prior over alleged unpredictability while driving near the back of the pack. Muniz received complaints from drivers Brandon Jones and Ty Majeski, but he said he was more affected by remarks from the fans.

“It's one of the first times I've gotten a ton of s**t — excuse my French — online from the fans ... my whole life I've also had people talk crap about me online — warranted or not or whatever. I'm used to letting it go. But it does affect you. I'm telling you, it affects me because we haven't had things go our way," Muniz said in an interview.

Circling back to Friday, Muniz said he was purposely being more cautious.

"I don't need anyone else talking s**t about me about being, you know, a moving chicane ... so just let them go," he added.

— (@)

On Monday, Muniz seemed worse for wear and took to his X page to say he felt worse about himself than ever.

"If I'm being 100% honest... Mentally/emotionally I may be at a new low. Just wanted to say it out loud."

Despite being so hard on himself, the 39-year-old is ranked 24th out of 45 drivers and still has around a dozen races left to prove himself.

"I got bad luck," Muniz said about the burst line. "My wife doesn't believe me anymore. You know, I love my wife, and she's super supportive, but she's like, 'Maybe it's you. Like, maybe you're just not good.' I'm like, 'I can't help that!'"

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With the FCC Scrutinizing DEI Policies, CBS Settles in Anti-White Discrimination Case

CBS Studios will settle a case brought by a script coordinator who accused the company of using illegal racial quotas to discriminate against straight white men.

The post With the FCC Scrutinizing DEI Policies, CBS Settles in Anti-White Discrimination Case appeared first on .

The Breakfast Club Cast’s 40-Year Reunion Shows Why A Modern Remake Would Never Work

Maybe the cast could use a little more time in detention to think about what the film really means today.

‘Family, faith, and grit’: Did Stallone just give Hollywood a knockout punch in new film?



Many films coming out of Hollywood recently have faced heavy criticism, not only for often pushing “woke” values but for being unoriginal — and Dick Boyce aims to change that.

Boyce is an investor and entrepreneur who has co-produced a new film alongside Sylvester Stallone called “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.” The story spans multiple generations and returns cinema to a time before smartphones, helicopter parenting, and digital overload.

“I just found there was an opening to do a movie like Disney used to make. Timeless values of family, faith, and grit that people could relate to,” Boyce tells James Poulos on “Zero Hour,” explaining that the film is about a boy who spent nine days without food or shelter and survived.


The film appears to bridge the divide between the older, less tech-savvy generations and the newer, digital-native generations.

“To tell stories to remind people that there is this continuity, that despite the fact that we’re going through all these iterations of really head-snapping change in many cases, there’s still a thread that’s stronger than that, and it might not be super obvious, but family is part of that,” Poulos comments.

The film also calls into question the impact of technology on these younger generations.

“They aren’t growing up in a way that is the best way, I think, to have a fulfilled, open, engaged life,” Boyce says, adding, “That does concern me about the evolution of technology.”

“There’s always been a lot of focus on the potential harms of technology, and those can be real, as with anything, as with fire. You know, these tools, you can always use them in the wrong way, and it can harm you,” Poulos agrees.

“I think the real question is what are you missing out on if you disappear into the phones, what are you running away from, what are you afraid of, that kind of temptation to willfully step back from real life? I think that’s where the real hazards can be,” he adds.

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Actresses Olivia Munn and Olivia Wilde mock all-female trip to space: 'Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride?'



Actress Olivia Munn called out the recent all-female space crew for "gluttonous" spending after the celebrity-laden event was glorified as a landmark achievement for women.

An all-female celebrity crew went into what is technically considered space this week and was publicized as a benefit for "humankind."

The New Shepard program, launched by Blue Origin under Jeff Bezos, sent an all-women flight (NS-31) into what is generally considered the boundary between Earth and outer space. Crew members included singer Katy Perry, CBS host Gayle King, activist Amanda Nguyen, scientist Aisha Bowe, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, who was responsible for the crew's selection.

The publicity stunt was even heralded by former astronaut Mae Jemison, who claimed the mission was about expanding the perspective of who is involved in space travel. The 68-year-old also made sure to correct a CBS host's usage of the term "mankind" and reinforced the use of "humankind," further bringing a feminist angle to the trip.

'What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?'

The alleged feat did not impress everyone, though. Actress Olivia Munn went off on the participants for rubbing such an expensive trip in the face of average Americans.

"What are they doing?" Munn asked while co-hosting "Today With Jenna & Friends."

She continued: “I know this probably isn't the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now."

"I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it's so much money to go to space, and there's a lot of people who can't even afford eggs," Munn went on, again asking, "What's the point?"

"Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride? I think it’s a bit gluttonous," she added. "What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?"

While Blue Origin once auctioned off a seat for $28 million, current estimates have such flights ranging between $150,000 and $450,000 per seat, according to People.

To make matters worse, there are currently a number of female astronauts — even some from Blue Origin trips — who are in space or have recently returned from a mission.

At the same time, actress Olivia Wilde took to her Instagram page to mock the trip with a picture of singer Perry kissing the ground upon her return, despite the flight taking only 11 minutes.

"Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess," Wilde wrote.

The self-driving rocket took the celebrities 62 miles above Earth to what is called the Karman line, known internationally as the official boundary of space. The crew experienced approximately four minutes of weightlessness.

Sanchez said that the crew members were going to go up to space to "spread what they felt in different ways."

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Faith meets excellence in a stunning new animated film



I don’t throw around the word “masterpiece” lightly. In fact, I’ve developed something of a reputation for being hard to impress. I don’t think that’s unfair. My standards aren’t unusually high — contemporary standards are just too low.

So when I find something that deserves real praise, I won’t hold back. And the new animated film “The King of Kings” comes about as close to a masterpiece as anything I’ve seen in a long time.

Sola scriptura doesn’t mean solo scriptura. Artistic license is perfectly legitimate — so long as it serves, rather than subverts, the gospel message.

The latest release from Angel Studios is the most compelling telling of the gospel for children I’ve ever encountered — and I’ve seen plenty as a homeschool dad. Honestly, it’s one of the best animated films I’ve seen in years, period.

Framing the story with Charles Dickens as narrator was a brilliant decision. Dickens, arguably the greatest storyteller in the Western canon, guides the audience through the life of Christ by telling it to his young son for the first time. That structure — Dickens’ son imagining the gospel story and entering the narrative — creates a vivid, emotionally immersive experience.

It works. In fact, it’s what makes the whole film so powerful.

To witness the gospel again, this time through a child’s innocent eyes, restored my own “faith like a child.” I choked up more than once, as did my wife. The film’s depiction of the great exchange — Christ’s life for ours — comes through in a way that a child can grasp and can move adults to tears.

The animation is exceptional. Multiple visual styles blend seamlessly. The voice cast includes familiar names, many with more major awards than Ralphie’s old man. This isn’t just Christian entertainment — it’s top-tier craftsmanship. The filmmakers took excellence seriously. They treated the source material with the respect it deserves.

Audiences noticed. “The King of Kings” became the top new release in the country.

There’s a message here — one Hollywood and faith-based filmmakers alike would do well to hear.

To Hollywood: Enough with the agitprop. Stop desecrating beloved stories with political sermons. Honor the source material. The audience will show up.

To faith-based creators: Make something great first. Let its moral or religious value emerge from its quality — not the other way around.

A final word to my fellow believers: I know it’s easy to nitpick. I do it myself. But don’t become the kind of person who’d complain about being hanged with a new rope. The Gospel of John ends with this:

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

The Bible never claims to include every word or deed of Christ. And telling a story for modern audiences sometimes requires creative choices. That’s not heresy. That’s storytelling. Sola scriptura doesn’t mean solo scriptura. Artistic license is perfectly legitimate — so long as it serves, rather than subverts, the gospel message. That goes for more than just “The King of Kings.”

Soapbox dismounted. Time for you to get off the couch and go see this movie.

Editor's note: "The King of Kings" and distributor Angel Studios are sponsors of BlazeTV. The independent views of the author do not necessarily represent the views of Blaze Media.

'The Pick-Up Artist': Another Hollywood perv pays the piper



Call him Harvey Junior.

James Toback’s name isn’t familiar to those outside the Hollywood ecosystem. The veteran writer/director still made his presence felt with films like “Bugsy,” “The Pick-Up Artist,” and “Tyson.” Toback got ensnared in the early days of Hollywood’s MeToo movement, established after producer Harvey Weinstein’s precipitous fall from grace.

We’ve spent the better part of a decade hearing liberals cry 'The Handmaid’s Tale' series was coming to life before our eyes (but only during GOP administrations).

Now, six years later, Toback will officially pay the price for his alleged actions. A jury ordered the now 80-year-old filmmaker to pony up $1.68 billion to dozens of women who claim he sexually assaulted them. Forty women testified against him in all.

MeToo’s net spread wide in the late 2010s, snaring some who were later deemed innocent in the court of public opinion (like comic actor Aziz Ansari). Toback’s alleged crime spree spanned four decades.

Justice proved slow but relentless in the end ...

Chocolate reign

The box office has been bittersweet for Hollywood up until “A Minecraft Movie” gave the industry a jolt. Now, just about any IP is fair game, including the popular card game “Magic: The Gathering.”

Yes, that’s just been greenlit. So has a brand known for its sugary sweetness.

We’ll soon see a movie based on the Hershey candy company. Just don’t expect Wonka-esque gags or bratty preteen girls named Veruca.

“Hershey” will tell the story of Milton Hershey, the key player behind the candy company. Finn Wittrock will play Mr. Hershey, while Alexandra Daddario co-stars as his wife, Kitty. Together, they did more than fuel endless dentist vacations. They also created the Hershey Industrial School, a place where underprivileged children could get free education and housing.

The McDonald’s Happy Meal tie-ins, at the very least, should be delicious ...

Joel's off-key endorsement

Who knows New York better than Billy Joel?

The piano man is one of the state’s most famous citizens, and he’s been playing to packed Madison Square Garden shows for years. And yet he just cut a massive check to a man who turned the Empire State into a pandemic house of horrors.

Disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) oversaw a ghastly COVID-19 regime. He steered vulnerable seniors into nursing homes, where the virus caught up with them and doctored critical death numbers.

A report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller later found that Cuomo’s New York State Department of Health “was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes” and it “understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%” during some points of the pandemic.

That’s not mentioning the sexual improprieties that led to his 2021 resignation. (He still denies the allegations.)

Now, Cuomo wants to become the next Big Apple mayor. And sadly, Joel just wrote him a $50K check to help make that a reality.

Joel’s “New York State of Mind” includes a heaping helping of amnesia ...

'Handmaid's' fail

We’ve spent the better part of a decade hearing liberals cry “The Handmaid’s Tale” series was coming to life before our eyes (but only during GOP administrations).

Yawn.

That rhetoric helped sell plenty of plain red costumes, but reality never aligned with the fear and loathing. Maybe that explains why the show’s co-star Bradley Whitford made a scene in front of a Variety scribe.

We just aren’t paying attention to Hollywood scare tactics.

Whitford, who previously attacked actress Cheryl Hines for being married to a Trump supporter, raged about you-know-who during an interview tied to the series’ sixth and final Hulu season.

His Variety Q&A took place in a café, but the actor couldn’t stop from yelling while attacking all things Trump.

“Misogyny is at the reptilian brain stem of these right-wing Christian white nationalists. It’s punitive. And, man, I’m pissed at all the people I work for. Like, f***ing speak up.”

That’s what Whitford did in a crowded café. And then some. The Variety scribe, whose Trump derangement mirrors the unkempt star, shares how his voice rose high above the shop’s usual din.

Pipe down, sir.

Maybe Whitford can share a room with fellow TDS patient Rob Reiner.

Snow White Bombing Was The Best Gift Hollywood Could Give Us

Only from the ashes of such a magnificent and glorious failure can Hollywood return to its glory days.

Val Kilmer: Two movies to celebrate the late actor's peculiar 'Genius'



"Top Gun" is Tom Cruise's movie, but Maverick never could have soared without Lieutenant Tom "Iceman" Kazansky goading him on.

The same could be said of the film's decades-in-the-making sequel: Without Val Kilmer reprising his role, "Top Gun: Maverick" wouldn't have flown so high.

'I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"'

The 2022 film proved to be Kilmer's last. Robbed of the ability to speak by throat cancer, Kilmer still managed to summon that old chemistry with Cruise. Rivals turned friends, but still marked by their differences: the tightly controlled perfectionist vs. the showboating risk-taker.

The Iceman goeth

Observe the two men's careers, and you notice that the roles are reversed. Cruise is the meticulous planner, unwilling to leave the slightest detail to chance. His sheer discipline has helped him remain not just one of the last standing '80s stars but one of the last viable movie stars, period.

As for Kilmer ... he initially didn't want the Iceman role and tried to sabotage his audition. He got the part anyway. Bigger parts followed, and he played them with memorable, unpredictable intensity.

But in the process he developed a reputation for being "difficult" on set, with multiple directors vowing never to work with him again. He was finished as a leading man long before he got sick.

No matter. Yes, Kilmer is famous for playing Batman and Jim Morrison, but the tributes in the wake of Kilmer's death at 65 this week suggest that his most beloved work was done in smaller roles: Doc Holliday in "Tombstone," Robert De Niro's partner in crime in "Heat," a kind of guardian angel Elvis in "True Romance."

All fine choices. But as long as we're assembling the Kilmer canon, I'd like to submit his top-billed performances in two movies that have since fallen into semi-obscurity: 1985's "Real Genius" and 2004's "Spartan."

A wisecracking 'Genius'

They couldn't be more different. "Real Genius" is a classic '80s slobs vs. snobs comedy, following in the footsteps of "Animal House" and "Caddyshack." The difference is that the "slobs" are all elite-level brainiacs, way smarter than you or me.

And that's a good thing. "Compared to you, most people have the IQ of a carrot," one character tells another. This is not a movie that finds measuring intelligence "problematic."

It's also not a movie to sacrifice wit for shock, despite its requisite raunchiness. As the movie's prodigy turned slacker hero, Kilmer wanders through the film with a winning nonchalance, getting off wisecracks that sound positively Marx brothers-esque compared to today's potty-mouthed dreck.

"So if there's anything I can do for you — or, more to the point, to you — just let me know."

"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, '... I drank what?'"

And this endearingly hokey response to a professor's demand that he "see more of you around the lab": "Fine. I'll gain weight."

Kilmer makes it work.

A 'Spartan' action hero

The actor employs his laid-back cool to altogether different effect in "Spartan," a global thriller with the claustrophobic intimacy of a play by David Mamet — who did in fact write and direct this one.

Kilmer plays Scott, a brutally efficient Secret Service agent enlisted to find the president's daughter, kidnapped by sex traffickers. A big part of the movie's pleasure is Mamet's script; he allows the characters to pursue their mission without the kind of dumbed-down, expository dialogue that is usually inserted for the benefit of the audience.

The result is that we're constantly straining to catch up to these professionals, fittingly played by unpretentious, seasoned pros like William H. Macy and Ed O'Neill, as they do their jobs. As the plot thickens and betrayals emerge, their confusion begins to mirror ours.

One thing that movies seem to have forgotten today is the art of suspense. The calm before the storm is just as important as the storm itself. Here Kilmer radiates calm; his measured yet charismatic performance keeps us hooked.

And he still manages a few good zingers amid the oblique Mametian philosophizing. When a colleague offers his name, Kilmer cracks, "Do I need to know that? If I want camaraderie, I'll join the Masons."