- Who knew Marty Scorsese had small-screen ambitions? The
famed director with plenty of movie credits to his credit is stooping down to
the world of television to direct the pilot episode of a spin-off of his 2010 mystery
thriller “Shutter Island.” He
will team up with HBO and Paramount to bring the Dennis Lehane-scripted story
to the small screen, but the project will take shape under a new name. The
television take on the idea is tentatively titled “Ashecliffe” after the name of the isolated island mental
hospital in Boston's harbor where the film took place. Its premise is that of a
prequel, opening before the events of Shutter
Island with a focus on the hospital's past secrets, the misdeeds of its
founders and their development of brutal methods to treat mental illness in the
early 20th century. Both movie and show are based on Lehane's best-selling
novel. In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio starred as a U.S. marshal who visits the
hospital – reserved for the criminally insane – to investigate the disappearance
of one of its patients. So far, Scorsese’s involvement is just about the only
major detail known about the TV show, as it has no set date for production to
start. Scorsese is currently busy working on historical drama “Silence” starring Andrew Garfield and
Liam Neeson, his gangster thriller “Revenge Of The Green Dragons” is due for
release this fall. Toss in the untitled rock-and-roll drama set in 1970s New
York he's co-producing with Mick Jagger and there’s a lot on the plate of one
of the most acclaimed directors around………
- Yemen’s president don’t clown around. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi may be two names past what is
necessary, but he doesn’t have any sympathy for Shiite rebels leading mass
protests in the country's capital. In an effort to silence the haters and
return the Middle Eastern nation to some semblance of peace and quiet, he’s
issuing threats and trying to bully the rebels into backing down by telling
them that various world powers oppose their demonstrations and therefore, they
need to cease and desist immediately….or else. Coincidentally, the president’s
threats came right around the same time as Hawthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi
vowed to continue the demonstrations until his demands are met. What do the
protestors want? That would be the entire Yemeni government to step down
immediately and whoever it put in their place to restore the fuel subsidies
that made their life so much easier. Tens of thousands of Hawthi supporters
have set up shop in the capital city, Sanaa, for nearly two weeks. They have
set up tents near ministries and gone so far as to position armed men on
rooftops to ensure that they have firepower in place should anything go
horrendously wrong and need to be rectified by shooting and killing people. The
whole snipers on the roof concept was enough to alarm security authorities and
spur Hadi to order deployment of special forces to the capital. The precursor
for all of this was Hawthis defeating conservative Sunni tribesmen in northern
cities several months ago and tensions have been higher than normal ever since………
- Never turn down an opportunity for a good publicity
grab/creation of a tourist trap. The powers that be in Springfield, Oregon don’t
need anyone to tell them this truism and they proved it by taking a truly
pointless stance in an even more pointless debate over an inexplicably popular
adult cartoon. Fans of “The Simpsons” will undoubtedly realize that this story
is about their favorite show and a town in Oregon making a thinly veiled grab
at national attention by pretending that unveiling a new mural on the side of a downtown building signifies that
it is the namesake of the fictional town in which Homer Simpson and his
yellow-skinned cartoon clan reside. Hundreds of losers with nothing better to
do and nothing more interesting to fill their Instagram feed showed up for the
dedication ceremony and to snag some of the free doughnuts that were given out
in a tribute to Homer Simpson’s favorite food. “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening gave his blessing for the mural,
which is purportedly to celebrate the 25 years the show has anchored the
airwaves for Fox. Groening is an Oregon native and for that reason, some have
surmised that the Springfield in which the show is set is in fact that one from
Oregon and not one of the dozens of other places named Springfield around the
United States. Groening has said previously that he chose the name for the fact
that it is such a common name, but that hasn’t stopped bickering towns from
trying to lay claim to being the real Springfield that inspired a made-up world
of weirdos………
- Big Time Timmy Jim has become mop-up guy Tim Lincecum once
more. Right-hander Tim Lincecum has
been here before and the results were great. The question now is whether those results
can be duplicated for he and the San Francisco Giants as they struggle to get
back to the postseason. Lincecum was sent to the bullpen back in 2012 and
pitched well there in helping the Giants win the World Series. The two-time Cy
Young winner has accomplished much in his career and has won two world
championships, but even a no-hitter earlier this season was not enough to keep
manager Bruce Bochy from demoting him to the bullpen this week as he tries to
work through his latest struggles. Lincecum was bounced in favor of Yusmeiro
Petit, but Bochy insisted his veteran right-hander was cool with the decision. "He's
fine," Bochy said before his team opened a four-game home series with
Colorado. "He's going to work on some things. It's no problem with
him." It’s no problem with him? Here’s guessing otherwise, both in terms
of problems with Lincecum’s performance and how he feels about the move. At
10-9 and two months removed from his second career no-hitter, Lincecum has been
struggling of late and was battered on Saturday for six runs, four earned, on
six hits with four walks in 2 2-3 innings. It was the second-shortest start of
his career and he has now lost four out of his last five decisions with just
one win in his last seven starts. One has to wonder how Giants ownership feels
about the $35 million, two-year contract they inked their former star pitcher
to back in October. If this year’s script can replicate that of 2012, then
Lincecum will pitch out of the pen as opposed to starting and winning the Game
5 World Series clincher at Texas in 2010 as the franchise won its first
championship since moving West in 1958. According to Bochy, his future in the
bullpen beyond this week is dependent upon how he and Petit perform……….
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