Notably, the mini-series is being co-produced by the director of Spotlight, which also happens to be a film about sexual predators.

Sherman and his wife and fact-checker, Jennifer Stahl, will co-create the series with Blumhouse Television, the production house owned by horror film producer Jason Blum. (Blumhouse Television notably was behind the Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries, The Jinx.) Tom McCarthy, who wrote and directed the Academy-Award-winning film "Spotlight," will executive produce the series, which will be based on Sherman’s reporting and on his best-selling book about Ailes, "The Loudest Voice in the Room."

Sherman has done excellent, award-worthy reporting on the numerous accusations against Roger Ailes and his departure from Fox News. He first reported many of the details of the harassment and assault allegations against Ailes, including the tale of Ailes allegedly blackmailing an employee with video of her dancing for him and asking others to twirl in his office.

In addition to simply being an excellent, fascinating series, this will also further expose the moral bankruptcy of the right wing that has depended on Fox News for confirmation bias for more than a decade.

If you haven't seen Spotlight, I highly recommend it. It's currently available on Netflix.

But this is not a dream, it's a message from the future.

“13 Hours'” box office performance reflected the film’s divisive nature. The action thriller did well in red states, generating 41% of the $19 million it stands to make this weekend from theaters in the South. Those areas out-performed blue states by 25%. Most other releases this weekend made up 33% of their grosses in these regions.

If his comments are taken at face value, Paramount's vice-chairman makes it appear as though executives were caught off guard by the film's sensitive subject matter.

“It feels like it was hard for people to buy a ticket if they were more liberal leaning,” said Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice-chairman. “It’s sad that this gets turned into a political debate as opposed to a conversation about who did the right thing and who was heroic.”

If this is any indication, Paramount was apparently oblivious to the "political debate" that's been been waged for going-on four years.

Americans have been repeatedly beat over the head with Benghazi! beginning with former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 and ending with Hillary Clinton's 11-hour testimony in front of the Select Benghazi Committee in 2015. Personally I'd rather see a movie about Clinton's testimony rather than the jingoistic fan-fiction of "13 Hours."

And to be clear, there's no shortage of factual errors in the film including the infamous "stand down" order that was never actually given. Even the CIA has spoken out against it.

According to the officer in charge of the CIA’s Benghazi base that night, the scene in the movie is entirely untrue.

“There never was a stand-down order,” said the base chief known as Bob, speaking publicly for the first time. “At no time did I ever second-guess that the team would depart.” [...]

“No one will mistake this movie for a documentary,” CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said. “It’s a distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night. It’s shameful that, in order to highlight the heroism of some, those responsible for the movie felt the need to denigrate the courage of other Americans who served in harm’s way.”

Unfortunately, too many Americans have mistaken it for a documentary. The entire GOP presidential field, for example.

The Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee and Intelligence Committee both verified that no "stand down" order was issued.

The best, worst part may be when it says the film is based on a "true story" because, as you're probably aware, it isn't.

The message of the film won't be clear until it's released, but the trailer implies government officials obstructed the response. That isn't true and you don't have to take anyone's word for it; you can take the word of the Republican-controlled House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees which concluded there was no "stand down" order given.

The book the film is based on also includes the claim that there was a stand down order issued.

Johnson told a local reporter for WisPolitics.com that the animated film was actually a clever piece of anti-business propaganda which, according to him, was created for the explicit purpose of brainwashing American children.

Johnson said the latest evidence of this propaganda campaign is "The Lego Movie," in which the bad guy is a heartless businessman intent on destroying the world for profit. "That's done for a reason," Johnson said. "They're starting that propaganda, and it's insidious."

Go on.

At a separate event earlier this month, video of which was posted to YouTube Thursday, Johnson recalled a phone conversation with a father who'd recently been assaulted by the same type of propaganda. Typically, when senators are calling people they don't know well -- it's known as "call time" -- they're fundraising. "I actually called a gentleman, it was a couple months ago, he was so upset, he took his children to an animated movie ... guess who the villain was? Evil Mr. Businessperson. It's insidious. That propaganda starts very early," said Johnson.

I have my doubts that an adult human being actually spoke to Ron Johnson about the fucking Lego Movie or, for that matter, had deep concerns about the nature of the villain of said movie, but he's right about one thing: you do have to catch'em early.

If we're going to convert unsuspecting children into anti-business, socialist zealots, the best way to do that is to take them to a corporate-owned movie theater and pay money to a corporation to see a movie based on a corporate-owned toy brand that will be preceded by at least half an hour of advertisements produced by other corporations. And in this optimal environment where brainwashing will occur, even the request to silence your cellphone will be branded by a corporation.

It's science.

In case you haven't heard, Boyhood is an almost universally beloved movie by Richard Linklater, starring Ellan Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, about a boy named Mason, who does various things such as growing incrementally older over the course of 12 years. How did Linklater and his cast achieve this miraculous visual effect? They filmed the movie sporadically beginning in 2002 and wrapped in 2014 -- 12 years. Did I mention it took 12 years to film, and that it's universally beloved? Literally everyone loves it. Everyone. It's received a lengthy roster of palmarès and accolades, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture, eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, as well as a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 100 percent rating on Metacritic.

If you saw it, you probably loved it, too. I mean, you'd have to be crazy not to, given how all kinds of important people have already said it's excellent. I'll get into my theories as to why it's so beloved later in this review (hint: 12 years!). What's considerably more difficult to understand is why it's being so effusively regarded as "the most extraordinary" movie of the 21st Century so far (The New York Times' A.O. Scott wrote that).

Frankly, since watching it on Saturday, I've felt like a crazy person, because the movie I watched ranged from being mediocre to unintentionally schlocky. For several days now, I've been struggling to understand why I'm so out of the loop on this one. It's not because I don't like experimental or independent films or even Richard Linklater for that matter, who's an otherwise solid filmmaker. Cutting to the chase, I didn't like Boyhood because it wasted my time with mostly unlikable characters, trivial content, occasional bad performances, predictable events, narrative dead-ends, generally bad storytelling and a whole lot of nothing.

Before we dig into this mess, here are a few things I liked about Boyhood. Ambition is good, authenticity is good, realism is good. To hire a child actor as the lead in a project that will span 12 years of his life is a huge risk, and at any point along the way the whole thing could've exploded. What if Ellan Coltrane, who plays Mason from age six to age 18, turned out to be a terrible actor? What if something awful happened to one of the other leads? These are majors rolls of the dice, and I give Linklater credit for taking the shot and actually finishing the project. The aging of the characters also provided a level of authenticity that we don't normally see in coming-of-age stories, which are often hobbled by bad latex makeup or several actors playing one character. Along the way, I appreciate that the screenplay contained real-life moments to heighten the authenticity of the aging. And if anyone deserves attention for Boyhood, it's Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke who each turned in the best performances of the movie.

Too bad Arquette, Hawke and... CONTINUE READING

In other news, a middle aged white guy who wears tri-corner hats opened fire on multiple government buildings, including the Mexican consulate, in Austin, Texas last night. Here he is in a tri-corner hat. More here.

He’s a domestic terrorist.

Meanwhile, Texas state Representative Dan Flynn (R) has introduced legislation to create a committee to decide which federal laws should be nullified. Isn’t that cute? The man who opened fire in Austin last night probably would have liked to sit on that committee.

It’s Black Friday and most people remain on vacation until Monday which means there isn’t much going on today.

If you live under a rock and haven’t seen it yet, here’s the first teaser trailer for the next Star Wars. I am hyped.

Brad Pitt’s production company, which produced 12 Years a Slave, has reportedly chosen the infamous Stuebenville rape case as its next project.

It’s a terrible story but one that needs to be told. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it. It could be a very important film.

The case led to a series of major embarrassments for media figures. It also led to the indictment of school officials and an informal indictment of small town sports-worship culture in general.

There’s a story to be told here that everyone should hear. A cautionary tale for some and an education for others.

Some believe Plan B has chosen the wrong aspect of the story to focus on, but I think it’s a little early to make that assumption. The project was only just announced and it may encompass more than has already been conveyed.

In other news, the Super Bowl host committee and the Arizona Cardinals have both come out against Arizona’s Jim Crow for Gays bill SB1062.

Meanwhile, the White House released a statement today on the passing of actor-director Harold Ramis.

“Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis, one of America’s greatest satirists, and like so many other comedic geniuses, a proud product of Chicago’s Second City. When we watched his movies – from “Animal House” and “Caddyshack” to “Ghostbusters” and “Groundhog Day” – we didn’t just laugh until it hurt. We questioned authority. We identified with the outsider. We rooted for the underdog. And through it all, we never lost our faith in happy endings. Our thoughts and prayers are with Harold’s wife, Erica, his children and grandchildren, and all those who loved him, who quote his work with abandon, and who hope that he received total consciousness.”

Finally, here’s a new trailer for Godzilla which I’m fully geeked out for.

Merry New Year!

Please drink responsibly.