I've always avoided New Year's resolutions, but this week I happened to recall one that was brief but resolute: I resolved to quit Hollywood. And I did. Almost. That decision seems relevant today for reasons that require a bit of history. Consider…

David O. Selznick was a demanding producer who often interrupted pitches and then bullied filmmakers once their movies started shooting. I wonder how impresarios of his era — Selznick, Sam Goldwyn or Darryl F. Zanuck — would have coped with the unruly…

News junkies relished the break in pre-election noise this week in celebrating the 25th anniversary of The West Wing, a show that portrayed politicians as "competent and committed." Aaron Sorkin, its mastermind, might be caught off-guard when discovering CNN's new show, Have I Got News for You, which…

If the presidential campaign stirs your appetite for still more political noise, here's a quick solution: Catch the new biopics of Donald Trump or Ronald Reagan. Trump calls the movie about him “a hit job”; Reagan likely would find his biopic a sleeper…

"I directed the best political movie never released." Filmmaker Haskell Wexler thus described Medium Cool, his violent feature set during Chicago's riotous 1968 Democratic National Convention. His movie opened (sort of) exactly 55 years ago this…

The news of the moment keeps veering between cutbacks and comebacks. Keep your shrink on hold. Paramount is laying off thousands and closing its TV studio, but Skydance's David Ellison, its new owner, promises that an important new slate is on its way…

Robert De Niro ranted. Bette Midler blared about “autocracy.” Lea DeLaria declared war. But Donald Trump, though convicted in New York and shot in Pennsylvania, is still marching toward Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention begins tomorrow. Meanwhile, George Clooney called for a new…

This week used to be nail-biting time in Hollywood as the studios nervously unfurled their summer blockbusters and prayed for lines at the box office. That time is bye-bye. To be sure, a few movies are still opening. I decided to drop by one pre-opening…

Laurence Fishburne is a talented actor who has played a range of characters from Morpheus to Mr. Clean. The new FX series Clipped offers him yet another unexpected role as an NBA coach who employs force and gravitas in guiding players in combat with the…

Buoyed by a two-year deal at HBO, a weekly CNN presence and a new book, Bill Maher now has decided to describe himself as a "centrist." Is it a claim in vain? Having watched his show for years and done several shows with him, I suspect he's instinctively too "incorrect" to qualify for "moderation."…

As the Cannes Film Festival celebrates its parties and standing ovations, audiences in Hollywood and New York prepare to wallow in despair. And they'll enjoy it (almost). The festival called Bleak Week this week will deliver 43 films to an expected audience of 10,000 at theaters including the…

David Pecker stabbed impatiently at his veal piccata. We'd been having a cordial business lunch, but he was growing frustrated. The publisher of the National Enquirer was pitching an ambitious deal to me involving major money — not a Stormy Daniels sort of…