Great Moments In Outrage, Edition Zero-Two

John Nolte (the Nolte NOT famous for gruffness and drinking) of Breitbart is outraged! OUTRAGED!

Twitchy reports that on Tuesday night, the left launched a Twitter game with the hashtag #SarahPalinFilms. Via a verified account, this was Netflix's voluntary contribution: 

#SarahPalinFilms "Iron Sky" nflx.it/11AZvLR twitter.com/netflix/status…— Netflix US (@netflix) May 1, 2013 

One review of "Iron Sky" describes the film this way: 

The film tries to make the connection between the Nazis and the current state of American politics via a US President character that embodies the Sarah Palin brand of politics, but it’s done in bad taste and this is where the satire fails. 

To say this was a public relations error by Netflix is an understatement. The Internet will not only ensure that Netflix's shockingly tone-deaf tweet spreads like wildfire, but this is the kind of divisive behavior that can blemish a company forever. 

Had Netflix contributed to an #ObamaFilm hashtag game with the exact same title… Well, we all know Netflix would never do that. The mainstream media would pummel them into dust.

 Johnny (can I call you Johnny? No? Okay.) let me ask you a couple of things.

Where did that "one review" come from?

Why would Netflix use #obamafilm as a hashtag for Iron Sky, where the president is depicted as a bespectacled conservative woman?

Why does calling a movie #SarahPalinFilms where a Sarah Palin character is in the film such an offensive thing?

What the hell possessed Michelle Malkin to name her website "Twitchy?" It's off the subject but I figured you guys talk once in a while.

Quick Update: I noticed that the film is also streaming on Xbox AND iTunes, which means if you're furious enough to cancel your Netflix subscription, you better also switch over to Linux.

The Escape Hatch

I must admit I'm forcing myself to write today. It's so nice outside, too nice to think about politics. I've been spending a lot of time lately watching TV from other countries thanks to the internet. Most of it doesn't look like, but does FEEL, like this:



I recommend the Russian MTV to you - those guys may be freezing in abject poverty, but they know how to corral all their good looking yunguns into one place and put a camera on 'em.

So yeah, escapism in it's most extreme form. I also spent Saturday night at a Hollywood red-carpet party celebrating the Burbank Film Festival. The raven-haired one on the end is named Minna and I'll send her the pictures as SOON AS SHE GIVES ME AN EMAIL ADDRESS.

The highlight of the party for me was getting pigeonholed by this attractive, kinda-drunk Scottish nanny who kept explaining that she didn't do it for the money, but for the r-r-r-rewar-r-rd of shaping young lives. "I believe the children are the future," I told her, and she was drunk enough to totally buy it.

Anyway, this is also escapism, parties like this. And why not escape. Is anyone really excited about the coming elections? No. The best you can say is that people are hyper-annoyed that people they don't agree with are also running. For Republicans the choice is betwen Obama and the second most-hated man in politics, Romney. No one is running for anything, they're running against things which they will label as far worse. 2012 will be a dreary as anything you've seen in your lifetime. I understand the film festival is throwing another party in the summer. Man, I'm totally there.

An Angle On The Sheen Story I'm Comfortable With

I didn't want to go near this story when it was about an actor's meltdown. It's like someone asked me today, "did you see that video where Charlie Sheen...(whatever he did THIS time) and I said no, I don't watch Charlie Sheen videos. I let other people tell me about them. It's quicker. If I though Charlie Sheen was actually melting down, I'd just ignore him. But here's what I think Charlie Sheen IS doing.

In the first move of what could be a long legal battle, Charlie Sheen has sued Warner Bros. and "Two and a Half Men" co-creator Chuck Lorre for $100 million plus punitive damages over his termination on the hit television show.

Mr. Sheen's lawyer, Hollywood firebrand Marty Singer, filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A spokesman for Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., declined to comment.

In the suit, Mr. Sheen alleges that Mr. Lorre decided to fire the actor because he wanted to work on other television shows and before Mr. Sheen's public antics.

Citing his recent behavior, Warner Bros. on Monday terminated Mr. Sheen's contract, which according to people familiar with the matter pays him about $2 million an episode, including his share of "back-end" profit like syndication. But in the suit, Mr. Sheen also alleges that the studio's firing of the actor, even for those circumstances, would be in violation of California law.

The suit also states that Mr. Sheen is pursuing claims "for the benefit of the entire cast and crew to get paid for the balance of the season's 24 episodes."

Yes I know, suing a company for $100 million is entirely constistant with the insane behavior that Sheen has been exhibiting. But go with me on this. Say you're making a huge amount of money on a show, and you want out because you're tired of it, but the last time you tried to leave they just offered you a little more money? Why not burn your bridges this time and get a huge windfall besides?

I'm not saying Sheen isn't on drugs. Of course he is. But this whole public breakdown has the look of strategy in it to me. This is why I whenever I see Sheen (or have his antics described to me) I hear that Alec Baldwin line in my head. To recap, it's from Malice, in which Baldwin plays a surgeon on trial for malpractice and on the witness stand he says "You say I have a God complex? Let me tell you something. I am God." In the movie, the malpractice suit is part of a long con.

Same thing people! And duh - winning!

(h/t Hang A Lantern On It, where I posted this first)

Best Liveblog Ever!

I'm not ashamed to admit that Wonkette's liveblog of the Oscar ceremony last night works on levels I couldn't even have imagined.