I thought I might wanna share this with any Die Hard fans on this forum: Who knew the guy could sing (not!)?

Liibaax Sankataabe, I've got better gossip for you than TMZ. It's apparently a case of being way too arrogant and difficult of a host for a show that isn't making any money. He can be easily fired without any real financial ramifications ("most popular show" translates only to less than a mil viewers in this case). So one can understand the decision behind this. Hats off for not sucking up to the new guys, though!

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Cool fantasy/concept artwork in this thread. From the world of sci-fi, I really like Syd Mead's concept artwork for the film Blade Runner. Also Tron: Legacy, though a weak film, has some seriously cool concept art (and SFX). In the world of painting, pretty much anything by Wassily Kandinsky, Helene Schjerfbeck, Lars Lerin, Jose Parla and Ilya Repin is fantastic to me.

Alpha Blondy;685457 wrote: what do you? i bet you dont even have an IMDB or a RT account? Tell what us what gives you the right to question peoples knowledge on Hollywood! You dont even have your name on the walk of fame! IMDB is for nerds who live in their mother's basement and argue about films. Even if I did have an account, I would never admit it! I can get my name on the Walk of Fame for 25, 000 dollars, and I wouldn't even have to know what a focus pull is. Just like L'oreal and other brands with a star on the Walk of Fame. Prom, if the military confirms they're 'in cahoots' with Hollywood is it still a conspiracy? Norf, you live in the UEA right? Well did you know that News Corp. second biggest shareholder is a Saudi prince? Yes the same News Corp. that owns Fox. In fact the UEA is desperately trying to establish itself as the media hub of the Middle East and invests heavily in Hollywood companies. By firmly beliving Hollywood has an agenda, you are displaying naivity. There are some things that transcend ideals, and money is the biggest.

N.O.R.F;685407 wrote: ^Heh. All I see red herrings and you still sitting on the fence. Tell me Hollywood doesn't have an agenda with a stright face saxib. Seriously though, what do you know about Hollywood?

Prometheus;684923 wrote: that the moon-landing was a hoax (filmed in a Hollywood studio, no less) The popular conspiracy theory seems to be that Stanley Kubrick shot the landing in a studio in England!

N.O.R.F;321419 wrote: Source There are so many things wrong with this article I don't know where to begin. It is absolutely evident Matthew Alford has never worked in the biz a single day. He takes an example, stretches it out and then makes gross generalizations and strange conclutions. You'd expect more from a PhD student, but then again he's clearly trying to stir up the pot and get a few books sold. 1. Hitler's propaganda films have absolutely nothing to do with Hollywood. The fact that they are mentioning this is ludicrous, but it also sets the mood for the whole article. 2. Most of anti-communism films were "B" films, in fact those two are the best known ones. I'm saying this because several hundred films were made during the 1940s-1950s and only handful anti-commie starring big names. My point is, it was definitely not the norm. there is a sizable body of national security cinema that glorifies US power systems and the use of extreme force against official enemies across the world. Imbued with a blinkered sense of fear and American victim-hood, products like Rules of Engagement, Amerika, and 24 are frequently not ‘just’, even if they are, ‘entertainment’. And that's why "Rules of Engagement" became such box office gold, huh? The film never made its money back, it was a flop. I've never even heard of "Amerika". When you take films or non-films like these as examples, you know you don't have a foundation to base your claims. I don't watch 24 or TV for that matter, but I know there were Russian and Chinese terrorists in the storyline. So why, in our time, +do+ the big corporate studios consistently make films that glorify the US war machine?’ It's either himself or his best buddy conducting the interview. Heavily biased questions. " Corporate Hollywood has no imperative to tell the truth or act responsibly, except to the extent audiences can compel it to do so. The six major studios that control the industry "breeds a kind of person who is invested completely in power and money, and human considerations and concerns are secondary”, as producer Jon Avnet put it. Or, as Julia Phillips, author of the industry classic You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, remarked: "Hollywood is a place that attracts people with massive holes in their souls.” Pot, kettle anyone? See my bolded reply further down. To become a top exec at a studio you need to have pretty much the same qualities as any other top person at any other field. I would say even Mother Teresa was a tough cookie. And if you're looking for people invested in money & power, see Wall Street. At least Hollywood is creative, and most execs (although certainly not all) have a creative streak in them; many are failed filmmakers and not always interested in just making money (though if their projects fail, heads start to roll). I would like to know when Jon Avent made that remark - not questioning, simply curious. To quote Julia Phillips is like to ask investment tips from Maddoff. This article and the book "Reel Power" is for non-industry people like you & me who might not know that Julia Phillips was once amongst the biggest names in Hollywood, before drug addiction put an end to her career and as a final straw, resorted to writing a scandalous book about the way she felt about certain people. Black Hawk Down is probably the only legit example in the whole article. But for every BHD there are The Thin Red Line, Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Sergeant Bilko... you get the point. My point? Hollywood is certainly not pro-military. But there are also direct links between companies making films and companies making weapons. Can you tell us about some of those? MA: Yes, the parent company of Universal studios is General Electric - one of the biggest multinationals in the world with an appalling environmental record and which at least until the early 1990s was making nuclear weapons for the US government The parent company of Universal Studios is now actually Comcast. Nonetheless, GE manufacture home appliances too. Are there direct links between a housewife making a smoothie with a blender and companies making weapons? But ignore all this. Because even if Hollywood was indeed run by arms companies making nuclear weapons, it is the same Hollywood that pressurizes them out of said business. Why did Alford not mention that the short documentary film "Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment" brought light to this subject 1991, won an Oscar, and 9 months later GE got out of nuclear weapons manufacture? Because he's here to sell a book, not to tell the truth. A good reason not to buy pirate DVDs is that you’re helping buy weapons for violent gangs. It’s hard to see why this principle shouldn’t be applied universally. I fail to see how another company capitalizing on the success of a huge blockbuster makes the said blockbuster (which was ironically anti-military/arms industry) a partner in crime? Alford is certainly adament to draw links and conclutions where they don't exist. The American version was a soft rip-off of Japanese exoskeleton http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=real-life-iron-man-exoskeleton They only stuck in mind better due to conciding with Iron-Man DVD release. PR 101. PhD, seriously? So the corporate giants have deep ties to the arms industry, are subsidised by the Pentagon, and are ideologically aligned with a similarly soulless US war machine. You just have go to love the line of thinking here. Amazing. Now, in my professional role I don't usually judge movies on their artistry but, I mean, isn't this the kind of story twist that we ALL wrote at school when we were 6 years old? If we all wrote stories like that, we'd be making $300m a year and our stories would be grossing $2.8billion. I think he's just a little bit annoyed that the main villain in Avatar says "we will fight terror with terror" which is pretty much exactly the phrasing George W. Bush and his friends at Pentagon used. And that's a strak contradiction to what his book is trying to sell us. Summa summarum, Hollywood is a weird animal and very difficult to understand from the outside. So many rumours and wrong images have been fed to us by the media (ironically) that we tend to think it's this soulless place where young blonde chicks and guys with serious emotional issues go to find acceptance and become a star. The fact of the matter is, aside from talent, Hollywood has some of the most brighters, smartest, generous and talented people anywhere in the world. Most people (again, aside from talent) are Ivy League graduates, and it's rather odd to think that Harvard Law School grads would compete against Yale Business School grads over a job in a studio/agency mail room. But that's the reality. It's often joked that if movie people spent a third of the energy and mind they do on entertainment to help save the world, we'd already have a better place. The real Hollywood is just a neighborhood in Los Angeles and most studios are not even in Los Angeles. In fact only Paramount is. The rest are in Beverley Hills, Culver City and Burbank - which are not part of Los Angeles but are cities of their own. Betcha didn't know that either.

Norf, what's your beef with Hollywood? Of course there are still propaganda films being made, many studio execs have relatives in the White House or the US Senate, but Hollywood has changed so much over the decades it's incredibly difficult for even major stars to get their projects off the ground let alone politicians. If anything Hollywood is liberal and certainly not pro-military, unless you want to call Avatar (which became the highest grossing film ever [not inflation adjusted] and was produced by the big bad Fox), Hurt Locker, Brother, or any other modern film with military themes "pro-military". CIA has been trashed in films numerous times. It almost seems that the CIA guys are always the bad guys. I saw RED just recently and was positively shocked at the light they presented the CIA and the vice president of the USA. PS. Regarding the article: GE sold NBCU to Comcast. I'm at work now but I'll definitely get back to this later.

Ms MoOns;684733 wrote: Too many freaks, not enough circuses. Hilarious! And so true Especially in some places.

B;220013 wrote: This is because bright colours lift my mood my friend. Tibetan Gold or Soft Pronze or Tuscan Dream, my dear! Orange is so very vulgar. *puts down the bone china tea cup and gentle wipes the corners of her mouth with a silk handkerchief embroided with her initial*

Man Of Freedom;684709 wrote: I'm not anti-women, but the increasing trend of women reaching the highest levels of power and authority presages the impending D-Day that we have been forewarned by our beloved Prophet Mohamed (scw). A woman gets the top job and your first reaction is aduun gudoom aa soo dhow? Well maybe a misogynist like yourself can find solace in the fact that over 95% of world leaders and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are still men. So you don't have to lose your good night sleep just yet. And by the way, the way you started your post is akin to a white person writing: "I'm not a racist, but..."

Aaliyyah;684533 wrote: 5 you said it well mashallah. It is good to know that you want to go back and help ur ppl out. You sound very genuine and caring. Ilaahay hakula garab galo wixi aad umadaada u qabatid. Khyr badana haka siiyo. I am on the same page that I want to go back home and invest in a school, or a hospital or any other beneficial project. And, on top of that have my night to remember ...I am the type of a girl who wants it all..dadkana inay wax tarto nafteedana wixi happy ka dhigaya siiso...for me an amazing well organized well financed wedding means so much ilaahay qudradiisa lool I was always like that!! ppl are different right so each on his own but I really like saad wax u eegasid. You are one smart sister with amazing goals. May allah swt facilitate them for you. LOL@ u learn the real odour of your hubby. Classic! n dnt worry bariiska kama qadinayo. Lol.. salaam Thank you for your duco beloved. Marry into our family so you could be my sister . You're a real gem, mA. I sincerely wish a similar gem for you, iA.

Leaves Eyes "For Amelie". Remains from the semi-goth/emo teenage period when life was ah-so-ever serious, melancholic & Clark Kent was still attenting Smallville High:

The Zack;684460 wrote: People, You don't need to say "Happy New Year" to each other because that is not part of Islam. "Lil Muslimiina Ciidaan" (Muslims have TWO holidays - Fitr and Adxa) is a Saxiix Hadith from our Prophet(Peace up on him). Please let us not neglect our precious deen, little things such as celebrating non-Islamic holidays can turn into huge things. I have seen Muslim brothers/sisters saying "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" to their follow co-workers.Some even host parties for these events. Cajiib. If we customize our deen to meet friends' expectations or even look cool and what so we will put ourselves in a big mess. Like.

Britney Spears: Born to make you happy, Piece of Me. And naturally looking forward to Kim Kardashian's new song...

You're not into God, we get it. 'We' as in the Muslims readers. We tried to help & adviced you to seek help elsewhere, but you seem to have made up your mind. Marka hada waxaan ku dhahooyaa lablabadaan naga joogi and ee stop bringing this topic into other threads ("Our imagine is important"). Aniga kollee un amaan waad iga heleysaa waxa postkaan ka dib eh, you seem to be a drama queen bent on seeking attention not a person genuinely seeking help & will be placed on the mental ignore list.

OK, well there's no problem then. "There's no compulsion in religion". - Quran (surah 2, verse 256) Now move on and save us from future posts either here or in General section (look up your own "Our imagine is important" post for reference) or anywhere else dealing with your faith or lack of it*.

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Nugul;684155 wrote: Prometheus, interesting post. I didn't get him either lol. Lack of faith during hard times is not curiosity or some sort of sign of "genius". It's a normal person wondering whether there is something out there hearing them out in their times of hardship. Besides Prometheus don't you know that genius is only through Infinite Ingelligence, much the same way rays of light are from the sun? InshaAllah Nugul, you will look back at this in the future, and see it as what it was: a test to strenghten you and make you a better person. Tough things happen to tough people, you're a tough girl. Don't let negativity get into you, and don't quit on God just yet.

Better late than never! Now lets have a toast to our Islamic New year.. kidding Time flies, mA. Thank you for your blessings, I took them personally. I wish the same to you.

Lol, how do you even remember stuff like that? I just remembered it was pretty retarded. They don't have superpowers, they don't fight off evil in epic battles, they're not particularly funny, they're not particularly intelligent or even goofy enough to be good. I HATE SMURFS & happy new year to you all. EDIT: don't have a happy new year. It's haram. KCUl8rsbye.

Thank you for reminding us that the awful wreck of a film 'the Smurfs' will be out in 2011.

Aaliyyah;683711 wrote: Blesse & Juxa mashallah you both raised good points. I agree with you that if you are 17 it doesnt necessary mean you are gonna be in doomed marriage and that ppl vary. However, my point was that in most cases at that age the person is not ready to cope with such responsibility as marriage especially those of us who were raised abroad. One of my many aunts moved here when she was only 17 or so and she single handedly raised two sons, we help her out but it is not the same. She was a responsible girl she knew how to run a household. Even now at 20 something I can not say the samething about myself (its the sad truth that when we are raised with our parents they do so much for us that we lose that responsibility factor some worse than others I am sure am not the worse lol..alhamdulilah to some extent I can run a household).. But, like you said sisters, regardless of age you will confront a lot of issues when you get married. Which is why I said earlier in one of my posts that nowadays even girls who are 20 plus years get divorced within the first few months of marriage because they were not raised to tackle those issues neither did they prepare themselves, they had it easy all their life you know what im trying to say.. ppl are not taught in the west to accommodate someone. We get everything we need/want/desire....not to generalize but it is what it is... Inshallah may allah swt make it easy on everyone regardless of when they get married and make realize that marriage is more than just marriage (you dont get married cuz the farxiyo next door got married and you dont wanna be left out) but you get married for the right reasons and you know that you will have your ups and downs (and you dnt have to get divorced the min something goes wrong in a relationship you work it out ..and if that happened we wouldnt have had high percentage of single moms)..ppl just need to learn that marriage requires so much more than what it seems outside .Oh its beautiful to be married don't get me wrong but theres more downs than ups believe me like what one shiekh said it is 30% joy and that other 70% you are working toward that 30% I couldnt have said it in a better way walahi he nailed it.. So dont rush it marriage is not something to be rushed. All that plans might seem worthless and you might say you will confront difficulties either way. So let me highlight that the point is not whether you will face difficulties or not clearly you will it is just how prepared are you to tackle it to accommodate that person, to know when you are wrong to admit your mistakes and take responsibility for it, to express yourself in a better mean rather than say hey I am out than this relationship when something happens etc... salaam Brilliant post, mA.

Aaliyyah;683298 wrote: 5 I am actually for spending good amount of money on your wedding. After, all it comes one day in your whole life. But, not if you cant afford it thats rather pathetic. I dont believe in getting thousands of loans and then spending several years paying back. First get a career have a saving and then have the wedding you wanted. I can think of so many other fun things to do with that money... like building a well, renovating an orphanage or backbacking in Chile where you shower just once a week and you learn the real odour of your spouse - none of that pour homme stuff. The prospect of being stared at by hundred(s) of people is just too chilling for me dear, I'd make it for the exit ASAP. I do like being a guest at a beautiful wedding though, so be sure to invite me inshaAllah.