Wednesday, December 24, 2025
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New Board Game “Hollywood 1947” Trivializes Devastating Communist Blacklist That Destroyed Lives: Holocaust Next?

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This sounds like something from “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Someone has actually made a board game mocking the devastating Hollywood communist blacklist perpetrated by Senator Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn. The creators are named Travis Hancock and Sarah Keele and the company is called Facade Games. (This is real, not a joke, “Hollywood 1947” can be purchased on Amazon for home entertainment.)

The Blacklist ruined thousands of lives in Hollywood from 1947 to the mid 1950s. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee dragged actors, directors, etc in front of Congress to determine if they were Communists — and to name others who might be.

The result was the immediate destruction of careers. Screenwriters were forced to use pseudonyms on their scripts, or have “fronts” (as seen in the film “The Front” with Woody Allen). Actors were barred from being in films, turning to theater or the early TV business centered in New York. Many lost their livelihoods.

Some of the best known people on the Blacklist were actress Lee Grant, 98, who went on to win an Oscar, and writer Dalton Trumbo, more recently portrayed by Bryan Cranston in a biopic.

What are these game makers thinking? What’s next, the Holocaust?

The description reads: “Hollywood 1947 is a social deduction game. You must never show your cards or loyalty to anyone, but you may say whatever you’d like about the cards you put into a movie, or about your true allegiance. Open discussion about which cards were added into a movie is encouraged. However, if you are a Communist or the Rising Star, lying will often help you accomplish your goals since the majority of players will be Patriots.

“In the game each player will secretly be a Patriot, Communist, or Rising Star. Each round every player will have a unique Job to perform (such as the Screenwriter, Gaffer, Director, Actor, Editor, etc). These jobs will affect what kind of movie is getting made that round, what cards are in players’ hands, and who will receive special information. Players can choose to skip their jobs to instead re-roll any two of the dice in the game. At the end of each round the players with stars showing on their dice will get to add a card into the movie.”

It’s unclear if there are cards that read “Lose your home,” “go to jail,” or “kill yourself.”

I can only think of the great people who lost their careers including Zero Mostel (only allowed back in 1968 with “The Producers”), theater legends Morris Carnovsky and Phoebe Brand, Lillian Hellman, Dashiell Hammett, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin — people whose work is revered now, who lost more than decade of their lives.

This isn’t funny, it’s shameful to turn people’s real lives into a board game. Yikes.

 

Disney Pixar Releases Animated “Luca” to Theaters 3 Years After Streaming, and Makes Just $550,000

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Disney/Pixar released “Luca” to theaters this weekend. The audience was, let’s say, unimpressed.

Animated “Luca” was originally streamed in 2021 and not put in theaters. They thought this would help launch Disney Plus. Since streaming numbers are not available, no one knows what happened.

But we know what happened now. “Luca” made just $550,000. So much for that.

Disney/Pixar recently did the same thing with two other animated films. The results were just as bad. The great film, “Soul,” which won two Oscars, took in just under $1 million. “Turning Red” came in at $1.3 million. Both of those had already been available on Disney Plus for some time.

Lesson learned? Who knows?

NBC News Angers Viewers with McDaniel Hire, Chuck Todd Eviscerates Network — on the Show! (Watch)

What a morning for NBC News! They finally catalyzed their audience and united them — against the network. And then Chuck Todd showed backbone — on “Meet the Press” right after former RNC chairman Ronna McDaniel appeared as a new hire.

Fans of NBC and MSNBC are furious with NBC News for hiring McDaniel, a former Trump mouthpiece, to join the network. Social media is ablaze with anger and criticism. Viewers say they will tune out until she is gone. “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker’s lame interview with McDaniel didn’t help.

McDaniel said on the show that the 2020 election was full of “problems.” She’s still spouting pro-Trump, anti American crap, defending January 6th.

So Todd, in the following segment, spoke up. He was incensed. Many people wondered why he never showed such emotion when he was the anchor of the show!

MSNBC has already said McDaniel will not be allowed on their shows. But NBC faces a crisis with people like Lester Holt and the Today show. One announced McDaniel appearance could do irreparable damage.

Weekend Music: Watch Shaggy Perform His New Hit, “When She’s Around” with Rwanda Star Bruce Melodie

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Reggae icon Shaggy performed his new hit, “When She’s Around,” on “Good Morning America” this week with Bruce Melodie. Bruce has such a great voice, and he hails from Rwanda. Shaggy is just always jubilant and upbeat, with a lilting vocal you can’t forget.

The pair made the rounds on other ABC outlets like “Nightline” and “Live with Kelly and Mark.”

“When She’s Around” has 10 million views across all social platforms and is starting to take off on radio. Once you hear it, you want to hear it again.

I love the whole Shaggy Renaissance. He did a Grammy nominated Sinatra album produced by Sting and won a Grammy with Sting for Best Reggae album. Viva Shaggy!

First Neil Young, Now Joni Mitchell Follows Her Pals Back to Spotify After Boycott

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Joni Mitchell is back on Spotify.

The great singer songwriter took her music off in sympathy with Neil Young and Crosby, Stills & Nash. They were all protesting podcaster Joe Rogan spreading false information about COVID and the vaccine.

I told you the other day that C,S,N, & Y had jumped back on Spotify now that Rogan is not exclusive to the streaming service. I asked: did anyone tell Joni? Apparently, they finally did!

Now everyone is streaming, and making 50 cents for 1 million plays.

Joni’s biggest streaming songs are “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You.” But do yourself a favor. Here is the set up for The Asylum Years 1972-75, her absolute best work. Make Joni happy that she returned to Sodom and Gomorrah!

Box Office: New “Ghostbusters” Opens Slightly Behind 2016 Version with $16 Million

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The new “Ghostbusters” opened about the same as the old “Ghostbusters.”

Thursday-Friday numbers for “Frozen Empire” were $16 million. In 2016, “Afterlife” made $650,000 more during the same launch.

What happens today and tomorrow remains to be seen. The movie has a B+ Cinemascore, about even with its Rotten Tomatoes audience number of 86. Fans of the last chapter want to see it. It’s unclear if there’s motivation beyond that.

Some prognostications put the weekend at $42 million.

Meanwhile, Disney has finally dumped “Luca” into theaters without much enthusiasm. It made $150,000 last night. “Luca” already an international release, and is available on DVD. So there’s not going to be a rush to theaters.

More tomorrow…

Donald Trump So Close to Billionaire Owner of Moscow Murder Club He Starred in Son’s Music Video, Held Pageant at Club

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EXCLUSIVE c2024 Showbiz411 must credit: How close is Donald Trump and his family to the owner of the club where the Moscow massacre took place? Well, Donald starred in a music video made by Emin Agalarov, son of the club’s billionaire owner. Fast forward to the last 20 seconds of Emin’s video below.

The Trumps — meaning Donald and Donald Jr — have deep associations with the Agalarovs, who own the Crocus City Hall club where dozens of Russians were murdered last night.

Read this account of the Mueller Report’s chronicle of their long relationship.

In 2013, Donald Trump staged his Miss Universe Pageant at the Crocus Club. When Trump was running for President in 2016, Donald Jr. held his now infamous meeting with the Russians at Trump Tower thanks to the Agalarovs. Is it a coincidence that yesterday’s horror took place in Crocus City Hall? We may never know. But the connection between Trump and the Agalarovs, not to mention Vladimir Putin, exists.

Vice spoke to Emin in a video (see below)

Chart Failure for Older Artists: Justin Timberlake New Album Just 65K, Bon Jovi Single 940, Zayn Only 77!

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If you’re old or you’re not working constantly tending your audience, sales of records are over. That’s today’s lesson in the music business.

Examples: this week Bon Jovi released a new single called “Legendary.” It sold the equivalent of 940 copies, half of which came from streaming. Yes, nine hundred forty copies. Fewer than a thousand.

But things get worse: One Direction’s Zayn Malik released a single called “What I Am” that drops the f word in its chorus. Zayne has struggled with depression, so this is a tough story. With no promotion, “What I Am” sold 77 copies through streaming and had no sales.

And not good: Justin Timberlake’s “Everything I Thought It Would Be” was not at all what he expected. The album sold only 65,000 copies. Chances of hitting half a million are similar to the Republicans suddenly waking up and realizing what’s happened to them. Justin had better have a compelling opening act on his tour or he’ll wind up in JLo territory.

The top selling album of the week was Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine” with just 100,000 copies, down 56% from its debut last week. It was mostly a streaming event, as I wrote yesterday.

Did the internet kill the music business? Yes, without a doubt. The next test is Beyonce on March 29th. Otherwise, everything is Taylor Swift. And she barely sold 250,000 albums this week with 8 albums!

Kate Middleton Says She Has Cancer After Being Pressured by Media to Explain Her Absence (Watch Video Statement)

Princess Catherine of England has posted a video statement explaining her absence after pressure from the media. The young mother of three says she has cancer. This comes as her father in law, King Charles, is also being treated for cancer. In neither case have they explained what kind of cancer, the treatment, or prognosis. But this is devastating news for any family, especially one that has to live in the public spotlight

So much for all the horrible theories the tabloids and public had about Kate’s situation. I doubt anyone will learn a lesson about making wild and terrible guesses about a celebrity’s personal life.

“Ghostbusters Frozen Empire” Previews Same as 2016, Rotten Reviews, Soft Audience Interest

The people who went to previews of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2016 remain the audience for its sequel.

Last night, “Frozen Empire” took in $4.7 million, just $200,000 more than than the 2016 previews.

This was not a stampede.

The new movie has a rotten 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and a soft 86% from the audience last night.

It could be worse, I guess, for Sony Pictures, which is still struggling after “Madame Web” tanked in the last month. If only they could think of a way to get Peter Parker or some kind of Spider Man reference into “Frozen Empire.” That might do the trick.

What happens next? Bad weather is coming to the Northeast tonight and tomorrow, which may keep the Busters at home. The “Afterlife” opening weekend came in at $44 million. If “Frozen Empire” can tie that, the powers that be will satisfied. But much lower would not be celebrated.

Stay tuned…