Culturite

Sony doesn’t want any info to leak but I’m told that both star Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi will be returning to make Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt’s script of Spider-Man 4. Sources tell me that Sony has recently locked in both veterans of Spider-Man 1 through 3.

The female-fronted band Heart has issued a statement denouncing John McCain’s use of their ‘77 hit song “Barracuda” after he accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday night. Apparently, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s nickname on the high school basketball was “barracuda,” so McCain’s use of the song was meant as a reference to that.

But Heart is crying foul.

“I feel completely f—ed over,” said Heart’s Nancy Wilson to Entertainment Weekly, adding later with her sister and bandmate Ann Wilson via email, “Sarah Palin’s views and values in no way represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late ’70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The ‘barracuda’ represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”

This is getting downright weird. It seems like each day another band issues another statement that John McCain is using their music without permission. First Jackson Browne sued McCain for using “Running on Empty,” then it was Van Halen’s turn to hassle him for his use of “Right Now.”

Oprah got a lot of backlash from her loyal female fans for turning her back on Hillary Clinton — not just by endorsing Barack Obama, but by refusing to have Clinton on her show. But if she wouldn’t invite Hillary to sit down on her plush couches and chat, she certainly is not going to invite Sarah Palin.

“At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates,” Winfrey, who was an early backer of Barack Obama, says in a statement to TMZ.com.

“I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over,” she adds. “There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show.”

Two writers from the US version of The Office have been recruited to write a third instalment of Ghostbusters, according to trade newspaper Variety.

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky’s hiring is seen as a sure sign the long-mooted comedy will finally be made.

Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel saw Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as bumbling scientists who rid New York of paranormal threats.

It is hoped the new film will reunite the original cast.

Nielsen Media Research says 4.7 billion viewers globally saw at least some of the 17 days of TV coverage last month. This audience was one-fifth larger than the 3.9 billion who watched the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Host nation China claimed more viewers than any other nation, Nielsen said Friday, logging an audience reach of 94 percent among its population of 1.3 billion.

In the U.S., where NBC and several sister networks aired extensive coverage, the 2008 Olympics took the record as the most-viewed event in American television history.

marathonali: #rnc08 McCain says “war is terrible beyond imagination” yet he wants to continue the war in Iraq. less than 10 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

bitb: Applause fatigue. #rnc08 less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

EAS211: There are a lot of yawns throughout the crowd at #rnc08 half a minute ago · Reply · View Tweet

Nafsllib: #RNC08 McCain just said himself that Obama’s energy plan is more ambitius plan then his own, but we American’s can’t accomplish it. half a minute ago · Reply · View Tweet

LizPW: Wow. McCain is a horrible orator #rnc08. What the hell is he talking about?  Reply · View Tweet

duckstrap: #RNC08 Fox news crew gassed: http://tinyurl.com/6z6q7v (expand) less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

BostonPhoenix: Bad speech. Seems tired. Like he’s retiring. #rnc08 less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

marathonali: #rnc08 Gosh, McCain is dull. Who wrote this boring-@ss speech? half a minute ago · Reply · View Tweet

alexashrugged: McCain is getting ticked at all the interruptions in his speech – they’re ruining his momentum and tone #RNC08 less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

jmansour: #rnc08 code pink protesters making a scene right in front of our seats. They’re dragged out yelling and screaming. less than 20 seconds ago · Reply · View Tweet

otq i want to say one more time. The police told protesters they could march. Then cornered them on the bridge. It was a direct lie. less than 20 seconds ago from web

Police arrest 150 on Marion Street Bridge, detain another 20 to 30 near Sears. http://is.gd/2egT #RNC08

noneck @Mlsif this was non-violent protest and has since turned into a mixture of lies and confinement. many cameras. many qik.com videos 2 minutes ago from twitterrific in reply to Mlsif

randomdeanna: rt @JasonBarnett @PiPress reporters: Everyone on Marion Bridge being arrested, on the order of 150 to 200 people. #RNC08 2 minutes ago · Reply · View Tweet

i didn’t see safe messages from everyone, so i assume some twitters are face down on the bridge right now being sent to jail half a minute ago from web

reporter says 150 more being arrested. less than a minute ago from web

100+ people on marion bridge detained, plastic handcuffed face down 4 minutes ago from web

wcco.com is going to have raw video of the flash bangs and tear gas 1 minute ago from web

[A] 49-second YouTube video showing the arrest of one of the four — “Democracy Now!” host/King Features Syndicate columnist Amy Goodman — has received more than 508,000 views.

In a statement released this afternoon, the NAHJ called on “police and local and federal officials to respect the First Amendment right to free speech and free press of journalists doing their job, especially as it relates to coverage of recent political conventions and the surrounding public protests. Reporters have a duty and a constitutional right to be present at sometimes volatile events and situations, and to inform the public.”

The NAHJ noted that an ABC News producer had been arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week, and that the four journalists arrested Monday also included an Associated Press photographer (Matt Rourke) as well as two “Democracy Now!” producers (Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar) Goodman was trying to help. They were released with charges that included suspicion of felony riot and misdemeanor interference with a police officer.