California Has A Budget; Sweeping, Unprecedented Financial Bailout; SAG Vote; Universal Pictures says No-No To "Tintin"; The Brothers Warner; FilmWeek Reviews
California Has A Budget
Larry Mantle talks with Jordan Rau, L.A. Times Staff Writer about the propsed budget deal between lawmakers and Governor Schwarzenegger.
Sweeping, Unprecedented Financial Bailout
The free market just got very expensive, with the Fed announcing plans to spend an initial $50 billion to buy up bad mortgages. This comes shortly after the Fed and other central banks announced plans to inject $180 billion into the financial markets. Can these sweeping interventions from the world's governments restore confidence in the economy? Larry talks with Chris Farrell, Economics Editor for Marketplace Money, Lakshman Achuthan, Economic Cycle Research Institute, and James Wilcox, Professor of Financial Institutions at Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
SAG Vote
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) held a union board election yesterday. Members of two sub groups within the factionalized union had members running for board positions. The Unite for Strength group, led by actor Ned Vaughn, won six of 11 Hollywood seats up for grabs, breaking the incumbent Membership First group's majority on the 71-member board. The outcome could determine whether SAG accepts the final offer from the Hollywood producers which has been on the table since June when the actor's contract expired. Larry talks with SAG members Ned Vaughn of "Unite for Strength," and Anne-Marie Johnson of "Membership First."
Universal Pictures says No-No To "Tintin"
Larry Mantle talks with FilmWeek critic Wade Major about the news that Universal Pictures has decided to say "no" to Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's animated, 3-D film, "Tintin." Sign of the economic times?
The Brothers Warner
The new documentary, "The Brothers Warner," is an intimate portrait of the four Hollywood pioneers and brothers. Filmmaker Cass Warner Sperling, the granddaughter of Harry Warner, joins Larry to talk about her immigrant family's rise from poverty to their creation of a major film studio with a social conscience.
FilmWeek Reviews
Larry and critics Lael Loewenstein, of Variety, Henry Sheehan, of henrysheehan.com, and Charles Solomon, of amazon.com, review some of the week's new films including "Ghost Town," "Lakeview Terrace," "The Duchess," "Appaloosa," and "Igor."