Hollywoodies.

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I'm surprised to hear about Bay ... judging by how his direction fetishises it, I've thought for quite some time that it's US military hardware that raises his Optimus Prime.

Perhaps he partied too much with Don Simpson?

One of the crazier rumours about him is that he had a bank of industrial style showers installed in a wing of his modernist villa so the prostitutes who so frequently visited the place could shower there.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Salomé wrote:

One of the crazier rumours about him is that he had a bank of industrial style showers installed in a wing of his modernist villa so the prostitutes who so frequently visited the place could shower there.

You say that as a criticism, but that sounds most considerate of him.

My statement was neutral from a moral point of view.

Not sure why you believe I am an especially judgemental person.

Though obviously the reason why he could not openly admit to such a thing (if it is in fact true at all) is the puritanical double standards and hypocrisy in Tinseltown.

Anyway, the reason why I know of this stuff at all is because the seedy underbelly of Hollywood has always held a certain fascination for me.

On that note, I recently read this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tinseltown-Murder-Morphine-Madness-Hollywood/dp/0062242199

Some of the material was familiar to me and some of it was new (e.g. Herbert Hoover was at one point considered for the position of the film czar who would 'clean up' Hollywood).
Most of the book is about the William Desmond Taylor murder.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Thinking about it, no one seems to be dragging Jim Carrey into this thread.

Is this about the claims made by his deceased ex-girlfriend who took her own life?

More allegations against Kevin Spacey, including a House of Cards production assistant who was driving Spacey to a set when, it seems, the actor wanted to change gears, so to speak.

http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/house-of-cards-workers-accuse-kevin-spacey-of-misconduct.html?utm_campaign=nym&utm_source=fb&utm_medium=s1

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I don't think Weinstein would be in much of a bind if his only crime had been to use irony or tell jokes in the presence of those women.

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I love how feminists and victim groups are lumped together. Reminds me of the famous Connery interview back in the 80s. He says women have it better than men so he doesn't understand why so many feminists are kicking up a fuss. 30 years later, and they continue to identify as victims.

Erica Ambler wrote:

This isn't about Weinstein. Read the article.

Quote :

As a detached onlooker to Hollywood and Westminster, I have to ask; didn’t the young man momentarily flattened under a drunken Kevin Spacey three decades ago get up and leave the room unscathed? Didn’t the knees of both Miss Hartley Brewer and feminist writer Kate Maltby recover without too much damage?

Even more baffling is the way men accused of sexual misconduct, often years after the alleged event, with no hard evidence possible against them, slink quietly away to the current version of Room 101. They do this even if they’ve only been accused of making an unsavoury remark or foolish joke, as if that is now tantamount to a physical assault. So far, only Damian Green MP has show any sign of resisting this bullying and the new insidious culture of blackmail by ‘witnesses.’

Perhaps the questions we should be asking are about how witness memory came to be valued above cold facts and why in this most comfortable and safe of times, the public needs to be kept in a state of perpetual excitement and anxiety.

Well it is about Weinstein, in so far that this deluge of sexual harassment/sexual assault accusations can all be traced back to Weinstein.
With so many women accusing so many men, there are always going to be instances that seem less serious and less meritorious of attention than others.

Specifically about the paragraph you have quoted above, the author is ridiculously cavalier in excusing Kevin Spacey's behavior, which was an attempted sexual assault on a 14-year old.

Erica Ambler wrote:

This isn't about Weinstein. Read the article.

Quote :

As a detached onlooker to Hollywood and Westminster, I have to ask; didn’t the young man momentarily flattened under a drunken Kevin Spacey three decades ago get up and leave the room unscathed? Didn’t the knees of both Miss Hartley Brewer and feminist writer Kate Maltby recover without too much damage?

Even more baffling is the way men accused of sexual misconduct, often years after the alleged event, with no hard evidence possible against them, slink quietly away to the current version of Room 101. They do this even if they’ve only been accused of making an unsavoury remark or foolish joke, as if that is now tantamount to a physical assault. So far, only Damian Green MP has show any sign of resisting this bullying and the new insidious culture of blackmail by ‘witnesses.’

Perhaps the questions we should be asking are about how witness memory came to be valued above cold facts and why in this most comfortable and safe of times, the public needs to be kept in a state of perpetual excitement and anxiety.

Great article. Of course in the case of Spacey it's not so much about sexual advances, but sexual advances to a minor, but I agree.

I'm not his biggest fan by any means, but it's ridiculous that Seth MacFarlane is now getting grief from some corners because of the references he made to the Spacey/Weinstein rumors on his animated show and during an awards show presentation. The reasoning is that if he knew something why didn't he do something about it. In the real world of course, there isn't much any person can do if all they have is rumors.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, boys. But the international women's cabal had its meeting this morning and the motion to crush you was carried by a margin of roughly two to one.

(Sidenote but on purely anecdotal evidence, I always worked from the assumption that some of you actually like it when we are on top).

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The Charles Moore post was meant as a joke, Ambler. Has this place really become so very serious that we no longer can make those? A sad day indeed.

As for Santa's assault, that is horrifying but this is the first time I have learned of it.

It's also odd that you claim that I support a witch hunt. This is once again a mere assumption on your part.
I think I'm on the record in stating that I believe that Harvey Weinstein will eventually be let back into the industry in some capacity. I'm a realist in all matters, including this. If you honestly believe we will go from a world in which a man can commit a long series of sexual assaults over four decades to a world in which a man's entire life and career might be ruined because he once touched a woman's knee seemingly overnight, that is borderline deluded.
More realistically speaking, this storm of accusations will end and nothing much of substance will change.

Speaking specifically about the Anthony Rapp case, it's pretty clear that he does not deem the encounter to have been consensual, so the age of consent isn't really a factor in this story.

I always thought men liked women on top myself.

So Spacey is out (in every way possible). He's unlikely to work in this town ever again, not because they find his conduct morally reprehensible, but because he's cost people millions of dollars (with HOC effectively being shut down, and who knows if Netflix will actually pull the show from it's streaming services). Entire casts and crews have lost money and jobs because of HOC being cancelled, his upcoming movies being shut down or losing distribution deals as well. It's a mess, and you don't mess with people's money.

Richard Dreyfuss' son is now alleging Spacey grabbed his crotch and held on mere feet from an apparently oblivious Richard Dreyfuss.

Bryan Singer will be next. That ball has already started rolling, and he's begun trying to fight back. Won't help. The avalanche will consume him.

Alec Baldwin has already begun storm preparations. His agents have told him to get out there and start talking about how he has changed and been transformed and to admit he bullied women. So clearly there's something out there they are afraid is about to his.

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I have to admit that I hadn't heard any of the Bryan Singer rumors until this avalanche of accusations started.

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Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Alec Baldwin has already begun storm preparations. His agents have told him to get out there and start talking about how he has changed and been transformed and to admit he bullied women. So clearly there's something out there they are afraid is about to his.

I did find this odd. Don't know if it's a publicity stunt, a blanket apology or a statement he made because of some whacky fear-of-missing-out predisposition. 

I'm waiting for some Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke allegations to pop up.