A copy of Owen Gleiberman‘s “Movie Freak: My Life Watching Movies” (Hachette, 2.23) arrived today. I’ve known Gleiberman, one of the most eloquent and engaging critics on the planet, since my early-to-mid-’90s freelancing period with Entertainment Weekly. Gleiberman was a senior critic at that once-dynamic publication from the launch in 1990 until April 2014, when he was cut loose. OG’s smooth prose and perceptive views didn’t appeal to the lightweight giggly girls who had gradually become EW‘s reader base.

I went right to the second-to-last chapter, “The Book of Eli”, to read about Gleiberman’s last days there.

The chilly axe-man was Jess Cagle, who had been named EW and People‘s editorial director in January 2014. Cagle “was someone I’d always liked a great deal,” Gleiberman writes. “I had respect for Jess’ editing chops and enjoyed his airy corporate version of shade-throwing wit, and I felt that he might be the perfect person to recharge EW‘s pleasure centers. I told a lot of my colleagues, ‘He’s exactly what we need.’

“Be careful what you think you’re glad for.

“Let’s be clear about something: In his first two years at the helm, Jess Cagle saved Entertainment Weekly. Her whisked it back from the dead and made it crackle again. At the same time he didn’t like ‘negative’ stories. And there was a trio of movie stars — Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell — whom Cagle appeared to have placed on a special perch where little seen as hurtful to their careers could be published in EW or on ew.com.

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Remember the classic motorcade ambush scene in Phillip Noyce‘s Clear and Present Danger (’94) when an army of drug-cartel mercenaries killed several U.S. government guys in their SUVs? Remember when that scene was a hot new turn of the screw and action fans everywhere were talking about it? Babak Najafi‘s London Has Fallen (Gramercy, 3.14) is the same old idea, trying for the same old juice. Except recent events have killed the fantasy element. A couple of weeks ago CNN.com’s Lewis Beale noted that there’s something “profoundly irresponsible” about such a film being released in the wake of San Bernardino, Paris and Burkina Faso. “You have to wonder why a Hollywood studio would put out a film such as this one, which is practically guaranteed to ratchet up the paranoia factor,” Beale wrote. “It is, after all, hitting theaters at a time when fear of terrorist attacks is at an all-time high.” It’s pornography, all right. I would have a film as good as Clear and Present Danger again.

For whatever reason, Woody Allen‘s distribution relationship with Sony Pictures Classics, which began a few years ago, has been interrupted by Amazon Studios. All North American rights, including theatrical and streaming, to Allen’s latest film, an untitled 1930s romantic dramedy with Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, Jeannie Berlin, Parker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll and Ken Stott, has been acquired by Amazon. Amazon will open the film theatrically sometime this summer, followed by a streaming debut several weeks later. Amazon isn’t fooling around. They’ve also acquired Kenneth Lonergan‘s Oscar-bound Manchester-By-The-Sea during the recently-concluded Sundance Film Festival. “Like all beginning relationships, there is much hope, mutual affection, and genuine goodwill — the lawsuits come later,” Allen said in a statement. Allen is also writing and directing an untitled six-episode television series for Amazon starring himself, Elaine May and Miley Cyrus. It begins shooting next month.

I only saw 40 minutes worth of Deadpool last Tuesday, and since then I’ve managed to flush most of it out of my head. It’s a glib, porno-violent Daffy Duck cartoon that deserved a quick box-office death. Instead it’s become one of the most successful Marvel flicks ever released — $172 million and change since opening six days ago. And now over 35,000 ass-hats have signed a Change.org petition to urge Saturday Night Live producers to get Deadpool (i.e., Ryan Reynolds in costume) to host the show. The petition was started by Andrew Stege of Matteson, Illinois. Words fail.

Six months ago Toronto Film Festival critics mostly agreed that Lorene Scafaria‘s The Meddler (Sony Classics, 4.22) is an affecting, above-average mother-daughter relationship dramedy, and that Susan Sarandon gives an exceptional performance as an intrusive mom and that costars Rose Byrne (i.e., the daughter) and J.K. Simmons (the prospective boyfriend) hold their own. It recently screened for N.Y. media types, and I’m sure it’ll eventually be shown to the Los Angeles contingent.

What got my attention this morning was a Meddler synopsis in an email from Falco Ink, the N.Y.-based p.r. agency. Here’s how it reads: “With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie Minervini (Sarandon) has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori (Byrne), a successful but still single screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love.”

The first part of the sentence is obviously seeking to describe an agreeable way for Minnie to start her new life here, and yet “an apartment near the Grove” is absolutely no one’s idea of a cool concept. No hip person, I mean. Okay, the area isn’t far from a mostly-Jewish, retirement-friendly neighborhood a couple of blocks to the north, but the Grove — a small-scale Orlando Disneyworld at the corner of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, and yet ironically adjacent to the agreeably funky atmosphere of the Farmer’s Market — is one of the most depressing and oppressive environments in the entire city, and I’m including Skid Row in this assessment.

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During last night’s MSNBC town hall discussion in Charleston, Donald Trump identified himself as a close political relative of Bernie Sanders. “I wanted to describe a candidate to you,” Mika Brzezinski said to Trump. “That candidate is considered a political outsider by all of the pundits. He’s tapping into the anger of voters, delivers a populist message. He believes everyone in the country should have healthcare [and] he advocates for hedge fund managers to pay higher taxes. He’s drawing thousands of people at his rallies and bringing in a lot of new voters into the political process. Who am I describing?”

“You’re describing Donald Trump,” Trump replied. “Actually, I was describing Bernie Sanders,” Brzezinski said.

“In the minute before the theater lights are down, what a tension is in the house. One might as well be in the crowd just before an important fight commences. It is years since one has watched a movie begin with such anticipation. And the tension holds as the projection starts. We see Brando and Schneider pass each other in the street. Since we have all been informed — by Time no less — we know they are going to take carnal occupation of each other, and very soon. The audience watches with anxiety as if it is also going to be in the act with someone new, and the heart (and for some, the bowels) is in tremors between earthquake and expectation.

“Maria Schneider is so sexual a presence. None of the photographs has prepared anybody for this. Rare actresses, just a few, have flesh appeal. You feel as if you can touch them on the screen. Schneider has nose appeal — you can smell her. She is every eighteen-year-old in a mini-skirt and a maxi-coat who ever promenaded down Fifth Avenue in that inner arrogance which proclaims, ‘My cunt is my chariot.’

“We have no more than a few minutes to wait. She goes to look at an apartment for rent, Brando is already there. They have passed in the street, and by a telephone booth; now they are in an empty room. Abruptly Brando cashes the check Stanley Kowalski wrote for us twenty-five years ago — he fucks the heroine standing up. It solves the old snicker of how do you do it in a telephone booth? — he rips her panties open.

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From whitehouse.gov: FACT #1: Six Justices have been confirmed in a presidential election year since 1900. For more than two centuries, it has been standard practice for Congress to confirm a president’s Supreme Court nominee, whether in a presidential election year or not. Of the six justices confirmed since 1900, three have been Republicans. The most recent Justice to be confirmed in an election year was Justice Kennedy — appointed by President Reagan — who was confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Congress in February of 1988.

FACT #2: Every nominee has received a vote within 125 days of nomination. Since 1975, the average time from nomination to confirmation is 67 days. In fact, since 1875, every nominee has received a hearing or a vote. The longest time before confirmation in the past three decades was 99 days, for Justice Thomas, and the last four Justices, spanning two Administrations, were confirmed in an average of 75 days. The Senate [now] has almost a full year — more than 300 days — to consider and confirm a nominee.

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Just so we’re straight, no discerning film lover checks Fandango to see if a movie is any good or not. Fandango is a whore site. A far more reliable approach has always been to check both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. But now Rotten Tomatoes is suddenly looking a tad dicey. Six hours ago it was announced that Fandango has bought Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster, which, given the too-positive aggregate ratings Fandango is known for handing out, amounts to a big “uh-oh”.

Hello, Metacritic — our old and only reliable friend. And farewell, Rotten Tomatoes, for the time being. Not finally and absolutely but until it’s been clearly proven that Fandango won’t be applying its happy formula to RT’s aggregate ratings in the wake of the purchase, the smart policy will be to regard RT askance.

Last October FiveThirtyEight’s Walt Hickey posted the results of an exacting study that determined the aggregate ratings on Fandango were happier than those on Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango, which is owned by NBC/Universal, is obviously more interested in selling tickets than passing along the straight dope about whether a movie sucks or not.

Gizmodo’s Matt Novak posted an uh-oh piece a few hours ago.

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Today I received a double-vinyl album of The Revenant score, which was mainly composed by Ryuichi Sakomoto with supplemental music by Bryce Dessner and Alva Noto. Despite a decision by the Academy’s music branch to disqualify it because “a score assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible” (per Academy rules), this was certainly and absolutely the finest score of the year. Nothing touched the bottom of my soul like this. This was the second disqualification for a musical score composed by more than one person for an Inarritu film. Last year Antonio Sanchez‘s all-percussion score for Birdman was disqualified because portions of classical music were also used in addition to Sanchez’s drumming. Again, a sample Revenant track.

Trailers have made it obvious that Gods of Egypt (Lionsgate, 2.26), a CG fantasy flick from director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot) will not be depending on good reviews to generate ticket sales. Nonetheless Lionsgate publicists are very concerned about spoilers appearing in reviews. Today Lionsgate sent a letter to critics saying that unless they sign a letter pledging not to reveal “spoilers” they can’t attend next Wednesday’s (2.24) screening.

3:45 pm Pacific Update: A Lionsgate spokesperson informs that the above-referenced letter that was sent out earlier today went “to the field” and does not represent Lionsgate policy, and that no one is looking to corral or police critics with concerns about possible spoilers.

Back to earlier story: There’s an objection, I’ve been told, to a portion of the waiver statement that reads as follows: “…at no point should the undersigned publish…any element of the Picture that would be considered a ‘spoiler.'” I’ve been told that at least a couple of major print publications are refusing to sign. So this morning I asked several big-name critics for theri reactions.

Since when is spoiling a major concern among critics? Critics generally offer a rough summary of the basic set-up and the first two acts, or at least the first half. But they never reveal the payoff elements or any portion of what is normally considered climactic or third-act crescendo points.

Why exactly is Lionsgate so concerned about spoilers? More to the point, why is it demanding that critics offer a written pledge to abstain from revealing them before they’re allowed to see it?

As I understand it the online embargo for Gods of Egypt reviews is on Thursday, 2.25; the print embargo is on Friday, 2.26.

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