Hollywood
The 2017 Oscar Nominations Are Not So White Any More
2017 may have been an awful year for film culture, with its ongoing revelations of sexual abuse and gender inequities, but it was a phenomenal year for film, and yesterday's Oscar nominations reflect that. While we can argue over which movies and performances were left out, it's ...read more
BANTER EXCLUSIVE: Victimhood, Fame, And My Date With Aziz Ansari
This is not a story about Aziz Ansari harassing or assaulting me. This is not a story blaming “Grace,” the woman accusing Aziz Ansari of sexual misconduct. This is a story intended to be part of a larger, more complicated conversation that is far from binary, a place my younger ...read more
Oprah Winfrey Just Brought the House Down at the Golden Globes With Astonishingly Powerful Speech
Oprah Winfrey gave her unique take on the #metoo movement at the Golden Globes Award and quite literally brought the house down. This was without doubt one of the most powerful speeches made about the movement that is rapidly changing American society and needs to be heard by, ...read more
Why Team America Matt Damon is the Best Matt Damon
When Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police came out in 2004, critics didn't quite know what to make of it. With its bashing of liberalism, celebrities, and puppet sex, some believed it was an act of juvenile rebellion with little more to say than "fuck the ...read more
Hollywood Producers Guild Releases “Ax Before You Jax” Pamphlet on When It's Okay to Masturbate
(WARNING: You are about to read satire!) So you wanna masturbate, preferably in the presence of a woman. We all do my friend. Who doesn’t?! But first you must determine if your particular situation is right for both you and your masturbatory muse. Sounds complicated, right? It’s ...read more
MEMBERS ONLY: What Hollywood Can Learn from the 1919 World Series
The Banter Long Read: The fact that this crisis reaches beyond Weinstein to infect organizations like Screen Junkies and Alamo Drafthouse makes it so unprecedented in its scale that no Hollywood scandal to come before it can be a sufficient model for how to correct things going ...read more
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James Woods is an Idiot
If you're looking for a case study in what happens to old white men's brains after decades of watching Fox News and listening to right wing talk radio, look no further than vocal Trump supporter and actor James Woods. A celebrity favorite of the hard right, Woods rantings about ...read more
I Don’t Give a Sh*t About Harvey Weinstein
Americans and the American media only seem to grasp a tragedy, problem, disaster or disease when it happens to a celebrity. I guess we can’t help it. We’re just narrow-minded imbeciles who require a larger-than-life figure through which to experience human emotion vicariously, ...read more
Can We Please Throw Child Rapist Roman Polanski in Jail Now?
When it comes to naming, shaming and prosecuting sexual predators, there are no sacred cows. While certain high profile figures may be well loved, if there are women claiming they were assaulted by them, they should be believed. Period. This means we take the claims against the ...read more
Breitbart Starts a "Hollywood Rape Culture Livewire" Because They Love Women So Much
Breitbart.com is outraged by Hollywood rape culture in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, so outraged in fact that they've started a 'Livewire' on the front page of their site to highlight stories about women suffering in the industry: Coming from the internet cesspool ...read more
Bantercast Episode 15: Harvey Weinstein is an Asshole
In this episode of the Bantercast, Ben and Michael discuss the shocking Harvey Weinstein scandal and why sexual assault is so rife in corporate America. Also discussed in today's show: is 'toxic masculinity' a real thing? Are the regressive left responsible for the Alt Right, ...read more
Colin Trevorrow, Star Wars, and the Problem of "Experience"
In 2015, Colin Trevorrow was on top of the world. Three years prior, he had launched his career with the indie sci-fi comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, which won a screenwriting award at Sundance. Soon after, he found himself personally selected by Steven Spielberg to director ...read more
Why Was 'Last Man Standing' Canceled? Because of Money, Genius
If my Facebook feed is anything like yours, rational Americans are goddamn tired of watching one massive Trump scandal after another float by with zero repercussions because Republicans are apparently terrified of making Mike Pence the president and letting him rubber stamp all ...read more
A 15 Step Guide to Becoming Roseanne Barr (UPDATED)
UPDATE: This article was published in 2013 in response to Roseanne Barr accusing President Obama of being a dictator, orchestrating the Boston Marathon bombing and implementing 'Nazi' like health care in America. The article generated considerable attention and even prompted ...read more
What the Hell Have We Done To Renée Zellweger?
(Photos: Getty) If you had posted a picture of Wayne Brady and said that it was Renée Zellweger, most of us would've been just as inclined to believe it as we are the photos of the "new" Renée that are now circulating around the internet. If you haven't seen the pictures of ...read more
Kim Kardashian Is America, And So Can You
Kim Kardashian is an idiot. This is a statement that no one outside of Kanye West seems inclined to argue against, but it’s also not entirely true. Kim Kardashian isn’t an intellectual, that’s basically a given at this point (see: anytime she has even spoken about anything), ...read more
Before You Watch the Oscars, You Must Watch 'Life After Pi'
The big six movie studios along with foreign tax subsidies are in tandem killing the American video effects industry. This short-subject documentary about demise of the Rhythm & Hues VFX studio explains how it's all going down. R&H was forced to declare bankruptcy just a week ...read more
"Elysium": Interesting Social Commentary That Gets Lost in Formulaic Plot
South African Director Neill Blomkamp shot to fame with the awesome 'District 9' in 2009 - an alien movie that was really an allegory to the South African Apartheid. With unknown actors and a pretty small budget, Blomkamp shot a highly original, dystopic sci-fi thriller full of ...read more
Gwyneth Paltrow Wears No Underwear, The Daily Banter Gets Big Traffic Spike?
Trying to understand the logic behind popularity on the web is extremely hard to do. One would think that writing a great article about a timely topic would lead to thousands of page views. Often it does, but there are no guarantees and there are occasions when a great deal of ...read more
Bruce Willis on Mitt Romney: 'He's Just Such a Disappointment'
Movie tough guy and two time George Bush voter Bruce Willis apparently isn't too impressed with Mitt Romney. In an interview with Esquire, the Hollywood hero had the following to say about the Republican Presidential nominee: He’s just such a disappointment, an embarrassment. ...read more
The Most Feared Woman in Hollywood
by Ben Cohen A great piece picked up by Simon Owen on the most feared woman in Hollywood - a 55 year old blogger with an insiders knowledge of the business name Nikki Finke. She runs the blog 'Deadline Hollywood Daily', and is by all accounts, not to be messed with. From the NY ...read more