Celebrity News:

The most interesting thing about reading mainstream entertainment news is very little of it has to do with actual movies or music. Typical entertainment "news" focuses on celebrity lifestyle: sex tapes, cat fights, rehab or on the opposite end of the spectrum, weddings, births and charity causes. While those stories still get coverage (See: Britney Spears), the Hollywood news that comes out today is a bit scarier. Soon, I might actually miss reading about Britney. The big story across Hollywood is the Writer's Guild of America strike. The writers want a percentage of money earned from internet content, (for example, iTunes) while the studios are holding back long enough to decide what can be earned from the internet. Meanwhile, they're screwing over everyone and everything that has to do with the movie business. Consider the production staffs (other than the writers) that can no longer work. Consider the Golden Globes getting cancelled, which also leads to the possibility of the Oscars, film festivals and Comic Con receiving the same treatment. Consider an all-reality lineup on television. Consider a movie season made entirely of independents. Scripted TV series are gone. Not that I'm the biggest TV watcher, and thankfully the shows that I do watch were given a full run before the strike hit. ("Dirt," "Dexter," "Rescue Me") But with the possibility of an all-reality show line-up waiting to be developed and certain shows getting the shaft ("Heroes"), there are now even fewer reason to watch the tube. While the writers want to inflict as much financial pain on the studios as possible, some writers have wised up to the idea that not working means no pay, so they've started scripting for other sources. Quarterlife, the first and only studio-quality scripted internet series has become kind of an obsession of mine. The series was in development well before the strike, and fortunately for the creators, it's perfectly positioned to earn ratings. Click Here to check it out. The series is girly, no question about it, reminding me of the disposable kind of dramas that I usually avoid, but the idea behind "Quarterlife" is what I'm really interested in. The writing, jokes and drama fall in a close second. Not that I mind watching everyday folk producing their own videos on Youtube and Daily Motion - cute pet tricks being my favorite kind - the idea of watching internet produced high quality series is one that has been waiting in the wings for some time, and it's the best way for television writers to keep working. But what is available online for films? Movies are the bread and butter of the entertainment business and my primary source of happiness. Nothing in my mind compares to the experience of sitting in a darkened theater with a bag of greasy popcorn in one hand and a $6.00 cup of Dr. Pepper in the other while getting completely immersed in a great movie. The experience of watching that movie can never be replaced with comfort of watching a movie from my own home, and the prospect of watching a new movie online is even more depressing. As neat as the idea might be, that seems to be where we are heading. Come June, when the Screen Actor's Guild (not the Film Actor's Guild from "Team America") and the director's guild reach the ends of their contracts, if the writer's haven't resolved their disputes and settled on a number, then all of Hollywood will halt production. Six months after that, there will be no new studio features, leaving only independents to fill the picture houses. Most believe that there is too much at stake to ever reach that point. However, based off the press release attacks going back and forth between the writers and the studios, a resolution isn't going to come quickly. If I'm right, there will probably be a day where we have no choice but to watch the latest celebrity news. Because, literally, there will be nothing else on.