Hurricane Sandy Cancellations: Movies, TV Shoots & Concerts

The preparation and growing threat of Hurricane Sandy has led to school closings, mandatory evacuations, and the halting of the New York City subway. With public transportation at a standstill, city streets deserted, and storm clouds looming, the entertainment industry is seeing consequences.
Multiple concerts, movie premieres, and tapings for movies and television shows scheduled for early this week across the Northeast have been canceled. A run-down of cancellations is below, but one entertainer who is living by the "show must go on" mentality is Jimmy Kimmel. The talk-show host is throwing caution to the wind and still shooting his live show from Brooklyn tonight. (UPDATE: Kimmel has canceled his show.)

• The Manhattan premiere of "Anna Karenina" scheduled for Tuesday night has been canceled
• Monday night's screening of "Flight" with Denzel Washington at the Ziegfeld was canceled
• Movie theaters are closed across the Northeast
• The xx has canceled three shows scheduled for this week: Sunday night's show in New York, Monday's show in Philadelphia, and Tuesday's show in Baltimore
• Grimes' concert Sunday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was canceled
• Movie theaters are closed across the Northeast
• Aimee Man's Monday night concert at the Bowery Ballroom has been canceled
• Freedom to Love Now!, a concert benefitting marriage equality with fun., Rufus Wainwright, and The National, among others has been canceled
• Trey Anastasio's Sunday night concert at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre was canceled
• Louis C.K.'s Sunday night City Center performance was canceled
• Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) has canceled his show at The Apollo, scheduled for Sunday
• Ghostface Killah and Sheek Louch's Sunday night performance at Highline Ballroom has been canceled
• Grouplove has canceled their Monday night performance at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club
• All Broadway shows scheduled for Sunday and Monday have been canceled.
• Brandie Carlile and Blitzen Trapper have canceled both of their New York City performances at the Beacon Theater, scheduled for Sunday and Monday
• Disney canceled a media screening of "Wreck-It Ralph," scheduled for Tuesday
• Universal canceled a screening of "Man with the Iron Fists"
• Warner Bros. TV stopped filming for NYC-based TV shows which includes: "666 Park Avenue," "The Carrie Diaries," "The Following," "Golden Boy," "Gossip Girl," "Person of Interest," and "The Secret Lives of Husband and Wives:
• CBS TV stopped filming for NYC-based TV shows which includes: "The Good Wife," "Blue Bloods," and "Elementary"
• NBC Universal stopped filming Northeast-based shows which includes "30 Rock," "Law & Order: SVU," "Smash," "Infamous," "Do No Harm," "Maury," and "Steve Wilkos"
• Showtime stopped filming "Nurse Jackie" and "The Big C"
• Warner Bros. stopped production on "Winter's Tale"

Natina Reed Dead: 'Bring It On' Star Killed In Car Accident At Age 32

Natina Reed of the late 1990s girl band Blaque has passed away, multiple publications are reporting.
The "Bring It On" star, 32, died on Friday, Oct. 26 after she was struck by a car while crossing the street in Georgia. According to the Gwinnett Police Department, the driver of the vehicle was "was determined to be not at fault and there are no charges pending." The driver also phoned 911 after the accident, at 10:30 P.M. Reed was pronounced dead at 10:59 P.M. at Gwinnett Medical Center. She would have been 33 Sunday.
Reed was known as one-third of the Atlanta-based group Blaque, who had hits like "808," "Can't Get It Back" and "Bring It All To Me," which featured 'N Sync's J.C. Chasez. She starred in 2000's "Bring It On" with band mates Brandi Williams and Shamari Fears-DeVoe. The rapper was a protégé of the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who was a member of TLC until 2002.
Fellow Blaque members Williams and Fears-DeVoe issued a joint statment today:

We are devastated by the loss of our group member, sister and friend Natina Reed. Because of the enormous support of Blaque fans and our love for each another, Blaque officially reunited this fall and we were in the process of working on a new album and a reality show. Natina continuously embodied the pioneering spirit of Blaque and her undeniable creativity touched the hearts of fans everywhere. Natina was a mother, sister, accomplished songwriter, artist and friend. We ask for your prayers at this time for Natina's family. She will forever be missed and her global influence eternally felt. We thank God for the experiences we shared.

Williams took to Twitter to share her grief about Reed's death, writing, "Last night the world was changed forever, life will never be the same....she was my sister."
And Gabrielle Union, who also starred in "Bring It On," simply tweeted, "#RIP #SAD #BringItOn."
Reed was reportedly working on a solo rap album, as well as a new movie and reunion with Blaque.
She is survived by her 10-year-old son, Tren Brown, with rapper Kurupt.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the nature of the accident as a "hit and run." It has been updated to reflect those changes.



Customers Reply:
The best known human trait is the attitude my way or the highway. All of your comments describe behavior that happens all over the planet. Humans are extremely lazy. One day we will realize that there are others out there and we missed our chance for survival while we were all having it our way. Religion is a perfect example of this and it follows that other religions have to be wrong or corrupting. Might as well go to war or beat someone up because of religion.

How many of you have figured out that the person next to you is also human and maybe you could get together and work on a better life for each of you? But then again it is so much easier sneaking around behind them and getting their money or property rather then working together to build enough for each of you.     --By
letsgetsmart

Whats creepy about this is... that lisa lopes weeks before her death in a car accident that was eerily recorded...accidentally killed a little boy in a car accident. and now her protege?                             ---By chickennwaffles

wow, the irony of left eye´s successor dying so young      ---By Myster Jack

Taylor Swift Reveals Meaning Of 'Red' Album Title

Taylor Swift famously wears her heart on her sleeve when writing lyrics about loves past and present, and her new album "Red" offers a peek inside her roller-coaster romances.
Swift titled her album "Red" to symbolize the ups and down of love. "I called it that because of the tumultuous, crazy adventures in love and loss that it chronicles. . . . In retrospect, it all looks red," Swift said, according to People magazine.
The superstar singer may be just 22 years old, but Swift -- who just broke it off with high-schooler beau Conor Kennedy -- has certainly had her fair share of relationships to know a thing or two about trials of the heart.
Swift sings about "Blue like I've never known/ Dark gray all alone" in the album's namesake single. On the pop-tastic "I Knew You Were Trouble," she sings, "I knew you were trouble when you walked in/ So shame on me now." The wrenching "State of Grace" is probably Swift's most vulnerable, in which she croons, "So you were never a saint/ And I’ve loved in shades of wrong/ We learn to live with the pain/ Mosaic broken hearts."
Relationships are tricky for Swift, who is still trying to figure it all out. “I don’t know how to have a normal relationship because I try to act normal and love from a normal place and live a normal life, but there is sort of an abnormal magnifying glass, like telescope lens, on everything that happens between me and anybody else," she told Katie Couric, according to Entertainment Weekly. "So I don’t know how to do that correctly or anything. I don’t really know that much about love, it turns out.”
Bearing her heart on tracks helps the singer understand herself better. “The dust settles and I go to my own corner and actually figure out what I thought about [the relationship]," she told Couric. "Sometimes I don’t actually know how i feel about it until a write the song.”
Billboard reported that Swift's "Red" is set to debut atop the Billboard 200 with sales over 1 million in its first week. Industry sources believe "Red" will hit 1.1 million in sales, making her the only female to have two albums rocket over a million in a single week's frame.
On Friday, Swift announced that her next tour will kick off March 13 in Omaha, Neb. She will go on to play 29 states and three Canadian provinces.



Customers Reply:
Yeah... but ... she HAS had 7 boyfriends since she was 17. Ages 18 to 22 - 7 boyfriends? That's like 1.175 per YEAR! I mean, really, what sort of out of control slattern dates almost two men a YEAR?!?

And what of her young fans? Will they be seduced by her fame such that they might seek to emulate her slatternly behaviour? What if they are sucked into even exceeding her total? What if they were to date 1.79, or even 1.84 boys or young men a year???

Oh the Humanity. When will she be stopped? When will our children be saved from her corrupting influence? It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that she might date two, yes I'll go there, two men in 2013. Don't delude yourselves, IT COULD HAPPEN!

When will her MADNESS end?!? >snark                           ----Rich Velay

I didn't read the article but I'm guessing Stupid Songs Sung by a 20 year old That Sound Like They Were Meant For a 16 year old was already taken. So they went with Red.

I wish I never, ever, ever, heard that ridiculous song.        ---Patriot68

Why doesn't she take a break from all the dating she's been doing. It will not give me an excuse to write this comment down then. Besides, sometimes I think she purposely puts herself through this so that she can come up with more material for her albums but that's just mere speculation on my part. Furthermore, her lyrics are tired and really overdone and her sound is more or less the same                                                          ---blazingshuriken

For the life of me..I don't get her success. If it were someone like Stevie Nicks or Stevie because she's such a great songwriter singer..I could understand it...but I've listened to Taylor and her music is so blah-bland IMO. --catcancook

Alan Arkin Didn't Realize Bryan Cranston Was In 'Little Miss Sunshine'

Two years before he was Walter White, Bryan Cranston co-starred as the slimy Stan Grossman in "Little Miss Sunshine." For those who don't remember his appearance in the film (click here for a refresher), fear not: Neither did "Little Miss Sunshine" co-star Alan Arkin.
“Get out of here—I had no idea!" Arkin said to Cranston during an interview with Backstage when the "Breaking Bad" star mentioned his appearance in "Little Miss Sunshine." As Cranston recalled, Arkin being unaware of their prior collaboration was not an act; the two actors were coincidentally booked on the same talk show around the time of the film's release, but Arkin had no clue who Cranston was. "'I don’t know a Bryan Cranston! I don’t know who you’re talking about!'" Cranston heard Arkin shout. (It should be noted that the two actors didn't share a scene in "Little Miss Sunshine.")
Arkin has enjoyed being cantankerous during the "Argo" press tour. In an interview with Vulture, the Academy Award winner admonished reporter Jada Yuan after a misunderstanding about Zsa Zsa Gabor.

You have a pretty great Hollywood mansion in the movie. Yeah, that was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s actual house. Wait, I don’t think I know that name.
You don’t know Zsa Zsa Gabor? What are you, 23?
Oh! I thought you were saying “Josh.”
No, I was saying Zzzssssa Zzzssssa.

In another interview with HuffPost Entertainment sister site Moviefone, Arkin joked that he was too old to remember the Iranian hostage crisis at the center of "Argo."
"I have no memory of it at all," he said. "I don't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, so it's not surprising."
For more on "Argo" and the relationship Arkin has with both Cranston and Affleck, head over to Backstage.com.




I had no clue who Brian Cranston was before Breaking Bad. And even after I started watching the show I still didn't tie him back to Little Miss Sunshine (but maybe cause I really didn't like it that much so it wasn't very memorable to me anyway).                                   -----Widespread Panic

I just watched "Wait Until Dark" on the late late late show. Alan Arkin will always be the sinister, nasally weirdo psycho Harry Roat sr/jr to me. And the submarine captain in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming". Hmmmm....now feels like a good time to retreat to a darkened room with a stack of 70s era dvds and forget about how I'm living in a country where people will vote to have their benefits cut for no fathomable reason other than the obvious.                                     ------shantiquax

Justin Timberlake Homeless Video: Star Apologizes For 'Distasteful' Movie

Justin Timberlake is apologizing for a video that features homeless and incoherent people in Los Angeles congratulating Timberlake and his new bride, Jessica Biel. The eight-and-a-half-minute video, produced by Timberlake's close friend Justin Huchel, is called "Greetings from Your Hollywood Friends Who Just Couldn't Make It."

An excerpt of the video was first posted on the gossip website Gawker on Oct. 24 and generated much negative attention for what viewers felt was an insensitive and degrading treatment of others. It subsequently was taken down, after Huchel's legal team threatened a lawsuit against the site and called the video "a private joke without Mr. Timberlake's knowledge."
In a lengthy "open letter" posted to his website, Timberlake confirmed that he was unaware of the video but apologized for its existence nevertheless. He also said that the movie was not shown as his wedding, contrary to reports. An excerpt of his statement is below:

I'd like to start off by saying that I don't live my life making fun of people (unless, of course, I'm making fun of myself on SNL)... Especially, those who are less fortunate or those in need. I grew up with a family and community that instilled ideals in me like hard work, honesty and empathy. As a matter of fact, growing up in Tennessee, I was always taught that we as people, no matter what your race, sex, or stature may be, are equal. We have a saying there that "Everyone puts their pants on the same way (maybe this saying doesn't apply to guys who wear kilts. Although, I'm sure they put theirs on the same way too…)" As it pertains to this silly, unsavory video that was made as a joke and not in any way in mockery:
1. I had no knowledge of its existence. I had absolutely ZERO contribution to it.
2. My friends are good people. This was clearly a lapse in judgment which I'm sure no one who is reading this is exempt from. But, I don't believe it was made to be insensitive. More so, I think it was made as a joke on me not having that many friends attending my own wedding (which IS kind of funny if you think about it).
3. Like many silly rumors that I have been made aware of about the week: It was NOT shown at my wedding.
4. I think we can all agree that it was distasteful, even though that was not it's intention.
Once again, in the world that we live in where everyone thinks that they know everything, I want to be very clear... I am NOT defending the video. I agree with the overall consensus. But, to use another "pants" analogy... It seems that these days, misconception gets around the world before the actual truth even wakes up and gets it's pants on.

Timberlake, 31, married actress Biel, 30, on Oct. 19 in southern Italy. The couple have been dating for four years and became engaged in December 2011, while vacationing at a mountain resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo.




"As a matter of fact, growing up in Tennessee, I was always taught that we as people, no matter what your race, sex, or stature may be, are equal."

As someone who also grew up in Tennessee, Justin must have mispoke, instead meaning his hometown of Memphis. The rest of the state does not espouse that belief. Quite the opposite.                          -----WeCanDoIt

I'm sorry, but this isn't a decent apology. He still doesn't get that it was not OK. He still thinks it is a joke because of the kilt joke he made. Not meaning it to be distasteful is no excuse, and no Mr. Timberlake, we do not all make that mistake: Just you and your friends.

If I had friends like that I don't think they would be my best friends. It's like making a racial slur and then saying, it was not meant to be in poor taste. Not good enough. It's pretty obvious the Mr. Timberlake still has a lot of growing to do. Not funny, and he obviously doesn't care, just concerned about his public image in Hollywood. Don't buy it at all.         -------carolineeaton

"As a matter of fact, growing up in Tennessee, I was always taught that we as people, no matter what your race, sex, or stature may be, are equal."
I grew up in Tennessee, and I can tell you that isn't what you were taught.

The fact that you're friend thinks going to homeless people and paying them to make this movie just tells you what you're friends think of homeless people.

So, dear Justin, here's the statement that you should have issued. "There is no excuse for the video that was made by my friend, so I won't offer one. I apologise to those on the video and those impacted by it.     -----Rosadraco

I don't blame Timberlake for what his friend did, but I can't say I understand his contention that it was "made as a joke and not in any way a mockery." If you're not meant to be laughing at the people in the video, what are you meant to laugh at?                                                 -----sarahw115

Login with Facebook to see what your friends are reading Enable Social Reading i Clint Eastwood's Daughter Francesca Is Not Voting For Mitt Romney (VIDEO)

Clint Eastwood may be Mitt Romney's most famous supporter, but his daughter isn't following in her father's footsteps.
TMZ caught up with the actress and model and asked her if she shared Clint's political views. "I happen to be voting for a different man," she said. "But I love that he stands up for what he believes in."
Barack Obama also recently mentioned the elder Eastwood, jokingly telling guests at last night's Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner to take their seats, "or else Clint Eastwood will yell at them."
The quip was a reference to Eastwood's speech at the Republican National Convention, where the actor berated an empty chair that he pretended was occupied by Obama. The moment was widely mocked and even taken as a sign of a derailed Romney campaign, though Obama would go on to say he is a big fan of the actor and didn't take it personally.
Obama noted that Eastwood is "a great actor and an even better director" and brushed aside the speech by adding, "if you're easily offended, you should probably choose another profession."







Reply:
My kids are not voting for Mitt either... When they grow up they will figure it out like I did. As soon as they realize they will get half of what their grandfather is leaving them when his estate is settled they will have a fit. He worked his fanny off his whole life and payed more than his fair of taxes on every dime he made while hardly ever spending anything on himself but I guess he needs to leave even more to the have nots instead of his family.     ----SUES4U

Ron Reagan, Stephanie Miller, CC Goldwater ... all running like crazy from the Republican politics of their Republican politico parents/grandparents; nothing terribly new or even surprising.

Funny how Democrats don't seem to have these defections, isn't it? Why is that, do you suppose? Intelligence from the younger generation? Republican parenting which makes their offspring flee in horror?.                        -----UnRed


Just because your father happens to be a senile old man that has taken to talking to chairs does not mean that you should follow his political stance. In fact, if my parents started talking to chairs, I would probably try and avoid any advice, especially that which was political in nature, that they had to offer.                                                              ---heatherox

Just because your father happens to be a senile old man that has taken to talking to chairs does not mean that you should follow his political stance. In fact, if my parents started talking to chairs, I would probably try and avoid any advice, especially that which was political in nature, that they had to offer. 
                                                                   -----satanlite

The GOP appeals to old angry white men so why would you expect her to vote for them? There's a demographic tidal wave coming and it's going to wipe out the GOP unless they can make a whole lot of young people stupid and angry!                                                      ---StopMakingSense2

My parents have voted republican for the past 30 years... Yeah... I know.. I know.... They are now going to be voting for O this coming month... I am so proud of them. They dont like the way these baggers are controlling the right wing and have taken hostage the ideology of the conservative party. I would hate to ask Mitt what that is, since.. he changes his mind every week.   ---Carlariz

'Cloud Atlas' & Yellowface: Wachowskis' Film Slammed By Group For Lack Of Asian Actors

Jim Sturgess in "Cloud Atlas"

"Cloud Atlas" is one of the most ambitious movies of 2012, and according to a new report from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, it also might be the most racially insensitive.
Directed by Andy & Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, "Cloud Atlas" tells six stories, with settings ranging from a 19th century shipping expedition to a post-apocalyptic island after the fall of modern society. Because of the sprawling plot, actors are cast as a variety of races and both genders; in one story, set in Neo Seoul in 2144, non-Asian actors like Jim Sturgess and Keith David wear makeup to appear of Asian descent.
"It appears that to turn white and black actors into Asian characters, the make-up artists believed they only had to change their eyes, not their facial structure and complexion," Guy Aoki, Media Action Network for Asian Americans president, said in a statement.
Aoki isn't the first person to accuse "Cloud Atlas" of using offensive yellowface (the process of using makeup effects to have non-Asian actors appear Asian); in a blistering post on the website Jezebel, Laura Beck called the Too Faced chocolate bar eye shadow decision "ugly, lazy, and inexcusable."
For their part, the Wachowksis understand the criticism, but hope people will actually see the film first to better understand the significance of the decision.
"That's good that people are casting a critical eye. We need to cast critical eyes toward these things. What are the motivations behind directors and casting? I totally support it," Andy Wachowski told HuffPost Entertainment. "But our intention is the antithesis of that idea. The intention is to talk about things that are beyond race. The character of this film is humanity, so if you look at our past work and consider what our intention might be, we ask that those people give us a chance and at least see the movie before they start casting judgement.
Echoed Lana Wachowski: "Their suggestion is that our tribes have to always remain separate. That the things that makes us different are essential elements to our representation and our identity. Why we were attracted to the book is that the book has a bigger perspective. The book suggests that there is a humanity that is beyond our tribe, our ethnic features. A humanity that is beyond our gender. A humanity that unites all of us and transcends our tribal differences. As long as we continue to build these intractable and insurmountable walls between us to make these distinctions, we will continue to have intellectual apparatus that allows us to make wars and that allows to dominate, exploit and destroy others. Because we don't think of them like we think about our own kind, our own tribe."
For more on the Media Action Network for Asian Americans complaint, head over to THR.


Readers' Reply:
If the directors truly wished to portray a future where the races have blended, then I wish they would have just every actor put on makeup to portray a type of unified race. I do understand that they are trying to portray a unified race, and the directors could actually have been trying to use artistic license. However I can also understand the outrage given the trend in Hollywood.

It's hard to not be slightly oversensitive to this especially towards Asian male characters that are usually renegaded to being the clown or being outright replaced by a white actor. In the latest Iron Man movie, the directors decided to "reinterpret" the main villain even though his entire back story is dependent on the fact that he was Asian. If Hollywood didn't seem to consistently do this on multiple movies, there wouldn't nearly be as much outrage about this incident.                                                    ------Ishik

Come on Hollywood Charlie Chan is history. Italians playing Native Americans are history. Blackface on white people wouldn't be acceptable. Kirk Douglas as a Mafia Don was downright silly. Ethnic actors bring details to the characters that the mainstream culture is unaware of and gives depth to the story. That's why the "Godfather" was such a good film, ethnic actors included details that enhanced the movie.                                                  ------Gerald OHare

Those Technicolor westerns in the 1950s had some of the most Hollywood poolside tanned Indians with the bluest blue eyes. But, the point here is that the stars are each portraying multiple reincarnated(?) characters over time. I suppose one or more of the stars could have been Asian, but wouldn't they then have to play some characters in whiteface or blackface?                 -------splenetic

I understand the complaints. There is nothing more horrifying than seeing Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's as a Japanese stereotyped character. After reading Cloud Atlas, though, I can see a couple of reasons for having actors play multiple characters of various races. The part of the story that takes place in Korea is set far in the future when gene manipulation of humans is the norm. Who can say what people would look like in such a future?     --------jayemjay

I remember when John Wayne played Genghis Khan and I thought, what a stupid idea. And all the Westerns Hollywood made and all the Indians were whites. The excuses sound exactly like the ones used back in those days and they don't hold water any better now than they did then. This sounds like "come watch the movie, see what we done and after we have your money in our pocket" it won't matter what you think. I don't believe they can come up with a really good reason other than they like working with well known white actors rather than Asian actors, if they even know any! Racism is not did in the movie industry.           -------TheHandyman

The "Asian Character" story in Cloud Atlas takes place in the far future, where humans have used gene manipulation to extreme excess in order to create designer faces and bodies. NO ONE has their original facial structure, eye shape, skin color in that story. Context is crucial here.              -------VoodooDarling

The theme of the movie is how everyone is connected through time. So, despite that section being set in Korea with Korean characters, the idea is that the same actors still show up, showing their connections through the eras.   ----rad96

Ben Affleck: Republicans 'Had A Chance,' Obama Isn't Perfect

Ben Affleck thinks Republicans lost their chance at winning the presidential election.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Ben Affleck is comparing U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to past campaign losers Al Gore, Michael Dukakis and Bob Dole.
But the actor and director, who has been outspoken in support of Democratic causes in the past, also doesn't offer full-throated support for President Barack Obama.
"I voted for Obama last time although he got to be all things to all people then," Affleck said in an interview to promote his new film "Argo." "And now he's got a record which makes it really different ... I obviously have more complicated feelings."
Affleck says Romney's inability to connect with everyday Americans is reminiscent of past failed candidates.
"I think Republicans really had a chance to win," Affleck said. "And they kind of ended up with like a sort of Mike Dukakis, Al Gore, Bob Dole type – who just couldn't get people to see him as a real person somehow. Romney just had such trouble coming off as just like the kind of person you see at the grocery store. And I truly believe that has cost him the election."
"It seems quite unlikely at least if you look at the statistics that he's going to pull it out. I think something happens in presidential politics where there's negative momentum. You start making mistakes and then all your advisers tell you, `You've got to raise your arms more!' `You've got to talk deeper.' So people just get into becoming robotic."
Affleck's "Argo," in theatres Oct. 12, chronicles a joint effort by the CIA and the Canadian government to rescue six Americans from Tehran after the U.S. embassy was taken over by Islamist militants in 1978.
Affleck, who has done lobbying in Washington and visited Africa several times for various causes, doesn't sound much of an optimistic note whatever the outcome in November.
"The world is a very tricky place in terms of foreign affairs. And really, really we're in very bad shape economically," he said. "My worry is less about the presidential election than whether or not we're on a permanent downtrend. That really concerns me. Beyond the Obama administration and whoever the next – the Clinton administration – whoever gets elected next. That's my main concern."



Readers' Review:
Romeny keep changing what he believe and stand for,he even takes other people ideals as last minute way out. I don't think he really knows what he believe he just whats to buy himself the title President, he all ready has everything else. Romeny do not care about the old, young or the poor. I don't think he is fooling anyone. see you at the election.                   -----Cynthia Malbrough-Walker


"And they kind of ended up with like a sort of Al Gore type – who just couldn't get people to see him as a real person somehow. "

Affleck does realize that Gore got more votes than Bush, right?                                      --JimmyJusticeUSA

Who is Ben Affleck and why should I care what he thinks about the election? Insert any actor's name in the headline: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, etc., and the story would be exactly the same. Why is this being thrust on readers under the guise of "news"?                 ------TaylorTay

I don't have a problem with what he had to say-- but I think most people had incredibly unrealistic expectations when Obama got elected. No one could have picked up this economy in less than four years, and I knew he'd get the blame for not being able to do so.

What I DO hold against this president is Arne Duncan and the viciousness with which they have betrayed America's public school teachers. The incredibly hostile atmosphere in which they are now forced to teach is one of the reasons I just left the field (despite ten years of stellar reviews).      ------Nicolajhedges

Ben you have lost a lifetime fan who has seen your movies abd will now never again watch them or buy them. Your comments are yours and you own them. This country made you a star now we look at your work as just a vehicle for your own wealth. You now belong to a group of people that will be considered cultish and branded                                                     ----krsdal


He stopped short of blasting Obama the way Matt Damon did because he is promoting a movie. I would have had more respect for him if he had just said, "I voted for the guy in 08 and I hate that I have to vote for him in '12 because he sucks." Matt Damon was so disrespectful to the President (saying he had no balls because he wouldn't "stand up to Wall Street") after having been such a supporter and very connected to the President in 2008. It makes total sense for Republicans and Independents to say those things but for a staunch Democrat who basically had a direct line to the President to turn on him in that manner... Me thinks he had unrealistic expectations of what the Black man could do for the country anyway. Oh well...                                                 ------Lucida

I 'm a pro-life voter and pro traditional family so I'm a steadfast Republican. Dems to me are immoral.
I feel sad to see abortion looked at as a blessing. This is why social security is failing partially but I am for opt out in regards to Social Security.
Our Country was great but we are getting lazy and want to not work. Very bad.
I think Gov. Romney can win in '12. He has business experience- just what we need now. President Obama had 4 years.... he proved unable to lead. He's too bent on changing us for the worse- more spending & entitlements and in a celeb- Washington elete bubble.
We need change now if we ever did. I'm voting for Change in 2012!!!!   
                                                           ------Betlina

You're entire post was kind of a head-scratcher and offensive besides. Howsomever, this sentence stood out in it's total failure to make sense. "I feel sad to see abortion looked at as a blessing. This is why social security is failing partially but I am for opt out in regards to Social Security."
Huh?
OK. *First sentence in that quote: NO ONE sees abortion as a blessing. What people see as a "RIGHT" is the right to make their own medical decisions, including whether to end an unplanned or accidental pregnancy--what's a blessing is that women can hold off having children until they can support them and they can control how many they have. (i.e, women in poverty not being able to plan their pregnancies; having too many kids making them even MORE unable to dig their way out of poverty--includes generational poverty)
*Second sentence: What in the world does Social Security failing/succeeding have to do with abortion???

As for rest of post? Ah, just keep watching Fox, vote for R&R, and keep on thinking they will make positive changes. Delusion can be a fascinating place in which to hang out.                                        ------cheo

Ya know, Ben part of this is OUR fault...

WE are the ones that bought the "hope and change" thing without recognizing that it was IMPOSSIBLE...Washington can NOT be changed unless we change every single politician there at one time which is impossible due to our system. Every new person has an elder corrupt person waiting for them when they arrive. WE put the pressure on, WE believed all this was possible...Obama hasn't been who I thought he should be but not for one second do I believe McCain/Palin would have been any good nor do I believe romney/ryan would even TRY to help the majority of us. Their platform is simpler and easier to keep their promises because they are promising NOTHING to anyone but themselves.

How could they go wrong that way?                         -------robv89121

America is more than an economy. There's a gigantic social, cultural and philosophical difference between the right wing Republican Evangelical Tea Party agenda and the Democratic agenda. Even in bad times economically, people can survive if they pull together and see value in one another beyond money. Sure, we want jobs and manufacturing and credit. We also want healthy children, education, safe homes, clean air and a chance to be happy. Democrats offer social safety nets so we don't have to worry if we get sick and have need food or a doctor. I think basic food-shelter security is important to people right now. And it's not just financial, it's which leader sees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as something everyone deserves, who believes in the Declaration of Human Rights.                                                   -------BlogAngel