From IMDb:

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe’s hit new movie American Gangster is at the center of a new legal fight, after upsetting a retired Drug Enforcement agent in New York. The narcotics detectives are far from happy with the way they are depicted in the gritty new movie, which follows the fortunes of 1970s heroin kingpin Frank Lucas and the cops trying to bring him to justice. And one of the police officers, who worked the Lucas case, is now threatening to sue movie studio bosses at Universal for what he claims are “false and defamatory statements.” Gregory Korniloff’s attorney Dominic Amorosa has sent a cease and desist letter to the studio heads demanding a retraction of statements made in the film, according to Tmz.com. The letter alleges that several key facts in the movie are misleading. Korniloff was the case agent for the DEA and “personally participated in the search of Lucas’ house… and the arrest of Lucas.”

I suspect that the DEA will lose this suit because the movie isn’t presented as a documentary but rather based on/inspired by actual events.  That gives the writers/directors/producers quite a bit of leeway and poetic license to add/remove facts as they wish (or as I call it, to Hollywood-ise the story).

The DVD giveaway is now closed and the 3 winners have been notified by email.  Congratulations to the winners!

I live in New York state.  So I have been following Gov Spitzer’s now-abandoned plan to give driver licenses to those who are here illegally.  Now, another blog I just read makes a great point.  In New York, it’s a bloody pain to get any form of ID from the Dept of Motor Vehicles.  Every ‘i’ must be dotted and every ‘t’ crossed, just so.  You have to provide a certain number of ‘points’ of proof of identity, and certain documents are worth a certain number of points.  People, legal residents–people who were born in this country–can be (and have been) denied an ID with all their valid point of ID, simply because of a (legal) name change (read the linked blog above).

Now, MY big sticking point is the word illegal.  Once upon a time people who were found to be illegal were deported.  Now they get drivers licenses.

I understand some of the thinking behind them: for one, they’ll be able to get car insurance, so if there’s an accident, there is coverage.  Two, it can be a way to track illegals (Hilary Clinton’s words).  WHY track them?  Either give them legal status or take the necessary steps to uphold the law you swore to uphold when you were elected.

Spitzer scrapped his plan in the face of massive criticism.  Well, today, CNN.com has a column by Ruben Navarrette Jr, criticising us critics, saying we are in denial, and playing the racism card.

Excuse me?  I have a problem with illegal immigrants, whether they come from North of the Border, South of the Border, Europe, Asia, or Arab countries.  That does NOT make me racist.

Woot!!  FINALLY a new Cloverfield trailer was released.  It’s officially called Cloverfield now.

Go to Empire to watch a good quality or watch the youtube, below.

The IRS now has an email address to send those phishing messages to.  I recommend you do so in order to help them shut down the phishers.  If you use Gmail, forward the email to the IRS before you click ‘report phishing’.  Once you click that you are unable to forward it.

The IRS cautions that it does not initiate email contact with any member of the public, EVER!!

Here are the instructions for forwarding:

The good news is that you can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from the IRS, you can relay that e-mail to a new IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov

Here is my original post:

Lately I’ve been getting messages in my email telling me that the IRS has determined that they owe me money–anywhere from $99 and change to more than $400.

Big problem. I haven’t worked in almost 4 years because of a disability. I have had no income, therefore no INCOME tax return is possible.

Another big problem. The link the email provides does NOT go to the IRS. It starts as a link to DSMLoggers and ends up at a www.ohmarshop.com domain.

The site asks for your DEBIT card number, your CV2, which is the authentication that most online sites require in order to complete a purchase (basically it ‘proves’ you have possession of the card), AND your PIN.

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that
you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $99.23.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 3-6 days in order to
process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access your tax refund, please click here [link intentionally broken by LCP Intern]

Best Regards,
Internal Revenue Service
© Copyright 2007, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.
TAX REFUND ID: A29R113

Here is a copy of the message. Here is the destination link . Whatever you do, DO NOT provide ANY information at the link.

A prolonged strike could affect awards shows including the Golden Globes, Emmys, Grammys, SAG Awards, and possibly the Oscars.   December is nominations month for all except the Oscars, which are announced in January.

Writing for the shows starts after the nominations–sometimes the very next day–and doesn’t end until the show is off the air.

“You’re responding to what happens during the course of the show, so there’s writing going on all evening long,” he said, adding that nearly every part of the program is the work of the writers — “anything basically except an acceptance speech.” –  Bruce Vilanch, writer, Academy Awards

Neal Sacharow, a WGA spokesman, indicates that the WGA is unsure how the shows will be affected but confirms that many of them are “written under WGA contracts.”

CNN Showbiz

DAVID LETTERMAN will pay staffers through the year’s end out of his own pocket.

A spokesperson for Dave’s Worldwide Pants Inc., which produces both shows, tells ET: “Next week’s tapings of ‘The Late Show’ and the ‘Late Late Show’ have been canceled and we will continue to make a week-by-week determination about future tapings. However, it is important to Dave that our staff members have some degree of support during this uncertain time. Therefore, Worldwide Pants, which independently produces both shows, will continue to pay the non-writing staff of the shows — fully compensating lower-salaried employees, and providing a substantial portion of salaries for those at the higher end — at least through the end of the year. Of course, we all want to get back to work as soon as possible, and it remains our hope that both sides in this dispute will make progress toward that end. In the meantime, we will continue monitoring this situation closely as we make decisions regarding our future production schedule.”

He is the first to guarantee employees a paycheck during the writers strike.

Entertainment Tonight

The Human Statue of Liberty-I’ve never seen this one before. I verified it with Snopes; it is true.

If you want more info on the picture, click the Snopes link above–there is plenty of info and a couple more links.

Thanks to the generous folks at Lionsgate and M80, I have (3) copies of Danny Roane: First Time Director to giveaway.

For my review, click here.

If you are interested, email contact.gnn1@gmail.com with your name and contact email (if different from the one you are contact me from).  I’ll assign a number, based on the order I receive the emails, and use a random number generator to pick the winners.

The contest closes Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) unless I have less than 3 entries.   If I have exactly 3, those 3 will be the winners.

Sorry, but this contest is open only to residents of the US.

Got this in my email from a CW update.

Why just tell all your friends about Smallville when you can share your thoughts with the world? Smallville and Sprint are offering one fan a month the opportunity to be featured in an online video series as part of the Smallville Vlogger promotion.

To try out, just upload a video blog audition of you talking about any Smallville episode of your choice, including this week’s Blue, where Clark is stripped of his powers (Thursday 8/7c). If you win over the judges with your wit and charm, you’ll be selected as the Vlogger of the month. Good luck!