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Aren't you always saying that people should read Nikki with a huge grain of salt because people with ulterior motives are always feeding the troll. Yet, you seem to be reporting this as if it's news and even end with it your own statement that you thinks it makes him look like a nasty piece of work. I'm confused. If Finke is so despicable and suspect why does this even rate a mention by you?

I don't think that email makes him sound nasty at all. If it ssid they asked him and he said fuck you, maybe. And so what if had a feud, creative types will always have feuds with executives who look at money money money only and all the time. You wonder why these people didn't just go into insurance or something, except that you don't meet so many hot women selling insurance.

Agreed. I'm wondering (pure unfounded speculation) if this is a side-swipe attack in the form of a 'defense of friend' letter. It certainly may turn out having the same effect as an out and out attack letter. And if that was the intent, the smartest thing they could do would be to send it to someone like Nikki under the guise of a 'defend the artist' note, knowing full well that she'd print it and that websites like this would endlessly debate it, to say nothing of it getting play in Entertainment Weekly and the like.

Perm, it depends on wear you sell the insurance.

That aside, Apatow may or may not be a piece of work, but, are we really suppsed to take this letter's word for it? Really?

Krazy - I find myself walking that line all the time.

Nikki, as a journalist, is only despicable because she runs a lot of one-source information that pretends to be reported news, she hides her sourcing which is often petty and self-interested, and because her off-the-page behavior is often disgusting.

But pretending that she and what she publishes doesn't exist isn't a viable option for me - or any other journalist - either.

When something like this comes up, it is what it is. She is not pretending that it's something else. I don't think she is this kind of liar. She may be misleading readers by saying it's a "prominent filmmaker" to throw people off the scent. But probably not. Not her kind of lie. And sadly, I understand how Nikki lies all too well.

Avoiding writing about it it would be, it seems to me, petty on my part if I feel free to mention her when she does things I consider negative. This seems to be as simple and as complex as what it IS.

But I completely understand what you are questioning, as I question it all the time. Just leave her alone... stay out of it... pretend she doesn't exist... OR slam every bad thing she posts (an every day job). I am somewhere in the middle. I don't know that it is the right call. But I consider it often and keep trying to do what I feel is right.

Yeah but you threw your opinion in about it..that the email makes him seem like a nasty piece of work. Which it really doesn't, good filmmakers should fight with studios.

If I wanted to keep up with Nikki's news, I'd go to DHD.

Virtually no one is well served by complete control... neither filmmaker nor studio, Perm.

I think you'd have to have aspergers not to read this as a complete stitch up from an exec. The emailer didn't see the 3.45 cut. They know about it though. The emailer is not a friend of Apatow's. How many veiled digs masquerading as affirmations do you need to convince you?

The whole running time debate on his films is frustrating as the boxoffice and critical kudos will be thrown back in your face if you say 'way too fucking long'. Apatow is so jaded and I bet there's a seething hatred for execs from how they treated him in tv but he's really hurting himself by not getting stronger advice on how to trim the fat. All of his films would really benefit from tightening.

Some may even stand the test of time.

I don't think filmmakers should have COMPLETE control...but they shouldn't kiss ass either. Many of the best movies were made when filmmakers did exactly what they wanted and told the studio to fire them or fuck off...but admittedly, some of the worst were made that way too.

Wow, I can't believe there was a 3:45 cut. But when you do a movie with a lot of plot threads and improv, that can happen.

Yeah, this letter just reaffirms what most people knows: studios are complete wimps when they are dealing with a "hot commodity". They describe it as "artist friendly" but you could just say "spineless".

They both deserve the fate they get. This movie would still have problems if it were 30 minutes shorter, but it'd probably be better.

I wonder how many people who have never heard of Nikki get directed to her site thanks to David?

David, I love you, but I did not sign up here to read a gossip blog.

Joe, I know I'd never heard of her until I came here.

I think JBD is correct.

If he did, indeed, refuse to cut the film then good for him. He was wrong. But he failed on his own terms.

The money men won't like that. And as David said the other day guys like Harvey Weinstein know how to salvage things quite well.

A movie like this does need to breath. But not for that long. Maybe he has believed too much of his own press. Maybe he felt the cut was what he wanted. Fine. If you're gonna die, then die on your terms. But you also end up with a shorter leash next time.

I'm with the "movies are too long" crowd now. Not always...some need to be. But not comedies. Not ROTF. G-FORCE was 2.7 hours. Or felt that way.

Everbody flops. The pile on happens. I hate that. I will still watch KNOCKED UP when it's on cable. Learn from it. Move on.

And ALIENS IN THE ATTIC was better than it was treated. Joe Dante could have done better. But it was like a movie I wanted to see when I was 10. Reminded of THE GATE.

Kids movie fatigue is setting in. SHORTS next week. SPY KIDS is wonderful. But whoever scheduled these releases is are all fucking retards. Rob Zombies H2 will feel like a breath of fresh...putrid air.

How wide is PONYO going? Not worried because I won passes from Capone at AICN to a screening in Chicago Thursday. My girls cannot wait. Nor I.

Damn. One more thing. That HURT LOCKER number hurts me. $15 million total is a travesty. There had to be a better time to open this. The roll out failed. It should reach at least $50-60 million. It is, in it's way, a crowd pleaser. Like THE WRESTLER, and the gross for that in unforgivable.

RE: WRESTLER. Crap DVD. Is there a special edition in the works? Aronofsky needs to do so. THE FOUNTAIN, too. Love that movie but I don't understand jack squat. I'm dumb I suppose.

Yeah, but the point is that his films have ALWAYS been too long (even the most critically-acclaimed of his productions, "Superbad"). I'd argue that some of the stuff that "should" be cut is often the best stuff but, in any case, the only reason this is getting so much attention this time is that the movie isn't a smash.

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