YOU RAN RIGHT INTO THAT ONE

Come on President Obama. I'm no political strategist, but with the November midterm election right around the corner, I would never have handed the Republicans a meaty bone the size of OK-ing a mosque being built near Ground Zero. Like the Roadrunner, Republicans painted a tunnel on the side of a rock. The Roadrunning Republicans ran right through the tunnel. And President Obama ended up like Wil E. Coyote - instead of zooming through the tunnel, you ran right into the rock wall. Who is running strategy at the White House? Politics 101 students at GWU?

How a Manhattan based zoning issue turned into a national referendum is beyond me, but this is the polarizing political climate we live in today. I'm not sure I understand why is this even a discussion? If a Christian or Jewish terrorist group had committed a terrorist act, would we stop building temples or churches in the United States? No. So why hurt an entire religious group of Americans and punish them for something they had no part of?

90% of the people upset around the country have never even been to New York City. Or seen Ground Zero recently and then walked 2 long blocks away where the Muslim Center is being built. The Muslim Center (that has a mosque inside) will completely rejuvenate that neighborhood. This is a private citizen issue, not a federal political issue. The government has no business or justification to do anything. And that's written into the U.S. Constitution. For those worried about national security, come on. You think the Department of Homeland Security isn't all over that center already? The CIA & FBI will pick up any terrorist who heads to New York City to see the "glory of the mosque."

Everyone please calm down. Building on the World Trade Center site is one thing. Building "near" it is a complete non-issue.

ZAC EFRON IS GOING TO BE A HUGE MOVIE STAR

But not if he keeps making movies like Charlie St. Cloud. What a terrible film. It was like a bad Lifetime movie on a 3rd rate cable channel. You expect me to believe that everyone in this small little town is stunningly beautiful (including the never explained annoying 20 year old Russell Brand clone) and they all work in a graveyard? Everything about the movie was bad. It was like a kid version of Ghost. The movie was just pointless, but damn, the camera does love Zac Efron.

Mr. Efron has it all, the expression, the look, he eats up the screen when he's on camera, and he definitely has the soulful eyes acting down. And that's really all you need to be a movie star. Soulful eyes.

Fortunately I have to give Mr. Efron's management team credit for signing and overall deal for Zac Efron with Warner Bros. Studios. He's trying to transition his career from teen star into serious adult actor. And while I get where he's going with this, a few more misstep like Charlie St. Cloud and this could be the has been who never was story.

In my opinion what Zac Efron really needs is a film where he has a gun in his hand. Look, the kid is in his prime. The scenes where he was fake water-sliding in CSC showed off his well known dancing physique. He's got his late 30's and 40's to be "Mr. Pretty But Serious Academy Award Contender" Until then, pick a superhero picture or something with you killing bad guys and getting hot girls. Bang out a few worldwide $200 million dollar pictures and then you can take your pick of directors and art house films.

While Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors of all time, Zac Efron should be taking a page from Brad Pitt's book. Work the whole matinée idol in action pics, and then later do your Benjamin Buttons while your with whoever the next Angelina Jolie is. (And after Jonah Hex flopped and she got fired from Transformers 3, Meghan Fox is definitely not the next Angelina Jolie. Meghan Fox cooled down quick).

Warner Bros. will make you a huge movie star Mr. Efron. You heard it here first.

ANGIE JO ROCKED IN SALT!

Tom Cruise made a HUGE mistake not making SALT his next film. I don't know what he was thinking or who advised him when he passed on the movie to make one of Summer 2010's many movie bombs, Knight & Day. Tom Cruise's career had just been resurrected after he had a worldwide hit with Valkyrie. His career was back on track and he could have his pick of films with 5 different scripts from 3 different studios. Mr. Cruise chose most unwisely.

When Tom Cruise passed on SALT and Phillip Noyce (who directed Ms. Jolie in 1999's Bone Collector) was signed to direct, Ms. Jolie made a great selection for her next feature film. Sony made a very smart move retooling the script for her. The script is tight, the directing is fast paced, and once SALT starts up it never slows down. In effect, it's the perfect summer popcorn action thriller.

And Angelina Jolie is great in it. She's sexy, fierce and doing most of her own stunts. In effect, you're watching a movie star shine as bright as a supernova. And I have to give Angelina Jolie a ton of credit for being such a talented actress. People forget that behind her large family, famous husband is a young woman with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the only actress working in Hollywood today who can 1. Open a movie on her own and 2. go from showy, sexy action star roles to Academy Award nominated performances playing a frail, weak mother in 1920's Los Angeles (The Changling). Her talent, sexiness, looks, beauty, inner strengths and weaknesses are all on full display in SALT. Seriously, she's worth the $20 million Columbia paid her to make the movie.

And while I'm gushing about Angie Jo, Christmas comes early for me this year. Sony just announced that her next Tom Cruise passed on script, The Tourist will be released on December 10, 2010 with Johnny Depp. Awesome! It's just like 2008 when we were treated to Angie Jo in Wanted and in December, The Changling.

A BUSIER SUMMER?

Last summer I was moving from Miami Beach to Los Angeles. I had to pack up all my clothes, put my car on a flatbed for transportation across the country, shut down my Miami work and start up my LA work, find a broker to find a tenant to rent my condo (I found the broker, but not the tenant), pack for 2 weeks while my life was shipped across the country, coordinate my move out of Miami, coordinate my move to Los Angeles, shut down my utilities in Miami, make an appointment with the real estate agent in LA, say goodbye to my Miami friends, pack the bird and prep. for 2 weeks in New York City & Fire Island, fly up to NYC from Miami and then after my vacation from New York City to LA. Needless to say, it was a lot of coordinating, scheduling, planning and preparation.

This summer I moved apartments in LA, flew to NYC and onto Tuscany (travelling to Florence, Pisa, Siena and Cinque Terre), back to LA for a week of work, then back to NYC to spend the 4th of July on Fire Island. I went back to NYC for work at the end of July, flew to San Francisco for a wedding and then Brandon moved into our new apartment at the beginning of August. PHEW!

So which summer was busier?