By Drew Grant 11/20/12 4:23pm

Animal Cruelty

Is this horse still alive? (Warner Brothers)

Update: PETA Responds to American Humane Society’s Hand-Washing of Hobbit Deaths

Earlier today, The Observer wrote an article that detailed the controversy surrounding the deaths of 27 animals at a Warner Brothers-owned farm in New Zealand. The Wellington farm housed trained animals for Warner’s $500 million production of The Hobbit.

While we cast some doubt over the timeline of the events that apparently exonerated both Peter Jackson and the American Humane Association (which is the only organization allowed to issue those “No Animals Were Harmed”™ disclaimers) from investigating the deaths, PETA–which is protesting the film’s release–offered us some insight into the matter. Read More

By Drew Grant 11/20/12 9:29am

Animal Abuse

Guess how many animals made it out this film alive (Warner Bros.)

No … Some … A Bunch of Animals Were Harmed in the Making of The Hobbit

Yesterday afternoon, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit hit its first scandalous speed bump after the AP spoke to several animal wranglers who claimed to have witnessed the deaths of at least 28 animals housed at a Warner Brothers-owned Wellington farm that was being used as a holding pen for the film’s four-legged characters.

After the leak about the avoidable demise of horses, sheep, goats and chickens, all there is left to do is find out who will fall on their mighty Glamdring for this PR disaster.

So far, the likely candidates include: Read More

By Christopher Rosen 6/30/10 1:02pm

Five MGM Movies That Need Saving

Unless you’re Nikki Finke and/or Mike Fleming, keeping track of how the floundering MGM continues to flounder while it’s up for sale is probably low on your list of concerns. But as savvy pop culture devourers, it might be a good idea to start getting a bit riled up. In fact, the list of Read More