I N T E R N A T I O N A L
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 1 7th year
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Monday, December 15, 2014
Can Amy Pascal’s career survive Sony cyberattack?
LOS ANGELES — Amy Pascal, one of the most powerful women in the man’s world that is Hollywood and the force behind such critical and commercial hits as “The Social Network” and “American Hustle,” has had better days. The co-chairman of the studio and chief of its film division is under fire for racist remarks about President Obama’s presumed choice in movies that surfaced in emails made public by the Sony cyberattack. Pascal also faces criticism for green-lighting the film that may have inspired the hacking to begin with: “The Interview,” which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as bumbling journalists tasked with killing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea has denied responsibility for the attack, but praised it as a “righteous deed.” Earlier this year, the country’s foreign ministry said the film’s release would be an “act of war” and promised “merciless” retaliation. “The Interview” is not the first film to target political leaders, or even North Korea. “Team America: World Police” famously took aim at Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il. This also isn’t the first time a powerful executive has been dogged by private comments made public. But can Pascal’s career survive such a double whammy? The 56-year-old thinks so. “I’d be surprised if my entire legacy was
based on the leak of the email exchange,” Pascal told industry website The Wrap on Thursday. Virtually unknown outside of Hollywood, her nearly 20-year tenure at Sony and Columbia Pictures has included some very well-known films, such as “Skyfall,” ‘’Superbad,” ‘’Salt,” ‘’Fury” and “The Equalizer.” Pascal was fourth on The Hollywood Reporter’s annual ranking released this week of the most powerful women in entertainment. She apologized Thursday for the “insensitive and inappropriate” comments in her emails that she says are “not an accurate reflection of who I a m . ” O s car-
winning producer Scott Rudin, who participated in the racist exchange, apologized as well. Rudin, incidentally, was a producer of “Team America.” The massive Sony hack not only revealed private emails sent by top executives, it also made thousands of employee Social Security numbers public and leaked five new Sony films, including “Annie,” which opens next week. The juiciest aspect, though, has been the emails, which offer an uncensored peek behind the curtain at how Hollywood does business. In one of the messages, Rudin called Angelina Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat.” Pascal and Jolie crossed paths this week at an industry breakfast event, but no fireworks flew. Ironically, the flap over the hack attack could boost box office returns for “The Interview,” which opens on Christmas. “The circumstances are nothing anyone would covet or want in their marketing plan... But now that it’s happened, it may end up helping the movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “It’s raised the awareness of the film to an incredible level that it otherwise might not have enjoyed were it not Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File for this situation.” Amy Pascal
Entertainment
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‘Unbroken’ strikes a nerve in Japan over WWII past
TOKYO — Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Unbroken” has not been released in Japan yet, but it has already struck a nerve in a country still wrestling over its wartime past. The buzz on social networks and in online chatter is decidedly negative over the film, which depicts a U.S. Olympic runner who endures torture at a Japanese prisonerof-war camp during World War II. Some people are calling for a boycott of the movie, although there is no release date in Japan yet. It hits theaters in the U.S. on Dec. 25. Others want the ban extended to Jolie, the director — unusual in a nation enamored with Hollywood, and especially Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt, who have reputations as Japan lovers. The movie follows the real-life story of Louis Zamperini as told in a 2010 book by Laura Hillenbrand. The book has not been translated into Japanese, but online trailers have provoked outrage. Zamperini, played by Jack O’Connell, survived in a raft for 47 days with two other crewmen after their B-24 bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, only to be captured by the Japanese and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Especially provocative is a passage in the book that accuses the Japanese of engaging in cannibalism of POWs. It is not clear how much of that will be in the movie, but in Japan that is too much for some. “There was absolutely no canni-
balism,” said Mutsuhiro Takeuchi, a nationalist-leaning educator and a priest in the traditional Shinto religion. “That is not our custom.” Takeuchi acknowledged Jolie is free to make whatever movie she wants, stressing that Shinto believes in forgiveand-forget. But he urged Jolie to study history, saying executed war criminals were charged with political crimes, not torture. “Even Japanese don’t know their own history so misunderstandings arise,” said Takeuchi, who heads his research organization, the Japan Culture Intelligence Association. Hollywood films that touch on sensitive topics for the Japanese have had a troubled history here. Theaters canceled screenings of the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary “The Cove” about the bloody dolphin hunts in the Japanese town of Taiji after the distributor was deluged with threats from people who said the movie denigrated the “culture” of eating dolphins, although most Japanese have never eaten dolphin or whale meat. Roland Kelts, a journalist and expert on Japanese culture, called the outburst over “Unbroken,” like the frenzy over “The Cove,” ‘’banal and predictable.” “None of them have even seen the film, and while it is based on one man’s story, it’s a feature, not a documentary. There are plenty of movies that depict the brutality and inhumanity of war,” he said.(ap)
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AP Photo/Universal Pictures
In this image released by Universal Pictures, Jack O’Connell portrays Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini in a scene from “Unbroken.” Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Unbroken” has not been released in Japan yet, but it has already struck a nerve in a country still wrestling over its wartime past.
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Monday, December 15, 2014
Phenomenon of marine debris hits Badung
MANGUPURA - Marine debris problem on a number of tourist beaches in Badung becomes a concern for the tourism sector. Although in general the target for the number of tourist arrival in 2014 has been met, the anticipation is still being done in order to maintain the image of Bali tourism, particularly in Badung. “Marine debris has become a phenomenon every year. One thing should be understood is that government cannot stop the arrival of the rubbish. This issue becomes a particular concern because we do not want if tourists will be disappointed with the tourist destinations they visit so that it can tarnish the tourism image,” said the Head of Badung Government
Tourism Office, Tjokorda Raka Darmawan. As a precaution, the Badung Government Tourism Office has sent a letter to the association of tourism, management of beach destination and other stakeholders related to tourism. In essence, the office requested the association or the management of the beach to inform about the phenomenon of
marine debris. So, there would be no impression if the rubbish was not addressed properly. “From the beginning, we have asked the association to notify travelers that it is an annual phenomenon. The rubbish is coming up to next 3 months. After cleaned up today, it will come again and again. We do hope there will be no impression as if the coming rub-
bish is left untreated. Definitely the ranks of the Badung Sanitation and Landscaping Agency (DKP) continuously work hard to overcome the problem of marine debris,” he said. Furthermore, Raka Darmawan said that until November 2014, the number of tourist arrivals to Badung had reached 3.3 million people. It meant that the target in 2014 had been exceeded. Meanwhile, by the end of this year the number of visit was expected to reach 3.5 million people. By country, the travelers were still predominated by Aus-
tralia, China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. So far, the Badung government sought to improve the quality of tourist destinations. In relation to this matter, central government targeted the number of tourist arrival to Indonesia to reach 20 million people in 2019. Bali chiefly Badung should continuously make an improvement as becoming a gateway to Indonesia. Moreover, the neighboring countries were more aggressively improving the quality of their tourist destinations. (kmb25)
IBP/File Photo
This file photo showed tourists trying to walk passed debris at Kuta Beach. Marine debris problem on a number of tourist beaches in Badung becomes a concern for the tourism sector. Although in general the target for the number of tourist arrival in 2014 has been met, the anticipation is still being done in order to maintain the image of Bali tourism, particularly in Badung.