Cloud 9 star faces death threats!

Gary Busey, a star of the new motion picture Cloud 9, is being threatened by political and religious zealots because of his latest movie role.

The Oscar-nominated actor, who plays himself in Cloud 9, is being accused of “blood libel” against Jews for his starring role in the Turkish movie Valley of the Wolves: Iraq as a Jewish U.S. army doctor who cuts out the organs of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and sells them to wealthy foreign clients.

Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak in Turkish), is described by one Turkish newspaper as “our revenge for Midnight Express.” It’s breaking box office records in Turkey, is set for release in a dozen Arab and European countries, and was at the Berlin International Film Festival last week, looking for a US distributor.

The Jerusalem Post writes: “The Busey character, listed only as The Doctor, is far removed from the Jewish stereotype in both appearance and manner, but hardly a credit to his heritage…. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, noted that the cutting out of organs from innocent people ‘wasn't created out of thin air. It is a revival of the ancient blood libel against the Jews.’”

Debbie Schlussel (a self-styled “Jewish Ann Coulter” who was a frequent annoying caller to Howard Stern’s radio show--hey, whatever happened to Howard?) leads the attack on Busey’s life, writing in Frontpagemag.com that Busey is “now an official member of the Anti-Semite club. In the grand tradition of Hitler, the authors of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, etc., etc., etc.”

She adds: “We have a suggestion for all Jewish-American doctors: Since Gary Busey defamed you, refuse him as a patient.”

Debbie Schlussel is an idiot. Her fatwah on Gary Busey shows she’s no better than the Ayatollah or the Taliban, and if Howard Stern is still letting her call in to his satellite radio show, he ought to invite her into the studio and strap her in to the spanking machine.

Gary Busey’s an artist, as a viewing of Cloud 9, the hilarious motion picture written and produced by Burt Kearns & Brett Hudson of Frozen Pictures, and Academy Award-winner Albert S. Ruddy, will attest. The movie, starring Burt Reynolds, D.L. Hughley, Paul Rodriguez, Angie Everhart and Gabrielle Reece, is just out on Fox Home Entertainment DVD, and features the exclusive, side-splitting bonus feature, Being Gary Busey: The Cameo Outtakes!

Busey took on a difficult film role (in Valley of the Wolves, that is— in Cloud 9, he's playing Busey). He’s got nothing to apologize for. Nor does Anthony Hopkins (who plays an important part in Cloud 9), for playing Hitler.

Now watch. Drudge will pick up the story, Fox News and the talk radio idiots will then jump on the story and someone will start selling Gary Busey t-shirts of Gary Busey wearing a ticking time-bomb turban.

By the way, Busey was reportedly arrested last week at LAX. We wonder if there’s any connection.

Chris Montez & Gary Busey rock Paso Robles

The town of Paso Robles California is rumbling with the power of rock 'n' roll as the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival rolled on this afternoon with a concert at the Silvester Winery featuring Chris Montez, Gary Busey, Diamond Dave Somerville and Sonny Curtis.

Yes, that Gary Busey, who will be at the screening of his Oscar-nominated turn in The Buddy Holly Story, followed by an exclusive preview of The Chris Montez Story doco from our pals at Frozen Pictures. The line-up was also a tribute marking the deaths of Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper fifty years ago: Montez was Valens' heir apparent, Busey played Holly and Somerville displayed a personality as big as the Bopper's).

Musician/producer Vic Germano and Chris Montez

Rock on...

The dead Taco Bell chihuahua was NOT the dog from the classic sports comedy, Cloud 9

Fans of the classic beach volleyball motion picture comedy Cloud 9 can rest easy: the Taco Bell chihuahua who died tragically at 15 was not the little dog who co-starred in the hilarious cameo scene in which Gary Busey just about stole the movie from stars Burt Reynolds, D.L. Hughley, Paul Rodriguez, Angie Everhart, Gabrielle Reece, Katheryn Winnick, Kenya Moore, Bruce Bruce, Rick Overton, Pat Finn, Jeff Altman, John Caponera, Tony Danza and Tom Arnold!


Gidget was the name of the Taco Bell pup who succumbed to a stroke Tuesday. Moonie was the dog who appeared in Cloud 9. Gary Busey plays her owner, who grumbles and grouses while picking up Moonie's droppings. Busey's adlibs were so hilarious that the outtakes were compiled for the DVD extra, "Being Gary Busey."

Moonie also starred alongside Reese Witherspoon as Bruiser in Legally Blonde. Coincidentally, Gidget played Bruiser's mom in Legally Blonde 2.

Moonie and Gidget were best friends, and sometime roommates.


Cloud 9, the 2006 Frozen Pictures co-production written and produced by Brett Hudson and Burt Kearns along with two-time Academy Award® winner (The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby) Albert S. Ruddy, has incredible connections to Oscar® winners remains a pay-per-view and rental favorite in the States while its fame spreads around the world.


And mid-July is a great time to check it out!

Paso Robles loves Chris Montez movie

"This is only a preview of our film about Chris Montez-- and it was put together for a convention of Beatles fans..."

Director Burt Kearns' teasing introduction to the preview of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story was more than fulfilled last night as the Frozen Pictures film proved to be a hit at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival. The screening at the La Quinta Hotel attracted a crowd of filmmakers, actors and musicians, who cheered the music as well as the intriguing and surprising story of Montez's experience headlining a tour of England with the Beatles as his opening act-- the very month Beatlemania broke out in the UK.

Producer Brett Hudson & producer/directorBurt Kearns, star Chris Montez and producer and director of photography JB Blunck introduce the film preview

Brett Hudson, who shares producing duties with Kearns, promised the full movie will be released in 2010. Festival director Benford Standley said immediately that he wants to show it in Paso Robles.

Festival director Benford Standley, The Chris Montez Story's executive producer Oscar Arslanian and Chris Montez

More photos from the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival:


Chris Montez rehearses the all-star bandGary Busey dances to a terrific set by Diamond Dave Somerville that included a guest spot by Sonny Curtis

Kathleen Quinlan greets Gary Busey
Max Gail and Gary Busey

Cloud 9 could forecast Oscar's Best Picture

Oscar controversy abounds. Our Man Elli in Israel reports from Jerusalem that most everyone in Israel hates Spielberg’s Munich and that “The Revoke the ‘Paradise Now’ Oscar Nomination Petition is red hot, averaging well over a thousand signatures a day, and increasing speed. The revulsion being felt around the world over Hollywood's nomination of Paradise Now, a movie glorifying PLO suicide bombers, is palpable….”

And with Heath Ledger doing public anti-gay whinging and the Associated Press reporting that “while the cowboy love story ‘Brokeback Mountain’ has been established as a solid favorite for the best-picture Oscar, the ensemble drama ‘Crash’ has an ardent following and some late-season momentum that could make it a surprise winner…” We look to the Cloud 9 crystal ball and agree that Crash could be a winner… if only by default.

This site has already pointed out the uncanny similarities between Cloud 9, the surprise motion picture sports comedy hit of the 2006 DVD crop (written and produced by Burt Kearns and Brett Hudson of Frozen Pictures and Academy Award winner Albert S. Ruddy) and Best Picture nominee Crash-- and even more outrageously, the two-degrees-or-less-of-separation between Cloud 9 and every single major 2005 Academy Award nominee.

Now, research by the Tabloid Baby staff has revealed an even scarier, more wondrous connection: two degrees of separation --or less-- between Cloud 9 and every Oscar Best Picture winner of the last 10 years.

The research went back more than 30 years. There was the 1972 Best Picture Oscar, given to The Godfather and its producer Albert S. Ruddy, who’d go on to write and produce Cloud 9 with Hudson and Kearns.

In 1974, the Best Picture Oscar went to Cloud 9’s executive producer, Gray Frederickson, for The Godfather: Part II.

But we skip forward to the past ten years, and look at only the most obvious connections between these lauded films, and Cloud 9, the hilarious motion picture comedy now out on Fox DVD:

1995: Braveheart
Braveheart star, director and producer Mel Gibson is an important presence in Cloud 9's script. Billy Cole, played by Burt Reynolds, is supposed to deliver a ficus tree to Gibson's estate, and is constantly berated by Wong, the nursery owner played by Paul Rodriguez, for failing to do so.

1996: The English Patient
Harvey Weinstein of Miramax took home the statuette. Cloud 9 writers and producers Burt Kearns and Brett Hudson of Frozen Pictures worked with--and for-- Harvey when they produced and wrote Miramax’s first reality television project, The Best Money Can Buy (executive produced by ‘Crocodile’ Dundee director Peter Faiman).

1997: Titanic
Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio was the leading contender to star as the boy who masquerades as a girl soccer player in the 1992 comedy Ladybugs, produced by Cloud 9 producers Albert S. Ruddy and Gray Frederickson (Harry Basil, who directed Cloud 9, was associate producer on the project). Leonardo was rejected after it was decided that he was too pretty.

1998: Shakespeare in Love
See “The English Patient.” Cloud 9 writers-producers Kearns & Hudson produced the Miramax TV project while Weinsten bought-- uh, campaigned for-- the Best Picture Oscar that beat Private Ryan. Meanwhile, Cloud 9 movie-stealer Gary Busey and Ben Affleck starred in the 2003 "World Poker Tour" Hollywood Home Game. Ben was featured with Cloud 9 costar D.L. Hughley in Comedy Central’s Last Laugh ’04.

1999: American Beauty
Star Kevin Spacey appeared with Gary Busey in the 2002 television special, Inside the Playboy Mansion and 1999’s Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary.

2000: Gladiator
Star Russell Crowe appeared with Burt Reynolds in the film Mystery, Alaska. Costar Joaquin Phoenix showed up at the book party for Tabloid Baby, written by Cloud 9 writer-producer Burt Kearns, at the Bel Age Hotel on the Sunset Strip in 1999.

2001: A Beautiful Mind
See Gladiator for the Reynolds-Crowe connection. Also, Cloud 9 actor Rick Overton appeared in The Rocketeer with A Beautiful Mind’s Oscar-winning Best Supporting Actress, Jennifer Connelly.

2002: Chicago
Star and Oscar nominee John C. Reilly starred in Boogie Nights with Burt Reynolds (who received an Oscar nomination for his role).

2003: The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King
Cloud 9 star Burt Reynolds directed and starred in the film, The Last Producer, featuring Rings hobbit Sean Astin. Gary Busey’s son, Jake, starred in Rings director Peter Jackson’s film, The Frighteners.

2004: Million Dollar Baby
Cloud 9 writer and producer Albert S. Ruddy won his second Best Picture Oscar for this film. Ruddy signed the Million Dollar Baby deal with director Clint Eastwood on the Cloud 9 set in Pacific Palisades. Cloud 9 actors Ken Garito and Tony Danza appear in Crash, co-written and directed by Ruddy protégé and Million Dollar Baby writer Paul Haggis.

As for 2005? Now of course, there are connections between Cloud 9 and Brokeback Mountain, which were pointed out on this site (as well as the new screenplay by Brett Hudson and Burt Kearns of Frozen Pictures that has its own place in the Brokeback trend), so anything goes when it comes to Oscar voting.

But for now, the Cloud 9 Magic Volleyball is pointing toward Crash.

Can you find more Cloud 9 Oscar connections? Send them here!

And see clips from Cloud 9 here!

Exclusive! Oscar Picks based on links to Cloud 9!

With the 78th Academy Awards only hours away, it's time for Tabloid Baby to announce the Major Oscar Picks Based on Their Connections to Cloud 9.

Only weeks ago, all Hollywood was buzzing over their lattes about the uncanny, eerie similarities between Cloud 9, the hilarious beach volleyball comedy starring Burt Reynolds and written and produced by Burt Kearns and Brett Hudson of Frozen Pictures and last year’s Best Picture Oscar winner (Million Dollar Baby), Albert S. Ruddy, and this year's Best Picture nominee, Crash.

This da Vinci Code-like revelation was followed by the amazing two or less degrees of separation between Cloud 9 and every single one of this year’s major Oscar nominees (and a nostalgic look back at the two-or-less degree links between the Fox DVD and every Academy Award Best Picture of the past ten years).

Well, time for the Big Night. The Tabloid Baby staff has taken its Two Degrees or Less of Separation chart and used it to forecast the winners of this year’s Oscars.

These predictions are based on their proximity to Cloud 9 (which missed out on Academy Award consideration only by a matter of days and format— it was released January 4th on DVD).

They're not necessarily the Tabloid Baby staff picks. Some go far afield of conventional wisdom. But that's what happen when you stir up an incomprehensible blend of science and Hollywood magic. Here goes:

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) worked with Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights; Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) co-starred in Four Feathers with Brett Hudson’s niece, Kate; Joaquin Phoenix (Walk The Line) showed up at the West Coast party for Burt Kearns' book, Tabloid Baby; and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) worked with Cloud 9 movie-stealer Gary Busey in The Firm. BUT…

Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) appears in Crash with Cloud 9’s Ken Garito and Tony Danza!

CLOUD 9 BEST ACTOR PICK: TERRENCE HOWARD, HUSTLE & FLOW

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents) starred with Anthony Hopkins, who plays a key plot role in Cloud 9, in 84 Charing Cross Road; Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) is married to William H. Macy from Boogie Nights; Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) played an ex-stripper and performs a lap dance—a la Cloud 9’s Angie Everhart-- in Domino; Charlize Theron (North Country) appears with Mel Gibson (whose ficus tree is a plot point in Cloud 9) and Anthony Hopkins in Cinema Mil, and was nominated for a Razzie the same year Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone were nominated as Worst Screen Couple. BUT…

Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line) starred in Legally Blonde with the dog named Moonie, who appears as Gary Busey’s dog in Cloud 9!

CLOUD 9 BEST ACTRESS PICK: REESE WITHERSPOON, WALK THE LINE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney (Syriana) appeared with Cloud 9 costar Paul Rodriguez on the TV special, Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and with Tony Danza in the TV series Baby Talk; Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) played Pig Vomit in Private Parts, starring Howard Stern, who dated Cloud 9 star Angie Everhart; Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) starred in Day After Tomorrow, which featured KTLA show biz correspondent Ross King, who was in the running for the Tommy Z role in Cloud 9; and William Hurt (A History of Violence) and Burt Reynolds were in the documentary, Sex at 24 Frames Per Second. BUT…

Matt Dillon (Crash) appeared in Crash with Tony Danza and Ken Garito from Cloud 9!

CLOUD 9 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR PICK: MATT DILLON, CRASH

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Catherine Keener (Capote) starred in Death to Smoochy with Vincent Schiavelli, star of The 4th Tenor, directed by Cloud ‘s Hary Basil; Frances McDormand (North Country) appeared with Barbra Streisand (whose “home” and chair are featured in Cloud 9) and Mel Gibson at the 69th Academy Awards; Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) appeared with Cloud 9 star Tom Arnold on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 22, 2005; and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) and Cloud 9 actor Jeff Altman appeared on Baywatch. BUT…

Amy Adams (Junebug) has wrapped a new movie, Standing Still, which also stars Cloud 9 starlet Marne Patterson.

CLOUD 9 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS PICK: AMY ADAMS, JUNEBUG

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) co-wrote the screenplay for Tortilla Soup, which starred Paul Rodriguez ; Bennett Miller (Capote) attended NYU Film School, where Albert S. Ruddy thought “beach volleyball” upon seeing a Gabrielle Reece poster on his son’s dorm room wall; George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck) appeared with Gary Busey in the TV special, Inside The Playboy Mansion; and Steven Spielberg (Munich) directed Minority Report, which featured Cloud 9’s Paul Wesley, and 1941, featuring Cloud 9's executive producer Gray Frederickson as Lt. Bressler. BUT…

Paul Haggis (Crash) wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby, the film that won a second Best Picture Oscar for Albert S. Ruddy, and worked with Ruddy on the TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger.

CLOUD 9 BEST DIRECTOR PICK: PAUL HAGGIS, CRASH

And click here for the uncanny similarities between Crash and Cloud 9.

CLOUD 9 BEST PICTURE PICK: CRASH

There you have it.

Direct from Cloud 9’s Magic 9 Ball:

ACTOR: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Matt Dillon, Crash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams, Junebug
DIRECTOR: Paul Haggis, Crash
PICTURE: Crash

(And let's throw in:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Crash
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Munich (cowriter Eric Roth is Brett Hudson's pal-- he also wrote Ali, which starred Cloud 9's Paul Rodriguez.)