Misplaced Pages

#472527

90-648: In 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported that 395 women had accused Toback of sexual harassment or assault over a 40-year period. Toback denied all the allegations. In 2022, thirty-eight women filed a lawsuit in New York accusing him of sexual abuse. Toback was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, the only child of Jewish parents Irwin Lionel Toback and Selma Judith ( née Levy). His father

180-501: A 168-page magazine about the opening of the sports arena. The magazine's editors and writers were not informed of the agreement, which breached the Chinese wall that traditionally has separated advertising from journalistic functions at American newspapers. Publisher Mark Willes also had not prevented advertisers from pressuring reporters in other sections of the newspaper to write stories favorable to their point of view. Michael Kinsley

270-521: A 1998 interview with People magazine, Natasha Gregson Wagner implied she accepted the role of Louise (nicknamed Lou in the film) because she wanted to appear in unconventional or controversial pictures, stating that "I like working with bold people who want to make an impact. I’m not interested in being just another pretty face." In 1997, Gregson Wagner had also appeared in David Lynch 's Lost Highway , and several independent features, including

360-788: A Democratic newspaper, were both afternoon competitors. By the mid-1940s, the Times was the leading newspaper in terms of circulation in the Greater Los Angeles . In 1948, it launched the Los Angeles Mirror , an afternoon tabloid, to compete with both the Daily News and the merged Herald-Express . In 1954, the Mirror absorbed the Daily News . The combined paper, the Mirror-News , ceased publication in 1962, when

450-548: A Guy takes a lot of dubious side trips and ends with an event so unexpected it could have come from a different movie. In her 2014 book Robert Downey Jr. from Brat to Icon: Essays on the Film Career , Erin E. MacDonald said "the entire premise of the film could be read as a stand-in for drug intervention." She notes that Blake's behavior in the film "has an undeniable subtext of Downey's real life destruction and denial. To hear his pathetic attempts to cover his transgressions

540-534: A May 2007, mostly voluntary, reduction in force , characterized the decrease in circulation as an "industry-wide problem" which the paper had to counter by "growing rapidly on-line", "break[ing] news on the Web and explain[ing] and analyz[ing] it in our newspaper." The Times closed its San Fernando Valley printing plant in early 2006, leaving press operations to the Olympic plant and to Orange County . Also that year

630-488: A book about his experiences as Brown's house guest, Jim: The Author's Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown (1971), which Salon described as "essentially a series of wild parties and orgies". Sociologist Calvin C. Hernton reviewed the book for The New York Times and wrote, "James Toback reveals as much about himself in this book as he does about his subject, Jim Brown." Toback's first major film success

720-550: A civil lawsuit was filed against Toback through the New York state Supreme Court after the Adult Survivors Act suspended the statutes of limitations for cases involving sex offenses for a one-year period. The lawsuit involves 40 of his accusers. Toback is married to Stephanie Kempf, who had edited Toback's first documentary The Big Bang in 1989. Toback married Consuelo Sarah Churchill Vanderbilt Russell in April 1968,

810-528: A commentary track with Downey Jr., Gregson Wagner and Toback that originally appeared on Fox's 2002 DVD release, as well as a 21-minute interview with Toback that was exclusive to the Blu-ray release. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a critic rating of 51% from 63 reviews, with an average rating of 5.66/10. The site's consensus reads, " Two Girls and a Guy has an intriguing premise and a talented trio of leads, but doesn't do quite enough with any of them to make

900-476: A director, "He's alive. He's in your face. He's trying. He's trying to do something amazing. And to see somebody trying to do that even if they don't always succeed is much more interesting than to see somebody who is not even trying to do it in the first place." Film historian and longtime friend, David Thomson , noted that "Jim is a member of a generation of young men who fell upon film with enormous creative excitement and did some very, very good work that has had

990-495: A double life for several months. Angry, they break into his loft and when he returns, a round of accusations and explanations begins. Robert Downey Jr. had previously worked with director James Toback on the 1987 film The Pick-Up Artist . Alongside The Gingerbread Man , Two Girls and a Guy was Downey Jr.'s first role after a 1996 drug arrest. Toback wrote the film's screenplay in response to seeing Downey Jr. handcuffed on television. He remembered, "I felt bad for him but at

SECTION 10

#1732786553473

1080-401: A featured role. The Oldenburg International Film Festival selected Toback and his work for its 2008 "Retrospective." Other directors have since re-made two Toback films. French director Jacques Audiard 's 2005 remake of Fingers as The Beat That My Heart Skipped won numerous Best Film awards. English director Rupert Wyatt re-made The Gambler in 2014 . Film executive Richard Albarino

1170-528: A local Metromix site targeting live entertainment for young adults. A free weekly tabloid print edition of Metromix Los Angeles followed in February 2008; the publication was the newspaper's first stand-alone print weekly. In 2009, the Times shut down Metromix and replaced it with Brand X , a blog site and free weekly tabloid targeting young, social networking readers. Brand X launched in March 2009;

1260-538: A number of major publications and writers, including The New York Times , Boston Globe critic Ty Burr , Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, and the websites The A.V. Club and Flavorwire , announced that they would boycott press screenings of future Disney films. The National Society of Film Critics , Los Angeles Film Critics Association , New York Film Critics Circle , and Boston Society of Film Critics jointly announced that Disney's films would be ineligible for their respective year-end awards unless

1350-551: A profound impact on cinema... But I do think that in that work in general, there is too much ignorance about how women see and feel the world and too little place for women in the work." Toback has been accused of sexually harassing young women. An article in a 1989 issue of Spy magazine detailed how Toback would "hang out on the streets of the Upper West Side in New York City, and approach women. According to

1440-403: A public park where Toback asked questions pertaining to the women's sex lives and rubbed his crotch on them or masturbated. Accusers include actresses Rachel McAdams , Selma Blair , Terri Conn , Caterina Scorsone , Julianne Moore , Becky Wahlstrom , and musician Louise Post . Toback claimed he was taking medication at the time of the alleged assaults that made it "biologically impossible" for

1530-459: A relationship which quickly ended in divorce. Documentary films Acting roles Unproduced scripts Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles , California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles area city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the nation and the largest in

1620-456: A single setting, leading some reviewers to compare the film to a stage play. Director James Toback told interviewers he wrote the film's screenplay in only four days and shot the film in eleven days. Two girls, Carla and Lou, meet on the street outside a loft waiting for their boyfriends. After a short time, they find out that they are waiting for the same guy – young actor Blake, who said that he loves both of them but had actually been leading

1710-413: A star. They write, "featuring one of the worst film performances in recent history (from newcomer Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of the late Natalie Wood ), this wildly over-the-top black comedy about two women who confront their 'shared' boyfriend doesn't score with any of the points it tries to make." Jack Mathews of the Los Angeles Times criticized the structure of the film, saying: " Two Girls and

1800-473: A team of Times reporters delivered management with a critique of the paper's online news efforts known as the Spring Street Project. The report, which condemned the Times as a "web-stupid" organization, was followed by a shakeup in management of the paper's website, and a rebuke of print staffers who were described as treating "change as a threat." On July 10, 2007, the Times launched

1890-550: A turn-off, especially among women." Regarding Downey Jr., McCarthy said he "shifts into various emotional modes with dazzling speed and dexterity." Writing from the 1997 Telluride Film Festival, Entertainment Weekly ' s Chris Willman said that the film received a "polarized response", claiming that some saw it as an endorsement of infidelity. However, he noted that "mass walkouts were reserved for 23-year-old Kids scribe Harmony Korine ’s directorial debut, Gummo , another verite parade of teens behaving badly (and killing cats in

SECTION 20

#1732786553473

1980-458: A womanizer and pickup artist . On October 22, 2017, Los Angeles Times columnist Glenn Whipp reported that 38 women have accused Toback of sexual harassment or assault. Toback denied these allegations, saying he had not met the women, or that if he had, it "was for five minutes" about which he had "no recollection". The alleged harassment occurred at meetings framed as interviews or casting auditions in places such as hotel rooms, movie trailers, or

2070-511: Is a fine actor, smart and in command of his presence, and he's persuasive here as he defends himself: 'I'm an actor. And actors lie.' There is a show-stopping scene when he looks at himself in a mirror and warns himself to get his act together." Janet Maslin of The New York Times said: "When actors fall into tabloid hell, their careers too often are already on the skids. But Downey, who recently completed jail time for drug-related problems, proves again here that he is, professionally speaking, at

2160-563: Is quoted as saying of Toback, "He never wrote or made anything he hadn't experienced first. He can't write fiction; he can only write diaries and dramatize them." Owen Gleiberman , chief film critic for Variety , called Toback's 2017 An Imperfect Murder "a thrift-shop psychological X-ray that demands to be taken on its own Tobackian terms. But even on those terms, it spends too much time telling us things that it should be showing us." Critic Roger Ebert , who panned The Pick-up Artist but praised Toback's other films, said of Toback that as

2250-433: Is to witness a man who knows all too well the feeling of being trapped. There's an uncomfortable degree of closeness to the actor's tabloid persona that Toback is clearly exploiting." When ranking the 59 films of Robert Downey Jr. in 2021, Kyle Wilson of Screen Rant placed Two Girls and a Guy 39th, calling it "a lively but indulgent roller-coaster ride that's saved by a seductively compelling performance by Downey." In

2340-565: The Brand X tabloid ceased publication in June 2011 and the website was shut down the following month. In May 2018, the Times blocked access to its online edition from most of Europe because of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation . In 1999, it was revealed that a revenue-sharing arrangement was in place between the Times and Staples Center in the preparation of

2430-615: The Chicago Cubs baseball club. He put up for sale the company's 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Until shareholder approval was received, Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad had the right to submit a higher bid, in which case Zell would have received a $ 25 million buyout fee. In December 2008, the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection . The bankruptcy

2520-580: The Democratic presidential candidate, rejected this alternative to endorsement, and after Donald Trump , the Republican candidate, alluded to the newspaper not having endorsed Harris, Mariel Garza, the editor of the opinion section, resigned in protest, as did two other members of the editorial board, Robert Greene and Karin Klein. Two hundred Times staff signed a letter condemning the way in which

2610-660: The Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios . The site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. In 1935, the newspaper moved to a new, landmark Art Deco building, the Los Angeles Times Building , to which the newspaper would add other facilities until taking up the entire city block between Spring, Broadway, First and Second streets, which came to be known as Times Mirror Square and would house

2700-638: The Los Angeles Daily Times , under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and Thomas Gardiner . It was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Caystile . Unable to pay the printing bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. In the meantime, S. J. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication. In July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara, California to become

2790-496: The Los Angeles Register closed. Two Girls and a Guy Two Girls and a Guy is a 1997 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by James Toback and produced by Edward R. Pressman and Chris Hanley. It stars Robert Downey Jr. , Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner . The film is mainly based upon dialogue between the characters. It occurs almost entirely in real time, and within

James Toback - Misplaced Pages Continue

2880-593: The Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The paper's early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history, Thinking Big (1977, ISBN   0-399-11766-0 ), and was one of four organizations profiled by David Halberstam in The Powers That Be (1979, ISBN   0-394-50381-3 ; 2000 reprint ISBN   0-252-06941-2 ). Between the 1960s and

2970-595: The NC-17 rated experimental drama film Glam . In 2018, Natasha Leggero alleged on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Toback sexually harassed her under the guise of potentially casting her for Two Girls and a Guy . Principal photography began during 1997 in New York City . Before filming started, Gregson Wagner convinced director Toback to remove a scene he originally wanted where her character masturbated to Downey Jr. and Heather Graham having sex, as she believed it

3060-594: The Poynter Institute reported that " ' At least 50' editorial positions will be culled from the Los Angeles Times " through a buyout. Nancy Cleeland, who took O'Shea's buyout offer, did so because of "frustration with the paper's coverage of working people and organized labor" (the beat that earned her Pulitzer). She speculated that the paper's revenue shortfall could be reversed by expanding coverage of economic justice topics, which she believed were increasingly relevant to Southern California; she cited

3150-538: The Times drew fire for a last-minute story before the California recall election alleging that gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger groped scores of women during his movie career. Columnist Jill Stewart wrote on the American Reporter website that the Times did not do a story on allegations that former Governor Gray Davis had verbally and physically abused women in his office, and that

3240-624: The Times . Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler , who ran the paper during the rapid growth in Los Angeles following the end of World War II . Norman's wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler , became active in civic affairs and led the effort to build the Los Angeles Music Center , whose main concert hall was named the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in her honor. Family members are buried at

3330-489: The Western United States with a print circulation of 118,760. It has 500,000 online subscribers, the fifth-largest among U.S. newspapers. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes since its founding. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions , the latter of which led to

3420-523: The bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler , who adopted a more national focus. As with other regional newspapers in California and the United States, the paper's readership has declined since 2010. It has also been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018,

3510-662: The 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots . In the 19th century, the chief competition to the Times was the Los Angeles Examiner followed by the smaller Los Angeles Tribune . In December 1903, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst began publishing the Los Angeles Examiner as a direct morning competitor to the Times. In the 20th century, the Los Angeles Express , Manchester Boddy 's Los Angeles Daily News ,

3600-604: The Hearst afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Los Angeles Examiner merged to become the Herald-Examiner . The Herald-Examiner published its last number in 1989. In 2014, the Los Angeles Register , published by Freedom Communications, then-parent company of the Orange County Register , was launched as a daily newspaper to compete with the Times . By late September of that year, however,

3690-517: The Schwarzenegger story relied on a number of anonymous sources. Further, she said, four of the six alleged victims were not named. She also said that in the case of the Davis allegations, the Times decided against printing the Davis story because of its reliance on anonymous sources. The American Society of Newspaper Editors said that the Times lost more than 10,000 subscribers because of

James Toback - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-571: The Sunday edition. Garfield was dropped altogether shortly thereafter. Following the Republican Party 's defeat in the 2006 mid-term elections , an Opinion piece by Joshua Muravchik , a leading neoconservative and a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute , published on November 19, 2006, was titled 'Bomb Iran'. The article shocked some readers, with its hawkish comments in support of more unilateral action by

3870-465: The United States, this time against Iran. On March 22, 2007, editorial page editor Andrés Martinez resigned following an alleged scandal centering on his girlfriend's professional relationship with a Hollywood producer who had been asked to guest-edit a section in the newspaper. In an open letter written upon leaving the paper, Martinez criticized the publication for allowing the Chinese wall between

3960-490: The alleged actions to occur. In January 2018, Whipp reported that since the Times published its article in October 2017, a total of 395 women contacted the newspaper and said that Toback had sexually harassed them. The accounts stretch over a 40-year period. Toback has denied all these allegations as well. In April, 2018, Los Angeles County prosecutors declared they would not be pressing any charges against Toback. In one case

4050-529: The assumption of $ 90 million in pension liabilities, closed on June 16, 2018. In 2000, John Carroll , former editor of the Baltimore Sun , was brought in to restore the luster of the newspaper. During his reign at the Times , he eliminated more than 200 jobs, but despite an operating profit margin of 20 percent, the Tribune executives were unsatisfied with returns, and by 2005 Carroll had left

4140-405: The brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Otis fastened a bronze eagle on top of a high frieze of the new Times headquarters building designed by Gordon Kaufmann , proclaiming anew the credo written by his wife, Eliza: "Stand Fast, Stand Firm, Stand Sure, Stand True". After Otis' death in 1917, his son-in-law and the paper's business manager, Harry Chandler , took control as publisher of

4230-443: The decision was reversed, condemning the decision as being "antithetical to the principles of a free press and [setting] a dangerous precedent in a time of already heightened hostility towards journalists". On November 7, 2017, Disney reversed its decision, stating that the company "had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns". In October 2024, Soon-Shiong,

4320-598: The demands of the Tribune Group—as was publisher Jeffrey Johnson—and was replaced by James O'Shea of the Chicago Tribune . O'Shea himself left in January 2008 after a budget dispute with publisher David Hiller . The paper reported on July 3, 2008, that it planned to cut 250 jobs by Labor Day and reduce the number of published pages by 15 percent. That included about 17 percent of the news staff, as part of

4410-437: The end result truly worth a watch". In September 1997, Todd McCarthy of Variety labelled it "a lively, if slender, perpetuation of the battle between the sexes on a modern battleground", adding, "critical reaction will no doubt run the gamut for this sexually frank, exploratory piece, with its box office fate hanging in the balance of whether the resulting controversy makes it a priority for young discriminating viewers or

4500-405: The families grew larger, the later generations found that only one or two branches got the power, and everyone else got a share of the money. Eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, or disappeared. That's the pattern followed over more than a century by

4590-484: The former president of General Mills , was criticized for his lack of understanding of the newspaper business, and was derisively referred to by reporters and editors as The Cereal Killer . Subsequently, the Orange County plant closed in 2010. The Times ' s reported daily circulation in October 2010 was 600,449, down from a peak of 1,225,189 daily and 1,514,096 Sunday in April 1990. In December 2006,

SECTION 50

#1732786553473

4680-656: The freedom to let my spirit go." In order for the film to receive an R-rating rather than an NC-17 rating, the sex scene involving Downey Jr. and Graham was toned down and re-edited. Both cuts have since been made available on home media. In the fall of 1997, Two Girls and a Guy was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival , and the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado . Originally an independent film, it

4770-417: The height of his powers. Two Girls and a Guy bursts into life as soon as this wildly inventive actor saunters into the story bellowing Vivaldi , and from that point on, it hangs on his every word. The two women here, especially the talented and ravishing Ms. Graham, aren't able to do anything of comparable interest." A more negative review at the time came from Deseret News , who gave the film only half

4860-402: The mid-2000s it was also the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications and social science. The Los Angeles Times has occupied five physical sites beginning in 1881. The Los Angeles Times was beset in the first decade of the 21st century by changes in ownership, a bankruptcy , a rapid succession of editors, reductions in staff, decreases in paid circulation,

4950-527: The need to increase its Web presence, and a series of controversies. In January 2024, the newsroom announced a roughly 20 percent reduction in staff, due to anemic subscription growth and other financial struggles. The newspaper moved to a new headquarters building in El Segundo , near Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. In 2000, Times Mirror Company , publisher of the Los Angeles Times ,

5040-497: The negative publicity surrounding the Schwarzenegger article. On November 12, 2005, new op-ed editor Andrés Martinez announced the dismissal of liberal op-ed columnist Robert Scheer and conservative editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez . The Times also came under controversy for its decision to drop the weekday edition of the Garfield comic strip in 2005, in favor of a hipper comic strip Brevity , while retaining it in

5130-423: The new executive editor. Merida was then a senior vice president at ESPN and headed The Undefeated , a site focused on sports, race, and culture; he had previously been the first Black managing editor at The Washington Post . The Los Angeles Times Olympic Boulevard printing press was not purchased by Soon-Shiong and was kept by Tribune; in 2016 it was sold to developers who planned to build sound stages on

5220-503: The newly private media company's mandate to reduce costs. Hiller himself resigned on July 14. In January 2009, the Times eliminated the separate California/Metro section, folding it into the front section of the newspaper, and also announced seventy job cuts in news and editorial or a 10 percent cut in payroll. In September 2015, Austin Beutner , the publisher and chief executive, was replaced by Timothy E. Ryan . On October 5, 2015,

5310-492: The news and editorial departments to be weakened, accusing news staffers of lobbying the opinion desk. In November 2017, Walt Disney Studios blacklisted the Times from attending press screenings of its films, in retaliation for September 2017 reportage by the paper on Disney 's political influence in the Anaheim area. The company considered the coverage to be "biased and inaccurate". As a sign of condemnation and solidarity,

5400-429: The newspaper announced a layoff that would affect at least 115 employees. It named Terry Tang its next executive editor on April 8, 2024. The Times has suffered continued decline in distribution. Reasons offered for the circulation drop included a price increase and a rise in the proportion of readers preferring to read the online version instead of the print version. Editor Jim O'Shea, in an internal memo announcing

5490-416: The newspaper. His successor, Dean Baquet , refused to impose the additional cutbacks mandated by the Tribune Company. Baquet was the first African-American to hold this type of editorial position at a top-tier daily. During Baquet and Carroll's time at the paper, it won 13 Pulitzer Prizes , more than any other paper except The New York Times . However, Baquet was removed from the editorship for not meeting

SECTION 60

#1732786553473

5580-430: The non-endorsement was handled, and thousands of subscribers cancelled their subscriptions. Soon-Shiong had previously blocked an endorsement by the editorial board in 2020, when he overruled their decision to endorse Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries . As of 2014, the Times has won 41 Pulitzer Prizes , including four in editorial cartooning, and one each in spot news reporting for

5670-563: The owner of the Times , told executive editor Terry Tang that the newspaper must not endorse a candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election , but should instead print "a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation". The Times editorial board, which had been preparing to endorse Kamala Harris ,

5760-493: The paper announced its circulation had fallen to 851,532, down 5.4 percent from 2005. The Times ' s loss of circulation was the largest of the top ten newspapers in the U.S. Some observers believed that the drop was due to the retirement of circulation director Bert Tiffany. Others thought the decline was a side effect of a succession of short-lived editors who were appointed by publisher Mark Willes after publisher Otis Chandler relinquished day-to-day control in 1995. Willes,

5850-773: The paper joined with The Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times–Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for other news organizations. He also toned down the unyielding conservatism that had characterized the paper over the years, adopting a much more centrist editorial stance. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes , more than its previous nine decades combined. In 2013, Times reporter Michael Hiltzik wrote that: The first generations bought or founded their local paper for profits and also social and political influence (which often brought more profits). Their children enjoyed both profits and influence, but as

5940-434: The paper supported efforts to expand the city's water supply by acquiring the rights to the water supply of the distant Owens Valley . The efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the bombing of its headquarters on October 1, 1910, killing 21 people. Two of the union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara , were charged. The American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent

6030-419: The paper underwent its largest percentage reduction in headcount—amounting to a layoff of over 20%, including senior staff editorial positions—in an effort to stem the tide of financial losses and maintain enough cash to be viably operational through the end of the year in a struggle for survival and relevance as a regional newspaper of diminished status. The Times was first published on December 4, 1881, as

6120-482: The paper until 2018. Harry Chandler , then the president and general manager of Times-Mirror Co. , declared the Los Angeles Times Building a "monument to the progress of our city and Southern California". The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler , held that position from 1960 till 1980. Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his family's paper, often forgotten in

6210-508: The paper's attempted hiring of a "celebrity justice reporter" as an example of the wrong approach. On August 21, 2017, Ross Levinsohn , then aged 54, was named publisher and CEO, replacing Davan Maharaj , who had been both publisher and editor. On June 16, 2018, the same day the sale to Patrick Soon-Shiong closed, Norman Pearlstine was named executive editor. On May 3, 2021, the newspaper announced that it had selected Kevin Merida to be

6300-481: The paper's editor. At the same time he also purchased a 1/4 stake in the paper for $ 6,000 mostly secured on a bank loan. Historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman "capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment". Otis's editorial policy was based on civic boosterism , extolling the virtues of Los Angeles and promoting its growth. Toward those ends,

6390-600: The paper's staff voted to unionize and finalized their first union contract on October 16, 2019. The paper moved out of its historic headquarters in downtown Los Angeles to a facility in El Segundo, near the Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. Since 2020, the newspaper's coverage has evolved away from national and international news and toward coverage of California and especially Southern California news. In January 2024,

6480-517: The power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nation's most respected newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post . Believing that the newsroom was "the heartbeat of the business", Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962,

6570-490: The printing plant closure and with a refocusing of sports coverage for editorial reasons, daily game coverage and box scores were eliminated on July 9, 2023. The sports section now features less time-sensitive articles, billed as similar to a magazine. The change caused some consternation in the Los Angeles Jewish community , for many of whom reading box scores was a morning Shabbat ritual. On January 23, 2024,

6660-591: The process)." Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle said it was "smart and funny" in September 1997, and labelled Downey Jr.'s performance as "absolutely captivating." On an April 1998 episode of their program, Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs up. In his other review for the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert commented on Robert Downey Jr.'s performance: "Downey, whatever his problems,

6750-531: The same time I thought, when he gets out of rehab, it’ll be a good time to try something bold and ambitious with him." It has been reported that Downey Jr. was drug-tested on the set every day, and that roles such as this helped him temporarily stay clean before his eventual relapse in September 1997. This relapse would coincide with the film's premiere on the festival circuit, and Downey Jr. ended up being arrested again in December 1997. Toback said in 1998, "I

6840-549: The site. It had opened in 1990 and could print 70,000 96-page newspapers an hour. The last issue of the Times printed at Olympic Boulevard was the March 11, 2024, edition. Printing moved to Riverside , at the Southern California News Group 's Press-Enterprise printer, which also prints Southern California editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal . In preparation for

6930-479: The story, he would in rapid-fire fashion tell them that he was a Hollywood director and offer to show them his Directors Guild of America card. The pitch invariably ended up with an invite to meet privately—sometimes at an outlandishly late hour—to talk about appearing in one of his films". The article, attributed to a pseudonym byline, was actually written by two women who had their own alleged encounters with Toback. A 2002 Salon article noted Toback's reputation as

7020-506: The victim did not turn up for an interview, and the rest were beyond the statute of limitations. Two of the declined cases involved misdemeanors, three involved felonies. David Thomson , after the accusations came out, included a chapter about his 40-year friendship with Toback in his book Sleeping With Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire (2019), which explored the dominance of male desire in cinema. In December 2022,

7110-612: The year and was nominated for both the Academy Award for best original screenplay and for the Golden Globe best screenplay award. Filmmaker Nicholas Jarecki examined Toback in a 2005 documentary The Outsider: A Film about James Toback . Toback's documentary Tyson , which he directed and co-produced, was featured at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival , winning a prize in the festival's Un Certain Regard section. That film

7200-501: Was a result of declining advertising revenue and a debt load of $ 12.9 billion, much of it incurred when the paper was taken private by Zell. On February 7, 2018, Tribune Publishing , formerly Tronc Inc., agreed to sell the Los Angeles Times and its two other Southern California newspapers, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Hoy , to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong . The sale to Soon-Shiong through his Nant Capital investment fund, for $ 500 million plus

7290-470: Was an editor for The Harvard Crimson . He spent 3 years teaching English at City College of New York and developed a gambling addiction. An assignment from Esquire to write about football great and actor Jim Brown led to Brown's invitation to host Toback for an extended stay in Brown's Hollywood Hills home. Brown said that "along with both of us liking girls, I just like his intellect." Toback wrote

7380-546: Was hired as the Opinion and Editorial ( op-ed ) Editor in April 2004 to help improve the quality of the opinion pieces. His role was controversial, for he forced writers to take a more decisive stance on issues. In 2005, he created a Wikitorial , the first Wiki by a major news organization. Although it failed, readers could combine forces to produce their own editorial pieces. It was shut down after being besieged with inappropriate material. He resigned later that year. In 2003,

7470-540: Was nominated for best documentary awards in several United States competitions. In 2009, the San Francisco International Film Festival selected Toback for its annual Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting. Over his career, Toback's film direction has ranged from the large-scale and spectacular Exposed to the small-scale and single-setting Two Girls and a Guy , one of three Toback films that cast Robert Downey Jr. in

7560-601: Was not realistic. A scene where Downey Jr. is interrogated by the two female leads while in a bathroom was improvised and co-written by the actors. Toback said at the time, "for anyone who’s looking to understand Robert’s past, present, and future, all you really have to do is look at that scene, and that’s the answer." On the set of the film, Toback's only directions for Downey Jr. were: "delight me, amuse me, fascinate me, frighten me, horrify me, engage me." Toback said, "that’s what he wants to hear, and he will deliver." Downey Jr. later recalled that, "I knew Toback would give me

7650-468: Was picked up by 20th Century Fox 's indie acquisition division Fox Searchlight Pictures for a theatrical run in April 1998. It would be released to VHS , LaserDisc , and DVD in the late 1990s and early 2000s by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment , and was subsequently released on a Blu-ray by the company in late 2009, which includes both the R-rated and NC-17 versions. The Blu-ray edition includes

7740-548: Was purchased by the Tribune Company of Chicago , Illinois, placing the paper in co-ownership with the then WB-affiliated (now CW -affiliated) KTLA , which Tribune acquired in 1985. On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company announced its acceptance of real estate entrepreneur Sam Zell 's offer to buy the Chicago Tribune , the Los Angeles Times , and all other company assets. Zell announced that he would sell

7830-446: Was the 1978 film Fingers , with Harvey Keitel . In her review of Fingers , film critic Pauline Kael wrote of Toback's "true moviemaking fever." Toback followed Fingers with Love and Money in 1982, Exposed in 1983, The Pick-up Artist in 1987, and the documentary The Big Bang in 1989. In 1991, he wrote the screenplay for Bugsy , which won the 1991 Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best screenplay of

7920-650: Was vice president of Dreyfus Corporation . His mother was a president of the League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His grandfather, Joseph Levy, was the founder of a clothing chain and real estate empire. Toback grew up in The Majestic with his parents, who lived four floors below his grandfather. He befriended future film producer, Ed Pressman , who lived in the same building and later produced Toback's film, Harvard Man . Toback graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1966. He

8010-482: Was with writing the semi-autobiographical The Gambler , released in 1974. He credits actress and friend Lucy Saroyan , his literary agent Lynn Nesbit, and Nesbit's contact in film Mike Medavoy with getting his the script to director Karel Reisz and then to Paramount Pictures . For a year, Toback attached himself to Reisz "as his acolyte" in "the perfect mentor-protegé relationship," and he later described Reisz as "my one-man film school." Toback's directorial début

8100-406: Was worried that he wouldn’t get out. Either he’d be killed or commit suicide, one or the other. I mean, I think he is ideally unsuited to incarceration. He is an exuberant, gentle, free spirit. His violence is all verbal. He is not looking to get into fights with people. There is just about nobody I could think of — physically, emotionally, psychologically — who is less qualified to handle jail." In

#472527