I'm guessing that you're the guy on the right, and maybe that's Mark Johnson on the left? Just curious.

And by the way, that Friedken-SORCERER story was hilarious. Thanks for sharing that.

Any info about what you saw in Prague other than the aforementioned? Good food, beer, aggressive prostitute stories? There's going to be a big anti-radar protest at Prague Castle Saturday which I'm planning to cover for a local newspaper. Many here aren't as excited about beginning WWIII as America is, with all these Cold War anti-trust, Kosovo supporting threats. Narnia has war in it, so that wasn't so off topic, right?

And Moriarty, please refrain from referring to yourself or your personal life in your reports. I had to skip through half your post in order to get to the set report. Such phrases as "I was very busy that week" when you were "invited" to the set give the wrong impression that you are a major "player" in Hollywood whose creative contribution is highly valued. In fact you are a contributor to a movie fansite who has been corralled into writing some free publicity copy for the movie. You are a cog in the studio marketing machine and please don't pretend otherwise. Just the facts please, Mr Moriarty: just the facts.

However, the TalkBacks are simply hilarious, and always a great read.

As to Photoman's question of 'why?' try looking at the end credits for Hostel. Thats probably all.

That being said, thanks for the Sorcerer bit of trivia. Old Friedkin anecdotes always crack me up.

Narnia (which I haven't seen, so no clueless fanboyism here) was the second biggest movie in 2005, made almost $300 million domestic and $750 worldwide. And its sequel is most likely one of the biggest movie (money-wise) to come out in 2008 along with TDK and Indy IV.

But let's make no mistake as to why the studios extend these invitations. The whole purpose of your presence on a movie set is as an instrument of the publicity campaign for that movie. AICN is a well-known fan site, and has long been co-opted by the studio marketing departments via set visits. This is surely beyond argument - and I am sure you do not suffer from the delusion that your set visits are anything other than that. But, by God do you exaggerate your own importance in these visits!. You make it sound like you are the executive producer! When in reality you are a contributor to a movie fansite that is a cog in a marketing machine.

Perhaps one of the most egregious instances of this manipulation of the site by the studios was when Harry was invited to the set of The Dark Is Rising - also in Prague. Harry wrote a glowingly positive "report" on what turned out to be one of the worst book-to-movie adaptations ever made. But even back then, it was clear that the filmmakers were not interested in respecting the source material - and yet Harry was happy to hype the movie up anyway. And there's still been no retraction or apology from AICN to the fans of what could have been a Harry Potter-beating franchise if it had been handled properly. At one time AICN could be counted on to blow the lid on these instances of studio stupidity - rather than aid and abet them at it.

On a related point, it is very detrimental to your report that you include such a vast amount of personal information. I mean, I hope and trust things are going fine for your family, private life, restaurant outings and so on - just as I wish the same for anyone - but it comes across as irrelevant and unprofessional to include these personal details in your write-ups. Not to mention that it is very tiresome for the reader to have to wade through all this personal material in order to get to the actual movie-related facts. Despite everything, this is still a MOVIE fansite - and not the Drew McWeeny fansite (except perhaps in the infamous script review incident). But this becomes one more reason why the best part of this website IS the talkbacks - and has been for some time.

Not to mention the overseas people like me who watch the Hollywood circus with a bit of skepticism since there are so many other ways to make movies, without all the BS compromises. It's not being jaded, it's being open-minded.

Strangely, it reminds me of an anecdote told by Jean Pierre Jeunet (the director of Amelie) while touring the US colleges to make conferences and readings to Film students. Those students were creaming their pants when Jeunet told them the amount of creative freedom he had in France, even on big budget movies. He said afterward that those students were very envious, but none of them expressed interest in trying to make a living outside the US of A and the H'wood system.

With that in mind, I can understand how people - me included - got more and more pissed at the projects the Circus feeds us with, and sometimes focuses that frustration on people like you who - like it or not - are part of the system the moment you agree to do set visits. Those visits are sometimes a good read but let's face it: the occasional scoops you print are what made the site famous in the first place, and are still (along with the international eye-candy, the DVD column and the TBs) what makes it a place for movie lovers. Set visits and reviews are totally optional as far as I'm concerned.

And sorry Mori but when you say that "we don't pay for shit" and therefore we aren't "the hands that feed" (while assimilating the TBers to all the Negative Nancies around) you're either dishonest or delusional. I mean, there may be a few dolls collectors around who don't feel the need to post "FIRST!" or "PWNED!" but my guess is they are a minority.

Hypocritical too, is your tendency to engage in precisely the kind of behaviour you scorn. I notice that although you are quite willing to engage in a tit-for-tat "you suck!"-"No, you suck" exchange with a random talkbacker, as soon as some one challenges you seriously and intelligently, you dry right up. The above posts include some well-argued points and legitimate queries to which you have not responded. They are very different from the "you suck!" mentality that you are fond of criticising and yet are happy to encourage by making the same "right back atcha!" retorts. Are you able to take responsiblity for your decisions and intelligently discuss them? - or are you content to call us names and then run away?