He’s been satirized by Tom Cruise (well, by Tom Cruise’s fat suit, anyway), has the kind of name that goes well in an Entourage script, and Overnight even faintly implied that he tried to have Troy Duffy killed.  Now Harvey Weinstein, the original bear Jew, is the subject of a supposedly unauthorized biography.  IFC Films acquired the rights to Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Story, a documentary by Canadian director Barry Avrich, with plans to release the film in the US.

A statement from IFC described the film as a “powerful, uncensored, no-holds-barred account” tracing Weinstein from his early days as a theater operator and concert promoter in upstate New York to the present day as the head of an embattled independent-film company.

Weinstein apparently did not cooperate with the production and tried to persuade Avrich not to move forward [at one point even telling him that Tarantino was already doing a similar project]. But that did not stop the director from making the film, and it apparently won’t stop IFC from releasing it — even though James Dolan, the chairman of IFC parent company Rainbow Media, is a known friend of Weinstein. [LA Times]

More Weinstein gossip:

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You’d better get your cousin Timmy a bowl of ice cream and a hanky for his tears, because little kids shouldn’t have to hear stuff like this.  Sadly, it’s true, Timmy, Miramax is dead.  The 31-year-old company founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein (they left to form The Weinstein Company in 2005), which gave Quentin Tarantino his start, among other things, is packing their sh*t and leaving town like one of your stepdads.

My Left Foot, Reservoir Dogs, The Piano, Pulp Fiction, Sex Lies and Videotape, Clerks, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, The Crying Game, The Talented M. Ripley, Chicago, The Aviator, Kill Bill I and II, Ciderhouse Rules, Good Will Hunting, Swingers…

Eighty people will lose their jobs. The six movies waiting distribution — “Last Night,” “The Debt,” “The Tempest” among them — will be shelved, to gather dust, or win a tepid release.

“Miramax wasn’t just a bad-boy clubhouse, it was a 20th century Olympus,” filmmaker Kevin Smith wrote to TheWrap.

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It’s well known among people who’d know such things that Tom Cruise’s character in Tropic Thunder, Les Grossman, was based on studio head Harvey Weinstein, who’s infamous for being a bit of a tyrant.  Like most things related to Tom Cruise, the reality is more interesting than the movies.  GordonandtheWhale recently found (on lettersofnote) this 1988 letter from Weinstein to Thin Blue Line (a landmark documentary) director Errol Morris, who had accused Weinstein of not doing enough to promote his movie.  Apparently, the feeling was mutual.  The letter read, in part:

Heard your NPR interview and you were boring.
[...]
If you continue to be boring, I will hire an actor in New York to pretend that he’s Errol Morris.  If you have any casting suggestions, I’d appreciate that.

I actually don’t think Weinstein comes off that mean in this.  As my grandad taught me, promoting a documentary is war.  It’s not like finger banging Mary Jane Rotten Crotch through her purdy pink panties in the alley behind Chick Fil-A. Take it from Werner Herzog, who was once asked about Grizzly Man and responded by biting the head off a live turtle.  The man is a publicist’s dream.

^{Weinstein and Rudin tied for first in the Les Grossman Lookalike Contest}

So despite the fact that studio head Harvey Weinstein (left) and producer Scott Rudin (right) are basically the same person, they’re in the middle of a big fight.  At issue is The Reader, a movie Billy Elliot director Steven Daldry did for The Weinstein Company.  The film was first delayed 8 weeks by Nicole Kidman’s pregnancy, then faced another, even sexier delay when they had to wait for one of the actors to turn 18 so she could shoot a sex scene.  Even though it started shooting four months behind schedule, Harvey still wanted it finished in time for awards season (deadline is in November), despite that the director, who officially had creative control, said that was basically impossible. Rudin, who backed the director, claims Weinstein explored a number of sleazy options for forcing him to finish earlier, including claiming recently deceased producers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella “would have wanted” the movie finished in 2008 (I use that strategy with chicks all the time).  But this is all backstory.  You can get the full rundown here.

Today’s news is that Weinstein offered to give $1 million to charity if someone could produce the supposed email in which Rudin accused him of mistreating Anthony Minghella’s and Sydney Pollack’s families.  It seems a charity is in luck, because Nikki Finke just published it:

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That’s right folks, not enough space to cover all the news today.  Here’s the abbreviated version:

Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein deal with DeNiro: See above clip.  This 10-year-old sound recording recently made its way to the web.  In it, Tarantino and Weinstein discuss how to deal with Bobby DeNiro, who was apparently pissed about either his role or compensation for Jackie Browne.  Either way, Quentin hasn’t had a conversation this short since at least 2000. Harvey also says DeNiro is “gonna make John Travolta look like amateur night in Dixie.” Is that a gay joke? I’m pretty sure that’s a gay joke.

New Red-Band Clip from Sex Drive: Good thing they added the music in there, otherwise I might not have realized what a wild and crazy time I was having watching it.

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.  Again.: The original might be funnier, but whatever.  Hey, what’s the difference between my dick and a pit bull?  Lipstick.  **snarl**

Anne Hathaway Likes Anal:  “Every woman should try it, otherwise they miss out on something amazing”.  It’s official, she’s the world’s most perfect woman.  Being able to talk dirty in my gym teacher’s voice during the act would just be icing on the cake.  

Photoshop + “Make a Porno” = Fun:  My favorite was Milo and Otis Make a Porno (pictured).

Megan Fox Plays a Mermaid: New writers have been brought on with a mandate to write more bikini scenes.  I swear to God I did not make this up.

“Americatown”: New HBO series will be set in the future after a mass exodus from America and will focus on a cluster of American immigrants in a big foreign city.  I think Ween should write the theme song, and it should be called “Hamburgers and Meth”.

Bill Murray Would Do Ghostbusters 3: I know, I don’t really care either.

The Office: In case you missed it, the first episode of the new season is online in its entirety.  I can sum up why The Office is better than 30 Rock in two words: Judah Friedlander.

[Thanks to Robo, Stone Soup, and Eric from ScreenJunkies for the tips]