Benzinga Buzz: Jack Nicholson, Hollywood & The Big Whamola. Plus, The Nanny Rips Iger A New One.

Each week, Benzinga Buzz compiles the latest entertainment news into a cohesive column for your consideration. Read on for the latest updates — both useful and irreverent.

For this edition, we're also providing movie recommendations for your queue because, let's face it, we might not be getting any new ones for a while. 

Carnal Knowledge: Hollywood is in a mess. Performers and writers alike wish for better wages; limits for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in productions; and transparency from streaming services like Netflix Inc NFLX about viewership so that residual payments are more equitable.

But corporate brass, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), doesn't want to give up the tried and true tradition of raising their own compensation while keeping the pay of those actually making TV shows and films as minimal as possible.

Hat tip to "John Frankensteiner" on Twitter for pulling a 1986 Jack Nicholson quote that basically sums up this ongoing trend. Here's what ol' eyebrows told Rolling Stone in the year I was born:

• "Our country is becoming corrupted little by little by conglomeration and conglomerative thinking ... All these guys you read about in the newspapers who are the heads of the studios ... all these deal makers are making themselves the stars now. They’re on the covers of magazines. Their salaries are now quotable. Why? Because it isn’t about movies anymore ... [In early Hollywood] every guy who was the head of a studio was also a gambler. They weren't making market shares with back-off sales and cross-financing and cross collateralization. There's nobody that gambles now. Everybody's going for the big whamola all the time."

The Beautician and the Beast: My lifelong crush, Fran Drescher, has been president of SAG-AFTRA since 2021. These days, her fiery support for workers' rights is so inspiring that it's a wonder why "The Nanny" star doesn't run for U.S. president. Here's the "flashy girl from Flushing" dressing down Walt Disney Co. DIS CEO Bob Iger, who recently threw shade at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikers for not being “realistic” with their demands:

• “I found [Iger's comments] terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone-deaf,” Drescher told Variety. “I don’t think it served him well. If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard-working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”

Perhaps Iger is just upset because no one goes to Disney World anymore. Also, here's a clip from the 1997 movie, "The Beautician and the Beast," which manifested into real life:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Essentially, the AMPTP got too excited about ChatGPT. Now, actors are concerned about studios putting everything into "an AI blender." Here's a recent post from Justine Bateman:

Recommended Reading:

• Tom Cruise battles AI in the new "Mission: Impossible" movie.
• Sarah Silverman battles AI in court.
• Tom Hanks used the Pomodoro Method to write a 448-page book.
• Kim Kardashian wants her makeup back from Coty Inc COTY
• Biggie, Biggie, Biggie can't you see, now you're a NFT.
• "Save some medication for the people that actually need it," Raven-Symoné says, blaming Hollywood for misusing Ozempic for "glamazon" purposes.
• "Ozempic Butt" trends on TikTok; User says using the weight-loss drug backfired.
• Imax Corp IMAX agrees to buy a Chinese subsidiary for $124 million.
• Elon Musk is so cool, you guys.

For the last edition of Benzinga Buzz, click here.

Image: Pixabay and Shutterstock