News Bits - David Spade profits off of dead Chris Farley in DirecTV ad, Hollywood downsizes, Batman vanishing video (Funny), SNOW WHITE imagery in CITIZEN KANE

This will be a fairly short and offbeat edition of news bits. There isn't a whole lot of interesting news to cover today. 

David Spade sells out Chris Farley in DirecTV ad

I saw this ad the other day and, I'm sorry, but it rubbed me the wrong way. I'm no huge Chris Farley nut, but didn't anyone think this is a wee bit insulting to the dead comedian? Take a look yourself. /Film seems to agree with me. 

More news and videos after the jump.

Disney Imagery in "Citizen Kane"

Did you know that Xanadu looks suspiciously like the castle in "Snow White?" And Kane drops a snow globe very closely to how Snow White drops her apple after she's poisoned. One of my favorite blogs, Bright Lights After Dark, examines the similarities (with pictures). 

Hollywood is downsizing

Thanks to the success of "Paranormal Activity" and general economic times we're in, the movie industry seems to be scaling back. A number of high profile lay-offs have happened. Here Hollywood analyst Anne Thompson discusses the problem and hopes we might see a resurgence of unique indie titles, like we did in the 1970s. 

Batman knows how to vanish and analyzes, with science (Funny)

College Humor is on a roll with the videos lately. This one has its ups and downs, but there are some great one-liners. Also, this guy has Christian Bale's "angry voice" down perfect. 

The Blu-ray Blog hopes for "ReBoot"

"ReBoot" was the first fully computer animated TV show I was aware of, and I loved it. Looking back, it had a lot of keen cultural references as well. Smart show. Adjust your eyes back to 1994 (pre "Toy Story") and enjoy the heck out the intro theme below. I would love to see this on DVD/Blu-ray.