BAD ASS ARTWORK: Stallone’s ‘The Expendables’
by Big Hollywood
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1. Networks interested in Sarah Palin reality show
2. RIP: Fess Parker, TV's `Davy Crockett,' dies at 85
3. Kyle Smith: 'The Pacific's' First Episode Equates Japan's Barbarism With Our Racist Remarks
4. John Grisham Puts Final Nail in Coffin of Indie Bookstores?
5. Jon Stewart rips Catholic Church Over German Sex Scandals
6. Michael Moore: Republicans Good at Being Bullies and Being Greedy
7. Interview: Andrew Klavan On His Latest Teen Thriller
8. ABC News: Conservatives Unified, Angered with Tom Hanks
9. Rosie O.: Obamacare Abortions Cheaper Than Paying for 'Unwanted' Children
10. Toto: 'Repo Men' Channels Obamacare zeitgeist
11. VDH: MSM Assumes Liberals Aren't Appalled by Hanks' Comments
REVIEW: HBO’s ‘How to Make it in America’ Celebrates New York City & Entrepreneurship
by John P. HanlonBryan Greenberg is a young, talented but largely unknown actor who has been featured in a couple of promising projects. From the highly enjoyable film “Prime” to the short-lived show “October Road,” Greenberg has shown his potential in a number of solid roles but he has not yet established himself as a major star. His latest role on the HBO show “How to Make it in America” could help him do that if the show finds a solid audience to support this strong program.
The website for the “How to Make it in America states that the show “follows two enterprising Brooklyn twenty somethings as they hustle their way through New York City, determined to achieve the American Dream.” Greenberg plays one of the two, Ben Epstein. Ben is a salesman at Barney’s, who decides to follow his own dream for success at the conclusion of the first episode. Both he and his best friend, Cam, borrow money from Cam’s loan shark cousin to start their own denim line of jeans.
While the first episode was merely good, the subsequent episodes have been stronger bringing viewers into Ben’s unique and diverse world. Cam (Victor Rasuk) is his likably goofy friend who is often assertive in trying to get professionals in the clothing industry to offer advice to the duo. Adding to the cast is Rachel, Ben’s on-again off-again ex-girlfriend who he still likes but who has already moved past him in the dating department. Their complicated relationship will likely continue to be a major part of the show. (more…)
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Lindsay Lohan: Reality is Calling, Please Pick Up
by Jeffrey JenaYou can say a lot of things about the modern Hollywood “Celebrity Class,” but no one has ever accused them of being short on a sense of self worth or ego. Case in point the recent publicity shenanigans by one Ms. Lindsay Lohan.
In case you haven’t heard Ms. Lohan, former teen movie star, is suing E*Trade for $100 million. Why? In a recent commercial, part of the E*Trade series of talking baby ads unveiled at the Super Bowl, one baby refers to another baby named “Lindsey” as a “milkaholic.” Ms. Lohan’s claim is that the American public thinks of only one person when it hears the name “Lindsay” and that she is that person. Furthermore, that this funny little ad has so damaged her career and her reputation that she should be compensated to the tune of $100 million.
My response: wow! I never thought of Ms. Lohan in reference to this ad until she grabbed some tabloid headlines by filing this suit. This redefines the concept of hubris. Oedipus, the old standard for hubris, pales in comparison to the monumental assessment of self on two levels. (more…)
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Daily Gut: I Explain the Sexes
by Greg GutfeldSo forget health care, the wars, the rampant unemployment. The big story in my life? Jesse James, the biker husband of Sandra Bullock, got busted cheating on the delightful, mega-rich actress.
Here is a picture of Sandra Bullock:
Here is a picture of the woman James cheated with, Bombshell Magee.
So, who would have thought that if Jesse cheated, it was going to be with Marilyn Manson?
Who`s next?
Pete Wentz?
Chriss Angel?
Take a look at Chriss.
Yep, my money is on Chriss Angel. (more…)
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Call to Arms: Join Me in DC Saturday to Stop ObamaCare
by Jon VoightI am calling to all of you freedom-loving Americans to come once again to Washington D.C. to gather on the Capitol steps on Saturday, at 12 o’clock noon.
We must come by the thousands.
Speaker Pelosi will stop at nothing to fulfill her corrupt conquests. She will bring all of the corrupt ACORN liars to try to bully all the Democrats that may be having pangs of guilt knowing quite surely what their votes can and will do. If they’re bullied into saying “yes,” it will destroy America.
Join me and Rep. Michele Bachmann in Washington DC at 12 noon EST so we can give all the Democrats who know what the end result will be the courage to say: “No, do not pass this destructive bill.” (more…)
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REVIEW: ‘Oscar’s Cuba’ Brings a Hero to Life, Exposes Fidel’s Cuba
by Joe Lima“We will obtain the liberty of the Cuban people.” — Doctor Oscar Elias Biscet
Filmmaker Jordan Allott’s documentary, “Oscar’s Cuba” paints a compelling portrait of Cuban dissident Oscar Elias Biscet, whom Armando Valladares, former Reagan administration Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and himself a former political prisoner of the Castro dictatorship, cites as the most important living figure in the struggle for Cuban liberty.
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In 1998 Doctor Biscet dared to publish a report in which he interviewed many Cuban mothers who testified that their infants had been born alive and then killed by the regime. The totalitarian regime that controls Cuba views problematic pregnancies or unhealthy infants as a threat to their much-touted low infant mortality rates. Cuba has the highest abortion rates in our hemisphere, with 6 in 10 pregnancies ending in abortion. Thanks to Dr Biscet, we now know that many of these abortions were not the choice of the mothers involved, that said abortions were coerced, and indeed that many of these infants were born alive…then terminated. When Dr. Biscet made this issue a matter of public record, he gave the regime a black eye. The regime was not going to let this go unpunished. Dr Biscet continued to speak out for human rights and democracy on the island, and he paid a price for it: in 1998 and 1999 he was arrested more than 20 times.
On March 18, 2003, seven years ago today, Dr Biscet was arrested along with more than 70 other dissidents in what has come to be called “la Primavera Negra,” the Black Spring of 2003. He was sentenced to a 25-year sentence, which he is currently serving in the notorious Combinado del Este prison outside of Havana. Dr. Biscet spends much of his time in solitary confinement, incarcerated in an underground cell. Yet Biscet endures, and continues to defy the regime. (more…)
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The New York Festival Scene: Rendezvous with French Cinema
by Joe BendelHere in New York, the taxes are excessive, rent is exorbitant, and our elected leaders are national laughing stocks, but if you love going to the movies, it is one of the best places to live. We are usually the first and sometimes only city to get most theatrical releases, particularly idiosyncratic documentaries and foreign films. We also get a chance to see thousands of unsold films playing New York Film Festivals, often in hopes of attracting a distribution deal. This is the beat I have covered for four years on my blog and will now periodically report on for Big Hollywood, provided I keep it fresh and snappy.
Of course, festivals vary widely in terms of size and quality, but the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Rendezvous with French Cinema is a fair place to start. Every time an Eastern European festival opens, it is like an early Christmas for me, because there will always be several films deeply critical of their former Communist overlords. Yet, it seems even the French are more even-handed than Hollywood when addressing the Cold War on film. A case in point was Rendezvous’s opening selection, Christian Carion’s Farewell, which was inspired by the real life case of KGB Colonel Vladimir Vetrov (renamed Grigoriev in the film).
The disillusioned Colonel was charged with reviewing every last piece of Soviet intel, so he understands full well the extent to which western intelligence agencies were compromised. As a result, he approaches a bewildered French businessman unconnected to the espionage world to pass on his staggering cache of classified information. (more…)
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Steven Spielberg Pays Tribute to Veterans Past & Present
by Big HollywoodThe second high-profile name attached to HBO’s “The Pacific” was interviewed by CNSNews and would’ve distinguished himself with his classy approach to these questions even if his counterpart hadn’t defamed both the war in the Pacific and the War on Terror by defining them as “wars of racism and terror.”
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I especially like this: (more…)
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Hollywood’s Broke Part 2: The Diagnosis
by Lawrence Meyers
Here’s the diagnosis regarding Hollywood’s present malady:
1) Movies operate in a statistical environment of extreme uncertainty
2) Uncertainty creates fear
3) Fear creates a desire to control
4) Desire to control has resulted in a multi-layered, needlessly expensive studio bureaucracy, resulting in sub optimal risk management.
5) The goal of each individual level of the bureaucracy is to insulate itself from criticism from the layer above it.
6) This results in the hiring of the most expensive, but not necessarily most talented or suitable, creative team to manufacture product that audiences are losing interest in and are not designed to achieve maximum ROI. (more…)
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‘Green Zone’ Brings to Cinematic Life All the Left’s Desperate Lies About Iraq
by Leigh ScottIn the comments to Big Hollywood’s recent post about the box office catastrophe that is “The Green Zone,” one frequent poster, and noted leftist, gave us a “teachable moment.”
In a nutshell, this poster said that the antithesis to “The Green Zone,” and diatribes of that ilk, would be some dim witted, cheer leading, Michael Bay style action movie where the Arabs are sneering villains and the American G.I.’s are square jawed pretty boys out to save the world.
Where does one begin?
His post reinforces the primary myth that drives all debate in our country. The central conceit is that leftist ideology is “complex,” “educated,” “nuanced” etc. Conservative and libertarian ideology is “simplistic,” “black and white,” and often times driven by superstitious religious beliefs and not “hard facts and science.” To suppose that the “conservative” version of “The Green Zone” is a movie like 1986’s “Delta Force” misses the point…big time.
As a quick side note, Menahem Golan’s “Delta Force” kicks ass. I recommend it highly.
What is silly about this narrative, especially in the discussion of “The Green Zone” is that it not only knocks conservative ideas, principals, and factual evidence down a few pegs, but it elevates leftist ideas far beyond their merit. (more…)
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Lonewolf Diaries: Lady Gaga Sells Sex, MSM Predictably Buys
by Steven CrowderLady Gaga’s new video, “Telephone” hit the streets last week. You’ve all heard of it, I’m sure. As nothing more than violent softcore porn, even MTV has allegedly given it the shut-out. Not only is the video a tasteless, boring herpes-fest, but it’s indicative of a larger problem facing Americans (particularly young ladies today). Can anyone guess what it is?
Let’s be honest; in the world of popstar Divas… Lady Gaga isn’t exactly a Bo-Derek-perfect-10. So how does she find a way to close the gap? As many ugly dames have done since the dawn of time, she decides to up the ante of sluttiness. I speak the truth. Women, if you don’t live up to the current magazine standards of “beauty,” the message being pumped to you through pop culture is loud and clear: ugly and/or fat chicks need to go fishing with dynamite.
Even more confusing is when pop-musicians use said form of packaging to try and push a corporatized “be proud of who you are” message (see any “Pink” music video ever made). By default, we end up breeding a generation of slutty, shallow, self-absorbed, empty shell human beings and then confusedly ask why they have “self-esteem” issues. Whatever happened to the idea of esteeming others first? Seems to me that that would do wonders for the tweens self-confidence (not to mention their productivity levels). You know who was big on that concept? Jesus. We can’t have that. (more…)
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Daily Gut: Flying the American Flag in Haiti
by Greg GutfeldSo as you know, many countries have set up camp to in Haiti help those recovering from the devastating earthquake. And at these camps, they are flying their flags. Only one country isn’t – and it’s the country that has done more to help Haiti – and the world in general – than any place else in the history of histories.
Of course that’s us.
According to the Army Times, veterans and servicemembers are pissed. They realize, like everyone else, that the US should be proud to fly the flag…anywhere, for that matter. After all, the US is a good place, filled with good people with big hearts and generous resources. It’s not like we’re Belgium.
(I kid the Belgians.)
Well, according to the Obama Administration, raising the US flag will make us look like bad guys. The U.S. government’s Haiti Joint Information Center, says: “We are not here as an occupation force, but as an international partner committed to supporting the government of Haiti on the road to recovery.” (more…)
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Ratings Disappointment: Did Tom Hanks’ ‘War of Terror and Racism’ Comments Damage ‘The Pacific?’
by John NolteThe entertainment media is doing the best they can to spin the paltry ratings for the debut of “The Pacific.” But 3.1 million viewers compared to the 10 million for the premiere of “Band of Brothers” is pretty difficult to spin. Yes, Nielsen has changed the way they count HBO viewers since “Brothers” debuted in 2001. They once counted all HBO channels and now count them individually (are we to believe millions and millions were watching HBO Thriller in 2001? ). Still, according to Reuters, that ten million was considered a slow start for “Brothers” and 3.1 million for “The Pacific” represents a mere 69% increase over normal HBO programming in that same time period. For additional context we’re also told “The Pacific” did manage to beat the debut of “John Adams” by 22%.
Okay, fine, but let’s look a little closer at the real context, which is always found near the bottom of anything written by the MSM. On Sunday nights, the series “True Blood” averages 5 million viewers. “Blood” might air in a different time-slot than “The Pacific” but how fine do we want to split these hairs? Most telling is that when the History Channel aired a re-broadcast of “Band of Brothers” in 2004, 4.6 million tuned in. This bears repeating…
A rerun of “Brothers” delivered 1.5 million more viewers than the heavily promoted debut of “The Pacific.”
HBO has over 30 million subscribers and it’s just a fact that Sunday night less than 10% bothered to watch ”The Pacific,” even with the dual pedigree of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks combined with a very, very heavy promotional blitz and a lingering universal affection for “Band of Brothers.”
So what changed? (more…)
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Jay Leno’s Back on Top & Critics Remain as Irrelevant as Ever
by Tim SlagleHow do critics stay employed? Next to Weathermen and Wall Street Analysts, only critics are more incompetent forecasters. In fact, it would seem that critics are so bad at analysis, that if the critics loathe a movie, play, or television show, there is a fairly good chance it will be a blockbuster.
I often wonder how these people keep their jobs. Perhaps the editors share their disdain, and they like to keep them around so the rest of the staff will know which productions to avoid. Because it seems that most newspaper writers are left-wing drones who hate anything that might be entertaining, even in the slightest way. In certain circles, what you like to watch is less important than what you don’t watch. The most popular stance you can take with these elites is to claim that you NEVER watch television and rely on NPR for all your news.
A recent example of this was seen with the debut of Jay Leno back into the Tonight Show desk. Critics panned his opening monologue. But his ratings were huge. And the audience came back the next night, fueled in part by his selection of Sarah Palin as a guest. Now after two weeks, it seems that Jay is back to the number one slot that David Letterman held during the reign of Conan. (more…)
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ClimateGate: What Will Television Do With All Their Scare-Programming?
by James HudnallA funny thing happened on the way to a global conspiracy. Reality killed it. Funny how that happens.
Not long ago people like Al Gore were jetting around the globe taking in vast speaking fees, winning awards, telling everyone that they must give up the things they enjoy to save the planet. These doomsayers all told us we were stupid if we doubted them. They knew better, you see. These people claimed all “real” scientists agreed that mankind was destroying the planet with global warming. That we humans were at fault and the only way to save ourselves is bow down to a world government, pay lots of taxes and give up our cars, our electricity, air travel, light bulbs, blah blah blah.
There was a vast left wing conspiracy in other words. One designed to scare people into giving more power and wealth to statist bureaucrats who were employing the oldest trick in the book. Using fear and guilt to manufacture consent.
They began by locking down major institutions like NASA and Britain’s Climate Research Unit (CRU). Then they got the media on board, the science magazines, the cable networks. They started churning out articles and documentaries supporting the global warming meme. Millions were spent selling the idea, because many of these groups knew that fear, like sex, sells. There are two main motivations that human beings have. The desire to have something and the fear of losing something. They used both to pitch the notion that we could create a “green utopia” by changing the way we did things, and in doing so we would prevent the end of the world. Who doesn’t want to be a hero? Who doesn’t love the environment? How can you argue with that? (more…)
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Hollywood’s Broke Part 1: Recognizing There’s a Problem
by Lawrence Meyers[Ed. Note: This is the first part of an 8 part series that will run each weekday morning through next Friday.]
In an interview with CNBC’s David Faber last November, legendary media titan John Malone said this of the network television model: “It don’t work.” Now, perhaps Dr. Malone was just getting in his digs on traditional media, which he does from time to time. But in this case, he’s right. The network television model has been failing for some time, and so has the feature film financial model.
This naturally leads us to ask the question “If it is broken, can it be fixed?” As the Internet continues to flummox media companies, forcing management to confront increasingly fragmented audience pools, we must further ask, “if it can be fixed, what exact form does this fix take?”
The ultimate goal of this series of articles is to proffer different financial models for media companies of all kinds to consider – and find one that will ideally offer a higher degree of financial stability and therefore deliver value to shareholders. This model should permit media companies to achieve maximum ROI in a world where alternative financing, production, and distribution will become increasingly important. Readers will discover that the cure, such that it is, is at least as dependent on a set of objective criteria that constitutes good storytelling as it does on a re-jiggering of the financial models. (more…)
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My Weekly Date with a Liberal – ‘The Mile High Club’
by Jon DavidUPDATE: Error reading fixed. You should be able to read the post now.
On December 17, 1903 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina….in the United States…Two great American brothers did the impossible: an expression that if considered at any length, truly makes no sense at all, for if they actually did it, then clearly it’s possible. In reality it’s impossible to do the impossible.
I’ll be right back.
On December 17, 1903 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina….in the United States…Two great American brothers did the possible, albeit, the improbable. On that glorious and mystical morning, the conditions were perfect save for the freezing headwinds gusting up to 27 mph, slapping both the brothers in their collective face like a cold black glove from the cruel dominatrix Nature herself. But they would not be deterred. They would press on…because the wheels of Innovation do not stop for a little ice on the tracks nor does Greatness reveal itself only in the most moderate of conditions. Not to mention, and let me preface this with I can’t speak for Orville and Wilbur, but some people like a good slap in the face from a cold black glove, I being one of them.
Bear with me. (more…)
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Sean Penn Exposed: Useful Idiot
by Alicia ColonAlthough Sean Penn has the reputation of being a fine actor, I’ve never shared that opinion and regard his acting as overrated. His early performance in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” as stoner Jeff Spicoli is regarded fondly by those with sophomoric comedic taste but my taste prefers more subtlety. Penn absolutely destroyed the film “The Interpreter” with his hound dog expression throughout the film and “I Am Sam” remains the thespian lesson in what to avoid when portraying the mentally challenged.
I used to think that Penn’s liberal statements came from a genuine concern for the poor and downtrodden and did not laugh at that pathetic picture of Penn in that leaky rowboat in New Orleans after the Katrina devastation. I also did not join the skeptics who questioned his Haitian relief efforts. I figured him to be naïve but with his recent statement that “Hugo Chavez” is not a dictator, the truth is finally clear. Sean Penn is an idiot-a useful one-but an idiot nonetheless.
I’ve never been to Venezuela but I know many transplanted immigrants from that country who relate tales of horror since that “dictator” took over. What kind of spell has Chavez spun to cloud the Hollywood fool’s mind to the damage this man has wrought on his country? (more…)
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