Big Hollywood

Tom Hanks: America Wants to ‘Annihilate’ Terrorists Because ‘They’re Different’

by John Nolte

Over the weekend, Time Magazine published a long, glowing profile of Tom Hanks to help promote his upcoming HBO miniseries “The Pacific.” And as with all things entertainment media, the subject is never challenged or even made to shift uncomfortably in his seat. The push to ascend Hanks to “national treasure” status is clearly on.

Tom-Hanks-1827

Hanks does seem to be a genuinely nice man and the work he’s done to bring American history to life on film is impressive, especially during a time when the singling out of America’s exceptionalism is more and more frowned upon in artistic and academic circles. ”From the Earth to the Moon,” “Band of Brothers,” and “John Adams” are not only artistic achievements, but in this MTV-addled culture, might be the best hope of teaching America’s youth about the unique history and greatness of this nation. And I suspect ”The Pacific,” the 10-part miniseries premiering this Sunday on HBO (which Big Hollywood’s Michael Broderick will cover extensively) will be a worthy addition to what came before.

But when it comes to leftist Hollywood, whenever Tinseltown and America meet, you have to brace yourself for it — and by “it” I mean the leftist sucker punch. Throughout, Hanks sounds perfectly reasonable, intelligent and even patriotic for a couple of thousand words. But of course that’s just the lure to get us on his side before we’re walloped with this left cross: [emphasis mine] (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "From the Earth to the Moon", Afghanistan, Band of Brothers, john adams, Middle East
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 12:34 pm in Celebrity News, Military, Television | 31766647 Comments »2010-03-09+20%3A34%3A31John+Nolte

Daily Gut: Bill Maher Needs New Material (Featuring Robot Theatre!)

by Greg Gutfeld

——

In case you didn’t catch it last night on Red Eye….Bill Maher’s intervention.

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Bill Maher, Gutfeld, hbo, Playboy Mansion, Red eye
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 10:44 am in Daily Gut | 31759016 Comments »2010-03-09+18%3A44%3A17Greg+Gutfeld

Kyle Smith: Matt Damon’s ‘Green Zone’ Slanders America

by Big Hollywood

Today’s New York Post:

Even for Hollywood, “Green Zone” is dumbfoundingly brazen in its effort to rewrite the facts. As any reasonably informed person knows, many intelligence services (including the French, German, Chinese, Russian and British) believed Iraq had WMDs. And the CIA (which along with Chief Miller is a hero of “Green Zone”) was among them. Plus, such intel reports predated the Bush administration — and Saddam’s refusal to allow the UN weapons inspectors to finish their work gave us every reason to think he was hiding something and sealed his fate.

matt_damon

It’s one thing to make a fantasy film laced with snarky jibes at the United States and its military. It’s of another order entirely for an American studio (Universal, a unit of GE) to perpetrate, during an ongoing war, such vicious anti-American lies disguised as cheap entertainment.

“Green Zone” tells US troops that all of their efforts have been based on a deliberate deception. Worse, it blames the insurgency that has killed so many of our fighting men and women on US treachery. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "Green Zone", damon, Greengrass, Iraq, WMD
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 8:48 am in Film, Military, Politics | 31756286 Comments »2010-03-09+16%3A48%3A27Big+Hollywood

WaPo Critic Turns Book Review Into Anti-Palin Tirade

by John P. Hanlon

Critics seem to use every opportunity they can to attack former Governor Sarah Palin and her family. Even though she is no longer in elected office, some seem unable to control their disdain for Ms. Palin, even when their criticisms of her are without credibility and lacking merit. One such example occurred in a recent Washington Post book review about a book that seemingly has very little to do with Ms. Palin.

6a00d8341c60bf53ef0120a4f8d278970b-500wi

In a Washington Post review of Debbie Dana Stabenow’s book “A Night Too Dark,” which reportedly focuses on Alaska and revolves around a character named Kate Shugak, WaPo book critic Patrick Anderson took a swipe at former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In the first paragraph of his “review,” Anderson wrote the following about the book:

If you’ve never visited Alaska, it’s also an intriguing introduction to that big, brawling, rather bewildering state. Once you’ve met the strange characters who inhabit the Shugak novels, Sarah Palin becomes easier to comprehend.

If that’s not enough, Anderson saved his harshest criticism of Palin for later in the piece. At the end of the article, Anderson referenced an interview in which Stabenow is quoted as saying that she met Sarah Palin several times but that Palin never spoke to her about her books. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: A Night Too Dark", Alaska, Debbie Stabenow, Kate Shugak, Patrick Anderson
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 7:03 am in Books and Literature, Media Criticism, Politics | 31471869 Comments »2010-03-09+15%3A03%3A19John+P.+Hanlon

Blu-ray Review: Powerful & Compelling ‘Soraya M.’ Arrives on DVD

by Christian Toto

The 2010 Oscar ceremonies have come and gone without a word spoken about “The Stoning of Soraya M.” The searing drama, based on true events, follows the torture of an innocent Iranian woman charged with adultery. It’s the kind of message movie Hollywood doesn’t much care for, stories showcasing horrors that can’t be directly blamed on western culture.

stoning-of-soraya-m

But the drama, released today on DVD and Blu-ray, deserved a smattering of Oscar buzz all the same. What other movies bring the issue of Sharia law to light in such fashion? More importantly, why didn‘t Shohreh Aghdashloo’s blistering performance earn her a place in the Best Actress category?

“Stoning,” directed and co-written by “The Path to 9/11” screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh, takes us to a remote Iranian village under the thumb of Sharia law. Young, attractive Soraya (Mozhan Marno) is raising four children with little help from her husband, Ali (Navid Negahban). When Ali decides he’d rather be married to a 14-year-old Iranian girl, he tries to pressure Soraya into granting him a divorce. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: cyrus nowrasteh, iran, Mozhan Marnò, Navid Negahban, oscars
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 5:03 am in Culture, Featured Story, Film, Religion, Reviews | 31675450 Comments »2010-03-09+13%3A03%3A43Christian+Toto

Open — New ‘Iron Man 2′ Awesomeness — Thread

by Big Hollywood

—–

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 4:16 am in Open Thread | 31733058 Comments »2010-03-09+12%3A16%3A29Big+Hollywood

Weighing the Promise of Health Care and Finding it Wanting

by Joseph C. Phillips

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week”, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented, “I think everybody wants affordable health care for all Americans. They know that this will take courage. It took courage to pass Social Security. It took courage to pass Medicare. And many of the same forces that were at work decades ago are at work again against this bill.”

obamacare15

There is that word again. What exactly does affordable mean? The left tosses the word about but never bothers to define exactly what they mean by affordable. It could mean anything and everything and no doubt it will. Affordable is a political term that is unassociated with actual costs, only addresses price and means, “you pay according to the amount of political capital you have.” For instance if you belong to the SEIU you pay less than if you didn’t. But I digress.

I dare say that the only reason it takes courage to pass Obamacare is because a majority of Americans oppose it. According to a recent CNN poll only 25% of Americans want congress to pass this healthcare bill. It is particularly telling that the new left continues to depict the 75% of Americans that oppose their efforts to nationalize healthcare (which is the end game) as ignoble, uncompassionate, ignorant racists. More annoying is that they portray themselves as visionary, compassionate champions of good. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "This Week", Global warming, health care, healthcare, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 5:20 pm in Political Humor | 31730237 Comments »2010-03-09+01%3A20%3A14Joseph+C.+Phillips

Daily Gut: Daytona 500 Winner Michael Waltrip

by Greg Gutfeld

—–

(more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Daytona 500, Fox News, Gutfeld, Michael Waltrip, RedEye
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 5:05 pm in Daily Gut | 31739012 Comments »2010-03-09+01%3A05%3A07Greg+Gutfeld

Best of ‘The Stage Right Show’: 3/01 – 3/06

by Larry O'Connor

b01b33c5-aaa3-4e6c-8bf8-be014523a2cfstage_logo_small

This past week, the Stage Right Show (below the fold) featured a great line-up of guest hosts because I was travelling on a cruise ship and unable to broadcast. Guest hosts included Adam Baldwin, Mike Rauseo, Billy Hallowell, Ben Shapiro and Eric Porvaznik. And, the interviews on this week’s highlight show include Bill Whittle, Jeremy Boering, Kevin Jackson, Dana Commandatore, Jason Mattera, John Nolte and Andrew Breitbart. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Andrew Breitbart, Best of 'The Stage Right Show', bill whittle, Dana Commandatore, Jason Mattera
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 2:59 pm in Entertainment, News, Politics | 3171821 Comment »2010-03-08+22%3A59%3A26Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

Big Hollywood Visits Hillsdale College: The Films of 1939

by Robert J. Avrech

I’m in Michigan, on assignment for Big Hollywood, to cover a four-day film festival presented by The Center for Constructive Alternatives at Hillsdale College.

For the next few days I will screen some landmark films from, arguably, Hollywood’s greatest year, and attend lectures by distinguished film scholars.

First impressions: Hillsdale is sort of like a set for a Frank Capra film.

Hillsdale College Campus.

About an hour from Detroit, Hillsdale is in the middle of flat farmland where white-tailed deer graze in golden fields.

Most of the buildings are informed by peaked roofs and references to classical Greek and Colonial architecture. The school is situated on 200 acres, has 100 full time faculty members and approximately 1,300 students.

Refusing all Federal dollars, Hillsdale is one of the few Conservative American colleges—Claremont and Grove City are two others that spring to mind—thus the school is truly independent, not shackled by government grants or political headwinds. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Hillsdale College, Hollywood 1939, john ford, Mr. Chips”, Ninotchka
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 1:35 pm in Classic Hollywood, Culture, Featured Story, Film | 31661048 Comments »2010-03-08+21%3A35%3A27Robert+J.+Avrech

‘War is a Drug’: The Quote That Fooled Leftist Critics

by Tom Shillue

Usually when I’m moved to write a searingly original piece for Big Hollywood, I do a quick search of the Internet to see if my thoughts might not really be as groundbreaking as I thought. More often than not, I come across an article that says exactly what I was trying to say, only more clearly and eloquently. I then post a link to it on Twitter with the caption “good read!” and I’m done.

Blogging is easy!

hurt_locker_post

Such was the case with my analysis of The Hurt Locker. I loved the film. After watching it, however, the thing that bothered me was the quote at the beginning, “War is a drug.” In the end, it serves as the theme of the film, but I found it to be way off the mark, and not even supported by the film itself. To me, The Hurt Locker seemed to be clearly not about addiction, but about purpose. What would motivate someone to return to a horrific war zone, to face death and dismemberment on a daily basis? A sense of purpose. That is what motivates people, not “a rush.”

I set to writing. Then I read Walter Owen’s piece in Vanity Fair, who put it together better than I would have: (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: critics, hollywood, Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 12:04 pm in Film, Military, Politics | 31689851 Comments »2010-03-08+20%3A04%3A25Tom+Shillue

Academy Awards: Hollywood Chooses Class Over the Culture War

by John Nolte

As the 82nd annual Academy Awards rolled into their third hour, I started joking on our live blog about how the winners and presenters were so well behaved they were leaving me nothing to write about. In fact, it’s just the opposite. How many Hollywood Behaved Badly pieces can one man write in a lifetime? Well, it’s probably my destiny to find out, but what a pleasant surprise not to have to write one this morning.

bridges-585_694257a

Last night, no one said anything insulting or divisive. Not a word. Not a sound. Not a peep. The whole of the Kodak Theatre offered a brief but completely unexpected respite in their ongoing Culture War against traditional America and chose instead to behave like, well, movie stars.

No idiocy directed our way in the form of poorly disguised jokes or irony, no hey-hey goodbye shots at Bush, no gushy shout-outs to Obama. With ObamaCare on the precipice there wasn’t even a lone moralizing salvo fired on its behalf or a cheap shot launched towards the Tea Parties, Sarah Palin, or Fox News. It was like someone gave a magic wand to those of us who want to like Hollywood again, and it worked. Because this is how it’s supposed to be. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: academy awards, avatar, Hurt Locker, james cameron, Jeff Bridges
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 9:57 am in Culture, Featured Story, Film, News | 317062143 Comments »2010-03-08+17%3A57%3A19John+Nolte

REVIEW: ‘Shutter Island’ Clichés Can’t Stop DiCaprio Star Power, Genre Appeal

by S.T. Karnick

Although it’s ambiguous about much, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island makes two things extremely clear: Leonardo DiCaprio is a seriously big movie star, and delivering on genre expectations excuses a multitude of sins as far as audiences are concerned.

The Scorsese-directed suspense-horror film has been number one at the U.S box office for two consecutive weekends, despite its stunning collection of genre cliches, long-out-of-fashion narrative ambiguity, agonizingly slow pace, and few real surprises, along with the director’s usual arresting visual style. Thus a good deal of the credit must go to DiCaprio’s star power.

shutter_trailer-park

Telling the tale of a U.S. Marshall, played by DiCaprio, who with his new partner investigates the escape of a violent prisoner/patient at a federal detention and treatment facility on an island several miles off the coast of Massachusetts, Shutter Island employs enough horror and suspense cliches to scare off any discerning moviegoer.

There are, for example, the isolated island itself (so reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and many other suspense stories), a stormy scene in a graveyard, wanderings through a confusing maze of corridors in an insane asylum, the hardnosed detective investigating a case that becomes much more complex than he thought it would, a sinister ex-Nazi, a character’s disturbing memories of wartime, classical music backing a scene revealing atrocities, weird people making perplexing claims, a character taking a hypodermic away from a doctor and injecting the latter, an automobile explosion, and many, many more. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: And Then There Were None, DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Ruffalo, shutter island
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 8:57 am in Film, Reviews | 31424219 Comments »2010-03-08+16%3A57%3A52S.T.+Karnick

Kevin Smith: When the Behavior Police Attack

by Jeffrey Jena

A few weeks ago writer/director Kevin Smith was thrown off of a Southwest Airlines flight for being too fat to fit into a single seat easily. He was on his way home from Northern California and had paid for two seats on his outbound flight but according to reports there weren’t two seats available on the return. This brings up a lot of questions, like why is Kevin Smith flying coach on Southwest. Doesn’t he have someone to book his flights for him?

gfddd

I am ignorant of a lot of things but I try to hide that when I can. My dad told me that a lot of people might think you’re stupid but only you can open your mouth and show them they are right. Ms. Laura Washington, who writes for the Chicago Sun Times, a daily tabloid, might want to write that down. In a recent attack piece on writer/director Kevin Smith she starts by confessing that she has never heard of Mr. Smith. Now, that would be alright if she were a seventy year-old nun from Evanston but this woman is a writer for a major daily newspaper in a major American city! She should have asked her equally angry progressive colleague at the Sun Times, Roger Ebert. We all laugh when Jay Leno or Sean Hannity do man-on-the-street interviews and someone doesn’t know Joe Biden or Lady Gaga, but how can a reporter on a major daily newspaper not know a major Hollywood figure? (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: chicago sun-times, fat, Health Nazis, Kevin Smith, Laura Washington
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 6:51 am in Celebrity News, Culture, Media Criticism, Politics | 31525461 Comments »2010-03-08+14%3A51%3A41Jeffrey+Jena

GUNS

by Victoria Jackson

Fuzzy Gun[1]
“Fuzzy Gun” by James Jackson

“Guns are tools. They are no better or worse than the person holding them.” W.P. Wessel

I have a gun. It has never shot anyone. Not even people I’m mad at. It just lies there, like it’s sleeping.

I bought it in 1986 when Richard Ramirez was on a killing spree in Los Angeles and I had a new baby. You know, the guy who used his victim’s blood to paint pentagrams on their walls? They said he liked yellow houses. I lived in a yellow house in Laurel Canyon. It was hidden in the trees far away from other houses so no one would even hear us scream.

So, I bought a gun to protect my daughter.

Some people think owning a gun is bad.

I sure wish I would have had a gun the night I got held up by the six foot tall man in the parking lot of the Variety Arts Center. I was 21 years old. All I had to protect myself was my scream. The man was holding a gun to my head and trying to push me into a dark alley. Fortunately, my blood curdling scream scared him away. A friend ran out of the V.A.C. to help me and said he thought he’d heard a siren. I filed a police report and used the experience as material for my next Johnny Carson appearance. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: guns, johnny carson, snl, Variety Arts Center, W.P. Wessel
Posted Mar 8th 2010 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Culture, Featured Story, Political Humor | 31549890 Comments »GUNS2010-03-08+13%3A03%3A50Victoria+Jackson

Post-Academy Awards Thread: Most Apolitical Oscars Ever?

by Big Hollywood

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo’Nique, Precious

Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal

Adapted Screenplay: Precious, Geoffrey Fletcher

Animated Film: Up (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Posted Mar 7th 2010 at 9:16 pm in Open Thread | 316954187 Comments »2010-03-08+05%3A16%3A19Big+Hollywood

Look For More Hollywood PC at This Year’s Oscars

by Jeffrey Jena

As we move towards tonight’s granddaddy of all awards shows, I am starting to wonder several things: First, after seeing an editorial in the New York Times and a very drab and unhappy looking professor of women’s studies on Fox News call for just one best actor and best supporting actor award to end sex discrimination in Hollywood, I am starting to think lots of people are reading my blogs. Over a year ago I poked a little fun at the politically correct Screen Actors Guild for not using the word “actress” but still give and award for a “female actor.” The left has now jumped on my bandwagon so maybe there is hope for America and Hollywood!

The second thing that has been on my mind is which brand of political correctness will prevail this year’s Oscars. Will the “I’m voting for ‘Avatar’ because it ridicules America and its military” faction be stronger than the “It’s time a woman won best director” faction?

There are other political considerations in this year’s voting but this got me to thinking about past years and whether or not the nominations and awards really are all about the art. It seems that all sorts of considerations, political, social, personalities and career get mixed in and often the storytelling gets left on the cutting room floor. In the interest of brevity I will limit my comments to the years I can actually remember, which, if I am honest, would rule out several years in the early seventies and mid-eighties. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "In the Heat of the Night", "Love Story", "The Godfather. Part III.", "The Graduate", academy awards
Posted Mar 7th 2010 at 3:04 pm in Film | 31679436 Comments »2010-03-07+23%3A04%3A22Jeffrey+Jena