Andrew Leigh is a screenwriter and recovering journalist. He is currently producing and writing a documentary feature tentatively titled "Porkers," which is either about government spending or competitive hot dog eating. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including the Washington Post, Investor's Business Daily, Weekly Standard, National Review, and Sculpture magazine. Andrew also serves on the board of directors for American Film Renaissance, a nonprofit organization promoting greater diversity in film.
Andrew Leigh
For Liberty Lovers ‘We The Living’ Arrives on DVD
by Andrew LeighAn extraordinary film just came out on DVD which couldn’t be more timely. It’s about a fiercely outspoken, beautiful woman trapped in a country rapidly descending into socialism, with the government steadily ratcheting up control over all aspects of life.
No, it’s not The Ann Coulter Story.
The movie is We The Living, based on the Ayn Rand novel of the same title. Rand said that We The Living “is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write.”
Conservatives and libertarians have long lamented the scarcity of movies that depict the evils of communism. Let’s see, there’s Doctor Zhivago, The Killing Fields, The Lives of Others, and… and, well, now there’s We The Living — a long-lost classic filmed in 1942, and now available on DVD for the first time ever.
WTL takes place soon after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia (which Rand experienced as a young woman). The stunning Alida Valli plays Kira, a fiery college student who detests the communists ruining her country. (Valli is perhaps best known to American audiences for her indelible performances in The Third Man and The Paradine Case.) (more…)
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Promising Pre-Med Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine
by Andrew LeighSeptember 10, 2010
The Nobel Prize Committee announced today that it is awarding the Prize in Medicine to Jimmy Duncan, a senior at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, for getting a 97 on his bio-chem final.
“The Committee felt that Master Duncan has shown great promise with his outstanding grades,” said Dr. Leif Quisling, chairperson of the Nobel Prize Committee. “It is our fervent hope that this award encourages him to do great things in the future, such as find a cure for cancer.”
The committee was first alerted to Jimmy Duncan when they came across a YouTube clip of Duncan’s class presentation on his career goals.
“We were particularly struck by his unbridled optimism,” said Dr. Quisling. “Duncan closed his passionate talk with these inspiring words: ’And we can end cancer in our lifetimes if we all work together really, really hard!’ It is exactly those kind of empty platitudes that impress this committee. Far more so than anything so gauche as actual achievement.” (more…)
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Honoring September 11th: The Restart of History
by Andrew Leigh“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” – Michael Corleone, Godfather Part III
True story: As a young man just out of law school, I was consumed with politics. I even went to work on the Hill (Capitol, that is, Washington, DC) and in journalism. But at some point in the ’90s, my interest faded away.
Francis Fukuyama wrote a then-notorious book called The End of History, published in 1992, shortly after the Soviet Union’s collapse. He argued that the age-old ideological struggles over what constitutes the best form of government were over, and the undisputed universal champion was Western liberal (in the classic, free-market sense) democracy.
I grew up during the latter stages of the Cold War, when the existential threat of nuclear war hung over and colored almost everything. It made politics seem vital to one’s very survival. And I found the debate between capitalism and communism hugely compelling. (more…)
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‘jOker’: ‘Art is What You Can Get Away With’
by Andrew LeighIn 1987, Andres Serrano submerged a small plastic crucifix in a glass jar of his own urine and called it Piss Christ. Not to be outdone, Chris Ofili daubed elephant dung on a painting of the Virgin Mary.
While some narrow-minded philistines complained, the artistic establishment heaped praise (and money) on these and works like them. The National Endowment for the Arts was so impressed with Serrano’s work they granted him $15,000 courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. For his effort, Ofili was awarded the Turner Prize, Britain’s most prestigious art award.
Other recent Turner Prize honorees include Damien Hirst, whose works feature livestock suspended in formaldehyde, and Tracy Elmin, whose nominated work was an unmade bed. The Turner Prize is named in honor of J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), renowned as the original “painter of light” (pace Thomas Kinkade). (One of the Stuckists, a group of anti-conceptual figurative painters who demonstrate annually against the Prize, puckishly said, “The only artist who wouldn’t be in danger of winning the Turner Prize is Turner.”)
Art and Popular Culture defines “transgressive art” as: “art forms that aim to transgress; i.e., to outrage or violate basic mores and sensibilities.” (more…)
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‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’: An Alternate View
by Andrew LeighSo, John Nolte didn’t much care for the new “Harry Potter” movie. If memory serves, he didn’t care for movies 1-5, either. He admits, however, to never reading the books. This is a fatal error in appreciating the “Harry Potter” films, in my opinion.
John is like Charlie Brown and the football — forever doomed to dislike these movies, but he keeps coming back for more. Because the “Harry Potter” films are made for the books’ readers, period. In fact, you might say it’s a unique genre unto itself.
Let me attempt to head off the expected response to this: a movie should stand on its own, without requiring familiarity with the source material. Ordinarily, I agree with this. And I agree that the “Harry Potter” movies would probably be better off if they tried harder to satisfy this rule.
But it seems as though the filmmakers made a conscious or semi-conscious decision at some point early on to make these movies for the readership, not for the general public. They’re really cult films. And with such lavish budgets, if they were based on any other source material, they’d be a financial debacle. (more…)
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Into the Gathering Storm
by Andrew LeighIf you’re a history buff and you’ve got HBO, then have I got a movie for you: Into the Storm. (And if you’re cable-less, add it to your NetFlix queue.) Yes, it’s made-for-HBO, but it’s from the John Adams/Band of Brothers wing, not the Recount/Angels in America department.
It’s a sequel of sorts to The Gathering Storm, known informally around my home as the Greatest Churchill Movie Ever Made. And in answer to the first question on your mind right now, no, the new HBO/BBC co-production is not quite as good as Gathering Storm. (But then, we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that nothing ever will be.)
Partly it’s Albert Finney’s fault. They say nobody’s perfect, but they haven’t seen Finney play Winston Churchill. (He most deservedly won both an Emmy and a BAFTA.) You’ve heard the phrase “tears of joy”? A largely alien experience to me, a pretty stoic, manly guy. Alien to me no more, my friends, once I watched Gathering Storm for the first time.
I regret to report that Brendan Gleeson, who essays the role in the sequel, gives it a yeoman’s try, but can’t quite measure up. There are simply more and richer layers to Finney’s performance, perhaps due to nothing no less unfair than a longer and more experienced life, even (dare I say it, oh what the hell) more talent. Janet McTeer, who plays wife Clemmie in the new movie, fares better, nearly matching Vanessa Redgrave’s marvelous performance in Gathering Storm. (Why, they even look alike.) (more…)
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Angels, Demons and the Magical Missing Middle Easterner
by Andrew LeighA frequent cavil by participants in the Angels & Demons debate is, “It’s just a movie!” (Or, “It’s fiction!”)
The implication is that the filmmakers made this movie just so they could tell a ripping good yarn. Stipulating for the moment that it is a good yarn, there’s no way to show that the filmmakers were indeed fully cognizant of their movie’s cultural impact. There’s no way we can get inside their minds, right?
Hassassin Assassin
Well, I’ve figured out a way to do just that. No, I don’t have ESP or a special mind-reading device. But I do have common sense (pace my wife).
Now, whenever someone adapts a book into a movie, it’s instructive to examine where the movie differs from the book. If the movie version alters a key detail in the book, you can’t blame the original author for that decision. It’s clearly a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers. (more…)
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Ron Howard’s ‘Demon’ Defense Doesn’t Hold Water
by Andrew LeighPeople do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to. – Malcolm Muggeridge
I’m a fan of Ron Howard. I’m also a Roman Catholic. So when Howard recently defended his upcoming film, Angels and Demons, on the Huffington Post from criticism leveled by William Donohue of the Catholic League, I sat up and took notice.
Here’s an understatement for you: Not everybody likes William Donohue. Whereas some admire him as a passionate defender of the faith, others view him as a hectoring, self-righteous censor, with a tendency to get red-faced and a bit shouty when locking horns on one of the ubiquitous news talk shows.
Howard, of course, is always calm and collected. Besides, he’s Opie; and who doesn’t like Opie? So I enter this fray with the greatest trepidation, fully expecting to regret every minute of it. (more…)
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Exclusive! Obama’s Amazon Gift List for Gordon Brown!
by Andrew Leigh
People are still buzzing about Barack Obama’s apparent “dis” of Gordon Brown last week, when the British prime minister paid his first official visit to the new president at the White House.
Brown presented Obama with the following gifts: (more…)
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If only
by Andrew LeighMickey Rourke is thinking right now: If only my wrestler character was gay….
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The night Hollywood died.
by Andrew LeighWell, it was a good run while it lasted.
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There it is again
by Andrew Leigh“Courageous artists” in the Hollywood context is an oxymoron.
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by Andrew Leigh
Mike Ovitz was right. Just saying.
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Oh, no.
by Andrew LeighAnother actor half-circle jerk.
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Andy
by Andrew LeighYou’ve heard the joke about the Polish actress, right?
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Doug
by Andrew LeighHaven’t you seen Larry King Live [sic]?
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They did it.
by Andrew LeighThey managed to ruin one of my favorite parts of the Oscars. Just so they could show off their fancy-pants graphics and big-screen TV collection.
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by Andrew Leigh
Why didn’t Chuck Heston get a little more love? Oh, right.
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by Andrew Leigh
This Oscars must have just set a record for the most musical numbers. And lowest ratings. Coincidence?
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by Andrew Leigh
Did Myley Cyrus’s pals just win Best Foreign Picture?
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by Andrew Leigh
Stage Right: “Smile” was also a signature Jerry Lewis song. And perhaps more appropriate in light of his movie career.
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by Andrew Leigh
Eddie Murphy likes tranny hookers. Just saying.
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by Andrew Leigh
Andy: I disagree! Happy now?
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by Andrew Leigh
I hate when Oscar nominees are too “cool” to show up.
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by Andrew Leigh
Seymour Philip Hoffman???
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by Andrew Leigh
That sound you hear is the sound of 10 million remotes changing channels.
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by Andrew Leigh
Best Oscar short? Time to shotgun another PBR. (And I have a friend who won this category once.)
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by Andrew Leigh
Ben Stiller should host next year.
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by Andrew Leigh
If I wasn’t getting paid all this dough to live-blog, I’d change channels.
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by Andrew Leigh
Where’s Myley Cyrus?
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