When John Scott Lewinski moved to L.A. to begin his career as a screenwriter, filmmaker, journalist, and author, his biggest disappointment was the lack of diverse philosophies and the dearth of inspiring political debate in Hollywood. Hoping to participate in diverse discussions akin to the heart-thumping, table-slapping debates that once filled the salons of Paris, he found only stale, lock-step groupthink and predictable agreement on practically everything. So, he hopes to interject some contrary points of view into that anemic bloodstream.
He isn't Arianna Huffington. He isn't Ann Coulter, either. At 6'3" and north of 250 lbs., he's bigger than both women, prettier than one of them, and between the two politically. His Milwaukee upbringing and time in the ring as an amateur boxer hardened him beyond the sensitivities of most L.A. men, so if he's to be a dissenting voice, he welcomes the inevitable confrontations and debates he missed so far.
John Scott Lewinski
‘The Goode Family’: Animation Continues to Save Political Satire on TV
by John Scott LewinskiSince the election of Barack Obama, aggressive political parody has been hard to come by outside of Comedy Central. But, as noted here on Big Hollywood, ABC and Mike Judge are taking on political correctness and progressive activists with The Goode Family.
When Bush and Cheney left office, they became old news. Mocking them now is like making Eisenhower jokes, but that doesn’t stop the occasional hack like Wanda Sykes trotting out tired material. And Obama seems off limits lest anyone wants to look like a buzz kill during the ever-lengthening, forced-fed honeymoon. In fact, the only show that really dared effectively to venture into political mockery consistently this season was South Park.
Mike Judge
And spare me any mention of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Both shows kiss the Democratic ass (the donkey, I mean) all week until they realize how biased they’ve become. Then they scramble around to make fun of some minor Dem Congressman for 30 seconds and applaud their own objectivity. Meanwhile, Stewart rages at every conservative cause he can find with the furor (not the wit) of Murrow until he’s called on it. Then he scrambles back into his hole screaming, “I’m only a comic!”
Fortunately, The Goode Family levels the satirical skills of Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill) at the taboo supporters of global warming, racial hypersensitivity, animal rights and any other cause over-hyped by self-righteous busybodies. (more…)
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Remake Hollywood Not ‘Videodrome’
by John Scott LewinskiI give up. I knew there’d be a tipping point eventually, but I didn’t expect it to involve little red and white plastic pegs and my 4-year-old Godson saying, “B6…Hit!” I surrendered to the idea that there is very little hope for genuine or inspiring creativity coming out of Hollywood while Universal is forging a deal with Hasbro to bring Battleship to the big screen.
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You!
The idea of turning a board game into a movie isn’t earth shattering. Jumanji did it about a fictional game, and there are already deals on the books to bring Ouija Board, Candyland and Monopoly to your local multiplex. But when you mix the “you sunk my carrier” news with the scoop that Disney is making a movie of Tomorrowland as a follow-up to Pirates of the Caribbean, and toss in just a dollop of the ongoing march of mid-80s remakes like the approaching new Videodrome, Red Dawn and Fright Night, we must at least consider prosecuting for fraud anyone in Hollywood who calls themselves “creative.” (more…)
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One Man’s Colonic is Another Man’s Torture
by John Scott LewinskiYou’re going to have to excuse hard-left Hollywood types if they don’t get on board for the whole waterboarding thing. The concepts of forceful interrogations and the need to get dangerous people to reveal their life-threatening plans is as far removed from their daily experiences as, say, humility or well-reasoned arguments.
Most folks working in the entertainment industry live in pockets of Los Angeles in which they’re so warmly cocooned in smug, safe familiarity that they don’t have to worry about encountering so much as an opposing political philosophy, let alone a foreign hostile enthusiastically set on killing them. How are these actors, writers, directors, producers, et. al, supposed to take foreign terrorist threats seriously when the most they have to concern themselves with during their average day is whether that spa barista really did use soy milk and not non-fat in their morning coffee colonic? (more…)
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Tinseltown Twitters Tea Parties
by John Scott LewinskiDuring this past week’s “Tea Party” protests across the country, this reporter monitored the Twitter and Facebook chatter amongst his Hollywood actor and writer friends. It was an absolute, eye-opening education on the effectiveness of hard-left indoctrination.
Note: Out of respect for my friends and peers, I deliberately and carefully paraphrased any postings or “tweets” listed here so as to protect the anonymity of the poster. Unlike many hard-core liberals I know, I enjoy having friends with opposing points of view and I don’t want abuse to come to them.
That said, the following are the best examples out of several short messages from Obama supporters quietly protesting the “Tea Parties.” (more…)
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Somali Pirates Too PC for Hollywood and Obama
by John Scott LewinskiIn a dangerous and dramatic throwback to eras long thought dead, pirates are once again actively threatening lives and property of honest seafaring men along the African coast.
The situation presents a perfect opportunity for:
A. Hollywood to produce an exciting action/adventure film based on real world events.
B. The American president to make a rousing and pointed statement on his firm support of the rule of international law on the open seas and how he’ll defend the safety of his citizens if endangered anywhere on Earth.
I predict you have a better chance of being abducted by said pirates at your local McDonald’s than you have of seeing either of the above actually occur. Why? Both Hollywood and Obama are held hostage by the same childish, simple-minded worldview that curses all hard left art and politics (a refrain I’ve sung before and will chirp about again): “The strong are always bad. The weak are always good.” (more…)
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Bond Forever, Bourne Forgotten
by John Scott LewinskiIn a new listing of film and TV’s coolest heroes, James Bond emerged in the top spot — while rival spy Jason Bourne was MIA — finishing behind the likes of young Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In its 20 All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture rankings, Entertainment Weekly listed 007 #1 — a move not likely to please fan’s of every hippie’s favorite spy (other than Valerie Plame), that assassin with a conscience, Bourne. In fact, if EW was going to run a Top 2 All-Time Most Cheesed Off Folks right now, it might rank Bourne’s cinematic creators –Team America star Matt Damon and United 93 director Paul Greengrass — in that order.
Damon or Greengrass seem obsessed with attacking the James Bond films and the character himself every chance they get. Mixing up a bitter soup of professional envy at Bond’s legacy and success, personal insecurity at producing movies beholden to Bond and (of course) self-righteous political arrogance, both artists froth at every opportunity to brand Ian Fleming’s creation a soulless killer. Ignoring Bond’s efforts to battle terrorism and global crime, they stamp him a militarist imperialist misogynist. (more…)
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Obama Needs a Better Agent, New Gig
by John Scott LewinskiBarack Obama has only been portraying the president for about 60 days or so, but his representation really needs to reconsider his branding.
I don’t know if he’s with ICM, CAA or whatever William Morris and Endeavor are going to be after their merger, but an agent’s job is to consider the talents of the individual client and guide him or her into opportunities that best exploit certain core competencies. We’re not seeing that anymore from Obama’s people. As we approach the back end of his first 100 days, his performance has that unsettling aura of David Letterman’s one-time hosting of the Oscars. Letterman didn’t really want to be there, and the audience slowly came around to the same thinking. (more…)
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Will Hollywood Allow Us Heroes Again?
by John Scott LewinskiThe new Stephen Sommers-directed G.I. Joe movie headed to theaters this summer kicked the U.S.A. out of the bunker and put “The Real American Hero” under international command. The thinking at the time by Hollywood execs held that the U.S. was hated by the rest of the world and could no longer be seen as heroic.
Superman Returns screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris shortened Superman’s call to arms to just “Truth and Justice” because “The American Way” was supposedly not worth fighting for anymore. They then proceeded to transform The Man of Steel into a simpering, self-absorbed drama queen.
Why has Hollywood worked so diligently to remove well-focused, admirable heroes from American movies? The primary reason was George W. Bush’s presence in the White House and the primary focus of his administration — the war against Islamic militants. (more…)
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Is Hollywood’s Hard Left Lost in Victory?
by John Scott Lewinski
Politically speaking, it’s quiet in Hollywood. Too quiet.
It’s not a foreboding kind of stillness like the sunrise on a battlefield before the ranks are formed. It’s not an anticipatory breed of shush as “jocund day stands tiptoe” before a big game or the opening of Christmas gifts. (more…)
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Rebels with a Cause: Are Conservatives Cool Again?
by John Scott LewinskiI took a tour of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on a recent Saturday afternoon, visiting the graves of several entertainment legends. One of the more recent additions to the grounds is the cenotaph for original punk rocker, Johnny Ramone.
Ramone’s remains are not on the property, but the rock legend’s family and fans wanted a memorial on the well-trafficked grounds amongst other varied legends like Cecil B. DeMille, Vampira, John Huston and Jayne Mansfield.
As I admired the life-size marble statue, the friendly tour guide standing nearby said in passing, “He was a huge Republican, you know.” (And he was. He once praised George W. Bush at an awards show, and you’d have thought he relieved himself on the podium.) (more…)
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