‘Poliwood’: One-Sided, Occasionally Fascinating Look at Politics and Celebrity

Did you know celebrities have a right to speak their minds about politics courtesy of The First Amendment? Or that the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon televised debate changed the way we saw politicians forever? “Poliwood,” a new film “essay” from director Barry Levinson, uncovers those nuggets and much, much more.

The film, set to bow at the Starz Denver Film Festival this weekend and already airing on Showtime, does offer more than just those recycled themes. It’s an occasionally fascinating look into the modern actor’s mindset as well as the anger the general public feels when they hear celebrities pontificating on events of the day.

Director Barry Levinson

We’re also given a peek at the passions driving some celebrities to speak out on the issues. Yet the film is emblematic of Hollywood productions which strain to achieve balance but come up mostly empty.

The bulk of the film features liberal celebrities from the Creative Coalition, a nonpartisan group, maneuvering around last year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver. (more…)

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Tags: "Poliwood", anne hathaway, Barry Levinson, Jennifer Lopez, showtime
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 3:04 pm in Celebrity News, Politics, Reviews | 26241840 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/11/13/review-poliwood/%27Poliwood%27%3A+One-Sided%2C+Occasionally+Fascinating+Look+at+Politics+and+Celebrity2009-11-13+23%3A04%3A44Christian+Toto

‘2012′: Silly Bombastic Fun

There are some filmmakers whom movie fans turn to for serious, introspective fare, like Oliver Stone or Lasse Hallstrom. Others are counted on as masters of the fantastic, like Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson. And for comedy these days, you can’t beat Judd Apatow. 

But if you just wanna see stuff blow up on an epic scale and watch the world fall apart in a good old-fashioned disaster movie, then check out nearly any Roland Emmerich film: “Independence Day,” “Godzilla,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “10,000 B.C.” provide hours of jaw-dropping action to go with hilariously poor logic in plotting and laughably bad dialogue. Yet they are often undeniably entertaining despite their faults, and with his new film “2012,” Emmerich has fashioned his biggest, craziest cinematic opus yet.  (more…)

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Tags: 2012, John Cusack, Lasse Hallstrom, Oliver Stone, roland emmerich
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 9:05 am in Film, Reviews | 262666125 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/11/13/2012-silly-bombastic-fun/%272012%27%3A+Silly+Bombastic+Fun2009-11-13+17%3A05%3A48Carl+Kozlowski

Review: Leave ‘The Box’ On the Doorstep

The new film “The Box” starts off with a simple premise. A stranger leaves a box at a young couple’s door early one morning in Richmond, Virginia. Later on, that stranger comes to visit the couple and he tells the young wife that if she pushes the red button in the box, she’ll receive a million dollars but someone that she does not know will die. The stranger does not explain how or who or even why this will occur. He just gives her the instructions and a time-frame. The premise is an interesting one to develop but unfortunately, this movie fails to develop it and the film is quickly overwhelmed by a bizarre series of events that follows the choice over whether or not to push the button.

The film is set in the mid-1970s and the lead couple, Arthur and Norma Lewis, are played by James Marsden and Cameron Diaz. He works for NASA and she’s an elementary school teacher. They’re a relatively boring couple with one son  The movie begins with the doorbell ringing very early in the morning and the couple finding the box on the doorstep. Mrs. Lewis learns more about the box from Arlington Steward, played by Frank Langella, the mystery man who dropped it off. The young couple has recently faced some disappointing news about their jobs and the financial benefits of pushing the button are obvious to both of them, even though their financial situation has not been detailed enough to show a compelling desire for them to lean towards pushing the button at the expense of another person’s life. (more…)

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Tags: "The Box", cameron diaz, Frank Langella, James Marsden, Richard Kelly
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 6:54 am in Film, Reviews | 26007459 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhanlon/2009/11/13/review-leave-the-box-on-the-doorstep/Review%3A+Leave+%27The+Box%27+On+the+Doorstep2009-11-13+14%3A54%3A48John+P.+Hanlon

‘Precious’: Unforgettable Story of Hope, Self-Reliance

Some lives slip through the cracks, people who you might pass everyday without giving a second thought. Precious is one of those people.

Vastly overweight and carrying her second child at the far-too-young age of 16, Precious is an African-American girl living in the Bronx who’s stuck four years behind her age group in the 7th grade, with a single mother who is verbally, emotionally and physically abusive towards her. Her father is only in the picture enough to come over and rape her, which led to her first child being born with Down Syndrome, and Precious utterly unaware of proper prenatal care or even a delivery date for her second.

The only thing that brings her any sense of joy is her imagination, which Precious uses to block out horrific moments of the past and present with visions of herself on red carpets and other glamorous situations. But when a school official steps in and orders her to go to an alternative school for troubled young women, a concerned teacher, social worker and eventually a male post-natal nurse discover the extent of Precious’ problems and help her take the drastic actions needed to save her life. (more…)

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Tags: Gabourney Sidibe, Lee Daniels, Lenny Kravitz, Mo'Nique, Oprah Winfrey
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 6:43 am in Film, Reviews, Uncategorized | 25925498 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/11/12/precious-review/%27Precious%27%3A+Unforgettable+Story+of+Hope%2C+Self-Reliance2009-11-12+14%3A43%3A43Carl+Kozlowski

‘Mad Men’ Finale: Bringing It All Back Home

Warning: Spoiler alert!  

The “Mad Men” finale was a satisfying, although a bit too tidy, end to its 3rd season. When I was 8, my teenage sister introduced me to a card game called “52 Pick-Up.” When I handed her the deck, she tossed cards across the room. As I whined, she said, “What else did you think a card game called ‘52 Pick-Up’ was about?” When writers Weiner and Levy created chaos with all my familiar characters in the opening episode, I should have thought “52 Pick-Up.”

After all, they just had a merger for heaven’s sake. What else to expect? Relationships between and among characters changed as work and economic status changed, and they were reshuffled into new and less pleasing ones. But we became gradually more accustomed to the new “order,” although the dominant “feeling” was a cheerless dreariness. There were some memorable moments. When a drunk Lois amputated the erstwhile new Brit super star Guy MacKendrick’s foot with a John Deere tractor in the office, I laughed out loud for minutes. Taken one show at a time, they were good, but the cumulative gloom and doom became stifling. (more…)

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Tags: amc, finale, Kennedy assassination, mad men
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 5:25 pm in Reviews, Television | 26114268 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mrulle/2009/11/10/mad-men-finale-bringing-it-all-back-home/%27Mad+Men%27+Finale%3A+Bringing+It+All+Back+Home2009-11-11+01%3A25%3A14Michael+S.+Rulle+Jr.

Movies We Like: ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’ (1956)

So, when it came time for our little girl to watch her first grown-up movie, I was torn between Saving Private Ryan and a film I have loved since I was a kid, Godzilla, King of the Monsters.  Now, Private Ryan teaches important, practical lessons that every American should learn, like how to maneuver your infantry company across a beachhead under fire to wipe out a Nazi crew-served weapons bunker. On the other hand, Godzilla has a hideous dragon with radioactive breath.  Tough call, but we decided to save Private Ryan for when she’s six – better late than never.

–

What is the enduring fascination with a 55-year old flick that stars a fake Japanese reptile stomping Toyko into matchsticks?  The first thing is that Godzilla is a truly entertaining movie.  Actually, it’s two movies.  The version most Americans have seen on TV is the 1956 re-cut version of the 98-minute original Japanese movie, Gojira.  Some American producers decided it could make them a bundle, but it needed a bit of familiarization before the American audience would accept it.  They hired a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr to film some awkward footage as American reporter “Steve Martin,” cut out a lot of draggy filler, and shipped the slimmed down 80-minute final product to drive-ins all over the fruited plain. (more…)

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Tags: 40th Infantry Division, A Nightmare on Elm Street, A-Bomb, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Asahi
Posted Nov 8th 2009 at 6:24 am in Classic Hollywood, Featured Story, Film, Reviews | 25620250 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/11/08/movies-we-like-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-1956/Movies+We+Like%3A++%27Godzilla%2C+King+of+the+Monsters%27+%281956%292009-11-08+14%3A24%3A12Kurt+Schlichter

Review: ‘V’ in the World of ‘O’

Much has been written about the premiere of the new ABC drama “V” and its relationship to  the election last year of President Barack Obama. As an article from the Chicago Tribune noted:

Nominally a rousing sci-fi space opera about alien invaders bent on the conquest (and digestion) of all humanity, it’s also a barbed commentary on Obamamania that will infuriate the president’s supporters and delight his detractors.

While it’s true there are reasons why comparisons between the candidate of hope and the aliens who want change are plentiful, the show “V” is about much more than a critique of the Obama administration.

“V” begins as a show about aliens who suddenly appear in spaceships around the world and the reaction they receive.  At first, as can be expected, there is a lot of fear and anguish about the visitors (which is what “V” stands for) as the ships show up hovering above different cities. However, when the alien leader appears on a ship’s video screen and talks about the benefits they will bring to the people of this world, audiences applaud (an unrealistic action, but an important one nonetheless in the development of the program). As the show goes on, though, some people learn that the aliens have more in mind than providing “heal centers” and universal health care for people around the world (which they are in favor of). (more…)

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Tags: abc, Alien, cult, Obama, Television
Posted Nov 7th 2009 at 5:47 pm in Reviews, Television | 25830267 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhanlon/2009/11/07/review-v-in-the-world-of-o/Review%3A+%27V%27+in+the+World+of+%27O%272009-11-08+01%3A47%3A20John+P.+Hanlon

Review: No Need to Visit ‘Cougar Town’

On ABC’s “About the Show” web page for the new show “Cougar Town”, the executive producer of the program notes that “you only get one chance to experience your 20s. Even if it’s when you’re 40 something.” That, in short, is a brief synopsis of the new Courteney Cox comedy that follows a divorced mother who starts to date younger men. I recently watched the last few episodes of the program and although I found some potential in the minor characters on the show, the program is crippled by a weak main story line and its overall coarseness.

In the program, Cox’s character Jules Cobb is a real estate agent who has recently started dating men in their twenties who are only a few years older than her son. Her dalliances with these men and her coming to grips with her age compose the overall plot of the program. In her daily life, Cobb is surrounded by an offbeat set of characters including her neighbor across the street, her young assistant at work and her ex-husband. (more…)

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Tags: "Cougar Town", abc, cougars, Courteney Cox, sex
Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 3:54 pm in Reviews, Television | 25618635 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhanlon/2009/11/06/review-no-need-to-visit-cougar-town/Review%3A+No+Need+to+Visit+%27Cougar+Town%272009-11-06+23%3A54%3A20John+P.+Hanlon

Disney’s ‘A Christmas Carol’: Charity Vs. Big Government

Generally after a story has been told as a book, play, musical, numerous animated, live, made-for-TV films, and Muppets movie, its content is completely exhausted. But Disney’s latest, “A Christmas Carol,” by writer-director Robert Zemeckis of “Forrest Gump” and animated films “Beowulf” and “The Polar Express,” resurrects the classic tale through vibrant visuals while sticking to the classic story.

Briefly, “A Christmas Carol” is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), a miser who hoards his money and pays his single employee, Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman), the bare minimum. Scrooge lives alone in a huge, dark mansion, leading a lonely life. When his nephew Fred (Colin Firth) invites him to Christmas dinner, Scrooge berates him for being happy when he has so little money. When local charity representatives ask for support, Scrooge tells them that he supports the poor through paying taxes. “Are there no work houses? Are there no prisons?” Scrooge asks. To him, taxes are all the dues he owes to society. (more…)

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Tags: 'A Christmas Carol', big government, Dickens, disney, gary oldman
Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 10:48 am in Film, Politics, Reviews | 259146106 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dmiller/2009/11/06/disneys-a-christmas-carol-charity-vs-big-government/Disney%27s+%27A+Christmas+Carol%27%3A+Charity+Vs.+Big+Government2009-11-06+18%3A48%3A39Darin++Miller

Review: Clooney’s ‘Men Who Stare at Goats’ Biased but Amusing

Give the military-industrial complex an unlimited budget, and it’ll find unlimited ways to kill people. From megaton nuclear missiles to Donald Rumsfeld’s allegedly humane, small-scale nuclear “bunker busters,” and from robot soldiers to Barack Obama’s beloved predator drone planes, our nation’s finest scientific minds will find ever-newer ways to obliterate anything that gets in the path of the American Way. 

Of course, our enemies do the best they can on the killing front as well, and at one point it was widely believed that the Soviets were engaged in training soldiers in psychic warfare. British journalist Jon Ronson stumbled across America’s response to those mental-murder programs and wrote about them extensively in his humorous nonfiction book “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” 

Now, with the help of screenwriter Peter Straughan, who has invented a streamlined story in which to connect the book’s hilarious and almost impossibly wild anecdotes, “Goats” has hit the nation’s movie screens. Fast-moving, funny, and supremely subversive entertainment of a kind that Hollywood rarely takes chances with anymore, it also arrives at a rich historical moment, as President Obama’s own decision on whether to surge or pull troops out of Afghanistan hangs in the imminent balance.  (more…)

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Tags: army, Ewan McGregor, george clooney, Men Who Stare at Goats, Peter Straughan
Posted Nov 5th 2009 at 5:58 pm in Film, Reviews | 25743461 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/11/05/review-clooneys-men-who-stare-at-goats-biased-but-amusing/Review%3A+Clooney%27s+%27Men+Who+Stare+at+Goats%27+Biased+but+Amusing2009-11-06+01%3A58%3A14Carl+Kozlowski

HBO Obama Doc: The Bland Leading the Blind

Last night HBO debuted the documentary “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” which chronicles the historic election of our 44th president. The film was shot by Alicia Sams and Amy Rice with a key assist from actor Edward Norton. The directors wanted to follow Obama around on his campaign after seeing his speech in the 2004 Democrat Convention. They couldn’t get any calls back until Ed Norton stepped in to help. Norton doesn’t appear in the film. But there are plenty of other starry-eyed voters lined up to praise “the one.”

The film’s first 45 minutes deals with the Iowa Caucus where Obama’s campaign begins. He spends eight months meeting people and working his bland charm, trying to convince everyone he’s just like them. An agreeable, prosaic kind of guy who looks good in a suit and grins a lot. There is no indication of his politics or past associations being radical. He seems a moderate. There are a few people interviewed who question his past, but it’s given little attention. (more…)

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Tags: By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, Ed Norton, hbo, Hillary, Iowa
Posted Nov 4th 2009 at 8:11 am in Film, Politics, Reviews | 25765854 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/11/04/hbo-obama-doc-the-bland-leading-the-blind/HBO+Obama+Doc%3A+The+Bland+Leading+the+Blind2009-11-04+16%3A11%3A08James+Hudnall

New PBS Doc Embraces Big Gov’t, Criticizes Individual Freedom

Government broadcaster PBS is running a new, five-part series on a subject naturally interesting in our time: American Experience: The 1930s. Episodes are available for online viewing here.

The program is just what one would expect from PBS: earnest, well-researched, skillfully presented, and eager to lick the boots of government while criticizing individual freedom for everything wrong in the world.

There are two important lessons to be learned from the Great Depression, in my view:

1. The government causes business cycles and downturns through its erratic, manipulative policies intended to benefit powerful voting blocs at the expense of those less able to fight back. The market works when left alone, and government interference should be limited to redressing actual harms done by one party to another. This includes combating fraud, enforcing valid contracts, and setting clear but liberal guidelines for transactions made across political borders. And nothing more.

(more…)

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Tags: American Experience: The 1930s, Depression, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Irving Berlin
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 2:49 pm in Politics, Reviews, Television | 25591444 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/11/03/new-pbs-doc-embraces-big-govt-criticizes-individual-freedom/New+PBS+Doc+Embraces+Big+Gov%27t%2C+Criticizes+Individual+Freedom2009-11-03+22%3A49%3A44S.T.+Karnick

Review: ‘The Good Wife’ Off to Great Start

The new CBS program “The Good Wife” received a lot of press attention when it premiered several weeks ago, partly because of its novel subject matter. The show explores the life of a wronged political spouse who returns to the workforce after her cheating husband is sent to prison.  The show’s plot invited inevitable comparisons to many contemporary political spouses who have felt the glare of standing by their cheating partners in the media spotlight. Since its premiere, the show has quickly established itself as a smart and entertaining program that is not afraid to explore politics within the legal system and outside of it.

Although many politicians from both political parties can be compared to the husband, played by Chris Noth, an obvious comparison springs up in the premiere episode as the lead character, Alicia Florrick who is played by Julianna Marguiles, returns to work as a lawyer. One of her supervisors, played by Christine Baranski, bluntly says to her, “Not only are you coming back to the workplace fairly late but you have some very prominent baggage.” She then adds, pointing to a picture of current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “But hey, if she can do it, so can you.” Furthering the perception that the lead couple can be compared to President Bill Clinton and his wife, a recent article about the program from The Hill quoted one of the creators of the show offering a “suggestion” to a director about the character of the cheating husband. That suggestion was “Imagine Bill Clinton in prison.” (more…)

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Tags: cbs, Chris Noth, Julianne Marguiles, Politics, The Good Wife
Posted Nov 1st 2009 at 5:33 pm in Reviews, Television | 25474625 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhanlon/2009/11/01/review-the-good-wife-off-to-great-start/Review%3A+%27The+Good+Wife%27+Off+to+Great+Start2009-11-02+00%3A33%3A16John+P.+Hanlon

For Liberty Lovers ‘We The Living’ Arrives on DVD

An 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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Tags: Alida Valli, Ayn Rand, Bolsheviks, Censorship, classic movies
Posted Oct 30th 2009 at 4:03 pm in Film, Politics, Reviews | 25336234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/10/30/we-the-living-for-liberty-lovers-and-for-our-time/For+Liberty+Lovers+%27We+The+Living%27+Arrives+on+DVD2009-10-30+23%3A03%3A20Andrew+Leigh

‘This Is It’: A Genuine Thriller

Michael Jackson was the epitome of a human Rorschach test. To his fans, he was a Messiah of entertainment, seemingly able to transcend the mere mortal abilities of nearly anyone in the history of show business. To his detractors, he was an eccentric who was also repeatedly accused of molesting children. To yet others, he was both. 

When he died of an apparent drug overdose just shy of his 50th birthday on June 25, while rehearsing for an intense 50-show engagement in London, it seemed that this conundrum would never be solved and that his life and legacy would be forever shadowed. Then word emerged that concert promoter AEG had decided to sell extensive footage it shot of the show’s rehearsals and put it up for bidding war, which Sony Pictures won for $60 million. Debate raged throughout Hollywood and the business world about whether this was an appropriate outcome, or if it reeked of exploitation.  (more…)

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Tags: "This Is It", concert, documentary, drugs, Michael Jackson
Posted Oct 28th 2009 at 10:33 am in Film, Music, Reviews | 25433470 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/28/this-is-it-a-genuine-thriller/%27This+Is+It%27%3A+A+Genuine+Thriller2009-10-28+17%3A33%3A14Carl+Kozlowski

‘The Canyon’: Well-Directed Indie Delivers the Chills

The horror smash “Paranormal Activity” is scaring audiences silly without spilling so much as a spoonful of blood. “The Canyon,” in turn, delivers chills not with supernatural shocks but the very real dangers within the Grand Canyon. Who needs ghosts or goblins when Mother Nature starts acting up?

The new film, enjoying a brief theatrical release before jumping to DVD Nov. 17, doesn’t reinvent the wheel so much as spin said wheel as smoothly as possible for nearly two tense hours. Yuppie newlyweds Lori (Yvonne Strahovski) and Nick (Eion Bailey) want to see the Grand Canyon via mule, but they don’t have the permits necessary to make the trek.

Enter Henry (Will Patton), a grizzled local who promises he can secure two permits and guide them to some of the canyon’s lesser known sites. Nick can’t wait. He’s a city slicker at heart, and a rough and tumble trip through a tourist trap’s hidden side is an intoxicating challenge.

Henry knows the terrain, and has the scars to prove it, but even a savvy outdoors type can’t prepare for everything the canyon has to offer. Disaster soon strikes, leaving the newlyweds at the mercy of their surroundings. (more…)

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Tags: "The Canyon", 'Paranormal Activity', Eion Bailey, Richard Harrah, Steve Allrich
Posted Oct 26th 2009 at 3:10 pm in Reviews | 25307012 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/10/26/the-canyon-well-directed-indie-delivers-the-chills/%27The+Canyon%27%3A+Well-Directed+Indie+Delivers+the+Chills2009-10-26+22%3A10%3A13Christian+Toto

‘It Might Get Loud’: The Redemption of Jimmy Page

What happens to an artist whose creative peak has long past? That is the question which looms like a sustained E chord over the new documentary It Might Get Loud, a strange and wonderful cinematic ode to the electric guitar by director Davis Guggenheim. whose previous credits include An Inconvenient Truth (don’t hold that against him).

It Might Get Loud’s central conceit is simple and elegant in principle, but surprisingly messy and complex on screen: Take three eminent guitarists of differing styles and generations, interview them individually, get them to open up about their relationship with their instrument and then, for the film’s climax, throw them together on a sound-stage surrounded by guitars and see what happens.

Guggenheim’s choice of guitarists is a surprising one that somehow makes sense; Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs (in his 30’s), The Edge of U2 (in his 40’s), and Jimmy Page of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin (in his 60’s). (more…)

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Tags: Alison Krauss, An Inconvenient Truth, David Coverdale, Davis Guggenheim, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Posted Oct 26th 2009 at 6:55 am in Music, Reviews | 250126110 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/10/26/the-redemption-of-jimmy-page/%27It+Might+Get+Loud%27%3A+The+Redemption+of+Jimmy+Page2009-10-26+13%3A55%3A55Matt+Patterson

ABC’s ‘Forgotten’: Solid Crime Drama with Values

After several years of mostly miserably failed attempts to ride the wave of crime dramas most of the other TV networks were successfully navigating, ABC has turned to the TV and cinematic crime drama maestro Jerry Bruckheimer for help. The resulting series, The Forgotten (Tuesdays, 10 p.m. EDT), is a solid crime drama and stands for some very appealing values.

The visual style of the show is familiar from Bruckheimer’s many other policiers, such as the CSI series. It has the same tendency toward dingy, low-level lighting, moving camera shots, eccentric framing, and the like, though in The Forgotten it’s not as frenetic and flashy as in most of Bruckheimer’s shows. That’s a good thing.

The stories and performances reflect the earnestness of Bruckheimer’s TV productions, while avoiding the sensationalism the other shows tend to indulge in. Christian Slater is Alex, an ex-cop who leads the Forgotten Network, a team of private citizens in Chicago who investigate cases in which the police have run out of leads and can’t afford to devote additional resources.

Avoiding both cynicism and romanticism, the program makes a point of showing how many people around the nation are willing to volunteer their help. It also shows people who refuse to help, thus making each such instance a test of a person’s character. (more…)

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Tags: abc, Christian Slater, CSI, Jerry Bruckheimer, The Forgotten
Posted Oct 25th 2009 at 5:54 am in Featured Story, Reviews, Television | 25043432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/25/abcs-forgotten-solid-crime-drama-with-values/ABC%27s+%27Forgotten%27%3A+Solid+Crime+Drama+with+Values2009-10-25+12%3A54%3A08S.T.+Karnick

Review: ‘Amelia’ Fails to Take Flight

There are certain mysteries that place a stronghold on the world’s imagination. The existence (or lack thereof) of the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and UFOs are primary among these questions, inducing shivers in those who would like to speculate about the possibility of strange life forms on our fair planet.

And then there is a different sort of mystery, one in which we know someone really existed and then suddenly, simply disappeared without a trace. The famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart was one of those people, the first woman to fly across an ocean who went on to attempt being the first woman to fly around the earth when her plane encountered a series of problems and likely – but not definitively – crashed, with her never to be found again. (more…)

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Tags: "Amelia", Hilary Swank, Mira Nair, review, Richard Gere
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 at 5:05 am in Featured Story, Reviews | 2498989 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/23/review-amelia-fails-to-take-flight/Review%3A+%27Amelia%27+Fails+to+Take+Flight2009-10-23+12%3A05%3A30Carl+Kozlowski

‘Paranormal Activity’ All too Normal

Humans like to think they know the difference between truth and fiction. But in the modern media age, even as we feel technology has made us more savvy than ever, there’s always a disquieting edge that makes us wonder what’s really the truth and where are we being manipulated. Is Fox News really “fair and balanced” just ‘cause they say so, for instance? Or is Obama really bringing “Hope” back to America just because his colorful posters say so? 

Back in 1999, a movie called “The Blair Witch Project” burst into the American pop culture consciousness from seemingly nowhere.  It appeared to be (and was marketed to viewers as) a raw documentary film about three student filmmakers and their tragic last days experiencing supernatural forces while lost in the wilderness, but in reality it was a fictional film made for under $30,000 by a team of indie filmmakers and actors and had caused a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival months before.  (more…)

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Tags: 'Paranormal Activity', Internet campaign, paramount, Spielberg, “The Blair Witch Project”
Posted Oct 19th 2009 at 10:22 am in Film, Reviews | 24581066 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/19/paranormal-activity-all-too-normal/%27Paranormal+Activity%27+All+too+Normal2009-10-19+17%3A22%3A53Carl+Kozlowski

‘Not Evil Just Wrong’ Will Open Eyes to Inconvenient Facts

“Not Evil Just Wrong,” the new documentary debunking much of the global warming movement, is reaching the public at an opportune time. Not only did the film’s director, Phelim McAleer, just publicly embarrass former Vice President Al Gore at a global warming Q&A, but major news outlets are now revealing the earth’s temperature hasn’t gone up for at least a decade.

Yet, “Not Evil Just Wrong” still won’t get the attention of your average Michael Moore polemic. That’s a shame, since it’s far more balanced than Moore’s body of work and offers a message few mainstream documentaries are willing to touch.

What if global warming is just another wide-scale scare tactic, like Y2K, the killer bees or mad cow disease, but with far more devastating results? These questions are rarely asked in the press, so kudos to “Not Evil” for doing so in such a methodical fashion. The film isn’t as entertaining as a Moore screen rant, but it still looks snazzy while imparting a raft of enlightening material.

Naturally, the film presses its thumb on the scale to favor the skeptics, but the global warming believers here add both texture and perspective. “We live in an age of fear, but humans have never lived longer or been healthier,“ the narrator says. (more…)

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Tags: Al Gore, Environmentalist, Global warming, Not Evil Just Wrong, Phelim McAleer
Posted Oct 18th 2009 at 7:03 am in Film, Politics, Reviews | 24774295 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/10/18/not-evil-just-wrong-will-open-eyes-to-inconvenient-facts/%27Not+Evil+Just+Wrong%27+Will+Open+Eyes+to+Inconvenient+Facts+2009-10-18+14%3A03%3A38Christian+Toto

Review: U2 360° — Great Music, Bi-Partisan Politics

OK, first things first: U2 put on a great show in FedEx Field in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, September 29, 2009.

This was a relief, because the previous Saturday they had turned in a dismal, oddly disjointed performance on “Saturday Night Live.” But three days later the boys were back in fighting shape; it was, in fact, one of the hardest rocking shows I’ve ever seen them give — and I have seen my share of U2 shows (my lifetime total is now somewhere in the double digits).

The show opened with several numbers from the woefully under-appreciated new album No Line On The Horizon; the thrilling and unique “Breathe,” segued into “Magnificent,” a tune which doesn’t quite soar as as high as it wants to, but comes closer live than on record. The lackluster “Get On Your Boots” was followed by Zoo-era favorite “Mysterious Ways,” bringing the stadium down and prompting Bono to remark, “Well, it’s a warm night after all!” He then gave a preview of the rest of the set: “We have old songs; we have new songs; we have songs we can barely play!” (more…)

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Tags: Bono, FedEx Field, Larry Mullen Jr., The Edge, U2
Posted Oct 16th 2009 at 4:37 pm in Entertainment, Music, Reviews | 24403841 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/10/16/review-u2-360-great-music-bi-partisan-politics/Review%3A+U2+360%C2%B0+--+Great+Music%2C+Bi-Partisan+Politics2009-10-16+23%3A37%3A14Matt+Patterson

‘Where the Wild Things Are’: Beautifully Realized By a Visionary Director

There are some books that are so beloved and iconic, they’ll probably never be made into films. “Catcher in the Rye,” for one. Or “A Confederacy of Dunces,” for another. And for decades, the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” seemed to be among those topping that list as well. 

Of course, there were a couple of factors that added to the burden of anyone willing to take a swing at “Things.” The book is only 10 sentences long and takes about eight minutes to fully absorb even when one drinks in the stunningly detailed and otherworldly drawings of its creator, Maurice Sendak. So to stretch it into the 90 minutes or more needed for a feature film, filmmakers would have to invent massive amounts of material, creating the risk that their newly added sequences would upset rather than delight the fans who made the book a mega-seller in the first place.  (more…)

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Tags: "Where the Wild Things Are", Karen O, Max Records, Spike Jonze, Yeah Yeah Yeah
Posted Oct 16th 2009 at 3:33 pm in Film, Reviews | 24833048 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/16/where-the-wild-things-are-beautifully-realized-by-a-visionary-director/%27Where+the+Wild+Things+Are%27%3A+Beautifully+Realized+By+a+Visionary+Director2009-10-16+22%3A33%3A27Carl+Kozlowski

Grammer’s ‘Hank’ Tries Different Comedic Approach

The new ABC sitcom Hank is rather short on big laughs, but it’s well-stocked with good ideas and sound values. The big question is, will ABC give it a chance?

Hank is the first of two family-oriented comedies ABC is running back-to-back on Wednesday nights beginning at 8 p.m., with each show featuring a big former sitcom star.

Most TV sitcoms, and that goes double for ABC, are largely about what the great filmmaker and satirist Preston Sturges referred to as Topic A. That is because Americans presumably have nothing else on their minds–other than being murdered or having to go to the hospital, the subject matter of most TV dramas.

Hank bucks that restriction, attempting to mine humor from family relationships, romantic love, and social conditions–which used to be the central subjects of Anglo-American comedy before the relaxing and eventual discarding of social and cultural restrictions on discussions of sex freed Hollywood to parade its inner sex maniac with impunity and in fact great financial success. (more…)

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Tags: "Cheers", "Hank", "The Honeymooners", abc, kelsey grammer
Posted Oct 16th 2009 at 10:46 am in Reviews, Television | 24629432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/16/grammers-hank-tries-different-comedic-approach/Grammer%27s+%27Hank%27+Tries+Different+Comedic+Approach2009-10-16+17%3A46%3A24S.T.+Karnick

Patricia Heaton and Co. Offer Smart Sitcom in ‘The Middle’

The smart new sitcom The Middle presents a positive but realistic view of Middle America’s pursuit of the American Dream. 

Set in the fictional small town of Orson, Indiana, The Middle (8:30 EDT) follows Hank in ABC’s new Wednesday night lineup and like the Kelsey Grammer program, it features a big sitcom star, Patricia Heaton, in a lead role. Also like Hank, The Middle takes a comic but sympathetic look at Middle America, described by central character Frankie Heck (Heaton) as “One of those places you fly over on your way from Somewhere to Somewhere Else but you wouldn’t live here.”

The writing of the pilot episode is particularly strong, and it even uses a couple of symbols to very good effect: a jet flying overhead, and Frankie’s new drivers license with its grossly unattractive photo documenting how badly life has been beating her down. Heaton’s willingness to make herself look silly and physically unattractive is used to great effect in the pilot episode and shows great sense on her part and that of the show’s producers.  (more…)

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Tags: "The Middle", kelsey grammer, Malcolm in the Middle, patricia heaton
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 6:44 am in Reviews, Television | 24412242 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/12/patricia-heaton-and-co-offer-smart-sitcom-in-the-middle/Patricia+Heaton+and+Co.+Offer+Smart+Sitcom+in+%E2%80%98The+Middle%E2%80%992009-10-12+13%3A44%3A30S.T.+Karnick

Gervais Undercuts His Atheist Argument in ‘Lying’

So what we have here are two worlds. One, without God and controlled by thoughts of evolution, is a spectacularly dreary, unhappy place without love or meaning. On the other hand, even a fictional God brings the world meaning, joy, liberty, and wonder.

The Invention of Lying tells a fantasy story about a world in which people do not know how to lie. The conceit is that lying is the product of a gene no human had before it suddenly popped up in Gervais’s character, forty-something failure Mark Bellison. But instead of simply being a cute comedy based on a silly concept, The Invention of Lying is an ambitious, largely unfunny comedy based on a silly concept. It’s not nearly as cute, innocent, or funny as Gervais’s fans might expect.

In fact, it’s really rather dreary. Yet it does have some good points. Although the early scenes in the film, in which we see Mark’s sad, unsuccessful life, are pretty depressing, there as some funny moments after he invents lying. In addition, the philosophy behind the film is sufficiently confused and inconsistent to be more interesting than one might expect.

Before Mark invents lying, no one in the society is truly happy. They speak with brutal honesty toward one another, in particular calling attention to one another’s faults and their own very base desires, and no one seems to mind the situation too much. (more…)

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Tags: Atheism, atheist, christian, jennifer garner, ricky gervais
Posted Oct 11th 2009 at 7:05 am in Featured Story, Film, Religion, Reviews | 244142167 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/11/gervais-undercuts-his-atheist-argument-in-lying/Gervais+Undercuts+His+Atheist+Argument+in+%27Lying%272009-10-11+14%3A05%3A46S.T.+Karnick

‘Couples Retreat’ Satisfying if Unspectacular

You’ve met couples like this before: longtime marrieds approaching 40 and facing stress from fertility problems, work-aholism, lack of communication or just flat-out losing the spark and giving up hope. In fact, you might have lived through these problems yourself. 

But in the new movie “Couples Retreat,” which not only co-stars but is co-written by real-life best friends Vince Vaughn (“Wedding Crashers”) and Jon Favreau (a popular character actor who has also directed “Iron Man”), these average middle-class American problems are given hilarious voice through vivid performances and rapid-fire dialogue. Or, more accurately, the movie shines when it focuses on those aspects of life in the first half of the film, while disappointingly falling off a cliff for much of the unfocused second half. Yet, just like a real-life marriage that lasts, the ups outnumber the downs enough to make this a satisfying if not spectacular night at the movies. 

“Couples Retreat” kicks off with uptight couple Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristin Bell of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) begging their other friends – workaholic Dave (Vaughn) and his neglected wife Ronnie (Malin Akerman of the underrated remake of “The Heartbreak Kid”), and high school sweethearts-turned-bored middle-agers Joey (Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis of “Sex and the City”), and just-separated Shane (Faizon Love) and his ridiculously young new girlfriend Trudy (scene-stealing Kali Hawk) – to join them on a retreat to the Club Med-style resort of Eden. If they can get a group of four couples together, they can all go half-price – which sounds great to the three seemingly healthy couples, as long as they’re assured they won’t have to go through couples counseling.  (more…)

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Tags: "Couples Retreat", Jason Bateman, jon favreau, Kristin Bell, malin akerman
Posted Oct 9th 2009 at 8:23 am in Reviews | 24354215 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/09/couples-retreat-satisfying-if-unspectacular/%27Couples+Retreat%27+Satisfying+if+Unspectacular2009-10-09+15%3A23%3A21Carl+Kozlowski

‘Grateful Nation’ Debuts Tomorrow on ESPN2

On Saturday, October 3rd, a fantastic new show premieres on ESPN2.

“Grateful Nation is a unique and compelling outdoor adventure series that goes behind the scenes and into the field with American Veterans. Hosted by Airborne Ranger Tim Abell, this original unscripted program takes viewers inside the minds of wounded combat veterans and returns them to their traditional American hunting heritage.

Tim’s innovative interviewing strategy together with stunning HD videography launches Grateful Nation into a unique category that captures a whole new audience of sportsmen and patriots.”

The first episode of “Grateful Nation” follows actor and Army Veteran Tim Abell and Army Sergeant First Class Greg Stube on the hunt of a lifetime.

I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with SFC Greg Stube via telephone and was immediately struck by his eloquence.  Greg has the unusual ability to talk about enormous concepts on a very small and personal level.  I sometimes find it difficult to speak clearly about the ideas of duty and sacrifice.  SFC Stube speaks of such things with deep understanding and with perfect clarity.  He learned first hand and up close what these concepts are all about. (more…)

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Tags: "Grateful Nation", ESPN2, SFC Greg Stube, Tim Abell
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 10:35 am in Military, Reviews | 23748215 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jrhead/2009/10/02/grateful-nation-debuts-tomorrow-on-espn2/%27Grateful+Nation%27+Debuts+Tomorrow+on+ESPN22009-10-02+17%3A35%3A24J.R.+Head

Michael Moore Kills Capitalism with Kool-Aid

A friend recently invited me to a private screening of Michael Moore’s new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. The September 16 invite, not surprisingly, leaned in a certain direction: 

“Moore takes us into the homes of ordinary people whose lives have been turned upside down; and he goes looking for explanations in Washington, DC and elsewhere. What he finds are the all-too-familiar symptoms of a love affair gone astray: lies, abuse, betrayal and 14,000 jobs being lost every day. Capitalism: A Love Story is Michael Moore’s ultimate quest to answer the question he’s posed throughout his illustrious filmmaking career: Who are we and why do we behave the way that we do?” 

Considering Moore was going to be there for a Q&A after (moderated by Arianna Huffington), I quickly signed on. Now before painting a picture of Moore’s new film, let me be honest: my belief set is essentially libertarian (”Government out of my bedroom and my pocketbook”). Not only do government solutions not excite me, they scare the living blank out of me. Remember when George Bush declared, “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system to make sure the economy doesn’t collapse”? He might as well of said, “Hide your money, kids — ’cause I’m coming to take it!” 

Oh sure, in theory I would like to see everyone with their own homestead, money in their pocket for regular shopping frenzies, and no health worries despite eating at Burger King 24/7, but arriving at those goals is not exactly doable unless government robs Peter to pay Paul and/or starts up the printing press.  (more…)

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Tags: capitalism, Capitalism: A Love Story., Donohue, friedman, michael moore
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 5:03 am in Featured Story, Film, Politics, Reviews | 23883067 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mcovel/2009/10/02/michael-moore-kills-capitalism-with-kool-aid/Michael+Moore+Kills+Capitalism+with+Kool-Aid2009-10-02+12%3A03%3A41Michael+Covel