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‘Precious’: Unforgettable Story of Hope, Self-Reliance
by Carl KozlowskiSome 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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Nobody Knows Joe Biden’s Name
by Steven CrowderIn all fairness, some of the questions in the Berkeley video were tough. Thus, I decided to think of the easiest possible questions regarding the Obama administration. As per usual, you can’t even GIVE Obama-voters the right answer. When only 34% of them can identify our Vice President, I start to think of P. Diddy’s “Vote or Die” campaign. If given the choice, I think some of these folks should opt for the latter.
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Dennis Miller: Ahem…All Not So Quiet on the Cable Front
by Big HollywoodDennis Miller in today’s Washington Examiner:
“Who’d have thought that the heretofore ubermeek Obama administration would attempt the first surge of its tremulous tenure against my Fox News Network? As every demented B-lister in a leopard skin fez and a doorman’s outfit from the Plaza Hotel steps up to the psychotic speaker’s corner to tear the Great Satan (uh, that would be us) a new one, our guy has been loathe to return rhetorical fire for fear of stepping on any sandaled toes.
“But Fox News? That’s another story. That’s a sitter at the net for the quasimystical LOTUS POTUS. With the mainstream (downstream?) media more in his pocket than a grizzled train conductor’s pocket watch, he had to look far and wide for a news organization that had not signed a 5 W’s abrogation/suicide pact with David Axelrod. And there stood Fox, still skeptical of public officials and under the stellar rein of Brit Hume, still skilled in the ways of good old-fashioned “Woodstein” shoe leather journalism. (more…)
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Confessions of a Letterman Intern
by Chris StigallDavid Letterman inspired my broadcasting career. Twenty years ago, he was an awkward, self-deprecating guy who wore tennis shoes with his blazer and tie. He was edgy, silly, and unconventional compared to the traditions of variety television at that time. He resonated with an awkward high school kid watching at home in Missouri. Carson was still the king of late night, and some guy named Leno filled in for him a lot. But Dave was cool because he didn’t seem to fit in. Yet, when Carson announced his retirement, Letterman was said to be the heir apparent to the Tonight Show.
As a fan, I didn’t want Letterman to move into Carson’s chair. Not because Letterman couldn’t handle it. It just seemed too refined for someone as eccentric and edgy as Letterman. Turned out NBC saw it that way too when they awarded “Tonight” to Leno. It pained Letterman. But it helped to foster that continued edgy, underdog status that led fans like me to follow him to CBS. (more…)
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Compass? We Don’t Need No Stinking Compass!
by Big XBefore Big X achieved fame, glory and untold wealth as a writer-producer, he spent a decade or so as an executive in the financial industry. So when I read Mr. Weinstein’s comment that “Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion,” I couldn’t help but choke and spray a fine mist of Starbucks all over my laptop screen.
In comparison to “real” businesses, I think I can say from personal experience inside and outside the bubble that Hollywood is the most systemically ruthless, amoral, deceitful, cruel and thuggish enterprise outside of Mexican drug cartels and (possibly) D.C. Politics. For all its self-proclaimed “progressiveness,” compared to the daily operations of corporations in the real world, management practices in Hollywood exhibit all the “compassion” of a mid-19th century Dickensian sweatshop. (more…)
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‘Goode Family’ Canceled, Too Left for ABC
by S.T. Karnick
Proving once again its claim to the hotly contested title of Stupidest Television Network, ABC has canceled “The Goode Family” and “Surviving Suburbia,” continuing their business strategy of desperately trying new things and failing to give them a chance to succeed.
No wonder the cab/sat USA Network actually beat ABC (and the CW network) in the national ratings last week. USA’s formula of original series with unusual but likable characters and sound values carries consistently impressive audience appeal.
Although the ABC cancellations were expected–given the fact that the network had brilliantly moved both series to Friday night, a network television Dead Zone, thus guaranteeing that the shows would not be able to generate an audience over time–they nonetheless prove that ABC hates anything with decent values and ideas and cannot appreciate good, solid entertainment with real sense (Castle being the rare exception). (more…)
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Tío Chano vs GI Joe
by Joe LimaLast Friday I got back from a hike and saw that my Uncle Luciano (we’ve always called him “Tío Chano”) had taken the car. He left me a note saying that he was going to go see “an Army movie.”
Somehow, I knew he was going to be disappointed.
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American Basiji
by John T. SimpsonSince Iran’s Green Revolution began on June 12th we have all learned the meaning of the term Basiji, whom Matthias Kuntzel of The New Republic called “Ahmadinejad’s Demons.” Since Supreme Leader In Name Only Ali Khamenei’s son now runs the Basiji, I consider it more of an Ahmie and Khamie thing, like the election itself. We’ve seen what they’ve done: murderous beatings, motorcycle drive-by clubbings, even the shooting of innocents like Neda Soltan and Kaveh Alipour.
That violence is always blamed on those protesters by Ahamadinejad and other hardliners, as well as FARS and other state-run mouthpieces, all of whom are doing their damndest to demonize the Green protesters as enemies of the state, foreign agents, even domestic terrorists. Glad we don’t have that kind of stuff in America, huh? Ya, as if! What country are YOU living in?
What, in essence, are the Basiji? Are they not an ideologically and violently overzealous arm of the fascist Iranian thugocracy? Well, if terrorizing innocent citizens over ideology with full political backing is the key issue here, then what do you call the three menacing baton-swinging racist epithet-spewing New Black Panther Party poll watchers in Philadelphia, paid in full by Democrats, who uttered such overzealous statements as “you will soon be ruled by the black man, cracker”? (more…)
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Nora Ephron: Don’t Judge Ryan O’Neal for Hitting on His Daughter at Farrah’s Funeral
by Big Hollywood
Hollywood Values
From the director of “Julie & Julia” over at HuffPo:
I understand that Ryan O’Neal has confessed, in the current edition of Vanity Fair, that he recently failed to recognize his own daughter Tatum at a funeral and accidentally made a pass at her.
Everyone is very judgmental about this, but I just want to say that I sympathize. …
As it happens, Ryan O’Neal had not seen his daughter Tatum in years. He thought she was a Swedish person. I completely understand. … So who’s to judge? Not me.
The woman Ryan O’Neal spent over a decade with and had a child with dies after a long agonizing bout of cancer, he hits on some “Swedish person” at the funeral, and that’s all fine…
What would be wrong is judging that kind of behavior.
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Big Hollywood Liveblogs Obama’s ABC Healthcare Special 10/9c
by Big HollywoodEveryone is welcome! Jump in!
(more…)
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Iran at a Crossroad: Mr. President, Where Are You?
by Chris BurgardAfter Friday’s Iranian Presidential election, Mohammad Asgari allegedly released results showing that the Iranian government used new software to rig the results in favor of Ahmadinejad. After a mysterious car accident, Mr. Asgari is now dead.
Mohammad Asgari worked for the Iranian Interior Ministry to protect the security of their IT network. Officially President Ahmadinejad received two thirds of the vote with around 24.5 million votes, while his closest rival, Mir Hassein Mousavi, received over 13 million votes. According to figures leaked by Asgari, President Ahmadinejad came in third.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are in the streets demanding liberty. Officially 37 have been killed: shot in the streets and in their dorm rooms. Iranians are standing up to the Mullahs. They are standing up for freedom and they are being killed.
These are not people who were promised a day in the park for a free rock concert, sausages and beer. These are people who are risking everything to go against an evil theocracy. It is no longer simply a matter of candidates, the Mullahs are in real danger of losing their power, and they know it. (more…)
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Hero-Worship and God-Kings
by Jeremy D. BoreingGod-kings are not new on the stage of human history, nor do they exclusively occupy the dusty corners of the distant past. One need only look to the Japanese worship of Emperor Hirohito during World War II to see that an industrialized, modern country can still vest in its leaders supernatural authority. And there are far more subtle ways of making divinity out of men as well.
The Apostle Paul was warned two-thousand years ago that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Certainly his intention was to illuminate to the self-righteous that they do not live up to an actual standard of perfection, but perhaps there is more. For as surely as a man might be blind to his own failings, there seems to be some propensity in man to be selectively blind to the failings of others as well. This selective blindness may have many causes and find many expressions. Some in our society carry cultural guilt and fear of accusations of bigotry that cause them to hold entire social, racial, and religious groups to different standards of judgment than others. Still, it is the elevation of individuals above common scrutiny that creates idols of men. Whether it is a rock-star or actor, sportsman or elected leader, holding any man above reproach is folly, for in ceding to anyone our power to critique them, we grant them power man was not meant to have. (more…)
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Ride 2 Recovery: Day 4 – Richmond to Williamsburg
by Ride 2 RecoveryDay 4 started off with a visit from Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. The Governor has been pushing many Veteran’s benefit programs as Virginia has a large military presence. Gov. Kaine is also a cycling enthusiast and pledged to take part in next year’s event.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine talks to the media after speaking to the Wounded Warriors
The route to Williamsburg again took the riders through some of the greatest roads in Virginia. The 72-mile route had a couple of long climbs, something that the riders have not seen many of.
Williamsburg is part of the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which also includes Jamestown and Yorktown, is among the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Williamsburg is the original Capitol of Virginia dating back to 1698. Williamsburg was established in 1632. Prior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area, which became Williamsburg, was largely wooded. (more…)
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Two Hours of Jack Bauer Power Hour
by JudeThe big question is whether FOX will finally actually air a two hour show, or will they continue their habit of advertising such but then just showing one hour shows, back to back. I know, it seems trivial, but in reality it’s more of a cliffhanger than anything left in the actual show… WILL Jack live? mwahahahaha….
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Voight Plays Evil While Garofalo Plays Smart, As ‘24′ Blazes Fictional Trail
by JudeNah, I’m just kidding. She’s a smart woman. We just like to make fun because she’s so condescending and hateful about us when she gets going. Whatever. We don’t want to get Tom in any more trouble 
So let’s make fun of the thing we really like to: 24! Drinking game remains Kiefer Sutherland head-fake before line delivery.
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Everybody Lay Off Tom Shillue!
by Dave Konig
I like him. And yes, he is funny. If you’re irritated with him for his most recent column defending Janeane Garofalo, you’re going to have to take my word for it.
Tom posted a column the other day about Garofalo. It was shocking, controversial, outrageous – and maybe a little misunderstood. Tom’s point was essentially this: why get mad at Janeane Garofalo for saying on TV what every liberal already thinks, that anyone who opposes Barack Obama’s policies is only doing so because they are – wait for it! – racist? Getting outraged at liberals who think Republicans are racist is pretty much the equivalent of (God help me as I reach for the most tired, over-used, movie metaphor in the columnist’s bag o’ tricks…) Captain Renault being – wait for it! – shocked, shocked that there was gambling going on in the back of Rick’s Café. (more…)
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Sao Paolo, Taxifornia
by John RomanoI’ll keep it short and sweet this afternoon.
As Arnold’s new taxes kick in shortly, many people in my liberal Hollywood circle are starting to ask a question they wouldn’t dare ask before. Us conservatives in LA always have one foot out the door for greener pastures, but to hear those on the left get upset about taxes is perplexing and joyous at the same time.
The question: Is living in California worth the cost? (more…)
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Another Celebutard of the Week: Jeremy Piven
by Andrea PeyserYou are what you eat, I guess.
It was the performance of Jeremy Piven’s life. Last week, he tearfully persuaded five fellow actors that he was deathly ill from mercury poisoning due to his lifelong love of sushi – and not merely slacking off with Britney – when he abruptly walked away from the Broadway production of “Speed-the-Plow.’’ I predict future actors will have “no raw fish” clauses attached to their contracts. Entire A-list restaurants will tremble at the loss of high-profile business. On the bright side, fish will live.
Piven dodged a financial bullet by pleading his case to a grievance committee of Actor’s Equity. He could not escape the hilarity that ensued over his fishy tale. As “Plow’’ playwright David Mamet joked to the New York Post’s Michael Riedel, “My understanding is he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.’’
This is why Piven is my latest “Celebutard of the Week,’’ in keeping with my new book, Celebutards: The Hollywood Hacks, Limousine Liberal and Pandering Politicians Who Are Destroying America. (more…)
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My Real Time with Brigitte Gabriel
by Charles WinecoffIt seems obvious to me that national security is an everybody issue. And apparently, all kinds of people sign up for Act For America’s training seminars – Christians, Jews Hindus Atheists, lesbians, gays, people of all colors and creeds – not just trailer park stereotypes that the ill-informed automatically presume. Brigitte Gabriel is unabashedly gay friendly, feminist friendly, progress friendly, and more socially liberal friendly than her detractors would ever dare to admit – because, as she says herself, “that’s what Western civilization is all about.”
It’s not about calling women second class citizens and feeling supreme above all others. We’ve had enough trouble fighting supremacist movements here in the US already – and now we have a black President to prove the battle is almost over. So why are the Chris Roddas out there trying to malign and marginalize someone who is fighting to prevent another supremacist group – radical Islamists – from asserting their macho supremacy anew? (more…)
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The Actress in the Glass Booth
by Cheryl Felicia RhoadsVisiting Washington DC, I had asked an orchestra leader at a hotel restaurant, if I could sing Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo? Only four years old, I stood on the stage, singing a song about magic. My show business debut came as a shock to my family, who hadn’t noticed that I’d quietly slipped away from the dining table. Sometimes, I have a tendency to spring things on people. Later, when working in the entertainment industry, I shocked non-family members with my worldview. But when one is an actress and a conservative, there’s just no easy way to break it to some folks. So one time I was at my agent’s office for a voice over audition, I asked to be heard in more ways than one.
See – there was this anti-President Bush stuff plastered on the door leading into the recording booth. It had been there awhile, and I had tried to ignore it. Weeks before, I’d been waiting along with another actress for an audition. We’d been having a pleasant chat, when suddenly this woman dove headfirst into an anti-Bush diatribe! Stuff like that had been happening more and more. And I began to dread going to auditions there. (more…)
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Thanks So Very Much, All of You
by JudeThanks Tom, Melanie, Stage Right, um, Andrew, Andy, Ace, uh, Ben….Doug, gosh, there are so many people to thank, and if I forget you, you KNOW I love you… um, John, Alex, so many people who worked behind the scenes to make tonight happen…um, the tech guy whose name I forget, but who was an absolute hero when the site went down for a while…
You know, just a few years ago, when I was pretending to say thank you to all my fellow bloggers in the view cam of my old Powerbook, I only dreamed of a moment like this, when…ahh, forget it. Iowahawk, will you please make this funny?
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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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by Tom Shillue
Jude, you hit it on the head. I can’t believe that quote went right by me.
He actually said his leftist politics made it “hard for people to vote for him”. What?!!? Think about that. That is the essence of the these guys–they act as if they are out there all alone fighting the good fight against the masses. There is NO ONE out there who is not constantly patting Sean Penn on the back. Ridiculous.
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by Melanie Graham
So long. Farewell. Adieu, adieu, adieu…
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Gary Graham and I will do this…
by Stage Rightfor the Tony Awards in June…. right?
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