“…there are people like him and Warren Buffet and others who realize that if we don’t do something to make this fair, uhm, the people will be at the gates. History has proven that. You can only build the wall so high.  Sooner or later people will not put up with it. Mayor Bloomberg, last Wednesday said, ‘If we don’t create jobs in this economy, there will be riots in the streets of America.’  He said that out loud. He doesn’t just throw stuff out like that. He and the other smart ones know this to be true. They know that they better fix it and they’re behind Obama and what he’s trying to do right now to fix it.

“They know that if they follow the Republican plan, which is to wait Obama out another 16 months until there’s a new president — 16 more months of this economy? I don’t know where you’re from, I don’t know if you’ve visited places like Michigan, but we’re living in a Depression in many places in this country, and sooner or later people will not put up with it.”

Before we get into it, please take a moment to go check out the brand spankin’ new HomeVideodrome podcast, an audio companion I’ve done for this column with Jim Dirkes of The Film Thugs Movie Show.  Be warned that there is some rough language contained within, so it would be wise not to blare it at work.  We had a lot of fun making it, and we hope it’ll become a weekly thing for you to enjoy.  Be sure to leave some feedback after you listen, and thanks for taking the time to do so.

This is a big week for Blu-ray releases, probably the biggest this year, as on Friday, the Star Wars films finally hits the platform.  Being a lifelong fan of Star Wars, this should be an exciting occasion.  Unfortunately it isn’t.  I won’t be buying these, and if you hate what George Lucas has been doing to Star Wars over the past decade and a half, neither should you.

Bitching about Star Wars is an old hat, so I apologize, but it wouldn’t be a something worth addressing if fans didn’t keep encouraging the destruction of these movies with their wallets.  There’s nothing wrong with George Lucas tinkering with his movies over and over again.  Sure, it’s creatively bankrupt, but it’s his choice, because they’re his movies, and for some reason, people keep buying it.  What’s annoying is his decision to suppress the versions of these movies that his paying audience fell in love with in the first place.

Lucas has gotten fat off of Star Wars because so many people love those movies and paid to see them over and over again, yet he insists on endlessly updating it to wring a few more bucks out of it, all while denying his fans what they want: remastered releases of the original trilogy.  Lucas apologists like to point out that we got the original cuts as bonus features on the re-release of the trilogy on DVD, however the version given were cheap Laser Disc rips, not even up to the standards of the DVD format.  It’s as though Lucas was tired of complaints, and decided to wad it up in throw it in the faces of his fans, something to be taken as an insult, rather than giving loyal, paying customers what they’re asking for.  But then again, when said loyal paying customers keep purchasing his revisions again and again, who can blame him?

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“Sarah Palin”

Business Week:

An online game called “Tea Party Zombies Must Die,” produced by Brooklyn creative agency Starvingeyes, might provoke boycotts from the right over the game’s targeted violence against conservative figures, AdWeek reports.

Stavingeyes head Jason Oda made the game as a personal project, unrelated to work the agency has done for Pepsi, UPS, Nascar and other major brands.

Ad Week:

[E]ven though top selling video games encouraging brutal violence against women go largely unchecked, a game encouraging violence against Republicans has not.

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***Update: Much more on the game, including screenshots, at NRO.

We all know who fantasizes and encourages violence. If it’s not just a guy in Obama’s neighborhood it’s a guy introducing Obama or unions or disturbing stuff like this:

It’s the Left.

Liars in the world of entertainment will tell you that what happens on screen has no real-world effect. Which is why corporations spend billions every year using visual mediums to get people to change their behavior through advertising.

You know, because it has no effect.

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From the AP:

Daryl Hannah was arrested outside the White House by park police for refusing to move off sidewalk. The sit-in protested a planned oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

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This week we’re getting four Coen brothers classics on Blu-ray in a handy box set, as well as released individually: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, and Miller’s Crossing (though Fargo has already been made available).

The Coens specialize in bizarre crime movies, and each of these movies has its own, unique feel and tone.  Their first film, Blood Simple, is a a humorless, Texas-fried noir with an atmosphere that would inform their later adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. Even the opening of the Coens Oscar-winning comeback recalls their debut, where one of the characters monologues in a morose tone over various shots of the desolate Texas landscape.  The story would serve as the skeleton for many of their future films, a crime that is thrown into bloody chaos by a villainous loose cannon.  Said rogue is played in this film with cool menace by M. Emmett Walsh, a sleazy private dick hired by a jealous husband to murder his cheating wife and her lover, not realizing the detective has plans of his own.

Blood Simple was a quiet, somber affair, especially compared to the hilarious antics of their kidnapping caper Raising Arizona, which features Nicolas Cage doing over-the-edge crazy the best way he knows how.  The camerawork is reminiscent of their pal Sam Raimi’s debut feature, Evil Dead, in which the camera zooms along in a terrifying yet comedic manner (fun fact: Joel Coen was an editing assistant on Evil Dead).  Many consider this to be one of their best movies, and I certainly think its up there, as it is relentlessly entertaining and as colorful as movies get in terms of action and character. 

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Los Angeles Times:

“The Hunger Games,” directed by Gary Ross, is the first in a planned series based on a trilogy of dystopian young adult novels by Suzanne Collins. The teaser footage, which Lawrence introduced from the movie’s North Carolina set, reveals little of the visual ambition of the books’ science-fiction setting. There is no sign of District 12—the bleak, coal mining region from which Katniss hails—nor the sleek Capitol District, where the stylish and powerful reside. Also absent are the series’s fantastical fashions, such as Katniss’ “girl on fire” dress, and mutant creatures, like the arena’s deadly “tracker jacker wasps.” The movie’s hairdressers have delivered Katniss’ distinctive side braid—this may replace Princess Leia’s buns as a new generation’s Comic-Con coiffure of choice—but her wardrobe suggests the future looks a lot like a Lands’ End catalog.

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Join actress Janine Turner for her weekly radio talk show live from Dallas, TX on KLIF. Tonight’s guests include Fox News analyst Bob Beckel and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Live stream begins at 11:00 PM ET

Jodie Foster’s The Beaver was one of the more controversial releases this year, thanks to the latest highly publicized incidents during the production surrounding its lead actor, Mel Gibson.  Once Hollywood’s greatest working leading man, Gibson has descended to a new low in terms of public opinion.  Yet in light of these incidents, he delivers his most personal performance yet in this movie.

Gibson plays Walter Black, a hopelessly depressed man, whose level of self-loathing has forced his wife, Meredith (Jodie Foster), to kick him out of the house.  In a drunken haze, Walter find a beaver hand-puppet in a dumpster and takes it to his hotel.  Walter attempts suicide in a moment of desperation, but is put off by the cockney accented voice of the beaver puppet, which proclaims is out to save his life.  Hiding behind his newfound beaver puppet persona, he returns to life with confidence and swagger, though it causes confusion and frustration to those closest to him.  Meanwhile, Walter’s awkward son, Porter (Anton Yelchin), makes money writing papers for kids a school.  When the silently troubled head cheerleader at his school (Jennifer Lawrence) approaches him to write her graduation speech, he’s forced to face his own family issues while trying to help her tackle her own demons as well.

The Beaver has one of the most bizarre, interesting, and beautiful performances of Mel Gibson’s career.  The vast majority of the film is spent with the actor in beaver-mode, as he skillfully belts out a cockney accent, along with perfect puppeteering to go with it.  One could be forgiven for mistaking Mel’s accent for the voice of Ray Winstone.  Gibson hides behind the puppet in what seems to be a defense mechanism in the movie’s toughest scenes, even when the film delves into truly strange territory, the man sells everything that’s going on with his performance.

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Classy response from the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and GOP presidential candidate.

Bottom line, Janeane Garofalo doesn’t believe a Black man can or should think different from her, and if he does, he’s either corrupt (taking a pay off) or crazy (suffering Stockholm Syndrome); and that kind of thinking makes Garofalo the one with serious racial issues.

Of course, both she and Keith Olbermann have gotten away with this because our corrupt MSM is too busy screaming racist at those on the Right who use such sinister phrases as “basketball,” “food stamps,” and “dark clouds.”

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I liked this movie better when it was called “Tuskegee Airmen” and wasn’t all CGI-ey. And I really liked it when it was called “Glory.”

To be clear, I’m criticizing a tired story, a tired plot device, a tired … everything. The men and women who risked their lives to protect our freedoms deserve as much cinematic love as they can get, but isn’t there a story about the Tuskegee Airmen where the enemy is Germany or Japan — that isn’t the same story we’ve seen a hundred times already?

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Not much new here to report but make sure to hang in until the end when Rep. Peter King reveals that members of the intelligence community and the CIA, who agreed to participate with the making of Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming bin Laden film, were blindsided when they learned that that the release date was just a few weeks prior to the 2012 presidential election — an obvious betrayal of their trust and goodwill. 

And why wouldn’t they feel betrayed? My guess is that most were eager to see this story told and to see their years of sacrifice and hard work given a positive bigscreen portrayal for a change. So there’s little doubt it must have felt like a slap across the face once they learned they had been conned into contributing to a “Barack Obama 2012″ campaign commercial.

If you think about it, this is really a two-track story. On one track you have the issue of the White House possibly giving classified information to friendly filmmakers prepared to create  that $75 million campaign commercial — something that obviously needs to be investigated. And on the other track you have Sony’s unforgivable decision to use the heroism and sacrifice of our military and intelligence personnel to boost a failed president’s re-election chances.

The word “disgraceful” really doesn’t do this situation justice.

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Matt Damon drones on incoherently for almost a full five minutes here, but hits a real low when he seriously claims no one started a small business with the Bush tax cuts. His inability to understand basic economics is only topped by his inability to emote onscreen.

And yet these people have power and sway over our political process, all based on … nothing.

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What’s to Like

From director Garry Marshall to stars like Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, and Hector Elizondo, “New Year’s Eve” feels like a carbon copy of last year’s “Valentine’s Day.” It seems clear that the producers of this new film  are trying to replicate the success of that  earlier comedy, which also explored a variety of romantic relationships on one specific holiday. Like its predecessor, it’s hard not to be impressed with this stellar cast that also includes Robert De Niro, Seth Meyers, and Hilary Swank. I actually enjoyed “Valentine’s Day” so this film has potential if it follows a similar formula.

What’s to Dislike

A similar formula is one thing but if this film becomes a bland carbon copy of “Day,” it could easily become a waste of time. If this story is only as good as its predecessor, why shouldn’t people just rent last year’s hit instead of paying ten dollars to see this new picture?

The Verdict

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MTV:

Based on what we see in the “Battleship” trailer, the film’s plot looks fairly clear: young naval officer Alex Hopper, played by Taylor Kitsch, is in a heated but secret relationship with a beautiful woman (Brooklyn Decker) who just so happens to be the daughter of Hopper’s superior officer Admiral Shane, played by the eternally badass Liam Neeson. To say that the admiral disapproves of his subordinate is an understatement, but maybe he’ll whistle a different tune when our young hero is forced to save the day from weird alien robot ships that emerge from the ocean and threaten to blow up, well, everything.

The only solution? According to Neeson: fire all of the weapons. That’s good advice for most alien invasion scenarios, really.

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What’s to Like

Although this trailer isn’t as impressive as the previously-released teaser trailer for “The Muppets,” it’s still a lot of fun. With a talented cast including Jason Segel, Amy Adams and the muppets themselves, this film could be a real treat for families to enjoy.

What’s to Dislike

Nothing in the trailer looks particularly funny by itself but the electric fence scene and the clip in the car do have comedic possibilities. Unfortunately,  the plot description at the Internet Movie Database notes that in this film, the muppets must fight against a wealthy oil tycoon. This comedy could arrive in theaters with a few political swipes and an agenda that could undercut some of its likable qualities.

The Verdict

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Via Power Line:

The top finishers in the Power Line Prize competition are being posted around the web. Number seven, called “Fiscal Child Abuse,” is a video submitted by the Independence Institute in Colorado. It features three young girls who want to start a lawsuit; it is funny, and is one of my favorites in the competition. Roger Simon of Pajamas Media has posted the video. …

Number five was submitted by the Young Cons, two rappers (and basketball players) from Dartmouth. Their video features lots of quick cuts as they interview students and a soldier. The cons themselves take the stage at the end. It is an impressive piece of work that rivets your attention even though it was one of the longer videos in the competition.

And here is number five:

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Via our friends at Power Line:

The Power Line Prize jury met via conference call yesterday afternoon and selected the winners of the Power Line Prize contest. Readers who don’t remember may want to refresh themselves: at the beginning of the summer we offered to give away $100,000 to the Power Line reader who best dramatizes the national debt. Boy did you come through. It wasn’t easy, as we had far more excellent entries than there were prizes to be awarded. Over the next few days, we will publicize the winners, along with a number of other entries that we thought were very good. …

My request to you is: steal these videos! Email them to your friends; post them on Facebook; tweet them; if you have a web site, put them up. The idea of the Power Line Prize contest was to stimulate the creation of a lot of new ways to educate people about the debt crisis, not just a few. So the more people who see these videos, hear the songs, and view the other media, the better.

Here is runner up #10, “Talking Babies”:

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Bill Maher recently complained that “We can’t throw around the word (sexist) just to stop people like me from point out that Michelle Bachmann, now running second for the Republican presidential nomination, is a dangerous nincompoop.” Hm, sort of sounds like the argument of “racism” used toward Obama detractors doesn’t it? 

This video explains the subject in a little more depth: 

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With the impending August 2nd debt ceiling “deadline” drawing near (which just so happens to be two days prior to a certain somebody in D.C.’s big Five-Oh birthday bash) and all the wheeling and dealing going on inside the Beltway, President Obama tells us it’s time to “pull off the band-aid” and “eat our peas.”

Mr. President, Bobby Powers and Party Time have a message for you and the rest of your fellow “Cleptocrats” in D.C.:

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Now THAT is how you deliver a message since it appears emails, phone calls, faxes, office visits, and…oh…a million-plus sign-bearing, flag-waving patriots descending upon the Nation’s Capitol don’t work.

I just love these guys!

Bobby Powers stumbled across my YouTube page over a year ago and introduced himself via email.  Naturally I checked out his site and instantly became a fan when I heard their song Take Your Hands Out of Our Pockets.   Since that day, I have had the great privilege of sharing the stage with Bobby and the rest of the Party Time gang (Robin Gordon, Tony Rook, and Michael Marino) after our first meeting on the National Mall at the 2010 Tax Day TEA Party. (more…)