Top 5: More Conservative Films For Thought
by John NolteNational Review’s 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years did what all good lists do, ignite debate and discussion. Last week, NRO’s own Kathryn Jean Lopez jumped in to make a solid case in favor of “Rocky Balboa,” yesterday Maura Flynn stirred things up with a little disagreement and smart choices of her own, and on Monday Ben Shapiro weighed in with a line by line argument for and against the NRO picks and a few excellent additions, including “Tombstone,” and “L.A. Confidential.” Thus far, it’s been a fascinating conversation, and while I normally don’t argue “taste,” Ben’s opinion on “Braveheart” requires a response:
It’s an action epic with some romance thrown in. Liberals could easily caricature Braveheart’s Longshanks as a redneck, particularly after he defenestrates the prince’s gay lover.
Ben’s correct about what “Braveheart” is and what liberals could do with it, but you also have to look at what “Braveheart” is about. The film’s essence is about fighting and dying for liberty, a value the Left conceded thirty-plus years ago on the Killing Fields of Southeast Asia straight through to their call last year to strip 25 million innocent Iraqis of their liberty (and security) in the hopes of embarrassing George W. Bush. Like patriotism-when-the-guy-you-didn’t-vote-for-is-in-office, what was once a universal value has become through default, a conservative value.
Of course, what this really means is that our homework over the weekend is to give each of these titles a screening in order to complete the important business of deciding who’s right. You should add “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” to the mix, as well, because … well, because it rawks.
Here are five more for the pile that I don’t recall showing up on anyone’s also-ran list:
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1. The Passion of the Christ (2004): If someone were to ask me why I believe Mel Gibson’s heart wrenching dramatization of Christ’s final hours is a conservative film, my first answer would be, “Because so many on the left hated it so much.” From the major studios refusing to distribute it, to the full-time public relations assault to strangle “The Passion” in the crib, never has a film so stirred up the rage of so many.
This was probably due to the fact that “The Passion” was not a touchy-feely, socialism-is-the-only-way-to-Heaven experience. This was religion; unfiltered Christian religion that made no apologies for saying the way to Heaven is through Jesus. Gibson also reminded us that Christ didn’t just die for our sins — dying was the easy part – Christ was tortured without mercy for hours for our sins. It’s interesting how frequently those who embrace “spirituality” also loathe religion.
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2. Ratatouille (2007): “The Incredibles” (#2 on NRO’s list) is a fine choice for the reason Ben explains:
[T]he Incredibles represent a family with extraordinary abilities who learn that they should embrace their extraordinariness.
But while “The Incredibles” is a great film, “Ratatouille” is a masterpiece and even more conservative. The story of a rat with unique cooking skills does examine the same theme of extraordinariness, which is summed up in a monologue by Anton Ego (Peter O’ Toole), the film’s appropriately named food critic: “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” But “Ratatouille” goes beyond a single conservative theme to upend a decades-long Hollywood sacred cow which demands morally superior animals teach humans “very special” lessons.
Our rodent protagonist is Remy, and the film’s first shocker is that he doesn’t see we humans as threats to his natural habitat, spoilers of Mother Earth or an aberration of the eco-system. He sees us in a wholly positive light, even superior to his own species, which is made up of thieves who don’t wash their hands. Remy aspires to be like us, those who do more than survive, “…they discover, they create.”
“The Incredibles” is undoubtedly more exciting and adventurous, but “Ratatouille” is an abundance of rich themes and ideas.
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3. No Country For Old Men (2007): Andrew Klavan wrote of last year’s Best Picture winner:
…a decidedly conservative film that linked the evil of its nihilist serial killer to the decline of morals since the 1960’s. “Once you stop hearing sir or ma’am,” says the film’s lone moral voice, “the rest [of the evil] will follow.”
This evil is personified by Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), an unreal entity who cannot be stopped or negotiated with. Live life the way you should and maybe he’ll pass by your door (all depends on the way the coin lands). Do wrong, however, and you and your loved ones face a furious reckoning — and there’s no coin flip for those who bring evil upon themselves.
When Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) enters the motel room, Chigurh hides behind a door and then seems to vanish into thin air. Evil wouldn’t or couldn’t touch this decent man. At the same time, this decent man couldn’t stop evil, either. It just moves on, this thing some don’t believe exists.
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4. True Lies (1994): Yes, the bad guys are terrorists not from Eastern Europe or Alabama, and it is none other than Charlton Heston in charge of protecting America from evildoers, but James Cameron’s ridiculously entertaining comedy-actioner also flips on its ear the worn stereotype of the dopey dad. When the old man turns out to be a super-spy who saves the world, frumpy mom blossoms into Jamie Lee Curtis, surly daughter gets her act together, and the whole family unites to fight for the old red, white, and blue.
Our first sign “True Lies” was conservative should have come when critics labeled it misogynist.
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5. Thirteen (2003): Though not at all conservative in its harrowing presentation of a thirteen year-old girl run sexually amok in pursuit of popularity, director Catherine Hardwicke’s (“Twilight“) unflinching condemnation of the soul-destroying effects of the “celebrity lifestyle” is a cry for the traditional in a home without a father and only a hippy-dippy mom (Holly Hunter) more interested in being a friend than parent.
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524 Comments
1) NRO must have left this out on purpose. Ghostbusters? Top 10. Most important Christian movie ever? Not gonna touch that one.
2) Good call. Better movie than the Incredibles.
3) I thought they would be dying to put this one in–read that quote! It only came out last year. An oversight, indeed.
My favorite lines from "True Lies" which is easily Arnold's best comedy.
"Harry, you've killed people?"
"Yes, but they were all bad."
Unfiltered religion? So why did Mel Gibson have to use whole passages from anti-Semitic mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich in his script for the movie? Of all the writers he could have used, he chose her? I guess his anti-Semitic rant during his DUI arrest makes a bit more sense.
Here, then, is where I point out that if the best measure of the Top 25 is what a film is about, why in the world are SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BLACKHAWK DOWN not on the list ? They are about brave Americans fighting against evil regardless of the odds and at considerable cost to themselves.
Saving Private Ryan: Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon
there's your answer.
"It’s interesting how frequently those who embrace “spirituality” also loathe religion."
Perhaps because some of us view religion as a human institution, not as some infallible organization of men annointed by God. After 13 years of Catholic school, I learned that religion only gets in the way of spirituality. You can still believe in JC without having to subscribe to a religion. Religions are like government: They want to collect some of your money and then tell you how to live.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned SIGNS yet. This movie is all about faith and family.
Blackhawk Down – Directed by Ridley Scott of Body of Lies/American Gangster/Thelma and Louise fame
True Lies! Excellent pick! Definitely conservative. Tom Arnold's reflections on the daughter are particularly good in their own way for establishing a conservative message.
True Lies was a misogynist film, John. The whole Jamie Lee Curtis does a pole dance sequence is about as "conservative" as the NEA
I'm surprised no one has mentioned THE KARATE KID. It's about a driven young man who works hard to master a skill. Until he gets beaten by that skinny dweeb and the end. But even then he learns a valuable lesson about losing gracefully.
His delivery of the line was absolutely perfect, as well. Arnold gets a lot of grief for his acting ability, but he was great in that scene and in the whole movie.
Actually Hollywood doesn't make "conservative" films. I think that is implied from the get go with this whole exercise. What we are debating is the conservative elements (whether indended or not) of these films. True Lies has a humorous and sexy scene with JLC. I could name a 100 flims that have sexy/funny scenes. What does that have to do with the conversation?
If someone were to ask me why I believe Mel Gibson’s heart wrenching dramatization of Christ’s final hours is a conservative film, my first answer would be, “Because so many on the left hated it so much."
Ah, finally some honesty about why this site exists: cheap tribalism. Kudos, Mr. Nolte.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming of declaring every positive value to be "conservative" and everything else to be "liberal." Carry on…
Interesting thought on the "mysoginist" labelilng of True Lies. Maybe if Jamie Lee Curtis was actually stripteasing for a terrorist, it would have been labeled daring, romantic, sexually liberating and post-modern feminist.
Don't forget that the pole dance scene follows the film's most poignant scene where Jamie Lee tearfully laments, "Just once I wish I could point to something and say 'I did that.'" In its own way, playing the bad girl spy was liberating for her.
"But “Ratatouille” goes beyond a single conservative theme to upend a decades-long Hollywood sacred cow which demands morally superior animals teach humans “very special” lessons."
True. Of course, then Pixar went right back to that old chestnut with Wall-E, which was about cute, mindless robots who teach humans very special lessons. They weren't animals, but they might as well have been.
And I agree with Seriously, John on True Lies. That scene where Arnold basically tricks his wife into thinking she is being forced to cheat on him was disgusting. And it poisoned an otherwise great action flick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
No Country For Old Men is in my opinion, a movie without an ending or an ending that was so casually thrown out there it reinforced my theory that the Coen bros. ran out of ideas. The evil dude, Anton Chigurh, is unreasonably, off the scale evil, and doesn't in my book contrast anything conservative or liberal and how the flip do you pronounce that last name, Vasquilly would have done. The sheriff recounting a cold ride with his dad, horns filled fire, no resolution of that night ride. Did someone die? Maybe I didn't pay close enough attention, but that movie let me down, especially when Vasquilly just walks away, it didn't drive conservatism home to me, it pissed me off, I wanted him dead!!!!
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned "The Great Raid", a movie about saving POW's in a Japanese run prison camp in the Phillipines during WW 2. The Americans find out that the camp is going to be exterminated and organize a rescue raid to save them. Based on a true story. Anybody else seen this one?
I can't believe Iron Man wasn't in this list. The bad guys are Islamic terrorists, and the good guy is a die-hard capitalist.
Perhaps I am reading this wrong but my first impression was "How sad!"
Can you expound further on what you mean by religion, spirituality and believe to help me better understand what you're trying to express? Thank you.
Mel Gibson? That lecherous old anti-Semite? Not bloody likely.
Yeah, weren't we all really cheering for William Zabka the whole time?
I would say The Karate Kid is definitely conservative in theme. Young teenager, lost in a new area with a single mom, finds salvation through a father figure and in learning self-protection.
So participating in a discussion with like-minded people is now called "cheap tribalism".
Hey Blucas…excellent post on the Karate Kid…so good in fact, I had a WTF moment before I reread it and "got it". I thought the movie was conservative in a NAMBLA kind of way myself…
Plus it has "Your The Best," which is one of the best songs played in an 80's movie montage.
"Liberals could easily caricature Braveheart’s Longshanks as a redneck"
On the other hand, conservatives could caricature Braveheart as an insurgent or a terrorist since Braveheart resists the imperialistic English kingdom that occupies his native Scotland.
Equivalencies. Hmmph.
Also, let's not forget DIE HARD, the inspiring story of a savvy, debonair, entrepreneurial self-starter plagued by government interference.
Um…you're going to have to ding Cormac McCarthy on the ending of No Country. The Coens actually filmed the book rather faithfully.
I think that TLJ's monologue at the end was a fairly profound view of a man whose view of good and evil was severely shaken by the pure evil of Chigurh. It's not that dissimilar from Frances McDormand's "for what, a little money" speech at the end of Fargo.
However, TLJ's closing monologue was, in my opinion, hurt by the seemingly out of nowhere sequence with TLJ and the old man in the run down cabin. It sort of wrecked the rhythm of the picture and diminished the power of the ending.
Also, let's not forget DIE HARD, the tragic story of a savvy, debonair, entrepreneurial self-starter plagued by government interference.
"In America"
"Crash"
The best Onion headline ever was "Boy Loving Southerners Form Own State – Alabanambla"
Rocky IV
and
Top Gun
cold war classics
What passages were those? I saw the movie twice and kept waiting for the accusations of this movie being anti-Semitic to be justified, and there was nothing there.
Daniel,
Had they stuck with the Iron Man story it would have been but the went instead with more of an anti-war feel and blamed our development of weapons for the violence. Plus the scene with the innocent Arab man dying on the bag with a big American flag behind him as he died was about as subtle as a bag of hammers.
You want conservative comic book movies nothing tops Dark Knight.
Paul D writes of BRAVEHEART: that " . . . conservatives could caricature Braveheart as an insurgent or a terrorist since Braveheart resists the imperialistic English kingdom that occupies his native Scotland. "
Yes, I suppose one could equate William Wallace's struggle to liberate Scotland from England, to the reactionary Iraqi "insurgents.'" If one were a moron.
um, she was doing a pole dance for her husband. She may not have known it at the time, but he was having fun at her expense after he found out she was hanging out with the fake spy.
I don't want to be subliminally preached to, entertain me. Yeah, I thought about the old man also, was it the former sheriff, or his dad, and if it was his dad, what was all that rig-a-ma-roll with horn of fire, seemed like some sort of symbolism referring to death and the movie was not worth an Oscar. The actual filming and scenery was pretty good, and the story leading up to the end kept my interest, until the ending. As you can tell I'm obsessed with what I feel is a POS of a movie….
Wait, so you favor Scottish secession?
Wait, so you favor Scottish secession? The whole point of Paul's post *wasn't* that Iraqi insurgents are awesome like William Wallace, it was that making modern equivalencies to unrelated historical events is fraught with stupidity.
Wait, so you favor Scottish secession? The whole point of Paul's post *wasn't* that Iraqi insurgents are awesome like William Wallace, it was that making knee-jerk modern equivalencies to unrelated historical events is fraught with stupidity.
Wait, so you favor Scottish secession? The whole point of Paul's post *wasn't* that Iraqi insurgents are awesome like William Wallace, it was that making knee-jerk modern comparisons to unrelated historical events is fraught with stupidity.
Wait, so you favor Scottish secession? The whole point of Paul's post *wasn't* that Iraqi insurgents are awesome like William Wallace, it was that making knee-jerk modern comparisons to unrelated historical events is fraught with stupidity.
I mean, I'm sure some of the Coulterites in the house would take issue with "The Crucible" right?
To me it moved it along a little more. TLJ in that scene was searching for answers from firends and family about evil. His uncle (i think) in the run down cabin pretty much said to him evil has always been around and it is nothing new to deal with. Basically, suck it up. there is no pure evil, evil is just evil in all it forms.
Look, I didn't totally care for the ending either. Again, that's how the book ended, and the sentiment of the final speech isn't that dissimilar from the end of Fargo.
I still think that if the previous scene in the cabin had been excised, then the fade to black ending would have worked marginally better.
No Country won the Oscar because the other main contender, There Will be Blood, might have had an even worse ending. I drink your milkshake? Please.
Yes, that's what the insurgents in Iraq were fighting for – Liberty.
Yes, that's what the insurgents in Iraq were fighting for – Liberty. I had forgotten that. I thought it was to go back to their iron rule of Saddam.
If you're gonna mention Top Gun then how about Iron Eagle? I thought Top Gun was mostly a chick flick with a little Naval aviation thrown in.
The pole dance liberated her character and she was ready to cheat with Bill Paxton long before Arnie started messing with her head.
The mysoginist charge — if I remember correct — came from the interrogation scene.
I agree with you that such a comparison would be disingenuous.
The point of Paul's post was that BOTH Wallace/Iraqi insurgent and Wallace/American comparisons would be facile, disingenuous, and silly.
As much as I simply can NOT watch that particular scene, I think it's really wrong to say that he was having fun at her expense. I don't think that he had fun at her expense at any point in the whole movie. He may have been wrong about how to help her, but he was trying to give her an opportunity to feel brave and daring and exciting. Even at the very end when it's all over and she's being a *real* spy with him, and they're dancing and it's just embarrassing… they're just loving each other.
Is that "conservative"? While not intending to imply that liberals want marriages to break up, that movie centered on two people keeping their marriage together. No he's a jerk (though he was) so leave him. Or, she's pretty hopeless, you can do better (and he probably could have.)
I donlt hate religion; it's just not for me. Religions are run by humans, claiming that they have a better understanding of God than the people they preach to. For someone to tell me that my faith in God has to run through their organization is about as arrogant as the global warming crowd believing that they can control the weather by driving hybrids and adopting vegan diets. And I just flat out don't like being preached to.
I don't consider myself a conservative, but I grew up out of liberalism a long time ago. File me under mostly libertarian and some conservative (I love defying classification). My vote is for The Outlaw Josey Wales, Clint Eastwood. One long sordid tale of the woes governments inflict on individuals. Props especially to the scene between Wales and Ten Bears over living together in the valley.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075029/quotes
Ten Bears: These things you say we will have, we already have.
Josey Wales: That's true. I ain't promising you nothing extra. I'm just giving you life and you're giving me life. And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another.
Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life… or death. It shall be life.
Anyone mentioned October Sky?
Some people just don't want to admit that terrorist fight out of hate, and not out of some desire to be free. They don't love liberty, they hate the fact that we embrace it.
I agree with Erasmus. I thought it was a really fine film until the last 20 minutes or so, which largely confused me. Then I read the book, and can only say that it takes McCarthy forever and a day to add only a little clarification to what you saw on screen. The Coen brothers' ending, despite its flaws, is better than McCarthy's.
What about Ronin? In addition to being very well made, it — ultimately — depicts intelligence operatives acting with great honor.
Or at least two of them.
That's an interesting take, Brian. Do you think that scene in tandem with the TLJ monologue at the end might have been overkill or a weird change in rhythm?
It all reminded me of PT Anderson's Magnolia, that had what seemed like 100 deathbed confessional scenes.
Can't speak to BLACK HAWK, been too long since I've seen it but PRIVATE RYAN is another story. Who someone fights in a film, evil or otherwise is not what a film is about. It's why they're fighting as as Tom Sizemore's character makes clear, SPR conisdered WWII a shi**y pointless mess.
Can't speak to BLACK HAWK, been too long since I've seen it but PRIVATE RYAN is another story. Who someone fights in a film, evil or otherwise is not what a film is about. It's why they're fighting and as Tom Sizemore's character makes clear, SPR conisdered WWII a shi**y pointless mess.
The film’s essence is about fighting and dying for liberty, a value the Left conceded thirty-plus years ago on the Killing Fields of Southeast Asia straight through to their call last year to strip 25 million innocent Iraqis of their liberty (and security) in the hopes of embarrassing George W. Bush
Really? Well I'm sure you honored that value by enlisting and serving yourself. By all means, John. Tell us about it. We need more stories about true heroes who understand what fighting and dying for liberty is all about.
I mean, I don't know if you've actually watched "Braveheart" or "The Patriot," but there's some definite hate going down on the part of the good guys.
Again, though, not saying the insurgents are awesome, just that it's easy to make lazy modern comparisons to historical events that help nobody.
Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down are some of the most liberal movies of the last 25 years. The opening scenes of Saving and the confused ability of the US to commit troops and assets to save the team in Blackhawk are some of the most depressing in film history. Now they want to show the coffins at Dover !! This is gratuitous and the message is clear : war is bad. Well, ask Genl Sherman fergodssakes !!
One other thing, the crying shame about the weird undercurrents underneath Passion as well Gibson's own worldview, he actually has a pretty interesting compositional sense as a filmmaker. Unfortunately, he is seemingly very obsessed with brutality and sadism. Apocalypto was a flat out disgusting film in terms of violence.
Oh, that's right, Harley — because I wasn't in the service I can't speak to such issues. Great response. Genius, really. Wish I had thought of it. Think of all the ways I can tell others to shut up now.____Are a doctor? Then shut up about healthcare.____Are you a cop? Then shut up about crime.____Are you in the film business? Then shut up about movies.____That's great, Harley. Awesome tip. Thanks! ____I'm assuming you live by those rules so I'll expect to see your resume before allowing you to comment further.
You lose!
Any demand that someone enlist before being allowed an opinion is an automatic epic fail.
Oh, that's right, Harley — because I wasn't in the service I can't speak to such issues. Great response. Genius, really. Wish I had thought of it.
Think of all the ways I can tell others to shut up now.
Are a doctor? Then shut up about healthcare.
Are you a cop? Then shut up about crime.
Are you in the film business? Then shut up about movies.
That's great, Harley. Awesome tip. Thanks!
I'm assuming you live by those rules so I'll need to see your resume before allowing you to comment further.
But the US did have a confused and muddled reaction to the events depicted in Black Hawk. Are you saying that the film lied about what happened?
"But “Ratatouille” goes beyond a single conservative theme to upend a decades-long Hollywood sacred cow which demands morally superior animals teach humans “very special” lessons."
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http://www.gregnog.com/storage/sacredcow.jpg
Of course there is hate; who wouldn't hate someone that is trying to restrict their liberties. But the good guys in those movies, despite their flaws, are fighting FOR freedom. Terrorists don't fight for freedom, they fight against it.
You know how I feel about Braveheart John. As far as the left having any way of a field day with it, I think Mel and Randall Wallace were showing how corrupt Edward's court and heir were by focusing on the Prince being effeminate which he was, which he really did historically pay for. He didn't live very long after Daddy died.
The whole thing about perversion in Edwards court runs the gamut from the Prince being into clothes rather than what he should have been into, and of course…"If we can't force them out, we will breed them out." First night with any girl just married. Remember? There is a whole context of power being corrosive in the Bruce's father to, with his disfigured face from Leprosy or whatever he was supposed to have.
I dont say the film lied about what happened, or that Saving made up the gore on the beach. What I am saying is that some things shouldn't be shown, like the coffins at Dover. We don't need to be shown everything. It invades a private place, like a death in the family. The esprit de corps of troops would ask the same.
Unfortunately you didn't answer my question. How do you separate spirituality from religion or religion from spiritually? When you say, "You can still believe in JC without having to subscribe to a religion," what do you mean and on which of Jesus' teachings do you base that?
So, taking your "we don't need to be shown everything" argument to its logical conclusion, should the public also be prohibited from seeing the gravestones at Arlington National? The whole thing about not seeing the coffins is a not so subtle way to keep people from really having to THINK about the cost of this particular war. Out of sight, out of mind.
You have a view of the world that you are claiming here, and you believe it is correct.
Therefore, for you to tell me what you've said here is just as arrogant.
Spirituality is my faith in God, which to me is just between me and God. Religion, to me, is a set of beliefs, rituals and practices that is facilitated by just another fellow human being who is in no way infallible as some religions claim. I don't know the exact verse, but it was a teaching by St. Paul that basically stated that a persons real faith is defined when they are alone, and not when they are praying among a congregation. That one really stuck with the individualist in me.
I am still waiting for the example of these whole passages that are anti-Semitic that you mentioned in your first comment. That is quite a serious charge. You are not going to make an accusation without backup and expect people to take it seriously, are you?
Those 'weird uncurrents' that you mention in this second comment would be nice to know as well. I have not seen 'Apocalypto' so I can't speak to that. So what brutality and sadism are you referring to? Certainly not 'The Passion', since it comes straight from the New Testament.
John, the "have you enlisted" argument is based on the observation that the people who agitate the loudest in favor of starting wars or initiating military action a) have never served in the military or b) certainly wouldn't participate in the cause they want others to die for if eligible to do so.
It's pretty darn easy to agitate for war if you personally won't be affected immediately by the consequences of your advocacy. So, John, take your advocacy of Braveheart. It's noble to die for liberty and the cause of freedom. The Chickenhawks talk a great game about liberty and freedom, but ultimately would prefer others do the dying for them.
Good thing Jesus didn't come to establish any organization, but to reconcile sinners to a holy God.
Are you that much of an idiot to say we should show the coffins?
That is a part of the war that has been hidden, just like live footage of our soldiers in combat, and injued in the hospitals. The torture that our country has done (Well its war, and it will save lives). So we kill our own freedoms by passing the PATRIOT act………Give up your freedoms, because the GOP says its patriotic!
You conservatives want to hide the TRUTH from the people. You want to post a rosy picture of iraqi kids passing out flowers to the liberators, when the facts are that what we did was nothing more than little W, getting even with the man who tried to kill his daddy and killed our economy in the process by wasting trillions of dollars, thousand of lives and helping his oil buddies by inflating oil prices over his 8 years in power!
. This is why the GOP is on life support and about to colapse overal as a political party because you are built on
-Racist hate (southern inbreed losers of a war over 140 years ago who still care about that war),
-Religous ideology (Single issue voters that are brainwashed the some so called virgin gave birth 2k years back and now all pregos need to give birth and cant have an abortion). Yeah I said so called virigin. I read Jack and the beanstalk, and never thought it was real, why do you idiots read a book, written by humans, and believe that is really possible for a virgin to get pregnant and that some invisbile man , who controls the universe was the father?
-The Ultra Rich (No they earned their money, they didnt lie cheat and steal to get their and one day, when I am a multi-millionaire, I want a tax break too, so dont raise their taxes and lower the middle class and the poor's taxes.) They will spend their money on job creations, not private jets, vacation retreats and other luxury items that dont help the real economy.
If you are a republican and dont fall into one of those 3 mindsets, I say BS!
RIP-GOP!
Another part that stuck with me was when they mentioned that the English didn't let the Scottish have any weapons. Longshanks kind of seems like an earlier version of Bobby Rush. It was ok for him to have firearms when he was a Black Panther but it's not ok for others to have any.
Gone Baby Gone
In this film we have a protagonist who, when faced with a difficult moral dilemma, decided to push on and do what he knew was right rather than cave to nihilism. Some many films, especially noirs, have been labeled nihilist because they show evil and corruption in the world but this doesn't make something nihilist. Having a protagonist who caves in to this view and decides that the world is evil so nothing really matters is what makes a film nihilist. In Gone Baby Gone Casey Affleck's character eschews this approach and pushes on. He realizes the difficulty of his situation but he does not compromise because he made a promise and he is not interested in breaking that promise. And best of all, he takes ownership of his decision. Great film.
Gone Baby Gone
In this film we have a protagonist who, when faced with a difficult moral dilemma, decided to push on and do what he knew was right rather than cave to nihilism. So many films, especially noirs, have been labeled nihilist because they show evil and corruption in the world but this doesn't make something nihilist. Having a protagonist who caves in to this view and decides that the world is evil so nothing really matters is what makes a film nihilist. In Gone Baby Gone Casey Affleck's character eschews this approach and pushes on. He realizes the difficulty of his situation but he does not compromise because he made a promise and he is not interested in breaking that promise. And best of all, he takes ownership of his decision. Great film.
According to your view, the only people allowed to make any comment about something are those who have personally experienced it. Therefore, if I am to express a thought about say, murder or rape being wrong, I must have murdered or raped someone?
Explain to me why this makes sense and why I should take your view seriously?
Top Gun was a two hour homoerotic montage that was comically marketed to a group of people that were too dull and militaristic to notice the parade of washboard abs. 300 might have been even worse.
Superb film. It's too bad that any number of posters here boycotted it because Ben Affleck was the director.
Then you should love Christianity, which teaches that all people are free to choose or reject Christ. There will always be people who claim to have a moral authority to force others to bed to their will, whether that supposed moral authority comes from religion, or some idea of science, or some other rationalization for controlling the actions of others. Just because someone claims moral authority to oppress from some source, does not make that source itself evil. There are people who claim that the Constitution gives them the right to oppress. Does that make the Constitution wrong? No, it just makes their interpretation wrong.
Heh. Reap, sow, you know the drill. Although I have to address the basic error you made in your response first. It should be…
Not a doctor? Then shut up about healthcare. Not a cop? Then shut up about crime.
And so on…
My complaint is with the inane comment you made. As if you and the rest of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders know more about fighting and dying for liberty because you memorized Red Dawn and voted for George Bush twice. That's ideological scorekeeping for nitwits, and no dumber than suggesting that the Right is soft on Nazis because men and women of the Left were the first to die fighting the spread of Fascism in Spain.
I'd suggest letting go of silly, self-serving memes like that one. If only because they tend to undercut your arguments.
The devil wasn't ant-Semitic but was an incredibly effective piece of storytelling. The one strong deviation from the Gospels was the Roman guard going out of his way to call Simon a "Jew." This was Gibson's way of making sure the audience knew that the one person who stood up for Jesus was a Jew.
To call "The Passion" anti-Semitic is to call the Gospels anti-Semitic.
ERASMUS: Hurls a charge, can't back it up and then changes the subject. Typical.
The "have you enlisted" argument is based on the unfounded assumption that people who support military action or see the value of military action have a) never served in the military, and b) will never serve in the military.
The "have you enlisted" argument is impervious to examples of military support for military action (they must be stupid, or brainwashed, or both), and impervious to the actual, real, status of those supporting military action as veterans or family members of those who have or are serving.
The "have you enlisted" argument ignores the fact that, amazingly enough, those actually on the "pointy end" aren't making chicken-hawk arguments. And shouldn't they be?
It is left to the anti-war (anti-victory) left to defend those poor helpless souls who couldn't possibly tell some foaming at the mouth pro-war agitator where to stuff it. It's beyond insulting and rather unwelcome.
(And in the end, we can take them out and measure, but that would be juvenile.)
Never claimed it to be a world view, just my own opinion based on my own experience, which is 13 years of Cathiolic school. I don't think I need to be part of a collective group to have a strong faith in God. The negative feedback I get for not subscribing to an organized religion only reinforces my feeling that it is not for me. I've never claimed that everyone should feel the way I do, only that it is unfair to question the faith of someone just because they don't feel compelled to go to church every Sunday.
I don't necessarily disagree. But John's absurd comment about the Left seemed worthy of a little cape-tugging.
Short version: It's not based on "observation" at all, but on unfounded assumption.
Also… the person I want dying for me is the enemy. DUH.
It doesn't make any sense. Harley just doesn't have an intelligent way to disagree.
John Nolte, research Anne Catherine Emmerich and then tell me you are comfy with Gibson using her book in his script. By the way, chief, I didn't call Gibson's script anti-Semitic (apart from the Blood Libel), I said that he used an anti-Semitic writer in his script.
If Iron Man is so "anti-war," then why did Tony Stark use a high-tech weapon (his armor) to unleash swift, blinding violence against his terrorist foes? Wouldn't a true anti-war movie have Stark saying "Stop that please" as the terrorists kill innocent men, women and children?
As in the comics, Stark took his company out of weapon manufacturing in order to establish a system of oversight. Once that system was in place, Stark began sharing his technology with the good guys (U.S. soldiers) while keeping it away from the bad guys (terrorists, Communists, etc.). This no different than how
the U.S. doesn't share its tech or military secrets with countries that are enemies.
Regarding the Hinsen scene, Iron Man has traditionally been patriotic despite that character not wearing red, white, and blue. Heck, Iron Man is a superhero who regularly fights villains from real-life evil empires like China and the now-defunct Soviet Union. So, I would have been shocked if the movie didn't have the Hinsen scene.
On a related note, Iron Man was more gutsy than TDK in this sense: IM's foes are clearly Islamofacist terrorists. The movie doesn't dress the bad guys in clown makeup or claim they follow some fictional evil theology. Iron Man's enemies are far too real.
Once again, the Iron Man movie remains true to its source materials.
Ask the soldiers.
Dare you.
Ask those serving in harms way what they want to happen if they are killed. Ask them if they want to be a spectacle and a lesson about the cost of war. It's a noble thing, right? So ask them if they want to be used that way, if they want their families to see their coffins unloaded at Dover.
The whole THING about not making a media spectacle at Dover is an attempt to treat fallen soldiers with the utmost dignity and respect.
Maybe, sometimes, it's just not about you.
Mo, Latino…
As I said elsewhere, I was responding to John's statement about the Left and liberty, which I find demonstrably false, not to mention self-serving to a ludicrous degree. The Chickenhawk argument is of limited value and for my personal entertainment only.
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