REVIEW: Polanski’s ‘Ghost Writer’ Is as Amoral as Its Director
by John NolteThe most satisfying part of my “Ghost Writer” movie-going experience came after the last fade just as the credits started to roll. My screening took place in one of those art house theatres where the real price of admission is suffering through 22 agonizing minutes (I keep track) of trailers for those absurdly pretentious films insecure people pretend to like. The theatre was pretty full, much fuller than expected. But when the movie was all over even arthousey fans of director Roman Polanski couldn’t muster much enthusiasm. When someone behind me started one of those THE MOVIE WASN’T GOOD BUT THE POLITICS WERE CORRECT claps, he clapped alone.
**Major Spoilers Coming**
Budgeted at $45 million, “The Ghost Writer” is yet another (by my count: 17) multi-million dollar sortie in Leftist Hollywood’s ongoing effort to enable the evil of terrorism by siding against the West. And for this reason, what starts out as the witty, fast-paced and involving story of a young writer (a charming Ewan McGregor) hired to aid former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) to write his memoirs, quickly gets buried under the trappings of a muddled and ultimately, very stupid thriller.
In Polanski’s morally confused world, saving innocent lives with the use of water boarding is an absolute wrong and Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision (he’s quite obviously the Brosnan character) to join America in the liberating of 25 million innocent Iraqis can only mean that he’s Bush’s poodle and a stooge for the CIA – a CIA that we’re told is always working against America’s best interest because of their Middle East policies and, yes, support of missile defense.
This is the cinematic equivalent of the three-bank shot of stupid. And stupid isn’t thrilling. But stupid can be funny and when the Condi Rice lookalike shows up, it rises to laugh-out-loud funny.
The shame of it all is that thanks to expert pacing and McGregor’s superb performance, “The Ghost Writer” starts out quite promising — as a smart, efficient, fish-out-of-water story that grabs hold of your attention for nearly forty minutes as McGregor’s “Ghost” (we never learn his name) is pulled from an everyday existence and thrust into Lang’s political world set in a large, sterile Oceanside home on the Northeastern coast of the United States.
As the last minute replacement for the previous writer (a close friend of Lang’s who accidentally drowned), McGregor’s under enormous pressure to meet an impossible one month deadline. In Lang’s topsy-turvy existence focus would be difficult under normal circumstances but almost immediately a media siege begins after the World Court announces they’re considering indicting Lang as a war criminal for shipping four terrorists out of the country for a little of the ole’ water boarding.
It’s at this turning point that the narrative begins to takes on two fatal problems. The first is that to those of us who think differently than the left — say, for example, our disagreement over whether or not child rapists belong in jail even when they direct movies – Brosnan’s Lang did nothing wrong. And so you sit there wondering what all the hullaballoo’s about. In the real moral world what’s evil is not doing whatever’s necessary to interrogate those who murder the innocent and giving up your national sovereignty to the unholy World Court.
Sure, there’s a murder, but it quickly becomes an afterthought in all the proselytizing and it’s an unmotivated murder to boot — to cover up Lang’s ties to a CIA agent who in turn’s involved in (you knew this was coming) a Halliburtonish multi-national corporation. The weight given to these silly reveals is laughable. I’m sure in a fever-dream as he’s spooning with Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann would gasp. But the only crime Lang appears to be guilty of is in allowing himself to be influenced by those who think winning the war against Islamo-fascism is a good thing.
The second problem is a narrative structure that’s sequenced in a way that loses track of what the movie wants to be about. Just as the discovery phase of the story appears to begin when McGregor finds an envelope full of clues, all the intrigue goes off-track for a long and ultimately pointless seduction sequence involving Lang’s bitter, lonely, insecure wife (Olivia Williams). As with all the weight given to McGregor’s deadline, in the end this “romantic” subplot has nothing to do with the overall plot which leaves you with an unsatisfied aftertaste.
McGregor’s character also lacks the emotional turning point that helps to make ultimate sense of his actions. In one scene he expresses a complete lack of interest in doing any of the investigative reporting necessary to unravel the truth. But in the next, he literally risks his life doggedly questioning and entering the home of a man he suspects is a murderer. One of the most important and satisfying of thriller moments is the protagonist’s chilling realization of the stakes involved in whatever he’s gotten himself into. That just never happens. Eventually, McGregor’s character loses most of his steam because too much of his time is spent reacting as opposed to making things happen.
After 17 films and a perfect 100% failure rate, you have to wonder if the amoral degenerates who produce this junk aren’t starting to wonder why all their hard work and financial investment always results in a completely forgettable flop. Someone needs to sit them down and explain that if you want your movie to not suck is has to be about something. And if all you’re about is tearing down the good guys, then you’re about absolutely nothing.
No one expects those who have so willingly chose the darkside to understand that nihilism is not a value, but any junior college screenwriting student will tell you it’s no substitute for a theme.
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141 Comments
If it's about a ghost writer, who plays Bill Ayers?
Okay, I need to recalibrate my moral compass. Fighting terrorism= bad. Adultery with the boss' wife=good. Private-sector technology used to support war effort=bad. Drugged rape of a minor=good. Doing the right thing for the right reasons=bad. Prosecuting people who do the right thing for the right reasons=good.
There! All recalibrated!
John, how can you spoil anything that no one will watch. Just another liberal lefty crapfest.
I flipped through the book at the library. That was trash too.
[...] more here: REVIEW: ‘Ghost Writer’ Is as Amoral as Its Director This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
YOU WILL WATCH AND YOU WILL ENJOY!!!!!!
Coming soon to a theater near you.
We know what's good for you.
Did the evil politician and his bitter alcoholic wife have a nubile teenaged daughter? Just wondering who Roman is dating these days?
So this guy is a child rapist and he's going to dictate to ME what's morally acceptable???
NEEEXT!
Roman gives underage girls liquor and drugs then rapes them. His friends and supporter in Hollywood think that is just fine.
"World" magazine makes another exceptional point:
"For the most part, it is a reviewer's job to consider the creaion apart from the creator, but this proves an impossible task with "The Ghost Writer". Elements of the plot parallel aspects of Polanski's life so closely, and the ethical conclusions he reaches in this fictional world are so contradictory to those he reached in regard to himself, his hypocrisy can't help but intrude on the experience.
A key point of the story is a powerful man being shielded from justice on the basis of his stature in the world. For those who may have forgotten, the French-born Polanski fled the United States in 1978 to avoid further sentencing for his admitted rape of a 13-year-old girl. Because fo his cinematic achievements he has avoided extradition, though since last December he has been under house arrest in Switzerland. That Peirce Brosnan's character's renown is based in politics must make him less worthy of pardon to Polanski than, say, a man whose renown is based on the arts.
Continuation of last comment about World magazine article on "The Ghost Writer".
"The specter of a CIA-controlled prime minister eluding prosecution from The Hague by holing up in a Cape Cod compound demands outrage. Yes, force him from his place of hiding and make him answer for his wrongdoing is the reaction the film tries to wrest from its viewers. That Polanski sees this film as a relevant geopolitical alleogory is obvious. That he apparently fails to see how that theme relates to him is astounding."
From "Director's Cut" by Megan Basham "World", March 13, 2010
She wasn't just underage, she was friggin 13 years old. She was a child. If it were my daughter that was drugged and anally raped, I would've taken a trip to France for a some face time with that POS.
I read the book (based on a positive review in the WaPo – I should've known better) and liked it until I could see where the story was going, then I just felt like my sensibilities had been abused. Needless to say, I have no interest in seeing the movie.
Why would those fine actors, Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor, work with a child rapist? Even worse, maybe one of the reasons that young girl, Chelsea King, is dead is because Hollywood defended Polanski, putting it out there in public view that rapiing children is OK.
I agree, MacGregor is an excellent actor. It sucks to see him do stuff like this.
Again with the CIA – First "Ghost Writer," next up "Green Zone." They're Hollywood's go-to hack villain, the ultimate Evil White Men in Suits. The CIA were the first on the ground in Afghanistan after 9/11, they were the first to strike back at Al Queda. Think anyone will ever make a movie about that? I bet we'll see a movie about Johnny Bin Walker before we see a movie about Mike Spann.
This is an excellent point, John. The word nihilism has sprung up as an issue on this board for the second time in as many days. I notice this trend in TV as well as in film. Thank you.
See, that just shows you're some kind of latter-day Puritan with some hangup about the beauty of the human body and intimacy and all that, and won't let people express themselves openly. Shame on you for persecuting poor, misunderstood guys like Polanski.
Actually, he gave it fairer shake than I would have considering it was made by a child rapist.
As a trained professional, John, I appreciate the fact you have to sit through this garbage so that we don't have to. Personally, the fact that Polanski is involved would keep from ever even considering it. The fact that the movie sucks is just icing on the cake, if not surprising. More importantly, it is good to have a written record of just how bad this movie is. As another commenter pointed out, rather than a spoiler alert, consider a P.C. suck alert.
Yeah call me kooky, but there's just something about child rape that makes me all shootie and stuff…..
John certainly knows his "onions."
RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! THERE'S A BOMB IN THE THEATRE! (I think it's a stink bomb…) Thank you John Nolte for soiling yourself with having to watch this feces and saving us from having to do so. Next time go to the ticket seller and demand your money back. I object to even the idea that Polanski would get my money for anything. It is why I didn't go see that movie with Mike Tyson in it. I don't support convicted rapists. I don't support child rapists.
Ideological moralizing just isn't a substitute for good story writing.
Pierce Brosnan, among others, has made it a point to continually state his admiration for Polanski. He was "thrilled" to be asked to take part in a Polanski project. I find it abhorrent that any actor would consider it an honor to work with this man. He raped and sodomized a 13 year old child and when he fled the US he dove into a relationship with Natasia Kinski, another very young girl. It sickens me when people use Polanski's early personal life and the sadness within to justify the man's complete lack of morals. This film could be the best ever made, but I would never offer one dime to support it. Polanski is a pedophile who has never expressed regret or repentance. How anyone could attempt to justify his actions because they consider him to be talented is delusional
The thing that bugs me about stupid movies like this is that when actors I really like do them it taints them forever in my mind.
I like both Brosnan and McGregor … now I like them a little less and am less likely to watch whatever they do next.
At one time I enjoyed movies with Tim Robbins, Matt Damen and Anne Hathaway … but no more … hate to put Ewan and Pierce end up on that list.
At least Manson had the excuse that he was/is insane. Polanski is cold and calculating in his methods.
You know, as liberal as I am, I refuse to watch a roman polanski film on the basis of the director himself, irregardless of the "message". I'd much rather pay to see a talented conservative movie maker's work and make that guy money than to line the pockets of a man who has an immorality that transcends liberal or conservative.
I pray for the CIA nightly along with the military; they have a difficult job and make difficult choices. The bombing in Afghanistan just reminded me of how dangerous their job really is.
100% failure rate? Really?
wow. just wow. I never even considered it from that angle.
As he sow so shall he reap, don't worry his contract is up soon, and another of his house will take him,and he will be didested slowly for even Lucypher has honor.
It's not my job to separate the artists from the art, it's the artists. If who they are overpowers their creation that's not my proble. It's my job to honestly write about my experience.
In the case of GHOST WRITER, the first 40 minutes was so good, I did forget. Then the film got morally stupid and it was impossible to forget. That's not my problem, it's Polanski's.
This, however, can also work to an artist's benefit. The goodwill much of us feel towards the like of Adam Sandler, Sandra Bullock and Denzel can smooth over all kinds of rough spots.
Sean Penn is a class-A asshole. But he's talented enough I usually forget that. Same with Alec Baldwin. Other stars work so hard to deconstruct themselves in their personal lives but don't have that talent and fall out of facor with the public, like Julia Roberts.
Just the way it is.
Unfortunately Brosnan is a hardcore Lefty, part of the prosecute-Bush-and-Cheney crowd.
Kudos Buck, well done.
I think it's the whorish nature of the industry. They think they are immune from the trash because they are just "acting". That and the big fat checks.
So the book was no good? I happened to like Harris' "Fatherland" and "Archangel." I was more curious about the original novel than this movie.
No one expects those who have so willingly chose the darkside to understand that nihilism is not a value, but any junior college screenwriting student will tell you it’s no substitute for a theme.
Actually nowadays thanks to indoctrination they'd probably tell you the opposite, that nihilism is more important then a theme. That's why I left film school after my questions about theme were greeted with 'why?' by teachers and students alike.
I tried to give Obama a fair shake but he kept insisting to me that he was a childish jerk. Finally, I believed him.
John should get a medal for enduring all these crappy movies and reviewing them in all their awful detail.
I think a job as Medical Examiner would stink less.
Americans are just to stupid to understand impressive material like the book and the movie THE GHOST
WRITER because it is BRILLIANT unlike American people who are STUPID.
I'd rather watch Roman Polanski's work than the childish CRAP that Steven Spielberg directs.
Shootie . . I likey!
For better or worse, I am one of those poor souls who cannot separate the person from his art. I've found myself actively stating that I did not want to know about the moral or political views of actors whose acting I have enjoyed. So please, do not tell me if Morgan Freeman is a wild-eyed Liberal, or that Al Pacino is a necrophiliac, etc., etc., I just would rather watch their movies and have a little fun. Like one pundit says, "Shut Up And Sing!"
As it stands, I cannot and do not watch A. Baldwin, Jane Commie Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts and a host of others. Part of the reason, besides my utter disgust with them, is that they tend to do movies that compliment their own morally bankrupt ideologies.
Whew! I'm glad to get that off my chest!
Yeah, don't even THINK about reviewing Mein Kampf, you're probably just going to pan it. Or any of Goebbels' films, we know you're not going to give them a fair shake.
If you disagree, perhaps you would favor us with an example of a "multi-million dollar sortie in Leftist Hollywood’s ongoing effort to enable the evil of terrorism by siding against the West" that you consider to be a success?
BTW, I think John was referring to a financial success, please don't regale us with stories about all the various awards that leftist Hollywood heaps upon itself, or the stunning reviews that leftist "critics" use to praise their Hollywood masters.
I agree with you on the second statement, but broad generalization about a group of people are STUPID as well (CAPS are FUN).
As conservative as I am, I hate to find myself agreeing with a Liberal
BUT, if there were a conservative director that I found to be as morally reprehensible as Polanski, I wouldn't watch his or her movies either. He is truly a repellent individual.
Since you have trouble with the English language, please allow me to edit your insult, "Americans are too stupid to understand the impressive material contained in either the book or the movie about Ghost Writer. It is brilliant. American people are not brilliant. They are stupid." Does that read better? Now get lost and find an English teacher.
Thank you for correcting that. Badly constructed sentences and paragraphs bother me, especially when someone is using them to tell me how stupid I am. I don't always write perfectly correct English, but I try to do so and don't usually call a whole group of people stupid for not appreciating what I might consider a brilliant book or movie.
I won't see this movie because now that I am paying attention to the world and the people in it, I know who Roman Polanski is, and I do not choose to support him or his work.
That scumbag would look good with a couple behind the ear.
wow nothing says intelligence like broad sweeping correlations such as an american is stupid therefore all stupid people are american.
I'd like to refer you to the following stage of childhood development
"Period of Formal Operations
(12 years and onwards)
Characteristic Behavior:
Thought becomes more abstract, incorporating the principles of formal logic. The ability to generate abstract propositions, multiple hypotheses and their possible outcomes is evident. Thinking becomes less tied to concrete reality.
Formal logical systems can be acquired. Can handle proportions, algebraic manipulation, other purely abstract processes. If a + b = x then a = x – b. If ma/ca = IQ = 1.00 then Ma = CA.
Prepositional logic, as-if and if-then steps. Can use aids such as axioms to transcend human"
What you've done is a failure of prepositional logic. Meaning, if you do this sort of thing all the time, you're no more intellectually developed than a 12 year old.
-good day sir
I do not disagree with you. I wish I did not like Matt Damon as an actor as much as I do. I did not write the quote as any type of criticism of you……….I too find that an author's stands will effect my view of their work, and I do not apologize for that. I just thought the point the review made of pointing out Polanski's hypocrisy was one that I wanted to add to the discussion: that he would worry about "justice" for terrorists who are waterboarded (terrorists who would gladly saw off any of our heads with a dull pocket knife), but ignore justice for a raped and sodomized 13-year-old is absolutely breathtaking!
I'm not sure why you would even dignify a Polanski movie with a thoughtful review. I'm not sure why you would even dignify a Polanski movie by watching it. This movie should be boycotted, both at the theater and online.
This kind of calibration can make the head explode off of an Autin Powers maching gun jibbly brandishing fembot.
I like the shootie, but personally I would get all stabby.
given the reviewers broad statements that all liberals love terrorists and support polanski, I'd say the broad tone of the post is fitting. sadly, while I agree with the reviewer's opinion of polanski and disagree with him on waterboarding, he's let his politics cloud his review enough that I can't trust him as to whether it's a good movie or not.
Yeah but then you'd have to touch him, and even a Silkwood shower wouldn't be good enough.
me American… me stoopid knuckledragging caveman… and me still hate Geiko!
OK, feel better now?
Hahahaha.
There exists in England a group of people who pledge money(ies) to the defense fund of anyone who attempts a citizens arrest of Tony Blair for the commission of war crimes. There has been a least one person to bennefit from this largesse.
What an interesting idea.
I wonder how many would contribute to the defense of Roman Polanski's rapist?
I'm in the same boat. I used to really enjoy matt Damon's films. But I can no longer separate his idiocy off-screen with what he did on it. Now it appears he can't separate himself either, see "Greenzone".
Some of those people, when I see them on screen, all I see is the hate-spewing dolt that turned me off. It's my problem, I know, but it is what it is. If they can't show enough class to quit acting like complete assholes (I'm looking at you Sean Penn), then I'm not obligated to accept you when you're on-screen.
why did you even review this movie? You were never going to give it a fair shake to begin with.
even if you subscribe to such a train of thought I'd counter that by saying you don't win discussions by lowering yourself to the standards of the people you want to protest. It just makes you sound like the conservatives who protest the liberal's love of name calling……by calling liberals names, or the liberals who feel the need to fight racism by enacting policy that forces you to identify race – thus allowing for racial preferences to become systematized….It's just silly.
so easy a caveman could flame it?
[...] have been a few new conservative reviews of Polanski’s The Ghost Writer lately. They are from John Nolte, Christian Toto, and Sonny [...]
There was a brief period when I had a serious problem seperating art from artists – the innability to reconcile "so-and-so makes great art" with "but so-and-so is also a big jerk."
My moment of clarity was realizing that the problem was trying to hold those two things in equal balance: I could either care with all-consuming depth about humanity and the "greater good"… or about film.
Given the way "humanity" has treated me for going-on thirty years now… I think I made the right decision
"In the real moral world what’s evil is not doing whatever’s necessary to interrogate those who murder the innocent." Interesting, so, committing torture to "save" innocence is now considered "good." While not torturing a human being (yes terrorists are still human) is considered evil. I think I know what is real evil here. I consider myself conservative as well, but this is ridiculous and dangerous thinking John. I agree with you on many things. This I cannot.
You're right: it *isn't* a right versus left issue. Every liberal I've talked to (I'm a writer, so the majority of my friends are) was absolutely sickened by the man, what he did, and are not shy at all about sharing the things they would do to him if it had been *their* daughters he'd raped.
The only ones I see giving him a free pass are privileged Hollywood elite. And sometimes, not even then.
I'm not sure why you would even dignify a Polanski movie with a thoughtful review. I'm not sure why you would even dignify a Polanski movie by watching it. This movie should be boycotted, both at the theater and online.
One of Polanski's best. Loved Eli Wallach and little Rosy. Go see the movie and enjoy lots of fun and humor.
May Contain Spoilers to “The Ghost Writer”
Some may believe Polanski’s latest movie "The Ghost Writer" is a nightmare, bearing no resemblance to reality, or to his current situation, but this isn’t true since certain aspects mirror Roman Polanski’s own demise in America in 1978, which was not all of his own doing.
In the movie there are two ghost writers, who never meet, because the first one dies, before the other arrives. Both are linked by the same manuscript, the same people, the same location, the same corruption, the same cover-up, and the same set of circumstances which seeks to silence and kill them for exposing corruption.
In the movie the first ghost writer perishes under strange circumstances much as Roman Polanski did In America by flight by the end of January 1978 due to Judicial Misconduct against him.
Just like the movie, and in reality a second victim exists, who experiences what Polanski experiences – that is Judicial corruption in the same Santa Monica Courthouse.
For the second victim the official corruption came in the form of Judicial misconduct and police brutality against her, with undocumented white County of Los Angeles Sheriffs positioned in the Courtroom & specifically there to assault and batter her, for exposing Santa Monica College Police cover up of her sexual assault complaint against a photography teacher at Santa Monica College, which sexual assault occurred in his darkroom class, by trapping her and surprising her from behind.
By exposing the police corruption which the Santa Monica Court was given notice of through the claim that was filed days in advance, she was subjected to a staged hearing and attacked in the courtroom by a number of undocumented White County of Los Angeles Sheriffs' Deputies and one defendant African American Santa Monica College Police Officer in front of the County of Los Angeles judge .
This same County of Los Angeles Judge has since been promoted to the California Court of Appeals by the former California Governor on police brutality day, just as Jay S. Bybee’s who signed the Torture Memos for the Bush Administration was promoted by the former President to become a judge on the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2003.
In the movie “The Ghost Writer” a Harvard Professor is linked to the CIA., which is the same as Jay S. Bybee's affiliation to the CIA through signing the Torture Memos, Bybee has also written for Harvard an article entitled, “ The Tenth Amendment Among the Shadows: On Reading the Constitution in Plato’s Cave, 23 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL’Y 551 (2000)
As Polanski and another person has been victimized in the shadows of the same Cave, the Santa Monica Courthouse, who have never met, but yet whose paths are inextricably crossed through the Judicial Misconduct and corruption that they were exposed to there, Polanski’s claim for Judicial Misconduct is strengthened even further, since the Santa Monica Court’s exploitation of these two different sexual assault cases, illustrates how the County of Los Angeles Santa Monica Court has engaged in a double standard which depends on who the perpetrator is – i.e. foreign born Roman Polanski or California Santa Monica College state employee who is being assisted by corrupt police, and the Court itself.
In reality the second victim of the Santa Monica Courthouse sued but instead of any quick resolution, and apart from two rays of light of two precedent decisions, she has been slowly tortured by the endless litigation for nearly 12 years, in addition to being sexually assaulted, framed by the police and beaten up, and not to forget falsely arrested.
On January 11th 2006 Judge Jay S. Bybee of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who had signed the Torture Memos for the Bush administration years earlier, wrote a decision in the 9th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court, which has been used by the lower Federal Court to terminate the second victim’s civil rights case which does include the Santa Monica Judge's Judicial misconduct against her,, the staged hearing, and the police brutality in his courtroom in retaliation for reporting police corruption.
Polanski’s movie "The Ghost Writer" warns writers and viewers to not look for the truth, or expose facts that Officials do not want you to expose, because if you dare expose those political facts, or if you dare to report that you were sexually molested from behind by a Santa Monica College photography professor in his class, or if you dare to report Police corruption or Santa Monica Judicial Misconduct you may end up a ghost of yourself, and dead upon arrival.
Hi Don Heckers
Peace to you. There are many Americans rooting for Roman Polanski, and who know that he is being crucified by the Press and California Prosecutors and Judge unnecessarily. There are many Americans embarrassed by what the California DA has started 32 years to late.
The problem that I have noticed in America is that many but not all have not learned how to forgive. And what is making it worse is the story now is being twisted in the press and facts of a screw up in how the case was handled 32 years ago which was quite evil. But even his young American friend has forgiven him, now a mother with a family of her own. So there's a start.
What is marvelous about Roman Polanski's work is that he finds material and is always seeking the truth or the emotional truth, unlike Steven Spielberg who is also a talented director but he was never as daring or as truthful as Roman Polanski. But Spielberg's films are at times wonderful I always liked E.T. and Drew Barrymore's performance.
After all Roman Polanski showed the jewish people having to betray other jewish people in the pianist. Spielberg never showed that in Schindler's list he sugar coated it .
This is also many actors movie and the original writers movie also.
I think you are letting your idea of Polanski get in the way of entertainment
There are other actors in the movie, and the movie is extremely funny and watchable.
Of course you may not like the point of view depending on whether you like war crimes or not or whether you believe any war crimes took place, but the movie does have another message which is a universal one and that message transcends the movie, does not depend on whether you agree with the last war or not, does not depend on whether you are liberal or conservative.
If you cut yourself off from a person who you may detest because of what they have done and the mistakes they have made, soon you won't be able to watch any movies or entertainment at all. Also soon you may cut yourself off from everyone.
Why does everyone want everyone to be perfect when they are not perfect themselves?
Those that have to put another down, and get satisfaction out of saying how detestable they are and seeing them fail, may feel inferior and may have a deep seated need to feel superior, and so they do this by putting someone down who is vulnerable, without seeing their own detestable actions.
I had the privilege of doing scenes with Matt Damon in NYC. I was wowed by the man. He seemed impeccable. I enjoyed the Jason Bourne franchise immensely. Then he opened his mouth and capped it off with Zinn. I am disappointed in the man. To say his politics or his present film agenda does not color my view of him or his work now would be disingenuous. He lost me. A lot of other performers have also lost me for the same reason. There are many performers I have admired for decades that I no longer enjoy. I do not watch their films or interviews anymore. I do not pay attention to them anymore. Makes me sad yet that is the way my heart/mind connection works. I suspect it is that way for others. All I want Matt to do is keep his mouth shut, choose his roles carefully, according to his type, without agenda, so that I can enjoy his talent again if possible.
Hank and yeti, amen. I was specifically thinking about Matt Damon in my post above. Loved the Bourne movies (the first a lot, the others to a slightly lesser extent). Nowadays when I see his face on AppleTV, I don't even watch the trailer.
BTW, the pundit I was thinking about is Laura Ingraham, her book is "Shut Up & Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the U.N. are Subverting America," published October 25, 200
excuse me if i draw the line at the raping of children.
Somebody wanted me to GET LOST.
So i did.
I went to cinema to see "THE GHOST WRITER" five times TODAY.
I loved to spend all that money but only because it was for Roman Polanski.
I hope he makes millions this year.
Americans – EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT !
I know a man who said the most terrible things about Roman Polanski.
But guess what ?
THIS SAME MAN has raped his own daughters for years.
I didn't know that but my mother told me about him.
I wonder HOW MANY PEOPLE do the same thing (say terrible things about Polanski , but don't
have the right because of their own terrible personality).
But in the meantime , no matter what people say , ROMAN POLANSKI IS WINNING THIS CASE.
I loved it. I took it as a work of fiction (which it was).
Great Movie, Great Entertainment, Great Director, Great Actors all of them. and Great Humor.
All in all a great work of fiction with a sh.. load of parallels to reality.
Great
You know… THE LOUDER people scream that Roman Polanski is a rapist the MORE I SUSPECT the person
who wrote that about him.
That means that YOU could be a rapist yourself , and John Nolte could be a rapist.
I HATE PEOPLE who love to turn other people down , I LOVE ROMAN POLANSKI.
FREE ROMAN POLANSKI – TODAY AND FOREVER.
And excuse me Polanski served his time. He raped no-one. So be careful you don't commit the destable crime of defamation of character. Polanski doesn't need California's Judicial & Prosecutorial corruption and discrimination.
Those that have to put another down, and get satisfaction out of saying how detestable they are and seeing them fail, may feel inferior and may have a deep seated need to feel superior, and so they do this by putting someone down who is vulnerable, without seeing their own detestable actions.
Report
Judicial Corruption meets innocence over water
The Judge corrupted the plea agreement by breaking it.
The non breaching & thus the innocent and injured party to the plea bargain agreement was Roman Polanski,
who had already been sentenced to a non-appealable jail sentence at Chino by the Santa Monica Judge Rittenband which Polanski had already served & performed as part of the plea bargain agreement. in 1977
Bottom Line: Judicial Corruption meets innocence over Santa Monica water
Heal the Bay
Leanne Fischer stated that a magazine stated "The Ghost Writer". Elements of the plot parallel aspects of Polanski's life so closely, and the ethical conclusions he reaches in this fictional world are so contradictory to those he reached in regard to himself, his hypocrisy can't help but intrude on the experience.
Well the question is here what ethical conclusions are we talking about. As the ethical conclusions are not stated how can we know what the hypocrisy is – if it exists at all. This is mumbo jumbo until specifics are stated.
Then Leanne Fischer says " A key point of the story is a powerful man being shielded from justice on the basis of his stature in the world. For those who may have forgotten, the French-born Polanski fled the United States in 1978 to avoid further sentencing for his admitted rape of a 13-year-old girl."
I am not sure that a powerful man is being shielded from justice in "The Ghost Writer" since he winds up dead in the movie.
Also Leanne Fischer also misrepresents that Polanski admits raping a 13 year old girl, this is a misrepresentation
since Polanski admitted to consensual sex with a 13 year old girl and that was what any sentencing was for.
Leanne Fischer then goes on to say, " Because of his cinematic achievements he has avoided extradition, though since last December he has been under house arrest in Switzerland. That Pierce Brosnan's character's renown is based in politics must make him less worthy of pardon to Polanski than, say, a man whose renown is based on the arts."
This is also false because Roman Polanski has not avoided extradition because of his cinematic achievements. He has avoided extradition so far because the Swiss want the Americans to be definite in a sentence instead of undecided.
And finally Leanne Fischer's conclusion is false because Polanski in the movie "The Ghost Writer" does not say that Adam Lang (the British Prime Minister) is less worthy of pardon, the movie is just saying that a Court in Europe did not like what Adam Lang was doing in handing over suspects to CIA for torture.
Also Polanski is not saying that he should be let off the hook because he is a film director. I believe he is saying he served his time at Chino, and he was at the butt of Judicial and Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Santa Monica Courthouse in 1977& 1978, which included illegal Judicial coercion and discrimination.
Everything is alright, Don. Nobody is screaming here. Just take your meds and go see five Polanski movies. You will feel much better then. Call in the morning.
[...] Reviews: 1. John Nolte at Big Hollywood 2. Kyle Smith 3. Kurt Loder 4. Sonny Bunch at the Weekly Standard 5. Christian Toto 6. Debbie [...]
[...] Reviews: 1. John Nolte at Big Hollywood 2. Kyle Smith 3. Kurt Loder 4. Sonny Bunch at the Weekly Standard 5. Christian Toto 6. Debbie [...]
The late LENNY BRUCE once said something SO TRUE :
"In the halls of Justice , the only Justice is in the halls"
People like ROBERT DOWNEY JR , SEAN PENN and ROMAN POLANSKI know that this the truth , the whole
truth and nothing but the truth.
And LENNY BRUCE spoke of his own experience.
And Justice in America has always been a bad joke.
Wouldn't be the first time I had to crawl through muck to acomplish a mission.
Alot more sanitary than flinging poo at it, that's for sure.
"It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money"
~ P.T. Barnum
Juniper
"E.T" was a nice movie , but not one in my top 10 personal favourites.
Drew Barrymore is always lovely ("50 first dates" is my favourite).
In honesty , the only Spielberg-movie that i bought on DVD was "The Sugarland Express" with Goldie Hawn and Ben Johnson.
In Roman Polanski's case I KNOW THAT HE WAS WRONG and I KNOW HE SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT ,
but in life sometimes t.
hings happen that we dislike.
It happened and even if Roman Polanski went to jail in 1977 and never escaped from Justice , America
would never have accepted him anyway.
YEARS BEFORE THE RAPE-CASE people in America had something against this man.
They never liked him , rape-case or no rape-case.
That's why i say that it has no use for him to go to prison in America.
Even after he had been jail for years , America would still hate him.
So i keep saying that Roman Polanski should never return to the USA to face the court.
F..ck the court.
It was morally wrong to murder his wife Sharon Tate.
I blame the rape-case on the Manson family.
Yeti
I have taken my meds but you seem to have thrown yours away.
Every incarcerated pedophile/child molestor in the country has all kinds of excuses like that too, but they're not living the good life overseas.
Polanski served his time at Chino and was released early since the prison officials thought he was not a pedophile,
I think that he just happened to love women, and one happened to be too young at the time, but was able and willing and she should have run. Where was her mother. The problem was the Santa Monica Judge's bait and switch justice, and the Judge's illegal coercion of Polanski for deportation.
Everyone even if they are accused of a crime should be treated fairly by the California Justice system. They should not have to put up with bait and switch justice. As that makes the system as unstable as some of the criminals themselves. If the Justice system isn't stable, why should anyone else be?
Wouldn't it be interesting if one of these film "spies" had to actually exchange lives for a week or so with a real one? Somehow, if they managed to survive, I don't think they'd be liberals any more.
Well, I might have expected that! Stabby!
In days gone by, the child rapists, released among us, would've been the recipients of a "necktie party" – that is IF they were lucky!
However they met their fate, they wouldn't have been around to hurt another innocent.
No, he did not serve time, he was released on Bail.
And I notice you left out that little detail that he DRUGGED and RAPED that child (that's right, 13 years old is NOT a young woman and she was drugged and could not run – But I guess you are one of those who still believes the the long ago debunct slimy blame the victim defense). Not stat rape, but forcing himself on her AGAINST her will (Yes, even drugged she still begged him to stop and he ignored her).
I do not see where the Justice System is unstable here.
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