Frank DeMartini

The Ideals of Independence Day

by Frank DeMartini

July 4, 1776. One of the greatest days in the history of the human race. For this is the day the founders of this country executed the Declaration of Independence and declared themselves free from the British Empire. It is a day we should be reverent about and a day in which we should remember those who have fallen in order for the ideals of the Founding Fathers to be upheld.

It is a day the whole world admires whether they be Western or whether they be the people rebelling in Iran against the tyrannical regime in power. It is a day the South Koreans think of whenever they fear the Communist empire to the north. And, it is a day all people throughout the world who want to be free cherish and remember. (more…)

John Nolte

Top 5: American Moments

by John Nolte

More like my top five available American moments on YouTube but still entertaining and not from the Golden Era. A reminder that the Hollywood we’re stuck with today can still throw a bone our way.


1. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) - A beautifully crafted uniquely American movie where, for once, the antagonist isn’t “the system” or “the racist system.” Chris Gardner (a superb Will Smith) wants something from life. He believes in this country and understands the key to achieving the dream is simple: never, ever give up. A superb script, based on a true story (the real Gardner has a touching cameo in the closing scene) never once takes the grinding pressure off, but aided by genuinely decent people (white Wall Streeters, no less) and driven by a love for his son, rather than play victim, Gardner keeps moving forward long after most of us would’ve surrendered to self pity. Movies don’t get much more conservative than this. (more…)

Kurt Schlichter

The Force is With Sarah Palin

by Kurt Schlichter

Not to go an analogy too far, but Sarah Palin seems to be taking a page from the Hollywood playbook of George Lucas.  She has just completed her own introductory trilogy, and it was an astonishing success.  

First, she was a fantastically successful conservative governor lurking beneath the mainstream media’s radar.  Next, she was a vice-presidential candidate who, even though she lost, still did more to electrify the base than the headliner.  Third, she has now drawn the curtain on her post-election career as a sitting governor, a period that saw her deftly turn the tables on mainstream haters like David Letterman.   Like “Star Wars,” she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but her fans are rabid and chomping at the bit for the next installments.  And as to these future installments, the question is whether the next step is going to be “The Phantom Menace” or something that doesn’t suck. (more…)

Robert J. Avrech

Reborn on the Fourth of July

by Robert J. Avrech

Yiddish was his first language, Mayer could be a forceful English speaker, mixing deeply personal anecdotes—usually about his beloved mother—and soaring rhetoric about his adopted home, America.

Every Independence Day, L.B. Mayer (1884 - 1957) would shut down production at MGM and celebrate twin holidays: America’s birth, and the birthday of L.B. Mayer.

L.B. Mayer, Reborn on The Fourth of July
L.B. Mayer, a man without a birth date

Flags and bunting graced every building and sound stage. There was band music and rows of picnic tables groaning under the weight of food. Every MGM star was expected to attend and pay homage to America—and to L.B. Mayer. For in Mayer’s mind, the two were inseparable.

All complied, except Greta Garbo, a woman far too narcissistic to lavish attention on any country or person other than her own mirrored island.

L.B. Mayer delivered a rousing Fourth of July speech. Though (more…)

Big Hollywood

Open Thread Saturday

by Big Hollywood

John Nolte

Review: ‘Whatever Works’

by John Nolte

Woody Allen’s told his share of dark stories. “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (1989) and “Match Point” (2005) immediately come to mind. Both are remarkable films that delve into the auteur’s well-traveled theme of what morality means in a world he sees as godless and pointlessly random.  In each, the protagonist plots and carries out a cold-blooded murder. Neither is caught or punished. In fact, both prosper. Without condoning the behavior, Allen expertly uses the dramatic extreme of murder to illustrate his belief that we live in a world where if you can get past the law and over your own conscience, it’s all relative. And you need not agree to find this idea fascinating.

With “Whatever Works,” a deeply unpleasant, unfunny “comedy” starring Larry David, Allen takes a disturbing stride towards condoning this form of nihilism. We’re far beyond “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” the memorable theme explored so tenderly in Allen’s 1986 masterpiece “Hannah and Her Sisters.” In that film there were at least very real and human consequences to infidelity and other selfish, romantic pursuits. No more. “Whatever Works” might as well be titled “Whatever Works Works.” (more…)

Jeffrey Jena

Fred Travalena, a Great Comic Passes

by Jeffrey Jena


In all the recent celebrity deaths the one you may not have noticed hit me a little harder than the rest. Lost among the others you may have missed the passing of a great comic, Fred Travalena.

Fred was one of those guys who I saw on TV when I was a kid growing up in Kentucky. My Dad loved comedy and would laugh out loud at the comics on late night shows. Fred Travalena, the young and unhip George Carlin, John Byner, and a host of others were the ones that inspired me to get into stand-up. Years later it was a great thrill when I got to meet a lot of them. I met Fred on a cruise ship when we worked together several years ago. He was gracious and friendly and we talked about comedy for several hours one afternoon. (more…)

Chris Burgard

The Real Meaning of the 4th of July is Revolution

by Chris Burgard

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, fifty six of our forefathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence. They brought forth a new nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

They started a war. My ancestor, Francis Lightfoot Lee was one of those men. They started the revolution that birthed this nation. 

Now we are engaged at a crossroads of history, testing whether the leaders of this nation so conceived and dedicated, still hold those same truths and ideals to be self-evident. 

Iranian citizens have taken to the streets of their cities in the pursuit of freedom and liberty. They sought, and deserved, their own revolution. The Iranian government murdered and persecuted them for it. Our government voted present.  (more…)

Tim Slagle

Democrat Utopia Nothing More Than a Fantasy

by Tim Slagle

Cap and Trade, the biggest tax increase in American History, sailed through Congress without anybody even bothering to read it. What will prove to be perhaps the biggest historical change to the American way of life seemed nothing more than a Congressional mouse click, the Terms of Service Agreement on a new software installation. What is it about Democrats that they have such trust in other Democrats?

There was no debate, no discussion; in fact the bill wasn’t even finished when they started voting on it. Yet they all knew they would like everything in the bill, and rushed the vote. I’m somewhat envious of the common goal they all seem to share, but I’m also suspicious of why nobody bothered to read it. Granted it was fifteen hundred pages, Fourth of July recess, and the deposit on the Martha’s Vineyard cottage wasn’t refundable.

I think there is also something else at work here: Democrats tend to have more faith in the system than they have in the individual. When President Reagan tried to close the Department of Education, he was considered to be against education. It’s not just spin, Democrats really think that way. They feel it’s important to keep the Department of Education, because without it, there will be no education. Without the Department of Health, we would all be sick; without the Department of Commerce, the economy would fold. Ditto for the FDA, the FCC, FAA, and the rest of the alphabet soup. (more…)

Gary Graham

Obama-Care Can Kill You

by Gary Graham

I went to the post office today.  I know, there was no way to avoid it, I’d rather have a root canal, but I had to mail this very large package.  So I’m standing in this long line…watching as the three pleasant but weary postal workers attended, very slowly, to the customers.  Each new customer was greeted with a forced-pleasant, “Hi, how are you?” and then attended to the customer’s request.  This one had three odd-sized packages.  That one wanted to buy some of those new stamps.  Another wanted to send a registered letter.  The line slowly moved along.

On the up side, it gave me a chance to study all the people in line.  An occupational habit, I study people wherever I go, particularly when I’m a captive to some long, slow-moving queue.  The line moved so slowly, in fact, that I had the opportunity to memorize what all 32 line-standers were wearing, the color of their hair, the shape of their faces, my best guess at their ethnicity, their height….and as I was starting to indulge myself with guessing each person’s weight and how I would do working at a carnival, my thoughts began to wander.  (Did I mention the line in the post office moved very slowly?) (more…)

S.T. Karnick

Malden Brought Depth, Morals to Film Roles

by S.T. Karnick

Actor Karl Malden, who died at age 97, was a fine performer who stood for good principles and conveyed a sense of moral responsibility in his performances.

Malden was instrumental in pushing the Motion Picture Academy to give a lifetime achievement award to writer-director Elia Kazan, who directed Malden in perhaps his best and most memorable role, that of Father Berry in “On the Waterfront.”

Kazan had been an outcast in Hollywood for several decades before the 1999 award, because of his opposition to communism. Malden’s support of him carried a great risk of ostracism by Hollywood’s political correctness police.

A measure of Malden’s integrity is that he was married to the same woman for seventy years and was surrounded by family members when he died. (more…)

Big Hollywood

Open Thread Friday

by Big Hollywood

Victoria Jackson

President Obama and the “C” Word

by Victoria Jackson

Well, they are finally starting to use it.  I think you might remember I was the first.  I bravely spoke it to the Hollywood Congress of Republicans (October, 2008), who put it on the Internet; and then I spoke it on O’Reilly and Hannity.  My husband scolded me.  He said no one would take me seriously if I was such an alarmist.  I got hate mail.  I lost friends.  I probably lost jobs.  I didn’t want to be mean.  It really isn’t mean.  It’s probably a compliment to the President since he likes to quote his Marxist professors, and by his own words and actions is trying his very best to “change” our country from Capitalist to Communist.  I kept repeating, “but Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, so what’s the difference between Marxist and Communist?”  No one had an answer.

I think it has something to do with the McCarthy era, when everyone was using the “C” word, and pointing fingers at everyone and getting everyone in trouble.  But it’s different now.  Anything goes, and we’re all “tolerant” and “inclusive”, right?  I think we can use the word if it fits the situation.  Words are just letters and sounds we use to communicate our ideas.  Of course, words are powerful and should be used politely and accurately, so I assumed an attitude of kindness, and did my homework.  (more…)

Steven Crowder

Obama and North Korea: Featuring Lil’ KimJong

by Steven Crowder

I’m sure many leftists will assume me a racist because of this one. I shan’t lie… I find Kim Jong Il’s accent incredibly funny, and won’t apologize for it. Also, before you start worrying about the legal ramifications, Lil KimJong signed a release allowing us to use this footage so it’s totally cool.


Note: No Koreans were harmed during the making of this video… Unless you count South Koreans. Then there were probably thousands of them hurt through oppression and starvation. Bear witness, folks!

John Nolte

Review: ‘The Hurt Locker’

by John Nolte

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

Produced and scripted by Mark Boal (who embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Baghdad), the year is 2004 and Iraq is a country under siege, thanks mainly to determined insurgents and roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that seem to be everywhere and frequently come with nearby triggermen lying in wait for the opportunity to do the most amount of damage, preferably to American servicemen and women.  Charged with the dangerous and technically complicated job of defusing these bombs is a three-man EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) team led by Staff Sergeant James (an excellent Jeremy Renner) and his squad mates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). (more…)

Jeffrey Jena

The Real Housewife of South Carolina

by Jeffrey Jena

Guys like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford are killing the Republican Party. You can’t turn up your nose at Bill Clinton and Elliott Spitzer and then make excuses for Mark Sanford. One of the reasons I usually vote for Republicans is that I like to think they reflect my conservative political and moral values. I like to think that their personal values will be reflected in the way they govern. When your personal life is in the gutter, it’s hard to take the moral high ground. I have to question the judgment of any politician who engages in risky behavior in his personal life. Bad personal life judgment means bad professional judgments.

There are a lot of other things in this story that make me question Mark Sanford’s judgment. How can any sane man think that he can jet off to South America for a week and have it go unnoticed? My brother runs a pizza joint and if he shows up fifteen minutes late the place is in chaos. How can a guy who runs a state think he can go off the grid for a week? I have long believed that a secret is only a secret if just one person knows it. How did the Governor’s love email get out? Gov. Sanford’s mistress claims her account was hacked. That means someone knew where to look for these love letters. (more…)

John Nolte

Karl Malden Has Died

by John Nolte

Some of you might remember the 1999 Academy Awards, the year the great Elia Kazan was finally given an honorary Oscar. The decision to honor Kazan was met with controversy and anger, especially among those who pride themselves on their tolerance, open-mindedness, charity and forgiveness. You see, before Kazan knew better he flirted with Communism, but being a true liberal with an open mind, after learning of the horrors of Stalin’s regime he turned against it and then committed a Hollywood sin worse than furthering an ideology responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths, he named names.

Knowing full well what it would mean, it was Karl Malden, a former Academy President, who proposed and publicly pushed for Kazan to receive this long overdue tribute. And that, along with a 70-year marriage, says an awful lot about the man.

The actor was just as impressive. The simple way to describe him would be as a beefy everyman, but that too easily dismisses a natural and very real screen presence that made him one of the most recognizable faces in the country. Malden worked with some of the most powerful actors of the last fifty years, Brando, McQueen, George C. Scott, Burt Lancaster, and yet he never got lost in the scene. He knew how to watch another actor, he knew how to listen and this kept our eye on him as we waited for what he’d do next. (more…)

Seth Mitchell

Karl Rove: Shining a Light in the Wilderness

by Seth Mitchell

Last Tuesday evening I was privileged to attend a dinner at which Karl Rove was the keynote speaker.  The event was put on by the Heritage Foundation, the premiere conservative think tank of Washington, DC, of which I am proud to be a supporting member.  While Mr. Rove’s speech covered numerous topics, one point that he made has stuck with me and, I believe, should serve as a light for conservatives as we travel through the political wilderness

While Mr. Rove has been defined by the media and Hollywood elite as a partisan attack dog and nicknamed forebodingly as “The Architect,” he came off as anything but and emphasized that conservatives should be careful to work with our current president in a respectful manner.  When he mentioned President Obama’s name, a few overzealous members of the audience shouted out their less than positive feelings about the man; and Mr. Rove quickly and gently reminded them that our president has made some decisions that conservatives should applaud. From the surge in Afghanistan to military tribunals, Mr. Rove explained that President Obama has taken the right steps in regards to some very important issues that face our nation.   (more…)

Andrea Peyser

Celebutard of the Week: Joe Jackson

by Andrea Peyser

In the unappetizing race to scavenge the remaining flesh from the bones of Michael Jackson, Joe Jackson, the star’s Daddy Dearest, is turning the singer’s death into a spectacle unimagined by Barnum & Bailey.

Joe, to whom his son left nothing in his will, is the architect of the star’s final world tour, putting him on display like a freakish piñata. Joe also disrupted a weird press conference this week to promote his record label, unable to resist waiting a millisecond to profit from what is shaping up as the biggest celeb death of the decade.

This is why Joe Jackson is my Celebutard of the Week – in keeping with my book, Celebutards: The Hollywood Hacks, Limousine Liberals and Pandering Politicians who are destroying America. (Kensington.)

In his life, the superstar was clearly damaged beyond repair, reconfiguring his face and allegedly sleeping with underage boys. You need to look only as far as Jackson’s relationship with his father to understand where it all began. Jackson has said in interviews that his father was a tyrant, beating him mercilessly if he missed a dance step, ridiculing his dark skin and wide nose. (more…)

Big Hollywood

Open Thread Thursday

by Big Hollywood

Pam Meister

Gwyneth Paltrow in Another Touching ‘America Sucks’ Moment

by Pam Meister

Ah, Gwyneth. Obviously being fabulously rich and famous just isn’t enough for some people. A few years ago, after making the decision to make her home in London with beta male rocker Chris Martin of Coldplay, she told us how much she prefers living in Britain to her native country:

I love the English lifestyle, it’s not as capitalistic as America. People don’t talk about work and money, they talk about interesting things at dinner…I like living here because I don’t fit into the bad side of American psychology. The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans.

When she says she doesn’t fit into the “bad side of American psychology,” she means she’s become one of the cultured elite overseas whose life mission seems to be badmouthing those mouthbreathing colonials from across the pond - although she’s happy to accept their money. (more…)

John Nolte

Review: ‘Public Enemies’

by John Nolte

Striving for cinematic greatness is always a risky proposition. The risk is that when you fall short there’s no mistaking the swing-and-a-miss. To his credit, this is the position Director Michael Mann loves to put himself in. He always strives, always puts himself out there and the result is a number of unforgettable films but also a few obvious and glaring misses. “Public Enemies” misses. Not as badly as “Miami Vice” or “Ali,” but other than a couple of sequences, “Enemies” never gels, grabs, bites or takes hold. Instead, the narrative just kind of rolls along hitting insistent beats en-route to the inevitable.

Johnny Depp is John Dillinger, a criminal before crime was organized who specializes in bank robberies and jail breaks. His dash, audacity and refusal to steal from the common folk has made him something of a folk hero to Depression-weary America, but J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) sees an opportunity to use Dillinger’s exploits as a way to firm up his fledgling national police force (the F.B.I.), but first he’ll have to prove his modern, centralized methods work. (more…)

Leigh Scott

Politicians Are What’s Wrong With Politics

by Leigh Scott

So, Mark Sanford had an affair.  Big deal.  Who really cares?  He screwed up his own life.  He screwed over his wife and kids.  It happens everyday.  His family will deal with it.  He will pay a personal price, either by losing his family, the mistress he claims to be in love with, or most likely both.

The media and the Muckadoos on the Internet think that this is once again an example of “conservative hypocrisy.” I’ve seen no less than ten news segments dedicated to discussing whether or not the GOP needs to shift focus away from family values, religion and morality because even the standard bearers of the ideology can’t stay the course.’

Two things.  First off, if this is “conservative hypocrisy” isn’t every Democratic scandal involving money an example of “liberal hypocrisy?” The statist agenda is to take your money and have the government spend it because, supposedly, they can do it better and fairer than you can.  So when we indict a Democrat over bribes, theft, or kickbacks why don’t we talk about how that effects their agenda?  Shouldn’t the Rod Blagojevich scandal generate a full Anderson Cooper show about how the Democrats are going to proceed in telling us that they should take care of the cash when they are all a bunch of crooks? (more…)

Greg Gutfeld

Daily Gut: Why Obama Hates Obamacare

by Greg Gutfeld

So Obama is holding a townhall meeting right now (cue hearty applause from a sea of clapping seals) to tout his monstrous health care overhaul – more evidence that we’re entering the hard sell phase of something so unnecessary it’s actually turning our President into a sweaty huckster. But thankfully for him, he doesn’t have to do it all himself–the networks are doing Obama’s pitching (and catching) for free.

Look, with this sort of thing, you gotta go with your gut: when someone is trying to sell you something way too hard, the thing he’s selling ain’t good.

And the only thing you have to remember about health care is this: if Obama had to choose between the current system and the system he’s envisioning for all of us, he’d run screaming to the former. You saw him in that ABC infomercial - when asked by a neurologist (which is a real doctor, I think) what he would do if his wife or child got seriously ill. Wouldn’t Obama want the best damn care possible, nationalized health care bureaucracy be damned? At that point, Obama started thinking like a human again, not a teleprompter, and could no longer defend his plan. Instead, he said, “it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.” (more…)

Myrna Sokoloff

‘The Smile’: A Perfect Presidential Nickname

by Myrna Sokoloff

Presidents have nicknames. Clinton was” Bubba” or “Slick Willy,” if you didn’t like him. ”The Comeback Kid” if you did. Reagan was “Dutch” from his sportscaster days or “The Gipper” from the movies. But love him or hate him you had to admit Reagan was “The Great Communicator.”   

President Obama should have a nickname from our side. Words mean something we are reminded all the time. So I am going to name him “The Smile.” 

If you watch him at “town meetings” when he’s pressing his agenda and making statements that go unchallenged from the adoring crowds, he comes across as calm, reassuring and easy going while he’s attempting to dismantle American capitalism. His answer to everything is to smile. 

From my perspective in Hollywood, I see that people respond to him like they do to a movie star. It’s the face, the eyes, the smile, not what he says. This phenomenon shows up in the polls. His personal popularity holds around 60%, but if you ask about specific policies, Americans don’t agree with him. Americans by wide margins do not want to close Guantanamo, are against affirmative action, and against late term abortion. The majority want him to cancel the stimulus and hate the bailouts!  (more…)

Michael S. Rulle Jr.

Hollywood’s Silent Spring

by Michael S. Rulle Jr.

The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course. The city fathers, they’re trying to endorse, the reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse. But the town has no need to be nervous. The ghost of Belle Starr, she hands down her wits, to Jezebel the nun, she violently knits. A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits, at the head of the Chamber of Commerce.

Mama’s in the factory, she ain’t got no shoes. Daddy’s in the alley, he’s lookin’ for food; I’m in the kitchen with the tombstone blues. “Tombstone Blues” - Bob Dylan

Perhaps the sudden death of pop icon Michael Jackson had many Hollywood stars contemplating their own future obituaries. But the industry, which has been strongly committed to promoting the dangers of man-made global warming, was strangely silent on the Waxman-Markey bill which squeaked though the House last week. The United States economy, i.e., actual real human beings who live in America, continues to suffer from the enormous Obama-lead government’s allocation of resources by massive deficit spending and taxes. The axis of deception changes with each specific fiscal proposal. (more…)

Ami Horowitz

‘U.N. Me’ Sneak Peek: Iran Diplomat

by Ami Horowitz

I’m putting the finishing touches on my feature film coming out later this year called “U.N. Me”  (unmemovie.com), a satirical documentary on the profound failures of the United Nations. Here’s the third of three clips that very much represent the flavor of my upcoming film. Hope you enjoy … ”Iran Diplomat.”


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Big Hollywood

Open Thread Wednesday

by Big Hollywood

John P. Hanlon

Shohreh Aghdashloo: A Voice for the Voiceless

by John P. Hanlon

A Boston.com article from early 2004 profiled the Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo. In that article she was quoted as saying the following: “It really disturbs me,” she [Aghdashloo] says, “when I see a voiceless woman, a voiceless human being who’s been abused or molested, and can do nothing about it. It kills me.” That article was about Aghdashloo’s career and her performance in the film, “House of Sand and Fog” and the article noted that her character from that fictional film was “a voiceless woman” who had Aghdashloo to speak for her in the movie. Another voiceless woman whose story Aghdashloo is trying to tell us is that of Soraya M., the lead character in the new film “The Stoning of Soraya M.”  

“The Stoning of Soraya M,” which I had the opportunity to view several weeks ago, is a great film about a difficult subject. The movie tells the story of Soraya M., an Iranian woman accused of betraying her husband and the brutal consequences of that invalid accusation. In the film, Aghdashloo plays an Iranian talking to a reporter about what happened to her niece Soraya only a few hours before the journalist arrived in town. According to the film’s website, the movie  is “inspired by Paris-based journalist Freidoune Sahebjam’s acclaimed international best-seller of the same name which, rife with intrigue and moral outrage, first brought global attention to the real Soraya, who in 1986 was buried to her waist in her hometown square and stoned by her fellow villagers.” (more…)

Steven Crowder

Lonewolf Diaries: Marriage Is for Suckers and Ugly Folk

by Steven Crowder

If you’ve been taking notes from such brilliant minds as Bill Maher, Cameron Diaz or ever taken a moment to observe Hollywood in the past few decades, you’d know that marriage is a dead institution. I mean, who gets married anymore (unless you’re gay)?! It’s like, “Hellooooooooooo”!


I happened to catch Cameron “My Career is Over Thanks to HD” Diaz discussing the intricacies of marriage on “Real Time with Bill Maher” this week. A lot of tinseltown jibber jabber ensued but you needn’t be bored with the self-indulgent details. Cameron basically proclaimed that she’s glad that she’d never gotten married because she “definitely would have been divorced (multiple times).”  She just needed to do what was right for her and that that was constantly changing. Maher, of course, agreed and praised Cameron in her wisdom for having learned to put herself first and foremost, before all others in her life. Marriage can’t work because you have to look out for “Numero Uno”… That’s the Hollywood way! (more…)