—–

The clear winner is easy. When I heard Clint Eastwood would appear in a car commercial and have a pep talk with America, I expected something a little more light. Maybe they’d use his “Dirty Harry” image in some satirical way. Who knows. But, when the advertisement started playing, the entire room (which was previously filled with talk and laughter and some yelling) went silent. Everyone was glued and listened to every word that slipped from Eastwood’s mouth. It was a pep talk alright. And I say we band together and start a petition to nominate Eastwood for an Oscar for his little pep talk. The second he starts walking towards the screen, he consumes you in his shadow. He speaks from experience and he speaks almost as a godfather to us all. By the end of it I wanted to stand up and salute the flag. It makes one more and more excited to see Eastwood return to the front of the cameras for his next flick.

Coming in a close second would have to be the king of funny: Jerry Seinfeld. He brings the laughs in his car commercial. He never relies upon copying his “Seinfeld” image to bring the laughs. He builds on it and that’s why we love and miss him so much. His dryness and his wit and sometimes overacting are exactly what we want and he gives it to us all in the name of advertising:

—–

Coming in dead last is the advertisement relying completely on the glory days of Matthew Broderick. I love “Ferris Bueller” as much as the next guy, but the reason he and this commercial fail is because they rely completely on that image. They just simply copy act after act and line after line from the movie. It requires nothing and gets nothing in return. Eastwood and Seinfeld gave us new and that’s what we want:

—–

If there’s any meaning to take from these advertisements, it’s this: America misses the old school. We miss real men like Eastwood sitting us down and telling us: “It’s alright sonny. Don’t you worry.” We miss Seinfeld’s wit making us laugh in a genuine way. Nowadays, we are left with Taylor Lautner pretending he’s an action hero and “30 Rock” pretending it’s a hit with America like “Seinfeld.”

We don’t want these guys mimicking their old selves (hence: Matthew Broderick). We want them still rocking the screens and the hearts and minds of America. Yet, Hollywood doesn’t seem to get that we like real men and genuinely funny people.

It’s halftime, Big Hollywood, let’s send them a message.

THE ARTIST STAR’S RACY ‘LES INFIDELES’ POSTERS DRAW COMPLAINTS

JoBlo’s Alex Riviello chimes in:

It’s always amazing to me how a few morally uptight individuals can ruin things for everyone else. Enjoy the posters.

Maybe I’m a prude or just old-fashioned, but men used to reflexively want to defend women, to protect their dignity and honor.

What a con that feminism has made it not only a virtue for women to behave in this fashion, but also for men to wag their fingers at the rest of us for wanting to speak out against women demeaning themselves.

THE UNDERRATED FILMS OF WOODY ALLEN

Other than “What’s up Tiger Lily,” which I’ve always felt was OVERrated — a 3 minute joke taken to feature-length excess, I am in full agreement. I would also add “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “Another Woman,” “Cassandra’s Dream,” and “Sweet and Lowdown.”

Other overrated titles would most definitely include “Midnight In Paris,” which was nominated for an Oscar this year.  But that probably says more about the state of movies today than anything else.

I’m a die-hard Woody Allen fanatic, not of his recent work, and everything prior to the execrable “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (other than the just as awful “Melinda and Melinda”) holds a proud spot in my collection and is visited frequently.

‘CHRONICLE ‘ HITS THEATRES TODAY

Don’t know if it’s any good, but the concept is genius and the trailer looks great. The title, however, sucks.

Our friends at Screen Rant enjoyed it.

WORKING TITLE FILMS DEBUNKS ‘BRIDGET JONES 3′ RUMORS

Unfortunately the false rumors aren’t about the choice being made to produce a sequel. “Bridget Jones’s Baby” appears close to becoming a reality.

Is there any actress who has lost more charm than Rene Zellweger? I can’t even explain what happened. She used to seem so accessible and warm. Somewhere along the line that all changed. I actually find her off-putting now.

‘30 ROCK’: IT’S A JACK-OFF!

Throughout all of cable and broadcast about a hundred shows aired last night, but EW is all excited about the one nobody watched.

Boy, that “Entertainment Weekly” sure has their finger on the pulse of Hollywood’s backside.

THE WORST POSSIBLE TRAILER FOR STAR WARS: ‘THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D’?

No, it’s not a joke. It is, however, aimed at kids. Very dumb kids.

‘INSIDIOUS’ SEQUEL ON THE WAY

There was a first one?

HITCHCOCK SHOWS US HOW TO DO A FLASHBACK IN ‘REBECCA’

Absolutely. A marvelous cinematic moment and probably the best example of a director manipulating the mind’s eye of his audience.

It was crucial to the mystique surrounding the deceased Rebecca that we never get even so much as a glimpse of her, and that limitation was undoubtedly the inspiration for the best scene in the film. Nothing is better for art than limits. Once you remove those, everything becomes art and then nothing is art. That, of course, is what we have today. But we also have DVD, which means true art is only a click of the remote away.

—–

—–

COMING SOON TO HOME VIDEO

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS: Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download arrives February 7 from Warner Home Entertainment Group.

John Cho and Kal Penn reprise their title roles in “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas,” which comes after the 2004 cult hit “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” launched the franchise, followed by “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” in 2008.  The third installment is the first to highlight the guys’ outrageous escapades in 3D.

And it would not be a “Harold & Kumar” film without Neil Patrick Harris.

The Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack each include the Extra Dope Edition – Extended Cut (Presented in 2D only), with new cuts of favorite scenes, now extended. Also included is the UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, which allows consumers to download and instantly stream the film to many computers, tablets and smartphones.

Trailer here. Scene here.

—–

HBO Home Entertainment is proud to announce the Blu-ray Disc, DVD and Digital Download release of Treme: The Complete Second Season on April 17, 2012.  Fans can head back to New Orleans with every episode from season two of the critically acclaimed series, as well as tons of special features, which highlight the city’s culture, food and music.

Bonus Content Includes Interactive, In-Episode Blu-ray Viewing Modes & Featurettes  That Explore the Music & Traditions of New Orleans.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

The Hidden (1987) – I love movies set in Los Angeles because they remind me I don’t live there anymore. One of the longer sequences set outside a strip club is actually filmed outside our favorite restaurant just off Hollywood Boulevard and just down the street from a production office I spent two years working out of.

What a marvelous film, though, a smart concept and an opening car chase that rivals anything a big studio has ever produced. Which is even more impressive when you learn “The Hidden” was an independent film produced for less than $5 million.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

AL PACINO, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, AND ALAN ARKIN TO STAR IN ACTION-COMEDY ‘STAND UP GUYS‘

‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ REMAKE BEING PLANNED AS FRANCHISE

DIRECTOR MARC FORSTER TO HELM ‘THE WAR MAGICIAN,’ BASED ON DAVID FISHER’S NOVEL

DIRECTOR JOE JOHNSTON TO HELM THRILLER ‘NOT SAFE FOR WORK‘

TWELVE MOVIE COMEDIES TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2012

AN INTERVIEW WITH ‘JUSTIFIED’ ACTOR WALTON GOGGINS

BEHOLD THE FIRST SET PHOTO FROM THE ‘STAR TREK’ SEQUEL!

‘FREAKS AND GEEKS’ CREATOR PAUL FEIG DEVELOPING ANOTHER COMING OF AGE TV DRAMEDY

ANOTHER REASON TO LIKE ‘THE IRON LADY’

WHY AREN’T THERE ACTION ROLES FOR OLDER ACTRESSES?

GARY OLDMAN PERFORMS A DRAMATIC READING OF SNOOKI’S PEE PROBLEMS

HOW THE ACADEMY AWARDS SLANT OUR VIEWS OF MOVIES

BARRY WILLIAMS AND DANNY BONADUCE TO STAR IN NEW SYFY SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIE ‘BIGFOOT’

10 FILMS THAT SHOULD’VE WON BEST PICTURE

TV’S ‘MUNSTERS’ REBOOT RENAMED ‘MOCKINGBIRD LANE’

10 OUTSTANDING NEO-NOIRS OF THE 2000S

COOL STUFF: LEGO HILL VALLEY 2015 FROM ‘BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II’

INFOGRAPHIC: THE HARDEST WORKING SITCOM ACTORS

EARLY BUZZ: ‘AMERICAN REUNION,’ THE BEST OF THE SERIES?

5 AWFUL THINGS NOBODY TELLS YOU ABOUT BEING AN ACTOR

‘EVIL DEAD’ REMAKE: CASTING UPDATE & FIRST SET PHOTO

‘JOHN CARTER’ FEATURETTE LOADED WITH NEW FOOTAGE

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 4

TCM:

8:00 PM  EST: My Fair Lady (1964) –  A phonetics instructor bets that he can pass a street urchin off as a lady. Dir: George Cukor Cast:  Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway.  C-172 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format.

Movies and musicals just don’t get better than this. Charming from beginning to end.

—–

—–

Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

HOLLYWOOD’S NEWEST CRYBABIES: LEPERS … AND INDIA

It doesn’t bother me when crybabies crybaby. That’s what crybabies do, especially GLAAD and CAIR — two of the biggest, fascist crybabies in the history of crybabying.

What bothers me is that the politically correct cowards that run Hollywood only listen to certain crybabies. Southerners, Christians, stay-at-home-moms, Republicans, and pro-lifers continue to take hellacious beatings in all things pop culture. Everyone else is hands off at the first sound of a crybaby.

Those of us on the right can take a joke better than anyone; it’s being singled out by Hollywood cowards who pose as “edgy” that’s galling — the double standard.  Take us back to the good old days of “Blazing Saddles,” and we’ll never complain again.

It’s not satire when you’re singled out. It’s bigotry.

AMAZON PONDERS NEW CHALLENGE TO NETFLIX IN STREAMING MARKET

There’s a bigger story here than just this:

Ever since Netflix first alienated its consumers last summer with a price hike – ruining a perfect record of consumer satisfaction – the market seemed to open for new challengers. That door swung a bit wider after Netflix and Starz failed to agree to terms, further limiting the service’s movie offerings.

At the moment, Amazon has deals with the likes of CBS, Fox, Disney and NBCUniversal.

Hollywood is fighting streaming harder than they would ever fight terrorists and yet you have two of the biggest entertainment retailers on the planet — Netflix and Amazon — expanding this service. It was only a matter of time before someone stepped in to challenge Netflix Streaming, and Amazon is the perfect choice.

This is the future and Hollywood had better get its act together and figure out a way to monetize the future the best they can. Because what’s going to happen is quite simple: That which isn’t streamed will be ignored.

CAMERON DIAZ’S PLASTIC SURGERY

Unless it’s a compliment, I try to stay away from commenting on people’s looks. Weight, age, and the like has nothing to do with who someone is, and it’s hard to go there without brushing up against ad hominem. Beside, I’m no prize.

But as a film fan and someone who loves movie stars, this wave of unnatural-looking plastic surgery is a real problem. Though I would never do it myself, I’m all for people having the freedom to do what they want in order to extend a career or simply feel better. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when it gets to a point where it’s a distraction, that’s when it’s worth commenting on.

And it’s not just women. Mickey Rourke, Michael Jackson, and to a much lesser extreme, Michael Douglas have all  broken the on-camera spell with “work.”

The hardest hit for me was Courtney Cox in “Scream 4.” One of the most natural, girl-next-door beauties around today, and something about her is now … off. Real shame.

Plastic surgery is nothing new. A number of stars, like Rita Hayworth, were “created” by it, and who’s going to argue with those results?

What has changed, though, is how noticeable it’s become as stars have gone too far.

Hollywood is supposed to be more liberated and woman-friendly today, but more than ever these days, beautiful and successful actresses like Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffith and the rest, have gone to extremes to avoid aging gracefully like their Golden Age counterparts did.

Hepburn, Crawford, and Davis might have had work done, but not to the point where what was done distracted. And yet, they and others enjoyed long careers well into their forties and fifties.

It’s just a fact that Hollywood is much more monstrous place for women today when compared to the studio system days run by male Republicans.

TRACY MORGAN IS BACK AT WORK, TAUNTING ALEC BALDWIN

More obsession from the clueless entertainment media over a show on one watches.

‘THE CROW’ REBOOT SNAGS NEW DIRECTOR AND WRITER

Though the sequels were unwatchable, the original starring the late Brandon Lee sure had its moments, and the production design did an especially impressive job of creating a foreboding mood and alternate universe that wasn’t completely foreign.

What really made the film work, though, is that when you boil the plot down, it’s a revenge fantasy — a vigilante story.

If they hang on to that element, it could work. But will they?

KATHERINE HEIGL STILL BEGGING FOR OLD TV JOB BACK

What a fall, and all of it self-inflicted.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Prime Suspect 2 (1992): The second in the series is, in my opinion, better than the first. Both feel a little dated with their openly sexist and racist characters, but in the end, this story of the search for the murderer of a teenage black girl examines race in a much more complicated way than what you’re originally led to believe.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

R.I.P. DICK TUFELD, VOICED THE ROBOT IN ‘LOST IN SPACE‘

NEW BEHIND THE SCENES PICTURE FROM ‘THE DARK KNIGHT RISES‘

FOR YOU INDIE FILMMAKERS: KEVIN SMITH WANTS TO HELP RELEASE YOUR MOVIES

PARAMOUNT BRINGS ‘RANGO’ BACK TO THEATERS FOLLOWING OSCAR NOMINATION

THE 20 WORST OSCAR NOMINATIONS OF THE LAST 20 YEARS (INCLUDING ‘CRASH’!)

MARG HELGENBERGER CLOSES HER FINAL CASE ON ‘CSI’

THE 10 MOST UNDIGNIFIED DEATHS IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

‘REAL STEEL’ DELETED SCENE FLOATS LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STINGS LIKE A BOXING ROBOT

CONAN O’BRIEN AND THE LEGACY OF ERNIE KOVACS

FOX: SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR ‘ALCATRAZ’

MICHAEL BIEHN TALKS ABOUT HIS FIVE FAVORITE FILMS

CARTOON BREAK: 20 LIVE-ACTION FILMS WITH ONE ANIMATED SCENE

5 REASONS ‘FIREFLY’ WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET CANCELLED

4 FLAWED LIFE LESSONS MOVIES ACCIDENTALLY TAUGHT US

BEST USE OF FOOD IN MODERN CINEMA

11 MODERN ACTRESSES WHO’VE GOTTEN HOTTER WITH AGE

20 FACTS ABOUT ‘PLANET OF THE APES‘

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR THURSDAY,  JANUARY 26

TCM:

5:45 PM  EST: Harper (1966)  — A broken-down private eye sets out to find a rich woman’s missing husband. Dir: Jack Smight Cast:  Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris.  C-121 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format.

Imperfect but still interesting (and moody) detective drama salvaged by all that star power.  

—–

—–

Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

BOX OFFICE ANALYSIS

According to Box Office Mojo, this weekend’s box office is up 26% over last year, which is great news.

1. Underworld Awakening: $25.4m — No one’s ever accused me of being too highbrow to enjoy vampire/werewolf flicks, especially dumb ones, but this is a franchise I could never get into. All camera moves, hyper-editing, and atmosphere. This is a good opening weekend for the fourth in this franchise and for the return of star Kate Beckinsale, who took the last film off.

2. Red Tails: $19.1m – George Lucas should be very happy. If my twitter feed is any indication, people are enjoying this old-fashioned crowd-pleaser.

3. Contraband: $12.2m – After two weeks, Mark Wahlberg’s smuggling actioner has already pulled in $46 million. This is not high-concept driven, and it’s not even a very good movie (saw it last weekend). Maybe it’s time to add Wahlberg to the short-list of those who can actually open a film these days. Good for him.

4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: $10.5m – Disaster. People are going to blame the reviews, but the film stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, which means it should be critic-proof. This is Hanks’ second flop after “Larry Crowne,” and I think it’s time for Mr. Hanks to start wondering if his indefensible comments about WWII might have come home to roost.

5. Haywire: $9m — Director Stephen Soderbergh’s female-driven action film had no stars, just one helluva well-cut trailer, and did respectable business.

6. Beauty and the Beast (3D): $8.6m — This will obviously not capture the “Lion King” re-release magic. Still, after only two weeks, the 3D cut has brought in $33m, which is not chicken feed. “Beauty” just doesn’t have the same appeal as “Lion King,” which was much more of a sweeping epic that’s perfect for 3D lovers.

7. Joyful Noise: $6.1m – A musical film starring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, with a trailer that looks like a Disney Channel movie, grosses $22m in two weeks. That’s impressive.

8. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol: $5.5m — $197m domestic, another $336m foreign. There will be a fifth.

9. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows: $4.8m — $178m domestic, another $261m foreign. Hard to imagine we don’t see a third.

10. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: 3.7m – Some are trying to spin a $93m domestic take and another $71m foreign into some kind of victory, but with a $90m production budget (add at least another $35m for advertising), I don’t see it. For starters, it’s not profitable (yet), and it’s based on a trilogy of thrillers that were worldwide sensations. Sure, the story is dark and R-rated, but a $165m worldwide haul is, I’m guessing, somewhere around $350m less than what everyone was expecting. Still, Sony has already committed to a sequel.

11. Iron Lady: $3.7M – Weinstein added 274 theatres and lost 32% over last week. The per screen average sits at $3,445. Not looking like a hit. Liberals probably don’t want to see a film that they’re hearing is sympathetic towards a conservative icon. Conservatives (rightfully) distrust Hollywood. And the apolitical don’t care.

12. War Horse: $3m – $72m domestic, $28m foreign, on a $66m budget. When you throw in advertising costs and the Spielberg/Oscar pedigree, this has to be a huge disappointment.

THE CIRCLE-JERK THAT IS THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Other than one outlier that’s widely considered a flop, “My Idiot Brother,” nothing that came out of Sundance last year broke $6m at the box office. Only two films broke $5m, around ten broke $1m, and another twenty or so didn’t even reach $1m.

This is just one big, self-involved, self-serving wank-fest that has nothing to do with us, the customers. And when you consider how indifferent all of America is towards all things Sundance, you have to wonder why the sycophant entertainment media would have you believe it’s some kind of Super Bowl.

Film School Rejects makes the case for the festival with “Why the Sundance Film Festival Matters,” and essentially backs up the claim with a list of films and directors that shot out of the festival. But it’s a sad cost/benefit analysis when compared to the thousands of films that have played there over the years, and I find it hard to imagine those titles and talents wouldn’t have found another way to “arrive.”

Listen, I’m not opposed to Sundance or the gajillion other copycat festivals that have been created over the last couple of decades. Hollywood can do whatever it wants. But in the end, when you look at the bottom line compared to the massive hype and the time investment that goes into that massive hype, Sundance isn’t so much a film festival as much as it’s a symptom of an industry and entertainment media wildly out of touch with their customer base. Basically, it’s a days-long elite insider party where movies get screened.

Seriously, Hollywood, have a great time. But out here in the real world, Mark Wahlberg’s “Contraband” is on pace to make more money than every film that came out of Sundance last year COMBINED.

Imagine how much better Hollywood and those who cover them would be if this much hype, attention, and energy went into pleasing the customers instead of themselves.

No one loves movies more than I do. Here’s a photo of 70% of my collection. But 99% of the films screened at Sundance never see the light of day, of the 1% that do, most of them suck (especially these days), and the only thing worse than the films themselves is all the dull, self-serving media coverage.

Wank.

Fest.

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN FOR ‘GO FAR’

This is a film my brother Zack Arnold (whose full-time job is as an editor on “Burn Notice”), introduced our readers to last year. Over the last few years, he’s been raising money for a project he started just as the economy collapsed. You can see more here, and while I’ve contributed money to the project, I am in no way an investor who will profit from it. Brother or no, from what I’ve seen so far, he’s already done his very worthy subject justice, and then some.

THE FINAL ‘PRIME SUSPECT’ EPISODES: A FAREWELL TO A GOOD SHOW

Naturally ‘EW’ race-baiter Ken Tucker loves a show the customers don’t.

Perchance, I watched the original “Prime Suspect” starring Helen Mirren last night, the one that started it all. It is magnificent television I can’t recommend enough. One thing I realized, though, is that the show has already been remade in America, and quite successfully, as “The Closer.”  Which proves race-baiter Ken Tucker wrong when he says this of NBC’s failed attempt:

The pilot, the crucial episode with which lots of people decide whether they’ll ever watch again, was well-acted, well-made, but easy to dislike for viewers who want their protagonists to be sympathetic (Bello’s Jane Timoney was aggressively gruff, to her fellow police detectives and, by extension, the audience).

Yes, well, so is Kyra Sedgwick’s character in “The Closer.”

WHAT IF THOSE MODERN BLOCKBUSTERS WERE MADE IN THE 1950S?

Every day I surf the  intertubes and come across another batch of fan-made posters. The first 200 batches were cool. Next fanboy fad, please.

THE RAZZIE AWARDS MOVE TO APRIL FOOLS’ DAY

This doesn’t sound like a wise idea. In past years, Razzie winners were announced just prior to the Oscar ceremony, which made them something of a story thanks to the contrast to the self-congratulatory heat surrounding the award season. Will we pay as much attention two months later?

STEVEN TYLER’S NATIONAL ANTHEM: GREAT OR AWFUL?

Give Tyler a break. He’s 114 years old in drug years.

NBC BUMPS ‘PARKS & RECREATION’ FOR FULL HOUR OF SHOW NOBODY WATCHES

I’ll ask again: Why does a show that ranked 102 last year get all this press? Why?

Why don’t entertainment outlets hire people who watch, you know, what America watches? Better still, why don’t the networks hire people who, you know, like what America likes?

Oh, look, more coverage of a show that ranked 102 last year.

Seriously, media, step away from the coasts.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Point Break (1991) – Once you got over the depression that comes with the knowledge that “Point Break” is 21 years old, you are reaffirmed in your belief that a remake would be a terrible idea. There’s nothing about “Point Break” that feels dated, and who could possible replace the perfect casting of Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Busey?

Moreover, this is a director’s film, and you can’t replace Kathryn Bigelow’s brilliance behind the camera. She took a dumb, overlong script and crafted lightning in a bottle. It’s absurd how watchable this is, and that’s not something you can remake.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

WATCH ‘STAR WARS’ REMADE BY FANS IN 15-SECOND SEGMENTS

GEORGE LUCAS’ MOST OBNOXIOUS MOMENTS

LATEST NEWS ON ‘BILL & TED 3‘

‘SPEED’ DIRECTOR JAN DE BONT TO DIRECT HEIST REMAKE ‘FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE‘

FINAL POSTER FOR ‘THE HUNGER GAMES‘

DOWNEY JR.’S ‘SHERLOCK HOLMES’ VS. PBS’S ‘SHERLOCK’

VINTAGE ARTICLE: ‘30 ROCK’S’ WEIRD CONSERVATIVE STREAK

26 OF HOLLYWOOD’S MOST POPULAR ATHLETES-TURNED-ACTORS

KRISTEN WIIG TO STAR IN ‘THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY‘

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE HECKLED AT SUNDANCE? ONE DIRECTOR TELLS ALL

BILLY BOB THORNTON AND THOMAS JANE TO BATTLE A BEAR IN ‘RED MACHINE‘

INTERNATIONAL POSTER FOR RIDLEY SCOTT’S ‘PROMETHEUS’ IS A BIT MORE REVEALING

SYFY BUYS PILOT FOR TIME-TRAVELING ANTI-TERRORISM SERIES ‘REWIND‘

TERENCE STAMP JOINING KURT RUSSEL IN THE HEIST FLICK ‘THE BLACK MARKS‘

‘FARSCAPE’ CREATOR ROCKNE S. O’BANNON MAKING A CULT TV SHOW… ABOUT A CULT TV SHOW?

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR A DOCUMENTARY ON THE DEATH OF CELLULOID… FROM KEANU REEVES?

5 UNDERRATED JOHN WAYNE MOVIES

A LOOK BACK AT AIP AND ‘WINTER A GO-GO‘

THE 50 GREATEST BOLLYWOOD MOVIES

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR TUESDAY,  JANUARY 24

TCM:

4:30 PM  EST: Dirty Dozen, The (1967) —   A renegade officer trains a group of misfits for a crucial mission behind enemy lines. Dir: Robert Aldrich Cast:  Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson. C-150 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format.

It’s hard to imagine a time when Hollywood had enough masculine men to fill out this magnificent cast. And maybe today’s lazy action filmmakers could take a gander to learn how action masterpieces are almost always photographed from a tripod.

—–

—–

Coming Soon to Home Video

THE DOUBLE: In anticipation of the January 31st release of THE DOUBLE on Blu-ray and DVD, we present you with these clips. Here, here, and here.

Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER: ‘ALL FILMS WILL EVENTUALLY BE 3D’

Weaver believes 2D will go the way of black and white, and I don’t completely disagree. Hollywood is absolutely freaked out over piracy, so freaked out they’ve embraced their own Patriot Act with SOPA, and the real benefit of 3D is how it makes piracy that much more difficult. A lot of piracy is done via camcorder, someone sneaking a small camera into a theatre. You can’t do that with 3D.

The problem, and it’s a major one, is that many of us don’t like 3D. If we did, 3D televisions would be flying off the shelves, when just the opposite is happening.

Never in my life have I enjoyed a film more in 3D than 2D. I hate 3D and find it a distraction. Moreover, I think it’s become a crutch for filmmakers. CGI spectacle is much easier to create as opposed to doing the truly hard work of crafting the kind of story that draws you in much more powerfully than heavy glasses.

‘MONEYBALL’ IS ON THE MONEY ON DVD

Finally saw “Moneyball” last week and can’t recommend it enough. Brad Pitt’s performance is only outmatched by a brilliant screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin. Well, it’s co-written, but the feel and rhythm of the story and dialogue tells you it’s really Sorkin’s vision and imprint that guides the thing.

The first half is better than the second, but the ending takes you completely by surprise and works on a number of levels.

An Oscar contender for sure.

SUNDANCE, SUNDANCE, SUNDANCE… WHO CARES? NOT AMERICA.

A film festival where the out-of-touch gather to screen films no one who isn’t out-of-touch will ever see.

MasturbationDance might be a batter name.

Or TopOnePercentDance.

WorstPeopleInTheWorldGatherDance.

HelpRedfordFeelRelevantDance.

BadMoviesShallowPeoplePretendToLikeDance.

‘DJANGO UNCHAINED’ IS ‘OLD SCHOOL’ TARANTINO, SAYS FX ARTIST GREG NICOTERO

When did Tarantino ever go ‘new school?’ He might have bigger budgets to work WITH today, but the B-movie heart always beats within.

We movie-lovers don’t have much to be thankful for these days, but Tarantino is one of them.

WHY THE STUDIOS HATE STREAMING

The major studios own the major cable companies. They don’t own Netflix:

Consider Warner Bros. Its library has more than 60,000 licensable properties, including 6,500 movies and 40,000 TV episodes. Whereas its DVD sales have been on the wane, its TV licensing has skyrocketed. In 2010, according to sources at Time Warner, Warner Bros. harvested over $4 billion from worldwide licensing to TV.

Nearly 80 percent came from just four cable customers — HBO, Turner, ABC Family, and NBC Universal’s cable channels. …

But these golden geese are in danger of being strangled to death by video streaming. New age companies, notably Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Google, now compete with cable TV by streaming movies and other video directly over the Internet. Netflix, for instance, offers unlimited streaming for $1 extra a month with its mail-in service, Amazon offers free streaming to its 10 million Amazon Prime customers, and Google offers YouTube free.

How can they afford it? Whereas the old-line cable and satellite companies have enormous building, servicing and amortizing costs, the internet is essentially free to transmit over. Even if the new age streamers paid the same to license, buy or produce content, they have a comparative advantage.

“I don’t see how cable can compete with free transmissions,” a savvy top executive of Time Warner told me, pointing out that Netflix, after sublicensing Starz’s content, offers it for a fraction of what Starz charges its subscribers.

All about the monopoly. The fascist SOPA is all behind this fear, as well.

This is why Hollywood hates capitalism and loves strongmen like Hugo Chavez and Castro. It’s all about power and money and overlording us little people.

You don’t get any more un-American than that.

LOW-RATED ‘30 ROCK’ HITS SERIES LOW IN KEY DEMO

The pop culture phenom that never was:

“30 Rock had a series low 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, down 11% vs. a 1.8 rating last week in its premiere.”

4.084 million viewers. Third place for the night. But it gets all the press because the press has nothing in common with the rest of us.

PAM GRIER IS STILL FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER

Like you wouldn’t tell the world.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) — Good, old-fashioned, rip-roaring adventure with one very special scene. With the planet surrounded by a belt of radioactivity that has caught fire, the global temperature has increased to 135 degrees and, within just a few weeks, will increase to a planet-killing 175 degrees.

The captain of the Seaview, a new-fangled atomic sub, has done the math and realizes that the only way to save the day is to fire an atomic bomb at the belt from a very specific place and at a very specific time. He takes his theory to the corrupt United Nations where arrogant Europeans demand that nothing be done because, you know, just like the Nazis, the problem will go away.

Well, the captain will have none of it. “I report to the President of the United States,” he says, and storms out – leaving the feckless United Nations to stew in their “Well, I never!” indignation.

Hollywood didn’t always hate America.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

I LIKED STEVEN SODERBERGH’S ARTY ACTION MOVIE AT FIRST, BUT AS IT WENT ON IT FIZZLED.

MEET ANTHONY HEMINGWAY, THE DIRECTOR OF ‘RED TAILS‘

CAPONE’S FULL REVIEW OF THE WORST FILM OF 2011: EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE!!!

CAPONE’S REVIEW OF AN EARLY CONTENDER FOR WORST FILM OF 2012: RED TAILS!!!

HULU’S 2011 REVENUE GREW TO $420 MILLION; WILL INVEST $500 MILLION IN NEW CONTENT IN 2012

PAUL W.S. ANDERSON TALKS ‘RESIDENT EVIL 6′, FILM’S PRODUCERS DISCUSS A PREQUEL!

WILL SYFY’S ‘DEFIANCE’ BE THE NEXT ‘FIREFLY’?

THE FIRST PHOTO OF VIN DIESEL ON THE RIDDICK SET

THE 15 QUESTIONS KEEPING HOLLYWOOD AWAKE IN 2012

WILLIAM SHATNER’S PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR KILLED OFF AFTER 14 YEARS

GREAT MOVIE MAKE-UP ARTISTS AND THEIR CREATIONS

‘JACK THE GIANT KILLER’ PUSHED BACK TO 2013

OP-ED: WHAT SCIENTISTS CAN LEARN FROM MR. SPOCK

6 ABSURD MOVIE SCENES THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

‘BABYLON 5′: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE (SPOILERS)

THE 10 MOST REGRETTABLE ‘80S SCI-FI AND FANTASY VILLAINS ON FILM

A LOOK AT ROBERT DE NIRO’S REAL-LIFE TAXI LICENSE AND 5 OTHER FACTS ABOUT ‘TAXI DRIVER‘

THE TOP 10 HOLLYWOOD DYNASTIES

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR SATURDAY, JANUARY 21

TCM:

4:00 PM  3:10 To Yuma (1957) –  A sheriff must run the gauntlet to get his prisoner out of town. Dir: Delmer Daves Cast:  Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr. BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Minus the unnecessary PC elements that have killed the Western as a modern-day genre, James Mangold’s 2007 remake was surprisingly good, and not just because the underused Gretchen Mol was given a  juicy role or The Mighty Peter Fonda’s stealing of the show.

The original, however, is much better, with a stronger focus on the psychological drama, which is much more straight-forward and less melodramatic than what we saw in the remake. The ending is also smarter. The underrated Glenn Ford and just as under-appreciated Van Heflin knock this one out of the park. The subtext of the personal situation both men face tells the story, not the exposition Mangold found so necessary.

—–

—–

Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

NETFLIX SERIES ‘LILYHAMMER’ STREAMS FEBRUARY 6

Here’s part of the press release:

“Lilyhammer,” a gripping fish-out-of-water story set in Norway and starring “The Sopranos” mainstay and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, is a new Original Series premiering on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) to watch instantly on February 6, 2012 in the USA, Canada and Latin America.

“Lilyhammer,” follows New York mobster Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano as he enters the federal witness protection program after ratting on his boss. A sports fan, Frank wants to make his new life in Lillehammer, the Norwegian town that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics – or as he calls it “Lilyhammer.” Frank has visions of a paradise of “clean air, fresh white snow and gorgeous broads” far away from the temptations of the Big Apple and from mob hit men. Reality, of course, turns out to be spectacularly different.

All eight first season episodes of “Lilyhammer” will be available on February 6 so Netflix members can enjoy the series by streaming over the Internet to connected TVs, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones.

Netflix’ smartest move was not doling the first season’s episodes out one by one. Instead, if we like it, we get to feast on it.

I’m convinced this is the future of television and that nothing will ever be the same again.

Watch the “Lilyhammer” trailer here.

‘THE VANISHING PENULTIMATE MOMENT IN FILM’

Longish but worth it:

The Incredibles’ director Brad Bird and producer John Walker discuss how “movies don’t have people sneaking around anymore. I want some sneaking around in my movie! People are in such a rush to get the action sequences going fast that they forget there’s pleasure to be had in the sneaking around part, taking a look at where you are. So I have a few sneaking around sequences in here, and I don’t think they’re a waste of time” (Scene 9). Whether one artist refers to it as “the penultimate moment” or another calls it “sneaking around” is irrelevant; they are both discussing the same thing. The penultimate moment can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a cinema audience, and there are three elements – contrast, counterpoint, and time investment – that go into its creation. Unfortunately, the penultimate moment and its components are becoming a lost art in today’s world of instant gratification.

More and more actions films make the audience feel as though they’re watching someone else play a video game. This is part of the reason.

‘DRAGON TATTOO’ SEQUEL MOVING FORWARD

What a mess:

Costing around $90m to make, the film has currently taken $60m at the US box office, and only around $12m elsewhere on the planet. And that’s led to suggestions that Sony may abandon its plans to press ahead with the full Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy.

However, it looks like the firm might just be playing the long game. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, a Sony representative insisted that that the film “continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book”.

The budget Sony allocates to part two will tell us a lot about the studio’s faith in the trilogy. Sony might also consider filming 2 and 3 together to save costs or simply combine the stories. Part three, at least in the original film trilogy, is mostly set in a courtroom and is also the least exciting of the three. If part two does worse than the first, Sony will be in a real bind when it comes time to produce the final chapter.

NOBODY CARES: HOW ‘30 ROCK’ WILL TACKLE KIM JONG IL’S DEATH

If you want to know how rigged the game is as to how the entertainment is able to artificially create a cultural phenomenon where none exists, below is, by season, the ranking and average number of viewers for NBC’s “30 Rock,” which returns this month for what will surely be a sixth failed season.

• 1. #102 — 5.8
• 2. #94 — 6.4
• 3. #69  — 7.5
• 4. #86 — 5.9
• 5. #106 — 5.3

The Tina Fey/Alec Baldwin sitcom isn’t a cable television show; it’s a broadcast television show. And even though it pulls in only a few more viewers than “Pawn Stars” and sits at 106 in the rankings, the media and the hype would have you believe it’s the “Seinfeld” of the new millennium.

What a racket.

MARTIN SCORSESE ‘CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY’ OF 3D FOR FRANK SINATRA BIOPIC

You have got to be kidding me.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) — One of my persona; favorite under-appreciated films (Robert Osbourne’s too) and one still not, for some inexplicable reason,  available on DVD. My personal copy is a DVD recording from a 1999 VHS recording. So you can imagine how lousy the picture looks, especially on a high-def television.

It was only after I suffered through that print last night  that someone pointed out the film is currently available on Netflix Streaming. So, if you like quiet little dramas with smart characters, an excellent sense of time and place, and an intelligent resolution, be sure to check it out.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONFIRMS ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4′

FOCUS FEATURES TO DISTRIBUTE ‘JUAN OF THE DEAD‘

R.I.P. SINGER KAYE STEVENS, PERFORMED WITH THE RAT PACK

R.I.P. SWORDMASTER BOB ANDERSON, WORKED ON ‘STAR WARS’ AND ‘LORD OF THE RINGS‘

12 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2012 MOVIEGOERS

‘THE DARK KNIGHT RISES’: BANE’S DIALOGUE PROBLEMS SORTED OUT?

WHY HOLLYWOOD’S TREATMENT OF ORSON WELLES SHOULDN’T BE A SURPRISE

THE 52 MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIES OF 2012

THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ AND ‘WAR HORSE‘

79 YEAR-OLD ROBERT VAUGHN MAKING BIG SCREEN RETURN

10 LESSONS LEARNED FROM UNEMPLOYED MOVIE CHARACTERS

MTV’S ‘PUNK’D’ REVAMP DEBUTS MARCH 19

5 CHARACTERS WHO MISSED THE MORAL OF THEIR OWN MOVIE

TEN YEARS LATER, GRISHAM’S ‘THE FIRM’ IS BACK ON THE CASE

EVOLUTION OF PINK FLOYD ALBUM COVERS: 1967 – 1994

PATRICK SWAYZE’S WIDOW WRITES MEMOIR, ‘WORTH FIGHTING FOR’

9 WRITERS CARRYING THE TORCH FOR MEN’S FICTION

20 FACTS ABOUT ‘JAWS‘

‘ONE LIFE TO LIVE’ HAS BUT 9 EPISODES LEFT STARTING TODAY

A LOOK BACK AT MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ABOUT VENTRILOQUISTS

PETER JACKSON TALKS ‘THE HOBBIT’: FAIRY TALE TONE, DWARVES, & DEL TORO

OUT OF PRINT ‘BLADE RUNNER’ SKETCHBOOK AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY 4

TCM:

10:00 PM  EST: National Velvet (1944) –  A British farm girl fights to train a difficult horse for the Grand National Steeplechase. Dir: Clarence Brown Cast:  Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor. C-124 mins, TV-G, CC.

Excellent classic film for adults and kids alike.

—–

—–

Please send comments, suggestions and tips to jnolte@breitbart.com or Twitter @NolteNC.

But Baldwin doesn’t want OWS to go away without learning a key lesson from it. So, he took to the cyber-pages of The Huffington Post to share what OWS has taught him.

And, wouldn’t you know it, he came away with one thoroughly conservative principle at the top of his list – let the market play out sans bailouts:

One important lesson, I believe, is that bailouts of major corporations in any and all industries are counterproductive to long term economic health. And not simply direct infusions of cash as loans, tossed like gargantuan life preservers, in moments of greatest perceived dread. I’m talking about the bailouts the US government gives major corporations every day. The excessive fees forced on customers by certain banks, not to mention the predatory lending practices of the mortgage industry (coupled with the remarkably stupid borrowing of certain homeowners).

The rest of Baldwin’s arguments veer more toward the left, but it’s still surreal to hear him singing a tune heard on conservative talk stations.

Baldwin is already trying to work his way onto the radio airwaves as a possible post-sitcom career move. Who knows, maybe he’s been listening to El Rushbo in between tapings of “30 Rock?”

In case you missed it, here is the back story: Tracy Morgan, stand-up comic and one of the stars of the NBC hit sit-com “30 Rock” was busted doing a stand-up routine at the Ryman Theater in Nashville. Unlike back when St. Lenny was being busted the cops didn’t rush the stage and drag Mr. Morgan off. No, a single audience member got offended and reported Mr. Morgan to “the authorities” through Facebook.

The verboten topic was lack of empathy for homosexuality. The “authorities” are the liberal media. A gay man in the audience, Kevin Rogers took offence and wound up on CNN chatting about how horrible the show was.

I wasn’t there and I doubt there is a recording or transcript but from reports the “bit” was pretty raw. What I have read and seen on the Internet is that Mr. Morgan was doing a rant where he imagined his son came home and announced he was gay. Mr. Morgan said if that happened he would stab him.

Yeah, I know, it’s not exactly knocking me of my chair either but that’s not the point.  

I have seen Mr. Morgan perform and found a lot of his act to be tasteless. I didn’t find a lot of his material to be funny. I don’t condone bullying or violence against anyone. However I also don’t condone drawing lines for performers or establishing sacred cows. Does anyone think that this was the first Mr. Morgan performed this routine? Doubt it! Now, under pressure from NBC, Tina Fey and uber-hypocrite Alec Baldwin, Mr. Morgan says his rant was “not funny in any context.”  Even though according to one person who attended the show, “No one was booing him. Everyone was laughing…”

Let’s step back and imagine for a minute that instead of the word “gay’ in his routine he had used the word “Republican” or “conservative.”  What if he had said, “… if my son came home and said he was joining the GOP I would stab him!” The audience and liberal media would still be praising his talent. Genius! Let’s further imagine the next day Reince Priebus issued a statement asking for an apology. More howls of laughter and perhaps a statement from Mr. Morgan telling the GOP leader he could plant one where the sun don’t shine. High fives all around!

So why isn’t the outspoken Mr. Morgan telling the GLAAD folks to kiss off? Simple, he’s worried about his job. He’s got plenty of reason to worry.  Isaiah Washington got canned from Grey’s Anatomy after using a gay slur and he did the entire apology tour. The movie “The Dilemma” was roundly criticized for using the dreaded “f’ word.  The “f” word, by the way, is not “fuck.” If you tried to stop comedians from using that word because you find it offensive Hollywood types would brand you a Nazi, fascist or worst some sort of Christian zealot. 

Meanwhile a congressman is sending pictures of his penis around the country and is being defended by Charlie Rangel who is saying “He wasn’t going out with little boys. He wasn’t going into men’s rooms with broad stances.”  That statement sounds offensive and more that a little homophobic to me. GLAAD, where are ya?

The Wrap:

Tracy Morgan has apologized for a homophobic rant during a performance in Nashville in which he joked about stabbing his son to death if he were gay and talked to him in a sterotypically gay voice.

“I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville,” Morgan said in a statement to the Huffington Post.

“I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others,” he added. “While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

A gay man who attended the show recounted the remarks on Facebook. They appear to be far more extreme than the remark that got Isaiah Washington, the last primetime star accused of such homophobic comments, fired from “Grey’s Anatomy.” ….

NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morgan, who is known for outlandish behavior and sometimes tasteless comments, has one advantage that could help him ride out the coming barrage of criticism: “30 Rock” doesn’t return to NBC until midseason. 

No worries “30 Rock” fans. Morgan’s politics are correct enough to save him here. And he works for NBC where trashing Sarah Palin in misogynist ways is a form of inoculation against little things like jocking about killing gays.

Of course my headline is a lie. No such thing happened. But imagine if it had. Thankfully for “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan, one benefit of being a twisted, sexually obsessed Hollywood Leftist is that you can go as full perv in public as frequently as you want on Governor Sarah Palin without facing the sort of criticism you would if my headline were true:

Days after TNT issued a statement apologizing for the comedian’s crass remark about the former vice presidential candidate during a live Inside the NBA broadcast, he took another swipe at her on E!’s SAG red carpet special.

After chatting with E! host Guliana Rancic, he shouted, “Sarah Palin, you’e (sic)  the hottest MILF in the world!”

Rancic looked confused, prompting Morgan to shout out again, “She’s a MILF!”

Where are the feministas? Isn’t Tina Fey, Morgan’s “30 Rock” co-star, something of a feminist? Asking questions like that is so funny.

But what we really have here is another NEW TONE victory, another crass, crude, unfunny attention-whore speaking his filthy mind truthfully so the rest of us know just what a sleazy creep he really is.

Yea, First Amendment!