A sturdy corollary emerges in the wake of the graphic artist Frank Miller’s recent diatribe against the Occupy Wall Street movement (“A pack of louts, thieves, and rapists … Wake up, pond scum, America is at war against a ruthless enemy”), available for perusal at frankmillerink.com). That corollary, of which we should be reminded from time to time, is this: popular entertainment from Hollywood is – to greater or lesser extent – propaganda. And Miller has his part in that, thanks to films such as 300 and Sin City.

Perhaps you have had this thought before. Perhaps you have had it often. I can remember politics dawning on me while watching a Steven Seagal vehicle, Under Siege, in 1992. I was in my early 30s. The film was without redeeming merit – there’s no other way to put it – and it was about a “ruthless enemy” and the reimposition of the American social order through violence and rugged individualism. Why had I paid hard-earned money for it? Good question. Before Under Siege, I had a tendency to think action films were funny. I had a sort of Brechtian relationship to their awfulness. And I was amused when films themselves recognised the level to which they stooped, as Under Siege assuredly did.

The moment of revelation could have come at any time. It could have come earlier, and it did among my more astute friends. Had I watched any of the later Rocky pictures, for example, or had I watched Rambo, I might have registered that there was little depicted in these frames but feel-good, reactionary message-deployment. But there were, apparently, films too embarrassing for me to see, Rocky IV and Rambo among them. I remember thinking True Lies, the abominable 1994 James Cameron film (featuring Republican governor-to-be Arnold Schwarzenegger), with its big, concluding nuclear blast – the nuclear blast we were meant to want to see – was, well, more than suspect. (I could never again watch a Cameron film without disgust. And that includes the racist, New Age blather of Avatar.) Or what about the expensive and aesthetically pretentious Gladiator (2000), which I still contend is an allegory about George W Bush’s candidacy for president, despite the fact that director and principal actor were not US citizens. Is it possible to think of a film such as Gladiator outside of its political subtext? Are Ridley Scott’s falling petals, which he seems to like so much that he puts them in his films over and over again, anything more than a way to gussy up the triumph of oligarchy, corporate capital and globalisation?

The types of men (almost always men) who have historically favoured the action film genre, it’s safe to say, are often, if not always, politically conservative: Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Mel Gibson, even Clint Eastwood (former Republican mayor of Carmel, California), all proud defenders of a conservative agenda, and/or justifiers of vigilantism. With some of these celebrities, the kneejerk qualities of their politics are self-evident, and in other cases (Eastwood), the reactionary part of their world view is more nuanced. But the brand of politics is the same.

Full piece here.

The new swords and six-pack abs flick dabbles in the elements that made “300″ such a guilty pleasure. Merciless fight sequences. Monosyllabic heroes. More digital effects than “Green Lantern” and “Sucker Punch” combined.

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Add the future Man of Steel, Henry Cavill, and you’ve got a giddy blend of action and mumbo jumbo plotting. Then again, did anyone cheer on “300″ for its nuanced storytelling?

Cavill stars as Theseus, a Greek peasant trying to protect his town from King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), a ruler renown for his insatiable appetites. He’s always chomping something, with flecks of food clinging to his scruffy beard. Fruit, meat, scenery, there’s nothing ol’ Hyperion won’t munch on. But he really hungers for world domination, and if he finds a magical bow he might just get it.

The Epirus Bow fires magic arrows and can free the Titans, a race of zombie-like ghouls imprisoned years ago by Zeus and his fellow gods.

Said gods can’t interfere with humanity even if it means watching as Hyperion gets close to the bow. But Zeus, played in human form by John Hurt, has been coaching Theseus for years in the hopes that he would lead the charge against Hyperion.

Director Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”) treats the film’s digital effects like a child discovering finger paints for the first time. “Immortals” can be beautiful to behold, but “300″ featured a far more rewarding tapestry of fantasy backgrounds. Every time Singh pans back, and back, we’re taken out of the movie and left to marvel at how many computers made it all possible.

Those digital effects can still dazzle, but they become yet another distraction during a climactic sequence with the aforementioned Titans.

“Immortals” exists for its battle scenes, and it’s here where Singh reveals a singular talent. The action is intense and unrelenting, with severed heads and other body parts coming our way thanks to the unnecessary 3D conversion. Singh’s camera doesn’t shake once, and he captures the ferocity of hand-to-hand combat without any “Matrix”-style wizardry – at first. The third act battles take a turn for the monotonous, swapping in video game style antics for quasi-realism. What a shame.

Bloody swordplay is serious stuff, and “Immortals” goes about its business with grim-faced determination. Stephen Dorff tries to inject some levity into the story as a wise-cracking thief who teams with Theseus, but the script barely acknowledges his presence.

That leaves Cavill to carry the hour, and he does so by flashing glimpses of what we’ll surely see when he dons Superman’s red cap in 2012. He’s got the sculpted physique demanded by the genre, and while “Immortals” is hardly an acting showcase he manages to give some texture to Theseus’ plight.

“Slumdog Millionaire’s” Freida Pinto plays an Oracle who can see briefly into the future. Had her character had clearer vision she’d tell Pinto one more rail-thin role and she’ll be stuck shooting made-for-TV movies and infomericals.

“Immortals” wraps with the inevitable sequel tease, and perhaps we’ll see it before any “300″ project hits theaters. Either way, “Immortals” delivers the essential action set pieces genre fans demand – and not a blessed thing else.

Unfortunately, they chose to fight for the other side.

If our history is written by honest brokers, this generation of Hollywoodists will be remembered as those who openly enabled evil and spent hundreds of millions of dollars making bombs for the enemy — box office bombs. Over a dozen of them, specifically engineered with equal parts lies and hate and propaganda to undermine morale at home and on the battlefield in the hopes that we would lose this war.

Never forget the crime committed in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon on that terrible day.  And never forget  how Hollywood turned on your country.

There were some exceptions, however, and chief among them was Joel Surnow, the co-creator of “24.” Each week, for eight seasons, he gave this country a hero who openly loved America, did what was necessary to protect her, and who was willing to pay a terrible price for it. ”24″ also delivered the goods. Cathartic, exciting and righteous without being self-righteous, the addictive adventures of Jack Bauer became an oasis in a cesspool of Hollywood product delivering the exact opposite message.

As the face of the program, Surnow paid a price for his apostasy and because he’s a smart man who knows how the world works, my guess is that he knew that someday he would. We all watched as some of the biggest forces in the world of entertainment and politics ganged up to exact their revenge with “The Kennedys.” Don’t believe for a second that wasn’t a form of payback.

For whatever it’s worth, we thank you, Joel Surnow.  You can’t imagine what it meant to millions of us  to have something to count on over those weeks and years — something that told us we weren’t crazy and we weren’t alone.

And thank you to the subversives who used their art and magnificent artistry to take our side through thinly veiled allegory. Thank you Frank Miller and Zack Snyder for “300.” Thank you Christopher Nolan for “The Dark Knight.”

There were others. Men like Gary Sinise who tirelessly support the troops and David Zucker who took the fight directly to that anti-American pig Michael Moore. There is also Robert Davi, Jon Voight, Kelsey Grammer, Michael Moriarty and those like them who have bravely and eloquently spoken out against the talking points issued by their Hollywood Overlords.

For fear of missing one, I won’t attempt to name everyone in Hollywood who did the right thing, who openly supported our military and refused to participate in the resume-enhancing undermining of our country. Within the context of the whole of the entertainment business, however, they make up a heartbreakingly short list. But you know who are and we know who you are and we thank you.

The rest of you can burn in Hell.

Conservatives are up in arms that a film celebrating the Navy Seals who killed Osama bin Laden will hit theaters less than a month before the 2012 presidential election.

Hollywood routinely produces left-of-center content, but a cinematic reminder of the Obama administration’s crowning achievement smacks of an unpaid political ad, a cinematic October surprise.

But conservatives should partially blame themselves for the paucity of GOP-friendly films in the marketplace.

To paraphrase a great baseball film, when they show them, they don’t come.

Yes, some recent blockbusters like “300” and “The Dark Knight” were embraced by the right for their conservative strains. But unabashedly conservative films have a lousy commercial track record.

Movies like “The Undefeated,” “Atlas Shrugged,” “I Want Your Money” and “An American Carol” failed to ignite the box office in ways that would make movie studios scratch their chins with interest.

“The Undefeated,” the most recent pro-conservative film, used a guerilla marketing campaign to spread the news of its theatrical release. Yet after 28 days, the documentary highlighting former Gov. Sarah Palin’s political ascent earned only $116,381, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Palin attracts a crowd wherever she goes. She’s a political rock star even though she isn’t running for any office — yet. Why did most of her fans stay home?

“Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” the long-awaited film version of Ayn Rand’s beloved novel, made just $4.6 million earlier this year, putting plans for a second and third installment in jeopardy.

Read the full piece here.

–FINAL CHAPTER OF ANDREW KLAVAN’S HOMELANDERS’ QUADROLOGY RELEASED TODAY–

A very well-written, page-turning adventure series for the kids. God, country and values are treated as good things. On the other hand, terrorism and narcissism are treated as bad things. I think the word we’re searching for in this upside day and age is: Iconoclastic.

You can order the book here. I recommend all four. Klavan’s an amazing talent who also happens to be on our side. What more could you possibly ask for. Did you just say a film based on the series?  Done.

Klavan blogs here and here.

–KEVIN COSTNER UP FOR VILLAIN ROLE IN NEW TARANTINO FLICK–

I’ve always liked Kevin Costner and was sorry to see his career all but derail 15 years ago with the triple-punch of the underrated “Waterworld,” the truly dreadful “Postman” (which even Tom Petty couldn’t save) and the stillborn “Wyatt Earp.”

Costner’s masculine, has a genuinely likable screen persona, and seems like a decent guy in real life — and in the right role he’s a very, very good actor. Try to picture someone else in “Field of Dreams,” “The Untouchables” or “Dances with Wolves.” You can argue he’s no Olivier ( I would counter with his unforgettable work in “A Perfect World), but at the same time he’s always managed to hold his own on screen with some powerful actors: James Earl Jones, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, etc — which is a talent all on its own.

Tarantino has an excellent eye for under-appreciated actors and a real gift for resurrecting those put out to pasture before their time. Now that he has some real age on his face, Costner would be perfect as a sadistic Western villain.  An actor known for being a good guy personifying evil worked out pretty well ofr Henry Fonda in “oOce Upon a Time In the West.” I suspect the same will be true here.

–UNIVERSAL WISELY PULLS PLUG ON STEPHEN KING’S “DARK TOWER” –

King wrote some of his “Dark Tower” series when he could still tell a damn good story and some long after his storytelling tank had ran out of gas. Regardless, even in the good ole’ days when I gobbled up all things King, the story of Roland the Gunfighter was sheer torture to get through and completely forgettable afterwards.

To adapt a film from a book is one thing. At times, it even makes sense to adapt a film from a lousy book if the concept is good and the story itself is somewhat simple (“Bridges of Madison County,” “DaVinci Code,” “Along Came a Spider”). But these Dark Tower books are a real slough; confusing and self-indulgent.

King’s strength has never been in creating layers of mythology. He’s no Lewis or Tolkien and becomes un-readable when he thinks he is. This was a good move on Universal’s part, but you can bet they spent millions just to get to a point where the obvious became apparent.

Only in Hollywood.

–AMEN, BROTHER, AMEN: KYLE SMITH HAMMERS HARRY POTTER–

Sitting unmoved and uninterested through all eight Harry Potter movies over the last decade or so, I often had the thought: Please don’t let this all be leading up to Harry P. and Lord V. standing a few yards apart zapping each other with their wands until one of them buckles.

Kyle and I are pals and share a similar political philosophy, but when it comes to films, oddly enough, we disagree much more than we agree. There are leftist critics I have more in common with in this regard. But when it comes to the uncommonly dull, episodic, and downright unbearable Harry Potter film franchise, we’re darn near soul mates. Here’s Smith’s excellent takedown, which I couldn’t agree with more or written half as well.

Smith blogs here.

–TOTO’S FEELING GUILTY–

When it comes to “Stealth” he should feel guilty. When it comes to the brilliant “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” however, he should feel guilty for feeling guilty.

–CHARLIE SHEEN PLOTS TELEVISION COMEBACK?–

Though it was an awful movie, the concept for “Anger Management” is a pretty good one and you can definitely see it as a workable sitcom.

As far as Charlie Sheen goes, unless he does a John Belushi, he’s here to stay no matter how outrageous his behavior. I’ve always felt he was an underrated actor, most especially a comedic actor, and someone is always going to take another chance on him. Furthermore, his return to television is likely to the biggest thing since Little Ricky was born.

If nothing else, we’ll always have Sheen’s canon of epic B-films, from 1989’s “Major League” to 1997’s “Money Talks,” to remember him by.

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TODAY’S QUICK HITS

–WHO DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING?

–RATINGS FOR “BREAKING BAD” SEASON FOUR PREMIERE ARE SERIES BEST

–AWESOME NEW “CAPTAIN AMERICA” POSTERS

–TRYING TO CARE. FAILING.

–BROODING SUPERMAN EQUALS SUCKY SUPERMAN. SCREW YOU, DC.

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CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNEDAY JULY 20, 2011

TCM:

6:45 AM EST: Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) — A scarred veteran presumed dead returns home to find his wife remarried. Dir: Irving Pichel Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent. BW-104 mins, TV-PG,

A beautiful and beautifully filmed and acted film that’s essentially the story of a mother (Claudette Colbert) who learns that winning the war means that mothers everywhere must risk making the ultimate sacrifice.

They simply don’t make films like this anymore and for whatever reason this particular one doesn’t get the attention it deserves. On its face the concept may seem a little absurd, but the emotional arc of the story and characters is handled so delicately and with such respect, that you soon forget.

Honestly, this one is not to be missed. A truly under-rated classic I promote at every opportunity.

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Please send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com

DHD:

The film, a spinoff  to 300, is one that the film’s original director Zack Snyder was going to direct. That was until Warner Bros and producer Chris Nolan offered him Man of Steel, and Snyder and wife and producing partner Debra Snyder put Xerxes aside and moved on to rebooting the Superman franchise because Warner Bros needed it. The Snyders have been all over this director selection process. Snyder had written a script with his 300 cohort Kurt Johnstad. Like 300, it is based on a Frank Miller graphic novel that will be shot with the kind of stylized period green-screen action visuals that became the signature of 300 and helped the film gross $456 million worldwide. Xerxes was the Persian leader seen in 300. Miller’s graphic novel told the story of how Xerxes became this peculiar god-like entity. That mythology goes back to the death of his father, Darius, from injuries sustained at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Darius had told his son not to attack the Greeks because they can only be punished by a god, and so Xerxes tried to transform himself into a deity to gain revenge.

The title has changed from “Xerxes” to “300: Battle of Artemisia” and more information on the potential directors can be found at DHD.

An incurably snarky acquaintance of mine has recently introduced me to the word “suckage.” Apparently this magic word can qualify as a noun, verb, adjective, and with a little creative thought, a personal pronoun as well. While I am not sure I agree with the idea that this is the Swiss army knife of words, I think that this is the perfect word to express how I feel about whatever process is used to figure out who gets honored with an Oscar statue.

While there is always a healthy debate over who won the industry’s most aesthetically unpleasing award, there is not often a lot of discussion about the folks who were completely snubbed by an academy dedicated to the principals and values of “suckage.”

Here are 10 people, films, or entities that should be displaying Oscar on their mantles but aren’t.

Ray Harryhausen
Anybody watching Ray Harryhausen work would think he was just a middle aged man playing with dolls. While this is probably not uncommon in Hollywood, especially in any residence owned by somebody from the Sheen family, what was really going on was a master craftsman at work. Ray may not have invented the stop motion technique, but he certainly perfected it. During his prime he was a one man “Industrial Light and Magic” who inserted world class special effects into mediocre (at best) films. His long shadow fell over, and influenced an entire generation of special effects enthusiasts and without his groundbreaking work the world would probably not have films like Jurassic Park and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a crime against nature that, other than a special technical Oscar, this man was never honored for his magical work in a specific film. 

Wes Craven
During a horror era marked by machete wielding maniacs in masks, Wes Craven took the genre out of the physical and into another dimension; literally. He created a horror masterpiece with The Nightmare on Elm Street and probably, single handedly, provided the makers of Ambien with an extremely tired, and afraid to sleep, client base. While this film was ground breaking and breathed new life into a tired and predictable horror genre, the Academy decided that Flashdance and Wargames were more worthy of nominations than Mr. Kruger and Mr. Kraven in 1984.

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“The Passion of the Christ”
It’s hell being Mel. At least it was back in 2004 when we all still thought he was charming and didn’t know he was actually a restraining order looking for someplace to happen. Back then he was the director who brought the film The Passion of the Christ to life. This powerful and moving film depicted what many believe was the most important moment in the history of the world. Had the Roman historian, Tacitus, seen the film, he probably would have said, “Yup, that’s exactly what we did to him.” Seeing as Hollywood rejects Christianity in much the same way that the human body would reject a heart transplant from a water buffalo, the Academy chose to pretend this film, the near billion dollars in revenue it generated, and the millions of people who loved it, simply didn’t exist.

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“300″
In real life, were it not for Leonidas and his Spartans giving their lives in a crucial delaying action, it is very possible that all of Greece would have fallen to the Persian Empire. The map of the western world would be a very different place if that had happened. This is an inconvenient, politically incorrect fact for the people in Hollywood who now refer to terrorism as “man made disasters”. Most of the categories that 300 should have been nominated for instead featured a musical about a murderous English barber (Sweeny Todd) and his cannibalistic girlfriend. This was a disservice to the visually stunning and well acted 300.

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Christina Hendricks
People may ask why Christina Hendricks is on this list. She doesn’t have a film out this year, and currently stars on a cable television program. Here is the answer; because she is Christina f’n Hendricks. They should have a special Oscar just for the category of women who most resemble Jessica Rabbit.

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Kevin Smith
We are never going to hear the words “And the Oscar for best supporting actor goes to Silent Bob”; nor should we ever. Even so, Kevin Smith defined a generation with his films and deserves some recognition. Both Clerks and Dogma should have been at least nominated by the Academy for the Best Writing Oscar.

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“American History X”
Any world where the film Shakespeare in Love beats American History X in anything is not a world I want to live in. Shakespeare in love is just another thinly veiled screen adaption of Romeo and Juliet. They may as well have just rolled one of those disclaimers that states “The names have been changed to protect the innocent” during the opening credits. American History X was a substantive narrative on racial tensions and how they can poison the minds of the youth, regardless of color. While it didn’t win an Oscar, I think American History X won in the court of public opinion.

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Haley Joel Osment
In the film The Sixth Sense, Haley Joel Osment made us believe he saw dead people. He was such a good actor at that age he could have said that he saw Bigfoot getting a coffee at Burger Chef and most of us would have believed him. Despite a performance that should have made him a shoe in for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, he lost to Michael Caine. Who cares what movie Mr. Caine won his Oscar for, he once starred in Jaws 4 (Jaws: The Revenge “This Time its Personal”). That fact alone should put him in an Oscar “time out” that bars him from getting nominated for anything until the middle of this century. The Fact that Haley walked away as part of the “it’s an honor to be nominated” crowd, is living proof that there is a Tom Cruise sized statue somewhere on the Academy red carpet with a sign that states “You must be this tall to win an Oscar.”

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Pixar
Pixar has produced a number of extremely high quality films. For their efforts they have collected enough Oscars to fill a stadium with. Of course they always get their awards in the “animated” category. It is time to realize that these animated films are often the best movie of the year…period. This year Toy Story 3 is up for the Best Picture Oscar. It was an almost perfect film and certainly the best thing to hit the screen in 2010. Its time Pixar got recognized for the quality of their work instead of just stuck in the same pigeon hole that Daffy Duck and Mickey Mouse call home.

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Tim Curry
I was recently re-watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show when I had an epiphany. The last epiphany I had involved spreading peanut butter between two fudge pop-tarts. That was a religious experience. The one I had while watching Rocky Horror was a cinematic realization. It’s simply this. When you step outside the silly context of the movie and objectively look at the job that Tim Curry did as the lead, the only conclusion one can come to is that this was a world class piece of acting. He is a fairly normal man from a middle class background who credibly played a bizarre, borderline sinister, mildly psychopathic, bi-sexual/trans-sexual character. If the Oscars are about the best performances, and not politics, industry lobbying, cleavage, and coffee house claptrap, than Mr. Curry should have gotten some serious consideration for the Best Actor award. Mr. Curry so immersed himself in the part that his own sense of self-consciousness (and quite possibly his sense of self as a whole) became non-existent. In short, he became (for all intents and purposes) the character of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. This gave the viewer the rare gift of an effortless suspension of disbelief. Let’s watch Liam Neeson play Oscar Schindler while wearing nothing but a teddy and see if he can still pull that trick off.

6.  “Being exploited is different from being empowered ” – Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Often too-easily dismissed as a raunchy teen sex comedy, Fast Time was a tremendously influential and important mirror on young America in the early 1980s.  The fact that it is gut-bustlingly funny – Sean Penn’s turn as surfer/stoner Jeff Spicoli remains his only role where he doesn’t annoy me – seems to overshadow the serious undercurrents, as does the ample nudity culminating in the unforgettable swimming pool scene starring the glorious Phoebe Cates.

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However, there is a very, very dark undercurrent to this movie that provides a serious lesson to young people.  Jennifer Jason-Leigh’s Stacy is a pretty but not-so-bright 15/16 year old who does not understand the difference between love and sex.  In a world of absolutely no parents (not a single one is ever seen), she tries to find love (or at least attention) by basically trying to have tacky sex with every guy she meets – and it’s heartbreaking.  She’s not “empowered” – she’s used.  The ugly scene where she loses her virginity to a guy in his 20s in a Little League dug-out staring at graffiti reading “Surf Nazis Must Die” is a better repudiation of the “hook-up” culture than a hundred lectures.

After scaring off the one guy who actually likes her for herself by trying to bed him too, she seeks comfort underneath his skanky pal.  A grim, humiliating encounter in a pool house leaves her pregnant and she immediately seeks an abortion.  Regardless of one’s stand on the life issue, one cannot be anything other than horrified at how the fact she sees herself as literally nothing but a mere receptacle leads her to feel nothing at all about her decision.

But there is hope.  The film ends with her finally back with the boy who actually loves her, and a final title card assures us that they remain together and “still haven’t gone all the way yet.”

7.   “You make your destiny” — The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Liberal filmmakers would have you believe that you are nothing but a victim of forces you cannot control, and that without their help you have no future.  That is especially true for minorities, who liberal ideology requires be told again and again that without the help of their liberal masters they can never succeed.  But, of course, liberalism never leads to success, only to a few more scraps in the form of entitlements offered in exchange for perpetual ballot box fealty to the elite overlords.

The Pursuit of Happyness drives a Mac truck through that loser paradigm.  Will Smith is the lead in the true story of a man who hits bottom but simply will not quit.  Believing in himself, working his butt off, taking risks and – shock! – out-performing the competition, he goes from homeless to capitalist success story.

He doesn’t look for handouts.  He doesn’t sit back waiting for his the liberal overlords to decide what he gets.  He embraces the challenge of the free market and through sheer dedication makes himself a winner.  He makes his own destiny; he doesn’t wait to be told what it can or will be.

As such, Pursuit may well be the one of the most subversive films of the last decade.

8.  “Character is what you do when the stakes are the highest” – Bolt (2008)

This terrific Disney cartoon about a TV star dog who thought he was the superhero he plays on television then finds himself separated from the little girl who owns him makes a huge point about character.  It comes up most clearly at the end, where his little girl is trapped on a burning soundstage.  The dog who had replaced Bolt runs away, leaving her in the fire.  But Bolt, though he now knows he is just a normal hound, goes back in anyway.

Character isn’t something that you wear like a medal.  It’s what you do when the chips are down, when all hell is breaking lose, when everyone else is running away.

The message of Bolt is a powerful statement that is especially applicable to young people.  My little girl saw Bolt as a good dog who would not leave his girl behind and understood why that mattered; her dad thought of his own heroes who would not leave those they swore to protect no matter what the cost.

And when young people are a little older, they’ll be ready for the similar messages of Black Hawk Down – “It’s what you do right now that makes a difference” and “Leave no man behind.”  (BHD also teaches the vital lesson that there is no substitute for the firepower of heavy armor and artillery.)  But Bolt is a great foundation  for learning about character – as well as a great movie.

9.  “The west is worth defending” – 300 (2006)

If you enjoy lame liberal flicks that spend most of their time apologizing for our Western culture, you’ll probably want to miss 300.  I’m sure there will be plenty of seats available for the revival of Lions for Lambs down at the Nuart.

But if you unapologetically support the victory of the West in our current war against jihadi barbarism and its related pathologies, you might dig 300.  It makes no excuses about the superiority of our culture and our freedoms, which is why liberals hate it.

300 is the highly stylized story of the small Spartan contingent that fought a legendary delaying action at a narrow pass called Thermopylae in northern Greece that allowed the rest of the Greeks to prepare to meet the Persian horde and their self-styled demigod king. They were slaughtered to a man, but succeeded in their mission.

The beauty of 300 is the fearlessness with which the filmmakers tell the truth – though it is unclear if they intended to make that statement, make it they do.  While imperfect, the Greeks as portrayed in the film embody the Western values of individual freedom while the Persian hordes are mere faceless slaves.  The Greeks stand and fight because they are free men who choose to do so; the Persian soldiers fight with whips at their backs, mere cannon fodder for a tyrant’s ambition.

Nothing has changed in the last couple thousand years.

It’s almost shocking to see a major Hollywood film make clear that our way of life is unequivocally worth defending, and death in battle against tyranny is infinitely preferable to “life” as a slave.  When folks get all wrapped up about “creeping sharia” I usually mention that it doesn’t worry us American soldiers because we would never be alive to see it happen; we’d all be lying dead surrounded by empty magazines, spent shell casings, and the bodies of our enemies.  If you don’t understand that perspective, you might want to skip 300.  You might also want try and see if your doctor can help you out with a spine transplant.

10.  “Your personal happiness is not the most important thing in the world” – Casablanca (1942)

Besides being arguably the greatest movie ever made, Casablanca also teaches one of conservatism’s most important lessons.  The usual Hollywood pap tells you that your personal short term desires are your only guide; just look at the unspeakable moral disaster that is The English Patient.  While conservatism is about individual liberty, with liberty comes the responsibility to occasionally put your own needs aside when duty calls.

Hollywood’s moral compass was not always broken.  In Casablanca, Rick throws away his chance for happiness with Ilsa in order to help defeat the Nazis.  Watch this classic scene – probably Hollywood’s finest hour both artistically and morally:

Here’s the key quote.  Try imagining it coming out of the word processor of one of the pampered, over-paid Ivy League twerps churning out scripts today:

Rick:  We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.
Ilsa:  When I said I would never leave you.
Rick:  And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.

Let’s assume there is still a director out there who would allow that many lines of dialogue in a row without a shaky camera jump cut.  Even then, we’d still get Victor Laszlo as an uptight, probably Christian, creep with the unreasonable expectation that his wife not start banging another man just because she finds him sexy.  Instead of sending her away, Rick would probably tell off Mr. Jesus J. Stickuphisrear, then he and Ilsa would jump on the plane together.  Let other people deal with the Nazis – inconveniences like honor and duty just get in the way of validating one’s own feelings!  Plus, they’d probably cast Ashton Kutcher as Rick and Katherine Heigl as Ilsa.  And switch the location to Vegas.  And change the Nazis into CIA agents.  And make Sam into a streetwise hustler played by 50 Cent, who could also do a hip-hop version of As Time Goes By that somehow incorporates the phrase “my bitches.”

No, the fact is that sometimes your problems don’t amount to a hill of beans, that you have to make hard choices and do the right thing even where – gasp! – it might make you feel bad.  Casablanca is easy to take because of great actors, a great script, and a great story, but its message is strong medicine.  And, as we enter a second decade of (open) warfare for our civilization’s survival, it could not be timelier.

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Again, this list is by no means complete, but it is evidence that within our popular culture there is the capacity for art to make powerful conservative statements.  After all, that is the whole point of Big Hollywood.  We cannot just leave our culture to the left – we know where that leads.  Instead, we need to identify and support positive popular culture, to demand it instead of accepting whatever crap the Hollywood elite tries to force down our throats.  And we need to fight back by calling out and mocking mercilessly the lefty nonsense offered to us by the Hollywoodoids, so coming soon:  “The Top 10 Idiotic Leftist Movie Messages.”

And it turns out that, try as I might, I cannot present a list of vital movies messages without citing Heat.  So here’s on key one that’s helped guide me in my daily life:  “It always helps to use intensive, controlled automatic weapons fire, along with rapid maneuver, to defeat your enemies.”  That’s truly a message we can all relate to.

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And many conservatives have.  Many of us have thrown our hands in the air and opted out of popular culture completely, exhausted from enduring liberal sucker punches buried within crummy flicks about magic robots battling Dick Cheney vampire clones that we pay $12.50 to see in theaters maintained at the hygiene level of your average bus station men’s room.  You can hardly blame them for giving up.

But as tempting as it is to withdraw from the battlefield, to dig in and hope it somehow changes, surrender was never an option.  This is our culture, not theirs.  And they don’t get to control it. 

The fact is that among the detritus of American popular culture, there are voices of sanity.  Sure, they are nearly drowned out by over-praised hacks like Aaron Sorkin and over-indulged clowns like Oliver Stone.  Yet, occasionally, Hollywood has allowed positive, conservative messages to slip through.

Sure, some of them are from long ago, but we have never forgotten them.  In fact, we have embraced them and treasured them, a powerful demonstration of the fact that good commonsense messages can also be commercially viable.  Some of them are more recent as well, teachers of vital lessons that somehow the guard dogs of liberal culture missed.

The following list is by no means complete – the commenters will no doubt offer hordes of other worthies between their observations about how I am insane and/or stupid.  It is simply these ten solid conservative messages that I have found particularly meaningful – however, please note that Heat has earned emeritus status and is not found on the list.

So, in no particular order:

1.  “Evil must be confronted and defeated” – Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

This magnificent three-part epic illustrates several great conservative lessons through the tale of Frodo, a gentle hobbit who finds himself the only hope for the world of free peoples as a wicked tyranny arises.  The various nations and races of free creatures are disorganized and confused, with some thinking they can simply hide or wait out the terror.  But J.R.R. Tolkien, who fought in the miserable trenches of the First World War and later watched the rise of Hitler, understood that there is no sanctuary from aggressive evil.  His characters, at a terrible cost, choose to march out and meet the enemy.

Of particular note is the frivolous, care-free land from which Frodo hails, the Shire, a green and pleasant realm that considers itself far from danger and immune to evil.  But, as blogger Kellie Jane Adan recently discussed, Frodo had the wisdom to see what his happy countrymen could not or would not – that the enemies of freedom will not just go away if you ignore them.  Even those who get eaten last still get eaten in the end.  The peril of freedom is that it can lead a people to forget that it comes with a price tag, and that the price is sometimes payable in blood.

It does not take a genius to see the parallels between The Lord of the Rings and the real world of Tolkien’s time, nor the parallels to our world of today.  The jihadi movement and the rogue crime syndicates masquerading as nations such as Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela make no secret of their intentions.  Still, the Western elites remain willfully blind, looking inward and caring only about their own petty personal interests.  The Lord of the Rings is a powerful rejoinder to that foolishness, and one every parent should ensure their children see and understand.

2.   “Leaders lead by example” — We Were Soldiers (2002)

America’s bookstores are filled with tedious management tomes written by college professors and CEOs, but while many of their books’ titles contain the word “Leadership,” comparing their tepid version of management to true leadership is like comparing Justin Bieber to AC/DC in terms of rocking.  If you want to learn something about what leaders do – and can put aside Mel Gibson’s personal character failures – pop in a DVD of We Were Soldiers.

A bloody and harrowing account of the ferocious 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, Gibson’s (then) Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore is the quintessential United States Army officer, the first off the chopper during the air assault and always in the thick of the fight.

Watch as Gibson surveys and assesses the situation, makes his tough decision to call in dangerous close-in air support, and then joins in the fight alongside his troopers.  Playing a cavalry battalion commander – a job I held, though not while deployed – Gibson is everywhere on the battlefield, encouraging his men, controlling the fight and most importantly (when all hell breaks loose) staying calm.

And it’s an accurate portrayal, not only because the battle tracks the fight depicted in Lieutenant General (Retired) Moore’s superb book.  I actually saw LTG Moore speak at Fort Benning during my Infantry Officer Advanced Course in 1994.  Gibson may be a creep in his personal life, but he did LTG Moore right in the film.  And do not forget Sam Elliot’s awesome portrayal of Command Sergeant Major Basil Plumley – a commander is only as good as his NCOs.

We Were Soldiers demonstrates that a leader isn’t some guy at a desk at the other end of a phone line filling out paperwork.  Leaders lead.  Period.

3.  “The only colors that matter in America are red, white, and blue” – Glory (1989)

Liberals talk a good game about diversity.  But more than any other institution in America, the military lives it.  Once again, We Were Soldiers sums that up:

But that was not always true.  During the Civil War, freed blacks had to fight for their right to fight.  Glory tells the story of those incredible America soldiers and the white officers appointed to lead them.  The conservative lesson is clear – nonsense like color makes no difference; character is everything.  The 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry proved its bravery in battle, not thanks to some quota or by some special dispensation by liberals who deep down think no one else can prosper without their help.  They did it themselves:

Colonel Shaw, the white commander of the 54^th was killed during the storming of Fort Wagner.  According to legend, the Confederates refused to return his body, instead burying him with his black troops.  They thought it was an insult.  In fact, there could be no higher honor for an American officer.

Glory teaches the essential conservative truth that honor, courage, and patriotism are not the province of any one race.  Now, it’s entirely possible that the makers of Glory, like the makers of some of these other films, did not think they were sending a conservative message at all.  If so, they are wrong.  Race means nothing to conservatives, but it means everything to liberals.

Keep in mind that liberals customarily assign any wrongdoing in the past to “conservatives,” as if today’s Tea Party would re-impose child labor and slavery if it had its Neanderthal druthers.  Don’t buy that nonsense.  The next time some liberal starts yapping about racism, just ask him which party, in 2010, hailed as an “icon” a KKK Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops, one who incidentally wrote these hideous words:

I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side…Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.

Hint:  Senator Icon was not a Republican (or a soldier, for that matter).

4.  “You are the check on the power of the state” — Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Set inside a jury room during a murder deliberation, a dozen jurors (played by a who’s who of great old-time stars and character actors) start off eager to convict the young defendant and go home.  However, Henry Fonda refuses to be railroaded and forces the others to confront their apathy, personal issues, and racial prejudices.

Another movie that probably thinks it is liberal, Twelve Angry Men appears to believe it is an indictment of pure prejudice.  However, what it really is is a conservative critique of the power of the state and what happens when citizens allow their own interests and biases to cause them to abdicate their responsibility to doubt their government and challenge it.

If the defendant is convicted, he will be executed – there is no greater example of the power of the state.  But as these citizens pick at the government’s case they find flaws and inconsistencies.  The government is not perfect or omniscient – far from it.  The state is as flawed as human beings themselves, and the answer is not to meekly submit to its power but to stand up to it, to limit its powers and to make it justify every exercise of authority.  That’s not anarchy or “hatred of government,” as liberals label any attempt by conservatives to rein in the leviathan – rather, that is the conservative notion that a government of men will be as imperfect as man itself.  Every citizen has an absolute duty to ensure it never slips out of control – even where he’s outnumbered by 11-1 by those who find it easier to conform.

5.  “True capitalists make America great” – It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Brought to the screen just a few years after the Depression ended, IAWL is not an indictment of free enterprise but, rather, a celebration of it.  Some quarter-wit progressives – yeah, I’m looking at you again Aaron Sorkin – think this classic Frank Capra slice of Americana makes Old Man Potter into a capitalist poster child.  More nonsense.  The track record of the policies progressives espouse being unblemished with anything like success, their opinions about this and everything else should be summarily disregarded.

In fact, Potter is only a “capitalist” in the way that Chrysler, General Motors, and AIG are “capitalist” enterprises – he’s the face of a conglomerate tied in with the government (remember how he offers to send the police over to “help” during the panic?) and with other big businesses (remember how he takes over the town bank?).  He is the power structure; the form he takes is “capitalist” only when it suits him.

Potter is not merely about money but about control over others and their lives – and like the liberals we deal with today (including the ones who make most movies), he has nothing but contempt for regular people. Throw in the word “transfats” or “guns” and Potter might as well be zillionaire Michael Bloomberg decrying the refusal of the masses to conform to his personal vision of how they ought to live their lives.

If alive today, Potter would find himself welcomed to the table with his liberal Democratic co-believers, pausing from making more mischief only to welcome their newest lobbyist, former Senator Chris Dodd.

Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey is the true capitalist, working hard at the Building & Loan his father started not only to support himself and his family but to help his community.  He doesn’t ask for (or give) handouts.  His pride comes not from making money (though he apparently does okay, which is cool) but by being the guy responsible for helping so many hardworking Americans earn homes. That’s not unusual – when I talk about my business, I talk not about my AGI but about how many people I employ.  In fact, the whole point of the movie is that Bedford Falls is a better place because of George Bailey – and, by extension, the country is better because of similar true capitalists.

IAWL is a warning about how self-styled elitists will use every lever of power at their disposal – big business, big government, or whatever – in order to control the lives of others.  Old Man Potter no more represents capitalism than Aaron Sorkin represents sobriety.  As IAWL teaches, we need to be on our guard and in the faces of these creepy petty fascists every single minute of every day.

Stay tuned for Part II.

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Enter “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” a stylized – and teen-friendly – conglomeration of rock band, early Nintendo, Samurai swords and the glamour of Indy rock and roll. 

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), 23, lives a meaningless life in Toronto (but don’t hold that against him – it’s Toronto), playing bass in a small-time band and rebound dating a high-schooler after his girlfriend dumped him and became a famous pop musician. His life changes when he falls for American rocker chick Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) at a party. They start dating, but Scott quickly learns that if he wants the relationship to last he’s got to fight for it – against her “League of Evil Exes,” six ex-boyfriends and an ex-girlfriend who will fight to the death to stop Scott Pilgrim’s happiness. 

It’s original in just about every way. From battle-of-the-bands action scenes pitting musical monsters against each other, to early game system references, the film is pure fun from beginning to end. 

Being based on Canadian writer Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels, director (and co-writer) Edgar Wright incorporated a number of elements, like split screens and different camera angles, directly out of the genre. It made for a fun viewing experience, and reminds you that it’s a movie. 

But the acting doesn’t. By the end of the film, the characters roped me in. Cera was hilarious as usual, but he channeled his typical lack of confidence and geeky style into a very real 23-year-old protagonist, still trying to find himself. Winstead was a hot mystery girl and the supporting cast of evil exes and band friends soundly captured just about every stereotypical personality in the music/Indy music scene. In the end, I was invested in whether Scott wins his girl or not, and that’s the best mark of a good film. 

The film is pretty clean. Every F-word is bleeped out by a computer game sound effect with a black bar over the offender’s mouth. It gives each use a comic twist, and keeps the film easily in the PG-13 rating. 

Action sequences are stylized. Scott Pilgrim reduces his enemies to arcade slot coins in killer kung-fu battles. When he defeats the eccentric evil exes, he advances to new “levels” and his point total for each battle appears on screen, ensuring that you don’t take the victories too seriously. 

The story is well constructed, with references reappearing, and the dialogue is solid. 

From the preview, if you’ve seen it, you’ll know that there’s a “sex scene” in the film. It’s another comic element, resulting in Ramona telling Scott that she doesn’t want to have sex with him. There are a number of references to sex, but they are humorous and relatively innocuous. 

While the story delves into Scott’s quest to overcome his own self-doubt and avoid becoming a tool like Ramona’s exes, don’t search too hard for a deep lesson. You’ll just be disappointed. But if you’re looking for entertainment, it’s the funniest film I’ve seen since “Kick-Ass,” and one of the best in the graphic novel genre. It’s definitely a journey to the box office that I’d recommend.