Whatever happened to the protest song? Music stations and the Billboard charts of decades past were chock full of politically-themed songs, most notably during the Vietnam War and its many statewide protests. Recently, liberal filmmaker Adam McKay (“Anchorman,” “The Other Guys”) started his own website–a protest song submission page–asking that very same question. What is it that has led to the decline of political music’s popularity?

Fortunately, “New Party Systems” is here to answer that question. A New York indie “supergroup” consisting of David First of the Notekillers, Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio, and the bassist and drummer from Liturgy (saw them in concert recently–the singer intentionally sounded like a screeching banshee, and I’m pretty sure they spent one song playing the same chord in different strumming patterns for seven minutes–nuff said). New Party Systems recently released “We Are,” another in a long line of songs written to inspire and represent the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Penned by guitarist First,”We Are” isn’t terrible musically, but it absolutely fails as a protest song for many, many reasons. There’s so much to work with here, actually, that we can use “We Are” as a case study in The Top 5 Ways Indie Rock Killed Protest Songs. Read on, aspiring hipster musicians, and immerse yourself in cautionary tale-age.

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So with the news that Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 is underperforming and leaving theaters rather than expanding, it’s unclear whether producer John Aglialoro will be able to produce the planned sequels for the adaptation of Ayn Rand’s most famous and controversial work. Name recognition from one of the bestselling books of the past century, still a chart-topper due its appeal to libertarians and limited-government advocates, wasn’t a strong enough draw to earn back even half of its $20 million production budget so far, and this raises a lot of questions for those who rooted for the film. What does this mean for conservatives and fans of Rand?

Obviously, it means everything we’ve ever believed is absolutely wrong.

The free market just doesn’t work. Every conservative really is a secret dog-whistle racist. America is no more exceptional than North Korea. The earth really is barreling towards cataclysmic destruction because of you air conditioner. True equality and justice comes from redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor. Wait–

*brakes screech*

*spit take*

*jaw drops*

*pants fall*¹

Redistribution of wealth? Lucky for Aglialoro and his partner at Atlas Films, Harmon Kaslow, they’re located smack dab in the middle of millionaire country; and Los Angeles’s rich filmmakers all agree that redistribution of wealth is the right path for America! So, here is my plea to some of Tinseltown’s most beloved left-wing filmmakers. We’ve seen the light, and now we need your help. (more…)

Nothing’s funnier than watching left-wing Hollywoodists whine over the fact that their precious Obama refused to raise taxes on those making over $250,000 a year — in the middle of a lingering recession that shows no signs of getting better any time soon. And Adam McKay isn’t the only millionaire demanding that “the wealthy,” or as I call them, The Job Creators, have their taxes raised at the worst possible time.

Adam McKay wearing Aaron Sorkin’s glasses and his little sister’s scarf…

On the pages of the Huffington Post, the uber-wealthy “Anchorman” director tries to hide his class warfare (something only wealthy liberals can afford to wage because the rest of us count on the “rich” to hire us and buy our goods) as some sort of concern over the federal deficit, which is the very definition of disingenuous:

As disappointing as Obama has turned out to be I think he still knows that $110 billion more added to the deficit in the next two years is a bad idea.

And yet McKay registered no righteous HuffPo indignation, not a peep of HuffPo hand-wringing over what ObamaCare and the $800 billion union/bureaucrat giveaway we now call The Failed Stimulus would do to the deficit. In fact, over at McKay’s “Funny or Die,” Big Movie Star support for the budget-busting ObamaCare bill (that makes $110 billion look like piggy bank shakings) was everywhere.

Adam McKay cares about the deficit like I care about the upcoming “Tron” sequel.

McKay and the legions of dishonest Leftists like him only care about the deficit when such a posture works as convenient propaganda in order to sound like fiscal hawks and further their socialist agenda. McKay doesn’t even care how silly and hypocritical he looks because the shame gene is non-existent in these folks. Reading the likes of McKay fret over a $130 billion deficit increase is like watching the Little Dutch Boy put his finger in the dyke after its burst and then stand there with a smug look that says, “I am selfless and amazing.” (more…)

In his 1999 review of “American Pie,” film critic Roger Ebert wrote:

As I swim through the summer tide of vulgarity, I find that’s what I’m looking for: Movies that at least feel affection for their characters. Raunchy is OK. Cruel is not.

Unfortunately, the creators of the new teen comedy “The Virginity Hit” didn’t understand that concept when they created their own story about a nerd trying to lose his virginity. ”Hit” is an often cruel and humorless comedy that makes “American Pie” look like a classic.

Both “Pie” and “Hit” follow similar paths. Like “Pie,” “Hit” begins with a group of male teens eager to lose their virginity. After one of them succeeds, the friends all take a hit on a bong to celebrate (hence the title). Eventually the others lose their virginity and Matt is the only virgin left. But he has a plan with his long-term girlfriend. They’ve scheduled a special night together. Unfortunately, before that night arrives, Matt discovers she cheated on him and then has to choose whether or not he wants to sleep with her or break up.  (more…)

While growing up in the ‘80s, one of the most popular genres of films were buddy-cop films. Filled with wisecracking banter between two mismatched, big-city cops – one fat, one fit; or one black, one white – along with fast-paced action and a plot that often barely mattered, films like “48 Hrs.,” “Tango & Cash” and even the first two “Beverly Hills Cop” films were fun ways to turn your brain off and kill a couple hours at the cineplex.

But even these movies lost their appeal due to lackluster sequels like the third “Beverly” or “Another 48 Hrs.” (yep, Eddie Murphy was one of the kings of these flicks). And over the past decade, they largely seemed to disappear like some forgotten relic of the 20th century, doomed to be played back on dusty VHS tapes by middle-aged men.

Yet hope springs eternal for fans of this underrated genre, as Hollywood has sprung not one but two of these films upon an unsuspecting public since spring: “Cop Out,” which matched Bruce Willis up against Tracy Morgan, deservedly did so-so business. And now Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg (see what I mean about mismatched teams?) are starring in the new spoof “The Other Guys,” in which they play two hapless desk-bound cops in the NYPD who suddenly get a shot at real action when the department’s best team of daredevils – played in cameos by Duane “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson – get killed on the job in hilariously freakish fashion. (more…)

I caught a screening of writer/director Adam McKay’s “The Other Guys” over the weekend. Politics aside, let’s just say that the Will Ferrell action-comedy is nothing close to their previous collaboration, “Step Brothers,” which is actually kinda brilliant. Amusing, but not ever terribly funny and surprisingly cheap looking for a production budget reported to be $90 million, “The Other Guys” is also an unqualified box-office success where Ferrell man-childs like he always does, Mark Wahlberg (an actor I like) confuses LOUD with funny, and the idea of riffing on 80’s action films — using tropes that include everything from a lonely saxophone score to all the familiar plot beats — is already a trope itself, having been done before.

Adam McKay and scarf

There are, however, a couple of memorably funny scenes, including a deliriously inspired and plot-turning leap off a very tall building and Wahlberg’s reaction when he first meets Ferrell’s wife, played by the striking Eva Mendes. For at least 75 of the 107 minutes you’ll have a smile on your face and enjoy a few honest laughs even as you wonder why the cinematography’s so bright and all the expensive action is unnecessarily hyper-edited.

Amusing devolves into outright tedious in the third act, unfortunately, when the plot turns hard-left thanks to a confusing, uninteresting, unfunny, and unnecessarily preachy investment banking plot and stakes that never rise above having to stop a wire transfer. Without spoiling the specifics (though I will below), let’s just say that never for a second did I believe that what might have been lost in that wire transfer wouldn’t have been immediately made up within days using taxpayer money in the form of a bailout. Which brings me to the now infamous “Other Guys” end credits: (more…)

This is not a not a review of The Other Guys. It’s more of a statement of disbelief.

There’s actually some funny history between that film, Big Hollywood and my site ScreenRant.com – we posted the trailer for it a couple months ago and one of my writers commented that it looked funny. The result was that Editor-in-Chief John Nolte accused my site of being part of the “Left wing media establishment.”

Biggest laugh I’d had in a while, let me tell you. [Ed. Note: It was all a deliberate trap to convince Vic to join BH. I'm hoping it will work with Patrick Goldstein and Jeff Wells, as well.] 

Anyway… I didn’t go in to The Other Guys expecting much (I think that the buddy cop/action film parody was done to perfection with Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz), but I was mildly surprised to find myself chuckling throughout and laughing out loud more than once.

Until John pointed it out in the aforementioned story, I didn’t know the political affiliations of Adam McKay or anyone else behind the film – but having been educated I went in forewarned and expecting to be beat about the head with political potshots. (more…)

Back in April, our own Pam Meister gave everyone a heads up with a scathing Sucker Punch Review of director Adam McKay’s “The Other Guys,” which stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg and opens nationwide this coming Friday. From the looks of Kyle Smith’s write up today, the actual film is even worse than expected — completely undone by left-wing speechifying. Yep, Hollywood is money driven. Not political at all. You gonna believe Patrick Goldstein or your lying eyes?

Kyle Smith Online:

Ferrell and his writing partner/director Adam McKay think they have a really important message about capitalism. It’s so important that it interrupts, then takes over, then finally kills their (otherwise often very funny) new movie, “The Other Guys.” The movie is being sold as (like “Hot Fuzz”) a mock-cop epic, and it is. Or it was, at some stage of the process. But Ferrell and McKay introduce an investment banker (Steve Coogan) who represents Evil Capitalism and is even shown shaking hands with George W. Bush (whom Ferrell has said he would refuse to meet with, on principle).

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****UPDATE from Adam McKay: “The Cheney joke is gone cause it didn’t work. But the villain is a Maydoff character. How is that partisan?”

The co-writer/director of “The Other Guys,” Adam McKay, Tweeted Big Hollywood yesterday after Pam Meister’s Sucker Punch review ran. He and I went back and forth a bit (if you’re interested, I’m @jjmnolte, he’s @ghostpanther). Long story short, he’s pretty sure Cheney’s a criminal…or something.

After the below reader-comment popped up I asked McKay directly if there was indeed a Thousands Oaks test screening for “The Other Guys” Tuesday night, and he confirmed that there was. So with that confirmation, I’m comfortable highlighting the following from reader lars bentley: [emphasis mine]

Just saw a test screening of this movie on Tuesday in Thousand Oaks, CA and one scene featured a bio of the “bad guy” that had photos of him hanging out with George W. Bush and referred to him as a Best Friend of Antonin Scalia. Rush Limbaugh was also featured in a scene where the main characters are changing channels on the car radio and an out of context clip of Rush talking about how he wants Obama to fail.

Methinks bentley’s closing sentence speaks for us all:

The movie had some pretty funny scenes, but they kept throwing in these political references for no apparent reason other than to express the filmmakers personal opinions, and it detracted from the movie.

Please keep in mind that lars is a commenter and that there’s no way to confirm anything other than the fact that the test screening he says took place did. (more…)

Adam McKay co-wrote and directed “The Other Guys,” an action comedy which stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The summer tentpole hits theatres August 6th and thanks to the Entertainment Media, buzz is already starting to build. Here’s a look at the trailer:

——

It sure has the feel of a fun time at the movies; another one of those high-lariously self-aware action comedies with our man-child protagonist over his head in a crazy story filled with bullets, car chases and that all-important zaniness.

Gee, the critics sure are excited, too. Why, from the trailer alone, ScreenRant is already hyping a Will Ferrell/Adam McKay comeback:

From the looks of it, The Other Guys may be just what the pair needs to get moviegoers back on their side after that flop of a remake [Land of the Lost]. While the story sounds like a mix between Lethal Weapon and the most recent Get Smart, everything we’ve seen to this point lends itself to a great comeback.

Over at the L.A. Times, our buddy Patrick Goldstein’s so bowled over he compares the screen chemistry of Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg to the all-time classic cinematic buddy-cop pairings: (more…)

 My favorite Super Bowl commercial had to be the “Green Police” ad. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy half naked women, anthropomorphic animals, and flatulence just as much as the next guy; but the “Green Police” ad struck me hard, right in the satire-bone.

It’s what us “deniers” have been warning about for at least twenty years: those who will sacrifice a little Liberty for a cleaner environment will eventually live in a dirty prison. It might defy Leftist logic, but private property is incompatible with environmental laws; Socialist Utopias aren’t known for their sparkling environmental records; and some of the filthiest places in America begin with the word, “public.”

So it is with great delight that I watched a German automaker, poke fun at the environmental fascism that America is embracing without trepidation.  I thought to myself that only German experience could write such an ad.

Unfortunately, my humor was tempered a little, because I could have sworn I had seen it all before. Sure enough, there was a short film, with a remarkably similar premise made by American filmmaker Adam McKay a few years back. Co-starrring in the piece was Will Ferell, in a clip so funny, that you could almost forget “Land of the Lost.” Rounding out the trio is “Stepbrother’s” and “Talladega Nights” co-star John C. Reilly. (more…)

A few weeks ago, I was going to write a piece demolishing a classic Hollywood Liberal who I’d been conversing with. I was going to take his Big-Government ideas and jam them squarely up his $Xmilllion-per-picture ass.  But the more I thought about how I felt about the origin story of this article, the less comfortable I became. I don’t think @ghostpanther is evil and I’d be lying to you if I followed that original path.

Adam McKay, the director of films like “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Stepbrothers” and I have been entrenched in a Twitter-based back and forth for months. An epic battle where only one man can be left standing. It’s like “Highlander.” There can be only one.

Or not. (more…)

Look fast right around the one-minute mark:

“Inspired By Historical Events”

Cut to:  A little boy in a t-shirt labelled “Israel” beating up a helpless little boy in a t-shirt labelled “Gaza Strip” as a slow, fat, clueless little boy in a t-shirt labelled “America” refuses to help.

I know, I know… It’s just a joke. Jokes are harmless, right? Below the fold I have some jokes about Muslims, gays and blacks… (more…)

Barbra Streisand writing at HuffPo.

*scramble* – *scramble* – *scramble*

Truth Translator Rephrase: Barbra Streisand writing at One Of Those Companies The Left Is Okay With Using Unlimited Resources To Affect The Outcome Of Elections:

I felt like I was in suspended animation as I read the Supreme Court decision which essentially enables a corporate coup d’état of America’s Democracy. …

Corporations are not people nor are they individual citizens. They are chartered by states to conduct commerce. And while I certainly don’t pretend to be a constitutional scholar, I have been reading a lot about this and thankfully, many brilliant minds do agree with me.

The intellectual dishonesty from Hollywoodists on this issue is so… so… so… expected.

If you’re opposed to corporations being involved in our electoral process then be opposed to corporations being involved in our electoral process.

But Leftists and Hollywoodists are not opposed to media corporations being involved in our electoral process because 95% of media corporations are liberal. Neither Babs nor Adam McKay nor any Leftist has ever complained that media corporations were exempt from the unconstitutional law the Supreme Court justly overturned — because CNN, ABC, NPR, The New York Times, CBS, etc… all carry water for left-wing causes and politicians. (more…)

You see, Hollywoodists like “Step Brothers” director Adam McKay believe that only the Huffington Post, George Soros, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, NPR, The New York Times, The L.A. Times, Big Labor Unions, and GE (through NBC and MSNBC)  should be allowed to use unlimited resources to affect the outcome of political campaigns.

Corporations, big and small, however, just need to shut the hell up. Unless, of course, that corporation is MSNBC or any of those listed above. Confusing, right? Well, thank heaven (and Citizens United) that five wise men on the Supreme Court also went, “Huh?”

You would think that no one would be a bigger champion of an unfettered First Amendment than a leftist Hollywood director. But if you think that, you haven’t been paying attention.

Two separate looks at how the landmark SCOTUS decision is playing out. You decide which point of view is most concerned about the health of our democracy…

Hollywood director Adam McKay:

What the Supreme Court — specifically Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy — has done, is nothing short of a violent coup for the corporations to seize control of our government. There’s no violence yet, but it will come in the form of many more profit-driven corporate wars in the molds of Vietnam and Iraq and the jailing of millions more non-violent offenders to fuel the corporate built and run prisons. Not to mention dramatic rises in the crime rate as the middle class completely disappears.

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Dear Adam,

We’ve gone back and forth this week, with me writing here at Big Hollywood and you Tweeting responses. The lastest from @GhostPanther came directly to @Wilson_Michael and you asked me a question. I have an answer, but I think there’s a better way to have this conversation. And that’s what this should be… a conversation that takes place within the arena of ideas.

Adam McKay

This is important stuff and I’m fascinated by how two fellow Americans can see the world so differently. We probably both think we believe in freedom and liberty. We likely both think that we should take care of the poor. I know we both believe everyone should get the very best health care possible. How we get there while keeping our nation free is up for debate.

So let’s do it. Let’s have the debate. I challenge you to debate me on health care reform. (more…)

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Not every Hollywood Celebucrat is out rallying in support of a child-rapist. Some are using their money and influence to strip those of us who are not Celebucrats of our private health insurance. Last week, Will Ferrell and a troop of celebs released a MoveOn.org-funded pro-ObamaCare video for the website FunnyOrDie.com.  Several at Big Hollywood took issue with the video… 

Now, thanks to the digital democratization of filmmaking, some everyday folks are Speaking! Truth! To! Hollywood! Power!

Better still, this video’s actually clever.

I have apparently raised the ire of Adam McKay, the rich and powerful film director who brought us “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Step Brothers.” In a Tweet on Tuesday, McKay says that my last article (about Will Ferrell decrying insurance executives) was “sub-moronic.” He also goes on in that Tweet to say that insurance executives kill 20,000 people a year by denying claims on purpose. My question to McKay: “Are you kidding me?”

Adam McKay

While Adam McKay has been so good at his job at times that he’s left me rolling on the floor unable to breathe, and I think Ferrell is funny as hell, I am astonished that a self-righteous multimillionaire like McKay would tell you that you have to do something by force that he won’t do by choice.

That is cynicism in its purest form. McKay presumes that people are inherently bad and that they must be forced to do what is “good” or “noble” or “decent.” He presumes that human beings are hardwired to be un-compassionate and uncaring. Cynicism is a lie and it’s easy to convince others to be cynics right along with you. You can go on hating your fellow humans and you can all be miserable together, searching for a villain to direct your hate toward (like a CEO). (more…)