For Liberty Lovers ‘We The Living’ Arrives on DVD

An extraordinary film just came out on DVD which couldn’t be more timely.  It’s about a fiercely outspoken, beautiful woman trapped in a country rapidly descending into socialism, with the government steadily ratcheting up control over all aspects of life.

No, it’s not The Ann Coulter Story.

The movie is We The Living, based on the Ayn Rand novel of the same title.  Rand said that We The Living “is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write.”

Conservatives and libertarians have long lamented the scarcity of movies that depict the evils of communism.  Let’s see, there’s Doctor Zhivago, The Killing Fields, The Lives of Others, and… and, well, now there’s We The Living — a long-lost classic filmed in 1942, and now available on DVD for the first time ever.

WTL takes place soon after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia (which Rand experienced as a young woman).  The stunning Alida Valli plays Kira, a fiery college student who detests the communists ruining her country.  (Valli is perhaps best known to American audiences for her indelible performances in The Third Man and The Paradine Case.) (more…)

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Tags: Alida Valli, Ayn Rand, Bolsheviks, Censorship, classic movies
Posted Oct 30th 2009 at 4:03 pm in Film, Politics, Reviews | 25336234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/10/30/we-the-living-for-liberty-lovers-and-for-our-time/For+Liberty+Lovers+%27We+The+Living%27+Arrives+on+DVD2009-10-30+23%3A03%3A20Andrew+Leigh

Who Really Owns the Airwaves?

For decades, Americans have been brainwashed into thinking the broadcast airwaves are public. Are they?  Or have we become so accustomed to thinking the airwaves are public that they have become so by default? By designating the airwaves as public domain, the government has become the referee of what we hear and see. And, when government has regulatory control of the media, potential danger lurks. Enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine until 1987 was one of the regulations that controlled the media, for example.

Listen to Ayn Rand

A little history behind the Federal Communications Commission and the notion that the airwaves belong to the public is in order. It all began in 1924 with Herbert Hoover when he served as Secretary of Commerce.  It was Hoover who fought for government control of radio and made repeated attempts to extend government power beyond the limits set by legislation of the time including attempts to attached detailed conditions to radio licenses.  (more…)

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Tags: "public airwaves", "The Property Status of the Airwaves", Ayn Rand, Fairness Doctrine, FCC
Posted Aug 5th 2009 at 8:55 am in Politics | 19779812 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bjennings/2009/08/05/the-property-status-of-the-airwaves/Who+Really+Owns+the+Airwaves%3F2009-08-05+15%3A55%3A49Brian+Jennings

Dennis Miller: Capitalist Hero

Dennis Miller started out on the political left and, as he matured (helped along considerably by the shock of 9/11), he migrated to the political right.

In this wayward sojourn, he is in fine intellectual company: To name but a few, David Horowitz (former campus radical), Irving Kristol (one time Trotskyite), and Ronald Reagan (early FDR-New Dealer).  And as is usually the case with someone who has viewed the world through both left and right prisms, Miller possesses exceptional insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of both ideologies.  (more…)

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Tags: 9/11, Alexis de Tocquevile, Ayn Rand, capitalism, David Horowitz
Posted May 19th 2009 at 11:11 am in Entertainment, Political Humor, Politics, Reviews | 135230One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/05/19/dennis-miller-capitalist-hero/Dennis+Miller%3A+Capitalist+Hero2009-05-19+18%3A11%3A24Matt+Patterson

Apocalypse Near? Liberal Actresses Line Up to Star in ‘Atlas Shrugged’

First off, let me ask the question: in today’s PC, non-sexualized world, am I allowed to use the word “actress?” I guess I’ll chance it.

My friend Kitty sent me this link to an article about the ongoing saga of turning the 1,100 page book “Atlas Shrugged,” by Ayn Rand, into a feature film:

Rand’s popular but polarizing book — it’s derided by many literary critics but has a huge public following — tells the story of Dagny Taggart, a railroad executive trying to keep her corporation competitive in the face of what she perceives as a lack of innovation and individual responsibility. (more…)

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Tags: "Atlas Shrugged", anne hathaway, Ayn Rand, Charlize Theron, Hollywood hypocrisy
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 10:44 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 95546250 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/04/03/apocolypse-near-liberal-actresses-line-up-to-star-in-atlas-shrugged/Apocalypse+Near%3F+Liberal+Actresses+Line+Up+to+Star+in+%27Atlas+Shrugged%272009-04-03+17%3A44%3A07Pam+Meister

Why ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Matters

When I mentioned to friends I was reading Atlas Shrugged their response was uniform: “Oh that. I read it in college but now I have moved on to adult subjects.”  These were liberal friends, you understand, and I couldn’t help but wonder why they would want to discourage me from reading a literary classic that is selling better now than at any time in its history.  In fact, it has recently moved up to become Amazon’s 37th best-selling novel.  Last week it was 44.  By the time you read this it will have moved higher.

The reason becomes immediately apparent upon reading.  It might have been written yesterday.  Rand’s description of a socialist state taken over by “looters,” people who cannot create or produce but who seize power under the rubric of “fairness” is so spot-on accurate of today’s administration it’s scary.  At over one thousand pages long, Atlas Shrugged is not a weekend read and made me question whether my fun-loving liberal friends actually read it, or read the Cliff’s Notes version which is also selling at unprecedented levels. (more…)

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Tags: "Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand, Congress, Obama, Rearden
Posted Mar 26th 2009 at 12:19 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 887946 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mbaron/2009/03/26/why-atlas-shrugged-matters/Why+%27Atlas+Shrugged%27+Matters2009-03-26+19%3A19%3A46Mike+Baron