I grew up in the fairly small city of Little Rock, Arkansas, and from as early as I can remember, I wanted to escape to Los Angeles or New York City and enter the world of showbiz. I watched and read about movies with a passion, viewed David Letterman every night with a mix of jealousy and wonderment (this was ’80s, pre-jaded Letterman), and wrote short stories that I hoped could be turned into movies someday.

Now in my late 30s, I’ve been pursuing those dreams for a long time as an adult. I’ve had some successes but nothing that would make me famous (yet! There’s always a “yet,” right?! Riiiiight). Yet in March, I was able to take back-to-back trips to Hawaii and Alabama that gave me a whole new perspective on showbiz and politics.

I was first flown by Sony Pictures to Hawaii to join several other Christian film journalists on the set of a 2011 film called “Soul Surfer.” (Yes, despite those of you who would like to think I’m a Communist infiltrator to BH because I admitted liking George Clooney’s “Up in the Air,” I am in fact a Catholic Christian who also writes about film for a national Christian magazine.) (more…)

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For the past few years I’ve avoided watching the Academy Awards having finally gotten the message that they’re just a big fat marketing tool that have nothing to do with quality filmmaking. My self-imposed boycott of the televised event was difficult in the beginning for this diehard movie buff but became easier after the dismal fare gave me no films to root for. This year I will be watching just to witness the outcome of what has truly been an amazing year in films. Forget the two billion dollar box office for “Avatar.” No-the big question is does Hollywood have the cojones to pick “The Blind Side” as Best Picture? Nah! 

C’est impossible for the far left industry to award a film that actually has a Republican lifetime NRA member as its heroine. I just recently managed to catch the film that was budgeted at $29 million and has earned over $240 million so far and was blown away by Sandra Bullock’s performance. This savvy actress supposedly took a pay cut and opted for a percentage. I hope it was for the gross as Hollywood accountants tend to bilk those who choose a percentage of the net. 

Bullock has been nominated for Best Actress but if she wins I’ll be pleasantly surprised-no- I’ll be shocked. Her competitors are more in line with the ideologues who vote for their peers. There’s uber-liberal Meryl Streep whom I loved as Julia Child in “Julia & Julia”; Helen Mirren a great actress who had no problem playing lewd in her earlier career. Then there’s Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious,” who represents the victimized black girl who ironically could have used a savior like Leigh Anne Tuohy, Bullock’s real life character in “The Blind Side.” (more…)

Listening to National Public Radio handicap the Academy Award Best Actress Nominees, it’s clear that media and Hollywood elites think the movie The Blind Side has too much mass appeal and not enough edginess to win any serious awards.  Within hours of the announcement of Oscar nominations, the Hollywood press had mostly condescending analysis of Sandra Bullock’s portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, a real-life suburban woman who intervenes in a troubled teenager’s life.  ABC News went so far to ask on February 3, “Does Sandra Bullock Deserve an Oscar for Blind Side?”  For the super-cool Hollywood types, Leigh Anne is just too simple.  For them, straight forward and inspiring is boring.  They think church-attending Republicans from the South are not hip enough for an Academy Award.  However, despite the fact that Bullock’s performance continues to inspire millions of moviegoers around the world, few filmmakers in Hollywood seem impressed enough to reward her an Oscar. 

The divide between those who attend movies and those who make movies has never been wider.  While serious Hollywood types spend most of their time, energy and money on movies that trivialize the experiences of middle America, Middle America spends its time and money on movies that celebrate what it is to be an American.  Capitalism is good for Hollywood executives, but it’s under assault in the scripts being written.  American military men and women are celebrated as heroes on Main Street, but they are overwhelmingly portrayed as killers in the movies that Hollywood produces.  And while Hollywood is tremendously liberal, the rest of America is not.  (more…)

…so says Robert Butler in yesterday’s Washington Post: 

It’s everywhere at the multiplex these days: religion. Or if that word makes you uncomfortable, you can go with the more general “spirituality.”

Much of the buzz about “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has revolved around a debate between Team Jacob and Team Edward.  Numerous articles have been written explaining the merits of these two characters who many girls have swooned over in theaters. As a Chicago Tribune article about stars responding to the question of which team they align themselves with asked, “Are stars loyal to brooding vampire Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson) or hulking werewolf Jacob Black ( Taylor Lautner) as the two duel over heroine Bella ( Kristen Stewart) in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s popular books?” Over the past few weekends, moviegoers have faced their own choice, not between Jacob and Edward, but between “New Moon” and another recently-released motion picture, “The Blind Side.” 

On the one hand, “New Moon” is the highly-anticipated sequel to the blockbuster hit “Twilight.” As many sequels are, it has been heavily publicized and much has been made about the aforementioned two competing male characters in the film. From major interviews that the cast has done to magazine covers to speculation about the future movies in the series, “New Moon” has attracted a lot of attention as a popular book has been turned into a popular movie. Because of the fans of the book and movie, “New Moon” has unsurprisingly become a blockbuster hit and has made over $250 million dollars in only a matter of weeks. (more…)

First off, kudos to Patrick Goldstein at the L.A. Times who yesterday proved capable of criticizing Big Hollywood without making a whole lot of stuff up. We trust and hope this is the start of a new relationship, a turning over of a new leaf… 

Bygones Patrick, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Not to steal any of Big Government’s thunder, but in that massive ACORN dumpster dump a Leftist Decoder Ring was found that translates Left-speak into what the rest of us call The Truth. Mike Flynn was kind enough to let me use it in order to translate Goldstein’s write up…

Goldstein: It used to be the liberals who loved to play the victim. But now it’s conservatives who just can’t enough of that warm and cuddly feeling of being an oppressed minority.

Decoder Ring: Uh,oh, they’re starting to fight back. (more…)

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Christian Toto:

“The new drama “The Blind Side” tells the story of a homeless black teen who is taken in by a Christian family led by Sandra Bullock.

“It’s a heartwarming story based on the life of NFL lineman Michael Oher.

“So why does the film feel the need to awkwardly squeeze in a slam at former president George W. Bush?” (more…)