Both personally and professionally, I couldn’t be happier to announce that Christian Toto has joined Big Hollywood on a full-time basis as the site’s assistant editor.

I’ve known Christian for a number of years now and as one of about three film reviewers who doesn’t think socialism is a good thing, we became fast friends. It also helps that he’s a genuinely good guy, a terrific writer, and that when it comes to movies we frequently disagree (I love to argue). 

But outside of our friendship, Christian’s impressive resume also makes him a perfect match to join the BH family. He loves films, loves writing about films, has an impressive journalism background and an equally impressive Rolodex. What he’ll bring to the site is more of what he’s already brought over the last few years as one of our iron men contributors … and more!

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Maybe I need to start calling this “The Early-Afternoon-On-The-West-Coast Call Sheet”. Anyone who runs any kind of blog will tell you that it takes more work to write something when there isn’t much to write about. The search for inspiration is an endless one.

Charlie Sheen’s Apology Tour

Thus far, Sheen’s done both the “Tonight Show” and the “Today Show” and actually does come across as a guy who had some time to stare into the abyss. You never know, though. Sheen is an underrated actor, so it could all be a game to worm his way back into Hollywood’s good graces. No matter how talented you are, you can only be so much of a nightmare to deal with before you become unemployable.

On a human level, I hope everyone finds more peace in their life, but as a Charlie Sheen fan going back some twenty years, I’m eager to see what another phase in his career might bring. Hopefully more awesome B-movies like his epic ’90’s run and not “Major League IV.”

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More proof that anything any Leftist says about a conservative woman these days is fair game.

A movie trailer makes a joke about electric cars being “gay” and all hell breaks loose. Someone mentions our basketball-loving President should play less basketball and work on the economy more and all hell breaks loose. But say something as vile as this – suggest a sitting Republican Congresswoman and GOP presidential front-runner “suck my c**k, and Hollywood and the Left and most of the MSM consider it a….

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Good piece today by Christian Toto in the Washington Times on Woody Allen’s critical darling “Midnight in Paris.”  I found the film to be quite the disappointment; as Toto notes, Allen takes a bludgeon to America and the Tea Party, but more irritating still is that–aside from the eye candy–the movie is basically one joke repeated over and over from beginning to end.  Aside from a couple of very funny scenes with the talented Michael Sheen, the premise runs thin within the first 45 minutes.  The payoff is also a letdown.  Furthermore, the pompous underlying theme is that Allen equates today’s crop of artists with history’s all-time greats.  Is Allen subtly suggesting he is the Hemingway or Fitzgerald of our time?  Well, he’s not not suggesting it.

[I]n finding artistic and commercial renewal across the pond, Mr. Allen often has flattered European vanities by ogling the sights of their storied capitals with his camera. Unfortunately, in “Midnight,” he also has pandered to European stereotypes of the Ugly American.

[...]

The cross-cultural comedy concerns a burned out Hollywood screenwriter named Gil (Owen Wilson) who hopes a trip to France will inspire him to finish his novel. Gil fantasizes about Paris in the 1920s, a time when artistic giants such as Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter and F. Scott Fitzgerald roamed its streets.

One mysterious car ride later, Gil finds himself magically transported back to the Lost Generation golden age of his daydreams.

“Midnight in Paris” taps into a timeless American attraction to the City of Light as a cultural beacon, a place even ordinary artists can visit and emerge reborn. Throughout the film, Mr. Allen treats the city’s creative minds, native and transient alike, as intellectual titans.

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***clarification update below.

Last week, film writer extraordinaire Christian Toto fell under the delusion that yours truly was interesting enough to interview, and if you’re under the same delusion you can read the two-parter here and here. Among other things, Toto asked me about the clout critics wield and the most common mistakes they make. Here’s a combination of my answers:

Critics aren’t dumb, they know the public doesn’t much care which way their thumbs point. But critics do know that based on their opinions and reviews they can enjoy an influence over what kind of films get made. And that’s not a small amount of power. Culture is upstream from politics, after all.

If you have 95 percent of critics savaging a faithful retelling of the Gospels as anti-Semitic, no matter how successful “The Passion” is, no one’s going to go near that subject matter again. And that’s the goal. Same with anything that comes close to patriotism or conservatism. Such cinematic rarities are frequently labeled “jingoistic, fascist or simple minded.” This is all done consciously and for a desired effect.

You have to understand that when I look at the critical community I only see it for what it really is: a journolista cabal of left wingers deeply engaged in a cultural and ideological war, deeply committed to shaping the powerful messaging of sound and fury that emanate from our pop culture masters.

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What Would Toto Watch?:

And no, that’s not taken out of context.

Entertainment Weekly asked Cameron to respond to some of the criticisms aimed at him regarding “Avatar.” Check out how he responded to this one:

EW: “’Avatar’ is the perfect eco-terrorism recruiting tool.”

JC: “Good, good. I like that one. I consider that a positive review. I believe in eco-terrorism.”

Is he joking (there’s no – laughs – insert included in the text)?

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Kyle Smith: (more…)

Despite being told “no” regarding her bid to adopt a second child from Malawi, Madonna remains hopeful that her appeal will be successful. She wants what amounts to a companion piece to little David, the boy she adopted from that nation in 2006. That adoption had its problems, as critics said she used her wealth and fame to skirt laws that prevent non-Malawian citizens from adopting.

The idea that she wants to give little Mercy “a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health-care possible” is admirable. But if her final goal is, as she says, to give David and Mercy the tools they need to “one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country,” why doesn’t she just stick with the school she is planning on building? Or perhaps invest in the local economy, providing jobs for parents who are unable to adequately care for their own children? Wouldn’t that go further than holding what amounts to a kind of lottery and then whisking the lucky winners away to a fantasyland of luxury? (more…)