Sean Penn Off To Interview Uncle Fidel

If you didn’t know any better, you would almost think that Sean Penn wants to make it extremely easy for conservatives to criticize Hollywood for being overly liberal. He’s flown to Cuba to interview his hero Fidel Castro:

Oscar-winning actor and political activist Sean Penn flew to Cuba hoping to interview its revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, entertainment news website TMZ reported Sunday.

“Sean (Penn) is going to the land of Fidel as a journalist, writing a story for Vanity Fair (magazine) about how the (Barack) Obama administration has affected Cuba,” TMZ reported…

“Barclays sources say Sean and Diana are going to meet (Fidel) Castro — presumably because that’s what Diana told them,” the website reported. Penn’s representative also told TMZ a meeting was possible.

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Tags: Cuba, Fidel Castro, Obama, Raul Castro, sean penn
Posted Oct 26th 2009 at 9:29 am in Entertainment, Politics | 252518102 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mvandergalien/2009/10/26/sean-penn-to-pay-homage-to-his-hero-fidel-castro/Sean+Penn+Off+To+Interview+Uncle+Fidel2009-10-26+16%3A29%3A38Michael+van+der+Galien

Daily Gut: An Olympic Fail

So while chuckleheads like Jesse Jackson and Senator Roland Burris hilariously blame George Bush for Chicago losing the 2016 Olympics, whiny columnists like Mike Lupica are up in arms that conservatives might be gloating over President Obama’s big screw-up. Apparently laughing at all this is somehow anti-American, because Obama is our President, and he was doing this for all of us.

You know… kind of like when Bush was trying win a war in Iraq – and all those left wingers stood behind him.

And that’s my first point: The right has every right to gloat over Obama’s humiliation, because, thankfully, NO ONE DIED. Unlike, say during the Iraq war, where, whenever there was a roadside bombing, the progressives did their own special victory dance – using the consequences of war to gloat over an embattled president and an unpopular country. I didn’t hear much of the smarmy press calling them out. (more…)

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Tags: 2016 Olympics, chicago, Cuba, george bush, iran
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 2:38 pm in Daily Gut, News, Politics | 241042114 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/10/05/daily-gut-an-olympic-fail/Daily+Gut%3A+An+Olympic+Fail2009-10-05+21%3A38%3A34Greg+Gutfeld

Duck and Cover

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Tags: Cuba, Eco-Czar, Eric Holder, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez
Posted Sep 6th 2009 at 12:12 pm in Art, News, Political Humor, Politics | 21880234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cmuir/2009/09/06/duck-and-cover/Duck+and+Cover2009-09-06+19%3A12%3A37Chris+Muir

‘NewsBusted’ 8/11/09 — Fake News from the Right

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Tags: Cash for Clunkers, Cokie Roberts, Cuba, health care, michael moore
Posted Aug 11th 2009 at 7:06 pm in Political Humor, Video | 2039667 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/newsbusters/2009/08/11/%e2%80%98newsbusted%e2%80%99-81109-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%98NewsBusted%E2%80%99+8%2F11%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-08-12+02%3A06%3A17NewsBusters

‘NewsBusted’ 8/07/09 — Fake News from the Right

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers:  (more…)

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Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R., Andrea Mitchell, Cuba, Homeless People, Kim Kardashian
Posted Aug 7th 2009 at 6:44 pm in Media Criticism, Video | 2022146 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/newsbusters/2009/08/07/%e2%80%98newsbusted%e2%80%99-80709-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%98NewsBusted%E2%80%99+8%2F07%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-08-08+01%3A44%3A11NewsBusters

Tío Chano vs. ‘Transformers 2′

My Uncle Luciano (we call him Tío Chano) has been living with us for several months now and I’ve been worried about him. He spends all his time holed up in his room obsessing about politics and the state of the culture. I urged him recently to get out more, maybe see a movie or something. “What movie?” he asked. I answered offhandedly, “I don’t know, something escapist, like ‘Transformers 2.’” I lent him the keys to my car and off he went to the movies.

(more…)

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Tags: Cuba, Honduras, Obama, shia labeouf, Transformers 2
Posted Jul 12th 2009 at 7:07 am in Featured Story, Political Humor, Video | 18003465 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlima/2009/07/12/tio-chano-vs-transformers-2/T%C3%ADo+Chano+vs.+%27Transformers+2%272009-07-12+14%3A07%3A39Joe+Lima

Today, We Are All Hondurans

You all know the story to date. Former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was given the bum’s rush out of Tegucigalpa to Costa Rica by Honduras’ military on June 25th. In the days since, this apparent brutal seizure of power has received worldwide condemnation, most particularly by the Organization of American States, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega, the Castro brothers of Cuba and President Obama. Ya, I know. Bear with me. That’s just the setup.

Manuel Zelaya

July Fourth, the OAS ejected Honduras from its membership for refusing to reinstate Zelaya, but too late. The defiant interim Honduran government, now led by Roberto Micheletti, had already said in so many words, “you can’t fire me! I quit!” In short, the mouse gave the eagle the finger. I can appreciate that. At present, the possibility of sanctions is very real, a fact that could hurt the already hardscrabble nation very deeply, especially if the coffee trade is affected. (more…)

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Tags: Castro, chavez, clinton, Cuba, Honduras
Posted Jul 7th 2009 at 9:03 am in Politics | 177186178 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/07/07/today-we-are-all-hondurans/Today%2C+We+Are+All+Hondurans2009-07-07+16%3A03%3A32John+T.+Simpson

Michael Moore: ‘Where are the Pitchforks and Torches?’

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From the USA Today:

The still untitled film, which opens Oct. 2, will zero in on the corporations and politicians he says caused the global financial crash.

Wall Street robber barons are Moore’s new on-screen enemy.

“The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it’s going to be more like a vampire movie,” the filmmaker jokes. “Instead of the main characters feasting on the blood of their victims, they feast on the money. And they never seem to get enough of it.”

(more…)

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Tags: bailout, Bourne 3, Captain Mike Across America, Cuba, Fahrenheit 9/11
Posted Jun 13th 2009 at 9:26 am in Entertainment, Politics | 159998One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/06/13/michael-moore-where-are-the-pitchforks-and-torches/Michael+Moore%3A+%27Where+are+the+Pitchforks+and+Torches%3F%272009-06-13+16%3A26%3A53John+Nolte

Will the Last Terrorist to Leave Gitmo Please Turn Out the Lights?

Last week, Congress soundly rejected (at least for now) President Obama’s ill-conceived idea to precipitously close the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Although there is not a shred of real evidence to indicate that the facility at Gitmo is anything other than the best run and most high-tech facility available to house the vicious monsters incarcerated there, a lot of liberal Democrats feel that it should be closed – just because.  It’s amusing to read left-wing blog articles like this one at the Huffington Post, that report with all seriousness that Democrats are mystified about how it’s possible that a Democrat controlled Congress and Presidency can’t mange to gather enough votes to fund the closure of Gitmo.  Well, maybe it’s because closing Gitmo is just a really bad idea! 

Anyone who has read Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu’s fascinating and meticulously documented book “Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind The Myths Of Guantanamo Bay” easily understands the merits of keeping Gitmo open.   In fact, Lieutenant Colonel Cucullu makes a compelling case for expanding Gitmo so as to house convicted terrorists like Jose Padilla and Zacharias Moussaoui, (currently in maximum security prisons here in the US) since they are privy to a vast trove of vital intelligence information, presently unavailable because convicts in American prisons cannot be interrogated. (more…)

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Tags: Cuba, Democrats, guantanamo bay, Huffington Post, Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind The Myths Of Guanta
Posted May 27th 2009 at 10:09 am in Politics | 1443946 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ebalogh/2009/05/27/will-the-last-terrorist-to-leave-gitmo-please-turn-out-the-lights/Will+the+Last+Terrorist+to+Leave+Gitmo+Please+Turn+Out+the+Lights%3F2009-05-27+17%3A09%3A12Endre+Balogh

El Curioso Caso de William Morgan

I ask you, folks, wouldn’t this make a great movie:

Late 1950s, Toledo, Ohio, USA.

The Hero, rugged, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, is a searcher, misunderstood by family and friends. He is a freewheeling, Kerouacian type who in his twenties never kept a job or stayed in one place for long. He did a stint in the US Army: stationed in Japan, he went AWOL, got himself time in the brig and a dishonorable discharge. The Hero tried working on a ranch, scratch. Joined the circus. Nope, not a fit. Everywhere the Hero goes, he confronts the questions: Why am I here? What do I do? Now 30-ish, he needs a purpose in life.

The Hero

One day the Hero learns that another American, a close friend from his Army days, has been murdered by goons of the corrupt dictator of an island nation. The Hero heads down to the Island and joins the rebels to fight against the dictator that killed his buddy. For perhaps the first time in his life, the Hero finds someplace where he is needed, and where he can make a difference. He’s had freedom all his life and has not known what to do with it; he finally finds his purpose: helping others fight for their freedom. The Hero’s military training proves invaluable to the rebels, among whom he eventually rises to the rank of Comandante, the highest rank in the rebel army. He falls in love with, and marries, Olga, a lovely 22-year-old rebel who is as fiery and committed as he is, and they have two daughters. The rebels triumph over the dictator and at first the Hero and his wife are happy in their new life, but the leader of the rebels in due time reveals himself to be a worse dictator than the one who preceded him, turning to the far-right and establishing not just a new authoritarian dictatorship, but an out-and-out totalitarian dictatorship. (more…)

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Tags: Castro, Che, Che Guevara, communism, Cuba
Posted May 7th 2009 at 5:03 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1241264 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlima/2009/05/07/el-curioso-caso-de-william-morgan/El+Curioso+Caso+de+William+Morgan2009-05-07+12%3A03%3A02Joe+Lima

The Most Powerful Weapon

During the Cold War, a slew of movies came out that dealt with the possibility of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. This is not surprising since the atom and hydrogen bombs were the most powerful weapons ever devised by man. Well, almost.

I’ll get to that somewhat nervy assertion in a bit, but first a little background.

Among the cinematic slew released during those years of cold, are two of my favorite films, Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe. Both dealt with strikingly similar themes, unintentional nuclear holocaust, yet in entirely different tones.  But cold war themes weren’t that varied by their very nature, since inevitably the worst case scenario was the best case plot device and nothing brings down the house like bringing down the house.

With that said, still, there’s so much similarity between the two stories that law suits were indeed filed and production schedules slowed. This worked out to Stanley Kubrick’s advantage as his Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was released almost a year ahead of Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe. In my opinion Kubrick’s is a better film than Lumet’s and not due to slowed schedules, either. But both are magnificent, and because of their approaches to the topic, very different  and essential part of the genre. (more…)

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Tags: 2001: a space odyssey, a6m zero-sen, an american in paris, army motion picture unit, Auschwitz
Posted May 6th 2009 at 9:56 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1284064 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smann/2009/05/06/the-most-powerful-weapon/The+Most+Powerful+Weapon2009-05-06+16%3A56%3A35Schizoid+Mann

“NewsBusted” 4/28/09 — Fake News from the Right

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: Barack Obama’s first 100 days, CNN, CIA torture memos, Politico.com, AirTran, Cuba, Laser light, LeBron James, Mia Farrow, and Rosie O’Donnell. 

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Tags: AirTran, CIA torture memos, CNN, Cuba, Laser light
Posted Apr 28th 2009 at 9:44 am in Celebrity News, Media Criticism, Political Humor | 119282No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/epeterkofsky/2009/04/28/%e2%80%9cnewsbusted%e2%80%9d-42809-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%9CNewsBusted%E2%80%9D+4%2F28%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-04-28+16%3A44%3A19Eric+Peterkofsky

All the News That’s Fit to Ridicule

So many absurd things are taking place around the world on a weekly, daily and even hourly basis that there’s simply no way to stay on top of it all.  If one man can barely keep up with the lunacy occurring in America, you can imagine what a Herculean task it is to also keep abreast of foreign follies.  But I am not one to shirk my responsibility.

For instance, in Afghanistan, the farmers recently called for a meeting with U.S. Marines in order to alert them to the fact that they will be in their fields at night harvesting opium poppies.  They wanted to make sure that the Marines didn’t take them for members of the Taliban and shoot them by mistake.  Like the farmers, I also don’t want our Marines to shoot them by mistake. (more…)

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Tags: abortion, ACORN, Afghanistan, Americorps, bias
Posted Apr 11th 2009 at 10:51 am in Media Criticism | 1026502 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/04/11/all-the-news-thats-fit-to-ridicule/All+the+News+That%27s+Fit+to+Ridicule2009-04-11+17%3A51%3A34Burt+Prelutsky

“NewsBusted” 3/27/09 — Fake News from the Right

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: President Obama, Jimmy Carter, Leno, Letterman, Nancy Grace, Cuba, JFK, telePrompters, Senator Harry Reid, Congress, I Love You Man, Britney Spears, “Fight Club,” and VH1’s “Rock of Love.”

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Tags: Britney Spears, Congress, Cuba, Fight Club, i love you man
Posted Mar 27th 2009 at 3:55 pm in Media Criticism, Political Humor, Video | 90526No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/epeterkofsky/2009/03/27/%e2%80%9cnewsbusted%e2%80%9d-32709-%e2%80%94-fake-news-from-the-right/%E2%80%9CNewsBusted%E2%80%9D+3%2F27%2F09+%E2%80%94+Fake+News+from+the+Right2009-03-27+22%3A55%3A30Eric+Peterkofsky

Obama’s Remarkable 9/11 Blindspot

As a guy who has just made a film about how the news media paved the way for President Obama’s election, it won’t surprise you to hear that I have some critical things to say about his most recent appearance on “60 Minutes.” But what might shock you (because it stunned even me) was the incredibly tepid response that his most incredible remarks elicited even from the right (and no, they had nothing to do with laughter, or the economy).

Whether anyone chooses to notice or not, President Obama put himself out on the very edge of a very long and fragile limb on the issue of how to handle terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.  For a guy who is a master at not taking any real position at all (or, when he is really at his “best” taking all possible sides to an issue simultaneously) , Obama showed an absolutely unbelievable recklessness in his response to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of his closing of the prison camp. (more…)

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Tags: "Path to 9/11", 60 minutes, 9/11, Barack Obama, Cuba
Posted Mar 24th 2009 at 12:44 pm in Featured Story, Media Criticism, Politics, Video | 879468 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jziegler/2009/03/24/obamas-remarkable-911-blindspot/Obama%27s+Remarkable+9%2F11+Blindspot2009-03-24+19%3A44%3A16John+Ziegler

Review: Che: A Graphic Biography

Spain Rodriguez is among the giants of underground cartooning, right behind R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Robert Williams. He has never made a secret of his socialist leanings. His first creation was Trashman, “a hero of the working classes and champion of the radical left causes.” Go to spainrodriguez.com and you are greeted by, “Fight the oppressor!”

Spain doing Che Guevara’s biography is a marriage made in Worker’s Paradise. As a narrative, Spain makes Che’s story gripping through his unique graphic style honed on Great Leap poster design, cycle mags, and Steve Canyon. Visually, Che is a pulp masterpiece offering page after page of Spain’s evocative, neo-noir art. His scenes of Havana and Caribbean ocean towns are just detailed enough to evoke a sense of place. (more…)

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Tags: Castro, Che: A Graphic Biography, Cuba, Ernesto Che Guevera, Spain Rodriguez
Posted Feb 5th 2009 at 12:58 pm in Entertainment, Politics, Reviews | 4249827 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mbaron/2009/02/05/review-che-a-graphic-biography/Review%3A+Che%3A+A+Graphic+Biography2009-02-05+20%3A58%3A21Mike+Baron

I Despair

America has had both good and bad presidents. We have survived and prospered under both types because we are a blessed land of freedom and plenty. The election of Barack Obama is not something I wished to see happen but it is reality and all I can do is go on with my life and hope that the ideas I profess in opposition to his will resonate with others. I can only hope that those who believe in my ideas take action when Obama’s term is up and make wiser choices of leadership for America at that time. Until then, Obama is my president and I have respect for him and wish him the best.

I was not surprised or depressed to see the people that supported Obama celebrating in Chicago on election night. Their party was out of power for eight long years and they deserve to celebrate their return to political relevance. I was not unhappy at all to see black people in America celebrate Obama’s electoral accomplishment. I have believed for many years now that Dr. King’s dream of overcoming was a reality for all people in this country but if it took a man of color to ascend to our nation’s highest office to prove it to black people, I celebrate their happiness. If Obama’s election means an end to racial strife and an end to people longing for equality in our country, then I celebrate that too. (more…)

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Tags: ayers, Barack, bill, chavez, Cuba
Posted Jan 24th 2009 at 5:15 am in Politics | 27417138 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/adavid/2009/01/24/i-despair/I+Despair2009-01-24+13%3A15%3A03Ari+David

Part II: “Che:” Bad Movie About A Bad Guy Gets Worse

“How I would like to rise to power just to unmask cowards and lackeys of every sort and squash their snouts in their own filth.”

Che Guevara, Bolivia, September 8, 1967.

“No rapport had been established with the locals…” Anderson, p. 722

As I said in part one of my review of Soderbergh’s “Che,” The film gives us no idea of what happened after the Cuban Revolutionary government took power. Quite a lot did happen. We all know about the Bay of Pigs invasion, which deserves its own four-hour movie, hopefully directed by someone other than Soderbergh. We also all know that hundreds of thousands of people left Cuba in the early 1960s. People have never stopped leaving.

What’s less known to outsiders is that under Castro’s command, the Cuban Revolution began, very early on, to eat its own. The highest rank in the Revolutionary army was then the rank of “Comandante.” Here’s what happened to a few Revolutionary Comandantes:  In October 1959, Comandante Huber Matos, who is omitted from this film, criticizes the influence of Communists in the Revolutionary Government, and tenders his resignation. He is arrested, and serves twenty years in prison, during which time he endures severe torture. The dashing Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos is killed in an airplane crash within a week of the arrest of Huber Matos. The wreckage has never been found. Matos, who along with Camilo flanks Fidel in the famous photographs of Fidel’s entry into Havana, is among many who have never accepted the plane crash story. In March of 1961, Comandante William Morgan, of Cleveland, Ohio, also omitted from this film, is arrested and executed.

(more…)

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Tags: Benicio Del Toro, Che Guevara, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Steven Soderbergh
Posted Jan 13th 2009 at 5:01 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism, Reviews | 1802937 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlima/2009/01/13/part-ii-%e2%80%9cche%e2%80%9d-bad-movie-about-a-bad-guy-gets-worse/Part+II%3A+%E2%80%9CChe%3A%E2%80%9D+Bad+Movie+About+A+Bad+Guy+Gets+Worse2009-01-14+01%3A01%3A41Joe+Lima

First Name in News You Can Use

This CNN video shows us that in these tough economic times, there is only one place to turn for tips on how to live well–Communism.

Watching this report from Havana, it almost seems fun living under totalitarian rule–Cubans are certainly “free” to work long hours on their cars. Communism also teaches you to make do with less, helping you to be more creative and resourceful, and affording you the opportunity to tool around in a classic Chevy or Caddy. Just look at that grill–living in Cuba is like being in the movie “Grease!”

CNN forgot to mention the other way that Cubans love to tinker with their vehicles.

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Tags: cars, CNN, communism, Cuba, humor
Posted Jan 5th 2009 at 9:20 pm in Media Criticism | 632521 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tshillue/2009/01/05/first-name-in-news-you-can-use/First+Name+in+News+You+Can+Use2009-01-06+04%3A20%3A43Tom+Shillue