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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…)
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“I’d hate to miss Christmas,” he added.
Carrey, who gives a remarkable performance in A Christmas Carol, the new brilliant masterpiece of the beloved novel by Charles Dickens from Disney and Writer/Director Bob Zemeckis, spoke about the movie at a recent press conference Movieguide attended in Los Angeles.
At the conference, Carrey also noted that he loves redemptive stories like A Christmas Carol.
“Everyone loves a good transformational story,” Carrey said. “You know, somebody who sees the light, who finally finds out what’s important in life. And, this is one of the greatest ones ever written. It’s just a beautiful story of redemption.” (more…)
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For many years, the press would come down to San Diego Comic-Con International to take pictures and interview attendees. The results were always the same. They would look for those with the most outlandish costumes and the report would be: “San Diego Comic Con International has arrived again. Look at all the freaks that showed up. Aren’t these people crazy? Back you you, Dan.”
Ah, the press. They just never get it right. Most people at the con dress like anyone else. It’ a small percent that wear costumes, but they stick out. Most of those people are there to have fun. They’re letting their hair down for the weekend. It’s like Halloween for geeks.
Imagine if the press were actually fair minded (ROFL!), then you might see something like this: (more…)
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When preaching to the choir, one directs one’s lessons to those who already agree. Conversely, those who otherwise might listen and gain something useful get nothing. More on that as this inter-connected series of observations comes to an end.
American Icon: “If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it.”
Vast, determined, highly successful forces and superior technologies dominated the theaters of WWII prior to America’s entry into the conflict after Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Manhattan Project began in August of 1942, a couple of months before General George Patton invaded North Africa. Character, strategy, and tactics played as large a role in dealing with Panzer and Tiger tanks as did Patton’s Shermans, of course, because firepower alone was insufficient in itself. But the defeat of one totalitarian threat by 1945 was not apt to make much difference in taking down another in a place where school children were being trained to fight to the death for the Empire— with sharpened sticks. The Manhattan Project, through funding, research, experimentation, design, development and production, met the challenge and made the difference. (more…)
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“In fifteen minutes, everyone will be famous.” —Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol also spoke that jewel of wisdom, presumably demonstrating a sense of humor in referring to his most famous quote. Or was it, perhaps, prescient, albeit unintended foreknowledge? Pity he’s not around to toy with Twitter.
Bridge as visual metaphor, Media as bridge, Pittsburgh.
Looking back at Part 1, we considered a couple of insights into Andy’s Pop Life with the aim of solving some problems surrounding Mr. Breitbart’s incisive assertion that conservatives must come to terms with popular culture, and more, use it to advantage, or fail catastrophically in countering the negative effects of said culture and restoring public confidence in fundamental ideals. Narcissism, amorality, and an attitude of entitlement, as examples, speak poorly to the future of democracy, while the virtues of valuing others, the practice of ethical discernment and choice, and the elevating ideas of individual liberty and self-reliance are greatly to be desired in the body politic, and traditionally set America apart from typical “statist” governments around the world. Evidence abounds of the former set of attitudes in common currency as reflected in pop culture; the latter set, highly prized by conservatives, goes sorely wanting for attention in movies, TV, music, etc. (more…)
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Your correspondent, as absorbed by the Warhol Museum, 117 Sandusky Street, Pittsburgh, PA.
A dance craze— like “freaking”— it is not, but rather, a point of view.
Back in January of this year, Andrew Breitbart announced “Big Hollywood’s modest objective: to change the entertainment industry”. The announcement is as important as it is radical, assessing the power of Pop Culture in shaping global attitudes and standing athwart contemporary assaults on Western values, yelling, as did William Buckley in 1955, Stop.
Ask yourself: Is a vision of the world that is contrary in almost every way to the prevailing cultural paradigms a difficult “sell”? Given this is always so, how is such a challenge overcome? (more…)
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A lot can be said about unions supporting wage earners and creating a middle class. However, a lot can also be said about unions ruining this country. Case in point: Michigan.
You would think that after the UAW destroyed the auto industry and the tax base in Michigan, the people of the state and the unions based there would have learned. However, this is not the case. In the latest union disaster for the state of Michigan, the IATSE has decided that the blooming film industry in the state must be stopped before it even gets started.
As most of you in the film business know, the state of Michigan has one of the most lucrative tax credit/rebate programs in the industry. The state gives you 40% of every qualified dollar that you spend in the state. In addition, if you shoot your film in a few core areas such as Detroit, you will get an additional 2%. That’s a whopping 42% of what the producers’ qualified in Michigan spend. On a 20 million dollar budget, this can amount to a gift from the state of Michigan of approximately 6.5 million dollars after you subtract the non-qualified costs. (more…)
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“It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” –David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap (1984)
When it comes to humor I’m super picky. I physically cringed at all but one of the multiple fart jokes in Pixar’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I still don’t get The Three Stooges. Call me uptight. Slapstick without redeeming intellectual humor, toilet jokes, sexual references, and ”shock” scenarios do nothing for me. So how is it possible that I laughed myself sick while watching Bruno? That’s easy. Because, goofy as it pretends to be, it is a pretty smart film.
You’ve probably heard that this film is about homophobia, but the story arc is about what it takes to become a celebrity. Frankly, both facets are hilarious.
This satire has real teeth, and it’s also fair. I completely disagree with the reviews that claim it mocks middle America, puts “innocent” people on the spot or casts them in a bad light. If anything this film ruthlessly savages Hollywood. The scenes with stage mothers are so appalling that the audience collectively gasped and groaned. One hopes that this exposure will, at the very least, lead to interventions from Social Services and cause us to rethink some of the “entertainment” exemptions from child labor laws. Cohen introduces us to women who are willing to have their babies/toddlers strung up on crucifixes, dressed like Nazis, subjected to bees/wasps, and driven in cars at high speeds without restraints. (Personally, I hope this leads to actual arrests). One toddler’s mother adds that she’s okay with all of that, “if he’s got the job.” (more…)
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Okay Class, stop sniffing your Sharpies in a futile attempt to reach a state of intoxication and try to take notes using that writing instrument and what brain cells you have left. Remember, if you can, that information you believe to be useless is, indeed, of no value whatsoever if you are unable to apply it in real-life situations, or at the very least for pc gaming “cheats.” Otherwise your very existence is no better than a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to any human being, past or present, living or dead. (Or in your cases, “living dead” or zombie, if you prefer, or the more inclusive term “differently animated.”)
Aristotle, in Poetics, slops the pearl that “art” is a “representation of reality.” By this definition, presentations of the creative sort contain something, if only a je ne sais quois, that can be recognized as a reflection of the human condition and the historical present. Reach back in time to The Epic of Gilgamesh, and out of the cuneiform pressed in clay comes the tale of a king’s hubris, lust for immortality, and ultimate understanding of his place in the world. Fast forward and select at random. “The Counsels of the Bird” by Rumi, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Eliot’s “Quartets,” “The Short Happy Life Of Francis MacComber” by Hemingway. Consider Andy Warhol’s body of work as a commentary on the superficiality of modern culture; look at the content of films, popular songs and television programs, comic strips and “illustrated novels,” with their wide diversity of theme and thought. All these arts, of varying degrees of cultural significance, may be seen to generally adhere to Aristotle’s commentary. (more…)
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If you’re a history buff and you’ve got HBO, then have I got a movie for you: Into the Storm. (And if you’re cable-less, add it to your NetFlix queue.) Yes, it’s made-for-HBO, but it’s from the John Adams/Band of Brothers wing, not the Recount/Angels in America department.
It’s a sequel of sorts to The Gathering Storm, known informally around my home as the Greatest Churchill Movie Ever Made. And in answer to the first question on your mind right now, no, the new HBO/BBC co-production is not quite as good as Gathering Storm. (But then, we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that nothing ever will be.)
Partly it’s Albert Finney’s fault. They say nobody’s perfect, but they haven’t seen Finney play Winston Churchill. (He most deservedly won both an Emmy and a BAFTA.) You’ve heard the phrase “tears of joy”? A largely alien experience to me, a pretty stoic, manly guy. Alien to me no more, my friends, once I watched Gathering Storm for the first time.
I regret to report that Brendan Gleeson, who essays the role in the sequel, gives it a yeoman’s try, but can’t quite measure up. There are simply more and richer layers to Finney’s performance, perhaps due to nothing no less unfair than a longer and more experienced life, even (dare I say it, oh what the hell) more talent. Janet McTeer, who plays wife Clemmie in the new movie, fares better, nearly matching Vanessa Redgrave’s marvelous performance in Gathering Storm. (Why, they even look alike.) (more…)
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A frequent cavil by participants in the Angels & Demons debate is, “It’s just a movie!” (Or, “It’s fiction!”)
The implication is that the filmmakers made this movie just so they could tell a ripping good yarn. Stipulating for the moment that it is a good yarn, there’s no way to show that the filmmakers were indeed fully cognizant of their movie’s cultural impact. There’s no way we can get inside their minds, right?
Hassassin Assassin
Well, I’ve figured out a way to do just that. No, I don’t have ESP or a special mind-reading device. But I do have common sense (pace my wife).
Now, whenever someone adapts a book into a movie, it’s instructive to examine where the movie differs from the book. If the movie version alters a key detail in the book, you can’t blame the original author for that decision. It’s clearly a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers. (more…)
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If present-day Hollywood had their way here are five things you’d never know…
1. That JFK had way more in common with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush than most of today’s Democrats: By modern standards, Kennedy was a fairly conservative Republican; forward-leaning on national defense and a tax cutter who may not have called it trickle-down but to improve the economy and grow the treasury he cut taxes across the board (yes, including the evil rich). Kennedy’s “tax cuts for the wealthy” not only worked but would become the starter blueprint for both the Reagan and Bush II tax cuts. (more…)
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In a new listing of film and TV’s coolest heroes, James Bond emerged in the top spot — while rival spy Jason Bourne was MIA — finishing behind the likes of young Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In its 20 All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture rankings, Entertainment Weekly listed 007 #1 — a move not likely to please fan’s of every hippie’s favorite spy (other than Valerie Plame), that assassin with a conscience, Bourne. In fact, if EW was going to run a Top 2 All-Time Most Cheesed Off Folks right now, it might rank Bourne’s cinematic creators –Team America star Matt Damon and United 93 director Paul Greengrass — in that order.
Damon or Greengrass seem obsessed with attacking the James Bond films and the character himself every chance they get. Mixing up a bitter soup of professional envy at Bond’s legacy and success, personal insecurity at producing movies beholden to Bond and (of course) self-righteous political arrogance, both artists froth at every opportunity to brand Ian Fleming’s creation a soulless killer. Ignoring Bond’s efforts to battle terrorism and global crime, they stamp him a militarist imperialist misogynist. (more…)
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Few books in history, if any, have left such a powerfully lingering effect with their last four words as the classic tale of a totalitarian nightmare by Eric Blair (aka George Orwell), ’Nineteen Eighty-Four’: “He Loved Big Brother.” In those four words, the utter destruction of a human being, and by extension humanity itself, was complete. The novel remains a most dark and compelling tale, and is even taught as a full course in many college classrooms.
John Hurt in Michael Radford’s ‘1984′
The essential fact, the very heart of the matter, in George Orwell’s timeless classic is “the ability to say two plus two equals four. If than can be done, all else follows.” Yet the nightmare Big Brother regime of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ must by necessity keep redoing the math, even as it keeps rewriting history. Those who do the correct math, and refuse to see the equation otherwise, are the greatest dangers to Big Brother’s existence and are doomed to suffer fates worse than death. (more…)
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In a recent interview in Iran with the Hollywood Reporter (THR), AMPAS President Sid Ganis and actress Annette Bening made the following comments on the state of Iranian film culture and women’s rights today.
First up, Mr. Ganis:
It is as buoyant as it is. They are making movies all the time, though they are not distributing them necessarily in Iran, but around Europe, Asia, and winning prizes all the time for it.
If by buoyant Mr. Ganis meant uplifting, I agree. Nothing’s more uplifting than a truck bomb. In fact, Martyrdom Productions, the Iranian Thugocracy’s film arm, recently landed a $500,000,000.00 defamation lawsuit from Anwar Sadat’s family for its killer thriller “Assassination Of A Pharaoh,” depicting the Hero Martyr Khalid Islambouli, who assassinated former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1979 for the heinous crime of signing the Camp David Peace Accords with Israel in 1978. (more…)
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When Team Oscar lands on the Red Carpet at LAX, they’ll tell us what a joy it was sharing tea, finger cookies and film seminars with the hostage-takers, women-stoners, blogger-killers and gay butchers of Iran. As a public service of the VISIBLE Press, I will ask the tough questions Team Oscar will never hear from the Invisible Press. See, Invisible Press, I kill myself! Okay, people, presser coming up.
On With The Show!
EXT. RED CARPET AT UNFRIENDLY SKIES AIRLINER, FLIGHT 666, LAX RUNWAY – DAY (more…)
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Speaking at a film seminar in Tehran this past week, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis made the following statement regarding the recent controversy over such films as “300″ and “The Wrestler,” which resulted in the Iranian government demanding apologies for the cultural slanders contained within:
Mr. Ganis praised Iranian civilization and said the film “300″ was based on a comic strip; its audience was not interested in the film’s credibility.
“No film can distort Iran culture,” Mr. Ganis added.
While it may be true that no film can distort Iranian culture as the esteemed Mr. Ganis claims, the current Islamist regime in Iran can most certainly distort culture in film, and do. And they have created masterpieces that would have had Hitler and Goebbels in jaw-dropping awe. You really only need to see the names. (more…)
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