Hollywood has learned something effective about conservative women: If you play them convincingly enough to left-wing stereotypes, people will believe that the caricature is the real deal. We saw this with Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin where so many young people actually seem to believe Palin said she could see Russia from her house.

Expect to see a similar nasty portrayal by Julianne Moore in HBO’s “Game Change.” Moore confesses that it was hard to find a good side to Palin, and the miniseries is candid that her ambition outstrips her capacity. Hollywood knows well that you only get one opportunity to introduce these figures of national or international import, and they intend to make it bad impression on their behalf.

So it is with Lady Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” whose creators have ridiculously compared Meryl Streep’s Thatcher to a modern-day King Lear in their disgusting attempt to dance on Thatcherism’s memory.

“Iron Lady” producer Harvey Weinstein, director Phyllida Lloyd and screenwriter Abi Morgan are engaged in a caricature of conservatism, through a caricature of Lady Thatcher and all those around her. Weinstein has even claimed that Thatcher is a “social progressive,” as if being pro-choice, pro-gay, and pro-national health service were all there were to Thatcherism.

Alas Weinstein and Streep never show us Thatcher’s considerable economic and political successes, preferring to spend two-thirds of the film luxuriating on her old age. This is as fictional as it is slanderous. We simply do not know how Lady Thatcher is doing because she has lived a life far removed from the press.

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“The Iron Lady” producer Harvey Weinstein is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberals. But Weinstein is finding himself saying some complimentary things about conservative icon Margaret Thatcher to drum up interest in his new film.

He’s also using Thatcher’s name to praise President Barack Obama.

I always find myself rooting for people who stand up for what they believe in, and it always gives me a great charge to see it happen. But it’s all too rare, and I know this will shock my Republican friends, but I know President Obama is someone who stands up for what he believes, and I know the First Lady does as well. They are strong believers in helping America’s underserved. They might go about it differently than Margaret Thatcher, but their belief is strong. And in the end, lending a helping hand, may achieve the same result as Thatcher, if it is done properly.

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Hollywood uber-producer Harvey Weinstein knows how to grab headlines.

The hard-charging executive is famous for his aggressive, and successful, Oscar movie campaigns. So when he picked up “Butter,” an indie film satirizing the GOP, Weinstein decided to invite Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann to an early screening.

Looks like that move backfired – big time.

Bachmann just pulled out of the GOP presidential race, and by the time “Butter” hits theaters this Spring the congresswoman won’t be in the headlines anymore.

The film itself might need all the help it can get, marketing wise.

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For movie geeks, 1998 is still remembered as the year that Harvey Weinstein’s lobbying and schmoozing led to the underdog “Shakespeare in Love” beating “Saving Private Ryan.” In writing this series, I’ve realized how much Oscar snubs, wins, and losses affect the consensus perception of certain movies.

In other words, had Weinstein’s movie been snubbed altogether, I think people would remember it more fondly than they do. If I recall correctly, no one was complaining much that the movie was nominated, but the win immediately changed the perception of the movie.

I loved a lot of movies released in 1998, but only one of them was nominated for Best Picture. It’s a very tough year for me to pick a favorite. The nominees:

“Shakespeare in Love” – Only saw it once, and I liked it. Costume dramas really ain’t my thing, but costume comedies? Well, that’s…wait, I don’t like them much either. But I guess this one’s alright.

“Elizabeth” – See above. Never seen it.

“Life is Beautiful” – Roberto Benigni winning Best Actor for this remains one of the great whiffs in Academy history.

“Saving Private Ryan” - The invasion sequence alone remains worth the price of admission.

“The Thin Red Line” – For my money, this is a pretentious mess. I’ve got a buddy who says it’s his favorite movie. I say he’ s trying to seem smart. But what do I know? I’m the guy who would have nominated…

“There’s Something About Mary” - Stalker? Big time.

“The Big Lebowski” - Am I wrong? Am I wrong? No, you’re not wrong, Walter, you’re just an assh*le.

“Out of Sight” - You don’t have an extra clip I can use, do you?

“Rushmore” - Never in my wildest imagination did I ever dream I would have sons like this.

“Saving Private Ryan” - The Statue of Liberty is kaput. That’s disconcerting.

This is really an absolute squeaker. Why? Partially, it’s because I love all of these movies so much. But mostly, it’s because I’m stupid. (more…)

Oscar-winning film producer Harvey Weinstein entered Bill O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone” last night, and the grouchy executive may still be spinning as you read this.

Weinstein was there to support some of his recent films, including the Oscar-bait biopic “My Week with Marilyn,” but the Fox News host opened with a salvo of political questions.

The longtime Democratic supporter took the bait, first waving away concern about President Barack Obama’s falling poll numbers – “they go up and down,” he says in a calm, dismissive tone – and then saying the president will breeze to re-election.

Then, the Obama worship really began in earnest.

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Jennifer Garner on Defense Over New Film

We’ve at least made some strides. A few years ago, Hollywood attacked Middle America and Republicans with wildly open abandon; a few years ago they apologized for nothing and proudly wore their preachy cinematic leftism on their sleeves. Today, however, you have George Clooney assuring us his political movie isn’t political and now this:

“I don’t know if I would want to watch it with a politician, but I would like to watch it in Iowa and see if they are still friends with me after because we made it with such respect,” she said. “And I come from a small town, so I just want to make sure that they enjoy it and have as much fun with it as we intend for them to have.”

This is with respect to her new indie film “Butter,” which is probably going to be one those preordained flops Hollywood makes to aggrandize themselves.

This is also the film where producer Harvey Weinstein issued a challenge that our resident badass Dana Loesch took him up on. And now after six weeks and no response, it’s probably safe to say that Weinstein — whose Indian name is He Who Supports Fugitive Child Rapists – was just blowing more of that cowardly Hollywood smoke.

‘Jack and Jill’ hits 2% at Rotten Tomatoes

Now I’m even more convinced it’s a classic.

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Dear Harvey,

Please send all the event details directly to Dana Loesch at dloesch@breitbart.com.

She’ll see you there!

And more directly from Dana to Harvey here.

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With his favorite child-raping fugitive out of jail, Weinstein can now turn his brave self to taking shots at the softest target in Filmdom.

A regular profile in courage:

“In 20 years of coming to the Toronto Film Festival, I’ve never released a statement for a film. But I would like to take this moment to formally invite Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann to co-host with me the big premiere of Butter in Iowa in a few months from now. I know Michele will already be in Iowa for the caucus, so we can save some money on airfare and travel. I would, of course, be more than happy to fly in the other leading members of the Tea Party movement to make an entire day of it. We could take some math classes in the morning to help balance the budget, brush up on the Constitution in the afternoon, play some ping-pong, and then maybe some verbal ping-pong on gay rights and women’s rights (especially the right to choose). But at night we can all go hand-in-hand to the premiere of Butter, a fun and important film where we’ll share some popcorn and laughs. These are the kind of bipartisan effort that makes America great. I look forward to hearing from Michele, and I’m particularly looking forward to those classes on the Constitution. All my best, Harvey.”

Rep. Bachmann and Tea Party leaders should definitely take him up on on making an entire day of this.

I’m especially interested in that part of the Constitution that says it’’s okay to drug, rape and sodomize a thirteen year-old girl and flee from justice if a guy named Harvey really dug “Chinatown.”

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I’ve said before that liberals love to lose — be it elections or Oscars –because it “proves” they are enlightened victims living among the great unwashed.

They never come right out and say they love to lose. Instead, when their movie of choice loses the Oscar to “Crash,” they say things like, “Hollywood’s homophobia could be on par with Pat Robertson’s.” The case of “Crash” versus “Brokeback Mountain” turned into an absolutely hilarious pissing match that saw liberals clamoring to stake their claim to being at least as liberal as the next whiny liberal.

About the only thing liberals love more than losing is claiming they’ve been victims of — gasp! — censorship! If I seem like I’m making light of — gasp! — censorship! it’s because, well, I am.

In the vast majority of cases of — gasp! — censorship! there has in fact been no censorship.

Take Harvey Weinstein’s latest claim.  The Hollywood Reporter reports that ABC asked for three cuts to the trailer for “Our Idiot Brother,” on the basis that three shots violated its “long established ad-guidelines.” Where you and I might see an entity exercising its right to purchase and air WHATEVER THE HELL THEY CHOOSE TO PURCHASE AND AIR, Harvey sees an opportunity to reassert himself as the undisputed champion of hemming and hawing about so called censorship. The Weinstein Company quickly cut together a new red band trailer, which Harvey knew would be useless without a press release that made him look like a victim. Putting on a happy face, Harvey proclaimed, ““We’d like to dedicate our new red band trailer for Our Idiot Brother to censorship everywhere. Enjoy!”

Is this censorship? No really. I’m asking: Is. This. Censorship?

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Yet another hypocritical left-wing gazillionaire mouthing off about his desire to pay more in taxes…

Harvey Weinstein was on [Piers Morgan] last night, talking about his support for President Obama and the fund-raiser he held for him at his home last week. Weinstein echoed Warren Buffett’s call for the wealthy in the country to be taxed more — and said that he considers it an investment in the country, not an unfair burden.

We’re here to help you lead by example in two easy steps, Harvey:

1. Immediately stop with any deductions on your quarterly/annual taxes.

2. Go here and put your money where your child rapist-supporting mouth is.

You’re welcome.

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College drop-out know-it-all, do-it-all Gwyneth Paltrow is the epitome of a spoiled Hollywood brat who was raised in privilege, never told no, and made to believe her every thought was brilliant. The Paltrows must have been the type of liberal parents who handed out trophies to the losing soccer team, because daughter Gwyneth is a hopeless victim of undeserved “Good job-ism” gone wild.

An average kid with moderate talent, since her late teens, between acting, mothering, cooking, and singing, Gwyneth Paltrow has subjected America to incessant rounds of painful “No wait…let me start again,” off-tempo renditions of Für Elise followed by impromptu tap-dancing exhibitions by a grown woman who might as well be dressed in a tight pink tutu.

Gwynie (I like to call her Gwynie) is an attractive woman with a superior gift of imitating British accents.  Ms. Paltrow started her career in Hollywood when her mother, actress Blythe Danner, and her father, the late director Bruce Paltrow, together with family friend Steven Spielberg brokered a deal and got her a starring gig in the movies at 19 years of age.

An unabashed recipient of Hollywood nepotism, after winning an Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love Gwyneth was crowned the “Muse” of Miramax studios by film producer Harvey Weinstein.  Since that day, Gwyneth has been nothing short of unbearable.

Raised in Massachusetts, Gwynie moved back to Los Angeles where her career and love life with Brad Pitt took off. Paltrow traveled the world, and now speaks British-style English, French, Spanish, and a little Italian. Gwen even married a temperamental British rock star – Chris Martin of Coldplay – who she’d never have met without the benefit of a VIP backstage pass.

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My apologies, Leftist Hollywood.

When you stepped over causes like childhood diseases, health-care reform and the homeless to spend political capital defending a fugitive child-rapist, I was certain you really were stupid enough to further tarnish an already devastated reputation under the misguided impression that tsk-tsking child sodomy made you look sophisticated, as opposed to wicked and grotesque. Thankfully, I’ve seen the light and am man enough to admit that my right-wing kneejerk got the better of me. How embarrassing to have missed your Harvey Weinstein and Minions Master Plan:

Roman Polanski realises that some of the support he got in his battle against US child sex charges was “counter-productive”, his lawyer said Sunday, adding he was worried about the detained director’s health.

“The filmmaker is very touched by the support he has received,” Herve Temime told AFP after visiting his client on Friday in his cell in Switzerland, where he is being held on a US warrant.

“He also knows that some of it is counter-productive,” he added, without elaborating. (more…)

Americans are debating whether Roman Polanski should be brought back to America to serve the sentence he skipped out on over 30 years ago for having sex (well, raping her, but he pleaded to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor) with a 13-year-old girl. A large portion of society seems to believe that Polanski should face the music for what is truly a disgusting crime, but as we all know, he has his defenders for several reasons: a) he’s a nice guy, b)he’s a brilliant director, c) the art world is being made to suffer, and d) gosh — it was over 30 years ago. To coin a phrase, let’s just “move on.”

We all know that many Hollywood insiders live inside a magical bubble where there are no consequences for anything. Serial affairs, alcohol, drugs — everything is forgiven as long as you can make money for the machine (but they are against capitalism, natch), except that most heinous of crime of all: being a conservative.  And we all know that many of them place themselves on a higher plane than those of us little people down here in the theater and stadium seats and in front of our television sets, without whom, of course, Tinseltown would be nothing but a very large (and broke) collection of overinflated egos.

Proof of this “holier than thou” attitude comes right out of the mouth of one of the biggest bigwigs himself: Harvey Weinstein of Miramax pictures: (more…)

Pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an underage girl — the drugging, raping and sodomizing of a 13 year-old — isn’t stopping Hollywood from ginning up an indignation campaign over the possibility of fugitive director Roman Polanski being held accountable for his crimes. Yes, these are the values of those who control the most powerful propaganda device ever created.  Which begs a question: If his unspeakable deed doesn’t meet the standard, what exactly would Roman Polanski have to do in order to become a pariah in this town … I mean, besides vote for Sarah Palin?

My favorite part of the below story is Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times questioning the ethics of the LA district attorney for extraditing Polanski “at a time of severe statewide budget cuts.”

Now the Left worries about government spending!  This reckless, out of control, bringing-child-rapists-to-justice spending must stop!

Maybe I’m just a simplistic right-winger but everything stops for me upon learning a child was raped. That doesn’t mean we don’t eventually examine judicial misconduct or government spending, but only after we throw away the key. (more…)

On Sunday, the Academy Awards will be handed out at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and there are some clear favorites. Slumdog Millionaire, the feel-good Danny Boyle Mumbai opus made for just $14M, is a heavy favorite to win Best Picture. It’s hard to imagine Slumdog missing out on Hollywood’s biggest prize, having won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA Award and just about everything in between.

But, in the world of gambling, you always want to look for value. What are the films and performances with longer odds that would be worth a wager on Sunday? My purpose here is to establish a betting line for each of the six major categories, and then find the value bet in each category.

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There is a phenomenon known as “the Oscar bounce.” When a movie receives Academy Award nominations, especially one of the five coveted Best Picture slots, ticket-buyers generally follow. The Oscar seal of approval used to mean something to the rank-and-file moviegoer, but that seems to have changed.

Only one of this year’s Best Picture nominees has inspired any real passion from the broad public. The almost-certain Best Picture winner is Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), and its devotees, including critics and members of the Academy (not to mention yours truly), have made it a word-of-mouth smash hit. The Danny Boyle-directed feel-good Bollywood fusion movie made for a meager $14M added another $2.05M or so on Friday and is charting a 3-day course for about $7.4M. That will give the Slumdog a $77.4M take, and it could reach $90M-$95M before it’s through in American theatres.

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Nobody is ever completely satisfied with the Academy Award nominations, but with several key snubs, Oscar voters may have ensured that the 2009 telecast hits an all-time ratings low.

Investor Warren Buffet coined the phrase “skin in the game” to describe a situation where executives use their own money to buy shares in their company. The so-called Oracle of Omaha likes companies where insiders have their own money invested because they work harder, care more and generally are more emotionally invested.

The problem with the Oscars is that voters are nominating films that relatively few people have seen. The five movies nominated for Best Picture this week – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Reader and Frost/Nixon – have combined to gross just $186.7M. The Dark Knight passed that box office total early in its fifth day of release. (more…)