Nothing partisan here — just a superb speech that I think dovetails well with what I wrote the other day about “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe and the importance of this reality show trend we’re seeing that finally returns a nobility to the working class that our elitist popular culture has spent decades demeaning.

Forgive me if you’ve already heard me tell this story, but one of my all-time favorite Hollywood moments occurred at a ”Wall*E” junket in Beverly Hills a few years ago. Because Ratzenberger is Pixar’s “good luck charm,” he’s in all their films and was there to meet with the media. Somehow the subject came up about the importance of films, and Ratzenberger said something to the effect of how we would all get by just fine if New York and California disappeared tomorrow. But if we lost the Midwest, who would make our bread?

You could’ve heard a pin drop… except for my laughter.

Ratenberger’s cause is a righteous one. He’s not only correct about our economy but he’s also defending men like my father and grandfather, the men and women who do more in a day to keep the world turning than the likes of George Clooney and Joy Behar and David Letterman and Diane Sawyer will do their entire elitist lives.

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Bangor Daily News:

BANGOR, Maine — John Ratzenberger remembers a different time in the country, when he grew up as a kid in Bridgeport, Conn., and had the luxury of being a kid.

“Our parents would not allow us to be indoors, especially on a Saturday, and simply told us to go outside and play,” said Ratzenberger. “No cell phones, no GPS, no maps, no directions. The only rule was be home before the streetlights came on.”

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Last week, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures President and CEO, Jeffrey L. Sparks, announced that the feature film documentary, Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good, featuring actor Gary Sinise and his “Lt. Dan Band” is a Crystal Heart Award winner and will be screened during the 2010 Heartland Film Festival, which will take place through October 23rd in Indianapolis.

The film, directed by Jonathan Flora, follows Sinise and his band as they support the troops and first responders around the world including Kuwait and Iraq.  The Lt. Dan Band began playing shows in 2003 and has played close to 200 concerts for America’s heroes and their families.
Films that receive the Crystal Heart are being honored for best meeting Heartland’s mission of “exploring the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.”  Having seen this uplifting and inspiring film, I can assure you that it does just that. 

“Having long known the high reputation of the Heartland Film Festival and the quality of films it showcases, it is a true honor to be recognized and I tip my hat to Jeffrey Sparks and his staff for all they do,” said Flora, who hails from Ohio, served with the 82nd Airborne and also produced the film along with his wife, Deborah Flora.  “As a veteran and filmmaker working in Hollywood, it is a privilege to be able to support our troops and first responders through our medium.  The spirit of service and commitment to the greater good has always served as an example to me.  At its core, this movie is about remembering those who are willing to lay down their lives for others and those who are left behind.  Gary Sinise is a man who has chosen to remember and to honor.  Gary truly is the Bob Hope of this generation.”  (more…)

My first two posts at this site addressed the topic of so-called “Christian” films in Hollywood. In my first post, I opined that the increased interest in Christian films by Hollywood execs hasn’t necessarily been a good thing because films with a faith theme are being sent to the small, low-budget faith divisions of the studios and marketed nearly exclusively to Christians. In my second post, I gave what I consider the reasons that most Christian films are so bad. Even though I’m an evangelical Christian, I had to admit that the films made by my brethren, intended for audiences like me, were typically very poorly done.

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So…I was faced with a few realities. Hollywood wanted more Christian films. As a Christian, I wanted more Christian films that were actually watchable. I’d publicly and condescendingly bemoaned the fact that Christian films usually weren’t good. I’m a Christian. I’m a filmmaker. (more…)

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dreamworks Animation have definitively proven that Digital 3-D is a blockbuster format. Not only has Monsters vs. Aliens seized a monstrous $58.2M in opening weekend ticket sales, Real-D (the technology provider) and Dreamworks have revealed that $25M or so of that gross was generated specifically from 3-D and IMAX 3-D. Fox is reporting that fully 43% of the total take was from the estimated 2,218 Digital 3-D screens.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS tore up the box office this weekend - especially in 3-D

That means that the Per Screen Average for the movie in 3-D was about $11,700, while the 4,800 or so traditional 35MM 2-D engagements had a Per Theatre of just an estimated $4,780. Exhibitors who figured out a way to overcome the credit crunch and pay the estimated $100,000 to convert a traditional theatre into one that can show Digital 3-D made a killing this weekend.

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