***ADDED: There are already some great suggestions in the comments, but let me add one more qualifier. “The American President” is a great choice, Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” or “The Godfather” not so much, at least for what we’re trying to do here. The film’s leftist politics should not be obvious, spoken even, not hidden in the subtext. We’re looking for blatantly political films.

Though it’s not completely my fault, even I get tired of all my negativity on this site. Again, it’s not completely my fault (damn you, Liam Neeson). After all, Hollywood hasn’t done anything right since handing the Superman franchise over to Zack Snyder. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still aspire to something better, can’t try to rise above my ongoing frustration with a medium I’m in love with but that can’t stop breaking my devoted heart. Yes, I’m Frank to Hollywood’s Ava. So in order to lighten things up some, here we go with a Christmas holiday gift to our Hollywood friends on the left: an utterly sincere list of what they’ve done right.

No tongue-in-cheek, no sarcasm, no irony; we will present 25 bona fide left-wing films so well crafted, acted, written, and directed that they rise above their obnoxious politics and still manage to entertain, provoke, and enlighten – and by enlighten I’m not referencing their individual agendas, but rather enlighten about but about something bigger than message: the human condition, our place in the world, what it means to be who we are. Or maybe the story is just too much fun, too entertaining, and too cinematically awesome to be brought down by all the speechifying and stupidity.

One key distinction here — and this is important —  is the difference between “liberal” and “left-wing.” Liberals champion free speech, left-wingers champion a bit of fascism we call political correctness. Liberals believe in a colorblind society, left-wingers believe in multiculturalism. Liberals oppose anti-Semitism, leftists either practice or tolerate it. You get the point. So you’re not going to see “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” or the work of the great Stanley Kramer on this list. This is an accounting of “left-wing” films; rabidly anti-American, anti-military, anti-human, anti-religious, anti-capitalism, anti-progress, anti-liberty or  pro-some obnoxious backwards agenda, such as the benefits of extreme environmentalism or the benevolent beauty of a bigger federal government.

As with all countdowns we will eventually make our way up to The Greatest Left-Wing Film Ever Made! Which might sound like a contradiction in terms, but can assure you it’s not. (more…)

For me, the CW TV series Smallville has always been pretty much a guilty pleasure.

Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, for a very long time it devolved into a teenage soap opera. And yes, it’s written with the subtlety of a car wreck… but it’s about how Clark Kent becomes SUPERMAN. How can I not watch that?

The series has ranged from “decent” to “awful” to “OK, that was kind of cool” over the course of its nine year run. It started out fairly family friendly, but as time went on succumbed to the typical CW temptation of adding some female skin, sexual situations and even one episode that was as close as they dared get to one of the Saw movies as far as gore. I’ve never missed an episode, and as far as I can remember they always stayed away from politics.

Until this (supposedly) final 10th season.

Before I go on, let me say that I’m fully aware that superhero stories have been used as allegories for what happens in the real world – it’s well known that in the X-Men comics that mutants living in fear represented gays. Marvel Comics’ Civil War saga (conceptualized and written by well known Leftie comic book scribe Mark Millar) about the “Superhero Registration Act” in which superheroes had to reveal their secret identities to the US government and go to work for it was a reaction to the War on Terror (or as it’s now known: “The disagreement with those who shall not be named”) and the Patriot Act. (more…)

Because televised news has been rendered obsolete by technology (who needs Christine Amanpour when every citizen has an HD camera, YouTube, and Twitter?), I turned to the Internet to keep up with the events transpiring in Iran.  I logged into Twitter and found this massive “Twitter-grid” of people in Iran and people around the world communicating.  It went something like this….

#iranstudent:please help.they are attacking the dorms.

#crzygrl:EVERYONE WEAR GREEN TOMORROW TO WORK AND SCHOOL

#iranstudent:my god.  where is help?  they will kill us.

#Evlhaliburton:this is just like US in 2000.

#iranstudent: please send troops.  they shot my friend. (more…)

There is a problem with the American Theatre.

The vast majority of plays produced on our stages are intimidating, antagonistic and often downright offensive to 50% of Americans.  I know this because I am one of them and I see that half of the country votes like I do.

This is not to say these plays aren’t entertaining; many of them are.   The actors are often terrific–one of this country’s rich artistic resources is its acting community.  Ditto for our directors, designers and the crews who execute these artists’ visions. (more…)

Although Big Hollywood is still in its infancy, a recurring theme seems to be running through the posts and the comments:  (paraphrasing)

“Stop bitching about the left in show business, go out and make a new reality with your own creativity and get those butts in the seats.  That’s the only way to change things!” 

And as a conservative, it’s hard to argue with that kind of “pull yourself up by the boot straps” kind of thinking. 

Now, I recognize that it’s difficult to just write a screen play and make a movie.  But, the fact of the matter is, theatre is much different.  It actually IS pretty easy to get something up on the boards and seen in an obscure venue.   Writers in LA have always known that the small, “99-seat” or “Equity Waiver” houses are a perfect venue for getting their ideas on their feet.  But, it’s also a labor of love and rarely ends up producing real, tangible dividends. 

(more…)