‘2012′: Silly Bombastic Fun

There are some filmmakers whom movie fans turn to for serious, introspective fare, like Oliver Stone or Lasse Hallstrom. Others are counted on as masters of the fantastic, like Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson. And for comedy these days, you can’t beat Judd Apatow. 

But if you just wanna see stuff blow up on an epic scale and watch the world fall apart in a good old-fashioned disaster movie, then check out nearly any Roland Emmerich film: “Independence Day,” “Godzilla,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “10,000 B.C.” provide hours of jaw-dropping action to go with hilariously poor logic in plotting and laughably bad dialogue. Yet they are often undeniably entertaining despite their faults, and with his new film “2012,” Emmerich has fashioned his biggest, craziest cinematic opus yet.  (more…)

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Tags: 2012, John Cusack, Lasse Hallstrom, Oliver Stone, roland emmerich
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 9:05 am in Film, Reviews | 262666125 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/11/13/2012-silly-bombastic-fun/%272012%27%3A+Silly+Bombastic+Fun2009-11-13+17%3A05%3A48Carl+Kozlowski

Daily Gut: ACORN: The Movie

So when two scrappy DC journalists bring down a President, it’s turned into “All the President’s Men,” winning accolades and Oscars. When an unemployed single mother of three takes the fight to an energy giant, it becomes a blockbuster vehicle for Julia Robert’s cleavage. And when a former Vice President exposes man’s inhumanity toward Mother Earth – “An Inconvenient Truth” crowns him the most majestic whistle blower ever.

But when two amateur journalists (in their early twenties, poorly dressed as sex workers, with under two grand in their budget) casually take down a sleazy behomoth that leeches off American taxpayers, you’d think Hollywood and the media would be all over this. I mean, what Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe did to Acorn – leading to the House approving to cut off all their funding – is the whistle blowing film to end ALL whistle blowing films. These two kids did what Michael Moore could never come close to accomplishing: uncovering lurid incompetence, affecting policy, and saving Americans millions of dollars. (more…)

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN: The Movie, All The President's Men, Hannah Giles, hollywood
Posted Sep 18th 2009 at 12:18 pm in Daily Gut, Entertainment, Political Humor | 228874121 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/09/18/daily-gut-acorn-the-movie/Daily+Gut%3A+ACORN%3A+The+Movie2009-09-18+19%3A18%3A40Greg+Gutfeld

Toast of Venice Film Festival Accuses Israel of Genocide

A quote from Oliver Stone’s soccer body, Hugo Chavez:

“The question is not whether the Israelis want to exterminate the Palestinians. They’re doing it openly,” Chavez said in an interview with Le Figaro[.] …

“What was it if not genocide? … The Israelis were looking for an excuse to exterminate the Palestinians,” Chavez said, adding that sanctions should have been slapped on Israel.

(more…)

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Tags: Hugo Chavez, Israel, Oliver Stone, Venice Film Festival
Posted Sep 12th 2009 at 4:14 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Politics | 22386248 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/09/12/toast-of-the-venice-film-festival-accuses-israel-of-genocide/Toast+of+Venice+Film+Festival+Accuses+Israel+of+Genocide2009-09-12+23%3A14%3A52Big+Hollywood

Compliant ‘L.A. Times’ Gives Stone Leftist Platform

“You do your homework, you do your research, we always did, whatever you think of my work. Even going back to ‘JFK,’ I’ve always done as much research as we could. And there’s mistakes made, but there’s a lot of truth, you know, as much as we can put into these movies.” – Oliver Stone, as quoted in the L.A. Times.

Irony is what happens when a Hollywood director (Oliver Stone) goes to Latin America, produces a film favorable to one of the most maniacal and politically obnoxious figures in the region (Hugo Chavez), and then returns to the States to tout what he sees as his own astounding “research” skills. In what world would legitimate research on Chavez result in any favorable representation in film or any other venue, for that matter? (more…)

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Tags: chavez, documentary, L.A. Times, Oliver Stone, Venezuela
Posted Sep 9th 2009 at 6:51 am in Entertainment, Media Criticism | 21858267 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bhallowell/2009/09/09/compliant-l-a-times-gives-stone-leftist-platform/Compliant+%27L.A.+Times%27+Gives+Stone+Leftist+Platform2009-09-09+13%3A51%3A53Billy+Hallowell

Venice Film Festival: A Movie Star Reception For Hugo Chavez

As tens of thousands took to the streets of Venezuela to protest the Chavez government’s growing authoritarianism, as the Chavez government announced the closing of over two dozen radio stations “biased” against the government, why is it not surprising that the international film community greeted the thug with what the AP describes as a “movie star reception?”

Yes, it looks as though unless Ahmadinejad, the ghost of Joseph Stalin or the surviving members of the Weather Underground show up to steal his thunder, Hugo Chavez (whose Indian name is “He Who Rides Little Girl Bike“) is the toast of the 2009 Venice Film Festival.

The hoopla surrounds Oliver Stone’s latest documentary “South of the Border,” which the the L.A. Times describes as a “counterpoint to the prevailing U.S. image of Chávez … as a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure.”

I’m still unclear how one is supposed to represent a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure as something other than a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure, but rest assure Oliver — Can I play soccer with Uncle Hugo?– Stone gave it the old college try; the same Oliver Stone who portrayed the Abraham Lincoln of the Middle East and his Vice President as warped and sinister. (more…)

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Tags: "South of the Border", bush, cheney, Hugo Chavez, Oliver Stone
Posted Sep 7th 2009 at 10:19 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Politics | 21907889 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/07/venice-film-festival-a-movie-star-reception-for-hugo-chavez/Venice+Film+Festival%3A+A+Movie+Star+Reception+For+Hugo+Chavez+2009-09-07+17%3A19%3A39John+Nolte

Oliver Stone Chavez Doc: See Uncle Hugo Ride a Bike

In an interview earlier this week with the L.A. Times, director Oliver Stone said counter-programming the image of Hugo Chavez as a “bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure” was one of the goals of this documentary, which makes one wonder if Stone isn’t some kind of right-wing sleeper agent. The score that hits at the 40-second spot is reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy and pretty priceless over the shot of a tubby, middle-aged Socialist clumsily riding a little kid bike straight for a brick wall.  (more…)

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Tags: "South of the Border", Hugo Chavez, L.A. Times, Latin America, Oliver Stone
Posted Sep 4th 2009 at 12:07 pm in Film, Politics, Video | 21812633 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/09/04/trailer-oliver-stones-pro-hugo-chavez-doc/Oliver+Stone+Chavez+Doc%3A+See+Uncle+Hugo+Ride+a+Bike2009-09-04+19%3A07%3A39Big+Hollywood

Oliver Stone ‘Warmly Embracing’ Hugo Chavez in Blame America Doc

In today’s L.A. Times director Oliver Stone discusses his upcoming documentary “South of the Border,” about the “warmhearted” Hugo Chavez. [emphasis added]:

Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns. …

“I think he’s an extremely dynamic and charismatic figure. He’s open and warmhearted and big, and a fascinating character,” … ”But when I go back to the States I keep hearing these horror stories about ‘dictator,’ ‘bad guy,’ ‘menace to American society.’ I think the project started as something about the American media demonizing Latin leaders.

Guys like Stone are forced to rationalize that the American media is right-leaning in order to avoid their head exploding due to an acute case of FacingTheTruth-itosis. But maybe the doc will be more critical than we’re led to believe in this article. During their warm embrace, it’s possible Stone whispered hard-hitting questions in Hugo’s ear about reports such as this from the not-so-conservative Human Rights Watch. (more…)

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Tags: Bolivarian Movement, Hugo Chavez, L.A. Times, Oliver Stone, Tariq Ali
Posted Sep 1st 2009 at 10:22 am in Entertainment, Film, Politics | 21599066 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/01/oliver-stone-warmly-embracing-hugo-chavez-in-new-doc/Oliver+Stone+%27Warmly+Embracing%27+Hugo+Chavez+in+Blame+America+Doc2009-09-01+17%3A22%3A14John+Nolte

Ode to Obama: First Movie About ‘The One’ On the Way

Hang on to your keesters: the first movie to celebrate the ascension of Barack “The One” Obama to the throne Oval Office is on its way to a theater near you:

Sony Pictures tells Whispers that it has acquired the rights to distribute the HBO documentary “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.” In describing the film, the media giants say that the previously untitled flick won’t be just a collage of biographical and campaign video. Added will be interviews with staffers and campaign aides to give us a behind-the-scenes look at life in Obamaland. It ought to be pretty polished: Ed Nortons Class 5 Films did the work.

Yes, it should be a gas…Ed Norton’s the same guy who told us all to turn out our lights for an hour in order to symbolize the fight against the greedy overuse of fossil fuels that are killing our planet. (Global warming savior Al Gore must not have seen Norton’s appearance on Larry King Live.) Apparently, that doesn’t apply to the fossil fuels used to make the film, let alone what will be needed to distribute and screen it for the adoring masses. (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, Ed Norton, Kitty Kelley, michael moore
Posted Apr 9th 2009 at 8:12 am in Entertainment, Politics | 100766No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/04/09/ode-to-obama-first-movie-about-the-one-on-the-way/Ode+to+Obama%3A+First+Movie+About+%27The+One%27+On+the+Way2009-04-09+15%3A12%3A52Pam+Meister