THAT was a performance, as opposed to what we’ve seen from Streep for the last two decades.

I have a very simple rule when it comes to acting: If I notice the acting, if I see the strings — you’re doing it wrong. If you break the spell and take me out of the film with all your “technique” — you’re doing it wrong. If I notice your accent — you’re doing it wrong.  Patrick Swayze’s performance in “Road House” was ten-times better than almost anything Streep’s done since 1998. That’s not a joke, either. Swayze was more convincing, and that’s what true acting is really about. The rest is nothing more than bait for foo-foo critics and shallow Academy voters.

Anyway, here’s a wrinkle in Streep’s march to another trophy:

A Weinstein Company email that appears to skirt AMPAS campaign rules by using a third party to reach Oscar voters has stirred up anger among Academy members and rival campaigners.

But the email does not violate Academy regulations, AMPAS COO Ric Robertson told TheWrap on Tuesday. One of the organization’s campaign rules, he said, “allows for media entities to send such things to valid subscribers who’ve opted into being a subscriber.”

The email in question, which went out on Tuesday morning, is not part of Weinstein’s aggressive Best Picture campaign on behalf of “The Artist,” but instead promotes Meryl Streep’s Best Actress candidacy for “The Iron Lady.”

It was sent as a third-party advertisement by the Hollywood Reporter’s parent company, Prometheus Global Media, to THR subscribers, some of whom are Academy members.

Headed “From: The Weinstein Company: The Iron Lady,” its subject line reads “Exclusive Meryl Streep Video.”

The email contains a “for your consideration” ad with an embedded link. The ad is headed with a Thelma Adams quote – “It’s been TWENTY-NINE YEARS SINCE MERYL STREEP WON AN OSCAR and she certainly deserves to win for her performance in ‘The Iron Lady’!” – and then contains a link to a video interview with Streep on the Weinstein website.

The interview is moderated by Pete Hammond, who mentions the 29-year gap in his introduction and says, “Something has to be done about that!”

The rest of the article amounts mainly to push-back from the Weinstein Company:

“It seems that every time TWC is innovative there is always some jealous competitor who… comes out of the woodwork.”

It’s all inside-insidery that only helps to illuminate how bent leftists get at the thought of unbridled competition. These self-imposed rules surrounding Oscar campaigns are famously absurd (at least in the real world):

Academy campaign rule number four specifically prohibits emails that “extol the merits of a film, an achievement or an individual,” emails that contain references to past awards, and links to websites that promote an eligible film.

Rule five adds that references or links to websites are only allowed if the website contains basic screening information, with no promotion or “photographic, audio, video, graphical and other multimedia elements.”

The subtext is: Please, heavens, no, don’t make me compete! I can’t stand the pressure! And as a result, you have the Weinsteins pushing for every advantage they can, and frequently benefiting from it.

Isn’t that right “Private Ryan?”

The English Patient (1996)

Director Anthony Minghella’s sweeping WWII romance ranked as #24 in my countdown of the greatest left-wing films of all time:

Filled with poetic dialogue, lush cinematography, some truly extraordinary scenes — such as the sandstorm sequence where Katharine and Laszlo fall in love — and  a charming subplot involving the short-lived but sincere romance between Binoche’s Canadian nurse and Kip (“Lost’s” Naveen Andrews), a brave Indian who defuses bombs, you almost will yourself  not to notice the film’s depraved and shockingly selfish philosophy. The film is seductive, though, and you want to give into it, but in the end the only moral outcome would be to have the cast of “Inglorious Basterds” storm in and beat Laszlo to death with a baseball bat.

If you don’t mind being manipulated by an ingeniously crafted and immoral piece of propaganda (and I don’t), another bonus is the look of the film (the cinematography won an Oscar), which is a jaw-dropper on Blu-ray.

—–

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Many will never forgive the fact that director John Madden’s fictionalized account of a passionate but ill-fated love affair between a young, struggling William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes)  and the beautiful young woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who inspires some of his greatest work, beat out Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” for that year’s top Oscar prize.

This might be heresy, but I think the best film won.

Thanks to one of the best screenplays ever written, “Shakespeare In Love” is also one of the most original films to come out of the 1990s. Paltrow is luminous, and the supporting cast — which includes Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench (who along with Paltrow would win an Oscar for her work here), Simon Callow, and Ben Affleck — are all outstanding, thanks to their own talents and how well each character is individually defined. Some of story’s best moments come from the development of the Wilkinson and Affleck characters as Shakespeare’s talent and art overcomes their own personal agendas.

The story is at its most effective, though, in pushing the buttons a romance is supposed to push. You want this young couple to find a way be together, and you’re a little heartsick when you think about the possibility of them not making it.

Acted with great energy and humor and photographed in vibrant colors, this is an intelligent crowd-pleaser that looks gorgeous in high definition.

—–

Chicago (2002)

Director Rob Marshall pretty much revived (for a while, anyway) the musical genre with this age-old tale of murder and fame set in 1920s Chicago. Rene Zellweger might be the film’s star, but she’s completely blown off the screen by Catherine Zeta-Jones (who won a supporting Oscar) and a surprisingly game Richard Gere (who should’ve won a supporting Oscar).

The musical numbers are a little too choppy for my taste, and every one of them is staged as though it’s a finale, but the story is engaging and a few of the numbers are legitimate show-stoppers. Everyone’s obviously having a good time, and it’s more than a little infectious.

—–

Crash (2004)

There are all kinds of movies I dislike, ignore, dismiss and am even disgusted by. This is one of the rare titles I absolutely loath. This overwrought, melodramatic, piece of pretentious crap reeks of a left-wing superiority that emanates from the Hollywood Hills and looks down its oh-so-superior nose on the “little people” of Los Angeles. Sanctimony is its theme, superiority its muse, and smearing its goal. It’s an abomination of a film that reveals nothing about the good people of the Southland, who live and work and worship together in complete harmony, and everything about the self-serving elites who created and championed it.

My suggestion is that while you’re enjoying the other four Blu-rays, you use this one as a coaster for your Pabst Blue Ribbon.

—–

No Country For Old Men (2007)

An excerpt from my 2007 review, which, unfortunately, is no longer online:

The “country” in “No Country For Old Men” is a bleak, sun-bleached West Texas, not far from the Rio Grande circa 1980. Why 1980, is never explained. Maybe to get away with Chigurh’s haircut, a villain soon to become as iconic as Hannibal Lecter. But the barren landscapes, flares of dry lightning, and burgeoning towns just a few years away from being Applebee’d, perfectly symbolize a flat, hopeless, forbidding vastness offering nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from that thing that’s so spooked our Sheriff Bell.

The first one hundred minutes of “Old Men” are dynamite. The story is simply set up in act one with act two being its own symphony of unnerving tension as Chigurh and Moss play out their respective roles of unrelenting cat and crafty mouse. Nothing’s contrived to bring these two together and no superhuman acts are performed by either. All the action and suspense comes from entirely believable situations, which only adds to the unyielding tension as it becomes more and more clear Moss will never escape.

The only super power on display is that of the Coen brothers’ direction, the actors’ performances, the cinematography and editing. Each scene is ingenious in how it creates its own suspense, but also in how it builds on the knot tightening in your gut. The camera’s always in the right place, revealing a precise piece of information; even the removal of a pair of socks lifts your antennae. The editing is a work of art that utilizes timing, camera angles, and individual shots for maximum unease.

To the film’s further credit, just as no absurd coincidences or super human feats are contrived to move the plot, nobody does anything unrealistically stupid, either. It’s fascinating to watch the minds of Chigurh and Moss at work as each tries to get a step ahead of the other using whatever’s available to them. These aren’t MacGyvers turning paperclips into getaway cars; these are intelligent, very determined men thinking things through in a way we can relate to in their use of duct tape, wire hangers, phone bills, and compressed air to get what they want. …

The acting is first-rate, and in an era where lazy stars are continually caught coasting with lazy accents, everyone in “Old Men” hits it perfect. As I mentioned in my “Gone Baby Gone” review (another film with well-done accents), the key isn’t so much getting the accent perfect, the key is creating a believable accent that — and this is most important — the audience doesn’t notice. Even Scottish Kelly McDonald manages to convince and Woody Harrelson to not annoy. No small thing. One fine bit of casting is Tess Harper as Sheriff Bell’s wife. Her role here bookends beautifully with her memorable turn as Robert Duvall’s calming influence in “Tender Mercies.”

I close that review unsure about the film’s ending. At the time, I was dissatisfied that so much had been put into building up to a confrontation that never arrived.

In the five years since, that’s no longer a problem. This is one of the best films of the decade by a wide margin,, and repeated viewings only confirm that. The depth of the themes at work here make return visits even more satisfying, and the high-definition transfer of the landscapes, towns, light and shadow that the Coens shot so meticulously really come to life, as does a sound design that helps to immerse you into the landscape and feel every round fired.

There are some great films in this collection, but only one bona fide cinematic masterpiece, and this is it.

‘5 Bext Picture Collection’ is available today at Amazon.com.

Yes, that’s a problem.

But here’s the bigger problem: 29 films topped the $100 million mark last year, but how many of those are worthy of an Oscar? “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and ”X-Men: First Class”  were certainly good movies, but they’re not Best Picture material.

The problem isn’t so much that the Academy is out of touch (which it is), it’s that the product the industry created was so lousy last year, there really are no crowd-pleasers good enough to add to the list of nominations. And as someone who has seen the middling “Midnight in Paris,” the pretentious and impossibly dull “Tree of Life,” and the just pretty good “War Horse” — none of which is better than “Rise of the Apes,” “X-Men,” or “Resident Evil 4,” for that matter – the Academy is still guilty of stacking the deck with brand-tarnishing mediocrities.

Box Office Mojo:

After two years in a row in which the Best Picture race was populated with a handful of blockbusters, The Help is the only one of 2011’s nine nominees that has so far earned more than $100 million. On average the movies have made just $57.6 million prior to the nominations, which is up on the five-nominee years from 2004-2008 but way off from ten-nominee years 2010 ($119.5 million) and 2009 ($151.5 million).

Kyle Smith:

Best Picture

“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“The Help”
“Moneyball”
“War Horse”
“The Tree of Life”

Best Actor

Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Actress

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max Von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

Best Director

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Steven Spielberg, “War Horse”

Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
JC Chandor, “Margin Call”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, “Bridesmaids”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughn, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”

Best Animated Feature

“A Cat In Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

More here. Winners will be announced February 26.

Then again, who could be a tough, decisive leader in these challenging times, Streep argues during a new interview with The Huffington Post.

Streep, all but guaranteed to pick up another Oscar nomination for her turn as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” served up a lengthy excuse for Obama when asked what the president could learn from Thatcher’s political career:

It was a completely different world. The Huffington Post didn’t exist. [Today] you have to respond to the YouTube clip going over and over of the thing you said that morning … I think, in a way, that clarity was possible, that conviction politics were possible in a way that maybe they’re not. You’d hope to think they are.

I’ve heard people in government lament that cameras are everywhere because you can’t make those deals, you can’t as a conservative member of your district make a deal with somebody on the the liberal side because you’re dead. It’s photographed, it’s seen. We don’t get those Lyndon Johnson solutions anymore.

Streep has been bending over backwards to be fair to Thatcher during her many interviews tied to the release of “The Iron Lady,” which opens wide Jan. 13.

The upcoming biopic of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seemed like yet another liberal Hollywood hatchet job, according to an early script review done here earlier this year.

Now, the film is being shown to select film critics, and right-of-center scribe Kyle Smith is weighing in with a glowing assessment of the movie.

Meryl Streep is terrific and should win an Oscar for a deeply engaged, highly sympathetic portrayal of Margaret Thatcher as a strong-willed leader and an icon of womanhood who cracked the ultimate Old Boy Network, got the British economy booming again, made a series of tough decisions in the Falkland Islands war that resulted in total victory together with a restoration of British patriotic pride and enjoyed a long and loving marriage with Denis (an impish Jim Broadbent) that unfortunately ended with his death by cancer. There is not much politics in the film (and still less economics) and issues such as the miners’ strike and the IRA hunger strike are barely alluded to. But this is an admiring look at an indomitable figure and forceful politico (who is shown not only acting with great courage and decisiveness in the Falklands War but also personally hand-writing agonized letters to the families of fallen British troops).

Could the film’s even-handed treatment of Lady Thatcher work against its Oscar chances? We’ll see.

Moviegoers can decide for themselves when the film opens on Dec. 30.

‘MODERN WARFARE 3′ MAKES $775 MILLION IN 5 DAYS, BLOWS AWAY ALL RECORDS

Is this why Hollywood makes movies that recreate the experience of what it’s like to watch someone else play a video game?

DEMI MOORE TURNS TO MADONNA FOR DIVORCE ADVICE

The photo will make you wince. This one’s worse. Someone needs to turn to Kentucky Fried Chicken first.

He’s not worth it, Demi. Damn.

And turning to Madonna for advice about divorce is like turning to Obama for advice about creating jobs.

NETFLIX SELLS $400 MILLION IN STOCK TO RAISE CASH

This is to acquire the rights to more streaming content. As a Streaming only customer, that sure sounds good to me.

How about some “Wild Wild West.”

Oh wait, I just bought the whole series at Amazon for $35. I win.

‘EW’ MORON ASKS IF GEORGE CLOONEY IS THE NEW PAUL NEWMAN

Wait,  I thought Clooney was The New Cary Grant.

The bubble too many of these people live in is oh-so very real. Paul Newman was ALL movie star. And to become a movie star THE PEOPLE have to love you, not just the bubble-boyed entertainment media. Since 2000, Clooney has not carried a single movie to $100M without the help of Brad Pitt and Julie Roberts.

And most of his films flop.

And they blow.

And now a little context…

By the time Paul Newman was the same age Clooney is now, he was already well on his way to becoming a legend and had starred in: “The Long Hot Summer, ” “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof,” “Exodus,” “The Hustler,” “Sweet Bird of Youth,” “Hud,” “Harper,” “COOL HAND FREAKIN’ LUKE,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and “The Sting.”

How about a little respect for The Mighty.

Idiots.

Little hard to pin my feelings about this on Clooney’s politics when you consider Newman was a proud liberal his entire life.

STEPHEN KING NOMINATED FOR BAD SEX AWARDS

Just passing this link along. Haven’t read it. There might be photos.

ETHAN HAWKE PLANNING ANOTHER ‘BEFORE SUNRISE’ SEQUEL WITH JULIE DELPY AND RICHARD LINKLATER

I could never get into either of these. Many people I respect love both, but for whatever reason I never saw the appeal. When I need a dose of bittersweet, unrequited love this and this fit the bill just fine.

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Zombieland (2009): Wasn’t a fan of this the first time I saw it. For some reason, the sequence everyone raved about, THE CAMEO, completely threw the movie for me. It was so hyped but also so gimmicky and self-referential that it brought the roof down on what had been a pretty entertaining ride.

Watching it again, though, helped. I knew what to expect and THE CAMEO part is actually pretty short. What I especially appreciated was that Woody Harrelson’s wild-eyed country boy character ends up being the hero and the one who teaches the pasty little metrosexual a thing or two about how you gotta “nut up.”  

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINK-TACULAR

RANKED: DAVID CRONENBERG FILMS FROM WORST TO BEST

MARTIN SCORSESE TO DIRECT NORWEGIAN CRIME THRILLER ‘THE SNOWMAN’, BASED ON THE NOVEL BY JO NESBO

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA SAYS HE SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AT ONE ‘GODFATHER’

BACHARACH LOOKS BACK—AND FORWARD TO A MUSICAL

TEASER FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 2

FROM THE SET OF ‘SKYFALL’

HBO AND BBC DEVELOPING MINISERIES ADAPTATION OF HILARY MANTEL’S NOVEL WOLF HALL

DETAILS ON NEW ‘BOURNE’ FILM

DWAYNE JOHNSON TO STAR IN ‘MONSTER HUNTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE,’ BASED ON THE COMIC BOOK MINISERIES

TOP 10 SCREEN COMPUTER GEEKS

JACK ELINSON, VETERAN TV COMEDY WRITER, DIES AT 89

SYFY DEVELOPING PARANORMAL PROCEDURAL SPOOF TO BE PRODUCED BY JACK BLACK

DIABLO CODY TALKS ABOUT THE EVIL DEAD REMAKE AND HER ADAPTATION OF SWEET VALLEY HIGH

PARKS AND RECREATION STAR NICK OFFERMAN: “OUR COUNTRY HAS BECOME SO EMASCULATED.”

GREAT IDEA! WHY WE NEED A TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES FOR TELEVISION

A RARE SITCOM VISIT FROM BILL MURRAY

5 ;CAPTAIN PLANET; EPISODES THAT WENT HORRIBLY WRONG

5 OF NATALIE WOOD’S MOST MEMORABLE ROLES

6 FAMOUS MOVIE LOCATIONS MAKING CAMEOS IN OTHER MOVIES

CAN COMEDIES WITH LONG-TERM ARCS SURVIVE ON NETWORK TV?

THE RETURN OF THE TV WESTERN

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22

TCM:

2:00 PM EST: Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932) — A British lord raised by apes kidnaps a beautiful noblewoman exploring Africa with her father. Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast:  Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith. BW-100 mins, TV-G, CC.

My all-time favorite film franchise.

--Please send tips/suggestions/requests/complaints to jnolte@breitbart.com

APPLE NEGOTIATING WITH STUDIOS IN PREP FOR ITS OWN MOVIE CLOUD SERVICE

The idea here is that you purchase a film through iTunes and then they store it for you and allow you to watch it from any device with access to the Web.  Currently Apple accounts for 2/3rds of online film rentals and purchases, so they are the 900 pound gorilla here. Moreover, unlike Ultraviolet, you don’t have to purchase a DVD to have access to this “cloud” feature, you simply make your purchase online.

Essentially, this is more of  move on UltraViolet than a way to boost DVD sales.

What I would like to see this “cloud” feature do is what iTunes did and that’s to create a service that allows consumers to store what they’ve already purchased online, namely their music collections. To me, the “cloud” feature’s main attraction is that I would have a back up copy of my DVD stored online in the event something happens to the physical DVD.

If Hollywood wants to wring a little more cash out of movies already sold, they should consider a few things:

• Charge us per terabyte to store our current DVD collections online.
• Charge us a minimal per-copy fee to upgrade our current DVDs to Blu-ray online (as titles become available).
• Allow us to access our “cloud” from our Blu-ray players.

There are hundreds of titles I currently own that I would gladly pay a buck or two per-copy to upgrade to Blu-ray and store online. But there is no way in hell I’m purchasing them all over again at $10 to $15 a pop.

Do I think about this stuff too much? I’m worried that I might.

THEATERS BEAT BACK VOD THREAT – FOR NOW

This is purely a tactical move on Universal’s part. The studios get a bigger cut of the theatrical box office in the first few weeks. After that, the theatre cut increases. And so, releasing a film on VOD three weeks after the theatrical release makes perfect sense because the studios will receive something closer to 100% of that.

There’s no way the studios are going to let that money remain on the table.

VOD is the future and it will live to fight and win another day. The customers want it and the content-providers want it. The only people standing in the way are crybaby theatre owners who are the ones responsible for making the theatrical experience awful in so many ways, starting with the obnoxious cost of concessions and ending with not controlling obnoxiously loud patrons.

‘IRON MAN 2′ PROPS FOR SALE

It’s never made sense to me why Hollywood doesn’t do this all the time. If I ran the studio I would retain every costume, prop, car, and stick of furniture used in most every film and sell it on eBay, or something. People love this stuff and most of it sits in a prop warehouse and even gets tossed out. Even if the movie flops, the star can be the selling point. A hairbrush used by Hilary Swank! You now, that kind of thing.

Okay, I’ve definitely thought about that too much.

—–

—– 

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINK-TACULAR

RANKED: KEVIN SMITH MOVIES FROM WORST TO BEST

TOP 10 MOST PIRATED MOVIES OF ALL TIME

ANALYZING THE TOP 250 MOVIES ON THE IMDB

OFFICIAL: JOHNNY DEPP’S ‘LONE RANGER’ BACK ON, RELEASE DATE SET

RIP: EMMY-WINNING COSTUME DESIGNER RAY AGHAYAN DIES

HOLLYWOOD’S BLACK LIST LAUNCHES NEW FEE-BASED SITE

IN 2013, IT’LL BE ‘A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD’ (YES, THAT’S THE TITLE)

THE LATEST ON DISNEY’S BURROUGHS ADAPTATION OF ‘JOHN CARTER’

HBO ORDERS THIRD SEASON OF ‘BOARDWALK EMPIRE‘

INTERVIEW WITH THE EXQUISITE MILLA JOVOVICH

WB PURCHASES SPEC SCRIPT ABOUT ALAN TURING, FATHER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

HOW MARVEL CONQUERED HOLLYWOOD

80S CARTOONS THAT COULD USE REBOOTS

MTV TRIES TO CAST STEVE JOBS

ADAM MCKAY TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTARY ON SCHOOL DROPOUT EPIDEMIC

20 FACTS ABOUT ‘EDWARD SCISSORHANDS‘

COOL BLOG: DEATH TO CGI

JAMES CAMERON TALKS ‘AVATAR 2′ & SIGOURNEY WEAVER’S RETURN

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) — To say I love this franchise would be an understatement as would my saying that the always-simmering fanboy hate for director Paul W.S. Anderson confuses me.

Milla Jovovich is far and away my favorite action star working today. She’s tough as a hickory knot without ever losing an ounce of femininity, sexy as all get out, and oozes intelligence. There’s nothing strident about her, nothing that ever comes off as posing, and that smoky voice of hers can deliver a catch-phrase as well as a 1980’s Bruce Willis.

The movies themselves are beautifully plotted. All four produced thus far (a fifth is currently in production), have a very simple plot structure (the most difficult kind to create) with loads of action and a dynamic use of the camera that always let you know where you are.

Anderson’s great gift as a director is screen geography. Whether it’s as small as a fight scene or large as the whole planet, the director makes sure we always know exactly what’s going on and where everything is. In this horrible age of the goddamned lazy shaky-cam and goddamned lazier hyper-editing, this is a very, very rare talent. The man knows how to plant and move a camera like no one else working in the action genre today.

Another genius move Anderson makes is creating a completely different world for each film. There’s something to be said for a franchise retaining its look, the Indiana Jones films being a good example, but each “Resident Evil” film introducing a new terrain and look which gives the story an individual stamp and adds to the sense of adventure and discovery. Of course, the cold, sterile look of the sinister Umbrella Corporation remains the same, which always contrasts well with the rest of the film.

And finally, there are a number of conservative themes at work in this franchise, something I hope to have the time to go deeper into at a later date.

But I’m telling you, this is the best franchise Hollywood’s producing today. There isn’t even a close second. 

—–

—–

CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY,  OCTOBER 14

TCM:

3:00 PM  EST: Goodbye Girl, The (1977)  –  A dancer discovers her runaway boyfriend has sublet her apartment to an aspiring actor. Dir: Herbert Ross Cast:  Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings. C-111 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format.

One of the funniest movies of the seventies, thanks mainly to Dreyfuss absolutely owning the screen in his Oscar-winning role. Quinn Cummings’ memorable performance as a little girl more mature than her neurotic mother (before this became cliché) delivers some on-the floor moments as does the  refreshingly politically-incorrect humor surrounding the Dreyfuss character’s acting gig.

Honest laughs inspired by character as much as situation are a rare thing, but few films do it better. Neil Simon’s brainchild is also heartwarming and able to laugh at itself.

Not to be missed.

—–

—–

--Please send tips/suggestions/requests/complaints to jnolte@breitbart.com 

While I definitely respect all these points of view, I have to question why many of us are questioning Hollywood instead of questioning ourselves. And what we should be asking ourselves is why many of us complain so much about Hollywood’s output but at the same time fail to support the burgeoning artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers in our own community?

For full disclosure:  yes, I am a conservative, and yes, I am a filmmaker trying to get my art out to the greater world. For the life of me, I have never understood why we monetarily and spiritually support artists, studios and media companies while simultaneously berating them for what they offer us. If someone delivers crummy pizza that smells weird, tastes worse and gets me sick, would I still call the same pizza place every time? No. So, why do we do the same when making entertainment or artistic purchase choices?

In film, you don’t get to shoot on 35 mm with big-name actors, commissioned scripts, or the best D.P.s using someone else’s money unless you have a track record and have proven you can make money. To become a great artist, you need time to develop and hone your craft.  You need to be able to make a living in your particular medium to justify working in the arts and to gain that 24/7 time needed to create and edit better and better material.  Having a paying audience is the only way to make that happen.  Not all “conservative” films or shows will be great and not all will be good, but all should be supported by the people most predisposed to enjoy the material, fellow conservatives.  Still, it seems to me that the right’s expectations are too high when art comes from one of their own.

It’s like being the guy or gal who struggles to make it as a local artist.  The hometown crowd is much tougher on you, and their expectations of success are so high that the bar they set just to earn a “You know, it’s alright” is almost impossible to surmount. Are “conservative” audiences really saying that until you start winning Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Grammys, you haven’t achieved that much? It seems that way for both new artists as well as some of the more established ones.

I paid money to see An American Carol in a theater.  Atlas Shrugged, too.  They weren’t films that met the unbelievably high expectations of their audiences.  So what? They were not bad films.  Hello? They were trying to do a helluva lot with limited budgets and the expectations that came with being the first “conservative” films in their genres.  Almost no film could have met the expectations those two had to deal with. No new artistic movement occurs overnight, and these films were steps in the right direction that deserved our money.

How do you expect to see more artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc., who think like you do if you aren’t willing to support the ones you already have among you?  Can you really expect those who are successful and established to risk everything by deciding to “come out of the closet” politically?  God bless Gary Sinise, Patricia Heaton, Jon Voight, Angie Harmon and the other stars who have come out, gotten involved and led from the front.  They are an inspiration, but fortunately for them, they had established resumés to help them weather the natural blacklisting faced by entertainment-industry conservatives.

If you don’t support conservative artists’ material, especially when they are putting their livelihoods, careers and more on the line, then don’t pine for “better” content, and don’t condemn them for not outnumbering the artists you can’t stand.  At the end of the day, you, the audience, are a vital part of Hollywood too. Your time and money determines what future projects are financed, so keep in mind that we can only make what we want if you signify to our investors that those projects will be profitable.

“DARK SHADOWS” SET PHOTOS

We all spend a lot of time complaining about sequels and remakes and remakes of sequels posing as  prequel-reboots, but sometimes Hollywood jumping in the wayback machine is an inspired idea.

“Dark Shadows” is a gothic soap opera that aired when I was just a toddler. My parents tell me I was addicted to it, but I have no memory whatsoever of that. They also tell me I was an absolutely adorable toddler, which I don’t doubt in the least. Primetime television attempted to resurrect the series in 1991, but it only lasted a single season. And so this is perfect remake material, especially for a director like Tim Burton.

Furthermore, the casting is inspired: Johnny Depp, the criminally under-appreciated Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jackie Earle Haley, and the impossibly beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer.

It doesn’t hurt that this has the same vibe as both “Addams Family” movies — which remain (thanks in large part to Raul Julia) two of the best film adaptations of a television show ever.

ACADEMY WANTS OVERT POLITICKING TO GO AWAY

This is so dumb:

[The Academy] would like to see all those awards grabs — the meet-and-greet lunches and cocktail receptions, the post-screening Q&As, the DVD launches and “holiday parties” — just go away.

That’s not going to happen. That’s because new rules, which the Academy announced Wednesday, are largely focused on the period between when nominations are announced Jan. 24 and final ballots are due Feb. 21. They are likely to have two effects. According to a quick survey of publicists and awards consultants already busy planning the upcoming season, the months leading up to nominations could become more frenetic than ever.

So I guess that if your best friend is nominated for an Oscar you can’t have dinner with him between the 24th of January and February 21.

These Academy edicts surrounding promotion and Oscar remind me of gun control laws where decent people who really want to live by the rules are put at a disadvantage. There are a lot of truly good people who work in Hollywood and now they’re faced with a terrible choice. They can either do the right thing knowing those who never do are enjoying an unfair advantage over them or they can violate their own value system.

Furthermore, trying to control self-promotion in Hollywood is like to trying to control Michelle Obama around French fries. Stupid to even try.

ROCKETMAN: ELTON JOHN PREPPING “BIOGRAPHICAL MUSICAL FANTASY.”

This sounds like it could be something very special. Over the past four decades, Elton John has delivered too many great songs to count, has lived an amazing life, and is his own man when it comes to the way he looks at the world.

OH NOES: REDBOX LIKELY TO INCREASE PRICES

So it will now cost me $1.25 to feel the thrill of sticking it to Netflix. I can live with that. Besides, Redbox is mostly about renting movies, most movies suck and the pleasure of not renting them is free.

As you can see I’m a glass half-full kinda guy.

—–

—–

SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINK-TACULAR

TOTO WANTS ANSWERS ON JASON STATHAM

FOX PICKS UP KIEFER SUTHERLAND DRAMA SERIES FROM HEROES CREATOR TIM KRING

10 GREATEST BRITISH FILM ENSEMBLES

TITLE SEQUENCE FOR ‘DEXTER’ INSPIRED BY SAUL BASS

FOR YOU SCREENWRITERS OUT THERE: HOW TO CRAFT A GREAT LOGLINE

HBO’S ENTREPRENEURIAL ‘HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA’ RETURNS OCTOBER 2ND…

…READ BIG HOLLYWOOD’S POSITIVE REVIEW OF SEASON 1

WATCH THE RARE DOCUMENTARY ‘STANLEY KUBRICK: THE INVISIBLE MAN‘

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER MEMOIR TO BE TITLED ‘TOTAL RECALL’

10 ARCHITECTURAL SINS OF SUPERHERO BASES

SUMMER TENTPOLE MOVIES ARRIVING ON DVD

‘HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2′ GROSS-OUT POSTER

SCREEN RANT REVIEWS ‘PRIME SUSPECT’ PREMIERE

‘ROBOCOP’ REMAKE DIRECTOR PROMISES A DIFFERENT SCI-FI FLICK 

—–

—–

LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Half-listened to the GOP debate while painting the living room ceiling and replacing some old electrical outlets. It’s not the electric shocks that bother me every time I pretend I know what I’m doing around electricity, it’s that the smell of burning hair lingers for days.

As far as the debates, they’re getting pretty dull. The only real news is that Perry is his own worst enemy and his flailing is leaving a real gap in the GOP line-up — and that gap just happens to resemble a fearless, two-fisted scrapper who’s right on all the issues and hails from the Great White North.

You know I’m right.

—–

—–

--Please send tips/suggestions/requests/complaints/your life savings to jnolte@breitbart.com