The use of the word “armed” isn’t often a point of argument in movies today. In fact, jousting over rhetorical choices typically isn’t a point of contention in entertainment at all. It is, however, a major focal point in the new Roman Polanski film, “Carnage,” which takes pleasure in the particulars of language and shows what can be done with an engaging script and four strong actors.

The film stars Oscar winners Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and Jodie Foster and co-stars Oscar nominee John C. Reilly. Aside from a brief scene at its beginning and end, a cameo from the director and a few voices heard over the phone, those four constitute the film’s entire cast.

Its story focuses on two sets of parents who come together to discuss a fight between their sons. Reilly and Foster play Michael and Penelope Longstreet, the parents of the victim in the fight, while Waltz and Winslet play Alan and Nancy Cowan, the assailant’s parents. The concept is simple: these four parents spend the film discussing the incident that left the Longstreet’s son with two teeth knocked out of his mouth and several facial abrasions.

What’s interesting about “Carnage” is how that confrontation becomes so meaningless during the course of this film’s short running time -  eighty-nine minutes. The fight between the boys was simply that: a fight between two boys. It was simple and easy to analyze.

The battle between the four adults about the incident and its aftermath is not so easily understood.

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The strangest thing about the poster for Mel Gibson’s upcoming action film “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” is that seems completely oblivious to the actor’s current standing within the Hollywood community and with the public in general. And you know what? That’s probably what’s so great about it.

The poster shows Gibson holding a gun like the action star he is. The film poster comes complete with a ’90s tag line – “Plan Your Getaway” – and is promoted as being from the producers of two great action pictures (“Apocalypto” and “Braveheart”). If this poster doesn’t get you excited for a cool prison escape shoot ‘em up then nothing will.

Well, actually if it doesn’t get you excited that’s probably because you’re looking forward to the next Michael Moore propaganda piece or Roman Polanski feature.

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The film industry is getting a lesson on morality from … shock jock extraordinaire Howard Stern?

The self-described King of All Media lashed out via his SiriusXM radio show at the pressure put on director Brett Ratner to abandon his perch as the Oscar telecast producer after Ratner used the word “fags” in public.

Stern, who learned of Ratner’s “fag” slur from The Hollywood Reporter, said he stopped using that word a while ago, but that Ratner wasn’t gay-bashing when he used it, therefore he shouldn’t have lost his job as producer of the 84^th Academy Awards telecast …

Then he laid into Hollywood, calling it “a town where people have to run around closeted for many different things.”

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Why does Hollywood seem to despise Roman Catholicism?

Granted, the industry’s antipathy towards religion as a whole, and Christianity in particular, is pretty much a given. But it appears that within this circle, no religion to them is more anathema than Roman Catholicism.

The latest swipe at the world’s largest Christian population, all 1.1 billion of us (plus another 240 million Eastern Orthodox) comes from, surprise surprise, uber-leftist Susan Sarandon. It is interesting that she should accuse Pope Benedict XVI  of being a “Nazi” at this time because I was trying to figure a way to discuss all the good that Roman Catholics have done through incredible acts of bravery and self-sacrifice over the years.

To call the Pope a Nazi because, like all German youths, he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth during the Fuehrer’s reign of absolute power may provide Ms. Sarandon with a shot of self-righteous hauteur she so desperately craves. It also shows a lack of historical understanding that seems to be a requirement if one wishes to join the coterie of far-left fantasy-performer/activists.

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Looks as thought Roman Polanski has decided to profit from his rape of a thirteen year-old girl by participating in a new documentary film. No word yet on whether or not he received any kind of fee or if the proceeds go to the Anti-Child Sodomy and Flee From Justice Foundation. Thus far, though, the film (and a lifetime achievement award) has already earned Polanski a standing ovation and much adulation from the worst people in the world — those who would applaud a on-the-lam child rapist.

ABC News:

Roman Polanski makes his first public acknowledgement about Samantha Geimer, the 13-year-old model he sexually assaulted in Los Angeles, in a documentary on his life that premiered Tuesday at the Zurich Film Festival.

“She is a double victim: my victim, and a victim of the press,” Polanski says of Geimer in Laurent Bouzereau’s “Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir.” Polanski took to the stage at the Zurich Film Festival Tuesday to accept a lifetime achievement award two years after he was originally intended to receive it, as he was arrested and incarcerated in a Zurich prison at the request of U.S. authorities when he arrived to receive the honor in 2009.

Here’s Samantha Geimer, the woman Polanski raped when she was 13, on GMA today, “He didn’t mean to hurt me.”:

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We should all be relieved Geimer has a sense of closure with respect to the crime Polanski committed against her. But Polanski also committed a crime against society. But because Polanski’s a wealthy celebrity with powerful friends, he’s been able to escape justice for decades now. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter how poorly the system treated him or even that his victim has accepted his apology. In the real world outside of child raping-excusing Hollywood, you do the crime, you go through the system and if the system is unjust in some way, there are other parts of the system to remedy that.

If you fix cars for a living or clean hotel rooms, those are your options. But if you’re one of the Beautiful People, you flee to lavish resorts, continue to work with A-listers, and are greeted like some kind of folk hero from the planet Child Molester.

Want to know what would end the media storm that gives Ms. Geimer (understandably) so much stress and anxiety? If people would stop making movies in defense of Polanski, if Polanski would go into seclusion and stop participating in those movies, and if film festivals would stop honoring Polanski.

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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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Have you had your lunch yet? Warning: ”Hollywood Values” can be nauseating:…

The Telegraph:

Kate Winslet praised the “great” Roman Polanski as she promoted the first film he has made since being released from house arrest.

Polanski remains a fugitive from US justice after fleeing the country in 1978, having pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

However, Winslet had no qualms about the director’s history and jumped at the chance to appear in Carnage, a drama which premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

“When Roman Polanski invites you to join him in any project you really don’t say no,” she said. “I felt extremely fortunate to be included.”

She admitted to feeling nervous about meeting Polanski on set, but only because she was over-awed by his film-making.

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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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–WOODY ALLEN FINALLY LETS DOWN HIS GUARD FOR PBS– 

Heaven help me, I love Woody Allen. And not just his “older, funnier” stuff. I hung in there straight through to 2003’s “Anything Else.” It wasn’t until “Melinda and Melinda” that the 75 year-old filmmaker lost my rabid loyalty. “Match Point,” however, was a major comeback — a brilliant film. “Scoop” was weak but entertaining. “Cassandra’s Dream” gets better with each viewing. Unfortunately, although I haven’t seen his latest and biggest hit “Midnight and Paris,” the three films prior to that weren’t even watchable.

When you go back into the ’70s and ’80s, though, you’re talking about a dozen or so masterpieces and near-masterpieces; movies I watch again and again and again. Allen’s impact on film is forty years-old now and and his extraordinary ability to pull a success out of nowhere just when just about everyone says he’s washed up, has been going on for two decades.  My guess is that his impact will live for as long as he does.  

And so it’s good news that he’s agreed to cooperate for a retrospective documentary honoring his work. Regardless of what you think of Allen personally (and I don’t think much of him), he’s been a major part of the cultural landscape for over forty years now — and something of a mystery. Like many famous artists, Allen can be a loathsome character, but the work stands on its own and will for as long as there’s a civilization.

Now, if someone could just convince Allen to do DVD commentary…

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Would you rather speak out to defend a baby with Down syndrome or sign a petition to support a pedophile? In some Hollywood circles, the answer is simple, support the pedophile. 

Let’s go back to 2009 when Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland.  The United States asked for Polanski to be extradited to face trial for his 1977 statutory rape case.  Hollywood united and Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, Tilda Swinton, Wes Anderson, Pedro Almodovar, (I can go on all day) actually took time out of their busy schedules to prepare a petition demanding Roman Polanski’s freedom.  But for some reason, no one in Hollywood can take five minutes out of their day to support Sarah Palin’s “right to choose” or condemn the abusive allegations and deplorable insults hurled against her 3-year-old boy’s disability.  

While I can understand why so many people want to take down Sarah Palin (actually I can’t understand it, it just seems to be the way people start every negative commentary on Sarah Palin that goes too far) I have no idea why it is acceptable to make fun of disabled babies—or any babies for that matter.  Just last week Wonkette, the award winning left-wing satirical waste-of-internet-space website, posted a smear piece on Sarah Palin that sunk to a new low.  One of Wonkette’s contributor’s, Jack Stuef, directed his vitriol of Palin toward the most innocent of places.  Not only did Stuef insinuate that Todd Palin slept with his daughter Bristol, he took the unique and deplorable approach of making fun of her son with Down syndrome…on his birthday. 

This was a great opportunity for many in Hollywood to prove that they care about something other than themselves.  Instead, they kept quiet. When people suggest that politicians remove any violent words from their political discourse then can we at least ask our comedians, talk show hosts and pundits to stay away from politician’s children—even if they really, really, really don’t like the politician. 

The half-assed apology and eventual withdrawal of the post was not the result of an alliance of celebrities forming a pact to leave politician’s disabled children alone. Instead, a group of plain old Americans asked the advertisers to remove their ads from Wonkettes site.  A lot of this was made possible by the #TrigsCrew on twitter. 

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#10: Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

To 1966! The year one!

No special effects, no sensational scares, no tricks of any kind. Using little more than a perfectly calibrated tone, director Roman Polanski (who brilliantly adapted the script from Ira Levin’s novel) blends the psychological with the supernatural into a slow cooker of paranoia and ultimately stark terror, using only the recognizable elements of our everyday: Our loved ones, the eccentric and meddlesome neighbors next door, and that strange demonic chanting heard through the bedroom wall in the middle of the night.

Mia Farrow is Rosemary Woodhouse, a young, delicately beautiful everywoman very much in love with a husband she wants to please and the idea of eventually becoming a mother. The husband is Guy (a never better John Cassavetes), a struggling New York actor whose personal insecurities are only overshadowed by his ego and selfishness. The young, chic, upwardly mobile couple have just opened a fresh chapter of their life with a move into a Gothic-style apartment building (the Bramford) right in the heart of the city. Their elderly neighbors, especially the oddball and sickly sweet Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer), have welcomed them with open arms and Rosemary has lost herself in the joys of remodeling.

During a small, personal dinner party, Rosemary’s old family friend Hutch (Maurice Evans), tells the couple about the history of their new home (the real-life Dakota just off Central Park). Witches, covens, cannibalism; what seems like nothing more than the stuff of fascinating gossip among close friends over good food and drink — at least until the next dinner party. Rosemary and Guy reluctantly accept an invitation from the Castevets after a gruesome introduction over the dead body of their ward, a young, troubled woman the kindly old couple took off the streets who jumped several stories to her death. (more…)

Jodie Foster is a two-time Academy Award winner and one of the most respected and well-liked movie stars of our time. She minds her own business, does her job better than most and exhibits nothing but old school class in her personal life. If anyone’s ever had an unkind word to say about her, I haven’t read it and I most certainly haven’t written it. Like many, I was disappointed when she signed on for Roman Polanski’s new film but wasn’t about to judge someone I’ve respected for decades over a single misstep. There’s just too much goodwill there and you can add to that the points she earns for consistency in her willingness to publicly stand by her longtime friend and colleague Mel Gibson, when almost no one else will — including many vigorous and outspoken supporters of a fugitive child-raping director.

The raving left-wingers at Salon, however, have decided that Foster’s loyalty to the embattled Gibson not only warrants criticism (fair enough) but an entire Orwellian “rethink” (their chilling word, not mine) of her as a human being and as an actress. In a piece subtitled, The movie icon continues to go to bat for her embattled friend. Maybe it’s time to rethink the acclaimed actress, Salon writer, Mary Elizabeth Williams, unsheathes the long knives of the New Blacklist:

The time has come to admit it — Jodie Foster is not all that. …

Yet even when she’s not aligning herself with rageaholics and fugitives, Foster’s cinematic track record is something of a head scratcher. Her powerhouse glory days of movies like “The Accused” and “Silence of the Lambs” are now two decades in the past. She did a neat turn in “Inside Man,” but “Flight Plan,” “Panic Room” and “Nim’s Island” doesn’t exactly amount to a stunning body of recent work. (And if you want to blame it on her age, note that Laura Linney, Joan Allen, Hope Davis, Patricia Clarkson, Mary Louise Parker and a slew of other actresses of Foster’s generation seem able to find challenging, award baiting roles in quality films.) Foster can pick and choose. And often, she chooses dreck. …

She’s made a string of forgettable to downright offensive movies. And she thinks Mel Gibson is “incredibly loved.” So why are organizations like Elle handing her accolades? Why are fans, especially women, especially women who fell in love with her sometime around “Bugsy Malone” not coming out and saying, she is no longer our role model?

We shouldn’t be surprised by this. After all, this is the same publication that was so freaked out over “Secretariat” being openly marketed to we churchy types that one of the nicest things they screamed at it was “master race!” (more…)

How many women have to claim they were raped and/or sodomized by fugitive director Roman Polanski before Hollywood starts to treat him with a tenth of the disdain they have for Mel Gibson?  How many, Harvey? Woody? Marty? Ms. Rape-Rape? Natalie? Jeff Norman? Wes? Jeff Wells? Patrick Goldstein? Cinematical? S.T. VanAirsdale? Bertrand-Henri? And all of you who have lent your fame, wealth and support to this pig since he admitted to having sex with a 13 year-old girl?

What’s the magic number of victims before you withdraw your support?

This might surprise you, but to we unsophisticated types — no matter how awesome Chinatown was – one is enough; a guilty plea followed by a flight from justice is enough. But because you’re sophisticated, we have to ask.

For the record, if you care, if you’re bothering to keep track, the number is now three:

Another woman has come forward charging that Roman Polanski raped her in 1974, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.

The woman, who was 21 at the time, reported the alleged sexual assault to the Los Angeles District Attorney in May and was interviewed by authorities.

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As of this writing, probably because Oliver Stone didn’t direct “The Passion of the Christ,” it doesn’t look as though the usual entertainment media suspects have yet bothered to comment on the troubling statements Stone made about Jews and Israel during his interview with the Sunday Times:

Why such a focus on the Holocaust then? “The Jewish domination of the media,” he says. “There’s a major lobby in the United States. They are hard workers. They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***** up United States foreign policy for years.”

Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people, 25 or 30m.”

In a post titled “Mel Gibson and Oliver Stone,” David Bernstein hits the nail on the head: (more…)

‎”The world may never love us, they may respect us, even fear us, but they will never love us for we have too much audacity. We are a bit blind and reckless at times too, but that’s what makes us Americans!” -Teddy Roosevelt, 1909.

Roman Polanski… Hollywood and the media are your saviors.  Not only have they brought you fame, fortune, and 13 year old girls to drug and rape, they has finally brought you amnesty for your sick crime. 

I live in Switzerland and Polanski’s hearing took place 45 minutes from my house.  I work for a high-end arms manufacturer. The nature of the work is political and we are highly involved in current events.  I see and hear the views of Europeans daily concerning America’s political leadership. ‘Weak’ is how they perceive Obama. 

The news media here most evidently views this ruling as a victory for Swiss independence.   Frédéric Maire of the Swiss Film Archive stated that the ruling “proved its independence from Washington.”        (more…)

The timing of today’s announcement from the Swiss that fugitive director Roman Polanski will not face extradition to the United States coming just a couple days after we all witnessed Hollywood’s reaction to the audio tape of Mel Gibson’s raging, racist rant is fitting. What an interesting opportunity for a side-by-side look at Leftist Hollywood’s values.

It’s unlikely that anyone who’s considered a serious part of the Hollywood community will openly work with Mel Gibson again for a long, long time — if ever. WME, his agency, announced they had dropped him as a client within minutes of the release of the recording, and courtesy of the L.A. Times, the warning has already gone out making clear that anyone foolish enough to work with Gibson again will pay a heavy price:

There’s little chance he’ll land at another agency anytime soon — signing would bring down a horrible avalanche of bad PR to any agency that got within smelling distance and, more to the craven point, any agent that signs him has little hope of booking him any roles anyway since there isn’t a studio in town that will hire Gibson.

So toxic is the “Braveheart” director that the L.A. Times also “suggested” that now would be a “good time” for Tinseltowners to loudly and proudly condemn the former superstar, and a special point was made to single out his longtime friend Jodie Foster (who just finished directing a film that stars Gibson): (more…)

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Since Whoopi Goldberg’s pretending to be all about specifics and facts — and I say pretending because what she’s trying to do is pull off an unconscionable debating ploy that allows her to assume the role of a moral superior even as she defends evil — here are the real specifics and facts, straight from the victim.

WARNING: What’s below the fold is graphic and harrowing. [Translation: What's below the fold is something only a Progressive Hollywood Leftist could defend]: (more…)

When British actress Charlotte Lewis first came forward to accuse fugitive director Roman Polanski of abusing her in 1983 at a press conference last week, one of the more intriguing statements was made by her attorney Gloria Allred:

“[Ms. Lewis] did present fresh complaint evidence to law enforcement, and it is in their possession.”

The Polanski-loving media didn’t mention this. They prefer a ”He Said, She Said” argument. Upon hearing this, however, my first thought was that a witness would be interesting, though obviously unlikely.

This is me speculating, but in a just-released statement Ms. Lewis might have revealed what that fresh complaint evidence is. And while it’s not a witness to the crime, it is the next best thing: (more…)

Why does talent get a pass? And to what extent does the “morality paradox” color our view of great artists? 

Roman Polanski’s best films, like all great films, are very moral—in particular Chinatown and The Pianist. They deal with socially repugnant behavior (incest, domestic abuse, prejudice, oppression, war) and the human spirit’s attempt to triumph over ethical transgression and evil-doing. But as a new allegation of sexual assault surfaced against the director last week, the famous filmmaker’s life has been anything but a model of morality. 

So why do some in the entertainment industry have such a hard time separating the two? Why is it so hard for them to judge the art with the yardstick of criticism and the life with the yardstick of justice? Whence the urge to intermingle the two and excuse the opprobrium of the one because of the merit of the other? 

Despite the fact that in 1977 Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a minor (legally equivalent to statutory rape), his apologists typically downplay—or outright forgive—the director’s crime on one of five grounds: (1) the rape occurred over 30 years ago; (2) he’s paid his debt to society; (3) he’s a nice man being persecuted because of his religion and/or celebrity; (4) the victim was somehow complicit; and (5) he’s an accomplished valuable artist.  (more…)

After news broke of fugitive child rapist Roman Polanski’s second accuser, the L.A. Times’  Patrick Goldstein wrote the following:

As an admirer of his work, I’ve tried to see things from Polanski’s point of view in the past, but if these charges turn out to be true, it would be harder than ever to defend him. Once burned is twice shy. 

What a relief to know Goldstein draws the line somewhere. But he’s not alone. Here’s Jeff Wells:

Well, I guess things don’t look so hot right now for the “let it go because Roman Polanski is an art god” argument, do they? Yes, I’ll admit it — the indications are damning.

I’m confused. Are you confused?

What about “Rosemary’s Baby?”

Polanski drugs, rapes and sodomizes a thirteen year-old girl and then flees justice. Then these two — and many others like them — give Polanski a pass because he’s such a OhMyGawdHesSoAwesome filmmaker. I assumed this was due to Polanski helming “Chinatown.” (more…)