‘A Dimension Not Only of Sight and Sound, But of Mind’

Fifty years ago this month the smartest television show of all time first aired. As a writer, I am a sucker for good writing. “The Twilight Zone,” as  Michael Anton recently wrote in his commemoration at National Review Online, is nothing if not a writer’s show. Modern sci-fi fans, caught up in dazzling special effects and action, lose sight of the fact that sci-fi, in its radio incarnations “X Minus One” and “Dimension X,” and its later television offerings such as “The Outer Limits” and “Doctor Who,” is the plaything of nerd scribes with creative imaginations. The megastars and big-budgets would come later. In the beginning, there were wordsmiths.

It’s telling that “The Twilight Zone’s” recurring character is not an A-list hearthrob but the diminutive, gap-toothed, akimbo-eared Rod Serling, the show’s chief writer. Rocky Balboa’s trainer, otherwise known as that bow-legged villian of Gotham, is the closest thing one gets to an actor associated with “The Twilight Zone.” Even the theme music steals the limelight from the actors.

A few years ago, I purchased the 28-disc “complete, definitive collection” spanning all five of the show’s seasons. I’m on season five, and I generally watch late on weekend nights after imbibing. The benefits to this are twofold: first, my imagination is more malleable then and, second, it enables me to enjoy the episodes a second time around without deja vu. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: " "The X Files, Burgess Meredith, Doctor Who, Michael Anton, Rod Serling
Posted Oct 31st 2009 at 2:41 pm in Featured Story, Television | 25148276 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dflynn/2009/10/31/a-dimension-not-only-of-sight-and-sound-but-of-mind/%27A+Dimension+Not+Only+of+Sight+and+Sound%2C+But+of+Mind%272009-10-31+21%3A41%3A01Daniel+J.+Flynn

‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ Targets Both Right and Left

Firing a red-hot cannon blast at both parties and the excesses of America’s capitalist system, filmmaker Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” is also his most stylistically and emotionally mature work to date. Launching with a string of film clips that parallel the fall of the Roman Empire to our present societal hot mess, the film serves up big laughs with its harrowing vision of just how far off the rails our present economic crisis has taken the nation. 

Moore has made plenty of claims that “Capitalism” is the summation of two full decades of work, harking back to the 1989 release of his seminal “Roger & Me,” and that this film is lobbing bombs at the figures involved.  Yet much of the time, the film has a mournful, yearning approach in showing Moore’s desire that America return to the capitalism of the pre-Jimmy Carter years: he shows that the system’s promises worked out splendidly throughout most of the nation’s history, and in particular from the boom years after WWII all the way through Ford before the nation hit Carter’s infamous assessment of “malaise” in the late ‘70s.  (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "Roger and Me", Barack Obama, bush, Capitalism: A Love Story., michael moore
Posted Oct 1st 2009 at 6:39 am in Reviews | 23412263 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ckozlowski/2009/10/01/capitalism-a-love-story-targets-both-right-and-left/%27Capitalism%3A+A+Love+Story%27+Targets+Both+Right+and+Left2009-10-01+13%3A39%3A03Carl+Kozlowski

Cowardly ‘Onion’ Ignores Obama, Ridicules Reagan’s Alzheimers

It’s bad enough that one of the snarkiest comedy outlets around, The Onion, can’t seem to find anything funny about President Barack Obama. But the faux newspaper hit a new low this week by insulting former President Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s Disease and his economic record in one nasty twofer.

Week after week The Onion bends over backward not to satirize The One. That’s keeping in line with most of today’s cowardly comics, from David Letterman to Bill Maher.

Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” has shown some interest in pursuing the president’s comic potential, but it comes in fits and starts. But The Onion’s latest attempt at humor is both vicious and wrongheaded. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Congress, Obama, President Obama, ronald reagan, satire
Posted Sep 24th 2009 at 6:44 pm in Media Criticism, Politics | 230266192 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/09/24/cowardly-onion-ignores-obama-ridicules-reagans-alzheimers/Cowardly+%27Onion%27+Ignores+Obama%2C+Ridicules+Reagan%27s+Alzheimers2009-09-25+01%3A44%3A07Christian+Toto

Lonewolf Diaries: Mourning Dead People Who Suck

When a toolbag dies… How are you supposed to handle it? Are you supposed to honor them? Post-mortem, does a pedophile become the “greatest musician of all time”? Does a killer become an “American Icon”? Does death in itself wipe the slate clean, exempting the deceased from all judgment?  Or are you supposed to view them just as you did in life (be it good or bad)?

In my humble opinion… None of the above. Death is not only a passing on, but a time for everyone else to truthfully reflect on one’s life. To skim through the unsavory parts (or in Kennedy/MJ’s case, skip entire chapters all together) is to do the world a disservice. How are the rest of us shmucks supposed to learn from past mistakes if we can’t even acknowledge them to begin with?

The fact that the media decided to smooch the Kennedys’ rears through the death of Ted is appalling. Not only was there no mention of the Chappaquiddick river “incident” or his character assassination of Clarence Thomas, but the coverage was carried out in a way that assumed everyone was in agreement with the man’s misguided agenda. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Chappaquiddick, Clarence Thomas, death, mainstream media, Media bias
Posted Sep 1st 2009 at 5:59 pm in Celebrity News, Culture, Lone Wolf Diaries, Media Criticism, News | 216386131 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/scrowder/2009/09/01/lonewolf-diaries-mourning-dead-people-who-suck/Lonewolf+Diaries%3A+Mourning+Dead+People+Who+Suck2009-09-02+00%3A59%3A11Steven+Crowder

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: ‘Hollywood on the Potomac’: Actors to Activists

So many big name stars, singers and sports legends have visited Washington over the years, the city is often referred to as “Hollywood on the Potomac.”  So, that’s the title of my new book (available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders) featuring over 200 photographs and stories that detail the fascination between Hollywood stars and Washington power-players — from Presidents Truman through Obama. 

Here’s an excerpt: (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "Hollywood on the Potomac", Bing Crosby, Bob Dylan, Bono, Brigitte Nielsen
Posted Aug 27th 2009 at 1:14 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 21247813 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/08/27/hollywood-on-the-potomac/EXCLUSIVE+EXCERPT%3A+%27Hollywood+on+the+Potomac%27%3A+Actors+to+Activists2009-08-27+20%3A14%3A57Jason+Killian+Meath

Daily Gut: Townhalls vs. Twitter

So what happens when you produce something so huge that it’s virtually unreadable? Normally it’s left unread. I call it the Harlot’s Ghost maxim.

But what do you get when this strategy of over-delivering backfires? Pure comedy unmatched even by a “Golden Girls” marathon.

More specifically, you get pols who never read the health care bill faced with people who have. Witness the town hall meeting this morning with Senator Arlen Specter. The folks present didn’t just read the bill, they’re now quoting it – something even the Titan of Transparency never really wanted.

Even better, this level of discourse is coming from the non-Twitter crowd, the beyond Facebook folks more concerned with Lipitor side effects than Lady Gaga’s lady parts. They are not motivated by racism, as the left wants everyone to believe, but by real concerns – some raised at the dinner table, some reasoned in books. None from Twitter, I imagine. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Arlen Specter, facebook, Golden Girls, Harlot's Ghost, healthcare bill
Posted Aug 11th 2009 at 3:01 pm in Culture, Daily Gut, News, Politics | 20398659 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/08/11/daily-gut-townhalls-vs-twitter/Daily+Gut%3A+Townhalls+vs.+Twitter2009-08-11+22%3A01%3A13Greg+Gutfeld

Do The Warhol—Part 3: The Velvet (Underground) Revolution

“They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” —Andy Warhol

"I adore America and these are some comments on it. My image is a statement of the symbols of the harsh, impersonal products and brash materialistic objects on which America is built today. It is a projection of everything that can be bought and sold, and practical but impermanent symbols that sustain us." —Andy Warhol, 1962

Americans love rebels, even without cause or clue. Enough hip, smart, young people who are tired of having their faces and futures pushed into to sewage of bad ideas, pointless existences, and totalitarian ideologies, with strong support and encouragement, could really make a difference in the world. In contemporary context, they would be true anti-heroes, rebelling against the brave new world of ersatz freedom and the all-powerful fascist state, against crushing conformity and the annihilation of the rights of the individual.

Such things can and do happen.  Some might say they happened in the nineteen-sixties.  And they did—in Czechoslovakia. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: anti-communism, Charter 77, cold war, Culture, Gerald Ford
Posted Jul 25th 2009 at 10:57 am in Art, Classic Hollywood, Politics | 18150215 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sgraves/2009/07/25/do-the-warhol%e2%80%94-part-3-the-velvet-underground-revolution/Do+The+Warhol%E2%80%94Part+3%3A++The+Velvet+%28Underground%29+Revolution2009-07-25+17%3A57%3A10Scott+Graves

Asking the Spirit of Reagan for Help

Dear Mr. Reagan,

I have a conservative dilemma and I am not sure what to do. When I have questions like this I usually ask myself, “What would Reagan do?” This is a tough one but I know you will have an answer for me.

I need a new car. My 1999 Ford Explorer has been an awesome friend and dependable ride but like my cat who was 16 when he went for the long ride, the Ford is nearing the end of the figurative and literal road. 183,374 miles when I pulled into the driveway tonight and I am not sure how many more she’s got in her. Just between me and you she’s not as fit as she used to be. She’s leaking oil and drinking more than she used to. She has begun to show her age, a few wrinkles and dents.  I have to be honest I’ve been seeing someone younger. She Asian, all shiny and low maintenance. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: CARS program, new cars, President Obama, ronald reagan, stimulus
Posted Jul 20th 2009 at 8:28 am in Politics | 18452282 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/07/20/asking-the-spirit-of-ronnie-for-help/Asking+the+Spirit+of+Reagan+for+Help2009-07-20+15%3A28%3A52Jeffrey+Jena

Michael Jackson and the Supremes

As we endure the endless hours of Sotomayor testimony, let’s remember that rehashing the bizarre lives of dead pop stars can be SO much more interesting than 99.9% of Senate testimony. That said, in researching my new book “Hollywood on the Potomac,” I found an historic tidbit that spoke volumes about both Michael Jackson and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He wasn’t Chief Justice at the time… but when John Roberts was a young lawyer in the Reagan White House, he was very much concerned with Michael Jackson.

The year was 1984 and Michael Jackson was the biggest sensation since Elvis – moonwalking was rapidly replacing blue suede shoes in America’s pop culture lexicon.  Jackson’s notorious publicity machine was becoming a global tour de force, and he was sending the White House requests for visits, concert tickets and more!  Most of all, Jackson was keen on having Reagan present him with a major award. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: George H.W. Bush, John Roberts, Michael Jackson, ronald reagan, Sotomayor
Posted Jul 16th 2009 at 11:32 am in Celebrity News, Politics | 18321079 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/07/16/michael-jackson-and-the-supremes/Michael+Jackson+and+the+Supremes++2009-07-16+18%3A32%3A30Jason+Killian+Meath

Will ‘The Stoning Of Soraya M.’ Get An Oscar Nod?

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Returning once again to the land beneath the Big Hollywood sign for a most important poll question. “The Stoning of Soraya M.” has received powerful rave reviews across the political spectrum. The buzz is hot. From the leftie pundits at HuffPo (who only seem to be discovering the true human rights horrorshow nature of that regime now, most curious) to the Righties at Big Hollywood and elsewhere, SORAYA M. is a must-see movie that will linger with you long after you’ve left the theater.

Strangely enough, Amnesty lnternational’s Elise Auerbach doesn’t like it. Because stonings in Iran are so rare, don’t you know. No suspension of disbelief for Ms. Elsie. I’m sorry, what’s her job again? Oh yeah, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International. Go figure. Personally, I happen to think one stoning is one too many. And it wasn’t the only one, not by a country mile! But that’s just me. I’m not an Iran specialist for AI. Like, say, Ms. Auerbach. Nice work if you can get it, huh, Ms. Elsie? (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, Adolf Hitler, Ali Khamenei, Amnesty International, AMPAS
Posted Jun 29th 2009 at 8:18 am in Entertainment, News, Politics | 1692142 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/06/29/poll-question-will-soraya-m-get-an-oscar-nod/Will+%27The+Stoning+Of+Soraya+M.%27+Get+An+Oscar+Nod%3F+2009-06-29+15%3A18%3A32John+T.+Simpson

Broadway Rejects Conservative Plays

The New York Post ran a story this weekend with a very encouraging headline: RIGHT TURN ON B’WAY? Michael Riedel’s article revolves around two new plays that are being shopped around for a home.  One is a one-man play about Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan” is a one-man play that doesn’t portray the 40th president as a fascist. It’s by Lionel Chetwynd, whose scripts for television and film include “The Hanoi Hilton,” “Color of Justice,” “Kissinger and Nixon” and “DC 9/11: Time of Crisis.” ….  Chetwynd declined to comment on “Reagan,” except to say with a laugh, “It will change lives and the course of history.” A copy of an early script portrays Reagan as thoughtful, determined, sly (when necessary) and winning. Talking to the audience from the main room of his California ranch, Reagan explains his journey from FDR Democrat to conservative Republican. Along the way, he offers a spirited defense of conservative principles. At least three top directors have passed on the play because, says a source, “They can’t stand Ronald Reagan.”

The other play cited is “Girls in Trouble (Formerly Three Abortions)” by Jonathan Reynolds.

In “Girls in Trouble,” Reynolds presents a balanced view of pro-lifers while taking some swipes at the NPR crowd. The play ends with a harrowing confrontation between two women — one pro-life, the other pro-choice — that’s not for the squeamish. “Thus far, its claim to fame is that it’s been turned down by all the theaters in New York,” Reynolds says of his play. “It was commissioned by the Long Wharf, but they wouldn’t put it on. There was a theater in the suburbs of Washington, DC, that said they wanted to present the ‘other side’ of the abortion debate. But when they read it, they said it would “infuriate our audience.” Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public Theater, told Reynolds that his staff “didn’t go for it,” but that he would take a look at it himself.

(more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "Girls in Trouble (Formerly Three Abortions)", "Tales of an Urban Indian", "The Good Negro", abortion, and the People Who Love Them"
Posted Jun 28th 2009 at 6:57 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Religion | 1667425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/28/conservative-plays-get-noticed-in-new-york/Broadway+Rejects+Conservative+Plays2009-06-28+13%3A57%3A38Stage+Right

Lonewolf Diaries: Republicans Need to Grow a Sense of Humor

Yes, you’ve read correctly. To all of you GOP types playing the “offended” card on a daily basis… Prepare to have your feelings hurt, because according to my carefully calculated research… Republicans need to shut up and laugh a little.

Never has the GOP’s lack of funnybone been on sharper display than the last 5 months. For a party that claims to “shun political correctness,” we’ve certainly done a good job of embracing it. Over the past 150 days there have been three “media-worthy” politically incorrect moments related to this administration and Republicans have managed to jump on each one of them for political gain. All to no avail. Let us examine:

Exhibit A

Barack Obama’s Special Olympics comment on Leno. – On air, President B. Hussein Obama made a self-deprecating joke in regards to his bowling abilities. He made the implication that he was so bad at bowling that his skill level resembled that of a mentally challenged athlete. Twas a surprisingly funny, off-handed moment for a generally very unfunny president.

Republicans, however, decided to act as though they were appalled by this and ran with the “you can’t make fun of retards” theme. (I’m paraphrasing here of course, but you get the picture.) I believe that somewhere in the middle, Sarah Palin and her son Trigg were tied into the whole fiasco. The media took little notice and sharp comedians like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert managed to successfully lampoon Conservatives for being humorless old bags. That’s one for you, Democrats… (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Bristol Palin, Colbert, David Letterman, jon stewart
Posted Jun 16th 2009 at 5:58 pm in Featured Story, Lone Wolf Diaries | 16289015 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/scrowder/2009/06/16/lonewolf-diaries-hey-republicans-grow-a-sense-of-humor/Lonewolf+Diaries%3A+Republicans+Need+to+Grow+a+Sense+of+Humor2009-06-17+00%3A58%3A34Steven+Crowder

D.L. Hughley Parrots Leftist Talking Points, Ignores Inconvenient Facts

Lately it seems like most of what the left considers intellectualism is just condescending arrogance based mostly on talking points and ungrounded assumptions.

Take, for instance, the debate over marijuana legalization. It is always assumed that the Democrats are in favor of legalization while the Republicans want to keep it verboten. Perhaps the explanation is that there are a lot more potheads in the Democrat Party, not that they have genuine intellectual curiosity. Democrats are the political home for the chronically lazy–given enough pot, your average Democrat will go on a long extended conspiracy rant about how hemp can feed, clothe, and fuel the entire earth, how it can grow without water, pesticides or fertilizer, and how the corporations paid off Republicans to make it illegal because it’s impossible to make a profit selling it. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: abortion, Bill Maher, Clarence Thomas, DL Hughley, drug laws
Posted Jun 16th 2009 at 8:41 am in Media Criticism, News, Political Humor | 161582One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tslagle/2009/06/16/maheron/D.L.+Hughley+Parrots+Leftist+Talking+Points%2C+Ignores+Inconvenient+Facts2009-06-16+15%3A41%3A02Tim+Slagle

Seeing the Duke in a Whole New Light

For navel-gazing Republicans, in the throes of a full-blown identity crisis, the 30th anniversary of John “Duke” Wayne’s passing this June 11th, couldn’t come sooner, reminding us of what it was like when giants were in our midst.

The Duke, still ranked Americans’ all-time favorite film star, whose popularity only increases with time, was an “extremely close friend” of Ronald Reagan, said their close mutual friend, longtime Paramount Executive, A.C. Lyles.

Both “Duke” and “Ronnie” shared a clear moral vision concerning America’s greatness-only using force to liberate not conquer, as President Reagan characterized it five years, almost to the day, after Duke’s death, in his poignant tribute to the “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” on June 6, 1984, commemorating D-Day, in which, Lyles said, “he just spoke from the heart.”

“Here, in Normandy,” said Reagan, “… the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.”  (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: 30th Anniversary, D-Day, john wayne, Longest Day, ronald reagan
Posted Jun 11th 2009 at 11:53 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1577102 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mckendall/2009/06/11/seeing-the-duke-in-a-whole-new-light/Seeing+the+Duke+in+a+Whole+New+Light2009-06-11+18%3A53%3A55Mary+Claire+Kendall

On the Record, Off the QT and Not Very Hush-Hush

Dear Big Hollywood readers, it gives me great satisfaction to report to you that BH has been out on point not only on compelling film industry issues, which will never be covered in promo rags like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter (but then again, AMPAS and the studios aren’t buying us off), but on many controversial issues being played out in America and the greater world at large as well.

I know this to be true. Being a news junkie myself, I have found time after time as I was reading about a supposedly breaking subject, like ABC’s recent coverage of the targeted LGBT murders in Iraq, that it had already been on display for all to see in Big Hollywood posts for months.

Not to toot my own horn, but…well, okay, I’m tooting my own horn. And those of Andy Breitbart and John Nolte, who have given I, and so many other wonderful and insightful Hollywood right-wing fringe types, a magnificent bullhorn we otherwise would not have. We appear to be doing the dirty jobs our media just refuses to do. It’s a labor Hercules would completely sympathize with. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: abc, Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, Adrianne Curry, Ali al-Sistani, AMPAS
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 at 5:20 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 1476823 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/06/03/on-the-record-off-the-qt-and-not-very-hush-hush/On+the+Record%2C+Off+the+QT+and+Not+Very+Hush-Hush2009-06-04+00%3A20%3A57John+T.+Simpson

The Power of Language

In the 1930’s, when world audiences were asked to name the capital of the U.S.A., one answer was high on the list: “Hollywood.” That was the location listed at the end of every amazing movie: “Made In Hollywood.” How could such magic not come from America’s capital?

Such is the power of a single word.

That power has not diminished but only increased with an ADD, multi-channel, hyperactive media-centric world. The silver screen has long given us immortal dialogue which now blends so deeply into the culture that people may not know their origin, but we know the meaning.  A wise man I know said, “Image creates perception, perception creates reality.”  It couldn’t be more true in the film business.

–

In a media-centric world, from motion pictures to internet to phones, we are pounded with images, forming our perceptions and then creating our reality. How fast did the Internet meme “Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys” become a daily reference at the coffee klatch, in your email, or on phone calls?  Not long.  We forget how powerful words can be when written in a clever and pithy way.  The masters of dialogue like Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and the Epstein brothers, knew irreverent and immortal lines.  And as producers, writers or just Americans who appreciate a good, nimble turn of a phrase, we should excel at creating phrases that demonstrate the values we hold dear.  Don’t understand?  “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys", "China", activism, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Charles Brackett
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 at 11:11 am in Political Humor, Politics, Video | 145802No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmandaville/2009/06/02/daily-dialogue/The+Power+of+Language2009-06-02+18%3A11%3A46Michael+Mandaville

NBC: National Broadcasters Against Conservatives

Robert Avrech’s lovely paean to the patriotism of Old Hollywood reminds me, by way of contrast, of a blink-and-you-missed-it scandal from seventeen months ago. Even in a cultural arena rife with liberal outrages against military families, it marked a new low. And although it was but one small battle in the culture war, it is worth recalling in the wake of Memorial Day as a reminder of just how far our popular media has fallen from the sterling ideals of our forefathers.

What does NBC stand for again? National Broadcasters against Conservatives? No Blessings for the Corps? On December 7, 2007, as the country solemnly remembered Pearl Harbor and the timeless sacrifices of soldiers long dead, one of our major television networks decided that running ads praising today’s modern armed forces constituted a bridge too far. The two thirty-second spots had been produced by Freedom’s Watch, a now-defunct conservative action group which aspired to be the MoveOn.org of the right, using “grassroots lobbying, education and information campaigns, and issue advocacy” to fight the good fight against the legion of hippy-dippy protesters, nihilists, and ideological bullies that perpetually rage (and increasingly reign) throughout blue-state America. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: "It's Morning Again in America" (commercials), 30 Rockefeller Plaza, A Room with a View (1985), A.N.S.W.E.R., bob hope
Posted May 27th 2009 at 6:51 am in Media Criticism, Military | 1434103 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2009/05/27/must-see-tv/NBC%3A+National+Broadcasters+Against+Conservatives2009-05-27+13%3A51%3A50Leo+Grin

Memorial Day Top 5: Great WWII Films You Might Have Missed

These may not be the best known or most famous of WWII films, but they deserve to be. Keep an eye out. You’ll be glad you did.

1. Command Decision (1948) – Made just after WWII, this Air Force drama set in 1943 when the outcome of the war was still in doubt, is one of the most intelligent examinations of the burden of command ever put on film. Clark Gable is absolutely outstanding as Casey, a Brigadier General forced to give orders that on their face appear cold and even monstrous, but in truth are just the opposite. Caught between the Washington brass who have a war to sell and the men under him who see only a General ordering their comrades to certain death, Casey is a leader willing to be hated and even lose his command in order to do the greater good. What Casey cares about before anything is saving American lives. That means winning the war as quickly as possible, something which can only be accomplished if unspeakable sacrifices are made in the here and now.   (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Alan Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Command Decision
Posted May 25th 2009 at 2:28 pm in Top 5 | 1430503 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/05/25/memorial-day-top-5-great-wwii-films-you-might-have-missed/Memorial+Day+Top+5%3A+Great+WWII+Films+You+Might+Have+Missed2009-05-25+21%3A28%3A05John+Nolte

Freedom Isn’t Free

While volunteering for the McCain Campaign last year, I ran across a display of quotes by former President Ronald Reagan… One of them touched my heart so deeply that it inspired me to sit down and start writing a song as a tribute to our men and women in the United States Military.

The quote said… 

“We all share the love of peace, but our sons and daughters must learn two lessons men everywhere and in every time have had to learn:  that the price of freedom is dear, but not nearly as costly as the loss of freedom – and that the advance and continuation of civilization depend on those values for which men have always been willing to die for…” 

While some of our brave men and women in uniform have made it safely back home to their loved ones, others have come home wounded – their lives forever changed.  Yet still, there are those who have gone on to another home – paying the ultimate price for freedom… with their lives…  (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: air force, America, army, Coast Guard, Freedom Isn't Free
Posted May 25th 2009 at 11:13 am in Military | 142862One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cstanton/2009/05/25/freedom-isnt-free/Freedom+Isn%27t+Free2009-05-25+18%3A13%3A57Chele+Stanton

A Conservative Journey Through Literary America – Part 4: The New Formalism

In the beginning there was the word, and it had form.

Homer wrote his two great works, The Iliad and The Odyssey, in dactylic hexameter.  Not for arbitrary reasons was it so organized – in pre-literate Greek society, epic poetry was sung, and the fixed metrical structure allowed for ease of memorization for the poet while simultaneously lending a pleasing musicality for the listener.  This relationship between music and words, a relationship both practical and aesthetic, continued to be enshrined in poetic structural forms for millennia.

Until Whitman.

That beautiful, bearded, destructive bastard knocked poetic form hard to the ground with his free, expansive, structureless verse.  The fact that it was also thrilling and brilliant and original had the unfortunate effect of encouraging lesser poets to write in a likewise fashion, and what Whitman had floored in the 19th century was thoroughly killed in the 20th.  Music and verse became decoupled; form and structure became increasingly ridiculed as backwards, stifling, archaic, not unlike bourgeoisie society itself.

Until… (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Bill Kristol, Dana Gioia, homer, Ira Sadoff, Neo-Formalism
Posted May 24th 2009 at 6:53 am in Entertainment, Featured Story | 140082One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/05/24/a-conservative-journey-through-literary-america-part-4-the-new-formalism/A+Conservative+Journey+Through+Literary+America+-+Part+4%3A++The+New+Formalism2009-05-24+13%3A53%3A28Matt+Patterson

Republican Date Night

Newt Gingrich is much taller in person than he is on TV. The lovely Bride of Konig (author of I Wear The Maternity Pants In This Family – www.susankonig.com) and I were invited to a screening of the Newt and Callista Gingrich – produced documentary Ronald Reagan Rendezvous With Destiny the other night, and we got to meet the former Speaker of the House. For some reason I always thought he was on the short, roly poly side. TV’s short, roly poly is, in person, tall, barrel chested and imposing. This is, oddly, the exact opposite of me. On TV I am tall and thin, in person I’m short and fat. 

Reagan, Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, Boris Karloff, Gene Kelly

This rare date night out without the various Spawn of Konig, naturally coincided with a gig for me: as my wife was settling into the Director’s Guild Screening Room on W. 57th. 72nd street performing a comedy sketch with TV host extraordinaire Bill Boggs in his live show Talk Show Confidential. The cue for my sketch with Bill is the end of his Richard Nixon anecdote. Boggs tells a very funny story of being a teen-aged intern in the 1960s on a talk show, and the guest is Richard Nixon. Boggs is assigned to Nixon, to make sure Nixon gets to the set on time. En route, Nixon makes a pit stop. Young Boggs is then confronted with his first major, television talk show crisis: how to tell the imposing former Vice President that he’s not only about to go on camera with his fly open, but it’s a “Grand Mal Unzipping,” the kind where your shirt tail is hanging out of the fly. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Bill Boggs, Callista Gingrich, Dave Konig, Dodgers, I Wear The Maternity Pants In This Family
Posted May 21st 2009 at 4:38 pm in Celebrity News, Politics | 139174One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dkonig/2009/05/21/republican-date-night/Republican+Date+Night2009-05-21+23%3A38%3A49Dave+Konig

Dennis Miller: Capitalist Hero

Dennis Miller started out on the political left and, as he matured (helped along considerably by the shock of 9/11), he migrated to the political right.

In this wayward sojourn, he is in fine intellectual company: To name but a few, David Horowitz (former campus radical), Irving Kristol (one time Trotskyite), and Ronald Reagan (early FDR-New Dealer).  And as is usually the case with someone who has viewed the world through both left and right prisms, Miller possesses exceptional insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of both ideologies.  (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: 9/11, Alexis de Tocquevile, Ayn Rand, capitalism, David Horowitz
Posted May 19th 2009 at 11:11 am in Entertainment, Political Humor, Politics, Reviews | 135230One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/05/19/dennis-miller-capitalist-hero/Dennis+Miller%3A+Capitalist+Hero2009-05-19+18%3A11%3A24Matt+Patterson

One Critic’s Review of ‘Roxana: A True Story’

Now that ‘Roxana: A True Story’ has come to a most satisfying and happy conclusion for Roxana Saberi, her parents, myself and millions of others around the globe (a conclusion not always assured, and which looked very grim in some scenes), it is now time for Your Most Humble and Obedient Critic to give you the full skinny on ‘Roxana: A True Story.’

Or, by its Hollywood acronym, RATS. Funny. I actually found that startling contraction fitting, not for Roxana (not hardly), but for all of the major black hats and clueless morons who populated this nerve-wracking Thugocracy Studios production, which had civilized people everywhere both riveted and outraged in its most grueling and suspenseful moments.

Not to mention for Roxana and her parents. But before we get to heroes and villains, let us look at the story to date with all its dramatic twists and underpinnings, many with significant international implications. Just like a good Hitchcock drama should. And I caught ‘em all!

By pure happenstance, Your Most Humble Critic and Boy Reporter was already hot on the job covering Iran (unlike some people) and hammering AMPAS for their tea and finger-cookie soirees with these guys, when I saw what Iran was pulling with Roxana and called it for what it was: a hostage crisis. And on the same day HRW called it the same in a press release on March 13th, which I didn’t find out until the 19th thanks to our on-the-ball Vein Stream Media. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: -1, abc, Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, Ahmadinejad, al qaeda
Posted May 13th 2009 at 8:13 am in Entertainment, Politics | 132142One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/05/13/one-critics-review-of-roxana-a-true-story/One+Critic%27s+Review+of+%27Roxana%3A+A+True+Story%272009-05-13+15%3A13%3A00John+T.+Simpson

Why Reagan Was a Better Friend to Gays Than Obama

I really thought my Republican platform piece here at BH would have been my last for awhile. Plenty for readers of all stripes to chew on. And I got too many other things to do. The reason for my reluctant return is yet another critical issue the Obamamedia and our LibDem government are completely flat-lining on: the officially sanctioned exterminations of LGBTs in Iraq, and on our dime. Not to mention State’s cold and lame response. More on that later. Too much more, actually.

First, the one of the main points of this fact-based opinion piece. And I know I’m going to catch hell from the Streisand and Brolin crowd on this one! Ronald Reagan was a hero to gays, and Obama has not been to date. I know, I know. The Evil Ronald Reagan, who practically invented AIDS? Reagan, the Adolf Eichmann of the Gay World? Not true. Not by a country mile!

In fact, Ronald Reagan was a better friend to gays and lesbians in his age than Barack Obama has been to gays in his. But don’t even go by what I say. I’m a right wing extremist, and very biased to what I believe. I admit it. Who isn’t these days? The press? LOL! But here are some irrefutable facts on The One and The Gipper I thought I’d throw out there. A gay buffet for thought, if you will. With swimming pools. And movie stars. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: academy award, Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, al qaeda, Ali al-Sistani, AMPAS
Posted May 8th 2009 at 6:39 am in Politics | 12720213 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/05/08/why-reagan-was-a-better-friend-to-gays-than-obama/Why+Reagan+Was+a+Better+Friend+to+Gays+Than+Obama2009-05-08+13%3A39%3A47John+T.+Simpson

Remembering a ‘Sweet’ Little Birthday

“Wax on, wax off.” “He slimed me.” “Fortune and Glory, kid.” “I’ll be back.” “Don’t get him wet. Keep him out of bright light. And never feed him after midnight.”

It’s hard to believe that a quarter century has passed since that magical movie summer of 1984. The calender year of George Orwell’s dire dystopian nightmares had arrived, but instead of a nation writhing in servitude to Big Brother, America was delighting in the prosperity engineered by Big Gipper. Throughout the summer of ‘84, the greatest president of the twentieth century was cruising to the single largest electoral total ever amassed by a presidential candidate in our history, and “It’s Morning Again in America” commercials were playing on TV’s across the land to widespread approval. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: 1984 (book), American Graffiti (1973), American Pie (1999), Anthony Michael Hall, Apple Macintosh
Posted May 5th 2009 at 8:07 am in Entertainment | 125742One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2009/05/05/remembering-a-sweet-little-birthday/Remembering+a+%27Sweet%27+Little+Birthday2009-05-05+15%3A07%3A03Leo+Grin

DENIED: Bigotry of the Obamatrons

Recently, at the office (a place I sometimes affectionately refer to as Obama Central), I made the mistake of printing out a Washington Post editorial that questioned the foreign policy expertise of our new Commander-in-Chief.  By the time I got to the printer to pick it up, someone else had already seen it - and stamped “DENIED” across the top of the page in red ink.  Next to that was scrawled, “RIGHT WINGER GO HOME.”

The first thing that went through my mind was: cross burnings.  The second was: children are evil (my workplace is overrun by hundreds of twentysomethings).

I tried to be rational.  Whoever defaced the page had no way of knowing who had printed it out – just as I had no idea who the defacer was – so it wasn’t personal.  Still, it was hurtful.

And it was bigoted.  The defacer didn’t know anything about me – my political affilitation, my sex, my race, nothing.  Die hard Democrats read mainstream editorials, don’t they?  So much for the good will of Dave Matthews’s “American Prayer” starring Idi Amin and Perez Hilton - and Michael Moore’s patronizing, post-Election email exhorting his followers to be kind to their Republican friends (as if they have any). (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Andrew Klavan, ann coulter, Barack Obama, bigotry, brainwashing
Posted May 4th 2009 at 12:34 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 11361416 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/05/04/denied-bigotry-of-the-obamatrons/DENIED%3A+Bigotry+of+the+Obamatrons2009-05-04+19%3A34%3A36Charles+Winecoff

A Republican Platform For The 21st Century

I have been a proud conservative Republican my entire life. My father and Jimmy Carter saw to that. My first vote ever was for Ronald Reagan in 1980, and I have never voted for a Democrat. Ever. Even today, the reasons for my being so have not changed, despite the media’s and liberal Democrats’ tireless efforts to discredit my belief system. Though the times may change, core principles never do. I have also served this nation proudly in uniform for six years, and don’t regret a minute of it.

In the early 1980s, my military service brought me to some of the darker corners of the world. I spent time in South Korea and Marcos’ Philippines when both countries were under martial law. Knowing I could be shot just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time really woke me up to what exactly it is we have here in America. Seeing a thousand Vietnamese Boat People pulled out of the South China Sea in one day only reinforced my belief in America, Sweet Land of Liberty.

Today, the Party of Lincoln and Reagan appears to be in political disarray, which is why I am writing this OpEd now. Yet many promising developments, along with some huge mistakes by Congress and the Obama Administration, have opened many new doors for us. If only we will enter. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: abortion, Africa, Al Franken, amnesty, apology tour
Posted May 2nd 2009 at 3:13 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 12196215 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/05/02/a-republican-platform-for-the-21st-century/A+Republican+Platform+For+The+21st+Century2009-05-02+22%3A13%3A08John+T.+Simpson

Top 5: If Hollywood Was Your Only Source of History

–

If present-day Hollywood had their way here are five things you’d never know…

1. That JFK had way more in common with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush than most of today’s Democrats: By modern standards, Kennedy was a fairly conservative Republican; forward-leaning on national defense and a tax cutter who may not have called it trickle-down but to improve the economy and grow the treasury he cut taxes across the board (yes, including the evil rich). Kennedy’s “tax cuts for the wealthy” not only worked but would become the starter blueprint for both the Reagan and Bush II tax cuts. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Charlie Wilson's War, Film, george w. bush, hollywood, Hollywood propaganda
Posted Apr 20th 2009 at 6:49 am in Politics, Top 5 | 1087064 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/04/20/top-5-if-hollywood-was-your-only-source-of-history/Top+5%3A+If+Hollywood+Was+Your+Only+Source+of+History2009-04-20+13%3A49%3A06John+Nolte

The Streisand Effect – or People Who Don’t Need People

I have a confession to make: when I’m alone in my car – or in iPod isolation – I sometimes listen to Barbra Streisand.  And I’m neither a big fan of pop music nor of the current state of liberalism – the cushy, comfy, groupthink kind with which Streisand has become closely linked in recent years.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Whenever I’m feeling a little down, Streisand’s rousing, patriotic rendition of “Before the Parade Passes By” (from the Hello, Dolly! soundtrack) is the next best thing to shooting up a Diet Rockstar.  The movie may be deadly, but that track is classic Barbra: starts out quiet, plaintive, then slowly builds to an almost militaristic crescendo of chorus, trumpets, beating drums – and Babs, screaming her head off above it all with a heroic, never-ending high note that sounds like a war cry.

I know - that’s so gay.  But for me, the song is musical comfort food – and proof of the power of the human spirit: a rusty Main Street USA antique, shined up and brought back to life by a disadvantaged ugly duckling from Brooklyn, with a voice straight from God, who beat the odds.  That’s when Streisand was still one of a kind.

But that was 1969.  This is now.  Today, “Before the Parade Passes By” would probably be called something like “Whenever the Trans-Cultural Community Gathering Happens to Reconvene.”  And it would probably be sung by Sheryl Crow. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: a star is born, Arnold Scaasi, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, Barbra Streisand
Posted Apr 17th 2009 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Politics | 999786 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/04/17/the-streisand-effect-or-people-who-dont-need-people/The+Streisand+Effect+-+or+People+Who+Don%27t+Need+People2009-04-17+12%3A03%3A37Charles+Winecoff