Several weeks ago, the “Right Network” premiered with many conservative programs in its lineup. I recently watched  an episode of one of the network’s new shows entitled “Right 2 Laugh.” The stand-up comedy program featured a few strong conservative comics and highlighted the fact that there are so few right-leaning comedians in the mainstream media today.

From Bill Maher to Jon Stewart to David Letterman, the television airwaves are full of comedians with their own programs who lean to the left and love skewing those on the right. Many of these comedians have attracted widespread praise and admiration for their talents. Comedians on the right, however, often haven’t had a television forum to criticize those on the left.

Hopefully, that will change with “Right 2 Laugh.”

Comedian Evan Sayet hosts the new show. At the beginning of the episode I screened, Sayet opened the show with a few jokes and introduced the featured stand-up comics.  (more…)

1. After “truth, justice, and all that stuff…” and knowing that the upcoming Captain America won’t be so American, hearing that Superman, Son of Jor-El, is now in the smart, capable hands of The Mighty Christopher Nolan means that there is hope that the next screen incarnation of The Man of Steel will not be a brooding stalker on some sort of journey of self-discovery to find his inner meterosexual and emotional life.

Nolan will oversee the film’s production and is currently looking at a short-list of potential directors:

Making the list are “Unstoppable” helmer Tony Scott, “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves, “Battle: Los Angeles” helmer Jonathan Liebesman (who tapped for “Clash of the Titans 2″), Duncan Jones of “Source Code” and “Sucker Punch” guy Zack Snyder.

Expect news of a decision to come sooner rather than later because Warner Bros. and Legendary need to get the picture made by 2012 because of a rights ruling that went against the studio and favored heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel and takes effect in 2013.

Though we will never enter into the business of second-guessing Mr. Nolan, we are lighting candles for Zack Snyder.

—–

2. ‘Twas political correctness that killed “Sex.” (more…)

Although I didn’t watch the television show, “Sex and the City,” I did see the original movie. It was obviously intended for a female audience but it was also fun and spirited. Unfortunately, the sequel is a disappointment as the spirit that these girls previously embodied is replaced with a more serious tone, and a clichéd and boring storyline.

The movie starts off with Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) reflecting on her long-term friendship with her three best friends (Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha). The four of them all arrive at a gay wedding of a friend of theirs. The wedding is flamboyant and over-the-top but does not seem to mean much to the married couple. One of the “brooms” informs the girls that his partner is free to cheat on him in the marriage. The person overseeing the ceremony is Liza Minnelli as herself.  Liza goes on to deliver a fun, fluffy and entertaining musical performance. This, though, is the film’s highlight.

The story then goes on to focus on the lives of the four best friends in New York. Carrie is having difficulties in her marriage with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), who has settled into a routine of ordering in food and watching a lot of television, even when his wife’s talking to him. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is raising her children with the help of a babysitter, but she starts getting nervous that her husband might be attracted to the nanny. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) faces work difficulties and feels like her boss does not like or appreciate her. The over-sexualized Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is getting older and ferociously trying to prevent aging from occurring. (more…)

So the latest GI Joe flick is creating controversy, because the character is no longer portrayed as a typical American soldier. Instead he’s part of some elite murky force of international fighters – a Benetton ad with rocket launchers. On MSNBC, Donny Deutsch tried to take John J. Miller to task over his objections to the change – pointing out that the shift from an iconic American character to a mushy international delight is a “business” decision. For the movie to make money internationally, Donny thinks the character has to become part of global task force of community organizers. To this, I say, “Fiddle faddle,” which is short for “Silly stupid fiddle faddle.”

I wrote about this two years ago, just when Hasbro and Paramount execs decided to give GI Joe a makeover. Back then they felt the world would be too pissed at us for getting rid of Saddam Hussein to go see a movie about an American hero. As it turns out, they were wrong – the backlash over Saddam’s death had less impact than Norman Fell’s.

But for a moment, let’s attempt to use Donny’s logic on other flicks. “Sex and the City,” my favorite film – made a pile of money around the world, and it was about five American chicks exercising their rights to both unfettered capitalism and sex. According to Deutsch, it would have been better to make them all multi-racial, transgendered dolphins – and stationed them in Brussels in a cool undersea condo shaped like Earth. Granted, that does sound awesome – but it probably would have been less successful than the original concept (which made me cry). (more…)

Big Hollywood is a unique and long needed institution – a place where conservatives can gather and talk about pop culture and entertainment, the ultimate goal being, as I understand it, to encourage conservatives to engage in the culture war through the arts.

While the best tactics to achieve this goal are open to debate, its ultimate worth and necessity are indisputable – for too long, conservatives have ceded the most influential segments of society, from academia to Hollywood, to the Left with nary a fight.  The current sorry state of our movement is in no small measure the result of this refusal to engage the battle of ideas where it impacts people the most- the culture that they absorb every day through radio, Internet, television, and movies.

The piece which will appear in eight installments, one chapter each Saturday and Sunday, over the next four weeks, however, will deal more specifically with the literary world, and the conservative’s place therein.  For contemporary literature (by which I mean drama, poetry, and written fiction) is also more or less the exclusive province of left-wing thinkers and practitioners.

Some may argue that literature these days is not nearly as influential as movies, say, or television, and therefore perhaps not as worthy of conservative efforts to engage.  On the face this is true – far more people watch Sex and the City, for example, than read The Kenyon Review.  But in a larger sense, this argument misses the point and dangerously underestimates the influence of literature as a vehicle for poisonous ideas to enter the cultural mainstream.   (more…)

Television is often treated like the unloved step-child of the arts.  It’s been called a vast wasteland and worse.  And vast it certainly is.  It’s on all the time and on hundreds of channels, so it’s no surprise that most of it is just awful.  The surprise is how much of it is worthwhile, and I’m not just referring to the artsy-fartsy stuff that shows up on Masterpiece Theatre. 

Of course everyone’s list is going to seem eccentric to other people.  My own is no exception.  For one thing, there have been very popular shows that I never even tuned in.  I’m thinking of “Beverly Hillbillies,” “Bonanza,” “Green Acres,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Knott’s Landing,” “Peyton Place,” “L.A. Law,” “Six Feet Under,” “ER,” “Chicago Hope,” “CSI,” “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Ally McBeal” and “Sex and the City.”  There were a few I watched once or twice to see what all the fuss was about, but I didn’t care for “Star Trek,” “Picket Fences,” “The X Files,” “Boston Legal,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Monty Python” or “N.Y.P.D. Blue.”  (more…)