‘Selling Out is a Bad Thing’ and Other Absurd Cliches

“You made a movie about pimps and there ain’t no black people in it? I don’t know whether to slap you or kiss your face.”

Eddie Murphy said something like that to Ron Howard on SNL back when Howard was making the transition from Opie Cunningham to big-time Hollywood auteur. And now I know how Mr. Murphy feels: Fox has green-lit a sitcom called “Rednecks.”

When I saw the title, I winced, then thought, “I wish I could write for that show.” This illustrates the relationship I have with stereotypes and character-based clichés; I keep them at an arms length embrace. It thrilled me to see white trash characters north of the Mason-Dixon line in “Gone Baby Gone.” But you change the accents, swap Boston, MA for Austell, GA, and I’ll act offended while secretly admitting the portrayal is dead-on. “Rednecks” it turns out, is set in Buffalo, NY. Let the head-scratching ensue. (more…)

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Tags: Comic Con, Jocks, Just Friends, Star Wars, stereotypes
Posted Aug 9th 2009 at 6:54 am in Culture, Entertainment, Featured Story | 19871482 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ccannon/2009/08/09/stereotypes-and-cliches/%27Selling+Out+is+a+Bad+Thing%27+and+Other+Absurd+Cliches2009-08-09+13%3A54%3A43Cam+Cannon

Comic-Con Diary: 60 Stormtroopers Walk Onto the Terrace…

I just got home from Comic-Con. In a couple hours I have to take a shower and head back downtown for a big party my Hollywood management company invited me to. Every year they team with a bunch of other companies and throw a huge industry mixer. They’re usually really crowded and noisy, but there’s free food and drinks and I usually met interesting people.

This year they also teamed up with Wired magazine and set up a private green room called the “Wired Cafe,” where select people from the press and the industry are invited during the day. They have a bunch of laptops set up for people to blog and tweet and a cafe with an open bar and great food. I decided to go there for lunch instead of my usual haunts. I had a Smoked Turkey Panini and considered a Dim Sum sampler, which the person at my table ordered with his Burger. Maybe tomorrow. (more…)

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Tags: Bustelo, Comic Con, Doug Tennapel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2
Posted Jul 24th 2009 at 5:41 pm in Art, Culture | 19082234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/07/24/comic-con-thursday/Comic-Con+Diary%3A+60+Stormtroopers+Walk+Onto+the+Terrace...2009-07-25+00%3A41%3A11James+Hudnall

The Force is With Sarah Palin

Not to go an analogy too far, but Sarah Palin seems to be taking a page from the Hollywood playbook of George Lucas.  She has just completed her own introductory trilogy, and it was an astonishing success.  

First, she was a fantastically successful conservative governor lurking beneath the mainstream media’s radar.  Next, she was a vice-presidential candidate who, even though she lost, still did more to electrify the base than the headliner.  Third, she has now drawn the curtain on her post-election career as a sitting governor, a period that saw her deftly turn the tables on mainstream haters like David Letterman.   Like “Star Wars,” she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but her fans are rabid and chomping at the bit for the next installments.  And as to these future installments, the question is whether the next step is going to be “The Phantom Menace” or something that doesn’t suck. (more…)

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Tags: Alaska, George Lucas, Katie Couric, sarah palin, Star Wars
Posted Jul 4th 2009 at 7:44 am in Politics | 176502434 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/07/04/the-force-is-with-sarah-palin/The+Force+is+With+Sarah+Palin2009-07-04+14%3A44%3A28Kurt+Schlichter

The Debt Star

(more…)

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Tags: debt, Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Star Wars
Posted Jun 14th 2009 at 9:12 am in Political Humor, Politics | 160242No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cmuir/2009/06/14/the-debt-star/The+Debt+Star2009-06-14+16%3A12%3A55Chris+Muir

It’s a Trap!!!!!

It’s a Trap!!!

Admiral Ackbar is one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars franchise.  He still looks more real than any CGI character today despite being brought to life by 1982 technology.  He also has the immortal line, “It’s a Trap,” when the rebels discover that the Death Star is “fully armed and operational.”

In case you missed it, here’s Ackbar reacting to other “traps.”

Conservatives have walked into a trap of late, or as Michael Steele might say, “have stepped in it.” Why should the liberals, with their rogues gallery of freak shows and incompetents, even sweat it when the Conservatives are too busy fighting with each other?  How much time on blogs, cable news, and Sunday talk-shows is dedicated to Conservatives arguing about the direction of the “party” or challenging each other on the authenticity of their Conservative credentials? (more…)

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Tags: Add new tag, admiral ackbar, Conservatives fighting each other, Dick Cheney, Gutfeld
Posted May 29th 2009 at 6:47 am in Media Criticism, Politics, Video | 142650No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lscott/2009/05/29/its-a-trap/It%27s+a+Trap%21%21%21%21%212009-05-29+13%3A47%3A41Leigh+Scott

Newsweek: Bias? It’s Your Eyes That Lie, Young Jedi

Any clear thinking media gazer can tell you Newsweek magazine has tilted to the left in recent months. Not that it ever was a fair and balanced media organ to start with, mind you. But Newsweek managing editor Jon Meacham told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly this week that his magazine doesn’t have a liberal agenda. Really? Then how do you explain the latest issue featuring a “Star Wars”/”Star Trek” casting sidebar ripped from today’s political headlines?

The magazine, in a fit of adolescent whimsy, casts real-life political figures who might stand in for Captain Kirk, Darth Vader and other characters from the space franchises’ galaxies. (more…)

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Tags: cheney, Kirk, Newsweek, Obama, Rahm Emanuel
Posted Apr 29th 2009 at 11:11 am in Media Criticism | 120002No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/04/29/newsweek/Newsweek%3A+Bias%3F+It%27s+Your+Eyes+That+Lie%2C+Young+Jedi2009-04-29+18%3A11%3A59Christian+Toto

What Sequels Teach Us About Developing Character

I hated the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark. No, not the Citizen Kane homage rosebud scene at the end – I loved that – but the ending of the movie. I didn’t want it to end. I hadn’t enjoyed a film that much since, well, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, or Jaws. I wanted it to continue. I wanted more. 

I got more and I didn’t want it. 

Why don’t sequels do well? Obviously, I’m not alone in feeling the way I do about Raiders or Star Wars or Jaws or any other great character-rich, dynamically set film that pulls you in and doesn’t fully let go even after the end titles trail up and we see that film certification symbol fade out. So, why is it that more of what we love, we hate? Well, maybe not hate, but not love quite so much. What’s going on here?  (more…)

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Tags: Alien, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Aliens, bob hope
Posted Apr 5th 2009 at 2:07 pm in Entertainment, Reviews | 9724281 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smann/2009/04/05/developing-character/What+Sequels+Teach+Us+About+Developing+Character2009-04-05+21%3A07%3A59Schizoid+Mann

Heroic Hollywood: Something We Can Believe In – Again

There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth writing about.

I’m going to take the boss at his word that the modest objective of Big Hollywood is “to change the entertainment industry. To make Hollywood something we can believe in – again. In order to give millions of Americans hope.” And further: “Until conservatives, libertarians and Republicans…recognize that (pop) culture is the big prize and that politics is secondary, there will be no victory in this important battle.”

But what is it, culturally, that Hollywood can do that will make us believe in it again and give millions of Americans hope? What is it we can do win the battle for pop culture? (more…)

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Tags: Face Off, Hero, Heroes Journey, Heroes struggle, Hollywood hero
Posted Mar 31st 2009 at 4:40 pm in Entertainment | 9347411 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/rdvonch/2009/03/31/heroic-hollywood-something-we-can-believe-in-%e2%80%93-again/Heroic+Hollywood%3A+Something+We+Can+Believe+In+%E2%80%93+Again2009-03-31+23%3A40%3A24Russ+Dvonch

Episode IV: The Phony AIG Outrage

Nothing tickles the funny bone quite like phony outrage. You know, like Laurie David pulling up alongside an SUV and shouting down the driver for destroying the environment, when Ms. David herself is on the way to catch a private jet to a global warming conference in, I don’t know, somewhere where it’s unseasonably cold.

And we all remember Professor Kerri Dunn, who in response to racist vandals trashing her car, organized and led vigil after vigil denouncing hate speech. In voicing her outrage toward a covert group of white male racists on campus (them again?), she worked the community into quite a frenzy before, oops, it was discovered that she was the culprit. She vandalized her own car, I guess as some sort of publicity stunt. (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Christoper Dodd, Star Wars
Posted Mar 21st 2009 at 10:40 am in Political Humor | 8471860 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ccannon/2009/03/21/phony-outrage/Episode+IV%3A+The+Phony+AIG+Outrage+2009-03-21+17%3A40%3A31Cam+Cannon

Biggest US opening ever for Luc Besson – TAKEN grabs up 24% Saturday and finishes with $24.6M for Super Bowl weekend; PAUL BLART: MALL COP strong at #2 while THE UNINVITED appears headed for 3rd with a possible $10.5M; Zellweger’s NEW IN TOWN may reach $6.75M opening; Not much of an “Oscar bounce” for THE READER and MILK!

Liam Neeson is officially a full-fledged action star. The Irish-born actor has often played heroes, whether it was Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Schindler’s List, the wise Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace or determined sex researcher Alfred Kinsey in 2005’s biopic Kinsey, Neeson has always had a knack for playing the earnest-but-flawed good guy. In his new movie Taken (Fox), writer/producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel have turned him into a Dad with the “mad skills” of a super-spy – think Mike Brady crossed with Jason Bourne.

The result is a well-reviewed (56% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) action film that will help to satisfy blockbuster-hungry audiences waiting for Warner Bros’ Watchmen (due March 6). Taken has scored big on its opening weekend. After grabbing an estimated $9.4M, the movie surged on Saturday to $11.62M (up almost 24% from opening day) and, despite today’s Super Bowl, the film could reach $24.62M according to studio estimates. That will be more than enough to win the Super Bowl 3-day, and positive word-of-mouth could get this one into the $70M-$75M range domestic.

(more…)

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Tags: a tale of two sisters, a.r. rahman, adam sandler, alexandre desplat, alfred kinsey
Posted Jan 31st 2009 at 2:15 pm in Steve Mason's Box Office | 3726234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/01/31/early-estimates/Biggest+US+opening+ever+for+Luc+Besson+-+TAKEN+grabs+up+24%25+Saturday+and+finishes+with+%2424.6M+for+Super+Bowl+weekend%3B+PAUL+BLART%3A+MALL+COP+strong+at+%232+while+THE+UNINVITED+appears+headed+for+3rd+with+a+possible+%2410.5M%3B+Zellweger%27s+NEW+IN+TOWN+may+reach+%246.75M+opening%3B+Not+much+of+an+%22Oscar+bounce%22+for+THE+READER+and+MILK%21++2009-01-31+22%3A15%3A07Steve+Mason

Holy Terror, Batman

Part One:

In 2006, I had a minor low pressure area in my brain and conceived a P.R. campaign directed against Islamo-fascism which I posted on Nate Tabor’s “The Conservative Voice.”  The results were swift and devastating.  Like any other branch of the entertainment industry, liberalism is the default position of most comic book creators and fans.

Liberalism has a long and honorable history in comics, nowhere more apparent than in the groundbreaking Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams which dealt with drug addiction, the trial of the Chicago Seven, corporate pollution and overpopulation. In “Death Be My Destiny,” O’Neil posited a planet called Maltus where over-population was out of control. Denny was channeling the Reverend Thomas Malthus, a nineteenth-century Brit who predicted a Paul Erlich-like doom. In “The Population Bomb” Erlich predicted: “In the 1970s and 1980s . . . hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.” (more…)

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Tags: 300, Badger, Chicago Seven, Comic Books, Dark Horse
Posted Jan 29th 2009 at 12:51 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism, Politics | 2859758 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mbaron/2009/01/29/schadenfreude-in-the-kultursmog-mike-baron/Holy+Terror%2C+Batman2009-01-29+20%3A51%3A49Mike+Baron

Make a Bigger Pie

Box-office attendance continues to trend lower and lower each year. It’s on such a downward trajectory you’d think it might be tied to the crashing Republican brand we keep hearing about. But I think the opposite is the case. From an ideology standpoint, the political mono-think of Tinseltown is failing over half the largest audience demographic, and they don’t care.

I hear the excuses from the can-don’ts. People get their entertainment from their phones and YouTubes now. But I sure as hell didn’t watch “Iron Man” on my phone, I have no interest in watching “Gran Torino” on my computer and I won’t be waiting three months for the BluRay to come out. My friends said I had to see those movies today! Yesterday! Do whatever it takes to go see it! (more…)

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Tags: 300, box office, Che, Gran Turino, Iron Man
Posted Jan 28th 2009 at 12:20 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism, Politics | 3183055 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/01/28/make-a-bigger-pie/Make+a+Bigger+Pie2009-01-28+20%3A20%3A43Doug+TenNapel