“We can never be surprised at what vile evil comes from the mouth of a confessed victim of child abuse at the hands of her own parents,” Voight told Extra on Tuesday. “[Roseanne’s] parents responded to the accusation by going on the air and slating she is a psychopathic liar and her sister agreed.”
Voight continued, “Her defaming of our National Anthem in 1990 gave us insight into who she is and what she is capable of saying and doing.”
It tells you a lot about Voight that he would resurrect Roseanne’s career-ending defamation of the National Anthem in 1990. Most of Hollywood couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. Voight, however, did, and obviously hasn’t forgotten.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
A full two-weeks after the McCain camp immediately and effectively turned Adam McKay’s Paris Hilton ad to their advantage, it looks as though McKay is about to pull what we call here, A Costanza:
[Adam] McKay said he is surprised that the McCain campaign bothered to respond to his Web video: A spokesman claimed that Hilton’s energy proposal appeared to square with McCain’s. “Obama took the high road and didn’t get involved in it,” McKay says.
In a number of ways, perhaps that is a good thing. This week, FunnyorDie.com plans a video response to the McCain camp’s response.
You don’t get more The Jerk Store Called, They’re Running Out Of You! than a response to a response TWO WEEKS LATER. Old Man McCain can zing out an ad in a matter of hours, but Adam “Costanza” McKay needs weeks…?
Anyone who’s read his thick posts over at HuffPo knows McKay should stick to movies; anyone who saw the Paris ad knew immediately (other than McKay, obviously) how it played right into McCain’s hands; and anyone who understands the thick, petty mind of a liberal knew it had to gall McKay to see his plan to get a Lincoln Bedroom sleepover in the Obama White House completely backfire.
Obviously unaware of the first rules of holes, we now get to anticipate yet another ad sure to offer up a few more days of cable news deliciousity over the Obama/celebrity issue.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Tomorrow is Edward G. Robinson da on TCM, and another treasure of deep cuts from an actor who could do anything. How about another side of Little Caesar, the softer, more gentle side that proves just what an extraordinary talent Robinson was:
3:15pm PST - Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) - A henpecked husband surprises his family by coming back from World War II a hero. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Warrick, Ted Donaldson. Dir: Alfred E. Green BW-79 mins, TV-G
The Tivo will be a-burstin’.
Think about this… We live in a world where Ben Affleck won an Oscar and Robinson didn’t. Where’s your god now?
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Though told almost entirely in, around, and atop the World Trade Center, director James Marsh made the right choice with his wonderful documentary feature, Man On Wire, in not once referencing the 9/11 attacks that fell them. Had he, the poignancy of what is tragically no longer would’ve lost something through another’s translation. Instead, what isn’t said ripples through every frame as we watch Frenchman Philippe Petit fulfill a years-long ambition that will take place between a former centerpiece of the unique American dream.
Man on Wire is the rare documentary that doesn’t tell you what it’s really about until the very end. Like a great narrative film, the dénouement forces you to rewind the previous ninety minutes to reexamine them. The reward for this effort is an additional emotional layer of riches that makes you want to sit down and watch it all again. But even without this moment, Man On Wire is a pleasure from its first frame on.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Unless it’s all about the action scenes, there’s no reason to see this after watching the trailer. Any question you might have about the movie (other than, “What’s Joan Allen doing here”) is given up in 150 seconds. Is what’s obviously b-level action worth the ten-bucks?
The charm of cult films isn’t lost on me, but the original Death Race 2000 is unwatchable.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
In response to my fear that Hollywood will try to duplicate the success of The Dark Knight by merely making superhero films darker…
… Reader JohnLocke writes: “I have that same fear. Hollywood loves moral complexity, but not the kind that The Dark Knight has. Their idea of moral complexity is not taking a stand, or taking a stand with the enemy, or showing that the “good guy” and the “bad guy” are really just cut from the same cloth and that there’s no difference between them, that there are no “heroes” and “villains.” But The Dark Knight doesn’t do that. There is moral nuance throughout, but in the end, the film firmly takes the side of Batman, the side of good, the side of heroism in spite of hatred from the very people you protect. It explores the similarities between Batman and the Joker, but emphatically states that there is an important distinction between the two that makes the former the hero and the latter the villain. But the Hollywood types seemed to have missed that, perhaps because of the warped lens through which they see the world. When they saw Batman beating up people for information and spying on millions of people, they automatically perceived that as wrong, and must’ve therefore concluded that the film must be making a statement of moral equivalence. And thanks to this flawed understanding, we may see the ultimate corruption of the last remaining genre that holds onto classical ideas of good and evil.
“I think it became most clear to me when I started reading reviews in which critics called the film nihilistic. I was dumbfounded. Who could’ve seen that fantastic ending and walked away with that perception?”
They would confirm a 2-disc DVD, a Blu-ray, a steelbook 2-disc DVD special edition, a Batpod collector’s DVD and a Batman mask collector’s DVD (basically the 2-disc DVD shrink-wrapped with a Batman mask).
In trying to track down more info on these DVDs, I’ve heard two conflicting release dates - December 2nd and December 9th. Either way THE DARK KNIGHT is poised for some huge sales this holiday season.
[W]ithin the halls of Warner Bros. the same debate rages on. They too believe that the last movie didn’t break the mold and wound up in some kind of middle limbo. Today I was told that it is a priority at the studio to find the right direction and if Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay on the project. There are no writers working on a Superman script now. The studio wants to figure it out. “It might be better to start from scratch,” one exec admitted.
My fear is that misunderstanding what made The Dark Knight a success will drive superhero films for the next five years. Because the liberal idealogues who run Hollywood are either too stupid or stubborn to get it, superhero films will get darker but contain none of what really made The Dark Knight successful: it’s rich themes about good and evil and why Bush and America are absolutely justified in the war for civilization liberal Hollywood is so eager to see us lose.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
At the end of the troop-trashing In The Valley Of Elah, Tommy Lee Jones’s character ham handedly hangs the American flag upside down as a melodramatic signal of our nation in distress. Brother, it’s a real eye roller. Well, check out The Little Messiah’s DNC Pass. Yes… an upside down flag:
They just don’t get America. They. Just. Don’t. Get. It.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Monday, August 18th, 2008
The Little Messiah is way under performing compared to Kerry at this time four years ago. Watching the cable news coverage of yesterday’s Saddleback Church forum tells me his poll numbers won’t be improving anytime soon:
“Today’s map shows Obama with a projected 275 votes to McCain’s 250, with 13 up for grabs. Four years ago — Kerry 317, Bush 202, and 19 tied. Interesting.” Indeed. You can certainly see why some Democrats are starting to sound worried. Of course, Kerry was hurt by an overly grandiose performance at the Convention, and by media bias that backfired. Obama should be safe from that, right ? . . .
The Little Messiah’s next hope is the convention. Personally, I think his decision to hold his acceptance speech in a football stadium filled with left-wing celebrities and 70,000 screaming sycophants is a terrible idea. It plays right into his growing celebrity/messiah problem. Additionally, the fact that he doesn’t understand that plays right into his judgement problem.
I must say, Kevin Farley, who I see all the time in television commercials that have something to do with cars, is very good in the film. I read somewhere they wanted Larry The Cable Guy. Nothing against Larry — he’s got his schtick — but if that’s true, they lucked out not getting him. Kevin’s perfect. Not only is he funny, but he adds an unexpected layer of pathos to the character.
Just a word of thanks to those of you purchasing your Amazon items through this site and clicking supporting the sidebar and header advertisers. It’s helping. A lot.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Monday, August 18th, 2008
The extraordinary… The beautiful… The talented… The brilliant… The only reason I can think of to build a time machine for purposes of adultery… Barbara Stanwyck.
It’s all Barbara all day tomorrow, and I love TCM’s choices because they’re mostly deep cuts. No Double Indemnity or The Lady Eve, but more obscure titles that will still be great because Barbara Stanwyck’s in them and present-day Hollywood isn’t with their lame-ass politics and 127 minute running times.
You’re not going to make me recommend just one, are you?
Fine.
3:15pm PST - Baby Face (1933) - A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, John Wayne. Dir: Alfred E. Green. BW-76 mins, TV-PG
Baby Face is mostly famous because of its pre-code history. Before Hollywood decided to restrict sex and violence in their own films, there was a number of years where filmmakers were under no such restrictions. So not only is Baby Face a good film with Stanwyck’s star presence in full bloom at the age of only twenty-four, but it’s an example of how tasteful, compared to today, Hollywood handled issues of sexuality even when they didn’t have to.
Some still argue that without censorship the golden age of Hollywood would be as out of control as it is now. Well, these pre-code films prove that not to be the case. When Hollywood was great it was run by great men whose product always reflected taste and class.
As an added bonus, a very young John Wayne has a small role as one of Stanwyck’s conquests. He’s quite good but sadly this was the only time the two of them would ever be on screen together.
“Evil spawn Angelina Jolie and her vacuous hubby Brad Pitt make about forty million dollars a year in violent psychopathic movies and give away three of it to starving children trying to look as if they give a crap about humanity as they spit out more dunces that will consume more than their fair share and wreck the earth even more,” Roseanne writes.
“Also Miss Jolie says she likes McCain too and hasn’t decided who to endorse….huh? Aren’t you supposed to be somewhat enlightened, or do you not know that the African daughter you hold in every picture had parents who suffered and died because of the Republican party’s worldwide economic assault on Africa over the last few decades since Reagan?” she adds.
Add Roseanne to the mile-high pile of celebrities and has-beens who, though rich beyond expression and after a decade at the top, are still unable to walk off stage gracefully. What a sad, small, unfulfilled life she must lead to demean herself in such a way hoping to, just once more and for a fleeting moment, feel the comforting warmth in the spotlight of attention again. What a pitiable figure that she can’t be satisfied with the fame she had and the wealth she has.
Posted by Dirty Harry on Monday, August 18th, 2008
The unmistakable bottom line here is that with a newly-tightened belt, General Motors doesn’t see the Academy Awards as its best bang for the buck:
The automaker has been a stalwart sponsor of showbiz’s glitziest night, but plunging sales, recession fears and spiking gasoline prices have pushed the company to cut back its spending on marketing and advertising. … GM [is] opting to divert more of its ad coin to paid search placements on the web and other more targeted and measurable forms of advertising.
With dwindling ratings and the increasing, self-inflicted stigma of being hostile to everyday Americans, I wouldn’t want to advertise and be associated with the Oscars either.
“The reason why America has been the most dominant country in the world is not because America has more nuclear arms than anybody else,” Lee told the Global Brand Forum, an international business conference in Singapore.
“Has anyone seen exactly where a nuclear arm influenced how other people dress, the way they talk, the way they think?
Of course those nuclear arms allow us to enjoy the freedom necessary to create films, but when a hard leftie like Spike Lee admits the influence American films have on the way the rest of the world thinks one must take note and agree. Too often, in defense of their morally bankrupt product, liberal filmmakers will hide behind, “it’s just a movie.” Well, it’s much more than that. It’s the most powerful propaganda device ever created.
