Tonight is Oscar night and Osama bin Laden would love it. So says Charles Krauthammer, who rightfully hammers Hollywood for the pro-terrorist, anti-Western bent of many of the nominated films. From Steven Spielberg's paean to appeasement Munich, to the terrorist-sympathizing Paradise Now, to the blame-the USA oil conspiracy tale Syriana, this year's Academy Award showcases are textbook examples of leftist anti-Americanism. A large portion of Tinseltown has sunk farther than ever into radical leftwing beliefs, and it's no surprise that mainstream America continues to ignore their work.
The article linked immediately above, meanwhile, provides some perhaps unintended insight into the roots of the doldrums. Written by prominent film critic Richard Schickel, the piece acknowledges Hollywood's downturn, but refuses to admit any liberal culpability. Says Schickel:
I'm convinced that last year's downturn in attendance is almost completely attributable to the fact that it is cheaper and more convenient to wait and see routine films at home, on DVD, than it is to see them theatrically.Moreover, it has never been proved that the perceived liberality of Hollywood's morals or politics has any large effect on movie going. Decades ago, people went right on seeing racy movies, no matter how much the religious fundamentalists railed at Mae West.
Well, he may think there's no correlation, but reality dictates otherwise. Having been around for almost a decade, DVDs are not just a suddenly popular phenomenon, and over the past year, sales have actually begun to slow. Furthermore, racy films and anti-American films are two very different beasts; filmgoers may have flocked to see Mae West in a bikini, but you can bet they would have been repulsed by a story sympathizing with Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia against America.
Schickel's article is highly symptomatic of the mainstream movie industry's problems; faced with a clear decline largely due to their out-of-touch politics, they merely attempt to deflect the blame.
If Hollywood wants to recapture its former box office gold, it needs to move more in line with its target audience's tastes. Here's to Superman Returns for Best Picture in 2007.
http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/welcome.cgi
Oscar preview by Ann Coulter.
Posted by: Mini Me | March 05, 2006 at 07:46 PM
If Paradise Now had won, I would have sh*t bricks. It would have also been priceless, to just show how liberal hollywood has become.
Posted by: Mini Me | March 05, 2006 at 07:49 PM
Hi Surfer,
Clooney tonight said he was proud to belong to a cadre like "Hollywood" where the views are outside of the mainstream. That's really the problem. These professionals view their jobs, not as entertainers, but as symbolic journalists...except that truth doesn't matter...what matters is proffering the self-loating view that we are bad for creating all the things that go wrong in the world ond others are therefore our victims. There is less than a miniscule of truth to Syriana's plot; it's so unreasonable it's unfathomable. Essentially it's scatalogy posing as a fairy tale, but a tale in which some of the great things about America - our oil giants, our intelligence services, our military, our democratic system are all portrayed as evil merciless corruptionists. Now I as you...what parent would read fairy tales with this type of moral to his or her children during bedtime? The answer to that question is why people aren't watching movies at theaters or at home via DVD's or pay per view - it's not the technology, as you so aptly assert, Surfer.
Posted by: Verdant | March 05, 2006 at 08:06 PM
Hi Mini Me,
I think Brokeback Mountain will win. It's the least offensive movie, it's the least political, it's been seen by the most persons, and I understand it is a good movie. Have you seen it? I did like Truman, but it's just not controversial enough.
Posted by: Verdant | March 05, 2006 at 08:13 PM
Just saw the news, and "Crash" won for best picture. Don't know much about that one, but I'm surprised Brokeback didn't win. Paradise Now didn't win either, thank goodness.
Posted by: Solid Surfer | March 05, 2006 at 08:43 PM
I find it interesting that all of the nominations for best picture this year seem to possess a degree of controversy. No bigtime blockbuster movies this year, such as Superman (which solid surfer mentioned).
Posted by: Mini Me | March 06, 2006 at 08:17 AM
In regard to Paradise Now:
http://www.blondi.co.il/
This link is a site dedicated to the life of Asaf Zur, an innocent 17 year old student who was killed by a suicide bomber.
http://www.petitiononline.com/060201/
This link is a petition to revoke the Oscar nomination for the movie Paradise Now. While the Oscars did occur last night, I think you all should read what Asaf's father wrote (the author of the petition). It is a rather compelling argument explaining why the movie Paradise Now should be condemned, not praised with an Oscar nomination.
Posted by: Mini Me | March 06, 2006 at 08:24 AM
I had the misfortune of seeing Paradise Now in theaters (before all the nominations). Not only was the film morally appalling it was also ineffective in delivering its message. I left feeling even more hatred for those who blow themselves up with the goal of killing as many civilians as possible. The film attempted to humanize the terrorists but in effect did just the opposite. It did not show the two youths as brainwashed, confused, ideologically driven, poor and hopeless (not that it would make it acceptable). Rather, it portrayed them as educated and semi well off individuals that consciously made the decision to kill innocent civilians. Nominating a movie like this for an award is like honoring Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, absolutely inexcusable.
Can anyone explain to me why the Jewish and Israeli community has made such a big uproar about Munich but have kept for the most part silent about this film?
Posted by: Ian | March 06, 2006 at 10:16 AM
Great Point Ian, in regard to your comparison to Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. My only guess as to why we have not heard such an uproar from the Jewish and Israeli community is because it wasn't nearly as mainstream as Munich, which was directed by Spielberg and shown in nearly every theater in the country. Also, I imagine a lot of people have never heard of the movie. Still, especially considering it was nominated for an Oscar I too expected much more outrage from the Jewish and Israeli community in regard to this film.
Posted by: Mini Me | March 06, 2006 at 01:57 PM
Mini Me, I agree - Being a Spielberg film and starring major actors, Munich is well known by definition, whereas Paradise Now is a foreign film by an unknown director with an unknown cast. Until the Oscars, most Americans probably had never heard of Paradise Now. But still, there definitely should have been more outrage in the Jewish community. Maybe everyone was too focused on Munich to bother with another film, or perhaps fewer people simply cared to watch the Oscars this year.
Posted by: Solid Surfer | March 06, 2006 at 09:46 PM
Surfer,
I dont think Superman's gonna win it... it's going to be ROCKY in a comeback!!
Posted by: Mynameisrock | March 09, 2006 at 06:21 PM
Did you know there really is going to be another Rocky movie coming out? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479143/
Posted by: Solid Surfer | March 09, 2006 at 07:05 PM
Not only is there a new Rocky movie, but Rocky's nemesis is named Mason Dixon, played by boxer Antonio Tarver. The most comical thing about this is that in the movie Mason Dixon is referred to as "Maxon the Line Dixon"
Posted by: Mini Me | March 21, 2006 at 06:52 PM
Wow, that's pretty cheesy...I think Sly's scriptwriting could have done better than that. But I definitely still want to see the movie regardless!
Posted by: Solid Surfer | March 22, 2006 at 11:27 AM