Althouse: "You're a racist! We're a racist! Everybody's a racist! But you can overcome your racism in the face of an imminently exploding car..."

September 26, 2008

"You're a racist! We're a racist! Everybody's a racist! But you can overcome your racism in the face of an imminently exploding car..."

"Crash" is #3 on New York's list of "Ten Liberal Movies So Lame They Make Even Democrats Want to Vote Republican."

I'm especially pleased to see "Bob Roberts" on the list. (#10.) That movie got the kind of reviews that made me feel like I had to see it, and I was a big liberal at the time and predisposed to enjoy the politics, but it was incredibly stupid and -- I agree -- "eye-roll-inducing in its obviousness." [AND: I walked out on it after half an hour, and that was back when I almost never walked out on anything.[

Speaking of the relationship between my free-flowing movement along the political spectrum and my ability to appreciate political comedy, in the last 24 hours, I've noticed that "The Daily Show" got way funnier.

184 comments:

Freeman Hunt said...: Yes! And that Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain for the Oscar was a miscarriage of artistic meritocracy!; 9/26/08, 10:54 AM
Brian Doyle said...: I'm a liberal, and I hated Crash.; 9/26/08, 10:59 AM
Revenant said...: Was "The Last Supper" really a "liberal movie"? It seemed to me that it was making fun of the main characters.; 9/26/08, 10:59 AM
Brian Doyle said...: "Babel" was kind of Crash-ish but much better.; 9/26/08, 11:00 AM
Henry said...: I glad to see American Beauty at #9. I didn't really think of it as a liberal movie, though, just as a tedious exercise in artsy stereotyping. How anyone who knew film could think it original was beyond me. It was as if the vastly superior Welcome to the Dollhouse had never existed.; 9/26/08, 11:07 AM
Harwood said...: ... my free-flowing movement along the political spectrum ...
--
Hogwash. You are transparently liberal to the marrow. Despite your pretense of being "undecided," you will vote for Obama. I would wager my last farthing on that.; 9/26/08, 11:18 AM
Anonymous said...: i have noticed that you shifted to the left in the last couple of days.

It reminds me of how you were pro Harriet Miers, until you just snapped out of it.

McCain has become increasingly erratic. I blame his advisors. He needs to dump them and just be himself. The old McCain was - well - normal - and refreshing.; 9/26/08, 11:24 AM
TWM said...: Liberal or not, this sure is a great list of some of the worst movies ever made. Broakback Mountain should be there too though.; 9/26/08, 11:26 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I wasn't against Harriet Miers because she was conservative. I was against her because she was unqualified. I supported Roberts and Alito.; 9/26/08, 11:27 AM
P_J said...: What, no anti-Iraq-war films?

I'm not a big theater-goer, but weren't there some real dogs there?; 9/26/08, 11:29 AM
PogoПОССУМ said...: Hola! Sí, es mas difficult to pick el numero uno liberal film de la cinema. For is not Hollywood el vez of mas liberales? No?

I do not see my favorite among these most beautiful movies del liberalismo.

I love the film "CNN".
it is a new liberal movie todo las dias!; 9/26/08, 11:35 AM
Trooper York said...: He I thought Crash was a great movie. Sex with people who were just in a car crash. And Rosanna Arquette missing body parts after each new accident. Man she was hot. What a pig. Not as hot as her sister is right now but still smoking. Banging her while the car is still smoking.David Croenberg is a genuis.; 9/26/08, 11:36 AM
El Presidente said...: Motorcycle Diaries made me cry.; 9/26/08, 11:44 AM
Anonymous said...: I know - but it took you a couple of weeks to realize that she was incompetent.

It seems that the same thing happened with your view on Palin. Give her a fair shot and then you realized that she's just not qualified.; 9/26/08, 11:48 AM
Alex said...: Ann - you were against Harriet Miers because she was unsexy and John Roberts is so sex-ay!; 9/26/08, 12:02 PM
halojones-fan said...: Well, it's a lot easier to laugh at insulting humor when it isn't insulting you.

Although you've hit on a piece of wisdom: That an insult is more often in the perception than in the intent. If you choose not to be insulted, then...well, there it is.; 9/26/08, 12:03 PM
amba said...: I refuse to jump through hoops and watch their damned slideshow, but I hope "The Contender" is on that list. It's probably too old. But I hated that movie.; 9/26/08, 12:17 PM
Alex said...: Obama now has a +60 lead in electoral college on RCP. It's over.; 9/26/08, 12:19 PM
Alex said...: BTW, it seems that all the conservatives elites are throwing Palin under the bus. They held their nose for a while, but now they bring out the long knives.; 9/26/08, 12:22 PM
TJ said...: Fear not, amba. The only thing worthwhile about that movie is Jeff Bridges' fascination with trying to stump the White House kitchen.

Also, Crash is the worst. The racist Matt Dillon one, not the creepy James Spader one.; 9/26/08, 12:29 PM
integrity said...: I loathed "Crash" with a passion, a movie that may have been watchable right after the 1992 L.A. riots only(it's an incredibly dated film). The Cronenberg "Crash" is so demented that I can't resist, black sicko comedy at it's best.

"The Last Supper" rocks.; 9/26/08, 12:36 PM
Matt said...: I'm a liberal and I hated Crash too. It is incredibly heavy handed. It is as though the filmmaker suddenly discovered that racism existed and had to tell everyone.
The Last Supper is actually a black comedy parody on liberal views. It is not really a liberal movie.; 9/26/08, 12:50 PM
Revenant said...: Obama now has a +60 lead in electoral college on RCP. It's over.

Obama has, according to current polls, 228 electoral votes to McCain's 163, with 147 undecided. The winner needs 270.

So only an idiot could think "it's over" at this point; Obama has a solid lead, but he doesn't have the election sewn up by any stretch of the imagination.; 9/26/08, 12:52 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Actually, I kind of liked "Crash" (the Oscar-winning one), but I got caught up in the art of the editing, the images and the stories. I didn't get distracted by all the messaginess.; 9/26/08, 12:52 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Pogo tag.; 9/26/08, 12:54 PM
knox said...: "American Beauty..." so glad it made the list.; 9/26/08, 12:57 PM
Lorelei Leigh said...: See, I actually like a couple of those movies (though I agree others are complete dogs, or at least overhyped and overrated), and I'm not a liberal.

Or am I? Perhaps my outward liking of these films is a manifestation of some latent liberal lying dormant inside me.

Or maybe I just like bad movies.; 9/26/08, 12:57 PM
Unknown said...: If you walked out of a movie after a half hour you can't claim you saw it.; 9/26/08, 1:11 PM
Trooper York said...: Vaughan: I've always wanted to drive a crashed car.
James Ballard: You could get your wish at any moment.
Vaughan: No, I mean a crashed car with a history. Camus' Fassellvega, Nathaniel West's station wagon, Grace Kelly's Rover 3500. Just fix it enough to get it rolling. Don't clean it, don't touch anything else.
Vaughan: Maybe you can get Captain Kirk to let you crash the enterprise while you fuck Uhura and get a reach around from Mr. Sulu.
James Ballard: What the fuck?
Vaughan: Oh sorry, wrong show.
(Crash, 1996); 9/26/08, 1:20 PM
Rafique Tucker said...: Actually, I kind of liked "Crash" (the Oscar-winning one), but I got caught up in the art of the editing, the images and the stories. I didn't get distracted by all the messaginess.

Yeah, I think that's what I liked about it too. I'm a liberal, who totally dislikes those heavy-handed political movies (even when you agree with most of the message), but I still liked Crash. Was it preachy? KInda, but it disn't find it as egregious as others apparently did.

The Contender wasn't that bad of a film, although the heavy-handedness, and the over-the-top villainy of Gary Oldman leave the film open to mnockery.

American Beauty was overrated and trite. I found no use for the film.

I always thought The Last Supper was a parody of liberalism. I find it hard to believe that a liberal wrote that film.; 9/26/08, 1:20 PM
Revenant said...: American Beauty was overrated and trite. I found no use for the film.

It had boobies in it? That's always a plus.; 9/26/08, 1:29 PM
Trooper York said...: Shouldn't this thread have a "Mort" tag?; 9/26/08, 1:41 PM
the wolf said...: Although I enjoyed it, I think The American President with Michael Douglass should be on there too. Is there anything creepier than a President announcing at a press conference that he's going to go door-to-door and "get the guns"?; 9/26/08, 1:54 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: "Shouldn't this thread have a "Mort" tag?"

Trooper you beat me to it by 2 comments.; 9/26/08, 2:07 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Crash waa enetrtaining.

After reading these comments, I feel like I have to watch it again.; 9/26/08, 2:08 PM
PogoПОССУМ said...: My favorite silent film for liberal советский is Keith Olber Mann show on das MSNBC channel. Best to watch with sound off, but message is same.; 9/26/08, 2:12 PM
walter neff said...: If you think Crash is entertaining, you should see Scanners another Cronenberg classic
where these guys talk on the phone and get so pissed off that their heads explode.

I feel like that when I talk to my mother-in-law.; 9/26/08, 2:13 PM
vbspurs said...: Hey, Ann, guys. :)

I have been taking a wee time for myself, but I hope to be here for the debate tonight.

After reading the upteenth story about how race is preventing Americans for voting for a candidate, I decided to write up an essay with my own thoughts on the matter. It really is not about racism.

It's just:

The Clash of American Civilisations

See you later, peeps.

Cheers,
Victoria; 9/26/08, 2:15 PM
Eli Blake said...: All I have to say about liberal movies though is that every time Michael Moore makes a new one, he makes a ton of money from millions of people who plunk down their change to buy a ticket. Meanwhile, Ben Stein's idiotic creationist "documentary" failed big time at the box office this year.

The reason why the only media source that conservatives dominate is radio is because nobody actually has to pay to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage. If people had to think about it and spend money for it, nobody would bother listening to those clowns.; 9/26/08, 2:16 PM
XWL said...: It would be virtually impossible to do an honest list of "Ten Conservative (Hollywood) Movies So Lame They Make Even Republicans Want to Vote Democrat".

I don't think there've been 10 'conservative' films put out by Hollywood in the past 30 years (and because of the greater environmental pressures against conservative viewpoints leaking out from a Hollywood film, most films that could be described as being conservative are probably half way decent films, given the hostile process they'd have to survive to even get made).

And I think they could have easily pre-emptively put "W" up on this list. There's no way that's going to be anything but laughably, terribly, and awfully, bad. It might be so bad it's funny, though.

And it would be beneath me to 'campaign' for my own commenter tag, but I would like to point out I've been mentioned on more than a few posts hereabouts.; 9/26/08, 2:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Eli,
Seen "Lions for Lambs", "Valley of Elah", or "War Inc." yet?; 9/26/08, 2:22 PM
PogoПОССУМ said...: "If people had to think about it and spend money for it, nobody would bother listening to those clowns."

Da, товарищ tovaritsch!
A great thinker!

Remember but please not to mention the Air America, and Lions for the Lambs, and Jars on the Head, and The Elah in the Valley, which all violate your rule due to the dirty pigsty capitalism **spit**. Evan Redacted she failed, though having 'Red' right in the title!!

But minus those, all true!; 9/26/08, 2:26 PM
Jacob said...: I'm glad The Contender was on there – it was awful and unrealistic. Still, Jeff Bridges was pretty great it in.; 9/26/08, 2:35 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Comrade Pogo:

Quiet - you must never again mention low ratings for Air America (free like Rush da?) or empty seats for films you yourself and true party members surely viewed many many times.; 9/26/08, 2:38 PM
Anonymous said...: ""If people had to think about it and spend money for it, nobody would bother listening to those clowns."

Sorry, Po...er ,Comrade Pogo, for forgetting the unforgettable "Redacted".
Cheer up, Bud.
Don't let your mood swing with every poll. I count on you for 'mood elevation'. Governments come and go;
we blog forever.; 9/26/08, 2:39 PM
integrity said...: Revenant said...
Was "The Last Supper" really a "liberal movie"? It seemed to me that it was making fun of the main characters.

The writer was savaging everybody, right and left. Not a liberal or conservative movie, everybody is painted as an out of control moron, appropriately.; 9/26/08, 2:40 PM
dbp said...: Eli Blake said...
All I have to say about liberal movies though is that every time Michael Moore makes a new one, he makes a ton of money from millions of people who plunk down their change to buy a ticket. Meanwhile, Ben Stein's idiotic creationist "documentary" failed big time at the box office this year.

Maybe what this means is that far more liberals than conservatives are willing to pay good money to watch nonsense.; 9/26/08, 2:44 PM
dbp said...: How about a contest for the best liberal movies?

I nominate Dr. Strangelove.

"President Merkin Muffley: Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room. "; 9/26/08, 2:50 PM
Eric said...: All I have to say about liberal movies though is that every time Michael Moore makes a new one, he makes a ton of money from millions of people who plunk down their change to buy a ticket. Meanwhile, Ben Stein's idiotic creationist "documentary" failed big time at the box office this year.

It's funny how two people can get something totally different from the same set of facts. The way I interpret this is both Moore's and Stein's movies are crap, but liberals are too dumb to realize it.; 9/26/08, 2:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Alex said...Obama now has a +60 lead in electoral college on RCP. It's over.

Good. Now be happy, tell your friends and remember - DON'T BOTHER TO VOTE.

Hey, Steven Seagal's "On Deadly Ground" was #1. I was going to pick that one.

I loved it when he showed his environmentalist/anti racist rage by blowing up the oil field and creating an ecological disaster no doubt.

"Billy Jack" from 1971 was one of the liberal classics.

It's spoofed here on SNL as "Billy Paul" with Paul Simon in 1976.; 9/26/08, 3:08 PM
KCFleming said...: The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover, perhaps the most vile movie I have ever seen, happened to capture exquisitely the fin de siècle of the liberal moment.

For second place I nominate Free to Be… You and Me, that Marlo Thomas piece of crap. In this particular segment. we listen to Michael Jackson sing about growing up to be pretty.; 9/26/08, 3:09 PM
Tex the Pontificator said...: The ironic thing is that, when I finally saw Crash, I was prepared to be disgusted by it. The promo on the box that said it would challenge my preconceptions made me figure it would be preachy. And yet I, a person who has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1976, and who deeply repents that vote, liked Crash.

Yes, there is racism in the world. Who can deny that? The cop who used a traffic stop as an occasion to grope a woman passenger was loathesome in his racism. But I took the later traffic scene as showing that even that slime was not irredeemably evil, that in other contexts he tried to do the right thing. And I liked how the movie showed the cop himself trying to come to grips with the contradiction of his two interactions with the same woman.

I've recommended the movie to friends. But Barack ought not waste time trying to get my vote. Crash didn't make me like Leftists.; 9/26/08, 3:12 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: "Bob Roberts" was an odd duck.

The idea of a "Conservative Folk Singer" was a good premise that worked when it was reprised in a skit on SNL, but didn't work on film.

Ironically, the movie was indirectly (and absurdly) critical of SNL itself for being associated with G.E. by being brodacst over NBC.; 9/26/08, 3:12 PM
knox said...: All I have to say about liberal movies though is that every time Michael Moore makes a new one, he makes a ton of money from millions of people who plunk down their change to buy a ticket. Meanwhile, Ben Stein's idiotic creationist "documentary" failed big time at the box office this year.

Hm. Apparently liberals not only love stupid movies, but blow tons of cash on them... while conservatives sensibly stay away.

Besides, instead of assuming that liberal views make more money, you could just as easily draw the conclusion that there are fewer conservative blowhards who need to insert their politics into every piece of entertainment they submit to the public.

The reason why the only media source that conservatives dominate is radio is because nobody actually has to pay to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage. If people had to think about it and spend money for it, nobody would bother listening to those clowns.

Ever heard of podcasts? Lots of people, notably our liberal bloghost, pay to get Rush Limbaugh's show commercial-free. Air America couldn't even get people to listen for "free." If there are no listeners, advertisers pull the plug.; 9/26/08, 3:23 PM
integrity said...: Ann Althouse said:

I'm especially pleased to see "Bob Roberts" on the list. (#10.) That movie got the kind of reviews that made me feel like I had to see it, and I was a big liberal at the time and predisposed to enjoy the politics, but it was incredibly stupid and -- I agree -- "eye-roll-inducing in its obviousness." [AND: I walked out on it after half an hour, and that was back when I almost never walked out on anything.

I bought the DVD a few months ago and found it unwatchable in the comfort of my own home. Not good.; 9/26/08, 3:31 PM
Palladian said...: "How about a contest for the best liberal movies?

I nominate Dr. Strangelove."

Dr. Strangelove is not a liberal movie. It's a skeptical movie. A cynical movie. No one comes out looking well.; 9/26/08, 3:35 PM
Trooper York said...: The best liberal movie: The Oxbow Incident.

The best conservative movie: The Man who Shot Liberty Valance; 9/26/08, 3:38 PM
Trooper York said...: Of course I only like westerns.

I hear Appalossa is great.; 9/26/08, 3:40 PM
Trooper York said...: Even that chimpmunk cheeked cunt is good in it.; 9/26/08, 3:42 PM
Trooper York said...: Wait, there are two "o's" in Appaloosa. Sorry teacher.; 9/26/08, 3:43 PM
Palladian said...: "All I have to say about liberal movies though is that every time Michael Moore makes a new one, he makes a ton of money from millions of people who plunk down their change to buy a ticket. Meanwhile, Ben Stein's idiotic creationist "documentary" failed big time at the box office this year."

Perhaps because smart conservatives aren't necessarily creationists?

I think it also has to do with the need many liberals have for acceptance and "community". Liberals love being part of a "community". Going to movies that uncritically recite liberal shibboleths makes them feel a part of a "community" of like-minded, high-minded individuals. This is also the reason that Liberals like bumper stickers and buttons and BUCK FUSH t-shirts. It's a way to express their membership in the "community of Liberals".

To be fair, some Conservatives have a need for this as well, though it's telling that the successful liberal entertainments are communal (movies, protest rallies, food co-ops) and the successful conservative entertainments are individualistic and solitary (radio, books, elections).; 9/26/08, 3:45 PM
knox said...: Another great liberal movie: "To Kill a Mockingbird" ...though the whole "some men in this world are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us" has a conservative, "High Noon" quality to it. IMO.; 9/26/08, 3:48 PM
Trooper York said...: Most liberal Western: High Noon.

Most conservative Western: Fort Apache.; 9/26/08, 3:49 PM
knox said...: Even that chimpmunk cheeked cunt is good in it.

Oh, it Renee Zellweger's in it, no deal. She burned that bridge in "Cold Mountain."; 9/26/08, 3:49 PM
Henry said...: Best Liberal Movie: Goodbye Mr. Chips

Best Conservative Movie: On the Waterfront

Best Humanist Movie: The Apartment; 9/26/08, 3:51 PM
knox said...: "High Noon" is liberal? Please to explain. Write a blog post about it!; 9/26/08, 3:51 PM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/26/08, 3:52 PM
Trooper York said...: Best tits in a Western: Jane Russell The Outlaw

Worst tits in a Western: Kim Darby True Grit.; 9/26/08, 3:52 PM
KCFleming said...: If there were a Misanthrope Festival, it'd be all full of conservatives who didn't show up.

Their motto: Go Away.; 9/26/08, 3:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Trooper York said...The best liberal movie: The Oxbow Incident.

Bad Day at Black Rock was a good liberal movvie.

But what movie comes close to this absolutely brilliant historical ad for Washington Mutual?

Watch as Barack Obama changes the financial world and brings hope to so many customers. Love how all of McCain's White Devils are corralled like that.

Has to be one of the greatest racist liberal pieces of art ever.

WaMu RIP.; 9/26/08, 3:54 PM
knox said...: I guess I'll explain myself. The whole one man standing up alone while everyone else hides under the table... I think of that as conservative. Also the fact that pacifist Grace Kelly is so annoying, while the Mexican lady who tells it like it is kicks ass.; 9/26/08, 3:55 PM
Trooper York said...: Worst liberal movie: The Defiant Ones where Barack Obama and John McCain are handcuffed together and have to spend two hours debating and lying and spouting bullshit...what..that's not a movie...oh sorry...nevermind.; 9/26/08, 3:56 PM
knox said...: To be fair, some Conservatives have a need for this as well, though it's telling that the successful liberal entertainments are communal (movies, protest rallies, food co-ops) and the successful conservative entertainments are individualistic and solitary (radio, books, elections).

Palladian, excellent point.; 9/26/08, 3:56 PM
Godot said...: Pop in Can't Stop the Music starring Valerie Perrine, Steve Guttenberg, Bruce Jenner and The Village People.

It has nothing to do with racism. But it's so wonderfully bad it has the power to heal.; 9/26/08, 3:58 PM
Daddio said...: Wow, you are way more masochistic than me. I wouldn't know if the Daily Show had become funny in the last 24 hours. The cost of finding out that it's not is just way too high.; 9/26/08, 4:00 PM
knox said...: Pop in Can't Stop the Music starring Valerie Perrine, Steve Guttenberg, Bruce Jenner and The Village People.

It has nothing to do with racism. But it's so wonderfully bad it has the power to heal.

OMG!!! I caught this last year, just flipping through channels. I came across it and could not stop watching. Truly awesomely bad and wonderful.; 9/26/08, 4:01 PM
knox said...: Speaking of bad but wonderful, "Sudden Impact" is really a fun watch.

A dog actually farts in it, ostensibly for "comic relief." 'nuff said.; 9/26/08, 4:01 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Warren Beatty's "Reds" is terrific. It was very much misunderstood when it came out in 1981. I think a lot of people who did not see it thought that it was somehow sympathetic to leftist politics because it was made by Betty. Instead, it captures how the personal remains constant (in the film's case the relationship between Betty and Diane Keaton' s characters, Jack Reed and Louise Bryant) even in the face of history's tumultuous events. "Reds" is a movie I can watch again and again.; 9/26/08, 4:02 PM
UWS guy said...: Tooper York are you also the poster Al swearengen?...; 9/26/08, 4:05 PM
Trooper York said...: Knox asked why I termed High Noon as the most liberal of all Westerns. The answer is simple. The whole premise of High Noon is that government has all the answers. Gary Cooper has to stand alone as no one would help him. No vigilante justice. No one will stand up to the outlaws. Only the government in the form of the sheriff can act. The movie is often used an example of how a single man could stand up to oppression, sort of a left handed criticism of the McCarthy era. It was produced by that famous fellow traveler Stanley Kramer and written by the famous communist Carl Foreman.

Now the truth of the matter is that in the West when “outlaws” threatened a town they all got together and blasted the shit out of them. If you want to see an example watch the “Long Riders” the great Walter Hill film where you see how the townspeople of Northfield Minnesota blasted the shit out of the James Gang. Or research the real life vigilante committee of Virginia City Nevada that strung up outlaws left and right. Nobody waited around for the government. Nobody voted present. They just got their gat and blasted them.; 9/26/08, 4:10 PM
Trooper York said...: Usw guy you are dead to me man.; 9/26/08, 4:11 PM
Trooper York said...: Best liberal viglante Western: Johnny Guitar.

The posse is led by a lesbian.

Of course there are conservative lesbians.

Look at George Will.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.; 9/26/08, 4:12 PM
Trooper York said...: Honorable mention for best tits in a western:

Raquel Welch in 100 Rifles

Ann Margret in The Train Robbers.

Sophia Loren in Heller in Pink Tights.

Jayne Mansfield in The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw.

Janet Leigh The Naked Spur (extra credit for pointiness); 9/26/08, 4:20 PM
Trooper York said...: If you google pointy breasts it will bring you right to Blake's blog The Bit Maelstrom where he has several in depth posts discussing the pointy breast of several acctresses including Janet Leigh.; 9/26/08, 4:23 PM
Trooper York said...: Blake is the king of the pointy breasts so to speak.; 9/26/08, 4:23 PM
XWL said...: Trooper, no Jane Russell in The Outlaw?

(Okay, so maybe Howard Hughes didn't make a special bra just for Jane so that she could go bare shouldered in the picture, but the ad campaign for the film certainly was all about her breastesses)

And then there's Russ Meyer's western . . .; 9/26/08, 4:33 PM
knox said...: Trooper, did not know "High Noon" had that backstory. Pretty interesting.; 9/26/08, 4:38 PM
knox said...: Of course there are conservative lesbians.

Look at George Will.

LMAO!; 9/26/08, 4:39 PM
Lorelei Leigh said...: Trooper, where would you place The Searchers on the ideological spectrum?

I think I'd place it somewhere in the middle, though I confess it has been a while since I've seen it.; 9/26/08, 4:41 PM
integrity said...: L. E. Lee said...
Warren Beatty's "Reds" is terrific. It was very much misunderstood when it came out in 1981. I think a lot of people who did not see it thought that it was somehow sympathetic to leftist politics because it was made by Betty. Instead, it captures how the personal remains constant (in the film's case the relationship between Betty and Diane Keaton' s characters, Jack Reed and Louise Bryant) even in the face of history's tumultuous events. "Reds" is a movie I can watch again and again.

It is the finest film ever made, human beings with brains and emotions. Women as full blooded, intellectual humans! Who would have thought?

I could hang every frame of this film in my home. A beautiful, intelligent, non-sentimental gorgeousfest. The compositions are astonishing. A masterpiece.

Every actor is at their peak. The apex of the acting careers of Beatty, Nicholson, Keaton and Stapleton. Bravura.; 9/26/08, 4:42 PM
Trooper York said...: You didn't read the whole thread
xwl. I picked the Outlaw as the Western with the best tits.

The funny thing about that movie is that it is a contender for one of the worst movies ever made about Billy the Kid. There is a whole sub genre of lousy movies about Billy: The Left Handed Gun, The Outlaw,Dirty Little Billy, Billy the Kid vs Dracula. Even such Western legends such as John Wayne and Sam Peckinpaugh made shitty Billy the Kid movies in Chisum and Pat Garret and Billy the Kid. It is one of the most abused western archtypes.

But at least The Outlaw has them there tits.; 9/26/08, 4:42 PM
Anonymous said...: Greatest Conservative movie?

The Wizard of Oz; 9/26/08, 4:45 PM
UWS guy said...: Are pointy breasts the same as puffy nipples or are they separate categories.; 9/26/08, 4:50 PM
michael farris said...: "The Cronenberg "Crash" is so demented that I can't resist, black sicko comedy at it's best"

Cronenberg's movie was one of the most disturbing mainstream movies ever made (and I thought Cannibal Holocaust wasn't so shocking - I know from disturbing) a horror film with no monster to concentrate on and dissipate the tension through. Every disturbing image and idea in the movie (and there are lots of them) sticks to the actors and viewer like flypaper and can't be gotten rid of.

Why they gave another high profile film the same name less than 10 years later is still a mystery.

I avoided the second Crash meticulously after seeing it described as "Magnolia for dummies" (I lurved Magnolia).; 9/26/08, 4:50 PM
Tibore said...: I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the fact that Crash is now going to be a cable series.

Saw the promos myself. It's got Dennis Hopper in it.; 9/26/08, 4:53 PM
zeek said...: Only thing worse than a list of movies someone didn't like gussied up as political insight is the overuse of the word agitprop.

Though this lameness does remind me of the Ann Coulter article where she insisted Dr. Strangelove was a conservative movie. Apparently she didn't know it was greeted as anti-American, anti-military, pinko propaganda upon its release.

And none of those movies want to make me vote Republican.; 9/26/08, 4:55 PM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/26/08, 4:58 PM
Trooper York said...: The Searchers is a profoundly conservative movie. Made by the conservative icon John Ford who had made the typical life long passage from being a flaming liberal in his youth to a hidebound conservative in old age. Ethan Edwards returns home to his family after serving the South in the Civil war to the woman he gave up and who married his brother. He comes back to the bosom of his family and the yearning he shows as he looks at the family at table is palpable. But then the outside world intrudes and disrupts and destroys the home he never had. So he starts on a quest, a quest to save, to conserve, to turn back the clock in the only way he can. By bring Debbie back to her family. But he is a hard man. A rough man. A man with no give in his soul. His iron determination is what keeps him going for nigh on ten years searching for the daughter he never had.

To belie the canard that Ford is a hardened reactionary, the true hero of the piece is Martin the adopted son of the family who stays with him every step of the way. Who knows he has to be there to save Debbie at the denouncement, because Ethan will kill her when he finds out she became Scar’s woman. He is a true hero, foregoing his own true love to save his sister. He sticks it out to the bitter end.

And in the end, Ethan Edwards overcomes his hatred of the “other.” As he takes Debbie in his arms he looks at her and realizes that she is all that he can save of the family he has lost. So he stays his hand and returns her to what is left of her family.

The last shot is of Ethan Edwards in the doorway of the Jorgenson’s cabin. We look over his shoulder as he gazes out on the plains. Ethan can never really be part of the family. His life is out there in the cold, out there in the wild. He can take solace for a time at the family hearth. But his place is out there in the wilderness. Protecting. Searching. Conserving.

The Searchers is perhaps one of the best movies ever made.

If only Vera Miles had bigger tits.; 9/26/08, 5:02 PM
Revenant said...: I think a lot of people who did not see it thought that it was somehow sympathetic to leftist politics because it was made by Betty.

Whereas people who DID see it thought it was sympathetic to leftist politics because the only characters portrayed in a positive light were Communists and Communist sympathizers. There were the mean nasty anti-communists, the mean nasty Soviet communists, and the attractive sympathetic Nice Communists Whose Hearts Were in the Right Place. It was the standard Hollywood bullshit of wanting to claim that the communist movement was well-intentioned but simply went astray.; 9/26/08, 5:02 PM
Revenant said...: That being said, "Reds" WAS a well-made film, and I think Beatty deserved the Best Director Oscar he got.; 9/26/08, 5:04 PM
Eli Blake said...: How did we go from liberal movies to pointy tits?

In any case, some of you (intentionally or not) misconstrued my point. What I was pointing out was not that every liberal can make money in Hollywood, but that Michael Moore can and has. My point is that there has not been a successful conservative film made (with the exception of Passion of the Christ) in at least a couple of decades. There have been conservative films made, but they have not been successful. Obviously there have been some unsuccessful liberal films made, but virtually all the successful ideological films were liberal. The closest thing I might give you to a successful film that at least in some ways was conservative was Forrest Gump.; 9/26/08, 5:04 PM
Chris Arabia said...: the best things about sudden impact:

1. the dude who played the ill-fated pimp in the 2nd one and the black power guyin the 3rd one comes back as a cop in this one.

2. frank pentangeli is tricked into having a heart attack by old friend lt. callahan.

3. camryn manheim is the chick on the elevator w clint and some of his trademark incompetent hoodlums.

whoever said the wizard of oz -- madamalaskan? -- most insightful comment of the entire thread.; 9/26/08, 5:06 PM
Eli Blake said...: Oh yeah, I know.

This summer we learned that Indiana Jones can kill Russian communists as well as he can kill nazis, and that he probably voted Republican in the 1950's (or at least that he was willing to respond when offered a chance to become a double agent, "I like Ike.")

But I consider Indiana Jones to be more like light entertainment with no deep ideological meaning.; 9/26/08, 5:08 PM
Trooper York said...: It's always about the tits man.

If Diane Keaton had better tits, then a lot more people would have seen Reds.; 9/26/08, 5:09 PM
Trooper York said...: Now the real Emma Goldman had luscious full breasts.

And reputedly a very hirsute snatch.; 9/26/08, 5:11 PM
blake said...: "High Noon" is liberal? Please to explain. Write a blog post about it!

Troop and I have hashed this out a couple of times. I'm not of the Westerns era, so when I saw a western series a few summers ago, High Noon stood out like a sore thumb.

It really doesn't make much sense except as allegory.

Bad Day at Black Rock was a good liberal movvie.

It doesn't hold up well, IMO. And I love Spencer Tracy.

Best liberal viglante Western: Johnny Guitar.

That's another one Troop and I have hashed out. We're pretty sure the movie's entire dynamic is powered by Mercedes McCambridge's sublimated attraction to Joan Crawford.

It feels exactly like a '30s Crawford movie transposed to the Western genre.

Cronenberg's movie was one of the most disturbing mainstream movies ever made

Aren't they all? That's what Cronenberg does. His '70s stuff (Rabid, Shivers--wait, are those the same movies?) is just freaky. Even A History of Violence is really disturbing.

Eastern Promises is probably his most tame movie since The Fly.; 9/26/08, 5:12 PM
UWS guy said...: How is passion of the Christ a conservative film?; 9/26/08, 5:13 PM
Baron Zemo said...: "But I consider Indiana Jones to be more like light entertainment with no deep ideological meaning."

My dear boy, I feel exactly the same way about Barack Obama.; 9/26/08, 5:13 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: If In & Out isn't on the list, it should be. Hell, even Tom Selleck plays a homo in this movie.; 9/26/08, 5:17 PM
blake said...: How did we go from liberal movies to pointy tits?

It started with this perfectly innocent post I made one night while watching Touch of Evil.

It, like, quadrupled my traffic. (From, I dunno, five people to twenty.) So as a gag, I made some other posts referencing Gloria Grahame, Carole Landis, etc. Actually Faith Domergue's picture is probably responsible for 15% of all my traffic. (It's all SFW, despite Troop's attempts to turn me into a porn mogul.)

It's just an excuse to post cheesecake.

And it's "pointy breasts". We strive to be (marginally) classy over at the maelstrom.; 9/26/08, 5:17 PM
Baron Zemo said...: "How is passion of the Christ a conservative film?"

My goodness you are quite a dull fellow. They crucify a community organizer.; 9/26/08, 5:19 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: Alex: BTW, it seems that all the conservatives elites are throwing Palin under the bus. They held their nose for a while, but now they bring out the long knives.

Links, please.; 9/26/08, 5:22 PM
integrity said...: Whereas people who DID see it thought it was sympathetic to leftist politics because the only characters portrayed in a positive light were Communists and Communist sympathizers. There were the mean nasty anti-communists, the mean nasty Soviet communists, and the attractive sympathetic Nice Communists Whose Hearts Were in the Right Place. It was the standard Hollywood bullshit of wanting to claim that the communist movement was well-intentioned but simply went astray.

The commies were portrayed as hopelessly naive and delusional idealists that did not understand the ideology that they were supporting. But it was romanticized.; 9/26/08, 5:26 PM
blake said...: Great conservative movies are generally action films--perhaps what Eli would consider "light entertainment with no ideological meaning".

Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, all the Dirty Harry movies except maybe the afore mentioned Sudden Impact. Sometimes conservative movies were designed to be liberal, but don't come out that way. The latest War of the Worlds is conservative though it's meant to be viewed as an allegory against the war in Iraq.

Lucas tried real hard to turn the very conservative Star Wars series liberal, but just made hash out of the whole thing.

As for no conservative movies being hits, well, Dark Knight is very conservative. Lord of the Rings, the Spiderman series--fantasy action movies pretty depend on the notion that there is good and evil in the world, and that good needs to take action against evil in a direct fashion.

Like just about every great Western--even High Noon, which has as its real failing, a few of the human race as helpless without government intervention. Cooper is the conservative, but he's in a world of liberals.

The recent Pirates movies are libertarian, of course. Harry Potter has a libertarian streak, as well.

Etc.; 9/26/08, 5:30 PM
PogoПОССУМ said...: "The commies were portrayed as hopelessly naive and delusional idealists that did not understand the ideology that they were supporting."

да Da, I love documentary too.; 9/26/08, 5:30 PM
Trooper York said...: Best Communist movie: Doctor Zhivago.

Worst Communist movie: Mission to Moscow.; 9/26/08, 5:32 PM
blake said...: There is good versus evil in liberal pictures, of course, but the evil is always a CEO, a mogul, a financial officer, or, literally, a Republican (as opposed to an implicit Republican, as all CEOs, moguls and financial officers are).

And they're usually shamed. The bad guys in conservative movies are bad guys: killers, terrorists, aliens, whatever. And they're usually dispatched in a more permanent way.; 9/26/08, 5:34 PM
Trooper York said...: Best Communist actress with the nicest tits: Scarlet Johansson.

Worst Communist actress with the pancake titties: Janeane Garofalo; 9/26/08, 5:38 PM
blake said...: Having said that, I enjoyed Crash, actually saw it twice in the theater(!) which I don't do often.

It's a fable, and part of what I enjoy is that it shows L.A. as a very, very small town with people from distant places crossing paths repeatedly. (That NEVER happens to me.)

If Haggis was trying for some kind of cogent or simple message, it's a complete fail, I agree. (And the people I know who viewed it as such hated it.)

I had the same reaction to American Beauty. Was there a message there? Guys who get to middle-age sometimes regret life choices? Was that it?

Now, The Contender had a message and, frankly, I applaud the writer for being so forthright about it.

Keep in mind, when reading the following, that writer/director Rod Lurie thought he hadn't be clear enough where his politics lay, and so stuffed them in the mouth of his character Laine Hanson for what he presumably thought would be a "stand up and cheer moment":

I stand for a woman's right to choose.

I stand for the elimination of the death penalty.

I stand for a strong and growing Armed Forces because we must stomp out genocide on this planet, and I believe that that is a cause worth dying for.

I stand for seeing every gun taken out of every home -- period.

I stand for making the selling of cigarettes to our youth a federal offense.

I stand for term limits and campaign reform.

And, Mr. Chairman, I stand for the separation of Church and State, and the reason that I stand for that is the same reason that I believe our forefathers did. It is not there to protect religion from the grasp of government but to protect our government from the grasp of religious fanaticism.

Now, I may be an atheist, but that does not mean I do not go to church. I do go to church. The church I go to is the one that emancipated the slaves and gave women the right to vote. It gave us every freedom that we hold dear. My church is this very Chapel of Democracy that we sit in together, and I do not need God to tell me what are my moral absolutes. I need my heart, my brain, and this church.; 9/26/08, 5:51 PM
blake said...: I stand for a strong and growing Armed Forces because we must stomp out genocide on this planet, and I believe that that is a cause worth dying for.

In the remake, they amend this to say, "except, of course, in Iraq".

Liberal movie you don't realize is a liberal movie: The Fifth Element.; 9/26/08, 5:54 PM
blake said...: Rod Lurie would go on to write and produce Commander in Chief. Think he's a Hillary supporter?; 9/26/08, 5:55 PM
Trooper York said...: Movie Characters most like current political figures

John McCain: Rooster Cogburnm in True Grit.

Barack Obama: Sir, in To Sir with Love.

Joe Biden: Mr. Quincy Magoo in What’s New Mr. Magoo.

Sarah Palin: Ellen Barkin as Calamity Jane in Wild Bill.; 9/26/08, 6:08 PM
Trooper York said...: Most racist movie made by a white guy: Birth of a Nation.

Most racist movie made by a black guy: School Daze.; 9/26/08, 6:14 PM
Trooper York said...: Best movie with a skinny John Travolta: Saturday Night Fever.

Best movie with a fat John Travolta: Hairspray.; 9/26/08, 6:17 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Trooper! You are invited to our house to watch movies at any time. Excellent taste.

The best liberal movie: The Oxbow Incident.

If that movie counts as liberal, I agree. Though I'm not sure that it does... pro rule of law, anti emotional mob rule, seems a bit conservative.

The best conservative movie: The Man who Shot Liberty Valance

Love that movie. My pick for this category would be The Outlaw Josie Wales as the conservative archetype. Or if we're taking a broader interpretation, The Searchers, as it is definitely one of the best movies ever made.

Most liberal western in my opinion: Angel and the Badman.

Very anti-gun, but I loved it all the same.; 9/26/08, 6:20 PM
Ron said...: Dr. Strangelove is not a liberal movie. It's a skeptical movie. A cynical movie. No one comes out looking well.

Not True! Nazi scientists come out looking like they know what they're doing! More than anyone else anyway...

Trooper, you watch Mad Men? There be major boobage on that show..y'all who watch know of whom I speak...; 9/26/08, 6:21 PM
blake said...: Barack Obama: Sir, in To Sir with Love.

I get more of a Will Smith vibe offa Obama than a Poitier.

Not politics er nothin', just Poitier seemed more imposing.; 9/26/08, 6:22 PM
Ron said...: hmmm....maybe Touch of Evil as best liberal movie? Evil Orson Welles gets his...; 9/26/08, 6:23 PM
blake said...: Would that make Heston the liberal?; 9/26/08, 6:24 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I don't think Brokeback Mountain was a liberal movie. If it was supposed to be, then it missed the mark.; 9/26/08, 6:25 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Well wait, not a liberal movie with one caveat:

Crazed hillbillies are not, in fact, the leading cause of death among gay males as Brokeback might lead one to believe.; 9/26/08, 6:26 PM
blake said...: No, the leading cause would seem to be streetfighting: at least in the '60s and '70s.; 9/26/08, 6:33 PM
Trooper York said...: Well Freeman, the Oxbow Incident is a thinly veiled attack against lynching in the south and a plea for tolerance and the rule of law which at one time was very important to liberals until they started making up the laws as the Supreme went along. Anthony Quinn stands in for the minority quotient as the token Mexican and the two other "rustlers" are the poor slobs who where lynched by the small town ranchers and shop keepers in the posse. You know the Republicans.

It's all of a piece with similar leftist tripe like "I was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" which is tilted to convey a message that the "people" were right and the "law" and the forces of the reactionary bourgeoisie were evil. The last line of the film informs us of the commie sensibility of the time. As the “hero” flees out in the night, they ask him how he will live. He says “I steal.”

It’s Chris Dodd’s favorite movie.; 9/26/08, 6:35 PM
Trooper York said...: Blake I feel that Barack is a young puerile callow Sidney Poitier before he grew up after being condescended to by Spencer Tracy and roughed up by Rod Stieger.

He does have the potential to grow into an imposing moral figure.

He just has to stop voting present.; 9/26/08, 6:41 PM
Trooper York said...: "Would that make Heston the liberal?"

Actually Heston marched with Dr. Martin Luther King when it wasn't safe to do so. In the real world when he could have been shot or arrested, not in his imagination.

But that doesn't count because he went on to cling to his guns and his religion.; 9/26/08, 6:47 PM
blake said...: Well, reality just distorts the important things, like movies.

Heston was--well, he was a bit of a weenie in Evil, wasn't he? Or just a do-gooder?; 9/26/08, 6:59 PM
Trooper York said...: Heston plays a science fiction character in Touch of Evil as he plays a Mexican Police official who is trying to stop drugs from entering the United States and is a Mexican national visiting the United States legally. It is the first in a series of his famous science fiction roles that continued with Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green and the Omega Man.; 9/26/08, 7:05 PM
Palladian said...: "I don't think Brokeback Mountain was a liberal movie. If it was supposed to be, then it missed the mark."

You're right. It was profoundly conservative. People make the mistake of assuming that since it portrayed gay men as human beings at the center of a story, then it must be liberal. See, it's exercises like this that show that the contemporary political terms of art, "liberal" and "conservative", are completely meaningless except in a relative way. The best art is that which leaves you without the ability to categorize it.

Stanley Kubrick was the greatest filmmaker who ever lived, by the way. He jumped genres so much but never made a Western. That would have been... interesting.

Maybe "A Clockwork Orange" is a Western...; 9/26/08, 7:08 PM
Palladian said...: Man, I love "Touch of Evil".; 9/26/08, 7:09 PM
blake said...: Clockwork is the ultimate in conservative movies.

Evil runs rampant, coddled by society, until society gets fed up and becomes even more horrific than the evil it's trying to fight.; 9/26/08, 7:10 PM
Trooper York said...: Paths of Glory is the closest thing that Kubrick did to a Western. He used a famous Western Movie star in Kirk Douglas who starred in many other types of movies but made most of his money in Western pot boilers like the War Wagon. Other familiar western actors like Raplh Meeker and Timothy Carey were mixed in with effete frenchman like Adolphe Menjou. The themes of cowardiance and punishment are familar to most western movie goers. Of course the Western movie had become such a cliche that Kubrick stayed as far away as he could since he had often stated that everything that a western could say had already been said.

I think he would have been better served both business wise and professionaly if he had directed a few years of Bonanza. But hey that's just me.; 9/26/08, 7:20 PM
Palladian said...: "Evil runs rampant, coddled by society, until society gets fed up and becomes even more horrific than the evil it's trying to fight."

I think everyone in England should be forced to watch that film with their eyelids held open with clamps.; 9/26/08, 7:21 PM
Trooper York said...: It was rumored that late in life Kubrick consulted on a James Bond movie with the proviso that no one would ever know but he needed the sratch.

Imagine what he would have done if he got a chance to direct something like Deadwood.; 9/26/08, 7:22 PM
Palladian said...: "Imagine what he would have done if he got a chance to direct something like Deadwood."

Or A.I. for that matter :(; 9/26/08, 7:34 PM
Trooper York said...: Hey if a bunch of cockney hooligans with bowler hats and spats ran out and kicked David Archuleta to death, man that is the definition of win/win.; 9/26/08, 7:36 PM
blake said...: I think everyone in England should be forced to watch that film with their eyelids held open with clamps.

Heh. "OK, this time, you're going to GET IT!"; 9/26/08, 7:47 PM
Trooper York said...: Best political movie: Advise and Consent.

Worst political movie: The Candidate; 9/26/08, 8:06 PM
Joe said...: Where's Syriana? Suffered through half of that last weekend.

Crash was dumb, but at least I watched that one to the end. Barely.; 9/26/08, 8:08 PM
Trooper York said...: Best Elvis Movie: Viva Las Vegas

Worst Elvis Movie: Flaming Star (Not the Clay Aiken Bio-pic); 9/26/08, 8:10 PM
Trooper York said...: Gayest gang movie: West Side Story.

Least gay gang movie: The Gangs of New York.; 9/26/08, 8:11 PM
Trooper York said...: Best mafia Movie; Godfather 2

Worst mafia Movie; The Brotherhood; 9/26/08, 8:11 PM
Trooper York said...: Movies Mort loved: Do the Right Thing.

Movies Mort hated: Swiss Family Robinson.; 9/26/08, 8:15 PM
Trooper York said...: Movies Simon Loved: Harold and Maude

Movies Simon Hated; Lolita.; 9/26/08, 8:16 PM
Trooper York said...: Movies RH Hardin Loved; Chicken Run.

Movies RH Hardin Hated: 9 1/2 Weeks.; 9/26/08, 8:17 PM
Trooper York said...: Movies Victoria loved; Alfie (the original)

Movies Victoria hated: Xanadu.; 9/26/08, 8:18 PM
Trooper York said...: Movie reader_iam loved: All the Presidents Men.

Movie reader_iam hated: Showgirls.; 9/26/08, 8:20 PM
Trooper York said...: Best non mafia movie about Italians: Moonstruck

Worst non mafia movie about Italians: Angie.; 9/26/08, 8:21 PM
blake said...: Best movie about showgirls: Showgirls

Worst movie about showgirls: Showgirls; 9/26/08, 8:23 PM
Trooper York said...: What actors do I think resemble commenters on Althouse as I imagine them to be?

Simon is Jason Biggs
Victoria is Susanna York
Mort is Kadeem Hardison.
Rh Hardin is Strother Martin
Reader_iam is Suzzane Pleshette (when she was alive of course)
Meade is Jack Lemmon
Pogo is Richard Crenna
Downtownlad is Andrew McCarthy
RogerJ is the Indian guy with the tear running down his face.
AJ Lynch is the good looking guy in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (I will let you figure that one out)
Knox is Meg Ryan before the plastic surgery.
Blake is Robert Vaughn.
Trooper York is Brian Dennehy; A fatter Brian Dennehy.; 9/26/08, 8:31 PM
Trooper York said...: I hate debates.; 9/26/08, 8:32 PM
Trooper York said...: Best movie about running: Prefontaine

Worst movie about running: The Running Man.; 9/26/08, 8:34 PM
blake said...: Wait, Robert Vaughn?; 9/26/08, 8:36 PM
blake said...: Debates?

Is someone debating somewhere?

Peanut Butter vs. Chocolate?; 9/26/08, 8:37 PM
Trooper York said...: Movie most resembling a Saturday night at the Professor's House:

Who's afraid of Viginia Woolf.

Movie least resembling a Saturday night at the Professor's House;

Barbershop.; 9/26/08, 8:48 PM
Trooper York said...: OK, ok, strike Robert Vaughn. Bruce Campbell?; 9/26/08, 8:49 PM
Trooper York said...: Movie most resembling a night at Troopers house:

Big Night

Movie least resembling a night at Troopers house:

Brideshead Revisited.; 9/26/08, 8:50 PM
Trooper York said...: Movies I would rather watch than a debate.

Caninbals Unleashed.
The Idi Amin Story.
Brideshead Revisited.
Reds.
Mission to Moscow.
Moscow on the Husdon.
Hudson Hawk.
Anything with Pauly Shore.
Reruns of Square Pegs.
The Mortimer Brenzy Story.
Rh Hardin in the Chicken Strangler.
Help.....; 9/26/08, 8:56 PM
blake said...: Bruce Campbell? Ha, I wish. I think we need some sort of mix of...oh...Clint Howard, Robert Davi and, oh, I dunno, Jack Elam ca. "Support Your Local Sheriff".; 9/26/08, 9:02 PM
blake said...: But it works on me.; 9/26/08, 9:02 PM
blake said...: Movie Most Resembling a Night at Blake's House:

Evil Dead 2

Movie Least Resembling a Night at Blake's House:

Meet Me In St. Louis

(except for my Judy Garland impression); 9/26/08, 9:03 PM
tjl said...: How I wish an evening at my house resembled Brideshead revisited, only with slightly less wine consumption.

Reds was actually pretty good, despite the message. Keaton and Beatty made an ardently romantic pair of lovers, and somehow came across as naive idealists who would never have dreamed they were paving the way for the Gulag. The movie had an epic sweep that actually made you suspend disbelief and cheer the storming of the Winter Palace.; 9/26/08, 9:31 PM
Revenant said...: Not a liberal or conservative movie, everybody is painted as an out of control moron, appropriately.

The Limbaughesque character from the finale of the movie seemed pretty in control. I mean, he sees through all their scheming and then offs everyone.; 9/26/08, 10:35 PM
Revenant said...: Stanley Kubrick was the greatest filmmaker who ever lived, by the way.

Eh, maybe. But "Eyes Wide Shut" was the worst liberal movie ever made.

And it wasn't even a liberal movie. It just sucked so much that people gave it the honorary #1 spot anyway.; 9/26/08, 10:42 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I saw "Eyes Wide Shut" in the theater. Hilarious. By the end, whenever those notes from the theme music would play, the whole audience would start laughing. I feel sorry for talented directors who die in the middle of projects, and therefore cannot see those projects to completion.; 9/26/08, 11:04 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: There should be an Althouse commenter film festival. It would be grand.; 9/26/08, 11:04 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Greatest filmmaker who ever lived: Akira Kurosawa.

Only currently living and working American director who has never made a bad film: James Cameron.

Country that currently produces the best cop dramas: Hong Kong.; 9/26/08, 11:40 PM
Palladian said...: "Eh, maybe. But "Eyes Wide Shut" was the worst liberal movie ever made.

And it wasn't even a liberal movie. It just sucked so much that people gave it the honorary #1 spot anyway."

You didn't understand "Eyes Wide Shut".

I do agree with Freeman Hunt, Kubrick didn't get a chance to finish it.

By the way, those "notes" were not the theme music of "Eyes Wide Shut", that was an excerpt of Shostakovich's "Jazz Suite". The "notes" were from an early piano work by György Ligeti, "Musica Ricercata". Kubrick loved to use Ligeti's music in his films. It appears in "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Shining" and EWS.; 9/26/08, 11:49 PM
Ernst Stavro Blofeld said...: Lots of conservatives love Dr. Strangelove, depsite it being a lefty hit piece. I have a theory that conservatives like it because it exposes the essential absurdity of government and large organizations.

Kubrick & Southern: "Government and the military are crazed and absurd!"

Conservatives: "Yep. That's pretty much how the military was when I was in. So why do you want to make the rest of the country like that?"; 9/26/08, 11:57 PM
Palladian said...: See, I think that "Dr Strangelove", at least Kubrick's conception of it, is entirely cynically libertarian (small "L") in its depiction of governmental absurdity and stupidity. President Merkin Muffley's party is never stated in the film. And, in the end, the Commie Rat actually did turn out to be a spy, just like General Turgidson said he was.; 9/27/08, 12:15 AM
blake said...: Only currently living and working American director who has never made a bad film: James Cameron.

Most people would probably point vigorously to The Abyss. I wouldn't, of course. I rather liked it, even if it lacked the intensity of Terminator and Aliens.

Most people haven't seen it, but they could legitimately point to Pirahna II. The original Pirahna is a clever (or at least amusing) parody of Jaws while the sequel is just a by-the-numbers horror flick.

As a producer, Cameron made both Point Break (lovingly parodied in Hot Fuzz) and Clooney's rehash of Solaris.

But, you know, I liked Eyes Wide Shut, so what do I know? Actually, I find if I'm in the right mood, Kubrick is always worth watching. And if I'm in the wrong mood, he bores me to tears.; 9/27/08, 3:18 PM
blake said...: So, if I'm in a Kubrick mood, Eyes Wide Shut is a fascinating glimpse into how a world can self-destruct from the smallest perception of a moral failing.

Otherwise it's just Tom Cruise wandering around for 10 hours looking lost.; 9/27/08, 3:20 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Re: James Cameron

I would argue that anyone who says The Abyss was badly directed doesn't know what he's talking about.

Pirhana II, his second movie, is a standard horror film, but the directing is excellent which is rare in the small horror film category.

I should have been more precise. When I say "made a film," I mean "directed." My opinion is that in a film's universe, the director is its god.

I'll go a step further with Cameron. I would say that there are only maybe one or two other people alive today who even approach his mastery of cinematic storytelling. That doesn't mean that his movies are my favorites. It means that within his films, every beat of story is nearly perfect. He is a hyper-competent perfectionist, and it shows in his films. That's also probably the reason that he hasn't made very many.

One caveat: I have not seen The Time It's War.; 9/28/08, 12:31 PM
blake said...: I would argue that anyone who says The Abyss was badly directed doesn't know what he's talking about.

Well, the most common complaint I hear isn't "It's not well directed." It's more along the lines of "It sucks."

Pirhana II, his second movie, is a standard horror film, but the directing is excellent which is rare in the small horror film category.

Debatable. But your words were: Only currently living and working American director who has never made a bad film not only currently living and working American director who has never done a poor job directing.

Big difference. Allegedly the producer had P2 butchered in the editing room. (That's what all directors say, isn't it?)

My opinion is that in a film's universe, the director is its god.

Depends on the director and producer, though it's more true of directors today than during the studio years. It also depends on what role the producer is playing.

Did Joe Johnston have a bigger influence as director on Jurassic Park III, or did Spielberg?

But with that viewpoint ("the director is god"), how do you justify your claim that The Abyss was well directed?

From a traditional viewpoint of the director's duties, sure, it was well-directed. But as a god, Cameron failed miserably because he didn't engage the audience. (This comes out as "It sucks".) Same with P2 for that matter, except that Cameron has someone to blame (other than himself) for P2.

It means that within his films, every beat of story is nearly perfect.

Editing is a big influence there, which is why directors increasingly cut their own movies. (That, and it's a less physical task now.)

Maybe we'll get a "Director's Cut" of Pirahna II someday.

He is a hyper-competent perfectionist, and it shows in his films.

Sure.

That's also probably the reason that he hasn't made very many.

I don't tend to class the the directors who have made a few good (or even great) films in with those who worked constantly, because the latter is far more challenging.

Hitch directed dozens of movies and a smattering of TV shows, e.g., despite also being a hyper-competent perfectionist and inventing the language of cinema as he went. John Ford made even more. Howard Hawks--Hell, Ernst Lubitsch died around Cameron's age and made two or three times as many pictures.

I suppose my only point is, there are some (not necessarily you) who associate limited output with quality, but it seems to me the greatest artists seem to produce voluminous quantities in music, in painting and the visual arts and even in movies.; 9/28/08, 2:31 PM
Trooper York said...: Hey not all of Cameron's films were great. Aquaman sucked.; 9/28/08, 6:57 PM