"There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.
"The Dark Knight", then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year's "300", "The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans.
Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror -- films like "In The Valley of Elah", "Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.
Why is it then that left-wingers feel free to make their films direct and realistic, whereas Hollywood conservatives have to put on a mask in order to speak what they know to be the truth? Why is it, indeed, that the conservative values that power our defense -- values like morality, faith, self-sacrifice and the nobility of fighting for the right -- only appear in fantasy or comic-inspired films like "300," "Lord of the Rings," "Narnia," "Spiderman 3" and now "The Dark Knight"?The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of "The Dark Knight" itself: Doing what's right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified.
Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They're wrong, of course, even on their own terms.
Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don't always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless.
The true complexity arises when we must defend these values in a world that does not universally embrace them -- when we reach the place where we must be intolerant in order to defend tolerance, or unkind in order to defend kindness, or hateful in order to defend what we love.We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."
That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror.
Perhaps that's when Hollywood conservatives will be able to take off their masks and speak plainly in the light of day".
Mr. Klavan has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. His new novel, "Empire of Lies" (An Otto Penzler Book, Harcourt), is about an ordinary man confronting the war on terror. Source: online.wsj.com
"Workers painted, drilled and pieced together a two-story trailer at Lake Leelanau RV Park for the set of "Youth in Revolt", a flick starring Michael Cera, Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta and Jean Smart.
"The people who reside at the park, the snowbirds, they're just all atwitter, like Hollywood has come to our little corner of the world," said Phillip Thies, owner of Jaffe's Resale & Consignment shop in the heart of town. "They've certainly made it known they're available to be an extra."The film is described as a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy chasing after a girl. It's set in northern California, but is filmed in Michigan because of the state's new film incentive program.
In April, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a law offering a 40 percent cash rebate on money spent on the production of movies, television shows and video games. Certain limitations apply, such as a minimum $50,000 expenditure and $2 million salary cap per employee for each production.Michigan has been a beautiful, fantastic spot for filming, Flanning said.
A few local people worked on the set, but most came in from out of state.
"We're trying to get more local crews, more people involved," he said. "There are so many productions coming in, the work crews are stretched kind of thin."
The Department of Treasury and Michigan Film Office approved 30 incentive applications since April, said Janet Lockwood, film office director.
That adds up to an expected $233 million of in-state expenditures, not including the extra money cast and crew spend at area businesses. The refundable tax credit likely will end up around $86 million or less, Lockwood said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The United States of Tara is a single-camera comedy starring Toni Collette as Tara, a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder.
Larson will play Tara's smart, confident 17-year-old daughter Kate, who struggles with her mother's disorder while rebelling against the world with her own issues. The role was played in the pilot by Portia Doubleday.
John Corbett co-stars as Tara's husband and Kate's father.
Showtime recently picked up The United States of Tara from DreamWorks TV and Steven Spielberg, with a 12-episode order.
Production is slated to begin during the summer in Los Angeles". Source: www.movieweb.com "Justin Long, Fred Willard, Zach Galifinakis, Erik Knudsen and Mary Kay Place are joining Michael Cera in the Dimension Films comedy "Youth in Revolt."
Portia Doubleday will make her feature debut as Cera's love interest in Miguel Arteta's adaptation of C.D. Payne's cult novel, which also stars Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Jean Smart, and M. Emmet Walsh.
Ari Graynor, Adhir Kalyan, Tricia Mara and Jonny Wright also are joining the ensemble.
Gustin Nash, Arteta and Cera wrote the adapted screenplay for Permut Presentations and Shangri-La Entertainment". Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
"A crossover between two of Judd Apatow's most recent comedies might seem like it's jumping the gun a little bit, or that it's the product of a hash session between the stars of Pineapple Express.
Of course, that doesn't change the fact that it sounds like a totally awesome idea. With Pineapple Express out the door, star James Franco is perhaps letting the sweet smoke of success loosen his lips a little bit on what would no doubt be the greatest crossover since The Jetsons meet the Flintstones or at least that time The Critic's Jay Sherman appeared on an episode of The Simpsons. Franco recently revealed in an interview with MTV that a crossover flick between the two movies isn't just a pipe dream; it's actually something that's being kicked around right now: “Even before Superbad came out, I think the studio was trying to get them to write a sequel, but they really didn’t want to write a sequel. I guess the kids would go to college or something like that. And so, an answer to that was to do a Superbad/Pineapple Express crossover, an unprecedented crossover movie with two directors, Greg Motolla and David Gordon Green, each directing half of the movie and somehow these characters get together, which doesn’t make sense at all, but could work."
Sure, nothing is set in stone yet, but tell us the idea of Michael Cera and James Franco sharing a bro moment (broment?) over stolen beer doesn't make you smile a little bit".
"It’s the buzzword of 2008: Cross-pollination. And it’s all the rage these days thanks to Marvel’s ambitious slate, which already included Nick Fury showing up in “Iron Man” and Tony Stark showing up in “The Incredible Hulk.” So if comics can get away with it, why not Judd Apatow?We’re actually not joking. Combining Apatow’s comedies isn’t just a good idea, it’s an idea whose time very well may come soon, “Pineapple Express” star James Franco told MTV News.
When asked about the possibility of a “Pineapple Express” sequel, Franco said that not only has it been discussed, it’s about to get some real McLovin. Rogen himself has stated that he’d be interested in a “Pineapple” sequel. But how would he combine the two universes? Just ask Franco.
“I could sell them [the characters from 'Superbad'] something, but I think we’d want some action, so you know, somehow the kids get in trouble somehow and we have to get them out of it,” Franco mused. “And Seth plays characters in both movies, so somehow we’d have to kill one of them off.”
And Franco’s character Saul? The drug dealing, pot smoking, hippie based at least in part on Brad Pitt’s performance in “True Romance”?
“The thing about Saul is that I don’t really think he goes anywhere,” Franco laughed. “That’s his tragedy.”
"Jake Gyllenhaal channels his inner brute and shows off his newly buff body on the set of his latest movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, in Morocco, North Africa on Monday morning. The 27-year-old actor, who has an entire mane of hair now, held hands with his actress girlfriend Reese Witherspoon. The couple spent the the weekend at the exclusive luxury Moroccan hotel Amanjena. Gyllenspoon grabbed lunch on Saturday at a Moroccan restaurant followed by a tour of the local sights.
In the film, Jake will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Gemma Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world". Source: JustJared.buzznet.com
"Jake Gyllenhaal is keen to start a family with Reese Witherspoon, according to a new report.
Insiders say that a baby announcement is likely to come before the couple tie the knot.
“Kids are something Jake and Reese discussed very early on,” a source tells Life & Style.
“He made it clear that he definitely wants to have children. He just wanted to make sure Reese would be willing, too, before he allowed himself to get serious with her.
“That's how important it is to him.”
Meanwhile, Jake has been busy getting in some parenting practice with Reese's kids with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4".
Groups of women friends talk and talk (and talk) throughout Death Proof, about their sex lives and their boyfriends and the music they like and other trademark Quentin Tarantino topics. However, there's that one conversation with Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Tracy Thorn that centers around cars, and cars in movies, and one car they are itching to drive. How often do you get to hear four women talk about muscle cars? The subsequent stunts by Zoe Bell are just icing on the cake. Tarantino previously offered us another movie that followed The Bechdel Rule, Kill Bill, in which The Bride trades barbs with several women she's about to do battle with ... not to mention that scene in the hotel room. 2. Juno
I find the dialogue in this movie to be really annoying at times, but at least it covers a range of pop culture topics. You can't get away from the subject of sex or relationships in this movie -- the main character is pregnant -- but that doesn't mean that the women focus solely on the opposite sex. Admittedly, most of Juno MacGuff's conversations with other women do tend to be related to her pregnancy, but that's technically allowed under the Bechdel Rule. 3. Hairspray
Both the 2007 version and the 1989 (my favorite) meet the Bechdel Rule standards. Tracy Turnblad does have a big crush on Link Larkin, but that doesn't seem quite as important to her as dancing, keeping her hair bouffant, and fighting social injustices (sometimes all at once). Hairspray may be a fluffy musical, but it has plenty of teenage girls and their moms, as well as deejay Motormouth Maybelle, and they're far more than foils for the menfolk. (I wanted to include Mamma Mia!, and realized that although it's full of female characters, they really do only talk about the male characters.) 4. Persepolis
I know I said I wanted to focus on Hollywood films, but I couldn't resist mentioning this French film from 2007. The film is animated, but it's hardly for children. Marjane is an Iranian girl who grows up during the Islamic Revolution during the 1980s. She has some romantic encounters, but I love watching the child who wants to be like Bruce Lee as she gets in trouble in her teen years for listening to rock music, and eventually has to come to terms with how she feels about her homeland. I'm especially fond of her conversations with her grandmother, who is voiced by Catherine Deneuve.5. Bring It On
It's another teenage-girl movie, and it's about cheerleading, which is not exactly Higher Thought. Still, most movies about girls who participate in athletics or dance tend to focus on just one girl who lives for her sport or practices with the guys, and doesn't seem to have a lot of female friends. In Bring It On, we get a whole team, headed by Kirsten Dunst, with Eliza Dushku as the reluctant new cheerleader. One girl might be interested in the other girl's brother, but mostly these girls are interested in becoming cheerleading champions. Speaking of cheerleaders, I very nearly included But I'm a Cheerleader on this list, but then realized that three of the seven movies would include women in cheerleader outfits and that just seemed too damn weird. 6. Set It Off
I had to go back to 1996 for this one, but I've only seen it myself in the last year and I think it could use some attention. Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Viveca A. Fox and Kimberly Elise star in this F. Gary Gray film about a group of women with big-time money problems who see a possible solution in robbing banks. It takes longer to get underway than I'd like, and the ending didn't quite satisfy me, but I loved the female characters in this film, particularly Smith's and Queen Latifah's. They tend to have much bigger and more interesting problems than romance. (And I'm starting to wonder if Queen Latifah uses the Bechdel Rule to pick roles, because it's amazing how many of the films she's in that fit the criteria.) 7. Cold Comfort Farm
As long as we're going back to the 1990s, I might as well include Cold Comfort Farm, a film I love to bits. John Schlesinger directed this adaptation of Stella Gibbons' novel (which I also love) about a young woman in 1930s England who decides to move in with, and reform, her country cousins. Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale) has to mull over her future with her friend Mrs. Smiling (Joanne Lumley), and then once she arrives at Cold Comfort Farm, dispenses advice to both male and female relatives whose lives just aren't tidy enough to suit her. I especially like the fate of Aunt Ada Doom". Source: www.cinematical.com
"Today we bring you photos of Michelle Williams, the newest blog star for Boy, Band of Outsider’s preppy basics for the ladies. We e-mailed the label’s designer Scott Sternberg for a quick e-thought on why Williams was his “boy” of choice. His praises are below.
Michelle is beautiful, cool, low maintenance, funny, sweet, talented, smart and curious. And fun to hang out with. Therein lie the qualifications for shooting a Band of Outsiders look book". Source: themoment.blogs.nytimes.com Fall. Michelle Williams in Boy. Shot at the home of Paul Fortune. Cotton corduroy suit. Cotton flannel shirt. Scottish cashmere men's crew neck sweater. Worsted wool suit trousers.Grey tweed frock coat. Washed bengal striped shirt. Cropped wool blackwatch tartan trousers. Band of Outsiders for Manolo Blahnik Canvas Spectators.Wool gauze tartan cropped swing jacket. Cotton end on end smock shirt. Suit trousers. ID bracelet borrowed from Fenton.Wool melton topcoat with detachable raccoon shawl collar.Wool gabardine peak lapel suit. Wool gauze tartan waistcoat.
"Paparazzi I don't understand how the first amendment doesn't protect "Celebrities"
[...] People keep telling me, "Oh just accept it. That's the way the world is. It's not going to change."
No. They're wrong. That's the wrong attitude. Maybe because it's not happening to them and they don't care.
And there's been plenty of laws that didn't exist before and because people didn't just accept it -- people took a stand -- that's why there was change.
"The Dark Knight" early concept art of The Joker. Source: www.slashfilm.com"Batman Begins was a successful re-boot of the popular Batman franchise, and The Dark Knight sequel takes the fresh perspective further, developing the highly anticipated, raw cat-and-mouse game between our superhero Batman and his twisted arch-nemesis The Joker. Celebrated stars include Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman, returning as Batman, Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Lieutenant Gordon, respectively; and new additions Heath Ledger as The Joker, as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aaron Eckhart. The Art of the Dark Knight is the ultimate companion book to the movie, showcasing production ephemera including storyboard art, character sketches, Nolan’s original shooting script, still photos, and even personal behind-the-scenes material created by the Nolans and Crowley during the movie. The Art of the Dark Knight is certain to appeal to diehard and new fans alike".
About the Author: Claudia Kalindjian has been working in the film industry for almost 10 years. She lives in Los Angeles, CA. Source: www.amazon.com
"Rian Johnson (the awesome writer/director behind BRICK) has confirmed to IGN that his next film will be LOOPER, a violent and dark sci-fi flick in the vein of TERMINATOR...
"It's sci-fi, but it's very much -- well, I think people toss out Philip Dick sci-fi when they mean 'small, dark' sci-fi. Although, when I think of Philip Dick's books, it's something very different. I think people are confusing it with the movie Blade Runner... To me, it's a lot more like the first Terminator... It's very sci-fi, but it's very character-based and very concentrated. It's very different from the Terminator movies, but it's like the first Terminator in that time travel is involved with it, but only as a plot device." I just hope he casts Nora Zehetner again. That chick is the cutest. One time I stared into her eyes and I found both the courage and the intent to be a better man.
"Kristen Bell and Jamie King helped Red Mango celebrate their one year anniversary at the Los Angeles location today. They took the time out to meet with fans and sign some autographs. Red Mango will donate all sales from the event to the Invisible Children charity.
"OK, last week, Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer moved Prince of Persia back almost a year. The film was supposed to open on June 19, 2009, and now it's Memorial Day, 2010. Why the postponement? If I had to guess, seriously, I think it's so Disney can get a Comic Con jump start next summer. Look what it did for Iron Man, and watch what it will do for Watchmen.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Otherwise, I have no idea why they'd push it back that far unless it's the labor issues, but that doesn't seem to be stopping very many movies at the moment. When they pushed the release date back, though, it opened up a major hole in the Summer 2009 schedule, and studios have been frantically trying to fill it. However, most of the tentpoles are set, so June 19th, kind of like the Get Smart-Love Guru weekend this year at the same spot, is shaping up to be filled with filler.
Variety reports that Disney has thrown another title in Persia's place on June 19th, the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds rom-com The Proposal. How awful does that sound? Sandra Bullock...romantic comedy...called The Proposal. Yeesh.
Another comedy will now also swoop in on the 19th of June, with Fox's The Tooth Fairy staking its claim for the kiddies. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson, who I'd prefer in more action-oriented stuff, but a guy's gotta eat, I guess.
Will anything cool open on that weekend? Could be. We have the Judd Apatow Factory's 2009 model, Year One, a Old Testament-era comedy directed by Harold Ramis (one of the smartest guys I've ever met in the business of show), which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera. Given the growing clout of all things Apatow (with apologies to Drillbit Taylor...or maybe that should be the other way around), you'd have to put the smart money on this Sony release that weekend.
Will there be other moves in 2009? Possibly Transformers, scheduled for the next week, coincidentally enough. That's entirely contingent on Shia LaBeouf's ability to keep up with the shooting schedule following his recent accident. Even still, it's highly doubtful they'd miss that weekend bleeding over into July 4th, so I'm sure they'll figure something out. Maybe less effects in the third act. Couldn't hurt". Source: www.getthebigpicture.net
"There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
"Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.
The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of "The Dark Knight" itself: Doing what's right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified.
We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."
