The Fear Factor
Horror film director Larry Fessenden lets us in on a few little secrets to keeping moviegoers on the edge of their seats. H/T National Geographic
Call Me Stormy
Finding righteous currents in turbulent times
Archive for the tag “Hollywood”
Our Corporate Copyrights
Copyright is a good idea, but the way it is currently used is not. The laws, originally designed to protect artists and authors, now give corporations carte blanche to control intellectual properties for more than a century.
The Left’s Dream Factory
PJ Media’s Andrew Klavan talks to PolitiChick Ann-Marie Murrell about Hollywood and the potential upswing in Conservative-principled films. He cites some encouraging trends, but says Hollywood still serves as a dream factory for the Left, glorifying radicals and rewriting history to present liberals in a better light.
Chip Off the Old Blockhead
Hopper Penn accosted a member of the paparazzi, calling him the n-word. Is Hopper Penn learning such insults from his paparazzi-hating, Hugo Chavez-loving father Sean Penn? Hear what AlfonZo Rachel thinks in this edition of ZoNation. H/T PJTV
Is Pop Culture the Plague?
“American popular culture not only celebrates freedom, it is also itself an example of American freedom at its best and most vibrant,” writes Paul Cantor in his new book The Invisible Hand and Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV.
Even before politicians and elite cultural critics decried the boob tube as a “vast wasteland,” they were attacking other forms of popular entertainment — novels, movies, comic books, and more — as simultaneously soporific and dangerous, either lulling the masses into quietism or sparking bad behaviors. But Paul Cantor, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, argues that such criticisms get everything wrong. H/.T Reason TV
Celebrities: Shut Up and Act
Is it time for Hollywood to get back to the business of make believe. Should we let celebrities do what they do best: be fake in a realistic way? Because when celebrities use their fame to influence the real world, the result, more often than not, is an exercise in narcissism. Unfortunately, American culture has devolved to the point where we celebrate narcissists and their pet concerns at the expense of the issues that affect everyday Americans, such as energy prices, deficit and debt. Col. Allen B. West finds celebrity excess at its worse in the debate over gun violence, especially with regards to the Newton, Connecticut, tragedy. H/T PJTV
March Madness
Col. Allen B. West is excited for college basketball’s March Madness and looking forward to beating his fellow PJ Media co-workers in the 2013 NCAA bracket predictions, and taking home $30 in cash winnings. West suffered a painful loss in the office Oscar pool. In the wake of that loss, Col. West examined the difference between the NCAA basketball championship, and the Academy Awards. Find out why he thinks the basketball championship is a true form of American meritocracy, while the Oscars are just another form of crony capitalism. H/T PJTV
Hollywood Meets Wall Street
After 1980s blockbusters like Star Wars and Jaws, “Hollywood became a target of Wall Street,” says William Stadiem, “but what they were buying was not the art. They were buying the money.”
Reason TV’s Tracy Oppenheimer sat down with Stadiem, the author of the new book Moneywood, to discuss the business of Hollywood, how Wall Street changed movie making, and why we are living in a golden age of television.
Best Movie Theme Songs
Link hums the greatest film theme songs of all time, and Rhett has to guess what they are. Play at home in this episode of Good Mythical Morning.
Poliwood’s Oscar Picks
PJTV’s Poliwood insiders, Roger Simon and Lionel Chetwynd, take a look at the major Oscar categories and test their powers of divination. Both Oscar voters themselves, the two screenwriters also discuss the Academy’s decision this year to allow online voting for the first time ever
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