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Movies

Captain America: Exceptional Movie for an Exceptional Nation

July 23, 2011

I’m not a comic book kind of guy, but I’ve seen a few turned into movies. Captain America is the latest and well worth two hours and $35 (tickets for me and the boys and very expensive popcorn and sodas, thank you Regal!). This won’t be a review (it got mostly positive reviews, like this one), but an observation about movies, Hollywood and American culture. Conservatives and religious types, of which I am one, are often fond of lamenting the dismal state of the republic, its culture, its people, its problems, of which there is no end to the cataloging. Yet it is as or even more important to point out the good, the true, and the beautiful we find as well. Certainly we have our problems, but not unlike a certain 20th Century iconic conservative politician, I have faith in the decency of the American people. Movies like Captain America affirm this inclination to see the good in my fellow Americans, both those who make the movies and those who watch them. The movie is not subtle in its depiction of good vs. evil, with good of course winning, and Americans like it when good wins. Box office receipts

Mini-quote: Is Harry Potter a British Tory?

July 16, 2011

By Mike Gray

Mini-quote: Is Harry Potter a British Tory?

J. K. Rowling’s famous literary creation, Harry Potter, has been casting a spell on readers and moviegoers for many years. Simultaneously, Harry has been casting a spell on individuals and groups who want to claim the young wizard as one of their own. Even though Harry’s story has been told and the final movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” will be released this week, this franchise isn’t going to disappear with the wave of a wand. The main character’s appeal is so strong that the slightest hint of an endorsement or rejection of an idea or philosophy can trigger a massive public reaction. Harry might be a fictional character, but his “opinions” and “beliefs” are worth their weight in gold. Let’s speculate about Harry’s political ideology. Is he a conservative, liberal or socialist? To be fair, Ms. Rowling is reportedly nonpartisan and none of her books dealt with either British politics or student politics. Even so, this shouldn’t stop us from taking an educated guess — and all signs point to Harry being a conservative. Read the rest of Michael Taube’s Washington Times article — “Tory Potter” — here.

Final Movie Images

July 15, 2011

By Larry Kaufmann

This is an interesting quiz to see how many final movie images you recognize, from a website I wasn’t familiar with but looks like it’s worth checking into regularly.

Nineteen Fifty-One Was a Pretty Good Year for Sci-Fi Movies: The Sequel

July 11, 2011

By Mike Gray

By Mike Gray (4) The Day the Earth Stood Still — U.S. release: September 1951 — 20th Century-Fox Studios — Runtime: 92 minutes — Cast: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier, Lock Martin (as Gort), Elmer Davis (uncredited), Gabriel Heatter (uncredited), Drew Pearson (uncredited), Lawrence Dobkin (uncredited), James Dean (uncredited), Roy Engel (uncredited), Harry Lauter (uncredited), Olan Soule (uncredited), Stuart Whitman (uncredited). I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is

Nineteen Fifty-One Was a Pretty Good Year for Sci-Fi Movies

July 9, 2011

By Mike Gray

Nineteen Fifty-One Was a Pretty Good Year for Sci-Fi Movies

By Mike Gray Sixty years ago: The world has just lurched past the middle of the 20th century. There is both a cold war being waged between the two major power blocs on the planet — the Communist sphere of influence stage-managed by Soviet Russia and “the West” led by the United States — and a hot war (a “police action” they call it … seriously?) being fought on the Korean Peninsula, with an unpredictable Red China right next door. General MacArthur has drafted plans to drop atomic bombs on Korea and China — and even Russia — if the situation should get that far out of hand. Ten thousand miles away rumors of Communist infiltration into the highest levels of American government (proven true five decades later) have the nation in “the grip” of what the Liberal-Progressive commentariat of the time dismisses as a baseless “Red Scare.” (Even today the Lib-Progs’ caricature of history — that people suspected there were “Commies under every bed” — is still with us. For confirmation, watch just about any episode of M*A*S*H.) Like the word “nice,” the term “paranoia” has lost its original meaning through overuse and misapplication. In 1951 — and even

Book Review: ‘Valentino: Film Detective’

July 6, 2011

By Mike Gray

Book Review: ‘Valentino: Film Detective’

By Mike Gray Valentino: Film Detective — By Loren D. Estleman — Crippen & Landru Publishers — 2011 — Trade paperback: 210 pages — Short story collection: 14 stories — ISBN: 978-1-932009-96-5. He dreamed he was riding in a beer truck with a pistol under his arm. The cases in the back contained reels of film, not beer. He was bootlegging them across the border between the past and the present, and Father Time was waiting for him at a roadblock with a tommygun that ticked like a clock when he squeezed the trigger. Valentino is a die-hard classic movie fanatic who through no coincidence works at UCLA’s Film Preservation Department searching for, compiling, and restoring old films. Occasionally a movie thought to be “lost” turns up (possibly as many as 90 percent of all motion pictures made before nitrate film was phased out are considered irretrievably lost); when that happens, Valentino soars into the stratosphere (both literally and figuratively) in his worldwide hunt for rare films. But sometimes his elation is checked by having to deal with the owners of these “lost” treasures, and that’s when it gets really interesting. (“Interesting” as in the Chinese curse: “May you live

“Thor”: Norse Mythology Mediated by Christianity

May 16, 2011

By Lars Walker

“Thor”: Norse Mythology Mediated by Christianity

By Lars Walker I think it’s generally agreed that I’m the conservative blogsphere’s go-to guy for all matters Norse, so I felt a sort of civic duty to see the movie Thor this weekend, and to let you know what I thought of it. Briefly put, it’s pretty good. Considered on its own terms, as a fantasy/comic book/special effects actioner, it succeeds extremely well. It doesn’t scale the heights of Batman Begins or The Dark Knight, but I’d rank it somewhere near the top. Kenneth Branagh’s direction elevates the script (not a bad one at all), and the cast is uniformly excellent. Chris Hemsworth, in the title role, will doubtless break many female hearts, and he ought to become a big star if there’s any justice in Midgard. Thor is the son and heir of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the high god of Asgard. Asgard, in this version (more or less based on the Marvel comic books) is explained in S.M.D. (Standard Movie Doubletalk) as one of nine dimensions, or alternate universes, or something. The “gods” are able to travel to the other “worlds” by means of the bridge Bifrost, explained as a sort of organized wormhole (Bifrost, the rainbow in

“A Somewhat Gentle Man” Is Interesting, Quirky, Repellant

May 11, 2011

By Lars Walker

“A Somewhat Gentle Man” Is Interesting, Quirky, Repellant

By Lars Walker What do you do when you’re recovering at home from a medical test, still under the influence of a mild sedative, and have stupidly left your Kindle at the office? If you’re me (which is admittedly doubtful) you go to Netflix and stream a Norwegian movie you’ve heard interesting things about. That movie was A Somewhat Gentle Man, directed by Hans Petter Moland and starring Swedish actor Stellan Starsgård (in a marvelously underacted performance). Titled En Ganske Snill Mann in Norwegian (I’d have translated it A Rather Nice Man myself, but this translation is good), A Somewhat Gentle Man was marketed as a “hilarious” comedy according to the DVD box. I think it’s more of a quirky, updated Noir, including large doses of black humor. Instead of the angular shadows of classic Noir, this is a Film Gris. The whole world of Ulrik, the film’s antihero, is gray, from the gray Norwegian winter sky, to the gray concrete buildings of Oslo’s seedier side, to the gray basement room he rents (almost indistinguishable from the prison cell from which he’s just been released) to his gray clothing and gray hair. Occasional flashes of color, especially red, compel the

Dueling Economists: Johnny Raps Freddie, Freddie Raps Back

May 3, 2011

By Mike Gray

Dueling Economists: Johnny Raps Freddie, Freddie Raps Back

By Mike Gray “Fear the Boom and Bust” — Run time: 7 minutes 32 seconds. Here are the lyrics: We’ve been going back and forth for a century I want to steer markets, I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it Blame low interest rates. No… it’s the animal spirits John Maynard Keynes, wrote the book on modern macro The man you need when the economy’s off track, Depression, recession now your question’s in session Have a seat and I’ll school you in one simple lesson BOOM, 1929 the big crash We didn’t bounce back—economy’s in the trash Persistent unemployment, the result of sticky wages Waiting for recovery? Seriously? That’s outrageous! I had a real plan any fool can understand The advice, real simple—boost aggregate demand! C, I, G, all together gets to Y Make sure the total’s growing, watch the economy fly We’ve been going back and forth for a century I want to steer markets, I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason to fear it Blame low interest rates. No… it’s

Right Villains, Wrong Heroes — P. J. O’Rourke Sizes Up the Shortcomings of ‘Atlas Shrugged’

April 25, 2011

By Mike Gray

Right Villains, Wrong Heroes — P. J. O’Rourke Sizes Up the Shortcomings of ‘Atlas Shrugged’

No attempt is made to create a “future of the past” atmosphere as in the movies about Batman (a very unRandian figure, trapped in his altruism costume drama). Nor is any attempt made to update Rand’s tale of Titans of Industry versus Gargantuas of Government. An update is needed, and not just because train buffs, New Deal economics and the miracle of the Bessemer converter are inexplicable to people under 50, not to mention boring. The anti-individualist enemies that Ayn Rand battled are still the enemy, but they’ve shifted their line of attack. Political collectivists are no longer much interested in taking things away from the wealthy and creative. Even the most left-wing politicians worship wealth creation—as the political-action-committee collection plate is passed. Partners at Goldman Sachs go forth with their billions. Steve Jobs walks on water. Jay-Z and Beyoncé are rich enough to buy God. Progressive Robin Hoods have turned their attention to robbing ordinary individuals. It’s the plain folks, not a Taggart/Rearden elite, whose prospects and opportunities are stolen by corrupt school systems, health-care rationing, public employee union extortions, carbon-emissions payola and deficit-debt burden graft. Today’s collectivists are going after malefactors of moderate means. Hence the Tea Party

The Attack of the Terminators Is Already Overdue

April 22, 2011

By Mike Gray

The Attack of the Terminators Is Already Overdue

By Mike Gray They should have made the first film and forgotten about the sequels — but that’s not how Hollywood operates: The date 21 April 2011 has been prophesied in the Terminator series as Judgement Day, when the machines rise up and bring about the end of human society as we know it. When you mess around with history — but especially the kind that hasn’t happened yet — you’re going to get confusing discontinuities: TERMINATOR TIMELINE 4 August 1997: The date Skynet goes online according to the first Terminator film 29 August 1997: The first Terminator film claims this is when Skynet becomes self-aware and destroys human civilisation 25 July 2004: This is the date Judgement Day is pushed back to in Terminator 3 after the Skynet research is destroyed in Terminator 2 19 April 2011: The date Skynet goes online in The Sarah Connor Chronicles 21 April 2011: The date in The Sarah Connor Chronicles when Skynet launches its first missiles The creator of the Terminators thinks there’s something more worrisome than berserk androids: “Kyle Reese said in the first film that it was only one possible future — clearly,

Atlas Drugged — The Addictive Essence of Ayn Rand’s Juvenile Philosophy

April 22, 2011

By Mike Gray

Atlas Drugged — The Addictive Essence of Ayn Rand’s Juvenile Philosophy

By Mike Gray A recent film, derived from a novel, has excited comment, some laudatory, some highly critical: Rand is something of a cultural phenomenon — the author of potboilers who became an ethical and political philosopher, a libertarian heroine. But Rand’s distinctive mix of expressive egotism, free love and free-market metallurgy does not hold up very well on the screen. . . . . None of the characters express a hint of sympathetic human emotion — which is precisely the point. Rand’s novels are vehicles for a system of thought known as Objectivism. Rand developed this philosophy at the length of Tolstoy, with the intellectual pretensions of Hegel, but it can be summarized on a napkin. Reason is everything. Religion is a fraud. Selfishness is a virtue. Altruism is a crime against human excellence. Self-sacrifice is weakness. Weakness is contemptible. “The Objectivist ethics, in essence,” said Rand, “hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.” If Objectivism seems familiar, it is because most people know it under another name: adolescence.

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Movies

Captain America: Exceptional Movie for an Exceptional Nation

Mini-quote: Is Harry Potter a British Tory?

Final Movie Images

Nineteen Fifty-One Was a Pretty Good Year for Sci-Fi Movies: The Sequel

Nineteen Fifty-One Was a Pretty Good Year for Sci-Fi Movies

Book Review: ‘Valentino: Film Detective’

“Thor”: Norse Mythology Mediated by Christianity

“A Somewhat Gentle Man” Is Interesting, Quirky, Repellant

Dueling Economists: Johnny Raps Freddie, Freddie Raps Back

Right Villains, Wrong Heroes — P. J. O’Rourke Sizes Up the Shortcomings of ‘Atlas Shrugged’

The Attack of the Terminators Is Already Overdue

Atlas Drugged — The Addictive Essence of Ayn Rand’s Juvenile Philosophy

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