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Right Wing Hollywood or Left Wing conspiracy?

Long conceded by conservatives to being an inveterate nest of Liberals, Hollywood may be taking a rightward turn. Such is the hope expressed by “The National Review”  in their story about the production of  David Zucker’s (late of the team that turned out such funny movies as “HotShots, Part Deux” and the Naked Gun series) political satire, “An American Carol.” In it a Liberal documentary filmmaker called “Michael Malone” (played by Chris's less famous brother Kevin P. Farley -- he played "the Landlord" in the 2007 comedy "Wild Girls Gone") gets taken on a tour of American history on the Fourth of July by none other than the ghost of Gen. George Patton. Here's a description of a scene being shot:

"Two young men--both terrorists--enter the station. They are surprised to see a security checkpoint manned by two NYPD officers. "I'll need to see your bag, please," says one of the officers. The lead terrorist glances nervously at his friend and swings his backpack down from his shoulder to present it to the cops. Just as the officer pulls on the zipper, however, a small army of ACLU lawyers marches up to the policemen with a stop-search order. The cops look at each other and shrug their shoulders. 'This says we can't search their bags.'

"The young men are relieved. They smile fiendishly as they walk toward the crowded platform. As the lead terrorist once again slips the backpack over his shoulder, he mutters his appreciation.

"'Thank Allah for the ACLU.'"

Fucking hilarious! (Sorry for the bad word, but the “Washington Times” claims “liberal” bloggers use profanity more often than conservatives, so I wanted to keep up.)

 “The movie smells like a hit to me,” says “New York Post” critic Kyle Smith. Maybe it’s a typo, or maybe Smith wants to maintain his conservative status by not using a four letter word, but what I’m smelling is something that rhymes with “hit.”

Do they really believe anyone other than brain dead Rush Limbaugh fans are going to want to watch, let alone laugh at that kind of “hit?”

Zucker, formerly a liberal Democrat, switched to the Republican side during the 2004 election. His unfunniness can be traced to that time (hey, it was an unfunny time), as can be seen in the Republican campaign ads he churned out.  

Here’s a Drudge Report item on one of these spots:

“In the ad, Zucker....recreates former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's 2000 visit to North Korea. During the visit, Secretary Albright presented North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il with a basketball autographed by former NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

"Actress Adele Stasilli-Fernandez, playing Albright, is shown presenting Kim Jong Il with the Michael Jordan basketball, painting the walls of Osama bin Laden's Afghanistan cave and turning a blind eye to suicide bombers. In one scene, her skirt rips as she changes the tire of a Middle Eastern dictator's limousine.”

Dave! You’re killing me! Apparently I’m not the only one scratching my head, as the item goes on to say:

“One GOP strategist said ‘jaws dropped’ when the ad was first viewed. "Nobody could believe Zucker thought any political organization could use this ad. It makes a point, but it's way over the top."

Then there’s Jon Voight, who plays the ghost of George Washington in Zucker’s movie. He sets “Malone” right by taking him to a still smouldering Ground Zero.Voight, who admittedly opposed the Vietnam War back in the day ( he won an Oscar playing an anti-war paraplegic vet in 1978 “Coming Home” when that kind of thing was fashionable), apparently wants to be taken "seriously" about his new Conservative credentials and  political savvy, so he recently  unleashed  his  apocalyptic, anti-Obama opinions in an editorial in the "Washington Times." He concludes:

"If, God forbid, we live to see Mr Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way."

I’m cryin’!

The rest of Voight’s screed contains a rewriting of history that makes “An American Carol” look like David McCullough.

What do I know? Maybe Voight will end up McCain’s VP candidate. But I’m thinking, could it all be a ruse? Could Zucker and Voight be liberal moles in the conservative movement, trying to take it down with ads and movies and op eds that show how stupid and unfunny (except unintentionally) it is? Maybe so, but judging from the dipshit ads spewing from the McCain campaign, I’m not betting on it.

 

  • Christian Toto said:

    Keep them scare quotes comin' ... beats debating the issues.

    Let's wait until the film comes out until we judge it. And since nearly every hard-left film of late has tanked, why not try a right wing film? Where's the harm in that?

    August 14, 2008 1:33 PM
  • Paul Escobar said:

    The reason movies like "Fahrenheit 911" & "Syriana" got audiences was because they were released AT THE RIGHT TIME.

    We had a heated debate, lots of questions...and these movies brought something to the discussion.

    The problem with "American Carol", and the other recent "current events" movies is that they're OUTDATED.

    The American public has long moved on. Opinions polls show it...Iraq is viewed as a drunken night that's best forgotten.

    The American military has long moved on. Ron Paul was the leading recipient of Republican donations by the military. Now that Paul has dropped out, Obama has taken the lead with military donations.

    So any movie, pro or anti war, released at this time...is far behind the American public.

    I'd like to see a film, from either side of the political spectrum, that says something intelligent about the future.

    Not some film looking back at the events of 2003 or 2004.

    August 15, 2008 11:34 AM

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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Peter Keough tosses away all pretenses of objectivity, good taste and sanity and writes what he damn well pleases under the guise of a film blog.
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