It’s funny to think that the birth of our country’s strip clubs traces back to a total drip like Barry Goldwater, but that conservative also-ran was in San Francisco to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president when — on the night of June 19, 1964 — a lounge singer by the name of Carol Doda decided to show the city what she thought about his “traditional American values.”
Okay, technically it was PR maven Davey Rosenberg who had the idea for Doda to descend from the ceiling of the Condor Club in a monokini with her nipples on full display, and the fact that Goldwater was in town for the RNC was more of a coincidence than anything else, but those pesky facts didn’t stop Doda from stealing the Republicans’ thunder and becoming a political icon all her own. Goldwater’s sons even came to see Doda’s show...
Okay, technically it was PR maven Davey Rosenberg who had the idea for Doda to descend from the ceiling of the Condor Club in a monokini with her nipples on full display, and the fact that Goldwater was in town for the RNC was more of a coincidence than anything else, but those pesky facts didn’t stop Doda from stealing the Republicans’ thunder and becoming a political icon all her own. Goldwater’s sons even came to see Doda’s show...
- 3/20/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
I think Walt would be grumpy.
This is the week when the media celebrates the Magic Kingdom’s 100th birthday, but Walt Disney were around today, I think he’d cringe at the state of guild negotiations, fights with politicians and jumps in theme park prices (or streamer fees).
Having gained immortality for entertaining kids, he might still agonize about the major new commitment to sports betting made through ESPN, a Disney asset.
As one of the few people still around who actually spent time with the shy and media-averse studio pioneer, I found myself reflecting this week on those topics that Walt liked (and disliked) talking about.
I’m a fairly good note-taker, and as such I can report precisely what he was excited and angry about in December 1965 – one year before he died. Although he looked a bit weary and struggled with a chain-smoker’s cough, he had...
This is the week when the media celebrates the Magic Kingdom’s 100th birthday, but Walt Disney were around today, I think he’d cringe at the state of guild negotiations, fights with politicians and jumps in theme park prices (or streamer fees).
Having gained immortality for entertaining kids, he might still agonize about the major new commitment to sports betting made through ESPN, a Disney asset.
As one of the few people still around who actually spent time with the shy and media-averse studio pioneer, I found myself reflecting this week on those topics that Walt liked (and disliked) talking about.
I’m a fairly good note-taker, and as such I can report precisely what he was excited and angry about in December 1965 – one year before he died. Although he looked a bit weary and struggled with a chain-smoker’s cough, he had...
- 10/19/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
George R. Robertson, who played Chief Hurst (later Commissioner) in the first six Police Academy films during a half-century screen career, has died. He was 89. His family said he died January 29 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto but did not give other details.
Robertson had been working in TV and films for nearly 15 years when he was cast as the strict but fair Chief Henry Hurst in Police Academy, the 1984 cop farce starring Steve Guttenberg. The film was a left-field hit and went on to spawn a franchise that spanned seven films during the next decade, including one a year through 1989. He appeared in the first six but not the Moscow-set final one in 1994.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Oliver Stone Criticizes "Mr. Putin's Aggression In Ukraine" After Previously Saying There Was "No Proof" Russia Intended To Invade Related Story Art Metrano Dies: 'Police Academy' Actor,...
Robertson had been working in TV and films for nearly 15 years when he was cast as the strict but fair Chief Henry Hurst in Police Academy, the 1984 cop farce starring Steve Guttenberg. The film was a left-field hit and went on to spawn a franchise that spanned seven films during the next decade, including one a year through 1989. He appeared in the first six but not the Moscow-set final one in 1994.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Oliver Stone Criticizes "Mr. Putin's Aggression In Ukraine" After Previously Saying There Was "No Proof" Russia Intended To Invade Related Story Art Metrano Dies: 'Police Academy' Actor,...
- 2/4/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Canadian actor George R. Robertson passed away in Toronto on February 3, 2023. He was 89.
Robertson is perhaps best known for playing the role of Chief, then Commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six "Police Academy" movies, released yearly from 1984 to 1989. The "Police Academy" series, while not well-reviewed, were massively successful, providing a generation with a cop-themed, National Lampoon-style snobs-vs.-slobs cinematic bedrock. According to the 2010 book "George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success" by Alex Ben Block and Lucy Autrey Wilson, the first "Police Academy" film made nearly 150 million on a 4 million budget.
The premise of the series was simple: due to a shortage of police officers in an unnamed American city, the local police department has been ordered to accept anyone who applies for the job. This leads to a comedy of errors wherein every weirdo,...
Robertson is perhaps best known for playing the role of Chief, then Commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six "Police Academy" movies, released yearly from 1984 to 1989. The "Police Academy" series, while not well-reviewed, were massively successful, providing a generation with a cop-themed, National Lampoon-style snobs-vs.-slobs cinematic bedrock. According to the 2010 book "George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success" by Alex Ben Block and Lucy Autrey Wilson, the first "Police Academy" film made nearly 150 million on a 4 million budget.
The premise of the series was simple: due to a shortage of police officers in an unnamed American city, the local police department has been ordered to accept anyone who applies for the job. This leads to a comedy of errors wherein every weirdo,...
- 2/3/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
George R. Robertson, the Canadian actor who portrayed the police chief and later police commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six Police Academy films, has died. He was 89.
Robertson died Sunday at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, his family announced.
Robertson also showed up in small roles in three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar — Airport (1970), Norma Rae (1979) and JFK (1991) — and portrayed vice president Dick Cheney in the 2006 ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11.
Robertson appeared as Hurst in 1994 in the first Police Academy movie, directed by Hugh Wilson, and stuck around through Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989). His character grows more tolerant of the wacky recruits led by Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) as the franchise moves along.
The actor did not make the trip to Moscow for the 1994 installment but was on one episode of the 1997-98 Police Academy series at CTV.
George Ross Robertson...
Robertson died Sunday at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, his family announced.
Robertson also showed up in small roles in three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar — Airport (1970), Norma Rae (1979) and JFK (1991) — and portrayed vice president Dick Cheney in the 2006 ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11.
Robertson appeared as Hurst in 1994 in the first Police Academy movie, directed by Hugh Wilson, and stuck around through Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989). His character grows more tolerant of the wacky recruits led by Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) as the franchise moves along.
The actor did not make the trip to Moscow for the 1994 installment but was on one episode of the 1997-98 Police Academy series at CTV.
George Ross Robertson...
- 2/3/2023
- by Mike Barnes and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Mike Hodges, who made his feature debut by writing and directing the seminal British gangster film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine, then replaced Nicolas Roeg to helm the cult sci-fi hit Flash Gordon, has died. He was 90.
Hodges died Saturday of heart failure at his home in Dorset, England, confirmed his friend Mike Kaplan, who produced Hodges’ 2003 film I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.
The British filmmaker also wrote and directed Pulp (1972) in a quick follow-up with Caine; the bleak The Terminal Man (1974), an adaptation of a Michael Crichton novel that starred George Segal; Damien: Omen II (1978), though he was fired three weeks into the shoot and replaced by Don Taylor; and Black Rainbow (1989), starring Rosanna Arquette as a medium.
In addition, Hodges helmed the Mickey Rourke-starring Ira thriller A Prayer for the Dying (1987), which he said was re-edited without his...
Mike Hodges, who made his feature debut by writing and directing the seminal British gangster film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine, then replaced Nicolas Roeg to helm the cult sci-fi hit Flash Gordon, has died. He was 90.
Hodges died Saturday of heart failure at his home in Dorset, England, confirmed his friend Mike Kaplan, who produced Hodges’ 2003 film I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.
The British filmmaker also wrote and directed Pulp (1972) in a quick follow-up with Caine; the bleak The Terminal Man (1974), an adaptation of a Michael Crichton novel that starred George Segal; Damien: Omen II (1978), though he was fired three weeks into the shoot and replaced by Don Taylor; and Black Rainbow (1989), starring Rosanna Arquette as a medium.
In addition, Hodges helmed the Mickey Rourke-starring Ira thriller A Prayer for the Dying (1987), which he said was re-edited without his...
- 12/20/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert Mitchum had opinions, and he shared them freely, without fear of repercussions, because he was Robert Mitchum. Mitchum didn't care much for authority or societal norms. He was one of the first major Hollywood celebrities busted for marijuana possession. He also campaigned for arch-conservative U.S. presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. Mitchum could be hard to figure out, but if you engaged him in extended conversation, he began to make a fair amount of sense.
Roger Ebert learned this and then some in 1969 when he chatted with Mitchum in Dingle, Ireland, during the shoot of David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter." His profile,...
The post Robert Mitchum Wasn't A Fan Of Working With Most Hollywood Directors appeared first on /Film.
Roger Ebert learned this and then some in 1969 when he chatted with Mitchum in Dingle, Ireland, during the shoot of David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter." His profile,...
The post Robert Mitchum Wasn't A Fan Of Working With Most Hollywood Directors appeared first on /Film.
- 8/5/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Bob Dylan resumed his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour Thursday night at the Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. It was essentially the same show he brought around the States late last year, but he dropped “Early Roman Kings” and replaced it with the live debut of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tune “Crossing the Rubicon.”
The song is about Julius Caesar’s decision to take his troops across the Rubicon River in 49 BC, an event that kicked off a bloody civil war. Dylan didn’t comment on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine,...
The song is about Julius Caesar’s decision to take his troops across the Rubicon River in 49 BC, an event that kicked off a bloody civil war. Dylan didn’t comment on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine,...
- 3/4/2022
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Celebrating the release of his new memoir, multi-hyphenate Steven Van Zandt joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Elevator To The Gallows (1958) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Breathless (1960) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
The Fisher King (1991)
Tony Rome (1967)
Lady In Cement (1968)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
The Killer (1989)
True Romance (1993)
True Lies (1994)
Get Shorty (1995) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Catch Us If You Can a.k.a. Sweet Memories (1965)
Double Trouble (1967)
Performance (1970) – Mark Goldblatt’s trailer commentary
The Driver (1978)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Tfh’s Don’t Knock The Rock piece
Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review
Blue Collar (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Elevator To The Gallows (1958) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Breathless (1960) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
The Fisher King (1991)
Tony Rome (1967)
Lady In Cement (1968)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
The Killer (1989)
True Romance (1993)
True Lies (1994)
Get Shorty (1995) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Catch Us If You Can a.k.a. Sweet Memories (1965)
Double Trouble (1967)
Performance (1970) – Mark Goldblatt’s trailer commentary
The Driver (1978)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Tfh’s Don’t Knock The Rock piece
Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review
Blue Collar (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s...
- 9/28/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
A video spot of Rudy Giuliani hawking MyPillow products elicited ridicule and a bit of wonder of what has happened to the man once known as America’s Mayor, but it’s hardly anything new for a political figure to give in to the temptations of commercial endorsements.
The spot was part of Giuliani’s Common Sense podcast, this one centered on the latest fascination with UFOs.
“I’ve been sleeping on MyPillows for some time,” Giuliani said on his show, posted on YouTube. “I love them, simply the very best pillows ever made. But I just found out they also have a wide assortment of other incredible products. Like their mattress toppers, sheets, towels.” Then Giuliani held up footwear as he said, “And slippers! And more!”
Rudy Giuliani is doing My Pillow ads during his hour-long YouTube video on UFOs. pic.twitter.com/7eIEYFpPYx
— The Recount (@therecount) June 3, 2021
All...
The spot was part of Giuliani’s Common Sense podcast, this one centered on the latest fascination with UFOs.
“I’ve been sleeping on MyPillows for some time,” Giuliani said on his show, posted on YouTube. “I love them, simply the very best pillows ever made. But I just found out they also have a wide assortment of other incredible products. Like their mattress toppers, sheets, towels.” Then Giuliani held up footwear as he said, “And slippers! And more!”
Rudy Giuliani is doing My Pillow ads during his hour-long YouTube video on UFOs. pic.twitter.com/7eIEYFpPYx
— The Recount (@therecount) June 3, 2021
All...
- 6/4/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Walt Disney, Frank Capra, Whitney Houston, Billie Holiday, Johnny Cash and Alex Trebek are among the entertainment industry figures who have been added as proposed honorees in the National Garden of American Heroes monument project unveiled by President Donald Trump in July.
As he began his final 48 hours as President, Trump issued an amended executive order Monday that added dozens of names slated to be honored in the the planned statuary park. The location for the park has yet to be determined. Trump first announced the plan on July 3 during his speech at Mt. Rushmore.
Among the entertainment-related names making the cut are Louis Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Irving Berlin, Humphrey Bogart, Kobe Bryant, Frank Capra, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Woody Guthrie, Charlton Heston, Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley and Jimmy Stewart. The monument will honor those deemed to be “historically...
As he began his final 48 hours as President, Trump issued an amended executive order Monday that added dozens of names slated to be honored in the the planned statuary park. The location for the park has yet to be determined. Trump first announced the plan on July 3 during his speech at Mt. Rushmore.
Among the entertainment-related names making the cut are Louis Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Irving Berlin, Humphrey Bogart, Kobe Bryant, Frank Capra, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Woody Guthrie, Charlton Heston, Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley and Jimmy Stewart. The monument will honor those deemed to be “historically...
- 1/18/2021
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
“The Reagans” is an unavoidable mirror. Matt Tyrnauer’s four-part series profiles a couple that held sway over a state and then a party and then the world, but the timeline very purposefully stops with their White House exit in 1989.
Even still, it’s nearly impossible to see the stances, coalitions, and maneuvers that helped Ronald Reagan ascend to the presidency as a precursor to what the United States has experienced over the last four years. The central question becomes: Does “The Reagans” feel so familiar because it’s being pitched to an audience living through 2020? Or are the echoes so unavoidable that any examination of the 1980s and what led to them can’t help but remind us of the headlines of the more recent past?
In practice, it’s a bit of both. Start looking for parallels to the now-outgoing administration and you’ll see them everywhere: disgruntled former employees writing tell-all memoirs,...
Even still, it’s nearly impossible to see the stances, coalitions, and maneuvers that helped Ronald Reagan ascend to the presidency as a precursor to what the United States has experienced over the last four years. The central question becomes: Does “The Reagans” feel so familiar because it’s being pitched to an audience living through 2020? Or are the echoes so unavoidable that any examination of the 1980s and what led to them can’t help but remind us of the headlines of the more recent past?
In practice, it’s a bit of both. Start looking for parallels to the now-outgoing administration and you’ll see them everywhere: disgruntled former employees writing tell-all memoirs,...
- 11/15/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Updated with Georgia results: A pair of races in Georgia will now determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate after the race between Democratic challenger John Ossoff and GOP incumbent David Perdue was close enough to force a runoff.
They now join the other race, pitting Democrat Raphael Warnock and incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, in a pair of run-off elections set to take place January 5. The current Associated Press count in the Senate is 48-48, with seats in Alaska and North Carolina looking to favor the GOP incumbents, meaning Democrats will need to win both run-offs to take the chamber.
Georgia hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Zell Miller in 2000. Loeffler was appointed to her spot in January after the retirement of three-term GOP senator Jonnny Isakson.
Updated with latest results, November 5 Am: Fending off the toughest challenge of his political career, South Carolina...
They now join the other race, pitting Democrat Raphael Warnock and incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, in a pair of run-off elections set to take place January 5. The current Associated Press count in the Senate is 48-48, with seats in Alaska and North Carolina looking to favor the GOP incumbents, meaning Democrats will need to win both run-offs to take the chamber.
Georgia hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Zell Miller in 2000. Loeffler was appointed to her spot in January after the retirement of three-term GOP senator Jonnny Isakson.
Updated with latest results, November 5 Am: Fending off the toughest challenge of his political career, South Carolina...
- 11/7/2020
- by Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
“#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump” is a frightening documentary that can leave you scared to death about the prospect of Donald Trump remaining in the Oval Office a day longer than is absolutely necessary. It’s a cautionary tale that can offer some degree of insight into the mind of our commander in chief. But it’s also a political documentary that can make you wonder whether film is even the right medium with which to take on Trump, and whether a movie like this can connect with anybody who doesn’t already believe everything it has to say.
The film by director Dan Partland is timely, of course, hitting select theaters and virtual cinemas on August 28, at the end of the week of the Republican Convention, and heading to streaming and VOD on Sept. 1. And it is tied into current news: Its focus on psychoanalyzing the president fits...
The film by director Dan Partland is timely, of course, hitting select theaters and virtual cinemas on August 28, at the end of the week of the Republican Convention, and heading to streaming and VOD on Sept. 1. And it is tied into current news: Its focus on psychoanalyzing the president fits...
- 8/25/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The issue of whether Donald Trump is mentally unfit to be president — or, to put it more bluntly, whether he suffers from a serious mental disorder — isn’t one to be taken lightly, yet it sometimes seems destined to be tinged with comedy. In 2017, when speculation about Trump’s mental state was first reaching full boil, Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who wrote the criteria that defines narcissistic personality disorder, published a righteous letter in The New York Times insisting that Trump was not an example of that syndrome. I looked up the criteria on several prominent medical websites, and guess what? Trump meets every one of the criteria.
Trump is the kind of screw-loose blowhard who has inspired all too many of us to play armchair psychiatrist. We’ve been putting him on the couch for the entire run of his presidency. So most, if not all, of the insights...
Trump is the kind of screw-loose blowhard who has inspired all too many of us to play armchair psychiatrist. We’ve been putting him on the couch for the entire run of his presidency. So most, if not all, of the insights...
- 8/22/2020
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
FX’s new original show Mrs. America takes on the Equal Rights Amendment (the Era), painting an intimate portrait for the very real lives of the women who fought for and against it. Names like Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and even Phyllis Schlafly are tossed around as giants who shaped our culture and history, but the reality is that they’re real people with real passions, frustrations, love lives, egos, and shortcomings, just like any of us. One of the things Mrs. America does best is show just how deeply personal these conflicts – even among people on the same side – really were, and how often important choices were driven by personal experience.
The show itself comes with a disclaimer that it’s based on truth, but that some conversations have been made up or characters have been merged to aid in telling the story. By and large, however, Mrs. America...
The show itself comes with a disclaimer that it’s based on truth, but that some conversations have been made up or characters have been merged to aid in telling the story. By and large, however, Mrs. America...
- 4/17/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
In an episode of Mrs. America, a new FX on Hulu miniseries about the Seventies political battle over the Equal Rights Amendment, liberal firebrand Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale) suggests her side may have an easier time if they focus their argument on a single issue, like women receiving equal pay for equal work. Quoting her father’s advice, she says, “Make it about everything, it winds up being about nothing.”
That’s a bit of wisdom that Mad Men alum Dahvi Waller might have considered while creating Mrs. America. The...
That’s a bit of wisdom that Mad Men alum Dahvi Waller might have considered while creating Mrs. America. The...
- 4/13/2020
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
TV, film and theater actor William Bogert, who appeared in a recurring role on 1980s sitcom “Small Wonder” and in films such as “War Games,” died Jan. 12 in New York. He was 83.
On “Small Wonder,” which ran from 1985 to 1989, Bogert played Brandon Brindle, the Lawsons’ neighbor and Harriet’s father who became Ted Lawson’s boss after stealing his ideas.
On Dave Chappelle’s “Chapelle’s Show,” Bogert was Kent Wallace, the host of “Frontline” spoofs.
Bogert also appeared in the well-known political ad “Confessions of a Republican” in 1964, stumping for Lyndon B. Johnson. He returned to the character in a 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign video, explaining that although he actually had been a Republican when he made the 1964 commercial and all his life, he felt now that Donald Trump was not the kind of Republication he could endorse. “He scares me,” Bogert says about Trump, repeating his assessment of Barry Goldwater from decades before.
On “Small Wonder,” which ran from 1985 to 1989, Bogert played Brandon Brindle, the Lawsons’ neighbor and Harriet’s father who became Ted Lawson’s boss after stealing his ideas.
On Dave Chappelle’s “Chapelle’s Show,” Bogert was Kent Wallace, the host of “Frontline” spoofs.
Bogert also appeared in the well-known political ad “Confessions of a Republican” in 1964, stumping for Lyndon B. Johnson. He returned to the character in a 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign video, explaining that although he actually had been a Republican when he made the 1964 commercial and all his life, he felt now that Donald Trump was not the kind of Republication he could endorse. “He scares me,” Bogert says about Trump, repeating his assessment of Barry Goldwater from decades before.
- 1/20/2020
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
From the outset, the interview seemed to be going off course. While most Hollywood CEOs wallow in self-congratulation, the individual I was meeting with was both candid and self-effacing: He promptly volunteered his “disappointment” with one of his Disney studio’s major releases. He further confessed that he was angry with himself for “wasting time” by backing political candidates. “I’m letting too many things pile up on me,” he acknowledged, shaking his head in frustration.
No, this was not an interview with Bob Iger, but rather with the mythic founder, Walt Disney. I was never clear why Disney had agreed to a rare sit-down interview with me in December 1965, but, sitting across from him at the Disney commissary, I enjoyed his grumpy self-admonitions. I was also bemused that this Hollywood icon, who’d bought entertainment to millions, seemed by nature both dour and intensely conservative.
This week, at a...
No, this was not an interview with Bob Iger, but rather with the mythic founder, Walt Disney. I was never clear why Disney had agreed to a rare sit-down interview with me in December 1965, but, sitting across from him at the Disney commissary, I enjoyed his grumpy self-admonitions. I was also bemused that this Hollywood icon, who’d bought entertainment to millions, seemed by nature both dour and intensely conservative.
This week, at a...
- 8/1/2019
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Hunter Thompson had America’s number before most of us even knew. Attending the 1964 Republican convention that resulted in hard-right Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater becoming the party’s nominee for president, Thompson was “genuinely frightened at the violent reaction [the gathering] provoked,” including hostility toward the media. Several years later, he noted that Richard Nixon “represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character almost every other country in the world has learned to fear and despise.” The country itself, he wrote, was “just a nation of 220 million used...
- 10/31/2018
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Legendary senator John McCain has died after a nearly year-long bout with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He was 81.
“Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28pm on 25th August 2018,” his family said in a statement. “With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years.”
“My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years,” Cindy McCain, his wife,...
“Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28pm on 25th August 2018,” his family said in a statement. “With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years.”
“My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years,” Cindy McCain, his wife,...
- 8/26/2018
- by Tim Dickinson
- Rollingstone.com
His enemies have numerous names for him, but "dirty trickster" is what right-wing political consultant Roger Stone proudly calls himself. A former advisor to President Trump, Stone's influence in Republican politics dates to the campaign of Barry Goldwater, for whom he was a volunteer at the tender age of 12.
He has played major and minor roles in every Republican administration since then, whether it was tearing down liberal opponents (he claims to have been instrumental in the demise of disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer) or profanely attacking members of the media he deems unfriendly (Twitter suspended him last...
He has played major and minor roles in every Republican administration since then, whether it was tearing down liberal opponents (he claims to have been instrumental in the demise of disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer) or profanely attacking members of the media he deems unfriendly (Twitter suspended him last...
- 11/30/2017
- by Jordan Riefe
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
First They Killed My Father Netflix Director: Angelina Jolie Written by: Loung Ung, Angelina Jolie based on Loung Ung’s book Cast: Kompheak Phoeung, Soceata Sveng, Dara Heng, Chenda Run, Kimhak Mun, Sreyneang Oun, Sothea Khoun, Nika Sarum, Nita Sarun, Sreymoch Sareum Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/14/17 Opens: September 15, 2017 Barry Goldwater, a (thanksfully) […]
The post First They Killed My Father Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post First They Killed My Father Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/15/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
You may not know Roger Stone’s name, but I absolutely guarantee that you’re familiar with his work. A self-described “agent provocateur” who’s dedicated his entire life to becoming (and remaining) the Machiavellian puppet-master of American politics, Stone is the closest thing that Washington D.C. has ever had to a genuine supervillain. Transformed by a chance encounter with a radioactive Barry Goldwater book when he was just a kid, Stone immediately began fashioning himself into a destructive force of nature. It would take a while before the body-building dandy started dressing like the Riddler, but in first grade he was already feeding his classmates disinformation about how a certain presidential candidate was in favor of school on Saturdays, and at 19 he became the youngest person named in the Watergate scandal (and he was proud of it).
In the ’80s, he practically invented the SuperPAC, supported dictators, and...
In the ’80s, he practically invented the SuperPAC, supported dictators, and...
- 4/23/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Director Justin Barber tells his own ‘X-Files’ Story inspired by real-life events.
On Thursday, March 13, 1997 a strange event occurred in the nighttime skies of Phoenix, Arizona. According to thousands of eyewitnesses, a triangular formation of lights were seen in the sky. Some reported seeing stationary lights hovering over Phoenix, which was later identified by the Air Force as flares being dropped from an air craft performing exercises at the nearby Barry Goldwater base. But there were other reports of the triangular formation passing over Arizona towards Nevada and these have never been explained. At the time of the event, Arizona governor Fife Symington famously mocked the event, holding a press conference where he had a staff member dress up like an alien. But years later, he admitted to also seeing the event and admitted there was no explanation for it.
These true-life events serve as the backbone for Phoenix Forgotten, a...
On Thursday, March 13, 1997 a strange event occurred in the nighttime skies of Phoenix, Arizona. According to thousands of eyewitnesses, a triangular formation of lights were seen in the sky. Some reported seeing stationary lights hovering over Phoenix, which was later identified by the Air Force as flares being dropped from an air craft performing exercises at the nearby Barry Goldwater base. But there were other reports of the triangular formation passing over Arizona towards Nevada and these have never been explained. At the time of the event, Arizona governor Fife Symington famously mocked the event, holding a press conference where he had a staff member dress up like an alien. But years later, he admitted to also seeing the event and admitted there was no explanation for it.
These true-life events serve as the backbone for Phoenix Forgotten, a...
- 4/21/2017
- by Jamie Righetti
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
On Wednesday, the Arizona Republic newspaper endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. And while their readership may be a fraction of the New York Times's, their endorsement of Clinton is far more significant: Since the paper was first published more than 120 years ago, back in 1890, its editorial board has never thrown its weight behind a Democratic candidate. That's right: not Roosevelt, not Kennedy, not Carter, not the first Clinton - not even President Obama. Its history, the paper said, "reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles." But "this year is different," the paper's editorial board wrote. "The...
- 9/28/2016
- by Diana Pearl, @dianapearl_
- PEOPLE.com
On Wednesday, the Arizona Republic newspaper endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. And while their readership may be a fraction of the New York Times's, their endorsement of Clinton is far more significant: Since the paper was first published more than 120 years ago, back in 1890, its editorial board has never thrown its weight behind a Democratic candidate. That's right: not Roosevelt, not Kennedy, not Carter, not the first Clinton - not even President Obama. Its history, the paper said, "reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles." But "this year is different," the paper's editorial board wrote. "The...
- 9/28/2016
- by Diana Pearl, @dianapearl_
- PEOPLE.com
Long before Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter or any of Roger’s Angels, Phyllis Schlafly brought a far right woman’s perspective to TV’s political chat shows. Never really a pundit, Schlafly, who died yesterday at 92, was nonetheless a familiar face and voice on the television landscape, whether appearing in support of Barry Goldwater in the 1960s, fighting the Equal Rights Amendment in the ’70s or supporting Donald Trump just this year. Interviewers from Tim Russert to Bill…...
- 9/6/2016
- Deadline TV
It seems Donald Trump can't count on the support of even long-deceased Republicans. The billionaire businessman recently announced plans to fundraise at the former home of Barry Goldwater, the conservative icon who shook up the Gop when he ran for president in 1964. Trump's contentious presidential campaign has drawn comparisons to that of the late Arizona senator. But Goldwater's widow, Susan Goldwater Levine, told The Washington Post on Thursday that the comparisons - and Trump's fundraiser - are anything but welcome. "Ugh or yuck is my response," Levine said. "I think Barry would be appalled that his home was being used for that purpose.
- 6/17/2016
- by Tierney McAfee, @tierneymcafee
- PEOPLE.com
It seems Donald Trump can't count on the support of even long-deceased Republicans. The billionaire businessman recently announced plans to fundraise at the former home of Barry Goldwater, the conservative icon who shook up the Gop when he ran for president in 1964. Trump's contentious presidential campaign has drawn comparisons to that of the late Arizona senator. But Goldwater's widow, Susan Goldwater Levine, told The Washington Post on Thursday that the comparisons - and Trump's fundraiser - are anything but welcome. "Ugh or yuck is my response," Levine said. "I think Barry would be appalled that his home was being used for that purpose.
- 6/17/2016
- by Tierney McAfee, @tierneymcafee
- PEOPLE.com
It was forty years ago today that director Alan J. Pakula's landmark ode to journalism, "All the President's Men", opened in movie theaters. It was, of course, based on the best-selling book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose dogged investigation of a seemingly trivial break-in of Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern's campaign HQ would turn the story into an international thriller that would ultimately bring down what Bernstein has called "the criminal" administration of President Richard M. Nixon. As with most scandals, the break-in itself was just the tip of the iceberg. By the time Nixon's embattled Presidency was over in August 1974, even Republicans had been calling for his head. Nixon was determined to face impeachment hearings. It fell to that symbol of conservatism, Sen. Barry Goldwater, to inform the President that the scope of the crimes committed during his administration would not be...
- 4/9/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Fresh off portraying a shunned screenwriter in last year’s awards contender Trumbo, Bryan Cranston will be remaining in the realm of real-life biopics for HBO’s upcoming political drama, All the Way.
Swapping Tinsel Town for Washington D.C.’s corridors of power, the network’s period piece places Cranston in the shoes of Lyndon B. Johnson, who had big shoes of his own to fill when, following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the vice president went on to became commander in chief at a time when the country was teetering on the edge of crisis.
Behind the lens for All the Way is Jay Roach, and Cranston will be flanked by a star-studded cast that brings together Anthony Mackie in the role of Martin Luther King Jr., Melissa Leo, Stephen Root and Frank Langella.
Per HBO, here’s the show’s official logline:
‘All The Way’ offers...
Swapping Tinsel Town for Washington D.C.’s corridors of power, the network’s period piece places Cranston in the shoes of Lyndon B. Johnson, who had big shoes of his own to fill when, following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the vice president went on to became commander in chief at a time when the country was teetering on the edge of crisis.
Behind the lens for All the Way is Jay Roach, and Cranston will be flanked by a star-studded cast that brings together Anthony Mackie in the role of Martin Luther King Jr., Melissa Leo, Stephen Root and Frank Langella.
Per HBO, here’s the show’s official logline:
‘All The Way’ offers...
- 4/4/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
The shadow of possible Academy prejudice has loomed large over this year’s awards. So which black actors were unjustly snubbed? Whose great performance went unrewarded? The Guardian’s chief film critic on the ones that got away
In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)
Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...
In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)
Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...
- 2/25/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The shadow of possible Academy prejudice has loomed large over this year’s awards. So which black actors were unjustly snubbed? Whose great performance went unrewarded? The Guardian’s chief film critic on the ones that got away
In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)
Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...
In 1992, conservative critic Michael Medved published a book about the movies with a title of pure provocative genius – Hollywood vs America. He took two concepts widely assumed to be synonymous and bashed their heads together. Hollywood, he said, was run by a bunch of permissive liberals whose values were at odds with mainstream American decency. (It was a sort of post-Reaganite cultural version of today’s leftie cry of Wall Street versus Main Street.)
Today, the #Oscarsowhite movement is arguing loudly that, in racial terms at least, the Academy Awards – still America’s most revered peacock display of cultural prestige – is about as progressive as a fundraising dinner for Barry Goldwater. Last year and this year,...
- 2/25/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
By Cate Marquis
Once upon a time, there was a news media covered that politics in a calm, pointedly-neutrally way. Then the televised debate between conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal Gore Vidal happened. Nielsen numbers went through the roof and TV political coverage was never the same. Television news discovered political coverage as blood sport and traded dispassionate reporting for the entertaining fireworks of shouted confrontation and punditry.
In the highly entertaining, engrossing documentary Best Of Enemies, directors Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon make a credible case for the Buckley-Vidal debates, a political face-off between, intellectual giants with opposing views, as a turning point in how the American media covers politics. The film takes us back to 1968 and the TV broadcasts of the Republican and Democratic political conventions, when these two prominent cultural and intellectual figures debated the direction of the nation.
In 1968, before cable and the internet,...
Once upon a time, there was a news media covered that politics in a calm, pointedly-neutrally way. Then the televised debate between conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal Gore Vidal happened. Nielsen numbers went through the roof and TV political coverage was never the same. Television news discovered political coverage as blood sport and traded dispassionate reporting for the entertaining fireworks of shouted confrontation and punditry.
In the highly entertaining, engrossing documentary Best Of Enemies, directors Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon make a credible case for the Buckley-Vidal debates, a political face-off between, intellectual giants with opposing views, as a turning point in how the American media covers politics. The film takes us back to 1968 and the TV broadcasts of the Republican and Democratic political conventions, when these two prominent cultural and intellectual figures debated the direction of the nation.
In 1968, before cable and the internet,...
- 8/20/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Continuing the tradition of brisk pre-Code films, Joel McCrea’s occasional appearances in Gregory La Cava’s 1933 Bed of Roses serve as strange moral medium between the wanton hedonism of the lead Constance Bennett and the upcoming censorship of the era. Screenwriter Wanda Tuchock’s story of jail-hopping prostitutes-on-the-side seems like a victory lap for vice-ridden cinematic world of the early 30s, including flippant talk of suicide, heavily implied sex, liberal boozing, and poking fun at previous attempts of government sponsored moral judgment (“The Eighteenth Amendment is a law, and as a law should be enforced until it stops being a law”). The film begins in a prison as Bennett’s Lorry Evans and partner-in-crime Minnie (Pert Kelton) walk out of their cells, trash-talking life outside in radio-ready cadence and street-ready slang. They have short hair, hats tipped on the side of their head (I assume gravity worked differently in...
- 6/5/2015
- by Zach Lewis
- MUBI
Part I.
1971 was an incredibly violent year for movies. That year saw, among others, Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack, with its half-Indian hero karate-chopping rednecks; William Friedkin’s The French Connection, its dogged cops stymied by well-heeled drug runners; Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, banned for the copycat crimes it reportedly inspired; and Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, featuring the most controversial rape in cinema history. Every bloody shooting, sexual assault and death by penis statue reflected a world gone mad.
It seemed a reaction to America’s skyrocketing crime. Between 1963 and 1975, violent crimes tripled; riots, robberies and assassinations racked major cities. The antiwar and Civil Rights movements generated violent offshoots like the Weathermen and Black Panthers. Citizens blamed politicians like New York Mayor John Lindsay (the original “limousine liberal”), who proclaimed “Peace cannot be imposed on our cities by force of arms,” and Earl Warren’s Supreme Court,...
1971 was an incredibly violent year for movies. That year saw, among others, Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack, with its half-Indian hero karate-chopping rednecks; William Friedkin’s The French Connection, its dogged cops stymied by well-heeled drug runners; Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, banned for the copycat crimes it reportedly inspired; and Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, featuring the most controversial rape in cinema history. Every bloody shooting, sexual assault and death by penis statue reflected a world gone mad.
It seemed a reaction to America’s skyrocketing crime. Between 1963 and 1975, violent crimes tripled; riots, robberies and assassinations racked major cities. The antiwar and Civil Rights movements generated violent offshoots like the Weathermen and Black Panthers. Citizens blamed politicians like New York Mayor John Lindsay (the original “limousine liberal”), who proclaimed “Peace cannot be imposed on our cities by force of arms,” and Earl Warren’s Supreme Court,...
- 5/28/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Can't make it to New York to catch "Breaking Bad's" Bryan Cranston as Lbj in "All the Way"? Not to worry, as it will soon be playing on a big screen near you. HBO Films has picked up the rights to the film version of the Tony-winning play, according to Deadline. Written by Robert Schenkkan, "All The Way" centers on President Lyndon Johnson’s first year in office following the assassination of JFK. During that turbulent time, Johnsonn dealt with the escalation of the war in Vietnam while dealing with civil rights issues at home -- all while campaigning against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Cranston -- who picked up a Tony for best leading actor and is currently nominated for an Emmy for "Breaking Bad" -- will reprise his role as the president. Schenkkan will write the adaptation, while Spielberg's Amblin Television will produce along with Tale Told Prods.
- 7/16/2014
- by Dave Lewis
- Hitfix
San Francisco board supervisor, fearless gay rights activist, and all-around inspiration Harvey Milk is still a heroic figure 35 years after his murder at the age of 48. When he and San Francisco mayor George Moscone were murdered by Dan White, who was only convicted of manslaughter, outrage and grief rippled through the city. In 1984, the Academy Award-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk effectively chronicled Milk’s life and death, and because of that film we have indispensable insight into the mind of one of our pioneering gay rights leaders.
And yet, there are still facts about Milk that we either forget or overlook. Here are 10 facts about the man you might not know — some are funny, some are pop cultural, and some, particularly the one about Dan White, are unsettling. But 35 years on, it’s a joy to think about Harvey Milk, whose life was a terrific source of hope,...
And yet, there are still facts about Milk that we either forget or overlook. Here are 10 facts about the man you might not know — some are funny, some are pop cultural, and some, particularly the one about Dan White, are unsettling. But 35 years on, it’s a joy to think about Harvey Milk, whose life was a terrific source of hope,...
- 11/27/2013
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist
***
After months of campaigning, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney will square off tonight for one last time before the Nov. 6 presidential election.
The debate could be the deciding factor for undecided U.S. voters, as many political pundits agreed President Obama performed poorly at the Oct. 3 debate but came back to barely edge out Romney at the Oct. 16 debate.
The significance of televised presidential debates can be pinpointed to the first one, which took place Sept. 26, 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy, who was a Massachusetts senator, had numerous disadvantages going into the election: He was Catholic, young, fairly unknown and competing with the man who had been vice president for almost eight years.
However, Kennedy’s luck changed once cameras began rolling, and the night became a staple of history textbooks for years to come.
Before the debate,...
Television Editor & Columnist
***
After months of campaigning, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney will square off tonight for one last time before the Nov. 6 presidential election.
The debate could be the deciding factor for undecided U.S. voters, as many political pundits agreed President Obama performed poorly at the Oct. 3 debate but came back to barely edge out Romney at the Oct. 16 debate.
The significance of televised presidential debates can be pinpointed to the first one, which took place Sept. 26, 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy, who was a Massachusetts senator, had numerous disadvantages going into the election: He was Catholic, young, fairly unknown and competing with the man who had been vice president for almost eight years.
However, Kennedy’s luck changed once cameras began rolling, and the night became a staple of history textbooks for years to come.
Before the debate,...
- 10/22/2012
- by Rachel Bennett
- Scott Feinberg
The notion for this blog has been rattling about on my to-write list for months. It many ways it should not need to be written. All the same, again today another of Those Comments came in: "Just stick to movie reviews. you have no idea of what you're talking about. You love socialism? Move to Europe." There are 352 comments on that blog. My guess is that 15 or 20 of them give similar advice. I also get it constantly via Twitter and Facebook. It goes without saying that it's my blog on my site and I can write what I please. But that makes it all too simple, especially since almost all of these comments are friendly: "I've enjoyed your reviews for years, etc." "I like your writing, etc."
But...stick to the movies! There is an implication here that I have been assigned a role and must perform it. I was...
But...stick to the movies! There is an implication here that I have been assigned a role and must perform it. I was...
- 10/20/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Chuck Norris has offered a dire warning to America, claiming that U.S. citizens face "1,000 years of darkness" is President Obama is reelected for a second term in November.
In a two-minute video posted on his official YouTube channel, which also includes work-out tutorials and promotional appearances for "The Expendables 2," Norris and his wife Gena warn of the "growing concern" that the America we know can be lost forever if Obama is reelected.
“If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack,” Norris says. “We’re at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don’t change the course in which our country is headed.”
Gena then offers the statistic that in 2008 more than 30 million Evangelical Christians stayed home on Voting Day and Obama won.
She then offers up a quote by President Ronald Reagan,...
In a two-minute video posted on his official YouTube channel, which also includes work-out tutorials and promotional appearances for "The Expendables 2," Norris and his wife Gena warn of the "growing concern" that the America we know can be lost forever if Obama is reelected.
“If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack,” Norris says. “We’re at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don’t change the course in which our country is headed.”
Gena then offers the statistic that in 2008 more than 30 million Evangelical Christians stayed home on Voting Day and Obama won.
She then offers up a quote by President Ronald Reagan,...
- 9/4/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
George R. R. Martin — author of the “Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy series, world’s coolest shopping mall Santa — took to his website yesterday to voice his displeasure with what he called “attempts at voter suppression” by the Gop in swing states during this election cycle. “It is one thing to attempt to win elections,” writes Martin, “But trying to do so by denying the most basic and important right of any American citizen…that goes beyond reprehensible.” Martin notes that the Republican party used to be led by people he admired despite disagreeing them — including Henry Cabot Lodge...
- 8/15/2012
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
For me the best news produced by the Florida primary was Newt Gingrich's vow to take his fight all the way to the floor of this year's Republican convention. It has been way too long since a national political convention was more than a coronation stage-managed by public relations experts. It seems likely that Mitt Romney will be this year's Gop nominee, although with the party's revolving-door Surges of the Week we can never be sure. It is unlikely to be any of the other remaining candidates, although Ron Paul may use his pledged delegates to win a speaking slot. I'll enjoy that. He has the rare quality of talking turkey, and is funnier than his rivals. He is, in fact, the only candidate in either party who is likely to say something unexpected (on purpose) every time he speaks.
Newt is a seasoned politician and surely doesn't believe...
Newt is a seasoned politician and surely doesn't believe...
- 2/3/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Rediscovered footage of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters makes for an interesting documentary about a key moment in the history of the counter-culture
The prehistory of psychedelia gets an interesting, if minor footnote with this documentary co-directed by Alex Gibney – who made Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. In 1964, bestselling writer and novelist Ken Kesey became a counter-cultural legend for a chaotic road trip he took across the United States in a rickety school bus, taking with him a bunch of "Merry Pranksters". They were keen on smoking dope and dropping acid and, among the group (and very dangerously at the wheel), was the jabberingly loquacious Neal Cassady, already immortalised in Kerouac's On the Road. The journey was recorded in a book by Tom Wolfe, but Kesey also shot hours and hours of amateur cine film – forgotten for decades – which this documentary reconstructs and edits into shape. It's an...
The prehistory of psychedelia gets an interesting, if minor footnote with this documentary co-directed by Alex Gibney – who made Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. In 1964, bestselling writer and novelist Ken Kesey became a counter-cultural legend for a chaotic road trip he took across the United States in a rickety school bus, taking with him a bunch of "Merry Pranksters". They were keen on smoking dope and dropping acid and, among the group (and very dangerously at the wheel), was the jabberingly loquacious Neal Cassady, already immortalised in Kerouac's On the Road. The journey was recorded in a book by Tom Wolfe, but Kesey also shot hours and hours of amateur cine film – forgotten for decades – which this documentary reconstructs and edits into shape. It's an...
- 11/18/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
There’s a great interview with Grant Morrison on the website of Rolling Stone magazine. The reason I bring it up is that I’ve been thinking about last week’s column. The more I thought about Action Comics #1, written by Morrison, the more I really liked it.
But I’m an adult.
I’ve been a fan of Grant’s since his debut on this side of the pond as the writer of Animal Man back in the 80s. It was a book that I adored. But Animal Man was under the Vertigo imprint, whose aim was to bring a sophisticated, i.e. adult, audience and slant into the comics industry – at which it incredibly succeeded, of course. In fact, if I remember right, the “hook” for the entire line of Vertigo books was sophisticated horror.
But I’m an adult.
And the Vertigo books aren’t for kids.
But I’m an adult.
I’ve been a fan of Grant’s since his debut on this side of the pond as the writer of Animal Man back in the 80s. It was a book that I adored. But Animal Man was under the Vertigo imprint, whose aim was to bring a sophisticated, i.e. adult, audience and slant into the comics industry – at which it incredibly succeeded, of course. In fact, if I remember right, the “hook” for the entire line of Vertigo books was sophisticated horror.
But I’m an adult.
And the Vertigo books aren’t for kids.
- 9/19/2011
- by Glenn Hauman
- Comicmix.com
Long-lost footage of journey across America by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and his Merry Pranksters to spread the word about acid has been turned into a documentary
Flush with funds from the success of his debut novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey, then 29, drew up plans in 1963 to drive a bus across the Us to the World's Fair in New York. In June 1964, an exotically painted 1939 Harvester school bus rolled out of his ranch in La Honda, California. This was to be no ordinary journey. Kesey's Beat Generation associate Neal Cassady – the inspiration for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's On the Road – was driving the bus they called Further. On board were half a dozen travellers who called themselves the Merry Pranksters and a jar of orange juice laced with LSD. The trip, immortalised in Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,...
Flush with funds from the success of his debut novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey, then 29, drew up plans in 1963 to drive a bus across the Us to the World's Fair in New York. In June 1964, an exotically painted 1939 Harvester school bus rolled out of his ranch in La Honda, California. This was to be no ordinary journey. Kesey's Beat Generation associate Neal Cassady – the inspiration for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's On the Road – was driving the bus they called Further. On board were half a dozen travellers who called themselves the Merry Pranksters and a jar of orange juice laced with LSD. The trip, immortalised in Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,...
- 8/6/2011
- by Edward Helmore
- The Guardian - Film News
While Romney, Pawlenty and Gingrich need a lesson in authenticity, newly minted 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum's "authentic" self turns off large swaths of voters. Matt Latimer on why he should-but won't-tone it down.
It is hard to muster enthusiasm for a presidential contender whose best-case scenario for winning begins with Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, that guy from Utah, and every Republican governor in America flying over the Bermuda Triangle during an electromagnetic storm. But former Sen. Rick Santorum had the guts to announce for president this week, so he deserves his due. Is there any way in the world that this guy can win the nomination? Eh, maybe.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters
This year voters are in an authenticity mood; they've seen America's economy nearly ruined by the same old crowd in Washington and long for someone different. They have discerned how...
It is hard to muster enthusiasm for a presidential contender whose best-case scenario for winning begins with Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, that guy from Utah, and every Republican governor in America flying over the Bermuda Triangle during an electromagnetic storm. But former Sen. Rick Santorum had the guts to announce for president this week, so he deserves his due. Is there any way in the world that this guy can win the nomination? Eh, maybe.
Related story on The Daily Beast: The Gop's Bin Laden Jitters
This year voters are in an authenticity mood; they've seen America's economy nearly ruined by the same old crowd in Washington and long for someone different. They have discerned how...
- 6/7/2011
- by Matt Latimer
- The Daily Beast
There is no better moment for the ex-governor, who would snare most of the social-conservative votes that might have gone to Mike Huckabee and Haley Barbour-and in 2016 would be old news and face a stronger primary field, writes Peter Beinart.
Sarah Palin showed up at the Rolling Thunder bikers' rally Sunday and said nothing, thus throwing the press into a frenzy. Now she's headed to various other patriotic sites, which will send the press into further spasms. Everywhere she goes, she's mobbed. Which leads me to this admittedly far-fetched thought experiment: if I were Sarah Palin why wouldn't I run for president?
Related story on The Daily Beast: Why Obama's Still Untouchable in 2012
There will be never be a better moment. A conventional politician might bide his or her time, amass a record of solid governance, and wait for 2016, when there won't be an incumbent on the ticket. But Palin doesn't want to govern,...
Sarah Palin showed up at the Rolling Thunder bikers' rally Sunday and said nothing, thus throwing the press into a frenzy. Now she's headed to various other patriotic sites, which will send the press into further spasms. Everywhere she goes, she's mobbed. Which leads me to this admittedly far-fetched thought experiment: if I were Sarah Palin why wouldn't I run for president?
Related story on The Daily Beast: Why Obama's Still Untouchable in 2012
There will be never be a better moment. A conventional politician might bide his or her time, amass a record of solid governance, and wait for 2016, when there won't be an incumbent on the ticket. But Palin doesn't want to govern,...
- 5/31/2011
- by Peter Beinart
- The Daily Beast
- Way before Russia’s newspaper reporters started dwindling in numbers, there is the story of one Don Bolles who made enemies with people sitting in positions of power. Miramax is looking to set the director in Ben Affleck to a storyline set circa 1976, when Bolles was a reporter for the Arizona Republic looking into political corruption and the convergence of New York, Chicago and Detroit mobsters in Phoenix. When lured to a downtown hotel by a source who didn't show up, Bolles was blown up in his car. He died days later. Sheldon Turner is on board to write the screenplay for Sean Bailey who is producing while Cori Stevens is executive producing. I expect the screenplay won’t include the après circumstances of the reporter’s legacy - THR mentions that the group of elite national journalists that Bolles had been trying to organize at the time, Investigative Reporters and Editors,
- 12/9/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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