I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Here's me in the Daily Caller on this year's Oscar nominations and all the great conservative films that got left out:
Ever since the now-famous Senate investigation into Non-Democrat Activities in Hollywood, the question “Are you now or have you ever been a Republican?” has struck fear into the hearts of movie-makers who ever — even if only briefly in their youths — toyed with the idea that there should be constitutional limits on the powers of the government. The industry-wide blacklist that has virtually eliminated conservative directors, screenwriters and actors from “the business” has ensured Americans will be protected from the ideas of dangerous radicals like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and will find nothing but a wholesome diet of pro-Democratic fare at their local multiplex.
Thus it comes as no surprise that this year’s Oscar nominations include Argo, an entertaining escape drama that neatly whitewashes the near-criminal incompetence of the Carter administration in the Middle East; Zero Dark Thirty, a gripping manhunt story that neatly whitewashes the near-criminal incompetence of the Obama administration in the Middle East; Lincoln, a hagiographical snoozer that draws invidious comparisons between a truly great dead president and a truly mediocre living one; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, which makes an exciting fairy tale out of the left’s global warming … well, fairy tale.
Read the whole thing here.
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Mar '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Life of Pi deserves to win - BP ( beyond politics).
Aug '10
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Are those on the Amazon or Netflix streaming venues ?
Please .....
How about youtube then ? How about you just read that teaser from your new book ? That rocked !
Ok, I give up . Let's ask Dinesh what real success of conservative filmmaking can lead to .
Higher standards indeed .
I rest my mouth.
Apr '12
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Andrew
I think you are a little overwrought about how most people, including me, will view these films. I was very worried about Lincoln because of the Spielberg/Kushner connection but saw it and enjoyed it very much. And I'm okay with a film that shows Democratic party politicians as corrupt and in favor of slavery. By the way, progressive historians don't like the film because it shows Lincoln in too favorable a light.
I also saw Argo. The first 5 minutes of explaining the background were slanted but the rest of the film was apolitical re the US but unmistakeably hostile regarding the Islamic revolutionaries. A good flick. And yes, Carter was so awful a President that in 1980 I cast my first vote for a Republican.
Did like your ideas for alternative films though.
Edited on January 11, 2013 at 1:30amJul '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Mark: Andrew
I think you are a little overwrought about how most people, including me, will view these films. I was very worried about Lincoln because of the Spielberg/Kushner connection but saw it and enjoyed it very much. And I'm okay with a film that shows Democratic party politicians as corrupt and in favor of slavery. By the way, progressive historians don't like the film because it shows Lincoln in too favorable a light.
I also saw Argo. The first 5 minutes of explaining the background were slanted but the rest of the film was apolitical re the US but unmistakeably hostile regarding the Islamic revolutionaries. A good flick. And yes, Carter was so awful a President that in 1980 I cast my first vote for a Republican.
Did like your ideas for alternative films though. · 10 minutes ago
Edited 9 minutes ago
Carter flapping his gums at the end made me want to vomit.
Lincoln advances the idea that bribery and corruption in favor of advancing any good liberal cause, whatever nightmare they have planned, is all OK.
Zero Dark Thirty will ignore the utter incompetence of the Obama admin when it came to Bin Laden.
Apr '12
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Ending slavery is a liberal cause?
By the way, if you read early American history the methods used were not extraordinary.
Look, there are a lot of films I see and can't stand or don't even bother going to see because of their politics. Argo and Lincoln don't fall in that category.
Sep '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Andrew -- I thought Zero Dark Thirty was pretty good.
A strong case is made for the results obtained by the detainee program. While the big breakthroughs come after the subjects have been softened up by enhanced interrogation, the sympathetic protagonists of the film are in the room all the way through.
There is no question that Islamo-fascist jihadists are clearly the villains of the piece, in all their cruelty and with no equivocation.
The picture is pretty apolitical in terms of internal U.S. politics. Obama is only seen in background videos voicing his opposition to enhanced interrogation. Mention is later made that this policy change limited the CIA's flow of information.
The movie also celebrates the heroic actions of the SEALS, and the CIA team operating black sites and and tracking AQ at considerable risk in remarkably visualised settings.
When you think about the way Obama repeatedly grandstanded this historic moment in real life, it's a credit to the filmmakers that they chose to instead celebrate a determined CIA operative as the heroic figure who actually got UBL.
Jul '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Mark, no not a liberal cause or anything else beyond a worthy cause. Lincoln the movie, not the president. I found part of the message disturbing in the sense that "do gooder" liberals can equate any of their pet causes to ending slavery and feel justified in anything to achieve their ends.
Jul '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
On a side note, a friend of mine is closely associated with someone who was the when UBL being killed was pitched. Obama was being shouted at by Val Jarret who insisted that we do not kill UBL. Obama waffled for an extensive amount of time and was greatly concerned with, himself. That's a part of history that may never be written.
Apr '12
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Thanks, I now better understand the point you were making.
Some liberals may want to do that, though as I mentioned many progressive historians don't like the film, but conservatives can also structure a comforting narrative from the film. And, again, historically Lincoln didn't do anything outside the norms for his end (in the movie or in real life). I thought one element that moved the film beyond hagiography was that it did deal with the nitty gritty of practical politics.
As I mentioned I was very concerned when I heard that Tony Kushner was writing the film after the disgraceful job he did on Munich but I was surprised by Lincoln. Sometime I may watch it again and maybe my reaction will be more like yours but for now I'm ok with it.
Dec '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Most of the time a good film tells a specific, focused story. My understanding is Zero Dark Thirty wasn't about the conversations in the White House. It wasn't attempting to show every detail of every decision, and was much more about the actual people involved in the manhunt. A film about Obama's handling of the situation could be a good story, but it wasn't the story they were telling (whether they wanted to or not), and it is silly to condemn a film for not telling the story you wanted. By the same token, Argo was about one specific mission, not a film about Carter's broader incompetence in foreign policy.
Jul '11
Re: I'll Show You Some Oscar Nominations!
Mark, I liked Lincoln. I really enjoyed Argo. Mister D, I'm in ignorant form and was confusing this film with a propaganda piece that glorified Obama. Id vowed to avoid it because I thought it would glorify the man. (different title).I'm just being obnoxious to Hollywood so consider yourselves winners in a debate of wits with an unarmed man tonight.