“Sarah Palin's Favorite Communist Movie - Huffingtonpost.com” plus 1 more

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Sarah Palin's Favorite Communist Movie - Huffingtonpost.com Posted: 24 Nov 2010 05:46 AM PST If you're still getting used to Sarah Palin, the macroeconomist -- her 700-word Facebook note on quantitative easing cited Paul Krugman, former CBO director Alice Rivlin and World Bank President Robert Zoellick -- then you're probably not ready for Sarah Palin, cinéaste. Little did you know. In the new book she's just written (her second; putting her one ahead of Harper Lee) the former governor shares her thoughts on Jimmy Stewart, Reese Witherspoon, the Fondas -- Henry and Jane, Steven Spielberg, Judd Apatow, Sam Mendes, Paul Greengrass and Jason Reitman. (She says she doesn't care what Reitman's faith is, which is awfully big of her.) She also explores the under-praised documentary work of John Ford, and dedicates a full half-chapter to Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. She doesn't -- as she did in Going Rogue -- make any references to Pascal. Her reappraisal of Ford is both brave and long overdue. It's heartening to see a modern American critic side with Goddard, who asserts Ford's consanguinity with Wells, and not with Truffaut's infamous characterization of Ford as inferior in rank not only to Raoul Walsh, but to Allan Dwan as well. Twenty-five years later, Truffaut would reassess Ford and place him -- as a pure storyteller -- in the same class as Jean Giono. A view Palin obviously shares. Palin's and Goddard's feelings for Frank Capra are so eerily co-informed -- Palin: "Americans love this movie. More than seventy years later, we still watch it... because it is happily, unabashedly pro-American." Goddard: "Capra's films... are made to give America an all-conquering image. Because America needed to dominate the world bit by bit" -- that it's odd to see her, later, deliberately disparage world cinema: A European movie might have had Juno get her abortion in the opening scene and then spend the next hour and fifteen minutes smoking cigarettes and pondering the meaning of life. It would have been depressing and boring. It sounds like something an elitist would say, making fun of a rustic. ("Them there for'n films confuse me! Subtitles?! If I wanted to read I'd learn how!") It doesn't make sense. After doing all that work, it's like she's going out of her way to also come across like an ignoramus. What would Pascal say? So it's an enigma: Sarah Palin is clearly a student of film history. So when she says Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of her "favorite movies," that it's "about timeless truths of America handed down to us from our forefathers and foremothers," that it's "wonderful" and "not pro-government, certainly, but definitely pro-American," she must know it was written by a communist, right? His name was Sidney Buchman. In 1951 he appeared before HUAC and admitted to being a member of the Communist Party, but refused to name anyone else. In 1952, he was subpoenaed again, but refused to honor the subpoena -- much like Todd Palin did when called to testify about Troopergate. Unlike Todd Palin, Buchman was found in contempt of Congress by a vote of 314-0. He was fined $150 and sentenced to a year in Federal penitentiary (suspended). A two-time Academy Award winner, it would be a decade before his name appeared on another American movie. Sarah Palin writes: Americans love Mr. Smith Goes to Washington because it's about an ordinary man who stands up to power and says, We're taking our country back. Sidney Buchman once said, about Frank Capra: I really believe he never knew what Mr. Smith was actually saying. Capra wasn't the only one.   This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

The Green Hornet UK Movie Trailer - Shockya.com Posted: 27 Nov 2010 11:12 AM PST Sony Pictures UK just released the latest movie trailer for the upcoming film "The Green Hornet" by director Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and starring Cameron Diaz (Shrek Forever After), Nicolas Cage (Astro Boy, Ghost Rider), Seth Rogen (Funny People), Edward James Olmos and Jay Chou ask Kato. Click Here for more photos, news and videos from The Green Hornet. Synopsis: When co-founder of a San Francisco newspaper THE DAILY SENTINEL, JOHN PAUL, is shot in his home, FRANK SCANLON, district attorney, considers John's position as a crime and politics reporter and rules out robbery as a motive. BRITT REID, publisher for the Sentinel, promises his father, DAN, who'd co-founded The Sentinel with John, that he won't rest until he finds out who did this. At the paper, John's former position as executive TV producer is taken over by REX, a shameless opportunist, who exhibits not one trace of remorse for the company's recent loss. In fact, the first meeting he holds in his new office is with a goon named TOMMY, who inquires about what Rex plans to do with his newfound corporate capital. When Rex suggests that he's thinking of bowing out with his cut after an illicit job they've just completed, Tommy won't allow it and tells Rex that the crew needs something of him–the ability to communicate anywhere, in real-time, without being detected via discreet usage of his TV station for two weeks–if anyone can manipulate info, it's newsmen, he says. With the right people in key positions within The Sentinel, he concludes, anything is possible. He promptly gives Rex a short list of people to fire. In the forensics lab, a print is lifted from inside John's condo–its match is Mr. YAO XCHAN, a known Chinese national drug smuggler with gang connections, most recently known for his attempt to smuggle over a quarter ton of dope into San Francisco via commercial shipping. Frank calls Britt with his address, and Britt and Kato promptly change outfits–Kato, into hat and mask, with gloved hands, and Britt into a green suit, clad as the GREEN HORNET. They both hop in his car, the BLACK BEAUTY, type in the address, key in commands, and send a metallic black bee that rises from a small door on the car's hood to fly off under their control and give them closer views of their destination. After it locates Xchan, they break into his apartment and Hornet questions him about his whereabouts during the shooting three days ago, but he doesn't answer–he finally admits that he had pulled the trigger himself. He'd been paid by someone, but just before his eyes glaze over and he passes out, all he can utter of the name is, "Choo… choo…" Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from "The Green Hornet". Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Search This Blog Powered by Blogger.