The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Bad Movies and Robert De Niro (and Why Donald Trump Is Not Literally Hitler)

Posted on | February 17, 2017 | Comments Off on Bad Movies and Robert De Niro (and Why Donald Trump Is Not Literally Hitler)

 

In March 1975, Robert De Niro was 31 years old when he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his breakthrough role as young Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Part II. Leslie Mann was barely 3 years old at the time, and there was something distinctly weird about Mann, now 44, being cast as De Niro’s love interest in The Comedian. How do you write a romantic comedy with a 73-year-old leading man? To be honest, the smart answer to that question is, don’t even bother trying.

Let me put it another way: In 1981, Henry Fonda was 76 when he scored an Oscar for On Golden Pond, in which he played an old man whose wife was Katharine Hepburn, then age 74. Robert De Niro may be in better health at age 73 than Henry Fonda was at age 76, but it is still asking too much of audiences to foist upon them a septuagenarian leading man who wins the heart of a woman young enough to be his daughter.

Far be it from me to encourage the feminist grievance-mongers who so often complain about how actresses suffer discriminatory treatment because middle-aged male movie stars continue to be cast in leading roles, whereas there are far fewer lead roles for actresses over 40. It is not the sexist bias of movie producers that accounts for this disparate treatment, but rather the tastes of movie audiences. If you want to make big money in Hollywood, the question you are constantly trying to answer is, What will the typical 15-year-old boy pay money to see at the suburban multiplex? (Answer: Definitely not Meryl Streep.)

Do the Hollywood studios want to make money or do they want to make art? Well, it can be argued, they want to do both, but the idea behind this latest De Niro movie seems to have been a make-work project for old actors, and not a very clever idea as such projects go. It is possible to make great movies about old people, e.g., Walter Matthau won Best Actor for his role in The Sunshine Boys, and Jessica Tandy won Best Actress for her role in Driving Miss Daisy. However, neither of those films tried to place the elderly protagonist into a boy-meets-girl romantic-comedy plot. Such a plot simply doesn’t work as a narrative arc with mass audience appeal, and no 15-year-old boy is going to buy that ticket at the multiplex.

Leslie Mann and Robert De Niro in ‘The Comedian.’

The idea behind The Comedian was a “development” project for nearly 10 years, and four different writers are credited for the script:

It all began with a funny idea. After working on a movie with Mr. De Niro called “What Just Happened,” the producer and screenwriter Art Linson suggested they collaborate on a movie about a comic who makes the woman he’s roasting laugh so hard she dies. . . . “That excited me,” Mr. De Niro said. “You get one scene, and you want to do the whole movie.”

That was a decade ago, and exactly why this idea for one scene should inspire an entire movie is a mystery. Yet the real question is why so much effort would be expended to push The Comedian forward, despite all the omens warning that the movie was destined for Flop City.

How an Oscar-Bait Scheme Went Wrong

Go ask around Hollywood. If a top producer like Art Linson can get an Oscar-winning actor like Robert De Niro sold on an idea for a movie, it’s never going take 10 years to make that project happen. At one point, Sean Penn had agreed to direct The Comedian, and it’s hard to imagine a studio executive presented with such an all-star package deal saying, “No, let’s don’t make that movie” — unless the basic idea was utterly stupid.

Critics don’t want to say bad things about a project like this, which got a limited release in December on the outside chance of getting an Oscar nomination or two. That’s a big clue to the industry insider thinking behind The Comedian. Linson and De Niro really wanted to make a movie called “Let’s Get Another Oscar for Robert De Niro,” but what they made instead was, “Let’s Watch Robert De Niro Lose His Dignity.”

We may stipulate, arguendo, that the idea of a once-popular comedian trying to make a comeback could make for a good movie, as this was the basic plot of The Sunshine Boys. However, that was a Neil Simon script, and both of the stars of that movie — Matthau and George Burns — were known primarily for their comic roles. Perhaps what inspired Art Linson to think he could do something like that with De Niro in The Comedian was De Niro’s role as a delusional stalker in The King of Comedy, but that was a very dark drama directed by Martin Scorcese. Certainly, De Niro is capable of being funny (e.g., father of the bride in Meet the Fockers), but the problem with The Comedian is not the star, it’s the story.

David Sims at The Atlantic gets to the heart of the problem:

Early on, [De Niro’s character] Jackie gets in an altercation with a heckler at a standup set and punches him; given the chance to apologize by a judge, he refuses and goes to prison. Stuck doing community service, he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann), a fellow self-loathing miscreant that he immediately falls for, despite their 29-year age difference. Unfortunately, that necessitates dealing with her father Mac (Keitel), some sort of retired mobster with a serious attitude problem. . . .
It’s almost like The Comedian is trying to distract from the inherent ridiculousness of its central romantic pairing by throwing celebrity cameos and grumpy mobsters at the audience.

What’s going on here? Wishful thinking.

Art Linson is 74 and the director, Taylor Hackford, is 72, and so you’ve got these old guys who expect the audience to believe that a guy in his 70s can score with a woman 30 years younger. This idea is not beyond the realm of possibility, but it isn’t the kind of story that most people are going to enjoy paying $8 to see at the cineplex. Only if we suspect that the purpose of this project was to grab an Oscar (which is why they got Helen Mirren’s husband to direct it, and filled the supporting cast with a bunch of Academy members) can we begin to understand the existential rationale of The Comedian — a movie about show business, whose intended audience was the show-business people who vote for the Oscars.

OK, so you may be wondering by now why I’ve expended a thousand words analyzing a movie you weren’t going to pay $8 to watch anyway. And the answer is that what’s wrong with The Comedian is the same thing that’s wrong with the media coverage of President Trump. Read more

Category: Donald Trump, Hollywood, Media Bias, Movies

In The Mailbox: 02.17.17

Posted on | February 17, 2017 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 02.17.17

— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Trump Administration To Use 100K National Guardsmen To Round Up Illegals?
Twitchy: Meathead Predicts How “Democracy” Will Be Saved As Irony Spotters Have A Field Day
Louder With Crowder: Washington’s Supreme Court Rules Government Can Force Business Owners To Violate Their Consciences
Bill Whittle: Muslim Chic (h/t Loyal Reader Brian E.)
According To Hoyt: Let’s Talk About Money


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Podcast #36 – The State Of Australian Politics Episode
American Power: Lauren Southern – Barbarians
American Thinker: The Left’s Once-Mighty Echo Chamber Is Losing Power
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Asian Alliances Friday
Bring The HEAT: Friday Matinee – Corvette K-225
Da Tech Guy: Jerry Wilson – Without Love
Don Surber: Chuck Todd Whinges, Rush Limbaugh Roars
Dustbury: The Merry Marvel Master Card
The Geller Report: Obama Appointees Preventing Mattis From Rebuilding Military, Says Armed Forces Chair
Hogewash: This Should Be Interesting
Jammie Wearing Fools: Leaked E-Mails – State Democrat Leaders Think Obama’s New Organizing Army Is “Grade A Bullshit”
Joe For America: President Trump Overturns Obama Coal Mining Rule
Power Line: Anti-Trump Reporter Gets Unwelcome Surprise
Shark Tank: Trump To Hold First Post-Inauguration Rally In Melbourne, FL
Shot In The Dark: It’s A Start
STUMP: Friday Trumpery – Let’s Go Shopping!
The Jawa Report: The Mother Of The Mother Of All Press Conferences
The Political Hat: From Canada, In Your General Direction
This Ain’t Hell: Twenty-Six Years Ago Tonight, also, Harward Rejects National Security Adviser Post
War Is Boring: How To Lose The War In Afghanistan
Weasel Zippers: ABC News Reporter Claims Constitution Requires Trump To Take Reporters’ Questions, also, Bogus NYT “Scoops” On Trump, Russia Are Recycled Propaganda
Megan McArdle: A Sign That Obamacare Exchanges Are Failing
Mark Steyn: The Age Of Civilizational Self-Loathing


Today’s Digital Deals

Category: Linkagery

Democrat Commits Violence Against Women That Feminists Will Ignore

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | 1 Comment

 

You won’t see any feminist blogs discussing this story:

Embattled Louisiana State Senator Troy Brown has resigned from office he announced Thursday afternoon.
At Thursday’s announcement, Brown stated, “In both criminal manners, the judges issued a punishment that is commensurate to the offense. If we did a parallel for what the Senate body is doing on the criminal side, it amounts to an execution.”
The Louisiana Senate was set to meet next Monday for a hearing in which Senator Dan Claitor, a Republican from Baton Rouge, said he would call for Brown’s expulsion from the Senate due to Brown’s abuse against women.
Brown, a Democrat from Geismar, has pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges involving physical abuse against his wife and another woman.
Brown’s attorney, Jill Craft, appeared before a Senate committee Wednesday asking for various records to help defend her client who initially said he would fight expulsion. Craft argued that misdemeanor charges should not be a reason to expel a state senator.
“It’s not a question of a misdemeanor. It is a question of beating women multiple times,” said Sen. Claitor. . . .
Claitor said that during Monday’s expulsion hearing, he planning to play a recording of the 911 call Brown’s wife made to police to report the abuse. In the recording, Senator Brown can be heard cursing in the background. His son can also be heard in the background crying. . . .
Brown pleaded no contest in January to a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse battery, arising from allegations he bit his wife’s arm. He pleaded no contest in September to a misdemeanor simple battery charge stemming from allegations he punched a girlfriend.

Go ahead, ask Amanda Marcotte or Jessica Valenti when they’re going to write about Senator Brown. Feminists don’t actually care about “violence against women.” That’s just a partisan campaign slogan like “choice” and “equality” that feminists use to elect Democrats.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! You may want to check out my Sex Trouble series on radical feminism and, as always, I ask you to remember the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!



 

Category: Crime, Democrats, Violence Against Women

Oh, @Jack Dorsey and @SarahSilverman Sharing Coup d’Etat Fantasies?

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | Comments Off on Oh, @Jack Dorsey and @SarahSilverman Sharing Coup d’Etat Fantasies?

 

Further evidence Twitter is being run by a delusional megalomaniac:

The CEO of Twitter seemingly believes America is currently experiencing civil unrest comparable to the Arab Spring, a series of revolutionary protests, coups and civil wars in the Arab world a few years ago.
While the social media company appears to be treading water after a rough past few months, which includes a number of high-level staff departures and a relatively sinking stock price, Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey sees his platform’s influence in society remaining largely the same, if not growing.
“A lot of the same patterns we’ve seen during the Iranian Green Revolution and the Arab Spring,” Dorsey said Wednesday at a tech conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, according to Fortune. “It was stunning to see how Twitter was being used to have a conversation about the government, with the government.”
Dorsey recounted the first time he got the impression that Twitter was so integral to American society: the protests and riots in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.
“As a culture in the U.S., we’ve focused on things that didn’t matter as much,” Dorsey said, according to Fortune. “Now, everything is brought into perspective, and Twitter is at center of the most important conversations.”

Yeah — inciting race riot is an “important conversation,” but Twitter banned Milo Yiannopoulos for saying rude things to an overrated actress. Speaking of overrated actresses, Sarah Silverman fantasizes the U.S. military would join a “resistance” against President Trump.

 

Twitter lost another 39 cents per share today. The company lost $457 million last year, and the CEO is sharing the Sarah Silverman fantasy of a left-wing coup d’etat. We’d be living under an SJW junta led by Anita Sarkeesian, Leslie Jones and Zoe Quinn if it were up to Jack Dorsey.

(Hat-tip: @groupwbench on Gab.)



 

Category: Economics

Feminism: Ignorance as Expertise

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | 1 Comment

 

Sarah is a 24-year-old Australian feminist on Tumblr:

The idea that mothers can unilaterally prevent their sons from displaying misogyny if they just put in the requisite amount of effort to “raise them right,” is such a slap in the face to women who have raised sons for millennia.
Would misogyny no longer exist if all the women before us had just tried a bit harder? Were they somehow deficient, too ignorant or ‘backwards’ to figure misogyny out? Because that’s the logical conclusion of that argument: you can prevent your son from exerting any oppression if you just work hard enough, so you’ve failed if he exhibits the misogyny which characterises male socialisation. If you don’t somehow shield him from all the societal influences teaching him to hate and devalue you and everyone like you, you’re responsible because you could have prevented it, you layabout.
It’s just another way to blame women for misogyny.

Let us ask, “What does she mean by ‘misogyny’?” Or what do the words “oppression” and “societal influences” signify in this discourse? Feminists have a way of throwing around words as if there were universal agreement about what constitutes “misogyny,” a word that often means nothing more than a tendency to disagree with feminists. As to Sarah’s argument about whether mothers are responsible for their sons’ “misogyny,” this raises the question: “How is she qualified to judge?”

What does this 24-year-old woman know about child-rearing? Or what does she know, for that matter, about “male socialisation”? What is the basis of her expertise, that we should accept her assertions?

One of the essential problems of feminist discourse in the 21st-century is that so many of the participants are women who are simply too young to speak with experiential authority on the subjects they address, and who refuse any counsel from those who do possess such experience.

This typical feminist impudence — “Shut up and let me lecture you!” — expresses an attitude of disrespect which the feminist herself would consider “misogyny” if a man did it to her. And we may surmise that this know-it-all sense of superiority among young feminists has a lot to do with why their interactions with males are so unpleasant.

Because I know a thing or two about child-rearing, and also about how “male socialisation” actually operates, I’m disinclined to be lectured on these subjects by this woman who is younger (and, I would bet $20, less accomplished) than my three oldest children. While I prefer not to waste time arguing with fools, Sarah’s comments about “male socialisation” raise an important point that feminists tend to overlook when judging male behavior: The man who succeeds in life must do so in competition with other men, and his success also requires him to work in cooperation with other men. Think of a football player, for example. He must compete to gain a spot on the team, and he must cooperate with his teammates. His success in this requires him to be accepted as “one of the guys,” to live up to the standards of behavior expected by his coaches and teammates.

Now, is the professional football star likely to be a “misogynist”? Yes, in some sense of the word — he esteems masculine values and male camaraderie, and is likely to view women primarily in terms of their desirability as romantic companions. He may not be rude or overtly “sexist” in his behavior toward women, but he is always “one of the guys,” an attitude that is necessary to his success.

This attitude is perfectly simple to understand, and there is no reason why women should be offended by it, except . . “equality.”

Damn that foolish idea that everything must be 50-50 or else women are suffering from patriarchal oppression. Go back to the silly controversy Martha Burk provoked about the Augusta National Golf Club’s all-male membership. Is it wrong for all-male organizations to exist? Why?

This absurd feminist resentment of male institutions has real-world consequences which require serious attention from serious adults:

Feminists don’t give a damn about America’s defense capability. The feminist movement arose within the radical anti-war New Left of the late 1960s, and feminists have always been against the U.S. military. Were it up to the leaders of the feminist movement, the American military would be no more powerful than Sweden, France or Denmark. Feminists refuse to confront the reality that there are evil forces in the world which wish us harm. The protection of our interests abroad requires America to maintain a force capable of deterring aggression: “Peace Through Superior Firepower.”
Feminists hate the U.S. military because feminists hate America, but beyond that, feminists simply fail to understand male psychology. Aggression and violence are an inescapable reality of male existence, as every schoolboy knows. There is always a bully looking for some weakling to pick on, and bullies will form gangs to prey upon the weak. A boy must demonstrate his ability and willingness to defend himself against aggression, and he must make friends with other boys who will assist in his defense against any gang attack. The gang warfare that plagues America’s inner cities (there have already been 122 people shot in Chicago so far this month) is what happens when grown-ups fail to suppress the violent tendencies of young men. . . .

Read the whole thing at The Patriarch Tree.



 

Category: Sex Trouble

In The Mailbox: 02.16.17

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: If Feminism Is So Great, Why Do Feminists Seem So Unhappy?
Twitchy: The Triggering Continues! Presstitutes Can’t Believe The Way Trump Kicked Off His Press Conference
Louder With Crowder: DISGUSTING – 80 Year Old Muslim Marries 12 Year Old Girl


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Women Need To Make More Of An Effort To Look Good
American Power: Sebastian Gorka Responds To Attacks On His Credibility
American Thinker: A George Soros-Led Mutiny
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Pale Blue Dot News
Da Tech Guy: JD Rucker – Repeal Obamacare. Period. Full Stop.
Don Surber: Trump Treats Media Like They Treat Him – And They Whinge
Dustbury: Goodbye, American Woman
Fred On Everything: Internal Secession And The Road To Ruin – Two Countries
The Geller Report: PARIS ON FIRE – Riots Reach Capitol’s Center Tonight – Buildings Set Ablaze, Police Attacked
Hogewash: Galaxy Clusters
Jammie Wearing Fools: 60% Of “Refugee” Arrivals Since Judge Stayed Trump’s Order Come From Five Terror-Prone Countries
Joe For America: Obama Organizing 200+ Offices Around The Country For Anti-Trump Protesters
JustOneMinute: Here We Go Again
Power Line: Obama’s Secret Communications With Mullahs Undermined American Foreign Policy
Shark Tank: Florida To End “Gun Free Zones”?
Shot In The Dark: The Enemy Of My Enemy…Still Makes Me Feel Slimy
STUMP: South Carolina Pensions – Asset Trends
This Ain’t Hell: Mattis Warns NATO Allies – Pay For Your Own Defense
War Is Boring: Say Goodbye To Brazil’s Aircraft Carrier
Weasel Zippers: Australians Flee Areas Of Heavy Islamic Settlement “To Protect Our Daughters”, Says Senator, also, The People’s House Again! Melania Trump Announces White House To Reopen For Public Tours
Megan McArdle: A Rough 24 Hours For Obamacare


Today’s Digital Deals

Category: Linkagery

Sri Lankan Immigrant, 22, Stabbed to Death in Germany by Nigerian Refugee

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | Comments Off on Sri Lankan Immigrant, 22, Stabbed to Death in Germany by Nigerian Refugee

 

Death by “diversity”:

A 22-year-old woman, only identified as Soopika P, died from her injuries early on Saturday morning after she was attacked in the early hours in the German town of Ahaus, close to the border with the Netherlands in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. . . .
Chief Prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt said: “She died shortly thereafter in the hospital. The background to the crime is still unclear.
“A large number of stab wounds were found in the upper body and neck. The considerable blood loss inevitably led to the death of the young woman.”
Local media reports said woman had been stabbed in the head multiple times. . . .
Soopika, who had moved to Germany from Sri Lanka with her family, had lived in Ahaus for a number of years and had wanted to work with children after having had experience working in youth welfare.
According to reports, she was very popular, had many friends and loved playing keyboard and violin in her spare time.
Police chief Herbert Mengelkamp who is investigating the attack said that a Nigerian man was suspected of having carried out the killing. . . .
And prosecutor Botzenhardt confirmed: “A 27-year-old asylum seeker from Nigeria had been trying to develop a relationship with the 22-year-old woman in recent weeks. He is suspected of having killed the woman. This is why the Münster public prosecutor’s office has applied for an arrest warrant on a charge of manslaughter.”

The fugitive suspect was apprehended in Switzerland:

The Nigerian was arrested Tuesday at a train station in the Swiss city of Bern after a Europe-wide arrest warrant was issued for him after he fled Ahaus where the murder occurred. Chief prosecutor Martin Botzenhardt said, “Only yesterday, the prosecutor’s office ordered the European-wide call for arrest on the basis of the existing national arrest warrant. Today’s arrest of the suspect in Switzerland is a quick success,” Swiss paper Blick reports. . . .
The case of Soopika’s murder is just the latest of a number of murders of women who have worked with asylum seekers. The most famous case in Germany was that of Maria Ledenburger who was raped and killed by a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker on her way home. Like Soopika, Ladenburger also volunteered her time helping asylum seekers.
A similar murder also occurred in Sweden last year when a Somali migrant stabbed asylum centre worker Alexandra Mezher to death in a home for underage migrants.

Slogans about “diversity” are no substitute for good policy.

(Hat-tip: Weekly Flyer at Gab.)

 

Category: Crime, Germany, Immigration, Nigeria

More Trouble for Fake News, Inc.

Posted on | February 16, 2017 | Comments Off on More Trouble for Fake News, Inc.

After Likening Trump to Hitler,
Journalists Upset They’re Not
Getting Called on for Questions

This is causing tantrums at the Clinton News Network:

President Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, but he got through it without answering any questions about his campaign’s reported contacts with Russian intelligence agencies.
The reason for this was simple: Trump only called on sympathetic conservative news outlets including Townhall and the Christian Broadcasting Network over more traditional media outlets.
CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who drew the ire of the White House earlier this year when he tried to ask the president a question during a press conference, tried to get a question in about Trump’s Russia ties, but was promptly ignore as the president walked away at the end of the conference.
Appearing on CNN afterward, Acosta said that Trump’s decision to only call on sympathetic outlets was part of a broader strategy to avoid facing any tough questions about his administration.
“He got no questions at this news conference about this major news that we’ve seen breaking in the last 24 hours… that associates of the president, aides of the president during the course of the 2016 presidential campaign with Russians… who are known to the U.S. intelligence community,” he said. “This president, this White House, has come up with their own solution for, basically, questions that they don’t want to answer at this point.”

The whole “Russian intelligence” angle is leftover dirt from last year’s election campaign, and the Democrats-with-bylines promoting at CNN and other outlets are merely frustrated that their candidate didn’t win.

(Via Memeorandum.)

 

Category: Donald Trump, Media Bias
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