Archive for August, 2008
Clooney Worried Star Power Harms Obama
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics on August 22, 2008 at 8:02 amMichael Moore’s Obama Advice
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, entertainment on August 19, 2008 at 6:38 am
Michael Moore usually can’t stay quiet during a political campaign season. And this year is no exception.
In an attempt to insert himself into the current presidential contest, Moore has released a book called “Mike’s Election Guide 2008.”
In an excerpt on his Web site, the “Sicko” filmmaker posts a formula for a Barack Obama loss.
Titled “How The Democrats Can Blow It …In Six Easy Steps,” Moore sets forth a “blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history.”
Along with items that he claims will cause the presumptive Democrat nominee to eventually lose (like “saying nice things about McCain,” picking “a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican” and “writing speeches for Obama that make him sound like a hawk”) is something that signals a new level of self-absorption even for Moore. Step number six reads, “Denounce me!”
According to Moore, if Obama distances himself from him, it would be a fatal error, politically and strategically.
The “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” documentary maker writes that “Obama, at some point, might be asked this question: ‘Michael Moore has endorsed you. But he recently said (fill in the blank with some outrageously offensive line taken out of context). Will you still accept his endorsement, or do you denounce him?’”
Moore answers his own hypothetical in the following way: “So Barack, by denouncing me, you can help McCain get elected. Because when you denounce me, it’s not really me you’re distancing yourself from — it’s the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way about things as I do.”
The only problem for Moore is that the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way he does live on Planet X and usually vote the Tin Foil Hat Party.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
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Angelina Jolie Tilting Toward McCain?
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Politics on August 12, 2008 at 7:38 pm
As Hollywood celebrities queue up for presumptive Democrat nominee Barack Obama, one superstar is giving the Obama campaign some shivers.
It’s none other than Brad Pitt’s main squeeze—Angelina Jolie.
In a statement to Variety, Jolie indicated that she hasn’t made up her mind about whom she’s going to support.
Then came the scary part for Dems. She seems to be leaning McCain’s way.
“I have not decided on a candidate,” Jolie said. “I am waiting to see the commitments they will make on issues like international justice, refugees and how to address the needs of children in crisis around the world.”
It just so happens that Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Her endorsement would certainly have some clout, as she is well known and respected for her humanitarian activities.
Sounding like a staffer from the McCain campaign, Jolie penned an op-ed in the Washington Post in which she made the case for staying in Iraq.
She wrote, “Today’s humanitarian crisis in Iraq — and the potential consequences for our national security — are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won’t explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?”
“What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made,” Jolie added.
You may recall that not too long ago she and Pitt spoke out in favor of gun ownership.
Jolie’s father, Jon Voigt, has endorsed McCain, and he recently criticized Obama in an op-ed that was published in the Washington Times.
In a campaign season where Hollywood celebs are presumed to be in Barack’s camp, so far Jolie has refused to jump aboard the Obama train.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I think people assume I’m a Democrat. But I’m registered Independent and I’m still undecided. So I’m looking at McCain as well as Obama.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood @ http://www.youtube.com/user/NMHollywood
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Global Warming Reality Show
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on August 4, 2008 at 9:25 am
Now that she has co-starred in the mega-blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” is Maggie Gyllenhaal going to Disneyland?
No, she’s celebrating her cinematic success by taking a job as a judge on an online reality show to, of all things, fight global warming.
It’s called “Climate Matters.”
Contestants will be submitting ad-length videos to convince the next occupant of the White House to take action against climate change.
The winner will get a $3,000 Visa gift card, and the Top Ten videos will be broadcast on various eco-oriented Web sites.
A number of filmmakers have agreed to be judges including an Emmy-winning documentary producer, Rory Kennedy.
The “Simon Cowell” role on the panel of judges has yet to be filled, but a certain Nobel Prize winning recipient is rumored to be begging for an audition.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Hollywood Miffed Over McCain Ad?
In Uncategorized on August 4, 2008 at 1:42 amIt seems that certain Hollywood folks are in a snit.
John McCain’s latest ad portraying Barack Obama as a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears-type celebrity has hit some Tinseltowners smack in the ego.
Norman Lear, the same fellow who tried to make people feel guilty for driving SUVs, insinuated that the ad lessened the stature of the presumptive GOP nominee.
“I didn’t think McCain could look silly,” Lear told the L.A. Times, “but that ad diminishes him and makes him look silly.”
Interestingly, Obama was a seer of sorts when he spoke at the Gridiron dinner in 2004. He said, as quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, “It’s like I was shot out of a cannon. I am so overexposed, I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse.”
In the past, contributions have come McCain’s way from Harrison Ford, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, Michael Douglas and Lear.
But predictably, these days Hollywood isn’t liking the “maverick” Republican as much as it used to, since it now has a candidate whose more appealing claim to fame is having the most liberal voting record in the Senate.
Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman called the McCain ad “inauthentic.”
Bragman even coined a new term to express his displeasure, saying, “All this feels very Roveian to me.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
