He has been a success in Hollywood, and he will certainly not hurt for work, but will he suffer a backlash for his conversion? Will the theater punish him for his new perspective, and will he find it as easy to stage plays that reflect it?

Absolutely he will! Hollywood is the most intellectually intolerant place on the planet (and I’m including Tehran in this list) and it demands absolute lock-step idealogical purity. He is now an apostate…which is not a bad thing, but he won’t make nearly as much money as he would have praising Hugo Chavez.

On topic, I give Mr. Mamet credit for his awakening. He is now less an idiot than 98% of Hollywood.

BTW, For anyone who hasn’t seen The Spanish Prisoner, I highly recommend it. Terrific, smart con flick – liked it even better than Spartan – and Rebecca Pigeon is totally entertaining as an arch secretary spouting Mamet-brand convolutions.

Rebecca steals mosts scenes she is in due to bad actressing.

The director, generally, does not cause strife, but his or her presence impels the actors to direct (and manufacture) claims designed to appeal to Authority—that is, to set aside the original goal (staging a play for the audience) and indulge in politics, the purpose of which may be to gain status and influence outside the ostensible goal of the endeavor.

Strand unacquainted bus travelers in the middle of the night, and what do you get? A lot of bad drama, and a shake-and-bake Mayflower Compact. Each, instantly, adds what he or she can to the solution. Why? Each wants, and in fact needs, to contribute—to throw into the pot what gifts each has in order to achieve the overall goal, as well as status in the new-formed community. And so they work it out.

Sounds like someone has been reading Common Sense.

Bush got us into Iraq, JFK into Vietnam. Bush stole the election in Florida; Kennedy stole his in Chicago. Bush outed a CIA agent; Kennedy left hundreds of them to die in the surf at the Bay of Pigs. Bush lied about his military service; Kennedy accepted a Pulitzer Prize for a book written by Ted Sorenson. Bush was in bed with the Saudis, Kennedy with the Mafia. Oh.

Great quote. Kennedy lowered taxes on the rich, jacked defense spending way up and almost got us into a nuclear war. I’ve always wondered why JFK is considered a liberal icon. If he were president today, the libs would hate him.

Zell Miller was such a Good Liberal, was he not? Do you recall what the Leftinistra and the Lame Stream Media said about him? I do. Just as a memory jogger, here is an audio clip to cause one to pause….

Maybe socialized entertainment is next?

alphie on March 12, 2008 at 12:17 PM

Too late to be “next”: we’ve already got PBS plus a million federal, state, and local subsidy programs for “arts”!

And the more useless, depraved, and degrading you can make the “art”, the more likely it is to get a public subsidy. Urine and dung seem to be the preferred media of the subsidized.

Next you’ll be trying to tell me the playwright is straight!

Back to the flying pig watch…

That entire scene is one of my favorites. Has one of cinema’s best revelation moments.

I can’t wait to annoy my wife with my faux-Mamet repeating dialogue schtick.

“David Mamet turned to the right. He did. He turned to the right. Hard right.”

“Go you Huskies!”

I know, I know, baby steps.

Question to anyone: Has there ever been a staunch, respected, conservative that has “seen the light” and become a liberal?

We tend to get the Andrew Sullivan effect: conservatives who go left but insist that they haven’t. See also John Dean (denigrating the memory of Barry Goldwater) and maybe Rod Dreher.

In the straightforward liberal to conservative model, does David Brock matter? To anyone?

-Al Pacino, Glengarry Glen Ross

Best. Quote. Ever.

Unfortunately, his best work is likely behind him, so there’s very little chance that he’ll be able to contribute to the culture in a positive way artistically.

Spartan grossed $8,112,712 worldwide, HTY.

An embarrassingly low gross even for an indie film, never mind something from a “pro.”

Unlike defense contracting, oil and farming, Hollyweird is a true capitalist industry…you make a profit or you go under.

No government welfare to keep you afloat.

alphie on March 12, 2008 at 11:57 AM

There’s a good reason why there should be exclusivity between the Fed government and defense contracting. If that’s not clear to you, then you ought to ponder why for a while.

Fed-Gov welfare for farming is a disgrace. Getting paid NOT to farm land and the ethonol-related crap is bunk.

What corporate welfare for oil, though? Tax breaks? If you tax them more, like any business, they will raise their prices to make up for the cost or they will layoff more employees. Neither one is a good solution.

Maybe socialized entertainment is next?

Mamet-brand convolutions.

inviolet on March 12, 2008 at 12:09 PM

“My motherf***er’s so cool, sheep count him.”

My favourite incomprehensible line from “Heist”.