After the Times Square Ball drops and the new year really begins, what will the next 365 days have in store for you? We are interested in your resolutions, goals and thoughts about what you hope to achieve.
Daffy Duck was always in the shadow of Bugs Bunny. Bugs was unfairly favored at the studio. Their images were twisted to favor Bugs. While ducks are really cool (they can fly and swim), rabbits are goofy (they dart about and drop quantities of little round turds). Okay, Bugs is the white guy and Daffy is the black guy. And Daffy never got a break. He was left to always be the whiny victim. Bugs got all the cool lines and demeanor.
PETA has trouble with the fur coat. The red and white paint on the fur contain toxins. The reindeer are captive in cages in freezing temperatures and allowed out one time each year to work long hours. Santa is grossly overweight and is susceptible to a stroke or heart attack. Santa is promoting sprawl by living at the North Pole and his manufacturing facility is polluting the land, water and air. And what about black Santa?
King Kong is a great 3-hour epic love story between the beauty and the beast. I can see how the big fella fell for Naomi Watts. She is fine. But I do not see how she fell for Adrien Brody. King Kong looks better. When the blond first meets Kong, she screams when she sees how big he is. When Kong runs off with the blond, a bunch of white men armed with automatic weapons pursues them through the jungle to save her. Interestingly, the search party is led by a Black man.
The irony of this behavioral phenomenon is that it is an environmental issue in Hollywood, in the classroom, and in the black community. It isn't real but it is a distraction to the easily bamboozled. The dynamic LaShaun Barber (pictured above) gives a great description of this paradoxical trap at her CORNER. Which actors 'act white?' Which ones 'act black?' What is 'acting white' and 'acting black?'
Hip Hop successfully penetrated Hollywood like rock & roll and rhythme & blues never did. Hip Hop opened the Hollywood doors to an unprecedented number of blacks. Of course, maybe Motown stars such as Diana Ross pointed the way. But the Temptations, 4 Tops, James Brown, Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix, although some of the best ever, never penetrated Hollywood like Will Smith, Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Ice-T, LL Cool J, Outkast (Andre Benjamin) Eve, and others. Maybe the times also had much to do with it. Although the 60's stars had the talent, they probably just did not have the opportunities. Anyway, it is good to have something good to say about Hip Hop, because much of the news this CNN for the Hood broadcasts is quite negative.
I just watched my favorite movie (excluding The Matrix Trilogy) again and it was as good as ever. Frank Capra also cast many blacks in this 1946 film, including Annie as Bailey's maid (those were the only roles blacks could get back then). Mr. Gower would have been arrested for child abuse today for injuring George's ear. Harry Bailey would have been charged with sexual harassment for slapping Annie on her behind. Donna Reed shouting upstairs to her mother, "he is making passionate love to me.." was pretty racy for that time. But let's get to the real question:
If Leonardo DiCaprio does not endorse nuclear power as the front-line technology fix for global warming in his planned documentary, he is producing fiction. The film, 11th Hour, a feature-length film that explores global warming and offers solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems, is scheduled to be released in fall 2006. He will collaborate on 11th Hour with Tree Media Group founders Lelia Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners to produce, co-write and narrate the film.
Although the movie is visually stunning, intelligent and has okay action, the image of one black character, Sithandra, was interesting - - her feet were surgically replaced with hands. She proceeded to swing from tree limbs. Maybe it wasn't intended, but this modification essentially turned her into a monkey. Or maybe racism was intended. What do you think?
Robert Redford's Sundance Institute has announced the 64 films that will play at the Park City, Utah, Sundance Festival that runs Jan. 19-29, 2006. The festival is the nation's top showcase for independent film.
Taped in Las Vegas, the two hour TBS broadcast of Earth to America featured some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Tom Hanks playing acoustic guitar was particularly interesting. Laurie David is quite active in publicizing the problem of global warming. Unfortunately, she is promoting Hollywood solutions to the problem. She and Leonardo DiCaprio always highlight their Prius ownership and promote personal efficiency retrofits, when we all know that they have multiple homes and cars. Thus, such frugality recommendations ring hollow to us. They should show us their other cars and homes. Larry David is delightfully irreverent in this regard.
TVOne features one of our favorite people in a new show called Sharp Talk With Al Sharpton. The set is a barbershop and captures the flavor of a local hair cutery. It seems strange seeing white people in a black barbershop though. It is probably because you never see whites in a black barbershop. Maybe Rev will start a new trend here and whites will start getting their hair cut in black barbershops.
ESPN's new show, Get Wild with Cindy Garrison, features a blond-haired, green-eyed beauty shooting big game, sticking fingers in dung to track water buffalo and catching fish. She is an outdoor huntress extraordinaire. She is Jenny McCarthy with a gun and fishing rod. It is probably a good formula. She romps around the woods with short shorts and attitude. She's a pretty good shot too. Two thumps up.
If you like a good dead flik, you will love this one. No matter what environmental catastrophe caused the dead to rise again, these dead in the 2004 version can RUN. Just like the rage zombies in 28 Days Later, these undead can really get up. Nicole, evidently an extreme animal lover, risks her life to save her dog from the undead. Then the rest of the cast risks their lives to save her. The fun part about these movies is to see who will make it.
Hollywood can and will save energy and money one day by providing movies to theaters via filmless digital cameras and digital projection in theaters. Currently, movies are made on 35-millimeter celluloid negatives from which reels of film are printed, sent to film exchanges, trucked to theaters, and projected on the screen with the aid of a powerful lamp. These 35-millimeter prints are expensive to make and cumbersome to distribute. In 2003 the average cost to make prints for distribution of a studio film in America was $4.2 million. The six major studios had a print bill of more than $1 billion in 2003.
The greatest song about the environment ever recorded was by Marvin Gaye in 1971. His Mercy Mercy Me on the What's Going On? album was a masterpiece that stands the test ot time. If you disagree, propose a better song.
A folk duo named Prussian Blue promotes white power with their image (note Hitler smiley face T-shirts--see Aryan Wear) and songs. Hitler's environmentalism is described on our main blog. Although their songs are banal and bland (and we like folk music at AAEA), this teenage duo is probably quite entertaining to white supremacists. Check out their website and let us know what you think about their art and ideology.
Tonight's episode found James Spader defending a television children's show against a clown wanting to talk about global warming on the show. Spader gave a passionate defense of the seriousness of global warming and that it did not need to be represented by a clown on a children's show. He unfortunately insulted President Bush on the issue (most of Washington's politicians have avoided the issue--more so than Bush). Spader won the case.
If you saw it, who do you think won? Fictional presidential candidates Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) debated on Sunday. Energy & environmental issues were part of the debate: Democratic congressman Santos believes in using alternatives, such as solar and wind to fight global warming. Santos is anti ANWR oil drilling, anti-nuclear and demanded that his opponent take and oath to, "Never go to war for oil" (Vinick refused). In a soliloquy about liberal Republicans Santos complimented republicans for passing the Clean Water Act. Republican senator Vinick does not believe in global warming, is pro drilling in ANWR, promoted the Prius hybrid car, believes in free markets and doesn't trust the government to solve energy problems.
The Nov 1, 2005 episode of Commander-in-Chief starring Gina Davis had her saving the Gulf, Florida and the East Coast from a massive oil spill from a damaged oil tanker. The fictional governor of Florida and the power-hungry Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland) wanted the president to sink the tanker instead of risking it breaking up while trying to dock at a port in Florida. The environmental group in the episode supported the speaker and the governor (partisan politics--the president is an independent and the speaker is a Democrat). Interestingly, during negotiations, Gina as president, opposed a permanent ban on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf citing the country's need for oil as her rationale.
AAEA President Norris McDonald met Spike Lee in Washington, DC where he was signing his new biography by Kaleem Aftab, That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It. Spike is planning a documentary on Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans. McDonald suggested that he consider including climate change in the documentary.
AAEA President Norris McDonald recently met Bruce Willis at an event honoring him for his commitment to the environment -- notwithstanding EPA hassling him in Idaho. The event on Randall's Island, in the shadow of Manhattan, made McDonald consider the constrast between the environmentalist Bruce Willis and the apocalyptic environmentalist he portrayed (James Cole) in the movie, '12 Monkeys.' The film begins in our future in the year 2035, and presupposes that the surface of the earth has become uninhabitable by humans due to a viral plague that wiped out 5 billion people beginning in 1996, leaving less than 1% of the world's population to survive in a harsh life underground. The post-apocalyptic scenes of the underground society were shot in an abandoned power plant.
Jan Schlittman (John Travolta) is a humble, cynical, successful, bachelor lawyer with a nice car, a nice house, and a career that has amassed huge rewards. He agrees to represent eight families whose children died from leukemia after two large corporations leaked toxic chemicals into the water supply of Woburn, Massachusetts, even though the case could mean financial, and career suicide for him.
After the trial, Michael Jackson took his two sons and daughter to Bahrain, an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It is an oil-rich country about 3 times the size of Washington, DC. The heir to the Bahrain kingdom is generously hosting Jackson and evidently helping to finance his comeback. Michael Jackson is evidently using this oil money to produce a song, From The Bottom Of My Heart, to benefit victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Published reports say that Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of the king of Bahrain, owns the label (2 Seas Records) where the song will be recorded. It is also being reported that he has bought a house on 14 acres in Bahrain.
Just as the wacky inhabits of Wisteria Lane on the hit TV show Desperate Housewives want happiness, they seem to do everything in their power to prevent being happy. Notwithstanding the stereotypical slutty latina with a criminal husband and the young black male carrying a gun to feed a mysterious missing father figure hidden in the basement, the pristine suburbs are straight Americana. The whites on the show are pretty dysfunctional too, with murderers, slutty SWF, nutty kids and fornicators everywhere. A typical manicured, SUV-in-the-driveway suburb?
Left coast celebrities are trekking to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in droves. They are appearing on numerous television shows and rock star/rap musicians are organizing and performing in relief concerts. We have 5 recommendations for any Hollywood celebrity and rich musician visiting the crisis area and appearing on television:
If you have more suggestions, let us know. Comment.
The heroine in Alien vs Predator is a black woman, Alexa Woods, played by Sanaa Lathan. Like our Zenobia Jamerson, Lex, as she is called, negotiates her way between Aliens and Predators. Lex is an environmental technician and guide and works for a small environmental group (AAEA?). In the opening scene of the movie, Lex is climbing the Lho La ice fall in Nepal. Later she reluctantly partners with a really big corporation to explore a strange phenomenon in Antarctica.
Bill 'I am my own God and Yours Too' Maher has a blog site with an openly racist environmentalist ranting about "Protecting the White Environment." Most racist environmentalists usually hide their overt racism, although the vast majority of mainstream environmental groups openly practice discrimination in hiring and retaining blacks (There are about 4 notable exceptions, however). You wanna hear it uncut? Check this green-hooded tree hugger out.
It is The Day After Tomorrow scenario: super hurricanes, killer tornadoes, melting ice caps, coastal flooding, droughts, wildfires and killer smog. Global warming and climate change have convinced Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas that nuclear power is the way to go because it is emission free and does not contribute greenhouse gases or smog forming gases to the atmosphere. Jack Lemmon does not have to be convinced. He was the pro-nuke corporate guy in the first film in 1979. Lemmon leads the charge as the advocate for using nukes to save Earth's atmosphere in this film.
It is revealed that the Terminator runs on a fuel cell. Talk about 'takes a licking and keeps on kicking.' Arnold states that, "When ruptured, the fuel cell becomes unstable." His chest mounted fuel cell (looks like a printer cartridge) blew up after he tossed it.
1) House over 3,000 sq. ft., less than 4 people.
2) Have more than one house in Calif.
3) More than 1 house in Calif. & a house in NY.
4) Have a Prius and 2 other cars per person.
5) Publicly call yourself an environmentalist.
6) Solar panels for house but do not use them.
7) Own a diesel-powered boat over 30 feet.
8) Millionaire & donate to rich green groups.
9) Leave air conditioning on when not home.
10) Smoke Cigarettes.
If you answered Yes to at least 7 of these questions, you are a Hollywood Green Poser or Poseur for those of you with a home in France.
