The late, great Andrew Breitbart famously taught that “politics is downstream from culture.” He was right, and it’s one reason conservative politicians struggle to win elections. Leftists have enjoyed incredible influence over the culture for decades with their puppet strings firmly attached to nearly every film and television studio in the world. With the massive increase in TV watching since the emergence of Netflix and its competitors, Hollywood has only increased its influence over American...
Here we go again. Every few weeks we get a new message from Disney, Inc. about the company's lurch to the Left. In September, Disney CEO Bob Iger vowed to lower the volume on the culture wars. Just earlier this week, we learned the company admitted its progressive policies are hurting profits with little promise of addressing the issue. 'For shareholders, it may seem counterintuitive that corporate executives would trade off profits for political or social agendas. However, it does serve as a...
Jeremy Boreing doesn't reject preaching to the choir. He insists on it. The co-founder and co-CEO of The Daily Wire says connecting with his fellow conservatives is both smart and invaluable. It's partly why most of his company's films, including 'Shut In,' 'Terror on the Prairie' and the upcoming 'Lady Ballers,' can only be seen via DailyWire+ subscriptions. Site readers can then go into the public and use the ideas and arguments shared on his platform with others, Boreing told the 'PBD...
Whitney Cummings wants to be canceled. Badly. The veteran comic says a comedian's career explodes once the woke mob targets them for various sins, real or imagined. Think Dave Chappelle, Joe Rogan, Shane Gillis and Louis CK. And she wants in. She might get her wish sooner than later. The comedienne spoke with 'The Last Laugh' podcast earlier this month about free speech, impending motherhood and her OnlyFansTV (OFTV) special, 'Mouthy.'...
Writer/ director Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” has a lot in common with her prior film, the celebrated “Promising Young Woman” (2020). I’m not being complimentary. Like “Promising Young Woman,” Fennell’s new film tries hard to be provocative but winds up being not enough and not much of anything. I recognized the talent in the filmmaking, a few good performances and plot strands that seemed to offer intriguing possibilities, but all this delivers an audience left with little to do but shrug....
Comedy Central's 'South Park' satirized trans athletes in the 2019 episode 'Board Girls.' A character based on Randy 'Macho Man' Savage transitions to female and competes against biological women in the Colorado hamlet. The results are comically one-sided. The installment, which went viral earlier this year on social media, would be almost impossible to pull off today even for 'South Park' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Trans issues, particularly trans sports debates, remain the third rail...
Feminists have a funny way of supporting women. They rage against sexist jokes but stand down when Republican women are mocked. They cry 'MeToo,' but fall silent when a Democrat is accused of sexual assault. They rally behind Hollywood starlets getting equal pay but hid when Gina Carano got unfairly fired from Disney for speaking 'her truth.' Now, that feminist hypocrisy is back following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel which included the torture and rape of many women. And Mayim Bialik has had...
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” isn’t “Waterloo” (1970), or that Armand Assante-led TV movie from 1987, nor anything like what Stanley Kubrick designed and nearly made with Jack Nicholson decades ago. In fact, even if one recalls Scott’s body of work and how often he portrays historical battles (everything from “The Duellists” to “Gladiator” to “Kingdom of Heaven” to “Robin Hood”), “Napoleon” is still a surprise. Yes, the massive action scenes you expect are remarkable, but Scott’s film overall is...
Russell Peters is no stranger to Cancel Culture. Except when the Indian comic first ran into it early in his career, no one called it by that name. His '90s-era act, which featured him performing Indian accents apart from his accent-free speaking voice, made some enemies north of the border. 'People called into the telling them they're gonna boycott the CBC if they ever play me again,' Peters told the hosts of 'Triggernometry,' the anti-woke podcast starring Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster....
There’s a reason the phrase, “Shut up and sing” caught on. Celebrities have the same First Amendment rights we all enjoy (at least for now). They just have bigger platforms to flex them. That's a mixed blessing given the kinds of messages they share. https://twitter.com/robreiner/status/1726962825829183640 For every thoughtful comment, there are others that beggar belief. Still, we pay attention to much of what the glitterati says, often forgetting it seconds later. That's not the case with...
It's that time of the year again when critics share their 'Best Of' lists. I like to start with the three 'worst' shows I watched over the past 12 months. To be clear, these shows have the distinction of at least being watched all the way through. My list of 'dropped' shows grows larger every year in our content saturation age. Shows Dropped 1. 'I Hate Suzi Too' (HBO/Max) — I liked season one and was looking forward to more, but the “Dancing with the Stars” plot didn’t intrigue me. The lead,...
Disney's 'Wish' isn't just the company's signature holiday release. It's a celebration of 100 years of storytelling magic. Or so the marketing tells us. 'Wish' tells an original story teeming with Disney shout outs, from references to Bambi to the adorable 'Star' character connecting to Jiminy Cricket's iconic song. All that history and magic couldn't lift 'Wish' at the box office. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctlz0R1tSZE&t=7s The film is slated to earn $32.3 million at the US box office over...