The discussion over Iran’s reaction to the film ‘300′ is pertinent for several reasons, namely because it shows Iran’s own duplicity over how to react to American films with respect to their own productions.  As Steven Stalinsky has already pointed out, it is rather ironic Iran accuses ‘300′ of demonizing Persians while their own film productions have no other value than to demonize Iran’s opposition.

But in the heart of the matter, the Iranian government’s reaction to the film was one that argued Hollywood was an extension of the Bush Administration’s public relations machine and that a film regarding a battle waged thousands of years ago has modern day implications.

The state-run media outlet IRINN was openly hostile towards ‘300′ and called the film a production of the Zionist Warner Brothers company, which apparently is run by “the American Jew.”  I see Joooos everywhere (cue 1950s horror music).  IRINN postured, “this film tries to paint a violent image of Persians who are against peace in today’s world, in order to increase the international political pressure on Iran.”

It would seem to me IRINN in particular would reject any message within American movies and disregard any symbolism the movies might have.  And here I just watch movies to be entertained.  But then there’s this report compiled by John of Satellite News where he records and translates an Iranian report on IRINN on the benefits of American movies and the actors when it suits Iran’s objectives.

Moderator: Bush never imagined that even an unpretentious low-budget film would become so connected to his political life or that his dreams would turn into cinematic nightmares.

The film is “Mystic River” made by Clint Eastwood in 2003, and was nominated for an Oscar for best director. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins won Oscars as Best actor and best supporting actor, and shortly afterwards all three of them became the first opponents of Bush’s policies.

Clint Eastwood said American democracy in Iraq was broken. Tim Robbins said Bush’s war had caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and called for his resignation.

However throughout these years Sean Penn has been the most vocal Bush opponent among his fellow cast members in “Mystic River.” He has traveled to Iraq several times and went to Iran in the spring of 2005.

Film critic Seyyed Mostaghani: When he returned to America I went to my home at the hotel and saw they they had called me and said Sean Penn is in Iran, and all of these American media did not know that he had returned to America or how to convey the news to the world.

Mystic River was not exactly a low-budget production, spending an estimated $30 million to film and edit.  Aside from that, Tim Robbins has always been a critic of anything Republican, and the news of Sean Penn’s travels to both Iraq and Iran were well publicized.  It’s just that no one actually cared.

Reviews of the new film ‘300′ have been all over the map. There was an attempt to politicize the film, with those of polar ideologies claiming the film was a strong statement against the GWOT and others claiming it is in support of the very same war. It is neither. Both fail to comprehend it’s just a movie, and a phenomenal one at that.

Before seeing the film I read a review by Townhall columnist Ben Shaprio, where Shapiro wrote in part: “The comic-book tale of the battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.) brims over with excessive nudity and violence. The dialogue is often laughable — lines like “This is madness! This is Sparta!” leap to mind.” Shapiro also criticizes other reviewers for bashing the film “on the grounds that the Spartans in the film are a bunch of jackbooted thugs” and one reviewer who wondered why there weren’t any non-white Spartans.

Without addressing the ridiculous question of where the black or brown Spartans were, Shapiro and those reviewers he criticized are completely off the mark. In fact, the Iranian rejection of the film is much closer to a suitable review for rather obvious reasons. ‘300′ does present the Persians as barbaric, heretic non-humans, but that is for a reason because it is a story told in the art of Greek mythic tales.

But the film also takes a firm stance against the Spartans in the opening scenes where viewers are told Spartans inspected all new-born Spartan babies and discarded the ones that were not the best. Sparta, in the film at least, was a nation built upon its warrior class. Neither side looked particularly good in today’s version of ‘enlightened’ souls. And in the case of Ephialtes, the spurned Spartan soldier turned traitor, his horribly contorted body plainly presents the film as a story of the Spartans, not the Persians, where a nation demonizes its enemies to paint its own heroes that much more valient.

Unlike Shaprio, I thought the dialogue in the film was what made the film. It is a narrated tale that brought back reading Greek Mythology in grade school. The Battle of Thermopylae is only as great as the tale weaved by the 300 Spartans and worn proudly by the Greeks; it matters not what actually happened for the purposes of this movie or if the famed Persian Immortals were demons in disguise. History is replete with fictionalized tales told to inspire many, but that does not make the story of The Alamo less important nor does it make ‘300′ less enjoyable.

The film is more story, and yes, a comic book narrative, than anything else where the battle scenes are complimentary to the tale. It is a story of a group of men who fought against what they saw as tyranny and enslavement to protect their nation and their families.

There were no chained half-man, half-demons brought to Greece by the Persian military, nor does the film even try to stay close to historical accounts of the battle. It doesn’t have to, and it shouldn’t have, because ‘300′ is a pictoral tale of accounts passed on throughout the years with each passing mouth embelishing more of story beautifully presented in reel format.

‘300′ is violent, bloody and has some of the same sort of bloodlust dramatizing as seen in ‘Sin City,’ another Frank Miller comic, but so too was the actual Battle of Thermopylae a violent and bloody encounter. The scenery esquisite, the music masterfully blending in with the storyline, ‘300′ is pure entertainment and should be taken as just such.

It is one of the best films I have seen in a very long time, but not because of just the subject, but for the same dialogue Shapiro finds “laughable.” If it’s one-liners you seek, you won’t find them in ‘300,’ but if you simply want to see a story in the same mold as the stories of Zues or Poseiden come alive, you will enjoy the film and you might even see it again before it leaves theaters.

I’ve made the decision to go watch ‘300′ in a couple of hours since I have some dead time in work (it’s nice to be self-employed sometimes). I very rarely attend a movie; I prefer to rent as opposed to attend a theater. While I have read many reviews and seen movie trailers, I had not seen the following reviews.

Many reviewers have panned “300″ not on artistic grounds, or even on grounds of inanity, but on the grounds that the Spartans in the film are a bunch of jackbooted thugs; that the tyranny they fight is less tyrannical than Sparta; that good vs. evil is too simplistic. “His troops are like al Qaeda in adult diapers,” writes Kyle Smith of the New York Post. “Keeping in mind Slate’s Mickey Kaus’ Hitler Rule — never compare anything to Hitler — it isn’t a stretch to imagine Adolf’s boys at a “300″ screening, heil-fiving each other throughout and then lining up to see it again.” A.O. Scott makes the obligatory racial point: “It may be worth pointing out that unlike their mostly black and brown foes, the Spartans and their fellow Greeks are white.” (source)

Ben Shaprio notes the movie is a bit weak in terms of dialogue, but you don’t go to an action movie and seek out tantalizing lines worthy to inspire. Shapiro also notes ‘300′ “brims over with excessive nudity and violence.” That’s what one would expect.

UPDATE: What a great movie.  I’ll write a brief review later, including how the Iranians are correct and Shapiro (above) is incredibly wrong.

I didn’t watch the Oscars for the 27th year in a row, thank you very much, but Sean did and found something rather interesting.

The Oscars are quite telling when the film ‘Babel‘ is even considered (I have absolutely no clue if the film won anything).  It was horrible.  After wasting just over two hours watching a film that was supposedly riveting, I was trying to figure out if there’s another film named ‘babel’ that I somehow missed.

It’s very rare that I write anything about a movie, even though I watch plenty of movies and thoroughly enjoy a good number of them, but ‘The Departed‘ is one that is worthy of mention.

I caught ‘The Departed’ this past Wednesday after it arrived via Netflix, and I was expecting a great flick due to the reviews, however as any movie consumer can tell you reviewers seem too caught up in theatrics rather than just a good, entertaining movie. Well, ‘The Departed’ was both very well done and was very entertaining.

Directed by Martin Scorsese (Casino and Goodfellas), ‘The Departed’ was sure to not disappoint. Jack Nicholson was his usual self, delivering a top-notch performance, but I was most surprised with actually believing Leonardo DiCaprio was a tough guy as he played an undercover cop infiltrating an Irish-American gang lead by Frank Costello (Nicholson). Matt Damon’s character, Colin Sullivan, seemed to suit the whiney Damon, who I still cannot look at without laughing (Team America: “Matt Damon), perfectly. Mark Wahlberg also delivered a strong performance, playing undercover chief Dignam.

I love mafia movies and am enthralled by this genre, but I did not expect an Irish mafia movie going in. Apparently I missed one of the many previews, presumably because when I’m watching television ESPNews finds its way on the screen during any commercial breaks.

But ‘The Departed’ isn’t really about the Irish mafia, but rather deals with both the mafia and the police trying to find the mole that had infested in both operations. Even though the viewer knows who both moles are very early on, through a series of twists and turns and near misses, one watches with amazement how either side cannot figure the puzzle out. The ending is a bit of a surprise too, which is always great.

Check out ‘The Departed’ if you enjoyed ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Casino’ or either of the ‘Godfather’ films (three doesn’t count because it sucked).

I also caught ‘Flyboys‘ and ‘The Prestige‘ within the last two weeks.

‘Flyboys’ revolves around the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American pilots fighting for France in World War I. Despite being panned almost unanimously by movie critics, I enjoyed the film and thought the dogfight scenes were spectacular, though they were pretty short and the plot within the movie was downright weak. It’s worth the rent, but it is one of those movies that is better suited to be watched if you have a good surround sound system.

‘The Prestige’ is about two rival magicians trying to compete within London, often competing against each other for an audience and introducing new tricks while copying the other’s. In what was billed as being a movie you’d have to watch again to get the twist, I must say that supposed twist was about as hidden as the sun. In fact, after watching the movie I searched the Internet to see if I had somehow missed something. Nope, I had not. It’s still worth the rent based on the set design alone (early 20th Century) and a good performance by Christian Bale.

One movie to skip is ‘Man of the Year‘ starring Robin Williams. The film essentially lost me when they took a massive jab at corporations manipulating votes (10 minutes in, maybe). I’d tear into this movie more if I watched more than 30 minutes of it, but there’s just so many Robin Williams jokes a man can take before hitting the ‘eject’ button on his remote control.

Caucasian American-Male Symposium (CAMS)
P.O. Box 1456
Dallas, TX 75025
For Immediate Release

CAMS Protests Use of White Male Villains in ‘24’

Feb. 12, 2007 – The Caucasian American Male Symposium (CAMS) believes the portrayal of white males as the villains in the 20th Century Fox television series ’24’ will lead to increased Caucasianphobia, which could ultimately lead to disastrous hate crimes against men of light skin pigment.

While CAMS is unable to document any instances of hate crimes against white males as a direct result of ’24,’ CAMS feels there is no question ‘24’ has become nothing more than a neo-Liberal fantasy land where people with skin pigment are seen as underlings to their rich, white male masters who are the ultimate villains of the show.

“The disturbing thing about ‘24’ is how the white male is always the one to torture and he’s also always the one to be working behind the scenes and orchestrating the mass murder of thousands of innocents,” said CAMS founder Chad Evans. “The writers of ‘24’ create a world where men and women who are not white are not capable of pulling off terrorist acts themselves if not for whitey; it’s the rich, white man who is the evil one.”

CAMS is demanding immediately an end to the white villains as seen on ‘24’ as CAMS feels this unfairly tarnishes a large group of people who are mostly peaceful.

The small minority of white males who are villains and criminals do not represent the entire white male establishment, and because 20th Century Fox continues to use a broad stroke to paint the stereotype of white males as villains the producers of ‘24’ are showing religious discrimination.

During Season One of ’24,’ it was a Serbian character known as Victor Drazen who attempted to assassinate the President of the United States.

In Season Two, American oil executive Peter Kingsley wielded the ultimate power in trying to detonate a nuclear warhead on American soil.

Season Three featured former MI6 agent Stephen Saunders who attempted to unleash a biological weapon in Los Angeles in spite of Jack Bauer’s former Serbian mission.

Walt Cummings penetrated the White House during Season Four, ordering the murder of Bauer.

The white President of the United States Charles Logan was the villain of Season Five, allowing a known terrorist group to acquire nerve gas while attempting to cover everything up including murder ordered from the Oval Office.

In the current season, Season Six, there is not one but three white male villains as ‘24’ creator and co-writer Joel Surnow seems to have dipped his quill into the Caucasianphobia well. Graeme Bauer, Phillip Bauer and General Dmitri Gredenko are all working with radical Islamic terrorists who are trying to detonate five suitcase nukes in Los Angeles.

“As the seasons wear on, Surnow and his racist crew at 20th Century Fox add more white males to the mix,” said Evans. “It’s as if they have completely rolled over to the likes of C.A.I.R., unwilling to portray the current groups who threaten the United States, and instead decided to attack those of us who are pigmently challenged.”

CAMS urges 20th Century Fox to be more realistic in the television ‘24’ by using people of the ethnicity and religion of the people who are actually trying to kill us instead of finding common cause with the Left by vilifying white males and increasing the already alarming state of Caucasianphobia.

For more information, call 888-555-CAMS.

Emilio Karim Dabul, an Arab-American from Syria, likes ‘24′ and explains the cold, hard truth of the show.

And this is what makes “24″ a compelling drama every week. Instead of pretending Islamic terrorists don’t exist, the show presents frighteningly real worst-case scenarios perpetrated by Osama bin Laden’s followers. So CAIR thinks it’s over the top for the terrorists in “24″ to blow up Los Angeles with a nuke? Please, if bin Laden and his crew had nukes, most of us would be way too dead to argue over such points.

There is a dangerous trend in the U.S. today that involves skirting the truth at the risk of offending any individual or group. When Bill Cosby talks to African-Americans about self-respect and responsibility, and says publicly what many have been saying privately for years, he’s branded a “reactionary,” “misinformed,” “judgmental,” and so on. When “24″ confronts America’s worst fears about al Qaeda–whose goal remains to kill as many Americans as possible whenever possible–the show is said to be guilty of fueling anti-Muslim and anti-Arab prejudice.

Well, here’s the hard, cold truth: When Islamic terrorists stop being a threat to America’s survival, viewers will lose interest in “24,” because it will have lost its relevancy. Until such time, I will continue to watch “24″–because, believe it or not, the idea that there are Jack Bauers out there in real life risking their lives to save ours does mean something to me.

Dabul notes there has been no evidence of any Muslim or Arab backlash to the show and points out the way the show seems to go out of its way to present both Muslims and Arabs in a good light.  That is ever-present this season just in previous seasons.

And besides, if any group should be upset it should be white males because in every single season, the main villain has been a white male.  I’m not upset, rather I enjoy the show and realize it’s just a television show.  By the way, what ever happened to the ‘reformed’ terrorist who was helping Jack out?

Dabul concludes:

In the meantime, the next time a journalist decides to report on Arab-American concerns about shows like “24,” maybe he could actually talk to someone other than CAIR and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and seek out Arab-Americans with a different point of view. We actually do exist.

And maybe that same reporter could take a closer look at CAIR. Ask CAIR about the Holy Land Foundation and its support of Hamas. Ask it about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the CAIR board member who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case–yet still sits on CAIR’s board. Look a little closer, and maybe you’ll find that CAIR has good reason to get nervous about shows like “24.”

Because terrorists and their supporters continue to hide among us in plain sight, we need Jack Bauer, now more than ever.

I caught ‘Team Ameria: World Police’ on television last night and it made me pull out the DVD to show some of the film. If you haven’t seen the movie, get out of the cave your hiding in. And, hey, while you’re in there, why don’t you pull out OBL too?

Walid Phares and Steve Emerson will be featured in a Fox News documentary called ‘Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words’ on Saturday. The show will start at 9:00 p.m. EST.

If anyone knows how to record a show on to a computer, I’m all ears and will do so to feature clips from it.

Read more about the show at The Counterterrorism Blog.

UPDATE: I’ve got the hardware and software to record the show.  I’ll have it recorded and uploaded some time after the airing on Saturday.

A new Indonesian film entitled ‘The Long Road to Heaven‘ follows three convited terrorists who were behind the 2002 Bali bombings and, reportedly, questions if those involved in terrorist acts truly do get a free pass to sit next to Allah.

From AKI:

Besides providing a look at what could have driven the three bombers to organise the terror attacks, the film examines the tragedy through the eyes of a local taxi driver, an American woman going to Bali after having lost her husband in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the Twin Towers and an Australian journalist writing about the attack. Among the 202 killed in the 2002 Bali bombings, 88 were Australian.

Seems interesting enough, and it’s good to see the Islamist doctrine of ‘martyrdom’ attacks being questioned in the world’s most populus Muslim nation. It opens on January 25, including in the U.S., and I’ll pick it up when it comes out on DVD.