"I registered as a Republican when I was twenty-one. My parents were Republicans. But as I've gotten older I've questioned my whole conservative background ... I think you should be fair about how you treat people."

In reference to the war in Iraq:  "We're supposed to evolve from frontier justice. I think that [the old west mythology] is a good thing to have in your spine. But it shouldn't operate your brain. It's nice to know that you are willing to fight, but it's good to know how smart you are about not fighting."

Oh, well then. If Kevin Costner said it....

Seriously, for me this raises the whole issue of the "rebels," that is those who speak of politics in pretty much all media. How is that these folks see themselves as mavericks, yet almost to a person in that world they are way, way to the left? Talk about conformity. Maybe that explains why movies, books, TV are all so fucking dull now. The conformists are busy sucking up to each other. Maybe if someone challenged the "liberal wisdom" they could produce something compelling.

Re: K. Costner. His career has been in decline so, if he wants to get back up, he better kiss up to the liberal elite in H'wood.

Lenny Bruce was a maverick when John Wayne, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, et al, were around. Now, if you're to the right in Mediaville you are the rebel. And yet, the "brave" souls in H'wood feel like they have balls when they are all braying the same lines.

"Waterworld" is going to be a huge hit!

Rambo IV to come out. And isn't it time for a remake of Red Dawn--because the creativity of us righties is astounding.

The fact that Kevin Costner said it gives it any more validity than if I  had said it myself.  I posted it because I believe he addressed these issues so intelligently and so eloquently.

Movies, tv, and books are so dull now?  Peolple say that every year.  There have been many remarkably brililant and entertaining movies released this year.  

TV used to be better?  Should we bring back Green Acres, Gilligan's Island, and Hee Haw?  There are some great shows on television but there is also a lot of crap.  There is more programming in general so the good stuff is a little tougher to find.  

There are also plenty of great books out there to read.  

Kevin Costner's career has hardly been in decline but that depends upon how you define "decline."  He did not take the role of Bill in "Kill Bill" because he wanted to make "Open Range" which was a wonderful piece of work. He has a new action movie with Ashton Kutcher opening soon.  

What the fuck does Lenny Bruce have to to with John Wayne, Bob Hope, or Jimmy Stewart?  John Wayne was very much a maverick.  He was also an awful actor and his b.o. appeal was solely the result of his personal charisma that he brought to the screen; not his acting chops.

Bob Hope was one of the unfunniest people on this plant.  Jimmy Stewart was a dull actor as well.  However, his emotional blank slate was perfect for the movies in which he shined. Those were the films in which the screenplay was the real star.  When he tried to act, he was terrible and the movies were terrible because the source material, the screenplay was like Gerber's baby food.  Nothing like pureed peas as the foundation for a wonderful meal.

The responsed to my posting are just what the right winger always do without fail. They miss the point and go off on a tangent which is entirely irrelevant.  Right wingers are great at deflection and using smoke and mirrors to cloud a real discussion of the real issues presented.

What does Kevin Costner's lack of making a commercially successful movie have anything to do with his analysis of the morality of political policy in this country?  

Furthermore, commercial success isn't not an indication of artistic merit.  You're confusing art and commerce.  "Bonnie and Clyde" bombed on it's intial release in August 1967 only to be re-released six months later at which time it became huge hit and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards.  

"Rush Hour" and "Rush Hour 2" were hugely succesful.  Does that mean they are great works of art or that Brett Rattner ever had a deep thought in his life?

Arnold Scwarzenegger's movies have made hundreds of million of dollars if not billions.  He certainly has an sense of what will be a commercially successful movie. Does that mean his political views are well-reasoned and have merit?  No.  By the same token, the fact that Kevin Costner has made some commercially unsucessful films doesn't mean he is an intelligent man with a high moral standard.

Once again,  a right winger tries to argue apples when I'm talking about organges.  That's because they know they can't  hold their ground when the discussion is about apples.

then see if anyone misses it.

i know i missed the point you made in yourt initial post.

perhaps you can point it out.

You're losing it.

there seems to be very little humor expressed on this Board, especially when it's sardonic or dry.  That kind of humor seems to be in such short supply on this Board, that I don't recognize it when it appears.  But now that you have enlightened me, your comment was very funny.  However, I think The Postman would have been a funnier retort.  That was truly a dreadful movie!  

I forgot that "The Postman" even existed.  Not only do I disagree with you politically, I disagree with your view of some of the actors.  Jimmy Stewart had a lot of range.  He's known for his Capra roles but you should see some of his westerns or "Vertigo".  The guy could get real dark.  John Wayne was also under rated.  Check out "The Quiet Man" for a very different Duke.  He went really dark and scary in "The Searchers".  Costner is truly a guy who coasted on charm.  When he lost his looks his career went bye-bye.

it's hard to imagine a movie being worse than "3000 Miles to Graceland"..

Quotes from celebs in areas where they are no more expert than "the masses" are pointless.

I don't know for sure if Costner touted Waterworld as being a hit, but if he did (and he probably did) then it only shows that he is no more credible than even you or I, Fixer.

-- Modified on 8/28/2006 4:03:32 PM

He had a good run in the late 80's (Untouchables, No Way Out, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams), but it's been downhill ever since.

he is as much an expert as failed DJ and sportscaster Rush Limbaugh, college dropout Sean Hannity and failed two-bit hooker and skank Ann Coulter.

Costner reflects my opinion and I felt he expressed that opinion quite eloquently.  I don't think he ever said that Waterworld was a hit.  However, he did try to make what he felt was going to be a good movie.  Movies are a crap shoot.  As William Goldman says, "Nobody knows anything."  95% of the time, people working on a movie believe they are making something special and work their asses off to achieve that.   But you never really know how it's going to come out in the end.

I  must give Costner credit for being ambitious and taking a chance by trying to do work that goes beyond the safe pablum that makes up most of what splashes across the screens of multiplexes across America.  

It is acknowledged and understood that not every movie is intended to appeal to the masses.  That doesn't strip it of it's artistic merit.  There should be all kinds of movies.

Television is the medium that is more beholden to appeal to a greater segment of the population.  If anyone who genuinely works in the entertainment business, please corroborate my next statement.  If all the people who paid to see a hugely successful feature film watched a particular television series every week, the numbers would be so dismal, the series would probably be cancelled in three weeks.  

My point was that Hope, Stewart and Wayne were conservative. And Bruce took on the conservatives at a time when most of the lemmings in H'wood were conservative, which in my book, makes Bruce a rebel. Now most in the media are flaming liberals, and going left today takes no guts.

I also agree that there are some great books published today and a few, very few, good movies. But my guess is you and I would disagree on what is good.

Art? I'll bet you're a DaVinci fan.

Having re-read the Costner quote, and your post saying it's "eloquent," I have decided to skip your comments from here on.

particularly that you never talk in terms of any specific case or facts, only labels and opinions.

And I really like people like Cheney and Limbaugh advocating recreational war, given their consistent personal efforts to be exempted; and another impressive issue is the druggie Limbaugh and the perjurer Hedgecock ranting about other people's morals.

If AC was a provider, what do you think her reviews would have been like?

It's cheating to put the whole message on the line like that.

That "NOT!" in your response was very clever, very funny. I bet you're a hell of a writer.

Cheap trick.