It's amazing how in our lifetime the Oscars went from must-watch TV to, "eh, I'll catch up to it in the morning". And I work in this business. I just don't care anymore. No one I know cares anymore. Even friends who are also in this business are over it.
All I had to read was that they dragged out Kimmel, which immediately told more than half the country this show is not for you. Then you sprinkle in Javier Bardem, freeing Palestine before he goes to get shitfaced for the night, ending the evening at the Chateau Marmont.
It's tired. It's boring. I don't care to watch it. And I work in this industry.
They're in a death spiral right now. I keep hearing things how they are going to go back to the old model, where movies are released in theaters and it will take a year for them to make it to streaming. That's not going to fix it.
The town needs an enema. We need new stars. New storytellers who aren't faux-activists. We need people to put their phones down. You need to draw people in, instead of shoving them away and then calling them racists.
And none of that will happen. This is the death rattle. I should have gone to medical school.
Brilliant analysis and so sad. Maybe that's why studios like Angel are going to faith based films. I am Jewish but would rather watch a film that touches my soul than more ugliness and hate. I live in LA and as a conservative I can walk out my door to see that. I want my breath taken away with glorious music, love, education about forgiveness and maybe even sneak in a happy ending.!
Have you seen "The Madison" released on Prime last weekend? It's Taylor Sheridan's most recent work. It has the feel of a Hallmark story and in a sense, is faith-based in that after terrible tragedy, a family learns to have faith in each other on unfamiliar ground. As always, his script is excellent and he captures the dynamic of how people actually talk to each other... not always pleasant. And the scenery is magnificent without being extreme. It's a loving place where one loves the land and the land loves one back.
But, if that were the story, it would be boring, so there is controversy. From the outset, Sheridan skewers the Woke/DEI cityfolk with its own inanity. I expect Hollyweird will hate it, but the fans will love it because Sheridan separates the wheat from the chaff and focuses on what's really important.
It's a Paramount project, I believe. Bezos and Ellison both have an incentive and understanding of producing films that speak to a broader audience. It's a changing of the guard that will disenfranchise the Woke world. Writers, producers and directors whose work doesn't get eyeballs will find themselves waiting tables.
Not to mention the tiny fact that its the truth and everybody knows it...Co2 good for the planet have mens equipment your a man. Feelings are for letters and love songs and 99.9percent of people will bend down and pick up Grandma should she stumble and fall...We all have compassion,,,we have to know when to use it....Hello!!!!!!!!!!
We turned off The Madison after Michelle Pfeiffer’s scene in Idaho Falls (don’t want to make it a spoiler, but it was early on). Over the top and unrealistic. We do like Landman, though.
I know it's not for everybody, but I do think that Pfeiffer's intent was to be over the top and unrealistic. An experience like that is always over the top and unreal.
I agree with you. I started watching this a few nights ago and so far I really like it. This family has lived inside their New York “bubble“ and really seem shocked to be in another part of the country that has different values than they do. I am looking forward to what I hope is a real transformation in them and how they behave and understand the world outside of New York.
That is good to hear,,,My Democrat Mother is wanting to view the show and these types of shows are good for her as the boys in girls sports thing and kids getting top surgery at 15 is turning her into a Republican, slowly for sure,,,, but I see it,,,,,it started with reading the NY Post...now it is the only paper in the house with a headline.
They live in a bubble where logic is turned on its head and enables a woman to put on her Handmaid's Tale costume to parade in public one week and then wrap a keffiyeh around her face the next week and shout "From the river to the sea, free, free Palestine!".
Ultimately, it's the left's moral vanity that makes them so contemptible.
I’m pissed because Atwood chose to portray the horror of Islamic theocratic totalitarianism by telling a story about a make-believe modern totalitarian Christian theocracy. The world receives this as a warning about Christianity and the Left enthusiastically promotes that association.
The lefties block out anything they don't like they are the most selfish self indulgent, self involved, self centered and self absorbed creatures to evolve on planet earth in over 7,000 years. They will say that's not true,,,,,,I just cried for an hour over the hungry people in Africa!
Yeah, I don't get it, either. I haven't read the novel, but it seems like parallels with contemporary Iran can be found. I'm worried about their women's soccer team and what is happening with them and their families. Where is Rapinoe?
In the meantime, no one mentions the Iranian film up for a couple of Oscars, "It Was Just an Accident," as if it never existed.
Is that because its Iranian writer-director has been disappeared by the regime? Which would spoil the narrative of, Palestine and the Mullahs Good! Death to Israel!
It's hard to believe these Hollywood types can be so willfully stupid. Stupid yes, but so impervious to history and facts?
Look how silent they all are over the Iranian woman’s soccer team, who had a mole among them to instill fear should they defect. Now all but two are returning to Iran because of the threats on their families, and some have been disappeared already. It’s heart wrenching but Hollywood is silent, Megan Rapinoe can only muster concern for the men’s hockey team meeting with Trump, God Forbid!, Not that horror! - yet could care less about what’s happening to the Iranian women’s soccer team.
Zahra Ghanbari specifically withdrew her asylum request and returned to Iran around March 15-16, 2026, with sources citing fears for her family's safety, including claims that family members had gone "missing" or were targeted (e.g., one report mentioned her recently deceased father in the context of regime pressure, alongside broader disappearances/detentions).
- Broader coverage (from outlets like NY Post, BBC, ABC News, The Sun, and human rights advocates like Shiva Amini and Tina Kordrostami) describes family members of various players being detained, intimidated, or reported as "missing" to coerce returns. This affected multiple team members, leading to at least five reversing decisions.
- Activists and officials stated phrases like "family members are missing" or "detained... and now missing," with claims of hostage-like tactics by Iran's authorities/IRGC.
The thing I can't figure out is, aren't there huge numbers of ethnic Jewish or partly Jewish people living and working in Hollywood??? There have been tons of Jewish actors that have entertained us for 70+ years. What are these people doing, what are they thinking, how are they living with this hatred? Didn't they have friends there? Have they all left CA?
My experience with my Jewish friends in the entertainment industry is that they cannot give up their Democrat card -- it's part of their identity. I hear them constantly use the word "nuance" when they discuss the issues that are clearly anti-semitic. Being a Democrat is part of their brand. They see what's happening. They know it's wrong. They know it's contrary to their peace and happiness. They just can't shake the team they root for because the social pressure is enormous if you cross that line. Some of them may have changed their minds privately, but they'll still be faux-activists in public life. It's mindboggling.
Put it another way,,,,,,,Every one who left Germany in 1935 for the US lived. Making it to Poland NOPE,,surrounding countries was not far enough,,even France not a done deal,,maybe England or Ireland Canada or US..Hitler Proclaimed early that in order to build the Master race they needed more Space and resources and they deserved it so BOOM!!!!
I have several long time Jewish friends who fit that description. Their Democrat card is part of their family identity, as indelible as their Jewishness.
I find this same attitude and stance you describe in my truly good people longtime friends who are liberal, Jewish/non-believers of any sort or Christian… “the social pressure is enormous” yes, indeed.
Not in the industry but a Jew (by choice, having converted 37 years ago), there is a belief that if they just say all the “correct” things & support all the “correct” causes, then they won’t be rounded up with the rest of us. They fail to understand that they may be last to be rounded up, but they’ll be rounded up as well. David Mamet, the playwright, has written an excellent essay on just this.
The great Dennis Prager has also spoken eloquently about this topic.
I have an Israeli friend who prior to 10/7/23 was a staunch liberal. In its aftermath, seeing the growing antisemitism from both the left and right but in particular from the mainstream left, has done a 180.
I am also mixed race, black mother/white father. The left has never been more condescending & racist in all my 70 years
SAD I'm sorry to hear that,,I was born a democrat in NJ and you are accurate,,I feel like a fool now. I still believe John Kennedy cared for people and wanted to see black people ascend and their dreams coming true.
OF course someone shot him in the head in front of 30 million people..
I truly believe if JFK were alive and running for office today his beliefs and platform would align with the conservative side of the aisle. The world has turned upside down from 60 years ago.
I saw Goldie Hawn sticking out her tongue. The all mocking tongue. I had no idea she is Jewish and that she raised her children in the Jewish faith. The secrets they keep hidden is legendary..
Truth be told these people(Lefties in USA) would NEVER for one minute Go for women covering up all over their body and their head,,,Let's SEE Jane Fonda Do that one AND Did you know Abortion is illegal in Muslim Iran and so is birth control, furthermore they sometimes marry off the girls before their first menstruation,,,,FACT Truth not negotiable
Thats funny,,,Also,,the dresses back when Grace Kelly was around,,were very classy and took nothing from the stunning beauty of our American Ladies,,,why today they feel the need to sex up the look,,its not necessary...Ava Gardner always dressed classy and she could stop a thousand men in their tracks from just a glimpse.
Yes, its all changed, but back then they mostly didn't try to lecture us on politics except specific exceptions like Redgrave. The used their entertainer genes and entertained, were funny.
Now, male or female, they are all lobotomized "no one is illegal" morons and so being a red blooded male all i care about is the even more superficial stuff i mentioned above.
Interesting comment Fred! I was asking a friend yesterday, a huge, lifelong movie buff, Can they ever get out of this? He said, No. The whole situation is extraordinary—taking a wrecking ball to a vibrant, creative, lucrative industry.
They could get out of it tomorrow if the people who control the purse strings for the studios and networks demanded it. For some reason, they have shifted the intent of storytelling from entertaining the masses to educating the masses to think like them. I've seen and felt this shift firsthand. What it has done is cause a lot of second-guessing in the people creating the stories, so nothing is really truthful anymore. It's all spun and digested through the "is this okay?" meat grinder now. Until a studio actually comes along that isn't worried about kneeling to the Democrat talking points they sent out that morning, this won't change and Hollywood is going to collapse. They're watching it burn. The only thing keeping it alive is they'll make a ton of money on whatever new Avengers, Spider-Man type franchise film they put out and that keeps the executives warm in their beds. If the public actually rejected the big franchises once and for all, I think change would have to happen, but there's too many adult babies out there who need to see CGI men in lycra fight the same horde of lookalike aliens/robots that the main bad guy has at their disposal. That's what is keeping this afloat. And people who reflexively give Netflix $28/month out of sheer boredom and convenience.
You win the award for: BEST COMMENT!!! I love the idea of “the town” needing an enema!!! Also, I believe everyone is sick of the present day “stars”!! At this point in my opinion, they’ve all worn out their welcome!! Chuck them all and let’s start from scratch!! Please come up and accept your award!!
Buckley is phenomenal. I first saw her in Simon Godwin's video staging of "Romeo and Juliet" for the National Theatre with Buckley playing the part accent-neutral in full brogue.
The quality of her acting. I see a lot of stage plays (a significant proportion Shakespearean), and I have yet to see a stage actress of her generation who comes close. But as the Roman saying goes, " De gustibus non disputandum est." Maybe you disagree.
Hmmm. You prob know better than I, but she just seems to be the the 'thing' of the moment. The Bride looks to be abysmal, Men was just an incoherent mess, and her Oscars speech was exactly the same as so many others: overwrought, emotional pablum. Let's face it...it just acting
That’s exactly what they will do get together decide the best conservative to single out and give the Democratic marching orders to the Lame Stream Media. The are most likely developing a list now of targets
In Truth Maga is just Americans who go for the Declaration and Constitution and Christian values,,,they have turned it into a Manson like word...Always happens this way.,,,,Before it was the Christian right,,then Evangelicals,,then Christian Nationalist and now,,,OMG that guys a MAGA kill him.....All the same person a regular guy American and the ladies too.....Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet...
MAGA - make America Great Again. Right? What’s so controversial about that? So those that hate our country want to destroy those that love it & use whatever means, especially name calling, to demean & dehumanize us. And as you say spend all there waking hours trying to turn the acronym into a pejorative.
It's unusual for the VP to NOT be nominated as pres candidate. Rubio can be VP.....OR Rubio can continue being SOS, as he's the best one in 100 (200?) years. Vance as pres. and Rep. Byron Donalds can be the VP and they can make a pledge to keep Rubio the SOS after they win.
Two other good options. But Ron's been around the block a few times.....Byron Donalds is younger and a "fresh face", so to speak. I like Glenn. I think he should run for the Senate or House maybe? Or was he there before?
I suspect Marco will be too wobbly & merely Democrat-lite when & if he ascends to the presidency. I think he will want to be liked by them as a “statesman.”
Hardly. My opinion has zero to do with his ethnicity. It has to do with his history before joining the Trump administration. For example, he used to be pro-amnesty for illegal aliens. He has a history of flip-flopping depending on which way the wind is blowing. The one thing he's been consistent about is he's pro-Marco Rubio. Of course, that's what politicians do so I don't hold it against him to a great degree. However, cynic that I am, I suspect he'll be tempted to placate the Left to either gain their favor or blunt their attacks. (I’m surprised & disappointed you immediately infer that my opinion is driven by his ethnicity. What could possibly have caused you to jump to that below-the-belt suggestion?)
Do some research. Rubio was one of those who wanted amnesty for some illegal aliens, about 4 or 5 years ago, when Congress started seriously talking about "immigration reform".
And does anyone remember, out there in Sasha-land, that for the first term of Obama's presidency, he and his admin. continually blamed Bush! They stopped when Obama started his second term (personally, I wasn't sure if they were going to stop, but I guess it would be pretty hard to blame Bush after you had a full term prior!).
You're probably correct. Although, after it turned around, it never really got going. And that was one big reason why Trump got elected. With all the "quantitative easing" that the Treasury and Feds did and Democrat Congressional spending and our economy still wasn't great (and that's actually partly because of those actions), so people took a chance on Trump and the economy did great until COVID.
yeah...talk to most canadians....trump's been in power for just over a year...but he managed to destroy everything about canada in his first 15 minutes in office...the country was great until then, apparently.
Why would I care to talk to Canadians about Trump. It’s not his fault that your government has dissolved into a Socialist country and have Provinces ready to secede from the mess you have up there.
I watched the mean old White guys on the USA baseball team beat the poor POC on the Dominican Republic team last night. It was much more entertaining and had a lot of patriotism with Dominican and US flags being waved proudly. Of course they were professional baseball players but it was way better than the Oscars
I can't wait until AI replaces all these TDS suffering, under educated, over inflatted, egotistical, self agrandizing, self rewarding fools who believe that because they have a stage we should give a damn about what they have to blather about.
Most people don't care in one sense. However, people tend to go with headlines and breathless exclamation of "best pictures and major stars rather than any informed critique of what they are watching. Awards often determine their choices. This is the way propaganda works. Hollywood has become a victim of its own dangerous combination of zero self-awareness and unwarranted self-importance. Their virtue signals are social credit cards with no actual balance.
So you’re for the new great reset?? Technocracy? Be careful what you wish for. Seems many are ok with anything Trump does. Public Private Partnerships?? Larry Ellison? mRNA cancer jabs? Data centers? Wars? And Jeffery Epstein?
Sure enough, the "Epstein" inclusion....just can't help yourself it appears. That said, any "reset" can be "unset" , so the evolution of technology can be modified by we humans, but the idiocy of so many lemmings on the left, parading one behind the other on the way over the reality cliff can't be stopped. Prime example was De Nero on live network TV at a previous OSCAR event shreiking "F--K TRUMP!" and the collected assembly of the eliet Holliwierd crowd applauded. Be careful what parade you join.
Last night's political rally confirmed what anyone even slightly conversant with history already knew: when you insist on politicizing virtue and art, you get neither. Instead, you get hypocrisy, prejudice, and propaganda.
Selective perception is a neat trick. It allows the ideologically captured to see, with a perfectly clear conscience, hatred, division, exclusion, and threats to democracy and the moral order everywhere but when they look in a mirror.
Oh, they see it! They've been 'seeing it' since Birth Of A Nation, at least. There's just not that much juice left in the squeeze...another unforeseen consequence of the borning of the Information Age.
Funny, Sunday’s gospel was Jesus restoring a blind man’s sight, and telling the Pharisees that they could not see. No coincidence there, eh? I had no idea the Academy Awards were on, nor did it matter, as I can’t remember the last time I ever watched it. Hollywood died a long time ago, and nobody’s missed it.
I haven't watched the Oscars for I don't know how long. Whether it's in a neighbor's backyard or on the television, I cannot abide self-important narcissists spouting and spitting false outrage , name calling, having nothing of importance or intelligence to offer.
J Bardem should stay in his native land that gave us the inquisition and dead indigenous people throughout the western hemisphere ( north and south). Conquistadors and colonization: spains primary contributions to el Mundo
Javier could move back to Espana and set up a new torture chamber to exact confessions of non-woke ideology. This time it won’t be Jews and moors, it will be common Americans .
Sadly, Mr. Mamdani is inviting to meetings those few Hasidic leaders who do not believe there should be an Israel. News outlets say he's doing "outreach to the Jewish community." I believe I shall be living in bedlam soon. But not yet.
Who is Cogler? Why should anyone care? I would rather hear the story about Mike Tobin climbing Mount Everest. He is an older journalist on Fox. A war correspondent.
Sorry--Ryan Coogler. I couldn't edit my own spelling. He directed "Sinners," and Sasha thinks he should have won for best director. Apples and oranges: this is about film prizes and not mountain climbing
I thought it was cinematography? I saw neither Sinners nor the Oscars, so I'm not sure of the reference. A black director did indeed win just a few years ago: Steve McQueen for Twelve Years a Slave, I believe. So it couldn't have been director. So if Sasha thought he should be the first black director in 98 years to win the Oscar, I think she was mistaken.
Then again, it's possible I dont know what I'm talking about, LOL!
(Okay, I just googled him. Steve McQueen is a black British film director, so technically an African-American has not yet won.)
I'd like to see that, too, but it's not what the discussion is about. I agree that it would be better than almost anything Hollywood thinks is Oscar-worthy.
Blatant nonsense. I don't follow lectures from the word police. I do myself avoid "black" because I think sorting people by skin color is inherently racist. "People of Color" is a ridiculous because it is at once uselessly broad (everybody has a color) and exclusive (the intent is to stigmatize "white" people who are really pink European stock and thus have color too). "African American" at least has the virtue of referring to people with genes from sub-Saharan Africa, but you are quite right that many people in northern Africa are swarthy or even pale and not conventionally "black" (Arabs, Berbers, etc.). With ever rising intermarriage of peoples, I would rather we stop jamming people into arbitrary color and ethnic buckets.
I agree. People of color is their preference not mine. We were on the road to not referring to skin color until all of a sudden we were, or they were. And if you don’t follow lectures from word police why did you lecture Sasha by not referring to Cooglar as African American?
More grammar than word. She left out a plainly intended qualifier. "The first in 98 years." The first what? Up to her to pick the qualifier, but a word is missing.
I have my son visiting from New York. He wanted to watch as he saw three of the films. My husband indulged him and I had to endure by walking into the den to get a drink in the kitchen nearby. I could barely control my moans , snarky remarks ( Gwyneth Paltrows face is Frozen!), and moan when I saw some dumb ass skit. I convinced them to tape it and go out to dinner so I could escape even hearing it from the other room. Upon returning home I dreamt of the Oscar's with Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Cary Grant. Class, elegance, fantasy and damn good movies. I
Watched that movie last weekend, not in a theater, have not paid to see anything Leo in a long time.
Its every bit as bad as you say.
All whites are racist, there should be no borders, there are no illegals, fight the power.
Americans in the middle better give their heads a hard shake for your upcoming midterms, whether you like it or not the Iran stuff has very little impact on your future.
Just watch this movie and grasp the ideas it presents as "normal".
One Thing After Another was a horrible movie. I watched the first 30 minutes, then stopped, then watched the last ridiculous 30 minutes, and told my wife not to waste her time. Incredible that such a poorly written bit of nonsense was nominated for Best Picture, even worse that it won.
It's amazing how in our lifetime the Oscars went from must-watch TV to, "eh, I'll catch up to it in the morning". And I work in this business. I just don't care anymore. No one I know cares anymore. Even friends who are also in this business are over it.
All I had to read was that they dragged out Kimmel, which immediately told more than half the country this show is not for you. Then you sprinkle in Javier Bardem, freeing Palestine before he goes to get shitfaced for the night, ending the evening at the Chateau Marmont.
It's tired. It's boring. I don't care to watch it. And I work in this industry.
They're in a death spiral right now. I keep hearing things how they are going to go back to the old model, where movies are released in theaters and it will take a year for them to make it to streaming. That's not going to fix it.
The town needs an enema. We need new stars. New storytellers who aren't faux-activists. We need people to put their phones down. You need to draw people in, instead of shoving them away and then calling them racists.
And none of that will happen. This is the death rattle. I should have gone to medical school.
Brilliant analysis and so sad. Maybe that's why studios like Angel are going to faith based films. I am Jewish but would rather watch a film that touches my soul than more ugliness and hate. I live in LA and as a conservative I can walk out my door to see that. I want my breath taken away with glorious music, love, education about forgiveness and maybe even sneak in a happy ending.!
Have you seen "The Madison" released on Prime last weekend? It's Taylor Sheridan's most recent work. It has the feel of a Hallmark story and in a sense, is faith-based in that after terrible tragedy, a family learns to have faith in each other on unfamiliar ground. As always, his script is excellent and he captures the dynamic of how people actually talk to each other... not always pleasant. And the scenery is magnificent without being extreme. It's a loving place where one loves the land and the land loves one back.
But, if that were the story, it would be boring, so there is controversy. From the outset, Sheridan skewers the Woke/DEI cityfolk with its own inanity. I expect Hollyweird will hate it, but the fans will love it because Sheridan separates the wheat from the chaff and focuses on what's really important.
It's a Paramount project, I believe. Bezos and Ellison both have an incentive and understanding of producing films that speak to a broader audience. It's a changing of the guard that will disenfranchise the Woke world. Writers, producers and directors whose work doesn't get eyeballs will find themselves waiting tables.
Not to mention the tiny fact that its the truth and everybody knows it...Co2 good for the planet have mens equipment your a man. Feelings are for letters and love songs and 99.9percent of people will bend down and pick up Grandma should she stumble and fall...We all have compassion,,,we have to know when to use it....Hello!!!!!!!!!!
We turned off The Madison after Michelle Pfeiffer’s scene in Idaho Falls (don’t want to make it a spoiler, but it was early on). Over the top and unrealistic. We do like Landman, though.
I know it's not for everybody, but I do think that Pfeiffer's intent was to be over the top and unrealistic. An experience like that is always over the top and unreal.
I agree with you. I started watching this a few nights ago and so far I really like it. This family has lived inside their New York “bubble“ and really seem shocked to be in another part of the country that has different values than they do. I am looking forward to what I hope is a real transformation in them and how they behave and understand the world outside of New York.
Give it a chance, didn't go there. I know the scene you are talking about
That movie is in my saved list. Now I’m looking forward to seeing it. I enjoy Taylor Sheridan’s work.
That is good to hear,,,My Democrat Mother is wanting to view the show and these types of shows are good for her as the boys in girls sports thing and kids getting top surgery at 15 is turning her into a Republican, slowly for sure,,,, but I see it,,,,,it started with reading the NY Post...now it is the only paper in the house with a headline.
Thank you. I am going to watch this. I need something to heal my heart!
Thank you for your recommendation re PRIME’s “Madison”. I seek out such & hadn’t known about it.
They live in a bubble where logic is turned on its head and enables a woman to put on her Handmaid's Tale costume to parade in public one week and then wrap a keffiyeh around her face the next week and shout "From the river to the sea, free, free Palestine!".
Ultimately, it's the left's moral vanity that makes them so contemptible.
Did you know Atwood based The Handmaid's Tale loosely on Iran?
I think what also angers me is how leftists ignored the absolute hell Iranians have been through
I’m pissed because Atwood chose to portray the horror of Islamic theocratic totalitarianism by telling a story about a make-believe modern totalitarian Christian theocracy. The world receives this as a warning about Christianity and the Left enthusiastically promotes that association.
Holy cow. I never thought about it like that, but it is true.
It has also enabled (idk if that's the proper term) the left to ignore the horrors of Islam, including what ISIS did to the Yazedi people.
The lefties block out anything they don't like they are the most selfish self indulgent, self involved, self centered and self absorbed creatures to evolve on planet earth in over 7,000 years. They will say that's not true,,,,,,I just cried for an hour over the hungry people in Africa!
Yeah, I don't get it, either. I haven't read the novel, but it seems like parallels with contemporary Iran can be found. I'm worried about their women's soccer team and what is happening with them and their families. Where is Rapinoe?
I can't see Rapinoe caring about the plight of Iranians.
I pray they will be okay.
I liked the novel. Now I can't read it b/c it reminds me too much of these idiots cosplaying as being oppressed.
That's the first thing I think of when I hear or see something about the book. I immediately think of the cosplayers in red.
In the meantime, no one mentions the Iranian film up for a couple of Oscars, "It Was Just an Accident," as if it never existed.
Is that because its Iranian writer-director has been disappeared by the regime? Which would spoil the narrative of, Palestine and the Mullahs Good! Death to Israel!
It's hard to believe these Hollywood types can be so willfully stupid. Stupid yes, but so impervious to history and facts?
Look how silent they all are over the Iranian woman’s soccer team, who had a mole among them to instill fear should they defect. Now all but two are returning to Iran because of the threats on their families, and some have been disappeared already. It’s heart wrenching but Hollywood is silent, Megan Rapinoe can only muster concern for the men’s hockey team meeting with Trump, God Forbid!, Not that horror! - yet could care less about what’s happening to the Iranian women’s soccer team.
Who disappeared??
Zahra Ghanbari specifically withdrew her asylum request and returned to Iran around March 15-16, 2026, with sources citing fears for her family's safety, including claims that family members had gone "missing" or were targeted (e.g., one report mentioned her recently deceased father in the context of regime pressure, alongside broader disappearances/detentions).
- Broader coverage (from outlets like NY Post, BBC, ABC News, The Sun, and human rights advocates like Shiva Amini and Tina Kordrostami) describes family members of various players being detained, intimidated, or reported as "missing" to coerce returns. This affected multiple team members, leading to at least five reversing decisions.
- Activists and officials stated phrases like "family members are missing" or "detained... and now missing," with claims of hostage-like tactics by Iran's authorities/IRGC.
The thing I can't figure out is, aren't there huge numbers of ethnic Jewish or partly Jewish people living and working in Hollywood??? There have been tons of Jewish actors that have entertained us for 70+ years. What are these people doing, what are they thinking, how are they living with this hatred? Didn't they have friends there? Have they all left CA?
My experience with my Jewish friends in the entertainment industry is that they cannot give up their Democrat card -- it's part of their identity. I hear them constantly use the word "nuance" when they discuss the issues that are clearly anti-semitic. Being a Democrat is part of their brand. They see what's happening. They know it's wrong. They know it's contrary to their peace and happiness. They just can't shake the team they root for because the social pressure is enormous if you cross that line. Some of them may have changed their minds privately, but they'll still be faux-activists in public life. It's mindboggling.
Sadly,,,many took the same attitude in Berlin in 1935. Smart ones ran to the train station.
Put it another way,,,,,,,Every one who left Germany in 1935 for the US lived. Making it to Poland NOPE,,surrounding countries was not far enough,,even France not a done deal,,maybe England or Ireland Canada or US..Hitler Proclaimed early that in order to build the Master race they needed more Space and resources and they deserved it so BOOM!!!!
I have several long time Jewish friends who fit that description. Their Democrat card is part of their family identity, as indelible as their Jewishness.
I find this same attitude and stance you describe in my truly good people longtime friends who are liberal, Jewish/non-believers of any sort or Christian… “the social pressure is enormous” yes, indeed.
Not in the industry but a Jew (by choice, having converted 37 years ago), there is a belief that if they just say all the “correct” things & support all the “correct” causes, then they won’t be rounded up with the rest of us. They fail to understand that they may be last to be rounded up, but they’ll be rounded up as well. David Mamet, the playwright, has written an excellent essay on just this.
The great Dennis Prager has also spoken eloquently about this topic.
I have an Israeli friend who prior to 10/7/23 was a staunch liberal. In its aftermath, seeing the growing antisemitism from both the left and right but in particular from the mainstream left, has done a 180.
I am also mixed race, black mother/white father. The left has never been more condescending & racist in all my 70 years
SAD I'm sorry to hear that,,I was born a democrat in NJ and you are accurate,,I feel like a fool now. I still believe John Kennedy cared for people and wanted to see black people ascend and their dreams coming true.
OF course someone shot him in the head in front of 30 million people..
I truly believe if JFK were alive and running for office today his beliefs and platform would align with the conservative side of the aisle. The world has turned upside down from 60 years ago.
His Nephew is in the Trump Administration, you could be right ON!!!!!!!!!!!
I saw Goldie Hawn sticking out her tongue. The all mocking tongue. I had no idea she is Jewish and that she raised her children in the Jewish faith. The secrets they keep hidden is legendary..
Good for Goldie!! She's a smart woman, always has been.
I think the word you are looking for is HYPOCRITE.
Truth be told these people(Lefties in USA) would NEVER for one minute Go for women covering up all over their body and their head,,,Let's SEE Jane Fonda Do that one AND Did you know Abortion is illegal in Muslim Iran and so is birth control, furthermore they sometimes marry off the girls before their first menstruation,,,,FACT Truth not negotiable
"It's amazing how in our lifetime the Oscars went from must-watch TV to, "eh, I'll catch up to it in the morning""...to was that on?
bingo
To be honest, i only really care which starlet fell out of their dress (while keeping their mouth shut), nothing about this interests me any more.
Funny how they complain about men only seeing them as sex objects, and yet they brazenly flaunt their body parts.
i'm ok with that :-)
Thats funny,,,Also,,the dresses back when Grace Kelly was around,,were very classy and took nothing from the stunning beauty of our American Ladies,,,why today they feel the need to sex up the look,,its not necessary...Ava Gardner always dressed classy and she could stop a thousand men in their tracks from just a glimpse.
Yes, its all changed, but back then they mostly didn't try to lecture us on politics except specific exceptions like Redgrave. The used their entertainer genes and entertained, were funny.
Now, male or female, they are all lobotomized "no one is illegal" morons and so being a red blooded male all i care about is the even more superficial stuff i mentioned above.
Even that, i haven't bothered to look
Interesting comment Fred! I was asking a friend yesterday, a huge, lifelong movie buff, Can they ever get out of this? He said, No. The whole situation is extraordinary—taking a wrecking ball to a vibrant, creative, lucrative industry.
They could get out of it tomorrow if the people who control the purse strings for the studios and networks demanded it. For some reason, they have shifted the intent of storytelling from entertaining the masses to educating the masses to think like them. I've seen and felt this shift firsthand. What it has done is cause a lot of second-guessing in the people creating the stories, so nothing is really truthful anymore. It's all spun and digested through the "is this okay?" meat grinder now. Until a studio actually comes along that isn't worried about kneeling to the Democrat talking points they sent out that morning, this won't change and Hollywood is going to collapse. They're watching it burn. The only thing keeping it alive is they'll make a ton of money on whatever new Avengers, Spider-Man type franchise film they put out and that keeps the executives warm in their beds. If the public actually rejected the big franchises once and for all, I think change would have to happen, but there's too many adult babies out there who need to see CGI men in lycra fight the same horde of lookalike aliens/robots that the main bad guy has at their disposal. That's what is keeping this afloat. And people who reflexively give Netflix $28/month out of sheer boredom and convenience.
yeah, like deliberately bombing your own house...when you don't even have multiple residences!
Agree,,I see that angle,,but I must ask,,,what is creative now?? It seems they are working in straight Jackets.
Dear Fred Mertz
You win the award for: BEST COMMENT!!! I love the idea of “the town” needing an enema!!! Also, I believe everyone is sick of the present day “stars”!! At this point in my opinion, they’ve all worn out their welcome!! Chuck them all and let’s start from scratch!! Please come up and accept your award!!
Sorry bud...an enema ain't fixing a terminal disease. Pulling the plug is the way. Call Hospice.
I'm a nobody, a working class farm girl from New England. I cannot tell you how much people hate Hollywood now.
It's putrid. I associate it with Satanists and pedophiles.
I watch Korean dramas and comedies now.
I'm sorry you're stuck there.
They don't see that Democrat New England is still Christian
My sister watches the Korean dramas, too.
Your name brings a smile to my face! ;)
Are you a Ruth Rendell fan? :D
They have no class,,because they have no Character..
Jessie Buckley had a nice speech about motherhood. Otherwise it was all TDS slop. The decline of best picture winners after 2013 is staggering: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/oscars-best-picture-slop-2000-2025
Buckley is phenomenal. I first saw her in Simon Godwin's video staging of "Romeo and Juliet" for the National Theatre with Buckley playing the part accent-neutral in full brogue.
How,exactly, is JB phenomenonal?
The quality of her acting. I see a lot of stage plays (a significant proportion Shakespearean), and I have yet to see a stage actress of her generation who comes close. But as the Roman saying goes, " De gustibus non disputandum est." Maybe you disagree.
Hmmm. You prob know better than I, but she just seems to be the the 'thing' of the moment. The Bride looks to be abysmal, Men was just an incoherent mess, and her Oscars speech was exactly the same as so many others: overwrought, emotional pablum. Let's face it...it just acting
Who will they point to and blame when President Trump isn’t President anymore? Will they still use his name to blame everything wrong with the world?
Hopefully Rubio will be president and we can just watch documentaries about Cubans being free and their economy growing!
It doesn't matter. If there is no villian, they will just fabricate one. All of this is theatre as it is.
That’s exactly what they will do get together decide the best conservative to single out and give the Democratic marching orders to the Lame Stream Media. The are most likely developing a list now of targets
There are plenty of MAGA supporters they can go after - just like during the Biden years. They make no secret of it if / when they seize back power.
In Truth Maga is just Americans who go for the Declaration and Constitution and Christian values,,,they have turned it into a Manson like word...Always happens this way.,,,,Before it was the Christian right,,then Evangelicals,,then Christian Nationalist and now,,,OMG that guys a MAGA kill him.....All the same person a regular guy American and the ladies too.....Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet...
MAGA - make America Great Again. Right? What’s so controversial about that? So those that hate our country want to destroy those that love it & use whatever means, especially name calling, to demean & dehumanize us. And as you say spend all there waking hours trying to turn the acronym into a pejorative.
TDS is tough to beat baby!
Israel Derangement Syndrome is the next thing that needs psychological help
AND they act like its as normal as a head cold,,,,,NOPE,,,,its Psychopathic.
They have already started hating on JD Vance!! I like Vance but I sincerely hope Marco Rubio will become the next President.
they all loved him when his book came out....they loved him until he supported trump.
Hypocrite Pie anyone??
It's unusual for the VP to NOT be nominated as pres candidate. Rubio can be VP.....OR Rubio can continue being SOS, as he's the best one in 100 (200?) years. Vance as pres. and Rep. Byron Donalds can be the VP and they can make a pledge to keep Rubio the SOS after they win.
Shouldn't Ron Desantis be in the mix and Glenn Youngkin???????
Two other good options. But Ron's been around the block a few times.....Byron Donalds is younger and a "fresh face", so to speak. I like Glenn. I think he should run for the Senate or House maybe? Or was he there before?
I don't know about youngkin being in the Senate already,,,all I know is Spambooger is destroying Virginia fast.
I like Rubio as well
I suspect Marco will be too wobbly & merely Democrat-lite when & if he ascends to the presidency. I think he will want to be liked by them as a “statesman.”
Why do you think this way,,because he is Cuban??? Juss shooting pool here.
Hardly. My opinion has zero to do with his ethnicity. It has to do with his history before joining the Trump administration. For example, he used to be pro-amnesty for illegal aliens. He has a history of flip-flopping depending on which way the wind is blowing. The one thing he's been consistent about is he's pro-Marco Rubio. Of course, that's what politicians do so I don't hold it against him to a great degree. However, cynic that I am, I suspect he'll be tempted to placate the Left to either gain their favor or blunt their attacks. (I’m surprised & disappointed you immediately infer that my opinion is driven by his ethnicity. What could possibly have caused you to jump to that below-the-belt suggestion?)
Do some research. Rubio was one of those who wanted amnesty for some illegal aliens, about 4 or 5 years ago, when Congress started seriously talking about "immigration reform".
Interesting. Thanks for your insight.
Yes, just like they did under Biden. They blamed Biden's policy failures on Trump's previous presidency.
And does anyone remember, out there in Sasha-land, that for the first term of Obama's presidency, he and his admin. continually blamed Bush! They stopped when Obama started his second term (personally, I wasn't sure if they were going to stop, but I guess it would be pretty hard to blame Bush after you had a full term prior!).
I think the only reason they stopped is because by then the economy started to turn around.
You're probably correct. Although, after it turned around, it never really got going. And that was one big reason why Trump got elected. With all the "quantitative easing" that the Treasury and Feds did and Democrat Congressional spending and our economy still wasn't great (and that's actually partly because of those actions), so people took a chance on Trump and the economy did great until COVID.
Yes!
I’m convinced it will be Trump’s fault for decades with this brain sick cult.
yeah...talk to most canadians....trump's been in power for just over a year...but he managed to destroy everything about canada in his first 15 minutes in office...the country was great until then, apparently.
Why would I care to talk to Canadians about Trump. It’s not his fault that your government has dissolved into a Socialist country and have Provinces ready to secede from the mess you have up there.
Oh don't forget the government murdering citizens for meloncholy
True
Sick, Sick, Sick and getting Sicker,,,,they need to be out to pasture,,which might be too good for some of them.
I agree
They’re still (absurdly) blaming Reagan for homelessness, so yeah.
yes
The next leading Republican
I watched the mean old White guys on the USA baseball team beat the poor POC on the Dominican Republic team last night. It was much more entertaining and had a lot of patriotism with Dominican and US flags being waved proudly. Of course they were professional baseball players but it was way better than the Oscars
Cleaning the litterbox last night was way better than the Oscars!
I would even have helped you and we would have had more fun!
😂
I'm sorry to hear that,,,Judy you are not alone!!
Really,,,the Dominicans were Diggin the American thing? Love it!!!
Baseball is real big in a lot of South American Countries Dominican Republic included
I can't wait until AI replaces all these TDS suffering, under educated, over inflatted, egotistical, self agrandizing, self rewarding fools who believe that because they have a stage we should give a damn about what they have to blather about.
Exactly. Good essay, but most people in this country could not care less about the Academy Awards.
Most people don't care in one sense. However, people tend to go with headlines and breathless exclamation of "best pictures and major stars rather than any informed critique of what they are watching. Awards often determine their choices. This is the way propaganda works. Hollywood has become a victim of its own dangerous combination of zero self-awareness and unwarranted self-importance. Their virtue signals are social credit cards with no actual balance.
So you’re for the new great reset?? Technocracy? Be careful what you wish for. Seems many are ok with anything Trump does. Public Private Partnerships?? Larry Ellison? mRNA cancer jabs? Data centers? Wars? And Jeffery Epstein?
Sure enough, the "Epstein" inclusion....just can't help yourself it appears. That said, any "reset" can be "unset" , so the evolution of technology can be modified by we humans, but the idiocy of so many lemmings on the left, parading one behind the other on the way over the reality cliff can't be stopped. Prime example was De Nero on live network TV at a previous OSCAR event shreiking "F--K TRUMP!" and the collected assembly of the eliet Holliwierd crowd applauded. Be careful what parade you join.
Last night's political rally confirmed what anyone even slightly conversant with history already knew: when you insist on politicizing virtue and art, you get neither. Instead, you get hypocrisy, prejudice, and propaganda.
What they don’t understand is that they are what they think we are
They are the ones making movies.
They are the ones giving fiery hate-filled speeches.
They are the ones with quotas for their ‘art’
It’s all fake
But they can’t see it
Selective perception is a neat trick. It allows the ideologically captured to see, with a perfectly clear conscience, hatred, division, exclusion, and threats to democracy and the moral order everywhere but when they look in a mirror.
Oh, they see it! They've been 'seeing it' since Birth Of A Nation, at least. There's just not that much juice left in the squeeze...another unforeseen consequence of the borning of the Information Age.
Funny, Sunday’s gospel was Jesus restoring a blind man’s sight, and telling the Pharisees that they could not see. No coincidence there, eh? I had no idea the Academy Awards were on, nor did it matter, as I can’t remember the last time I ever watched it. Hollywood died a long time ago, and nobody’s missed it.
And they are then one's giving prizes to one another in an orgy of wretched, seething narcissism. It's all phony distilled self-love.
I haven't watched the Oscars for I don't know how long. Whether it's in a neighbor's backyard or on the television, I cannot abide self-important narcissists spouting and spitting false outrage , name calling, having nothing of importance or intelligence to offer.
J Bardem should stay in his native land that gave us the inquisition and dead indigenous people throughout the western hemisphere ( north and south). Conquistadors and colonization: spains primary contributions to el Mundo
Javier could move back to Espana and set up a new torture chamber to exact confessions of non-woke ideology. This time it won’t be Jews and moors, it will be common Americans .
Some folks like to say. “Shut up and dance” 💃
Well, flamenco?
Yes. That balances out the inquisition for sure . 😉
Haha! You gave me a good laugh. I need it -- I'm in the middle of figuring out NYC property taxes for 2025.
Oh boy. Just wait til next year. Speaking of which who is attending sedar at Gracie Mansion?
Sadly, Mr. Mamdani is inviting to meetings those few Hasidic leaders who do not believe there should be an Israel. News outlets say he's doing "outreach to the Jewish community." I believe I shall be living in bedlam soon. But not yet.
They can end the sedar with NEXT YEAR IN PALESTINE.
You had a good run, Hollywood--about 100 years--but it's over.... All things must pass...
Like a tough number 2…
Sasha--I think you omitted a term like "African American" about Cogler being the first in 98 years. You may wish to edit.
Who is Cogler? Why should anyone care? I would rather hear the story about Mike Tobin climbing Mount Everest. He is an older journalist on Fox. A war correspondent.
Agreed..and Mabe Abbie Phillips falling into a crevice
Sorry--Ryan Coogler. I couldn't edit my own spelling. He directed "Sinners," and Sasha thinks he should have won for best director. Apples and oranges: this is about film prizes and not mountain climbing
I thought it was cinematography? I saw neither Sinners nor the Oscars, so I'm not sure of the reference. A black director did indeed win just a few years ago: Steve McQueen for Twelve Years a Slave, I believe. So it couldn't have been director. So if Sasha thought he should be the first black director in 98 years to win the Oscar, I think she was mistaken.
Then again, it's possible I dont know what I'm talking about, LOL!
(Okay, I just googled him. Steve McQueen is a black British film director, so technically an African-American has not yet won.)
I'd like to see that, too, but it's not what the discussion is about. I agree that it would be better than almost anything Hollywood thinks is Oscar-worthy.
Watching paint dry would be interesting the the dreaded Oscar’s.
African American is old hat plus all black ppl aren’t from Africa. People of color is the term most use now.
Blatant nonsense. I don't follow lectures from the word police. I do myself avoid "black" because I think sorting people by skin color is inherently racist. "People of Color" is a ridiculous because it is at once uselessly broad (everybody has a color) and exclusive (the intent is to stigmatize "white" people who are really pink European stock and thus have color too). "African American" at least has the virtue of referring to people with genes from sub-Saharan Africa, but you are quite right that many people in northern Africa are swarthy or even pale and not conventionally "black" (Arabs, Berbers, etc.). With ever rising intermarriage of peoples, I would rather we stop jamming people into arbitrary color and ethnic buckets.
I agree. People of color is their preference not mine. We were on the road to not referring to skin color until all of a sudden we were, or they were. And if you don’t follow lectures from word police why did you lecture Sasha by not referring to Cooglar as African American?
More grammar than word. She left out a plainly intended qualifier. "The first in 98 years." The first what? Up to her to pick the qualifier, but a word is missing.
Agree. Shoulda just left that out.
I have my son visiting from New York. He wanted to watch as he saw three of the films. My husband indulged him and I had to endure by walking into the den to get a drink in the kitchen nearby. I could barely control my moans , snarky remarks ( Gwyneth Paltrows face is Frozen!), and moan when I saw some dumb ass skit. I convinced them to tape it and go out to dinner so I could escape even hearing it from the other room. Upon returning home I dreamt of the Oscar's with Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Cary Grant. Class, elegance, fantasy and damn good movies. I
James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, tap dancing down the stairs.
I was blown away.
Honestly I could cry.
Art and moving pictures are so ugly and demoralizing.
Gene Kelly in Funny Face! Doris Day! I cry for what wad!
Watched that movie last weekend, not in a theater, have not paid to see anything Leo in a long time.
Its every bit as bad as you say.
All whites are racist, there should be no borders, there are no illegals, fight the power.
Americans in the middle better give their heads a hard shake for your upcoming midterms, whether you like it or not the Iran stuff has very little impact on your future.
Just watch this movie and grasp the ideas it presents as "normal".
That is what a democrat victory entails.
I don't believe it's the "other half"of the country these Hollywood elites look down upon it's more like 80%.
Your estimate is too low. Try 99 percent.
One Thing After Another was a horrible movie. I watched the first 30 minutes, then stopped, then watched the last ridiculous 30 minutes, and told my wife not to waste her time. Incredible that such a poorly written bit of nonsense was nominated for Best Picture, even worse that it won.
I only saw the trailer for that movie at the theater and knew it was a bomb.
Incoherence is the new Art form. You just don't get it....
It was all so predictable, hosted by two of the most unfunny Conan an Jimmy. So sad what the Oscars have become.
Exactly what I thought it would be-- cringeworthy all around. Great essay.