THE LEFT COAST
REPORT
A Political Look at Hollywood
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Mormon Massacre Flick Meant to Hit Mitt?
2. Laura Linney's Bad Adventures in Babysitting
3. Scarlett Johansson Weighs in on Weight
4. Patrick Leahy to Appear in 'Batman' Movie
5. Hollywood Spews More Anti-war, Anti-U.S. Movies
1. Mormon Massacre Flick Meant to Hit Mitt?
The date was Sept. 11.
The year was 1857.
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One hundred and twenty men, women, and children tragically lost their lives.
In trying to make their way from Arkansas to California in their covered wagons,
the ill-fated folks had to pass through Utah. It was there that they were
slaughtered. The blood bath would come to be called the Mountain Meadows
Massacre.
"September Dawn" is a film about this massacre.
Now for the political twist — the people who carried out the killings happened
to be of the Mormon faith.
One of the current GOP presidential hopefuls also happens to be of the Mormon
faith.
They're steamed over the content and timing of the Mormon-slamming movie.
Creators of the film claim that it is intended to depict the first instance of
religious terrorism in America. It is set to open soon in around 1,000 theaters
across the nation and has some name stars to its credit like Jon Voight, Terence
Stamp, Lolita Davidovich and Dean Cain.
Promo spots for the flick include a nod to the presidential campaign with the
suggestion that we're at a point in history "when issues of Mormonism are in
heightened areas of the news.'"
Can anyone say, "Wag the primary?"
2. Laura Linney's Bad Adventures in Babysitting
In the upcoming film, "The Nanny Diaries," Laura Linney hires a nanny in the
form of actress Scarlett Johansson to take care of her cinematic offspring.
Apparently, the movie-making experience brought back some unpleasant memories
for Linney.
She tells Contact Music that in the past she "was not a very good babysitter."
She thinks it was because she "was traumatized early on" and "was just too
scared to do it again."
Evidently it all started when a couple in the building where Linney lived asked
her to watch over their little one.
Linney describes her four-year-old charge as "a little like a MACK truck, big
kid, really big."
The actress recounts, "The parents went off to have dinner and this kid just
beat me to a pulp."
Guess the little tyke put on his fiercest WWE moves.
"I mean, I was slapped, I was kicked, I was spit on and then he just started to
scream like crazy," Linney says.
In the end, Linney's mom had to come to her rescue before the cantankerous
toddler took her out.
3. Scarlett Johansson Weighs in on Weight
Laura Linney's co-star in "The Nanny Diaries," Scarlett Johansson, has made many
a superlative list.
She's beautiful, talented, photogenic, and on and on and on.
But the attractive actress says she has days when she actually feels — fat.
When it comes to weight, Tinseltown apparently puts pressure on stars of every
size.
"You constantly feel like you're not skinny enough," Scarlett told the U.K.
Sunday Express S magazine, adding that "it's hard not to feel pressure in this
industry."
While her curves have set her apart, Scarlett admitted, "I have fat days."
Still, she recognizes her body type. "I'm never going to be rail thin," the
actress said.
To which the Glamazons roundly applauded.
4. Patrick Leahy to Appear in 'Batman' Movie
Holy Washington D.C., Batman! Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy has snagged a role in
the next "Batman" movie.
Leahy recently filmed a scene for the upcoming Batman sequel, "The Dark Knight,"
which is scheduled for release in Summer 2008.
Leahy's "distinguished gentleman" character appears onscreen with Batman (played
by Christian Bale), The Joker (played by Heath Ledger) and Alfred Pennyworth
(played by Michael Caine).
The Capitol Hill Dem has done voice-overs on "Batman" cartoons, written the
preface for a "Batman" book and had small roles in the last two "Batman"
features.
"It's a pretty tense scene," the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee told
The Associated Press about his part.
And then the senator answered a question that no one had asked and few could
ever dare to imagine.
"I don't wear tights," Leahy confessed.
5. Hollywood Spews More Anti-war, Anti-U.S. Movies
We're in the thick of the presidential primary campaign. And we're a nation at
war.
How does Hollywood respond to such consequential issues? With movies that
feature sweet terrorist suspects and dirty rotten Republicans.
Mainstream Hollywood is serving up oodles of films with partisan themes.
For example, Tom Cruise's studio, United Artists, is bringing "Lions For Lambs"
to the big-screen. It's due out in late fall.
The movie stars Robert Redford, who also directs. Tom Cruise plays an evil
senator and Meryl Streep plays an intrepid journalist.
In previews, Cruise's character screams at Streep's, "Do you want to win the war
on terror? Yes or no?" He adds, "This is the quintessential yes or no question
of our time."
In another film called "Rendition," an Egyptian-born terrorist suspect is
married to an American woman played by Reese Witherspoon. The suspect is taken
to a secret detention facility outside the U.S., where a CIA analyst played by
"Jarhead" Jake Gyllenhaal tortures the guy.
"Rendition" hails from New Line Cinema and once again features Meryl Streep
along with Alan Arkin. The nation's domestic anti-terrorist program, the one
that's kept us safe in real life, suffers a nasty attack in reel life.
"In The Valley Of Elah," which is due out September '07, is directed by Paul
Haggis (who incidentally won an Oscar for "Crash") and stars Tommy Lee Jones,
Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon.
The film is about post-combat stress and is based on an actual incident in which
a soldier is murdered while on a drinking spree with his comrades after a stint
in Iraq.
December '07 will bring "Redacted" to the movie stage, a film directed by Brian
De Palma. In it, U.S. soldiers go about the business of persecuting an Iraqi
family.
The anti-war, anti-U.S. flick list goes on and on. It's unprecedented.
During World War II, Hollywood elevated our morale and that of our allies with
films like Frank Capra's "Why We Fight."
And during the Vietnam War, similar movies like the "The Green Berets" boosted
out spirits.
We haven't seen this kind of Hollywood propaganda since Rosie O'Donnell tried to
convince folks her little girl likes dressing up in ammo-adorned clothes.