‘Saturday Night’ Reminds Us How Far The Unfunny Partisans At SNL Have Fallen
'Saturday Night' is a wonderful celebration of a cultural moment, and pulls together a wonderfully cathartic story.'Saturday Night' is a wonderful celebration of a cultural moment, and pulls together a wonderfully cathartic story.Moviegoer went to see documentary showing positive side of Trump — then things got weird
Filmmaker Christopher Martini set out to help show Americans a different side of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election with a documentary titled "The Man You Don't Know." Hawaii resident Kathy Forti was among the moviegoers around the country who joined the Republican president in checking out the film in its opening week.
Forti later notified Martini that while the film was informative, the moviegoing experience was altogether puzzling.
Forti, a psychologist, alleged that upon arriving at the Regal Maui Mall 30 minutes prior to the 12:15 p.m. showing on Oct. 26, she was informed that all of the seats in the theater save for those in the front row had been sold — a claim apparently reinforced by a digital seating chart that a theater employee showed.
'From their coordinated efforts, it felt planned.'
"We reluctantly purchased the two unsold seats in the front row, consoling ourselves that at least the seats were recliners and it couldn't be that bad," Forti wrote to Martini in a statement obtained by Blaze News. "However, upon entering the show close to starting time, we found the theater was completely empty."
It wasn't empty for long, though.
"Two women entered after us and sat further back," Forti's statement continued. "We wondered if perhaps a group had bought all the tickets and they were late arriving."
According to the psychologist, the two other women in the theater did their best to disrupt the showing, "hissing, laughing, and shouting such things as 'liar,' 'not true,' and other derogatory comments." The provocateurs allegedly stood in front of the screen at one point, then later sprayed an unidentified aerosol in another apparent provocation.
Despite the intervention of an usher, Forti indicated that the provocateurs remained until the end of the film.
Forti told Blaze News, "I believe the two women intentionally tried to intimidate us and drive us out of the theater. From their coordinated efforts, it felt planned."
Afterward, Forti claimed that she pressed the ticket desk for answers about the seating arrangements, only to discover that only four tickets had ultimately been purchased, which dispelled her previous suspicion that the seats had been bought up to preclude people from seeing the film but left her with even more questions.
'It feels like somebody is deciding for the country what they see and what they cannot see.'
"They never explained the sold-out vs. non-sold-out ticket screen we saw," said Forti. "Had we not gone back after the documentary to say something, we would never have known about the change in ticket screen seating chart."
"My friend and I turned to each other, wondering if we had just entered the Twilight Zone," the psychologist wrote to Martini.
Blaze News reached out to Regal Cinemas for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
When speaking about Forti's theater experience, Martini told Blaze News that his producer and co-writer, Joshua Macciello, has "been getting a lot of similar stories."
"This film could actually influence the election," said Martini. "I have a lot of people coming to me with similar stories to Kathy's. ... It makes one wonder if there's some sort of concerted effort on somebody's part to suppress this movie about Trump, which is being released right before an election across the country."
Martini's suspicions are heightened on account of "awful locations and screening times."
Macciello, the president of Global Ascension Studios, recently expressed his frustration to Dan Ball of "Real America" over the apparent refusal by certain theater circuits to screen the film.
"I mean, what's going on there?" said Macciello. "This is not a political movie. ... This is a movie about a man. It gives you an insight into him. And he happens to be in politics and running for president."
"In the present-day United States of America, it's very bizarre. It feels like somebody is deciding for the country what they see and what they cannot see. And clearly, somebody does not want [them] to see a film about President Trump right before the election," said Martini.
The documentary — billed as a "balanced, deeper portrayal of Trump as a scholar, successful entrepreneur, man of faith, and devoted family man" — features interviews with various people in Trump's orbit, including Lara Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, his granddaughter Kai Trump, Hulk Hogan, and Kyle Forgeard of the Nelk Boys.
Trump attended the premiere on Saturday with friends and members of his family.
When asked about his objective with the film, Martini indicated that the media has almost exclusively advanced negative depictions and narratives about Trump, which is troubling because "the truth always lies somewhere in the middle."
"Our goal with this was to show the other side," said the director, "coming from the people that he made a positive impact on."
Despite the apparent desire by leftist organizations and activists to keep the film content in theaters ideologically uniform, Martini indicated that intellectual diversity is ascendant.
"I think that there's very few people making the kinds of movies that right-leaning people, conservative-leaning people, you know, God-fearing people want to see," said Martini. "But all of that's changing."
The documentary is set to launch on Elon Musk's X ahead of Election Day.
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‘Folie Á Deux’ Portrays The Joker As Not Just A Villain But A Sinner
Musical choices throughout the film set the stage for an ultimate judgment, not just in the eyes of the ardent fans, but in the eyes of God.Coppola’s Vibes-Based ‘Megalopolis’ Is The Movie Version Of Kamala Harris
The film’s message is almost the literal embodiment of Kamala Harris’s much-mocked sentiment of 'what can be unburdened by what has been.'Instead Of Whining About The Woke Emmys, The Right Should Get Behind Better Films
Another Emmy season has come and gone. This year’s winners and nominees are once again a sweeping validation of the left-leaning Ford Foundation’s strategy to sponsor and cultivate progressive films and filmmakers. The Ford Foundation’s biggest winner this season, “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” an artsy biopic about a poet and activist, won […]Gina Carano responds to rumors about Elon Musk using her lawsuit in Disney acquisition scheme
Actress and former mixed martial artist Gina Carano recently addressed the rumors that South African billionaire Elon Musk might be using her lawsuit against Disney to drive down the company's stock value as a means to ultimately acquire the House of Mouse at a favorable price.
Fellow actor Matthew Marsden detailed for Blaze News the significance of a possible Disney takeover by Musk as well as what it would entail.
Background
Carano played the character Cara Dune on the smash hit Disney series "The Mandalorian," providing the show with a genuinely strong female protagonist. However, in February 2021 — following the conclusion of the show's second season and several months after she enraged LGBT radicals by jokingly stating her pronouns were "beep/bop/boop" — Lucasfilm canned Carano, letting her find out herself from second-hand sources.
"Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," said a Lucasfilm spokesman. "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."
'He wants justice.'
Her offense? A post pointing out parallels between COVID authoritarianism and the rise of Nazi Germany and how political hatred has the potential to grow into something truly monstrous.
"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children," the post said. "Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?"
Meanwhile, Disney has generally been unfazed by similar Nazi comparisons advanced by its leftist talent — along with all manner of unhinged political commentary.
Months after Carano's firing, a Rasmussen poll would reveal that 59% of Democratic voters supported confining the unvaccinated to their homes, and 48% of Democratic voters indicated they supported imprisoning those who questioned the efficacy of the experimental COVID-19 vaccines.
Earlier this year, Carano kicked the legs out from under Disney's framing of her ouster, stating:
The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time. My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me.
Carano took Elon Musk up on his open offer of legal support to those fired over lawful exercises of free speech and sued Disney in February for wrongful termination and sex discrimination.
The complaint reportedly accused Disney of harassment, defamation, engaging in a "post-termination smear campaign," and attempting to cajole Carano into conforming with the corporate behemoth's views on BLM and gender ideology.
Disney has desperately tried to kill the suit in the months since, but its efforts have proven unsuccessful. In the meantime, the value of the company's stock has continued to sag.
Agnostic about rumors but keen on change
Carano appeared on the Friday episode of "The Shawn Ryan Show" for a nearly 4-hour conversation about various matters, including her Christian faith, her unceremonious ouster from Disney, and her plans for the future.
Carano made clear that while her cancellation has made her life exceptionally difficult, there was no way she was ever going to bend the knee to the Mouse: "I don't worship your business and my God is bigger than Disney."
While her faith evidently kept her going, she underscored the importance of the help afforded her by Musk.
"If it wasn't for Elon Musk, we'd be in a really scary place," said Carano. "He wants justice. I think he's a — I've never met him, I've never spoken to him but I couldn't be more grateful for what he's been doing in my life."
Late in the interview, Ryan raised the matter of Elon Musk possibly buying Disney.
Musk, who has publicly stated "Disney sucks," helped fuel such speculation in February when he told a reporter at a film premiere, "I'm just here with friends, thinking about companies to acquire."
At the time, Musk was attending the premiere of "Lola" with billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz who had previously expressed interest in taking over Disney.
In April, Musk suggested he would buy a stake in Disney if Peltz was elected to its board, posting, "His track record is excellent."
Peltz, who has decried Disney's capture by race obsessives as well as its recent turn towards lecherous themes, was unable to secure seats on Disney's board. The Hollywood Reporter indicated in May that Peltz dumped his entire stake in the company for $120 a share, which works out to roughly $1 billion.
'I hope that's what's happening.'
"Taking over Disney would be a huge thing," WDW Pro of the independent entertainment news outlet That Park Place suggested this week.
"That is why this funding of the lawsuit for Gina Carano not only serves the purpose of helping her, but it may also be a huge strategy component of getting that stock down," he elaborated. "And partly the way you get that stock down is you put out into discovery and out into depositions and out into the public knowledge the stuff that's been going on behind the scenes at Disney."
Musk has acknowledged that the case will have an impact, writing on July 26, "The discovery on this case will be devastating for the woke mind virus that controls Disney."
Ryan told Carano, "I've heard rumors that the longer this lawsuit drags out and the more involved Elon gets, the lower the Disney stock tanks, and that he might be thinking he might buy Disney."
Between the lawsuit's filing and April, Walt Disney Company stock gradually climbed; however, it has been in decline since. At the time of publication, its stock is trading south of $86. It's unclear if there has been any correlation between the case and the stock price, let alone a causal link.
"Do you think there's any validity to that?" asked Ryan.
Carano, who elsewhere in the interview indicated she has yet to actually meet Musk in person, responded, "I have no idea. I think there's a lot of rumors. But I think it'd be pretty cool if he did."
"I hope that's what's happening," said Ryan.
The actress immediately launched into a passionate tirade explaining why she regards it as critically important that those with dissenting views stand up to Hollywood prejudice and intolerance.
Carano indicated that while she has received invitations to speak at conservative and Republican events, she does not want to shy away from the cultural war or cede critical territory to the radicals. Accordingly, she seeks venues and events where she may not necessarily be welcome.
"I want to stay in the art space because that's where people shy away from and that's where we need to be," said Carano. "Somebody needs to be fighting in the art space."
Blaze News attempted to reach out to Carano with an inquiry about whether she would be willing to return to Disney with Musk at the helm to either reprise the role of Cara Dune or produce content for the company but did not receive a response by deadline.
What would a takeover look like and mean?
Actor Matthew Marsden explained to Blaze News that people are generally aware of both of the institutional importance of Disney and of how Musk — one of the only tech billionaires willing to support free speech against woke censorship — was able to rejuvenate X. Naturally, this understanding has given way to the hope that Musk might seek to replicate his success with the House of Mouse.
"Do I think he will buy Disney? Well, I'd love that to happen. Do I think that it would happen? Probably not," said Marsden.
Marsden noted, however, that Musk appears to be a long-term thinker and that Disney's decline and potential breakup — a selloff of Lucasfilm or Marvel, for instance — may produce opportunities down the line too good for him to ignore. This to say, an acquisition is possible just not imminent.
"I think that Disney is in free fall, and if Elon was just to leave it for a couple more years, then it's just going to keep going down," said Marsden, noting that the present leadership appears keen to keep making the same mistakes that have alienated fans and resulted in a slew of box office bombs.
The trouble of an acquisition at this stage is that owing to the nature of production and scheduling, Musk would have to eat the cost of woke films planned and paid for long in advance.
"I think that he's going to have to cancel a lot of those films that are in the pipeline. A considerable investment has been put into them, so that's kind of problematic — but he will have to cancel them," said Marsden. "If he was going to purchase it, he'd have to fire a lot of people because there have been a lot of DEI hires there."
The actor indicated that the type of Disney talent that produced "The Acolyte" would need to hit the bricks.
Fortunately, Marsden indicated there are plenty of filmmakers, storytellers, and craftsmen, both in and outside Disney who are frustrated with the current state of play who would love to resume work on the kind of content that once made the company great.
Marsden also indicated Musk would have to curate Disney content such that families could once again leave their kids alone with a Disney show or movie without having to worry about their little minds being poisoned.
As far as potential advisors, Marsden suggested that Musk or any deep-pocketed billionaire willing to step in would benefit from bringing on the likes of Nerdrotic, the Critical Drinker, Geeks, and online commentators with a finger on the pulse of what's presently ailing Disney.
Marsden intimated that Disney's reform would be a greater triumph than simply building an alternative because reforming Disney was "the gold standard."
"It's the premiere content creator for children in the world," said Marsden. "Glenn Beck loves it. All of us — I certainly grew up loving Disney. I loved it when I used to go there. It was a very magical place. ... It's not just a company, right? It's something very, very special and it did embody the values of the United States."
Marsden continued:
If you're talking about other companies, it wouldn't matter so much. Sony or, you know, even Universal doesn't matter so much as Disney and what Disney represents. Elon has gone and he targeted X. If he goes and he targets Disney — it makes sense why he would — but it's a much bigger thing.
In other words, recapturing the Magic Kingdom would signal a monumental shift in the culture war. Your move, Elon.
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Provisions: Kingstone Studios
Kingstone Productions
Category: Multimedia, comics, graphic novels, books, animation, and film.
Founder: Art Ayris
Founded: 2004
Location: Leesburg, Florida
Representative products:The Kingstone Bible comics series, Dean Cain-starring movie "No Vacancy," The U.S. Constitution as a graphic novel, and “The Stars & Stripes,” a history of the American flag.
At a glance:
- Unapologetically faith-based and patriotic content.
- CEO Art Ayris serves as executive pastor of First Baptist Church.
- The company’s Kingstone Bible was a finalist for Christian Book of the Year in the children’s category in 2017. The comic Bible is now in over 90 countries and 70 languages.
- Upcoming feature films include “18 Summers” and “The Lincoln League,” a historical biopic of the first black spy network in America.
- The pro-America comics series U.S. Comics was motivated by a desire to connect the great American story to the next generation through comic books and animation.
- The studio was selected to produce "LarryBoy" (2026), a VeggieTales feature film by NBC Universal.
In their own words (CEO Art Ayris)
Like many conservative companies, Kingstone already realized there was a major societal disconnect on what it means to be an American as well as dwindling patriotism in our shared history. But after reading the 1619 Project, seeing American flags taken down as symbols of hate, experiencing some big tech shadow-banning, we knew there were major initiatives to unhook American history from the historical moorings, that we no longer had a shared canon.
After exhibiting at an American Library event and experiencing the far-left leanings of the library bloc, Kingstone realized it needed an additional imprint as a face to the general comics and educational markets.
Teens and young people read comics and graphic novels. It is a popular medium, so I feel Christians should be there with truth. Marrying the text with images also helps with long-term memory. We want young people not only reading but also remembering. I am a pastor, and I’m appalled at the biblical illiteracy in both the church and the general Western culture. The Bible lends itself well to a graphic novel format.
I love to reinvent things. A new boat should not be a warmed-over version of the last boat you had. I like being able to take an idea and create something that has never been done or take an existing boat and find a way to reinvent it so it’s new and fresh and gets people really excited. I like to figure out what the boater wants and come up with a way to create it and use it on the boat.
Wednesday Western: The top Western social media accounts
Social media has played an interesting role in the revival of Western cinema. I’ve compiled a list of social media accounts dedicated to Westerns.
This article doesn’t include blogs, podcasts, websites, or magazines. I’m currently working on an article for each, so definitely let me know any of these that I need to know about in the comments section, or send me an email.
The following list is by no means comprehensive. And at first glance, it may seem like a random assortment. The accounts vary in audience size, output, and content organization. They employ different media and delivery methods. Some are public; some require you to answer a questionnaire. Each of them is unique.
What unites them is a frontier spirit, a liveliness.
Official John Wayne - Instagram
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of The Duke.
The official John Wayne Instagram page is probably my favorite Western social media account. The X account is also solid. But the Instagram account is far better.
It delivers the perfect number and flow of posts. And the descriptions, titles, and photos are all flawlessly assembled. I’d be shocked if it weren’t run by social media or marketing/PR professionals.
This is the proper handling of the John Wayne legacy. The people in charge of maintaining it make sure that the Duke’s legacy is truly an experience. All of it is interconnected through John Wayne Enterprises: the John Wayne Museum, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, the John Wayne Grit Series, among others.
You can buy John Wayne cookbooks and a collection of cocktail recipes, coffee, ornamental cups and top-class clothing — all of which will appear in this series in exciting ways.
All of these converge at the Instagram account.
It’s comforting to see a passionate group of people devoted to the upkeep of the Duke’s invaluable legacy.
If all that weren’t good enough, they just launched a collaboration with Broken Bow Country, a friend of the Wednesday Western series, as captured in this profile.
In fact, during our interview, we connected on the Duke and our admiration for the official John Wayne account.
Scrolling through this account, it feels like you’re reading a biography of the Duke, told in vignettes and accompanied by pictures, music, and video.
Some of the posts are simply gorgeous. They provide a holistic view of the Duke, a man unlike any other. They offer great commentary on various Wayne films and media appearances. They help you understand who John Wayne was behind the legend, as in this post about his prolific love of chess.
Other times, it’s playful, as with the incredibly creative inclusion of holidays, like this recent celebration of National Sunglasses Day.
The posts hit every emotion as we navigate John Wayne’s love life and comforts and disappointments and truest victories.
And America, you become closer to this great country. Just check out this 4th of July post. And, man, how about this one? Who else deserves to be the biggest movie star of all time?
Just Westerns - YouTube
Just Westerns is an entrepreneurial feat animated by one man’s love for Westerns. He has mastered the possibilities that YouTube offers.
And that narrator’s voice: That’s Marc Reynard, the Englishman in charge of Just Westerns, the unofficial home of Westerns on YouTube.
This dude is undoubtedly one of us.
He examines the genre from creative and at times surprising angles, like this video about the fate of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 2.” You read that right: There was supposed to be a sequel.
His videos are smooth, well produced, well crafted, well written, sharp, fun, lovely, informative.
He also does something that I wish we had more of: He hypes upcoming and anticipated Westerns and compiles year-end lists and legitimizes the artistic merit of video games: “20 Best Western Video Games.” He also covers Wednesday Western favorite "Old Henry" (2021)
We need more of all of this. Best of all, you can feel his passion.
My only complaint is that the channel has only 30 videos. I went through them all at a steady clip.
But even this turns out to be further proof that you’re getting content that is authentically wholesome. Marc addresses it in his YouTube bio: “Please bear with me, I am a solo creator without the resources or manpower that larger channels typically have, so I am unfortunately unable to upload as regularly as I like, especially as I am committed to prioritizing quality over quantity.”
Take your time, brother. Personally, I think it's worth the wait.
r/Westerns - Reddit
Reddit can be a nasty place, especially if your politics are anything to the right of Bernie Sanders. And you can’t avoid the ideological slapfests, either. Leftist goons stir it up in every subreddit, constantly, and they’re almost always combative, even in the subreddits devoted to woodwork or kittens.
The Westerns subreddit is a clear exception. It’s a community. It feels like the town square of a dust-ridden Western town.
Check out this thread about “For a Few Dollars More.”
The mixed-media format of Reddit allows for a variety of sources: pictures, movies, trailers, interviews, text-only, even gifs. It might be the most versatile resource on this list.
It’s a great place for recommendations and commentary. Unlike much of the rest of Reddit, which is disproportionately loaded with young white liberal men, there’s an even spread of people of all ages.
These Redditors routinely swap personal stories about the various movies and actors. Some of their stories are poignant and evocative.
Back to the Old Western - Facebook
Facebook is a great place for Western fans. Instagram is too image-centered to accommodate text, and it doesn’t support links. Meanwhile, the microblogging experience of X is limited in its scope and impatient in its daunting pace — the temperament and vibe of Westerns don’t do well in such a frantic environment.
Facebook circumnavigates all of this, finally able to beat all the much lighter apps. For once, it finds an advantage to its cluttered user interface.
This bulk allows users to upload and share every type of content. No limitations. It’s the only platform capable of this, besides Reddit, but I’m not about to equate the megalith Facebook with the niche subreddit.
Besides, Facebook outperforms Reddit anyway. Its Pages function allows for an immersive blogging experience, run by moderators and admins who are passionate about their content and free to run their operation without much interference, right down to the parameters of the group’s privacy.
Back to the Old Western is the perfect example of these principles. It is active, with a constant flow of posts, often aggregated from fan pages — the Duke and Sam Elliot, mostly.
The comments sections are fairly quiet, but most of the time people add substance or passion to the movie or actor being celebrated.
Chatter isn’t as important as it is on Reddit. The admins really know their stuff, offering a healthy range of mainstream Westerns, cult classics, and oddities, like this post celebrating Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale for their roles in “The Legend of Frenchie King” (1971), a wild little movie that will get its Wednesday Western spotlight in due time.
A Word on Westerns - YouTube
BLAZING SADDLES! The fart scene changed my life, says Burton Gilliam A WORD ON WESTERNSwww.youtube.com
I made a point to place Just Westerns higher up than A Word on Westerns, because Just Westerns is the passion project of an ordinary guy who loves Westerns, while A Word on Westerns is a proper television series. An exceedingly good one, with just as much passion and gusto.
It’s a fantastic channel. A Word on Westerns is sort of like a Western-only version of TMC, which is a thrilling reality. That’s the dream.
The channel features entire movies, each with a brief but thorough introduction by Rob Word, a double feature as part of the segment Word’s Wayback.
These are mostly 1930s and 1940s Westerns.
YouTube is an oddity on this list, because so many of the major Western channels exclusively post full movies. What a joy it is to find a rare Western on YouTube. But these channels lack the commentary and artistry that characterize the two YouTube channels I’ve included on this list.
A Word on Westerns blends the rustic ease of the Old West with the hypersonic immediacy of our infinite now. You can also access lectures, speeches, and clever projects like this "Gunsmoke" mash-up.
Smartest of all, it makes good use of the Shorts function on YouTube, will brief clips about various topics, from Robert Mitchum to stories of mutilation.
Western Podcast - X
The Western Podcast X page is small but mighty, with some impressive followers and praise from True West magazine.
Have you seen #HorizonAmericanSaga yet? If so, share your thoughts with us! We'll record a full podcast episode about the film in two weeks when Andrew is back from his vacation in Europe. In the meantime, here's Matt's highly positive take on Kevin Costner's latest Western epic. https://t.co/baVzZE4vPK
— @WesternPodcast (@WesternPodcast) June 28, 2024
It’s an offshoot of the marvelous podcast hosted by our friend Western apostle Andrew Patrick Nelson and the excellent Matthew Chernov, a screenwriter and a journalist with bylines in Variety, Entertainment Weekly, IMBd.com. Yahoo News, and about a hundred other outlets. His insight thrives with the joy of curiosity.
Andrew's Instagram account will keep you up to date with his media appearances and projects, with the occasional infusion of Hair Metal.
These boys are the real deal. Andrew just began his new job as chief curator of Western Spirit, Scottsdale's Museum of the West. Before that, he taught film history. As a professor at the University of Utah, Andrew guided his students through the badlands full of robbers and coyotes, only to unmask the villains hiding behind all their props and plywood scenery.
Why Millennials & Zoomers Should Watch Westerns | Andrew Patrick Nelson | Alignwww.youtube.com
Both of them are impressively smart with a tenderness for beauty, but not at the cost of a good story or a complicated hero.
They take their time with content, even tweets, but this adds to the reverence of their decision-making process. If you haven't taken the dive into their work already, do it.They have a gift for revealing the beautiful, intricate paradoxes of Western movies. They speak with screenwriters, historians, authors, journalists, musicians, directors, costume designers, and more.
They tell stories. They examine personal reactions to various films. They navigate themes of universality and timelessness within the motion of transcendence, while also exposing the flimsiness of any given cultural era.
Is Stagecoach the best movie ever made? Interview with Andrew Patrick Nelsonwww.youtube.com
They have a gift for discerning the role of Western movies in relation to our unexplained world, differentiating these fictions from their context and influence. But also, more impressively, they succeed in witnessing the presence of our entire universe in one tiny section of cinema history.
Both of them have helped yours truly at many points along our journey so far. They have guided me through the desert more than once.
Kevin Costner and Modern West - X
Kevin Costner & MW (@modernwest) on X
Kevin Costner is this era’s Clint Eastwood. He fights to keep the Western in public view, devoting himself to projects animated by passion, even if his wallet takes a hit. The victory is worth the risk.
He has ushered in a new era for the genre. His success with "Yellowstone" and its Western universe of shows has accelerated the Western’s resurgence. But it’s more than that. We're also witnessing a flourishing of the Western as an ethos, a style, a mode of thought, an approach to life.
So did you realize that Kevin Costner has a country band? Founded in 2007, Kevin Costner and Modern West deliver rowdy songs written for the culturally forgotten people of America. The band's history is tinged with tragedy.
The Kevin Costner and Modern West account is technically the band’s, but it posts tons of Costner content, all hand-picked and polished by a team of social media professionals.
Best Cowboy Movies Forever - Facebook
There are several variations on the “Western” + “Forever” title, but I’m going with Best Cowboy Movies Forever. I enjoy the way the account profiles various actors, like this post about Lee Van Cleef.
It also includes Westerns from every different era. This is important. It’s good to hop around in this way. I’m partial to the 1939-1960 era of the genre, so I can plant myself in that time exclusively if I’m not careful.
The page rarely ventures into the current scene. But this isn’t a problem. It’s important to offer due reverence to the originators.
Old West - Actors, Films, and Legends - Facebook
Old West zooms in so that we get a portrait view of an incredible variety of Western actors, films, and legends, like this post devoted to Myron Halle or this homage to Elsa Martinelli. I value any source that prioritizes the lesser-known figures in the genre. Because, as we all know, the Western genre is overflowing with stories, entire generations of actors, producers, directors, screenwriters — you name it — whose fascinating tales deserve to be recounted.
As much as I love the giants of the genre, I derive incredible joy from learning about these forgotten figures.
Passion for Western Movies - Instagram
Passion for western movies (@western_movies) • Instagram photos and videosView this profile on Instagram
Passion for Western Movies makes great use of Instagram’s Reels format.
The account does a lot of this kind of multi-movie post, offering a list of movies connected by timeframe or theme.
Passion for Western Movies lives up to its name, able to glide around the history of the Western genre, seemingly without partiality. It also features lesser-known movies, like this post about "The Hunting Party," which features Gene Hackman.
Broken Bow Country - Instagram
I’m a bit biased on this one, because I think Colton is an absolute legend, but Broken Bow Country is perfect for this list.
The Western experience you get is fairly rough around the edges, in a distinctly modern way. But modernity never wins against Broken Bow Country.
It’s unique for many reasons but primarily because, in addition to its Western ethos, it is a clothing retailer and printmaker. No other creator on our list offers this level of art and style.
Then you’ve got the lore, the storytelling that comes with his posts, the war hymns of country-Western rebels and the toll their rebellion often took on their lives.
The past month has been wild for Colton. Early in July, he landed a collaboration with John Wayne Enterprises. The T-shirts are fantastic. In fact, I’m wearing one of them in the cover photo for Wednesday Western.
Then, a gunman on a sloped roof tried to murder former President Donald Trump, who was days away from officially accepting his party’s nomination.
In the panicky hours that followed, many people succumbed to their emotions, others to their resolve. I won’t pretend to have remained cool.
But Colton did. Following the Trump assassination attempt, he designed a T-shirt honoring one of the most American moments in human history, as Trump rose with his fist in the air. And he donated all of the money to a charity for Corey Comperatore, the man who died shielding his family from one of the gunman’s bullets.
This was a controversial move. He even faced the nasty comments about how the shooter shouldn’t have missed or that the deaths of the victims were “completely deserved.”
He lost a few thousand followers, but he describes it as “inconsequential when you think about the people that it's helping to support.”
In a press release, he said, “This has nothing to do with politics, I was incredibly moved by what happened and I wanted to use my platform to do something that extended beyond the controversy and the arguing.”
Lancer TV Blog - Facebook
Last and certainly not least, Lancer TV Blog on Facebook. It is run by a friend of mine, an avid supporter of Wednesday Western.
Unlike every other entry included on this list, Lancer TV Blog focuses entirely on one show, a show that hardly anyone knows. This reversal in focus is good for a movie lover’s mental sharpness.
I’m working on a deep dive into "Lancer," so I won’t say too much.
Beyond the merits of the show and its cast, "Lancer" is an underdog story still in the middle stages, badgered by uncertainty. Because the show hasn’t had a reboot, despite success throughout its two (long) seasons on CBS. So it’s not an issue of merit; the show deserves a second wind. It would very likely expand its audience.
But none of that matters for the art trapped in the murk of a waiting area, a zone of uncertainty. And the gifted athlete eventually starts to wobble. Filmstock degrades. All technology collapses. Call it the inevitable disintegration of a lively body, in this case a body of art.
Even the most perfect masterpieces eventually crumble. But what if that happens to be your masterpiece? What if it’s your tiny heaven, all tangled up in red tape? Life has enough of this disintegration as it is. Our entertainment needs to be clean, enjoyable, and easily accessible. Or so claims the majority.
Well, thank God for the passionate workers of cultural excavation. They dig and fight. They protect, sustain, and preserve. Without them, life would be less beautiful. Without them, our society would be weaker and tamer and less able to see a way out.
"Lancer" episodes run an hour. This extended run time fundamentally changes the character and depth of a TV show. It’s amazing what an episode can accomplish in one hour that it simply can’t in 30 minutes.
What you’ll find, as you scroll through the posts on the Lancer Facebook page, is purity. This fandom rewards people with a tiny kingdom, a crafted world they can always turn to. That experience should rile up every single person.
There’s a fidelity to their affection that is heartwarming. The Lancer TV Blog connects you to this incredibly pure relation. It’s just there, like sand across the winds of time.
‘Twisters’ Feels Like An Old Fashioned Blockbuster
The minds behind 'Twisters' have successfully reverse-engineered the chemistry of the original film and even improved it in places.Abraham Lincoln targeted for theatrical character assassination; filmmaker suggests he was a philandering homosexual
Activists' so-called "Pride Month" is over, but their campaign to queer America is clearly a perennial undertaking. While American youth are a popular target, long-dead American greats are apparently also fair game.
Shaun Peterson, a self-described "director/preditor" from California who has previously worked on multiple Disney projects, is set to debut a so-called documentary film in September that accuses Abraham Lincoln of having extramarital affairs with men.
"As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars, historical recreations and never before seen photographs and letters, the film details Lincoln's romantic relationships with men," says the website for the film. "Lover of Men widens its lens into the history of human sexual fluidity and focuses on the profound differences between sexual mores of the nineteenth century and those we hold today."
The filmmakers made sure there was no mistaking the agitprop nature of the film, stating, "Lover of Men is not only an exploration of gender roles and sexual identity, but also serves as an examination of American intolerance."
According to the trailer for the film, sexuality "through the mid-19th century was far more fluid, but for someone who wanted a political career, it was mandatory that you have a wife."
"If you can accept a queer Lincoln, you can accept queer people overall," says the trailer. "He should inspire us to achieve a true democracy for everyone."
Whereas the new Broadway show "Oh, Mary!" similarly accuses Lincoln of being gay, the LGBT publication Queerty indicated its transvestic playwright Cole Escola readily admits that his play is utterly baseless. The trailer for Peterson's film, on the other hand, adopts a pretense of seriousness about its projection of faddish contemporary notions about sex onto a revered 19th-century statesman.
'I've seen those letters, and they have no homoerotic overtones.'
Lincoln married Mary Anne Todd, a Kentucky woman, on Nov. 4, 1842. Together, they had four children, only one of whom — Robert Todd Lincoln — lived past the age of 18.
While there have been various efforts over the years to paint the American father and husband who issued the Emancipation Proclamation as gay or a "bisexual" — especially by the late gay activist Larry Kramer, who made no secret of his political aim to the New York Times — these appear to have consisted largely of projections, inventions, speculations, and misinterpretations.
One reason people have concluded Lincoln was gay was that he shared a bed with a man on more than one occasion. It's clear from the trailer for Peterson's film that it similarly will lean into the suggestion embraced by other revisionists that Lincoln had a romantic relationship with Joshua Speed, a man whose marriage to Fanny Henning lasted 40 years.
Michael Burlingame, the Naomi B. Lynn distinguished chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, told the Hartford Courant in 2021 that the supposedly controversial aspects of Lincoln's relationship with Speed seized upon by the likes of Larry Kramer would "be a footnote" in his multi-volume biography of the Republican president.
"The evidence I've seen seems insignificant to justify its inclusion," said the Lincoln expert. "I've seen those letters, and they have no homoerotic overtones."
Burlingame suggested, instead, that he had found evidence that Lincoln was infatuated with women besides Todd prior to their marriage.
Charles Strozier, a psychoanalyst and history professor who addressed the false narrative in his 2016 book "Your Friends Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed," told the Daily Beast that it was very common for men to share a bed in Lincoln's time.
"Inns at the time were really just homes where they finished the loft. They weren't hotels like we have now. They were just hostels, where you have the men over here and the women over there," said Strozier.
According to the Daily Mail, Lincoln originally shared a bed with Speed because when he moved to Springfield, Illinois, in 1837, he didn't have enough money to acquire his own bed and bedding.
The Mail noted further that Lincoln would also sleep in the same bed as other lawyers — a common practice for the traveling "circuits" of his time, where up to 20 would share one room.
Doris Kearns Goodwin was another award-winning historian who reportedly poked holes in the gay Lincoln narrative in her biography on the Republican, noting, "Their intimacy is more an index to an era when close male friendships, accompanied by open expressions of affection and passion, were familiar and socially acceptable."
"Nor can sharing a bed be considered evidence of an erotic involvement. It was common practice in an era when private quarters were a rare luxury," continued Goodwin. "The attorneys of the Eighth Circuit in Illinois where Lincoln would travel regularly shared beds."
The late Harvard professor David Herbert Donald, long regarded to be the definitive biographer of Lincoln, also disputed the suggestion — by C.A. Tripp, a gay researcher for Alfred C. Kinsey — that the 16th president was gay. The New York Times indicated that no one at the time had ever suggested Lincoln and Speed were sexual partners — not even his enemies in the yellow press. Donald, like Strozier, emphasized that in frontier times, space was tight and men shared beds. It was not out preference but necessity.
In response to a similar effort — again by Kramer — to paint Alexander Hamilton as non-straight, Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow warned against "ransacking history in service of a political agenda."
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