This Father’s Day, we celebrate the dads and father figures who have shaped our lives. But for me, the holiday has always carried a different meaning.

I didn’t have a close relationship with my father growing up. That distance was painful, but it taught me something I might not have learned otherwise: We rarely see what men quietly give until it is gone or not there.

There is an alternative perspective.

Father's Day reminds us of something our culture all too often overlooks: Fathers matter, as do the countless ways men contribute to the well-being of those around them.

Earlier this year, the New York Times highlighted research confirming that father-child interaction has a profound impact on a child's health and long-term well-being. Yet nearly one in four children in the United States live without a father in the home, and those children are four times more likely to grow up in poverty.

So despite this evidence, why is it that most messaging, whether in entertainment, education, or the workplace, ignores what men contribute and, even more dangerously, diminishes the risk that comes when a father's positive influence is lacking?

In our era, men are often portrayed negatively: oblivious, selfish, incompetent; it’s a never-ending list. Popular culture frequently highlights their failures and belittles their successes. On a daily basis they are depicted as naive and ignorant at best, or misogynistic and demeaning at worst.

A 2023 Politico/Ipsos poll found that 36% of Americans believe entertainment and culture make it hard to feel proud to be a traditional man. That perception is not imagined but grounded in reality. Entertainment characterizes young men as narcissistic, self-consumed, and arrogant, and when these attributes are broadly assigned, they subconsciously become the norm we envision.

What happens when we adopt this mindset? The quiet efforts men make automatically become devalued. Their help is unwanted. Their character is irrelevant. Whatever they offer or become, it will never be enough — and the cost of this attitude is real: Roughly 6.8 million prime-age men are currently neither working nor seeking employment. This is a quiet withdrawal of men from a society that continues to tell them their contributions as a man no longer matter.

I want to be clear: This does not dismiss the very real and deep pain some women have experienced from men. Those situations are valid, they matter, and they should always be addressed. But as with any group, we must be careful not to let the worst examples define the whole. Most men do not fit the mold their critics assume.

There is an alternative perspective, one that reveals men motivated not by dominance but by devotion. Men who, when given the opportunity, would willingly and quietly carry responsibilities and make sacrifices in hopes of a better life for those they love. These qualities are far more common than they are given credit for.

As a young professional, a researcher, and a woman, I have been struck by how much you can discover when you simply observe. I am amazed by how many men have silently endured, pursued growth, and served others without recognition or expecting anything in return, not even a “thank you.” Their victories are private, and their sacrifices remain largely unseen.

I have known men who have wrestled with their shortcomings and chose the harder path of becoming responsible citizens, faithful leaders, and caring mentors. Men who valued their roles as friends, husbands, and fathers. Men who, even when they failed, were humble enough to admit their mistakes and strong enough to make them right.

There is often a reluctance to acknowledge this side of men, as though doing so somehow threatens women's progress. However, the idea that either men or women must be diminished for the other to rise is not empowerment. It is an ideologically driven rivalry that prevents us from appreciating the unique strengths both bring. Only a mindset of complementarity, not competition, carries the power to set a higher mark for society as a whole.

On this Father's Day, we celebrate the fathers and father figures who have encouraged us, sacrificed for us, and helped shape the people we have become. But may this also be a day to honor and recognize what men give daily. For the single dads striving to be present for their children; for the young men who hope to be fathers someday; for the lonely men who long for companionship; for the older men who continue to model character and integrity; and for the widowers who miss their wives every day yet choose resilience — your quiet sacrifices matter, your silent gifts are seen, and they are not forgotten.

Sometimes what men provide cannot be measured on a résumé or captured in a headline. Often the greatest gifts men give are the least celebrated: their willingness to carry burdens without complaint, the duty they feel to shoulder responsibilities without recognition, and their desire to provide a steady presence that quietly strengthens the lives of those around them. They go unnoticed by nearly everyone, except the people whose lives they quietly hold together.

Tan-splaining Colbert celebrates 'scandal-free' Obama at new presidential center opening

Say what you will about our president — at least he doesn't eat cats.

Actress Anne Schedeen, best known for playing Kate Tanner on the 1980s sitcom “Alf,” died this week at 77. The news likely stirred fond memories with Gen X fans, but news of her passing featured a very 21st-century nugget.

'[Supergirl] doesn’t live inside the binary of what we think a woman should be, that is what makes it so special and so exciting and so new.'

News outlets reported her passing, complete with a family statement lovingly remembering the mother, wife, aunt, and sister for her wit, creativity, and all-consuming obsession with our current president.

She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip-smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for secondhand thrifting, and love for a good story.

Wait … what?

Now, we’re used to stars like Robert De Niro slagging President Trump in every third sentence, but why would any family insist the press share their loved one’s political views in an obituary?

When “Alf’s” adopted parent is against Trump, you know the walls are closing in …

Silly Milly

For all we know, “Supergirl” star Milly Alcock may have the acting chops to be the next Meryl Streep. But for now she seems determined to be the next Rachel Zegler.

Zegler infamously helped crush her “Snow White” reboot with a series of silly, alienating press interviews. She wasn’t solely to blame for the film’s box-office pratfall, but she didn’t inspire audiences to flock to her film.

She became a case study for how not to market a movie. Now, it’s Alcock’s turn.

First, she whined about male viewers judging her as part of the “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon.” Later, she doubled down on that sentiment, singling out Christians in the process.

Now? She’s describing Supergirl as gender-fluid, or something.

“I’ve played a few characters that might have a potential queer through-line. I have many queer friends. So honestly, I’m kind of honored.”

Make it make sense. Alcock tries. Sort of.

“[Supergirl] doesn’t live inside the binary of what we think a woman should be. That is what makes it so special and so exciting and so new.”

Apparently, one of Supergirl’s superpowers is time-traveling back to 2020, the peak woke era …

Damon Packard/spectacletheater.com/Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Card sharp

We all know Whoopi Goldberg can play the race card like few others. Yet when Vice President JD Vance confronted her on the issue, she folded like a deck of, well, cards.

Later in the week, when a sane person like Vance wasn’t around, she went right back to her ... black-and-white thinking.

Goldberg brought up the world champion New York Knicks and the team’s White House rendezvous, which led to this on-brand exchange from the “Sister Act” alum.

“I want all those black men to stand in our house and remind all of those people, as we tried to remind the vice president, that when you try to destroy one part of history, you are destroying all of our histories.”

Goldberg sure talks tough when someone with a functioning cortex isn’t on the panel…

'Powers' boost

“No, baby, no!”

The world’s sexiest spy, albeit with the worst teeth, is heading back to theaters. So says Mike Myers, the mischievous mind behind "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."

The character headlined the 1997 comedy smash, and he came back for two diminishing sequels. We haven’t heard much from Myers over the past decade. He has disappeared into smaller character roles, like the record executive in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Now, he’s threatening a fourth Austin Powers adventure.

Delayed sequels have a choppy history. “Zoolander 2” proved to be a disaster. “Anchorman 2” scored with audiences, but it couldn’t capture the original film’s glory. “Happy Gilmore 2” was pure nostalgia, little else. And the less said about “Blues Brothers 2000,” the better.

Myers looks rather youthful at 63, but some things are better left in the past. But if Austin could strike a death blow to the dying woke mind virus, maybe the time is right for a man whose middle name remains “Danger" …

Man with the tan

He’s been gone for about a month, but he remains his same insufferable self.

Stephen Colbert showed up at the opening of President Barack Obama’s Death Star, er, presidential center. And the former late-night host wore a tan suit to honor the man in question. Remember the media’s narrative that Obama’s tan suit moment proved his only real scandal?

That's true ... if you overlook the Russia collusion hoax, the Obamacare “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it" bait and switch, and the IRS’ targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status.

It’s all fodder for a great political satirist, which explains why Colbert didn’t go near any of the above.

Never change, Colbert. Never change.

Ignore the media whining — today's dads do more than ever, at work AND at home

The American dad has spent the last 40 years serving as the culture’s favorite punching bag.

From the misanthropic, couch-locked Al Bundy in "Married... with Children" to the bumbling, well-meaning hazard-to-himself Phil Dunphy in "Modern Family," Hollywood conditioned us to view fathers as overgrown teenagers.

The massive domestic imbalance that has inspired a million angry think pieces is virtually nonexistent in the data.

They were the morons who couldn't find the milk in an open fridge even after moving everything except the milk, the slow-witted domestic saboteurs who would accidentally incinerate the kitchen if left unattended for 20 minutes.

For decades, the consensus was clear: Men were biologically, or perhaps pathologically, unfit for adult responsibility.

Different breed

Then came the modern panic over falling birth rates, and the blame was promptly dumped at the feet of these cinematic man-children. Women, the conventional wisdom claimed, were refusing to breed because men refused to grow up. If only dads would stop playing video games, put on pants, and learn how to operate a vacuum, fertility rates would soar.

It's a convenient narrative. The only problem is that it happens to be wrong. A recent report from the Institute for Family Studies dismantles it entirely. The myth of the detached, useless dad is officially dead.

Far from dodging domestic duties, modern American fathers are putting in an enormous amount of time at home.

In the mid-1960s, a married father with young children spent fewer than 10 hours per week on household chores and child care combined. Never mind the all the other hours spent earning the money to put a roof overhead and food on the table — the average dad had a reputation for being terminally checked out, loafing through family life behind the sports pages.

That stereotype is now hopelessly out of date. Today, married fathers spend close to 30 hours per week on household chores and child care. In little more than half a century, paternal involvement has tripled.

Quantity time

Meanwhile, appliances evolved. Washing machines, dishwashers, and robot vacuums eliminated the soul-destroying physical labor of the past, reducing the hours required to maintain a home. But instead of using that freed-up time to drink scotch in a recliner, the modern father rolled up his sleeves and absorbed the extra hours.

Married fathers now spend roughly 45 hours per week directly in the presence of their kids. In other words, dad isn't just providing a paycheck any more. This is a man wearing half a dozen hats: chauffeur, soccer coach, homework warden, amateur therapist, technology troubleshooter, and occasional short-order cook. He is expected to be present for every bedtime routine, school recital, and emotional wobble.

Even Steven

The most shocking revelation from the IFS report comes when you look at the total workload. When researchers tallied up paid employment, unpaid labor, child care, and household obligations, they discovered something remarkable. Today, married mothers and married fathers of young children each average roughly 63 hours per week of combined labor.

The massive domestic imbalance that has inspired a million angry think pieces is virtually nonexistent in the data. Both parents are working long, exhausting hours. Both are making massive personal sacrifices.

This completely flips the fertility debate on its head. If fathers are already maxed out, increasing paternal participation isn't the magic cure for declining birth rates. More importantly, it tears up the old script that men can't be trusted with a grocery list, let alone a young child.

Liu Jin/Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Bubble-wrapped childhood

However, this hyper-involved, positive picture of modern fatherhood does come with an important caveat: the rise of over-parenting. In the past, parents let their children wander the neighborhood until the streetlights came on — partly out of trust and partly because they just wanted them out of their sight.

Today, children are rarely left unsupervised. Teenagers spend less time with friends, neighborhoods are less connected than they once were, and parents increasingly feel obliged to schedule every waking minute of their children's lives. What used to be an afternoon of "go outside and be home by dinner" now requires a color-coded calendar.

This total elimination of childhood freedom has created a new kind of claustrophobic family dynamic. By bubble-wrapping their offspring, modern dads are inadvertently raising a generation of anxious, hyper-dependent kids who can't make a decision without a text thread consultation.

Thank a dad

Furthermore, this extreme devotion has exacted a heavy toll on men's mental health. Time is finite. Every hour spent curating a child's resume or driving to a travel-team baseball game in another state is an hour stolen from personal maintenance. There are only so many hours in a day. Increasingly, fathers have paid for their expanded responsibilities with their own leisure, hobbies, and friendships. The modern dad has sacrificed his own social survival network on the altar of family responsibility.

Despite the dangers of helicopter parenting, the overarching reality is shifting toward something undeniably positive. American fathers didn’t shy away from changing social expectations. If anything, they adapted with remarkable speed. If the old model of fatherhood was largely financial, the new model demands presence, participation, and constant engagement. And, as the report shows, millions of fathers have embraced it.

So this Father's Day, if you're lucky enough to still have one, thank your dad. And if you've spent years insisting fathers don't show up, don't care, or don't pull their weight, the evidence suggests you might owe him an apology as well.

'This is the greatest country in the world': Vietnam vet's powerful remarks will leave you speechless

Marine Corps. veteran Major James Capers Jr. recently received the Medal of Honor, leaving audiences in awe of his story of perseverance and tragedy.

Capers accepted the award from President Donald Trump on Thursday, but it was his powerful pro-America message on Friday that garnered a thunderous reaction.

'Lost a lot of good men in battlefields. I fought two wars and suffered 19 bullet holes.'

'I've said enough'

Capers is a combat veteran who participated in 64 long-range reconnaissance patrols and five major campaigns in Vietnam, according to his biography. Missions included POW rescue missions ordered by the president and the recovery of a B-57 that allegedly had a nuclear bomb.

On Friday, Capers was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Upon taking the podium, Capers kept his remarks short but powerful.

"I have no words," the 89-year-old began. "But your applause reminds me of some dark days, of some brave men who are not here today. So I'll speak for them."

"This is the greatest country in the world," Capers declared. "I fought for that flag; I believed in it."

"I've said enough," Capers said after just under a minute in front of the room.

'Lost a lot of good men'

Capers and President Trump shared some proud moments together at the White House on Thursday, with Trump linking arms with the veteran to help him stand during the ceremony. Trump was also seen holding hands with the South Carolina native as they spoke to each other on stage.

However, on "Fox & Friends" on Friday morning, Major Capers made sure there wasn't a single dry eye watching his interview with host Ainsley Earhardt.

When asked what was going through his mind when he received the medal, Capers' remarks did not fall short of remarkable.

"It was difficult time for me because I felt a little guilty, because I didn't really feel like I deserved it with all of the men and women that served, and I get to do something like this."

Capers did say it was "a wonderful day" that he was honored to take part in, but that he couldn't help but think of his fallen friends.

"You always think about that; you never turn that loose. Lost a lot of good men in battlefields. I fought two wars and suffered 19 bullet holes, and along the way, out of the battle zones," Capers recalled. "My son died in my arms of appendicitis, and my wife of 50 years died of cancer. So I had to survive that, on top of losing wonderful special operation Marines in combat."

"So there's no real satisfaction in getting a medal when I've lost so much," he added.

Honor and gratitude

Earhardt, clearly fighting back emotions, asked how the man got through so much tragedy. Capers responded by saying it was his military duty, and that's what the "unit" is supposed to do.

"When one falls, somebody else has to replace that person who fell," Capers explained. "So I feel honored to have the support that I find today. Honored. And I give gratitude to the ones who made this happen. Can't say I'm happy to be here, because this award belongs to a lot of young men who followed me and died in battlefields around this world for a country that we honor this flag. I appreciate that."

Capers' closing words of encouragement were simply to "honor that flag."

"When one man falls, then another one picks up that rifle and drives toward the enemy, and that enemy must be defeated. That is an old adage that we use, and it has been successful for 250 years."

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PRATT-RIOTIC DUTY: Chris Pratt to promote American history abroad in government-funded comedy videos

The federal government is getting into comedy; whether that will be supported by the taxpayer remains to be seen.

Government-funded educational videos are stepping into the modern era, tapping versatile actor Chris Pratt to head up a new project.

'Intended to engage international audiences with America's constitutional values.'

Birthday boy

The combined effort between the U.S. Department of State's Office of Public Diplomacy and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will have the "Guardians of the Galaxy" actor star in a series of comedy shorts for the birthday of the United States.

According to Variety, the America 250 videos will follow Pratt as he hopes to share his passion for American history but realizes he isn't as knowledgeable as he thought he was.

Pratt will get help from historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, who will keep him on track and correct his historical knowledge.

Kym Illman/Getty Images

Showboat diplomacy

The government project, in its entirety, is intended to "inform and engage foreign publics about America through international media engagement, educational and cultural exchange programs, digital communications, and outreach conducted through U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide," an announcement stated.

The series was actually designed as a "public diplomacy initiative intended to engage international audiences with America's constitutional values and history through modern digital storytelling," the producers reportedly said.

These producers are from digital media company ATTN: — out of Los Angeles — and said they are "always looking for new ways to make important topics accessible to broader audiences."

ATTN: co-founder and CEO Matthew Segal said America 250 offers a "unique diplomacy opportunity to reintroduce the stories, principles, and people that shaped the nation."

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The HISTORY Channel

'Unhappy' coincidence

The series may have a different mission, but it isn't the only America 250-themed comedy sketch series making noise. "Seinfeld" creator Larry David's "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" is set for release on HBO at the end of June.

The series stars David, along with guest stars like Jerry Seinfeld and Vince Vaughn, in a stream of outlandish bits centered around American history.

Essentially, David acts as his typical misunderstood and outraged self in different historical settings. Fans can look forward to seeing him get annoyed about the first-ever flight or criticizing the photo of a soldier's wife during trench warfare in WWI.

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'Citizen Vigilante': Outlaw director takes unflinching look at migrant violence

You can’t accuse director Uwe Boll of having thin skin.

Film critics have been brutal to the German filmmaker behind “Rampage,” “House of the Dead,” and “Postal.” He once challenged his harshest critics to a boxing match to settle the score.

‘If I have six neo-Nazis raping a migrant girl, there would be no issues. Unfortunately, the criminal statistics show the [opposite].’

He knows he’ll never be an awards season darling, so when a reviewer dubbed him a “right-wing fascist” over his latest film, he shook it off like a glancing uppercut.

He saw those comments coming a mile away.

Culture war TKO

Even by Boll’s pugnacious standards, “Citizen Vigilante” is a culture war TKO. Armie Hammer, working his way back after personal revelations crushed his career, stars as a man fed up with migrant violence in Europe.

So he decides to do something about it. Think “Death Wish” with an agenda no Hollywood studio would touch.

Boll tells Blaze Lifestyle the aforementioned reviewer has every right to dislike “Citizen Vigilante,” out in the U.S. today, but he takes issue with that political slam.

“What is right-wing in saying rapists should not get off the hook?” Boll asked. Critics of unfettered illegal immigration point to high-profile cases where violent migrant offenders were spared harsh sentences.

Pardoning predators

The zeitgeist is in Boll’s corner in more ways than one.

“Citizen Vigilante” arrives days after a shocking U.K. rape gang inquiry report detailed chronic abuse across Great Britain. Migrant crime isn’t relegated to the U.K., an issue Boll explores in his violent, politically incorrect film.

For Boll, hearing stories of sexual predators getting slaps on the wrist proved bad enough. Reading reports of judges excusing the violence based on a perpetrator’s brutal youth enraged him.

“Newspapers called them poor, traumatized people who grew up with violence ... but who gives a s**t? ... Maybe they’re traumatized. Why are we importing them?” he asked.

“I have nothing against migrants — if they follow the rules and the law,” he added, accusing European news outlets of diminishing statistics tied to migrant crime.

“I have no words for it. ... It’s the most absurd thing in my lifetime,” the 60-year-old filmmaker said.

swiftboatproject.com/x.com/weekend_bidens

Unflinching violence

“Citizen Vigilante” lets Boll respond to those heartbreaking news stories sans filter. Hammer’s character seeks justice when the courts fail to dole out what he thinks is sufficient punishment.

The on-screen violence is unflinching.

“It’s the only movie out there that shows brutally the situation,” he said, noting that he included a shocking murder in the film’s opening scene to highlight the security concerns citizens face.

He’s also angry that his home country refused to rate his film and, more recently, banned it from theaters for allegedly promoting vigilante behavior. The ratings decision boils down to politics, he alleged.

“If I have six neo-Nazis raping a migrant girl, there would be no issues. Unfortunately, the criminal statistics show the [opposite],” he said.

He said he appealed the ratings decision to three separate guilds — directors, writers, and producers.

“I’m a member for 30 years. ... Nobody even answered. Dead silence,” he said.

As for promoting violence, Boll said the film’s context drew his homeland’s ire, not the on-screen mayhem.

“Any Jason Statham movie would incite violence [too],” he argued, noting the action star’s penchant for heroes who take the law into their own hands.

“If [British Prime Minister] Keir Starmer sees ["Citizen Vigilante"] he will maybe put an arrest warrant out on me,” Boll said, perhaps tongue in cheek. Perhaps not.

Boll’s blacklist

Germany’s banishment wasn’t the only obstacle he faced while preparing “Citizen Vigilante” for its theatrical run. The film’s director of photography refused to be credited on the project, saying it might cost him future jobs.

Boll said Croatian officials offered him tax rebates to shoot “Citizen Vigilante” in the country, but the rebates were rescinded mid-production.

Hollywood has been abuzz with talk of free speech and alleged censorship by the Trump administration. Boll said he hasn’t gotten support from any Hollywood artists, and his fellow citizens aren’t much better.

“In Germany they’re all hanging onto [film] subsidies. ... They’re all very careful,” he said, noting that a few actors reached out privately.

“You’re totally right, but don’t name me,” he recalled of their messages.

Blind casting

Boll isn’t just critical of the migration issue. He’s that rare storyteller who doesn’t pledge allegiance to DEI policies in the arts.

“I cast the way I should cast, not like I need X amount of Asians or X amount of blacks. ... I hire people based on their qualifications, ... not based if you’re a lesbian transgender Asian. ... That’s how it has to be.”

Hammer’s character in “Citizen Vigilante” may reflect a cinematic antihero that dates back to Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” days in the early 1970s. Boll had little interest in deifying his film’s judge, jury, and executioner.

“He’s not this white knight guy. ... He’s a loner. He’s also able to do the actions he’s doing ... to execute them properly. ... That’s a more realistic approach,” he said. “Audiences should discuss it for themselves. ... Is he going too far?”

Full 'Disclosure': Steven Spielberg's latest has no signs of intelligent life

Damon Packard's movie diary

Damon Packard is the Los Angeles-based filmmaker behind such underground classics as “Reflections of Evil,” “The Untitled Star Wars Mockumentary,” “Foxfur,” and “Fatal Pulse.” His AI-generated work recently appeared as interstitials for the 18th annual American Cinematheque Horrorthon and can be enjoyed on his YouTube channel. After a long day making movies or otherwise making ends meet, he likes to unwind with late-night excursions to the multiplexes and art house cinemas of greater Los Angeles.

May 20, "Obsession" (d. Curry Barker), AMC Century City 15

This movie is exactly the kind of hollow, dystopian misery porn that brainless contemporary culture keeps walloping with praise. I found it tedious, annoying, and dull.

I know this has nothing whatsoever to do with De Palma’s "Obsession," but at least DePalma's film (and its inspiration, Hitchcock's "Vertigo") knew how to seduce you with mood and atmosphere, mystery and romance. I'll take a single dreamy close-up of Genevieve Bujold in soft diffusion filters over an hour of a possessed, shrieking, creepy, clingy girlfriend.

At some point in the last act, there was a lot of screaming and noise in the theater, and they shut the film off because someone had a seizure or something. So I was spared suffering through the rest.

As I left, I heard Bernard Herrmann's music in my head. I watched the paramedics arrive. They all looked jaded and took their time pushing the gurney into the elevator. I walked past the huge "The Mandalorian and Grogu" forest planet display they have out front of the AMC Century City, and Herrmann's music seemed to keep following me.

And then I saw her. A Geneviève Bujold look-alike drifting silently past the Funko Pop claw machines in a cream-colored coat, soft curls glowing under the multiplex exterior lights. She turned slightly, just enough for me to catch the resemblance, and then vanished onto the escalator like the ending of a forgotten De Palma dream.

May 29, "Backrooms" (d. Kane Parsons), AMC Century City 15

You know you're in trouble when the first two minutes are instant boredom and the rest doesn't get any better. Yeesh, what a waste — ultimately an endurance test to get through. Not a single interesting moment or idea.

I like that actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, but what the hell is he doing in this? Not only is he miscast, but he's above this kind of tripe.

When I hear them praising 'Disclosure Day,' I'm like George C. Scott in 'Hardcore' when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry.

I would have hoped a 20-year-old boy-wonder director would bring the reckless energy to make something at least half watchable, but nope, just as horrible, bland, lifeless, dull, and dumb as every other thing the clueless moron masses who wouldn't know what a good film was if their life depended on it flock to.

Sam Raimi was 21 when he made "Evil Dead"; Steven Spielberg 24 when he made "Duel"; Orson Welles 25 when he made "Citizen Kane"; Bernardo Bertolucci 22 when he made "Before the Revolution"; Louis Malle 23 when he made "Elevator to the Gallows." Now THOSE were great films.

Spielberg is now 79, and "Disclosure Day" looks like a bland, generic, insipid pile of direct-to-Tubi junk. But is it really age and vitality, or is it that nobody can write good stories any more? Or that nobody would finance one if it even existed?

Mike Malloy/Damon Packard/Cinerama/Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images

June 2, "Pressure" (d. Anthony Maras), AMC Century City 15

Just when you thought every WW2 story had been exhausted over the last 80 years, along comes this little $5 million production set within a world of dueling weathermen!

What immediately sounds like mundane, made-for-cable fodder turns out to be a surprisingly terrific and engaging little movie, with an interesting perspective and new take.

Mostly due to the things you rarely see in films these days: good writing, good music, good direction, and interesting characters. Superb performances and casting all around, even for the initially perceived as a terribly miscast Brendan Fraser, who gives it his all and wins you over in the end. Special mention to the lovely Irish actress Kerry Condon, who makes a perfect 40s military babe.

Nothing phenomenal, but as far as mainstream theatrical releases, it is one of the best I've seen this year so far and a reminder some people still know how to make proper films (even if they are shot on the Arri Alexa 35 and technically shouldn't be called "films").

June 6, "The Doors" (1991, d. Oliver Stone), Vista Theater Hollywood

Caught a late show in 70mm last night. Which looked beautiful but seemed to be missing the subwoofer channel or something. The sound was all high and mid frequencies, zero low end. Not sure what the deal was there, a print issue or something not switched on? A projectionist might know the answer.

I really like this film, and it always brings back certain feelings and memories of sneaking onto the set with my friend Chad and joining the background actors at 3 a.m. at the Whiskey back in 1990. The cult worship of Morrison is not dead; there were girls screaming in the theater. The Vista still has a bag-checking policy; therefore I always make it a point to sneak in food and drink just on principle

June 12, "Disclosure Day" (d. Steven Spielberg), AMC Burbank 16

Caught a nice and empty 11:30 p.m. showing of "Disclosure Day" last night. Talk about a moronic, bland snoozefest. The latest major mega-embarrassment from an aging cine-Boomer. So incredibly dumb, dull, and out of touch that you just sit there half awake in a stunned stupor, taking it all in while trying to stay awake.

How anyone can actually defend this is beyond me. It never ceases to amaze: No matter how awful some new mainstream pile of garbage is, there are plenty of defenders — people (clueless, brain-dead walking software programs) who have zero proper film knowledge or education or interest and wouldn't know one way or the other.

When I hear them praising something like "Disclosure Day," I'm like George C Scott in "Hardcore" when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry. Oh, never mind, that's another film and actor you've probably never heard of.

The John Williams score is good. Spielberg may not have it any more, but Williams still does.

June 17, "The Furious" (d. Kenji Tanigaki), AMC Marina Marketplace 6

Caught a late show of this this mostly pretty darned awesome and entertaining Hong Kong action film.

It feels very much like the kind of creative (and at times goofy and hilarious) Hong Kong martial arts exploitation films we were getting in the 1980s. With a lot more blood and violence.

Top-notch fight scenes, even if they get a little overlong in the third act (which is typical). American action movies that borrow from Hong Kong can never come close to the real deal, and this here is seventh-generation Asian action fight choreography done right.

The AI lip sync is a completely flawless and amazing tool, for those who have never seen it. (I'm pretty sure with all the idiotic knee-jerk AI hatred right now, they don't want people to know they're using it, even though it's impossible to tell.)

Only wish I saw this in a better theater instead one of the few non-upgraded multiplexes in this area, with muddy images and weak sound. It's stuff like THIS that should be dominating the premium screens.

Still, I'm grateful we get little surprises like this in an otherwise predictable world.

Girl Scouts camp: Hiking, archery, and 'Pride' indoctrination

We are halfway into Pride Month, and I have already seen a year's worth of cringeworthy behavior.

Take the recent viral video from Washington state. A local high school played host to a "drag show," in which adult men twerked in front of children of all ages in the name of "Pride."

What we are witnessing in June is no longer about tolerance. It is a full-throated campaign to reach children before they are old enough to think critically.

Not at a bar. Not at an adults-only venue. On a school campus, during a school-sponsored event, in front of kids. Parents who raised concerns were treated like the problem.

From ABC to LGBTQ

Nor is Pride limited to in-person parades or parties. The popular show "Blue's Clues" — geared toward kids as young as 2 — has aired a Pride "sing-a-long," featuring anthropomorphic "trans male" beavers with post-op "top surgery" scars. "Sesame Street" also introduces its young viewers to Pride Month, celebrating gay marriage for good measure. Parents who think these programs will help their kids learn to count and spell are in for a rude awakening.

I wish I could say this still surprises me. But it doesn’t — not after decades of watching an ideology inch its way closer and closer to children, first into universities, then high schools, then middle schools, and now into elementary classrooms and summer camps.

I have learned to recognize the pattern. What used to be shocking has become customary. And that normalization is precisely the point.

What we are witnessing in June is no longer about tolerance. It is a full-throated campaign to reach children before they are old enough to think critically about what they're being told.

'The girl experience'

Consider what is happening in Girl Scout camps this summer. The organization's latest Camp Culture Code defines a child's biological sex as "sex assigned at birth." Not a gift from God. An assignment. As if the Creator made an error and a stranger in a lab coat had to correct it on his clipboard. This is how they're talking to 9-year-olds at summer camp.

The code further states that this sex may differ from "how a person understands themselves to be." Does this mean boys will be at Girl Scout camp? The answer may confuse you:

Our camps serve cisgender girls, gender-expansive youth, non-binary youth, and trans-girls and trans-boys. ... We have expanded our understanding of who belongs at Girl Scouts, as well as our commitment to serving all youth who identify with the girl experience.

This is indoctrination, pure and simple — and it has been going on for a long time.

Blaze Media

Defending God's design

I know this firsthand, because it was watching exactly this kind of ideological drift that led me and a group of Cincinnati moms to found an alternative to Girl Scouts in 1995. Not because we wanted to shelter our girls from the world, but because we refused to let an organization entrusted with their formation use that trust to push an ideology that contradicted everything we believed to be true about womanhood, biology, and God's design. We knew our daughters deserved better.

We started with just 10 troops; today, American Heritage Girls has over 70,000 members in all 50 states. That growth reflects tens of thousands of outraged parents who have voted with their feet, choosing an organization that tells girls the truth: that they are created female on purpose, that their femininity is a gift worth celebrating, and that God does not make mistakes.

This summer, we will continue to equip parents, Troop leaders, and faith communities with our Raising Godly Girls Guide to Gender and Identity, specifically to give parents language and tools to help their daughters navigate what has become a relentless ideological assault.

Biblical or bust

Because the hard truth is that if parents don't arm their kids with a biblical worldview, other adults will be happy to step in with their own way of seeing things.

They will try to pass it off as "education" and label anyone who pushes back as bigoted. But parents speaking out to shield their impressionable young children from half-baked, politically motivated theories about sex deserve support, not scorn.

The moms I talk to across this country are not hateful. They are not afraid of people who are different from themselves. They are simply unwilling to hand their daughters over to a worldview that treats biology as a mistake and childhood as an opportunity for ideological recruitment. The good news is that they are not alone. I will keep speaking up. I hope every parent will, too.

Amanda Seyfried: It was 'factual' to call Charlie Kirk 'hateful' days after death — why the backlash?

Actress Amanda Seyfried had an interesting reason for why she thinks people took issue with her comments about Charlie Kirk.

The then-39 year old commented on Kirk shortly after his assassination and now says the backlash she faced was because people wanted to bash her and tear her down.

'I commented on one thing.'

Hateful plateful

In the days after Kirk was murdered at a campus speaking tour stop in Utah, Seyfried responded to a compilation video of the political commentator — purporting to showcase his rhetoric — and said, "He was hateful."

Seyfried later justified her comments, writing on Instagram that she was "angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric."

In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Seyfried stood firm while being described as still in disbelief over the discomfort she brought people with her remarks.

"A, I'm allowed to f**king voice my feelings, and B, do it in a way that's not unkind necessarily," she told the U.K. outlet.

Seyfried then chalked up the counterbalance of anger toward her as a societal impulse to bring people down.

"There's just an outsized fear and hatred and impulse to bash and to tear down. And I experienced a very small fraction of that."

The actress added, "I want my kids to be able to feel safe to voice their opinions as long as they're not harmful."

The Allentown, Pennsylvania, native still found herself confused, asking what to do and what to say. "And then all of a sudden I find myself with a f**king bodyguard at the airport, and I'm like, 'This is crazy.'"

See on Instagram

Fuel fool

Seyfried seemingly found no issues with describing Kirk as hateful so soon after his killing, and on September 17 — just seven days after his death — she called for "spirited discourse," exactly what Kirk was known for at the time of his murder.

"I don't want to add fuel to a fire. I just want to be able to give clarity to something so irresponsibly (but understandably) taken out of context. Spirited discourse — isn't that what we should be having?" Seyfried wrote as a caption for an Instagram post.

In a text image, the actress added, "We're forgetting the nuance of humanity. I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk's murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable."

Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

No apologies

By December, Seyfried had apparently soured on her previous proposal of having actual discourse when she told outlet Who What Wear, "I'm not f**king apologizing."

She then downplayed the fact that she commented on the popular debater's murder so quickly after it had happened:

"I mean, for f**k's sake, I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes," she claimed about Kirk.

"What I said was pretty damn factual, and I'm free to have an opinion, of course. Thank God for Instagram. I was able to give some clarity, and it was about getting my voice back because I felt like it had been stolen and recontextualized — which is what people do, of course."

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Will Alberta leave Canada? Either way, Premier Danielle Smith is feeling the heat

At a recent anti-separatist rally in Calgary, left-wing activist Jenny Yeremiy denounced Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as a "separatist premier," accusing her of promoting independence "like a teenager slamming her bedroom door."

It was a striking charge against a politician who, at almost the same moment, was being condemned by committed Alberta separatists for refusing to let voters decide independence on the terms they wanted.

'I'm surprised, actually, my polling was as high as it was.'

That political whiplash neatly captures Smith's predicament: To many federalists, she has become the face of a dangerous separatist movement, while to many separatists, she is the establishment figure standing in its way.

As the debate over Alberta independence continues, passions on either side show no signs of abating.

Strong and sovereign

Smith, who has advocated for "a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada," finds herself leading a United Conservative Party whose grassroots includes a significant separatist faction, with past polling suggesting a majority of UCP voters are at least open to Alberta leaving Canada."

The latest flash point came in May after King's Bench Justice Shaina Leonard ruled that an independence referendum question backed by more than 300,000 petition signatures could not proceed without additional consultation with Alberta's indigenous communities.

Although she appealed the court ruling, Smith has concluded that the litigation could take years to resolve. Instead of placing a straight independence question on October's ballot, she has proposed asking Albertans whether they want to hold a binding independence referendum in the future — a referendum on whether to hold a referendum.

Henry Marken/Getty Images

Wrath of Rath

That decision drew criticism from Alberta Prosperity Project legal counsel Jeff Rath, who argued that the court ruling did not prevent the province from proceeding with the original question asking Albertans whether they wish to remain in Canada.

Speaking with Blaze Lifestyle, Smith defended the government's approach as the product of legal advice.

"As you know, I get a lot of advice from a lot of lawyers, and the lawyers ... have told me that once something is decided in a court of law, it's the law of the land," Smith said.

"The law of the land right now in Alberta is that in order to proceed with a question that was designed as the Stay Free Alberta folks put forward, we'd have to do months of indigenous consultation."

A recent Angus Reid poll found Smith's approval rating in Alberta had fallen to 39%, one of the lowest levels of her premiership. Smith said she considers that number shockingly favorable considering that she has angered nearly every faction in the debate simultaneously.

"I'm surprised, actually, my polling was as high as it was," she said.

"Everyone was mad at me for about a week there — I had four different groups."

'Why are you doing this?'

She described the first group as Albertans who oppose even discussing independence.

"There was a group of people who said, 'Why are you doing this at all?'" For Smith, the answer comes down to Alberta's robust Citizen Initiative Act, which allows eligible voters to submit proposals directly to the provincial government. "When 400,000 people sign that petition, and 300,000 sign another saying they want to have this debate ... it's our obligation as government to follow our own law and put that forward."

A second group, Smith said, wanted a referendum initially but later "got cold feet" and hoped the government would provide "an off-ramp."

"The leave folks ... wanted us to put their question on as it had been written," said Smith, referring to the original petition language asking Albertans directly whether they wish to remain in Canada. "I explained [that] we have legal advice that we cannot do that."

Finally, Smith pointed to Albertans who are dissatisfied with Ottawa but do not want to leave Canada.

"I know that there's a group out there that are not happy with [Alberta's] relationship with Canada, don't want to break the country up, but they want to send a message. And ... I just think there's a better way to send a message."

Silly Milly

Card sharp

'Powers' boost

Man with the tan

Different breed

Quantity time

Even Steven

Bubble-wrapped childhood

Thank a dad

'I've said enough'

'Lost a lot of good men'

Honor and gratitude

Birthday boy

Showboat diplomacy

'Unhappy' coincidence

Culture war TKO

Pardoning predators

Unflinching violence

Boll’s blacklist

Blind casting

Damon Packard's movie diary

May 20, "Obsession" (d. Curry Barker), AMC Century City 15

May 29, "Backrooms" (d. Kane Parsons), AMC Century City 15

June 2, "Pressure" (d. Anthony Maras), AMC Century City 15

June 6, "The Doors" (1991, d. Oliver Stone), Vista Theater Hollywood

June 12, "Disclosure Day" (d. Steven Spielberg), AMC Burbank 16

June 17, "The Furious" (d. Kenji Tanigaki), AMC Marina Marketplace 6

From ABC to LGBTQ

'The girl experience'

Defending God's design

Biblical or bust

Hateful plateful

Fuel fool

No apologies

Strong and sovereign

Wrath of Rath

'Why are you doing this?'

We’ll keep you informed with top stories for conservatives who want to become informed decision makers.