Keiser Report: 'Hollywood Accounting' (E377)

From RT.com.......................''In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at how Hollywood accounting has turned the global financial system into one in which money and wealth melt like so much congealed snow. And so from Pontiac, Michigan to the Australian outback, zero percent interest rates and jobs that never materialize are the new normal. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine about banksters who can't recall a single thing about their crimes, including everything from Libor rigging to defrauding monoline insurers.''

''An Inconvient Truth About Lincoln''

From NakedCapitalism

''Over this Thanksgiving week, you may find yourself in a movie theater watching Steven Spielberg’s treatment of Abraham Lincoln and the battle to pass the 13th Amerndment, which abolished slavery once and for all. There’s much to be said for Lincoln: marvelous acting, less mythologizing than usual, and a fascinating window into raucous realpolitik. Spielberg’s film stands several cuts above any movie depiction of the Lincoln presidency you’re likely to see.''

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''5 Ways You Don't Realize Movies Are Controlling Your Brain''

a good read...............From Unhealthy Earth

''So there was a mass shooting during a Batman movie and, goddamn it, it turned out the killer owned a Batman mask and called himself “The Joker.” By now, several talking heads have come to the conclusion that the movie somehow triggered the massacre, or whatever. You know the game at this point — sadly, we’ve seen this whole cycle play out more than once.

As always, this knee-jerk reaction by old, scared talking heads will predictably result in most of our audience scoffing and saying that movies can’t influence people to do anything, because movies are make-believe and every non-crazy member of the audience knows how to separate fact from fiction.''


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''Hollywood and the war machine''

From Aljazeera

''War is hell, but for Hollywood it has been a Godsend, providing the perfect dramatic setting against which courageous heroes win the hearts and minds of the movie going public.

The Pentagon recognises the power of these celluloid dreams and encourages Hollywood to create heroic myths; to rewrite history to suit its own strategy and as a recruiting tool to provide a steady flow of willing young patriots for its wars.

What does Hollywood get out of this 'deal with the devil'? Access to billions of dollars worth of military kit, from helicopters to aircraft carriers, enabling filmmakers to make bigger and more spectacular battle scenes, which in turn generate more box office revenue. Providing they accept the Pentagon's advice, even toe the party line and show the US military in a positive light.''

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''An unlikely subliminal message''---'The Dark Knight Rises'

From The Commentator

''Other reviewers have characterized Christopher Nolan's film-making as art, and I won't argue with that. Every detail of the movie works, from the lighting to the music to the sets to the actors (compelling performances all by Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Anne Hathaway, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard from Inception).

But what makes this film remarkable is that it depicts capitalism as a good thing, portrays some of the wealthy as some of the biggest heroes, and most importantly paints a vivid – vividly dark – picture of the society that the "99 percent-Occupy-Wall-Street” folks would have us usher in.

Dark Knight Rises emphasizes the importance of making money. While it is evident both in reality and in this film that some use their financial strength for evil, the lesson is brought home repeatedly that there is untold good that can be done with great wealth – wealth that must be actively earned, as Bruce Wayne discovers.''

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'The YouTube film that will have Hollywood quaking in its boots'

from the telegraph.........

"There’s a telling moment at the end of the credits of the new YouTube documentary, Life in a Day, released in cinemas this week. The penultimate credit reads, “Directed by Kevin Macdonald and”; the final credit has several hundred names – all amateurs who sent in footage to YouTube of what they were up to on July 24, 2010.

Thousands of hours of their footage was edited down to a chronological sweep through the day, and around the world. And the terrifying thing for Hollywood is that the amateur results are far more compelling than a hundred lowest common denominator blockbuster feature films, whether they’re Marvel Comic movies, gross-out films or romcoms – now Hollywood’s staple diet"............LINK