Torture Flick Sullies the Big Screen Again

Torture flick “Saw IV” was not screened for critics, probably because of its incredibly sick content.

The abhorrent movie from Lionsgate brought in $32.1 million last weekend, the second highest opening of the “Saw” films, which have been released every Halloween weekend since 2004.

Hollywood will no doubt continue to churn out more of the big-screen garbage. “Saw” (2004) opened with $18.2 million, “Saw II” (2005) $31.7 million and “Saw III” (2006) $33.6 million.

In stark contrast, “Bella,” a life affirming movie from Roadside Attractions, opened with the second highest per screen take, with more than $8,000 per theater.

“Bella” was only on 165 screens.

That number should swiftly expand if Hollywood execs are paying attention.

In torture of the terrorism related kind, the Fox hit “24” has alarmed critics on the Left with its counterterrorist characters and their willingness to use extreme measures when dealing with terrorists in trying to save countless lives.

The show appears to be taking its critics head-on.

In scenes from a trailer promoting the show’s seventh season, Kiefer Sutherland’s character, agent Jack Bauer, appears in front of a governmental panel that is investigating his past actions, including harsh treatment of terrorism suspects.

“Don’t expect me to regret the decisions that I have made, because sir, the truth is, I don’t,” Bauer says in the scene.

In another segment, Bauer is preparing to interrogate a suspect when a female official gives him free rein.

“Do whatever it takes. Torture him if you have to,” the woman says.

Jimmy Kimmel Gets the Rush Limbaugh Treatment

ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was essentially fired from his position as comedic color commentator on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

After two editions of the show, Kimmel was let go for a quip about former QB and announcer Joe Theismann, in which he said that Theismann, who was let go last season, was “watching from his living room with steam coming from his ears.”

The next day, Monday Night Football producer Jay Rothman characterized Kimmel’s joke as “classless and disappointing,” adding that “it was cheap.”

Rothman confirmed Kimmel won’t be back.

This is reminiscent of 2003, when ESPN bowed to pressure and accepted Rush Limbaugh’s resignation after the talk show host directed commentary at the media about quarterback Donovan McNabb’s overly favorable press coverage.

Sports talk used to be the last bastion of freeform ranting.

Looks like PC-itis has really infected the announcing booth when a commentator gets let go for expressing an opinion and a comedian gets fired for telling a joke.

On another ambiguously funny note, Stephen Colbert was teasing as usual when he announced that he’s a candidate for the U.S. presidency.

But the law could create some serious trouble for the satirical talk show host.

Congress has created a load of complex election laws that Colbert may have already triggered with his latest politically charged prank.

The Comedy Central notable executed the necessary documents to have his name added to both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in South Carolina. In addition, he set up a Web site for his budding campaign while at the same time declaring that he was crossing out the part of an oath stating that he would not “knowingly violate any election law.”

Colbert appears to be mildly serious. He indicated that he has sought the advice of an election law firm, Wiley Rein. The caricaturist switched to his campaign site a petition seeking signatures from the show’s Web site, based on his lawyers’ recommendations.

If Colbert actually follows through as he has promised and pays the fees ($2,500) and collects enough signatures (3000), campaign finance laws will expose his show and network to violations that could even involve criminal penalties.

To the extent that Colbert’s cable show promotes his candidacy, it could arguably be viewed as an illegal “in-kind” contribution from Comedy Central.

The whole problem might be mitigated if Colbert would do something he almost never does—admit it was just a joke.

Nicole Kidman’s Faith Shifts ‘Golden Compass’’s Needle

“The Golden Compass,” a film adaptation of the first book in a trilogy by author Phillip Pullman, is stirring unrest in some Christian souls.

Pullman is a militant atheist, and he’s made it known that he detests religion.

Just as J.K. Rowlings’ “Harry Potter” series grew progressively darker as she churned the books out, Pullman has things in his trilogy growing progressively more anti-religious.

The heroes of the story are engaged in a rebellion to kill God. In the third and final book, they succeed in their efforts.

Nicole Kidman, who stars in “The Golden Compass,” spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the film. She told the magazine that she was raised Catholic and that the Catholic Church is part of her “essence.” She added that she wouldn’t be able to do the film if she “thought it were at all anti-Catholic.”

The sweet result is that the religious message put forth in the film version of the book “has been watered down a little,” according to Kidman.

Based on the footage that I have seen, Christians are not likely to be offended by the movie. Still, the Catholic League intends to conduct a nationwide two-month protest of the film.

Christian groups are right to be concerned. The movie could lead children to read the books, which contain potentially faith-damaging material. Additionally, Pullman is an excellent writer and uses cliffhangers to induce readers to continue on to subsequent books in the trilogy.

But, in my assessment, a boycott is an ill-advised approach in this instance. Controversy has been a key element in film promotion over the past few years, with PR firms seeking to generate loads of it in the hopes of boosting ticket sales.

“Compass” is not as well known as “Potter,” but controversy will provide it with the publicity it needs to rise to a higher tier within the fantasy realm. This plays right into the hands of the studio.

Boycott or not, Christian organizations should focus on educating the public on the difference between the film and the Pullman books and encouraging parents in particular to monitor and guide their children in the selection of literature and media.

Faith and film have come together in a big way for another Tinseltown figure. Have you heard of Christian director Tyler Perry? Hollywood sure has.

With a production budget of only $6 million, Perry’s “Madea’s Family Reunion” grossed over $63 million. And similarly, with a production budget of a mere $5.5 million, his “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” took in $50 mill.

Most recently, the Lionsgate film “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?” clobbered George Clooney’s legal Oscar dreamer “Michael Clayton,” Cate Blanchett’s regal sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and Mark Wahlberg’s criminal thriller “We Own the Night.”

“Married”’s cast includes Janet Jackson.

The positive themed flick brought in $21.5 million as opposed to Clooney’s “Clayton,” which pulled in $11 million as did “We Own the Night.” Blanchett’s “Golden Age” took in $6.2 million.

It turns out that box-office cash has slipped for the fourth straight weekend. The best dozen films of the past weekend brought in $85.5 million, off 14 percent from the same weekend last year.

If there’s one thing that can make Hollywood find religion it’s the Almighty Dollar.

Bruce Springsteen’s Far-Left Turn

Gone are the days of the arm swinging “Dancing in the Dark” and foot stomping “Hungry Heart.”

Instead it looks like Bruce Springsteen has caught the Babs bug.

Or maybe he’s been listening in his sleep to Beyonce’s latest because he’s definitely drifted way “To the left.”

Although Springsteen did help campaign for Dem John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election, endorsing a candidate for the first time, his music and musings are now reflecting the views of far-Left Hollywood and the candidate controlling MoveOn.org.

Former Rolling Stone critic and current Springsteen manager Jon Landau is trying to convince the press that the artist’s new album, “Magic,” is not political. But the “Gypsy Biker” song has lyrics that suggest otherwise.

Take a look:

“The speculators made their money,
On the blood you [a U.S. soldier] shed,
The profiteers on Jane Street [upscale area in Manhattan],
Sold your shoes and clothes.”

In addition, Springsteen sat for a spell with “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley to, among other things, wax geopolitically.

The Boss focused on issues that have been stressed by far-Left Web sites like MoveOn and Daily Kos including CIA interrogation techniques, the domestic surveillance program and detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo, placing the issues in the “anti-American” category.

“I think we’ve seen things happen over the past six years that I don’t think anybody ever thought they’d ever see in the United States,” Springsteen said.

“When people think of the Unites States’ identity, they don’t think of torture. They don’t think of illegal wiretapping. They don’t think of voter suppression. They don’t think of no habeas corpus.”

Actually, he’s right. They don’t think of those things.

When people think of the United States’ identity, they think of a country where kids of working class parents grow up to become rich rock stars.