March 17, 2006, - 10:31 am
Weekend Box Office: Mob Trial & Smoking Lobby vs. Terrorist
By
The movie getting the most hype this weekend is “,” a horrid, anti-American, pro-terrorist film, which . MUCH BETTER choices are two funny, entertaining movies, “Find Me Guilty” and “Thank You for Smoking,” both of which we recommend and either of which is a better choice for your movie dollar than “V”.
Here’s the rundown:
* “”: Horrid left-wing fantasy of a western democracy under a Christian leader (when this is what life is REALLY like, every day, in the ISLAMIC, ARAB worlds). The terrorist is the hero. Read our .
* “Find Me Guilty“: If you like HBO’s “The Sopranos,” you will definitely like this, which is not dark like the pay-cable series, but more of an entertaining version of what would happen if the Sopranos gang went on trial and one of them defended himself.
Based on the real-life mob trial of Giacomo “Jackie” DiNorscio a/k/a “Fat Jack” and many others from the Lucchese crime family. The trial was the longest mob trial in history. While all the mobsters have their own lawyers (headed up by talented actor Peter Dinklage), DiNorscio defends himself and saves the day. Vin Diesel finally shows real talent as an actor, starring as DiNorscio. He really pulls it off (didn’t buy the fake hair, though). Clearly, they were mobsters, but it’s entertaining to watch the way they convinced a jury otherwise. The feds taking almost two years to prove a case is just plain incompetence (just like the 1/2 year-long ).
We were, indeed, bothered by the ending in which mobsters were hailed as heroes for beating the system. Clearly, these were criminals. But, also clearly, the Justice Department blew the case. The story is true. And even though we did not like the message, we found the movie entertaining. Sometimes, crime stories–even where the criminals win–are entertaining, like it or not.
A big deal is made of the fact that the other mobsters’ lead attorney is a dwarf (Dinklage). Was that the case in real life? Does anyone know?
* “Thank You for Smoking“: Based on the smoking industry satire novel by conservative libertarian Christopher Buckley (relative of William F.). This comedy is about the smooth tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor (played by Aaron Eckhart). Entertaining, funny, lots of stars have cameos.
Tags: Aaron Eckhart, actor, American, Christopher Buckley, Debbie Schlussel, Department of Justice, Find Me Guilty, Guy Fawkes Mask-wearing, lead attorney, Natalie Portman, Nick Naylor, Peter Dinklage, Smoking Lobby, smooth tobacco industry lobbyist, starring as DiNorscio, talented actor, Thank You for Smoking, The Sopranos, V, V for Vendetta, Vin Diesel, vs. Terrorist
Shame on you for recommending Find Me Guilty. The mob is a group of criminals that costs the tax money, corrupts business, threatens innocent shopkeepers, ruins lives and murders people. Any attempt to portray them in a sympathetic or lighthearted way should be strongly condemned.
I AGREE, AND I WAS BOTHERED AT THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE, WHERE THEY ARE HAILED FOR BEATING THE SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THE GOVERNMENT REALLY SCREWED UP BIGTIME ON THIS CASE. THEY BLEW IT. I WILL ADD SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. AND THE MOVIE WAS ENTERTAINING, REGARDLESS OF THE MESSAGE. IT IS A TRUE STORY. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL
LoveAManInAUniform on March 17, 2006 at 12:19 pm