Heart and Soul Plane

You know, for somebody who has nothing but contempt for Hollywood and the people who live and work here*, President Bush sure likes to rip off our movies' soundtracks:

For Bush's final campaign swing, Rove tapped powerful presidential symbols. Bush's arrival for a Thursday rally at the airport in Elko, Nev., was choreographed so the crowd on the tarmac cheered as Air Force One swooped out of the sky to heroic theme music from the movie "Top Gun." When the familiar blue-and-white Boeing 747-200B rolled right up to the rally, the loudspeakers switched to the soundtrack from the film "Air Force One." All that was missing was Harrison Ford.

By the way, does anybody even recognize the score from Air Force One?

And speaking of hypocrites, I wonder if the recent allegations about Rev. Ted Haggard will prompt Magnolia to try to relaunch Jesus Camp, as Rev. Haggard has an extended cameo in the documentary. Though there was a lot of buzz when the film was released in September, its box office has stalled out at less than a million dollars and it never went wider than 52 theaters. This is a movie that everyone should see before Tuesday, if only to be informed of what is going on in this country below the mainstream radar.

Well, it turns out Magnolia has already seized the moment by leaking a brief clip of Rev. Haggard's appearance from the film (there's more of him in the movie than these 42 seconds, and it gets a lot creepier) on YouTube:


*I'm specifically referencing, as I have before, President Bush's 2004 stump speech, where he often led off with something along the lines of:

But it is great to be in a place where people work hard and make a living off the land, raise their families. It's what I call the heart and soul of the country. (Applause.) The other folks believe the heart and soul can be found in Hollywood. I think it's found right here in [insert pandering to state he's in]. (Applause.)

On a personal level, this infuriated me, and I've never forgotten, nor forgiven, it. This wasn't some botched joke. It was a lame, yet deliberate joke and its meaning can't be misinterpreted. But nobody ever called him on the fact that he essentially claimed that everyone in this town is heartless and soulless. Yes, there may be a lot of heartless, soulless people here in Hollywood, but there are heartless and soulless people everywhere (if I'm not mistaken, Enron was based out of the president's hometown of Houston). And there are plenty of good, decent people here in Hollywood as well. People like Patricia Heaton and Jesus Christ Jim Caviezel.

Previously, on The Dish: Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs, Maybe, But Still No Heart and Soul, Giving is its own Award, BUSH DECLARES WAR ON POP CULTURE!

Street Fighter II

Mayor Cory Booker, star of the truly excellent Oscar-nominated documentary Street Fight, is apparently also an action hero:

Mayor Booker and his guards left Newark’s City Hall around 12:30 p.m. yesterday for a meeting and stumbled upon what appeared to be a confrontation across the street: a police officer and a man in a standoff on Broad Street. The officer held a gun and the man wielded a pair of scissors...

When a nearby police officer went to help him, the man tried to stab the officer with the scissors, but missed, Mr. Booker said. The officer drew his gun as the suspect was running away.

Mr. Booker, 37, who played tight end on Stanford University’s football team, said, “I took off my jacket and gave chase.”

...When Mr. Booker reached the group, he began shouting at the robber: “Not in our city anymore! These days are over!”

And that's not all! He's got gang leaders plotting to assasinate him! Quick, somebody get Vin Diesel to play him in the movie:


Mayor Cory Booker is fast and furious

For those of you who haven't seen Street Fight, there aren't many options. It barely got a pre-Oscar theatrical release last February (five days on just two screens), it's not available on Netflix or Amazon and PBS' POV - which originally broadcast it last July - has no future airings scheduled. With the exception of the occasional festival screening, it looks like the only way to see this riveting film is to plunk down $14.95 (plus shipping & handling) to order a DVD from director Marshall Curry's official website. Which, if you split it with a friend, is cheaper than a night out at the movies.