--A recent Cuban film "about the individual's quest for happiness," entitled "La vida es silbar" (Life is Whistling), took the main prize Friday at the Havana film festival. The film had been panned by Cuba's only daily newspaper, the ruling Communist Party publication Granma, but nonetheless was a big hit with audiences and impressed the judges. How embarrassing for Fidel.

--Last week I mentioned an upcoming Oliver Stone ABC special which promoted the theory that a Navy missile brought down TWA Flight 800. Over 200 witnesses reported seeing streaks of light in the sky about the time the plane exploded, giving birth to the missile theory. The planned special reportedly "infuriated" the FBI, which has been trying to dampen any interest in alternative explanations of the TWA 800 disaster. Well, shortly after Stone announced the special, ABC cancelled it, arguing, curiously enough, that it "blurred the line between entertainment and news." What line? Well, if Stone decides to go forward with the special on another channel, the "too hot for ABC" angle may actually help.

--If you missed any of the C-SPAN "Booknotes" episodes I have been recommending, C-SPAN is now offering these on VHS video and (sometimes) on downloadable RealVideo at its web site. Two episodes which can be watched and/or heard for free online are Paul Johnson on "A History of the American People," and David Boaz on "Libertarianism: A Primer." A complete list of downloadable Booknotes episodes can be found here.

--Two readers have referred me to an article by Vin Suprynowicz regarding the film Amistad, which I reviewed earlier. Suprynowicz points out that the film was sanitized of an interesting irony--the African at the center of this story, named Cinque, who is ultimately freed by abolitionists after a moving appeal in the name of human liberty, himself became a slave trader after he was freed and returned to Africa. I don't think this fact takes anything away from the story, which as I see it is mostly about a struggle between good and evil within the American judicial system, but it would have made Cinque a somewhat less sympathetic victim and I guess Spielberg didn't think we could handle that. As Suprynowicz put it "If history is more interesting than fiction, perhaps it's because the people now in charge of doctoring up our fiction have no real taste for the delicious ironies of history, which are so often at odds with the pompous simple-mindedness of propaganda."

--The FBI is reportedly "infuriated" by an upcoming Oliver Stone television special promoting the theory that a Navy missile brought down TWA Flight 800. More than 200 witnesses told the FBI they saw streaks of light in the sky about the time the plane exploded, however the FBI concluded that witnesses were seeing something other than a missile. "The FBI came up with a conclusion here and it is not one that I agree with," said Stone. "You have to pay attention to what eyewitnesses saw. The streaks of light. There were a lot of witnesses.." The missile theory has also been backed by the Village Voice and Accuracy in Media (AIM). A group of retired military pilots have also separately concluded that a missile caused the fatal explosion. No air date for Stone's special on the subject has been set.

--Two readers have indicated to me that Tracy Torme, co-creator of the SciFi channel program "Sliders," which sometimes has libertarian themes, is himself a libertarian and voted for Harry Brown (I haven't been able to confirm that). If true, that would explain much of the program's content. Torme (son of Mel Torme) said in a 1997 interview: "there is definitely a sort of a, you know, I guess Libertarian tone to the show." Although Torme isn't a writer on Sliders anymore, something seems to be keeping the favorable spin going.

--A new film of possible interest entitled "Enemy of the State" is scheduled to be released in November. Here's the summary: "The high-concept plot concerns a massive government conspiracy concocted by a crooked National Security Agency chief (Jon Voight), who frames yuppie lawyer Will Smith as a patsy for the cover-up. Lots of beefy, Terminator-esque government agents are the bad guys as Smith is forced to go on the lam to clear his name and uncover the truth. His only ally in his quest is a mysterious intelligence operative played by Gene Hackman. Expect top-notch production values, top-notch action, and top-notch publicity as opening day rolls around."

--I found two interesting new sites which carry videotaped lectures given by a variety of free-market economists and others. They are "A Free-Market Think Tank at Cal State Hayward" and "The Idea Channel". The Idea Channel also has video samples of its taped lectures in RealVideo.

--ABC has a new and promising series entitled "Vengeance Unlimited." The hero is a dark shadowy character who brings justice to victims who are otherwise without hope, and so far his focus has been on righting the wrongs of government. Here's the description of last week's season premiere: "When an FBI agent nails the wrong man as a serial killer, then refuses to admit his mistake because it might jeopardize his lucrative book deal, Mr. Chapel makes it his mission to seek justice for the innocent man who's been convicted." And here's the description of this week's show: "Mr. Chapel goes after a corrupt posse of local law enforcement officials who are planting drugs in unsuspecting tourists' cars." Of course, within a few episodes the hero may well be hunting down tax evaders, but so far so good anyway.

--An online distributor of libertarian videos called "No Free Lunch Distributors" has recently added another taped Ayn Rand interview to its already extensive collection. This one is a 1959 interview, a relatively early one for Rand, with Mike Wallace. I found the following reference to the interview in Barbara Branden's book "The Passion of Ayn Rand:"

"In an effort to publicize [Atlas Shrugged], Ayn agreed to an interview with Mike Wallace, on his New York television show, 'Night Beat,' the hard-driving program that began his rise to prominence. They liked each other immediately, and were to visit together on a number of occasions over the following years. 'She was perfect grist for the mill of Night Beat,' Mike later said. 'She voiced provocative opinions, she was anti-establishment and utterly unexpected, with a kind of close reasoning and a clarity that one had to admire; it was a remarkable interview. And the calls and letters that poured in about it shook the rafters."

--The latest issue of ISIL's "Freedom Network News" praised the Cuban movie "Bitter Sugar" for its anti-socialist message and I heartily concur. It's now available on video and seems to be getting around, as I had no problem renting it at my local video store.

Incidentally, there is a scene in "Bitter Sugar" in which some Cuban rock musicians inject themselves with AIDS-tainted blood in protest against their treatment by authorities. This seemed incredible, but since the film is said to be based on actual events, I tried to verify the incident. Apparently it's all true. A documentary, entitled "Cursed Be Your Name, Liberty" was made on this subject. (I'm trying to locate a copy.) As one commentator explained this mass self-destruction of hundreds of "roqueros," it reflected "both the frustration of living in a poor, totalitarian society and the roqueros' stark belief that a life without certain freedoms is not worth living."

--I finally got around to seeing the "Mask of Zorro." Previous versions of the Zorro legend have generally had at least a degree of anti-tax flavor, but I am sorry to say that such quality was missing in this telling of the tale. However, those of you who believe that our civilization is in decline will at least have the satisfaction of seeing your view borne out in Zorro films as I have rated them:

The Mark of Zorro (1940) #####/****
The Sign of Zorro (1960) ####/**
Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981) ###/***
The Mask of Zorro (1998) ##/**

As you can see, the libertarian content in these films has dropped over the years. If this trend continues, the next Zorro twenty years from now will probably secretly hunt down tax evaders or perhaps medicinal users of marijuana.

--Several weeks ago I reviewed a film entitled "Sex, Drugs & Democracy," a documentary about Holland's de facto legalization of a number of victimless crimes and the beneficial effects of that legalization. Well, apparently I wasn't the only one who liked it. Steven Markoff, Chairman of A-Mark Financial Corporation (the 175th largest privately held company in the U.S.), recently mailed a video copy to every member of Congress and other senior members of the U.S. government. As Mr. Markoff explained in a letter that accompanied the videos:

"I'm writing you because current U.S. drug policies seem terribly flawed. I understand they have given America the western world's highest per capita prison population and federal drug policy expenditures exceeding $15 billion/year and have not substantially decreased marijuana use among our young people. Other democratic countries have successfully taken a pragmatic approach in their drug policy.." Mr. Markoff then cited various statistics from the film and invited officials to watch it. Let's hope they do. For more information about "Sex, Drugs & Democracy," see here.

--The recent Libertarian Party convention received considerable attention on C-SPAN, which is continuing to rebroadcast the proceedings intermittently on an unscheduled basis. C-SPAN is also making highlights of the convention available on video. Part I, entitled "Call to Order, Opening, and Keynote Speech," includes speakers Daniel Smith, Steve Dasbach, Michael Cloud and Finlay Rothaus. It is 81 minutes long and sells for $45 plus S&H. Part II is Charles Murray's speech entitled "Eroding Legitimacy of the National Government." It is 51 minutes long and sells for $29.95 plus S&H. And Part III, entitled simply "Business Meeting," includes speaker Hugh Butler, is 42 minutes long and sells for $29.95 plus S&H. All of these videos may be purchased by calling 1-800-277-2698.

--If you're lucky enough to have the premium cable channel Showtime, check out the film "Thanks of a Grateful Nation" on May 31. It's being advertised as "The Movie The Government Doesn't Want You To See," and stars Ted Danson and Brian Dennehy in "an explosive fact-based drama which discloses the U.S. government's denial and subsequent cover-up of troop exposure to toxic agents during the Gulf War."

"The controversial film is based on four years of extensive original research and interviews with more than 100 veterans, relatives, members of the medical community, Pentagon officials and Washington insiders, including retired Presidential Secret Service agent Jim Tuite, Senator Donald Riegle, Congressman Steve Buyer, and Steve Robertson, Director of the Legislative Commission for the American Legion. Woven throughout the motion picture are filmed interviews with veterans and family members attesting to their real-life experiences." Sounds promising.

--I finally got to see the Academy Award nominated documentary "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," which has been touring the U.S. Some have called it one-sided, one critic referring to the film as an "infomercial" for Rand. That's not far off the mark, but it doesn't matter. She's overdue for some favorable treatment. In any case, the film is very watchable. Another reviewer called it "alarmingly watchable." Yes, it would be alarming from some perspectives.

As a person already somewhat familiar with Rand's life, my own opinion is that "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life" was generally satisfying, but the definitive biography of Rand is still Barbara Branden's book "The Passion of Ayn Rand," a dramatized movie version of which is due later this year on Showtime. Rand's life really was a drama from beginning to end, so the dramatized film version may be an even better portrayal.

--Two other films of possible interest: "Wilde," a biopic of Oscar Wilde, who was ultimately imprisoned under an anti-sodomy statute (Dir: Brian Gilbert. Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones, Zoe Wanamaker); and "The Mask of Zorro," due for release in July. Many of the previous Zorro pictures have had a significant anti-tax flavor, but there is no telling what the modern interpretation of the story will be (Dir: Martin Campbell. Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones).

--Last week's issue noted that The Titanic had received the endorsement of the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and other socialists, who apparently like the onscreen portrayal of evil rich versus virtuous poor. The height of this onscreen class conflict is the scene in which poor third class passengers are locked in the lower decks so first and second class passengers can safely evacuate via the limited number of lifeboats.

However, according to documents relating to the sinking of the Titanic, now being shown at an exhibition at the Public Record Office (PRO) in London, this is a complete fabrication. According to The Telegraph (UK), "the victims included two-thirds of the 173 first-class male passengers, who would all have escaped with ease in April 1912 if the scene in the film had been accurate. The emphasis throughout the evacuation of 705 survivors from the 1,343 passengers and 885 crew was on women and children first rather than on a class system. Aidan Lawes, head of publishing at the PRO at Kew, said: 'There is no evidence whatsoever that this scene ever happened and the facts indicate otherwise. John Jacob Astor, the richest man aboard, who was worth £20.6 million, asked if he could get into a lifeboat to be with his wife who was very frail. But he was told that he could not. If the system had been hierarchical he would have been first into a lifeboat.'"

So was the Titanic's left-wing spin deliberate? Perhaps that can best be answered by Titanic director Cameron himself, who is reported in Janet Maslin's New York Times review of the film as having 'joked' during production: "We're holding just short of Marxist dogma."

Meanwhile, the vice-president of 20th Century Fox, Scott Neeson, went to the small Scottish town of Dalbeattie to deliver a personal apology to the 80-year-old nephew of William Murdoch, first officer of the Titanic. The film showed Mr. Murdoch in less than the most flattering terms. But in his hometown, Mr. Murdoch is remembered for saving lives. He is described by historians as having done his utmost to save passengers, guiding them to boats and throwing deckchairs overboard for them to cling to as the liner sank. Neeson's public apology reportedly left his audience unimpressed.

It seems that amidst the Titanic's so called remarkable attention to detail, the facts were somehow lost in the spectacle.

--Good News! Both "Waco: The Rules of Engagement" and "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life" have been nominated for Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature. There are only four other nominees, so that means there is a one in three chance that a solidly libertarian film will win the award this year (assuming the libertarian vote, if such a thing exists, isn't split).

I have seen "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," and it certainly deserves the award. It has received near universal praise from every corner of the political spectrum and from a very long list of respected publications (see here for reviews, how to order, and more information).

I have not seen Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, despite some effort to do so. Some months ago, I wrote a number of Objectivist/Randian organizations asking for information about the film, which I had earlier heard was in production, and either received no response at all or was told they knew nothing. I assumed it must have been derailed by some kind of legal tangle with the Randian powers that be. Even now a preliminary web search (I am still trying) did not turn up a web site advertising it. Apparently it has been playing at film festivals here and there, but as far as I can tell no one has made an effort to advertise. If anyone has any information on this, please let me know.

--The dramatized version of Barbara Brandon's Ayn Rand biography, The Passion of Ayn Rand, starring British film star Helen Mirren, began production in mid-January. Rumor is that it will be on Showtime some time later this year.