Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Film statistician Stephen Fellows cranked the numbers, looking at everything related to the film from Google hits to Die Hard posters to Wikipedia references, and he concludes that even if it wasn't intended to be a Christmas movie, "it most certainly is now." How did it get that way? Here are nine good reasons. Perhaps more importantly, Die … [Read more...]
12 Libertarian DVD Holiday Gifts Under $10
Need some quick gift ideas for that special libertarian friend? Here are twelve films currently for sale on DVD for less than $10 at Amazon. Richard Jewell Security guard Richard Jewell saves hundreds of lives from an exploding pipe bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be railroaded as the prime suspect by an incompetent FBI and cynical press. Based on a true … [Read more...]
Holodomor Holocaust Remembered In Four Films
Holodomor ("to kill by starvation) is what Ukrainians call the period from 1932-1933, when Stalin created a forced famine to punish the Ukraine's resistance to socialist collectivization. Estimates vary as to how many Ukrainians died, ranging from three million to twelve million. This tragedy and crime are remembered on Holomodor Remembrance Day. Here are four films to honor … [Read more...]
The Berlin Wall: Eight Films To Honor the Dead
The infamous Berlin Wall was socialism itself: concrete and razor wire in the name of humanity, guard towers and machine guns in the name of human progress. It's ostensible purpose was to protect vulnerable East Germans from invasion, but as a practical matter it was simply a way of preventing the slave populations of the USSR from escaping to the West. By the time it … [Read more...]
Four Halloween Films For Libertarians
Happy Halloween! Nothing is scarier than unrestrained government, of course, so here are four Halloween films on the subject. Enjoy! Ghostbusters (1984) This popular classic tells the story of an entrepreneurial ghost-removal service -- Ghostbusters -- that runs into opposition from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other creatures of evil. It seems that … [Read more...]
Cameron Hawley: Libertarian Film Hero
Cameron Hawley -- born September 19, 1905 -- was an American fiction writer. Although he published only a few books, two of them were turned into films: Cash McCall and Executive Suite. Both films are unusual for their Randian tone and strongly pro-capitalism character. Cash McCall, the better of the two, took the top prize of Best Libertarian Picture at the First International … [Read more...]
Happy Convention of States Day!
On September 15, 1787, George Mason identified a serious oversight in the nearly-completed Constitution. As Article V had originally been drafted, it only allowed Congress to propose Constitutional amendments. But what if one day Congress were to become corrupt? The people would need another way to rein in its power. So the framers added an option to Article V allowing the … [Read more...]
Raoul Wallenberg: Happy Angel Birthday!
Raoul Wallenberg, born on August 4th, 1912 in Sweden, a hero who saved thousand of Jews in WWII, has been nearly forgotten but you can remember him this day with a good film that he himself liked. When Hitler began rounding up the Jews in Hungary in 1944, Wallenberg faced down the Nazi death machine with nothing more than courage and paper, partly by mass manufacturing fake … [Read more...]
July 4th, Independence Day: Eight Short Films
July 4th, Independence Day, is America's annual celebration commemorating its Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Cato Institute has a nice summary of what is in the Declaration and why it is such a landmark in the foundation of human liberty: 1) We are all created equal -- no one ought to have any special rights and privileges in his social relations with other … [Read more...]
American Revolution Films For Your July 4th
Time to get ready for your July 4th celebrations. And what better way to remember what it's all about than with a good film? Here are a few American Revolution films I recommend. Note: You may want to consider buying DVDs. Since just last year, two of the six films listed below are now out of print and only available used and in limited quantity -- expect these stories of … [Read more...]