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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turyles made a CGI-powered comeback, rising to the top of the weekend boxoffice with $25.45 million. 300 was second, continuing its fantastic pace with $20.5 million.

By the way, did you know that TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES started off as a parody of Frank Miller’s RONIN? It’s TRUE! He’s everywhere!

TMNT’s success prompted studio head Harvey Weinstein to wax philosophical.

“It’s sequel time, dudes,” said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., which is distributing “TMNT” overseas. “We knew from the inception of this project that that the `TMNT’ characters would continue to resonate with audiences across the world.”

Meanwhile, The New Yorker proclaims that 300 “is perhaps the nuttiest film ever to become an enormous box-office hit.”

Further meanwhile, AlJazeera, the pan-Arabic news service, proclaims 300 is part of a Jewish conspiracy:

The West claims that the Muslim world continuously fails to show tolerance for different cultures and different religions. Who needs to show tolerance? The Muslim world, which has so far showed nothing but true respect to the Western culture, or the West who persistently attempts to distort the image of the Islamic and the Arabic culture through various means?

Jewish media control determines the foreign policy of the United States, and the U.S. govt on the other hand controls what the media presents to Americans and the entire world.


Wait until AlJazeera gets wind of TMNT’s reptilian conspiracy.

1 COMMENT

  1. Actually, it was a satire of Daredevil, wasn’t it? The ooze that mutated them was the same that blinded Matt Murdock. And “The Hand” became “The Foot.”

  2. Wow, those Muslims were being especially respectful of Western culture when they invaded Spain, Romania, India, etc…

    What a dhimmi.

  3. Typo…meant to say Western as well as Eastern. Islamic imperialism has been epidemic since its inception. Which is why the Persians are Iranians now, being bossed around by Arabs. Persians are not Arabs.

  4. I found 300 to be entertaining(more so than I expected), but had a lot of problems with the “political” subtext.
    I thought it could be easily read as both racist, and homophobic.

    I think in the future it will be seen as a “camp” classic (so bad it’s good), and do quite well at midnight screenings.
    Maybe people will dress up like the Rocky Horror folks do.
    Imagine a theater full of buff dudes with waxed chests, and cod pieces.

    It saddens me that AlJazeera chose to dredge up the “Jewish Conspiracy” myth in their criticism. But I’m also regularly saddened by how gleefully people in “the west” like to sling insults at Muslims.

    It seems to me that the propaganda is working pretty well on both sides.

  5. The Daredevil link was also implied in the origin in that the radioactive substance which knocked Matt Murdock in the head (and gave him his super powers) fell into the sewer, broke open and caused the mutation of four pet turtles into our four heroes. It’s been years since I read those issues, but I remember laughing because it was such a playful goof and look what it’s spawned into!

  6. I love the final quote from Denby’s review:

    Made in a time of frustration, when Americans are fighting a war that they can neither win nor abandon, “300” … feel(s) like the product of a culture slowly and painfully going mad.

    If we didn’t know that 300 was written and drawn several years before the current situation in the Middle East, then you could almost believe it to be true. Almost.

  7. But obviously, Dneby is talking about the movie, which was made last year, and not reviewing the graphic novel.

  8. But the source of the movie is the comic book, and because of the fidelity to the originating work in this instance, it is also the source of its themes and ideas.

    Unless, of course, Zack Snyder deliberately chose to make 300 because the action takes place in the Middle East… but do you really think he’s being that insidious? More likely it was an unhappy coincidence.

  9. Well, sure, the setting was preset. But while I think Denby was being a bit overwrought with his critique there, and I don’t think the filmmakers are intentionally making any political points, given the nature of the subplot and of some of the speeches and dialogue added to 300 the movie, about politicians sending people to there deaths for example, I don’t think it’s surprising that people are reading more than there is.

  10. RE: Turtles

    I saw it over the weekend and I have to admit…. it WAS a very good action film. I was impressed – especially since I walked in “cold” not having seen any adverts or trailers. The rain sequence (as shown above) is knock out scene stealer. I only wish half the other action films had such fun in mind.

    And yes, Daredevil / Ronin parody.

  11. Right, when there’s an opinion piece on ALJazeera the right way to report about is is “AlJazeera proclaims” as if the network took that position officially.
    You know, I truly hope “they” are not as dumb. Otherwise the rantings of our columnists might be reported as the official stance of major media outlets.

    Also, I’m quite certain that subtle distinction would not have been lost when talking about e.g. an opinion piece in the NYT. Racist, merely “culturally insensistive” or just plain dumb?