You know why I've always hated the movie, "The Running Man"?

It's Arnold's co-star - Maria Conchita Alonso. Yep - Arnold has some pretty crappy lines in the movie as well (which has become a cultish hit flick I believe). But with Arnold, we're used to that. I swear to God, every time I stop to watch this movie, there Alonso Conchita dipshit is, with the whining and the bitching and not listening to Arnold and screwing up everything and yelling while slipping back into her native tongue which has NEVER been done before with a Mexican or Spanish actor/character. Never fails. Every time I see it. There she is.

I know - it's the character she's playing. Wrong. I hated the character Bruce Dern played in The Cowboys - especially after he killed John Wayne. But I love Bruce Dern. I have nothing against a slew of famous actors who played villains and were eventually gunned down by the Duke or Clint Eastwood in their respective flicks. Nothing at all.

I just can't stand Maria Conchita Alonso, that's all. Or Julia Roberts. Or Sandra Bullock. Or Renee Zellwegger. Or Joan and Melissa Rivers. Or Kathy Lee Gifford. I don't know any of them. Maybe it's their acting style or their screen persona. Whatever...when I see them on the screen I flip the channel.

Now Richard Dawson, on the other hand, as the bad guy, game-show host in The Running Man...who doesn't love Richard Dawson? His outtakes and anything else that ended up on the cutting room floor while acting on Hogan's Heroes as Corporal Newkirk were better than anything decent Alonso does in this film.

I just can't stand Maria Conchita Alonso.

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Girlie-man Gov. Arnold verus California's ranaway film industry.

"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

Spoken like only Conan could. But the real-life Conan, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - along with the California legislature - continues to turn his back on the the state of California and HIS own film industry, resembling the "girl-man politicians" he vowed he would work against when he became governor.

An article in the Hollywood Reporter (1/19/09) bemoaned recent figures that show a dip in regional film production in California, blaming the loss on "run-away" productions to other states and countries. This isn't new news. This "ran-away" production can be placed solely on the shoulders of Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature. Period.

Film production dropped 8.1% in the fourth quarter last year, hitting the lowest level since FilmLA started tracking figures in 1993. The total slide for 2008 was 1.7%. Not a huge drop? Guess again. That's 7,043 production days for 2008, compared to 13, 980 in 1996. And that's millions of dollars gone. Disappeared. One would think California isn't in the midst of a budget crisis.

FilmLA's Paul Audley stated, "California simply is not competitive in the marketplace anymore". Hollywood not competitive? No. Not Tinseltown? "You have all the other states sweetening their incentives (but) we're sitting here just watching our entertainment industry slide away and not fighting back".

Commercial shoots are also down, a drop of 17.4% in the latest quarter and 10.9% on the year. When Arnold took office for his first term as governor of California in 2003, the first thing he should have done is put in place tax incentives to attract film production - like 48 other states have (and dozens of countries) initiated - in an effort to keep film production in California. He's an ACTOR, for Christ's sakes! He's publicly acknowledged that California is regarded as a laughingstock because of our decrease in film production. The arrogance that is Hollywood is exactly why Hollywood is in this mess and it DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

Apparently, Arnold has asked California state legislators to add these tax incentives into the budget. So where are they? How hard is it to basically take another state's tax incentive, copy the motherfucker, vote on it, pass it, have Arnold sign it and be done with it???? No debating the issue. No caucuses or committees. Just do it. Idiots. I like Arnold but he needs to stop playing "the game" and get a move on. Or Hollywood will become a ghost town sooner than later. And "the industry" - and this state - has no one to blame but itself.

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