• • • New York Times Deems Two-Week-Old ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Safe For Review 
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Atlas Shrugged movie  |Atlas Shrugged  | Atlas Shrugged still isn’t a hit, but at least the New York Times is going to review the new adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel. Too bad the movie’s already been out for two weeks.  

• • • ‘Atlas Shrugged’: The Blockbuster That Wasn’t 
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Atlas Shrugged movie  |Atlas Shrugged  |Image  | Atlas Shrugged producer John Aglialoro has told the Los Angeles Times that he is reconsidering plans to produce two more movies based on Ayn Rand’s novel. This strikes us as sensible. Since being released two weeks ago, the film has grossed only $3.1 million--not good for any wide release, but particularly troubling for a film that seemed perfectly positioned to cash in on America’s new libertarian streak. What went wrong?  

• • • The ‘Atlas Shrugged’ movie meets box office reality 
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Atlas Shrugged movie  |Atlas Shrugged  |Image  |Video  | Atlas Shrugged is that 1,000+ page manifesto by literary cult hero Ayn Rand. It also happens to be that new movie breathlessly promoted by Tea Party activists, grassroots conservative groups and small-government minded think tanks. Despite the movie being hyped by Sean Hannity as the title “Hollywood doesn’t want you to see,” its chances of actually becoming a pop-culture phenomenon and reaping box office glory a la Farenheit 9/11 or Passion of the Christ aren’t looking that good.  

• • • Quoting Ayn Rand on Capitol Hill is a Paul family tradition 
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Alan Greenspan  |Anthem  |Atlas Shrugged  |Image  | In our search of the [Congressional] Record from the last 10 sessions of Congress, spanning from 1993 to 2011, [Ayn Rand] has only been mentioned 23 times. Ayn Rand has been invoked in praise of her former book printer, Caxton Printers, and during references to her book Atlas Shrugged in arguments to eliminate the death tax in 2001 and while denouncing the National Competitiveness Act of 1993. She also gets 5 mentions by legislators who were quick to note that Alan Greenspan was once a disciple of hers (“Don’t hold that against him,” Congressman Harkin said in 2000.) By far, though, the person most likely to mention Ayn Rand is Ron Paul, the current libertarian hero and father of the newest Senator from Kentucky, Rand.  

• Which is more intellectually diverse: The left or the right? 
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Atlas Shrugged  | Once one removes "crypto-liberals" like Andrew Sullivan from the mix, proposes DougJ [of the Balloon Juice blog], there are "three basic divisions" among American conservatives: 1. “Atlas Shrugged” conservatives: Megan McArdle, the Reasonoids, Larry Kudlow, etc. 2. "Chronicles Of Narnia" conservatives: Ross Douthat, Peggy Noonan, many other Catholic conservatives. 3. "300" conservatives: Victor David Hanson, war bloggers, any neoconservatives.  

• Can a town survive with nearly no government? 
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Small government conservatives in the city of Colorado Springs began slashing government services and taxes earlier this year and show no sign of slowing down. Everything from trash collection to streetlights to police coverage have been phased out in the quest to get closer to the free market model espoused by libertarians such as novelist Ayn Rand. The changes have turned Colorado Springs into something like a city-sized experiment in just how small government can get. So when pundits debate the Colorado Springs experiment, they're also debating the hard-line libertarian philosophy behind that experiment. Does drastically cutting services and taxes really work?  

• • Intellectual journal jousts Web commenters—in print 
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High-minded cultural journal New Criterion has had a strange adjustment to Internet age. The monthly intellectual review boasts heady criticism on piano recitals, Matisse, and ballet--and has no pictures or illustrations. Yet in the March issue, the editors made an unusual stab at engaging the Web: they responded to commenters in print. The editors got so flustered by comments on a critical piece about Ayn Rand that they devoted their monthly editorial to addressing them. They cited these online guerrillas as proof of the selfishness of Rand's followers.  

• • • Going, going… Galt 
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Anthem  |Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  |Capitalism  | Many people briefly go through an "Ayn Rand phase" where they devour Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and dream of being a heroic architect standing athwart mediocrity. But government expansion in 2009 has touched off a remarkable revival of interest in Rand, spurring endless speculation that her philosophy of self-interest and free-market economics will come back in vogue. Writers point to a spate of Rand-themed releases, including two new biographies, uncountable articles, talk-show bits, merchandise, even a videogame.