HOLLYWOOD - The grainy cell phone video of Saddam Hussein's execution, replete with inflammatory exchanges between Saddam and unseen guards, is being condemned around the world as a violation of human rights. The Holy See's daily, L'Osservatore Romano, for example, lamented it as "making a spectacle" of the execution and turning capital punishment into "an expression of political hubris."But even worse than violating human rights, say Hollywood insiders, the video is the work of a hack, unoriginal in every detail, without suspense, and thoroughly humorless. "Every character is a one-dimensional cartoon," said Steven Spielberg. Variety slammed it in a front page review: "Even by the notoriously low standards of sadistic slasher pics, this video is a thoroughly nasty piece of work." Roger Ebert, recovering from recent surgery, scrawled a one-line review: "This video made me itch." He then gestured "thumbs down."
But the men and women who run the studios have a different take on it. They see it as the most-downloaded video in the history of the internet, and they want the director to step forward so they can sign him up to do a theatrical sequel. "It's no secret which sequel we'd like to make," said RKO Studios Chairman Bradleys Roadhouse. "Osama bin Laden's hanging. That's number one on our wish list because it would top the box office for at least three, possibly four or five weeks. Aside from ridding the world of a monster."
