Solipsistic

What happens when children aren't guaranteed health care.

James Carville says so.

Here's an interesting take on how Carville--a Hillary Clinton campaign staffer--might be saying this to stifle the momentum of his Democratic challengers.

NBC has been pushing this dramatic serial incessantly for the past month--seems like one ad every commercial break--hoping it retains more of Heroes audience than Studio 60. After last night's premiere installment, I'm not so sure this plan will succeed.

Donnellys certainly looks good and has the feel of a prestige production. It's got a big name for a creator--Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby)--and a recognizable cast of accomplished character actors. And yet...

The story lacked emotional weight. The story's climactic moment was decidedly anti-climactic. Young Tommy Donnelly's switch to the dark side wasn't shocking. This had to do, in part, with the ads spoiling this particular point, but also because we never really got to know Tommy well enough to be shocked or effected by this change. His evolution to evil seemed pre-ordained.

I'll give the show another chance, if for no other reason than it stars the always reliable Kirk Acevedo (Band of Brothers, Oz), but it better work a little harder at fleshing out the Donnellys so viewers will have some reason to care.

Just finished watching this outstanding documentary about dirty politics in Newark, New Jersey. A real must-see no matter your political stripe.

Was listening to Hannity the other day and was puzzled by his list of Senator Clinton's faults. (Hannity is a great place to hear the latest GOP talking points. Original opinions are in short supply on his broadcasts.) Some of them were expected--unprincipled, calculating, etc. But then he surprised me by complaining that she was aggressive and outspoken. (I don't remember the exact words, but they were traits that we would normally honor and expect from our leaders.)

Is this really the approach Republicans are going to use in the upcoming primary season? Clinton is "outspoken"?

What century is this?

Predictably safe and bland. Scorsese wins not for making his best movie--which would be Raging Bull or The Aviator--but because it's his turn. The Academy Awards are a pretty good example of group think compelled by do-gooderism. Those looking to the Oscars for the year's best are ill-served.

You're better off reading your local critic, Film Comment, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes.

This year, I got to see all the Live Action Short Subject nominees and I can tell you that the Academy, once again, got it dreadfully wrong. West Bank Story, the winner, was a tired West Side Story parody that was overly polished, didactic, and offered nothing new to the Palestine-Israel debate. A message of "can't we all just get along" is just trite and it comes in the form of an overlong skit as tired as the average Mad Magazine parody. (See "Stuporman.")

When watching the shorts, I expected some quirky, challenging pieces. Short pieces are often unsafe and unpredictable. Or at least, ideally, they should be. You've got fifteen minutes. Make it count. Most of them, however, were typical of the usual Academy nominated fare--safe and predictable. One piece entitled The Saviour was exceptional, though. From Australia, it tells the story of a Mormon on mission who falls in love with a woman he is trying to convert. A little edgy an odd, it was the most deserving of the nominees. Erasmos Pocos was another admirable nominee and, though a bit simple, it carries off a good gag very well.

West Bank Story, however, was a real bust and reiterates the notion that the Academy loves nothing more than bland do-gooderism. Maybe it's inevitable, in a popularity contest among undeniably left-leaning Hollywood, that the safest product with a message will win.

Yes.

The New York Times story about Cheney's trip to Pakistan includes this interesting graf:

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda....

Funny to see Cheney threatening Musharraf with potential actions by a Democratic Congress. The story--if correct--seems to imply that Cheney is distancing himself from the actions of the Democrats but at the same time using them as a weapon. "This is out of my hands. If you don't crack down on al Qaeda, the Democrats will hold you responsible."

When's the last time anyone from the Bush administration claimed to be subject to Congress?

A humorous, puzzling story.

Via TPM.

According to Glenn Greenwald:

The reason our mission in Iraq has proven to be so disastrous and corrupt is very simple -- the advocates and architects of that war are completely corrupt, inept, and deceitful.

Why it has failed. Why it will continue to fail.

The show will run long.

I'm not all that inspired by the best picture nominees in such a rich year. Here's hoping Scorsese wins even though The Departed was not his "best film in years." He's still owed for Raging Bull and The Aviator, so I hope he wins.

Forgot to mention these earlier. Avoid.

Lucky Number Slevin and We are Marshall.

In which we look at performance, cinematography, and directing.

Best Actor--I like a good comeback tale and the long dormant Jackie Earle Haley (Breaking Away, The Bad News Bears) seemingly came out of nowhere to wow us in Little Children. Also of note, Will Smith for making what could have easily been a maudlin mess into a powerful tearjerker with his performance in The Pursuit of Happyness.

Best Actress--Jennifer Hudson owned Dreamgirls and turned in this year's best female perfomance. Also of note, Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page and Kate Winslet in Little Children, and Penelope Cruz in Volver.

Best Cinematography--The Notorious Bettie Page. Alternating between black and white and the deep saturated palette of vintage postcards, there was not a better looking film this year.

Best Director--Take your pick. Spike Lee for The Inside Man, Kelly Reichardt for Old Joy, Todd Field for Little Children, Mel Gibson for Apocalypto or Alfonse Cuaron for Children of Men. I'm probably leaning to Cuaron for the monstrous feat of choreographing the film's seemlesss scenes of chaos and destruction.

1. Inside Man--One of Spike Lee's most mainstream films is also one of the director's and this year's best. Spike Lee, this time, channels his boundless energy and visual verve into a tight, suspenseful drama.

2. Little Children--Overlooked by many critics, there are numerous reasons to see this dark, challenging comedy besides the fascinating work of Jackie Earle Haley.

3. Apocalypto--The best action movie of the year in a fantastic year for action films. Sadly overlooked by Oscar and critics.

4. Sweet Land--A sweet, gentle romance that recalls the work of Terence Malick. Elegaic and moving.

5. Old Joy--A small movie that many audiences will find slow due to its pace and relative stillness. Allow yourself to fall into this story of a severing friendship and you will find yourself in the grip of a masterful filmmaker.

6. The Proposition--A brutal Australian western about attempting to create order from chaos and depravity.

7. Children of Men--Alfonse Cuaron's (Y Tu Mamma Tambien) best work uses cinema verite technique to drop us into a very real and frightening future.

8. The Prestige--This year's best yarn. A feat of storytelling and another visual feast from Christopher Nolan (Memento).

9. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer--Tow Tykwer (Run Lola Run) is one of cinema's most sensual filmmakers. This story about a young man with a powerful sense of smell is a dark feast for the eyes and nose. Tykwer pulls off the unlikely feat of conveying scent through a visual medium. Strictly for the adventurous.

10. District B13/Casino Royale/Mission Impossible III--This trio of action films was extraordinarily fun. Gave me the most fun I had at the movies this year.

This movie year was really fantastic. Very rich and rewarding. Below you will find, in no particular order, my favorite films from this year:

*Dave Chappelle's Block Party
*Old Joy
*Shut Up and Sing
*Inside Man
*Friends with Money
*The Notorious Bettie Page
*Akeelah and the Bee
*Mission Impossible III
*A Prairie Home Companion
*Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
*The Descent
*United 93
*Half Nelson
*The Illusionist
*Little Children
*Sweet Land
*Marie Antoinette
*The Prestige
*Flags of our Fathers
*Babel
*Stranger Than Fiction
*Casino Royale
*A Scanner Darkly
*The Fountain
*Apocalypto
*The Departed
*Blood Diamond
*The Good Shepherd
*Dreamgirls
*The Pursuit of Happyness
*The Painted Veil
*Children of Men
*The Queen
*Pan's Labyrinth
*Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
*Science of Sleep
*L'Enfant
*The Proposition
*District B13
*Cars
*Lady Vengeance
*Borat
*The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
*Little Miss Sunshine
*Street Fight
*Mutual Appreciation
*INLAND EMPIRE

Be up shortly.

Let's go through some of the candidates:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest--A soulless excitement machine. An empty, loud, hyper blockbuster. All that is wrong with the summer movie season. Highest grossing movie of the year.

V for Vendetta--Fascism is bad. Anarchy is the answer. Let's blow up Parliament. Bad Alan Moore comic becomes yet another pretentious Wachowski vehicle. All the promise and verve they showed in their indie debut Bound has been replaced by a string of overstuffed, undernourished faux-profound adventure tales.

Miami Vice--Expertly choreographed, brutal action scenes clash with stylish substance-free plodding romance tale. An inert drama.

Failure to Launch--Who are these people? Great supporting cast cannot salvage bizarre romantic comedy. Cruel narcissists find each other and fall in love through the application of hoary cliches. (And, yes, the use of the phrase "hoary cliches" is a hoary cliche.)

The Holiday--Adaptation of J Crew catalog borrows heavily from holiday-themed liquor ads.

All the King's Men--One of the greatest American novels becomes boring, silly, histrionic melodrama. Chockful of Acting!

Snakes on a Plane--Isn't it redundant to call this one of the worst of the year? Wasn't it supposed to be? In the pursuirt of Camp and Cool, the filmmakers forgot to make the movie fun. Irony-rich Product fails to connect. See, it's supposed to be bad? Mission accomplished.

Expiration Date--Leaves no quirk unturned. Avoid.

And the worst movie of the year was...

The DaVinci Code--So excruciatingly boring. Tom Hanks has never been worse. Watching the movie, I was blown away--never having read the book--that this preposterous tale had shaken so much of the churchgoing public. An outlandish, plodding mystery that was more event than film.

The second annual Solipsistic Movie Awards are coming over the weekend just in time for your Oscar viewing. I've seen a substantial portion of this year's films and will be give you my list of the best as well as Oscar predictions.

...has emerged from the loony Anarchists of the Saint Louis area.

Check out the latest issue of the despicable anarchist screed War on Misery.

Perhaps the most inexcusable, disgusting part of the publication comes in this feature on the death of a Saint Louis policeman:

A Cop Shot Dead - All Out to Defend Rockhead!

His conviction depends on the testimony of his neighbors. Whether they are lying
and trying to settle a score with Rockhead or are snitches, we don’t care. Rockhead,
a.k.a. Kevin Johnson, is running up against the full force of the law. This March,those who know nothing of life under the boot-heel of American law & order will befilling the courtroom behind the county’s best prosecutors working to send him to death row because one of their own, Kirkwood cop Sgt. William McEntee, took some bullets to the brain. When pig blood spills, the whole pen squeals. Just like those who defaced McEntee’s memorial, those who allegedly intimidated the prosecution’s witnesses, and those who have refused to cooperate with the police, we stand by Rockhead and encourage everyone reading this to do the same. His trial date is set for March 29, 2007 (subject to change) at the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton. The prosecutor: Robert McCulloch, whose father, a cop, was shot to death in the ‘70s.

The publication promotes a simple-minded morality: police, law, and development are evil; property crime, disorder, and violence against police, law, and development are good. The whole thing is sickening and at the same time completely defunct. There is no justice in these pages. Only hate and a desire for tyranny lead by the faux-dispossessed.

Anarchy is tyranny and, as we can see from this publication, spearheaded by idiots.

Today's required reading.

This too.

Our president. A kind of disgusting quote from the Commander-in-Chief that the sensitive might want to bypass.

In my last semester of my Masters program in Library Science, I am taking a class where we read novels from different genres. This is preparing those of us who go into public libraries to be knowledgeable about the books a broad spectrum of patrons would like. Every book its reader and so on.

I have run smack dab into Nora Roberts Jewels of the Sun and am horrified with my encounter. I knew the genre--pop romance--would be unappealing, but Roberts is a truly atrocious writer. The above quote--the title of this posting--is one of my favorite(?) quotes from the book so far.

For my class, I have to avoid such harsh criticism and must instead look for the elements of the novel that would appeal to a reader. As a result, I'm taking my anger with the book out on ya'll.

I'm in the heart of my practicum, so posting will be spotting over the next few weeks. Thanks to my regular readers and I'll to get up new posts whenever I can.

NBA surprises.

Via Atrios.

The Daily show expertly breaks down the evidence surrounding the push for war against the people of Iran.

Just listen to Bush's defense of the White House's most alarming charges: (loosely quoted) "What's worse? That the government knew or that they didn't know?"

Truly astounding. No person of sense can think an ignorance of illegal activities constitutes a casus belli.

Maybe this thing will never get off the ground.

More video of Faux News Half Hour Comedy Hour. The laugh track is still atrocious.

A fascinating story.

Failure is not an option.

Give 'em another $250 billion. Maybe they'll get it right eventually.

Lieberman urges falling in line behind the president.

Interesting that Lieberman says debate is necessary and the duty of the Senate and yet taking real action toward ending the war is dangerous. So what would the debate be about? Whether you grudgingly support the president or enthusiastically support the president?

String 'em up.

A Daily Show rip-off from Roger Ailes. Scroll down the linked site for a clip.

I've seen worse, but the laugh track is very poor. I'd give it a D.

And I thought the guys at Fox and Friends were >the worst morning television has to offer.

Because many of our leaders have no idea what the hell is going on in Iraq.

Unfortunately, this isn't very surprising.

I thought our President was all about unwavering support for the troops. Guess not.

Here.

I'll be surprised if we see this pairing on the big screen. Keep in mind that the underrated Farrelly film Stuck on You was originally going to star Woody Allen and Jim Carrey. That would have been a completely different movie. Can't imagine it would have even had the same script.

Can Cruise play wacky or will they make him an absurd man who plays ridiculous situations completely straight? Probably the latter.

Everything you need to know right here.

And some key questions about how actionable the intelligence is, available here.

William Kristol uncovers the truth.

Great site.

From The Washington Post:

Some senior administration officials still relish the notion of a direct confrontation. One ambassador in Washington said he was taken aback when John Hannah, Vice President Cheney's national security adviser, said during a recent meeting that the administration considers 2007 "the year of Iran" and indicated that a U.S. attack was a real possibility. Hannah declined to be interviewed for this article.

Went out of town this weekend to a little getaway at a cabin alongside the Ohio River. A nice, quiet respite.

Then, while driving my wife to work this morning, I hear Laura Ingraham--predictable and right on cue--blasting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Dianne Riehm conducting a round table on Iranian intelligence, and news that senior military officials made a briefing claiming Iran is providing some of the deadliest explosives in Iraq.

If you've been paying attention, you knew this was inevitable. Iran has always been next on the Bush administration Middle East wish list. The intelligence presented is false, or highly dubious at best. You will be shown graphs, computer graphics, and power point presentations. You will hear recordings of some man of Middle Eastern origin talking about weapons to another man of Middle Eastern origin. You will hear generals, talking heads, and intelligence analysts tell you war is regrettable but necessary. Right wing radio and television will be all Iran all the time and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will become a shrewd/insane mastermind of all that is wrong in the Middle East. (Yes, shrewd and insane are largely contradictory qualities, but the spin machine is gonna push this story line anyway.)

This will happen. We know the script. We know the White House thinks we're gullible because they're following an eerily similar script to the Iraq war build-up. They obviously don't think much of our intelligence, or are at least counting on our fear/xenophobia blinding us to the reality of their push for Middle Eastern dominance.

We were lied to on Iraq. We are being lied to again. Three years into the war with Iran, when the intelligence proves to be false, members of the Bush White House will blame bad intelligence for getting us into the giant mess in Iran. While in a hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee, former VP Cheney will regret that he was given such bad intelligence, but it is important to stay the course in Iran. We created the mess in Iran and now we can't leave until we've finished the job.

Time to get skeptical, angry, and intransient. It's the only moral choice. If not, we will be one step closer to a more destabilized world with an even more active and energized terrorist community in which our number of allies is dwindling.

War with Iran is madness.

Gleen Greenwald gives us an example of the return to skepticism-free journalism.

Video of one of the year's best skits available here. Thought this last weekend's SNL was pretty weak. The opening American Idol skit was horrible, but the above video clip--a parody of 80s workout videos--is a classic.

Recently spotted in my MySpace friends request queue:

"Destiny wants to be your friend!"

Having loud arguments on your cell phone with your sister about your intransient mother.

"I'm not taking her side."

"I'm not defending her."

"Growth is hard."

"Change is good."

"I'm not defending her. I'm simply not. Well...I'm just not."

Every year, the Comparative Literature Department at San Jose State selects some of the year's worst writing. Contestants are asked to submit a truly awful opening sentence to a fictional work of their own creation. The award is named for 19th century novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, infamous for his unwieldy prose demonstrated by the following passage:

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

You may remember Charles Schulz frequently poking fun at Bulwer-Lytton in his Peanuts cartoons. Each of aspiring novelist Snoopy's books opened with the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night."

You can find this year's winners and notables at this link. Of note is Dennis Barry hailing from my neck of the woods. His winning contribution in the Romance category:

Despite the vast differences it their ages, ethnicity, and religious upbringing, the sexual chemistry between Roberto and Heather was the most amazing he had ever experienced; and for the entirety of the Labor Day weekend they had sex like monkeys on espresso, not those monkeys in the zoo that fling their feces at you, but more like the monkeys in the wild that have those giant red butts, and access to an espresso machine.

It's widespread and ongoing.

Story here.

The Onion AV Club--a great site--this week made mention of an old NBC cartoon from the mid 80s called Kidd Video and featured some background info on the show which included this video of an entire episode, including commercials. (One of the commercials features Heather O'Rourke (Poltergeist) pushing Rainbow Brite toys.) I remember this show seeming edgy because it featured actual music videos. I remember my parents not letting me watch it. All for the best given its inanity.

Those who wax fondly about the cartoons from our childhood can put that nostalgia to rest. Most of the cartoons from the 80s stunk. Consider the above video exhibit A. They were lackluster with abominable animation. The storytelling was abysmal--excessive exposition and heavy reliance on dues ex machina. The only studio that was putting out quality kids shows was Disney (Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, etc.) and, many years later, Warner Brothers (Tiny Toons). Oh, and Danger Mouse on Nickelodeon was awesome. I remember being blown away when Batman: The Animated Series aired in the early 90s. It was such a leap in quality beyond much of what I had been subjected to as a little kid and a clear labor of love by Warner Brothers.

Today's cartoons are leaps and bounds beyond what we were subjected to. Cartoon Network's line-up of original programming is more creative with distinct, crisp animation and inventive storytelling. Maybe it's because with many more channels, video gaming, and the internet, studios have been forced to step up their game or become irrelevant.

Keystone Koalition.

Joe Lieberman talks during the movies.

I think it's hilarious that he was stirred by Behind Enemy Lines. A truly ridiculous, horrible movie.

In the midst of my library practicum so blogging will be light today.

Crucial reading for the last of the true believers.

New poll makes surprising find.

Even if Americans didn't support a war with Iran, will a belief that such is war is likely lead to grudging acceptance of it? If we think it's inevitable, are we likely to be outraged by it.

Via Think Progress.

Fox News will soon air a late night talk show called Red Eye and leaked footage of the show is causing a small stir.

My first reaction was shock, but then I considered the format--a Politically Incorrect-type show meant to be shocking. If the show offends, or surprises you with its vulgarity, then--in the eyes of its creators--it's likely succeeding. The clip being leaked to the web is very likely just savvy viral marketing. Anyone talking about the show is giving it free advertising and creating buzz.

Also, raunchy comments about Oprah Winfrey would be right at home on such programs as Howard Stern, South Park, and the new Sarah Silverman Program. (All three, particularly the latter two, take swipes at the sacred and tell racist jokes with a heavy dose of irony making the jokes more meta than literal. But if you're a racist and--as Crash taught us--we're all dirty racists, then you can just as easily choose to enjoy the humor meta-free.)

So while bashing the show for its content may be ridiculous given the current climate, it's more than fair to be shocked by the material given its source. For Fox News, which frequently goes after entertainers and other media figures for raunch and crass talk and behavior, airing this program is hypocritical. Will Bill O'Reilly, who called for a boycott of Pepsi due to the vulgarity of spokesperson Ludacris, leave the network on principle?

In fairness, this clip has not yet aired and may be edited from the show's final version, but if Fox News is attempting to create edgy, raunchy material for late night, isn't it time to drop the cultural guardian schtick?

And citizens. An excellent checklist for confronting pending wars and evaluating the war supporting rhetoric.

I particularly like these suggestions:

Don’t assume that these officials, with their access to secret intelligence, know more than you do.

Alternately, assume that they do indeed know more than you do – and are trying to keep intelligence that would undermine their arguments secret.

Several years ago, when it could be established in discussion with Iraq war supporters that the evidence for war was, at best, thin, the justification often came down to the issue of trusting that our government had dammning secret evidence. For a citizen in a democracy, contemplating support of a massive war which will cost hundreds of billions of dollars and that will lead to massive death and destruction, such blind trust is never an option.

Americans, active and healthy skepticism is your birthright and responsibility.

Trailer for Judd Apatow's new movie.

Astounding.

CNN reporter Lara Logan addresses this charge.

Consistently featured in The Onion. This week's is no exception.

Just a reminder of the duplicitous job of selling the war in Iraq to the American people.

Interesing tidbit on campaign financing.

Late to this story, but posting for posterity's sake.

Here's roughly what the objects in question look like.