Movie review time - I know I'm about ten years too late on this one (actually not that bad) but seriously if it wasn't for NetFlix I wouldn't have a clue. I saw Claire Danes with Leo in a remake of Romeo and Juliet. Watching that movie I realized that she has this quiet dignity that really shines on screen. I like Claire quite a bit and also respect that she's not fodder for the Tabloids. Poor Britney what a mess and Lindsey Lohan's Mom should be beaten for what she has done to her child. Okay back to Shop Girl. Years ago Steve Martin produced a play and I ran to the Ford theater to see it in Washington D. C. "Picasso at the Lapin Agile". I loved it! The triple threat to Shop Girl is Jason Schwartzman. I have to believe Bill Murray told Steve to work with this guy and I loved Jason in Rushmore.
What possibly could go wrong with this cast. Nothing. If you haven't seen Shop Girl grab your significant other and rent this movie. I would even say it's worthy of a buy for your home collection. The story has depth and lightness and Claire carries the whole thing off with aplomb.
Four Stars - for intelligence, thoughtfulness and laughs. Much like the Gilda and Steve dance number from way back when on SNL. Mr. Martin has always infused his work with a poignant, bitter sweet quality with laughs to spare. Shop Girl tones the guffaws down quite a bit but there are still some light hearted moments. Above all else a real human chord is struck throughout the movie. So ignore the cheesy DVD cover and delve into this one.
Enjoy and let me know what you think,
Paul
Dear Mom - Letters to Heaven
Friday, August 17, 2007
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Ted and Rupert Sitting in a Tree
Ted Stevens gets his home raided by the F.B.I. and I.R.S. I guess being a complete whore for the Oil Industry has its consequences.
And Rupert Murdoch buying the Wall Street Journal (the Prestigious, inbred, bastion of the right) will eventually (clown up) and Fox News the rights holy grail of a news paper (but not change its politics). The leading prestigious newspaper tucked under every arm of the "holier than thou" will be nothing more than a tabloid screaming it's position instead of trying to nuance the same nonsense.
In the end the right wing, conservative, monied power elite's favorite rag will now be dressed up in clown makeup and drag the whole bunch down with them leaving Reverend Moon's "Washington Times" as the leading rag of the right wing elite.
This is fantastic I love it. That veneer of prestige and elitism of the monied Wall Street reader (most just carried it around never reading it) have lost their flagship.
Like putting McDonald's Arch's at the front gates of all their Country Clubs their air of superiority self dissolves into a tabloid reality of O'Reilyness, and will bring the eventual rejection by the salt of the Earth who's loyalty they trounced. Leaving now only the Armageddonist fanatics and beer soaked Nascar dads to carry the flag of Conservatism as the Neo Con's implode on the Hill.
Well done - they have done themselves in quicker than the progressives can even blog about it.
And Rupert Murdoch buying the Wall Street Journal (the Prestigious, inbred, bastion of the right) will eventually (clown up) and Fox News the rights holy grail of a news paper (but not change its politics). The leading prestigious newspaper tucked under every arm of the "holier than thou" will be nothing more than a tabloid screaming it's position instead of trying to nuance the same nonsense.
In the end the right wing, conservative, monied power elite's favorite rag will now be dressed up in clown makeup and drag the whole bunch down with them leaving Reverend Moon's "Washington Times" as the leading rag of the right wing elite.
This is fantastic I love it. That veneer of prestige and elitism of the monied Wall Street reader (most just carried it around never reading it) have lost their flagship.
Like putting McDonald's Arch's at the front gates of all their Country Clubs their air of superiority self dissolves into a tabloid reality of O'Reilyness, and will bring the eventual rejection by the salt of the Earth who's loyalty they trounced. Leaving now only the Armageddonist fanatics and beer soaked Nascar dads to carry the flag of Conservatism as the Neo Con's implode on the Hill.
Well done - they have done themselves in quicker than the progressives can even blog about it.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Homeland Security - oh really...?
The peculiar use of the word "homeland" is an indicator of the hay wire, jackbooted mindset that has the instigators of jihad licking their chops. Like a bear to honey we did exactly what they wanted and they have their multi front war and their vehicle to whip up more violent dissent here and abroad. Acknowledging this isn't unAmerican.
Saying the Left hates America is just sad - nobody hates this country - people hate our politicians, and current set of leaders and their misguided arrogance and jackbooted mindset.
Rooting out terrorism is going to require a much more nuanced approach, a helluva a lot more spying in Pakistan and Afghanistan the establishment of a Palestinian state, the precision of special ops, diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy and lots of it with Syria and Iran (look at North Korea) and money, education and opportunity for the disenfranchised across the globe. We have spent trillions on the war in Iraq that have gone to some big private interests that don't need the money. That money has to go to help the disenfranchised (globally)if we truly want to export democracy.
You have to lead by example - the Neo-Cons (and that's who these people are) they are not conservative (I respect fiscal responsibility - there's no way this country shouldn't have a balanced budget) - these moronic, idealistic, former liberals now called Neo-Cons want it all. George Bush goes back and forth from his born again glaze to his I know it all arrogant sneer. He's largely on a power trip.
So they want to bring democracy to the World (nice ambitious idea but it doesn't take into account cultures that have evolved over centuries). The Magna Carta sprung up from the concept of property ownership and in response to tyranny. The concept of property rights is beyond foreign to the desert populations. And bringing democracy to the world by force doesn't work. And bringing Democracy to the world is being used as an excuse for commandeering the mid east oil supply. Don't forget these guys are Texas oil men from way back and Prescott Bush and his bank were money launderers for the Nazi's.
But what these ignorant Neo-Cons don't realize is that they too swallowed a brochure just like the Jihads did. If you want Democracy to spread you have to lead by example. We can't have recount debacles like Florida and Ohio, we can't chuck our principles and be hypocrites. Right now the world is looking at us like a bunch of Nazi's because we are acting like a bunch of imperialist idiots.
It's time we got our own house completely in order educationally, opportunity wise, environmentally, health, and ethically in both business and politics. Then we can preach to the rest of the world about the virtues of Democracy and leading by example with a national refocus and return to a Jeffersonian America and his completely necessary concept of good citizenry.
Here's the main point of the article from the link above:
"They are a ... religious cult that wants to roll back the modern world for the comfortable certainty of a militant religion, and the movement woos converts by exploiting legitimate and fabricated grievances against Muslims around the world. The group is fighting a rear-guard and ultimately doomed fight against the onslaught of modernity...
While Al Qaeda's rabid and utterly predictable response to modernity was falling out of favor with most Muslims and Muslim-dominated governments throughout the Nineties, it has been re-fueled by this Administration's historically ignorant, testosterone-and-ego-driven post 9/11 foreign policy. Any fool can see this Administration's imperial ambitions repeat the mistakes of colonialism."
This is dead on - it's the truth - it's the reality and before we can fix any problem we have to understand it's cause...
"...this Administration has been feeding the animals."
It's a reach that changing the word "homeland" will un-indoctrinate Cheney but the core of that posting is 100% correct.
The have's versus the have nots - as soon as we get back to sharing the wealth extending opportunity to everyone and get our bases out of their countries the better off we will be.
Imagine a Russian base in Canada or a Saudi Arabia military base in Kentucky - would we as a citizenry stand for that?
We have to use our heads. Stumbling around like a big arrogant headless giant acting like imperialist buffoons because we know whats best for the rest of the world ain't workin'!
(Never has and never will)
Saying the Left hates America is just sad - nobody hates this country - people hate our politicians, and current set of leaders and their misguided arrogance and jackbooted mindset.
Rooting out terrorism is going to require a much more nuanced approach, a helluva a lot more spying in Pakistan and Afghanistan the establishment of a Palestinian state, the precision of special ops, diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy and lots of it with Syria and Iran (look at North Korea) and money, education and opportunity for the disenfranchised across the globe. We have spent trillions on the war in Iraq that have gone to some big private interests that don't need the money. That money has to go to help the disenfranchised (globally)if we truly want to export democracy.
You have to lead by example - the Neo-Cons (and that's who these people are) they are not conservative (I respect fiscal responsibility - there's no way this country shouldn't have a balanced budget) - these moronic, idealistic, former liberals now called Neo-Cons want it all. George Bush goes back and forth from his born again glaze to his I know it all arrogant sneer. He's largely on a power trip.
So they want to bring democracy to the World (nice ambitious idea but it doesn't take into account cultures that have evolved over centuries). The Magna Carta sprung up from the concept of property ownership and in response to tyranny. The concept of property rights is beyond foreign to the desert populations. And bringing democracy to the world by force doesn't work. And bringing Democracy to the world is being used as an excuse for commandeering the mid east oil supply. Don't forget these guys are Texas oil men from way back and Prescott Bush and his bank were money launderers for the Nazi's.
But what these ignorant Neo-Cons don't realize is that they too swallowed a brochure just like the Jihads did. If you want Democracy to spread you have to lead by example. We can't have recount debacles like Florida and Ohio, we can't chuck our principles and be hypocrites. Right now the world is looking at us like a bunch of Nazi's because we are acting like a bunch of imperialist idiots.
It's time we got our own house completely in order educationally, opportunity wise, environmentally, health, and ethically in both business and politics. Then we can preach to the rest of the world about the virtues of Democracy and leading by example with a national refocus and return to a Jeffersonian America and his completely necessary concept of good citizenry.
Here's the main point of the article from the link above:
"They are a ... religious cult that wants to roll back the modern world for the comfortable certainty of a militant religion, and the movement woos converts by exploiting legitimate and fabricated grievances against Muslims around the world. The group is fighting a rear-guard and ultimately doomed fight against the onslaught of modernity...
While Al Qaeda's rabid and utterly predictable response to modernity was falling out of favor with most Muslims and Muslim-dominated governments throughout the Nineties, it has been re-fueled by this Administration's historically ignorant, testosterone-and-ego-driven post 9/11 foreign policy. Any fool can see this Administration's imperial ambitions repeat the mistakes of colonialism."
This is dead on - it's the truth - it's the reality and before we can fix any problem we have to understand it's cause...
"...this Administration has been feeding the animals."
It's a reach that changing the word "homeland" will un-indoctrinate Cheney but the core of that posting is 100% correct.
The have's versus the have nots - as soon as we get back to sharing the wealth extending opportunity to everyone and get our bases out of their countries the better off we will be.
Imagine a Russian base in Canada or a Saudi Arabia military base in Kentucky - would we as a citizenry stand for that?
We have to use our heads. Stumbling around like a big arrogant headless giant acting like imperialist buffoons because we know whats best for the rest of the world ain't workin'!
(Never has and never will)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)