Barack Obama struck an absolutely perfect note when he spoke at the Memorial Service last night. Here we watched, almost accidentally, and with rapt attention, after coming in from shoveling snow. Sounds like Jan Brewer came through, too, even winning praise from Boltgirl.
What I found most sobering yesterday, however, was another chance encounter. As I was riding home with the Beeg in her emminently snow-worthy pick-up, we were listening to NHPR and heard some sobering commentary from the pen of Daisy Hernandez. It says about as much about our country today as anything I have heard or seen recently. As well, it speaks to the randomness, on some level, that contributes to the shape of history. Tragedy is tragedy … and yet, I am so glad that it didn’t unfold in some of the other ways it might have …
It’s safe to say there was a collective sigh of brown relief when the Tucson killer turned out to be a gringo. Had the shooter been Latino, media pundits wouldn’t be discussing the impact of nasty politics on a young man this week — they’d be demanding an even more stringent anti-immigrant policy. The new members of the House would be stepping over each other to propose new legislation for more guns on the border, more mothers to be deported, and more employers to be penalized for hiring brown people. Obama would be attending funerals and telling the nation tonight that he was going to increase security just about everywhere.
Even closer to home, what the commmentary uncovered for me, is how destructive it really is, to take an individual act and ascribe something broader to it. Had a skinhead been involved, I’d have thought to myself, “Oh, of course.” Just as someone else might think about a person of color … or even, sadly, someone with a severe mental illness. It’s all wrong-headed – and I thank you, Daisy Hernandez, for the wake-up call!
But that doesn’t mean that I have any problem at all with calling people out on what I perceive as obvious wrong-headedness and/or hypocrisy. I submit, for example, this wonderful piece from The Mudflats, a reprint of an article by Nick Jans about the intersection of reality TV and politics as seen in Alaska, but as is happening pretty much everywhere.
In his opening monologue on Monday night’s Daily Show Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head, not blaming anyone or anything specific for this past weekend’s tragedy. He noted, rightly, that if you could draw a straight line of causality to any one thing, then it would be easy to “fix” what’s wrong and assure that it won’t happen again.
It will never be possible to predict or stop acts by so-called “crazy” people (and I do not like using a catch-all and derogatory term like that … but we don’t really have a good alternative at this point). However, as he so aptly puts it … it is important that we be able to easily tell the difference between the extreme ramblings of those who have lost touch with reality … and the statements of our so-called pundits (another catch-all that I dislike) and leaders.
Meanwhile, in a very chilling bit of absolute irresponsibility and hate, a gun manufacturer in South Carolina is apparently etching the slogan “You lie” (commemorating Joe Wilson’s act of self-serving rudeness on the floor of the House last year) into a component of its assault rifles. Horrible on so many levels.
Who makes decisions like that? Who carries them out? It’s personal … and individuals are responsible at each and every step along the way. Jamin McCallum is the President of the company making these particular assault rifles … and maybe he’s thought better of it, as it appears the page referenced on HuffPo is now gone. Hopefully these despicable weapons will be gone soon, too – all 999 of them!
But what famillies are putting their kids through college with their salaries from Glock? Maybe you can’t draw a line of causality … but at what point do individuals say, “I don’t want to be a part of this.”?
And finally, I do have to note that, to her credit, the woman from Alaska is being wonderfully silent these days. Whether it is out of respect and horror, or because she is consulting and calculating with her confidants and cronies about what to do, I obviously don’t know.
And while I might wish and hope that she’d say something insightful, substantive, and potentially transforming … I’ll take the silence.
As I read the responses to the tragic assassination attempt in Arizona, one of the biggest things that I am learning is how very fragile the so-called pundits of the right-wing are. I mean fragile in the sense that any call to really examine what happened and to open to the possibility that rhetoric is important … is bringing wails and squeals of “Don’t blame me” and “Liberals aren’t being fair” from leading lights like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich.
I feel like I am hearing 6-year-olds saying, “I didn’t do it, Mommy … and THEY are being mean to me!”
As I hear it, people are angry and looking for answers .. and what folks are asking for is honest debate … but for Rush, apparently what it comes down to, in the end, is his livelihood. As he sums it up (emphasis mine) …
“They will use anyone,” Limbaugh said of the left. “They will use any event. They will take what is a genuine tragedy and without any evidence whatsoever attempt to massage it for their own political benefit. And they can’t do it by touting their ideas. They can’t do it by explaining the virtue of their beliefs. So what do they have to do? They have to impugn, destroy get rid of, regulate out of business, their political opponent in media if they have a chance.”
So, Rush and Newt, really … it isn’t about you (believe it ot not). This is about our country and about how we see one another and how we treat one another … and the fact that hate speech may, just possibly, sometimes, maybe … lead to hateful acts. I undestand that you don’t want to see or admit a possible connection. I understand that self examination on this subject could be really, really painful. And I understand that it’s highly unlikely that any or you are going to man up about this.
Your true colors are showing … and here’s a small sampling of the shades and hues I’m talking about (taken from William Rivers Pitt’s The Wrath of Fools: An Open Letter to the Far Right). No wonder you don’t want to really look at this …
“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus – living fossils – so we will never forget what these people stood for.”
– Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95
“Get rid of the guy. Impeach him, censure him, assassinate him.”
– Rep. James Hansen (R-UT), talking about President Clinton
“We’re going to keep building the party until we’re hunting Democrats with dogs.”
– Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), Mother Jones, 08-95
“My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building.”
– Ann Coulter, New York Observer, 08-26-02
“We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.”
– Ann Coulter, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, 02-26-02
“Chelsea is a Clinton. She bears the taint; and though not prosecutable in law, in custom and nature the taint cannot be ignored. All the great despotisms of the past – I’m not arguing for despotism as a principle, but they sure knew how to deal with potential trouble – recognized that the families of objectionable citizens were a continuing threat. In Stalin’s penal code it was a crime to be the wife or child of an ‘enemy of the people.’ The Nazis used the same principle, which they called Sippenhaft, ‘clan liability.’ In Imperial China, enemies of the state were punished ‘to the ninth degree’: that is, everyone in the offender’s own generation would be killed and everyone related via four generations up, to the great-great-grandparents, and four generations down, to the great-great-grandchildren, would also be killed.”
– John Derbyshire, National Review, 02-15-01
“Two things made this country great: White men & Christianity. The degree these two have diminished is in direct proportion to the corruption and fall of the nation. Every problem that has arisen (sic) can be directly traced back to our departure from God’s Law and the disenfranchisement of White men.”
– State Rep. Don Davis (R-NC), emailed to every member of the North Carolina House and Senate, reported by the Fayetteville Observer, 08-22-01
Teapartiers, GOPers … forget these dudes – they are not concerned about you or me or the USA … they are just concerned about power and money.
The shooting in Tucson yesterday has left me … and so many others, shaken, appalled, and wondering just when this ugliness will stop. A Congresswoman meeting with her constituents should not need to be an event that requires security. It should be part of the normal weave of our democratic processes … sort of like breathing. People out and about on a Saturday morning should not be in danger if they choose to stop and listen to a member of Congress.
And political disagreements should not need to be matters that are fanned and inflamed into issues of patriotism or treason, good or evil, life or death. Those who spew that kind of heated rhetoric need to take responsibility for the havoc that their words can wreak.
For someone whose Facebook Page featured crosshairs targeting Congressional Districts (including that of Representative Giffords – although it disappeared right after the tragedy, apparently) … it’s beyond disingenuous to not even offer an INKLING of serious, responsible reflection in her statement about this recent event. Instead, we get terse and empty platitudes from the great P-meister:
My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona.
On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.
And from Eric Cantor, we have a promise that “all legislative activity in the House scheduled for next week would be postponed.” Now that’s a meaningful gesture! If you said that John Boehner would stop playing golf …. or that legislative activity would actually HAPPEN, or that you might stop posturing and grabbing for power and actually put the good of the country first … we might think you were really doing something heartfelt, Eric.
During his campaign effort to unseat Giffords in November, Republican challenger Jesse Kelly held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle. Kelly is a former Marine who served in Iraq and was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event.
“I don’t see the connection,” between the fundraisers featuring weapons and Saturday’s shooting, said John Ellinwood, Kelly’s spokesman.
That is beyond unbelievable. Do these folks really believe what they are saying? Or is it simply cynical? Or, as third, chilling possibility, do they really think that their cause(s) are worth the loss of human life … but they just aren’t saying it publically?
John Roll, the Federal Judge who was murdered yesterday, had had numerous death threats against himself and his family.
… Roll allowed a $32 million civil-rights lawsuit to proceed against a local rancher. The case was filed by illegal immigrants and drew the ire of local talk radio hosts, who “spurred audiences into making threats.”
In one afternoon, Roll logged more than 200 phone calls. Callers threatened the judge and his family. They posted personal information about Roll online.
“They said, ‘We should kill him. He should be dead,’ ” Gonzales said.
By all accounts, it sounds like Judge Roll’s presence at the event yesterday was totally random … a tragic happenstance within a larger tragedy.
But, the bottom line is that while those who pump up the volume can assert that they are not directly responsible for the acts of the likes of Jared Lee Loughner … and they can distance themselves as best they can … in their hearts, in the middle of the night … do they really believe it? Rupert Murdoch … how much money do you need? Do you have any misgivings about what you bankroll?
In the end, the only real question in my mind about these folks who we hear so much on the airwaves is, are they evil … or are they deeply and thoroughly deluded about the connection between their rhetoric and this abhorrrent violence? As deluded as they want to say Jared Lee Loughner is?
Either way … they are dangerous. (But you will notice, please, that I am not encouraging anyone to shoot at them or harm them in any way … other than maybe damaging their egos by not voting for them or buying their books or listening to them.)
PS: Meanwhile, here in New Hampshire … “On its first day in control at the New Hampshire Statehouse last week, the new Republican-led Legislature made it crystal clear where its real priorities are. The Republicans’ first legislative act? Voting to open the House chamber to firearms for the first time since 1971.” OMG … the State and its budget are a mess and THIS is what they focus on?
Last week I tweeted one resolution for the New Year. It involved exercise, so I won’t repeat it here … 😉
My second resolution involves learning to use my cell phone. I believe that it is important to be just a smidgeon smarter than your phone (or at least to be able to minimally support that illusion).
My third resolution is to make more use of the cloud … meaning (generically) the many web-based options for sharing stuff.
I’m intrigued with Dropbox, for example. You can upload stuff to the web and share it … up to 2GB for free! As an example, I’d been trying to name the musical source for a riff in a song that Pieces of Dream played the other night … figured it out after @ 24 hours of ruminating … and was able to share in with some friends at this link. Great way to avoid clogging e-mail!
I also want to figure out Picasa so I can use it a bit more adeptly (actually, meaning so that I can use it … period).
What are your (non-exercise) resolutions this year?
😉
PS Oh, and I also have resolved to continue to mindlessly root for Philly teams, to read more books, to update the “Recently Seen at Red River” widget to the right of this, and to happily sample whatever hoppy concoctions HollyCornblog comes up with!
It looks to be a beautiful start to this brand spanking new year of ours.
I hope it holds wonderful insights and adventures for you … along with qite a few good belly laughs. (And I won’t trivialize these wishes by introducing the subject of Philly sports teams this morning … but you absolutely know what’s in the back of my mind … don’t you?)
Yup, Stanford ended UConn’s streak with a strong performance against a Husky team that never really looked like themselves. (In truth, they looked a little like the Tuesday night Eagles.)
Great performance by the Stanford women. My only complaint is that I could have done with about 30 fewer shots of Condi and her buddy in the stands. (You can see them in the video above.) Her buddy is Randy Bean … about whose relationship with Condi there is much speculation.
I would be inclined to leave Condi alone and let her enjoy her private life … had she not been willing to support the horrible, horrible, horrible policies of the Bush/Cheney (or Cheney/Bush) administration for all of those years.
But, as it is, Ms. Condi, I feel like, without any show of reflection or remorse on your part, I am going to continue to find it beyond irksome, that you and your partners (be they life partners or partners in crime) are enjoying yourselves. I realize that life is complex … and from what I gather, the friends you keep are more to my liking than the politicians you cavorted with. But how do you make sense of the dissonance? How does your inner circle? I am really, really curious about that.
I am looking forward to hearing/seeing how you make sense of it all, Condi. But you’re gonna need to come a LOT cleaner than you have so far to do it for me.
Here’s my spin … it couldn’t have come at a better time. (How’s that?)
They were getting cocky (yes, Michael and DeSean, I mean you) and needed to wake up. Enter the Vikings and their unheralded replacement QB, Joe Webb. Now the Eagles have a tougher road … and no bye, unless they take it on Sunday versus the ‘boys. (I expect they will, tho’ it will be tough to concede one to the team from Dallas.)
Out west, the UConn women have made it 90-wins-in-a-row … and face a stiffer challenge tomorrow night against Stanford.
Here on our hill in Canterbury we survived the winds of the past couple of days, and I am pleased to report that (amazingly) the angel atop the ex-Xmas Tree marking Willie’s grave continues to watch the turning world from its perch there.
I’m off to work … enjoying a quiet and productive week – perfect way to end the year.
So, forgetting the unhappy Eagles, I’ll translate “Argggggghhhh” to “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” as the sun breaches the horizon and the new day begins!
Licorice Pizza: I'm starting anew here and have now been, twice, to Vax and Snax at Red River. These are Thursday night movies for vaccinated and masked folks, and you can get POPCORN! But I digress...Licorice Pizza was a sweet, coming-of-age in The Valley in the Seventies sort of movie that managed to include waterbeds and Jon Peters and two new stars -- Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman (son of Philip Seymour Hoffman).
If Beale Street Could Talk: Quiet, beautiful, heartfelt, devastating. America wears many masks. This movie strips a few of them away. It shines a light on quite a lot of ugliness. As well, it illuminates dignity and resilience in the face of a system built on the abuse of privilege and power. A perfect movie to see on the eve of what is hopefully Donald Trump's last SOTU.
Shoplifters: A beautifully honest, quiet movie that is at once uplifting and devastating. Universal questions are raised and left open for pondering. What is a family? How do people survive in our world today? And how do we judge their choices?
Green Book: Very enjoyable movie and yet deeply flawed. The white guy comes across as the hero in ways that are typical for the American movie industry, and comfortably misleading in terms of the realities of our culture. Especially in the current socio/political atmosphere, can't we do better than this?
On the Basis of Sex: We applauded, we cried, we felt so glad that RBG was as prescient as she was. And I felt personally glad that her love of opera clearly predates her connection with Scalia. What an inspiring woman -- and a good movie about her early years as a student, professor, and attorney.
The Favourite: Did I say that being a queen was no fun? This definitely seems to have carried forward to Queen Anne's reign. Strong performances again, and more belly laughs than you'd think. And right along with it, grief, emptiness, ambition, and gouty excess.
Mary Queen of Scots: Being a queen was no fun in the 16th century. Excellent, complex performances in this one. I found Elizabeth especially compelling. Very unclear who actually wins out in this one.
Another Year: Loved this one! It's about a couple, and their friends, and their lives – painful in spots, and wonderfully everyday and enriching, to my mind. Great performances – and who knew there was so much wine being drunk in England!?
Tiny Furniture: A young woman (aka Lena Dunham) comes home after graduating from college and tries to find herself – or not. A character study that I found humorous and touching – and sometimes a little disturbing and/or self-indulgent. It's definitely a privilege to have the leisure to "find oneself." After this..."Girls."
Rabbit Hole: Painful/powerful movie about loss and grieving. Hard to watch but well worth the effort, with a strong cast and an especially on the mark performance by Nicole Kidman. I continue to be glad to see that she is clearly outstripping Tom Cruise as an artist. You go girl!
The Kids Are Alright: Very enjoyable movie with great performances and an excellent cast. Two kids whose moms are lesbians decide they want to find out something about their "father" – and everything moves on from that point.
The King's Speech: Warm, funny, inspiring – and apparently a bit of a rewrite of history, to boot! Colin Firth puts out an amazing performance – and was well rewarded for it. Everyone else is great too, and if you're one of the few people left who hasn't seen it, it's definitely worth a look!
Black Swan: This is a disturbing movie that I really loved – and in case you haven't noticed, I do have a tendency to like disturbing movies. What's real and what isn't? You be the judge. Also, be on the lookout for Winona Ryder – you'll never recognize her!
Blue Valentine: A couple in trouble – how they started and how they got to where they are. A good movie with excellent performances that left me wondering, especially in Michelle Williams' case, whether she was thinking about what's his name (her partner who died suddenly – the guy who starred in Broke Back Mountain – for some reason I can't remember his name – oh yeah, Heath Ledger).
Shutter Island: A dark period piece that has the creepy feel of the 1950s (creepy to me at any rate) and has stayed with me more than I would've thought. A movie with surprises – definitely worth a look.
Cyrus: I don't remember this one so well, but have a vague recollection of walking out of the theater feeling not so enthralled. I believe it's supposed to be funny – but as you can tell it didn't really make an impression.
I Am Love: Really beautiful, sumptuous movie that made me hungry, just watching it. A keeper!
The Girl Who Played with Fire: The second in the three part series involving the girl with the dragon tattoo, this movie was much harder to watch than the first, as Salander's triumph isn't quite so clear at the end. Painful, painful, painful.
Scott Pilgrim Versus the World: I loved this comic book take on young love. Went to the movie on a whim and came away very happy to have seen it! Quite a few laugh out loud moments – and touching, as well.
Going the Distance: A very lightweight romcom that kinda left me feeling like I had just spent an hour and a half reading People magazine. In other words, pretty much a waste of time.
Never Let Me Go: Wow! This was an amazing, stark, and moving movie about kids who are basically raised to become organ donors. Very much worth seeing.
The Town: Ben Affleck's movie about bank robbers. It's okay. Not great, but okay. It does make me curious about Charlestown – will have to go there one day.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger: A Woody Allen movie that I honestly don't remember very well. It's pretty much about adults behaving badly – something that Woody knows a little something about.
The Social Network: The movie about Facebook. I found it very interesting and well done, and was especially fascinated/disturbed by the window on the incredible privilege and elitism still thriving at undergrad Harvard.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Number three in the Dragon trilogy. I found this, in many ways, the weakest of the three movies – although that's not to say that it was weak. Perhaps my enjoyment was affected by the fact that I hadn't read the book. Anyway, it's a great trilogy and I was sorry to see it come to an end.
Fair Game: The movie about the Valerie Plame affair. One of the things that I found most interesting was how it uncovered my own biases, as she was clearly a very serious and talented agent, but because of her blonde haired beauty, I pretty much assumed that she was a lightweight in real life. I appreciated, also, the depiction of her husband as a bit of a media hound, which was how he seemed to me at the time. And of course, there are the despicable characters of the Bush administration. Glad they were on display in all their glory!
City Island: This was a fine, if predictable, movie about a family in which everyone has a secret and is telling lies. I mostly loved it because it gave me a glimpse of where my friend CB lives!
Winter's Bone: Wow! Unrelenting, stark, and ultimately uplifting – at least to my mind. This is a painful movie about life when you're the daughter of someone who runs a meth lab. Winter's Bone is a perfect title. J-Law is amazing!
Please Give: Quirky, sweet, slice-of-life movie. I loved the low-key character development and good humor of it all. Enjoyable, with a great cast and few false notes.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Tho' parts of the book were missing, this was an excellent rendition of an excellent book. Not for the faint of heart, tho'! Lisbeth Salander is an Emma Peel for the 21st Century (watch for more from Noomi Rapace - I will be)!
Me and Orson Welles: Or was it Orson Welles and me? (If Orson had anything to do with the title, I'm guessing the latter.) I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, even as it reminded me of why the world of the theatre holds absolutely no appeal for yours truly! Nice to see Claire Danes back ... still have to finish watching Temple Grandin, too!
Crazy Heart: I left this movie thinking ... "Eh?" but it has stayed with me. Jeff Bridges does give a wonderful performance. The amount of smoking and drinking was nauseating - as I guess it was supposed to be - all in an understated, Jeff Bridges sort of a way.
A Single Man: One of the best movies of the year in my book. Haunting, beautifully acted and filmed ... marred only by an unnecessarily heavy-handed ending, IMHO. That was the only flaw in an otherwise brilliant bit of artistry. Colin Firth was perfect, and this was an amazing writing/directing debut for Tom Ford! See it!!!
Young Victoria: I am eternally grateful to have not been born the heir to a throne. Life was confusing enough! This was an enjoyable, tear-jerker of a movie that left me wanting to know more about the details. Perhaps a bio for Bookeaters?
Precious: Wow, wow, wow. Two weeks in a row - another amazing movie at Red River. This is a challenging and important movie ... about life in America ... every single day ... everywhere.
The Messenger: Wow, wow, wow. This is one of the best movies I have seen in quite some time. Its focus is on two men who notifiy NOK (next of kin) when a soldier dies. It is a raw, wrenching, unflinching and uplifting journey - not to be missed. Seriously
Damned United: This was a study in soccer, ambition, and friendship. For soccer buffs who actually know the players (I'm a late-comer to the game) the movie would be that much better. I loved it, though - and recommend it highly.
A Serious Man: The Book of Job envisioned by the Coen brothers evoked the early sixties and suburbia with humor, pathos ... and a slightly nauseating quality that tells me they pretty much hit the nail on the head. As one of the goyim, I am sure there were hundreds of nuances that were lost on me ... but I loved it (nausea aside) nonetheless!
Cold Souls: The premise of this movie is deeply strange, yet it is presented in an entirely believable way. It's by turns very moving and then hilarious (in ways that, in retrospect, are hard to capture/explain). The ending leaves a puzzled feeling - but that's not really bothersome. In many ways, puzzled is the appropriate way to walk out of the theater after "Cold Souls." Check it out!
Adam: Nicely done! Not a movie that will stay with you for a long time, but I liked it. The father (Peter Gallagher) seemed a tad overdone -and unnecessarily so. Unmemorable soundtrack - but since I mention it, does that make it memorable? Now I'm starting to feel like Steven Wright - not necessarily a bad thing!
Taking Woodstock: Even going in with low expectations, this offering from Ang Lee just wasn't good. Vilma was a high point in an otherwise shoddy effort. Harsh, eh? And watch out, world - it's only 6:30 AM!
Julie and Julia: I was not as bothered by Julie as some reviewers were - maybe because I liked seeing a blogger hit the big time. Meryl Streep was amazing as Julia .. and this is definitely not a movie to see on an empty stomach! Never have I enjoyed watching people eat as much as I did watching this flick!
500 Days of Summer: I think I wasn't supposed to, but I loved it. Engaging characters and script, great soundtrack. Not as quirky and lovable as "Away We Go" - but not far behind, either.
Whatever Works: People either like or hate this latest offering from Woody Allen. I must admit that it's a little weird to see this May-December relationship on-screen, feeling so creeped out by Woody's real-life choices. But I'd say he pulls it off. There are some really great lines throughout the movie, and while not entirely believable, I didn't mind being along for the ride. A pleasant diversion for sure.
Goodbye, Solo: Interesting movie that basically contrasts life energy and death energy, IMHO. Solo is the epitome of resilience - love him! Meanwhile William seems bent on being miserable, for reasons that the movie leaves mysterious. I didn't find him very a likable or compelling character - but Solo makes up for it.
Moon: I hesitate to write this one up, as I was tired when I saw it - and missed portions. But form my bleary vantage point, this seemed an intriguing movie set on the moon and exploring themes of identity, isolation, etc. It was not my usual fare - and I wasn't up to snuff - but at least had the wherewithall to be able tell that it was quality work!
Cheri: I liked this a lot better than Easy Virtue - maybe because I went into it having already seen EV and had my expectations lowered. Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates are fun to watch as always - and I liked Rupert Friend in the title role. It all got a little too serious at the end - a tone-shift that didn't quite fit with the bulk of the movie. Still - a pleasant diversion on a rainy July evening!
Away We Go: This was an excellent movie in every regard. Great dialogue and plot line, endearing cast/characters, heartwarming/funny story that avoids tipping over into overly-sweet territory ... and great soundtrack, to boot! See it, if you haven't already.
Easy Virtue: Not my cup of tea - but I suspect it would have helped, going in, to know that this was a movie based on a Noel Coward play. The characters felt stilted and unbelievable to me, as it was - and I couldn't muster much concern for what became of them. All things considered, I'd rather have been in Philadelphia!
Sugar: Sugar is a baseball flick that is sweetly and realistically done - and definitely like no Hollywood film on the subject. The characters are real and the life is hard - and the film depicts it all in a matter-of-fact way that brings the realities home more surely than something more "dramatic" ever could. Two thumbs up on this one!
Sunshine Cleaning: Director Christine Jeffs has a winner in this tale about the hard times and resiliency of the Lorkowski family. Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin shine in this movie about a bio-hazard clean-up company. Yes, that's correct. And the movie had the potential to cross the line into sappiness several times but demurred. For that I am eternally thankful. (Okay, eternally may be a little over the top.) Darn good flick, though - check it out.
Milk: Sean Penn deserves an Oscar for his amazing portrayal of Harvey Milk. It actually didn't even feel like a portrayal - more a channeling. Such a loss - that yet another creative and energetic and good leader, was senselessly murdered all those years ago. Fear, hatred and guns - why don't we remove at least the last ingredient in the tragic mix?
Doubt: Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman are amazing, and Viola Davis is a heartbreaking revelation in this battle royale. I was left with less doubt at the end than some of my compatriots ... but that took nothing away from the experience. Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar, IMHO ... and I definitely want her on my side, always!
Slumdog Millionaire: Just a great movie, start to finish. Magical,epic, and a nail-biter (even though you know what's going to happen ... pretty much. The dancing at the end did my heart good - and having M.I.A. in the soundtrack didn't hurt, either!
The Secret Life of Bees: Or was it The Secret Lives of Bees? Anyway, whatever - I want Queen Latifah to be my mother!!! (What was Bill Clinton thinking, throwing her under the bus all those years ago?) The movie was entertaining but not a home run by any means. Too predictable ... but Alicia Keys was wonderfully cranky-verging-on-scary and the Queen was queenly and the honey looked delicious and it was nice hearing India Arie in the soundtrack!
Happy Go Lucky: I think I was supposed to like this more than I did. Perhaps it suffered by being seen pretty much on the heels of Rachel. I found Poppy to be a sometimes intriguing and sometimes annoying character. The relentless joking and "upbeatness" felt distancing and unnecessary. I didn't hate this movie by any means - but something was missing for me.
Rachel Getting Married: Jonathan Demme and an amazing script and cast just blew me away with this effort. The characters are fascinating and complicated and most every interaction in the film left me engaged and wanting to know more! Debra Winger was stupendous - although it's been so long since I've seen her that I kept trying to find the bull-riding Urban Cowboy persona within the steely, distant mother of this wedding movie. (She's not there.) Margot at the Wedding was very good - but Rachel puts her in her place. I highly recommend this to everyone!
Religulous: Bill Maher skewers the rampant "illogic" of religion in this free-wheeling film. His wit is right on target and as barbed as you'd expect. I found myself squirming every once in awhile. I don't mind you picking on the Pope, Bill ... but same as with Michael Moore ... sometimes when you set up "common folks" to look like fools, I cringe. Still, Religulous is worth a look for sure. The best point Bill makes? That conservatives of a religulous bent are about finding answers - while liberals are about asking questions. I can go with that!
Roman de gare: This was an intriguing, surprising, suspenseful, funny, quirky movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters and plot lines are deftly developed. You should definitely check it out if you get the chance!
Young at Heart: YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE! It's a documentary about a choral group of octogenarians in Northampton, MA. Very inspiring ... definitely something to check out!
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: Enjoyable, light fare with a stellar performance by my favorite police chief, Frances McDormand!
The Visitor: Now this was an excellent movie ... from start to finish. It was similar to Smart People in that it had an academic as the main character. However, all similarities ended pretty much right there. In this warm, funny, and wrenching movie, the characters are well and subtly developed, the plot is (unfortunately) believable ... and there are no false notes. I would urge you to see it - you won't be sorry!
Smart People: Looks like we're getting back on track with our Tuesday night movie schedule ... for the time being. Smart People was enjoyable but left me unenthralled. (It probably didn't help that we ran into a totally enthralled movie-goer on the way in who was seeing it for the second time. High expectations may have killed this one for me.) Overall, I found the characters exaggerated and mildly unlikeable ... the dialogue stilted and self-conscious, perhaps just the way smart people talk. But then the lessons about loosening up and being less self-absorbed weren't exactly ground-breaking. Overall, it wasn't a wasted evening ... but not a movie I'll be putting at the top of my list, either.
4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days): Winner of the Palm D'Or at Cannes, this film by Romania's Cristian Mungiu certainly deserves the accolades it receives. It's a realistic and emotionally unflinching story of a woman who helps her friend obtain an illegal abortion in 1987 Romania. The story is harrowing, the acting wonderful, and the cinematography amazing. This film makes Juno look like Disney pablum!
Taxi to the Dark Side: This was a harrowing and eye-opening look at what our country has become under the leadership of Bush/Cheney after 9/11. The "road taken" has definitely been a trip to the dark side. Disgusting and important to see ... as we make our way back toward the light!
Michael Clayton: What an excellent movie! Engaging, engrossing, well-acted. Tilda Swinton certainly deserved an award for her protrayal of what I have to think must be the secret, inner life of Condi Rice.
Persepolis: This animated memoir is an engaging, heartbreaking, uplifting, realistic look at life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Go see it! It humanizes what our current regime so consistently tries to dehumanize. An important movie, Persepolis is based on the book by Marjane Satrapi.
Margot at the Wedding: Dark, funny, tough to watch and very well acted.
I'm Not There: Bob Dylan's not my favorite, but this was a fascinating movie to watch (albeit long) and since he wasn't there, I couldn't very well feel annoyed by him. Cate Blanchette was just amazing - and I loved the surreal, Fellini-esque feel of the Richard Gere parts.
Atonement: Lush, compelling, painful - I especially loved Vanessa Redgrave's starkly powerful 5 minutes - and the Fellini-esque (can you tell I love Fellini?) flavor of the scenes of the evacuating troops on the beach - complete with ferris wheels - somehow depicting the disorienting horror of war in ways that blood and gore never could. Great movie!
Juno: Well, I went to see it. I totally agree with my friends who found the clinic scene extremely misleading, off-base, and gratuitously negative in its depiction of the women's health movement and its workers. In an otherwise nice movie, this was a thoughtless lapse ... and I was sad to see so many women in Juno's age group in the theater (one of them actually pregnant) ... who'll be coming away with a false impression that could so seriously affect their lives!
The Savages: Wow, what a good movie! Philip Seymour Hoffman has had an amazing run this year between this, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and that other movie with Tom Hanks ... the name of which is escaping me at the moment ... Charlie Somebody's War. Anyway - he and Laura Linney are just wonderful as siblings dealing with their aging/ailing father. Painful and real ... and set in gritty, wintry Buffalo ... in perfect contrast to Sun City. (The latter looks like a setting that would do David Lynch proud.) Check it out if you haven't seen it!
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