Don’t do it. Seriously. Don’t do it. Just. Don’t. Do. It. Don’t even think about doing it. It’s all in your head, don’t you know. So don’t. Okay? Just don’t. Don’t whine. Don’t complain. It’s a mental recession, see? Get it? You’re mind is receding. So stop whining and go spend the money you don’t have on things that are too expensive – like food or gas. And if you can’t, well, stop whining anyway. You’re liable to upset McCain’s top economic policy advisor, Phil Gramm. He thinks the U.S. is already too much of a whining nation. http://www.washtimes.com/news
Hancock — You Will Find It Gritty, Realistic and Generally Successful
Not based on any existing comic book, “Hancock” aims to leap beyond the bar described by the dreaded moniker of “comic book movie.” Gone is the origin formula rooted in traumatic events and scientific accidents, along with secret identities and the subsequent assumption of world-saving heroism. Instead: an alcoholic, amnesiac superhero with an abrasive personality and a destructive disregard, not to mention contempt, for the people around him — more Bad Santa than Superman.
Olympic Fever? Turn Up the Heat!
Part II
Last week, I ended by asking whether or not China really deserves to host the Olympics. The reason is simple: the Olympics bring along more than good sportsmanship and a fuzzy feeling of international camaraderie. If money were manna and it fell from the sky, one could light a torch in honour of the Olympics. In other words, the Olympics are a reward. It is fame and fortune for the lucky host country. But what, exactly, are we rewarding?
The Wondrous World of Wall E
“I don’t mean to say that storytelling is overrated (then again, maybe that’s exactly what I mean), but we know it's not necessarily the most important thing in a movie — even a mainstream studio picture. How it feels will always be more significant than the tale it spins. Because it's a movie.” And thus Jim Emerson takes a waffling shot (http://blogs.suntimes.com/) at cinematic storytelling, the view that everything in a movie is meant to serve the “story.” Quoting Roger Ebert, “A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it,” and pointing to the formulaic nature of many movies, he piles it on:
For the Love of Dance: The Shakti School of Bharata Natyam’s Annual Program
In a lovely moment between performances at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center’s James Armstrong Theatre, as the program shifted gears from Company to student performances, dancers Namitha and Ananya Ananth offered the deepest bow I’d ever seen – a prostration at a worthy individual’s feet, with head and hands to the floor. As unfamiliar as the gesture might be to hand-shakers and huggers, there was no mistaking the great dignity and respect it embodied. Even now, days after the moment, I remain touched by its simple elegance and profound emotion.
Olympic Fever… Kinda-Sorta…
I’m not one for sports. Ask me about golf, and I’ll tell you about a B.C. strip I once saw in which B.C. explains the rules of golf to the Cute Chick – the fewest swings the better – only to get asked, why play at all? And when it comes to football, I still can’t quite understand the appeal of a giant time-out with a few moments of gaming in between.
The Happening: Something Happens, but It’s Not Good
As the title, “The Happening,” says, something does happen in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest offering: we reach the end of the road for Shymalan’s aspirations of being a latter-day Hitchcock by way of Rod Serling. The cross-pollination of “The Birds” with “28 Weeks Later” and “The Twilight Zone” results in, arguably, the worst film in Shymalan’s portfolio to date and, perhaps, the death of his cachet. The Shymalan brand has lost its luster. A shame.
Global Warming: Science, Not Faith
When I asked global warming skeptics what it would take to make the case for global warming, what standard of evidence would be satisfying, I was being perfectly sincere. I’d really like to know what the threshold of evidence is for answering the question as to whether or not global warming is real and whether or not we are the cause. It’s like a game, in a way. You win when you achieve the winning conditions defined by a set of rules. So, what rules would satisfy global warming skeptics? What are the winning conditions?
Got Funny? Get Smart!
Erik: “You were a bit skeptical going in.”
Fred: “Sure. I liked the teasers for ‘Get Smart,’ but the trailer’s cartoon violence humour turned me off. Oh look. Here’s Smart harpooning himself. Oh look. Here’s a guy getting a piece of paper stapled to his head. This is humour? People getting hurt is funny?”
Erik: “That’s a good point. In the film’s defense, though, I’d say that the bulk of the film’s jokes doesn’t consist of violence inflicted or self-inflicted.”
Fred: “That doesn’t make it right.”
Letter to Global Warming Skeptics
Dear Global Warming Skeptics:
I have a confession to make: I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why the scientific consensus is unpersuasive to you. I especially don’t understand the anger and contempt directed towards environmentalists in general and advocates like Al Gore in particular. But I do want to understand where you’re coming from because the quality of our environment requires honest, open discussions between people with different perspectives, especially since there are difficult choices to be made.