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Economy/Economics, Environment, Hollywood/Films, Mainstream Media, Pat Post, Uncategorized
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Oil Field of Dreams
by Pat_S on May 23, 2010A post by Pat The petroleum engineers aren’t having much luck in shutting down the oil spurt despite some novel ideas. Bob Woodward thinks we should hand the problem over to Google. They’re smart people. …it is a potentially giant disaster of the — I mean, most disasters come and go. 9/11 came and went, okay. This continues. …Why don’t they call in Google? Why don’t they call in some of the people who have these great minds? Not everyone thinks the disaster of 9/11 is gone, but that’s another matter. Woodward goes on to explain why the oil companies make so much money. ..I think the one thing we’ve learned about oil is—it’s kind of answered the question why...
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Movie Note: “Kick-Ass”
by Maynard on May 11, 2010A post by Maynard I’d heard the movie Kick-Ass had something to do with an ordinary kid who decides to fight crime by playing a super-hero. It sounded like good, clean fun, and the reviews were favorable (see Metacritic). But I hadn’t quite decided to see it until Roger Ebert labeled the film “morally reprehensible”. That sealed the deal. (It helped that it’s running at the ArcLight, which is the best theater in the world.) I have occasional respect for Ebert’s artistic evaluations (although one should never read an Ebert review until after you’ve seen a film; he gives the entire plot away!). But I have a different sort of respect for his moral compass. When Ebert says a film...
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For Those Who Want More Kathryn Bigelow
by Tammy on March 10, 2010So to speak. Here’s the Best Director Oscar winner in a rather unfortunate music video from about 1988, directed by James Cameron to whom Bigelow was married from 1989-1991. The good news is in this Western-type thingy, Bigelow doesn’t play a floozy, she plays a tough cowboy posse leader (should we expect anything less?). Save yourself some anguish, jump to about 2:50 in and look for the posse leader wearing a poncho and chewing on a cigar. It just goes to show you, you can do a really bad music video, marry the director, have the marriage not be not good either, and still become an Oscar-winning director 22 years later. What? Don’t say I never gave you anything 😉...
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The Curse of a Famous Relative
by Maynard on March 4, 2010A post by Maynard Do you have a famous relative? I have a famous relative. You’re likely to be regarded as a failure when contrasted against your famous relative. But it helps if you choose a different career path. Personally, I adjusted to life’s tensions by living in Mom’s basement and sleeping all day, arising only in darkness to post on the Internet and write crackpot letters to the editors of various journals. I am in good company. Johnny Weissmuller (he starred as Tarzan in the old movies) had a son named Johnny Weissmuller Jr. The son is noted for having played Chrome Robot #1 in THX 1138. And Dick Smothers‘s son, Dick Smothers Jr., became a pornographer. I hardly...
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Think You’ve Got Troubles? – ‘Man Fined In Failed Suicide’
by Pat_S on February 26, 2010A post by Pat From the Mongols to the Czars to the Commissars, life for the Slavs has been hardship and oppression. Their literature and music reflect a bleak and resigned spirit. They survive. Marriage, well that’s a challenge that may be more daunting. Ask the man from Omsk who jumped from a ninth-floor window during an argument with his wife. He thought he would escape his troubles through death. He failed. Not only did he live, but he must pay the medical bills for the 7-yr old girl he fell on. I suppose even with that, the worst is yet to come. He may have to go back home to his wife. It doesn’t say if he tried drinking...
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Terror in Mumbai
by Maynard on November 24, 2009A post by Maynard This new HBO documentary, “Terror in Mumbai”, is worth noting. If you get HBO, check your schedule. On the evening of November 26, 2008, ten young Pakistani men reached Mumbai in a small hijacked fishing boat, having slaughtered its captain and crew, and glided unnoticed into the teeming Indian port city. Over the next three days, armed with cell phones, machine guns, and fruit and nuts to sustain them, they unleashed coordinated attacks across the city that left at least 170 people dead and more than 300 wounded, sending shockwaves of fear around the world. Narrated by Mumbai-born Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and Newsweek International editor, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dan Reed (HBO’s “Terror in...
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Avatar
by Maynard on November 15, 2009A post by Maynard So James Cameron, who gave us Titanic and other mega-hits, is about to release Avatar. When it came out in 1997, Titanic, with a production budget of $200 million, was the most expensive film ever made. Avatar is apparently the new high-cost film. Wikipedia lists a production (as opposed to promotion and distribution) budget of $230 million. Other reports (see this discussion) suggest it cost more like $300 million to make. The number $500 million is also tossed around, although I think that includes promotion and distribution costs. Anyway, I watched the trailer for the film, and it went something like this: A paralyzed military guy gets patched up by the army and put in control...
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A Serious Man
by Maynard on October 25, 2009Maynard at the Movies I have great respect for the artistic talent of the movie-making Coen brothers. Their latest film, currently in limited theatrical release, is “A Serious Man”. The film observes an American Jewish community, focusing mainly on the trials and tribulations of one Larry Gopnik. Or then again, maybe it’s a movie about Schrödinger’s cat. Sounds fascinating, eh? Would it be surprising if I were to report the film is rather mundane? And yet… Did anyone see the Coen’s earlier “No Country for Old Men”? That was a superb movie. It took the heavy awards…Best Picture, Best Director, etc. “No Country for Old Men” was both deep and accessible (meaning you could watch it and enjoy it without...
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It’s a Good Life
by Maynard on October 14, 2009Don’t worry, people. It’s only a fictional show about an alternate reality — and a warped and unbelievable reality at that. Nothing so stupid could ever happen here.
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Inglourious Basterds
by Maynard on September 11, 2009A movie note by Maynard Count me among the fans of Quentin Tarantino. He’s the man that digs up the hackneyed, formulaic clichés from yesterday’s rubbish heap and turns them into vivid art. He’s old and he’s new. He’s a one-man cinematic bridge between the past and the future. Don’t go to “Inglourious Basterds” expecting simply a war movie. Yes, it’s a war movie on the surface. However, this is at its core an homage to every war movie ever made. It’s as much a real war movie as James Bond is a real spy. To properly “get” the film, it will help if you’re something of a movie fan. (I’m not saying you need to be an encyclopedia.) There’s...
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The Hurt Locker
by Maynard on July 23, 2009Wow, someone finally did an Iraq war film that’s not an anti-war film! That’s not to say it’s a pro-war film; rather it’s a film about people at war. But it’s a good film. If you’ve been sitting out treasonous garbage, here’s the one you waited for. Watching the movie, I was riveted. Afterwards, I had second thoughts. How realistic is this? It’s a fictional story, and I’m sure many liberties were taken. The drama was contrived, and some sequences were not quite logical. But these are quibbles. The film works. The focus is on a team that neutralizes bombs and booby traps. Watching from the safety of the theater, you feel very close to the action. A report comes,...
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Obama the Vulcan??
by Maynard on May 19, 2009An editorial comment by Maynard Drudge linked to this Breitbart article. President Barack Obama said in a report Sunday that he saw the new "Star Trek" film recently -- and not just because it was last week's top-grossing movie. "Everybody...
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Star Trek!
by Maynard on May 6, 2009A thoughtful (i.e., meandering and boring) post by Maynard Many modern social trends disturb me, but occasionally there's (in the words of the poet) an ironic point of light. (Bonus credit to anyone that can identify that reference, and my...
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If Julianne Moore Portrays Hillary
by Tammy on March 24, 2009Hillary? In a new movie about the Lewinsky scandal, does that mean we get Keira Knightly to portray Monica? I'm sure at about this point Billy Jeff is wondering why life can't actually imitate art. Julianne Moore to play...
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A Reflection on Natasha Richardson
by Tammy on March 21, 2009Richardson and her boys. Now at the end of a week with her wake done, funeral upcoming, and as the family of this woman retreat to grieve, I'm still getting emails from people wondering why her death is national...