My favorite piece of media commentary for this week. Granted not as good as Seth's "This is what I think of TV news" video, but the sheer anger of this guy is pretty entertaining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMmbUmKN0E
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
A coincidence?
So exactly one week after one of our cohorts leaves Newport News and the newspaper world (could be anyone!), this arrives in my mailbox.
Pure coincidence, or a former DP staffer's sweet revenge?
Discuss. :)
Monday, September 24, 2007
A bag of popcorn in one hand, an extensively highlighted textbook in the other
There really is nothing quite like the first post of a new blog, especially one as broadly (poorly?) defined as this one. Will NAWW include a steady stream of entertainment and edification? Will posts slow to a halt? Is there in fact rum in Mojito Gum? We may not know these answers for awhile, but here's to finding out.
At any rate, I'm a bit of a cinephile and while I have a special place in my heart for those red Netflix envelopes, I do love going to the local theater -- and not because I have free tickets from winning the Oscar pool earlier this year. There was a two- or three-month span in 1997 when my friend Jacob Markovitz and I saw a movie every weekend. And yet the only flick I can recall well is Event Horizon, possibly because of all the blood or perhaps because I couldn't stop vomiting because of all the blood. I guess I'll never know. Anyway, here are some movies coming out over the next few months that should keep upchucking to a bare minimum: they are all political in nature, and therefore by definition earning at least some curiosity from me. Not to hop on the soapbox (yet) but I do happen to believe that American masses can use all the political education they can get, and if society needs fiction to broaden its horizons, well, so be it. Vox populi is too often defined by talking points and conventional wisdom -- why can't storytellers have their say, allowing Americans to have some commentary along with their reality TV and mindless explosions. Hey, what can I do: I'm a political reporter; if someone would like to list all the upcoming crime, education or Michael Vick-related films, please, be my guest.
(Note: Unlike in other seasons, none of these political movies are satires or comedies, a la American Dreamz and Thank You for Smoking. And nearly all tackle the same weighty issue: the war in Iraq. What statement that makes about the national mood, I wouldn't want to guess.)
The Kingdom (Trailer) opens this week. The two-hour film takes a tense look at a group of FBI operatives -- played by Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and, surprisingly, Jason Bateman -- who investigate a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. It's loosely based on the FBI's investigation of the 1996 bombings on Khobar Towers in Dharhan, but early reviews focus more on the violent action. Three crew members died during production and Jennifer Garner reportedly collapsed twice from the heat while filming the desert sequences.
In the Valley of Elah (Trailer) opened on Sept. 14. So named after the valley in which David slew Goliath, this Paul Haggis-helmed picture follows a woman played by Charlize Theron helping an ex-military man (Tommy Lee Jones) investigate the disappearance of his Iraq-vet son. Naturally, given Haggis' background (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) the film evolves from a whodunit into one asking acute questions about the war. Susan Sarandon plays the soldier's mother.
Grace is Gone (Trailer) opens on Oct. 15. John Cusack reins in his go-to hyper-articulate character while playing a shrinking father who can't quite find the words to tell his two daughters that their mother has been killed in the Iraq war. Unlike "Elah," this movie tackles more the tragic loss of life that comes with war over, say, the pros and cons of invading Iraq.
Rendition (Trailer) comes out October 19. This Reese Witherspoon vehicle depicts the U.S. government's practice of extraordinary rendition, in which our country kidnaps suspected terrorists and flies them to other countries to be tortured for information. When the Egyptian husband of Witherspoon's character is secretly held by the government (Jake Gyllenhaal plays the rookie CIA agent overseeing the interrogation; Meryl Streep the official who orders the covert abduction.) she struggles equally with the secretive agency and not knowing if he's innocent or guilty.
Day Zero (Trailer) is expected to open Nov. 2. And they said it would never happen... The draft is back! With forces in Afghanistan and Iraq depleted and weary, the U.S. government reinstates the military draft. A trio of best friends deal how to respond after they're told they have 30 days to report for duty. Do they forsake their careers, love lives, personal beliefs to fight in today's war? Starring Elijah Wood, Chris Klein, some Jewish looking guy and NAWW favorite Ginnifer Goodwin.
Lions for Lambs (Trailer) opens on Nov. 9. This wide-ranging picture ruminates on war, education and politics and stars Tom Cruise as a Republican senator, Meryl Streep as a journalist and Robert Redford (who directed) as a liberal college professor character who quotes a WWI general to give the film its title: "Never have I seen such lions led by such lambs." In interviews, Redford has noted that the current pace of events dictates that his movie will in all likelihood be a period piece by the time it comes out in two months. But even then it's likely to be just the sort of red meat that anti-war advocates will eagerly eat up.
Crossing Over is due to open Nov. 16. Intersecting stories depict the sacrifices made by those who live without green cards and those who struggle to enforce the law in Los Angeles. The clash of cultures plays a major role as well. Harrison Ford plays an immigration officer; Sean Penn as a border-patrol agent.
Redacted will open in November. Brian De Palma (The Untouchables, Scarface) wrote and directed this "fictional documentary" of soldiers fighting in the Iraq war. President Bush is particularly excoriated in the film, which uses no-name actors to give it an extra dose of realism. "Redacted" was an official selection at the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Still not convinced? Here are the IMDB.com "plot keywords": Iraq War, Controversial, Scandal, Gang Rape, Rape Scene. Enjoy that popcorn!
Charlie Wilson's War will open on Dec. 25. This story depicts the unbelievable true story of a liberal Texas congressman who single-handedly altered aid to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets but ultimately gave birth to today's Islamic fanatics. A phenomenal book (so good I accidently got my parents' book club to read it last year) is being adapted by an unparalleled writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The American President, A Few Good Men) with a top-notch cast (Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts). Sure, so I'd watch Sorkin adapt the phone book, but the story of how Wilson had such an incredible hand in ending the spread of Soviet Communism while accidentally kick-starting the events that would lead to 9/11 is really quite incredible. Mike Nichols (The Graduate) directs.
No update seems to exist on the Internets, but as far as I know the aforementioned Paul Haggis is still working on adapting "Against all Enemies," a project based on Richard A. Clarke's best-selling memoir chronicling the Bush administration's dubious handling of terrorist threats. Am I listing this just so I can play the casting-call game again? You bet! Come on down, Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Karen Hughes, Ari Fleischer, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. This would be a nice place for a George Bush-as-chimp joke, but frankly, I'll pass.
At any rate, I'm a bit of a cinephile and while I have a special place in my heart for those red Netflix envelopes, I do love going to the local theater -- and not because I have free tickets from winning the Oscar pool earlier this year. There was a two- or three-month span in 1997 when my friend Jacob Markovitz and I saw a movie every weekend. And yet the only flick I can recall well is Event Horizon, possibly because of all the blood or perhaps because I couldn't stop vomiting because of all the blood. I guess I'll never know. Anyway, here are some movies coming out over the next few months that should keep upchucking to a bare minimum: they are all political in nature, and therefore by definition earning at least some curiosity from me. Not to hop on the soapbox (yet) but I do happen to believe that American masses can use all the political education they can get, and if society needs fiction to broaden its horizons, well, so be it. Vox populi is too often defined by talking points and conventional wisdom -- why can't storytellers have their say, allowing Americans to have some commentary along with their reality TV and mindless explosions. Hey, what can I do: I'm a political reporter; if someone would like to list all the upcoming crime, education or Michael Vick-related films, please, be my guest.
(Note: Unlike in other seasons, none of these political movies are satires or comedies, a la American Dreamz and Thank You for Smoking. And nearly all tackle the same weighty issue: the war in Iraq. What statement that makes about the national mood, I wouldn't want to guess.)
The Kingdom (Trailer) opens this week. The two-hour film takes a tense look at a group of FBI operatives -- played by Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and, surprisingly, Jason Bateman -- who investigate a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. It's loosely based on the FBI's investigation of the 1996 bombings on Khobar Towers in Dharhan, but early reviews focus more on the violent action. Three crew members died during production and Jennifer Garner reportedly collapsed twice from the heat while filming the desert sequences.
In the Valley of Elah (Trailer) opened on Sept. 14. So named after the valley in which David slew Goliath, this Paul Haggis-helmed picture follows a woman played by Charlize Theron helping an ex-military man (Tommy Lee Jones) investigate the disappearance of his Iraq-vet son. Naturally, given Haggis' background (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) the film evolves from a whodunit into one asking acute questions about the war. Susan Sarandon plays the soldier's mother.
Grace is Gone (Trailer) opens on Oct. 15. John Cusack reins in his go-to hyper-articulate character while playing a shrinking father who can't quite find the words to tell his two daughters that their mother has been killed in the Iraq war. Unlike "Elah," this movie tackles more the tragic loss of life that comes with war over, say, the pros and cons of invading Iraq.
Rendition (Trailer) comes out October 19. This Reese Witherspoon vehicle depicts the U.S. government's practice of extraordinary rendition, in which our country kidnaps suspected terrorists and flies them to other countries to be tortured for information. When the Egyptian husband of Witherspoon's character is secretly held by the government (Jake Gyllenhaal plays the rookie CIA agent overseeing the interrogation; Meryl Streep the official who orders the covert abduction.) she struggles equally with the secretive agency and not knowing if he's innocent or guilty.
Day Zero (Trailer) is expected to open Nov. 2. And they said it would never happen... The draft is back! With forces in Afghanistan and Iraq depleted and weary, the U.S. government reinstates the military draft. A trio of best friends deal how to respond after they're told they have 30 days to report for duty. Do they forsake their careers, love lives, personal beliefs to fight in today's war? Starring Elijah Wood, Chris Klein, some Jewish looking guy and NAWW favorite Ginnifer Goodwin.
Lions for Lambs (Trailer) opens on Nov. 9. This wide-ranging picture ruminates on war, education and politics and stars Tom Cruise as a Republican senator, Meryl Streep as a journalist and Robert Redford (who directed) as a liberal college professor character who quotes a WWI general to give the film its title: "Never have I seen such lions led by such lambs." In interviews, Redford has noted that the current pace of events dictates that his movie will in all likelihood be a period piece by the time it comes out in two months. But even then it's likely to be just the sort of red meat that anti-war advocates will eagerly eat up.
Crossing Over is due to open Nov. 16. Intersecting stories depict the sacrifices made by those who live without green cards and those who struggle to enforce the law in Los Angeles. The clash of cultures plays a major role as well. Harrison Ford plays an immigration officer; Sean Penn as a border-patrol agent.
Redacted will open in November. Brian De Palma (The Untouchables, Scarface) wrote and directed this "fictional documentary" of soldiers fighting in the Iraq war. President Bush is particularly excoriated in the film, which uses no-name actors to give it an extra dose of realism. "Redacted" was an official selection at the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Still not convinced? Here are the IMDB.com "plot keywords": Iraq War, Controversial, Scandal, Gang Rape, Rape Scene. Enjoy that popcorn!
Charlie Wilson's War will open on Dec. 25. This story depicts the unbelievable true story of a liberal Texas congressman who single-handedly altered aid to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets but ultimately gave birth to today's Islamic fanatics. A phenomenal book (so good I accidently got my parents' book club to read it last year) is being adapted by an unparalleled writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The American President, A Few Good Men) with a top-notch cast (Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts). Sure, so I'd watch Sorkin adapt the phone book, but the story of how Wilson had such an incredible hand in ending the spread of Soviet Communism while accidentally kick-starting the events that would lead to 9/11 is really quite incredible. Mike Nichols (The Graduate) directs.
No update seems to exist on the Internets, but as far as I know the aforementioned Paul Haggis is still working on adapting "Against all Enemies," a project based on Richard A. Clarke's best-selling memoir chronicling the Bush administration's dubious handling of terrorist threats. Am I listing this just so I can play the casting-call game again? You bet! Come on down, Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Karen Hughes, Ari Fleischer, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. This would be a nice place for a George Bush-as-chimp joke, but frankly, I'll pass.
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time to mock another bachelor (and his harem)
I hope you'll agree that this video falls under the category of high-brow social commentary... especially the thought-provoking shower scene...
http://abc.go.com/primetime/bachelor/index
http://abc.go.com/primetime/bachelor/index
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Times story
DC's gaining in hipness apparently....
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/travel/tmagazine/10well-fashion-t.html
I realize this isn't a full-fledged blog posting, but it's a start. :)
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/travel/tmagazine/10well-fashion-t.html
I realize this isn't a full-fledged blog posting, but it's a start. :)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
This is a test post
On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.
He had successfully avoided meeting his landlady on the staircase. His garret was under the roof of a high, five-storied house, and was more like a cupboard than a room. The landlady, who provided him with garret, dinners, and attendance, lived on the floor below, and every time he went out he was obliged to pass her kitchen, the door of which invariably stood open. And each time he passed, the young man had a sick, frightened feeling, which made him scowl and feel ashamed. He was hopelessly in debt to his landlady, and was afraid of meeting her.
This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary; but for some time past he had been in an overstrained, irritable condition, verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but any one at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. He had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so. Nothing that any landlady could do had a real terror for him. But to be stopped on the stairs, to be forced to listen to her trivial, irrelevant gossip, to pestering demands for payment, threats and complaints, and to rack his brains for excuses, to prevaricate, to lie—no, rather than that, he would creep down the stairs like a cat and slip out unseen.
He had successfully avoided meeting his landlady on the staircase. His garret was under the roof of a high, five-storied house, and was more like a cupboard than a room. The landlady, who provided him with garret, dinners, and attendance, lived on the floor below, and every time he went out he was obliged to pass her kitchen, the door of which invariably stood open. And each time he passed, the young man had a sick, frightened feeling, which made him scowl and feel ashamed. He was hopelessly in debt to his landlady, and was afraid of meeting her.
This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary; but for some time past he had been in an overstrained, irritable condition, verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but any one at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. He had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so. Nothing that any landlady could do had a real terror for him. But to be stopped on the stairs, to be forced to listen to her trivial, irrelevant gossip, to pestering demands for payment, threats and complaints, and to rack his brains for excuses, to prevaricate, to lie—no, rather than that, he would creep down the stairs like a cat and slip out unseen.
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