Jarhead

I just won a bet with a friend over what David Denby's review of Jarhead would look like. I suspected Denby wouldn't like it much because it isn't antimilitary or anti-Bush. Here's his thoroughly predictable conclusion:

“Jarhead” has an oddly amorphous and inconclusive feeling to it. We never do find out who Tony is, and his best friend, Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), who shifts back and forth between sanity and hysteria, is a mystery, too. The old war-story narrative may have run aground in the Gulf War, but since questions of courage and character are left up in the air, you wonder why the material wasn’t played differently—with a greater sense of irony, say, or as absurdist comedy, in something like the style of David O. Russell’s Gulf War movie, “Three Kings.” What’s left instead of laughter is a rather sour implication. Underneath all the roughhousing, there’s a persistent sexual menace—towel-snapping in the shower and mock rapes and insults that depend on feminizing the victim of the joke. Broyles and Mendes are saying, I think, that men who are this casually abusive of one another’s bodies could slip, without much provocation, into sexually humiliating detained prisoners. “Jarhead” is an inglorious portrait of military life which points to the next Gulf War and the degrading japes of Abu Ghraib and other prisons.

If you see Jarhead this weekend, you'll understand how silly this is.

That Thing You Douthat

Ross Douthat has a sensational piece on Maureen Dowd and the victory of feminism. Crackerjack stuff.

Hollywood, etc.

I'm not sold on King Kong either, but the new trailer is pretty interesting--particularly in HD.

(If only Peter Jackson hadn't continued his turn of going-Hollywood by casting hot actors in the lead roles. Should Kong somehow beat out Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture, I fully expect Jackson to get liposuction.)

Also of interest is this great Edward Jay Epstein piece on the German film financing loophole. EJE is the most important chronicler of the movie industry today, don't miss it.

Germany continues muddling its way into a new government. Edmund Stoiber of the Christian Social Union has backed out as economics minister. Franz Müntefering will no longer be vice chancellor. In fact he is stepping down as chairman of the Social Democrats. So now there are a few vacancies to fill for Chancellor-elect Angela Merkel, who is expected to enter office on November 18.

On the good news front, an acquaintance of mine, Hubertus Heil, has been tapped to become the next SPD general secretary. I met Hubertus at an American Council on Germany trip in 2003. He's a nice enough fellow who did a pretty good rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago" on the karaoke.

This does, however, bring up a more serious question. If Hubertus Heil runs for higher office and wins, would the headline read:

Sieg ... Heil?

Buying Bad News: Now is the time for TWX?

Unfazed by CNN's ouster of Aaron Brown, the Wershovenist Pig is hot for Time-Warner stock.

In Case There Were Any Doubts . . .

. . . we're now into the hard-alcohol portion of the Eagles' season.

I predict they go 1-2 over the next three-week stretch where they have the Redskins, Giants, and Cowboys. After that they'll be 5-5 and the calls will come out to put McNabb in for surgery now and scrap the season.

Jon Klein's Wave of Terror Continues

Aaron Brown is out. I know he's a popular whipping boy, but I've always liked Brown's presence a ton--he was the last anchor at CNN worth watching. And now they've kicked him to the curb, too. Genius!

In fairness to Jon Klein, we don't know for certain that he forced Brown out. It's possible that Brown left of his own accord. But in Klein's memo to the staff he writes, "Aaron will be leaving CNN and is very much looking forward to some well-deserved time off with his family."

Which is Washington-speak for shit-canned. Isn't someone at Time-Warner paying attention to what's happening to their cable network?

Ross Douthat shows us his O-face. Fantastic and hysterical post. If only Reihan Salam was still around to kick out a rhyme or two.

Hack Work at--the New Yorker!

Pity David Denby. Being the #2 movie critic at the New Yorker behind Anthony Lane is like being Michael Jordan's back-up during the Bulls' glory years. Sure, you get 7 or 8 minutes a game, but really, warming the seat of a god must be sort of maddening. So perhaps Denby should be forgiven passages such as this one, in his review of Good Night, and Good Luck:

There's little gravy in attacking Joe McCarth in 2005, and that's only a small part of what Clooney is up to. His real intention appears to be to deliver a blow to the patella of a conglomerate-controlled press corps that, until recently, has indulged the Bush Administration's most extravagant smears and lies. He has completely succeeded.

Which boot-licking, Bush-loving, conglomerate-controlled press corps would that be, David? The one that ran the forged memos attacking the president's National Guard service? The one that endlessly repeats the charges of Joe Wilson, even though they've been thoroughly debunked? The one that ran 21 straight days of editorial endorsements for John Kerry before the 2004 election?

For someone so ignorant of politics to be injecting the political into a movie review is unfortunate. Being Tony Lane's back-up might not be much fun, but surely Denby should try to make the most of his garbage time.

On Halloween night, Washington area residents reported seeing a ball of fire streak across the sky between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Witnesses described a flash of light leaving their surroundings in either an orange or bluish hue before returning to darkness. One driver told a local meteorologist he could clearly see the inside of a passing car as if it were daytime. Experts agree the phenomenon was most likely a meteor, probably the size of a grapefruit, that had managed to survive entry.

In unrelated news, the "Golden Record" aboard Voyager 1 was recovered last night from a crater in the woods of Northern Virginia. The record offers greetings from Earth in 55 languages.

In other unrelated news, a woman living near the crater was reportedly abducted by a man resembling her dead husband. Authorities are investigating.

Oh, the Gore!

Via Mickey Kaus, we have a link to this amazing exchange between an LA Times blogger and Gore Vidal:

At the "Jarhead" post-party, I approached the respected author/playwright and all-round éminence grise, who publicists said would be amenable to speak with me for the awards site, The Envelope, about the film he'd just seen.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Vidal. May I ask what you thought of 'Jarhead'?"

"What are you paying?"

"Excuse me?"

"You work for the L.A. Times and they have a lot of money. And I get paid for criticism."

"I'm sorry. I really can't pay you. Does that mean you don't want to talk about the film?"

Long pause.

"Well, do you have a dollar?"

A Court That Looks Like America?

John Hinderaker has an excellent post on the latest bit of anti-Alito nonsense.

Superman IV: The Quest For Suck

Galley Friend B.W. sends us this link to a very long, very geeky, very excellent exegesis on Superman 4. Oh come on, it's not like you have anything better to do.

Here's a taste:

here comes Superman, who comes flying through space with the greatest of ease. (His introduction, I might add, provides the film with its first really appalling f/x shot.) Admittedly, during Superman’s long existence as a character he’s often been given the ability to fly through space without suffering any ill effect, including from lack of air. Of course, they also once showed him pushing the Earth out of orbit by shoving on it with his two hands. However, in recent decades I think they started realizing how silly this was, and now Superman generally is given at least the fig leaf of an air helmet or something. Not so here. In fact, Supes is quite visibly breathing here. Plus his cape is waving up a storm. Oops.

Superman grabs hold of the station and stops it from spinning. This is a neat trick since he doesn’t have any leverage. Actually, he’s presumably using whatever force he employs to propel himself in flight to counter the momentum of the craft, so I’m just being snide. It’s not like I won’t have a bunch of fatter targets coming down the pike. . . .

Via another horrible matte shot, Superman flies out to grab the floating cosmonaut. He then deposits the fellow into an open airlock hatch. Finally, he gives they guy a friendly little farewell speech. This is in Russian, which I could buy, and in space, which I definitely couldn’t. And even if Superman could ‘talk’ in space, how the hell could the cosmonaut hear him? Plus, doesn’t Superman usually ‘hear’ cries for help? Makes you wonder how he managed to just stumble across the space station seconds after it was hit.

Let me get back to the political leanings thing. I know with some readers I’m undoubtedly considered a paranoid kook who sees a Red under every bed. (This habit being scary and nutty, unlike, say, seeing an overt anti-Communist message in every sci-fi film made in the ‘50s.) Even so, it’s pretty clear that Reeve & Co., are taking a bit of a shot at then-President Reagan here. First, of course, Reeve takes Superman out of the "fighting for the American Way" box by having him not only saving Soviets, but speaking to them in their native tongues. None of that jingoistic nationalistic parochialism for this Man of Steel! Also, how could the USSR be an "evil empire" when their cosmonauts were singing Sinatra songs, for cripe’s sake? The fact that this event opens the film only strengthens one’s suspicions.

RealClearPolitics Blogs

I've been remiss in not noting that Real Clear Politics has expanded by adding both a RealClearPolitics on Blogs section and the RCP Blog--a blog of their own.

Good for them.

Oh, the Irony

Just in time to take my mind off the crumbling of the Eagles dynasty, the shipwreck that is the Philadelphia '76ers has set sail once again. How bad will it be this year? Who knows. I'm just hoping that this season doesn't ruin Maurice Cheeks. I'd like to have him around in a few years to coach the trio of Dalembert / Korver / Igoudala as they mature.

A realistic projection is that, if everything goes just right, the Sixers could slip into the playoffs and maybe steal a game in the first round from the Pacers. If things don't go just right, well, the 9-73 record is probably safe. Right?

Right?

But to numb the pain of the new NBA season, there's this hysterical scouting report on the Sixers, where a bunch of experts give their predictions for the team. My favorite is this harping about the team's coaching situation:

Iverson and Webber must share the burden of leading the team as Maurice Cheeks becomes the fourth coach in less than two years. Both veterans need the ball, so striking the right balance will get them back in the playoffs.

That penetrating insight comes from Jim O'Brien, the Sixers coach who was fired last year.

Be Not Afraid

Soxblog gives some bucking-up to Red Sox Nation. His verdict on the departure of Theo Epstein: Don't worry; John Henry is the critical man.

Cheap Shot, Inky Style

Yesterday I posted a heart-sick item linking to a post by the Philadelphia Inquirer's blogger-in-residence, Daniel Rubin in which I echoed Rubin's lament for the troubled waters that my favorite newspaper finds itself in.

Today Rubin posts a sad example of the provincialism on which the blogosphere so enjoys harping. Noting a study which ranks states by "smartness" using a number of measures which may or may not have any relevance, Rubin notes that fair New Jersey ranked 4th, Pennsylvania ranked 11th, and Delaware clocks in at 25th. He then gives us the top five and bottom five states:

1) Vermont
2) Connecticut
3) Massachusetts
4) New Jersey
5) Maine

And the bottom five:

46) California
47) Nevada
48) New Mexico
49) Mississippi
50) Arizona

Rubin then closes by quoting a lefty blogger saying "i won't mention that most of the red states are on the bottom half of the list. but you know i'm thinking it."

"Anybody else?" asks Rubin.

Get it? Republicans are stoo-pid!

But wait, you might ask, what about the most liberal and Democratic (and populous) state in America, which sits at 46th on the Smart Index? Surely California's many, many stupid Democrats make up for the stupid Republicans in Mississippi.

What to do with Maine, which is very smart, and which voted against George W. Bush, but has two Republican senators?

What to do about Number 7, Virginia, which, as the list shows, if very smart, and which went for Bush, but which has a Democratic governor?

Surely science can help us divine the truth to these great mysteries. But while the teams of researchers at CalTech are working out a solution, perhaps Daniel Rubin could try raising his blog to the standards of the Inquirer instead of taking cheap shots at those with whom he doesn't agree.

(Mind you, people from the Philadelphia area should be acutely aware of the idiocy of rankings.)

Ghostbusters 3: Ghostbusters Go To Hell

There are lots of reasons for you to read this excellent interview iwth Harold Ramis, but here's the big hook: He talks about the probably-never-to-be-filmed idea for Ghostbusters 3:

Ramis Yes. “Ghostbusters go to Hell” was Danny Aykroyd’s concept for it.

What was your favorite scene from that script that we'll likely never see?
Well, we never really got down to an actual scenario. We had a story. Part of the fun of “Ghostbusters” was developing some kind of lamebrained scientific explanation for what was going on, and I take credit for this:

What Danny had originally conceived was sending us to a special-effects Hell — a netherworld full of phenomenal visual environments and boiling pits and all that stuff.

Interviewer: He does tend to think big when he’s writing these, doesn’t he?

Ramis: Oh, he’s amazing. [laughs] But my thought was that what works so well about the first two is the mundane-ness of it all. So my notion was that Hell exists simultaneously, and in the same place as our consensus reality. But it’s like a film shutter — it’s the darkness between the 24 frames. When we’re blinking on, they’re off — so we blink alternately with this other reality, which is Hell.

So all the Ghostbusters would need to do [to go to Hell] is take themselves “out of phase” one beat. And we create a device to do it, and it’s in a warehouse in Brooklyn. And when we step out of the chamber, it looks just like New York — but it’s Hell. Everything’s gridlocked — no cars are moving, no vehicles are moving, and all the drivers are swearing at each other in different foreign languages. No two people speak the same language. It’s all the worst things about modern urban life, just magnified.

And Heaven was across the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey — which was irony. The Ghostbusters had to make this journey from lower Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge.

Ramis goes on to name the actors who would have been the next-gen Ghostbusters. Don't miss it.

Stay Away from Big Water

The Wershovenist Pig explains why, despite what the New York Times is telling you, investing in Big Water is a losing proposition.

Not to be lost in the shuffle of judicial nominations and indictments is Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon's take on the earlier controversy over remarks by Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry, who expressed a need for more black players since he considers them to be faster than his white players. Critics summarily called for his head but Wilbon believes "DeBerry has nothing to apologize for." He goes on:

Since Jason Sehorn retired from the NFL a season or so ago, how many white starting cornerbacks are there in the NFL? The answer, as far as I can find, is zero. And even if I missed one or two, fact is that a position based largely on speed is 99 percent black in the NFL. That's not the same as making a presumption about the intelligence or character of cornerbacks, black or white. It's fact, jack. DeBerry didn't offer any cultural or empirical evidence about cornerbacks; he just said he would like faster ones, and as the NFL demonstrates, the fastest ones are black. That isn't even debatable.

I've heard some black dissent, but mostly I hear objection being raised by white administrators and media colleagues, a sort of misplaced white liberal guilt, if you ask me....

Wilbon also addresses Hank Aaron's "very disturbing" feelings about the Houston Astros not having any black players on the team:

That's because we, black American men, have turned away from baseball. Overwhelmingly, we've cast our lot with basketball and football, and that's it. Only 9 percent of the players on Major League rosters on Opening Day were black and American.... But nobody's keeping black folks from playing baseball now, except mostly ourselves. The peer pressure is to give up everything in life for basketball. The percentage of blacks in the minor leagues, reportedly, is smaller than the percentage in the big leagues. But this isn't 1944.... But what should never be suggested, not by Aaron or anybody else, is that baseball resort to some quota to have more black major leaguers.... How would it go down if somebody suggested two or three spots on every NBA team be reserved for a white player?