American Beauty is one of those films someone tells you over and over again to see, but you never listen because you're too busy or just don't care. Then, one day, you come across it, watch it, and realize how shockingly good it is. You want to call up the person who told you to watch it, but you can't remember who it was and feel awful for ignoring them in the first place.
So yeah, American Beauty is wonderful. I know I have a tendency to over-adulate, but American Beauty is the real deal. It won five Oscars back in 2000, including Best Picture, and Best Actor (Kevin Spacey). The film launched the career of director Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for his work and has since brought us Road to Perdition and Jarhead.
American Beauty follows Lester Burnham (Spacey), your typical office drone running into a mid-life crisis. Lester begins to change his entire lifestyle; smoking pot, buying a vintage car, and working out to impress his high-school age daughter's gorgeous best friend Angela (Mena Suvari, American Pie), who he has fallen in love with. This of course, causes him to grow distant from his unfaithful, WASPy wife (Annette Bening, Running With Scissors) and his daughter Jane. Jane has her own important subplot, being semi-stalked by her new next-door neighbor Ricky, who has severe emotional issues caused by his hard-ass Marine father (Chris Cooper).
From the plot summary, you can tell that the characterizations are not particularly new, but they all work due to the strength of the performances. Among his classic roles in Se7en and The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey does his best work as Lester. His infatuation with Angela could have been a creepy, Humbert Humbert-Lolita type relationship, but seeing Lester's light up when he sees her for the first time brings everyone back to their first childhood crush. Audiences can't help but feel inspired by the intense exercise regimen Lester adopts, which is similar to the rings one would jump through to attain true love.
Annette Bening also gives a career performance, bringing life to a role that could have descended in to self-parody. Her breakdown into tears after she fails to sell a house (she's a real estate agent) sums up her character without a spoken word. Chris Cooper is one of those actors that's excellent in his every role, bringing vulnerability and depth to a despicable, bigoted Marine Colonel.
Part of the film's brilliance is its willingness to show all life philosophies in a balanced light. Even though Lester is the clear protagonist, the film frowns upon his new free-wheeling attitude as much as it celebrates it. American Beauty never preaches that everyone should become as lackadaisical as Lester in order to "live life to the fullest." It shows the two extremes : apathy and egotism (Lester) versus rigidity and responsibility (the Colonel),allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions on how to live their life.
Sam Mendes doesn't dumb the film down for his viewers. When we are first introduced to Lester's wife Carolyn, he narrates, "See the way the handle on those pruning shears matches her gardening clogs? That's not an accident." Those two sentences say everything we need to know about Carolyn through subtle, witty dialogue. American Beauty is filled with like-minded moments, which rely on delivery and facial expressions to convey characterizations and emotions.
Our generation is more likely to have seen Not Another Teen Movie, so you'll be familiar with the character of Ricky. Ricky is an off-beat kid who films with hand-held camera, chiefly objects that remind him of death and spirituality. One of his recordings is the famous scene involving a plastic bag floating around in the wind, which causes him to choke up with the immortal line, "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it..." Sure it sounds idiotic, but it works in the context of the film. Ricky's unpredictable behavior leads him to constantly defy the viewer's expectations. You'll find him to be either infuriating or fascinating.
I won't bother you with the incredible cinematography and all that, but just pay attention to the way Mendes frames shots and his use of the color red (especially in the roses) and you'll find a greater appreciation for the movie.
The film closes with a beautiful cover of The Beatles' "Because" by Eliot Smith. This is kind of out of place, but it was perfect.
Watch American Beauty whenever you get the chance. It's an American classic.
***** out of *****
"For you Brad, I have five minutes!"
Sunday, March 29, 2009
American Beauty Review
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fast and Furious Review
I got the chance to see a preview screening of the fourth film in the Fast & Furious franchise. This one has Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returning to the roles that launched their careers.
The original film, The Fast and the Furious, came out of nowhere in 2001. With no-name stars and a small budget, it managed to earn over $140 million. Vin Diesel moved onto bigger (not better) roles like xXx and decided not to return for the sequel. Paul Walker stayed for 2 Fast 2 Furious, but not Tokyo Drift; which had Lil Bow Wow, Ludacris and some guy with a southern accent.
I have to admit, I never watched either sequel, but I did see the original when it first came to theaters. It was a fun blend of high-octane street racing and L.A. gang violence. I loved the characters, becoming invested in that genius hacker guy who could have gone to Harvard and Paul Walker's cop, who has to make a lot of questionable decisions. The open-ended finale was brilliant.
Fast and Furious (that's right no more numbers, subtitles, or "the's") is nothing more than a sub-par retread of the original. The action sequences and street races are fun, but the everything in between is torturous. Vin Diesel was himself, but everyone else is terrible. It doesn't help that the writers feed them laughably horrendous exposition. You know there's something wrong with the script when people are laughing during a funeral sequence.
Vin Diesel was not a good actor when The Fast and the Furious came out. Eight years and seven films later, he's still not a good actor. By now, you'd think that directors would know how to work with him. Give Vin Diesel a few growly one-liners and fight scenes and he'll deliver. The writers of this film choose not to heed this device, unnecessarily bogging him down with emotional, heart-aching scenes.
The same goes for Paul Walker, who quickly realized his career was going nowhere (did anyone see The Lazarus Project.? I didn't think so) and came back to this franchise. Walker is one of the most useless actors working today. He doesn't bring anything to his roles, with deadbeat acting and lackluster charisma. In this film, is presence is phenomenally poor even by action movie standards. A hobo walking onto the set could deliver better lines than Paul Walker (sorry Paul, I'm sure you're a nice guy, but get a new job). I'll go ahead and recommend people to watch this movie for an introductory course in ineptitude. Watch the scene in the diner with Paul Walker confronting Jordanna Brewster's character, his girlfriend in the original film. Even the most casual of movie-goers will be crying with laughter.
Acting aside, Fast and Furious certainly exceeds expectations for its signature car races and shootouts. The trailer showed an extended clip of Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez hijacking a gas tanker in the Dominican Republic, which kicks off the film. It's filled with "Oh My God That's Awesome" moments, complete with popped eyes and dropped jaws. I never thought I would be saying this, but compliments to the cinematographer for beautifully capturing the dry, barren highway strip. After this slam-bang opening sequence, the movie kind of goes downhill, even though the action is always cool.
There's also a parkour-style chase sequence filmed with a shaky camera (that's all the rage these days). The requisite street race feels forced, but is fun nonetheless. I'd really like to know how they filmed the sequence, with the cars moving at high speeds through crowded streets. The finale is grand and exciting, with a chase involving the highest number of participating cars since The Blues Brothers.
The plot itself isn't that bad, with unexpected (well, not anymore) twists. It'll be slightly confusing for those who have seen the original. The relationships established in The Fast and the Furious are crucial. There's also a handful of dialogues that reference actions and conversations from that film, so I'd recommend anybody who hasn't to see it first.
If you walk into Fast and Furious, hopefully you know what you're getting yourself into. Ignore the acting and dialogue, just marvel at how nice it looks to see cars chases and explosions along the US-Mexico border. Overall, I liked it, even though I was ready to walk out at several moments. Fast and Furious is a nice mix of nostalgia (2001 was a long time ago) and diversion, which is exactly what we need for entertainment.
*** out of *****
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Duplicity Review
In a world where most films middlingly muddle within a single genre, “Duplicity” achieves a near-impossible feat: It manages to be a sweet romantic comedy, an intelligent crime-caper and an eye-opening social commentary all at the same time. This inspired genre-balancing, combined with exceptional performances, makes “Duplicity” a tremendously entertaining film.
Check out the full review here.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Weekend of Insanity or How I Joined the Duke Pep Band
This article has nothing to do with politics or movies, but it was a experience crazy enough to share. I'm writing this from a bus on the way back from East Lansing.
Last Tuesday, I woke up to a text from Xin Xu saying that he would be coming to East Lansing for a NCAA women's basketball tournament game. In the text, he mentioned that I probably won't be able to visit him but I should try anyways. I thought to myself, there's no way I won't meet up with my main man if he's only going to be 100 miles away.
But it was a bad weekend - I had promised to participate on two movie shoots that weekend, including one in downtown Detroit on Saturday. The first shoot was on Friday in an Ann Arbor art gallery. There, I worked with Patrick Sperry, the director of "Stuntman." Watch my words, Patrick Sperry will be an A-list director in a few short years. Anyways, The Friday night shoot was awesome but tiring. I met a lot of cool people and got a good idea of how movies are filmed.
The next morning, I was to go to downtown Detroit for a separate movie shoot, entitled "Rockwell." But I was never picked up. Originally, I was going to take a bus from Detroit after the shoot to East Lansing, but I ended up going straight from Ann Arbor to East Lansing.
I reached East Lansing around 2:30 pm on Saturday. Xin in a hotel in Lansing proper, right next to the state capitol. The poor guy walked the 3 miles from Lansing to East Lansing to meet me in a Barnes and Noble. Then, we ate in a restaurant called "India Palace." Those that went with me to the MSU quiz bowl tournament will remember this place.
After that, Xin and I went to Pinball Pete's and shot dinosaurs in a Lost World arcade game. When that got too tricky we switched to House of the Dead 3, where we destroyed zombies for a while. The original plan was for me to hang with Xin Saturday evening and return to Ann Arbor on a bus leaving at 3am. We called up John McRae, our friend from Houghton, and were going to meet with him. But I had a backpack with me, and I didn't want to bring it to meet John. So, Xin and I took a bus back to Lansing to drop off the backpack at his hotel.
At the hotel, I met with Xin's friend Jackie from Duke. While I was somewhere else, Xin mentioned to Jackie that I played the drum set. Jackie told Xin that the Duke pep band's set drummer had bailed from the trip at the last minute and they needed someone to replace him. Jokingly, we thought that I could take his place and play set at the Duke women's b-ball game. Caught up in this ridiculous idea, we decided to go ahead and ask the band director if I could play with them.
The director, a really cool guy named Jeff, was delighted. He was pretty happy and shocked to have this absurd coincidence fall into his lap. By that time, Xin and I realized that this was actually happening. I would have to really play with the Duke pep band the next day at 2:30. It was beyond our control at that point. I felt a mixture of panic and humor. As Jackie put it, all this was pretty hysterical. I was freaking out because A) I hadn't played drum set in a band since May 2008 and B) I didn't know any of the Duke arrangements. I was familiar with a few of the songs, such as "Seven Nation Army" and "Somebody Told Me," but I didn't know the drum fills/solos. Xin and Jeff assured me that everything would be ok. Plus, there was Chris, the other percussionist who wasn't entirely comfortable with the set but knew how to play the songs properly.
Xin and I watched Michigan lose to Oklahoma as I cranked out a review of "Duplicity" that was due for the paper at 3pm on Sunday and later as Duke beat Texas. We ventured out in Lansing to find a dining establishment, but every eatery was a bar that required patrons to be at least 21. So we ended up taking a fancy trolley called the "Entertainment Express" to the MSU campus, where we found a decent Chinese place called Rice Kitchen. We took the Entertainment Express back to the Radisson hotel. On the way back, we saw this amazing taxi called the "Shaggin Wagon," which I would take to the bus station the next day.
Sunday morning, Xin and I woke up and got some coffee and bagels and such. I was pretty nervous, since I still had no idea what to do at the game. I put the finishing touches on "Duplicity" right before the bus left. And I found out I was getting paid some money in "per diem" for helping with the band that day. I was pretty happy, since I was willing to play with them for free. The whole time, I was thinking what a great story I would be able to tell people one day.
I left with the band at 1pm. It was a relatively small band, since the other part of the band was playing at the men's tournament in Boston. During the short bus ride, I talked with Chris about the crucial upcoming solos and fills. Some stayed in my mind, and some didn't. But what do expect? I haven't read music in almost a year now. We arrived at the Breslin Center and unloaded the bus. Chris had a large box of percussion stuff, so he couldn't go with the rest of the band to their designated area. I decided to stick with him and pick up a few more pointers while we waited for the MSU-Middle Tennessee State game to end. During this time, we watched the Duke women's team warm up. It was pretty surreal.
We went into the stadium late, since our chaperone forgot about Chris and I. We had to rapidly set up the drum set and bass drum. Our rivals at Austin-Peay State University had already finished and started playing. Once completed, the band played the Duke fight song, which I wasn't familiar with, along with this rad tune called "Vehicle" and a few more. As the team entered the stadium, we played "I Can't Turn You Loose," better known as the Blues Brothers theme. Chris and I switched back and forth between the drum set and the bass drum. He played the songs with important fills and such on the set and I played everything else. These included "Somebody Told Me," "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and most excellently the Mortal Kombat theme.
The game brought me back to the days of high school pep band, multiplied by 1000. I shouted and hollered for a team I had no allegiance with, but now I love Duke as much as Michigan. I got to participate in many of the band's hilarious chants. We would all count down the final seconds of the shot clock even though there was more than enough time left. This actually worked on one occasion, as a player took a shot with 4 real seconds left, but the band had already counted down to 0. The band picked out the worst player on the opposing bench and would scream whenever they touched the ball. This may seem despicable, it was ingenious at the time. And I know for a fact that I was on ESPN for a few seconds, when a Duke player was injured.
The game ended, and all was well. It was the most fun I had in a long time, especially considering the randomness of the situation. Back at the hotel, I traded the per diem with Jeff in exchange for the blue and white striped Rugby, which is now a sweet souvenir. I got to hang out with the Duke mascot, the Blue Devil (whose name I cannot disclose) for while. The whole band went out to eat at a restaurant called Clara's, which was yet another memorable experience. The night ended and I sadly had to leave my new friends from Duke. And Xin. I kind of wanted to stay and play with them during their game on Tuesday against Michigan State, but I have way too much work to do.
This all actually happened. It was crazy. I never thought anything of the sort would occur in my lifetime. I'm glad Xin talked me into taking the opportunity. He is a good man.
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Lesson In Political Science: Cows (WARNING: this is funny)
(I stole this a really really long time ago from some other site)
Humor break...
Political Viewpoint : COWS
Lesson In Political Science
DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?
SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegals.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.
Have a good day!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Michael Steele, you be da man!
Lawlz.
I have been wanting to do a post on Michael Steele for awhile. Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is one of my favorite politicians, but for all the wrong reasons.
For one thing, he is an absolutely awful chairman. Many people are already calling for his resignation. Upon being selected, he pretty much fired everyone at the RNC. The awesome part is that he hasn't bothered replacing anyone. He is pretty much a one man show right now.
The real reason I like him, however, is that he produces some of the best quotes ever.
We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the Conservative Party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings...I want hip-hop Republicans. I want Frank Sinatra Republicans.Classic. I'm not sure of the context for this next quote, but here it is:
The American public doesn't have that kind of bling bling in their pockets.I see the hip-hop strategy is working. I feel myself converting to Republicanism. He is also very up-to-date with the current pop culture lingo:
(In reference to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, an Indian-American)He is also a very good debater:
Give some slum love out to my buddy, Gov.
When asked if he favors civil unions:and...
No, no no. What would we do that for? What are you crazy?
What this administration is talking about is creating work.I love this man. They may come out with a new bromance movie soon starring Michael Steele and Kyle Krym, full of incredibly cool hip-hop terminology, while still presenting the change (or lack thereof) we need in America.
Interviewer: That's a job!
No, no it's not a job!
By the way, Steele also has a fascination with the word "baby." He uses it very often.
Let's get to work baby! (I believe this was his acceptance speech)This last video is possibly my new favorite video on youtube. I hope Kavi watches it in the library or somewhere else where people can give him strange looks when he starts laughing.
Sure, baby, I'll consider anything! (Said on Fox News)
Drill, baby, drill! (At the Republican National Convention. I couldn't believe it. It was Michael Steele who came up with that annoying phrase. It all makes sense now.)
Have a good day, baby! Continue Reading...
Summer Preview - 500 Days of Summer
There are a lot of insanely sweet movies releasing in the next few months, and I'll be covering a lot of them in detail in the next few weeks. We have Michael Mann's Public Enemies with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, Terminator Salvation again with Bale, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, a solo Wolverine movie, the new Pixar flick Up, Tarantino's WWII epic Inglorious Basterds, Judd Apatow's Funny People, Transformers 2, and loads more.
But out of all of these big-budget, star-studded movies, the one I'm looking forward to the most is called (500) Days of Summer.
I was pretty much sold after the Smiths reference in the elevator. For anyone under 30, The Smiths are a great British band that has influenced most UK bands since the late 80's, including Radiohead. Anyone who knows me is familiar with my obsession with The Smiths. Check out "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "The Headmaster Ritual" for starters. To be honest, I'm probably pumped for this movie since I've always dreamed of a pretty girl walking into an elevator and telling me that I have great taste in music because I like The Smiths.
Aside from that, (500) Days of Summer looks like a delightfully quirky indie film. The trailer displays a movie that should be funnier than Little Miss Sunshine and less awkward than Juno (I mean seriously, the dialogue with Rainn Wilson was cringe-worthy). It features at least two laugh-out-loud moments, what looks to be a song and dance number, and a Pirates 3-esque acid trip. Throw in a super-fine Zooey Deschanel with a droll, sensitive Joesph Gordon-Levitt and you've got yourselves a winner.
Zooey Deschanel is mainstream enough by now, after appearances in Yes Man and The Happening, but it's nice to see her return to her indie-film roots.
Gordon-Levitt ("3rd Rock from the Sun"), has done some good work since the show ended, but he could have his break-out role with this movie. Audiences will be treated to a fresh face behind the camera in Marc Webb, who's done nothing to date except a few music videos. Sure, screenplay scribes Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber wrote The Pink Panther 2 (dear god), but I'm willing to assume that they only took that job to pay the bills and finance this movie.
(500) Days of Summer made a big splash at Sundance earlier this year and is primed to be the sleeper hit of this summer. I'm only concerned that the hipster references will keep away large audiences. For all its nonsensical jargon and inclusion of Dario Argento films, Juno was pretty mainstream and accessible. Do kids these days know who Sid Vicious was?
A film's quality is often reflected by its trailer music. This trailer features gems such as Beck's "Black Tambourine", a Regina Spektor song, whose name I can't remember, and Hall and Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True." If anyone knows the song at the very end of the trailer, let me know. It's wonderful to see a selection of music stretching across decades and genres. In summation: thumpin' soundtrack ==> genius movie. Thus, (500) Days of Summer is going to be a classic.
Monday, March 16, 2009
It's Not Over Yet
All was well. Jim Cramer had humbly accepted Jon Stewart's beatdown Thursday night, which you can also view here. Cramer agreed that CNBC failed in many ways, and Jon Stewart got a nice ratings boost. The world had a nice laugh laugh and moved on. Except for one sad, pathetic man.
Tucker Carlson! Former anchor of CNN's "Crossfire" and former anchor of MSNBC's "Tucker." Both were cancelled. Tucker has a beef with Jon Stewart because of Stewart's famous "Crossfire" appearance, where he ripped the gap-toothed Ron Paul-ite apart. Many attribute the show's cancellation to Stewart's brilliant dissection of it's ineptitude. Watch the hilarious video below:
This Sunday-morning talk show, Tucker whined to the panel that Stewart is a "partisan hack" and a bunch of other nonsense.
Tucker's argument is inherently flawed. Stewart began his CNBC coverage because of Rick Santelli's outburst, not because of Jim Cramer. This blog has driven in this point previously. Stewart directed his attack at Cramer because Cramer was the one who directly criticized him and "The Daily Show." So Tucker Carlson is an idiot. Big surprise. He's just bitter over getting his show and career ruined. And Jon Stewart is allowed to be a "partisan hack." He's a COMEDIAN. He doesn't pretend to be a political analyst. That's why his show is on Comedy Central.
Enough of this coverage. I promise this will be the last post.
"I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy."
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Come On Guys!!!
Poll results:
Why Haven't You Seen Slumdog Millionaire Yet?
I'm Too Busy - 3 (37%)
I'm Broke - 0 (0%)
I Hate Awesome Movies - 0 (0%)
I Have Seen Slumdog Millionaire - 4 (50%)
It Hasn't Come to My Town - 1 (12%)
The Movie Exploits Children - 0 (0%)
Only half of you have seen it? Say what? This was supposed to be a trick question. You were ALL supposed to have already seen it. This is a sad, tragic, extremely depressing day.
On a happier note, the recession is over! None of you are broke! Yay! Have a good day!
Obama and the Judicial System
Current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told law students in Boston that there would be an opening in the court "soon." The comments are interesting coming from someone who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month. She made no mention as to when an opening might come or who it would be for.
This started me thinking about how Obama will be making appointments for any openings in the Supreme Court or any federal courts. This opens up an opportunity for him to alter the ideology of the judicial system in America. Due to the fact that three of the last four Presidents have been Republicans, the judicial system currently has a conservative tilt to it. However, Obama may change that.
(Taken straight from my law notes) There are four general factors which determine whether chief executives can obtain a federal judiciary that is sympathetic to their political values and attitudes.
1. Presidential Support for Ideologically Based Appointments – President must have a deep commitment to do so. Sometimes justices are chosen not for ideology, but for loyalty.
2. The Number of Vacancies to be Filled – the more judges a president can select, the greater the potential of the White House to put its stamp on the judicial branch.
3. The President’s Political Clout – the scope and degree of presidential skill in overcoming any political obstacles. One such stumbling block is the U.S. Senate. The president’s personal popularity is another element in the political power formula.
4. The Judicial Climate the new Judges Enter – the current philosophical orientations of the sitting district and appellate court judges with whom the new appointees would interact. New judges must respect the controlling legal precedents and the constitutional interpretation that prevail in the judiciary at the time they enter it, or they risk having their decisions overturned by a higher court.
In regards to Obama, the presidential support factor is entirely up to him. I expect he will end up choosing liberal leaning judges. The number of vacancies are out of his control, although he is aided by the fact that the majorities in the Senate and the House belong to the same party. He is more likely to get more nominations through. In terms of political clout, Obama entered the Presidency with a clear mandate, has high popularity, and has proven to be more political savvy than pretty much anyone else. As for the last factor, the current conservative nature of the court is an issue, but if Obama can get more liberal judges on the court this problem can go away.
Appointing judges is a very important power the executive branch holds. Some may not agree with this power, but it is what it is. As former conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist said, there is no reason for the President not to. He has the power and he has a mandate behind him.
Have a good (and possibly more enlightened) day.
Actually...That Was Pretty Intense
Kavi wrote here and here of the ongoing/upcoming battle between Jon Stewart - the host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central - and Jim Cramer - the host of Mad Money on CNBC. Well, the final moment arrived, as Stewart interviewed Cramer.
And it was an epic battle of loon number one:
Versus loon number two:
And without further ado, here is the third uncensored/uncut part of the interview. Warning: Stewart drops the f-bomb a couple times.
Did I say battle? That was a massacre. Poor Cramer. Stewart was legitimately ticked off at CNBC. Stewart has been known to rip people apart before. Nobody does it better.
Favorite moment? Joe Scarborough, I now dib thee..."Doucheborough"
Have a good day! Continue Reading...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Smackdown has Deintensified
Typical Jim Cramer. Hours after I hyped up the Jon Stewart-Jim Cramer clash, Cramer appeared on Martha Stewart's show and basically wimped out. It looks like Cramer will sit, be goofy and apologize to Stewart. Tonight's interview won't be that great.
I couldn't embed the video, but here's the link to the video on Huffington Post.
The Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer Smackdown
I'm going to step outside the film world to present this incredible event taking place tonight. Two of my favorite media personalities are going to duke it out on (pre-taped) national television. CNBC's brilliantly insane analyst Jim Cramer, host of "Mad Money" is going to visit "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" tonight. Why does this matter? Let's dig in to the history behind this feud...
A few weeks ago, CNBC analyst Rick Santelli went ape in the middle of the trading day. In the video below, Santelli rips apart homeowners who were forced to foreclose on their mortgages, calling them "losers" among other things. I used to watch this guy every day during senior year, so it was unsettling to see him spew such nonsense. Does he really think a Chicago trading floor is an accurate sample of average Americans?
This video set off a chain of unprecedented events. Last week, Stewart thoroughly eviscerated Santelli and CNBC for their third-rate reporting during the start of the financial crisis. The following clip shows Stewart's epic deconstruction of CNBC's failures. This is especially hard for me to watch, since I watched CNBC religiously last year, when I was interested in a financial career.
Over the weekend, Cramer issued a statment claiming that Stewart took one of his comments about Bear Sterns out of context. The comment was included in the montage of CNBC's idiocy shown above. Monday night, Stewart responded by shredding Cramer even more:
The next morning Jim Cramer went on The Today Show and MSNBC to counter Stewart's tirade. Stewart kept going, responding with this hilarious clip:
Just when you thought it couldn't get better, Jim Cramer has actually agreed to appear on The Daily Show Thursday night. Do yourselves a favor and watch this monumental clash between a hot-headed financial adviser and a smarmy, talkative comedian. Jim Cramer is known to lose his cool, just watch this video (which I actually watched live one day before I went to my MTU classes):
Do you think Cramer will be able to hold his own against the power of Jon Stewart? Either he'll be annoyingly polite with Stewart or some serious stuff is going to go down. I can't wait...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Book Review: The O'Reilly Factor For Kids
Okay, I haven't actually read this book, but I'll share a review of it with you.
The O'Reilly Factor For Kids is a scattershot guide to all the things O'Reilly thinks kids should do: toughen up, buck "the self-esteem police," ignore stereotypes, stop listening to rap music, and allow Chuck Knoblauch (!) to serve as an inspirational example.O'Reilley would pick Chuck Knoblauch, one of my least favorite baseball players of all time. The book apparently gets even better. He defines pinheads and smart operators.
O'Reilly also:
* Calls teenagers "kids," which is exactly the way to reach them.
* Recalls the one time he ever bullied someone. (O'Reilly was in Little League.)
* Warns, "Girls, some guys will tell you anything to get the sex thing going."
* Boasts he has never been "drunk or stoned."
* Complains of "attacks" against him by "religious maniacs."
* Demonstrates a sparkling comic gift: "Every teacher you have is kind, smart, hardworking, and trustworthy. Sure, and I'm Brad Pitt."
* Says "I didn't have sex until I was twenty years old! Can you believe it? I was kind of a shy guy around girls, and I had absolutely no 'moves.'"
"A Pinhead is a kid who shoplifts."New game, who can use the word "butt" in every other sentence? Seems like an adequate challenge for a college student.
"A Smart Operator remembers the birthdays of friends and family members."
"A Smart Operator is a kid who looks past her neighborhood, town, state and country to see the world outside."
"A Pinhead is a kid who finds a way to use the word 'butt' in every other sentence, especially when shouting in the halls at school."
I ask the question, is O'Reilly really the best person to be instructing our kids how to behave? Let us all watch him flip out in this next video. WARNING: Adult language is used, and by the looks of it O'Reilly is very much an adult.
Haha, here is a dance remix of the previous video. Also swearing in this one.
Have a great day. Continue Reading...
Fired Up Review
This is a review I did over my spring break for the high school comedy Fired Up. It came out over two weeks ago, but the paper is just running the article today. That's the newspaper business for you.
Cheerleading comedies have been reduced to a series of direct-to-video “Bring It On” sequels in recent years, but “Fired Up!” had the potential to smack the genre upside its head — the film has genuinely funny moments and its two leads have impeccable comic timing. Still, with its flood of teen comedy conventions and a stupendously awful supporting cast, it ends up amounting to little more than a forgettable high-school movie.
Check out the full article here.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Interview with Zack Snyder
Yo. I got the opportunity to ask Zack Snyder, the director of Watchmen a few questions last week for the Daily. I wrote up an article with some of the more interesting questions.
Check out the full article here.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Modern Presidents Are Apparently Awful
This poll took an awfully long time to recap, didn't it?
Anyways, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush tied for first place in the poll. Probably because they are fresh in our young, web-surfing minds. And they are equally hated by their opposing parties. Clinton for his sexual deviancy and Bush for his hilarious antics.
Don't anger Bill. He has a weak heart.
I don't hate this man, like a lot of people. He's not a genius, but he meant well. Even though now we have an international financial crisis, two overseas wars, claims of torture, and other good stuff. Watch the movie "W.", now on DVD to see what I'm talking about.
Even in death, poor J-Buchs can't catch a break. He had 20% of the vote.
Look into his eyes and tell me that this is a man who ruined the country for many years.
Thanks for voting.
Preview of what is to come
What will the press be talking about in a month or so???
3. Repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
Don't Ask Don't Tell was put into effect in the 90's under President Clinton. It bans openly gay individuals from serving in the armed forces. It is a stupid ban. Obama promised to repeal it during the campaign season. It will be one of the first steps towards equal rights for homosexuals under the Obama administration. Polling has showed that most Americans support repealing the law, so it is a fairly safe first step. Expect a futile outcry of nonsense and bigotry nonetheless.
2. Obama speaking in an Islamic country?
Obama will speak in a month or so in Turkey. He will be addressing the Islamic world. I can't wait. Honestly, I wouldn't miss this speech for anything. Expect the entire world to be watching.
1. Health Care Reform
If you thought the stimulus bill was divisive and time consuming, health care reform is going to be absolutely nuts. I expect the plan to be unveiled in a month or so and be voted on during the summer. This will make or break Obama's presidency. He has to do it soon, while he still has a clear mandate and public approval on his side. When I say health care reform, by the way, I don't mean any minor reform. He is going to overhaul the entire system. Nationalization anyone? Actually, they won't call it nationalization, though. They will be realistically in control, but will maintain the current companies so as to keep the visage of privatization. Basically, it will be publicly owned private companies. Make sense?
Have a good day.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Election Night from Grant Park
I finally got around to uploading videos from my camera. I forgot that I had taken a few videos of the pandemonium in Chicago the night Obama was elected president.
The first one takes place while Kyle's friends and I were walking to Grant Park before results began to release. You get a sense of how many people were on the streets that night. Plus, Kyle does an awful Borat impression.
This next video is pretty lame and dark until the very end, when the Pennsylvania results are displayed and someone shouts a humorous expletive in the background.
This is Kyle's impeccable prediction for the Democratic nominee in 2012 (I mean 2016). And he gets the name wrong too. It's ok, emotions were high that night:
Kyle sure is excited. The sarcastic comment is targeted at Kyle's ex, who is a conservative:
This is known as mass hysteria:
The chant. You can see a lot of Kyle's friends here. Yes we did, Kyle. Yes, we did.
The next two videos are at a drum circle that just kind of opened up on the streets. Kyle's wearing the purple shirt and our friend Taylor is right next to him.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Oscar Short Films - Live Action
So you know those short films that get Oscars each year? They actually exist. And for the first time in my life, I was able to see all of them before the awards ceremony on Sunday. A theater in Ann Arbor played the Animated and Live Action short films in sequence for about a 4 hour event total. First, I'll tell you about the Live Action films:
There were five films nominated this year, all from foreign countries.
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
A middle-aged department store security guard is in love with a woman who works in the bookstore. He pretty much stalks her, always watching her from the security cameras. They take the same train back to their home, hence the title. One night, a tragedy finally gives Rolf the guard a chance to be with his love, but he is forced to make a fateful decision. It's only 30 minutes, so it is a concise emotional drama that never has a chance to get boring. Characters have a chance to be fully fleshed out.
**** out of *****
New Boy 
In this short film, an African boy joins an elementary school in Ireland. The movie is an excellent portrayal of friendship and adolescent behavior. Anybody who went to grade school will smile at the interaction between the boy, Joesph, and his classmates. We've all had memories of dealing with the new kid, the nerdy attention seekers, and bullies that will resurface during this film. Interwoven with the classroom scenes are flashbacks to Joesph's harrowing past, which is too interesting and unexpected to spoil. New Boy will linger in your mind long after it is over. Try to find it somewhere online. A must-see.
***** out of *****
The Pig
This short film features an elderly Danish man named Asbjorn who is admitted into a hospital for surgery in his buttocks. After complications arise, Asbjorn begins to question his mortality. He finds solace in a painting of a pig on the wall opposite his hospital bed. One morning, Asbjorn awakens to find the painting missing (for a reason I will not disclose) and begins a crusade to reclaim this beloved painting. The Pig is cleverly constructed, dealing with sensitive matters about race and religion in a very humorous fashion. I was laughing constantly. This was my favorite film of the bunch, but New Boy was close.
***** out of *****
Manon the Asphalt
I wish I didn't have to explain the plot of this film. I had no idea what to expect in this film, so when events transpired, I was pleasantly surprised. This movie is a great way to spend 15 minutes of your time, so if you want to be spoiler-free, stop reading now.
The title works in two ways: the main character is named Manon and she lies dying on the road after a traffic accident. And of course, there's the idea that there is a "Man on the Asphalt." Anyways, as Manon lays dying she narrates her predicted reactions of her friends in family. You'll start thinking about everyone you care about as Manon thinks about everyone she is going to leave behind. If you've lost someone in an accident, this film is particularly poignant.
**** out of *****
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
I'm going to try to run through this film without sounding anti-Semitic. I'm sick of movies that exploit the Holocaust. It was the most horrific tragedy in history, and by throwing movie after movie at it, we are reducing it to a film genre. Seriously, after the masterpiece that is Schindler's List, there should have been no more Holocaust films. Instead, this year, we got The Reader, Defiance, and at least 3 others off the top of my head.
Toyland is just a retread of The Boy With the Striped Pajamas, which was released earlier this year. They both deal with friendship between a German boy and a Jewish boy, except Boy was actually trying to show the psychology of a Nazi family. Toyland just plays with the emotions of the audience. There was no reason to make this movie, except to win an Oscar. Just like Crash. I hated every minute of Toyland and I hate the fact that it won the Oscar. I hated its disgustingly heart-pulling ending and narrative frame. In fact, I'm going to recommend people to watch Toyland to see how pathetic it is. No more Holocaust films, por favor.
no stars. zero out of *****.