September 2003 Archives
Well, I really wish I could report that Bubba Ho-Tep, in which Elvis Presley [Bruce Campbell (!)] and JFK [Ossie Davis (?!)] team up to save their East Texas retirement home from an ancient soul-sucking mummy, is as hilarious as the premise. But, sadly, once you get past the high-concept comedy, you're left with a bunch of low-brow buffoonery and a stalled story that moves slower than even these aging convalescents. For his part, Campbell swings for the fences, and does a surprisingly wistful turn on the King, but unfortunately he has very little to work with here. It seems the writers never got very far past the founding conceit of having these two icons team up, so neither do we.
As a comedy, Bubba Ho-Tep is only intermittently funny. The best two scenes both involve Reservoir Dogs-style slo-mo hero shots - you'll know 'em when you see 'em. The rest of the jokes are scattershot and many, particularly the ones involving the two undertakers, are just D.O.A. As a horror movie...well, this isn't scary at all. Ho-tep and his flock of giant scarabs are played for laughs. (So, of course, was all of Evil Dead 2, -- Campbell's finest hour -- but I'll submit that the mother-zombie singing the Mockingbird song at the basement door is genuinely creepy.) Surprisingly, Bubba Ho-Tep probably works best as a meditation on aging. Entirely too much of the narrative is propelled by an Elvis/Campbell voiceover, but his twilight ruminations do occasionally add a touch of poignancy to this story of legends laid low by the ravages of time. Not enough, sadly, to recommend the film, though. Campbell is good, but Bubba Ho-Tep is all set-up and no follow-through.
General Wesley Clark stumps for faster-than-light travel in New Hampshire. "I still believe in e=mc˛, but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go. I happen to believe that mankind can do it...It's my only faith-based initiative." Well, I guess he's up on Dubya, who's still trying to work out evolution. At the same rally, Clark introduced Professor John Frink as his potential National Science Advisor. "Suppose we extend the square beyond the two dimensions of our universe... along the hypothetical Z axis, there..."
In other campaign news, Bush outtpaced Dean -- the leading Democratic fund-raiser -- by a factor of three in the past three months, and has now raised $82.5 million for his 2004 campaign. No money for jobs, no money for rebuilding Iraq...but plenty to go around for Dubya's re-election. Go figure.
The RotK trailer is officially up! [Take it frame by frame.] I originally had some issues with Shelob's size, but the official print -- much brighter and clearer than the boot I was watching all weekend -- suggests there's more to Her than meets the eye. Enjoy!
So, in my abortive attempt to catch the RotK trailer Friday night -- Sony Lincoln Square wisely put Secondhand Lions in the basement theater to stop people like me from sneaking in for the previews...well played, y'all -- I ended up seeing Stephen Frears's Dirty Pretty Things, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou. Worth seeing (although I preferred Lost in Translation), DPT is a tale of immigrant woe that starts very strong and gets weaker as it goes along. Holding down a number of dead-end jobs and chewing qat to stay awake at all hours of the day, a Nigerian-born doctor in London (Ejiofor, in a captivating, star-making performance) finds a hotel toilet clogged by a human heart. While this grisly discovery is never satisfactorily explained, it nevertheless propels him into an underworld organ-selling network that thrives on London's most desperate new arrivals.
Ejiofor is great throughout the film, and DPT strikingly portrays how his character Okwe can get pretty much anywhere just by acting like the help. That being said, I thought the narrative lost its considerable momentum when the denouement becomes obvious, and when Frears made the implicit "invisible immigrant" theme too explicit. (He gives Ejiofor some pithy bon mots near the end about the plight of the unseen, just in case you've somehow missed the point thus far.) Plus, once you get past Okwe and arguably Tautou's Senay, you basically end up with a lot of stereotyped characters straight out of Central Casting -- the drunk and fun-loving Russian, the hooker with the heart of gold, the Asian morgue-worker who plays chess and ruminates on the Afterlife, the two INS guys who inexplicably take an interest in Tautou (and equally inexplicably follow her from job to job - How exactly did they find her at the sweatshop, and why did they care so much? Just a sentence or two of explanation would've satisfied me.) Still, while the film may never deliver on its early promise, it is enjoyable and thought-provoking throughout, and Ejiofor is very, very good - I hope to see more from him in the future.
In the wake of Blake's 7's return, the BBC announces it's finally bringing back the Doctor (and hopefully the Tardis, the Master, the Daleks, the Cybermen, Davros, K-9, Sarah and Harry, the Brigadier, etc. etc.) No word yet on what form he'll take for his ninth incarnation.
In another dismal poll for the Bushies, only a third of Arizonans want to keep Dubya in 2004. (Bush won the state by 6 in 2000.) Would the land of McCain go instead for a Clark or Dean?
Jonathan Rauch of The Atlantic Monthly examines the environmental promise of genetically modified crops - and the sadly reflexive distaste for said crops in several environmentalist corners.
As Europe goes to the moon (alas, without Tintin), China prepares to choose the first Taikonaut.
A CIA inquiry delves into the Bush administration to ascertain which [Karl Rove]Dubya flunky[/Karl Rove] was motivated by petty revenge and political calculation to compromise the identity of an agent. Just like the Bushies to play political games with both our collective and individual security...Hopefully the Agency will get to the bottom of this White House felony more thoroughly than they did WMDgate.
In case anybody needed another reason to see Terry Gilliam's next project, Monica Bellucci joins The Brothers' Grimm as the evil queen of an enchanted forest...looks like Snow White may get a run for her money.
Is General Clark eating into Dean's numbers? Perhaps, but I don't think it matters all that much at the moment. As stories on the frosty relationship between the two suggest, Dean is already a top-tier candidate - it's the gaggle of media-hungry candidates below him that should most worry about the Clark buzz and ensuing press vacuum. For another, Dean's the only Dem candidate right now other than Clark who seems to attract true believers (as any number of weblogs will attest.) Sure, the Doctor may be losing waverers - but I'd bet he has the largest number of core supporters going, and they seem more committed and battle-tested than Clark's new volunteer army.
Hey y'all. I'm still feeling a bit burnt from the All-Night Bicycle Ride that's a famous centerpiece to Kenneth Jackson's History of NYC course (for which I'm TA'ing at the moment); nevertheless, updates here should now resume the regular schedule.
Facing the lowest numbers of his presidency and a increasingly troubling lack of WMD, Dubya fails to garner any new international support for the reconstruction of Iraq. And what did he expect, after waltzing into the UN and insulting the intelligence of the world? Amateur hour continues at our nation's peril.
Bad news for bloodsuckers - Underworlds 2 and 3 get the go. And, in more interesting news for the vampirically inclined, Parker Posey joins Blade 3.
and She knows how to use them. The hour is finally at hand...Tomorrow the RotK trailer appears in front of Secondhand Lions (online Monday), and here's what we'll see. (Some screencaps here.) Update: Snippets of footage here, including an ethereal and jaw-dropping look at Minas Morgul. Come, Master, come to Smeagol... Update 2: The Wachowskis get in the game with the full Matrix: Revolutions trailer...A sci-fi sorbet before the fanboy main course. Update 3: A bootleg version of the trailer is now available, and it should hold ya until Monday.
In the bookmarks for awhile: James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom and current head of the AHA, criticizes Dubya's use of revisionist history and "revisionist history."
Sent to me via All About George, writer Hannah Griffith discusses how she learned to stop worrying and love Dylan.
Another new Matrix: Revolutions ad makes it online, with two more to follow tomorrow. What with the ponderous epic music and all, it takes itself way too seriously as usual...but there is some new and intriguing footage in here. Update: The other two spots are now online, and be warned - they're starting to get spoilerific.
So as membership dues for the fanboy nation, I went to go see Underworld last night...woo boy. Kate Beckinsale literally vamping in a tight-fitting leather catsuit -- what's to screw up, right? A lot, apparently. The lack of imagination that went into this flick is embarrassing. Instead of playing with their own founding conceit of vampires vs. werewolves, the movie just happily, stupidly rides along in its faux-Matrix groove. The lycans don't find any inventive uses for garlic, crosses, or wooden stakes - they just shoot ridiculous amounts of tricked-up ammo at the bloodsuckers, and vice versa. There's entirely too many laugh-out-loud moments and most of the film makes no sense. Characters keep getting shot with the same weaponry to different effect (Does silver heal, kill, wound, or what?) And then there's this fellow Shane Brolly -- who plays Kraven, nominal head of the vampires until an elder awakens -- who may just be the worst actor I've ever seen in a major motion picture. (The problem might have been the American accent - I got the sense it wasn't his.) At any rate, I had grievously low expectations for this flick, and they were not met. To make the obligatory vampire pun, Underworld sucked.
In keeping with his Judge Danforth-like predilections, Attorney General Ashcroft issued an edict that would limit plea bargains and lawyerly discretion over which charges to bring in a federal suit. Again, when will Ashcroft follow his own pronouncements, lock up his nephew, and throw away the key?
In the newest set of 2004 preview polls, Dubya is tied with a number of Dems, including Clark, Kerry, and Lieberman (Dean and Gephardt run slightly behind.) For his part, Bush say he's not listening to the primary furor, yet that's not stopping the White House from sweating today's UN address, or GOP flaks from decrying the Dems' "political hate speech." Hate speech? Heh. Perhaps Gillespie should be referred to a little matter called impeachment...it was in the papers a few years back. Also in Election 2004 news, be sure to check out Value Judgment, a site I found in the referrer logs a few weeks ago. It's very pro-Dean, but nevertheless does a superlative job in keeping up with Dem primary news.
When you die, you see the Kong...Mulholland Drive star Naomi Watts is in talks to to be PJ's Fay Wray. Good to see the great ape still has excellent taste.
In the e-mail inbox yesterday morning: "PhD or no PhD. You are nothing but a scum liberal with an agenda to push." Thoughtful, eh? Scum progressive, people. I mean, did you even read the site? Ah well, I also found a nice TA review over at CULPA yesterday, though, so karmically it all evened out.
AICN points to a flurry of new trailers, most notably The Missing, a Blair Witch western with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones (no, he's not playing the pollution Indian), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the new Charlie Kaufman script starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson (and directed by Michel Gondry)...looks like Kaufmanesque fun.
A recently discovered manuscript explains how Nathan Hale was captured. Turns out he was a better Patriot than he was a spy.
So I finally broke my month-long movieless streak last night with Lost in Translation, an unflinching look at the agony and torment of the human soul that is lying around your five-star Tokyo hotel with nothing to do. I'm a bit conflicted on this one...It's definitely worth seeing - The film is funny, touching, sweet, often entrancing, and Bill Murray is really wonderful in the lead. It captures the disembodied detachment of travel insomnia and the exquisite anticipation of a newly-made connection in ways that belie the standard Hollywood older-man-meets-younger-woman narrative (Re: mogul wish fulfillment.)
All that being said, I do have nagging problems with Translation. For one, as I alluded above, this story could only have been written by deeply privileged people: I found it hard to empathize with Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte, who responds to being alone on the far side of the world with all kinds of time on her hands mainly by sitting in her hotel room and feeling miserable. (It makes more sense with Murray's Bob, who's clearly seen and done it all by now.)
Plus, it often seems like Sofia Coppola is calling out a few hits on people throughout the film. Charlotte's busy, self-absorbed photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) seems less than a degree of separation from Spike Jonze, and the story takes time out to bag on white hip-hoppers (the Beasties?) and film starlets (Anna Faris of May, basically playing a cruel version of Cameron Diaz) in a manner that I found more vindictive than funny. (There's an exchange involving Evelyn Waugh that - perhaps it's meant to be this way - makes Charlotte seem deeply unsympathetic, exactly the type of know-it-all snob you wouldn't want to spend a week in Tokyo with.) In fact, the movie wants to have it both ways - when Bob and Charlotte karaoke classic songs by Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, and Roxy Music (One of the best uses of music since Donnie Darko, even if the choices seem more like Coppola's than the characters), it's relationship development...A few scenes later, when the starlet character belts out Carly Simon, it's a sight gag. Finally, while Translation makes a great postcard for Tokyo, there end up being just a few too many "zany Japanese" engrish jokes and setpieces.
But, not to lose the forest for the trees, I did quite like Lost in Translation. The film is honest and poignant in its depiction of two ships passing in the night, and Bill Murray - almost always good these days - is outstanding. Only once in the film, when he and Charlotte chase the Suntory whiskey bus, did he seem to slip into traditional Ghostbusters-era Bill Murray-dom. The rest of the time, Murray's a sadder, sleepier, and more resigned fellow than the wiseass we're accustomed to on the screen. Even scenes with patently unbelievable dialogue (Bob talking to his wife in the bath, for example) are redeemed by Murray here. His performance alone makes the movie worth seeing, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's given a nod somewhere come award time.
While the General makes his first (very) tentative steps on the campaign trail, John Kerry looks to looks to regain the momentum in what fast threatens to be a Dean v. Clark race.
Not unlike most of the policies articulated by this administration, Dubya's protectionist steel tariff has backfired in every way possible. "The strategizing was 'too clever by half,' [Bruce] Bartlett, the [conservative] economist, said. 'It presupposed that nobody was watching what we were doing, and it presupposed that our credibility was of no importance.'" Sound familiar? But, hey, give credit where credit is due...under the Bushies, the rich are getting richer.
Will Frances McDormand play the villain in Halle Berry's Catwoman? This sounded like another classic Warner Brothers screw-up of a DC franchise, but it might be fun to watch McDormand chew the scenery. Perhaps I'll watch it on cable.
Bizarre rumors emanating from the Lucas backlot of late. First we've got these make-up trials of Young Tarkin (I suspect these could just be fanboy Photoshops.) And word is the forthcoming super-duper ultra-mega-editions of the original films will include a CGI Kung-Fu Alec Guinness. Ugh...don't fix what ain't broke, people.
Isabel bypasses New York. Hopefully everyone is safe and sound down South...I still haven't been able to get through to the family in Chesapeake, but I presume all is ok, give or take some felled trees and power outages.
By way of Do You Feel Loved, how cool are these? Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Michel Gondy will each be coming out with tricked-up retrospective DVDs this fall. Here's one way I can repay Cunningham for unauthorized use of his Bjorkbots in the GitM title image.
Aaaagh! It's Peter Frampton! 
Coming Soon posts the first official-looking pic of Episode III Anakin, along with Palpatine and a few others. Do you feel like he does?
Test your sensory acuity. (Via Webgoddess) I ended up being utterly average, although I really want to appeal the bacon one.
In a sad day for soccer fans across the nation, the WUSA goes under. I'm a bit annoyed with myself about this - Every time I saw an ad for the WUSA, I thought about going to a match (even if it meant getting off the island), and I never did. I'd have much preferred it if the WNBA had folded and the WUSA - where the level of play was much more comparable, if not superior, to that of MLS - had continued. One forgets how tenuous the beautiful game's hold is here Stateside.
By a 55-to-40 vote, the Senate overturns Powell's media ownership rules. Even if the Senate vote goes nowhere (and between the contentious House and a Dubya veto, that's pretty likely), this should hopefully awaken Michael Powell to the fact that there is significant bipartisan resistance to his agenda of carte blanche deregulation. Instead of freeing the Big Boys from any entangling agreements, perhaps Powell should work on making them honor the agreements they've already made - namely, HDTV roll-out and public interest requirements. This isn't about big government, it's about getting our money's worth. Since we've given the networks use of bandwidth valued at $70 billion, we have every right to expect something in return.
The Village Voice checks in with Neil Gaiman. "I remember once ranting [about the state of the comics industry] to Dave Sim, who did Cerebus, and he said, 'So what are you doing about it?'" Well, Dave, to Gaiman's credit, at least he didn't go flat-out bonkers.
Also in the Voice, Rick Perlstein, author of Before the Storm (which I raved about here), argues for the Dems to come out swinging against Dubya in 2004. Amen.
So the big TV story in Blog Nation and elsewhere today is K Street. With this and Carnivale, I now really wish I had HBO, but ah well. At any rate, I for one am rooting for K St., not only 'cause I'm big fans of all involved, but also because there're many politicians out there (Orrin Hatch, for example) who only recognize the worth of a given position if they hear themselves saying it. (Take, for example, the debate wrought by Soderbergh's own Traffic.) I do think, however, that the quick turnaround time between episodes will cause problems in the later going...not only is it often hard to get pols to commit their schedules so quickly, but the show is one controversial moment away from being on the butt-end of a freeze-out sponsored by some touchy soul like Tom DeLay. Nevertheless, it sounds like a fascinating show well worth watching, even if the life it depicts is considerably less glamorous and frenetic than it lets on.
Word is from Frank Isola that the Knicks are Warriors are discussing a trade that would bring Nick Van Exel to NY. As y'all know, I've been really down on this incarnation of the Knickerbockers, particularly with Spree gone for (ugh) Van Horn. But this proposed trade - Van Exel for Thomas and Ward - might turn me around right quick. To my mind, Nick Van Exel is the clutchest guy in the league. There's nobody - nobody - I'd rather have shooting a last-second fadeaway 3 to win the game. Look at the playoffs last year - he single-handedly willed the Mavs past Portland and Sacramento. Dallas were idiots to trade him...At any rate, I very much hope this goes through - it sounds like such a great trade for NY that I have my doubts.
Apparently it doesn't matter if you talk in your sleep - researchers can now figure you out just by looking at you. "The freefall, flat on the tummy with the hands at the sides of the head, is the most unusual position. Only 6.5 percent of people prefer it and they are usually brash and gregarious." Strangely enough, this is pretty much the only way I ever fall asleep, and I had assumed it meant the opposite.
It's unofficial - Wesley Clark will become the tenth contender in the crowded Democratic field and - barring an early screw-up of monumental proportions - has to be considered one of the frontrunners immediately. It'll be interesting to see how he shakes up the race - I expect he'll take some of Dean's mavericks, Kerry's military men, and, perhaps most importantly, Edwards' Southerners. (Perhaps sensing the threat, Gore alumnus Chris Lehane left the Kerry team.) In other election news, Edwards officially announces his candidacy (Poor luck that Clark'll steal his media today), while the NY Times's David Brooks examines why GOP ops love Dean. (I, for one, don't really buy it - Dean has to be more worrisome than a milquetoast like Graham.)
Hey y'all...busy weekend over here in these parts. Aside from a final orgy of TIME-reading to put an end to my summer research work, I also went to go check out the Creative Time fireworks show, where I spent most of the 4-and-some-odd minutes trying to prevent Berkeley from having a coronary (Lousy judgment on my part bringing him...I thought he might enjoy night in the Park, but he clearly thought he was back on Hill 243.) And I got to see St. Felix Station, my friend's great bluegrass band over at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg (and was delighted to find said candy store has a weekly trivia night...booyah.)
"'Til things are brighter, I'm the man in black." R.I.P. Johnny Cash 1932-2003.
(What with Warren Zevon and John Ritter too, it's been another terrible week for entertainers.)
The word has come down from director Chris Nolan: Christian Bale will be Batman. Of the possible contenders, I'd say that's definitely the right choice. Now for everyone else...I've been hearing Aaron Eckhart as Commissioner Gordon for years, and still think that's spot-on Year One casting. As for the villain(s)...it sounds like they're leaning toward Ras Al Ghul and the Scarecrow. (Cillian Murphy, Raz?) Those are two of the creepier denizens of Batman's Rogue's Gallery, and if done right this film could be great fanboy fun, a la X2. I think they could just have easily used a young, whip-thin, and terminally insane Joker, particularly if they are trying to reboot the Batman mythos as intended, but oh well. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what the director of Memento does with Arkham Asylum.
Via LinkMachineGo, Warren Ellis laments the madness of Dave Sim. I picked up the most recent inscrutable issue of Cerebus at Another Universe the other day and I gotta say, I never, ever expected it all to end this way...How Mostholy has fallen.
The full-on trailer for QT's Kill Bill is now online and...um, well, it looks better than the teaser, at any rate. I expect to see this in a double feature with the Coen's Intolerable Cruelty on October 10, but I must say I still have pretty big reservations about this project (and I like mace-wielding Japanese schoolgirls as much as the next guy.) I guess we'll see. Also in the trailer pipe, Halle Berry's Gothika (due out October 24)...ho-hum.
In the last week before the General makes his anticipated move, Dean courts Clark for a final time. Nevertheless, it looks like Clark is a go (provided he finds time away from his advocacy of military bicycles.) In other Dem election news, Dean (who's now pulling ahead in Iowa and everywhere else) got in a spot of trouble the other night in the third debate. Regarding the furor over Israel, I thought Dean successfully parried Lieberman's attack by invoking Clinton, and made Joe (and Gephardt's flunkies) seem as desperately aggressive as they in fact are. Yet, while he generally avoided the Mean Dr. Dean schtick this time, his comments on race -- "I'm the only white politician that ever talks about race in front of white audiences." -- smacks of Gore-like hyperbole. Overblown, self-aggrandizing, and flagrantly ridiculous remarks like those cost Mediscare Al dearly in 2000...I would hope Dean knows better to repeat that mistake. At any rate, I thought Kerry and Kucinich also did quite well, although these two -- especially the latter - might soon have to face the music when the General unleashes his cyclists on Sept. 19.
While Dubya tries in vain to muster international support for his "save the US" Iraq bailout plan, the NY Times portray the chilling consequences of his blunt unilateralism. For, in only two short years, the administration has completely squandered the considerable reservoirs of international goodwill that followed the wake of 9/11. It's troubling to think what a President with some understanding of the art of diplomacy could've accomplished in this time. Instead we've had a rank amateur at the helm, poisoning the image of our nation in the eyes of the world. In so doing, the Bushies have done America -- and American values -- a great disservice.
"May I, composed like them of Eros and of dust, beleaguered by the same negation and despair, show an affirming flame." In terms of memorializing what happened two years ago, I'd say what I posted last 9/11 still stands. So once again, here's my original post, Auden's poem, and a (perhaps-too-balanced) assessment of the Patriot Act two years later.
For those of you who didn't buy the theatrical version of LOTR:TTT and haven't watched a friend's copy to see the juice, this new fan-made RotK trailer (from the people who created the "Smaug Awakens" Hobbit trailer) contains much of the best footage from the DVD extras. Enjoy.
Opus returns (by way of Now This.) Can a Billy and the Boingers re-u be far behind?
"Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation, or the so-called 'blush response'?" Via Looka, Wave Magazine tries out the Voight-Kampff test on San Francisco mayoral candidates...and one of 'em actually gets it.
While he's still abusing the terrorism angle to hoodwink us on Iraq (As Howard Dean noted yesterday, the only indisputable thing Iraq has to do with terrorism is that we've now chosen it as the place where terrorists can attack us), Dubya at least admitted on nationwide television that unilaterally, we're in over our head, which I suppose amounts to what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity. Yet, with the necessary Iraq funds -- even lowballed as they are -- threatening to blow the deficit to $525 billion, I do hope that the Bushies realize that the responsibility and sacrifice they're expecting from the American people, our somewhat skeptical allies, and everyone but themselves in prosecuting this war should preclude any more discussion of a tax cut in the coming year. After all, why shouldn't America's wealthiest citizens also have to pay the heavy price for Dubya's blundering, incompetent, and hubris-ridden diplomacy on the road to war?
IGN gets an exclusive trailer for what will undoubtedly be the scariest movie in theaters this Halloween - the Alien Director's Cut. Apparently, the famous Brett & Dallas in the nest scene has been re-added (despite it contradicting the xenoform life cycle of the later films.) Either way, from the Nostromo's sMothering AI to Ash spewing milk all over the place to Kane's "unwanted pregnancy," twenty years later Alien is still scary - and subversive - as hell.
In a decision that may prove costly for Congressional Dems in 2004, John Edwards cancels his Senate bid to focus full-time on running for President. (I'd say Erskine Bowles is a strong back-up candidate - still, Dems are rarely an easy sell in North Carolina). I presume Edwards is making this move to gather some momentum and try to stake out the "Son of the South" slot in the top tier before Clark shows up to steal his mojo. As I've noted before, Edwards plays the populism angle very well, but he's going to have a seriously uphill battle should the General join the fight. And at the moment he's got ground to make up in my mind for his defense of the Patriot Act.
As noted yesterday, the Court heard arguments this morning on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold). And, in spite of reformers' earlier hopes, it seems Chief Justice Rehnquist was predisposed against the law, meaning that the fateful decision is probably in the hands of Justice O'Connor, as per usual. Politically speaking, I'd think this Court would have to uphold reform after thrusting themselves so deeply into the Bush v. Gore fiasco, but I guess we'll see. (Speaking of which, on a side note, conservative zealot Ted Olsen apparently referred to his friend and fellow Richard Mellon Scaife patron Ken Starr as "Justice Starr" during the proceedings, telling him he'll "have to wait" for his spot on the bench. Sorry, Ken, not in a million years.)
R.E.M. ready their new song "Bad Day" (off In Time, the Greatest Hits for the Warner years, due out next month) for release by creating MorningTeam.Com. I guess now we know what Buck and Mills would've been doing if the Athens Fab Four had never taken off.
Tomorrow, McCain-Feingold finally gets its day in court. For the plaintiffs (aiming to kill the legislation for Big Money), our old friend Ken Starr. For the government (nominally committed to the bill), Ted Olsen. For the reforms, former Clinton Solicitor General Seth Waxman. All in all, it should be a doozy..if I had my druthers, of course, the Court will not only uphold McCain-Feingold but revisit the "money = protected speech" formulation drawn in Buckley v. Valeo. In terms of constitutional principle, it's one person, one vote...dollars shouldn't enter the equation.
How to make your own TRON costume - what the discriminating gentleman wears when taking on the MCP. (Via Pith and Vinegar.) You know you want to.
As part of their fall preview, the NY Times takes in Robert Altman and Neve Campbell's Company (the Joffrey Ballet), and Elvis Mitchell sings the praises of Peter Jackson.
In a similar vein to this January 2003 New Yorker piece, Salon pauses to appreciate Bjork, the other white meat.
With Dubya looking more vulnerable than ever, the calls for Clark's candidacy continue among the media. "If Clark sustains momentum, he drives out candidates quicker than Iowa or New Hampshire will...He has the ability to make it a three-man race: Dean, Clark and Gephardt, who isn't going anywhere with all those union endorsements." Meanwhile, the rest of the Dem field release their ads and ponder when to unleash on Dean.
"As Paul Wolfowitz has all but admitted, the 'bureaucratic' reason for war -- weapons of mass destruction -- was not the main one. The real reason was to rebuild the pillars of American influence in the Middle East. Americans may have figured this out for themselves, but it was certainly not what they were told. Nor were they told that building this new pillar might take years and years. What they were told -- misleadingly and simplistically -- was that force was justified to fight 'terrorism' and to destroy arsenals of mass destruction targeted at America and at Israel." In a wide-ranging article for the NYT Magazine, Michael Ignatieff offers an historical critique of our currently muddled intervention policy, and outlines his own best-case-scenario proposal for US-led UN reform. "Putting the United States at the head of a revitalized United Nations is a huge task. For the United States is as disillusioned with the United Nations as the world is disillusioned with the United States. Yet...Pax Americana must be multilateral, as Franklin Roosevelt realized, or it will not survive."
Via Pearls that are his Eyes, the Guardian talks with Elvis Costello on his new album and newfound love. While I'm glad the guy's feeling peachy, I must say the jury's still out for me on the idea of a blissful Elvis...I prefer my Costello lacerating, verbose, and irreconcilable.
Dubya ventures to the Midwest to hype the jobless recovery in Kansas City, site of 10,000 recent telecom layoffs. Perhaps he'd do better to sell his tax writeoff plan for the wealthy to a swing state it's actually helped...that is, if he can find one. (In almost completely unrelated news, Doglover Dubya, via High Industrial.)
Eager to catch up with Marvel in the summer blockbuster dept., Warner Brothers and DC plan to screentest a bevy of young stars for Christopher (Memento) Nolan's new Batman film. (Of these choices, I'd go with Christian Bale.) Also is comic casting news, it turns out cut-rate chanteuse/Newlywed Jessica Simpson will be playing the lead in Mort the Dead Teenager. Normally, this'd be a non-story, but she had been rumored to play Sue Storm (Invisible Girl) in the upcoming Fantastic Four flick, which -- if true -- would have instantly erased any interest I might have in the project. Now, Naomi Watts, on the other hand...
Trapped in a quagmire of their own making, the Bushies beg the UN to help out in Iraq. Well, although he may not admit it now, I guess Sec. Powell deserves some cred for seeing the writing on the wall and trying to end a failed policy. But, let's be serious -- do we really expect the international community to snap to and take over the body count after the White House tried so hard to demean them and to undermine the UN as an institution along the road to war? Sheah. Although the GOP probably never expected it'd come to this, I'm afraid we will now reap the bitter rewards of Dubya's amateurish diplomacy.
As the Democratic field aim to eat into Dean's lead at the New Mexico debate tonight, Gen. Clark draws closer to throwing his own hat in the ring. As I said earlier, I'd think having a (not-so-)dark horse like Clark siphon off media coverage and funding would mean campaign death for many of the second-tier candidates...and, at this point, winnowing the field is in most everyone's interest.
Upon the publication of Lucky Girls, author-to-be Curtis Sittenfeld evaluates the Nell Freudenberger backlash for Salon. I knew Nell decently well in college and, although I haven't read her full book yet (I just ordered it, and expect to attend the reading tonight), I suspect Sittenfeld is right in noting (however snarkily) that the literary grousing in certain circles has more to do with frightful envy than with Nell's ostensible luck. Whether or not she fell into good fortune with the New Yorker story, it's pretty clear to all who meet her that Nell is not only smart and talented but also remarkably down-to-earth, and I very sincerely doubt she would have escaped notice for long. In sum, she earned her big break, and most of those who'd think otherwise are just trafficking in sour grapes.
Update: The Complete Review, cited in the Sittenfeld piece (and this entry) as backlash central (and an otherwise compelling source of literary info, as far as I can tell), responds to the Freudenberger furor, in part by complaining about my "typically American sense of entitlement." (Continentals, it seems, appreciate much better the formative value of laboring away in penury and obscurity for years - no silver platters for them!) I don't particularly want to get in a flame war with another site about something as unoffending as Nell's success -- why begrudge her this moment? Nevertheless, two points:
1) The Saloon claims they must continue to harp on Freudenberger because the hits and search-requests demand it, which anyone who keeps a weblog knows is disingenuous. If site content was dictated by search requests, I'd be posting essays on "Sex Machines" and "WTC Ghosts" every week.
2) I think the Saloon does clarify their position to where there's an inkling of point to be had: "The big issue we've had, from the first, with Freudenberger, and the reason we've harped on her case so is that she got a fat contract (two, actually, one from Ecco/HarperCollins and one from Picador UK) without having written practically anything." The doling out of literary contracts is clearly an important state-of-the-industry issue that deserves coverage and note by journals like the Saloon. But, again, arguing that Nell isn't receiving undue condemnation from the Saloon and other outlets because she's "pretty and went to Harvard" is also disingenuous. After all, I don't see the Saloon publishing fake dialogues entitled, "Whoa Jon Foer!," and critiquing his back-of-the-book sartorial sense. (Full Disclosure: Jon's brother Frank is a friend and former colleague of mine, and I personally wouldn't hold Foer's success against him either - there's that sense of entitlement again.) In sum, the Saloon can argue good intentions all the live-long day, but it's pretty clear from the levels of snark exhibited in their Freudenberger posts that the site's opprobium for her reflects less wholesome motives than dispassionate, just-the-facts-ma'am coverage of the literary scene. Schadenfreudenberger, perhaps?
Rainy days and Mondays always get Neo down...Coming Soon gets a handful of new Matrix: Revolutions images. Mild spoilers, although there's not much here that you didn't see in the trailer.
With Howard Dean's place currently secure as a top-tier candidate (despite perhaps needing to burnish his foreign policy creds for the stretch run), a number of other Dems try to take advantage of the Labor Day rush to gain some traction before Wesley Clark becomes the soup du jour. As such, a Military Kerry officially announces in SC, an experienced Gephardt unveils new ads, and a newly compassionate Lieberman offers a "MediKids" plan. Well, the jury may still be out in Iowa, but I think I can safely say there's very little chance of my voting Gephart and absolutely none of my voting Lieberman. Kerry still has a shot, though, depending how the campaign goes over the fall.
Sigh...the school year was kicked off this morning by my toilet spraying water all over the bathroom (the hose came loose in the tank) and my computer refusing to visit any Microsoft sites, including Slate, MSN, and, most importantly, Hotmail. So I spent a good part of the day playing around with my antivirus software, Internet cache, and configuration - to say nothing of listening to the on-hold-jingle at 1-800-Microsoft for a good solid hour - before I encountered this. Ah well...hopefully all will be rectified soon. At least the cable's working...for now.
