“What they’re looking for is how many names can they give — and by names I mean members of Congress or other prominent people — and what kind of message do they want to send.” Republican lobbyist and Boss DeLay flunky “Casino Jack” Abramoff is indicted for conspiracy and wire fraud, paving the way for further inquiries into congressional criminality. Let’s hope the prosecutors are able to sidestep the GOP powers-that-be and ascertain just how deep this rabbit hole goes…
Month: August 2005
Cogs and Grunts and Hirelings.
More trailers for your perusal: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Cooper and Jamie Foxx brave Operation Desert Storm in the trailer for Sam Mendes’ Jarhead, Charlize Theron channels Liquid Television for Frances McDormand in MTV’s live-action version of Aeon Flux, and Robert Downey Jr., Michelle Monaghan, and Val Kilmer attempt to solve a Hollywood murder mystery in this look at Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang.
My ghost likes to travel.
Aloha and mahalo from lovely, splendiferous Maui, where — textbook work complete — I’ll be spending the next few weeks swimming, snorkeling, hiking, recharging, and reading the occasional tome on New Era progressivism. What with the sun, sand, and sea, I expect the lax updating schedule of the past few weeks will continue for the duration…Sorry about that. I’ll make it up come September.
Here’s a little ghost for the offering.
Space Adventures, the firm behind Dennis Tito’s 2001 trip to the ISS, is looking for two takers for a $100 million moonshot. Well, that’s a pretty penny and no mistake. But if they’re forced to switch to a lottery system to procure the necessary funds, I’d buy a ticket or three.
Don’t go mistakin’ Paradise…
The official Bob Dylan site retools for No Direction Home, a 2-hour documentary on Bob circa 1961-1966 and directed by none other than Martin Scorsese. It’ll premiere on PBS on 9/26 and 9/27 (and on DVD 9/20), and will be accompanied by a seventh volume in the Bootleg series.
Once there weren’t greenfields.
“Black inhabitants of the ‘neat little settlement,’ the [1856] article said, ‘present a pleasing contrast in their habits and the appearance of their dwellings to the Celtic occupants, in common with hogs and goats, of the shanties in the lower part of the Park…The policemen find it difficult to persuade them out of the idea which has possessed their simple minds, that the sole object of the authorities in making the Park is to procure their expulsion from the homes which they occupy. It is to be hoped that their removal will be effected with as much gentleness as possible.'” A team of archaeologists from Barnard and City College use ground-penetrating radar to probe under Central Park for remains of Seneca Village, a 19th century settlement displaced to make way for Olmstead & Vaux’s grand refuge and left forgotten for over a century.
Dominy Darko.
Keira Knightley explains her bounty hunter backstory in the new extended trailer for Domino. This still seems like a Tony Scott schlockfest — In fact, it looks like outtakes from Man on Fire. But, as I said last time, I’m curious to see what screenwriter Richard Kelly has brought to the table.
Landlord’s Daughter, Satan’s Son.
Lots of casting news today on the horror remake front…first, Leelee Sobieski and Ellen Burstyn have joined Neil La Bute’s Wicker Man, in what sounds like the Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee roles respectively. And, likely appearing as Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in a new version of The Omen are Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles. (For their part, the AICN guys think they’ve found the new Damien.)
In the Crossfire.
“The self-described ‘prince of darkness’ appears blinded by the light. He cannot see himself as everyone else does. He has called so much attention to himself that he casts no shadow at all. He is completely exposed.” Sidney Blumenthal puts the skewers to Bob Novak.
The Dogs of War.
As seen on Slate, Iraqi insurgents are apparently using dogs as unwitting suicide bombers. Perhaps it reveals a fundamental inability on my part to confront the grotesque human costs of this conflict, but this…this disgusts me.