I didn’t post here on the official anniversaries, but nevertheless: a moment of silence for the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, sixty years ago this week.
Month: August 2005
Roman Holiday.
Welcome to the layer cake, son. The new trailer for Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist is out, with our first looks at Fagin (Ben Kingsley) and Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman).
Cruciatus Columbus.
“I think probably the first two films were a little too saccharine and glib, even for Harry Potter fans.” As word breaks that Goblet of Fire might well be PG-13, Lord Voldemort emerges from hiding to parselmouth the Chris Columbus films. Ok, so You-Know-Who might not be all bad.
Lyra and Iorek.
Also in fantasy film news, His Dark Materials gets a new director in Anand Tucker, he of Hilary and Jackie and the upcoming Shopgirl. I haven’t seen either of these films, but at least it sounds like he’s already put some thought into it.
Signing off.
Now This is Fun.
“I see ourselves alongside U2 and R.E.M. more than any of the bands we came up with, although really we don’t fit in and we never have, and I’ve come to embrace that.” Dave Gahan and Depeche Mode start up the publicity for Playing the Angel, their new album due out in October. The first single — “Precious” — has leaked, and after a couple of listens I already like it better than anything on the last album, with the possible exception of “When the Body Speaks.” It’s good to hear Dave, Andy, and Marty kicking the old-school synth flavors again.
The Lowest Grade of Ignorance.
Wanna see something really scary? GOP freakshow Rick Santorum invokes the Founders to rail against the pursuit of happiness. Yes, Rick, the Founders did care about public responsibility, republican citizenship, and the common good, and they went out of their way to explain that these revolutionary American ideals were most assuredly not the province of narrow-minded theocratic nutjobs such as yourself.
A Long Way from the Shire.
In the trailer bin, Elijah Wood pulls double duty delving into strange and exotic Old World cultures in the trailers for Green Street (nee Hooligans) and the Liev Schreiber-directed version of Jonathan Foer’s Everything is Illuminated. Of these two, I think I’d rather see the former.
Just Let it Go.
Hey…still busy over on this end with the textbook project. At this point, I’m about ready to up and pull a Novak, but, fortunately, the end is in sight.
Rove, Raffy, and the Right.
“‘He’s a friend,’ the president said…’He’s testified in public, and I believe him.’” In a roundtable with Texas journalists, Dubya backs Karl Rove and Rafael Palmeiro, as well as (somewhat half-heartedly) the teaching of “intelligent design.” A bit of a gullible sort, ain’t he?