Random Thoughts

Bad news for DC fans: Warner Bros. is canceling all future DC animated films because, apparently, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight didn't do as well as they hoped (or as well as Justice League: The New Frontier). I am INCREDIBLY disappointed in them for this one. What will we be missing? Well, for starters, there's Wonder Woman II, Batgirl: Year One, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, and Aquaman. So there go a lot of projects I was looking forward to seeing the results of. With one move, Warner Bros. has just swept away a legacy of animation that began in the 1990s and was consistently excellent.

Thanks for nothing, WB.

:: Joe Liebermann and Scott Brown are pushing a law where US citizens can be stripped of their citizenship if they're deemed to associate with terrorists. No need for a trial or due process or anything: all you have to do is be accused and away goes your citizenship. I wonder if this is being supported in the Arizona state legislature... Heh, they're racists.

Does that mean I can accuse George W. Bush based on his family's connections with Saudi terrorist organizations, or will we be ignoring that?

American politicians proposing un-American, unconstitutional laws. Wondrous. How much further back can we set the progress clock, guys? Let's outlaw witches next, or something really stupid, so that the whole world know what superstitious little idiots we are.

:: BTW: the guy who spotted the bomb in Times Square and alerted the police? Aliou Niasse, street vendor and a Muslim immigrant from Senegal. The media is ignoring this fact. Why can't we monster them into telling us why. I just want to hear it from their dirty, corporate executive shit-infested mouths.

:: The economy went to hell because SEC staffers were too busy masturbating at work to pay attention? Good as any other explanation, I guess. Well, not as good as blaming banks, corporations, and deregulation, but whatever.

:: Speaking of the economy... why is there even a question about auditing the Fed? I mean, I expected resistance from the banking/corporate quarters, but the White House? It just makes me laugh now to remember Obama's empty promises of transparency. Just like Bush, just like Clinton, Obama is a hero of non-accountability. This shit almost makes me miss Reagan.

:: Do you ever wonder how much Big Oil is paying Sarah Palin to shill for them? Her response to the ecological nightmare inflicted on the Gulf of Mexico by BP: "I want our country to be able to trust the oil industry." Um... no.

Here's a list of 7 animals brought closer to extinction by the oil spill.

:: Also, this is not a good time for your opportunistic "clean coal" science fiction commercials. Let's be grownups here: there is no way to harvest energy that is not going to hurt the environment in some way. Let's stop acting like there is, or find something that actually works.

:: So history doesn't forget: BP spent money in court against having to install a $500,000 blowout prevention valve system on their oil rigs. The Bush administration let them off on that Randian "corporations will protect their reputations" bullshit. Hope their victory was worth it.

Just... just don't let this be forgotten, okay?

(And don't ever forget that it was BP who was in charge of being prepared for oil spills in Alaska when the Exxon-Valdez spill happened 20 years ago. Check out their track record of safety violations and cutting corners; typical business in America.)

:: Speaking of something history shouldn't forget: medical interests spent $876 billion lobbying Congress between January 2009 and March 2010 in order to fight against health reform. And for their money, the drug companies got drug re-importation, direct Medicare drug price negotiation, and shorter periods of exclusivity before generics can be made available knocked out of the reform bill. Any ONE of those changes would've saved the government and consumers $100 billion over the next 10 years.

Corporate money is destroying politics, and it's destroying America.

Lost vs. Muppets

Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof try to protect the secrets of Lost from Rizzo the Rat and Bobo the Bear.


(Seriously, Muppet Studios, we need a LOT more of Bobo.)

The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars Story Ever Told

The story of the Star Wars trilogy, in LEGO, in two minutes. Easily the most wonderful thing I've seen all day.

More TV Notes

:: Seriously, at what point did American Idol get so badly produced? I remember a time when having only five singers left meant that each one got two songs. Seriously, you can't do more than 20 minutes of music in an entire hour? And if you're going to keep cutting a judge off, make it Kara instead of Simon. Simon generally has something to say; Kara just loves to hear herself talk and thinks that everyone else is orgasming on stage to get the benefit of her wisdom.

Also, I was a little disappointed in Harry Connick Jr last night for not seriously talking to the remaining singers--well, Crystal and the remaining four contestants--about exactly what makes Frank Sinatra such a timeless singer. To me, it's always been his sincerity; he sang every song, even "Ol' Man River," as if it came from personal experience. Someone's got to tell these kids that it's not enough to sing a great song--it's not even enough to sing a great song well--it's about internalizing the song and singing it with the confidence and sincerity of experience. That's why it's so ridiculous to see Aaron sing "The Long and Winding Road": he doesn't have the experience behind him to sell that song. They're still too focused on technique and not enough on connecting with the song and with the audience. And audiences, on a subconscious level at least, will connect with a singer whose read of a song sounds sincere and confident. If you can't find a way to relate to a song and internalize it, don't bother singing it in a singing competition.

(And no, it doesn't have to have happened to you; a good deal of performing is acting, feeling, and empathy. I'm amazed how many people don't seem to get that. If you can't put yourself in the position of a guy who shot a cop, don't sing "I Shot the Sheriff.")

As far as last night goes, I was especially disappointed in Casey. I didn't care about him before, but he was good the last two weeks, and then his snoozy, pointless rendition of "Fly Me to the Moon" made me wonder why I thought so in the first place.

And judges, stop blowing smoke up Aaron's ass. You know he's awful just as well as I do.

:: I wish the producers of How I Met Your Mother could make it more interesting when people date outside the group. If this thing with Don is "real" for Robin, then we need to see Don interacting with the show more so that it becomes organic. That was, I think, the reason so many fans of the show hated Stella--after she and Ted started dating, she was usually only on the show just so she and Ted could have a fight about something. So she came across like a bitch, because we only ever got to see her when they were disagreeing about something. We didn't see them in love often enough. Same thing with Don; he's a funny character, and the few times we see him with Robin it seems like there's chemistry there, so instead of just letting Robin run off and not be around much anymore just because she's not dating Ted or Barney, let's see more of Don getting to know everyone. The mileage you could get out of watching Marshall and Lily try to do the couples' thing again with Robin would be worth it alone. Besides, it's a good counterpoint to Ted being single and wanting to be married, especially since Marshall and Lily are a given as a couple.

:: I really liked this last episode of The Big Bang Theory for making it about Sheldon's dilemma of whether or not he can keep being friends with Penny since she broke up with Leonard. Part of the problem with Penny was that she suffered--especially in the second season--as being little more than an unobtainable love object for Leonard. So it's nice to see that while this relationship is on hiatus, or whatever, that the writers can find ways to incorporate her without just being Leonard's girlfriend. Promoting her to Sheldon's caretaker is how it should be, because the funniest episodes of this show are the ones where Penny and Sheldon have to deal with each other.

Frankly, Leonard and Penny's relationship always felt forced to me. I'm sure they'll get back together, but I don't really care about it. Sheldon & Penny > Leonard & Penny

And we need a hell of a lot more Bernadette, guys.

:: Oh, man... Lost. Spoilers, etc.

Seriously, what a bloodbath that was. And does this mean we'll never find out why Dogen was so afraid of Sayid or why he wanted Jack to give him the pill? Is it another case of the island letting Sayid survive so that he could do what he did and save Jack?

(As an aside: I'm amazed how much I'm pulled into Jack's character arc right now, considering that Jack has been a character I've despised pretty much since day one. But his sudden changes--finally having faith, finally listening to Locke's advice, finally realizing his desire to fix everything has led to disaster time and again--make him very compelling. I can't wait to see what happens to him now.)

As for Sun and Jin, I saw this coming. There's been too much foreshadowing to be surprised, but that doesn't mean I'm still not incredibly sad. I think the writers lost track of them at some point as separate characters--particularly Sun--and I'm sad to see them go as a couple. I kind of hope Jin didn't live, as many are theorizing, because he's done this twice before already--first on Sawyer's raft, and second on Widmore's ship--that it would just take away from the power of their death scene if he were to live. But still, were you, like me, mentally shouting "Go and live so you can raise your daughter"?

I guess we're going to have to come to terms with some mysteries never being revealed, which I suppose is fine, since not many of the integral ones are left, and many of them--such as the destruction of the statue--have had pretty mundane answers. I assume the bigger mysteries will be dealt with, and we'll have to focus on those instead. We'll never know why Libby was in the mental hospital, but so be it, I guess.

The one lingering thing that's really getting to me, though, involves the flash-sideways: if Anthony Cooper was a loving father in this universe, and had a good relationship with Locke and didn't steal his kidney... who was Sawyer in this one? Was it still Cooper?

I am gripped to this until the finale.

Film Week

A review of the films I've seen this past week.

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER (2009)
As predicted, the movie basically boiled away most of the satirical, observational-of-the-genre moments from the novel and left us with, mostly, an average coming-of-age high school comedy. It's a shame the movie never finds its tone. I see why it got terrible reviews, but I didn't think it was as bad as I'd heard. The dissonance, I think, comes from the way it was advertised as something of a wild teen comedy, but is actually a movie where we see the illusions of high school life fall away in favor of hard truths: for some people, there is nothing after high school to look forward to; or, the girl you obsessed over and never spoke to in high school isn't your perfect dream crush, she's a person, and sometimes she's a person you may have a hard time respecting. It's an admirable idea for a movie, but it spends too much time trying to be clever and quirky that the genre movie-ish bits just sort of hang there and seem extra silly when, at the same time, the movie feels it's too smart to do them in the first place. So, it's problem, I guess, is that it wants to be a deconstruction of a genre that it also wants to be a part of. It's a shame it doesn't work. The actors are pretty good, especially the leads. Paul Rust has been rightly praised for his performance as Denis Cooverman, the nerdy valedictorian who decides to no longer suffer in silence over his love for the head cheerleader, but I do think Hayden Panettiere deserves more credit for playing Beth Cooper as a person instead of a stereotype, which is part of the point. **1/2 stars.

POWDER BLUE (2009)
Another one of those movies I hate where several disparate stories connect as a way of dodging the work of writing one that works. Really bad movie, mainly about a stripper with a son in the hospital, a lost dog, and a father she's never met just out of prison. Ray Liotta is good as the father, and Jessica Biel is better than I expected in the lead, but not a good movie at all. And yes, it is the one where Biel takes her clothes off, but not nearly often enough to recommend it on even that basis. *1/2 stars.

My 30 Favorite Star Wars Characters

30. Bossk

29. Captain Roos Tarpals

28. Tarfful

27. Sebulba

26. Boba Fett

25. Jaxxon

24. IG-88

23. Wicket

22. General Grievous

21. Princess Leia Organa

20. Kit Fisto

19. Max Rebo

18. Plo Koon

17. Luke Skywalker

16. Mace Windu

15. Cad Bane

14. Jar Jar Binks

13. Ahsoka Tano

12. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin

11. Aayla Secura

10. C-3PO

9. Obi-Wan Kenobi

8. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker
(Clone Wars has really managed to turn Anakin into a compelling character.)

7. Chewbacca

6. Plif

5. Yoda

4. Lando Calrissian

3. Han Solo

2. Qui-Gon Jinn

1. R2-D2

May the 4th be with you!

Lynn Redgrave 1943-2010

A shame, this.

Kristen Bell Mondays

Song of the Week: "Grey Seal"

Elton John, from one of my all time favorite albums, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This song just makes me feel content and energetic at the same time.

Banjo-Kazooie Theme with Lyrics

More mad genius from Brentalfloss.

Bill Murray Still Unenthused About Ghostbusters 3

Different sources, but all via /Film:

[Ghostbusters 3 is] just a myth [...] like the white alligator in the sewer, you know? Who’s seen it, really?

It’s just really the movie studio. They love the franchise, they’d just like to re-create it again. All this talk is just talk. It drives me nuts, it’s just people talking…Until someone actually creates a great script it’s just hogwash, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s interesting that people are interested in it, they’d like to see it. It was a great thing, it really was fun. Maybe it should. And if it’s such a good idea, then someone will write the screenplay.

[...] it’s really the world of sequels and bringing these things back again, and then some wiseacre said, ‘Hey, we got a couple of new writers who are gonna write something.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, well, maybe there’ll be some writers’ and there was always this joke, sort of a half-true, half-joke thing like, ‘Well, I’ll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.’ That was my joke, you know? So supposedly someone was writing a script where I actually got killed in the first reel and became a ghost, which I thought, ‘Well, that’s kind of clever anyway.’ But then these guys that were supposedly the writers that were going to do it, they wrote a film that came out and people saw the film and went… ‘We’re not going to do it after all, are we?’ So it’s just a kind of a dreamy thing.

I actually thought the other day–it’s just become so irritating–but I actually heard people like, young people that really [heard] of the movie when they were kids and I thought, ‘You know, maybe I should just do it. Maybe it’d be fun to do.’

Now, I don't want to get into a fan discussion about whether Bill Murray should do the film or whatever. He can do whatever he wants. Some of the concepts they've been discussing for Ghostbusters 3 over the past year or two have been pretty cool, though; they sound like they'd make for a great movie--or, hopefully, at least a better movie than Ghostbusters 2.

What I found most interesting in all of this was Murray's assertion that Ghostbusters 3 is just still being talked about and discussed, and not something firm that's definitely going to happen. Sony's been talking for the last year like it's a done deal that's going to happen any minute now, so it's interesting to see that this thing could still be years off, assuming it happens.

If it does, cool. If not, that's cool too. They made a perfect movie in 1984, and you don't ask for more than that.

Happy 20th Birthday, Kay Panabaker!

Sunday Hottie 274

TILDA SWINTON

What the Actual Fuck, Arizona?

Two separate outrages here:

1. Last weekend, Arizona passed a law that prohibits insurers in Arizona from providing coverage for abortions unless the coverage is offered as a separate optional rider. It prevents insurers from offering abortion services even if only private money is used to pay for them. Currently, five states require abortion riders, and in those states, no insurance company offers them.

Back into the alleys with you, poor women who need abortions.

Another victory for the forced birth crowd. Most of them men, of course.

And not to single out only Arizona--though Arizona deserves to be singled out--how about Oklahoma? The legislature there has made it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion. It actually requires doctors to set up the monitor where women can see it and then describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions for rape and incest, either.

Oklahoma also passed a law protecting doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of an unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. Because that information may influence someone into having an abortion. So it's the law in Oklahoma now to lie to pregnant women in order to force them to have children.

To his credit, Governor Brad Henry vetoed both of those vile pieces of legislation. The state legislature voted to overturn the vetoes.

You know, gentlemen, it does get to a point where your pro-life debate becomes less about religious bullshittery and a lot more about restricting the rights of women and wanting to punish them for having sex. Apparently, even if they're raped by a stranger or a family member.

2. Arizona is now going after the education system to continue their ethnic purge of the state.

Schools can now lose state funding if they offer any courses that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

Look at that wording: they're equating the Mexican-American studies program with high treason and hate speech.

The state superintendent charged the Mexcian-American studies program with "ethnic chauvinism," which is certainly the pot calling the kettle a giant fucking racist.

The Arizona Department of Education is also telling school districts to remove teachers who don't speak English well enough. It seems especially stupid to me having taught in bilingual classrooms; kids still learning English need the comfort of a teacher who speaks their first language while they're finding their way around a second. Arizona's idiotic solution to this is to purge those teachers from the schools and leave those kids hanging.

Apparently, the Arizona legislature got sick of living in America and decided they'd rather live in Fascist Germany about 75 years ago. After all, you can't spell "Arizona" without the letters N, A, Z, and I.

Like the "Show Me Your Papers" law, this is racism disguised as policy. Hispanics are apparently the cause of all America's problems, and they need to be scapegoated, demonized, and purged.

When does the "ethnic cleansing" start?