I had a movie afternoon where i watched 'Crash' and 'Fight Club'. Fight Club i've seen before, but Crash was new to me. I found it really refreshing and raw. For those of you who don't know, its about racial tensions between a group of several (different coloured) people whose lives all interlock in someway through a series of car crashes and shootings within LA. I highly recommend seeing this one. And it has a pretty great cast, including Brenden Frasier, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris and Matt Dillon (<3).

This weekend i have nothing really big planned as i am working both days, which is good because then i will have more money for when i go away. My sister also wants me to go to Brisbane with her at the end of November/early December. The only downside is that its during my final exams. I could probably resit them later, but i don't know. And mum wants me to go to Egypt with her next year. So much traveling. Gosh. Its intense!

I'm currently watching Alfie on tv. And dear god. Jude Law is possibly human perfection. Normally i'm not really into blondes, but sheeeessshh! Now let's all take a moment to marvel in his amazingness.

Fuck.

This movie paints a society in which advanced genetic technology is used to basically divide up the human family into two classes: those who have the right genetic makeup, characterized by a superiority in physical and mental fitness, and those who have defective genetic makeups, characterized by a certain proneness to develop physical and mental degenerate conditions / diseases later in life.

Members of the first class, called 'valids', are given top working positions in society, while second class members, called 'invalids' or 'de-gene-erates', are given inferior type of jobs.

Quote
Immediately after birth, a bloodsample is taken, analyzed, and it is immediately determined to which class the person growing out of that baby would belong to.

Through stringent de-facto regulative discrimination based on genetic profiling, it is ruled out that invalids ever get to have job positions that would normally only be available to valids.

Quote
The symbolic presence of a glass window separating the two classes strengthens the sense of separation between them.

The public is thus made aware of the future prospect of a genetically defined class segregation between the Elite- or ruling-class and the worker- or servant class. This is already more or less the case in present day society but a 'scientific' backing would surely serve to make the dividing line more rigid and absolute.

However, it should be noted that the movie features two brothers of which one is ruled to be a valid while the other is branded an invalid. I believe that, those responsible for shaping society envision a society which in all likelihood will not only feature two classes, but rather a garden variety of classes in which genetic makeup indeed defines suitability for some certain class while ruling out other classes.

With respect to the power-Elite, I expect genetic discrimination will either not even apply to those people or, if it does, it may be used to verify if someone ultimately does have the right 'bloodline' credentials to belong to some Elite class.

With regard to the public, the viewer is brought up to speed to the idea that ultimately, in the not too distant future, it will be genes deciding to what class you get to belong. The important note is that you do not have any say in or control over the destination of your life.

It is like the old Hindu caste system but this time it's sugar-coated with a touch of scientism. I say scientism rather than science because it is still uncertain whether we are mere slaves of our genes or that we ourselves have the potential to rise from genetic determinism.

In genetic biology until rather recently it was the prevailing norm to assume that the genotype (genetic makeup) is deterministic in shaping and expressing the phenotype (physical characteristics) of the organism. In other words, the genes completely directed the development of the organism. However, this classical viewpoint has now come under siege and biologists such as Bruce Lipton now believe, through legate scientific observation, that it is the environment that determines which genes get to be expressed and which get to be suppressed. Note that the classic viewpoint implies that through some alleged self-regulating mechanism genes themselves coordinate genetic expression.

To the people in power this paradigm shift must seem a rather unwelcome one since people, most notably the 'commoners', now may realize that they are not mere slaves and victims of their genes and have a justification to indeed rise above their delineated potentiality through something as relatively simple as the way in which they perceive themselves.

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On entry into a working facility designed for valids, people are forced to identify themselves, through blood testing, so as to ensure that no invalids slip in illegally.

The viewer gets acquainted with a future of a proliferation of mandatory identification methods such as, blood-tests through special blood-sampling thumb scanners and regular blood-tests through administered through old-fashioned syringes. Also urine testing seems to become an admissible indicator for suitability for some working position, implicitly assuming that criteria on a genetic level have been met already. It is stressed again that you, as a person, do not really have a say in the conduct or direction of your life but rather are subjected to the level of your 'genetic fitness' already set in stone at birth.

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Stoic people behaving in a conformal and disciplined way like the good little worker-bees they are.

Another remarkable feature in the movie is that it depicts a rather stoic and minimalistic society. It would seem that people of the future are not allowed to express emotions and enjoy themselves too much, given the sparseness of emotive expression combined with a rather bleak and sterile scenery. Is this gloomy prospect to let us know that we are to behave more like robots in the future? Perhaps if and when we have brainchips jammed up in our craniums, or be severely drugged Brave-New-World style, then indeed we will behave more like the good little androids we ought to be.

In romantic happy ending sci-fi movies like this one the programming usually comes with a thread of hope. In this case the movie helps convince the viewer that all is not lost for the unfortunate de-gene-erate. The movie demonstrates that if one works long enough, by persistent cheating no less, one can overcome one's genetic predisposition for banishment to the lower class and thus transcend by fraudulent escape to the upper class.

The movie shows that an important way in establishing who is top dog and who is under dog still is the old-fashioned visual face identification. However, it doesn't show that pretending to be someone else is not a terribly difficult thing to do given the rather vintage low-tech looking visual identification devices. With this inferior type of equipment indeed it seems that two rather similar looking faces cannot be told apart. Hence identity switching or impersonation is a plausible thing to do, the move likes to have us believe.

However, this scenario is unlikely to occur in the technological world of, let's say, 20 years from now, since the high-resolution of the electronic gadgets of then no doubt will feature astounding detail and accuracy. Hence, quite unlike the vintage looking scenarios of the movie, identity falsification of the future will be next to impossible if not totally out of the question altogether.

I believe that giving the movie that 50s/60s vintage look was the reason for tricking the viewer into baiting the false hope that a class-like society is not as rigid as it would seem. Themes like this seem to be part of the hope thread by giving the viewer some respite towards looking to a future in which all is not lost, even when absolute scientific worldwide tyranny has been blatantly brought to the fore. As such, if and when a scientific dictatorship gets to be installed people may have a tendency to not rebel that strongly and thus cause less trouble and resistance to its implementation.

Why don’t you guys make your very own award and post it directly!

Just like what I did. I thought about several celebs and tadaaa...!

Here you are, The Fascinating Hilarious Awards #1 2008...!

The Top 10 Hottest Guys Alive

1. Jude Law

He’s HOT from EVERY SIDE we look at. No one disagree.

2. Ashton Kutcher

GOSH. Hot body. Cute face. Great humour sense.

3. Chris Evans

Hot body is the only reason why he’d been chosen as The Human Torch in Fantastic4 [beside his act, ofcourse].

4. Brad Pitt

OHMYGOSH. Angelina Jolie LOVES him! Why don’t we?!

5. Milo Ventimiglia

Look at his gentle eyes and that neck. OMFG.

6. Freddie Prince, Jr.

His smile could make some girls forget about their boyfriends for a moment. =p

7. Chace Crawford

X O X O

8. Ben Barnes

Another British hot guy to be screamed of!

9. Zac Efron

Vanessa Hudgens can’t stop us patching our bedroom wall with his pics.

10. Jonathan Bennett

Sexysexysexysexysexysexy.

The Top 10 Most Intoxicatingly Gorgeous Women

1. Anne Hathaway

I said “WHOA!” all the time I saw her. Hahahaha.

2. Hilary Duff

Hot. Sexy. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Cute. Kind. Great smile. Great body. Great hair. AAAARRRRGGGHHH.

3. Keira Knightley

Gorgeous. The End.

4. Blake Lively

Beautiful face, good-shape body, fashionable and stylish. You KNOW you love her.

5. Liv Tyler

Gooorrrrrgggeeoouuuussssss....!!!

6. Jessica Alba

Hello! We’re talking about Jessica Alba! Who needs a reason to say that she’s beautiful?

7. Famke Janssen

The most beautiful ‘superhero’ in the whole world.

8. Ellen Pompeo

And this is the most beautiful ‘doctor’ in the universe.

9. Jennifer Connelly

OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!!!!

10. Claire Danes

Romeo willing to die for her! =)

Best Actors

1. Will Smith

Hancock. Hitch. I Am Legend. Anyone rejects?

2. Bruce Willis

Armageddon. That’s IT.

3. Jim Carrey

The best pet detective!

4. Johnny Depp

Anyone doesn’t know Captain Jack Sparrow?

5. Tom Cruise

MI 3 : This mission become so possible because of him.

6. Leonardo di Caprio

Hello! This is the Romeo we’re always talking about!

7. Jude Law

Have you ever watched Closer? You’ll agree with me if you have.

8. Ashton Kutcher

Believe me or not, he CAN acts seriously. Watch The Butterfly Effects for sure.

9. Shia LaBeouf

I like his scared face when he meets his walking-robotic-car in Transformers.

10. Daniel Radcliffe

Wingardium leviosa! Expecto patronum! Ohhh... The Cutest Wizard alive. Besides, he is willing to be NAKED in theaters which THOUSANDS people were in and WATCH him. What a brave.

Best Actresses

1. Sandra Bullock

Hey. How many movies would make you believe that she IS the best actress in this world? Try The Lake House, While You Were Sleeping, Speed, Miss Congeniality, and Premonition. Believe me, SHE IS.

2. Ali Larter

Watch Heroes and Final Destination.

3. Keira Knightley

Atonement. Pirates of the Caribbean. The Jacket. Pride and Prejudice. OhMyGod. She’s always TOTAL in her movies.

4. Julia Roberts

I don’t know why. But she deserves it.

5. Natalie Portman

Watch Closer.

6. Angelina Jolie

Hahahaha. Who DO YOU THINK would be better to play the dangerous-hot-housewife Mrs. Smith?!

7. Nicole Kidman

I also don’t know why. But – again – she deserves it.

8. Famke Janssen

Watch X-Men, Hide and Seek, and Taken. You’ll find out the answer.

9. Kate Winslet

Who in this world didn’t EXPLODE CRYING while watching Titanic???!!

10. Jennifer Garner

Her act in Electra was GREAT. Also in Juno.

Okay.

That’s the Hilarious Awards #1 2008!

I hope you guys enjoy and...don’t forget! These awards are made by myself and voted by MYSELF. So, No Protests! =p

Keep waiting for the next #2 !

Law's approach and those who are with him show that enlightenment values are still alive and well. They didn't die out in the 1980's with all those people who would say to me, 'why don't you people in Northern Ireland just get along with one another?' Wow! We'd never thought of that!

The desire for peace is of course laudable. Indeed it is natural for that is what we were made for. Only a fool would not long in his heart for peace. But we need to ask ourselves realistically how it will come about. Will it truly come about because an actor asks for it? I read the blurb on a book recently which described the book as possibly the best case for world peace ever assembled. So what? Even my kids could make a great case for world peace. But how will it come? The reality is that it will never come because the sinful desires that lie in the human heart. The desires of pride, greed, and the desire for power override our desire for peace. Never mind our ability to achieve peace.

Peace will only come with the war to end all wars. When Jesus Christ, the prince of Peace, will return triumphant, and overthrow all that stands opposed to Him. And consequently all that stands opposed to his rule of peace, righteousness, justice and joy. In His death and through His resurrection Jesus triumphed over all that stood opposed to Him. He has won the battle and the end of the campaign is not in doubt. Until then we His people must preach the gospel of peace with god through Jesus Christ and seek to live out that gospel of peace in our lives.

- Nog iets voor Arctic Monkeys fans: de Sheffieldse pub The Bowery is overgenomen door drummer Matt Helders en ex-bassist Andy Nicholson. Andy zou de zaak openhouden wanneer Matt aan het touren is.

- Snow Patrol gaat als allereerste een iPhone/ iPod touch album uitgeven. De bedoeling is dat je extra video's, lyrics en dergelijke op je iPrul kunt bekijken.

- Ik wist niet eens dat het zulke traditionele mannen waren, maar Iron Maiden geeft de opdracht aan zijn fans om het jaarlijkse kerstkaartje van hen te ontwerpen. "Email you entries to us, web@maidenmail.co.uk, title your email 'XMAS CARD' and please make sure you include your contact details. " zegt het officiële bericht. De wedstrijd loopt tot 15 oktober.

- "Schoenmaker blijf bij je leest": Kiss heeft zijn eigen ketchupmerk! Hotter Than Hell, enkel te kopen in hun café (hebben ze dat ook al) in South Carolina. Ze willen trouwens een keten starten, helemaal in Kiss thema, of course.

- Johnny Depp nieuws 1: Johnny Depp zou terug bij zijn band The Kids (nee, niet onze Belgjes) gaan spelen. Op Fade in-out van Oasis (te vinden op hun nieuwe cd) speelde hij eerder al gitaar.

- Johnny, Colin Pharrell en Jude Law hebben het geld dat ze ieders verdiend hebben met 'The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus' aan de dochter van Heath Ledger geschonken om haar toekomst te verzekeren. Deze film is tevens de laatste film waar Heath in te zien zal zijn.

- In de categorie "Beter vermijden dan genezen": de clevere organisator van het Engelse festival Bestival heeft een back-up plan voor als Amy Winehouse niet opdaagt. Ze is er de afsluiter.

- Morgen om 5u in de namiddag voor ons: James Ford op NME-Radio. James is o.a. de man achter albums als Myths of a near future van Klaxons en The age of understatement van Last Shadow Puppets.

- Ben je meer een Bloc Party fan, dan moet je morgen je radio op Studio Brussel afstemmen, waar ze heel de dag liedjes uit hun nieuwe plaat Intimacy gaan uitzenden.

- Les Paul gaat opgenomen worden in de Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Niets te laat, me dunkt.

- Henry Rollins had een tijdje wel een erg originele (om niet te zeggen, lugubere) penvriend: Charles Manson, de leider van de Family-sekte van bijna 40 jaar terug. Henry praatte gewoon over de muziek die hij met Black Flag maakte, maar wist je dat er naar schatting jaarlijks 60 000 brieven naar Manson worden verstuurd, om 'lid te worden van de Family'? Brrr!

- Weer een duet: Coldplay met Kylie Minogue. Het komt op de EP die Coldplay deze december uitbrengt.

- Op 12 september komt er een remix-cd van The Cure uit. Nee, hoge verwachtingen heb ik er niet van, aangezien de remixen gedaan zijn door 30 Seconds To Mars, My Chemical Romance, AFI en Fall Out Boy. Hopelijk weet 65 Days of Static de eer te redden.

Don't worry guys, I still think she is a homewrecking slut!  It's actually Sadie Frost who is standing up for her.  Yeah the same Sadie Frost that was married to Jude Law whom Sienna dated in the past.

Sadie told The Evening Standard: "She's a nice person. She's young. She's a free spirit.

"She has been really unfairly treated. Whatever she does in her personal life, that is between her and the other person. It isn't for the media to persuade the public that she is a bad person."

She also has an opinon on Amy Winehouse.

"It's just the way the media want to portray anyone who hangs out with Amy.

"I've known her for a long time. We worked together four years ago. She's a nice girl.

"We have friends in common. I've just been at her house a couple of times to pick up clothes I've lent her."

Blech, why on Earth would she pick up clothes that has been worn by Wino?  I wonder if she's even worn it?  She is always wearing the same skanky outfits.

Thanks Jude. I'm sure they're listening.

Here's my take on this:

• "Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay" - Neil Patrick Harris Don't get me wrong. The original "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" was a stoner flick classic. It had more heart that Cheech and Chong and more wit than half the comedies being made today... But let's face it: the sequel wasn't quite the same. Sure, there were great performances, but there was some lazy screenwriting going on and the plot didn't fulfill the premise. Everyone's favorite child-star-turned-actor-extraordinaire, NPH, really save the flick from being a big disappointment. His fame-renewing self-characterization scored yet again as we watch him conquer a Southern whorehouse whilst wielding a bag of coke in one hand and an NPH cattle-brander in the other. I half-considered turning his brand into a tattooed tramp stamp before I remembered that the "Dr. Horrible" is still in the running for permanent body art.
• "Catch and Release" - Kevin Smith This flick was hardly a catch or worth the release, except for the fact that Kevin Smith provided a surprisingly heartwrenching and down-to-earth performance. He went from goofy fat dude to suicidal best friend with ease one wouldn't expect from the guy who usual limits his performances to two-word utterings. ("No Ticket.")
• "A.I." - Jude Law I wish the combination of all the performances Jude Law gave after this career-defining role were even half as good as this. Law's manic robot persona carried the charm of an otherwise numbing film.
• "Melinda and Melinda" - Will Ferrel OK, I'm probably going to get a lot of crap for both my choice of a bad movie and a good actor. Now, I'm a card-carrying member of the "Woody Allen Still Makes Good Films!" team, but let's face it... This movie hardly fulfilled its potential. Allen seemed to get too caught up in the shtick of comparing a comedy to a drama and the story suffered on both fronts. This movie also loses points for casting Steve Carrell Ferrel, however, gave a brilliantly portrayal of naivety that almost makes one giddy to watch.
• "Batman and Robin" - Arnold Schwarzenegger In the most hated movie of the Batman franchise there was one shining oasis in the form of a performance so awesomely bad you can't help but laugh. Cali governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gave that performance. His horrendous one-liners coupled with his incomprehensibly thick accent made for one craptastic movie.
• "United 93" - Khalid Abdalla First of all, I am from the Boston area and have been living in New York for three years. I am not insensitive to the gravity of 9/11. However, let's just admit it, this movie sucked. Its use of non-actors was hardly on par with neo-realism and the handheld camera was a predictable and nauseating choice. However, Khalid Abdalla stood out as a phenomenal actor in this film. He made you feel some level of understanding - and perhaps even compassion - for a terrorist who launched the U.S. into one of its darkest periods since the Vietnam War. In fact, I think what I dislike the most about this movie is that the terrorist character is played so humanly that the audience finds itself connecting with him the most. And to that I have two words: "Too soon."

I'll leave off on that controversal choice and hopefully Nancy will respond with her own list!

(I swear Nancy is real!)

Para quem não se lembra, Dan Woolf é aquele "escritor fracassado que ganha a vida escrevendo obituários para um jornal".

Bom, aí que a coisa muda, não é mesmo?

Primeiro que não me considero um escritor. Esses são aqueles que vivem disso e são reconhecidos como tal, independentemente se produzem uma literatura boa ou não. (toma essa Paulo Coelho!)

Não é o meu caso, que diga-se estou ótimo na profissão que escolhi.

Outra coisa que não sou é fracassado. Mesmo que algumas pessoas chatas do passado, mesmo se passando por outros, vez ou outra me enviem comentários singelos do tipo:

"Meu, quem vc pensa que é, um crítico?
Vc não passa de um pobre coitado sem ninguém que mora no JB.

Se enxerga!"

Esse, assim como os anteriores, se você autor(a) não sabe, primeiro que é uma mula, segundo eu tenho como saber até o número de série do micro que você utilizou.

Mas voltando ao filme/personagem...

Li em algum lugar que ele "busca a cada esquina um amor para toda vida, e mesmo que encontre, nunca deixa de procurar".

É o que vemos no filme, pois cerca de um ano depois de se conhecerem (Alice [Natalie Portman] e Dan), publica um livro baseado na vida desta, com um relativo sucesso diga-se. Logo em seguida conhece a fotógrafa Anna (Julia Roberts) com quem acaba tendo um affair que se transformaria em caso somente após outro ano, na exibição das fotos de Anna.

O que aconteceu? Simplesmente, o amor para toda vida dele deixou de ser uma para ser a outra. Quase como se sua busca incessante, o seu desejo máximo,  fosse simplesmente ele mesmo.

Vejam como é o último diálogo deles no filme:

- Aonde vai?
- Cigarros.
- Mas está tudo fechado.
- Vou ao terminal.
- Quando eu voltar, por favor, fale a verdade.
- Por quê?
- Porque estou viciado nela.
- Porque sem ela somos animais... Confie em mim.
- Não te amo mais.
- Desde quando?
- Agora.
- Eu não quero mentir... Não posso contar a verdade, então, está tudo acabado.
- Não importa. Eu te amo. Nada importa.
- Tarde demais. Eu não te amo mais...
...Adeus.

Complicado, não?

Definitivamente, tudo o que não preciso neste momento, é que me analisem...

Mick Jagger [feat. Dave Stewart] - Old Habits Die Hard

UM BEIJO ROUBADO

Taí um filme que ninguém dava muita moral que o resultado final impressionou toda a crítica, e por fim, temos um belíssmo filme. Um elenco espetacular de grandes estrelas e a produção dos impecáveis chineses. Ah, também teve a participação dos franceses, mas isso a gente não precisa comentar. . .

Mas se ainda assim, o filme fosse ruim, temos a radiante Norah Jones estrelando seu primeiro filme, só o fato dela estar no filme já garantiu tudo.

sinopse oficial

jeremy (jude law) é o dono de um charmoso café acostumado a ouvir as histórias amorosas dos clientes. Uma noite ele recebe a visita de Elizabeth(Norah Jones), uma jovem mulher de coração partido com quem conversa madrugada adentro. Os dois passam a se encontrar, noite após noite. Elizabeth, confusa e determinada a se livrar do passado parte em uma viagem através do EUA. Ela faz novos amigos que a ajudam a entender os caminhos do amor: um policial que não consegue abandonar a ex-mulher e uma sexy jogadora de cartas. Jeremy, apaixonado, procura desesperadamente por Elizabeth, seguindo seus passos através de telefonemas e cartas.

Grande Elenco, Super Produção, e Trilha Sonora de quem ?! Dela mesma, Norah Jones, falo mais nada.

UM BEIJO ROUBADO foi dirigido e roteirizado pelo aclamado diretor Wong Kar Wai, de sucessos público e crítica como 2046 - Os Segredos do Amor e Amor à Flor da Pele.

Trailer Legendado

O último filme de Terry Gilliam, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, que conta com uma participação incompleta de Heath Ledger, está-se a provar díficil de vender no mercado americano.

Para os distribuidores americanos, o filme sobre universos paralelos e um grupo de teatro apresenta-se como uma proposta arriscada.

Por um lado, há o valor de lançar o último filme de Heath Ledger, considerado o principal responsável pela actuação recordista no box-office de “O Cavaleiro das Trevas”(“The Dark Knight”, no original); por outro, o trabalho pouco comercial de Gilliam, sem um sucesso desde “Doze Macacos”(1995), provoca alguma precaução por parte dos compradores.

O filme, já vendido em muitos territórios internacionais, está nas mãos da Lionsgate, que é considerada a principal candidata a lançar o filme nos EUA.

Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell e Jude Law, que completaram o papel de Ledger no filme quando este morreu em Janeiro, dizem que vão doar o salário do filme à família do malogrado actor.

I speak the truth and those who fear it should not be in the proverbial TRUTH KITCHEN!

I don’t have any opinion one way or another, I figure it just is what it is. And…I must admit that for a chick who doesn’t know WHY you don’t boil the water before you put the egg in the pot, she has accomplished quite a bit. But I still doubt that she has much influence in a presidential campaign. Most people choose their candidate based more along the line of who’s the best looking and who appears on the most late night television shows. But, I’m sure there is a group of people who would base their decision on the silly “Bikini Brainstorm”.

Since there are most likely a LOT of people who are that stupid, why not just pay Paris Hilton to star in a commercial where she holds a tampon up to her cheek and says, “Paris’ Pink Protection….it’s HOTTTTTT!”?

(I don’t think it would be a could idea to have Monica out there hawking ANY phallic symbol. She can’t get her orifices straight. God knows what she’d do with a tampon.)

If I worked at a drug store and Monica Lewinsky walked up to the counter with a box of tampons, I wouldn’t be able to help myself…I would look her right in the eye and with a deadpan face, I’d say, “You do know where these go, don’t you honey? They’re NOT cigars.”

It must be a rather odd feeling to know that you’ll go down in history for such a relationship with the president. Or do you think the future generations will see her differently?

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce a woman belonging to a very elite group of heroic American women who have made our great nation a better place for us all, Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Monica Lewinsky and Georgetta W. Bush…”

Wouldn’t it be a bitch if we were to find out that blowing a president is the ONE way to get them to do a good job? I think we should have Laura take that one eyed wonder worm of her husband’s…and make it truly the most powerful penis in the world. Then, if the war in Iraq stops and gas prices go down and Bill O’Reilly has nothing to bitch about anymore…we’ll know it works.

If it doesn’t do a thing, my scientific mind says that we should let Monica try it before we trash the idea completely. After all, she could be the common denominator. We could create a new cabinet, not a cabinet position, but an actual cabinet…one where the president will go every morning after a couple of cups of coffee to receive his presidential blow job. Then, he just steps out, buckles his belt and straightens his tie. That’s it. Now he’s ready to make important decisions with a much, much more pleasant demeanor.

Monica would be the perfect person for the job, after all, she has spent a lot of time under the presidential desk. We could do better than that with the presidential blow job cabinet. We could even put up mirrors. Well, I guess we’d have to see what Monica looks like on her knees. It might NOT be something the president would want to see.

Maybe we could just put up some nude pictures….say maybe Cloris Leacham, Joan Rivers, Bea Arthur…whoever Bush likes…Obama could replace them with pictures of Haley Berry, Lisa Bonet and Alicia Keys. If McCain wins, he could just put up pictures of mega-rich widows. Whatever floats the presidential boat.

If Operation Blow job works for 3 presidents in a row, we should stick it in the constitution. (I'd love to be in the audience for THAT debate...who would oppose such a bill?) Yep, it might sound crazy, but nothing they’ve done so far has worked. And with the 2 yahoos we have running for president, I don’t see any hope for the future. But, I do have a message for the wives of the presidential hopefuls:

An indie comedy that will truly make you think. Also known as also known as I Love Huckabees, and written as I ♥ Huckabees.

PLOT:

Albert Markovski (Schwartzman) is a young man who heads the local chapter of an environmental group, the "Open Spaces Coalition." One of their current projects is an attempt to stop the building of a new Huckabees store, a chain of "big-box" department stores akin to Wal-Mart or Target (Mike Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas, Wal-Mart's home state, at the time of the film's release). Confusing matters, Albert is a friend and rival of Brad Stand (Law), a shallow power executive at Huckabees. Brad infiltrates Open Spaces and charismatically displaces Albert as the leader. Dawn Campbell (Watts) is Brad's live-in girlfriend and the face and voice of Huckabees; she appears in all of the store's commercials.

After seeing the same conspicuous stranger three times, Albert contacts two existential detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Hoffman and Tomlin). The detectives offer Albert their optimistic brand of existentialism—they name it universal interconnectivity(this has some tenets of romantic or even transcendentalist philosophies)—and spy on him, ostensibly to help him solve the coincidence. Bernard and Vivian introduce Albert to Tommy Corn (Wahlberg), an obsessively anti-petroleum firefighter. Tommy is assigned to Albert as his Other.

Tommy grows dissatisfied with the Jaffes, feeling that they are not helping him. Seeking out other possibilities, Tommy ends up abandoning and undermining the Jaffes by introducing Albert to Caterine Vauban (Huppert), a former student of the Jaffes' who espouses a seemingly opposing nihilistic/absurdist philosophy. She teaches them to disconnect their inner beings from their daily lives and their problems, to synthesize a non-thinking state of "pure being." Being lifted from their troubles, they wish to keep that feeling forever, yet she tells them that it is inevitable to be drawn back to the human drama, and to understand that the core truth of that drama is misery and meaninglessness.

Meanwhile, in Brad's further attempts to undercut Albert, he and Dawn also meet and are influenced by Bernard and Vivian. However, his plan backfires when the detectives probe Dawn and him, causing Dawn to reject her superficial iconic status as a beautiful model and him to realize that his whole ascent in the corporate ladder is meaningless, as he has lived his whole life just trying to please others and not himself.

All the storylines collide when Albert accidentally sets Brad's house on fire. Tommy comes to put the fire out and in the process, saves and falls in love with Dawn, who was inside the house at the time. Brad despairs at the destruction of his house, the symbol of his material success. Albert attains a sort of enlightenment when he synthesizes the two opposing outlooks of the Jaffes and Vauban to realize the cosmic truth of everything. By way of sympathy for Brad, who is now just as dejected and hopeless as Albert was at the beginning of the movie, Albert understands that he and Brad are no different, that everything really is inextricably connected, but that these connections necessarily arise from the often senselessly painful reality of human existence.

REVIEW:

This is not my normal type of movie. For some reason I had a desire to watch it today. not sure what to day about it. It has that definite indie flick feel. Makes you do some thinking, part of which is due to the existentialism stuff that can make your head hurt if you're not careful.

I enjoyed parts of it, but, like I said before, this isn't my type of movi so don't expect me to pick this out on a regular basis. Still, it is worth a decent rating.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

There are occassions when you look at the cast list, look at the crew and look at the source material for a film and are forced to ponder how so many promising elements turn into a turkey.

Based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that was to Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long what Primary Colors was to Bill Clinton, the film tells the story of a fiery, populist politician (Sean Penn) who takes on the oil industry.

We see the events from the perspective of Jack Burden (Jude Law), a newspaper writer who is drawn into Willie Stark's campaign for Governor and subsequently his administration.

Stark, who was based upon Governor Long, is urged to run by a political schemer named Tiny Duffy who is trying to use Stark to get his own candidate elected Governor. When Burden reveals to Stark that Tiny is using him, the politician responds with a verbal tirade at his next stump stop against the fat cats - a theme that resonates with the crowd.

Sean Penn's Stark is a curious beast that never really settles for me. I can admire the way he physically apes Long when giving speeches, most noticeable in the way he moves his hands as he talks, but his personality feels indistinct. It is almost as if he had decided that Stark is a morally ambigious character and so should be "grey". Not a mixture of motives, not a mixture of actions - just soft, "grey" ambiguity.

Now, I have nothing against ambiguity in and of itself in a character's motivations if we are presented with a character and asked to make judgements. However, Zaillian's script never lets us see Stark clearly, keeping him at ambigious middle-distance and shrowding the impeachment proceedings in mystery. In doing so it becomes ambigious as to whether those charges, whatever they are, are trumped up or based on evidence of some kind. We never know Stark so how can we judge him?

We also cannot share in Burden's disillusionment concerning Stark when we never get a feel for what attracts Burden to him in the first place. More ambiguity. Is it that he is drawn to the underdog? Does he respect Stark's resume? Does he want to undermine his newspaper's line on the election?

The principal problem with Burden is that he simply is not a likeable or empathic character. From the opening frame of this film he is cold and unhappy. We never really understand the hopes and aspirations of the character, or why he takes some very dramatic decisions. Clearly there is a reason he is drawn to Stark but by not letting us share Burden's journey, it is hard not to be baffled by one major decision the character takes.

Perhaps the film's broken narrative structure is also to blame. We do not follow the relationship between Burden and Stark as it happens but we begin near the end of the narrative. A more conventional chronological timeline may have been less flashy but it would have made the story and the characters more accessible.

The film attempts to guide us emotionally through its style but the music is too brash and the visual design tries far too hard to be eye-catching. Both the music and art design end up being counter-productive, being distracting rather than aiding the telling of the story.

For instance, in one scene the production suddenly switches from colour to black and white and when blood appears it is the sole colour on the screen. A nice effect certainly, but it is very reminiscent of a scene in Schindler's List (which Zaillian also scripted) and feels like it was only shot that way to show off the effect. Zaillian forgets that design should always be in service of the story, clumsily pulling the focus away from the actors and towards the direction.

All the King's Men is a disenaging and disappointing work that fails to make the most of its elements. Given its cast, which contains the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet, and the pedigree of its crew it is astonishing how this picture could end up falling so wide of the mark.

This is a film that never decides what it wants to say or why its messages, whatever they are meant to be, are relevant to today's audience. It is clear that the makers have a love of the original text, the excruciating voice-overs culled and stitched together from the novel are evidence of an admiration for Warren's poetic prose, but the film needed to go further to make a connection from the politicking of the mid-20th century to that of the start of the 21st century.

Zaillian himself recognises this problem, explaining that this was the reason he moved the setting of the story from 1930s Louisiana to the 1950s. Yet in terms of campaigning style there is little difference between the two.

The original novel's success was in its daring examination of the political machine at a time when we lacked cynicism. What could have been a biting satire with relevance to today's politics feels like a record of a bygone age and a missed opportunity.

Originally posted on Spout.com on 24th August 2008.

1. Norah Jones está fantástica como protagonista.
2. Jude Law, meigo e caliente.
3. Rachel Weisz, absurdamente bonita.
4. Natalie Portman rocks.
5. O filme é recheado de músicas da Cat Power, na verdade, Living Proof toca no começo e The Greatest toca quase no filme todo.
6. Cat Power faz uma ponta, linda. I love Cat Power.
7. O roteiro é delicioso.

This movie has gotten a lot of comparisons to The Matrix, and it's directed by David Cronenberg, so I gave it a shot. It surprised me, then surprised me again, and again after that. What I thought to be some second-rate science fiction movie from the 90's turned out to be quite the opposite.

The special effects are well done, but not overdone to the point where it takes away from the story. While this isn't exactly a horror movie, Cronenberg's signature style of gore is still there at times but remains balanced. I loved the way everything looked in the movie - both in and outside the reality game they play. The atmosphere carried that "futuristic yet has elements of old" feeling to it reminiscent of the original Star Wars. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law carry the movie very well together with their chemistry, and had it not been there, I think the entire thing would have failed. The script may have seemed a bit dull at times, but it was intentional and fit well, I thought.

I can't give away too much of the plot here because 1) it's too complicated to make it simple, and 2) I don't want to give away anything.

So, in other words. You should see it for yourself.

IMDB Link

Rating:

Il bel gesto di Depp, Law e Farrell e l'eredità contesa di Ledger - Persone - Repubblica.it.