Interesting post JN and interesting comments. Honestly, so far count me as definitely not a fan of 2010 films. And I very much agree that Brody was miscast for Predators. I went to see Predators because this is such a wonderful franchise and the original Arnold vs Predator absolutely rocked. But there was so much counter to the basic Predator myth in this movie that goes way beyond lousy casting. The script frankly sucks; the storyline is basically not-Predator; except for some cool jungle panoramas there's just not much to be said for this movie IMHO.
Right on, John Nolte! Honestly this is one of the most disgusting stories of elitist protection of the powerful since I don't know when. Maybe the middle ages when the "droit du seigneur" was common practice among kings and princes. But that's an insult to the middle ages ... "droit du seigneur" wasn't usually extended to rape and sodomy of children. Bottom line though (no pun intended) the overall story that comes out to us mortals in America and the rest of the world - check the polls in France & Poland - is that this is a horrible case of ass-licking support for the wealthy and powerful at the expense of basic justice. Oh and as for "how many" ... if the public count is 3 now, chances are that the actual count is far higher. Everyone who works in forensics or treatment for child abuse survivors knows that it's extremely rare for someone who crosses the line into sexual abuse to stop with just one or a few victims. Especially when power and opportunity invite more extensive horrors.
Point well taken about Megyn Kelly. She's great, she really knows her stuff, and is one sharp attorney. I almost always get so much from her interviews. However, speaking as a male, I want to dissent from the implied "diss" of "Fox blondes." What's wrong with being blonde and hot and on Fox? No problem from my viewpoint folks. And I totally agree with Kristine from New York: Rock on Megyn!
Gotta say I'm just disgusted by the Swiss decision not to extradite Roman Polanski. I have to wonder how much and how the Swiss got paid off.
I'm almost as disgusted by the brief description that keeps showing up "Roman Polanski, wanted in LA for having sex with a 13 year old girl in 1977" or whenver it was. Yep that's bad enough; but actually he didn't just "have sex", he doped and raped her.
And about In Bruges ... it's a fantastically good, dark comedy. Juxtaposing it with the Polanski whitewash makes me think that the Colin Ferrell character wouldn't be surprised at all. "Fookin Polanski whut you expect ..."
Way to go Greg. RedEye rocks. But ... dare I admit it? Well, me, I do like Two and a Half Men. No apologies though. I'll take good ol' fashioned lo-brow / middle-brow sitcom any day of the week over elitist posturings by someone like Marcus.
I think you have a pretty good take on George Soros, the Drug Policy Alliance, and their Hollywood supporters. I'm more or less with Charles Krauthammer, and many others to be sure, on this one. The drug war definitely has costs; but then so would wholesale drug legalization along DPA lines. The cultural impact of massive legalization would be enormous. Comparisons with alcohol seem to me to be less cogent than comparisons with other big societal law challenges, like (for example) Murder. There are some pretty chilling movies about what society would be like with murder legalized. Law enforcement costs of anit-murder policing are definitely no small bucks, but the economic, cultural, and social costs of abandoning manslaughter laws would be devastating. All in all, drug law enforcement is tough, but not as tough as things would be without drug law enforcement.
I think it's outrageous to defend an apathetic response to a prominent columnist's overt antisemitism on the grounds of (in effect) what's the big deal, lots of people do it. The support for minimization and passivity in the face of such blantant bigotry is part of the problem of our culture's ennui in the face of the horrible. I agree that there's so much that it's easy to get jaded. But for most of us mortals, something this nasty is above and beyond; and clearly so striking that it's helped to reach beyond our natural fatalism. I'm frankly heartened that there's been such a strong and appropriately outraged response to Helen Thomas' bigotry.
Thanks for saying it. I'm just amazed .... tho I shouldn't be I know ... at how easy it is to get away with blatantly anti-semitic remarkes these days as long, it seems, as you're some kind of liberal left icon. Shouldn't be that way. Bigotry like this is way, way over the line of simple common decency. Fire Helen Thomas.
It's all pretty disgusting. Also says just how fragile civilizational norms are that an anti-semitic comments by a left-wing journalist can simply be ignored by Democratic politicians out for a vote no matter what. The Holocaust was what, 70-80 yrs ago? And this soon afterward we get stuff like this. I'll never forget as a teenager touring Dachau on a hi school field trip. I was chilled then and still feel the chill now walking under that horribile "Arbeit macht frei" over the gate. Some of the images of the exhibit still burn after all these years. And the conclusion in so many languages - "Never again", "Ne plus jamais," etc. - was heart wrenching. I remember thinking "Never?" Now I'm thinking it again. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
I vote Yes. One of the nastier things about our times is the ongoing dismantling of basic boundaries of decency. Blatant anti-semtism in a reporter shouldn't be excused anymore than blatant racism. "Send the Jews back to Germany and Poland" is pretty equivalent to "Send [African-Americans] back to Africa." Way over the line. Fire her.
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