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Favorite Few
Okay Alias...let me first ask you this. Have you not Googled the Michael Moore "lies"? If so, there will be lots and lots of examples. I can only give you a few off the top of my head. When he lists the U.S. at #38 in the world at health care, yet lists places above us like Cuba. As if Cuba really has a better health care system than us. And also Canada, which apparently has LOTS of problems (ie people waiting to have cancer surgery for 8 months, and by that point, it's spread to other areas). julian...the one thing that I don't think you can say about "Burn After Reading," is that nothing really happened. To make a statement like that...well, it's the same way people described Seinfeld. That was their joke. "It's a show about nothing." But, these are all things that happened in Burn After Reading: Lonely people looked for love. Good looking idiots (George Clooney) that couldn't hold conversations, and used the personal ads to meet women (even though he's married). People working at a gym that were all clueless. People thinking they can cash in on finding important "sh*t". A woman so clueless that she thinks paying for cosmetic surgeries will improve her love life (and a doctor that might be a lot smarter than her...but instead of telling her these surgeries aren't necessary and perhaps the money would be better spent on a shrink, he talks her into additional surgeries). A man that worked for an important company (CIA), that thinks anyone would even care about his memoirs (what person doesn't think their life story would be interesting to others?) And those are just the things I thought of off the top of my head. In between all that, stories intertwined, there were jokes that worked (did you really not laugh out loud when we finally see the machine Clooney was building in his basement?) No problem if you didn't like the movie, although that's hard to believe. But you certainly can't say "nothing really happened." Now, when it ended, certainly the CIA didn't realize WHAT had actually happened. But not the audience.— February 2, 2009 8:42 p.m.
Wild and Woolly
Good points as always. Regarding Aristotle, I'd say the foot odor would be horrible, considering he probably wore sandals, which would make the smell a lot worse than if he had a nice pair of leather Nike's and socks. They seemed to like their sandals back in those days. I often wondered if I had a sit down talk with Einstein, if I'd ask him how he could be so smart, and not realize he'd look a thousand times better if he invested in a hair brush. Kirk Douglas, after his first few films, got a call from Joan Crawford. She seduced him the second he walked in the door (right on her living room floor)...according to his wonderful autobiography. He said it almost didn't happen because of her horrible breath. But I like the fact that you realized it wouldn't take away from their intellectual prowess. As a kid, I'd often send stuff to my favorite NBA players. They would usually send back their autograph. But the best experience was when I was 12 years old, and a neighbor was telling my parents how Bruce Dern donated all this money to their charity, and the check had his home address. I asked for it, so I could send him a fan letter. My mom said, "He probably gets hundreds of fan letters a week." I replied, "Mom, are you insane? It's Bruce Dern not Bruce Lee. He probably gets two fan letters a year, if that." She bet me $10 I'd never hear back from him. I wrote how I loved him in the movie Tattoo the year previously, and how scary he is in that, and Coming Home. I went into detail about how villians in movies are probably so hard to play, but in Black Friday and King of Marvin Gardens, he pulls it off so convincingly. I swear, this letter was about 4 pages long; partly because I was a fan, but mostly because I wanted my moms money. Two weeks later a letter arrived from him. He wrote that it was one of the nicest letters he's ever read, he thanked me for everything I wrote. And, he enclosed an autographed picture (which I promptly put on the fridge, to rub in my moms face. Since I have a cool mother, she was actually really happy for me (and she coughed up the cash). Sorry to hear your heroes weren't as good at responding!— February 2, 2009 8:27 p.m.
Wild and Woolly
First to "not rickey"...one of the sports shows was talking about how Rickey Henderson didn't speak third person, for the first time ever, at his induction to the Hall of Fame. And john...the thing with the whole "trading blows" online, to me, makes little sense. Because it's not that hard to post something, and if a person is responding with insults rather than a debate, you can certainly be done with it and move on. Movie reviews are one segment that this would work best in. As I've said before, I've read books Ebert has written that are wonderful, and love to read his take on a film. Yet when he likes a movie like Congo, I wish I could ask him why. Not to tell him that most people that liked that probably had an IQ below 100...but because I at least want to hear what it was. Did he and his friends (fellow critics?) sit around making fun of it while it played. Did he just really love the ape outfits? I remember the first time someone heard me say I didn't like Brokeback Mountain, and went down the homophobe path. We had a great debate on the film. But, if the guy that accused me of this wasn't listening to what I had to say, and just kept calling me a homophobe, I would've moved on. It's not that hard to do. And I can totally understand all DS points for not wanting to log on, do extra writing, etc. But there would be nothing more fun for film lovers than to have a place (ie THIS WEBSITE) that they can discuss their favorite/least favorite movies of the year. And, if they didn't agree with DS, maybe a post or two from him giving more detail than the printed copy allowed for. On a side note: what were your least favorite and favorite films of the year?— February 2, 2009 4:32 p.m.
Deion Disses L.T.
Wow...I never noticed those sweat stains. I would've taken another photo. The amount of times I've been at a party, and a handful of women want to see the pictures and they complain about this or that, they look to fat, one of them blinked, or whatever...I'm just so relieved when guys are cool with the shot. And rickey...I do pay for meals sometimes, although it's a nice perk going to parties and eating for free. I went to two Super Bowl parties today, and I brought Super Bowl cakes to each one. So, sometimes I'll bring booze or desserts.— February 2, 2009 12:15 a.m.
Wild and Woolly
The debate can be found a few weeks back, in the movie section. I believe it's titled "Favorite Few". And DS responds in this current write up, on all our responses. Rickey (or not)...your post was a pit harsh. And, I still think you're wrong about the Paris film with all the short stories. The Coehn Brothers/Steve Buscemi was worth it all by itself, but so many of the other vinettes worked (unlike a film like Coffee & Cigarettes, where only two or three of the 10 stories worked). and mike1, I agree with you on Ebert. I love a critic that is tough on movies. And Duncans command if the language is great. But what he does sometimes reminds me of the way the cartoons in the New Yorker used to be. They wanted to be esoteric just for the sake of it. And Alias...that was the funniest post of all-time.— February 2, 2009 12:12 a.m.
Honking at the Homeless
Two things: my girlfriend read my blog at work and she said "Are you insane? I wasn't serious when I asked if you waved to the homeless guy. I was trying to be funny." I totally spaced on catching that. I thought she was seriously asking me that as a question. Second, anti...you're the type of person that makes my life hell. You're intelligent, yet something in your brain won't let you do the right thing. The right thing to do, is to think about others. So, when you are walking to your car, you glance around. See if another car is waiting. If one is waiting for your spot, you get in your car. Quickly. You put your seat belt on, and you pull out. That's it! Now, I don't fault the woman strapping little Johnny into his seat, or putting groceries in the back. But some people (ie YOU!) feel insulted in a way, that a person has "the nerve" to sit and wait for my spot.— February 2, 2009 12:03 a.m.
Super Bowl 43 vs President 43
Super Bowl update: So, Kurt Warner had decent numbers (350 plus yards, 3 TDs, mostly thanks to those amazing receivers). He caused a few fumbles, and threw an interception that was run back 100 yards for a TD (when they were in the red zone). So, I certainly hope the Warner praise from all the commentators is over. If they want to start talking Hall of Fame with a quarterback, why not Big Ben R.? I mean, he has now won his second Super Bowl. And, sure, he had a bad first Super Bowl stat-wise, but he's been a great starting QB his entire career. Something Warner never has done. But, I guess since he doesn't have that cute story about bagging groceries, and playing in NFL Europe, and marrying a woman with disabled kids, we won't hear about it. Although, he did almost die in a motorcycle crash. Isn't that good enough?— February 2, 2009 midnight
The Dog Blog II -- The Maltese Falcon
Check current blog for details!— February 1, 2009 11:31 p.m.
Super Bowl 43 vs President 43
First, csh...that is interesting. I didn't know that about Hillary. I stand corrected. The first I ever heard about all her Yankees stuff, was during the campaign. My bad. Spud....at this point, it's me against the world on this Kurt Warner thing. I got up at 7 a.m. this morning, and (can't believe they start this early)...there was a pre-game Super Bowl show. Joe Montana, Shawn Merriman, and someone else all said that Warner is a lock for the Hall of Fame, just by bringing his team there. Eddie George at least seemed to have it half-right, by saying "He has to win today, and then I'd put him in." Marshall Faulk, and so many other players, keep saying that Warner taking his team there, means he goes to the Hall. But as I once argued with sportswriter Nick Canepa in a volley of emails....winning championships doesn't make you "hall of fame" material. For Bill Russell, yes. He won 11 rings with the Celtics and was a great center. It's when people THINK he was better than Chamberlain, because Wilt only had 3 rings. It does not work that way. When the two matched up together, Russell became his bitch. Wilt scored 4 times as many points, got twice as many rebounds and blocked shots, way more assists.... Here's the thing. Warner is currently throwing the ball to the two best receivers in football (fitzgerald/bodin). When he was with the Rams, he had that superstar team (again, two amazing receivers...isaac bruce, can't remember the other right now), he had Fault, a guy that should've won the Heisman, and DID win the MVP of the league. There is NO REASON that Warner would have been going around the NFL for five years, or whatever it was...as a bench player, not even a starter. And now be considered for the Hall. That's just insane.— February 1, 2009 12:44 p.m.
Wild and Woolly
mike1....this is going to sound completely nuts, but yes, her thinking The Reader was flawless, is in fact "wrong". And, this is a movie that even the critics that loved it (Roger Ebert called it one of the best of the year), would be the first to tell you that it's far from flawless. Hell, the make-up they used on Winslet to age her was horrible! That alone, is a "flaw". For me, if you want to say a movie is "flawless"...I guess it's the same as Duncan saying a movie is "great". But to answer your question, no...neither mind was changed. She went down the path of "it's my opinion..." and I just kept pointing out the flaws, whether they were the fact that a woman would do 25 years in jail because she didn't want to look silly by admitting to the court she didn't know how to read and write (her argument to that was that she once worked with an adult illiteracy group, and that there's nothing more shameful for a grown person to admit).— February 1, 2009 12:38 p.m.