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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Tag Archives | movies

Robert S. McNamara Changed

By on 06 July 2009

“He’s like a jackhammer,” President Johnson said. “No human being can take what he takes. He drives too hard. He is too perfect.” – Ex-Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93

Coming from Johnson, the king of political jackhammers, that’s quite a statement. Though as history has proven over time, Robert S. McNamara was anything but “perfect.” Labeling Kennedy pulling missiles out of Turkey “luck that prevented nuclear war,” in the end McNamara’s reflections on the Kennedy and Johnson administrations was welcomed candor from someone who was there.

Like Barry Goldwater before him, Robert S. McNamara upon retirement came to a philosophical shift that was the product of experience, watching the world from the driver’s seat and ending up a man whose life’s work and storyline ended up dramatically departed from where he started.

All stories about McNamara must include Errol Morris’s 2003 documentary “Fog of War” that includes “Rolling Thunder,” the massive and aptly named bombing campaign. More clips are available here, here, here, here, here.

After the New York Times piece yesterday, which reveals where Obama’s “nuclear-free vision” began, but also the press conference held today with Obama and Russia’s Medvedev, it’s impossible not to quote McNamarra’s views (h/t FP) as they existed at the end of his life.

If the United States continues its current nuclear stance, over time, substantial proliferation of nuclear weapons will almost surely follow. Some, or all, of such nations as Egypt, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Taiwan will very likely initiate nuclear weapons programs, increasing both the risk of use of the weapons and the diversion of weapons and fissile materials into the hands of rogue states or terrorists. Diplomats and intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden has made several attempts to acquire nuclear weapons or fissile materials. It has been widely reported that Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, former director of Pakistan’s nuclear reactor complex, met with bin Laden several times. Were al Qaeda to acquire fissile materials, especially enriched uranium, its ability to produce nuclear weapons would be great. The knowledge of how to construct a simple gun-type nuclear device, like the one we dropped on Hiroshima, is now widespread. Experts have little doubt that terrorists could construct such a primitive device if they acquired the requisite enriched uranium material. Indeed, just last summer, at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry said, “I have never been more fearful of a nuclear detonation than now.… There is a greater than 50 percent probability of a nuclear strike on U.S. targets within a decade.” I share his fears.

The Tonkin Gulf Resolution resounded loudly during the lead up to the Iraq war, though Democrats and Republicans in Congress weren’t listening, which allowed the Bush administration to launch a war based on fictional reports of WMDs in Iraq. It proved that the U.S. hadn’t learned the lessons.

“It didn’t happen.” – Robert S. McNamara

Neither did WMDs in Iraq, but only David Kay could bring himself to be as forthright.

The best of our leaders after a long life are able to learn from participating in history and share what they’ve learned through confessions that often don’t serve their own interests, but something larger. McNamara, one of the “best and brightest”, was just one of those leaders.

The cost of not learning from people like McNamara is still manifesting daily. If you don’t learn from history… you end up where we are today.

“… .. …On November 11, three days after the McNamara recommendation to introduce combat forces, there was a new McNamara paper, done with Rusk, which reflected the President’s position. … Kennedy would send American support units and American advisers, but not American combat troops. We would help the South Vietnamese help themselves. …” The Best and the Brightest, by David Halberstam (pg. 201)

Sound familiar?

Only now we’re also sending American combat troops.

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Syria’s al-Assad Moves Against ‘Honor Killings’

By on 03 July 2009

On this Independence Day weekend, we here at TM.com acknowledge the decree of President Bashar al-Assad as a small step forward for women in the Middle East.

Syria has scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences handed down to men convicted of killing female relatives they suspect of having illicit sex.

Women’s groups had long demanded that Article 548 be scrapped, arguing it decriminalised “honour” killings.

Much more is required, starting with a ban and severe punishment for “honor killings,” but we have to start somewhere. Acknowledging movement serves a greater purpose. Women of the world are watching.

The subject also gives me another reason to tout the video of a film about an Iranian woman who represents inconvenient wives who, in some parts of the world, have no independence at all.

As for al-Assad’s invitation to Obama to visit Syria, I would like to see the first shuttle move made by Secretary Clinton. She could acknowledge al-Assad’s decree, while paving the way for a larger dialogue. Long past time we engaged the Syrians.

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Memorial Day

By on 25 May 2009

by ‘Justlen’
“In the News” Diary, bumped to main page

Monday is the day we remember those who have fallen. A tradition for me is to read the letters (victory-grams) from my Uncle who was a BAR infantryman that was MIA D+3 at Normandy.

My grandparents were immigrants and all their sons served. I look at the names of those who have died in these senseless Cheney wars and I get really stabby when I hear anti-immigrant comments these days.

On Veteran’s Day we will celebrate (with my better 2/3 making me dinner) those who came back:

  • My other Uncle, a waist turret gunner on B-17’s.
  • My Dad, in Korea, something to do with a flamethrower and tunnels he never talked about to the day he died. He simply said “I did some bad things.”
  • My Godfather, that guarded the Tomb of the unknowns.
  • My Father in Law, who spent a career flying SAC NEACP mission.
  • My Brother in Law, who spent a career in submarines during the cold war.
  • Me, who spent 10 years on submarines during the cold war.

What is it about this country that compels people to come here (legally or illegally) then their sons and daughters are willing to die for it?

Must be something pretty special.

As an old fart these days I will continue to walk through airports and buy the rounds for anyone wearing the uniform. I may hate today’s mission, but I honor those that serve.

____________________
TM Note: This is the first “In the News” diary to be front paged. Video added.

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RNC Tags Pelosi ‘Pussy Galore’ in Video

By on 23 May 2009

At the end it says “Democrats Galore.” Imposed with a naked woman behind the tag line. Get it? Subtle it is not. But check out the video at around :40 seconds; a split screen that says it all. “Pussy Galore” is shown with “Starring Nancy Pelosi the Speaker” over “Pussy’s” image.

But hey, it’s good to have a sense of humor about these things right? And who doesn’t love the Bond films, especially those Sean Connery classics?

The RNC, however, is not celebrating the women in these classic movies, even by 1960′s standards. Nor are they empowering women through utilizing one of the the cunning female villains who parade around in them by equating her with Speaker Pelosi. I shouldn’t have to spell it out any further, though if the RNC doesn’t have women in their leadership ranks or men who get this stuff and know bad taste when they see it, the Rush, Newt and Cheney Party (as they were aptly called on “Hardball” yesterday) is truly nothing more than a frat boy institution. No offense to fraternities meant.

That a woman, let alone Speaker of the House, should never be hinted to in any public way through the use of “Pussy” insinuations should be obvious. That this is being used by a once major political party in the 21st century is stunning.

But this is one way to skin an adversary, especially if she’s a woman. Ladies, especially Clinton supporters, have been here before.

From Politico:

Earlier this week, Pittsburgh radio host Jim Quinn referred to the speaker on his program as “this bitch”; last week, syndicated radio host Neal Boortz opined “how fun it is to watch that hag out there twisting in the wind.”

[...] But “hag”? The P-word? Really? Not only is it bad form, say Democrats and women’s advocates, it’s bad politics.

“They can’t seem to distinguish between a backroom smirk among the boys and something you put out in public,” says former Hillary Clinton senior adviser Ann Lewis of the RNC video. …

As an aside, the video shown on Garance Franke-Ruta’s post, linked to by Ben Stein, seems different from the one now up on the RNC website, which you can see here. The earlier web video “removed by user.” hmmmm… Wonder why?

If the RNC thinks this is the way to attract people to their Party they’ve evidently decided that women won’t be a respected member of their tribe.

Someone needs to tell the Republican Party it’s not 1964 anymore.

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Once Upon a Great Film

By on 16 May 2009

Adventures like this don’t come around very often.

But when they do you recognize them in a flash.

That goes double if you happen to see it in an IMAX theater.

But wherever you see it, just see it. The director, J.J. Abrams, delivers a gem of such epic fluidity, action, story, filled with rich, full characters, the adventure couldn’t possibly be better. Yes, science fiction features can be great films.

Just don’t miss the beginning.

The new “Star Trek” movie is off the charts fantastic from start to finish. The pacing is electric. The plot flawlessly woven, with time for each character introduction to be savored, as the storyline careens as quickly as the masterful special effects do across the screen.

The actors, many new to the eye, work and move together with ease, always keeping faith with what’s come before. With a couple of familiar faces completely camouflaged behind their character’s construction. So if you’re a fan of the humor, the nuances of the relationships, all woven into the conflicts, you won’t be disappointed. And thank goodness “Bones” is back and he delivers the droll. But they all deliver differently on the well known roles so many of us came to enjoy.

Love of great movies runs deep in America.

We’re always waiting for the next great film. Movie lovers always going to the cinema hoping that this one will be it. We sometimes make excuses for favorites that fall short of the mark, while attributing greatness to those because we’re hungry for the mastery. That moment when the screen delivers to us a film of rarity that catapults us into a new dimension of escape, somewhere beyond our dreams and hopes of fantasy and visual marvel, as well as through the actors’ craft, to a place that makes the experience so jubilant that you can’t wait to see it again.

The new “Star Trek” movie does all that and more. It’s raucous fun and unendingly exciting. It is also a truly great film. A review no die hard movie lover ever renders lightly.

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Outrage and Political Betrayal

By on 08 May 2009

There is an article on the new film “Outrage” tucked in the Style section of the Washington Post today with a final line that is fitting today: If our leaders aren’t true to themselves, how can they possibly be true to us. The answer is easy, they cannot.

The film “Outrage” arrives on a week that stirs up so much political baggage, helped along by willing political participants, that it’s hard to imagine a more timely opening. Sure “Outrage” talks about “allegedly gay politicians who actively campaign and vote against gay rights,” but it washes over events of this week that had Elizabeth Edwards dredging up her husband’s infidelity and her reaction, all of which reaches back into the past plucking uncomfortable past personal disasters of leaders who have let us down.

Sometimes it’s not just about infidelity or voting against your own civil rights while being gay yourself. It’s about betrayal of political trust. Lying to people who have sometimes given up their lives, worked untold hours and put everything in your hands. We can have a conversation about the lunacy of any person doing that with a politician, when people put more trust in the person than the policies they represent, but that’s another discussion.

Getting a comments from die hard Edwards supporters, I now understand how ridiculous WJC supporters sound when they excuse the Lewinsky affair. The loyalty built from politician to advocate, especially on such a high level, unfounded when the person you’re advocating cannot be true to himself, making a mockery of all the long hours, cajoling and banner waving you’ve done.

Going back, Robert Reich wasn’t half as mad about the stupid infidelity of William Jefferson Clinton as he was about the lies told blatantly, the half truths and “word games,” as Reich judged it, from a man that many who served him felt had betrayed them all, but also the charge they were trusted to keep.

Re-enter John and Elizabeth Edwards and the Oprah interview. Like Clinton, but also the subject of “Outrage,” the whole thing may have started with an indiscretion, but once it was decided that the Edwardses would join together in a lie to the public, their supporters, and the nation, on the wings of what amounted to award winning political performances, it became about something else.

The Elizabeth Edwards and Oprah full hour on the affair John Edwards, minus any mention of Reille Hunter’s name, was a horrendously painful thing to watch, an event that remains remarkably wrenching for Mrs. Edwards, that much was clear. She’s certainly earned the right to have her side heard. What was revealed in the hour, however, one expects was not what she intended. Oprah didn’t even seem to understand what had been said at one point early in her interview. It hit me immediately.

So, as Mrs. Edwards set the scene with Oprah, two days after John Edwards announced his presidential campaign he tells his wife about his cheating, which supposedly happened once. Her response was that he needed “to get out of the campaign… for her family, for my children, for John and for me it would be best if he got out of the campaign..” Good advice, right instinct. But John Edwards thought differently. She continues:

Photobucket

“He said, and, truthfully, he was right. It was hard to argue with this. That if you want to raise a lot of questions what you do is get out of a campaign you got into two days before. We just set up offices and got people on board. It would have been a very… would have raised a lot of questions in people’s minds. …” – Elizabeth Edwards (Oprah interview)

Trying to keep people from raising questions was what was important? At that moment it’s all so clear, as everything the Edwardses stood for falls in on itself.

They aren’t the first.

No matter what’s in the book, what Mrs. Edwards revealed in the Oprah interview, is that keeping the affair hidden was her husband’s primary concern. Was it also to protect his wife and his family? One would hope, but that’s not what Mrs. Edwards said to Oprah.

That Mrs. Edwards says her husband was “right” and that it “was hard to argue with this” is stunning. As whip smart as she is she had to know this would eventually unravel in the glare of a hot presidential campaign. What was Mrs. Edwards thinking?

Then there is the bigger problem for them both: Presenting yourselves on the campaign trail as one thing, when behind the scenes a completely unimaginable scenario has played out that you’ve chosen to lie about by hiding so you can benefit.

The worst of it is that Mr. Edwards had a completely organic rationale he could have used to keep going. It’s so obvious it screams, but it never occurs to either of them, not even in preparation for the Oprah interview. Mr. Edwards could have simply said to his wife that the mission they started so long ago, the fight they were waging for America was too important to be hijacked by one stupid mistake he’d made. That’s something that would have been, to use Mrs. Edwards’ words, “hard to to argue with.”

But that’s not what John Edwards said to his wife. By her own admission, that’s not why Mrs. Edwards agreed to be complicit in the charade, and it’s not what she said on Oprah, regardless of what’s said in her book.

It’s the cowardice to face up to what’s happened, instead choosing to betray supporters by producing political theater that at its heart was about hiding the truth that, whether it’s Gary Hart, Jim McGreevy, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, or the complicity of Mrs. Edwards, opens out on a political charade that goes on for months and months and includes further denials all for the purpose of saving yourself. That Edwards dragged his vulnerable, terminally ill wife along is unforgivable. That she willingly went along is yet a new chapter in the stand by your man book of political embarrassments.

I’m not sure how all this opens out on our politics. The honesty of our politicians and their lack of courage to make hard choices once they are handed power from the voters, but something tells me it’s related. Many say that our politics suffers because there’s too much scrutiny on candidates, and maybe that’s the case. But there’s also the possibility that we’ve come to expect less from them because we’re too fragile to look at them unmasked, preferring to make excuses where none suffice, keeping them on pedestals they haven’t earned and cannot live up to.

Supporters have to expect more, excuse less and be willing to be brutally honest when their politician fails the ultimate test of leadership, being true to himself at all costs. But especially when that politician is a fraud. Being blinded by misplaced faith doesn’t mean you haven’t been made a fool.

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Why is Obama Talking about ‘Clean Coal’?

By on 28 February 2009

–updated–

Psssst… Hey, Mr. President, there is no such thing as “clean coal.”

It makes the Reality Coalition‘s new ad hilarious, but then it would be. It’s done by the famous Coen brothers. The message is not, but it’s hard to permeate the deniers’ world. Even Obama mentioned “clean coal” in his Tuesday speech. Silly for a man so smart, also a bit embarrassing. It’s not like Al Gore, who is part of the Reality Coalition, doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

… Let’s be clear: there are no US homes, factories, shopping centers or churches powered by coal plants that capture and store their global warming pollution.

Today, coal power plants emit carbon dioxide (CO2), the pollutant causing the climate crisis. A third of the America’s carbon pollution now comes from about 600 coal-fired power plants. And of the more than 70 proposed new coal power plants, barely a handful have plans to capture and store their CO2 emissions. If these dirty plants are allowed to be built, this will mean an additional 200 million tons of global warming pollution will be emitted in America each year. Until coal power plants no longer release CO2 to the atmosphere, coal will remain a major contributor to the climate crisis.

So what’s the deal with President Obama saddling up to “clean coal”?

Sometimes confrontation is required.

Oh, and I almost forgot, on the climate change issue alone we’ve got quite a brouhaha that has bubbled up between environmentalists and George Will. Because of the work of Media Matters and others, including readers, the Post is feeling the heat. Even the ombudsman of the Post was pressured on Will’s latest climate change denier rant, responding in a column which will run tomorrow (but is now online). Senator Kerry’s got a fantastic post up taking on George Will. Like I said, sometimes confrontation is required.

Disclosure: The Reality Coalition is an advertiser on this blog, though no agreement to cover the issue comes with that placement.

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Broadway Meets Oscar

By on 22 February 2009

–updated–

One of the most remarkable films the season is “Revolutionary Road,” which is directed with ferocity and honesty, delving into the reality of what happens to a soul sold out. Too dark for such a dark year, perhaps, but no director is finer than Sam Mendes.

Except if you’re talking about Clint Eastwood, who acted and directed in the best film of the year, “Gran Torino.” Never mind it wasn’t nominated in that category. Remember, neither was “American Gangster.”

Of course, the odds are on “Slumdog Millionaire,” though after “Babel” (a movie I detested) I wouldn’t be surprised if “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” won. Another movie I could have lived without.

As for best actor, if there is any justice it will go to Frank Langella, whose human portrayal of Richard Nixon was the most difficult role of the season. Just ask Anthony Hopkins, who didn’t come anywhere near Langella’s performance, or the humanity. That some thought the film was a documentary hardly matters.

But Mickey Rourke, who is fantastic in “The Wrestler,” is likely to get the best actor, something that anyone can appreciate. Though I’m still puzzled by that weird, oddly flat representation of a local stripper played by Ms. Tomei.

The best female performance is Meryl Streep in “Doubt,” one of the most disturbing movies ever made. The script is flawless, the acting sublime, with everyone in it outrageously on target.

Best song must go to The Boss, which is really the only sure thing.

Except that in picking Hugh Jackman, a Broadway and Hollywood star, the Academy obviously decided to choose someone of extreme talents, not just comedic stylings. As a former Broadway babe, my money is on Jackman to put on quite a show. His movie “Australia” didn’t quite live up, but he always does. The true definition of triple threat, something I know a little bit about.

Either way, it will be fun to watch, though that wasn’t Bill O’Reilly’s take last time I heard him bloviate. Evidently, the lack of big family blockbusters means nobody cares about the films this season. Utter hogwash. The films of 2008 were superb, sometimes stunning, even surprising, with performances that were off the charts, even when the movie slipped into oblivion.

Glass of red wine in hand, I’ll toast them all. After all America is the movies. It is our crowning export. Something that no other country can match in intensity, sheer mass, as well as creativity. I grew up on the movies, as they took me away from the small town I longed to escape. They remain that magical, if for different reasons, today.

UPDATE: Wonderful show, but then again I love musicals, with Jackman wonderful, and the theme as well as bringing back actors a marvelous touch. As for Bruce… um… it’s a theme, folks: see “Gran Torino.” Get it? But what a wonderful surprise to see Sean Penn win for “Milk.” I didn’t think he had a chance even though his performance rated it. Can there be any doubt Penn will be up front and center on “The Factor”? How delicious. Can’t complain with Kate Winslet, who is a marvelous actress. But oh what an elegant presence she made tonight, fitting an Oscar winner. Just a grand night for all.

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Road Notes

By on 21 February 2009
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzK6O4GcGw

Another flat tire.

Burned out bearing.

…and a wrong turn to get us into the middle of D.C. with our big truck and trailer in tow, so that as we were trying to right missing our turn after a long, long, very long day, my husband heard the voice over the cop’s radio saying “the truck turned.” Mark, his best manors in full humility mode, just said we were looking for surface streets to Alexandria, Virginia. The Capitol cop couldn’t have been nicer. We got the hell out of there and got back on track.

The video is a nod to my email pal WB. What a trip.

But I’m in. To stay. Thrilled to be here at last, though our stuff won’t arrive for quite a few more days so the saga continues for at least the next week or so.

A couple of notes on books on tape. Act of Treason by Vince Flynn was a nice surprise. Have no idea what the book would read like, but the audio version was extremely entertaining. The Quickie, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge was very hard to get into at first. After the first CD it takes off with the plot having so many weaves and turns that it is down right hilarious. Now, I’m not saying that the story is convoluted, but… I haven’t finished The Broker audio verson yet, by John Grisham, but I really enjoyed it on the last leg of our journey. That’s likely because I don’t get to read non-fiction much anymore, even older books. Just don’t have the time.

Getting settled in will take a while, especially since we don’t have all our stuff yet, but the neighborhood is great and offers lots of room for my hubby’s toys. You know, big truck, contractor’s tools (lots of them, including the necessity of a work shop), dirt bike, etc. After all, this is his first venture out of the west. Last time I lived back east I lived in New York City, which was long ago. I love the east, particularly the D.C. area, which includes the close Virginia suburbs.

First order next week, besides catching up on a lot of reading, is finding a new hairdresser. You ladies know what that entails.

…and boy, catching up on Clinton’s stellar work this week has been a joy. The woman is a powerhouse. She took Asia by storm.

Thanks to Pamela for doing such a stellar job while I was traveling. Cannot thank her enough. There was no way I could have posted while traveling. I’m very grateful for her eagerness to take care of business when I simply could not.

But I’m back. …tired, but back.

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The Masterpiece

By on 24 January 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpra9OEw6nQ

It’s a “Mad Men” landscape. The Yates novel “Revolutionary Road” was Matthew Weiner’s inspiration for the award winning series. Seeing Winslet’s project manifest in film you can see why. The 1950′s despair of suburban promises falling flat on the American housewife is the stuff of legend. That is unless you grew up with your own version. Betty Friedan’s historic work chronicled it. However, there is nothing like seeing the hopelessness of life through the eyes of a woman who can’t escape to manifest her bliss, after her own dreams are dashed, revealed through the performance of an actor inhabiting the skin of a stricken housewife. As was true of so many “Leave It To Beaver” households back in those days, her husband is pulled back at the moment the wife believes they both will finally be set free. Brought crashing to earth on the promise of money buying happiness, courage sacrificed on the altar of finding your soul’s desire. In the end the heartbreak is total. How could it not be?

There are many films this year getting raves, while “Revolutionary Road” has had as rough a journey as the characters that inhabit it. The subject matter is just too real in an age of hope. “Revolutionary Road,” directed by Sam Mendes, starring Kate Winslet, who pushed to get the film made, and Leonardo DiCaprio, put together a withering portrait of the dangers of buying into suburbia, circa 1950′s, though there is no reason to believe it couldn’t also manifest today. The emotional torture revealed by both Winslet and DiCaprio is ripped from this wrenching reality. The film is a flawless marvel in human meltdown proportions. If you want to realize the dynamics that helped spawn the women’s movement, “Revolutionary Road” is your assignment.

I can only wonder what might have become of this important film if the people behind “Revolutionary Road” would have teamed up with Planned Parenthood or other women’s groups, including women in the media, to trumpet the importance of this story. Kate Winslet should be honored across this nation for having the courage to push to have this film produced, which under the direction of Sam Mendes (Winslet’s husband) is a masterpiece on relationship not seen since “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,” though there is no comparison in storyline. It’s the palpable struggle of married lovers and the fierce power they have over one another to destroy, which is where they find their most fertile common ground.

Kathy Bates disappears into her character. The mother of Michael Shannon, playing John the supposed crazy one, whose projectile honesty rants leave everyone stricken, because the truth is held hostage in this drama. The players couldn’t survive the release.

In the end, it is the visceral violence of the subject matter that keeps the film at arm’s length, especially in this country. Not even today can we talk about the issues raised in the film, with the horror of saying that suburbia, marriage and paying for that life can rob you of your soaring purpose, even at the moment you begin to find it amidst the societal drudgery, one of the unspeakable parables of American life.

The choices we make change our life, can even destroy. In the 1950′s, women had few roads, least of all the revolutionary kind, while the tale told at the time was one bliss. Today it’s different. If a woman’s life isn’t working it is her own fault, because our decisions are limitless. Now we are responsible for our own happiness. …or lack thereof. That modern women want more than family and children likely was always the case, which was the great American secret not so long ago.

Buying in to the suburban dream, something that in the days of “Revolutionary Road” cost women their pursuit of happiness, was done so they might serve only the family. The head on collision came when women realized that in the end it is our soul journey to find our own purpose, which is attached to no one else. To do that we must all first serve ourselves. In the 1950′s, that was a revolutionary road to take, having no resemblance to “Revolutionary Road,” which was simply the street on which you lived.

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And the Oscar Nominees are…

By on 22 January 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSvJvSwmd4

The full list is here, but as usual, I think there is one glaring omission. “Gran Torino” was a monumental film, with Eastwood’s performance stunning. Hey, but when someting like “Slumdog Millionaire” gets full acknowledgment, it’s hard to get too picky.

Mickey Rourke’s tour de force performance got a nod, as did Frank Langella, who I’d give the inside track to win, though you never know. Rourke’s resurrection is certainly the story of the year. However, playing a known figure like Nixon is no small feat. I first saw Langella on Broadway playing Dracula, sneaking in multiple times to see the second act, enthralled with his raw sensual power. He’s been around a very long time, with the roll of Nixon a gift from the creative gods. He takes Nixon to a place not even Anthony Hopkins did in the Oliver Stone film, but that could also be because of Ron Howard’s flawless direction of the film. It’s here I must state that the people ignorant of art evidently believe that Howard’s vision was a documentary. False; as false as the pontificating on the train wreck of history, so if you believed “Frost/Nixon” was fact, not filmed for dramatic purpose, read Drew. Supporting Langella, Michael Sheen as Frost has not gotten near enough credit for his brilliant supporting role.

Of course, Sean Penn in “Milk” got the nod as did the movie, with the history important to chronicle. I was in San Francisco immediately after the event, so I remember well the shock of the entire city after the assassinations.

I was thrilled that “Tropic Thunder” was at least somewhere in the nominations, though I believe best director for Ben Stiller was in order. Sure, it would have been a rarity, but the movie is fantastic from start to finish due to Stiller’s flawless stewardship in this hilariously delivered gem. Robert Downey, Jr. for best supporting actor represents the film, who is my personal favorite in this category. Heath Ledger is a good bet though, his performance in “Dark Knight” jaw dropping.

For best actress, Meryl Streep has never been better than she is in “Doubt.” The movie itself is unnerving in the extreme, with Close shattering previous performances in this raw portrait of a tortured nun. Viola Davis is also nominated for “Doubt,” after a performance that is well earned, with the scene between Close and Davis worth study by actors everywhere.

The weird inclusion of Marisa Tomei in best supporting actress jumps out at me as jarring. I respect anyone trying to depict the life of a local stripper, including full on nudity, but Tomei delivered a wholly unremarkable performance.

On the other side, Richard Jenkins being included in the best actor category is justice for a fine actor who has paid his dues for decades, finally landing in a film that got him acknowledged.

Maybe everyone can agree on one thing: Bruce Springsteen for best song. No other is in the same league.

As for the movie season currently in swing, including some of the Oscar nominees that are still around, I don’t remember a finer season of superb films. Get out and see a movie, rent it, whatever. There are so many good ones in distribution today, just pick one.

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The Oscar’s Cocktail Party

By on 24 February 2008
Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”

Movies are America.

I’ve had a love affair with them going back to when I was a kid. Being a performer
for twenty-five years, I know a bit about what it takes to excel in the arts.
The truth is, once a performer it never leaves your bloodstream. Maybe that’s
why I fell in love with radio, too (though that’s also due to growing up listening to the brilliance of Harey Caray and Jack Buck announce Cardinal baseball games!).

But today’s Oscar’s has a blight on them for me. The true best picture is only nominated
for two awards. “American Gangster” got robbed. It’s the finest achievement,
most sprawling and daring epic of the year. It got ignored in the important categories.

Juno?

A nice little movie, but a joke, especially when compared to the fine work
of the other films it stands next to, particularly when you include “American
Gangster.” It’s part of what makes Hollywood look so silly sometimes. When
they ignore epic masterpieces like “American Gangster.” The film likely to get the nod is “Michael Clayton,” which is a very fine film, no doubt, and even likely to win best screenplay.

The truth is that maybe Denzel’s depiction of a violent, successfully, drug
dealing entrepreneurial thug was just too much in a year where all things revolve
around the hope of Barack Obama. It wouldn’t be the first time Hollywood, represented
today by the Academy through the Oscar’s, bowed to political correctness and
cowardice. It’s a rancid vein in our culture that never ceases to wield its influence. There simply is no other reason why “American Gangster” would get slighted as it has. On the merits of judging filmmaking, by any standards of excellence, it belongs in the Best Picture category.

But one would be remiss in not mentioning the remarkable Viggo Mortensen and his performance as “Nikolai” in “Eastern Promises.” Every performance he gives gets better and deeper.

The Coen brothers for best director of “No Country for Old Men”? Maybe.

However, the obvious snub of “American Gangster” does not ruin the anticipation of one particular nomination that I hope will end
in an Oscar. Daniel Day Lewis, always brilliant, but in “There Will Be
Blood” simply breaks all barriers. He is quite simply the Brando of the
21st century. No one related to the craft of acting can compete. His performance
is simply the stuff of legend. It is a marvel. It is the best performance of the year.

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When Clinton, Politics and Culture Collide

By on 10 February 2008

I’m sure many will hate this photo. Ever the contrarian, I’m lovin’ it. I also just can’t stop laughing.

Mark Halperin, babe, you all are killing me. The first guy to go on “Charlie Rose” to challenge the crappy coverage of Clinton, Halperin has earned his way with me. His top ten that accompanies “Rambo Clinton” is spot on. The spirit of the post is pitch perfect. But the photo: priceless. The title of the post is right on: “10 Things Clinton Can Do to Survive February.” Toughen up is job one. Fabulous.

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EPIC

By on 04 November 2007


We’re no longer accustomed to sweeping visual films that focus on characters
and societal dramas that take us from two different zones of life and gradually
bring all souls together in a clash of gigantic human proportions. “American
Gangster” is that and more. Two hours and thirty-seven minutes in length,
this sure Oscar contender follows in the Coppola – Scorsese traditions and doesn’t
take a back seat to anything that came before. The score weaves perfectly through
the film along with the events of the Vietnam war to craft a mood and aura that
is reminiscent of the best films ever put together for the screen. What Ridley
Scott creates is a perfectly paced epic taken from a real life story of a heroin
king who beat the mafia, the New York cops, and in the end came up against the
one honest officer, played by Russell Crowe, who lost everything, but never
lost sight of his mission. Denzel Washington personifies everything America
loves in our bad guys: wealth, power, a renegade who bucked the system and won;
a sexual animal running wild in a world he maneuvered to his own benefit. In
“American Gangster” a story is revealed about a man who achieved something
no white man ever thought could happen. A black man who ends up on top of them
all, including the mafia and the law, none of whom could match his cunning criminality
and daring, his hunger for power and independence. The screenplay is brilliantly
crafted by Steve Zaillian.


“People like me. People like the fuck out of me.” – Frank
Lucas, played by Denzel Washington

After Lucas’s mentor dies he’s presented with a problem. How to take what he’s
been taught and turn it into gold, his gold; something he owned, not managed. Never mind that Bumpy
Johnson was killing his people with heroin. How could Lucas take that business
and be more than his mentor? He couldn’t do it without his family, any more
than Crowe’s character could do it with his by his side. With the Vietnam war
raging, Lucas decides that what he needs is better product and a better price.
How to do it? If the junk is in Southeast Asia, baby, go to the source. “Blue
Magic” is born and along with it a tale of extraordinary violence, devil’s
work and impossible hopes, followed by devastating choices that head straight on into one New York City cop
that represents the only honest element circling Lucas’s world.

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe square off in opposite corners of world,
but slowly and methodically have their separate worlds collide, along with the
fortunes of New York City cops who end up seduced at a time when the Vietnam war corrupted a few enterprising soldiers who were taking advantage of one of Southeast Asia’s biggest exports: heroin. But “American Gangster” has a sweep that doesn’t allow an actor or character to rule exclusively, which is just one part of its remarkable cinematic scope. Everyone dissolves together to play their part in the plot. Unconnected
worlds take time to weave themselves together and director Ridley Scott doesn’t
short change the two men and the lives that end up colliding in an explosively
dramatic human story. It takes courage to make a film out of the traditions
of the best, especially since we don’t have the time to savor such succulent
screen concoctions anymore. But Scott knew what the story deserved and committed
to the journey. Filmgoers must as well, if only to honor the magnificence of
offering epics in the midst of snack bite features.

Heroin entrepreneurship has never looked more ingenious or been put on the
screen with such vigor and force. When Denzel Washington screams at Armand Assante, they tried to kill my wife, after escaping a mob hit on the street, you can’t help but remember Michael Corleone that time in Tahoe. But this is not “The Godfather,” the first and best. It’s not
“Goodfellas.” It is the story of a black man who beat whitey and
the mob at their own game, then… Well, I’m not a spoiler. “American
Gangster” should not be compared with other giant films of the same
genre. It should be savored for the splendor of its own uniqueness and cinematic
sensationalism.

To say this is one of the best films of the year is easy. To also say it’s
one of the best films of the genre ever made is giving the film its due.

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Iraq, Abu Graib, and a Vet Turned Candidate

By on 02 August 2007

– reporting from YearlyKos –
TM is serving as a volunteer on the advisory committee to the convention’s leadership forum.

Jonathan
Powers, now running for Congress
in New York (26th district), was part of the “swat team,” as he put it, that went
in to get the man, named Yunis, featured in the film I just watched. He turned
out to be another innocent man who ended up at Abu Ghraib.


Description: Baghdad , September 2003: In a middle-class house on a quiet
street, a family is fast asleep. Without warning, the front door is crashed
and American soldiers storm the house looking for weapons and bomb-making
material. Cameraman Michael Tucker documents the event as the men in the house
are cuffed and forced to kneel in the garden. A search of the house uncovers
no incriminating evidence, however Yunis Khatayer Abbas and three of his brothers
are taken and detained. Bent on forcing Yunis to confess to crimes he did
not commit, his captors press him with bizarre questions about music tastes,
sexual preferences and Harrison Ford. His intelligence value exhausted, he
is then transferred to Abu Ghraib Prison. The charge: planning the assassination
of Tony Blair. Yunis endures by helping his fellow prisoners and keeping a
secret diary. He also forges an unlikely friendship with one of his guards,
who he calls “The Good Soldier.” Combining Tucker’s embedded footage,
Yunis’ home movies, testimony from former guard Benjamin Thompson and original
comic book art, the film traces the moving story of an ordinary man trapped
in a Kafkaesque nightmare. Unique in its presentation and unlikely in its
very existence, “The Prisoner Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair”
details an absurd comedy of errors where one freedom-loving Iraqi journalist
learns the true meaning of liberation.

“Tell them you’re Shia. They’ll let you go,” Yunis was told, according to the film’s co-director
Michael Tucker, also known as “HBO Mike.” The man who was also responsible
for “Gunner Palace.”


“The Prisoner: or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair”

In an absurd comedy of errors, a freedom-loving Iraqi journalist is mistaken
as Tony Blair’s would-be assassin and sent to Abu Ghraib Prison where he discovers
the true meaning of liberation.

Powers was at the screening today and talked about the film and what made him
move from veteran to teach to candidate.


“I began to understand what my strengths were, to bring
back the window of the troops on the war.” – Jon Powers

As Jon traveled after 9/11, as time went by, things he could do before he could
no longer do. He lived in Germany, played on a German rugby team, and went to
German bars. All of a sudden that was no longer an option. The same was true when he traveled to
Brazil. There was just too much anti-Americanism. He decided it was “time
to lead” and…


“retake the issue of security from Republicans.”
– Jon Powers

Powers is an articulate, obviously intelligent, deep thinking man. He’d be
a terrific asset to Congress, joining other vets like Sestak and Murphy. He’s
going to need our support.

It was the first time he and I have met, but we’d both were very aware of each other through mutual acquaintances. We had a brief moment to chat. His understanding of Iraq and what needs to be done next is obvious. The surge is wrong, but Jon has broken bread with Iraqis and feels a responsibility. He wants to get out, but knows we can’t just leave to abandon the Iraqis. The balance to a solution is what he intends to bring to Congress. He’s accepted an invitation to have a dialogue about this on my radio show. I look forward to it.

One of the main reasons Jon Powers
is running is to keep a war like Iraq from ever happening again. I’m in.

The screening of this film was made possible by YearlyKos and the continued
support of filmmakers through Brave New
Films.

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War at the Movies

By on 28 May 2007
VIDEO: From Here to Eternity

I was born in red state Missouri and raised on John Wayne. I grew up on war
movies. Lots of them. Maybe it was just that my family, by the time I came along
which was very late in the game, had some experience with sending their men
off to war, including uncles and cousins. My dad didn't get to go to war* (see note below), something
I always believed bothered him, though I really never knew my dad very well.
But before I lived through the Vietnam era, I saw war through the movies. It
was the lens by which I learned the nobility of this sacrifice. A lot has changed
through the years.

There's “From Here to Eternity,” a very small part of which I've captured for you to watch
today.

But my favorite is Otto Preminger's “In Harm's Way.” This is a classic
quick clip of Wayne blowing
his lines while doing a scene with Patricia Neal.

There's also “Command Decision,” with Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon.

Modern war movies include “Saving
Private Ryan,” but also “Platoon,”
a movie that haunts you long after seeing it. Both movies taking war into the
realm of the real.

Obviously, I can't name them all.

There is death and destruction in all of the war movies, but also great heroism
and purpose, along with sacrifice and sorrow. But something else, the possibility
of victory and the obligatory parade for those who have fought. If there is
anything that is lacking today in what our soldiers are experiencing in Iraq
it's that the lack of purpose for America and the reality that the mission has long ago
been obliterated, with “victory” an illusive mission on some forward date
ten years out. This curse of fighting wars Congress doesn't declare has been
around for decades, but from Vietnam into Iraq we have continued to repeat lessons
we long ago should have learned.

The worst thing a commander in chief can do is put men and women in harm's way,
then lose the mission on which we have sent them to fight. “Freedom”
doesn't cut it because we've got it and if the Iraqis are to have it they must take
it for themselves. It's the very nature of being free. WMDs long ago vanished
in the president's pre-war propaganda. Bringing democracy to Iraq was a joke,
because that is something that has to rise up from the public. The urge was
never there in Iraq, because the region is shackled to yesterday's feuds. We're fighting
“terrorists” is always used, then overused, but our soldiers are in
the middle of it so they're not easily fooled.

The nobility of war has been lost through Vietnam and Iraq, the necessity of fighting very hard for many to grasp, but without
a righteous cause and a valiant call to arms war gets worse and just becomes a bunch of shooting,
death, dismemberment, psychological cracking, and unending expense that costs
the warring countries their very souls.

Frank Rich (subscription
required) said something yesterday that rightly puts us squarely in the center of the fierce storm that will rage whether we stay or leave.


The new White House policy, as Zbigniew Brzezinski has joked, is “blame
and run.” It started to take shape just before the midterm elections
last fall, when Mr. Rumsfeld wrote a memo (propitiously leaked after his defenestration)
suggesting that the Iraqis might “have to pull up their socks, step
up and take responsibility for their country.” By January, Mr. Bush
was saying that “the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt
of gratitude” and wondering aloud “whether or not there is a gratitude
level that’s significant enough in Iraq.” In February, one of
the war’s leading neocon cheerleaders among the Beltway punditocracy
lowered the boom. “Iraq is their country,” Charles Krauthammer
wrote. “We midwifed their freedom. They chose civil war.” Bill
O’Reilly and others now echo this cry.

The message is clear enough: These ungrateful losers deserve everything that’s
coming to them. The Iraqis hear us and are returning the compliment. Whether
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is mocking American demands for timelines and
benchmarks, or the Iraqi Parliament is setting its own timeline for American
withdrawal even while flaunting its vacation schedule, Iraq’s nominal
government is saying it’s fed up. The American-Iraqi shotgun marriage
of convenience, midwifed by disastrous Bush foreign policy, has disintegrated
into the marriage from hell.

This is the second time in my lifetime we've walked into a country and blown
it apart. Good intentions aren't enough when whole countries are obliterated.
Bush was at the helm, but it's Congress who declares war, though that once great
institution long ago forgot that charge. So here we sit amidst the slaughter
of our own making yet again.

But the story of this war is not being told, at least not in visuals.


Photographs and other images of casualties have always been a delicate matter and most media outlets have shown restraint, particularly with pictures of the dead. Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the ground commander in Iraq whose own son was seriously wounded in action, is said by reporters to be particularly alert to the depictions of casualties.

Working reporters say the soldiers in the field are not overly concerned with media coverage — they have more serious matters in their gunsights. The journalists also suggest that the current regulations have allowed the military to take concerns for the privacy of soldiers and their families and leverage them into broader constraints on information.

Not to See the Fallen Is No Favor

Bush and the Republicans have indeed midwifed a new type of war; this one fought
on slogans and hyperbole, fear and fiction. If, or maybe I should say when the
movie is written and produced it won't look anything like “From Here to
Eternity,” though the title certainly fits.

TM NOTE: My big brother read this post and sent me an email on my dad. My brother, sister and I are so spread out in age that there is much of our family history that is sketchy to me, which I've been trying to paste together for decades. This is what he wrote. It's news to me, so I thought I'd share it. It's amazing what you learn about your parents and your family as time goes by. I only hope I can put it all together before it's too late.


Read your blog and didn't know if you knew why Dad didn't serve in the military. He was working at Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, an essential industry, during the war and they wouldn't accept him in the service because he was needed at Boeing. At least, that's what I was always told and have no reason not to believe.
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Al Gore is a Winner

By on 25 February 2007


Classic. He started talking then the orchestra interrupted. The announcement that was never going to come was on everyone\’s mind. It still is.

Al Gore\’s
exciting win at the Oscars was such a feel good moment. I hope a lot of
people head over to Climate Crisis
tonight.

Then, of course, came Scorsese.

But it truly was Al Gore, who once again proved why he is such a favorite with
so many of us. He\’s passionate and just not as calculating, and yes, I\’m talking
about Hillary Clinton, but a little about Mr. Obama, too. Let me digress for
a moment. Going back to the Geffen – Bill and Hillary smackdown, Obama would
have been fine if he\’d stopped here:
\”It\’s not clear to me why I would be apologizing for someone else\’s
remarks,\” Mr. Obama said, responding to the first question by Radio Iowa\’s
O\’Kay Henderson. \”My sense is that Mr. Geffen may have differences with
the Clintons, but that doesn\’t really have anything to do with our campaign.\”
Instead, he added on to that statement on Friday, saying he hoped they
could get beyond it all and talk about the issues, because he didn\’t want his campaign to get sidetracked. Too late. It was backtracking. It was also
calculating, because he and his team realized they\’d stepped into an argument that neither Clinton nor he won. But Obama should have left it alone. Anyway…

Gore is not a perfect politician by any estimation, but he has the passion about an issue that\’s
so important, plus the intelligence on foreign policy and military matters that\’s simply unquestioned. He would make the Democratic field very nervous if he entered and he\’d wipe the Republicans out. He\’d make me ecstatic. But I just don\’t think he will. His life is very good right now. But it\’s not impossible
or at least I\’m holding the door open for him, even if he never walks through
it. A girl can dream.

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And the Winner is…

By on 25 February 2007

As far as I\’m concerned, movies are America.

I\’ve made no secret about it. I
love them and simply cannot imagine life without them. Even when they\’re
bad it\’s
always fun to watch them. My life today would be so different if I hadn\’t discovered
the movies when I was young. They\’ve been a passion throughout my life. I used to sneak in and imagine
what my life could be like if I could get out and beyond where I was born. I
dreamt about what I might be able to make of my life if I could get beyond
my humble beginnings, which definitely formed me, but could only take me so
far. Movies are an escape for anyone trying to get out of where they
came from, especially if that place holds dark memories. Or maybe it\’s just
a way of believing in the impossible, the improbable. A way to imagine that
your life can make a difference, just like the heroes in the movies.

Today is Oscar night. It\’s an
interesting cultural ritual for some of us that allows for plenty of popcorn
and beer or champagne voyeurism. It also allows me to forget about the political
mayhem and the international carnage exploding all around us, as well as inspires me to change
the channel in my brain. Movies help me to escape and tonight is no exception.

I also always enjoy playing fashion police, watching the gazillion dollar spectacle
and marveling how money is still no arbiter of good taste.

There\’s only one thing I want from the evening. I just won\’t be happy without
it. Martin Scorsese simply must finally, at long last take home the Oscar. There won\’t be any justice
if he does not. All the directors nominated made amazing artistic contributions
last year, but not only is \”The Departed\” a fantastic film, but as
anyone knows who has ever dipped their toes into Hollywood, Oscar is also a night
for rewarding career achievements. No one deserves that nod more than Mr. Scorsese:
Mean Streets, Alice Doesn\’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull,
The King of Comedy, After Hours, The Color of Money, The Last Temptation of
Christ, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, No Direction
Home: Bob Dylan… and these are only a few of the
movies he\’s made.

So, here\’s hoping for Mr. Scorsese, and here\’s a list of a few of the nominees:

Best Picture:

Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Achievement in Directing:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu , Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O\’Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Supporting Actress

Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Best Adapted Screenplay

Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal

Best Original Screenplay

Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan\’s Labyrinth
The Queen

but three are many
more important nominees…

What movie(s) moved you the most last year, or made you laugh, cry or just
scream out loud? Do you have any memories of movies and what they did to change
your life?

Let\’s talk movies.

Butter or no butter? No butter on mine.

Oh, and one last wish: that Eddie Murphy walks away with Oscar, too. He certainly earned it.

But as far as who the winner really is, well, his name is Al Gore.

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‘Dreamgirls’ Soars

By on 01 January 2007

cross-posted on Huffington Post

So, being New Years Day, I am taking a day off from my usual coverage of politics, foreign policy and military issues to focus on two other great loves of mine: the movies and the theater. So without further ado… WOW.

Eddie Murphy is on fire and delivers the performance of his life in \”Dreamgirls,\”
the film that takes the original Broadway musical from the dustbin of history
and finally gives it its due and ranking in entertainment history 25 years later, then goes
even further by adding more than even the genius of Michael Bennett could have
intended.

It\’s no secret that I
love movies and enjoy reviewing them on many,
many occasions (as I do theatrical productions when inspired), but especially when a film production is offered up that breaks the sound barrier. However, \”Dreamgirls\” offers a special opportunity for me. When \”Dreamgirls\”
opened on Broadway, I was there. I was a performer on the Great White Way at
the time, also having the distinct honor to rehearse at the legendary Bennett
studios down in the 800 block of Broadway where his dream began to very modest
hopes. I remember hearing Jennifer Holiday on Broadway as if it were yesterday,
a voice that brought me to tears every time I heard her sing the song that always
brings the house down. But it\’s truly the spirit of Michael Bennett that hovers
over the film today.

Many likely don\’t even know who he is. But the film that takes his genius and
puts it on screen is dedicated to Michael Bennett\’s memory. Anyone performing
on Broadway or associated with the arts is proud he\’s part of this film, which he made possible. Not only is Bennett the spirit of \”Dreamgirls,\” but also of \”A Chorus Line,\” now in revival on Broadway, but he, along with Bob Fosse and many others,
were the leading lights on Broadway for many years. That the film of his original vision doesn\’t stop with Bennett\’s creation is a testament to the man himself.

Beyonce Knowles breaks through as a true actress in this film.

Jamie Foxx is splendid.

Newcomer Jennifer Hudson,
who some may remember from \”American Idol,\” takes over the charge
left from Jennifer Holiday 25 years ago, while the show stopping song \”You\’re
Gonna Love Me\” almost seems constrained behind the screen. But somehow Hudson
manages to top the built in crescendos with such heart, pure talent and soul
that \”performance of a lifetime\” doesn\’t come close to capturing her
bravura.

But it is Eddie Murphy, in a supporting role, who shines above them all. Leaner
than he has been in decades, more focused and uncompromising in taking chances,
Mr. Murphy delivers on the rascal bad boy, ala the late James Brown, in a way
that is staggering to behold from the moment he steps on to the screen to the
moment his character implodes, which as is fitting is done on stage in front
of a live TV audience. Brilliant starts the adjectives to describe his tour
de force performance. Oscar(r) worthy is another.

The magic of the movie \”Dreamgirls\” is not just that it honors Mr.
Bennett\’s creative genius, but that it also captures the reality of the real
life war of image, talent and disappointment so many performers experience on
their way through the entertainment mill, because talent isn\’t always enough,
especially today. We all look at the models, the beauties, the perfect 10 bodies
of the stars, while discussing the harm these images have on women, but in the
movie \”Dreamgirls\” you see it in action. Then you look at Ms. Knowles
and Mr. Murphy, who have never been as lean as they are in this movie, likely
due to the rigors of this type of performing for film, which adds weight, and
you get a story within a story, within a story.

How many women and girls of great talent haven\’t struggled with the perfect
figure or at least a figure that wasn\’t seen as abnormal as Cosmo would have
it? How many men have walked away from a fatty to look onward to someone thinner
and more the image of his mind\’s eye perfect girl? It\’s the same way in performing
and entertainment, especially back in the day where Blacks were also trying to break
into the whiteys only world. Just ask Lena Horne about the benefits of her looks, while Dorothy
Dandridge was felled by a harsher judgment, with Sammy Davis, Jr.\’s champion,
Frank Sinatra, making all the difference in his career. Yet all these amazing black performers suffered harsh realities. When you add the beauty angle the torment triples.

It\’s art imitating life, then back again to art, to life, then do it again adding feeling and heartbreak.

\”Dreamgirls\” is spectacular. Michael Bennett would be proud. But don\’t take my word for it. See it for yourself.


UPDATE (9:18 p.m.): BUSHsurvivor over in the comments on Huffington Post shared the link to the original version of \”You\’re gonna love me,\” sung by Jennifer Holiday. The crowd cheering at the Tonys fills in the reaction that I experienced, too.

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Movies that Suck

By on 26 December 2006

So, what movies did you see this weekend? There are a lot of good ones out
there. \”The Good Sheperd\” just isn\’t one of them.

No pace. Imploding plot. Dreadfully boring. Angeline
Jolie is lost and out of place. Matt Damon plays one emotion the entire film,
while DeNiro can\’t find anyone\’s pulse, including his own. Hey, but the water
boarding scene is current. Too bad they couldn\’t keep the chronology straight.

How in the world you can make the C.I.A. this frickin\’ boring is beyond me,
but they do it.


… The film is stuffed with undeveloped characters far worthier of screen
time than Edward\’s domestic crises with his wife, deaf mistress (Tammy Blanchard)
and resentful son (Eddie Redmayne). The film cuts back and forth from present
to past, when Edward, as a 1939 Yale undergrad, is inducted into the secret
Skull and Bones society and gets hooked on stealth. Shepherd wants to say
something profound about the effect of a deceitful government on human values.
But it\’s tough to slog through a movie that has no pulse.

Rolling
Stone

However, nothing explains watching this dreck for two and one-half hours.

From
WWII through the Bay of Pigs to the creation of the C.I.A, screwing up this
story makes you wonder what they had on the printed page to start out. Keep the highpoints of history and don\’t get fancy. Doesn\’t anyone in Hollywood know how to write this stuff anymore? Ludlum meets history would be one way to go at it. But hooking the C.I.A. continually into Skull and Bones? It would explain why the Agency got so much wrong lately, or was so inept in pushing the case that was right. All the story needs now is the punchline. Add it if you\’ve got it.

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