LYT's Blog

LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/coming-to-dvd-june-22nd-2011/feed/ 1 important reader survey http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/#comments Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:52:00 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3774 FAST FOOD REVIEWS from Geekweek. I would also like to know what your two favorite Geekweek Movie Reviews (any article whose title begins "LYT REVIEW") are. And finally, your two favorite "ill LYTeracy" columns. Your responses will be MOST helpful. Please leave them in comments.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/feed/ 5 Text of My LAFCA Speech, Awarding Best Soundtrack for The Social Network http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/16/text-of-my-lafca-speech-awarding-best-soundtrack-for-the-social-network/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/16/text-of-my-lafca-speech-awarding-best-soundtrack-for-the-social-network/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 02:25:49 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3769

It wouldn't be the end of the year without at least one critic bemoaning the state of cinema as worse than ever. In 2010, however, the movie mainstream did seem to produce more misfires than usual, as Hollywood gradually figured out that post-conversion 3-D doesn't work very well, M. Night Shyamalan shouldn't be trusted with money, and Gemma Arterton isn't going to become the next big thing just because you force her on us. Notably, this year's best list features more independents and international entries than usual. On the other hand, if you see enough movies across the spectrum, there will almost always be more than enough for at least a 10 best list. I haven't seen absolutely everything of significance, but have made a heroic effort to get to most of it—nonetheless, Yogi Bear or Marmaduke could be hidden masterpieces, and I will never know. Click here for the list: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b216800_10_best_movies_of_2010mdashan_online.html#ixzz19kSuA1OJ

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 $3,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around $10. Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs $35 without insurance, $10 with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost $85 a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over $1000 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

lead characters, or run into them. But they'll flip authority off in deserving ways that you don't have the balls to do, like female Stone Cold Steve Austins. Plus they don't turn totally nice at the end, which was what always rubbed me wrong about BAD SANTA. 2. SUPER/HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. One Troma alumnus, one who wishes he were. Both hard-R gore-comedies like the kind of stuff we used to discover in the back room of a VHS store. I'm a little tired of "realistic" heroes and grindhouse parodies, but these transcended their thin templates. 3. CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH/BLACK DEATH. I'm a sucker for attempts at recreating Italian neorealism (believe it or not). CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH does it in epic fashion, with a movie in which the event (the rape of Nanking) IS the protagonist, and a larger portrait of hopelessness plays out on an epic scale. BLACK DEATH does the Dark Age movie I've always wanted to see, and derives horror from the fact that both Christians and atheists are violent shitbags. 4. WINNIE THE POOH/A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR CHRISTMAS 3D. Both absolutely perfect for what they are. A reinvention of a classic that neither offends fundamentalist ninnies nor saccharine-allergic cynics, paired with an amped-up dirty joke that nonetheless extols the simple joys of a robot that can make you waffles. 5. CHICO AND RITA/SHAME. Cuban cartoons fucking, plus Michael Fassbender's penis. Both movies reduced to the tee-hee genital bits, but so much larger than that in creating unique, stylized senses of time and place. 6. TREE OF LIFE/RUBBER. A pondering of one's place in the universe, two ways. One suggests what really matters; the other, that nothing does. The latter's funnier, but lacks plesiosaurs. 7. THE ARTIST/HUGO. Elaborate modern simulacra of bygone ages with modern technologies. Funny to me that some don't understand why a movie about the original master of special effects must use all the modern implements in that toolbox, or that the so-called silent movie constantly breaks the rules of same to great effect. 8. TROLLHUNTER/PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3. I still love found-footage movies, and both of these made me smile, but for quite different reasons. The former is a funny satire that never mocks its monsters, while the latter made me jump so hard I had to laugh so as not to cry in fear. 9. HANNA/MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL. A dead-eyed, brainwashed, super-trained lunatic battles deadly secret agents trying to kill him/her, pulling off crazy stunts in the process. HANNA's coldness is its greatest asset; Cruise's real-life craziness adds a lot to the blank slate of Ethan Hunt, as does Imax and a Moore-era Bond sense of excess. 10. BRIDESMAIDS/MELANCHOLIA. That panic attack you're having about an upcoming wedding? It's not the end of the world. Or is it? Dum dum dum... 11. 50-50/SOURCE CODE. A comedy about cancer, and a heroic romance about a disembodied torso. Both ultimately feel-good movies, though they could have gone either way. 12. GREEN LANTERN/THOR. The superhero movies that could not feasibly have been made on any budget in any previous decade. Thor thankfully jettisoned the olde English speak and upgraded its hero, while GL stayed firmly Silver Age, seemingly to most audiences' dislike but much to my joy. Both gave the superhero movie a pan-galactic scope that had been missing. 13. DRIVE/X-MEN FIRST CLASS. It's amazing how much better a complete lack of backstory can jazz up what might have been an otherwise standard L.A. Noir (though I love the excessive violence too). It's equally mind-blowing how am obligatory backstory we thought we already knew can turn out so well in the right hands. WORST MOVIE: JUMPING THE BROOM WORST MOVIE I HAD HOPES FOR: WARRIOR]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/feed/ 0 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/04/17/where-do-we-go-from-here/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/04/17/where-do-we-go-from-here/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:14:38 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3787 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/04/17/where-do-we-go-from-here/feed/ 7 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/elizabeth-wherley-1920-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/elizabeth-wherley-1920-2011/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:32:10 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3780

It seemed like every other month, my aunt Betsy ("Bebby") would complain of some new ailment, real or imagined, that she was certain was going to well and truly kill her this time. Yet she outlived her sisters by a longshot, and the end came quickly, much like my grandfather's -- sudden stroke, then coma, then death soon thereafter. Genetic odds are that if I die naturally, that's what I'm getting. Though Betsy could complain like an old woman, she remained very crucially a child at heart, always trying to sneak a handful of candy, or hit up the latest sales at the mall. I once remarked that if I had to choose my dream parents, she'd be my mother. The two vacations I spent solo with her, in 1987 and 1990, remain among my fondest memories, full of trips to the Florida theme parks, drop-offs at the AMC (AMC was the newest, coolest thing back then, to me anyway), and fun gifts -- upon my requesting a T-shirt on clearance that said "Who is Darkman?" she hesitated only briefly, asking, "That's not onea them racial things, is it?" When we went grocery shopping together, she'd tear open the ice-cream bar packages and start eating while she shopped, assuring me that it was okay, they let you do that...only to come to the checkstand where she'd very sheepishly and quietly say, "Ah'm already eatin' one...Ah hope that's okay..." (She had the most classical Southern accent in the family) I never knew her husband Kenneth, which means he must have died before I was born, or shortly thereafter, and which also means she outlived him by some 36 years. She also outlived cancer, quitting smoking, alcohol (quit a few times), car crashes, and numerous ailments she seemed to somehow take joy in expressing her suffering with. In Kenneth's absence, she and her sister Mary ("Sis") became inseparable..."Sis and Bebby" being mostly a collective noun in my childhood mind, one frequently involving trips to Long John Silver's and chocolate cakes. Bebby loved the chocolate as much as anyone, probably more. "D'you buy me some more candy?" she used to ask, every time. Two family Christmases spent in Florida were also great times, one being at a big house on the beach, the year I got the Masters of the Universe Eternia playset, possibly the biggest action figure base ever. Also Castle Grayskull - she was the one who found that for me. Cousin Arthur was still in diapers, and Sis was getting delusional into alcoholic fogs...it wasn't long before her sober mind resembled the same. She long lamented that her daughter Mary (above) wasn't married yet, so I know how much joy she got when that wedding finally happened. When last I saw her at my cousin Ming's wedding, I knew it would likely be the last time...she first had to be reminded who I was, but the recognition was still there, even as the familiar joyous cackling and wheezy laugh barely rose above a whisper any more. I could tell it did her heart good to see that I had found someone, and she likely mentally attributed it in part to my short haircut. I wish I could say I believed she's with Ken and Sis and my grandmother now. But what I can say is she did good, and is no longer in pain, free to be remembered as she was at her best. I didn't keep in touch as often as I should have. But I will miss her very much.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/elizabeth-wherley-1920-2011/feed/ 0 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/coming-to-dvd-june-22nd-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/coming-to-dvd-june-22nd-2011/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:26:51 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3778

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/03/15/coming-to-dvd-june-22nd-2011/feed/ 1 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/#comments Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:52:00 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3774 FAST FOOD REVIEWS from Geekweek. I would also like to know what your two favorite Geekweek Movie Reviews (any article whose title begins "LYT REVIEW") are. And finally, your two favorite "ill LYTeracy" columns. Your responses will be MOST helpful. Please leave them in comments.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/22/important-reader-survey/feed/ 5 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/16/text-of-my-lafca-speech-awarding-best-soundtrack-for-the-social-network/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/16/text-of-my-lafca-speech-awarding-best-soundtrack-for-the-social-network/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 02:25:49 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3769

I think it’s cool that we’re honoring a movie about facebook tonight, because it means that LAFCA president Brent Simon can no longer pretend not to know that it exists. I’m like Mark Zuckerberg...I sit alone in my office, constantly refreshing, hoping that Brent will show up on that site and add me as a friend...not because I’m an asshole, but because I’m trying so hard to be. Seriously, though, I am so stoked to be presenting this award, because it brings so many things full circle for me. When I first came out to L.A. for college, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything was have a radio show, so I went to the student radio right away and got one. The rules were thus: I had to play their alternative music format, and I also had to join another staff at the station. I picked the entertainment staff, being a film major, and when it came time to contribute, I said, what the hell, I’ll do movie reviews. That worked out. Meanwhile, as a DJ, I was exposed to many new things, not the least of which was the album BROKEN by Nine Inch Nails, and I mean the original one, with the mini-CD inside, rather than the long pause and bonus tracks. It’s one of a few albums I can say changed my life and my perceptions of what music could be. Hell, when my librarian friend Nan, who’s like 40 years older than me, started learning the keyboard, I told her about Trent Reznor, and she became a fan. She’s too far away to be here tonight, but this goes out to her. Now, if you had come up to me back then, and been all, “Hey, Mohawk-boy! In a decade or so, you’re gonna be wearing a suit, standing in front of all the major film critics in Los Angeles, presenting a major movie-related award to the band that brought you ‘Happiness in Slavery’”...I probably would have said, “Whatever, weirdo.” Or, more likely, I might have gone full Butt-Head and said “Whoah! My life is gonna be cool. Huh huh” To those of a generation older than mine, I don’t know quite the analogy I can make that can compare to this. Maybe if Frank Zappa had scored Easy Rider? I’m bad with boomer analogies. But what I do know – and I think I can say, since we’re not on network TV or in front of kids – is that I love this soundtrack so much, I wanna fuck it like an animal. Ladies and gentlemen, for Best Soundtrack the social network, Nine Inch freakin’ Nails...Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross! GIVE IT UP!]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2011/01/16/text-of-my-lafca-speech-awarding-best-soundtrack-for-the-social-network/feed/ 2 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 02:54:45 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3767

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 LYT's Blog http://www.lytrules.com/blog The official website of Luke Y. Thompson Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Warp One, Engaged. http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:58:47 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3796 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/25/warp-one-engaged/feed/ 0 Fools? Rush In… http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:22:31 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3794 ,000 worth of free condoms. Others looked into prices for ortho-tricycline, and found that there are big-box stores that sell it for around . Reasonably, they've asked how that's a burden. Here's how: not every pill works for every woman. I speak to this as one who has purchased many different varieties for my own girlfriend (who gave me permission to discuss her case, because this whole incident has turned here vehemently against the Republican party). In her case, the hormonal balance in basic birth control (which, BTW, in Burbank costs without insurance, with) had side-effects ranging from dramatic moodswings to bursting ovarian cysts, which I am told feel like getting kicked in the crotch, and risk endangering one's future fertility. We've had to try a variety of different pills, including some that cost a month even with insurance. Multiply that by 12 and you're already over 00 for the year. Another argument being made is the hardcore Catholic belief that contraception equals abortion, due to the idea that life begins at conception, as opposed to when the egg embeds in the uterine wall, which is when it's medically defined as a pregnancy. This has allowed some frame the debate as one over abortion; meanwhile, studies show that 98% of Catholic women in this country have used the pill. Freedom of religion? If you go down that route, next up will be Jehovah's Witness employers refusing to pay for insurance that allows blood transfusions, Muslim employers refusing to pay for insurance plans that allow female doctors to treat males...you can argue that employers shouldn't ever pay for health insurance at all, but even if you could magically separate it, we'd have the same argument over what people of faith who happen to run insurance companies can do, with the end result being less coverage. And then, guess what? Everybody goes to the emergency room, where your tax dollars go toward all that stuff you don't approve of anyhow. The biggest hypocrites in all this are Limbaugh's advertisers. This is a man who made a name for himself using the word "feminazi," which inherently equates those who want equal pay for equal work with history's most notorious mass murderers. Suddenly they're shocked that he called someone a slut? Really? Listen, I used to call George W. Bush "President Fucky McFucknuts." When you talk politics, you get heated. Names are called. I support a boycott against Limbaugh for different reasons - that he didn't tell the truth (the idea that "we" would be paying her to have sex), and thought there would be no consequences. Free speech doesn't give you the right to libel and misrepresent, and I'd like to see all current-events talk-show hosts held to a standard where they pay a penalty for that. Mandatory corrections upfront, like newspapers try to do, perhaps. Obvious parody, like, let's say Rush's distasteful "Barack the Magic Negro" song or the entirety of the Phil Hendrie show would be exempt. Who should set those rules and enforce them? Well, in theory, consumer boycotts ought to do just that. The Fairness Doctrine was meant to deliver that outcome, but it seems too heavy-handed. Hosts won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Perhaps the only viable solution is to counter the misinformation. This is me doing my part.]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/03/11/fools-rush-in/feed/ 0 The Top 13 Suggested Double-Features of the Best Films I Saw in 2011 http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2012/02/06/the-top-13-suggested-double-features-of-the-best-films-i-saw-in-2011/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:25:25 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3791

]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/31/my-top-ten-movies-of-2010/feed/ 0 REVIEWS AD INFINITUM http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/30/reviews-ad-infinitum-2/ http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/30/reviews-ad-infinitum-2/#comments Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:59:51 +0000 LYT http://www.lytrules.com/blog/?p=3764 http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b217453_movie_review_even_without_nc-17_rating.html#ixzz19aDvhUsY GULLIVER'S TRAVELS Why does Hollywood insist upon "reinventing" classic literature when faithful adaptations would be far more interesting? We've seen Eddie Murphy as a modern Dr. Dolittle, and now Jack Black as a contemporary Gulliver...Hell, maybe Tyler Perry should don a dress for a newer, sassier Mary Poppins. It'd be every bit as irrelevant. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b217521_movie_review_gullivers_classic_satire.html#ixzz19aDjtm5k WINTER'S BONE Every year, there is at least one token awards contender that astonishes L.A.-based Academy members by reminding them that country folk and cold weather still exist. Last year it was Frozen River; this year it's Winter's Bone. Which is not to diminish either movie in terms of quality, but rather, to imagine that people who live in the environments depicted may not find these kinds of tales especially unique. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b216931_movie_review_winters_bone_chilling_in.html#ixzz19aDXVKkD SOMEWHERE Sofia Coppola gives us yet another movie about rich people lounging around opulent surroundings while feeling empty inside. This time, it's Stephen Dorff as movie star Johnny Marco, staying mostly in Hollywood's famed Chateau Marmont. As unsympathetic as her characters ought to be, though, damned if the writer-director doesn't manage to hit on some emotional truths nonetheless. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b216716_movie_review_being_famous_kind_of_drag.html?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-movies&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=twitterfeed&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_movies#ixzz19aDMjA72 TRUE GRIT The Coen brothers' adaptation of Charles Portis' satirical western novel is less faithful to actual plot details than the Henry Hathaway film that starred John Wayne, but it gets the tone exactly right. With their love of irony, eccentric language and region-specific tics, the directors are a perfect match for the source material. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b217418_movie_review_true_grits_jeff_bridges.html?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-movies&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=twitterfeed&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_movies#ixzz19aDBW2iy TRON: LEGACY If you can get past its absurd premise, this return of Jeff Bridges to the inner computer world of light-cycles and deadly neon Frisbees is an eye-candyriffic holiday treat, with a killer soundtrack and 3-D visuals worthy of the huge screen. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b216724_movie_review_tron_legacy_exciting.html#ixzz19aCxB3vn THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER One of the best Narnia books arrives onscreen more significantly altered than its predecessors, and unfortunately, panders a little too much to its perceived audience. It's still a fun family adventure, but it could have (and should have) been better. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b215325_movie_review_narnias_dawn_treader_fun.html#ixzz19aCj2gQr THE WARRIOR'S WAY It's unfortunate that Thanksgiving is over already, for this is a giant turkey worth carving. The tale of a ninja who emigrates to an unreal Old West with a rival clan's baby in tow is a Gigli-level, what-were-they-thinking disaster that may nonetheless find a cult following among lovers of magnificent misfires. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b214269_movie_review_warriors_way_gigli_of.html#ixzz19aCXF6mJ BLACK SWAN Director Darren Aronofsky's latest genre-bender may be talked about as awards-bait, but such conversations obscure the fact that Black Swan mostly plays like a full-on horror movie, with more genuinely earned scares than recent releases which wear the genre on their sleeves. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b214061_movie_review_black_swan_gruesome.html#ixzz19aCDqJNh THE NEXT THREE DAYS When his wife is suddenly arrested and convicted of murder, teacher John Brennan (Russell Crowe) starts planning ways to break her out of jail. So he plans...and plans...and plans some more. Only close to the movie's end does he actually start putting events in motion, and by then you may have given up on a story that rarely gets straight to the point. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b212253_movie_review_next_three_days_heist.html#ixzz19aC23CRn HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Big-budget sequels to kids' movies don't get much grimmer than this one, which begins with torture and a scary snake, features the deaths of major characters, constantly reminds us that others are being massacred, and generally has our heroes feeling hopeless about 90 percent of the time. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b212069_movie_review_harry_potter_deathly.html#ixzz19aBmNzUT SKYLINE The visuals are very cool, and plentiful, save for the brothers' overuse of cheesy slo-mo. For a movie on a $10 million budget, it delivers more and better bangs for the buck than many blockbusters ten times the price. It's just a shame they couldn't find actors who deliver equal efficiency. Or script doctors, for that matter. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b211014_movie_review_skyline_alien_invasion.html#ixzz19aBWBxps UNSTOPPABLE An unmanned train full of toxic waste is hurtling through the countryside. But fortunately, two railroad workers who look a lot like Malcolm X and the young Captain Kirk are on the case. Director Tony Scott's almost family-friendly adventure plays like the coolest storyline you ever cooked up as a kid playing with toy trains. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b210912_review_unstoppable_kinda_like_lethal.html#ixzz19aBHTxeb 127 HOURS Trapped under a rock in a canyon, Aron Ralston (James Franco) must cut his own arm off to escape certain death. One half-expects a scary puppet on a tricycle to show up and say, "Hello Aron. I want to play a game," but instead, director and coscreenwriter Danny Boyle opens up his Slumdog Millionaire bag of tricks to jazz up the visuals with flashbacks, premonitions, overly dramatic soundtrack choices and hallucinations. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b209719_movie_review_james_francos_charms_cant.html#ixzz19aB29JqM FOUR LIONS It isn't just Muslim fundamentalists who get mocked here; everyone is fair game, from thick-headed police snipers who argue about the difference between a Wookiee and a bear, to government employees and their elaborate, convoluted explanations of rendition. One could compare this to South Park, but at the risk of hyperbole, this may also be the war on terror's very own Dr. Strangelove. Also like Strangelove, it gets that reality is often so absurd, you don't have to exaggerate much for humorous effect and that man frequently laughs so as not to cry. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b209732_Movie_Review_Four_Lions_the_Best_Movie_of_the_YearSo_Far.html#ixzz19aAlBixx FAIR GAME People of opposing political stripes have differing opinions over what went down in the whole Valerie Plame incident. And while Fair Game definitely has a point of view (your first clue should be that it stars Sean Penn), its primary focus is on the effect outside politics can have on a marriage—when to fight back, when to back down for the good of personal harmony are all issues couples face. But when the outside force clamping down is the White House, that's a whole new level of stress. Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b209523_movie_review_fair_game_not_necessarily.html#ixzz19aASO1J0 SAW 3-D Though the Saw movies have been tying themselves in knots trying to continue the saga of a central character who died at the end of part III, you know they've just about hit rope's end in this one when our favorite cancer-stricken, psychotic engineer John "Jigsaw" Kramer (Tobin Bell) gets exactly one good scene Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b208328_movie_review_saw_3d_finally_finds__some.html#ixzz19a9spvoU]]> http://www.lytrules.com/blog/2010/12/30/reviews-ad-infinitum-2/feed/ 0