« December 2002 | Main | February 2003 »
January 31, 2003
Who Sane?
Posted by LYT at 5:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2003
A more perfect union
As promised, some random responses to Bush's address. I didn't watch it, just read the transcript, from which it seemed like a less embarassing speech than he usually makes. The Democratic response seemed lame -- rather than go off on Imperialist ambitions, it was just the usual, "we differ slightly on the best way to collect taxes."
Anyhow, on to GWB vs. LYT
"92 million Americans will keep this year an average of almost $1,100 more of their own money."
One of GW's favorite tricks is the average game. Note that if a rich man saves $2,200, and a poor man saves nothing, collectively they keep an average of $1,100 more of their own money.
"To help the nearly 10 million seniors who receive dividend income, I ask you to end the unfair double-taxation of dividends."
Misleading on a number of scores. "Senior" can designate someone as young as 55, thus many corporate executives are seniors and don't really need the extra cash. "Double-taxation" is also misleading. Corporate profits get taxed. Dividends come from what remains, and go to individuals, NOT the corporation. Therefore those individuals are NOT taxed twice. And anyway, people who own stock dividends are not the ones who need the most help. Those who don't have the money to buy stock are.
"The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation"
Hahahahahaha
"These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations care."
Straw man argument there. What about a nationalized health care system that DOESN'T dictate coverage and ration care?
"I have sent you a Healthy Forests initiative to help prevent the catstrophic fires that devastate communities..."
There's a euphemism. Said bill allow logging companies to cut down more of the forest. Yep, won't be any forest fires if we cut down the trees!
"Tonight I am proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles"
This was a real head-scratcher until I heard someone on TV explain it. The technology needed won't be ready for another 15 years, by which time it's no longer Bush's problem. So it's an easy, feel-good thing to say.
"AIDS can be prevented."
Yes. By condoms. Which you want to remove all mention of when you're not outright impugning the statistics that say so.
"All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries."
Too bad most of them aren't actually guilty.
"We are beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles"
point 1 - terrorists do not now, nor have they ever used ballistic missiles
point 2 - the only countries that could use them against us also have enough of them to overwhelm any kind of defense system
"On the Korean peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation."
True, but should you be pissing them off right now while negotiations are going on?
"A brutal dictator with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great political wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States"
Look in the mirror, George.
And does anyone else think the phrase "vital region" is telling? Yeah, vital because of OIL.
"We Americans have faith in ourselves but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life and all of history."
What is this, a theocracy? How DARE you speak on my behalf, or anyone else's, with your backward, fundamentalist concept of God? The God I trust in is not the one that you think is going to return and initiate the rapture, Tex Ass.
I'm starting to wonder if George's middle name isn't "Wally." Those of you who get the reference know what I'm talking about.
Posted by LYT at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2003
The Sick Sense
Apologies for lack of interesting posts here lately. The on-again, off-again sickness I've had since Christmas is once more on-again, and I've had a very personal situation go another direction than I'd hoped. Am lying here at home watching Costa-Gavras movies so that I can properly asess his newest one, titled "Amen." (the period is part of the title; don't ask why, try Bud Dry.)
Friday I went to see the Genitorturers live, which is somewhat akin to watching a Clive Barker movie become reality. I was frankly amzed that they could legally do what they did on an LA stage, but amazed in a good way. If you're familiar with Barker's Tortured Souls toys (and if not, go to the Rants & Reviews section and read my article "Toying With Torture" right now), you may have an idea of some of what went on.
Interesting note about the British Academy Awards, from a linguistic standpoint: Their category for foreign films is not called "Best Foreign Language Film," but rather "Best Film Not in the English Language." I'm guessing this is due to films like Solomon and Gaenor, which is in the Welsh language. Technically Welsh and Scottish language films could not be called "foreign" to anyone in Britain, but wouldn't be in English either.
And like many other folks, I was surprised by Hans Blix's report on Iraq, which actually seems to more or less support Bush's position. International support is of course better than none, but not having a war would be better yet.
Posted by LYT at 3:59 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2003
The best of times, the Newest of Times
Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me what's going on in the New Times-LA Weekly antitrust suit. For those who don't ask and don't know, the two companies came to a deal to close a paper apiece in the markets of Cleveland and LA, which is why there's no more New Times LA and no Cleveland Free Times.
Anyway, LAexaminer.com reports on a NY Times story that says the deal's been settled. Here's what they say the end result is:
"There is no admission of guilt in the consent decree but each company is required to aid the opening of new weekly papers in Los Angeles and Cleveland by selling assets, including the rights to the names of the closed newspapers ... as well as lists of advertisers, office equipment and newspaper racks. Each company will pay a fine of $375,000 to the State of California and a much smaller amount to the State of Ohio."
Now you guys can quit asking.
Spare the Rod, spoil the child...
Says in today's LA Times that a report will be published shortly in which the U.S. proposes the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Iraq.
Let's let that sink in for a minute.
Now let's be clear: HOLY FUCK. Use of depleted uranium is bad enough -- and proves that our "pro-life" president could really give a shit about about the unborn, who suffer the most as a result of radiation -- but we're talking about NUCLEAR WEAPONS, that, though small by today's standards, could pack the punch of the Hiroshima bomb, which caused cancer for generations. Let's be clear -- use of nuclear weapons is a WAR CRIME, assuming that one defines such as targeting innocent civilians and the environment, which nukes inherently do.
I hope it's a big bluff. Bush Sr. said he wouldn't rule out use of nukes in the first gulf war, then years later said he never had any intention of really using them. But Bush Sr. had a brain cell or two, and the beginnings of a globalist perspective. Junior don't.
Back in 1999, former film critic and ex military man Rod Lurie made a ham-handed political movie called Deterrence. It was easily dismissed back then, but let me run down the plot:
An unelected president (Kevin Pollak) rapidly losing popularity with the American people faces a crisis when Saddam Hussein's son threatens to invade Kuwait again. Unable to send the full might of the military over to Kuwait because of a crisis situation in North Korea, the Prez threatens to nuke Baghdad. In response, Hussein Jr. suddenly unveils various nuclear missiles around the globe that he has pointed at the U.S., saying that if US bombers come anywhere near Baghdad he'll use his missiles on American targets.
If this has piqued your interest and you don't wanna hear spoilers, read no further, cuz I'm gonna reveal the ending next:
Prez nukes Baghdad anyway. Hussein Jr. retaliates, but it turns out his missiles were all duds sold to him years earlier by fake French double-agents as part of an elaborate US set-up.
Lurie always seemed like a dumbass to me, but frankly it's amazing how prescient his film turned out to be. I was wrong in this one, Rod, and you were ahead of your time. All apologies (this means, of course, that as per Lurie's other films, we'll eventually see a women vice presidential candidate get demonized as a slut by evil Republicans, and a bunch of righteous convicts will overthrow a military prison with the aid of a giant catapult they mysteriously built while no-one was looking).
Posted by LYT at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2003
Ain't that tough enuff?
For those who don't know, Tough Enough is the WWE reality series in which the two surviving finlaists get a pro-wrestling contract. Series 3 ended today, and I must say I'm disappointed with the choices, though granted we've only seen a selectively edited version of the program.
Winner 1 -- John. Clearly very athletic, but this guy is best known for trying out for season 2 and not knowing what the "Spin-a-roony" was. Once told, he did it very well, but he can't have been much of a fan to not recognize the phrase....SUCKAAA!
Winner 2 -- Matt. Best known for getting his ass kicked by Hardcore Holly, a bitter mid-card wrestler determined to prove to these kids that wrestling is hard, so he refused to fake it in his match with them. On the show, Matt's been utterly generic. Plus the first thing he said in his acceptance speech was "In Christ, all things are possible." Yeah, Matt. A guy who's been dead almost 2000 years gives a rat's ass whether you become a pro-wrestler or not.
My choices would've been Jamie and Jonah. Jamie got voted off by the fans, in the one choice that was left up to the masses, and Jonah was probably penalized for expressing self-doubt midway through the show. Shouldn't matter -- any fan of the show knows his charisma shone through the most.
He still has a chance, though -- Chris Nowinski lost the first Tough Enough, yet now is the most charismatic and talented of the show's alumni, with a WWE contract to boot (only Maven has an action figure thus far, but I'd lay money Nowinski will be next).
Final Destination 2 was pretty cool. Better than the first, witrh a gratuitous tit shot and very graphic and imaginative kills. The slasher movie's coming back big time this year. Maybe having a right-wing moron in the white house is what does it.
Posted by LYT at 1:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2003
Let there be light
With two bulbs blown in my house, the joke ocurred to me: How many film critics does it take to change a lightbulb?
Just one, but only after 50 others have proclaimed the darkness to be "Oscar-worthy!"
And that, folks, is why they pay me the big bucks
Lotta anger floating around today, especially as regards a certain major film studio that never lets us review their movies in a timely fashion. With what went on today, I swear I should be a diplomat. It'd be so nice just to write about the movies, but folks, there's always more to it than that, trust me...
Posted by LYT at 4:05 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2003
Spot o' TV
Stayed in this Tuesday eve, and decided to re-acquaint myself with popular TV, since Devil May Cry is proving pretty damn hard on the "normal" difficulty level. Flipping channels a lot, I got a feel for much of what's popular today. Needless to say, I thoroughly approve of William Shatner hosting a show about one hit wonders on VH-1. As for that new sitcom starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal, it seems tired, but it's amazing how different Katey actually looks from Peg Bundy.
Jim Belushi's sitcom I can do without. Hell, I can do without him. Then there's American Idol, apparently a national phenomenon. All I kenw about it is there's some pissed-off English dude who insults everyone (sort of like my friend Steve). Watched a bit, and yep, he does insult people, but they deserve it; every damn person on the show does that showy diva style of singing a la Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera when she's trying to prove her credibility. Just sing the fucking song, people, and quit showing off your range. It's like making movies -- the best directors know their duty is to the story, while assholes try to make their technique the whole shebang.
The Ozzbournes still rules, though.
People unclear on the concept
It never fails to amaze me, each time I go to Taco Bell (often, as my friends may know) how many people haven't grasped the notion that there's a number on your receipt, and when your number is called, that means the food is ready.
It also never fails to frustrate me that Taco Bell accepts cash only. Hey, sometimes my wallet is empty, and the nearest ATM is on the other side of "The Border!" I know, I know, in our parents' day, they had no ATMs, and couldn't get cash on weekends. My dad resisted ATMs (and CDs, and microwave ovens) for as long as one could reasonably be expected to.
Posted by LYT at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2003
One man come, in the name of love, one man he get dissed...
George W. Bush on Martin Luther King Jr.: "“Even though progress has been made, there is still work to do. There is still prejudice. ... There’s still a need for us to hear the words of Martin Luther King so that the word of hope reaches everywhere in the land.”
You're right, George. Especially that whole "non-violence" part. Didja miss it? Or were you too busy trying to reread "The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar" to pay attention to the real point of MLK's philosophy?
Kara-OK
This weekend sure went by in a flash! In between more rounds of Devil May Cry (harder difficulty level), I got a visit from one Mr. Zach Passero, director of the "Forking" short linked on my main page. Senor Passero from El Paso looks slim as ever and sounds huskier, but I suspect that's because he's getting over a sore throat (as am I).
Naturally, the best thing to do on a sore throat is karaoke! So together with some of our other filmmaking friends (shall I name-drop here, or would that be tacky? Let's just say Ed, Chris, Shelli, Kevin and friends) we hit Acapulco, a Mexican chain restaurant, and got into the singing scene, with Zach kicking things off with his well-honed Elvis impersonation. There was also some dude around 8ft tall named Bill who sang like an off-key Christopher Lee, but did so with such enthusiasm that you had to root for him.
Zach and I traded off lines on a cover of New Kids on the Block's "Hangin' Tough," which turns out to have a surprising number of instrumental solos. Who'da thought? But the capper of the night goes to Kevin, who decided to cover Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" in his loudest, most abrasive Edith Bunker/Axl Rose howl. I laughed so hard it hurt -- been a while since that happened. I only wish that amongst all us filmmakers, someone had brought a camera.
Sunday was the WWE Royal Rumble. Always a fun pay-per-view, even if the winner is telegraphed weeks in advance. Still, it means Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania, which will be some show.
Posted by LYT at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2003
Order in the class!
Bush and co. love to use the term "class warfare" to describe any negative reaction to their proposals to cut taxes on the rich, as if it's the reaction that's the problem rather than the act itself. But assuming it really is "class warfare," I have two questions:
1. Why is that bad?
2. Exactly what class of people would we most likely bomb in Iraq -- millionaires? (come to think of it, what "class" would we send to do our fighting?)
Class warfare exists, but it's the rich who've been waging it for many years now.
Posted by LYT at 3:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2003
A war in the hand ain't worth two to the Bush
I'm a little surprised to see Bush backtracking, even backing down, to North Korea. Not that I'm against it, per se; anything that takes us a step back from possible war with another nuclear power is a good thing. I'm just afraid that in a few more years, North Korea will pull the same shit again when they want something else. Or at the next state of the union, due soon, when GW will undoubtedly call someone else evil. I do get the sense that the Dems are finally, slowly lumbering into motion, like big dinosaurs waking from a long hibernation to try and crush a rodent.
Unfortunately, with regards to evolution, the rodents won. But thankfully, GW doesn't believe in evolution.
It'd be nice to think Bush was finally thinking rationally with regard to Kim Jong-Il. However, I suspect he simply wanted to get all the distractions out of the way before bombing Iraq.
Meanwhile, spy satellites have confirmed that North Korea has freakin' concentration camps. Defectors back this up. I hate to ever support violence, but I certainly wouldn't cry if there were a way to effect regime change there without sparking a larger war. Here's hoping that peaceful engagement really does work.
(note to Bush: using nukes would kill even more innocent people than the concentration camps. Just so's ya know.)
Posted by LYT at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2003
Kung-fu Christ...
...and more at this outstanding Link of the Day. All toy fans and sports fans need to see this.
What a great weekend. Unfortunately I'm not really at liberty to describe any of it to you guys! Those who were involved know. Those who tried to call me, accept my apologies. I'll explain later, and I know you'll understand.
On the career front, a number of options appear to be emerging; some with great risk attached, others involving drastic changes. Hard to know what to do. But again, talking about any of them specifically here would jeopardize things, and I won't do that.
Meanwhile, Joe "Sanctimonious Prick" Lieberman formally announced his candidacy for president. The world yawns.
Posted by LYT at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2003
Garner-ing my interest
So they finally put a scantily clad Jennifer Garner on the "Daredevil" billboards and posters. I guess someone finally realized that Ben Affleck in red leather is the GAYEST THING EVER. I look at him and I don't think superhero, I think Kevin Thomas on date night.
Posted by LYT at 1:08 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2003
Plugging my links
From our friends at "Christian" review site Movieguide, in their review of The Hot Chick:
"The movie suggests that anyone who doesn’t like homosexual behavior, cross-dressing or witchcraft is intolerant."
Um...yeah!
I'd like to see that quote in an ad. Here's one from their Star Trek Nemesis review:
"Later in the story, there are also jokes about the crew having to attend a second wedding ceremony on Deanna’s home planet, a ceremony where everyone is supposed to go naked. Lieutenant Commander Worf, the Klingon, complains to Captain Picard, saying that he refuses to be naked. Picard, however, reminds Worf of the Federation’s politically correct policy of cultural relativism. In other words, in the STAR TREK universe, everyone must respect, and even obey, the immoral practices of other beings, even if they find them morally or personally objectionable or humiliating. To the media wise, intelligent, biblically sound Christian, these politically correct elements point up the ridiculous, absurd, inane nature of the humanist, anti-Christian left. Their politically correct policies of sexual politics and moral relativism are inherently irrational."
Now you see why this site is a must-read. Link on my links page.
Corporate America, 1; Good taste, -1000
From Reuters (as pointed out to me by laexaminer.com):
New Variety Show to Combat Commercial-Skippers
Fri January 10, 2003 04:07 PM ET
By Adam Pasick
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The creator of the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" has a new show in the works designed to thwart viewers who want their television commercial-free.
Producer Michael Davies has teamed with advertisers including PepsiCo Inc for a youth-oriented variety show that will air this summer on the WB network, tentatively titled "Live From Tomorrow."
The show will run without traditional 30-second commercials, but will feature advertising messages that are woven into the show's content, such as musicians performing on a Pepsi-branded music stage.
The integrated advertising is designed as an antidote to digital video recording products like TiVo, which lets viewers zap commercials with a single click of the remote control.
Although television advertising just finished one of its best years ever, the industry is fearful that as TiVo-like technology becomes more widespread it will destroy the efficacy of the 30-second commercial.
"Everyone is looking for TiVo busters, the models that are going to work when a large number of people can skip through or eliminate commercials," said Jack Myers, editor of the industry newsletter Jack Myers Report.
A show like "Live From Tomorrow" "is an early step but it's absolutely essential," he said.
For Pepsi the show not only prevents commercial-zapping, but also "allows us to weave our message into the show in a very natural, credible way," said company spokesman Dave DiCecco. "Right now TiVo is not a huge concern for advertisers because it's such a small percentage of users, but down the road it could be."
Great. And I thought crap like this was confined to Whittle communications, that we'd never have to see again once we left high school. Love the corporatespeak "weave our message into the show." Like "Drink Pepsi" is some kind of political statement. If, instead of "Drink Pepsi," the "message" was, I dunno, "Vote for anyone but Bush!", I somehow think more people would have a problem with it.
Random stuff
Finished Devil May Cry on easy mode. That game has more fake-out endings than a slasher movie.
North Korea just depresses me now. What the fuck is their problem? They're copying us, in a way, but they're also turning the whole world against them in a way that even Bush couldn't do to the U.S. But hey there, Mr. Bush -- don't call this a "diplomatic issue" unless you're actually going to try diplomacy with them.
Last night, I got to see the unreleased Mr. Show movie "Run Ronnie Run." It's hi-freakin'-larious, but I understand the studio's hesitation to release it -- the movies it's closest to are the South Park movie and the Kids in the Hall movie, neither of which made boffo box office. Best scene is a Mary Poppins takeoff with Jack Black as a cockney chimney sweep singing a song entitled "Kick her in the cunt." That gives you an idea of the flick's tone and sense of humor. The longer they sit on it, the staler the pop-cultural references get, unfortunately -- a parody of the GCC Cinema's irritating "candy band" pre-trailer doesn't have the same resonance since GCC got bought out by AMC.
And my home office is finally in place. No more commutes. Also no more human interactions at work. Some trade-off.
Makes sex at the office a lot easier, though.
Posted by LYT at 5:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 8, 2003
He's just like you and me, but he's homeless, he's homeless...
La da dee, la dah...I hope everyone has taken the time to check out the short film now posted/linked on the main page. It's probably the best acting I've ever done. To get the true homeless look, we had to pour syrup on my coat and have me roll around in the dirt -- thankfully no bees were around. And yes, the hair and beard are real.
[Note: there was a glitch with the link when it first went up, but we fixed it -- you can also find the movie at Zach's site bigweirdnormal.com]
Kim Possible
Let me see if I understand North Korea's logic. To the south, they say, essentially: "Hey, we were getting on fine until the Americans started hijacking our missile shipments and turning everything into a crisis by calling us evil and stuff. Tell the U.S. to cram it, and we'll go on improving our relations like we've been doing."
This might be a good strategy -- S. Korea's new leader (Kim Jing Roh? Not sure of his name yet) isn't a huge fan of Bush. The only problem is what North Korea's then saying to the U.S.
"Hey, our ICBMs can't reach any further than the Aleutian islands. You know that, we know that. But if you don't give in to our demands, we could certainly nuke South Korea."
Are they the only ones that miss the inherent contradiction here? Or maybe they think South Korea doesn't pay attention to the news? If we threatened to nuke Britain if Iraq attacked, I doubt very much they'd be our friends.
Not to mention the business of radiation, which nuke-wielding leaders often seem to forget. You nuke South Korea, and everyone up North will get terminal cancer.
Whatever. At least we're talking to them now.
Posted by LYT at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 5, 2003
Viddy this, oh my brothers...
Yes, I went to the Nuart's Friday midnight showing of Clockwork Orange. Sorta expected to see more people I knew there, but mostly a pretty young crowd, probably just turned old enough to see R-rated movies on their own. The bummer in doing midnight movies sans car is waiting for a bus afterwards -- especially with a drunken Mexican named Cerillo who barely speaks English but very forcefully encourages you to drink his beer with him, then tries to come home with you (also he wanted my Tortured Souls 12" Lucidique action figure for his 2-year-old -- so not appropriate it ain't funny).
So I got to bed at close to 5 a.m. Then, right on cue, as they do every Saturday morning, the fucking gardeners with their leaf blowers kicked in, penetrating even my dense earplugs.
Since I've now seen every movie out there, I've rediscovered my love of video games. I used to like to play Doom with a big cup of Surge (remember Surge?) in my hand -- now I go for beer or a cocktail instead, as I play better with my reactions slowed down. Haven't had time to have at my PS2 in months -- gotta finish Resident Evil Code Veronica and Soul Reaver 2, but first, Devil May Cry, which I got new for $20. That's the beauty of waiting so long. This Grand Theft Auto game everyone's been talking about for a year? Might buy it 5 months from now or thereabouts.
Devil May Cry's a blast -- similar to Resident Evil or Onimusha, but with emphasis on ass-kicking. Plus, for bad players like me, there's an "easy" mode that doesn't make you memorize any combos; it does them automatically. Fun fun fun. I don't like video games that are hard, or that rely on elaborately timed jumps. Soul Reaver and Devil May Cry have moments of annoying jumps, but not enough to spoil things. And in both you're a demon running around killing things.
Posted by LYT at 1:15 AM | Comments (0)