In Contention

Tag: politics

  • ‘Milk’ing it further

    Not to spend too much time today on “Milk” stuff, but I absolutely adored WNYC writer Nathan Lee’s closing graph of a piece written largely in response to yesterday’s unfounded media flurry over the studio strategy of publicizing the film:

    Of course no one is feeling very chill at the moment, and “Milk” is no ordinary prestige picture. Here is, after all, a movie about an intensely charismatic, rhetorically gifted community organizer who rose to power with a burden of minority status. Sound familiar? Indeed, it’s impossible to watch “Milk” and not see the Obama narrative reflected in ways that are both stirring and unnerving. Were “Milk” already in theaters and chewed over by the media, it would have been sucked into the election discourse like everything else – and likely raised the subject of political assassination in ways that no one much wants to contemplate.

    Read the rest here.  Also, Focus honcho James Schamus has written a defense against the Zeitchik piece that is certainly worth a look:

    …today has been proclaimed “Focus Features Day” by the Mayor – who clearly didn’t get The Hollywood Reporter in time to understand our underhanded, apolitical approach to marketing the film.

  • Heh

  • Casting the 2008 election

    Rope of Silicon has a sweet feature up today: “Casting the 2008 Election.”  It’s one of those lists I wish I had thought of, and for the most part, it’s spot on, some real zingers: Bruce Campbell as Mitt Romney, Harold Ramis as Keith Olbermann, Kevin Spacey as Mike Huckabee.  Some of the choices don’t really work, though: Tobey Maguire as John Edwards, Nicolas Cage as Joe Biden.  And though the choice of Mary-Louise Parker for Campbell Brown is inspired, I always get a Margaret Colin vibe.

    Anyway, a great diversion these days.  Head on over to Rope of Silicon for the full list.  I’ll leave you with my fave:

    Casting the 2008 Election

  • Could someone tell Palin to stop fucking winking at me?

    Seriously…

  • I don’t know about you…

    …I just hope it doesn’t look like a grizzly fighting a rabbit out there.  The last thing we need is grist for the empathetic mill.

    T-minus 32 minutes.

  • Slumber

    Nothing from me today.  The most epic of football confrontations, year in and year out, happens at 1:15 p.m. PST and I have to be ready.  Okay, the most epic for a Redskins fan.

    Meanwhile, talk amongst yourselves.  There are plenty of Newman obits out there but I find it sad to keep reading through them.  It’s also interesting that Pete Hammond has finally joined the Oscar blogging rat race after trying to make a column work at a couple of outlets the last few years.  We linked to his first item in yesterday’s round-up, which might or might not pan out.

    Other possible talking points include the over-analysis of the debate (it was a fucking bore, let’s move on and never let Jim Lehrer near the gig again), last night’s latest Palin sketch (so should Fey just join the cast again instead of lurking in the buliding and being on the ready?), Halloween costumes (I heard the best idea the other day: nurse Joker) and the relative disappointment of most of the fall’s television series so far (The Shield, True Blood, Entourage — though The Office season opener was awesome).

    Have at it.

  • Enough with the graphical commentary!

    You know, I’ve been looking for a reason to dump CNN lately from my regular cable news viewing.  I blame the election coverage, obviously, for finally bringing me to a point where Wolf Blitzer’s drawn-out delivery damn near gives me a headache, or the amount of talking heads in one segment or the next seems to never be enough for show producers.  But tonight’s debate sealed the deal.

    When I’m watching two guys duking it out over policy in an election year, I really don’t give a fuck how the pundits are scoring the proceedings moment-by-moment.  And as a news-delivery organization, CNN should understand the line this crosses, where viewers constantly feel like they should be darting their eyes back and forth to take an arbitrary score, rather than making up their own minds based on the discussion.

    If you don’t have an HDTV, you didn’t have to put up with this.  But here’s a sample of what I’m talking about:

    Debate coverage on CNN

    The little audience reaction meter that CNN loves so much is also a heinous distraction, never indicative of anything and simply a graphical manipulation that amounts to nothing.  It really got to me tonight.  Factoids are one thing, but this is intrusive, and reprehensible.

    Eventually I had to switch over to CBS, which had a much cleaner display (and no, Obama isn’t blowing Joim Lehrer a kiss):

    Debate coverage on CBS

    The fanciest the network got, beyond the classy chyron, was that old standby, split-screen:

    Debate coverage on CBS

    I respect that CNN is pushing the reach of broadcast media with these bells and whistles.  The “Go Live” feature on DISH Network, for instance, is a nice step toward integrating broadcast and online media.  And they are at the forefront of a lot of the progress the medium has made in recent years.  But someone with a journalistic mind has to step in from time to time and raise these questions.  If not, they’ll simply be at the forefront of broadcast’s inevitable march toward an entertainment commodity first.

  • W. stars in ‘The Dark Bailout’

    This is brilliant:

    (Couresty: Overthinking It)

  • On the economy

    Two things, since it’s a relatively quiet morning so far and I’m catching up on a lot here and there.

    First, the economy talk is crippling for many, including myself.  It’s tough to wrap one’s head around even the simplest Time Magazine cover story, let alone the most in-depth Wall Street Journal piece.  But staying true to form as one of the good guys, Ron Paul has laid out the particulars in the most easy-to-consume manner I’ve yet to come across in this CNN op-ed.  Give it a read if you’re interested in making sense of it all.

    Second, last night, David Letterman broought Bill Clinton on to discuss a few things, but key among them was the economic crisis.  It was an awesome three-segment visit that gets a bit dizzying in the language from time to time, but, again, in true Clinton form, he laid it all out in consumable terms for the most part.  But basically, it was just a damn fine interview and the audience was silent throughout, clearly taking it all in.  I haven’t found a YouTube clip yet, but again, if you’re interested, poke around for it and I’m sure it’ll turn up.

    Now, back to Oscar stuff…

  • Too good not to post

  • Vacancy

    I’m taking the day off today.  USC v. Ohio State and a whole lot of tail-gating on the horizon.

    Feel free to cut loose about whatever.  JAB yesterday was asking about a space for posting predictions, so maybe we can wax on about that in the comments below.  Feel free to tell us your thoughts.

    In the meantime, I’ll stoke the fire by suggesting a look at yesterday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” where the WSJ’s John Fund FINALLY gets taken to task by both Maher and Janeane Garofalo.  Probably one of the best panels I’ve seen on the show in a long time.

    Additionally, “Slumdog Millionaire” has predictably taken Toronto’s People’s Choice Award.

    Talk amongst yourselves.  Go Trojans!

  • Silver lining in a CNN headline for McCain?

    First and foremost, I hope everyone in the New Orleans area (indeed, the entire gulf region that is about to get pounded by an unrelenting storm) safely evacuates the area.  Our first trial run in this regard was enough pain for a lifetime, and having been at Mardi Gras the year before Katrina, I couldn’t help but notice how broken and sullen the town seemed to me when I came through in April of 2007.  The effects will likely never go away, and certainly not with reminders like Gustav every three years.

    That said, my first thought when I read the highlighted portion of this CNN news module was that John McCain and the Republicans probably caught a publicity break:

    CNN.com

  • Lovin’ the Boss

    Can I just say the use of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” as Joe Biden’s theme of sorts on this campaign (the same song accompanied his entrance on Saturday) is adding to that tingly feeling?

  • What is this babbling bullshit on CNN?

    Someone just interviewed a blubbering idiot Hillary supporter who apparently didn’t understand what the fuck Clinton’s message was, the one she delivered not 10 minutes ago.  You’re going to be faced with something you’ve never been faced with?  You’d rather not vote at all than vote for Barack Obama?  What kind of blind ignorant shit is this and who the fuck had the wisdom to pave the way for her to be a delgate.

    God I hope that is a considerable minority opinion.  Yes, Clinton did exactly what she was supposed to do tonight and it’s time — SO time — for her supporters to understand that they still have a vote that counts and if they throw it away, on McCain or a blank ballot, they’re betraying anything they supposedly stood for in the first place.

    Un-fucking-believeable.

  • “It’s about the future versus the past.”

    I’d say he knocked that comfortably out of the park…

  • Will ‘W.’ hold a candle to ‘Nixon?’

    Hollywood Pictures' NixonWith Lionsgate Films’ “W.” on the horizon, we are reminded of the last film Oliver Stone made about an American President: “Nixon,” a critically praised and Oscar nominated work that was the exact opposite of what most thought it would be.

    An angry child of the 1960s, having chronicled Vietnam on screen (some say definitively), Stone announced he was making a biography of President Richard M. Nixon and the feeling was that the film would be an attack on the man, who resigned office in 1974.  Yet when the film was released and critics got a look at it, they were overwhelmed by Stone’s work. Instead of an all out diatribe, he had created a study of a man who felt unworthy of the highest office in the land, even though he spent much of his life trying to get there, and was for most of his presidency a very good Commander-in-Chief.

    Stone’s film portrayed Nixon warts and all, the paranoia, the vulgar language he was known to use, his mistrust of even those closest to him, his jealousy of the Kennedy clan, and the strange hold his mother had on him, even in his later years.  The film displayed a brilliant statesman who struggled with his own sense of self worth, knowing that he could never be loved as Kennedy was, yet also aware of the good he was doing.

    Nixon opened relations with two communist countries, Russia and China, a huge move for him as he was a known communist hater and right hand man to no less than Senator Joseph McCarthy during the red purge of the 1950s that ruined many innocents. He would end Vietnam after having escalated a war he inherited, admitting defeat, and when the nation screamed for his impeachment just two years after being re-elected with the largest margin in the history of United States politics, he resigned in disgrace.

    (more…)

  • Obama/Biden

    I’m Iphone-filing from a dicey signal area in Charlottesville, Virginia, but I wanted to comment on what will obviously be the news item of the weekend.

    I honestly have been expecting Evan Bayh for at least as long as I had formerly expected Sebelius. But the ultimate choice was really the obvious one throughout. The challenge now is Biden’s “he’s not ready” stuff, of course. Hopefully the campaign won’t be afraid to give the obvious response: we’ve got a balanced ticket now.

    I’m pretty excited. The convention promises to be a good time for the hopeful. And Warner’s keynote (they love him out this way) will likely be the starting point for a post-Obama party and a galvanizing moment for it’s future.

    Good things.

  • Banning the paparazzi

    City Councilmember Dennis Zine has proposed an anti-paparazzi Public Safety Law in Los AngelesI’ve been mulling over this story all day, wondering where I stand, weighing the pros and cons of any legislation whatsoever that could be painted as First Amendment violation.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Los Angeles is incredibly inept at addressing serious concerns (traffic, a new spike in gang violence, managing tax dollars with an appropriate balance), let alone issues of such triviality.

    Then the local news ran a package a few moments ago, and my brains is turning over the matter all over again.

    In a nutshell, City Councilmember Dennis Zine proposed a “Personal Safety Law” in Februrary, essentially to afford a personal space of some sort for celebrities and a protection against paparazzi packs that tend to prohibit stars from entering or leaving medical facilities.  Today, a number of individuals testified on the matter, including actor Eric Roberts (spinning something about celebs naming their kids after fruits for a reason…or something) and singer John Mayer (proclaiming himself a “rock star” in the linked item, a stretch by my standards but so be it).

    Being a former police sergeant, one would think Zine would understand the futility of the attempt, just as Chief Bill Bratton does.  Of course, the ever-colorful Bratton presents a carnival of ignorance when he proclaims at press conferences, “Stay home, it’d make our job a lot easier” (quoted from the news package, not the NY Times story).

    The paparazzi issue has hit a new level of saturation in the Britney/Paris/Lindsay era, and we all recall that surfer pack throwdown on paps trying to snap shots of Matthew McConaughey.  The environment is ripe for such a legislation to recieve some fair attention, but…I don’t know…it all seems like a giant waste of time and a distraction for an underpaid, understaffed police force that is challenged with the law and order of typicality as it is.

    So what if a few paps suffer broken toes because they can’t get the fuck out of the way when a star’s SUV is plowing through?  So what if a group of paps get their asses kicked by sun-stained beach bras with nothing better to do but play out Darwin’s law for our viewing pleasure?  No one wants to suffer through something like the Princess Diana trgedy again, but this is the life.

    I spent a lot of my time writing about this Amy Winehouse breakdown or that while I was in London over the summer.  The issue of stars gone stupid isn’t relegated to La-La Land.  And of course, the morons of celebrity are not the only ones hounded (poor Eric Roberts seems unable to handle the attention in the weeks since “The Dark Knight” landed).  But presenting legislation — vague, ill-advised and thin legislation at that…sigh.  At least the local news had something to cover this evening.

    You tell me.  Am I out of line here?

    (More coverage at the Los Angeles Times.)