Culture
Greatest Active Film Directors
Entertainment Weekly recently came out with a list of its “25 Greatest Active Film Directors.” It’s a horrible list. The ordering, the omissions – it’s borderline offensive. As a public service, I have both corrected EW’s list and expanded it to the top 50. Seriously, no need to thank me.
Get Out of My House
The conservative New York Post published the above cartoon depicting police officers shooting a monkey dead and then implying that the monkey authored the stimulus bill. It is not a large logical leap to assume that the cartoon’s author used the monkey as a symbol of President Obama. The best we can say for the cartoon’s author is that he has revealed racial insensitivity and ignorance of American history. All of this reminds me of the Danish Muslim cartoon fiasco a few years ago. Brian Pierce and I wrestled each other in the Daily Illini on this issue. Why do cartoons have the ability provoke more ire than words?
This cartoon troubles me. I debated whether to post it on Urbanagora for fear of promoting it rather than deriding it. However, in all but a few instances I support free speech with vigor and rage, even when the speech offends millions of people. What we learn about the ignorance of the author can only be learned by allowing him to speak. The full breadth of an idiot’s idiocy can only be known if we allow him to speak. The cartoon’s audience also learns what offends people and why it offends them. We learn how to better distinguish between idiotic speech and valuable speech. Read more…
Obama Delivers the Awesome
In a discussion of the political impact of Tracy Flick and the movie Election, the New Republic reports:
Alexander Payne, the film’s director, said that President Obama has told him on two separate occasions that it’s his favorite political movie.
I just got a thrill up my leg.
Best Valentine’s Day Movies
Second only perhaps to Halloween, Valentine’s Day is a great day for watching movies. Whether you’re in a relationship or not, who wants to brave the crowds of couples paying for expensive dinners when you can stay in, have a home-cooked meal, and pop in a movie? Here now, two V-Day movie lists – one for those who have found real love, and one for the loveless (but not at all bitter about it).
Should the CA Supreme Court Overturn Prop 8?
News broke yesterday that the California Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in March on a challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the “amendment” to California’s constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage. I put the word “amendment” in quotes because whether Prop 8 actually constitutes an amendment is a big part of the dispute. The court directed the parties to argue three issues:
- Is Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution?
- Does Proposition 8 violate the separation-of-powers doctrine under the California Constitution?
- If Proposition 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Proposition 8?
Someday You Will Be Loved
Thursday was the 36th Annual March for Life in Washington DC. Something like 200,000 people came, gathered from every corner of our nation, drawn year after year to the juncture where activist judges met the lies of the pro-choice leading to the legal murder of an estimated 50 million children.
Last year I was there. I couldn’t go this year, but I did go to a rally in Lansing, MI. Somehow this was different than I had expected it to be. A few things hit me.
Movie Question for the Agora
What’s the most American movie you can think of? We’re doing movie nights here where each country screens a film. This past week the Brazilians chose City of God, a fantastic movie directed by Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, Blindness) about crime in Rio de Janeiro. I’ve heard that the Germans might be showing The Lives of Others, another great movie about surveillance in East Berlin toward the end of the Cold War. It’s a little more difficult for the Americans, since we make so many movies. Some of us were thinking a movie about American politics would be fitting (something like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), or because it’s a legal program a legal drama (e.g., 12 Angry Men), or because it’s an international legal program something like Judgment at Nuremberg. But there are also certain movies about American culture – roadtrip movies, or movies about suburban malaise, or movies that are made or take place during a particular pivotal era in American history. There have been a bunch of ideas floated, but I thought I’d open it up to you guys: if you could choose only one movie to sum up American life and culture, what movie would you choose?
On the Inauguration and Religion
I watched the Inauguration here in London with the other students in my program, a group of mostly non-Americans happy about Obama’s election and ready to join in the celebration. The experience was not particularly different from what it would have been like to watch with a group of friends in the US, with one notable exception: the surprise and distaste for the religious overtones throughout the ceremony.
Oscar Predictions
Oscar nominations were announced today, with some fairly surprising inclusions and omissions in a few categories. Of particular note is that the Dark Knight was not nominated for best picture, because the Academy apparently wants to make itself as irrelevant and boring as humanly possible. Anyway, I’ve already given my rundown of what I considered the best in film this year, so I won’t bother rehashing who should and should not have been nominated. But before I read anybody else’s predictions, I am going to lay down my own for the major categories. We’ll see how poorly I do when the Oscars are presented on February 22nd.
