Elizabethtown and Syriana

On Friday night I saw one of the best films of the year. On Saturday night, I saw one of the worst.


Friday night I was able to see Syriana and it was an amazing film. It didn't play down to the audience and let you put the story together yourself. You're shown five small pictures of a thrilling political story and are forced to connect the dots all by yourself. It's like a Jack Ryan movie, only good and less insulting to the audience. It has a biting social commentary that's relevant to everything the American Government has done to a foreign country in the last twenty years and it's relevant to what the Administration is still doing. I would advise seeing it.

Now. Go see it.

On Saturday night I decided I had nothing better to do and saw Elizabethtown. It was not good. Far from it. In fact, it was the opposite of good. Cameron Crowe needs to stop making Cameron Crowe movies. He's too in love with his own style. Elizabethtown was like a bizarro, shitty version of Garden State. And Orlando Bloom puts in a performance on par with Cary Elwes' in Saw. Yes, it was that bad. Why won't directors let him speak above a harsh whisper? I don't get it. And Crowe actually forces Kirsten Dunst to suck. I mean, she's not the best actress or anything, but she can turn in a performance. Anyone else seen Spiderman? Basically, if I had to pick two words to describe this motion picture, they would be: "Fecal" and "Preposterous." "Pretentious" and "Shitty" would be the top two runners-up. I would advise against seeing it. At all costs.

Right Wing Lunacy

My sister-in-law was at it again today. I was driving her to work and she got on my case about Venezuela again. I don't know if you guys notice, but I like Venezuela and I like Chavez. This infuriates her. She tells me that he's anti-American and needs to be assasinated. It would honestly surprise you to know how many people think Pat Robertson's right on the mark with that one.

I think in my past posts about my sister-in-law's Conservative lunacy (I'll explain the difference later in the post about the difference between Right Wing-lunatics and ACTUAL Conservatives) I've failed to mention the fact that she is a Political Science Major at UVSC. For one of her classes (I think she said Geography) she had to look up some raw data about countries and stumbled upon some about Venezuela.

She explained to me that Chavez was, and I quote, "an unpopular moron." She went on to explain that, and again I quote, "His country has gone down 8.9% since he took office."

I had no idea what this statement could possibly mean. His country had gone down 8.9%?

She didn't have any of her documentation with her, but asssured me that I would find everything in order. She left it on my kitchen table. I assured her that I would offer it the same scrutiny as her paper on poverty and would proceed to shred it apart just as I did the other. She told me that the other paper, despite my shredding of it's "facts" and assertions was still, and yet again I quote, "solid and true. I believe it. You haven't been to Arkansas." As though her anecdotal mission experience was more accurate than the census bureau and a number of other credible sources I found. I told her as much.

So, I went and got the papers. The first was this paper: Social and Political Divisions Frustrate Efforts to Improve Venezuelans Lives. From this paper came her assertion that Hugo Chavez is wildly unpopular in his country and is running it into the ground. And by the sound of the headline, one might assume that she was right in her interpretation of it. But if you actually read the article, it goes on to say that Chavez was dogged by the 2002 Coup and resulting work strike and that these have impeded progress in his country, but despite these setbacks, UN agencies have seen advances in health and longevity in the people and the article applauds Chavez' broad-based response to HIV/AIDS.

To directly refute the claims of unpopularity, I found the following articles: Indybay. Alternet.
Dawn.

The only thing I could find that said Chavez was wildly unpopular was this from the BBC. Although, perhaps I see it through a filter, but it seems as though the opposition is fueled by America and consists largely of the wealthy in Venzuela.

That being said, you should also read all of these Greg Palast articles about Venezuela.

According to this site, Automobile sales in Venezuela have risen 73% over last year. does this sound like a country that's down 8.9%? Venezuela also enjoyed 16 percent GDP growth in 2004. Sound like things are getting better? Thought so.

Then I went through the other paper which was a Demographic Data and Estimates sheet for Countries and regions of the World from the same Population Reference Bureau source. I can't find anything on it about Venezuela and 8.9%, but that could just be because she didn't have the papers with her. But I did find this article that I thought was quite helpful as well: A Note on Venezuela's Economic Performance. This article went on to support the fact that although the numbers don't look on the surface like Chavez has turned things around, he has turned things around plus some. This came from the Center for Economic Policy and Research.

Then her and her mother mentioned the fact that Chavez was a godless communist because he kicked all of the Mormon Missionaries out of Venezuela. Which, at best, is only a half truth. He only kicked out those with US passports. All the others were allowed to stay. Why? Because he felt that they might be able to be used as spies for the CIA. Crazy? Maybe. Or maybe not. Or maybe he's sick of the church doing sketchy things with Venezuelan customs. I'll let Steve talk about that, as he served his mission in Venezuela and actually has proof of the actual wrong-doing.

Anyhow, long story short, this is another instance of how much conservatives like her have no idea what they're talking about. (She told her sister that it didn't matter how much I said she was wrong, I was the one who was wrong because I'm uneducated and not currently enrolled in school. I don't recall any schools paying her to come speak to their students...)

Oh, now to the difference between good Conservatives and dumb ones. I have some good friends that are and/or were in the military and I was talking with them a few weeks ago. We talked alot of politics, religion and philosophy. They're conservative, I'm a...well...you know... A "liberal." And in talking religion, we discussed the Christian way of taking care of each other and all of the socialist ideals that Christianity espouses.

He's a good Christian, I think I am, despite my lack of belief in an actual God, merely an internal transcendent thing... long story... We agreed about all the things that needed to happen in this country to make it better, better health care covering more people, social safety nets, etc.

Where we differed was politically. He felt that what we wanted for this country was the same. I feel the government has a responibilty in taking an active role in that process. My friend felt the oppposite, he felt it was the governments job to stand out of the way and let things work on a community level. This was someone whom I was able to have an intelligent and civil conversation with and we found that our beliefs about the way people should be treated, Christian-like, were the same. We found we differed in the way those goals should be reached. He was what I would call a smart conservative.

The dumb Conservatives are the ones who just shout Republican party talking points, like my sister-in-law.

I Thought You Ought To Know...

The Soul of the American People

This says it all:

Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is controlled by the Venezuelan government, signed a deal with three Bronx housing nonprofits to sell 5 million gallons of heating oil at 45 percent below the market rate, an estimated savings of $4 million. The discounted oil will heat 75 Bronx apartment buildings, housing 8,000 low-income working poor and elderly tenants.

"A lot of families are struggling," said Lenice Footman, who hopes her $600 monthly rent will be reduced. Neighbor Dionne Morales agreed, saying she is overlooking the criticism directed at Chavez. "If he can give oil to my country and help the lives of my community, I'm impressed," she said.

"The government should have done it," said Shirley Manuel, 52, a tenants' rights activist, wrapped up tightly in her wheelchair. "This is their country, this is their people -- they should be taking care of their own."

I really can't say anything more about this than the excerpts of the article I posted above. Hugo Chavez is doing more to positively affect the lives of the poverty-stricken in American than George Bush is.

These are the kinds of deals Democrats should be brokering if they want to win in office. "Compassionate" Conservatives wouldn't be able to keep up with this kind of compassion. They would mop up in the elections.

Top Ten Lists

A month or so ago, Neal over at Leftwich dropped this post on everyone who reads his blog. He asked for a top ten list of influences and we all sort of scrambled to figure one out.

Now, I don't like making top ten lists because they are constantly changing, but the reason I do like them is that it forces you to evaluate, even for a moment in time, what your tastes and influences are.

I've been on the lookout for a research assistant for a screenplay I'm working on and the first round of entry consisted of listing your top ten favorite movies. It gives you an idea of the type of person they are and how they would be to work with.

I was told by Charlie, one of the girls we met at our convocation down at Snow College, that her entire office had been working on theirs and I decided I would share my list and then ask everyone who reads this blog to post theirs in the comments.

So, here's mine and all of them are hotlinked to the IMDB. And these are in no particular order. Also, the Star Wars movies are excluded from this list as well as the Indiana Jones movies. They are above my list, I just like them too much and for different reasons.

1) Seven Samurai
2) Casablanca
3) Citizen Kane
4) American Graffiti
5) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
6) Jaws
7) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
8) Raging Bull
9) Magnolia
10) The Godfather

I don't know. As I get this list together, I've already got a list of honorable mentions that I want to put together. I've even got a few questions for myself. Such as, "Where's all the Hitchcock and Kubrick you dumbass?" And, "I can't believe you forgot Charade and Goodfellas, or even Double Indmenity." And I'm wringing my neck because I forgot to put the Third Man on the list as well as The Last Temptation of Christ.

God-damn these lists. I tried to pick movies that for 1) I watch frequently (other than Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I can't stress that enough) and 2) I try to get other people to watch alot. (FUCK! I forgot Glengarry Glen Ross and Network!)

Maybe a better list would be filmmakers. Filmmakers who will park my ass in a theatre seat no matter what. Why don't we save that one for next week?

UPDATE: I actually let out a roar of anger that I left DARK CITY off of my list. The fact that I did both confuses and infuriates me.

UPDATE 2: I put steves list below this post so it's in better context.

STEVEN'S TOP TEN LIST

I think saying "these are the best 10 films ever" is ridiculous. But, I'll play along:



1) 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick
2) Blue Velvet, David Lynch
3) The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola
4) Roger and Me, Michael Moore
5) Paradise Lost, Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger
6) American Movie, Chris Smith
7) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson
8) Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick
9) Capturing the Friedmans, Andrew Jarecki
10)Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: PART 2

It wasn't that bad. It had a couple of moments that could have been better or made more sense (why in the hell would Mr. Beaver and the other kids chase Edmund to within 100 yards of the White Witchs castle and then start running?)

But I was able to suspend enough disbelief and go back to being a kid that I reall enjoyed it.

Let me stress that: This is a kids movie. This is the movie to show your kids before they are old enough to grasp The Lord of the Rings.

And I'm so glad that Adamson went with generally period music. I was afraid that instead of the Andrews Sisters I was going to get like... the Dixie chicks or something.

And the Christian undertones don't bother me. It's all mythology to me and it's all fascinating. If you ask me, Narnia is every bit as relevant as a religious teaching as The Bible, Star Wars or the Odyssey.

I also loved these books as children. So that explains a connection to the characters I'm not sure I would have had if I hadn't grown up with them. It was the same thing with Sahara. I think it was a bad movie, but I was so enamored by the characters after having read Dirk Pitt books from the time I was in grade school and beyond.

So, go see it and be sure to take your kids.

(Also, Prince Caspian was my favorite of the books, I can't wait to see that one on screen.)

David Lynch

This one's for Steve and any other David Lynch fans out there.

December 7, 1941

It's the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

Stories like this interest me to no end. I worked at a theatre for while with a guy who had been an usher there for almost forty years and we would always talk about the war. (His name was Glenn Miller, just like the bandleader) But it was fascinating to hear him describe what was happening from his perspective. He actually joined up a few days before Pearl Harbor, then as soon as Pearl Harbor happened, he used the line, "I joined up because of Pearl Harbor," to pick up girls. At least that's how I remember the story, anyway. He ended up serving during the war in India.

War veterans are the most interesting people in the world to talk to.

Former 9/11 Commision

I want everyone to read this article and remember it the next time you hear a Bush administration official make the claim that they are making us safer.

Read this one here, too. This one comes from the Times of India.

People around the world are seeing the collosal failures of George Bush and he's not doing us any good.

And if I hear one more conservative shouting, "These people shouldn't be talking about the failures of the government, they're giving information to terrorists and making us less safe, blame them," I'm going to scream.

The only people who are at fault here is the Bush regime and the House and Senate, not people pointing out how badly they've failed.

And remember, this is what they ran their election on. They promised that they were making us safer and it was impossible for the opposition to do it. While it might have been impossible for the Democrats, then what makes them so unwilling now?

(photo courtesy: Freeway Blogger.)

Kay Anderson is a Very Nice Man

I don't believe it. After months and months of becoming an icon for everything wrong and evil, Kay Anderson finally has an avid fan.

For those of you who have actually seen THIS DIVIDED STATE, I don't need to tell you how hilarious it is that someone would actually describe Anderson as "quite generous". Maybe they were referring to that scene in the film where Anderson ATTEMPTS TO BRIBE THE COLLEGE WITH $25,000! Generous, indeed.

"Free speech works because most of us have the good sense to know when to keep our mouths shut!"- Kay Anderson, Freedom Fighter

X3 Trailer

I saw the trailer to X-men 3 tonight.

I still have no increasing level of faith in this project.

Juggernaut looks as though he found Ram-man's old costume from the Filmation He-Man series in a dumpster. Beast looks as though he could go either way.

Where's Nightcrawler?

Why is Jean with Magneto? Is making her "bad" instead of "dead" or even "phoenix" the best Ratner could come up with? Last I checked, Dark Phoenix never had any group affiliations.

I suppose we'll see, won't we.

Vonnegut

It's been awhile since I laid down some Kurt Vonnegut on everyone, so here's something I found in Jailbird that I quite liked:

"What could be so repulsive after all, during the Great Depression, especially, and with yet another war for natural wealth and markets coming, in a young man's belief that each person could work as well as he or she was able, and should be rewarded, sick or well, young or old, brave or frightened, talented or imbecilic, according to his or her simple needs? How could anyone treat me as a person with a diseased mind if I thought that war need never come again--if only common people everywhere would take control of the planet's wealth, disband their national armies and forget their national boundaries; if only they would think of themselves ever after as brothers and sisters, yes, and as mothers and fathers, too, and children of all other common people--everywhere. The only person who would be excluded from such friendly and merciful society would be one who took more wealth than he or she needed at any time."

You're right, this probably isn't possible, but it's an ideal we can work towards.

Things would be a lot better.

Democrats Grow Balls, Become Confused...

I just hope they don't put a knife to their own testicles (or ovaries for you ladies out there). So we've had Democrats coming out of the WTF? Closet and begin to strongly attack the Bush Administration. Murtha, Reid, Boxer, Biden, etc seemed to have unzipped and discovered their own political balls.

How cute.

But, it won't last long: The Washington Post today talks about the Democrats being "split over Iraq". Uh, oh. This all sounds too familiar. Democrats not being able to make a solid and precise decision. I wrote a while ago (The Rise of the Democrats), that more Demos need to come out publically and have their point of view known. And that's happened, but they're all saying different things. Why can't they all get together (with their idiot leader Dean) and ask, "So, what's the party's official position here?" They decide on one maybe two major points and then turn around and go on the cable news channels speaking the same language. It's not the freakin' hard, guys.

Ok, and someone needs to bitch slap this guy:

He's seems nice enough, but he says batshit things like "Everything is going fine in Iraq!". Ok, Joe, first of all, you're wrong. And second of all, that's not the official position of your party, so shut the hell up. Individualism is fine and dandy and having your own opinion is super, but the American Public doesn't give a rat's ass about your nifty insight. They want to see unity on both sides. When one side comes apart (Republicans with Rove, Delay, Libby), they shift away from them. So now the ball is with you, Democrats. Don't make the same mistake. You have been blessed with an undeserved pair of gigantic, dinosauric balls. Stop jerking off.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I've read these books dozens of times over my life and in anticipation of the movie I've opted to read them again. I started with the Magicians Nephew and just finished the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe today with my kids.

I don't think the movie is going to suck.

I hope not anyway. But the story is so oddly simple yet so much else is going on in it. It's ripe for dissection in a mythological sense (it's a retelling of a much more popular mainstream myth). But at the end of the day it's just an interesting and engaging story.

I have to tell you the first and foremost reason this movie could go south.

The director is the man responsible for Shrek.

I know, I know, I'm doing all I can to control my gag reflex as well. Shrek was a terrible movie and five will get you ten that the sequel was too.

I just hope the quality of the source material has some Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time that will let it come through this man's hands unscathed.

So, I'll see everyone on Thursday night for the midnight show. I hope.

SIDENOTE: I'm probably not going to write a review about Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang! Suffice to say that it skates a thin line of being too stylized and pretentious (like Snatch was). And I think the only thing that keeps it on this side of sanity is Robert Downey, Jr. And it's not a "great film" either. It's just entertaining as all hell.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang!

It was good. I really enjoyed it.

I'll post a full review later perhaps.

But it would do you well to see it at least once.

Serenity

My guilty pleasure is science fiction films.

I really like them (except the Matrix, fuck those movies). I went and saw Serenity tonight and was quite pleasantly surprised. The problem with science fiction nowadays is that, generally, it sucks. This felt like a Kurosawa/Leone movie in space. It had some elements that I liked that felt a lot like some Heinlein I'd read in "The Past Through Tomorrow."

I really liked it.

It wasn't Star Wars or anything, but I really enjoyed it. Yes, you need to suspend disbelief here and there, but it was solid and most importantly entertaining.

Go see it, or at least rent it.

I know I'm going to get my hands on the TV series that it spun from now... and I can't wait.

Late Term Abortion

It's been just over a month since I posted a short story, so I figured I'd start December off with one.

Late Term Abortion.

Let me know what you think. Or don't.

MySpace Imposter

Steve will be around later to say a thing or two about this, but apparently someone has dressed up a MySpace account that looks almost identical to ours. I'm not really sure why.

We found out today when someone emailed us asking about a DVD release party tonight. I didn't know about a DVD release party. Did you?

So, a bunch of pranksters who think they are cool are up to no good. If you want to be added as a friend to our REAL MySpace account, visit us here and let us know.

Saturday Shorts

The Saturday Shorts website will be updated very soon in the near future. (I've been assured that it would be by this weekend.) But I wanted to give a little refresher of what Saturday Shorts is and a little taste of the massive update that is going to be put up.

My little brother and I put this music video (Mucha Libre) together in about 4 hours, from pre-production to exported Quicktime movie.

Just watch it. I assure you it's worth a chuckle. (and BTW, he picked the song)

Saturday Shorts is what we use to mess around with film in a less-serious way than stuff like This Divided State. We try to make short films on a Saturday and no more than that. Sometimes they work out well and other times they don't. This update will have a variety of that sort of thing and some trailers to other more polished projects we've done. I'll put the link up as soon as it's ready, but in the meantime, enjoy the music video.

And be sure to let me know what you thought in the comments area.

Victory Strategy

Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one on the internets posting about this, but George W. made a speech today that was a rehash of his tired old "stay the course" stump speech.

I, for the life of me, don't understand what was wrong with Murtha's plan. Some of Georges Generals have agreed that American presence inflames the insurgency problem and Murtha proposed that we phase the troops out of Iraqs borders and into the borders of surrounding nations, ready to swoop in if the heat gets too much for the Iraqi security forces. It'll be a trial by fire for the Iraqi security forces, to be sure, but at the risk of mixing metaphors, wouldn't it do them better to throw them in the pool and let them sink or swim?

I'd bet that not only would they swim, the rate of insurgent attack would drop sharply.

I'm really sick of getting these publicity stunt speechs. Although I disagree with most everything he stands for, John Warner (R-VA) has suggested that Bush begin doing weekly FDR-style fireside chats. (scroll to the middle of the page) That would be a step in the right direction. We should modernize it a little though, put it on TV and let Bush deal with an audience with 50% for him and 50% against. This would help with transparency, the more they come out and talk about it, the more we know what they're up to.

On second that, that might be bad. The more Bush talks about his victory strategy in Iraq, the surer I am we're going to get our asses handed to us.

MORMONS LOVE TORTURE and JESUS CHRIST

I think Jesus' General says it best. Hilarious.

Flushing Corruption

This is good news for the people. And I would say this is good news whether he was a Republican or a Democrat. You take bribes, you do time. End of story.

People with this utter disregard for anything but their own financial well being deserve to be boiled in their own pudding.

Hillary = Dukakis?

Neal over at Leftwich has posted an article of interest about the state of the Democrats.

It's an interesting thing to give some thought to. And I can't say I totally disagree with him.

Personally though, I see her less as Dukakis and more as Mondale. Especially since I truly believe McCain is going to take the Republican nomination.

Research Assistant

I have been working on a screenplayfor the last five years or so and have decided I need a research assistant/jr. writing partner.

If anyone is interested, email me a list of 10 of your favorite movies and where you are. I'd prefer someone within 30 or 40 miles of Utah County.

We'll go from there.

Example of Hateful Intolerance

Here's an email that my dad sent out to the entire family today. I seriously hope the "batshit crazy" gene doesn't run in my blood...

BEGIN EMAIL: "I'm forwarding the following e-mail that I just sent to FOXNews because I hope that you agree with the theme of my message to them and will write an e-mail of your own. Further, I encourage you to become more proactive with countering the moral and ethical decay that is sweeping this country with greater persistence. All failed structures whether tangible or intangible began as small, apparently insignificant, cracks in the construction material or human character.

[signature removed]

To Whom It May Concern [AT FOXNEWS]:

The replacement last night for Shepard Smith's show that aired from 7-8 P.M. reported that Elton John was going to have a civil union with some guy. In closing the story, this reporter stated that there wasn't anything wrong with being Gay. I take exception to that statement. While I don't think any person should ever be personally attacked for his or her beliefs, I do believe a wrong principle should be exposed, when confronted, particularly for the sake of children and teenagers. Therefore, I'm writing this e-mail as a counterpoint.

The homosexual lifestyle is not normal. One would, I hope, acknowledge that one needs to be careful with what he or she puts into his or her mouth or sickness and possibly death will occur. One, as well, is careful with what he or she allows to be placed into his/her nose, ears, eyes and onto any open wound. I gained this knowledge throughout my life from many different sources. Throughout my life, as well, I have been taught, informally and formally, that the anus is an opening of the skin at the end of the large intestine. Its purpose is to allow fecal material to exit the body. This is the last stage of the digestive process. No one has ever told me, whether informally or formally, that one of the purposes of the anus is to have a man's penis thrust into it. In other words, to have your reporter suggest that being Gay is normal, in fact, is not only irresponsible but also a dangerous lie.

I have come to trust FOX News with not only being fair and balanced but, as well, not being politically correct. I hope this reporter's reckless comment doesn't reflect a shift from in your organization's reporting philosophy.

Thank you for your time with this matter." END EMAIL

Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ. Can you say, "Extremist"?

STUFFED THANKSGIVING RANT

The Christmas lights went up the day after Halloween. Christmas songs in malls started last week. America doesn't give a rat's ass about Thanksgiving. Republican Christians use it as a holiday to thank God for "giving" them America. Native Americans hold "UnThanksgiving" to remember the genocide of their people. And everyone else uses it as a day off and a day to prepare for Consumer Monkey Day. I say, get rid of Thanksgiving.

I say let's have 2 Christmases. It's everyone's favorite holiday anyways and Americans love overkill. And there's no excuse for the economy to not to blossum as well. Two sucker punches of consumer madness will enable the US to pay for any damn war it wants. Also, on Nov. 1st, it'll make sense when all the XMAS decorations go up in Wal-Mart. Christmas #1 will be held on the 4th Thursday of every November. There will be 2 Black Fridays (Consumer Monkey Days). One on the last Friday of October and one after Christmas #1. Then, whatever presents you get during Christmas #1 that you don't like, you can re-gift on Christmas #2.

Need a Jesus Christ tie-in? OK...Say Christmas #1 is for celebrating his "Water To Wine" thing or some shit like that and then Christmas #2 is for celebrating his actual birthday. I know that's bass-ackwards, but who gives a fuck? It just means I get more DVDs wrapped in green and red paper.

Happy Thanksgiving

I was going to write a post about how ridiculous the timing of American Thanksgiving is compared to Canada's, but I'd rather post a picture of Lobster Johnson instead.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I found this interesting.

Hugo Chavez: Friend of America

Well, Hugo Chavez has made good on his promise to start providing discount heating oil to poor communities in America.

According to the Washington Post, Citgo and Venezuela have inked a deal with Massachusetts to provide this discounted heating oil in a time of record oil company profits. This deal is said to be costing Citgo $10 million.

This is a good thing for Humanitarian effort.

The sad part about all of this, though? The fact that America, the richest country in the world, needs humanitarian aid. It's admirable that Chavez' government is stepping up to the plate, but I think we should be ashamed of our government for not stepping up to the plate first.

It's a shame that this man has been labeled a threat to democracy and a threat to our country. In my view, the largest threat facing this country are the people in the government (and the Bush Administration) unwilling to help improve the lives of it's citizens. With this action, Hugo Chavez has done more in his presidency for the Poor of America than George Bush has during his.

Now all we need are the Free Clinics for those in Poverty that Chavez talked about and George Bush's America might just be a reasonable place to live.

What will they do now?

It was reported that Iraqi leaders are now calling for a pullout timetable for American troops.

I don't understand why this is such a controversial idea. Let's set benchmarks and say, if these benchmarks happen, then we'll be able to pull out troops by a certain time.

This isn't rocket science. Call it an exit strategy, a victory strategy a freedom strategy, whatever. But we need a list of benchmarks and proposed dates to bring troops home. And I'm sort of in favor of Murtha's plan myself. His plan suggests that we're making the problem worse just by being there and that we need to strategically redeploy to the surrounding areas of Iraq and let the Insurgency die that way.

It's called a tactical redeployment.

I really do believe us just being there makes things worse.

EXCLUSIVE:Watch the first 26 minutes of THIS DIVIDED STATE

VIDEOS ARE BELOW:
OFFICIAL SITE OF MOVIE

Mel Gibson fights the good fight

Mel Gibson has decided to take on Clean Flicks for cutting The Passion of the Christ.

Priase the Lord. I hope this puts them out of business.

I think Clean Flicks is one of the most morally bankrupt business' in the world and if Mel Gibson manages to force them out of business I truly think the world would be a better place. It is, in my opinion, morally reprehensible to revise an artists work.

That would be like me finding the genitals on the David offensive, so I cut that portion of the sculpture and append the remaining upper and lower pieces together. The art is ultimately different and altered beyond recognition.

And they even have a Clean Flix version of Kill Bill. Can you believe that?

Review of the Film

Here's a review of the film that Politics 1 posted. You have to scroll down a bit.

They highly recommended it.

Bad Weekend, Good Movies

I've had a really stressful weekend. My internet has been down, so I've not been able to work on my stuff that I've needed to get done on This Divided State (much to Steve's eternal dissapointment) and any time I've been able to get near a computer that works, I've been babysitting.

I don't know about you guys, but when I can't get my work done or check my email I get really, really stressed out.

So, in order to maintain my sanity, I went on a binge of movies this weekend.

I started with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This was 12:01 am on Friday morning. It was good, I just think there needed to be more cut out of it. The filmmaking also wasn't as good as Alfonso Cuaron's on The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Then on Friday night, I went to go see New York Doll which was very, very good. It was a highly entertaining and heartwarming documentary I would urge everyone to see. It was also very well structured, in my opinion, it was a very tight and manageable length.

Then on Saturday morning I went out to see Walk the Line. I can't imagine people really liking this if they aren't fans of either Johnny Cash or Joaquin Phoenix. But it's an interesting look at Johnny Cash from a fan. I really knew very little about him personally. Also, I managed to really like Reese Witherspoon in this movie. Bottom Line, I liked it alot.

Then on Saturday night, my little brother and I drove up to Salt Lake City to go see Good Night and Good Luck. It was really good. The moral of the movie was that Television should stop trying to merely entertain people and try to educate them once in a while. I'm going to do a big write up of the media, using Good Night, and Good Luck as my center.

That should be interesting.

I'm still trying to convince someone to go see something with me tonight too. I hear Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is good... And Capote is still playing, too...