directed by Jon Stewart
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Movie Reviews: Irresistible
directed by Jon Stewart
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Breonna Taylor's Murderers Walk Free: Same Sh*t Different Day!!!
I didn't write about the Breonna Taylor incident because it was angering and depressing to write about yet another Black person murdered by the police. It was also obvious the fix was in. I knew exactly was was going to happen.
No one was immediately arrested or charged though Taylor was killed in March. Instead of focusing on the backgrounds, motivations and records of the police officers who riddled her with bullets the white media and especially the conservative white media tried to claim that Taylor was no angel. The implications drawn and inferences to be taken was that Taylor was a "bad girl". Although Taylor wasn't charged with any crime some media still painted her as an immoral or dumb woman who got what she deserved. Some people went beyond that to claim that she was a drug dealer. Not to be outdone in hypocrisy the (white) libertarian and gun rights community who normally boast loudly that (per late rapper Biggie Smalls)
"Call the coroner!
There's gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing!
What ya think all the guns is for?
when it comes to police knocking down their doors in the middle of the night to search for guns or drugs, didn't support Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who upon hearing and seeing unidentified men knocking down his door in the middle of the night made the reasonable assumption that he was the target of a home invasion or that Taylor's ex was there to harm and/or kill both of them. Walker, who is not a felon, procured his legally owned firearm to defend himself and Taylor, not knowing the assailants were cops. Well Taylor is dead and to no one's surprise, the Kentucky justice system has refused to charge any of the police who killed her with you know, actually killing her.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Trump to nominate Judge Barrett: Time to Ignore Supreme Court?
Movie Reviews: Secret Window
directed by David Koepp
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Can Dogs Detect Coronavirus?
Imagine going to a friendly doctor who , without any invasive, painful, or costly tests takes a sniff of you, tells you that yes you're sick, licks your hand and then asks you for a treat.
Travelers arriving at Helsinki’s airport are being offered a voluntary coronavirus test that takes 10 seconds with no uncomfortable nasal swab needed. And the test is done by a dog. A couple of coronavirus-sniffing canines began work at the Finnish airport on Wednesday as part of a pilot program that aims to detect infections using the sweat collected on wipes from arriving passengers.
Over the past months, international airports have brought in various methods to detect the virus in travelers, including saliva screenings, temperature checks and nasal swabs. But researchers in Finland say that using dogs could prove cheaper, faster and more effective. After passengers arriving from abroad have collected their luggage, they are invited to wipe their necks to collect sweat samples and leave the wipes in a box. Behind a wall, a dog trainer puts the box beside cans containing different scents, and a dog gets to work.
Friday, September 18, 2020
Movie Reviews: Clash By Night
directed by Fritz Lang
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Book Reviews: Runaway
by Harlan Coben
Friday, September 11, 2020
Book Reviews: Lord High Executioner
by Frank DiMatteo and Michael Benson
Anastasia liked killing. He was convicted of murder and sent to Death Row before his 21st birthday.
As with the fictional Luca Brasi, older and more powerful hoodlums intervened to rescue Anastasia from his fate. For Anastasia it was apparently Lucky Luciano who "convinced" the District Attorney to set a new trial and eventually drop charges when witnesses changed their story or disappeared. So the volatile Anastasia demonstrated tremendous loyalty and respect for Luciano, even though the two men were technically in different organizations.
Anastasia rose through the Mob ranks, making a reputation for himself as a violent mob representative on the Brooklyn waterfront. He would later be the partial inspiration for the hoodlum portrayed in the Academy Award winning film On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando, Lee Cobb, Rod Steiger and Karl Malden.
When Luciano decided to eliminate his own boss, Joe Masseria, Anastasia was one of the men Luciano picked for that job. Everyone in the 1930s and 1940s underworld milieu knew of Anastasia's aptitude at such work, which is why together with similar homicidal maniac Lepke Buchalter, Anastasia oversaw the Mob enforcement group later known as Murder Inc.
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Movie Reviews: The Desperate Hours
directed by William Wyler
Although because of the film's star and the fact that it was shot in black and white, some people consider this to be a film noir. I would disagree with that.
There are no tortured heroes, no anti-heroes, no confusion between good and evil, no femme fatales, not too much in the way of depression or pessimism, and no one doing wrong to get to right or doing right and falling into wrong. I don't think it's a film noir. It's just a crime drama.
It does have the typical lighting and snappy dialogue that was common in film noir and many other movies created at the time. So there is that. There is some bloodless violence and threat of same and a young woman in a tight sweater but by today's standards this would be a PG film, heck maybe even G.
This was based in part on a true story. This film was remade in 1990 with Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, Kelly Lynch and Mimi Rogers. That version ramped up the sex and violence considerably. And I suppose if the film were to be remade today there would be even more mayhem, sexual and otherwise.
The original version doesn't have all of that. It may have been less "realistic" in some ways but it certainly got its point across by using subtext for what today would be shouted with a bullhorn. The viewer can fill in the gaps if he or she so pleases.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Movie Reviews: Sleepwalkers
directed by Mick Garris
This older (1992) film was written specifically for the big screen by author Stephen King, who also appears in a brief cameo. It is not based on any of King's pre-existing books.
This is a solid B-movie that appears to be deliberately designed to gross people out. It doesn't have any King trademarked hidden messages on tolerance, subtle paeans to childhood or bittersweet reminiscing about the One True Love who got away all those years ago.
So you probably shouldn't watch this movie expecting anything like that. In fact if you are sensitive to depictions of violence or perverse sexuality then you probably shouldn't watch this film at all. Those things don't bother that much at at all of course so I decided to rewatch this film.
This film comes across as something that could have been adapted from a Weird Tales story or comic, which I am guessing probably was both King's and Garris' intent. This is not a movie that requires a long analysis, description or plot detail. The characters are also, well calling them flat, sounds accusatory.
Let's just say that there's not too much deep introspection or emoting required or offered, with one possible exception. But really, do people really watch these sorts of horror movies for acting worthy of Shakespearean theater? Probably not, though the lead actress Alice Krige is indeed a classically trained stage actress. Basically what I am saying is that this film is the very incarnation of a low budget cheap thrills adventure with some sicko stuff mixed in for good measure.
Friday, September 4, 2020
Movie Reviews: You Should Have Left
directed by David Koepp
This is I suppose in some aspects a horror film but using that descriptor makes it sound as if there's going to be lot of blood and guts, heavy special effects, overused jump cuts, sharp violins squealing just before someone gets stabbed in the neck, disgusting ideas, bouncing mammary glands and plenty of naive people doing stupid things so that they can move the story along.
There's none of that here. There may or may not be supernatural elements. I think that there are but different viewers may see things differently. Maybe a psychological thriller would be a better way to describe this movie. Although the story's ending was to me a bit predictable, I watch a lot of these sorts of movies.
For the casual thriller or horror film viewer this movie might be a breath of fresh air. And for people who refuse to watch horror or thriller films on general principle because of the violence, this film lacks explicit violence.
I've written before that it must take a special person to marry and to remain married to a working musician, an actor/actress, a model. First, your special rider is often away from home for months at a time, something which just by definition would appear to make staying happily married more difficult, at least in the beginning. Next, in the case of actors or models as part of their job they may appear nude, semi-nude, or otherwise display body parts which their wife or husband thinks that only he or she should be seeing.
Hall of Fame baseball player Joe DiMaggio was disgusted, embarrassed and angered when his then wife Marilyn Monroe, filming The Seven Year Itch, stood over a subway grate to let the hot air send her dress flying skyward while everyone took pictures. What was just business and a little fun for Monroe was apparently the last straw for DiMaggio. Later on the couple fought, divorcing soon afterwards.
Thursday, September 3, 2020
Movie Reviews: Pentagon Wars
directed by Richard Benjamin
This older film is a black comedy that details the various battles in the Army over the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Although military familiarity may help one understand this movie even better, ultimately the frustrations of the hero and his allies will be familiar to anyone who has spent time in any sort of bureaucracy, whether the organization's stated purpose is to kill people and blow things up or save the whales.
Certainly design engineers or programmers reporting to clueless business managers will recognize some scenarios. The late author Jerry Pournelle conceived of an Iron Law of Bureaucracy such that:
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself.
Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions. LINKIt's this thinking which allows auto companies to knowingly sell vehicles with defective transmissions or fuel tanks, banks to help drug cartels launder billions, or lawyers to go on vacation to islands owned by billionaire pedophiles. This mindset allows military officials to be more invested in a project's success rather than questioning if the project helps save American lives and win wars.
Congress has become irritated with the budget overruns and delays on the Army's proposed Bradly Fighting Vehicle, which by the late 80s has been in development for roughly twenty years. Congress no longer trusts the Army project updates.