I saw two movies over the weekend. One new in theaters, the other recent on DVD.
I was underwhelmed with Olympus Has Fallen. It had been described it to me as “dumb fun.” I agree, it is semi-fun, in the vein of Air Force One or Die Hard. But -- there's far more emphasis on the “dumb” than I care for. And far too much of an assault on my senses. Some of that might fall on the writing, but this kind of movie will always have some stretches of credibility, and you accept them, to a degree, and go with it. Much of the issue (for me) was, I think, directorial. It's just pounding and cold-hearted, with people getting shot in the head about every eight minutes. But also, perhaps more to the point, since "assault on the sense" is more a personal choice, depending on one's sense, the reasons this fell more on the "dumb" side of "dumb fun" for me is that, unlike Air Force One or Die Hard, it had no great, enthralling set-pieces that I’d want to watch over and over again. And that tends to be problematic for my taste. The only really notable set piece is the carnage when the terrorists take the White House. It was impressively done, but seeing it once is plenty enough for me in this lifetime. With those others, when they come on TV, I can always say, "Oh, I love this sequence when the hostages realize they can parachute out" and wait for it -- or record it and fast-forward, if need be. With Olympus Has Fallen, I'd fast-forward through the whole movie to get to when they finally blow away the bad guy. The other movie was released last year, but I never got to it in the theater. People Like Us, starring Chris Pine (who played 'Capt. Kirk' in the Star Trek reboot) and Elizabeth Banks. I was interested for the cast and was expecting it to be okay, but dry, and found it wonderful. Smart, intelligent, dramatic and emotional sequences handled believable, and wonderfully acted all around. The screenplay was by Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci and Jody Lambert. It's "inspired by a true story" and about an edgy guy who discovers when his estranged father dies that he has a half-sister he never knew about, and has to make a huge decision fulfilling a request in the will that could have a huge impact on his life. I don't want to say anything more. But very nicely done, with very few false steps. By the way, if you do decide to rent this, don't confuse it with the BBC mockumentary series, also titled, People Like Us. Not that you'll be disappointed if you do. It's absolutely hilarious, and bone-dry riot, sending up TV overly-sincere documentaries looking to bring insight from people's lives. It also does something remarkable from a writing standpoint, making an off-screen narrator become a real, rounded character who develops over the series..
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In the ongoing Republican angst on whether or not to support gay marriage, the question has arisen recently about if the next Republican nominee for president will support it. The answer aside, It’s worth noting that one of the most positive statements believing it will happen comes Stu Stevens, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, who says that the GOP is already there. It arrived at “that moment” this past summer, he says, with former VP Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is a lesbian.
"I mean, for heaven's sake,” Stevens said, “Cheney was on stage at the RNC Convention with Heather and Mary, and on the front page of The New York Times, Heather was referred to as Mary Cheney's 'friend’'" Only in today’s Republican Party, with the issue of gay marriage steamrolling its way through the culture, could it be considered “that moment” of progress when someone’s gay partner is able to be referred to as...a “friend.” Hey, look, that’s Mary’s “friend.” May we introduce you to Mary’s “friend.” This is the equivalent of your grandfather listening to rap music and calling it “that rock ‘n’ roll,” and thinking he’s now hip. Yeah, the GOP is sure ready now. That’s why Jon Huntsman, who supports gay marriage, got knocked out first with 1% in the polls when the guy who sold pizza was leading. Ever since the invention of the Internets, I had been looking to see this again for maybe 10-15 years. I finally found it last year. David Letterman had a running bit on his TV show. He did it maybe four times, as far as I recall. It was a totally loopy concept, and I don't have a clue how they came up with it, who said in a meeting, "Hey, you could what would be really funny...?". But it was wonderful. Dave would be talking at his desk, when all of a sudden Tony Randall would rush in with Mandy Patinkin. I don't want to say what happens, if you've never seen it, but this video embedded below is the first time it took place. All four were wonderful, whenever they did it, but this was the best. And I was lucky to see it take place "live," when I didn't have a clue that anything special was about to happen. What's so good about this first one is that the audience didn't have the slightest idea what was going on either, of course, or what would occur. And so, at first, you can hear them tittering and giggling in ridicule. Because I knew something about old songs and recognized the verse, I could see where they were going with the thing, I got excited because I knew they were going to be amazed. (I don't want to say how I knew, but remember, as an idiot savant, this is not only my field of idiocy, but also...well, I'd seen Manny Patinkin in concert.) Anyway, I watched both the performance and audience's reaction with interest. And if you ever want to see an example of someone grabbing an audience ready to mock you and then knocking them for a loop, this is it. After this performance, the audience was still always a bit wary when they'd do the bit again, but they were prepared. This time, though, this was the first, and they didn't have an idea what was coming, or what was about to him them. You will now see way I'd been looking for this for 10-15 years. I don't like to oversell things. Don't worry, I'm not... Don't worry if you get bewildered by All Things Tech. This is as much about perspective as it is about technology.
There's a very good article on CNET by Shara Tibken that looks at the new and highly-praised Samsung Galaxy S4. The article isn't a review, but a thoughtful analysis of innovation and hype, and the difficulties that companies face in trying to continually upgrade. Overall, although the article is about all technology at heart, it focuses on the competition between Samsung Smartphones and the Apple iPhone. There was one passage that bugged me. In part I was bugged because the article was so good otherwise, that this took me out of my enjoyment. Another part is that, because the paragraph was specifically about "how important this is," the overstatement put the perspective of the article balancing on the edge. In the end, after getting over my annoyance, the one passage really doesn't discredit the article. Too much of it is too good. But it does address one of the problems with a lot of tech coverage, where things move so fast, that perspective sometimes gets lost. The passage in question begins with a question and simple answer: "How critical is this phone to Samsung? In a word: Extremely." The author then goes on to explain -- "Sure, Samsung doesn't sell just one new phone each year like its rival in Cupertino. Sure, Samsung's Note line of oversize smartphones, also known as phablets, is doing well. Sure, Samsung also makes tablets and televisions and refrigerators, not to mention a lot of the components used in those products." Okay, here's the problem. Samsung doesn't also make "tablets, televisions and refrigerators," and a lot of components for them. Samsung actually also makes, in addition to them -- Laptops Digital cameras Blu-ray and DVD players Media players Monitors Printers Camcorders Washers Dryers Microwaves Oven Ranges Dishwashers Vacuum cleaners The point is -- Smartphones are NOT "extremely" critical to Samsung. Moreover, it's not only not "extremely" critical as a single part of the overall Samsung corporation, but most importantly it's not even anywhere near remotely critical to them like the iPhone is dead-center, life-line essential to Cupertino (which is Apple). It's certainly important. Smartphones are a huge part of technology today, and Samsung certainly wants its Smartphone line to do well. But if for some reason Samsung decided to stop selling Smartphones, all of them, just drop the product line, Samsung would continue operating as one of the biggest, most successful technology conglomerates in the world. If Apple stopped selling the iPhone, the bottom would drop out of the company. In not acknowledging this, you're missing a core part of the discussion and making an unfair comparison and conclusion. Happily, the rest of the article addresses other points about innovation and hype very well, so the article remains valid and substantive. I just wish the full perspective had been allowed to paint a richer picture of the subject, because I think the story was good enough to go in that direction. "The best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it oil and gas come out"
-- Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) Interestingly, that's exactly how I feel about Steve Stockman!
For years, and especially most-vociferously recently, gun advocates have pushed for more people to own and carry concealed guns, suggesting that the more people who have guns, the greater the impediment to the Bad Guys with guns who cause the problems. That massacres wouldn't happen any more because all those people in the crowd who have their Colt '45s strapped on will whip them out and blow the Bad Guys away.
Four years ago, on April 10, 2009, ABC's magazine show, 20/20 decided to put that theory to the test. The segment with Diane Sawyer was titled, "If I Only Had a Gun.” And the only thing that got blown away was the lunatic theory. Here's that fascinating story. It's divided into two separate videos, but they should run back-to-back automatically. The video begins a few seconds in, so don't be surprised if if seems like you've jumped in mid-sentence. You have. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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