Okay, you knew it was coming. I've started a new blog...there I said it.
This blog has a tendency to be very political in nature. This, of course, is not a problem, but I've been meaning to take my blogging efforts in another direction and, quite simply, I didn't see that happening with this blog.
Plus, I start new blogs all the time. You all know that.
So, for now, this blog will still be home to political commentary (should I decide to get into that game again) and my new blog will consist of random humor, media reviews, and accounts of the random crap your mom says about you. I guess what I'm meaning to say is that you should check/subscribe to both my blogs.
I've been meaning to mention this on here for a while. Many of you may already know about it. But, I've run into enough people who have never heard of it, I thought I'd post about it.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog was an internet sensation last year during the writers' strike when no movies of TV shows were being produced. It was written and produced by Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame), who I'm quite certain has made a pact with Satan. The dude has a talent for wordplay that's just uncanny. He's not brainy or over-the-top like, say, David Mamet or Quentin Tarantino. His style is more geeky and nerdy than anything else...but in a good way.
Anyway Dr. Horrible was a three-part internet series featuring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion -- two of the funniest guys on the planet -- as a wannabe super villain and a ultra-lame super hero. Oh yeah...it's a musical.
I won't spoil too much, but basically, Dr. Horrible (Harris) is trying to pull off crimes big enough to be admitted into the Evil League of Evil and, along the way, win the heart of some hot chick he sees at the laundromat. Captain Hammer (Fillion) is his nemesis, foiling all his plots and stealing his girl.
Don't let the premise fool you -- it's not all random slapstick goofiness. Yes, it's definitely a comedy, but the songs and performances are top-notch. There are rumors of a sequel and even a broadway musical. I really hope it becomes something bigger, though, quite honestly, the total 45 minutes of the thing is more than adequate.
You can buy it on DVD (no idea how much it costs) or on iTunes (all 3 episodes for just under $6). Go. Buy. Laugh.
Here's a taste. Though the best moments belong to Harris, this song by Fillion is pretty good.
As the world moves closer and closer toward economic collapse, and as Congress and the White House in response propose ideas that sound more and more preposterous -- like spending a trillion dollars on pet projects with, at best, an indirect connection to the economy and calling it a "stimulus" or changing the bankruptcy laws to let bankruptcy judges rewrite all the terms of mortgages, including the amount of the loan -- I've thought more and more about the novel Atlas Shrugged.
Many of my readers probably just stopped reading. Who cares?
If you haven't read Ayn Rands magnum opus, you really should as it is more relevant now than pretty much any time since its first publication in 1957. Basically, the book describes a world that has become hostile to producers, creators, and innovators. It's a world in which the government and so-called thoughtful portions of society have placed a premium on the well-intentioned failure of persons and businesses that have eschewed productivity and success for what some believe to be higher notions of "fairness" or "morality." In Rand's novel, politicians create crises, then respond to them by punishing the rich and successful, particularly those that have become so due to their own genius and creativity, to benefit the incompetent.
Sound familiar?
I had intended to write a long post comparing the world of Atlas Shrugged to today. But, in the end, I found that many have already done so in grand fashion. I've posted the text of a WSJ op-ed below. It's a pretty good read. You can find the original article here.
In the book, the world collapses after the world's greatest innovators and entrepreneurs retreat from society to leave it to its own devices. That hasn't happened yet in the real world. But, it seems like the world's going to collapse anyway.
"Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years" by Stephen Moore
Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.
Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.
Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?
These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.
The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."
When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."
In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.
The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."
Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.
One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:
Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"
Mr. Thompson:"Yes!"
"And you'll obey any order I give?"
"Implicitly!"
"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."
"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"
"Fire your government employees."
Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.
David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."
I've been meaning to write about this for the past couple weeks. But, as per usual, I haven't gotten around to it. As I spend time reflecting on the movies I watch during a given year, I inevitably forget or under/over value certain movies and, upon reflection, my Top 10 list can feel a little off. Usually, I won't go to the trouble of changing the list -- it's not all that important after all -- but, given that so few movies were deserving of recognition in 2008, I figured it was a good opportunity to spread some more love around.
So, here are my amendments:
I want to put in The Visitor at #5. I saw this movie on DVD back in the fall and, for one reason or another, it slipped my mind when I compiled my list. It features a god among character actors, Richard Jenkins, in of the year's best performances. It addresses touchy themes like immigration and racism but does so in a subtle, thought-provoking way. It has a sweet, satisfying pace to it and, at the end, you really feel like you've gone somewhere with the main character.
Next, I want to put Gran Torino at #8. In what is probably the last performance of his illustrious career, Clint Eastwood created a character that is sort of a hilarious composite of some of his most classic characters, but in their retirement years. Though it's a very good movie, it doesn't rank all that high on his list of directorial achievements. But, his acting performance is on par or better than anything he's done in front of the camera.
That's right, bitches, two Eastwood-directed movies on the list. Deal with it.
Also, I think I may have put #s 9 and 10 in the wrong order in my original list. Looking over the final product, it didn't look right. So, with those changes, my Top 10 List of 2008 should be recorded in the annals of history as:
1. Wall-E 2. Rachel Getting Married 3. The Dark Knight 4. Slumdog Millionaire 5. The Visitor 6. Tropic Thunder 7. Revolutionary Road 8. Gran Torino 9. Changeling 10. (tie) The Wrestler; The Reader
My blogging resurrection is extending to other spheres....slowly but surely. My latest post on Jazzbots is here. It basically sums up my frustration with the Jazz at the current time.
I know that this is an odd subject for a comeback post. I should probably be begging for the forgiveness of those readers who frequently comment about my lack of posting but who don't even have a blog of their own. You know who you are.
Anyway, I digress.
What the hell is wrong with Grey's Anatomy? I know I'm days behind, but I just watched last weeks episode and I'm having hard time remembering what it was that made me watch that show. Honestly, I think it's been like a year since I watched an episode without getting annoyed.
For those who don't watch or who don't see what I'm talking about -- this last episode featured a subplot involving a surgeon's broken penis and it was the least stupid storyline going in the whole show. This in a season that's included interns performing surgery on each other, lesbian affairs that no one was a fan of, and sex with a character that died three seasons ago.
You’ve asked for it, so here it is – Bryan’s Top 10 Movies of 2008. To be honest, I’m not nearly excited about this list as I have been in recent years. That’s mostly because 2008 was a really crappy year for movies. Honestly, I had a hard time filling out a full list of 10 movies. It was a hardship I was able to endure only by thinking of my loyal readership and their desire to know my thoughts on this all important subject.
You can probably tell from the above picture what movie I’ve put at the top position. But, I’ll get to that in a minute.
So, yeah, 2008 was a lackluster year movie-wise. Surprisingly, the summer included what seemed like an unprecedented number of high-quality blockbusters (I’ve got three of them in my list). But, when it came to the fall – the time when everyone releases their Oscar contenders – every movie seemed to fall short. Last year, which, in my opinion, was an outstanding year for movies, almost every one of the so-called “Oscar” movies delivered. So much so that it really seemed like a shame to limit the list of nominees to five. For 2008, they’d probably be good to limit the list to four.
This year there were only two movies that I think will be remembered for years to come (they came in as #1 and #3 on my list). Aside from those two flicks, I think that film geeks and aficionados will forget 2008 altogether.
Before I get to the list, I should note that there are a few of the year’s lauded films that I have not yet seen. These include Milk, Gran Torino, Happy Go-Lucky, Synecdoche, New Yorkand In Bruges.
Honorable Mentions
Iron Man, Hellboy II, The Incredible Hulk – 2008 was the year of the super hero movie. In any other year, any of these three would have gone down as one of the greatest comic movies of all time. But, in the end, they were all overshadowed by a certain masterpiece (which is included on my list).
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – This movie should be the poster child for 2008 prestige films. Advertised and hyped all year as big-time Oscar bait, this movie ended up being too long and unsatisfying to be considered great. Though, sadly, it has a decent chance of taking home slew of Oscars come next month.
Top 10 Films of 2008
1. Wall-E – Equaling if not exceeding the work Pixar did with movies like Finding Nemo and Toy Story, this film succeeds simultaneously as an animated kids’ movie, a slapstick comedy, and a sci-fi masterpiece. A unique film that deserves to mentioned along with other Disney masterpieces like Snow White and Pinocchio as well as visionary modern film classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and JurassicPark. Maybe I’m overstating, but if Wall-E is not destined to be considered a landmark film, it should be.
2. Rachel Getting Married – Comparatively less ambitious and smaller scale than many of this year’s best movies, this movie succeeds on a much more personal level. I like movies that attach me to the characters. Fully exploring themes dealing with family, loss, and forgiveness, Rachel Getting Married grabbed me by the heartstrings, tied them to a tow truck, and hit the gas.
3. The Dark Knight – This is a comic book movie that completely transcends the genre – unlike the other good, but not great movies listed above. It works not only as a super hero movie, but a noir crime epic. Obviously, you have to mention Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker – already considered one of cinema’s greatest screen villains.
4. Slumdog Millionaire – In case you haven’t heard, this movie is currently the front-runner to win Best Picture. It’s not the best movie of the year, but obviously it’s close. This is a heart-warming, life-affirming story that succeeds despite the fact that the plot is preposterous, gimmicky, and a little cheesy. My only reservation about the movie is that people are now drawing stupid between this movie and the so-called “Age of Obama.” Yuck.
5. Tropic Thunder – I know, I know. It’s stupid comedy. It’s a stupid, foul-mouthed, overly violent, and stupid comedy. It’s also the best straight comedy of the year (sorry Pineapple Express) featuring an Oscar-worthy, milk-out-the-nose performance by Robert Downey Jr. From the moment he yells “Survive!” in the opening Platoon-esque sequence, I pretty much didn’t stop laughing. Oh yeah, Tom Cruise was funny in it too.
6. Revolutionary Road – The best of this year’s Oscar-hyped movies. It’s basically a loud domestic melodrama that only works because of the stellar performances of its two leads. Leonardo DiCaprio waxes Brando-ish as a decent-but-flawed ad man. Kate Winslet once again proves that she’s probably the best actress on the planet.
7. Changeling – A flawed-but-good offering from America’s greatest living director. While Clint Eastwood was on a roll before this film which, in many circles, has been viewed has a hiccup in his winning streak. I disagree. While it’s a tad long and misdirected near the end, it also burned a hole in my memory as big as any movie this year. Every part is perfectly cast, obviously including Angelina Jolie in probably her best performance to date.
8. Frost/Nixon – When I first saw this movie, I was ready to put it near the top of my list. Then I did a little research and realized that, while it’s an engaging piece, it’s also a hit job – loads of inaccuracies and complete fabrications. While I don’t demand that my historical movies be accurate, this one completely botched what is a straightforward, documented moment in history in favor of an agenda to make Richard Nixon look pathetic. There’s enough actual history to do that – you don’t have to make things up. In any event, I haven’t been able to reflect as highly on the film after that, which, possibly, is my fault. Apparently, it just wasn’t a good enough movie to overcome these shortfalls.
9. Burn After Reading – I didn’t love this movie when I first saw it. But, every time I discuss it with people, I find my sides busting recounting some of the dialogue and sequences. Back when I first saw it, I wrote that it belonged in the second tier of Coen Brothers movies. I don’t think that any more.
10. (tie) The Wrestler and The Reader – I always put a tie at #10. It’s my thing. These two movies had a lot in common, though not at all in the substance. Both of these movies were edgy prestige pictures – made for the primary purpose of wowing critics and the secondary purpose of winning awards (both were a little brutal and/or graphic to be considered traditional Oscar bait). During both of these movies, I thought I was watching what were possibly the best movies of the year, only to see them both fizzle in their final acts. Both grabbed me for the first ¾, but lost me at the end through lazy storytelling. Another thing they have in common is that they are both three-star movies anchored by four-star performances. Mickey Rourke (in The Wrestler) and Kate Winslet (in The Reader) gave two of the most compelling and heart-wrenching performances of the year.
There you go, people. Do what you will with all that.
After what I believe has been an unprecedented absence -- both in length and in depth -- from the blogging world, I've decided to get back in the habit of posting on this thing. I started yesterday by redesigning the look. Hope you like it.
Of course, I know that I can't just expect to be forgiven for taking 2+ months off without so much as a warning or a goodbye. I'm not expecting...just hoping. Besides, I did have my reasons.
The presidential campaign sucked my will to opine about politics...which led to a lack of desire to talk about anything else. Plus, work got pretty busy in the post-election weeks. Then there was holidays and vacations. On top of that, I've been distracted by other personal-life-related endeavors (no, my wife's not pregnant). Hopefully, I'll be able to discuss that more in the future.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I can force myself to post early and often. I've kind of forgotten what it feels like to have opinions. I'd like to get back into the opinion business.
Also, for those that have been craving it, I'm currently working on my Top 10 Movies of 2008 list. I know that's a favorite among my readers -- hopefully there are still some of you left. It's also my favorite feature of the blog -- too bad it only comes but once a year.
