I’M BA-AAACK! After a self-imposed hiatus due to creative
constipation, I return to to enlighten and entertain.
First off, my detailed opinion and analysis of the Presidential
election: ARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After
that lengthy discourse, there’s not much left to say,
except that I’m kinda surprised that this country is
de-evolving into a theocracy. Didn’t the founding
fathers have something to say about the separation of
church and state? I would expound on this further,
but I’m outta Maalox at the moment. Suffice to
say, if you readers want more on this subject, rent
the 1960 movie Inherit the Wind. ‘Nuff
said.
As
a long time Angeleno, I am truly appalled at the driving
conditions that exist in L.A. This situation has
been going on for some time now. I remember in
1992, I got onto the Harbor freeway and, in making a
lane change, accidentally cut off a driver. Somehow,
I had a hunch this fellow might be a bit peeved when
he made a lane change to my left and pulled up alongside
me, wearing a Cheshire cat grin, and limply held a sawed-off
shotgun against the cab of his pickup truck (true story).
That I’m here today shows that luckily this fellow didn’t
want to engage in target practice. As for the
consequences of that particular day, it was a good thing
I was wearing my Depends...
In
a more recent experience, I was exiting the parking
lot of a shopping center as a fellow in a car with
Georgia license plates was entering the parking lot,
coming in my direction, at a speed that I felt was
too rapid. I merely expressed my displeasure by a smirk;
no more, no less. As I was about to leave, this fellow
backed out toward the exit, rolled down his window,
and started to mouth what looked like a torrent of
angry obscenities. (Having my window rolled up, I couldn’t
make out the fellow’s jeremiad.) This prompted me to
roll down my window & issue this pithy retort:
“I HAVE TWO WORDS FOR YOU--ANGER MANAGEMENT.” Upon leaving
the place, I thought this was the end of it, but NOOOOOO!
This individual followed me out of the parking lot, angrily
blaring his horn at me. Quick thinking on my part
(and a strategic U-turn) prevented me from becoming “roadkill.”
I’m sure many Angelenos have had similar experiences
to mine. To add to these indignites, the city’s streets
and freeways have become more clogged than Bill Clinton’s
arteries before the operation. More rapid transit would
be the practical solution, but that’s about as likely as
the E.R.A. passing under the current Presidential administration.
I
will now continue my manic musings on movies that I’ve
recently seen. In the past several weeks I’ve caught
three excellent films; the following is a guide to the
star rating system that many critics use in evaluating
movies:
*--poor
**--fair
***--good
****--excellent
Team
America: World Police--If you’re a fan
of gut-busting, politically incorrect humor, have I
got the film for you! South Park’s Trey Parker
and Matt Stone have made a puppet film that mercilessly
skewers the left and right, depicting a jingoistic U.S.
anti-terrorist team team who go after both middle-Eastern
terrorists and everyone’s favorite North Korean dictator,
Kim Jong Il. The film also works as an unrelenting satire
on brainless blockbuster action films. Hysterical! I
laughed my ass off!--***1/2
Sideways--Director
Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt)
has made another excellent film in this comedy-drama
depicting a fateful 7-day trip with a depressive 8th
grade English teacher (Paul Giamatti) and his about-to-be-married,
philandering friend. As they make their way through the
wine country near Santa Barbara, they encounter a pair
of women which leads to some romantic and traumatic complications.
Terrific! Payne has made another fine film that is both
perceptive and true to life, and after American Splendor,
Giamatti gives another great performance, proving that
he’s one of the best film actors on the scene today.
The film is a trifle overlong, but that’s a minor quibble.
The best film I’ve seen so far this year.--***1/2
Vera
Drake--Independent film director Mike
Leigh (Secrets & Lies) comes up with another
winner, a heart-wrenching story that tells of the plight
of a woman perfoming illegal abortions in 1950 Britain.
An excellent cautionary tale that showed the harsh penalties
involved in the days when Britain and other countries
adopted draconian measures to prevent abortions. A fine
allegorical warning that shows what could happen if
Roe V. Wade were overturned in the U.S. (a
distinct possibility).--***1/2
Well,
that about wraps it up for now. Because of my long hiatus,
have adopted a modified closing line:
See
you sooner.
Steve
can be reached at steve@babblog.com. |
