Old Sci-Fi Films

When I was in Seattle, I picked up the book The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies.

Naturally, that's led to my watching some sci-fi films I hadn't seen before.  (That was the whole point.)  Here are some of them.

La Jetee

This French short was the basis of Terry Gilliam's great Twelve Monkeys, and just as Gilliam is a wildly original filmmaker, director Chris Marker made some original aesthetic choices as well.  Most notably, this motion picture has no moving pictures, just a collage of stills with an audio track (mostly narration).  Yet it works, and the choice actually seems like a shrewd way for an indie filmmaker to work around the issue of special effects.  Here it is on youtube with English narration:



Colossus:  The Forbin Project

"Colossus" is the story of the US military's handing control of its nuclear arsenal to a massive, artificially intelligent computer, Colossus, and like many stories' beginnings, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."  The story is compelling, complex, and clearly a precursor to 1983's WarGames, though much darker.  Conveniently, it, too, is available in its entirety on youtube:



Fahrenheit 451

Given that this film is based on a Ray Bradbury book and directed by Francois Truffaut, it seems set up to be great.  It's not.  It fails on so many levels I stopped watching after 30 minutes.  First, the tone and cinematography of this one are really terrible.  I've never watched Truffaut's films, though I've always heard great things about them.  But the staging of the opening sequence seemed so amateurish that I'm not in a rush. And putting the story on film exposed the absurdity of the book.  I mean, if you're going to burn about 50 books in a dry environment, you don't need a flamethrower.  A single match will do just fine.

Soylent Green

I approached this film well aware of its notorious ending.  What I wasn't prepared for was what a prescient, chilling presentation it is of the future (i.e., now present day).  Set in 2022, the world swelters under the effects of global warming.  Food is scarce.  Unemployment is rampant.  The masses struggle to survive; the wealthy are unaffected.  Does this sound familiar?  Watch this film.  Watch it again!

Since "Star Wars," sci-fi has been my favorite genre, but lately, I find it uniquely relevant to our lives.  Only sci-fi can capture the relentless effects of science and technology on our lives.  These effects don't just change our external realities; they change our consciousness, too, as human interaction evolves away from face-to-face contact, toward web surfing.  Unfortunately, it appears our mastery of science has far outpaced our ability to use it wisely.

A Cinematic Holiday Season

I'm going to blog about the holiday trip as a whole, but first, I've got to talk about some of the movies I've seen this season.

I'll say it started with Tron: Legacy.  When I saw the original, I was taken with its personification of programs within the computer world, and I've always loved any decent sci-fi film.  This one is decent, but that's all.  As is often the case, the filmmakers clearly gave more thought to the 3D effects than any rigorous conceptualization of the world they were creating.  There are a few interesting ideas, though, and Jeff Bridges was excellent.

Then it was Christmas day and time for my annual watching of Bad Santa.  The film does not disappoint. 

It's more than just a bunch of off-color jokes though.  By tearing down the artifice and sanctimony surrounding the holiday, it shows us what the holiday is actually about, sharing time with people who care about each other.  That, and--"Fuck me, Santa.  Fuck me, Santa.  Fuck me, Santa."

Then we went to Toronto and the Bloor Cinema, a great repatory theater in a wonderful old building.  The place is enormous; the balcony alone would be a large theater in and of itself.  In fact, the balcony has its own nicely appointed lobby.

A corner of the Bloor's lobby to its balcony.

 (Two years ago, we watched Obama's Inauguration there, and you can see coverage of that in this video, starting at the 8:24 mark.  It gives a sense of the theater, including some footage of Nicole and myself.)


This time at the Bloor, we saw Fair Game, which told the story of how Dick Cheney outed covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame.  It also stunningly puts the lie to the oft-quoted meme, "The intelligence community got it wrong."  No, the intelligence community did not get it wrong; Dick Cheney actively worked to fabricate bullshit to start that fatuous war.  The performances by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are excellent; I cannot recommend the film enough.


On the plane I got to see the documentary Inside Job.  It is to the 2008 financial crisis what Fair Game is to the Iraq War.  It calls people out on their bullshit.  It was so refreshing to see the filmmaker interviewing people from Goldman Sachs and Bush's financial team.  They'd frequently try to drop misinformation, and the filmmaker, who was actually knew about the subject, would call them out on it.  Watch this movie.


Then, still on the plane, I got to see Howl with James Franco playing Allen Ginsberg.  The film alternates between an interpretive animation over Franco's reading of the poem, a re-enactment of Lawrence Ferlenghetti's obsenity prosecution for publishing the poem, a re-enactment of a long interview of Ginsberg, and biographical episodes.  Unfortunately, I only got to watch about half the film before they threw me off the plane, so I really want to see the rest.


Last night, back in St. John's, we saw True Grit.  I'd seen the original.  This one is much better.  And Jeff Bridges is great.

Today we plan to see Black Swan.  And I still want to see the Fighter and the King's Speech.  I said it's a cinematic holiday season.

(Don't go see "The Tourist."  It's not right that Angelina Jolie cheated another mannequin out of a paying gig.)

Catch All

I've been really busy at work these last two weeks, though I'm glad to have a productive task to give myself to.  I've been expanding the capabilities of an existing computer program, which is a living example of every bad programming practice.  At one point, I needed a break and went to see "The Social Network" about the founding of facebook and got to watch the fictionalized Mark Zuckerberg programming away.  I identified with him completely.  Though of course by the end of the movie, he ends up a billionaire, and I am not one.   Though I do have more friends than he did at the end of the movie (none).  So I'd say I'm richer than he is.  (And yes, that means you can expect me to ask you for a loan soon.)  Nevertheless like Zuckerberg, I've neglected other aspects of my life (including this blog), and I've got to correct that.

I'd intended to offer a slide show of St. John's, but that's not going to happen tonight.  When asked what St. John's is like, I have to say "Ireland."  And I say that without having spent one second in Ireland.  But from what I've seen they're quite similar--green rolling hills over rocky terrain jutting out into the Atlantic.  St. John's is actually closer to Ireland  than it is to New Orleans.  But I guess the clincher is that the local accent is a real, full-on brogue.  (It is not the Canadian accent, eh.)  I'm constantly asked about my accent, and I think My accent?!  Have you listened to yourself?

Just the other evening, I was leaving a grocery store when a local guy ask me for money.  I gave him some change, and he asked if I had time for a joke.  Sure.  An old man . . . and after that he lost me.  His voice became just a low, ripple of rolly's, lolly's, holly's. So as I stood there, looking at him, I wondered how his face got so damn freckled this far north, and then I realized--out on the sea, fishing.  About that time, he reached the punchline.  I knew because he showed me his god-awful teeth in a big grin.  I gave him a convincing laugh and a nod and went on my way.

Sydney Pollack

Yesterday, Sydney Pollack died, and for some reason I feel compelled to write about him. I didn't know him, though he is on my list of celebrities I've encountered. My sister's brother-in-law worked as his assistant for The Interpreter, and it sounds like Sydney treated him well.

There were a lot of things about Sydney Pollack I liked. I'd seen him interviewed on "Inside the Actors' Studio," and I liked his thoughts about film-making, finding the "spine" of the story. Recently, he made an ad that plays in movie theaters right before the feature starts, admonishing a character not to talk on the phone during the film. I like that. As much as anything, his persona seemed to be that of a bright, decent person.

Most of all, though, I liked his films. The two that readily come to mind are Out of Africa and Tootsie. But after checking IMDB, I learned he'd directed a number of films I'd admired: The Electric Horseman, Three Days of the Condor, and Absence of Malice. Until The Big Lebowski usurped it, Tootsie had been my favorite comedy. So last night, we watched it. Frankly, I can't think of a better way to remember an artist.

Here's how I encountered Sydney Pollack. During the pentultimate New Orleans Film Festival, Nicole and I had gone to see Al Franken: God Spoke at Canal Place. We were lined up outside, and seating for the film was running late, really late, 40-minutes late. I'd asked at the box office what was going on, and they said the director was talking about the film in there. Turns out, it was Sydney, talking about his Sketches of Frank Gehry. As he was leaving, he walked right past us. Usually when I see celebrities, I leave them alone, and that's what I did in this case. What I would never do is try to befriend them in some way. If I genuinely liked their work, I may tell them--that's it. So as I watched him walk by me, I thought about going up to him and saying,"Tootsie was a great film." But I thought what he really wanted was to be left alone, so I did. But now, I don't know, I wish I'd told him I appreciated his work.

O'Reilly

This video below is hilarious. In it, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News fame goes apeshit back when he was on "Inside Edition." It's also great to see him in a toupe.

Can you say "vagina"?

I went to Salon.com and saw the headline "Inside the V-Dome: Celebrities! A giant clitoris!". Naturally, I clicked on it. Under the article's title, I was surprised to find, "A giant clitoris! Healing circles! Celebrities! It's the 10th anniversary of 'The Vagina Monologues,' but the real star is New Orleans." Wow!

The article was about a special performance at the Superdome that also dealt with Katrina. It sounded great.

What's Going On?

Yesterday, after I posted about BSG, I looked over my recent postings and thouht it was kind of pathetic. All of my recent posts have largely been about the media, with embedded clips. There hasn't been a lot of writing about what's going on with me. THAT ALL CHANGES TODAY!

So what's been going on? Not much.

OK, that's not good writing. Honestly, I find myself really bored, which might explain why I consume so much media and post about it. Since I arrived in Canada, I'd looked forward to exploring Toronto. But the weather really inhibitied that. Sunday I found out this winter we were 8 inches (i.e., not much at all) from breaking the record for all-time snow fall. With that kind of weather, you really don't even feel like leaving the house, so I did so as little as possible. Last week, it rained continuously for two days--high's in the low 40's, continuous rain; I'd just as soon take the 8 inches of snow. This week looks like the first to offer some decent weather--still cold, but at least sunny.

Something else has restricted my exploration of the city--the cost of getting around. I do live in the city, but in a neighborhood a bit more family oriented than I'd like. I'd compare it to the Carrollton area near S. Claiborne. Public transit is good and readily available, but it's pretty darn expensive--$2.75, $2.25 if you buy tokens in advance. Compare that to $2 in New York (which is a vastly better system), and $1.25 in New Orleans and that cost starts to add up. All of the city is set up so there's practically no where you can park without paying about $4 for it. The parking meters here are expensive, run until 9 pm, and are rigorously enforced. Having to shell out $4-5 every time you go somewhere gets old. This week, I've got to get a bike.

I have found some gems, though. Actually, Nicole found them. The Cameron House is a great neighborhood bar (another neighborhood) not falling into one of the two types of bars commonly found in Toronto, a pub or some swank, mod club. It's got a creative flare and interesting history. Essentially, it feels like a bar in New Orleans. Sunday night I was there at the bar, waiting for the band, Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards, to start. I overheard the bartender talking to someone who'd just arrived. The guy said how much he liked the bar, and the bartender said, "Yeah, it's got this kind of New Orleans feel to it." I said, "I'm from New Orleans, and I think you're right, which is why I like it." Then, as always happens, the guy had a lot of questions about what's going on in New Orleans.

The band that night is a good instance of local music. I first heard them when Nicole and I took Megan's neighbor, Matt Ennis, there. The show was really great. Good music, great song writing, and a vibe I would compare to Tom Waits, though not at all derivative. Here's a video, though it doesn't do the grouop justice:



Otherwise, I'm busier than one might think about someone who doesn't have a job. Replacing practically everything you had takes time, and I hate to shop. And then there's a seemingly unending pile of bureaucratic hurdles to jump over. The latest, of course, were my taxes, which were extremely complicated, especially for someone who doesn't have a job. A bit of advice to those who own a double. If you ever imagine selling it two years in advance, you should set up residency in the other side of the double. When you report the sale of the property, any income made on that property won't be considered income from a business.

'Tis the Season

Two weeks ago, Battlestar Galactica started its latest and last season. The first two episodes have been great. Over the show's run, we've seen interesting characters, characters we care about. Now, as the story arc concludes, it feels like we're getting to the nub of who they are, making for some moving scenes.



If you missed the first two episodes, there's a couple of places where you can watch them on-line. The SciFi channel's web site has the last five episodes available on-line here. Also, NBC-Universal's on-line portal, hulu.com has the same number of episodes. The oldest episode on SciFi.com is "The Son also Rises." The season premiere is "He That Believeth in Me."

(Hulu requires a password, though, and it took a month for them to issue me mine. Otherwise, it's a good service, with an enormous library of shows and movies.)

Why I live in Canada

This American Life's most recent episode, "The Audacity of Government," gives a good rundown of some of the reasons why I wanted to live in Canada. One of the acts describe a situation that could be directly applicable to Nicole and me. I post about it because I think everyone needs to know what their government is up to and how much their government has changed under this administration. It also illustrates why I hold so much animus for this administration.

Another Clinton Moment

What's striking about this video is all the detail she claims to recall about the trip. She's not vague at all. And she would discredit another person's account of the trip. She's actively foisting a crock on the public in the interest of bolstering the perception of her foreign policy credentials. The Washington Post has an article about this here. According to this Huffington Post article, her campaign responded by deepening the lie.

To be clear, I don't think the absence of sniper fire matters. What does matter is what this incident reveals about how she regards the public, and it appears to be a rather contemptuous, cynical view. I've maintained the way one campaigns reflects the way they would govern. Hillary's campaign has been reprehensible.

My Clinton Post

Keith Olbermann aptly sums up the state of the race for the Democratic nomination:



Just two months ago, I posted that I was neither an Obama supporter nor a Hillary detractor. In fact, over the past fifteen years, I have been a reliable cheerleader of both Clintons. But the way Hillary has run her campaign has made me doubt she would be much better than the Republicans.

Update: Tracy Morgan gave an able follow-up on SNL.

Wanna see something ugly?

If you want a window into contemporary racism and self-delusion, click here. (Granted, why would you want to look through that window?)

The link is to a discussion I started, as jharris, on the message board of my alma mater, Louisiana Tech University. I posted a video of President Bush pointing out some of the terrible history of lynching. I was hoping that might have an effect, since most of the people on that board admire Bush, though I never believed it would turn people around exactly.

This is the kind of culture I grew up in. More often than not, I'm pissed off about that fact.

Valentine's

Last night, to celebrate Valentine's Day, Nicole and I went to Spuntini's, a lovely Italian restaurant. Inside the foyer of the restaurant were a bunch of photos of celebrities who'd dined there, and the one that got a laugh from me was of Fred Thompson. (I was sorry to see him leave the race, just because he was so unintentionally funny.) We ate so much good Italian food, we went into food comas. As a gift, I gave her the DVD of the first season of the "Flight of the Conchords." It was a lovely evening.

Some of you might think a DVD is not the most romantic of gifts, but that's only because you haven't seen the Flight of the Conchords in action. Watch the clip below, and you'll understand they're all about romance in the extreme.



I enjoy surprising people with gifts they'll love. Last night, I had the unusual opportunity to give Nicole a gift I knew she'd love, though she didn't know it existed. That is, Nicole had seen the clip above, loved it, but had no idea about its source. She just attributed it to that guy from "Eagle vs. Shark". So she was happy. And now, it's business time.

My Obama Post

Near the conclusion of his Super Tuesday speech, Obama said the following: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." I found that incredibly empowering, a needed change from the cynicism of most politicians. He went on to refer to the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Here's his speech in New Orleans yesterday.

Barack Obama speech

New Orleans, don't let me down tomorrow.

Update: When I posted the speech, I'd only watched the first 40% of it. I watched it all today, and I've got to say, even as someone supporting Obama, I was surprised and encouraged by what he said. That is, he articulated a vision for the city post-Katrina that many of us had immediately afterward--keeping the best parts, losing the worst, creating an example of a just city.

Also, according to Huffington Post, there's a low turn-out expected in Louisiana. Hey--it's Saturday afternoon! Do you know where your ballot box is?

In lieu of Mardi Gras

That's the New Orleans Bingo Show! playing with the Edge and Preservation Hall Band.

Update: I've enjoyed Harry Shearer's latest le Show, focusing on Mardi Gras. His quote in describing the costumes on Mardi Gras day, "Even the straight men are creative."

Told you so

When the polls preceeding the New Hampshire primary were way off (in a direction I didn't like), I cried conspiracy. Bart said maybe the polls were just wrong, but I wasn't buying it. Now that the South Carolina polls were just as wrong but in a way I like, am I crying conspiracy? Well, there may be a conspiracy, but I ain't crying about it, if you know what I mean.

Actually, I don't know. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know how South Carolina counts their votes; I'd guess it's the same way (or worse) that New Hampshire does. Bart's point may very well be correct. With the prevelance of unlisted cellphone numbers, it may not be possible for pollsters to get a representative sampling, rendering contemporary polling irrelevant. And I don't know what the outcome in New Hampshire will be. That "recount" stopped after recounting just 40% of the votes, and there's considerable evidence that the handling of the ballots was shoddy at best.

One thing that is clear though is that the state of electoral integrity in the U.S. is disgraceful. Looking at the New Hampshire recount, you see margins of error fluxtuating between 1 and 10%. That's just absurd. Everyday billions and billions of dollars are withdrawn, deposited, and counted in computer systems infinitely more complex than any ballot box, and there aren't errors between 1 and 10%. If there was, banks wouldn't use them. The U.S. doesn't even meet the Carter Center's baseline standards for free and fair elections.

Politically, I find myself in the strange situation of pulling for Obama but voting for Edwards, because I want to support his anti-corporate positions. There's talk that Edwards could be made attorney general. That wouldn't be bad.

Required reading

Here's a good article from Salon.com on how to drive in a more energy-effecient manner: How to get better gas mileage

It's a good summary with links to more specific information.

New Hampshire

Are you like me and the rest of the human race who were shocked this week to see Hillary Clinton win the New Hampshire primary? It's prompted some troubling questions about the integrity of the vote there, most notably that the Diebold voting machines which are used throughout New Hampshire are easily corruptible. Some think those machines were hacked by Republicans to give Hillary the win, simply because the GOP would prefer to face her than Obama or Edwards. I am one of them.

You can hear some really interesting and worthwhile discussion of this matter on the Stephanie Miller show.

Here Stephanie interviews Brad Friedman, a journalist who's been following the issue of the Diebold machines for some time.

Here Stephanie interviews Dennis Kucinich about his subsequent call for a recount in New Hampshire.

Raising this question raises the specter of conspiracy, a possibility which is all but verboten in our society. But as you listen to these interviews (and you really should), note how utterly reasonable what they're discussing is. If the possibility of criminal conspiracy cannot be considered, then that grants a license to commit criminal conspiracy to those so inclined.

FYI, I'm voting for Edwards, though Obama wouldn't be bad, and Hillary beats any of the circus freaks in the GOP. (I apologize to any circus freaks I may have offended.)

Bah fuckin' Humbug!

Well, my main Christmas tradition, the watching of "Bad Santa," has been thwarted. I thought my DVD of it had made the trip up to Canada, but last night when I looked for it, I couldn't find it. What's really frustrating is a few days ago I was in the public library, saw their DVD copy of "Bad Santa" on the shelf, thought about checking it out just in case, but didn't because I didn't want something else to keep track of. Then, on the 23rd, "Bad Santa" was on TV. But I didn't tape it or anything. I believed I already had a copy. The universe was trying to tell me I didn't, but I didn't listen.

Why do I like "Bad Santa?" Simply because the main character strips away any illusions about this holiday, and lays bare the real significance of this holiday's primary character. (Sorry, Jesus.) Harry Shearer's latest episode of "Le Show" was pretty funny and cynical. It did some of "Bad Santa"'s heavy lifting for me this year. You can download it here.

Here's my favorite line from "Bad Santa." When a kid tells bad Santa his Christmas wish, he retorts, "Well wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first." I guess this is my way of saying I'm not feeling the Christmas spirit this year. Sorry. But for me, the thought that our society has a season in which a common refrain is "Peace on Earth, and good will towards men" does not sit well with me. I mean I find it disgusting. "Peace on Earth?" That's a punchline, really. I mean, there's no way to deliver that with a straight face. What's really irritating is the "good will towards men" part. I think that's because juxtaposed with peace on Earth, good will towards men seems so simple, such a relatively small request, and it's just as scarce as peace on Earth. So it's perversely appropriate that the culminating event in our society's season of "peace on Earth" is an orgy of consumerism. Want peace on Earth? Well, wish in one hand, shit in the other, and tell me which one fills up first.

Last night, Nicole made Christmas dinner. As we sat down to it, I played "O Holy Night" as performed by Trombone Shorty. As those sharp brass notes fell in my ears, I couldn't help it and started tearing up. As 2007 concludes, it's impossible to feel good about it. It's a year in which difficult situations have suffered serious setbacks, not just for me but my city as well, not just for my city but my country, not just for my country but the planet.

This holiday season I hope you are able to spend time with those you love and that such love gives us the courage to make this world a better place.

I'm No Star Fucker

I've realized I've had a number of encounters with celebrities over the years. I've never sought that out. I attribute it to having lived in an interesting part of New Orleans, to being plugged into its interesting culture. So recently, I made a list of these encounters, and here it is.

I've italicized the names of people I had contact with, be it a hand shake, a conversation, or whatever, though if they're on this list, it typically means I had every opportunity to walk up and talk to them if I'd wanted to. Also, I've divided the list into two groups: those I just ran in to and those I saw in a performance venue. If they're listed under a performance venue, it means the venue was particularly intimate, often afterward they were just standing around approachable by anyone. So I don't include Bill Clinton and Johnny Cash on my list; there was nothing intimate about the venue in which I saw them live.

"Ran in to":
John Boutte'
Ed Bradley
Drew Brees
John Breaux
P.J. Brown
Henry Butler
Andrei Codrescu
Anderson Cooper
Edwin Edwards
Bob French
John Goodman
Darrell Hammond
Mark Harris
INXS
Jesse Jackson
Bill Jefferson
Leroy Jones
Maynard James Keenan
Mary Landrieu
Eli Manning
Ellis Marsalis
Irvin Mayfield
Matthew McConaughey
Helen Mirren
Rick Moody
Jim Mora
Ray Nagin
Cyril Neville
Shaquille O'Neal
Nicholas Payton
Sean Peyton
Sean Penn
Sydney Pollack
Giovanni Ribisi
Andy Rooney
Kermit Ruffins
Nick Saban
Harry Shearer
Pauly Shore
Britney Spears
Jim Taylor
Ricky Williams

Intimate venue:
Boston (the band)
Ray Bradbury
Stephen Colbert
Harry Connick Jr.
Ira Glass
Al Gore
Tipper Gore
Amy Goodman
Amy Grant
Branford Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Colin Quinn
Chris Rock
Sarah Vowell

One thought that comes to mind is: is this a long list? It seems like it for someone not involved in the entertainment business. But maybe it just seems that way. So how about it? How does your list compare?

There's a lot of people on this list I admire; the one admire most would be Al Gore.