Winners & Losers

Although I dislike the weekly comparison that some glitz magazines make each week propping up notable “winners” and “losers” of the past seven days, I just have to give the latter distinction to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, whom during an interview with a sympathetic right-wing interviewer blamed Tina Fey, Katie Couric, and the rest of humanity (including the McCain campaign) for why she and her family are not currently picking out draperies for the Naval Observatory in DC.

Victimhood, thy name is Caribou Barbie.

But thanks anyway for reminding us all why you were perhaps the most inept running mate on a presidential ticket for the past 100 years.

Secondly, if anyone truly had a banner week since last Sunday, it’s right-wing banshee Ann Coulter, who stuck to her M.O. (e.g. wailing like a self-involved, ultra-white elitist) when “Today” bumped a TV interview to sell her latest screed, leading to Ann shrieking “liberal bias” and all sorts of bloody murder.

Yes, the screechy wheel truly does get the grease, Coulter knows it, and NBC fell for her infantile foot-stomping in record time.

The result?

Coulter got what craves more than oxygen, Zinfandel, and the company of well-scrubbed white folks in the Hamptons: lots and lots of free media attention.

The proper way to deal with Coulter is the same way to deal with any ranting child: toss her into a room, and lock the door until she stops hyperventilating. Yet it’s a lesson that NBC and other mainstream outlets just can’t seem to grasp.

Thus, Ann Coulter is indeed a big, big winner.

"Gran Torino" (2008) - A Very Brief Review

Although I would have ended it differently, Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” is his best film in years – and this is from someone who felt underwhelmed by 1992’s “Unforgiven,” which many feel is among Clint’s all-time best movies.

Here, Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a bitter ex-Korean War vet and former auto plant worker who’s just lost his wife, and is dismayed by his home being the only one flying the American flag in a neighborhood now filled with Asian families whom Walt refers to with colorfully racist language.

Over a series of incidents, Walt befriends a Hmong girl living beside him named Sue (played very well by Ahney Her), and her brother Tao (Bee Vang) whom the old man nabs trying to steal his vintage ’72 Gran Torino in a gang initiation rite.

But gradually, and in a way that his thankfully un-saccharine, Walt old prejudices drop away as he and Sue/Tao get to know one another, which leads to Kowalski confronting a local gang that’s harassing them all.

What results are played off well, but leaves one wondering if much has really changed after the final frame of “Gran Torino” rolls.

Still, alongside his very well-crafted “Changeling," “Gran Torino” marks a terrific past year for Mr. Eastwood– who at 78, is doing better both creatively and professionally than 99% of the rest of Hollywood’s current crop.

Translation: Clint Eastwood is the coolest guy on Earth. You just can't beat him.

PS: Prior to "Torino," I watched a newly cut "Watchmen" trailer (film allegedly due in March) with lots of new footage. I am cautiously optimistic as to the final product.

Dance Break - Part II

Ted Baxter Is Weeping

Somewhere today, Bill O’Reilly is curled up in a dark broom closet at Fox News crying softly on his cell to a sympathetic (or as much sympathy as $4.99 a minute will buy) phone sex operator named “Sin O'Bon” (but whom Bill-O insists on calling “mommy”) upon hearing the following news.

Indignant

God, I hate jury duty – such as the one I found I must report for tomorrow morning at my local county courthouse with no compensation from my employer.

Translation: every day I am bound to this responsibility is one wherein I lose a day’s salary, and considering how much I am currently fighting to get my bills locked down, that is a serious problem.

In 2006, I was called up to serve on a Federal jury in Chicago, but ended up being excused the same day I reported. So I can only hope that tomorrow will result in the same outcome.

Me being wrapped up in a multi-day trial is simply not an option for me, civil duties be damned.

PS (1-5-09): Forgive my bitching over my jury duty call last night. I have already been released from service as a would-be alternate juror. Case closed.

And speaking of legalities, check out the following link to DFTCW as ex-US Attorney General and would-be martyr Alberto Gonzalez bemoans his fate as national pariah for treating the constitution like toilet paper (not that Gonzo is alone among the Bush Administration in doing so; e.g. Dick Cheney, David Addington, et al.), and allowing the Justice Department to become a branch of the Republican National Committee.

I especially like the following quote by Gonzales (as he nails himself to his own cross, and expects us to gather ‘round it weeping his fate):

"What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" he said during an interview Tuesday, offering his most extensive comments since leaving government.

During a lunch meeting two blocks from the White House, where he served under his longtime friend, President George W. Bush, Mr. Gonzales said that "for some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."

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Wow. Think Gonzo will rise from the dead after three days too?

Wave 6

For you collectors out there, behold Wave 6 of the Mighty Muggs line (due March '09).

Nice editions (esp the Wolverine and Sabretooth), but I'm still waiting for Pietro.

Trailer

Although I have never in my life used the words "Swedish" and "vampire" in the same sentence--much less in the same thought--I thought I'd share the following trailer for the foreign flick "Let The Right One In."

The film is currently in limited U.S. release, including a handful of theatres about Chicago. Plus, it has the distinction of scoring an incredible 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; this, versus a current score of 16% for Frank Miller’s “The Spirit” which is currently being raked over the coals by critics and comic fans alike.

Anyhow, if “Let The Right One In” piques your interest, but is not in your market, do not fret. It’ll be on DVD in March.