URLs du Jour

2008-09-19

  • Stuart Taylor's thesis today:

    We still have many great journalists, but I no longer trust the major newspapers or television networks to provide consistently accurate and fair reporting and analysis of all the charges and countercharges.

    Examples provided.

  • Matt Welch provides the (admittedly half-hearted, caveat-laden) libertarian case for voting for John McCain. I think reason seven is kind of a stretch:

    7) He would, along with Sarah Palin, bring sexual tension back to the White House.

    Awkward hugs, an aging flyboy, a jealous wife...bring the popcorn!

    That's not a particularly libertarian reason. I think we can all agree that would be fun.

  • But making the libertarian case against John McCain is … John McCain. In his prepared speech in Green Bay today:

    In short order, we are going to put an end to the reckless conduct, corruption, and unbridled greed that have caused a crisis on Wall Street.

    Please, Senator. If you're going to "put an end" to one Deadly Sin, be consistent and go after them all. A refresher for all you heathens:

    LustGluttonyGreed
    SlothWrathEnvy
     Pride 

    In terms of how much economic mischief and misery these Sins cause, I'd have to rank Pride and Envy up above Greed. If you include lust-for-power in with Lust, then I'd rank that above Greed as well.

  • We have some catching up to do with the Rochester (NH) Police Logs: 8/26/08 to 9/3/08 and 9/4/08 to 9/7/08. My favorite is from the latter:

    Sunday, Sept. 7

    11:39 p.m. — Girl meets boy on Craig's List — now hopes he'll take a powder. His photo of a gun in fist, quite oddly has not wowed her.


Last Modified 2014-12-01 1:23 PM EDT

Definitely, Maybe

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)
[1.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

If you get fired from Hallmark, you can always go into writing movies like Definitely, Maybe. Geez, I'm even irritated by the cutesy title.

It stars Ryan Reynolds, on the verge of divorce, who is begged by his daughter (Abigail Breslin) to tell her his romantic history. As he relates the yarn, it's illustrated for us cinematically. It's told in a manner that neither Abigail nor we know which of the women in his past life (Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz) will turn out to have been Abigail's mother. We're supposed to care.

The major problem is the dialog, and that's a real problem in a movie where just about nothing happens except people talking to each other. I don't demand, or even expect, complete verisimilitude on that score, but practically every line here screams: "No person would actually ever say this."

Which wouldn't be so bad, if the characters ever actually said something genuinely funny (like in When Harry Met Sally), interesting, insightful, quirky, or unpredictable. They never do. (On that last score: the dialog is so predictable, I actually called out an upcoming line in a couple cases. Mrs. Salad did not appreciate this.)

If I were a real movie reviewer, I'd end with: "So, to Definitely, Maybe, you should say 'Definitely, No'."


Last Modified 2024-02-01 5:20 AM EDT