Pun Salad

One of Mrs. Salad's picks. I think she enjoyed it, but I couldn't wait for it to end. It's not particularly long (1.77 hours), but when your brain is screaming I don't like these people, I don't care what happens to any of them, I don't care whodunit. … well, it can seem longer.

It takes place mostly on the scenic Cornish coast, I think sometime in the 19th century (sorry, wasn't paying attention to that). The protagonist, Philip, is enraptured with/by Rachel, the widow of his older cousin Ambrose. Even though Ambrose suspected that Rachel was poisoning him, and in league with the slimy Italian Count Rainaldi. There's a large estate involved.

It is based on a Daphne Du Maurier novel, just like a lot of good movies are. In fact, this is a remake of a 1952 version that starred Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton! Masterpiece Mystery did a version, too.

I suppose part of the appeal is all the scenery, the costumery, the mansions, the English accents. Wonder how it would work translated to present day Omaha? Calling Alexander Payne…

Rachel Weisz plays Rachel, and I think I will give this flick an extra half-star for that. Because she delivered one of my all time favorite movie lines in The Mummy.

• Proverbs 14:2 is another good people/bad people exercise in contrast:

  ² Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly,
      but those who despise him are devious in their ways.

  I'd mark down the Proverbialist for missing the obvious parallelism; those last five words should have been something like "… scurry in filth and darkness like rats."

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• Cause for celebration: there's a new American Consequences issue out, with P. J. O'Rourke content. He has re-read Orwell's 1984 and notes that, in the 21st century US, Big Everybody Is Watching.

  I forgot what a powerful, terrifying, and tragic novel 1984 is. I forgot because I had read the book a couple of times and was under the impression that I understood it.
  
  1984 tells the story of a totalitarianism so total that it’s not satisfied with eliminating Winston Smith, a decent, conscientious individual. It must also eliminate his decency, his conscience, and his individuality first.>br>
  When I read 1984 in high school I thought, “This is what the Commies are doing in the Soviet Union.”
  
  When I read 1984 in college I thought, “This is what ‘The Man’ is doing in AmeriKKKa.”
  
  But when I read it as a mature (that is to say, old and worried) adult I was shocked. I realized, “This is what we’re doing to ourselves!”

  This encourages me to reread the book myself. It's been about 50 years, maybe it's time.

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• Jonah Goldberg channels Carly Simon's "Anticipation" and realizes these are the good old days. Specifically, The ‘Good Old Days’ of the Trump Presidency.

  I have no problem whatsoever conceding that the press exaggerates anti-Trump narratives and is out to get him, because that is obviously true. But I’ve talked to people in the White House. I’ve talked to congressmen and senators off the record. And I’ve talked to far more people who’ve talked to such people. They all say that things behind the scenes in Trump World are nuttier than Mr. Peanut’s stool sample.

  Wish I could write like that.

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• At Reason, Jacob Sullum provides 5 Reasons Not to Feed the Russian Troll Hysteria. Reason number two:

  Russian trolls supposedly had the Machiavellian know-how to infiltrate the American political system, but their social media posts don't look very sophisticated. The posts often featured broken English and puzzling topic choices. A post promoting a "buff" Bernie Sanders coloring book, for instance, noted that "the coloring is something that suits for all people." Another post showed Jesus and Satan in an arm wrestling match under this caption: "SATAN: IF I WIN CLINTON WINS! JESUS: NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!" The post generated very few clicks and shares.

  Well, I'm convinced. (Note that the underlying pic is available as a poster from Amazon, sizes ranging from 4"x6" to 40"x60". Just the thing for the kids' bedrooms!

  Oh, yeah, there's also a video, if you prefer:

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• And Michael Ramirez might just provide our last thousand words on the Children's Crusade for Gun Grabbing: Children of Rage