some of these links might be a day or two old but I've been away. enjoy them again if you've already had the pleasure...To Ponder
Slant Ed Gonzalez looks at film criticism, race, Barack Obama and politics. Heartfelt thoughtful stuff
The Projectionist on the (unfulfilled) talent of Anthony Minghella (RIP)
To Read
FourFour on the Madonna / Justin Timberlake collaboration
Self Styled Siren, who can always be counted on for a good movie star tribute, expresses love for the excellent and undervalued Joan Crawford
Movie Marketing considers the Flashbacks of a Fool poster (starring Daniel Craig)
Go Fug Yourself Juliette Lewis vs. Keira Knightley / Sharon Stone vs. Scarjo
PopWatch "Harvey Scissorhands" is at it again. This time with Fanboys. And they aren't happy about it. I know I've asked this question too much but why does anyone sell their film to him?
To Look AtCircus Hour Renée Zellweger lamp. teehee
Movie City Indie "Sometimes I Doubt..."
Everything Oscar Johnny Depp as John Dillinger in Public Enemies
MNPP a very special Buffy reunion
Check this out, the Psycho shower scene back to back (or side to side rather, with the original Hitchcock and the Van Sant recreation) thanks to Dennis for the heads up...
Posts
5 comments:
Ed's a smart and thoughtful guy, but his political analysis is so reactionary and miscontrued that it is hard to take it seriously.
"Reactionary" as in "favoring reaction" (which would be true, I guess) or "extreme conservatism or rightism in politics" (which is not true) or "opposing political or social change" (which would also not be true)? And what about the "political analysis" is misconstrued: the whole thing or just a few parts of it? You're not giving much info to adequately reply here (are you Clinton or McCain supporter?), but thanks for thinking I'm smart and thoughtful. I think.
Thanks for the links, Nat - I enjoyed Ed's analysis greatly, even though I don't always agree. But it's intelligent and even-handed and - and here's part of the reason that "dialogue" and difference of opinion is so valuable - he has insights in places I would never be aware of. (Just as there are certain aspects of being "a white lesbian" without offspring, that my sister, a white heterosexual married woman with children, could never understand. And vice versa, and so on and so forth.)
Ed's article does want to make me want to read Obama's book, if for no other reasons than the quality of the prose and the insightfulness of his observations (what, isn't that reason enough?)
Now, being a white woman (age 40), and hearing Obama's speech, I could understand where he was coming from as a candidate, the need (unfortunately) to remind people that his pastor's beliefs are not his own (duh - right?), but I also felt a little uncomfortable, in that I could imagine African-American voters of Rev. Wright's age or more "radical" political views being completely turned off by the speech, the way old-school feminists, say, are sometimes pissed off by so-called neo-feminists: "You didn't march in the street, you don't know how bad it was in old days, you don't appreciate all the things you take for granted because of what we did - who are you to criticize us?"
But pretending that "race doesn't matter" obviously wasn't working because it's very clear in this country that race still does matter, just as gender does. What we need is more constructive dialogues on WHY these things still do matter, should they matter and how do we move beyond them?
And just to put my politics on the table - I haven't decided on any of the candidates, at the present moment.
Thanks again for the essay, Ed.
RedSatinDoll
RedSatinDoll: Thanks for the comments. I've been telling friends that if they don't get around to reading Obama's book, that they should at least read Chapter 10. Fuck me if that isn't the greatest political rhetoric I've ever read in my life, though it feels like an insult to Obama to even call it rhetoric. If he just read that chapter aloud today, everywhere he went across the country, they would just hand him the presidency. It's a little intellectually wonky in parts, yes, but what insight and sensitivity into race relations and how racism is a double-edged sword that effects us all, beautifully and subtly framed around his experiences with a former colleague, an African American woman, who used to wear colored contact lenses. Made me think of the time my friend Carol (half Spanish, half Pilipino) and myself used to wear green contacts and it drove our good friend Laala (half Cuban, half black) nuts, and it made me think of the Indian girl who came to me in the cafeteria at my NYU dorm one time and squealed, "Are your eyes real!?!" I remember looking at that gorgeous girl, wearing green contacts just like me, and thinking that Laala was right, and that this sense of solidarity being exchanged between this girl and myself felt so wrong. Reading that chapter in Obama's book illuminated for me, in words I could never have come up with, why I wore those contact lenses and why I was right never to wear them again.
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