Important Movies For These Troubled Times
October 20th, 2005 at 9:58 pm by CrankyThank God that in this neo-McCarthyistic era, the creative voices in the arts are standing tall against the chill wind of censorship.
Good Night, and Good Luck arrives in the proverbial nick of time just as President Bush is about to pass the gag order on criticizing the Iraq war or saying "fillibuster" with a mouthful of popcorn.
As this critic helpfully points out:
In Clooney’s assured hands, the real-life story of how CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow stood up to Senator McCarthy during the 1950s becomes a celebration of journalistic responsibility that speaks eloquently to our current moment.
The methods of McCarthy’s anti-communist
witch hunts were what we today would call "Rovian": the scaremongering and relentless smearing of any individual who dared to disagree are certainly familiar.
Just so you don’t miss the subtle message of the film itself.
You wish they could stop there, but no. Check out these other movie reviews.
From Doom
The classic computer game that electrified a generation finally hitsthe big screen. Something has gone wrong at a remote scientific research station on Mars. All research has ceased. Communication has failed. And the messages that do get through are less than comforting.
The destruction and subsequent abandonment of the space station is reminicient of the Bush debacle in New Orleans. Enter Sarge (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), Reaper (Karl Urban) and their team to save the day. One only needs to reflect back to the "smart bomb" video game mentality made popular by Bush Sr. to understand the modus operandi of this film.
From Wallace and Gromit – Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace and his loyal canine sidekick Gromit are raking in big bucks with their humane pest-control outfit Anti-Pesto. Their Halliburton-esque venture goes awry when a mysterious vegetable-ravaging beast begins attacking the town’s sacred crops at night.
Like the massacre at Fallujah, the hapless townsfolk must face down this threat with the help of the ever-whimsical claymation dog, Gromit
Cross-posted at Wuzzadem.
Further reading:
A well-respected blogger blew his top at Roger Ebert’s opportunistic lecture on the folly of religion on his review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
October 20th, 2005 at 10:22 pm
Did you know that Dabney Coleman was in War Games? I had totally forgotten that.
Hmmm. How ’bout that.
October 20th, 2005 at 10:52 pm
Gordon, I’m disappointed as to where you’ve ended up. This blog is really horrible.
October 20th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
Is this coming from a guy who name his blog “savinganus?”
October 21st, 2005 at 2:52 pm
Did I mention “unsavory elements”?
October 21st, 2005 at 8:41 pm
L.A., these are my brothers now. We cut our hands with broken Coors bottles and did the “blood brother” bonding thing.
Please refrain from calling us “horrible”.