Ugly Things and Romantic Films
Miserable morning today – got soaked going to the subway and going from the subway.
Speaking of Miserable not content with obscene gestures – our distinguished supreme court justice Antonin Scalia has shown he possesses obscene thinking as he expounded to the BBC that he thought the Constitution didn’t prohibit torture (the part about cruel and inhuman punishment or the right against self incrimination must have passed him by) citing the old and tired – ticking bomb idea where you know a bomb has been planted (in general) and you now it’s going to go off soon but you have no idea where it is. So the idea is that under this situation water boarding, beatings and tips under the fingernails are morally valid as you are tying to save lives. This is the excuse – the reality of course is that even under this highly unlikely event – I mean to have penetrated a terrorist cell enough to know all that and not know even in a general way where the bomb is beggars the imagination – all the terrorist has to do is keep his mouth shut for x minutes and he wins.
Outside of the fever dream imaginations of the punishment freaks that inhabit the right wing these days – that we are talking about torture as part of our normal activities is a sad and disgusting mark of how deep into the muck we have sunk. To toss away the most fundamental principles established in the formation of this country because we are afraid of thugs hiding in caves speaks volumes of our utter cowardice and lack of even the smallest faith in our principles. We have gone from give me liberty or give me death to hiding under a blanket.
Torture is useless in getting timely accurate intelligence – for many reasons not the least of which is that the person being tortured is very likely to say anything he or she thinks the interrogator wants to hear. What torture is good for is just that – getting someone to say exactly what the questioner wants to hear – whatever it is – overseeing plots to overthrow Comrade Stalin, Herr Hitler or that you flew naked on a broom stick to a witches Sabbath and there kissed Satan’s butt and then cursed the crops so they withered. Torture is not about intelligence it is about the unrestricted right of the state to do whatever it wants to whoever it wants and provide it’s own justifications for it. It’s as evil as it gets folks.
On another tack tomorrow is Valentines Day – I will be celebrating as usual by making pasta and watching The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. To those of us uncoupled (happily or otherwise) the whole thing is an exercise in excess – indeed most of my friends who are in relationships can’t stand the whole deal either.
However since – under my shell I’m as Captain Reynard in Casablanca “a rank sentimentalist” here’s a quick list of my favorite romantic/romance whatever films.
1. Casablanca – Hollywood’s finest moment – Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (who was at the utter peak of her jaw dropping luminescent beauty) are the ex-lovers who meet again in Casablanca as World War 2 rages – not a cast member puts a foot wrong, there is not even a wasted word here – and yes I get teary eyed at the end. Shoot me.
2. When Harry Met Sally – Smart, funny and sweet – yes I do have those days – the faking orgasm scene is a classic – Harry is a jerk but he does come around in the in end – there is a happy ending because it’s a movie.
3. As Good as it Gets – Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson as an obsessive compulsive writer of romance novels – Helen Hunt is the woman he gradually falls for (with much hacking and slashing) there is also a gay artist who figures in the story (and his dog) – there is much ranting by Jack – part of the films greatness is that this is not a perfect match – and you know this isn’t gonna work out long term.
4. Cyrano de Bergerac/Roxanne – Guy with a really big nose falls in love with a impossibility beautiful woman – who in turn has fallen for someone else (who has normal nose size among other advantages) Guy with big nose ends up wooing woman on behalf of the other guy – getting the chance to say what he feels at last but only as a proxy. It ends badly in the original (the 1950’s version with Jose Ferrer is the most famous of the straight adaptations of the Rostand play ) – better in the very funny version Steve Martin did in the 1980’s. (Which do I like better? Depends of the day)
5/ The Tall guy Jeff Goldblum is the bumbling hapless American actor in London (his ineffectual character is a bit too much like I see myself for comfort sometimes) – and the lovely Emma Thompson plays the love interest – Roland Atkinson plays Jeff’s fiend from hell boss. In addition to perhaps the funniest sex scene in the history of cinema – you do wonder how they both get on top of the piano – there is a whacked out parody of Andrew Loyd Weber – a musical based on the Elephant man.
6. Much Ado About Nothing – should be watched with a nice bottle of dry white wine – the beautiful Italian countryside is the perfect setting for Shakespeare’s comedy with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson again – a few weird casting bits – Keanu Reaves should not be let within a 100 miles of Shakespeare dialogue – you can hear his fight to suppress the word “whoa” every time he opens his mouth – but all in all a great film.
7. The Abominable Doctor Phibes – Famous organist’s wife dies on an operating table – Organist almost perishes in fiery car crash leaving him a horrific scared wreck – he then kills the operating room team one by one based on the biblical plagues of Egypt – not a standard romance yes but he is doing it because of the death of his wife, and that he’s batshit crazy. Wonderful black humor from many of the folks who did the TV show The Avengers – and perhaps Vincent Price’s finest hammy moment on film
Well I think it’s romantic – in a warped and twisted way.
Peace love, lovers
Speaking of Miserable not content with obscene gestures – our distinguished supreme court justice Antonin Scalia has shown he possesses obscene thinking as he expounded to the BBC that he thought the Constitution didn’t prohibit torture (the part about cruel and inhuman punishment or the right against self incrimination must have passed him by) citing the old and tired – ticking bomb idea where you know a bomb has been planted (in general) and you now it’s going to go off soon but you have no idea where it is. So the idea is that under this situation water boarding, beatings and tips under the fingernails are morally valid as you are tying to save lives. This is the excuse – the reality of course is that even under this highly unlikely event – I mean to have penetrated a terrorist cell enough to know all that and not know even in a general way where the bomb is beggars the imagination – all the terrorist has to do is keep his mouth shut for x minutes and he wins.
Outside of the fever dream imaginations of the punishment freaks that inhabit the right wing these days – that we are talking about torture as part of our normal activities is a sad and disgusting mark of how deep into the muck we have sunk. To toss away the most fundamental principles established in the formation of this country because we are afraid of thugs hiding in caves speaks volumes of our utter cowardice and lack of even the smallest faith in our principles. We have gone from give me liberty or give me death to hiding under a blanket.
Torture is useless in getting timely accurate intelligence – for many reasons not the least of which is that the person being tortured is very likely to say anything he or she thinks the interrogator wants to hear. What torture is good for is just that – getting someone to say exactly what the questioner wants to hear – whatever it is – overseeing plots to overthrow Comrade Stalin, Herr Hitler or that you flew naked on a broom stick to a witches Sabbath and there kissed Satan’s butt and then cursed the crops so they withered. Torture is not about intelligence it is about the unrestricted right of the state to do whatever it wants to whoever it wants and provide it’s own justifications for it. It’s as evil as it gets folks.
On another tack tomorrow is Valentines Day – I will be celebrating as usual by making pasta and watching The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. To those of us uncoupled (happily or otherwise) the whole thing is an exercise in excess – indeed most of my friends who are in relationships can’t stand the whole deal either.
However since – under my shell I’m as Captain Reynard in Casablanca “a rank sentimentalist” here’s a quick list of my favorite romantic/romance whatever films.
1. Casablanca – Hollywood’s finest moment – Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (who was at the utter peak of her jaw dropping luminescent beauty) are the ex-lovers who meet again in Casablanca as World War 2 rages – not a cast member puts a foot wrong, there is not even a wasted word here – and yes I get teary eyed at the end. Shoot me.
2. When Harry Met Sally – Smart, funny and sweet – yes I do have those days – the faking orgasm scene is a classic – Harry is a jerk but he does come around in the in end – there is a happy ending because it’s a movie.
3. As Good as it Gets – Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson as an obsessive compulsive writer of romance novels – Helen Hunt is the woman he gradually falls for (with much hacking and slashing) there is also a gay artist who figures in the story (and his dog) – there is much ranting by Jack – part of the films greatness is that this is not a perfect match – and you know this isn’t gonna work out long term.
4. Cyrano de Bergerac/Roxanne – Guy with a really big nose falls in love with a impossibility beautiful woman – who in turn has fallen for someone else (who has normal nose size among other advantages) Guy with big nose ends up wooing woman on behalf of the other guy – getting the chance to say what he feels at last but only as a proxy. It ends badly in the original (the 1950’s version with Jose Ferrer is the most famous of the straight adaptations of the Rostand play ) – better in the very funny version Steve Martin did in the 1980’s. (Which do I like better? Depends of the day)
5/ The Tall guy Jeff Goldblum is the bumbling hapless American actor in London (his ineffectual character is a bit too much like I see myself for comfort sometimes) – and the lovely Emma Thompson plays the love interest – Roland Atkinson plays Jeff’s fiend from hell boss. In addition to perhaps the funniest sex scene in the history of cinema – you do wonder how they both get on top of the piano – there is a whacked out parody of Andrew Loyd Weber – a musical based on the Elephant man.
6. Much Ado About Nothing – should be watched with a nice bottle of dry white wine – the beautiful Italian countryside is the perfect setting for Shakespeare’s comedy with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson again – a few weird casting bits – Keanu Reaves should not be let within a 100 miles of Shakespeare dialogue – you can hear his fight to suppress the word “whoa” every time he opens his mouth – but all in all a great film.
7. The Abominable Doctor Phibes – Famous organist’s wife dies on an operating table – Organist almost perishes in fiery car crash leaving him a horrific scared wreck – he then kills the operating room team one by one based on the biblical plagues of Egypt – not a standard romance yes but he is doing it because of the death of his wife, and that he’s batshit crazy. Wonderful black humor from many of the folks who did the TV show The Avengers – and perhaps Vincent Price’s finest hammy moment on film
Well I think it’s romantic – in a warped and twisted way.
Peace love, lovers
posted by Unknown at 12:04 PM
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