The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)**
Basil Rathbone is the only one here who takes this pic seriously unfortunately. Lots of mugging and winking at the camera with southern California obviously filling in for "jollye olde Englande". Nice sword fight at the finale.

Murphy's War (1971)**
As a man obsessed, Peter O'Toole is appropriately over the top but there's not enough story here to carry the picture.

Sunrise (1927)***
Pretentious melodrama that nonetheless acts as a showcase for some pretty advanced special effects and production design for its time. For that reason it's an important film. Minimal use of title cards helps too.

The Rum Diary (2011)**
It has a good cast and beautiful Caribbean locations but the story never gels and it is shot so darkly you'd think it was a 3D film.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)**
George Lazenby really isn't that bad and this one has Diana Rigg too. But it's very long, very talky and takes itself a bit too seriously.

Solaris (1972)**
Desperately needs to be edited, but manages to maintain interest thanks mainly to Natalya Bondarchuk. Steven Soderbergh's 2002 remake was far superior.

Play Misty for Me (1971)***
In his directorial debut Clint Eastwood shows he has a good cinematic eye in this proto-stalker flick set in and around Carmel, CA. Lots of quirks in style and cast as Clint eschews the typical thriller cues and tropes.

Malta Story (1953)**
Despite location filming and actual footage taken during the siege of Malta, this British war pic is dull and drab. Not a good performance by Sir Alec Guinness.

When Eight Bells Toll (1971)**
Interesting, realistic spy adventure flick at least until the finale. Jack Hawkins is unrecognizable as a shipping tycoon and Anthony Hopkins does well as a super spy. Soundtrack is wildly out of place though.

Men in Black 3 (2012)***
Enjoyable, silly comic book flick doesn't take itself seriously and that's a welcome relief. Barry Sonnenfeld keeps the action and sight gags moving with a very mobile camera, obviously for the 3D effect. Still the overall effect is fun.

From Here to Eternity (1953)***
Slick melodrama about life on an army base in Hawaii in 1941 made compelling by almost all the lead actors. Even Sinatra is good. It's Montgomery Cliff that sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Naked Jungle (1954)***
Highly entertaining old style Hollywood adventure/drama flick with Chuck Heston almost a self-caricature at times. But it's colorful, interesting and the two leads work well together. This is the one with all the ants.

Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)**
This film has a lot of truthful and serious things to say about human relationships. Unfortunately it's trying to be a comedy and failing miserably. If you think about it, it's a good film. But the actual watching of it is not entertaining or enjoyable, even with a stunning Kim Novak.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)****
It's like a live animated film. You get the feeling that every blade of grass was selected specifically by Wes Anderson, it is that controlled of a film. Kind of a romanticized remembering of a childhood dream or feeling.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)****
It has its flaws (Sinatra, miscast Laurence Harvey, heavy close-ups) but enough interesting quirks to make it special.

Some Facts, Insights Into The Whole Discussion Of 'Ethics' And Music Business Models | Techdirt:
"No one has ever had a 'right' to make money from what they create. They have a right to try to do so. And many people have figured out how to do so under the current system. Those complaining don't seem to understand that you don't just get to sit back and have people give you money. You have to work at it, every day. That's the lesson Amanda Palmer provided everyone with her massively successful fundraising. She didn't raise that money based on any 'ethical' arguments or anything having to do with copyright at all. In fact, she's explained how infringement has always helped her. She's able to do that because she works hard every single day to not just create great music, but to connect with her fans at a very deep level. She doesn't scold her fans -- she celebrates them. And because of that, she can make a ton of money and her fans love her for it."

via Boing Boing

Thunderball (1965)**
Can't recall another mainstream picture with so much underwater photography. Trouble is most of the action takes place there. Laughable villain.

Goldfinger (1964)***
Bond hits his stride in this stylish, gadget-filled caper. Set the mold for future Bonds. Great Shirley Bassey theme song.

The Innocent (1993)**
Graham Greene-ish melodrama set in 1950's era Berlin with spies and counter spies trying to one up each other. Anthony Hopkins is fun playing an American but Campbell Scott doesn't have enough star power in the lead to overcome a too long script.

Certified Copy (2010)****
Smart, stylish, compelling introspection on originality, truth, relationships, you name it. Gets to the painful truth of all of it. Juliette Binoche is astounding.

White House refuses to reveal ties with Monsanto — RT:
"Michael Taylor, a former attorney for the US Department of Agriculture and lobbyist for Monsanto, was recently appointed to a federal role as the deputy commissioner for foods at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since then, the FDA shot down requests from consumer protection groups to label genetically modified products as such. With a White House-Monsanto connection already established with the appointment of Taylor, PEER and others are interested in what other ties could exist between the two."

Vertigo (1958)****
Superb film with Hitchcock working all the buttons at his disposal. Kim Novak's performance gets better each time I see it, especially when she's the brunette. ;-)

The Rules of the Game (1939)***
Some nifty camera work, sharp dialogue, and a very modern sensibility elevates this dramady of manners among the elites and their underlings in pre-war France. Compare and contrast with Gosford Park.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)*
Also known as "Extremely Long & Incredibly Annoying". The epitome of "ham-fisted". Makes a Steven Spielberg flick look like "Last Year At Marienbad". Get the drift? If you like being hit over the head with a sledge hammer, repeatedly, this is your movie.

From Russia with Love (1963)**
Second Bond picture is an improvement over the first, but that's not saying much. Still, this one has Robert Shaw and a terrific, iconic score by John Barry.

Champagne for Caesar (1950)**
Starts out as broad satire, settles into a rom-com vibe and ends with a thud. Strange in a bad way.

Stage Fright (1950)***
Lots of interesting shots and sequences in this "minor" Hitchcock murder mystery. A fine cast, particularly Marlene Dietrich and Alistair Sim, with the notable exception of Jane Wyman, who sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Andromeda Strain (1971)****
The kind of sci-fi film they don't make any more, probably because it's not based on a comic book, I mean "graphic novel". Sharp direction from anti-auteur Robert Wise.

Dr. No (1962)**
More interesting as an historical artifact than film, this "action" flick is quite dull now with only Ursula Andress providing any spark. Too bad she arrives late in the picture.

Smile (1975)***
Not as sharp as The Candidate or The Bad News Bears, but still a fine portrait of American delusions from Michael Ritchie.

Barney Frank: Obama Rejected Bush Administration Concession to Write Down Mortgages | naked capitalism:
"I tried to get them to use the TARP to put some leverage on the banks to do more about mortgages, and Paulson at first resisted that, he just wanted to get the money out. And after he got the first chunk of money out, he would have had to ask for a second chunk, he said, all right, I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask for that second chunk and I’ll use some of that as leverage on mortgages, but I’m not going to do that unless Obama asks for it. This is now December, so we tried to get the Obama people to ask him and they wouldn’t do it."

Let's face it: Obama just does not give a shit about you.

Suddenly (1954)**
Cheap looking melodrama has a hackneyed script and a quite good performance by Sinatra as an assassin for hire.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)**
By the numbers direction hampers what could have been a terrific WWII flick. All star cast turns in fine, restrained performances. Needed about 45 minutes cut.

Lifeguard (1976)****
Terrific character study that resists cliches and sticks to realism. Exceptional, appealing actors, spare, truthful script, nicely restrained direction. Fascinating glimpse at 70's culture.

Spellbound (1945)**
At the time of its release perhaps not, but nowadays a pretty laughable blend of murder mystery and psycho-babble. It has some interesting moments, particularly the goofy Dali designed dream sequence, but not enough of them. I also don't believe there was a frame of film without music in it. Overbearing.

The Self Illusion: An Interview With Bruce Hood | Wired.com:
"LEHRER: If the self is an illusion, then why does it exist? Why do we bother telling a story about ourselves?

"HOOD: For the same reason that our brains create a highly abstracted version of the world around us. It is bad enough that our brain is metabolically hogging most of our energy requirements, but it does this to reduce the workload to act. That’s the original reason why the brain evolved in the first place – to plan and control movements and keep track of the environment. It’s why living creatures that do not act or navigate around their environments do not have brains. So the brain generates maps and models on which to base current and future behaviors. Now the value of a map or a model is the extent to which it provides the most relevant useful information without overburdening you with too much detail."

Dark Shadows (2012)**
Tim Burton lite. VERY lite. Actually quite shocking that such a script was actually produced and he put his name on it. 2 stars for Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter, the only reasons to see this.

Tom Brokaw Doubles Down On WHCD: 'If You Go, It'll Steal Your Soul' (HUFFPO):
"'I do feel strongly that it's gone way too far,' he said. He added that the dinner, which has drawn more and more Hollywood celebrities ever year, gives off a 'let them eat cake' air to the rest of the country, and seemed to say that 'we're more interested in celebrities than we are in the concerns of real folks who are out there.'"

Oh please. Saint Tom is in a tizzy because there are too many celebrities spoiling his little soiree with politicos. Yeah I guess that could be an issue. But Tom fails to realize that the REAL problem with the WHCD is the schmoozing and inter-mingling of the "journalists" with the very people they are supposed to be having an adversarial relationship with. Yukking it up with the people they are supposed to be keeping a critical eye on concerns "real folks" much more than celebrities. Tell you what. Ditch the politicians and keep the celebs and we'll call it even.

Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)*
Bad, even for Herzog. It's interesting to note how much he likes to film driver-less autos going around in a circle. And chickens. Oh there is also a pig, and then [spoiler alert!] at the end a camel shows up.

Stroszek (1977)***
A case of Werner Herzog's off-the-cuff film making style paying off. Shattering, unflinching look at the conflict of hopes and reality as played out in the bleak Wisconsin midwinter. Final sequence is unique and memorable.

Cactus Flower (1969)**
I realize the premise of the plot is preposterous and exists only to set up the "sophisticated" comedic situation, but it is appallingly misogynistic and distracting especially in a film rescued by the performances and appeal of its two leading ladies.

Bullying the Nuns by Garry Wills | The New York Review of Books:
"It is typical of the pope’s sense of priorities that, at the very time when he is quashing an independent spirit in the church’s women, he is negotiating a welcome back to priests who left the church in protest at the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. These men, with their own dissident bishop, Marcel Lefebvre, formed the Society of Saint Pius X—the Pius whose Secretariat of State had a monsignor (Umberto Benigni) who promoted the Protocols of the Elder of Zion. Pope Benedict has already lifted the excommunication of four bishops in the Society of Saint Pius X, including that of Richard Williamson, who is a holocaust denier. Now a return of the whole body is being negotiated."

Play Dirty (1969)***
Well done WWII actioner, sort of a British Dirty Half Dozen. Sharp script, enough eccentricities to push it above the average.

Rififi (1955)**
Nicely directed French noir and one of the first heist flicks.

George W. Bush and torture: America’s highest officials are responsible for the “enhanced interrogation” of prisoners. - Slate Magazine:
"That the United States operated secret prisons anywhere on earth just so we could place our prisoners and jailors outside the reach of U.S. laws prohibiting torture is outrageous, of course. But there’s something especially perverse about basing one of these facilities in a country whose 'bitter recent experiences' include first Nazi occupation and extermination camps and then four decades of communist oppression. Out of those experiences, the people of Poland created a state that embraces, without reservation, the absolute ban on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and the first thing the United States does is degrade that state by setting up and running a secret torture chamber on Polish soil."

And that in itself was illegal, right? Hello? Is this thing on? Anybody there? Anyone at all?

via @theharryshearer

I Do (2006)**
So-so French rom-com that plays like a Hollywood rom-com which is not a good thing. Watchable for the two leads, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Alain Chabat.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)****
Werner Herzog makes serious films, there is no doubt about that, and that deserves respect and admiration. However, his style of direction is so minimal, so matter-of-fact, it tends to minimize the impact of the what is taking place on the screen. You can read the script and be very moved by the story but you watch the film and it lays there flat. Restraint is one thing, but overwhelming lifelessness is quite another.

UPDATE 11/09/15: Second viewing experience is much improved. The casting is superb, the images quite impressive and once you know the story and the "enigma", the nuances and subtleties in the film come to life and are quite moving.

Scoop (2006)**
Enjoyable "minor" Woody Allen comedy with the director performing as a magician who could have been in Broadway Danny Rose. Top notch cast, lots of good one-liners, light, breezy and fairly forgettable.

Metropolitan (1990)***
Enjoyable Jane Austen-meets-Woody Allen light comedy about modern Manhattan young elites. Another way to describe it would be "Pretty In Pink" among the 1%-ers. Literate script, concise direction, nicely shot, appealingly cast.

The Chase (1966)***
Bizarre flick about a small Texas town that apparently goes berserk every Saturday night, fueled by an unending flow of alcohol, sex and violence. All-star cast and crew undermined by an overzealous producer. Still the film holds interest and closes with some real power.

Office Space (1999)***
Hilariously accurate depiction of the life of a modern office drone with exceptional supporting characterizations. The lead character however is vacuous and not very interesting and this weakens the film a lot. A better actor as the lead may have helped.

My Best Fiend - Klaus Kinski (1999)**
Essential viewing for movie buffs, but the casual moviegoer will be nonplussed. At the start, Kinski seems to appear insane but by film's end it is clear Herzog has the real problems.

...And They Lived Happily Ever After (2004)**
French farce about, what else, marriage, fidelity, sex, etc. Light and playful, sometimes absurd.

The Hot Rock (1972)**
Breezy heist flick with an appealing cast and smart script. Ron Leibman is a hoot.

Age of Ignorance by Charles Simic | The New York Review of Books:
"Where else on earth would a president who rescued big banks from bankruptcy with taxpayers’ money and allowed the rest of us to lose $12 trillion in investment, retirement, and home values be called a socialist?"

Banks, debt creation, and the financial takeover | eats shoots 'n leaves:
"This is the clearest explanation we’ve heard yet of the mechanisms used by politically powerful financial institutions to capture both public and private wealth.

"The fundamental principle: Creation of money by banks in the form of debt allows banks to use compound interest as a mechanism to capture the commons, while government creation of money through investment in public infrastructure and services creates wealth."

Downhill Racer (1969)****
Stellar directorial debut for Michael Ritchie in this tale of a young man with a talent for skiing and little else. Best skiing sequences on film. Tight, spare script, no filler. Marred only by the occasional heavy handed soundtrack.

Cobra Verde (1987)**
Klaus Kinski is exceptional yet again, in another Werner Herzog tale of crazy men in South American. This time he's a ruthless bandit who manages to become a slave mogul. Interesting in parts, but as a whole it feels like we've been down this road before with Herzog/Kinski.

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)**
So-so direction mars this otherwise fine character driven tale of old time mountain men. Will Geer is terrific.

Anthony Zimmer (2005)**
Gorgeous Nice locations and Sophie Marceau are the highlights of this French thriller.

The Housemaid (2010)**
Impeccably photographed, well acted and visually interesting, but the film never seems to reach its full potential.

Neuroscience And Justice Edge Master Class 2011 | Edge:
"And so the whole notion, I think, there's a realization for me, that the whole notion of this free will and the brain and determinism has been miscast. We just accept the fact that we have this automatic brain, and we use this as our metaphor. So cars are automatic, and yet cars with all their determinism that we can specify, in no way tell us about traffic. So when the cars start interacting in a social setting, you get all of a sudden, incredible new capacities that cannot be described in any way by studying the individual cars.

"I would just say the same with brains. Brains are automatic. But our freedom and our sense of personal responsibility come from the interaction, the social interaction, the glue of the environment, of the social grouping. And that's where you look for responsibility, and that's why even though we are these finely tuned machines and narratives and all the rest of it, we hold people responsible because that is the nature of the social exchange between people, and that's how you should look upon responsibility."

The Skin I Live In (2011)**
Strange Frankenstein-ish tale of revenge attempts to serve as some sort of metaphor for gender identity. Compelling, but a misstep for Almodóvar.

The Candidate (1972)****
Still the best film about modern politics and still, unfortunately, relevant and topical. Redford is quite good, Karen Carlson is stunning, director Michael Ritchie at the top of his game. Smart, witty, spot on script.

Fitzcarraldo (1982)**
Like an opera it is far too long, but there are many fine moments as well as the lovely Claudia Cardinale.

They Might Be Giants (1971)**
Dated counter-culture fable in gritty NYC nevertheless watchable due to the performances of Scott and Woodward in the leads. Focus on them, ignore the supporting cast and shoddy direction.

Woyzeck (1979)*
Kinski is impressive again but, as usual, Herzog's off-the-cuff style undercuts him.

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)**
A film made off-the-cuff in difficult conditions and it shows. Klaus Kinski gives an interesting and potentially great performance, some remarkable river rafting scenes, some stunning photography but Herzog's bizarre seat-of-the-pants directing style fails to capitalize.

Elaine Pagels on the Book of Revelation : The New Yorker:
"You can’t help feeling, along with Pagels, a pang that the Gnostic poems, so much more affecting in their mystical, pantheistic rapture, got interred while Revelation lives on. But you also have to wonder if there ever was a likely alternative. Don’t squishy doctrines of transformation through personal illumination always get marginalized in mass movements? As Stephen Batchelor has recently shown, the open-minded, non-authoritarian side of Buddhism, too, quickly succumbed to its theocratic side, gasping under the weight of those heavy statues. The histories of faiths are all essentially the same: a vague and ambiguous millennial doctrine preached by a charismatic founder, Marx or Jesus; mystical variants held by the first generations of followers; and a militant consensus put firmly in place by the power-achieving generation. Bakunin, like the Essenes, never really had a chance. The truth is that punitive, hysterical religions thrive, while soft, mystical ones must hide their scriptures somewhere in the hot sand."

The Artist (2011)**
This picture was apparently made by and for fans of silent movies. It is made well enough, but the story is pedestrian at best, and the acting is not enough to overcome that. Dull.

Love Crime (2010)**
Kristin Scott Thomas is her usual compelling self but Ludivine Sagnier can't match her and looks perpetually in a state of shock in this circular tale of corporate back stabbing.

Hugo (2011)**
A nearly constant and distracting score, an extremely mobile camera for no other reason than 3d gimmicks, scenes that are oddly paced, a story that seems to be saying that movies are far better than books and none of the trademark Scorsese vitality. Technically superb but it's over-designed and cluttered.

The Monkees - DayDream Believer - YouTube
RIP Davy. :-(

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)***
After seeing the picture a second time, I have a theory: Blake Edwards knew he could never film the actual novel in a realistic way and get away with it, so he decided to stylize and colorize the whole thing so he could pretend it was a satire. "It's just a cartoon." Yes, it's a silly cartoon with a buck-toothed Mickey Rooney as a Japanese landlord, ultra-colorful Manhattan scenes, odd dialogue and situations, a luminous Audrey Hepburn, a lovely, haunting theme song which she sings perfectly and an undercurrent of sadness and melancholy. I still, however, think George Peppard is all wrong.

Detour (1945)****
Extremely low budget proto-noir with one of the all time great femme fatale performances by Ann Savage. Director Edgar Ulmer keeps the pace brisk so you can't tell the film was shot in essentially two locations: a hotel room and a car. Great fun.

Ruthless (1948)**
Overwrought melodrama about a voracious power fiend whose only motivation seems to be because somebody else has it. Sidney Greenstreet does a good job but he is badly miscast as a rival.

Wait Until Dark (1967)**
Alan Arkin is having a blast but the movie gets tiresome pretty quickly. One of the first to employ the not-dead-yet villain trope.

How to Steal a Million (1966)**
You can't beat the pairing of Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in Paris. It's a shame the material is so woefully dull.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)**
Bleak, horrific story of immediately post-war Japan and two siblings struggling to survive. Not an entertaining picture despite excellent realistic animation.

The Natural (1984)**
The picture is fine in the first half with nicely restrained yet stylish direction, but falters in the second when the score becomes obtrusive and the momentum slows considerably. Then the abrupt ending.

The Forgetting Pill Erases Painful Memories Forever | Wired.com:
"Once you start questioning the reality of memory, things fall apart pretty quickly. So many of our assumptions about the human mind—what it is, why it breaks, and how it can be healed—are rooted in a mistaken belief about how experience is stored in the brain. (According to a recent survey, 63 percent of Americans believe that human memory “works like a video camera, accurately recording the events we see and hear so that we can review and inspect them later.”) We want the past to persist, because the past gives us permanence. It tells us who we are and where we belong. But what if your most cherished recollections are also the most ephemeral thing in your head?"

Woody Allen, Exclusive Interview | OUT OF ORDER Magazine:
"That’s the easy part; the technical part is easy. Where you fail all the time in movies, or ninety-nine percent of the time, is in the script. That’s the problem. If you have a good script, a really good script, you can give it to a mediocre director and he’ll get, you know, not a bad movie. If you have a bad script and you give it to the best director in the world, it’ll look nice but you’ll never be interested in it. So it isn’t the cities or the technical part that ever trips you up. It’s always the script. Every country has good actors, every country has good cameramen and technicians but it’s hard to write something that works and that people enjoy and get interested in. That’s really the hard part."

The Descendants (2011)**
Disappointing follow-up to Sideways, this is NOT a comedy. This is a stark, raw and uncompromising look at the privileged classes and how utterly divorced from reality they can be. A bit too under directed by Alexander Payne, which makes it hard to determine exactly what he is going for with this material.

Amadeus (1984)**
Cut about 45 minutes and you have yourself a fine film. As it stands, unless you love Mozart's operas, you have something less. Prague fills in nicely for Vienna in the external shots.

Dick Tracy (1990)**
Stylish, colorful and technically impressive take on the comic cop ultimately cannot transcend its material.

The China Syndrome (1979)***
Extremely plausible and prophetic film about the dangers of unregulated corporations, played out in reality all too often, such as the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline disaster. James Bridges directs with style, wit and extreme restraint eschewing a music soundtrack to great effect. Fine, understated performances.

Anthony Hopkins: I've never been really close to anyone | Film | The Guardian:
"What's your idea of a good night?

Staying in and watching Mob Wives on TV. I don't have many friends; I'm very much a loner. As a child I was very isolated and I've never been really close to anyone. Ask nothing, expect nothing. That's my creed. We're all just a bunch of sinners crashing around in the darkness."

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
"...Third, our brains are composed of vast, complex, and shifting collections of subparts, most of which we have no access to; this book was written over the course of a few years by several different people, all of whom were named David Eagleman, but who were somewhat different with each passing hour."

A succinct summary of the book from the afterword. Free will advocates will have to do some pretty fancy footwork to keep up.

The Remains of the Day (1993)****
One of Anthony Hopkins finest performances in a film of several layers, but ultimately about how the human need for meaning causes us to ignore what is right under our noses, and our despair when and if we finally realize it. Director James Ivory nails it.

Howards End (1992)***
Well deserved Oscar nom for Vanessa Redgrave and generally fine performances from the rest of the cast along with impeccable production by Merchant Ivory, but it's just a tad too long which tends to dissipate its impact.

Papillon (1973)**
Well-shot Hollywood bio-pic of French petty thief sentenced to Devil's Island in Guyana and his several escape attempts. Works ok as an action flick, but the acting is wildly uneven and it goes on for too long.

"Mike Martz Retires; The University of Miami Is Getting Tough on Boosters - Business - The Atlantic Wire:
"Mike Martz, engineer of the pass-happy offensive gameplans that helped the turn-of-the-millennium St. Louis Rams reach two Super Bowls in three years, says he's done with coaching at the age of 60. Martz was offensive coordinator of the 1999 Rams team that defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV and scored 526 points during the regular season, which at the time was second most in NFL history. Two years later, he was the head coach of the Rams squad that lost to the 14-point underdog New England Patriots in the biggest upset Super Bowl history. Martz was bizarrely fired by the Rams in 2005 after taking a medical leave of absence, but resurfaced as offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears, improving each team's offense before departing on less-than-ideal terms. This was particularly true of his time in Chicago, which ended earlier in the month when head coach Lovie Smith -- his defensive coordinator during the Rams glory years -- helped to push Martz out the door after two seasons."

Refreshing to read a report about Martz free of hearsay, rumor and unfounded cliche. Sadly, those things keep following Martz and inhibit his ability to be even interviewed for head coaching and OC positions around the league. The fact of the matter is, for an OC whose team was in the NFC Championship game a year ago and, if not for 2 devastating injuries to key personnel, would have at least qualified for the playoffs this year to not be sought after is highly suspect. When someone like Brian Schottenheimer, who hasn't done a thing with the Jets, is coveted and Martz is shunned, something is wrong.

Of Gods and Men (2010)****
Great performances by the 8 leads makes this an absorbing drama of coming to terms with the inevitable.

The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) **
Decent Hollywood (i.e. rife with factual errors) biopic of the famous aviator's first transatlantic voyage, nicely shot by Billy Wilder.

The Freshman (1990) ***
Nifty screwball comedy with enough gimmicks to overcome a few traces of '80's movie cliches. Brando shows a deft comedic touch.

2011 In Review: Movies

**** Tree of Life
*** Midnight In Paris
*** Rango
** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
** Melancholia
** Rio
* The Muppets

2011 In Review: Music

**** Army Navy - The Last Place
**** Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship
**** Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
**** Lindsey Buckingham - Seeds We Sow
**** The Strokes - Angles
**** The Title Tracks - In Blank
**** Wild Flag - Wild Flag
*** Beirut - The Rip Tide
*** Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing
*** Blondie - Panic of Girls
*** Brilliant Colors - Again and Again
*** Charlotte Gainsbourg - Stage Whisper
*** Everybody Else - Wanderlust
*** Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes
*** Kathryn Calder - Bright And Vivid
*** Mates of State - Mountaintops
*** Pugwash - The Olympus Sound
*** REM - Collapse Into Now
*** Ralph Covert & The Bad Examples - Smash Record
*** Raveonettes - Raven In the Grave
*** Rockpile - Live at Montreaux 1980
*** Scout - Pi
*** Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
*** Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics
*** The Wrong Words - The Wrong Words
*** Wilco - The Whole Love
** Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare
** Carole King - A Christmas Carole
** Cut Copy - Zonoscope
** Fruit Bats - Tripper
** Human League - Credo
** Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
** Ladytron - Gravity the Seducer
** She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas
** Sloan - The Double Cross
** Spoons - Static In Transmission
** TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light
** The Bangles - Sweetheart of the Sun
** The Cars - Move Like This
** The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
** The Ettes - Wicked Will
** The Feelies - Here Before
** The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
** The Sounds - Something To Die For
** They Might Be Giants - Join Us
** Viva Voce - The Future Will Destroy You
** William Shatner - Seeking Major Tom
** Woods - Sun and Shade
** Yes - Fly From Here
** Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting
** Yuck - Yuck
* Destroyer - Kaputt
* Michael Bublé - Christmas
* Robyn Hitchcock - Tromso, Kaptein
* The New York Dolls - Dancing Backward In High Heels

Our Selves, Other Cells - Boing Boing:
"How many people have left their DNA in us? Any baby we’ve ever conceived, even ones we’ve miscarried unknowingly. Sons leave their Y chromosome genes in their mothers. The fetal cells from each pregnancy, flowing in a mother’s bloodstream, can be passed on to her successive kids. If we have an older sibling, that older sibling’s cells may be in us. The baby in a large family may harbor the genes of many brothers and sisters. My mother’s cells are in my body, and so are my daughter’s cells, and half my daughter’s DNA comes from her dad. Some of those cells may be in my brain. This is squirm-worthy."

We have to do better on inequality - FT.com
"Why has the top 1 per cent of the population done so well relative to the rest? The answer probably lies substantially in changing technology and globalisation. When George Eastman revolutionised photography, he did very well and, because he needed a large number of Americans to carry out his vision, the city of Rochester had a thriving middle class for two generations. By contrast, when Steve Jobs revolutionised personal computing, he and the shareholders in Apple (who are spread all over the world) did very well but a much smaller benefit flowed to middle-class American workers both because production was outsourced and because the production of computers and software was not terribly labour intensive."

This was written by Lawrence Summers. Either he is incompetent, or he is trying to delude us. Either way he is an idiot.

via @bittman

The Bishop's Wife (1947)**
Bizarre theology, even by Hollywood standards, and the original casting with Grant in the role of the bishop might have worked better. It just seems like it is all cobbled together just so we can have a tearful "I must go" scene. A Christmas perennial although the holiday has nothing at all to do with the story.