Birdman (2014) ****

Original, funny, audacious and inventive. The entire cast is outstanding led by a career re-defining performance by Mr. Mom.

An Oral History of the Epic Space Film The Right Stuff | WIRED

"PHILIP KAUFMAN: We combined the great NASA footage with pieces that were built on the set. We were pioneering in that kind of insertion of actors into historical events. For example, we combined footage of the real Alan Shepard being loaded into the capsule with Scott Glenn doing it on the stage. We had Scott Glenn shaking hands with Kennedy; they did the same thing in Forrest Gump and made a big thing out of spending a million dollars to do it. We did that in one afternoon."

Moving from film stock to digital, at least so far, has achieved less creative results. All you have to do is animate the scene you want via CGI and show it in near darkness or with extreme short cuts so you can't really tell what is going on and the brain of the viewer fills in the blanks. Sad.

Quantum Experiment Shows How Time ‘Emerges’ from Entanglement — The Physics arXiv Blog — Medium

"The experiment involves the creation of a toy universe consisting of a pair of entangled photons and an observer that can measure their state in one of two ways. In the first, the observer measures the evolution of the system by becoming entangled with it. In the second, a god-like observer measures the evolution against an external clock which is entirely independent of the toy universe.

"The experimental details are straightforward. The entangled photons each have a polarisation which can be changed by passing it through a birefringent plate. In the first set up, the observer measures the polarisation of one photon, thereby becoming entangled with it. He or she then compares this with the polarisation of the second photon. The difference is a measure of time.

"In the second set up, the photons again both pass through the birefringent plates which change their polarisations. However, in this case, the observer only measures the global properties of both photons by comparing them against an independent clock.

"In this case, the observer cannot detect any difference between the photons without becoming entangled with one or the other. And if there is no difference, the system appears static. In other words, time does not emerge."

Genetically Modified Organisms Risk Global Ruin, Says Black Swan Author — The Physics arXiv Blog — Medium

"One of the arguments that genetically modified crops are safe is that it is no more unnatural than the selective farming that people have been doing for generations. However, Taleb and co argue that this kind of farming is different from the current practice because any mistake in the form of a harmful variation will almost certainly be localised and die out as a result. This is the natural process of selection.

"Over many generations, humans have chosen and adapted biological organisms that are relatively safe for consumption, even though there are many organisms that are not safe, including parts of and varieties of the crops that we do cultivate.

"By contrast, genetic engineering works in a very different way. This process introduces rapid changes on a global scale. But selection cannot operate on this scale, they argue.

“'There is no comparison between tinkering with the selective breeding of genetic components of organisms that have previously undergone extensive histories of selection and the top-down engineering of taking a gene from a fish and putting it into a tomato,' they argue. 'Saying that such a product is natural misses the process of natural selection by which things become “natural.”'”

Fading Gigolo (2013) ***

An appealing cast, just as long as it needs to be, interesting quirks, and Woody being "Woody" add up to an entertaining 90 minutes.

BBC News - Reagan's apology to Thatcher over Grenada revealed

"The release confirms that President Reagan secretly recorded his discussions in the White House situation room, a habit that was previously thought to have ended with Richard Nixon's departure from office."

I guess some habits are just too hard to break.

via @HealeyParera

Obamacare Architect Jon Gruber Says Deceiving Americans Necessary to Pass Bill | naked capitalism

"This recently-posted video (hat tip Daily Signal) shows Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber matter-of-factly stating that an honestly and simply described Obamacare would not have passed Congress. Preying on 'the stupidity of the American voter' was necessary to get the bill passed. Of course, Gruber deems that to be a good thing."

It's a shame we no longer prosecute fraud.

Interstellar (2014) **

The two stars are for a half dozen stunning space travel set pieces and some cool robots. Otherwise this is a bloated, heavy handed jumble of some of the hoariest sci-fi plot cliches ever filmed, and some troubling ultra-right messages. Very disappointing.

Alps (2011) ***

Follow up to Dogtooth is totally different yet very similar. Mind bending premise played out to horrific conclusions. Yorgos Lanthimos is a director to watch for.

Sophia Loren explains her infamous side eye in Jayne Mansfield photo | PopWatch | EW.com

"'She came right for my table. She knew everyone was watching. She sat down. And now, she was barely… Listen. Look at the picture. Where are my eyes? I’m staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate. In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow—BOOM!—and spill all over the table.'"

Jacques Pepin’s last series for KQED shares his 'Heart & Soul’ - San Francisco Chronicle

"He says it has not been any more emotional for him to film this series, even knowing this is his final one.

"After all, he’s adamant that this is not the last you’ll see of him. He plans to do a book tour next year, continue teaching at Boston University and the International Culinary Center, and appear at Aspen Food & Wine.

“'I’ll do the same as I’ve always done, but just less of it,' he says. 'I won’t become a hermit. There is no retirement. As long as I’m hungry, I will cook.'”

To me, his series are the best TV shows, not just cooking shows, ever.

The Police Are Still Out of Control - Frank Serpico - POLITICO Magazine

"Today the combination of an excess of deadly force and near-total lack of accountability is more dangerous than ever: Most cops today can pull out their weapons and fire without fear that anything will happen to them, even if they shoot someone wrongfully. All a police officer has to say is that he believes his life was in danger, and he’s typically absolved. What do you think that does to their psychology as they patrol the streets—this sense of invulnerability? The famous old saying still applies: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

St. Vincent (2014) **

The first half of this movie is terrific, riding on the marvelous performance by Bill Murray but not even he can save it from the awful denouement.

so, alex goes... - "Relax, it’s a compliment."

"If you’re not a woman (or, in many cases, a gay man), you might not realize that we are the object of a pervasive, constant, and often stifling gaze. It is not unique to women, no, but women unequivocally, inarguably bear the brunt of it, and we see this in advertisements, on television, in movies, through dress codes, even in the way people talk to and compliment very small children. A lot of the images we find in media and pop culture cater to a powerful demographic and, thus, to the straight male gaze. The gaze is rewarded, consistently. It is used to being fed and satiated. But women aren’t here to sell men a product or a lifestyle or an image. Women do not exist to feed and satiate and appease the gaze.

"These are not compliments. These are leers that borrow the language of compliments."

The Blame Teachers Game: Has Anyone Heard of the South? | Beat the Press

"Of course if we look internationally, the best education outcomes on standardized tests are typically found in countries like Finland, where unionization of teachers is close to universal. One of the factors that might explain their success in education relative to the United States is that teachers are paid more relative to other professions. The ratio between the average pay of a doctor and a teacher in these countries is something closer to 2 to 1 rather than the 5 to 1 in the United States. And, they don't have a bloated financial sector where good performers can easily make 10-20 times the pay of an average teacher...The reality is that it is far-fetched to imagine that our schools will overcome all the disadvantages that poor children face. Countries that succeed in educating the bulk of their children don't have large portions of them living in poverty. They don't go to school hungry and worry about having a home to come back to."

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ***

Stylishly, but annoyingly, directed crime thriller boasts a fine performance by Jodie Foster and an even better performance by Anthony Hopkins. Strives to be something more than the sum of its parts and doesn't quite get there.

He Walked by Night (1948) **

Prototypical pseudo documentary police drama/noir about the hunt for a master thief who has killed a cop. Richard Basehart is surprisingly good and there's some nifty camera work.

Billy Joel, Thirty-Three Hit Wonder

"They’d met in a hotel bar on the island of St. Bart’s. He was fooling around on the piano, and Brinkley, along with the model Elle Macpherson and a nineteen-year-old Whitney Houston, gravitated to the little sunburned dynamo on the keys who was hamming it up for the girls. Brinkley sang the Portuguese lyrics of 'The Girl from Ipanema.' Macpherson draped herself over the piano. Joel quietly thanked his mother for forcing him to take piano lessons. Houston said, 'I’d like to sing,' but Joel, focussed on the supermodels, didn’t pay her much mind. Eventually, she persuaded him to play 'Respect.' 'She knocked it out of the park,' Brinkley recalled. Joel wound up dating Macpherson for a while, before he got together with Brinkley."

Never feel bad for Billy Joel. Ever.

Children of the Corn (1984) *

This flick gives Plan 9 a run for its money on the awful meter. Extremely low budget, extremely nonsensical even for the horror genre.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) **

One of Woody's earlier, funnier films. 7 segments, some successful some not so much, but always interesting.