Duma (2005)****
I'm not turning into Roger Ebert I SWEAR! It's really just a coincidence that my entertainment choices lately have all been worthy of 4 stars. This is a Carroll Ballard film so you expect superb visuals, realistic animal scenes, and bonding between humans and the animals. This one though has a bit more dialogue and human interaction than I remember in his previous films. Truly a very good family film in all the best senses of the phrase.

Cars (2006)****
I really believe these Pixar guys have this stuff down now. The animation in this film is just phenomenal. The level of detail is incredible. There are so many sight gags in DEEP background, so many beautiful touches all over the screen. You can enjoy this film with no sound whatsoever. And that is a bit of a drawback since the story is not really all that engaging and the characters kind of 2 dimensional (I KNOW it's a cartoon!) and there is an extended sequence in the middle of the picture that really slows things down and seems very unnecessary. So this isn't a perfect film all things considered. But it sure comes pretty close.

Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror - New York Times:
"The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans' financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift....While many of those transactions have occurred entirely on foreign soil, officials have also been keenly interested in international transfers of money by individuals, businesses, charities and other groups under suspicion inside the United States, officials said. A small fraction of Swift's records involve transactions entirely within this country, but Treasury officials said they were uncertain whether any had been examined....Treasury officials said Swift was exempt from American laws restricting government access to private financial records because the cooperative was considered a messaging service, not a bank or financial institution. But at the outset of the operation, Treasury and Justice Department lawyers debated whether the program had to comply with such laws before concluding that it did not, people with knowledge of the debate said. "

Well all righty then. Treasury officials concluded that this was all legal after a presumed strongly spirited debate. See, it's not really financial information, it's just "messages". And really, only a "small fraction" of the data is "messages" sent solely within the USA even though they have no idea if that data was examined.

This is very, very bad.

Loud Family - What If It Works? (2006) ****
This is not an album...this is an EVENT! The initial 10 song cycle is the best I've heard in quite a while. This is meta-power pop at its finest. Songs about songs and about our relationship to the songs and the relationships IN the songs. Typically brainy fare from Scott Miller and Anton Barbeau but with an extra layer of back beat and melody somehow squeezed in. 3 covers, 3 Millers, 3 Barbeaus and one collaboration plus 2 bonus tracks besides. I have not been a big fan of Mr. Barbeau's in the past but his contributions to this opus, especially the title track, are exceptional and much more cohesive than what I have heard from him before. Here's hoping this excellent effort gives Scott Miller the success in the marketplace that has eluded him so far.

HNN: Jonathan Zimmerman: A Florida law banning relativism in classes ignores reality and 75 years of academic tradition:
"And just last week, in an unprecedented move, the president's brother approved a law barring revisionist history in Florida public schools. 'The history of the United States shall be taught as genuine history and shall not follow the revisionist or postmodernist viewpoints of relative truth,' declares Florida's Education Omnibus Bill, signed by Gov. Jeb Bush. 'American history shall be viewed as factual, not as constructed.' "

You can "view" it as factual all you want but that doesn't make it so. This is what happens when fear takes control of government. Or when power hungry people are allowed to use fear for their own ends.

The Big Lebowski (1998)****
Supremely funny sendup of LA and whodunits. When I first saw it, I thought it was "minor" Coens, but with each viewing I appreciate it more. Jeff Bridges delivers a tour de force performance, but even so, John Goodman nearly steals the picture with one of the most hilarious comedic performances ever. Beautifully shot by Roger Deakins.

Elvis Costello - Allen Toussaint - The River In Reverse ****
Excellent recording. Elvis Costello continues his exploration of American southern music (see The Delivery Man) with this soulful and stirring collection of Allen Toussaint songs plus some new collaborations and the "Tramp the Dirt Down"-like Costello composition of the title track. Check out this final lyric:

So count your blessings when they ask permission
To govern with money and superstition
They tell you it's all for your own protection
'Til you fear your own reflection
But the times are passing from illumination
Like bodies falling from a constellation
An uncivil war divides the nation
So erase the tape on that final ape running down creation

Wake me up
Wake me up with a slap or kiss
There must be something better than this

Amen, brother EC, amen.

CJR Daily: Jim Lehrer on Billy Bob, Reports of Rain and Stenography As Journalism:
"JL: That's part of it. Absolutely that's part of it. I mean, if somebody says -- doesn't matter if it's the president or who --if somebody says, 'It rained on Thursday,' and you know for a fact it didn't rain on Thursday, if the person was of a nature that you felt you should quote him, 'It rained on Thursday.' Second paragraph, third paragraph -- or in television terms second or third sentence -- you would say, 'However, according to the weather bureau it didn't [rain Thursday].' But you don't call the person a liar. The person who would call that person a liar would be the person who'd read that story and say, 'My god, Billy Bob lied.' But I'm not doing that. I'm providing the information so that the person can make their decision. People might say, 'Well the weather bureau has lied. Or I was out that day and it was raining ...'
Most of the stories I have covered in 45 years have been gray stories. There are very few really stark black and white stories. On a daily basis there are some huge ones that are, sure, from time to time, but it is helping the reader sort through all this sort of gray stuff out there. It's not about, 'This guy is a liar, this guy isn't a liar.' I wish it was that simple. It seldom ever is.

LCB: Is there any place for writing, 'Billy Bob said it rained Thursday. The weather bureau said it didn't. I was out that day and I say it didn't.'

JL: I would never do that. That's not my function to do that.

LCB: Is it a newspaper's function?

JL: Look, I'm just telling you what I do, ok? I'm an expert on the NewsHour and it isn't how I practice journalism. I am not involved in the story. I serve only as a reporter or someone asking questions. I am not the story."

Unbelievably shocking stuff. I mean, why is there even a DEBATE about what happened to journalism in the past 25 years or so? Jim Lehrer, one of the most respected journalists in America, is an absolute IDIOT.

Commonweal - Merton's Enlightenment:
"It is apparent that it was not Merton’s keen intellect that had finally decoded this higher power. Rather, his heart and soul were so completely subsumed on that day at Gal Vihara that there was no longer any need to do anything. He could simply rest in the simplicity of it all. Everything and nothing were but different words for the same reality. The venerable stages of the contemplative life had worked their mysterious power in Merton: the purgative-through decades of an ascetic life-had yielded to the illuminative-revealed in so many of his books and journal notes-and now, the final stage-the unitive-was at hand."

A beloved Christian seeker has it all finally made clear 4 days before he is accidentally killed. As he said in his journal, "The thing about all this is that there is no puzzle, no problem, and really no 'mystery'. All problems are resolved and everything is clear, simply because what matters is clear."

:: rogerebert.com :: Great Movies :: Patton (xhtml):
"Franklin J. Schaffner's 'Patton' (1970), released at the height of the unpopular war in Vietnam, was described by many reviewers at the time as 'really' an anti-war film. It was nothing of the kind. It was a hard-line glorification of the military ethic, personified by a man whose flaws and eccentricities marginalized him in peacetime, but found the ideal theater in battle."

This is one of my favorite films and one of the best ever. I think Mr. Ebert is missing the thrust of this movie though. To my eyes, this is a sober, clear-eyed assessment of a madman who found his unique brand of madness most useful on the battlefield. What does that say about warfare then? Does that glorify it? Not logically. That means that war is MADNESS, hence ANTI-war. And you don't need to make an anti-war film by shoving your "message" down the throats of viewers a la Spielberg or Stone. I didn't find anything glorified in this picture. I understood that PATTON glorified war and warriors. But as we all could see he was INSANE! So what does that say about his glorification? It always surprises me to read reviews about this film that declare it as pro-war, pro-military, pro-ANYTHING. And maybe Coppola and Schaffner did intend it that way although I can't imagine why. I think they simply wanted to show Patton in all his madness and self-anointed glory and let the viewers decide if that was enough.

STLtoday - Tony La Russa on Ozzie Smith: 'He's not welcome':
"'If, as he says, he has his rightful place ... when they welcome him back -- and he deserves to be there because he was a Hall of Fame player -- he won't have to worry about running into the old skipper. I won't be in the area. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror.'"

I got to hand it to the guy he knows how to make it seem like HE is the victim. TLR came in and was asked to get rid of Ozzie. Well that was all fine and well except Mr. Smith didn't really want to leave and subsequently worked his way back to not just playing shape but starting shape and starting numbers. That didn't fit in with TLR's plan even though he made it clear that whoever had the best numbers come the end of Spring would get the nod. As many many other ball players who suffered under TLR in the past could have told Ozzie, don't count on it. TLR treats ball plaers well IF he likes them. And why he would like you or not is anybody's guess. Who could work under those conditions? All anybody wants is to be treated fairly and honestly. TLR has shown time and again that he cannot do that. Hell he cannot even be honest with himself! He sticks with some players way past their prime for reasons only known to himself and shuffles others off or sabotages their careers for equally mysterious reasons.

KQED: Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way
I love Jacques Pepin. And having been a fan of his for quite a while, I must say this latest series of his is sort of like a master class in his philosophy of food and cooking. I also enjoy this series much more than the ones he did with his daughter, Claudine. I liked those two, but this one seems more intimate, more personal. At this stage of his life and career, Mr. Pepin (I was going to use M. Pepin but he is understandably proud of his having been an American citizen longer than a French citizen accent notwithstanding) is at the top of his game and so at ease and playful with it. Watching these episodes, I get the feeling it's just him and me in his kitchen and I feel just so privileged that such a master chef and cook is sharing his expertise and love of food and cooking. It's very comforting and enjoyable.

Da Vinci Code reviews "frustrating," says director - Yahoo! News:
"'This sounds a little 'hucksterish', but people really respond to the movie better the second time than they do the first time. Of course it's frustrating that some of the critics have been harsh with it and that's disappointing, because I'm the type of person that likes to please everyone. I think with this project, that's an impossibility and I've kind of known that all along.'"

Of course, I have not seen the film nor do I plan to. Just going by the reviews I have read though, and what Mr. Howard says, it appears that once again he has tried to please everyone instead of trying to make a film that reflects HIS vision. I don't really believe he has one and that makes him a handy man not an artist. Don't get me wrong, handy men CAN make works of art. I consider Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark to be such a work and had Howard had that vision of the story and presented it as such it may have worked out better. The only film of his that I found entertaining is Night Shift. Come to think of it, that was primarily due to an exceptional Micheal Keaton performance and an extremely comely Shelley Long as the required hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold. I have several Catholic friends who are quite upset by the subject matter of this flick but as soon as I heard it was a Ron Howard film with Tom Hanks in the lead I KNEW they had nothing to worry about. This project has SAFE and INOFFENSIVE and DULL stamped all over it. Ignore it and it will go away.

AlterNet: The 9/11 Story That Got Away:
"'Even that weekend, there was lot else going on. There was always a lot going on at the White House, so to a certain extent, there was that kind of 'cry wolf' problem. But I got the sense that part of the reason that I was being told of what was going on was that the people in counter-terrorism were trying to get the word to the president or the senior officials through the press, because they were not able to get listened to themselves.

'Sometimes, you wonder about why people tell you things and why people … we always wonder why people leak things, but that's a very common motivation in Washington. I remember once when I was a reporter in Egypt, and someone from the agency gave me very good material on terrorism and local Islamic groups.

'I said, 'Why are you doing this? Why are you giving this to me?' and he said, 'I just can't get my headquarters to pay attention to me, but I know that if it's from the New York Times, they're going to give it a good read and ask me questions about it.' And there's also this genuine concern about how, if only the president shared the sense of panic and concern that they did, more would be done to try and protect the country."

But even if they printed the story, THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T READ THE NEWSPAPER! One of the problems with print journalism as it is practiced today is this obsession with "the story". Ms. Miller was working on this epic Al Qaida story for months and months, unable to print anything because she didn't have the complete arc yet. She has these leaks about an impending attack that, to me, an untrained eye/ear for sure, seem to be much more worrisome to the CT people yet she can't print it because she can't complete "the story"! Why not go with what you have, with something called THE FACTS and let the reader think about it a little. "Security Experts More Worried Than Usual" would be a good one. This is one great benefit of the rise of blogging: stuff gets out there! Yes, the onus is on the recipient to make sense of it all and to construct their own "story" but in reality it always has been and even if you are presented with "the story"in the print media you HAVE to read it with the knowledge that this has all been filtered already for you. Stuff is missing, sutff was added. Caveat emptor is always advisable and will always be advisable. Thanks for nothing Tom Wolfe!

Nanny McPhee (2005)**
I really wanted to like this picture because I am a sucker for Emma Thompson. She wrote the script, which is very well done, and the acting, especially Angela Lansbury who steals the picture as Aunt Adelaide, is top notch. It's a high quality fairy tale type story. My problem is the score is nearly oppressive. It is extremely annoying and annoyingly used by the director. It completely undermines all the moments it is supposed to enhance. I realize this is a film aimed primarily at children, but does that mean you have to assume they are IDIOTS? I've read a few interviews with Ms. Thompson and she never mentions the director which implies to me she was not completely happy with the finished project. And it's a shame too.

Old Music Roundup:
Having recently "discovered" Viva el Amor by The Pretenders I just wanted to re-iterate that Chrissie Hynde is a genius. This is a great album and it stands up to anything in the group's catalog. I also have been listening to much of the group's past songs and one struck me as especially rewarding. It's not from one of their more consistent or critically praised records, but the song is a classic nonetheless. It's called Night In My Veins. I can't recall another contemporary singer/songwriter, with the possible exception of Lucinda Williams who can sound so sexy-in-a-dirty-in-a-good-way. This song is an expression of the joys of sensual pleasure and what could be wrong about that? (Wrong-in-a-good-way that is.)

Match Point (2005)***
It's Whit Stillman meets Alfred Hitchcock via Woody Allen. Neatly written, beautifully shot and composed, well acted. I don't know if it was lead actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers' resemblance to Malcolm McDowell or the London locales subbing for New York but several scenes had a welcome Kubrick-ian quality.

Rice says "time to shake the trees" over Darfur - Yahoo! News: "'Frankly we need to shake the trees a bit, shake the bureaucracy a little bit and say to people it's not acceptable to wait any longer for at least the planning for a robust security force,' Rice told reporters."
Does this woman have no shame whatsoever? Recall Richard Clarke's testimony during the 9/11 Commission hearings describing how during the Clinton administration they took steps to "shake the trees" of the security department bureaucracies to prevent a terrorist attack at LAX. And she had the gall to testify that all the warnings and PDB's about an al Qaida imminent attack were just "historical" or some such nonsense. I guess we will have to wait for her memoirs 20 years from now before she even comes close to admitting she may have been in error way back in 2001. She is so pointless.

May 1 protest aims to "close" cities - Yahoo! News:
"'It's intimidation when a million people march down main streets in our major cities under the Mexican flag,' said Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman volunteer border patrol group. 'This will backfire,' he said. Some Latinos have also expressed concerns that the boycott and marches could stir up anti-immigrant sentiment."

"Could"? Um I think there is already QUITE A LOT of anti-immigration sentiment. And yeah Jim, how does it feel to be "intimidated"? Be thankful that for you it only lasts a few hours. It defies explanation how so many people, many immigrants or children of immigrants, can be intimidated by someone marching down the street carrying a Mexican flag. Oh they'll have no problem with Mexican flags come May 5 as long as beer is involved. Protest marches are an essential element of America. It's high time somebody felt stirred up enough to try and change things. I hope to be among them this Monday.

SACRAMENTO / California coffers fill with $1.5 billion in extra income tax / Should money go to debt and reserves or schools and aid?:
"'The extraordinary cash developments, significantly above estimated levels, feel like the revenue performance of the late 1990s,' Hill said. 'But we don't fully understand the basis of the revenue surge and how much is one-time in nature.'"

This is mind-boggling to me. To be able to mis-estimate revenue by so much and expect to run anything like a realistic budget is ludicrous. How can we make any decisions at all based upon government budget estimates? It's basically a free-for-all apparently. And these morons are debating what to do with the "extra" cash. God help us all.