NFL becomes victim of its own success | ProFootballTalk:
"The NFL’s success has suddenly become a weakness. The NFL and its players don’t have the luxury to wait until August before they look like greedy fools that take their success for granted. Fans are understandably outraged that the richest league in the country is in a work stoppage — even though it’s only March."

Another false equivalence. There was a CBA, collective bargaining agreement, in place that the OWNERS decided they wanted to abandon. Why can't sports "journalists" get this right? The players were perfectly happy with the CBA as it stood and apparently everyone was making A LOT of money with it. The true greedy party in this dispute is quite clearly the owners. They are the ones who decided to renegotiate this thing, not the players.

Leaving (2009)***
Trying to beat Isabelle Huppert at her own game, Kristin Scott Thomas is a knockout as a married bourgoisie who falls in love, perhaps for the first time in her life. Trouble is it's not with her husband and he doesn't like that, to say the least. Great performance by Thomas.

Little Caesar (1931)**
Influential gangster picture with a star-making performance by Edward G. Robinson, but it doesn't date well at all. Most of the acting is in that very broad silent film type style. Threadbare script and production.

Megamind (2010)*
Completely forgettable CGI animated riff on superheroes. Superman meets Shrek. Not a good thing.

Watership Down (1978)***
Excellent animated version of Richard Adams's novel about a group of rabbits longing to be free. Quite moving in places.

The Virgin Suicides (1999)****
Magnificent debut film from Sofia Coppola. Perfectly captures mid '70's teenage angst which is astounding since Ms. Coppola was born in 1971. The way the actors look and move and talk is remarkable. Exceptional use of period music. A directing tour de force. Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett are outstanding.

Rango (2011)***
Ups the ante on Pixar for CGI prowess. Incredibly realistic animation for everything except actual human beings although they come pretty close. The story is weird and meandering and not entirely coherent and maybe it is profound but I didn't get it. Funny in parts but doesn't resonate as a complete and satisfying tale. Too long and feels it.

The Swan (1956)**
Alec Guinness is fine as usual but miscast as a prince hunting for a princess. Grace Kelly is lovely as usual but the picture drags too often and a few lively sequences and a fine ending cannot compensate.

Mailbag: Friedman, Naked Swaps and Madoff | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy:
"'Here are some numbers for you. There were approximtely $1.4 trillion worth of subprime loans outstanding in the United States by the end of 2007. By the first quarter of 2009, there were forclosure filings against approximately 4.4 million properties. If it was only the subprime market's fault, $1.4 trillion would have covered the entire problem, right?

Yet the Federal Reserve, the treasury, and the FDIC forked out $13 trillion to fix the housing “correction”… With all that money, the government could have bought up every residential mortgage in the country – there were about $11.9 trillion worth at the end of December 2008 – and still have had about a trillion left over to buy homes for every American who couldn’t afford them.'"

It wasn't the bad mortgages. It was the bets on the bad mortgages. And the bets on the bets on the bad mortgages.

Citizen Ruth (1996)***
Alexander Payne's first picture shows all the hallmarks he would refine to perfection in his next film. Laura Dern delivers a tremendous performance as the titular character. Very good cast.

Mrs. Miniver (1942)***
Skirts the edge of blatant propoganda, but the skillful direction of William Wyler and the strong lead performances of Garson and Pidgeon keeps the film grounded and lend a realism to the Capra-esque script. Some terrific sequences.

Government Tries to Keep Secret What Many Consider a Fraud - NYTimes.com:
"Mr. Montgomery’s former lawyer, Michael Flynn — who now describes Mr. Montgomery as a “con man” — says he believes that the administration has been shutting off scrutiny of Mr. Montgomery’s business for fear of revealing that the government has been duped.

“The Justice Department is trying to cover this up,” Mr. Flynn said. “If this unravels, all of the evidence, all of the phony terror alerts and all the embarrassment comes up publicly, too. The government knew this technology was bogus, but these guys got paid millions for it.”"

Is he serious? Has Mr. Flynn been paying any attention at all the past 10 years? We have hard evidence that "the government" has transferred billions of dollars from taxpayers to corporations, has spent hundreds of billions of dollars and murdered hundreds of thousands of human beings, tortured and imprisoned thousands of innocent people all over the world and CONTINUES to do so, and nobody and I mean NOBODY gives a flying fuck. Some low level lackey somewhere may be trying to suppress this but it's to save his own ass not to prevent embarrassment to "the government". That entity ceased giving a shit years ago.

via @MJMcKean

Sisters (1973)*
Early Brian De Palma thriller tries too hard and ends up being silly. Very good score by the great Bernard Herrmann. A good Margot Kidder performance is wasted.

Home (2008)***
Nicely done darkly comic fable about trying to escape a difficult past. Huppert is again wonderful.

Dead Reckoning (1947)**
The dialog veers into too-cute territory a bit too often and Lizabeth Scott looks so much like Lauren Bacall as to be a distraction, especially paired with Humphrey Bogart. Minor noir.

The Odd Couple (1968)***
Sharp one-liners and a strong cast highlight this filmed version of Neil Simon's Broadway hit.

Pujols declines deal believed worth more than $200 million:
"“We’d like Albert to continue (with the Cardinals). He is an iconic player. He helps us win. He has helped us win,” DeWitt said. “It’s a process we have no control over. If he chooses to go elsewhere, he chooses to go elsewhere. That’s the business we’re in. The players are mobile in this generation. In the end, if he doesn’t stay a Cardinal – which we’ll make every effort that he does stay – we’ll be out there trying to win a division and championships just like we have in the last 15 years.”"

Um...no, I think you DO have control over the process. Yes, it takes 2 to reach a deal, but you have to do something called "negotiate" not stonewall. If the reports are correct and Pujols' initial offer was for $30M/yr for 10 years, and Alex Rodriquez, a very good player but not Pujols' level, currently makes $27.5M/yr, the Cardinals should have taken it and run. Because Pujols WILL get that and more in free agency.

Night Moves (1975)***
Entertaining vintage '70's noir from the great Arthur Penn. Would make a great twin bill with The Long Goodbye.

Calif TV weatherman pleads guilty to lewd act:
"San Diego police say a woman in her 20s saw Lizura was masturbating while watching her as she waiting at a bus stop. Lt. Andra Brown says another witness also reported seeing the incident.

Lizura told police he was adjusting window blinds."

Thus, a new euphemism is born.

To Have and Have Not | Vanity Fair
"Bacall continues, “I don’t think anybody that has a brain can really be happy. What is there really to be happy about? You tell me. If you’re a thinking human being, there’s no way to divorce yourself from the world. Yes, I probably was happy when I was married to Bogie, but I was very young then. I had a good growing-up life, I would say, but I wasn’t really happy, because I was an only child, and I wasn’t part of a whole family—what we in America consider the proper family, a father and a mother and child, which, of course, is a big crock we know—and yet I had the greatest family anyone could wish for in everyone on my mother’s side. So what you think is happy? Happy shmappy. I think you have to be unconscious to be happy. Are you unconscious?” she asks me."

God bless Lauren Bacall! The predicament, perfectly stated.