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“The Ides of March” Shows Dirty Politics
Oct 13th
Official Website
Movie Trailer
“Excellent Portrayal of Dirty Politics”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Ides of March is one of the best movies of the year, but one of the most difficult to enjoy, one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most frustrating, and one that should be seen by everyone who follows politics, but is also a handbook for what not to do in politics.
And expect to hear its name often at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2012.
Now, about the title. To the person who wrote “WTF the title? It doesn’t even take place in March,” I say, “Google it, Dude.” It is a famous expression from a famous play by a very famous author.
George Clooney produced, co-wrote, and directed the movie. He also stars as Gov. Mike Morris, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The action takes place in Ohio, where the Democratic primary election is coming up, and we are told, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.”
Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Myers, Gov. Morris’s press secretary; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager; Paul Giamatti plays the campaign manager for the Democratic rival running against Gov. Morris; Evan Rachel Wood plays an intern working for Gov. Morris’s campaign; and Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for The New York Times.
Stephen is very good at his job and is told that all the reporters love him, even the ones who hate him. However, when the rival’s campaign manager arranges a secret meeting with Stephen, tells him that Stephen is working for the wrong man, and offers to hire Stephen to come work for him, a chain of events are set in motion that will change Stephen’s idealistic views of Gov. Morris.
And then when Stephen learns a secret about Gov. Morris that could damage his campaign severely and perhaps even ruin the governor, Stephen has to battle his own idealistic views, because he can use that information either to further his own career or to damage the governor’s reputation.
We are told that loyalty is the only thing valued in politics and the only thing that can be counted on. We are also told that if you stay in the political business long enough, you become jaded and bitter.
The Ides of March can do the same and is an excellent portrayal of dirty politics.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Conspirator” Times of War
Apr 24th
“TIMES OF WAR”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Conspirator is a very good film about a little-known aspect of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, but it is not an exciting film.
In other words, there are no sensational car chases, no loud explosions, and no amazing special effects. Nor does it have any super heroes, it is not based on a video game, and it has no animated characters whatsoever, all ingredients that the kids today seem to be fascinated with.
What it does have is a compelling story, fine acting, and a producer and director by the name of Robert Redford.
The story is about the trial of Mary Surratt, played by Robin Wright, who owned a boarding house in Washington, DC, and who was a Southern sympathizer, a widow, and the mother of a son and a daughter.
Mary is on trial as a co-conspirator of the plot to assassinate Lincoln, because the men who planned to kill Lincoln along with the Vice-President and the Secretary of State were suspected of meeting in her boarding house to make their plans.
Her lawyer is Capt. Frederick Aiken, played by James McAvoy, who had served in in the Union army during the war. Aiken is reluctant to defend her and at one point even says, “I am eager to put the war behind me.”
Senator Johnson from Maryland tells Aiken that Mary is entitled to a defense and that Aiken should obey his oath as an attorney and do his job to defend her.
However, the prosecution had four months to prepare its case, and Aiken has only one day. Also, he knows that if she is found guilty, people will say that he was not up to the task of defending her.
Mary is also not cooperative with Aiken. Her son is more likely to have been one of the conspirators than she was, but her son is missing, and if Mary knows where he is hiding, she won’t tell anyone where he is.
So, not only is the film a courtroom drama, but it is also a period piece with the actors wearing clothing that is unfamiliar to the audience. In fact, you might not even recognize some of the actors whom you know and admire.
The Conspirator, however, is a good film that shows in times of war, the law falls silent.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Company Men” Devastating, Yet Heartwarming
Jan 30th
“Devastating, Yet Heartwarming”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE COMPANY MEN is a very good, yet devastating look at what the effect the economic recession of 2008 had on a group of successful businessmen who worked for the same company, as well as how it affected their families when they got fired.
No, “fired” is such an ugly word. Let’s just say they got “laid off.”
The company in question is an international transportation company with headquarters in Boston that started out as a shipbuilding company.
Ben Affleck stars as Bobby Walker, the head of the sales division for one of three shipyards in the company, where he has worked for 12 years, and he comes into work one morning all excited about the round of golf he had just shot only to be greeted by silence in a conference-room meeting of his department.
“What’s the matter?” he asks. “Did somebody die?”
Even though consolidating divisions had been discussed for months, two of the shipyards were closed, and the company lawyer, Sally Wilcox, played by Maria Bello, had fired Bobby without even telling him.
Excuse me. “Laid him off” without telling him.
When Bobby gets home, he tells his wife, Maggie, that he doesn’t want to tell anybody else what happened until he gets another job. Is he showing pride? Stubbornness? Stupidity?
Tommy Lee Jones plays Gene McClary, who started the company with his college roommate. He is friends with Bobby and invites him to lunch, but Bobby gets up and leaves after refusing Gene’s offer to help him.
Pride? Stubbornness? Stupidity?
Bobby believes that he is a 37-year-old loser without a job who can’t support his family, and when Maggie’s brother offers Bobby a job working construction with him, Bobby turns him down, too.
Pride? Stubbornness? Stupidity?
Incidentally, Kevin Costner plays Maggie’s brother, and his phony Boston accent doesn’t help the suspension of disbelief any.
We follow other company men who get laid off, including Phil Woodward, played by Chris Cooper, whose wife won’t let him come home until after six o’clock every day, because she doesn’t want the neighbors to know that he lost his job. He even has to carry his briefcase with him.
This might sound like a real downer of a movie, and it is until toward the end, when it becomes quite heartwarming.
THE COMPANY MEN is devastating, yet heartwarming.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
