Posts tagged New York
“Fair Game” The Target, Not Spying
Nov 17th
“The Target, Not Spying”
FAIR GAME tells the real-life story of an incredibly serious incident that happened in recent history that is not talked about anymore and unfortunately seems to be on its way to becoming forgotten.
This is unfortunate, because what happened was so serious that the law makes committing it a crime punishable by death.
Ironically, the law was passed during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, former CIA head.
The crime? Exposing the identity of an undercover CIA agent.
And just to make matters more intriguing, a case has already been made that Bush the son was obsessed with outshining his father’s accomplishments and might have invaded Iraq in 2003 because his father had failed to do so in 1991 during the First Gulf War.
The events of this movie are the background for the reasons stated at the time that led Bush the son to invade Iraq.
The subjects who were involved were CIA agent Valerie Plame, played so well by Naomi Watts, and her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, played just as well by Sean Penn.
The movie begins shortly after 9/11 with some stock footage of Vice President Dick Cheney saying to the camera, “We will take whatever action is necessary to defend our security and our freedom.”
What he doesn’t say, but what turned out to be the case is “even if it is illegal.”
Then we see scenes of the professional life and family life of Valerie, who was an expert on the Middle East, but she cannot tell Joe where she has been or what she has done. They communicate by Post-It notes on the refrigerator.
Because of his qualifications and familiarity with Africa, Joe is asked by the CIA to go to Niger to investigate if Saddam Hussein were obtaining uranium from there for his nuclear-weapons program, and Joe’s report is that Hussein was not.
That is not what President Bush said in his infamous State of the Union address, Iraq was invaded, Joe wrote an article in THE NEW YORK TIMES entitled “What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” and in retaliation the White House leaked that Valerie worked for the CIA.
FAIR GAME refers to the target and not to spying, and it is a great movie that should never be forgotten for its subject matter and its message.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Eat Pray Love” Indulge
Aug 18th
“Indulge”
EAT PRAY LOVE is based on the successful memoir of the same name published in 2006 by Elizabeth Gilbert, except that the commas have been taken out of the book’s title.
Julia Roberts plays Liz in the story that describes her year off to travel the world after a messy divorce, and the title gives away what her activities are in the three places she visits: Italy, India, and Indonesia, specifically the island of Bali.
Liz is a successful travel writer, and she had been to Bali before while writing an article, which we see at the beginning of the movie, along with her encounter with Ketut, a ninth-generation medicine man who tells Liz’s fortune by reading her palm.
Ketut tells her, “You will lose all your money.”
Then Liz is back home in New York City, and we see her unhappy marriage to Stephen, who has recently changed jobs and is now thinking about going back to school.
In a scene in which she prays to God, Liz says, “I’m in serious trouble. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me what to do.”
One could argue then that the rest of the movie is one long piece of advice about what to do and what not to do.
Liz becomes involved with a young actor named David, played by James Franco, whom she describes as a yogi from Yonkers and who looks a lot like Stephen.
Liz makes a break for it, and she is off to Italy, where she indulges in food and learns the Italian sweetness of doing nothing. Naturally, there are many closeups of food and of eating food.
After four months, Liz goes to India, where she joins an ashram and meets Richard from Texas, played by Richard Jenkins and whose every speech is nothing but advice, except for one long speech of maudlin overacting.
Then it is on to Bali, where Liz reconnects with Ketut the medicine man, and, sure enough, Liz meets a Brazilian played by Javier Bardem. To her credit, Liz tries to resist his advances, but if you know the story of the real Liz Gilbert, you already know the ending.
EAT PRAY LOVE can be boiled down to just a one-word title: INDULGE, but at least for many, two words should be added: IGNORE and FORGET.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Solitary Man – Movie Trailer
Jun 28th
Michael Douglas stars in this dialogue-driven comedy drama about an ethically challenged New York businessman who finds his life falling apart due to a series of career missteps and personal foul-ups. Once upon a time, Ben Kalmen (Douglas) had everything a man could possibly want — a high-paying job, a beautiful wife, and a spacious Manhattan apartment — but now all of that is a distant memory. The former owner of a successful auto dealership, Ben has recently lost everything thanks to his own inability to resist his impulses. But the resilient Ben isn’t the type of guy to stay down for the count, and lately things are starting to look up for him again. Despite being divorced from his former college sweetheart Nancy (Susan Sarandon), Ben still manages to see his daughter, Susan (Jenna Fischer), and his grandson on a regular basis, and his new girlfriend, Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker), may have just the connections needed to help the floundering businessman get his career back on track. When Ben takes Jordan’s college-bound daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots), on a tour of a prospective school, however, his steely new resolve is put to the ultimate test.
