According to the U.K. Guardian, President Barack Obama, upon leaving Great Britain, gave Prime Minister Gordon Brown a very special present, a box set of 25 classic American films (see above), which the Guardian snarkily describes as “a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks.”
Well, maybe to a non-film buff. But to a ... read more »

From Left-Wing Radical —
In The Revolutionary (Paul Williams, 1970).
With Jane Fonda in Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978).
– to Right-Wing Crank
As George Washington, with Kelsey Grammer as George S. Patton in An American Carol (David Zucker, 2008)
Via Wikipedia: On June 8th, 2009 at a Congressional fundraiser Voight said he was “embarrassed” by ... read more »

Obama’s Inaugural Address was memorable. Obama’s speeches generally are. But the line I hear quoted from it most often comes not from the Bible, Abraham Lincoln, or our Founding Fathers, but from … Fred Astaire. You know the one I’m talking about:
“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the ... read more »

The final presidential debate was about domestic policy, as it should be — we’re in a financial crisis. But, I’ve been thinking more about foreign policy lately. There are huge differences between the two candidates where domestic affairs are concerned — especially in regard to taxes and health care — but both agree for the ... read more »

One candidate was cool and collected. The other appeared to be seething with unexpressed rage and frustration:
“What my rabbit friend doesn’t understand . . .”

Watching the original MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE the other day, I got lots of extra frisson from the eerie similarity of vice presidential candidate Sarah Pallin and Jessica Lansbury (above) as the commie puppetmaster wife of a commie-bashing vice presidential candidate Senator John Iselin. In that film, Mrs. Iselin’s hysterical red-bashing was just smokescreen defense (she was ... read more »

Sometimes it seems like the question frequently posed by the media, “Who is more electable, Hillary or Obama?” is simply code for asking, “Is America more sexist, or more racist?”
This weekend we may have a chance to find out. Two comedies are opening – one, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, starring two Non-White ... read more »

Looking forward to the Fourth Season Premiere of Lost this evening, last night I rewatched the final episode of Season Three, “Through the Looking Glass.” Unlike most Lost episodes – which feature flashbacks – this episode made use of flash-forwards, and in one of those flash-forwards I spotted something interesting. Jack (Matthew Fox) is on ... read more »