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2.06.2006
Movies and The ACLU vs. America
The Constant Gardener ***
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle **
Roman Holiday **
Good Night and Good Luck ***
I've been forgetting lots of things in my updates recently. Those movies, for example (expect post to be edited to include reviews), and my parents' visit in mid-January. This weekend though was all about Timmy. After the concert on Thursday, SEA and I had dinner with Timmy and Delphina on Friday, then went over to his place again on Sunday for the Big Game. While the festivities were very enjoyable, the game left me melancholy at the thought of my own team of hawks.
I have not forgotten about politics or the promised (and written but stashed) post. I merely need to take a few weeks worth of deep breaths before I can write anything that doesn't seethe and thereby clothe logic in the sort of rhetoric I wouldn't want to read. Or would I? The ACLU vs. America continues to base nearly every argument against the ACLU on anti-gay sentiment. The ACLU acts to remove religion from the public sphere (untrue) because it wants to replace religious morals with homosexual recruitment tools such as tolerance training (unworthy of comment). I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to. The same people who accuse liberals of paranoia in the face of a government which, at best, has a tendency to mislead the public (and I'm not saying this is a Bush thing or a Republican thing--this is a US thing) demonstrate actual paranoia by claiming that an oppressed minority group--a regular target for violence in even the most liberal parts of the country, and a group which is barred from certain basic human rights by the constitutions of more than several of the states in our union--is actively trying to recruit people to ignore their own biology and join the fun! There's nothing like being deprived of basic rights (the only "lifestyle" shared by the lgbt community as a whole). The best part, though, is the main recruitment tool: an attempt through information and goodwill to end such aforementioned violence and oppression. Did I say I wasn't going to get political? I don't think I am. Here is a syllogism that I would draw from the book. I hope you see where the problem is:
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle **
Roman Holiday **
Good Night and Good Luck ***
I've been forgetting lots of things in my updates recently. Those movies, for example (expect post to be edited to include reviews), and my parents' visit in mid-January. This weekend though was all about Timmy. After the concert on Thursday, SEA and I had dinner with Timmy and Delphina on Friday, then went over to his place again on Sunday for the Big Game. While the festivities were very enjoyable, the game left me melancholy at the thought of my own team of hawks.
I have not forgotten about politics or the promised (and written but stashed) post. I merely need to take a few weeks worth of deep breaths before I can write anything that doesn't seethe and thereby clothe logic in the sort of rhetoric I wouldn't want to read. Or would I? The ACLU vs. America continues to base nearly every argument against the ACLU on anti-gay sentiment. The ACLU acts to remove religion from the public sphere (untrue) because it wants to replace religious morals with homosexual recruitment tools such as tolerance training (unworthy of comment). I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to. The same people who accuse liberals of paranoia in the face of a government which, at best, has a tendency to mislead the public (and I'm not saying this is a Bush thing or a Republican thing--this is a US thing) demonstrate actual paranoia by claiming that an oppressed minority group--a regular target for violence in even the most liberal parts of the country, and a group which is barred from certain basic human rights by the constitutions of more than several of the states in our union--is actively trying to recruit people to ignore their own biology and join the fun! There's nothing like being deprived of basic rights (the only "lifestyle" shared by the lgbt community as a whole). The best part, though, is the main recruitment tool: an attempt through information and goodwill to end such aforementioned violence and oppression. Did I say I wasn't going to get political? I don't think I am. Here is a syllogism that I would draw from the book. I hope you see where the problem is:
I am an American => I hate the lgbt community.To work.
I am JMWG => I do NOT hate the lgbt community.
I am JMWG => I am NOT an American.
posted by Max Greene at 11:07 AM
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4 Comments:
Your low rating of Harold and Kumar shocks and disappoints me. My brother and I watched it in Maine, and have rated it as one of the best movie-watching experiences of our short lives.
-kww
** is not low--it's average.
While Harold and Kumar was/were quite hilarious, I don't expect it/they will be winning any oscars this year. Nor any other sort of award for that matter. Maybe the Willett award for excellence but I'm not sure that counts.
Starting next week I'll be tutoring a different Kyle. Don't worry, though, as I'm sure your beard is more impressive, as is your knowledge of physics and inconsequential kings.
P.S. Next chugging contest I expect you to take Zanna down!
QA
Assuming a 4 star rating to be a 1 on a scale from 0 to 1 (=> ** = .5), and a 10 rating on imdb to be a 1 on a scale of 0 to 1 (=> 5 = .5), one may compile the following data set:
imdb jmwg jmwg/imdb
RH .81 .5 .62
HK .71 .5 .70
GN .80 .75 .94
CG .76 .75 .99
The third column is my own rating over the imdb rating once the two have been converted to the same scale. Thus I was most underappreciative of Roman Holiday, having given it roughly 60% of its deserving score. I gave Harold and Kumar 70% of its deserving score, but was much closer on Good Night and especially on The Constant Gardener. Adjusting for grade inflation I think I was pretty much spot on.
I definitely overshot on Brokeback Mountain and Capote, giving the former 125% and the latter 123% of its deserving grade according to the imdb public. Adjusting for public anti-gay sentiment, though, I think I hit both of them spot-on, too.
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