The Hound Of Ulster

Some THOUGHTS on Pavel Lungin’s Ostrov (The Island), which mirror my own in many ways.  I highly recommend the film for anyone that can get their hands on it.  Netflix would help a great deal on that particular front.
 

…about NOTHING?

The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president? In the case of Senator John McCain of Arizona, the issue is becoming more than a matter of parental daydreaming.

I can’t imagine this will be an issue with any significant longevity.  And it seems to be so patently “unAmerican” to think otherwise, I can’t imagine the American Public tolerating any more serious consideration.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and one of Mr. McCain’s closest allies, said it would be incomprehensible to him if the son of a military member born in a military station could not run for president.

“He was posted there on orders from the United States government,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. McCain’s father. “If that becomes a problem, we need to tell every military family that your kid can’t be president if they take an overseas assignment.”

Seems absolutely right to me.  And though I am definitely not the world’s largest McCain fan - in fact, I think I come in somewhere in the 41,000,000nth range - it would be absurd he were to be “disqualified” for this reason.
 

This is right outside my “office.”

I’ve never experienced sticky snow before.  When I looked out this morning, it looked like all the trees had grown white leaves overnight.  Dominic remarked: ”It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

It was gone 2.5 hours later.
 

Here are the RESULTS, with a couple of quick thoughts:

Aside from Ratatouille, POTC: III and about 35 minutes of The Bourne Ultimatum, I had not seen a single film or performance nominated.  (WY will do that to you, I guess.)

And yet, despite Hollywood’s desperate attempts to be “cutting edge” and “unpredictable,” I was able to correctly guess every major award with no more information than the film’s content and the people involved.

As I tried to point out to my increasingly unamused wife, this ability says far more about Hollywood than it does about my gift of cinematic prophecy.

“Hmmm.  Let’s see.  Short documentary about the struggles of a dying woman to make sure her ‘life partner’ receives benefits after she dies?  Check.”

“An editorial Oscar for a film shot and directed by Paul Greengrass?  Is it coherent?  Than how could it possibly not be an Oscar-worth achievement?”

“We’ve got three Oscar-nominated songs from a single film, and one with no obvious melody or style.  I wonder if we should give it to the one that’s left over.”

“Wait.  Tim Burton made a film?  Pencil it in for an Art Direction Oscar right now.”

“Daniel Day Lewis (incredibly, incredibly intense actor) made a film with Paul Thomas Anderson (incredibly, incredibly intense director) about an incredibly, incredibly intense story?  Let’s see who should get the Best Actor nod…”

Let me step back for one moment.  I don’t think all these choices are bad ones.  I’d pretty much nominate DDL for an Oscar any time he steps in front of a camera.  The man is dynamite.  And I’m thrilled that the Academy avoided the obvious “let’s just toss anything having to do with animation into the ‘Best Animated Film’ category” trap by nominating Ratatouille for Best Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing and Best Original Screenplay.

Still, let’s mix it up just a little bit, guys.

Oh, and I guess I should probably mention that I got the “big one” wrong.  Forgot that “grim film based on grim story from famous, dead writer” is always trumped by “grim film based on grim story from famous, living, attending writer.”

Silly me. 
 

IC’s Todd Aglialoro LISTS Miracle, Chariots of Fire and Driving Miss Daisy.  I’m not sure I can agree on the first one, and I’ve never seen the third.  But #2 is definitely right.

The comments contain a number of great choices, as well as some odd ones.  Can anybody think of any others?

Check THIS out.  It starts to get interesting right around the 1:35 mark.

There’s something very surreal about the whole thing.  Oh, and the Russians think it’s a weapons test.

…which it very well might be.

THIS is the first M. Night film that doesn’t immediately fill me with enthusiasm.

When I first heard the story concept, it felt a bit un-Nightish.  There’s something too “main-stream Hollywood” about it, especially when taking into account the whole “climate change” bit.

And this trailer does nothing to dispel my initial concerns.  Perhaps it’s the fact that so much of the imagery reminds me of Spielly’s War.  Perhaps it’s because it seems a bit like Signs, only with more people…and Signs was right on the edge of maxed-out for that sort of tension.  Or perhaps it’s just because the trailer is as much out of M. Night’s hands as always.

I will admit that the last couple of seconds brought me back from the brink, even if The Rapture seems like an immediate assumption.  But at least it suggest that he’s still going to deal with the same issues that make his stuff great, instead of turning into Spielly-lite.  (What would that even mean, anyway?)

Interesting side note: this is being produced for overseas distribution by one of India’s largest distribution companies.  I’ve never checked into how well M. Night “plays back home,” but I wonder if that removes a large part of Fox’s risk.

The kids were doing school this morning with Sarah, learning about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor.

The story says that after she finished school, she worked hard “telling people how important it was to wash their hands.”

Sean snorts.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asks.

He shrugs disdainfully.

“I thought she wanted to be a doctor.”

I’ve been saying THIS for years.

Using a complex statistical method, researchers concluded that Alex Rodriguez was one of the best shortstops in the game when he played for the Texas Rangers.

When Rodriguez became a Yankee in 2004, he moved to third base while Jeter stayed at short.

But that may have been a mistake, said Penn researcher Shane Jensen.

Researchers looked at every ball put in play from 2002 through 2005 and recorded where the shots went.

Jensen said a player’s success de pended on his range as well as how effectively he made decisions and positioned himself on the field.

Players were then ranked in each position from best to worst, with Mr. New York Baseball - Jeter - coming in dead last among major league shortstops during the research period.

Sure, there the whole “research done in Pennsylvania and released in Boston” angle, but this sort of thing has been said by many “statheads” for a number of years now, including his (probably) most vocal critic: ESPN’s Rob Neyer.

(I also love the fact that the fans that were chosen because they disagree with the study say pretty much nothing about his defense.  Except for the guy that talks about “clutch defense.”  I’m still not sure what that is…)