Homer: Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.

Film Review: Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko
2001
1 hr 56 min
Directed by Richard Kelly

Plot: During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night, and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. He returns home the next morning to find that a jet engine has crashed through his bedroom. As he tries to figure out why he survived and tries to deal with people in his town, like the school bully, his conservative health teacher, and a self-help guru, Frank continues to turn up in Donnie's mind, causing him to commit acts of vandalism and worse.

This comment says all you need to know about this film..."Brilliant mix of black-humour, time-travel and a teen love story." It started out with so much promise but just turned into another Sci-Fi movie. The opening line of the film was one of the greatest in history..."I'm voting for Dukakis," the teacher character who would later be seen wearing the "God is awesome!" T-Shirt was hilarious, and the whole 'religion and comformity' story line showed so much promise, but the sci-fi, time travel, etc. got in the way and totally reunied the movie for me. I'm relly not a sci-fi fan...except Quantum Leap, but for people who are this is probably a movie for you. It just wasn't the movie for me....

MarxistGopher's Rating: ***(3 of 10 stars)

Film Review: The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project
2002
1 hr 30 min
Directed by Moisés Kaufman

Plot: Moisés Kaufman and members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepherd's visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of "Angels in America" a year after Shephard's death.

Last nights movie was The Laramie Project. I was really in the mood for a more overtly political film and I got it. It was an emotional film that was hard to watch at times. And then at times I thought it was overly emotional to the point of being manipulative, but I won't hold that against it....I mean I did love Million Dollar Baby. I thought the film did a great job of including all the differing warped opinions of the people of Laramie on the murder and then attempting to rip them apart...with varying degrees of success. I actually thought they could have gone farter and more in depth, but since this movie was based on a play that was based on real interviews done in Laramie I can understand the limitations...Overall I think it's a great movie that everyone should see.

MarxistGopher's Rating: ********(8 of 10 stars)

Moe: I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt, not that fancy store-bought dirt... I can't compete with that stuff.

Photo Flashback

Remember this? The game winning overtime goal in the 2002 national championship game at the X. God that was a great game! I can't believe that was 3 years ago.... Man I feel old.

Random Movie Quote

Karen: If you're from Africa, why are you white?
Gretchen: Oh my God, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white.
-Mean Girls

3rd Edition

It's time for another edition of Friday Feelings... So step up to those keyboards and tell us what you think. Come on, what the hell else are you going to do today?

Random Movie Quote

Peter Gibbons: Look, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of being pushed around. Aren't you?
Samir: Yes, Peter, but I'm not going to do anything illegal.
Peter Gibbons: Samir, this is America.
-Office Space

Question of the Day?

So is this chilly, rainy mid-May weather we're having a sign of global warming or just a symptom of a normal weather pattern?

i'm all verclempt....talk amongst yourselves...

Homer: Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel.

Film Review: Three Kings

Three Kings
1999
1 hr 50 min
Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube
Directed by David O. Russell

Plot: In the aftermath of the Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who need their help.

The recommendations I recieved going into this movie were all good despite my reluctance to accept that it was anything more than a dumb action movie. In reality the film was mix of a dumb action movie and commentary on the United States in the first Gulf War.

The film attacks the US for encouraging the Shias to rebel against Saddam and then leaving them to be slaughtered...and the story focuses on a small group of soldiers trying to "do their part to help" despite the policies of the US gov't. There's a great torture scene where an American soldier is being tortured and the Iraqi soldier tells him of the destruction that the bombing caused in Baghdad and the death of his son. He then shows him why the Americans are really there by pouring Oil down his throat.

A problem I had with the film is it seemed like they were making the case that the US should go back and finish the job and 'liberate the Iraqi people from Saddam. I know the film was made before there was any notion of that happening, but it could really be watched that way in the atmosphere that exists now. I'm sure it was a much better film before the war. Plus its hard for me to take a movie seriously that stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube. Overall, a very good movie with some problems...

MarxistGopher's Rating: *******(7 of 10 stars)

Film Review: Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer
1979
1 hr 45 min
Starring Dustin Hoffman

Plot: Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy. When he has learned to adjust his life to these new responsibilities, Joanna resurfaces and wants Billy back. Ted however refuses to give him up, so they go to court to fight for the custody of their son.

This is another 'classic' that I needed to see. It won 5 acadamy awards in 1980 including best picture and best actor for Dustin Hoffman. I thought it was a fairly good divorce movie. I'm guessing it was one of the first that told the story of the father getting the kid, which is interesting. However, I thought film really villified the woman(Meryl Streep). She was not a major part of the film and her side of the story was never told. You were meant to take the side of the father. Most of the story dealt with the bond that was forming between the father and son as he transforms from a father that is obsessed with his career and doesnt know what grade his son is in to negleting and eventually losing his job to spend time with him. Not to mention that the ending was unrealistic and disappointing. Overall I would say a fairly average movie. It didn't really move me in its favor or against it, leaving me with no strong feelings either way. However, it was an entertaining film that is probably worth seeing if you have not. Plus I'm always a sucker for the courtroom drama...even if it was only a small part of the movie.

MarxistGopher's Rating: ******(6 of 10 stars)

General Blog Notes

Just a note in general about the blog.

I've added a counter in the bar on the right. It's between the 'Previous Posts' and the weekly archives. I'm getting a lot more traffic on The MarxistGopher Report than I thought. It's very exciting!

That leads me into the other note. If you haven't already figured it out I'm archiving my film reviews right below the basketball profiles archive. I'll try to keep the film reviews up-to-date with what I'm watching but that could be kinda tough since I have no life and am averaging a movie a day!

Whenever I do one of these general blog notes...thats the time and place for you to respond and let me know if you have complaints, ideas, etc. about The MarxistGopher Report. Don't worry about my feelings. I will promptly respond and tell you to shut up/kiss me ass if I disagree :-)

Young Andy's Gumball Machine

Okay, last one. I just thought this blog needed a little color. I mean, the all-black thing is kind of depressing eh? Who's idea was that anyway?...This is the gumball machine that I made in shop class in 8th grade. My grade is still on the bottom...I got a B+(marked down for poor sanding and finish). We use it at work now for our skittles and M&M's. People here must be really bored of their work because they eat a ton of candy.

Let Me Sleep Cameradude!

Here's another one of Spitzy. Doesn't he look cute?

Bugman

This is my cellmate..I mean cube neighbor Mark. And yes...he really does always look like that! We call him 'bugman.' Whenever we see one of those mice or cockroaches scurrying through our office(which happens more often than you'd like to know), we just send 'bugman' down on his hands and knees after them.

Squinty & Pete

I'm sorry, I know this whole picture posting thing is a copout because I can't think of anything to post today, but I like it...and I really like this picture. It's a great picture of Squinty and Pete. Can you figure out how she got the nickname squinty? In their defense though, I did force them to pose for this picture in the freezing January cold with the sun shining directly in their eyes.

Stylin' Sly

...another ...Look at those effects, sweeeet! Sly never looked so good. I think he should hire me to do some work on his image. Just think of this image the nest time you see him flying down the court on his way to yet another open layup...

The Spitz Man

I haven't posted a picture of Spit in a few days, so I thought I'd rectify that situation...

Spitfire Nostalgia

And while I'm on the picture kick I thought I'd show off the sweet effects that I can create with this program on my new computing machine...well I guess it's starting to become not so new anymore. damn I need a new computer. ohhh, ahhh...black & white...pretty.

Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?

Rumsfeld Uses His Spidey Sense to Help the Troops

Film Review: Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke
1967
2 hrs 6 min
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy
Directed by Stuart Rosenburg

Plot Outline: Luke(Paul Newman) is sent to a prison camp, where he gets a reputation as a hard man. The head of the gang hates him, and tries to break him by beating him up. It doesn't work, and he gains respect. His mother dies, and he escapes, but is caught, escapes again, and is caught again. Will the camp bosses ever break him?

This is another one of those 'classics' that everyone talks about and I felt I needed to see. I actually thought it was a pretty good flick. I always enjoy the prison films. Maybe that's because I always feel like I'm in a prison...but thats a sublject for a different post. Not to mention all the simpsons/family guy references that I finally get...the reflective sunglasses on the guard when Bart is in prison...and the family guy episode where Peter is driving the Pope past a chain gang 'Takin it off there boss.' 'Take it off there Luke.' 'Wavin at the Pope there boss.' 'Wave at the Pope there Luke' Also, I finally know where 'what we've got here is a failure to communicate' comes from! I don't know how many times my dad referenced that and I had no idea what he was talking about...okay, okay, I've strayed so I'll end it.

MarxistGopher's Rating: *******(7 of 10 stars)

Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

Howard Dean endorses Bernie Sanders' run for U.S. Senate

By EVAN LEHMANN,

Breaking party lines, former Gov. Howard Dean said Monday he supports Rep. Bernard Sanders' bid for the U.S. Senate, saying the Independent makes a "strong candidate."

"A victory for Bernie Sanders is a win for Democrats," Dean said in a telephone interview Monday.

Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., announced last month he would not seek re-election, clearing the way for what's expected to be a crowded race in fall 2006.

Full Article

10 Steps to Better Elections

Our electoral system is in tatters. Here's what we can do to fix it.
by Steven Hill

THE U.S. ELECTORAL SYSTEM is our nation's crazy aunt in the attic. Every few years she pops out and creates a scene, and everyone swears that something must be done. But as soon as election day passes, we're happy to ignore her again — at least until the next time she frustrates the will of the people.

Under a fair, equitable, and democratic system of voting, Al Gore would have been elected president in 2000, and George W. Bush would still be whacking weeds in Crawford. In 2004, even though Bush won the popular vote by some 3 million ballots, the election was still tarnished. Florida replayed its 2000 debacle with attempts to purge African-American voters from the rolls, and voters who requested absentee ballots but never received them were barred from voting in person.

There were hundreds of complaints of voting irregularities in Ohio, with voters in some black precincts waiting in lines at polling places for seven hours because of voting-machine shortages. Some voters were required to show identification, even though the demand was illegal. Approximately 92,000 ballots failed to record a vote for president, most of them on the same type of discredited punch-card systems that malfunctioned in Florida in 2000. Ohio election officials may have improperly disqualified thousands of the 155,000 provisional ballots cast. Bush won the state — and thus the presidency — by 118,000 votes.

ALTHOUGH THE UNITED STATES PRIDES ITSELF AS A beacon of democracy to the rest of the world, for the second time in a row our presidential election appeared bumbling, if not outright fraudulent. Sergio Aguayo, an election observer and political scientist at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, told BusinessWeek that the partisan way our election was run "looks an awful lot like the old Mexican PRI," referring to the notoriously corrupt ruling party that dominated Mexican politics for seven decades. President Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center monitors elections around the world, said that in Florida, "some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing."

When elections are unfair, the environment loses. While polls show that large majorities of the American public favor strong environmental protections, those aspirations are routinely frustrated by a flawed voting system. In San Diego last November, environmental write-in candidate Donna Frye won the most votes for mayor, but lost on a technicality when the clear intent of some 5,000 write-in voters was ignored. (The decision is being appealed; see "Profile,")

In Washington State, after Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi claimed victory, it took a hand recount to find that more than 700 absentee votes had been ignored. When all the votes were counted, Sierra ClubÐendorsed Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared the victor by 129 votes. And as long as the winner-take-all system remains intact, the Green Party is doomed to retain the role of spoiler instead of electoral leader for environmental issues.

We don't have to quietly accept the status quo. Here are ten ways we could dramatically improve our electoral system. None is officially endorsed by the Sierra Club, but all are worthy of bipartisan consideration. Some could be implemented at county or state levels, and some are more readily achievable than others. All have the same end: to expand the franchise, and make sure that every vote is counted.

Full Article

Must-Flee TV: The G.O.P. on PBS

by Joe Conason

Conservatives have long warned us that someday the commissars of political correctness are going to take over in Washington and impose their opinions on us with our own tax dollars. What they didn’t tell us is that they would become those commissars, and that their politically correct orthodoxy would be the Republican Party line—as they are now proving at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

With all the subtlety of an old-style Soviet bureaucrat, C.P.B. chairman Kenneth Tomlinson is extending partisan political control over public television. As a former Reader’s Digest editor and Republican appointee, Mr. Tomlinson clearly understands what he was appointed to do.

Continue Story

Lisa: Do we have any food that wasn't brutally slaughtered?
Homer: Well, I think the veal died of loneliness.

Bush in 30 Years Flash Contest Winner

Many of you probably already saw this because you're MoveOn members, but if you haven't check it out. This is the winner of the Bush in 30 years flash contest about Bush's social security plan.

And the winner of the Bush in 30 Years contest is..."If it ain't broke, don't privatize it!" by Andy Menconi of San Francisco, California. Both the panel of judges and MoveOn members picked it as their favorite!

Film Review: Downfall

Downfall (Der Untergang)
2004
2 hrs. 36 min.
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel

Plot Outline: Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary, tells of story of the last days of Nazi Germany in Hitler's Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.

First of all this is not a documentary, it's a drama. This was one of the best war movies I've ever seen! And as the woman in front of me said as we left the theater, "well that was disturbing." That pretty much sums up the movie. It's a distrubing look at the last days of the German high command as the Russians encircle Berlin that cover only the last week of the war in Europe. Most of the film takes place inside the bunker but there are also great scenes that show the destruction of Berlin and the effects on German civilians.

Great acting and great cinematography. The 2 1/2 hrs just flew by. I would recommend this film to everyone.

MarxistGopher's Rating: ******** (8 of 10 stars)

Film Review: Auto Focus

Auto Focus
2002
1 hr. 46 min.
Directed by Paul Schradar
Starring: William DaFoe, Greg Kinnear

Hoogaan! If you're a Hogan's Heroes fan like I am you'll probably really enjoy this movie. It tells the story of Bob Crane, (Hogan) from the time he takes on the role of Hogan in 1965 until his murder in 1978. Crane begins to film his numerous sexual encounters with the help of his friend John Carpenter. The film focuses on this obsession and how it begins to tear Crane's life apart. Again, if you liked Hogan's Heroes or are intereted in a sensational hollywood sex scandal and unsolved murder(though the film makes its own hypothesis about the guilty party) you'll like this film...if not, you probably won't enjoy it. It's not a great piece of filmmaking, but it is an interesting story. Overall I'd say a good movie, but not a great one.

MarxistGopher's Rating: ****** (6 1/2 of 10 stars)

Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!

Film Review: Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross is the story of the dark inner workings of real estate salesman. It reminded me a lot of Boiler Room and Wall Street, which was the main reason I thought I would enjoy it(it also got good reviews). Sadly, I found it to be a very dissapointing movie. The plot was not developed as I thought it could have been, and I found it to be fairly predictable. It is full of stars...Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey...if you're into that sort of thing. I however, am not. Its a movie that may be worth seeing simply to say that you've seen it, but I wouldn't put it at the top of your list.

MarxistGopher's Rating: *****(5 0f 10 stars)