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(04/18/06 4:56am)
Aside from the beautiful campus, maybe the best thing about IU is the general "Midwesternliness" of the people here. I'm from Indiana, so it's a trait I thought was universal before I came here. It's not. And in my opinion, the best quality of the multifarious "Midwestern" trait is the knack for finding simple solutions to big problems. \nThe new printer release stations at the Herman B Wells Library are maybe the best example of this. They're totally easy -- you tell your computer to print, you walk over to the printer and put in your user name and password, and then the computer prints. And who hasn't accidentally printed 90 copies of a document? I accidentally used most of my printing allotment on one badly executed print job my sophomore year. The stations prevent this. They'll prevent a ton of wasted paper and save a lot of people a lot of hassle. \nBut I decided to test the stations. Printing a PDF document, as many of us know, is an exercise in saintly patience. We all know how PDFs print. They print one page, and then they stop. They print another page, and then stop again. This continues until the document is done, and the line forming at the printer is contemplating PDF-related homicide. \nSo, in order to test the stations, I told it to print a PDF. By the time I walked the 15 feet to the printer and entered my user name and password, the printer had already done its thinking, and it spit out my document without any fuss at all. \nAnother great -- and more personal -- example of this happened last spring. I was in the pharmacy at the health center, and IU systems had just started requiring the new student ID numbers instead of Social Security numbers. Of course, I didn't know mine. I figured that I would only be here another three semesters, so I didn't need to bother wasting my precious brain space on this new number. (I still don't know it by heart, by the way.) \nSo when I came to the window at the pharmacy and didn't know my new SID, I expected the attendant to groan and look it up for me. She did, but she also rummaged around in a drawer and found a small yellow sticker. She stuck it on the back of my ID card and wrote the number on it. The sticker is still there. That single act -- simple, kind and in the spirit of the Midwest -- is maybe one of the most memorable interactions I've had at IU. I had a problem, she had a solution, and that was the end of it. \nIt's a good policy. I know there have been treatises written on the value of simplicity and the practical application of Occam's razor-like thinking, but all this, in my mind, comes back to IU. \nAs I near graduation, I'm considering a lot of different paths. Many lead me away from the Midwest, but I'm hoping that if I'm lucky, the things that matter -- like remembering that sometimes the simple solution is the best one -- will stay with me.
(04/04/06 5:08am)
For once, I'm agreeing with President Bush on something. \nImmigration has long been a hot-button issue, but it's on the front page now because of legislation currently being considered. In December, the House passed HR 4437, which proposes to build 700 miles of wall between the United States and Mexico and make assisting an illegal immigrant (even in a humanitarian way) a felony. It provides no provisions to create a guest-worker program or a path to legalization for illegal immigrants. Another bill, sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and pending in the Senate, would create a path to legal status for the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States. \n"You cannot enforce the border without having a temporary guest worker program," Bush told CNN this week. "The two go hand in hand. There are people doing jobs Americans will not do." \nHe has a point. Nobody is going to argue that illegal immigrants tend to take the jobs that no one else will do, and if you give people the option of staying legally (albeit with a penalty fine), they're probably going to do so. Politically, it also makes sense for most people. The Democrats would be expected to largely support it, but given the GOP's struggle to win over Latino voters, it would make sense for Republicans to support it. \n"If our answer to the fastest-growing demographic in this country is that 'We want to make felons of your grandparents, and we want to put people in jail who are helping your neighbors and people related to you,' then we're going to suffer mightily," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. "Let's solve the problem in a comprehensive way -- a firm, fair pathway to citizenship." \nThe legal resident proposal makes sense in a lot of ways. Those living illegally in the United States would be allowed to register, pay a fine and start working toward becoming naturalized citizens. It's not an easy road. I probably wouldn't fulfill some of the requirements imposed on immigrants. Letting these people admit that they were here illegally, be punished and start anew with legal status seems, ultimately, to be the American thing to do. This is the land of new beginnings, and that \nmeans for everyone. \nThe existence of this bill means that we all acknowledge that the problem is out of hand. What that means depends on whom you're talking to. If we mass-issue green cards, we can essentially start at zero. Everyone in America would be either a citizen or a legal resident, and those who aren't put themselves in danger of being deported. At the same time, we need to make it easier for people to get legal status in the first place. I'm not an economist, I'm not an immigration lawyer and I'm not on the front lines of this struggle, on either side. But from where I'm standing, it seems that this might mean we take a hit right now while ensuring our country a \nmore stable future.
(03/23/06 5:00am)
It took more than a year for "The Libertine" to make it to American screens, and the buzz that built during that time was dead-on. It's a darkly satisfying character sketch, but it's not for the faint of heart. \nThe film tells the story of John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, who famously embraced every temptation life could throw his way. As he descends to an early death of syphilis, he manages to romance a whore, write some fabulously filthy poetry and piss off the king by portraying him as a giant dildo. Wilmot may not have been a nice guy, obviously, but he was an infinitely interesting one. \nJohnny Depp's portrayal of Wilmot is gutsy, to say the least. With his last few films, Depp has been less and less able to melt into his roles, but here, he manages to shake free of his pretty face. Any anti-hero is expected to swagger, but Depp makes it clear that all the posturing is, ultimately, to no real end. A lesser actor might have played Wilmot as a simple hedonist, but Depp manages to infuse Wilmot's debauchery with an air of cynical wisdom. Life is a farce in Wilmot's world, and for the duration of the film, the viewer is in on the joke.\nThe supporting cast, too, warrants praise. Samantha Morton, as Wilmot's lover Elizabeth, elevates the role above that of a simple whore. She's a smart woman trapped in a world that shuns her, but her ultimate triumph leaves the viewer wondering what it cost her. Rosamund Pike, as Wilmot's long-suffering wife, brings a well-heeled fire to the role. What kind of woman would have married Wilmot in the first place? And how would that woman have dealt with his behavior? Pike manages to unite the two roles. John Malkovich, as King Charles II, is decent, but not memorable.\nThe veiled, smoky look of the film shows the light of life in the 17th century, but more usefully, casts a pallor over the action. Some have complained that the film amounts to little more than sanitized smut, but that's oversimplifying it. In a world as grim as Wilmot's, pleasure is fleeting, so the only option is to grab it while it's there.
(03/23/06 2:33am)
It took more than a year for "The Libertine" to make it to American screens, and the buzz that built during that time was dead-on. It's a darkly satisfying character sketch, but it's not for the faint of heart. \nThe film tells the story of John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, who famously embraced every temptation life could throw his way. As he descends to an early death of syphilis, he manages to romance a whore, write some fabulously filthy poetry and piss off the king by portraying him as a giant dildo. Wilmot may not have been a nice guy, obviously, but he was an infinitely interesting one. \nJohnny Depp's portrayal of Wilmot is gutsy, to say the least. With his last few films, Depp has been less and less able to melt into his roles, but here, he manages to shake free of his pretty face. Any anti-hero is expected to swagger, but Depp makes it clear that all the posturing is, ultimately, to no real end. A lesser actor might have played Wilmot as a simple hedonist, but Depp manages to infuse Wilmot's debauchery with an air of cynical wisdom. Life is a farce in Wilmot's world, and for the duration of the film, the viewer is in on the joke.\nThe supporting cast, too, warrants praise. Samantha Morton, as Wilmot's lover Elizabeth, elevates the role above that of a simple whore. She's a smart woman trapped in a world that shuns her, but her ultimate triumph leaves the viewer wondering what it cost her. Rosamund Pike, as Wilmot's long-suffering wife, brings a well-heeled fire to the role. What kind of woman would have married Wilmot in the first place? And how would that woman have dealt with his behavior? Pike manages to unite the two roles. John Malkovich, as King Charles II, is decent, but not memorable.\nThe veiled, smoky look of the film shows the light of life in the 17th century, but more usefully, casts a pallor over the action. Some have complained that the film amounts to little more than sanitized smut, but that's oversimplifying it. In a world as grim as Wilmot's, pleasure is fleeting, so the only option is to grab it while it's there.
(03/22/06 5:08am)
The recent fallout over an episode of the cartoon "South Park" has Tom Cruise threatening to not promote his most recent movie and sparked Isaac Hayes, who voices one of the characters on the show, to resign from his role. \nThe episode, which originally aired last fall, has Stan, a foul-mouthed fourth-grader, scoring so high on a Scientology test that the church's believers think he is the next L. Ron Hubbard. Eventually, Cruise and John Travolta end up in a closet together, even though various characters beg them to "come out of the closet." \nThe silly thing here is that, primarily, no one is considering the source. It's "South Park." This is the cartoon that reminds us that Jews just aren't good at basketball and that Mormons are creepily happy all the time. One episode was devoted to proving that most Christian rock is pure crap. (I have a hard time disagreeing, most of the time. Would it be so hard for some of these bands to rock a little?) "South Park" is an equal opportunity offender, which is the basis of its popularity, and in turn, the basis of its genius. Naturally, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have issued a correspondingly offensive response that only throws salt in the wounds. \nPersonally, about 70 percent of the time I like the show, and about 30 percent I'm offended. But even when it strays into the territory of Jesus-bashing and jokes about pedophilic priests, I usually can't help but laugh. That's largely because, ultimately, I'm a bad person, but part of truly having faith is being able to acknowledge the implausibility of religion. Isn't faith that much more strong when a believer can say, "Yep, it is kind of crazy, isn't it? If I didn't have faith, I wouldn't believe myself." \nWhich leads me to think, then, what are the bellowing Scientologists so upset about? From a public relations point of view, flipping out is usually the wrong thing to do, but only more so when the basis of the upset is religion. Think back to the uproar over the cartoons published in Denmark that showed the prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. Sometimes the fallout of an insult to religion is Tom Cruise's refusal to promote another crappy movie, but sometimes it ends in fires in the streets. Followers of a faith who cannot handle adversity are only advertising the fragility of their own faith. \nI realize that most people, especially people who have a stronger devotion to religion than I do, take their faiths very seriously. And ultimately, the lack of Isaac Hayes on South Park won't have any serious impact on the world at large. (Aside to Mr. Hayes: What, you think you're the only deep voice out there?) But religious turmoil is nothing new, and it probably won't end anytime soon. But if we can't laugh over the things that divide us, will we ever be able to unite over anything?
(03/02/06 5:00am)
The world may have lost track of Ray Davies, but fortunately, Davies hasn't lost track of the world. \nOther People's Lives, Davies' first solo album, is a testament to an aging genius. Once a great songwriter, it seems, always a great songwriter. The former frontman of the weirdest and quirkiest of the British Invasion bands, The Kinks, Davies took his time making a solo album. It's worth the wait. \nEven while writing for The Kinks, Davies was always the most British of Brits, and on Other People's Lives, he stays with what works. The first track on the disc has him sounding as British as the Queen. The third track, "Next-Door Neighbour," is "Waterloo Sunset" nearly 40 years later -- there's the same wistful air, but this time there's an impetus to change things. (Here, impetus sounds like a big bunch of brassy, tooty horns.) But even though several tracks sound like they could be quintessential Kinks pieces, none of them feel rehashed. \nDavies, too, is one of a handful of artists who would be able to pull off a song called "Is There Life After Breakfast?" The tongue-in-cheek optimism of the song is a nice counterbalance to the album's darker points -- and there are plenty of these. "After the Fall" is one of those dimmer moments, and is truly great, because like all good rock songs, when Davies sings "I just had a big fall, and this time it was harder to get up than before," he could be singing about worldwide cataclysm or a minor, day to day upset. Great songs work on both levels. \n"Run Away From Time" is another high point -- it's a light, poppy escapist fantasy, and once summer comes, I'll be listening to it with my car windows down. With "The Tourist" and "Stand Up Comic," Davies proves again that sometimes, weird lyrics just work, especially when they're in songs as smart as these. \nAnd the liner notes ... man. Davies takes the opportunity to casually chat about the recording process (he recorded in New York and New Orleans), his lyrics (sometimes he's writing as himself, sometimes it's a persona) and his excitement to rediscover his love of American roots music. The lyrics are typed out with what appear to be Davies' personal notes scribbled over them. \nCool liner notes and pastiche art aside, this is a deeply personal - and enthusiastically welcome - return to the spotlight for one of the godfathers of great rock and roll music.
(03/01/06 11:47pm)
The world may have lost track of Ray Davies, but fortunately, Davies hasn't lost track of the world. \nOther People's Lives, Davies' first solo album, is a testament to an aging genius. Once a great songwriter, it seems, always a great songwriter. The former frontman of the weirdest and quirkiest of the British Invasion bands, The Kinks, Davies took his time making a solo album. It's worth the wait. \nEven while writing for The Kinks, Davies was always the most British of Brits, and on Other People's Lives, he stays with what works. The first track on the disc has him sounding as British as the Queen. The third track, "Next-Door Neighbour," is "Waterloo Sunset" nearly 40 years later -- there's the same wistful air, but this time there's an impetus to change things. (Here, impetus sounds like a big bunch of brassy, tooty horns.) But even though several tracks sound like they could be quintessential Kinks pieces, none of them feel rehashed. \nDavies, too, is one of a handful of artists who would be able to pull off a song called "Is There Life After Breakfast?" The tongue-in-cheek optimism of the song is a nice counterbalance to the album's darker points -- and there are plenty of these. "After the Fall" is one of those dimmer moments, and is truly great, because like all good rock songs, when Davies sings "I just had a big fall, and this time it was harder to get up than before," he could be singing about worldwide cataclysm or a minor, day to day upset. Great songs work on both levels. \n"Run Away From Time" is another high point -- it's a light, poppy escapist fantasy, and once summer comes, I'll be listening to it with my car windows down. With "The Tourist" and "Stand Up Comic," Davies proves again that sometimes, weird lyrics just work, especially when they're in songs as smart as these. \nAnd the liner notes ... man. Davies takes the opportunity to casually chat about the recording process (he recorded in New York and New Orleans), his lyrics (sometimes he's writing as himself, sometimes it's a persona) and his excitement to rediscover his love of American roots music. The lyrics are typed out with what appear to be Davies' personal notes scribbled over them. \nCool liner notes and pastiche art aside, this is a deeply personal - and enthusiastically welcome - return to the spotlight for one of the godfathers of great rock and roll music.
(02/28/06 5:41am)
The network FX is launching a show, starting March 8, called "Black. White." In it, two families switch races. Understanding and harmony, followed by world peace, follow. Right?\nMaybe, maybe not. I'm guessing that no, it isn't going to solve any problems, but I'm dying to see what kind of mayhem ensues. \nLet me explain the premise: The Wurgel family is from California and is white. The Sparks family is from Georgia and is black. All four parents are college-educated, and the two kids are older teenagers. Both families move into a house in Los Angeles and are transformed, via makeup and hair styling, into the other family's race. \nI have really mixed feelings about this show already, and it hasn't even aired yet.\nOn one hand, I think it could be really, really interesting to see how these families handle this change. It's going to be great TV -- as well as serve as a season-long video for Ice Cube's "Race Card." I'm expecting tears, wide-eyed revelations and emotional testimonials about what an amazing experience it was.\nOn the other hand, I think it's a really, really dumb idea. Unless there's something missing from the slick promotional commercials, the premise seems, to me, to reduce race to something as simple as skin color.\nI'm not incredibly well-versed in matters of race, but that seems a little oversimplified, doesn't it?\nIf, tomorrow, I slapped on some makeup and spent a week, a month or a year as a 22-year-old black girl, would I really be able to understand what it's like to be black? Of course not. I'd be a tourist. If I made out with a couple of my female friends, would I understand what it's like to be gay? Nope. I'd have nothing invested in these matters, and after I blabbed for a bit about how much more I understand the world, I'd go back to being a straight, white girl. \nUltimately, people are going to talk about the show. There will be a doctoral thesis written on this. (The Communications and Culture Department, I'm sure, is already formulating a class on the show.) Anything that makes people talk is lucrative, of course, and this one is going to be a water-cooler hit. But I hope that it goes deeper than talk and inspires some legitimate discussion. And the fact that a show with a good pedigree (there are a lot of awards listed on the "Staff" page of the show's Web site) is addressing race in prime time makes me very hopeful. \nIt makes me happy that we've gotten over the hypersensitive phase of social development to the point of not getting too miffed that somewhere, TV producers are spray painting people. And that millions of people will likely tune in to watch makes me hopeful. But is it sending the right message? I'm not sure if I can answer that -- yet. \nAnd if it does become a huge hit, and it does make everyone, everywhere, more open to discussing issues of race, then I'll be the first to say I'm wrong.
(02/16/06 5:00am)
Cameron Crowe, the shaggy-haired, music-lovin' director, is the master of one-liners. His movies are hit-or-miss, but even the most cringe worthy of his flicks are goldmines of movie quotes. Crowe hangs onto his rep as both a dialogue master and a music nerd with his latest opus, "Elizabethtown." \nWith "Elizabethtown," Crowe gives this romantic comedy a dark side -- Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) has just lost a major shoe company a substantial amount of money and his father has just died. Naturally, the time is ripe to meet a quirky blonde flight attendant named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). The movie itself is sweet, sometimes too sweet, but ultimately heartwarming. It has its slumps, but is ultimately more good than bad. \nThe film's soundtrack teeters dangerously close to being better than the movie, if only for the gut-wrenching ballad "It'll All Work Out," by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. After "Almost Famous," Crowe set a high bar for himself, but here, he does a great job of using music the way most directors use scenery. \nThe DVD package is nice, and that's all there is to say, really. There's a well-designed photo gallery and two different versions of the film's trailer, as well as two little making-of docs. "Training Wheels" is a kind of montage of on-the-set video clips set to music, and "Meet the Crew" is a collection of hand-held camera shots from the set, (set to music, once again, naturally, this is a Cameron Crowe movie, I keep telling you). The docs are nice, if only because it always seems like Crowe has so much fun making movies.\n But if you buy the DVD only for the extended version of "Rusty's Learning to Listen" video, your money will have been well spent. The original, short version in the body of the film is a hoot anyway -- it's a video with a construction worker and an exploding house designed to teach monstrous children to listen to their parents -- but the extended version reduced me to tears. Maybe I just like seeing houses blow up.\nThe film undoubtedly will catch a few rabid fans, but for the rest of us casual fans, the DVD may not really be necessary. DVD features are like icing on a cake, and here, there's not a lot of icing, but hey, a little is better than none.
(02/16/06 2:00am)
Cameron Crowe, the shaggy-haired, music-lovin' director, is the master of one-liners. His movies are hit-or-miss, but even the most cringe worthy of his flicks are goldmines of movie quotes. Crowe hangs onto his rep as both a dialogue master and a music nerd with his latest opus, "Elizabethtown." \nWith "Elizabethtown," Crowe gives this romantic comedy a dark side -- Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) has just lost a major shoe company a substantial amount of money and his father has just died. Naturally, the time is ripe to meet a quirky blonde flight attendant named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). The movie itself is sweet, sometimes too sweet, but ultimately heartwarming. It has its slumps, but is ultimately more good than bad. \nThe film's soundtrack teeters dangerously close to being better than the movie, if only for the gut-wrenching ballad "It'll All Work Out," by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. After "Almost Famous," Crowe set a high bar for himself, but here, he does a great job of using music the way most directors use scenery. \nThe DVD package is nice, and that's all there is to say, really. There's a well-designed photo gallery and two different versions of the film's trailer, as well as two little making-of docs. "Training Wheels" is a kind of montage of on-the-set video clips set to music, and "Meet the Crew" is a collection of hand-held camera shots from the set, (set to music, once again, naturally, this is a Cameron Crowe movie, I keep telling you). The docs are nice, if only because it always seems like Crowe has so much fun making movies.\n But if you buy the DVD only for the extended version of "Rusty's Learning to Listen" video, your money will have been well spent. The original, short version in the body of the film is a hoot anyway -- it's a video with a construction worker and an exploding house designed to teach monstrous children to listen to their parents -- but the extended version reduced me to tears. Maybe I just like seeing houses blow up.\nThe film undoubtedly will catch a few rabid fans, but for the rest of us casual fans, the DVD may not really be necessary. DVD features are like icing on a cake, and here, there's not a lot of icing, but hey, a little is better than none.
(02/13/06 5:04am)
The New York Times reported Friday that the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a board appointed by President Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, is working on a report, due in August, that will likely recommend more standardized testing. \nJust what we need, right?\nBut wait -- we're not talking about standardized tests for third-graders, or eighth-graders, or as a high school graduation requirement, or even as a college entrance requirement. The commission is probably going to recommend that before being granted a diploma, college seniors must pass a standardized test. \nOn the surface, this doesn't look like such a bad thing. It would be useful in churning out statistics (useful for high schoolers doing their college search), it would hold universities accountable for seniors who still can't read, and it would show the federal government just what it's getting for the money it pours into higher education. \nBut here's the thing -- implementing standardized testing at the college level would turn universities into little more than diploma factories. In the same Times article, Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, said, "To subject colleges to uniform standards is to trivialize what goes on in higher education. Excellence comes in many unusual ways. You cannot apply the rules of high-stakes testing in high schools to universities."\nMr. Botstein, aside from having a wonderfully presidential name, hit the nail on the head. The skills learned in high school are very, very different than those learned in college -- and rightly so. High school is designed, ideally, to teach a broad range of practical skills to a broad range of learners. It's taught with the idea of preparing students for college while acknowledging that this may be the educational end for some students. \nCollege, on the other hand, teaches all the weird, abstract things that aren't taught in high school. For example, I can probably do less math now than I could do in high school, so a bunch of math problems would be a horrible way to test what I've learned. I'm an English major. I can write a 25-page paper on the textual importance of clothing in modern utopian literature (I did once, and it was pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself). I wrote it without breaking a sweat. What does that indicate I've learned? I learned how to write, yes, but maybe more importantly, I learned to think. I learned to read into things, to analyze things, to interpret little pieces of information in the broad scope of a very big world. If accountability is the issue, it should be dealt with school by school, not by implementing what could possibly be a very costly testing program. \nThere's not room here for me to comment on our national obsession with standardized testing, but the least I can do is express my hope that the government -- more specifically, Margaret Spellings and her cronies on the commission -- doesn't try to reduce a college education to a student's ability to fill in bubbles with a No. 2 pencil.
(02/02/06 5:00am)
The film, boiled down into one scene, would be emo-child Justin watching the front of a girl's t-shirt. He's supposed to be planning his debate rebuttal, but he can't stop looking at the "Club sandwiches, not seals" logo. \nJustin (Lou Pucci) is a 17-year-old, whose life is wracked with the tumult of being 17. Per the title, he still sucks his thumb, but the film isn't about his thumbsucking. It's about him being 17, and to Justin, that involves sucking his thumb. He loves an environmentally minded girl named Rebecca, his teachers want him self-medicated on Ritalin and his parents haven't really resigned themselves to the fact that they're old enough to have kids. His orthodontist (Keanu Reeves) helps him identify his power animal. No wonder the poor kid sucks his thumb.\nBut Ritalin turns him into an egomaniac, a little weed turns him into a wandering stoner and a little sex brings him full-circle, back to being a heartbroken teenager. Pucci plays it off naturally, but with a wonderful twitchiness that lets us know there's more below the surface. And as for the thumbsucking -- it feels like it should mean more, but to the director's credit, it's not overanalyzed. Thank goodness. It would've ruined the film.\n The movie itself is fantastic, plain and simple. It's well-acted, well-written and well-made. "Thumbsucker" is also the large-scale debut of both Pucci and director Mike Mills, both of whom will be forces to be reckoned with in the future. Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio are wonderful as Justin's parents, but the true laugh-out-loud performance comes from Reeves. If Reeves was looking for redemption with his role as a New Age orthodontist, he's found it. \nThe DVD, also, stellar, features a very nice making-of documentary, a "conversation with the novelist and director" doc and a CD-ROM director's blog. The making-of doc, in particular, was nice, because while Swinton is great as Justin's mother, it's a quiet relief to hear her British accent as she discusses the film. Both documentaries are well-served by focusing on the book's author and the film's director, rather than the actors. \nAs a cultural artifact, the film is a major milestone -- if only because of what it doesn't say. The DVD makes the film a more full experience, which is exactly what a good DVD should do.
(02/02/06 12:18am)
The film, boiled down into one scene, would be emo-child Justin watching the front of a girl's t-shirt. He's supposed to be planning his debate rebuttal, but he can't stop looking at the "Club sandwiches, not seals" logo. \nJustin (Lou Pucci) is a 17-year-old, whose life is wracked with the tumult of being 17. Per the title, he still sucks his thumb, but the film isn't about his thumbsucking. It's about him being 17, and to Justin, that involves sucking his thumb. He loves an environmentally minded girl named Rebecca, his teachers want him self-medicated on Ritalin and his parents haven't really resigned themselves to the fact that they're old enough to have kids. His orthodontist (Keanu Reeves) helps him identify his power animal. No wonder the poor kid sucks his thumb.\nBut Ritalin turns him into an egomaniac, a little weed turns him into a wandering stoner and a little sex brings him full-circle, back to being a heartbroken teenager. Pucci plays it off naturally, but with a wonderful twitchiness that lets us know there's more below the surface. And as for the thumbsucking -- it feels like it should mean more, but to the director's credit, it's not overanalyzed. Thank goodness. It would've ruined the film.\n The movie itself is fantastic, plain and simple. It's well-acted, well-written and well-made. "Thumbsucker" is also the large-scale debut of both Pucci and director Mike Mills, both of whom will be forces to be reckoned with in the future. Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio are wonderful as Justin's parents, but the true laugh-out-loud performance comes from Reeves. If Reeves was looking for redemption with his role as a New Age orthodontist, he's found it. \nThe DVD, also, stellar, features a very nice making-of documentary, a "conversation with the novelist and director" doc and a CD-ROM director's blog. The making-of doc, in particular, was nice, because while Swinton is great as Justin's mother, it's a quiet relief to hear her British accent as she discusses the film. Both documentaries are well-served by focusing on the book's author and the film's director, rather than the actors. \nAs a cultural artifact, the film is a major milestone -- if only because of what it doesn't say. The DVD makes the film a more full experience, which is exactly what a good DVD should do.
(01/31/06 5:47am)
It's truly a terrible time to be Google. The U.S. government is pushing for the site's directors to release search records, free-speech advocates are yelling because the site bowed to the wishes of an oppressive Chinese government and the special logo the site put up for Mozart's birth kind of stunk. \nOK, that last one isn't really a serious concern. I just didn't like it. But the first two are serious. Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act in 1998, and now, the Department of Justice is asking for search records in order to prove how easily children can stumble onto pornographic materials on the Internet. Every other major search engine, aside from Google, has already complied with the DoJ's request. On this hand, we have Google unwilling to bow to those who would say that private searches for information are just that: private.\nMeanwhile, Google has launched www.google.cn in China, complying with the Chinese government's request that politically sensitive searches such as "democracy" and "Taiwanese independence" be heavily filtered. China, with its booming population, is considered one of the fastest-growing markets, and the minds behind Google have never been ones to miss a burgeoning opportunity. Bloggers worldwide are howling, saying that this means that Google, with its corporate motto "Don't be evil," has finally morphed into a proper corporation, with all that implies. Google has defended itself, saying that the information that is getting through the government filters is better than no information. So on the other hand, we have Google willing to bow to those who say that private searches can be private, as long as no one is searching for subversive information.\nWould you want to be one of the minds behind Google this week?\nBefore I defend Google, and I will, I want to issue a disclaimer. I use Google for everything. I have a Gmail account. The ultimate grin in the situation is that I used GoogleNews to research this column. Yes, I'm biased, but I'm in favor of anything that makes my life easier -- especially if their corporate catchphrase is "Don't be evil." Yes, even if they occasionally act in ways that seem, well, slightly evil. \nSo do the two situations that have come to light this week balance each other out? I'm going to say yes. Here at home, Google is doing its best to protect its users and their right to privacy. Abroad, they're doing the best they can. Should they have bowed to China? Of course they shouldn't have. A repressive government is a bad government, period. But I think Google's Senior Policy Counsel Andrew McLaughlin hit the nail on the head when he said, "While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information ... is more inconsistent with our mission." They're doing good work here at home, and to that, I say, "Good job, Google, keep it up." Search results might be used to study porn today, but tomorrow, they might be used to squash dissent and ferret out "subversives." Regarding China, I think they're in a tough spot, but I beg the powers-that-be to remember why the Internet exists in the first place.
(01/17/06 6:23am)
James Frey's rehab memoir "A Million Little Pieces" is coming under immense scrutiny for alleged exaggerations and fabrications. Thesmokinggun.com reported on it from the angle that Oprah Winfrey, who endorsed the book by giving it "Oprah's Book Club" status, had been duped by the author. \nThe book tells of Frey's six weeks in a Minnesota rehabilitation clinic, how he ended up there and how the experience changed him. He tells of his sordid past, the failed relationship that broke his heart, his tumultuous relationship with his parents and the friends he makes in rehab. Frey also speaks of a substantial arrest record, which is apparently not completely factual.\nFrey has confessed that parts of the book are "embellished" for "obvious dramatic reasons." \nAnd personally, I'm OK with that.\n"But, Kehla, don't you feel lied to? He made things up!"\nI do not, nor will I ever, believe lying is acceptable. But I have a copy of the book in front of me, and on the back, in the spot reserved for the genre classification, is printed the phrase "Memoir/Literature." It's there for the convenience of bookstore managers, but to me, it makes a difference. The word "memoir" itself means "what follows is subjective, like all memories." The word "literature" means "beautifully written fiction." Calling something "literature" can mean it's based on reality, but it's not something I take for granted when I pick up a piece of fiction.\nGenre semantics aside, I challenge the book's critics to read it the way I did before I knew it was under investigation: with open eyes, a believing heart and prepared with a grain of salt. Any book requires the suspension of the reader's disbelief. The willingness to judge a book on its contents, rather than its author, is how we ultimately relate to our reading. \nI've never been a drug addict. The closest I've ever come is trying to switch from regular Coke to Diet Coke. But "A Million Little Pieces" opened up the possibility of horror in a way that no "Just Say No" campaign could. It told of a young man who was a lot like me -- he had loving parents, plentiful opportunities and a bright future. But unlike me, Frey was derailed by addiction. \nThe story of his recovery and his painstaking efforts to rebuild his life did more than just scare me -- they gave me hope. There are a lot of ways to destroy your life, but there are also a lot of ways to rebuild it. If James Frey could get himself off crack -- whether he actually did or not -- I should be able to start getting up in time for class. \nSo no, I have to say that I don't really care that Frey was only arrested once, rather than four times. He shouldn't have passed off fiction as fact, if that's indeed what he did. But ultimately, the value of the book outweighs any possible ethical transgression on Frey's part. \nFalse hope, it turns out, is better than no hope at all.
(01/12/06 5:00am)
A good stoner flick is hard to do. There are the truly good, there are the so-bad-they're-good, and there are the mediocre. "Grandma's Boy" is right in the middle of the mediocre. \nAllen Covert, who has worked in 12 of Adam Sandler's 15 films, plays Alex, a 35-year-old video game tester. After his roommate squanders their rent money on hookers and they get kicked out of their apartment, Alex moves in with his grandmother, Lilly (Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond") and her two roommates. The rest of Alex's life is filled by his Peter Pan-ish co-workers, his bombed-out weed dealer and the sexy hired gun brought in to teach the video game boys about deadlines. JP (Joel Moore), the child-prodigy game designer, is meant to be the creep we can laugh at, but he's so clearly in need of heavy therapy that the effect is squirming, not laughter. \nCovert is funny, but badly miscast. In the film, he's 35, but he looks older. And in that vein, 35 is too old for a character in a good stoner flick. Twenty-something stoners are funny. Thirty-something stoners are a little sad. The supporting cast is dominated by Roberts as Alex's grandmother, Shirley Knight as the batty Bea and Shirley Jones (of "Partridge Family" fame) as the sexpot of the trio. Linda Cardellini offers up a nice turn as Samantha, the hired gun, and she does a good job as a girl in a geekboy world. \nIn true Sandleresque style, there are plenty of weed references and lots of old-lady sex jokes (including some surprisingly touching hook-ups), but for the most part, the laughs were few and far between. There were laugh-out-loud moments, but the interim was largely boring. Most of the funny moments were those that are in the trailer, including the line, "Don't judge me, monkey," which threatens to become a catchphrase. I sincerely hope it doesn't. But a lack of laughs is just where the problems start in "Grandma's Boy." The pacing was off, the characters were underdeveloped and unsympathetic and it targets a really, really narrow demographic. Yes, I can laugh at a tit joke. No, I cannot laugh at 15 in a row. \nNobody expected "Grandma's Boy" to be great cinema. But if you're going to do a bad movie, at least make it so bad it's good.
(01/12/06 5:00am)
For fans of Arthur Golden's sumptuous book, "Memoirs of a Geisha" offers up a virtual smorgasbord of eye candy -- it's simply beautiful to look at. But unlike the artfully coy geishas, under the film's beauty, there's not a lot of substance. \nTrying to cram the epic novel into a two-and-a-half-hour long movie is understandably difficult, but the screenwriters focused more on hitting all the appropriate plot points rather than providing depth of feeling. It would have also been more useful to newcomers had the touching end line not been given away in the trailer. \nBut while it may not win any awards for screenwriting, filmmakers: take note. This is how a movie should look.
(01/12/06 1:28am)
For fans of Arthur Golden's sumptuous book, "Memoirs of a Geisha" offers up a virtual smorgasbord of eye candy -- it's simply beautiful to look at. But unlike the artfully coy geishas, under the film's beauty, there's not a lot of substance. \nTrying to cram the epic novel into a two-and-a-half-hour long movie is understandably difficult, but the screenwriters focused more on hitting all the appropriate plot points rather than providing depth of feeling. It would have also been more useful to newcomers had the touching end line not been given away in the trailer. \nBut while it may not win any awards for screenwriting, filmmakers: take note. This is how a movie should look.
(01/12/06 12:40am)
A good stoner flick is hard to do. There are the truly good, there are the so-bad-they're-good, and there are the mediocre. "Grandma's Boy" is right in the middle of the mediocre. \nAllen Covert, who has worked in 12 of Adam Sandler's 15 films, plays Alex, a 35-year-old video game tester. After his roommate squanders their rent money on hookers and they get kicked out of their apartment, Alex moves in with his grandmother, Lilly (Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond") and her two roommates. The rest of Alex's life is filled by his Peter Pan-ish co-workers, his bombed-out weed dealer and the sexy hired gun brought in to teach the video game boys about deadlines. JP (Joel Moore), the child-prodigy game designer, is meant to be the creep we can laugh at, but he's so clearly in need of heavy therapy that the effect is squirming, not laughter. \nCovert is funny, but badly miscast. In the film, he's 35, but he looks older. And in that vein, 35 is too old for a character in a good stoner flick. Twenty-something stoners are funny. Thirty-something stoners are a little sad. The supporting cast is dominated by Roberts as Alex's grandmother, Shirley Knight as the batty Bea and Shirley Jones (of "Partridge Family" fame) as the sexpot of the trio. Linda Cardellini offers up a nice turn as Samantha, the hired gun, and she does a good job as a girl in a geekboy world. \nIn true Sandleresque style, there are plenty of weed references and lots of old-lady sex jokes (including some surprisingly touching hook-ups), but for the most part, the laughs were few and far between. There were laugh-out-loud moments, but the interim was largely boring. Most of the funny moments were those that are in the trailer, including the line, "Don't judge me, monkey," which threatens to become a catchphrase. I sincerely hope it doesn't. But a lack of laughs is just where the problems start in "Grandma's Boy." The pacing was off, the characters were underdeveloped and unsympathetic and it targets a really, really narrow demographic. Yes, I can laugh at a tit joke. No, I cannot laugh at 15 in a row. \nNobody expected "Grandma's Boy" to be great cinema. But if you're going to do a bad movie, at least make it so bad it's good.
(01/11/06 5:02am)
Thank God I'm not old yet. This week, The Associated Press reported that both IBM and Verizon, Inc. will be freezing their pension plans and switching to "defined-benefit plans." \nBasically, this means the pensions of those employees who have already retired won't be touched, but current employees won't be able to build up any more benefits after a certain date. Normally, employees are able to build up benefits until they retire -- and many employees count on this, even at the risk of not making other savings plans -- but with the new system, their benefits will stop building at a company-determined date.\nNor is the problem scattered. The AP reported that, "Last year, 71 of the nation's 1,000 largest companies froze or terminated pension plans." Many other companies are also in the final stages of considering cutting their plans.\nThis kind of action is old news for struggling companies -- but both IBM and Verizon are considered "financially healthy" by industry standards. In struggling industries, such as the airline and auto industries, freezing a pension plan might mean saving the company -- and saving the jobs of the company's employees. After all, a job with a 401(k) and no pension plan is better than no job at all. But for a financially healthy, or even a thriving, company to cut the program on current employees amounts to robbery. \nSo where does this leave the employees? Let's say that Wilbert had planned on being given a comfortable monthly stipend once he retired. He knows that he can retire in 10 years when he turns 55. He has a bit of savings, but not enough to support himself once he retires. \nBut it's fine, because Wilbert is enrolled in Evil Corp.'s pension plan. When he retires, Evil Corp. has promised a regular set-amount income. Everything, for Wilbert, is groovy. \nUntil Evil Corp.'s pension plan is frozen, that is.\nSuddenly, Wilbert's planned pension income is much, much lower than he planned for. He has a few choices, but none are attractive. He can work longer, or he can hope that his savings last longer than he's expected.\nEvil Corp. isn't really in too much trouble, mind you. But it looks like the bottom line is going to get a little wavy in the next 10 or 15 years, and nobody likes wavy bottom lines. And after all, how is the company going to attract quality CEOs if it can't offer enormous bonuses? \nIn 2003, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano made $6.95 million, according to IT World magazine. More than $5 million of that was a bonus. This isn't even counting the value of the company stock he owns. I'm not actively questioning Mr. Palmisano's worth -- I'm sure he does a very good job and deserves to be compensated accordingly. But there's the issue -- Palmisano does a great job, IBM is in great shape and looks to be so for a good while. But further growth can only be assured if future expenditures are limited -- expenditures like employee pensions.\nCompanies are built by people. Companies are staffed by people. So why are people being forgotten?