Moving Day

   Well, I'm trying this again.  Moving my blog off of Facebook notes and back over to good old Blogger.  I've done this several times before, but it's been a while since my last attempt (take a look, I think my last post on here was sometime in 2006) and it looks like Blogger has made some really nice improvements.
   The best part of this (as far as I can tell) is that the blogs should still post directly on Facebook, so for my 1-3 readers out there, fear not... you should see these pop up the same way.  Actually I think Blogger offers some sort of "follow" feature that will let you know when posts show up, so you won't even have to hunt for them.  I'm sure this is a better tool than "Notes."  I mean it's called "Blogger," right?
   Right.  Let's get down to business...

Fixing Elections

   There's been a lot of talk about this upcoming election.  Most of it has been centered around how rich both of the major candidates are, and how much money they are both throwing around to shit-talk each other and take each other down.  Well, that's one of the many problems facing our current election system, and while I've harped on this many times before, I'm not going to stop until it gets fixed.
   Step one is to take money out of the equation entirely.  I'm talking about money from the candidates, from super PACs, from any kind of donations whatsoever.  What we've basically got right now is a system where the richest guy wins.  Whoever can spend the most money on advertising, or make the most mind-blowing appearances, is typically who wins the primary or election.  Rick Santorum was the only guy I've ever seen who was as badly outspent as he was and yet still managed to walk away with a couple of primaries.  That should really speak to just how much Republicans hate Mitt Romney.  But consider this: if there were NO money in the system, or if every candidate was allowed to spend a certain SET amount of money, the entire political landscape would change.  Advertising would drop exponentially, and the election would become less about who has more visual exposure, and more about the issues.  Remember, that's what we're supposed to be concerned about.
   Step two is to get rid of the party system.  George Washington... FRIGGIN' George Washington warned us about the dangers of a two-party system.  And what do we do?  We go and form a two-party system.  Right now you've basically got two camps to choose from, and neither of them are very good.  What's worse is that the smaller parties don't even get a chance to compete because there's no way they can come up with the money or manpower of these gigantic political machines.  The two major parties themselves have become so big and all encompassing that there is no way for them to manage themselves.  Just look at the republican party right now.  It's all over the place.  You've got the tea partiers, you've got the libertarians, you've got the gay republcans (oxy moron anyone?)... the list goes on.  It's the same with the democrats.  Why not allow these factions to break off and form their own parties?
   And finally, all of us need to get educated on what the issues are and where our people stand on them.  Now I get that people are stupid, and sometimes you just can't fix stupid... but it's the media's responsibility and obligation to do everything IT can to try to help these people be... well, less stupid.  Politics has gone from being about issues and our future, to being about celebrities and who looks/acts "the coolest."  Barack Obama is an intelligent, well-spoken man who believes dearly in his stance on the issues.  Mitt Romney is a smart, successful businessman, who really believes that his ideas and direction can save this country.  But do most people know that?  Do people even realize what either of these two guys stand for?  No.  They look at Obama and they see a cool, suave, young dude who "gets it."  They look at Romney and they see a stuffy old windbag who is awkward and "doesn't."  But I bet if you dive into the issues and really look at where these two stand on things, your opinions might change. It's always funny to me how Obama supporters LOVE the guy, but they love him for the wrong reasons.  I find that many people who are angry at certain issues don't even realize that they come from or are approved of by the very same guy who they would go to the ends of the earth to vote for in November.  Sure you can watch debates (I highly recommend that), but that's really not enough.  I'm talking about interrupting your stupid "Dancing with the Stars" show, taking a break from Snooky and her mentally challenged friends, sitting down and paying attention to stuff that actually matters for a second.
   Instead what we get right now is posts on facebook from some clown talking about how this article is racist.  Read the article moron.  Open your eyes.  As long as this kind of stuff drives our politics, we're never going to get out of the hole we've dug.

Somewhere

   From Netflix: Set amid the hallowed grounds of Hollywood's legendary Chateau Marmont, this atmospheric dramedy centers on hard-living actor Johnny (Stephen Dorff), whose life is thrown for a loop when his 11-year-old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), pays him a surprise visit. As the two become better acquainted, Johnny realizes he needs to make changes. Oscar winner Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) directs this character-driven film co-starring Chris Pontius.
   My take: This movie... was... awful.  I rented it because Sophia Coppola directed "Lost In Translation," which you probably know is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I loved the atmosphere and the deep feeling of that movie, and I thought maybe she was the driving force behind it.  Looks like I was wrong.
   "Somewhere" tries... it really does... it just fails on almost all fronts.  The main character is a complete douchebag, and very hard to relate to.  Having the guy from "Jackass" be a co-star doesn't help your cause.  Really the only good acting came from that Fanning girl, which I'm sad to say.
   But what completely kills this movie is that you, the viewer, have no sympathy for the main character.  In "Lost in Translation," Bill Murray was a washed out actor who was struggling to keep himself valid.  That came through in every facial expression, every action he had in the entire film.  I think the goal for our main character here was for him to have some sort of "coming around" and realizing the importance of having a daughter and how his life as an actor, as a womanizer, was worthless by comparison.  But we never see that.  Instead we see  a guy who makes no apologies for driving a fancy car, for doing every chick he meets, etc etc.  He seems perfectly content with his lifestyle.  And even more, he's never a BAD father.  He always makes time for his daughter, he never acts like she's a burden, he never makes her feel unwanted (though it is a little awkward when the chick he just banged shows up for breakfast the next morning).
   Instead you wind up with a bunch of awkward, long, drawn-out scenes that have no meaning whatsoever.  Case in point: they do a plaster-mask on the guy, and there is a 7-minute or so scene of him sitting there, in silence, breathing through the nose holes, with a plaster mask covering his entire face, and we see the camera slowly zoom in.  7 minutes!  What am I supposed to be thinking about during this time?  Because what I was thinking about was making some popcorn... or turning this stupid movie off.
   Sophia Coppola is apparently obsessed with hotels, swimming pools, infidelity, and the relationships between older men and younger women.  That worked in "Lost in Translation."  It failed miserably here.  Hopefully the rest of her work doesn't suck this much, but I gotta be honest, I'm going to have a hard time giving her another chance.

Contagion

   From Netflix: Steven Soderbergh steers big stars through this big-screen disaster-thriller about a global team of doctors tasked with tamping down a deadly outbreak of infectious disease before it annihilates mankind.

   My Take: I don't know if I've ever seen a movie that so closely resembles reality.  I'm actually not a huge fan of Soderbergh (I feel like his ego gets in the way of his moviemaking... ask me about it sometime), but I think he got this one absolutely right.  The movie follows several stories and depicts the world's reaction to a deadly disease.  There are several story lines, some more realistic than others.

   First you have the husband of the first woman to die from the disease.  He survives of course, and while I think his storyline is very good, the way he survives contamination to me is kind of silly.  And they explain it away in a completely unbelievable line of dialogue.  The much better storylines are the one involving the CDC and the one involving Jude Law.

   This movie is sort of anti-climactic.  And my first reaction was to complain about that.  The entire thing builds up and then it sort of goes nowhere.  But I don't even know if the climax of the story is the point here.  I think this movie is more about depicting what would really happen if humanity was faced with a disease like this.  And in that regard, it shines.  The world goes to shit.  There are throngs of people who expect to be taken care of, and even more who are pissed off at the very people who are sacrificing themselves to save everyone.  Meanwhile the people who are trying to solve the problem are taking themselves too seriously and not being open with the public.  And then you have the homeopathic people who take their so-called good nature and instead try to profit just like the pharmaceuticals that they hate so much.  It's a sad look at how we would react, but even more sad, it is completely accurate.

   This might not be the best movie ever.  It might not have the best ending or the most interesting plot line.  But I think it should be examined as a warning.  Everyone should see this movie just so they can see what goes into saving our species from something so dangerous, and maybe a few of them will think twice before they turn into animals as soon as things get scary.

Well folks, it looks like I'll be posting here for a while.  Thoughts?  Like the look?  Want me to change the layout?  Missing anything?  Some wine perhaps?  Let me know...