Short and sweet today, folks, I got a lot goin' on and time is short. Congratulations to BP for employing their "Top Kill" method, which is easily the best name for anything ever. It may or may not work (looking good so far but who knows)... but this oil spill is going to ruin the gulf for a long, long time.
You already know that. What I find especially entertaining about this whole thing is that NOW our president is speaking out. He waits until the threat appears to be under control, and then swoops in acting like he's been ahead of the game and on top of this whole thing from the get-go. Nice try by his publicity people, but I'm hoping that I'm not the only one who sees through this. Not only is holding a Q&A today too little too late, it's also an insult to those BP employees who have been working their asses off for weeks trying to figure this thing out. Think of it like this: your college professor puts an unsolvable math problem on the board for extra credit. You spend weeks with your friends working on it, and you finally come up with a solution that works. The next week your college professor gives a speech at some luncheon or something, and claims that he has solved the problem. That's basically what's going on here.
Keep your eyes open, that's all I'm sayin.'
IT'S ALIVE
We might be witnessing something very special. We might actually be seeing the beginning of our end, in action. Apparently, some "brilliant" (read: mad) scientist has created life in a laboratory, and it's creating all kinds of controversy.
Let's set aside for the moment the accusations that this guy is trying to play God. I'm sure this will have all kinds of medical and scientific benefits in the short-term. My concern is where this will go in the LONG-term. Forget cloning a human... why not just create one from scratch? And while you're at it, give them a smaller brain and super-strength, so they will work for us like slaves. Sounds like the open to a show I used to watch, and as I remember things were pretty rough for the humans in that show.
We're on the cusp of some pretty amazing shit right now. The technological, scientific, and medical advances we're going to see within our lifetimes will blow you away. I just hope they blow you away like in your mind, and not literally.
Body of Lies
A CIA Agent working in Iraq finds himself fighting the war on terror on two fronts: one trying to track down and kill a new, elusive, and dangerous enemy; the other trying to keep his superiors from screwing up his entire operation. In the course of trying to accomplish his mission he runs into frustration, confusion, and enough twists that even he is lost in his own stories.
I sat on this movie for a long time. To be honest, it just didn't look that appealing to me. Leonardo DiCaprio as a CIA Agent? Russell Crowe as a fat corporate armchair quarterback? No thanks. But last night I finally popped this sucker in, and I'm actually kinda glad I did.
First, the acting. Leonardo DiCaprio surprised me once again. He was playing a role that might have worked better for Tom Cruise, "Mission Impossible" style, but he actually pulled it off and did a good job. And Russell Crowe was no slouch either. From a gladiator to a pot-bellied family man, he nailed it. I couldn't tell you the names of any of the other actors, but I will say that no one in this movie stuck out. Everyone was convincing without being over the top, and I never felt like I had a message crammed down my throat.
However, there was a message, which I believe was well-told: this movie does a fantastic job of illustrating just how backwards things are in that part of the world. It really illustrates their hatred for us, and how little we understand about their culture and the way they operate militarily. It also suggests (which I agree with) that the Middle Eastern Intelligence and Police forces can handle the problems over there much better than we can, and in fact we're in the way more often than not. Makes sense to me.
The best part, though, is that this is all hidden in some serious action and some great cinematography. I have to imagine that this movie was fun to shoot... lots of helicopter and satellite-level shots, and all in the desert. It looked pretty on blu-ray as well. My only complaint is that the audio was VERY low throughout the movie. I had my stereo jacked way up, and I still lost some of the lines. That's just inexscusable.
So, overall, this movie was a surprising little gem. It's not one you hear a lot about, and definitely a departure for Ridley Scott. It wasn't so much "epic" as it was "modern," but it still had a fantastic feel. Fewer twists than I expected, but in a way that actually made it more enjoyable (since I kinda knew what was going on). Definitely worth a rental, especially if you're running low on action flicks or have a weird obsession with fat Russell Crowe.
Alright homies, sorry this was so brief. I'm sure you were really upset. All two of you who read this. Have a good one...
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