January 25, 2008

Friday afternoon stuff--updated

I like clever blog post titles, I just rarely write them. So I must grab them when they appear.
9iu11iani the big loser


****

And while not quite a blog post title, this review of the new Rambo had a great title:
Rambo
HE JUST WANTS TO HAND-FORGE IRON AND BE LEFT ALONE, BUT THEN A BLOND MISSIONARY SHOWS UP.
Hate it when that happens.
Rambo combines an unapologetic return to the grand action-movie tradition of blowing shit up (one explosion is so big, it leaves behind its own miniature mushroom cloud) with a Saw-era interest in close-ups of human viscera. . . .If you like seeing people blown in half, beheaded, and impaled, have a ball (but don't sit next to me on the subway home, please). If you don't, the horror of these images is hardly going to leave you pondering the plight of the Karen in Myanmar. Stallone has said that he hopes the film will raise awareness of the civil war there, but his use of actual news footage of Burmese atrocities as the film opens seems like a pious canard (and an invasion of privacy of the real people whose deaths we witness).
Pass.

****

And while we are at Slate, an interesting essay on the role the feds played in perpetuating the sub-prime mess.

*****

Forgot this little gem:
"'American-Style Torture"
The phrase appears in Asia Times. Sigh."

Sully stole my "sigh." But it fits here. Thanks to Bush, Cheney, we are a torturing people.

8 comments:

Andréia said...

Hi there! I found your blog by another blog......anyway I´m reading your posts, I´m brazilian so I can´t write in English very well, but it´s very nice to meet your page!!!


Kisses!!

Streak said...

Welcome, Andreia. Comment away.

Unknown said...

Aw man, Julie Benz is in the new Rambo. I would wait for the entire freaking film for her to put on her vamp face and start drinking someone. Maybe David Boreanaz and James Marsters would show up too to make it more interesting.

steves said...

I enjoy action films, but Stallone should try directing or producing. What a joke. All the Rambo movies following First Blood have been bad, so I don't expect any better.

Bootleg Blogger said...

Hmmm, Leighton has sparked my curiosity. Maybe I'll have to check out the new flick.

I remember watching some talk show years ago when Rambo III (Afghanistan?) was coming out. A question was asked by an Afghan in the audience to Stallone if this film was made to draw attention to the freedom fighters. He answered that it was (followed by applause by those present). Then I saw the movie. In another interview recently he claimed this was to draw attention to the attrocities committed by the military junta in Myanmar. Sheesh. I don't suppose the Karen will get the paycheck? I don't mind Rambo movies being made- just the claim of a humanitarian agenda to try and boost sales.

Streak: "Kisses!!" I'm going to tell SOF:-).
Later
BB

Streak said...

Yeah, I think I am uninterested in this Rambo. Or the last two. First Blood was interesting, but then it just got weird. It is hard to believe that during the 80s it was widely believed that the VC was holding GI's in tiger cages for 15 or 20 years.

steves said...

The 80's saw a bunch of Vietnam movies. Some, like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, were better than other. Besides Rambo, there were those Missing in Action movies with Chuck Norris where he went back to get the MIAs.

Streak said...

yes, every time I see Chuck Norris standing behind Huckabee, I am reminded of the Missing in Action films. Gah.