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shadowkat[As an aside - thank you to the folks who did my poll, if you haven't please take a moment to do so..the more responses, the better. Thanks. Go here:
http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/374888.html.]
Between the election and my grandmother...frustration level has been pretty high. Am trying, somewhat unsuccessfully to avoid both. Sort of hard to avoid things you care about.
Watched two flicks this week. Recount and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I don't recommend watching Recount unless you a) find the voting process fascinating, b)do not have issues with what happened in 2000 regarding it, c) don't despise the Bush Administration, d) aren't worried about a repeat of 2000 and 2004 with the current one, and finally, e) don't get emotional regarding politics.
It is a well written film. Well acted. Well produced. Not to mention hilariously funny in places. BUT - it also is incredibly frustrating and depressing if you care at all about the US political process. The good news is they have taken steps since 2000 to remedy the problem and avoid another collassal embarrassment.
The film in case you haven't already read about it is the retelling of the Recount of the Florida ballot during the Gore/Bush election of 2000. (You remember when Lieberman was still a Democrat and Al Gore's running mate?) What happened was Florida had this horrendous balloting process - that involved people pushing a pin through a ballot and sending it to a machine for tabulation. If you didn't get the pin all the way through - the vote would not be counted because it would have a bubble. If you did push it all the way through - the flap might be hanging loose and the machine would push it back in. Add to this the fact that for reasons that escape me, Pat Buchanan's name was listed next to a dot that was just to the side of a dot for Al Gore - so if you were even slightly dyslexic or your hand shook, you would hit the wrong bubble. The rule was if there was a less than 2000 count, then they had to do a by hand recount. The Republicans did not want to do this, so lead by former Secretary of State James Baker, they fought it by rook and by crook and any means necessary. Machiavelli has nothing on Baker. (It's safe to say that after this film you probably won't like James Baker very much - if there's a villian of the piece, it's him.) While the Democrats were a bit more disorganized and Warren Christopher didn't do much of anything. Once Christopher drops out, Ron Rainey, Gore's former Chief of Staff, takes over and attempts to fix things - not because he likes Gore or wants to win, so much as he states: "I want to know who 'actually' won this election and no one seems to care." The case goes all the way up to the US Supreme Court which made the decision that Bush won and closed the case. [In short, we'll never know who won that election in electoral votes, because we'll never know who actually won Florida. It was not a proud moment in American History or for that matter for either party, especially the Republicans, who are still trying to live down Watergate. In the commentary, Danny Strong comments on how the Republicans were convinced the Democrats stole the 1960 election. So..just in case you think this is the nastiest and longest election ever? Not so much. The one that elected Abe Lincoln trumps it, not to mention the Madison/Jefferson race, which was the first contentious election, gave my Dad a book on it for Christmas last year. And of course there was Watergate. When it comes to politics and religion human beings tend to be a bit...nasty.]
The fact that they had this insane ballot system as opposed to the levers, which make more sense and are used in Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New York, doesn't make much sense.
It did not surprise me in the least that they screwed up during the Democratic primaries.
Laura Dern is quite good as Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, responsible for the balloting process. Kevin Spacey pretty much is Kevin Spacey. Same with Dennis Leary.
The standouts are Jim Broadbent as Baker, Ed Begeley Jr., and Laura Dern. Gore and Bush, we only see the backs of and don't really make an appearance.
Recommend only if you have the stomach for it.
Miss Pettigrew on the other hand is a delightful little movie that reminds me a great deal of PG Wodehouse, specifically Jeeves and Wooster, except from a female perspective.
It also stars Ciarin Hinds and Lee Pace - who I happen to like, along with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. The film isn't great, it's a bit rushed in spots and slow in others. But, it is a fun, light, film...that makes one smile.
It's about a down-on-her luck, horrendous governess, who poses as an American singer's social secretary in 1940's England. She thinks she's been hired as the gal's governess, only to learn there are no kids and she's the social secretary. What follows are a series of romantic intriques/entanglements reminiscent of the light airy touch of Wodehouse, but not quite as funny or clever.
McDormand makes an endearing protagonist - a woman who looks like most of us, and Hinds is a great leading man. With Adams and Pace doing a good job in the supporting roles. Usually it's the other way around, which is the treat of the film. Also Adams once again shows off her singing chops, as does Pace.
Recommend for anyone who wants a light romantic treat with a bit of a laugh and a smile.
http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/374888.html.]
Between the election and my grandmother...frustration level has been pretty high. Am trying, somewhat unsuccessfully to avoid both. Sort of hard to avoid things you care about.
Watched two flicks this week. Recount and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I don't recommend watching Recount unless you a) find the voting process fascinating, b)do not have issues with what happened in 2000 regarding it, c) don't despise the Bush Administration, d) aren't worried about a repeat of 2000 and 2004 with the current one, and finally, e) don't get emotional regarding politics.
It is a well written film. Well acted. Well produced. Not to mention hilariously funny in places. BUT - it also is incredibly frustrating and depressing if you care at all about the US political process. The good news is they have taken steps since 2000 to remedy the problem and avoid another collassal embarrassment.
The film in case you haven't already read about it is the retelling of the Recount of the Florida ballot during the Gore/Bush election of 2000. (You remember when Lieberman was still a Democrat and Al Gore's running mate?) What happened was Florida had this horrendous balloting process - that involved people pushing a pin through a ballot and sending it to a machine for tabulation. If you didn't get the pin all the way through - the vote would not be counted because it would have a bubble. If you did push it all the way through - the flap might be hanging loose and the machine would push it back in. Add to this the fact that for reasons that escape me, Pat Buchanan's name was listed next to a dot that was just to the side of a dot for Al Gore - so if you were even slightly dyslexic or your hand shook, you would hit the wrong bubble. The rule was if there was a less than 2000 count, then they had to do a by hand recount. The Republicans did not want to do this, so lead by former Secretary of State James Baker, they fought it by rook and by crook and any means necessary. Machiavelli has nothing on Baker. (It's safe to say that after this film you probably won't like James Baker very much - if there's a villian of the piece, it's him.) While the Democrats were a bit more disorganized and Warren Christopher didn't do much of anything. Once Christopher drops out, Ron Rainey, Gore's former Chief of Staff, takes over and attempts to fix things - not because he likes Gore or wants to win, so much as he states: "I want to know who 'actually' won this election and no one seems to care." The case goes all the way up to the US Supreme Court which made the decision that Bush won and closed the case. [In short, we'll never know who won that election in electoral votes, because we'll never know who actually won Florida. It was not a proud moment in American History or for that matter for either party, especially the Republicans, who are still trying to live down Watergate. In the commentary, Danny Strong comments on how the Republicans were convinced the Democrats stole the 1960 election. So..just in case you think this is the nastiest and longest election ever? Not so much. The one that elected Abe Lincoln trumps it, not to mention the Madison/Jefferson race, which was the first contentious election, gave my Dad a book on it for Christmas last year. And of course there was Watergate. When it comes to politics and religion human beings tend to be a bit...nasty.]
The fact that they had this insane ballot system as opposed to the levers, which make more sense and are used in Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New York, doesn't make much sense.
It did not surprise me in the least that they screwed up during the Democratic primaries.
Laura Dern is quite good as Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, responsible for the balloting process. Kevin Spacey pretty much is Kevin Spacey. Same with Dennis Leary.
The standouts are Jim Broadbent as Baker, Ed Begeley Jr., and Laura Dern. Gore and Bush, we only see the backs of and don't really make an appearance.
Recommend only if you have the stomach for it.
Miss Pettigrew on the other hand is a delightful little movie that reminds me a great deal of PG Wodehouse, specifically Jeeves and Wooster, except from a female perspective.
It also stars Ciarin Hinds and Lee Pace - who I happen to like, along with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. The film isn't great, it's a bit rushed in spots and slow in others. But, it is a fun, light, film...that makes one smile.
It's about a down-on-her luck, horrendous governess, who poses as an American singer's social secretary in 1940's England. She thinks she's been hired as the gal's governess, only to learn there are no kids and she's the social secretary. What follows are a series of romantic intriques/entanglements reminiscent of the light airy touch of Wodehouse, but not quite as funny or clever.
McDormand makes an endearing protagonist - a woman who looks like most of us, and Hinds is a great leading man. With Adams and Pace doing a good job in the supporting roles. Usually it's the other way around, which is the treat of the film. Also Adams once again shows off her singing chops, as does Pace.
Recommend for anyone who wants a light romantic treat with a bit of a laugh and a smile.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-15 05:08 am (UTC)*sigh*
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Date: 2008-09-15 03:28 pm (UTC)The cast was just killer, wasn't it? (It was Tom Wilkinson playing Baker, not Broadbent...did you see Wilkinson last year in Michael Clayton? He was great in that, too).
I find it amusing that a former bit player on "Buffy" gets his first notable project as a writer, and gets this unbelievable cast...I wonder if he's worrying that's it's all downhill from here?