January 27, 2004

Laws Are For The Weak, Says Schwarzenegger   Arnold Schwarzenegger broke a campaign finance law? Say it isn't so. When asked for comment, Schwarzenegger said he did it to "defeat [my] enemies, to see them driven before [me], and to hear the lamentations of [their] women." Michael Moore has responded to critics of his "deserter" comments. He lays out the evidence from David Corn's 2003 book The Lies of George W. Bush. The media, typically, will pretend like nothing happened, like no such research from documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act exists.   5:39:46 PM    comment []

Buying of The President   A guest blog from author Charles Lewis explains how "In 2000 the guy with the least votes but the most money won, making the contest an auction, not an election. Lewis tells you who the winning bidders are in this race." The campaign process has become so expensive that it limits the talent pool available today to only millionaires or those willing and able to raise substantial sums of cash from wealthy and powerful interests with business before the government. Forty members of the current U.S. Senate are millionaires; less than one percent of the American people are millionaires. And big money mixed with irregular and high-tech redistricting help explain why the incumbent reelection rate in the House of Representatives the past three elections has been more than 98 percent. These are the kind of numbers we expect to see in countries like North Korea or China, not the United States.   12:16:15 PM    comment []

Oscar? I hardly even know her   Rings dominates Oscar nominations. The final Lord of the Rings film is favourite to sweep this year's Oscars after being given 11 nominations. [BBC News | Entertainment | World Edition] Most deserving nomination: Bill Murray for Lost in Translation. He should have been nominated for Rushmore. This time it feels like a Lifetime Achievement award. Least deserving nomination: Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean. I know it was fun to watch, but this nomination feels like The Return of Marissa Tomei.  Every year there is a nomination or two from a popular film (wasn't Ghost nominated for Best Picture?) just to ensure every last person on the planet watches the Oscars. Most offensive nomination: Finding Nemo for Best Original Screenplay. The script was the worst thing about this overrated film. Sure, it looked great, but, honestly, deep down, don't you think the story was pretty lame? Stephanie Zacharek of Salon was the only critic to acknowledge this. The "too bad these things aren't about the quality of performance" nomination: Diane Keaton, who I am guessing is some kind of industry favourite, is nominated for Something's Gotta Give, which qualifies as the worst film title ever nominated. Keaton looks like the favourite after winning the Golden Globe, although from what I've heard the girl in Whale Rider, Keisha Castle-Hughes, gives a spectacular performance. It's too bad she's so young and so non-American. Of course, Anna Paquin had the same strikes against her, and she won for The Piano. The "this guy doesn't get enough respect" nomination: Alec Baldwin for The Cooler. He's been putting in great performances for years, but he doesn't seem to be part of the Hollywood in-crowd. His performance in Glengarry GlenRoss alone should have cemented his reputation as an A-list actor. I have no idea who is favoured in this category, but Tim Robbins had a really showy role in Mystic River. Please don't let Holly Hunter win. God, I hate that woman. And Seabiscuit. Keep that shit out of the winner's circle. Capturing the Friedmans is a lock to win Best Documentary, but The Fog of War has more lessons for contemporary American foreign policy (and would therefore be the more political choice in this category).   11:57:39 AM    comment []

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