Monday, October 08, 2007
Welcome to Pynchon's Political Corner, where the hot political questions of the day are asked and answered.
Today's question.
By deciding not to go for an early election, did Gordon Brown bottle it?
Today's answer.
Yes. Er... I mean No. I don't know. Maybe. If David Cameron (or Tony Blair or John Major or The Witch or James Callaghan or Harold Wilson, et al) had been Prime Minister, they would have made exactly the same decision. Only an insane Prime Minister would call an election when they didn't have to, if the polls showed a chance that their party might lose. Why risk it now?
So, bottling it? Maybe only making the only decision that could be made at the time.
Thanks for visiting. Pynchon's Political Corner will return... er... sometime.
******
Yesterday I saw "Michael Clayton" starring big (allegedly) George Clooney. Here is a nice picture of him, just for Katy. Poor guy. He's looking a bit tired, isn't he?
I liked "Michael Clayton" a great deal. It is a good, old fashioned, corporate conspiracy thriller that, 30 years ago, would have been headlined by someone like Robert Redford or Warren Beatty. Crucially neither gentleman would have been any better than George Clooney is in the starring role. I think that this is a tribute to how far George Clooney has come. He is now a bona fide movie actor as well as being a bona fide movie star. My lord, whisper it... He might even get an Oscar nomination for "Michael Clayton".
George Clooney plays Michael Clayton, shadowy fixer for a high powered law firm. You got a messy problem? You got an awkward situation? You need a cool head in your corner, and the problem tidied up quickly and smartly? Clayton is your man.
When a senior lawyer at the firm, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), working on a several billion dollar lawsuit, goes into serious mental meltdown, Clayton is called in to sort out the situation. What Clayton doesn't know is that Edens has been disturbed by certain evidence he has found while working on the case. Certain evidence that other interested parties most definitely do not want to come to light...
"Michael Clayton" is a great thriller. Smart, intelligent script and direction by Tony Gilroy (as tight and claustrophobic as the "Bourne" films). Great, multi-layered performance by George Clooney, and just brilliant support from Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton.
A proper grown up film. They do not make them like that anymore. You must see it.
******
I am now reading Philip Pullman's first novel in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, "Northern Lights". I have been desperate to start it for weeks, as the movie adaptation "The Golden Compass" opens on 5th December 2007, and I never like to watch a movie adaptation of a book I have only just finished reading. Months ago, Lorraine had lent the whole trilogy to a girl at work and she only returned it last week. She said she had never got around to reading it.
Silly girl.
I am about 100 pages into "Northern Lights". So far I think it is a great book. I am off now to read some more of it.
Later.
Today's question.
By deciding not to go for an early election, did Gordon Brown bottle it?
Today's answer.
Yes. Er... I mean No. I don't know. Maybe. If David Cameron (or Tony Blair or John Major or The Witch or James Callaghan or Harold Wilson, et al) had been Prime Minister, they would have made exactly the same decision. Only an insane Prime Minister would call an election when they didn't have to, if the polls showed a chance that their party might lose. Why risk it now?
So, bottling it? Maybe only making the only decision that could be made at the time.
Thanks for visiting. Pynchon's Political Corner will return... er... sometime.
******
Yesterday I saw "Michael Clayton" starring big (allegedly) George Clooney. Here is a nice picture of him, just for Katy. Poor guy. He's looking a bit tired, isn't he?
I liked "Michael Clayton" a great deal. It is a good, old fashioned, corporate conspiracy thriller that, 30 years ago, would have been headlined by someone like Robert Redford or Warren Beatty. Crucially neither gentleman would have been any better than George Clooney is in the starring role. I think that this is a tribute to how far George Clooney has come. He is now a bona fide movie actor as well as being a bona fide movie star. My lord, whisper it... He might even get an Oscar nomination for "Michael Clayton".
George Clooney plays Michael Clayton, shadowy fixer for a high powered law firm. You got a messy problem? You got an awkward situation? You need a cool head in your corner, and the problem tidied up quickly and smartly? Clayton is your man.
When a senior lawyer at the firm, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), working on a several billion dollar lawsuit, goes into serious mental meltdown, Clayton is called in to sort out the situation. What Clayton doesn't know is that Edens has been disturbed by certain evidence he has found while working on the case. Certain evidence that other interested parties most definitely do not want to come to light...
"Michael Clayton" is a great thriller. Smart, intelligent script and direction by Tony Gilroy (as tight and claustrophobic as the "Bourne" films). Great, multi-layered performance by George Clooney, and just brilliant support from Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton.
A proper grown up film. They do not make them like that anymore. You must see it.
******
I am now reading Philip Pullman's first novel in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, "Northern Lights". I have been desperate to start it for weeks, as the movie adaptation "The Golden Compass" opens on 5th December 2007, and I never like to watch a movie adaptation of a book I have only just finished reading. Months ago, Lorraine had lent the whole trilogy to a girl at work and she only returned it last week. She said she had never got around to reading it.
Silly girl.
I am about 100 pages into "Northern Lights". So far I think it is a great book. I am off now to read some more of it.
Later.
Labels: Movies, Politics, Reading
Monday, February 25, 2008
Missing line from the last post.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (for "I'm Not There").
I would have got it wrong. Ce la vie.
The good.
Of the six bets I put on, four of them came in correct, which means I was up by about 7 quid. In the annual Pynchon Vs. Lorraine Oscar contest I also won, but for the first time it was a close run thing. I won by 1. It was neck and neck until the end when Lorraine, swayed no doubt by the beauty of gorgeous George, voted for "Michael Clayton" for Best Film. Insanity at it's finest. Not that I didn't like "Michael Clayton", I did, but only one of two films was going to win Best Film on Sunday night.
The bad.
Some fucker (Virgin Media? Sky? Don't know yet) pulled the plug on the Oscar coverage on Sky Premiere, Sky Premiere + 1 and Sky Screen 1 at 4am, this morning. After ringing the customer care line to complain and ascertaining that there was nobody there and the customers could go hang, I then checked the service status on the website. No mention of anything untoward on there, either. I went to bed with a rage that nearly turned me green.
This morning I rang the customer care line and talked to a very nice lady who said that Sky Premiere always ceased broadcasting at approximately 2am. Clearly bollocks and I said so. I know that this time last year the Sky movie channels were still branded as Sky Movies 1, 2, 3, etc., and this year they are branded as Drama, Indie, Classic, etc., but I watched the Oscar coverage last year with no problems and I should have been able to watch it this year with no problems.
I have written two letters of complaint. Frankly I just want to know what happened and who was playing silly buggers. If the letters are ignored, I will be writing to the Managing Director of Virgin Media, with the envelope marked 'Private and Confidential). I am sure that he will be delighted to explain what happened to me himself.
I would not have bothered to stay up all night if I knew that the coverage was going to end before the Best Film was announced.
Yours, disgruntled.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (for "I'm Not There").
I would have got it wrong. Ce la vie.
The good.
Of the six bets I put on, four of them came in correct, which means I was up by about 7 quid. In the annual Pynchon Vs. Lorraine Oscar contest I also won, but for the first time it was a close run thing. I won by 1. It was neck and neck until the end when Lorraine, swayed no doubt by the beauty of gorgeous George, voted for "Michael Clayton" for Best Film. Insanity at it's finest. Not that I didn't like "Michael Clayton", I did, but only one of two films was going to win Best Film on Sunday night.
The bad.
Some fucker (Virgin Media? Sky? Don't know yet) pulled the plug on the Oscar coverage on Sky Premiere, Sky Premiere + 1 and Sky Screen 1 at 4am, this morning. After ringing the customer care line to complain and ascertaining that there was nobody there and the customers could go hang, I then checked the service status on the website. No mention of anything untoward on there, either. I went to bed with a rage that nearly turned me green.
This morning I rang the customer care line and talked to a very nice lady who said that Sky Premiere always ceased broadcasting at approximately 2am. Clearly bollocks and I said so. I know that this time last year the Sky movie channels were still branded as Sky Movies 1, 2, 3, etc., and this year they are branded as Drama, Indie, Classic, etc., but I watched the Oscar coverage last year with no problems and I should have been able to watch it this year with no problems.
I have written two letters of complaint. Frankly I just want to know what happened and who was playing silly buggers. If the letters are ignored, I will be writing to the Managing Director of Virgin Media, with the envelope marked 'Private and Confidential). I am sure that he will be delighted to explain what happened to me himself.
I would not have bothered to stay up all night if I knew that the coverage was going to end before the Best Film was announced.
Yours, disgruntled.
Labels: Movies, Television
Monday, October 08, 2007
My entertaining weekend.
I finally finished reading "Making History".
I liked it well enough, mostly because of the ingenious central idea (*** SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS *** preventing the birth of Adolf Hitler precipitates a successful Final Solution to the Jewish problem *** END OF SPOILERS), but thought that it was slapdashly (is that a word?) and haphazardly written, almost as if Stephen Fry couldn't decide the kind of book he wanted to write. A bit surprising, that. You would imagine that anything written by such an erudite individual would would be kind of wonderful. Well, it was published in 1997. Perhaps his writing has got better?
I went to see "The Heartbreak Kid" starring Ben Stiller.
Lorraine loathes Ben Stiller. She loathes him almost as much, but not quite as much, as she loathes Jim Carrey. When I pointed out to her that Ben Stiller has been in some really good films, she said that that might well be the case, but those films were good despite Ben Stiller and not because of Ben Stiller.
How curious. I tend to think pretty much the opposite. I think a number of really average films have been improved by Ben Stiller being in the cast. And that just about brings us to "The Heartbreak Kid" .
Frankly, it is hardly a great film, but if you are a Farrelly Brothers fan, and I am, you will find enough to enjoy because it is exactly like all of their other films. I cannot make any comparison between this film and the original "The Heartbreak Kid", because I have never seen the original but Farrelly's version is stupid, rude, vulgar and gross out. As I said, just like all of their other films. Hey! No harm in watching one of those, once in a while.
I thought that Ben Stiller was good. Nobody plays Mr. Exasperated like Ben Stiller. I thought that Malin Akerman was good. Gorgeous and sexy and as mad as a fish. I thought that Michelle Monaghan was OK, but it was a thankless part as all she really had to be was pretty and nice and normal and the kind of girl you would introduce to your Mother. Jerry Stiller (Ben's Dad) was really funny.
"The Heartbreak Kid" is not subtle, but if you are in the right frame of mind, it is enjoyable.
Yesterday I saw "Michael Clayton", but I will write about that later. I have to get dressed to go to work.
Boo!
I finally finished reading "Making History".
I liked it well enough, mostly because of the ingenious central idea (*** SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS *** preventing the birth of Adolf Hitler precipitates a successful Final Solution to the Jewish problem *** END OF SPOILERS), but thought that it was slapdashly (is that a word?) and haphazardly written, almost as if Stephen Fry couldn't decide the kind of book he wanted to write. A bit surprising, that. You would imagine that anything written by such an erudite individual would would be kind of wonderful. Well, it was published in 1997. Perhaps his writing has got better?
I went to see "The Heartbreak Kid" starring Ben Stiller.
Lorraine loathes Ben Stiller. She loathes him almost as much, but not quite as much, as she loathes Jim Carrey. When I pointed out to her that Ben Stiller has been in some really good films, she said that that might well be the case, but those films were good despite Ben Stiller and not because of Ben Stiller.
How curious. I tend to think pretty much the opposite. I think a number of really average films have been improved by Ben Stiller being in the cast. And that just about brings us to "The Heartbreak Kid" .
Frankly, it is hardly a great film, but if you are a Farrelly Brothers fan, and I am, you will find enough to enjoy because it is exactly like all of their other films. I cannot make any comparison between this film and the original "The Heartbreak Kid", because I have never seen the original but Farrelly's version is stupid, rude, vulgar and gross out. As I said, just like all of their other films. Hey! No harm in watching one of those, once in a while.
I thought that Ben Stiller was good. Nobody plays Mr. Exasperated like Ben Stiller. I thought that Malin Akerman was good. Gorgeous and sexy and as mad as a fish. I thought that Michelle Monaghan was OK, but it was a thankless part as all she really had to be was pretty and nice and normal and the kind of girl you would introduce to your Mother. Jerry Stiller (Ben's Dad) was really funny.
"The Heartbreak Kid" is not subtle, but if you are in the right frame of mind, it is enjoyable.
Yesterday I saw "Michael Clayton", but I will write about that later. I have to get dressed to go to work.
Boo!
