Jeff Ellis: It's Impossible To Start A Fire If You Have No Desire To Burn

Moving on

Well, it's almost over.

Come tomorrow, it will be a new year.

What does that mean?

Well, it means that -- for a few weeks at least -- I'm going to actually have to concentrate whenever I write a check.

Looking back on 2008, I can say one thing for sure.

1922 was better.

We Love Rod Blagojevich!

The man may be a massively corrupt scumbag but I still can't help but love Illinois Gov. Rod Balgojevich.

The governor is currently facing impeachment and the possibility of prison because he has been charged with attempting to "sell" Barack Obama's empty senate seat.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that the Senate will not seat anyone that Blagojevich appoints.

Democrats across the nation -- including President-elect Obama -- have loudly demanded that Blagojevich resign.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan even went to the Illinois Supreme Court and unsuccesfully petitioned them to declare the governor incapable of executing his duties.

So, what does the governor do?

He appointed Roland Burris to the senate seat.

(I should add that this is an action that this blog recommended a while back,)

Now, it falls on both the local and national Democratic Party to refuse to allow the first African-American ever elected statewide in Illinois to the U.S. Senate,

It's actually a pretty petty move on  Blagojevich's part.  It puts his own political party in an incredibly awkward position.  Even worse, this appointment will probably destroy any future political prospects that the 72 year-old Burris may have had.

(It should be noted that, regardless of his historic status, Burris has become something of a perennial candidate in Illinois.  I've talked to a few friends of mine who live in the Chicago area and they've told me -- in their opinion -- that this appointment won't really hurt Burris's good reputation if just because Burris hasn't had a good reputation in quite some time.)

Still, pettiness aside, Blagojevich has proven that he, at least, has courage to go along with his amoral nature and apparent stupidity.

We're always hearing that we want politicians who have the guts to be unpopular.

Well, now we've got one.

Way to go, Governor Blagojevich!

A Proposal That Is Neither Modest Nor Indecent

I just reread the transcript of a recent interview that prospective New York Senator Caroline Kennedy conducted with The New York Times.  It can be read here.

To say that Caroline doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in the future of the Kennedy Legacy is a bit of an understatement.  At the same time, it's probably a bit too tempting to take a few cheap shots at her and her repeated use of the term "you know" as a way to link various unrelated thoughts.  I doubt I would come across as any more articulate if I was interviewed by the New York Times.  Then again, as far as I know, I'm not currently being considered for the U.S. Senate.

But maybe I should be!

Gov, Blagojevich, if you or an associate is reading this blog, please know that I am willing and available to accept an appointment to Barack Obama's vacant seat in the U.S. Senate.  Now, be warned, I'm a Libertarian and if I'm appointed, I will probably spend most of my term trying to legalize drugs, prostitution, and all sexual acts between consenting adults.  I will also oppose any further economic bail-outs.  At the same time, I will introduce several bills designed to abolish both the death penalty and the income tax and probably everything else that was initially popularized by both Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt.

In other words, I probably won't make a very good Democrat.

But, I will send you fifty dollars if you do appoint me.

You know?

Ann Savage, R.I.P.

Actress Ann Savage died on Christmas Day.  She was 84.

Savage was best known for playing Vera, the ill-fated femme fatale in Egdar G. Ullmer's classic film noir, Detour,  As played by Savage, Vera is more than just a shady lady.  She is a force of nature and Savage plays her with an intensity that, even today, can still leave first time viewers shocked, 

Fortunately, Detour wasn't really appreciated until a good couple of decades after it came out.  I say fortunately because if Detour had been a huge hit during its original release, Savage's animalstic portrayal of Vera probably would have left an entire generation of young men terrified of women.

Unfortunately, Savage never had the career that her talent deserved.  She made a handful of films during her career but none came close to matching the disturbing and dream-like Detour.  Apparently, she guest starred on an episode of Saved By the Bell, as well.  Honestly, I could not begin to guess just which episode and, quite frankly, I'd rather not consider the prospect that the career that began with Detour ended with Saved By The Bell.

(That said, Savage ended up better off than her Detour co-star, Tom Neal, who -- years after the film was released -- ended up serving time on a manslaughter charge.)

Ann Savage, R.I.P.

Trying to Work Up The Desire To Actually Sit Through The Best Films of 2008

I was planning to go and see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button today.  Button, of course, is the latest film from director David Fincher.  It's based loosely on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man who lives his life backwards.  What that means, essentially, is that Ben is born looking like an old man and proceeds to look younger with each passing year.  By the time that most of us end up looking like Mickey Rooney, Benjamin Button ends up looking like Brad Pitt.  The film also features Cate Blanchett as Pitt's love interest and it's been generating a lot of Oscar buzz.

Since last week, I'd been planning to go see it today but when the actual time came, I just couldn't find much enthusiasm for the prospect of actually leaving the house, going down to the theater, buying a ticket, finding a seat, and then sitting through the actual film.

It's hard to say why.  After all, the film features Cate Blanchett, who I adore when she's not playing Bob Dylan.  It's directed by David Fincher who is responsible for two of my favorite movies: Fight Club and Zodiac.  I've heard good things about the movie from people that, in general, I respect.

And yet, I really have absolutely no desire to actually see it.

Maybe it's the fact that, in the commercials at least, everyone seems to be speaking with the thickest, most overdone Southern accents since Will Smith came down from Heaven to improve Matt Damon's golf game in The Legend of Bagger Vance.  As a general rule of thumb, the thickness of a fake Southern accent is usually directly related to the overall thinness of the film it is featured in.

Maybe it's the fact that Hollywood doesn't have a good history when it comes to adapting Fitzgerald.  If you don't believe me, try sitting through the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby.  This is probably the only film in history that could have been improved by firing Robert Redford and Mia Farrow and replacing them with Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw,  (Actually, Steve McQueen would have made the perfect Gatsby but McGraw would have been too young to have played his Daisy...)

Maybe it's the fact that, for the past few months now, I've had the "quality" of this film shoved down my throat.  I've been told by so many people that this is an "important" film that I "have" to see that I now have absolutely no desire to see it.  The hype on this film has been so strong that I almost feel like I am now obligated to see it and that I am just as obligated to then declare the film to be poignant and moving.

Actually, that's a fairly accurate explanation of why I'm even less enthusiastic about the prospect of sitting through Frost/Nixon.

Still, I know that I will eventually sit through both of them before this upcoming week is concluded.  (Benjamin Button, I'll see on either Monday or Friday.  Frost/Nixon, I have planned for Tuesday.)  And who knows?  That feeling of obligation might actually pay off.  They might actually be great films.

We can always hope, eh?

The Luddites were right

I went out and bought myself a new laptop today.

I hate shopping for computers.  Seriously, if I hear one more salesman start in on some innocent schmuck about the importance of getting the most expensive anti-virus technology, I'm going to scream.

The Reader

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

After spending the morning exchanging presents with my family, I went to the movies.  I ended up seeing The Reader, the latest film from English director Stephen Daldry.  Much like Daldry's previous movie, The Hours (which, like The Reader, was based on an "unfilmable" book), the Reader is a well-made, well-acted film that works better as a cerebral exercise than as a work of popular entertainment.

I should add that is not meant to be a criticism of the movie.  If anything, it's meant as a criticism of the current concept of what constitutes popular entertainment.

That said, I walked out of the Reader with mixed feelings.  The film's plot deals with a teenage boy who, in 1950s Germany, has an affair with an enigmatic woman (played by Kate Winslet) who -- he learns years later -- was previously a guard at a concentration camp.  Winslet is one of several former guards who is put on trial for committing war crimes during World War II.  And here's the source of my mixed feelings.  Though it is clearly established that Winslet's character was hardly the worst of the accused, it is also pretty clear that she was fully aware of what was going on at that concentration camp.  Though the film is full of tantalizing clues that might allow us to figure out just what makes Winslet's character tick, she remains -- by design -- a frustrating and enigmatic figure.  Just as her former lover (who grows up to be an emotionally remote lawyer played by Ralph Fiennes) is left to ponder just who exactly this character is, the audience is left to form their own opinion as to whether or not her own humanity can ever possibly excuse the inhumane actions that she took part in.

Again, this is all by design.  As a director, Daldry obviously didn't want to provide us with any easy answers as to how we should feel about Winslet's character.  The result is an intelligent film that will inspire a lot of thought.  However, it is also a rather detached film.  It lacks the emotional punch that most viewers would probably expect from a movie dealing with the Holocaust.  Quite frankly, there was a part of me that just wasn't comfortable with that.  Ambiguity is something that we all claim to appreciate but none of us really want to have to deal with.

What isn't ambigious is that this is a brilliantly acted film.  Taken together with his two other excellent performances this year -- as the foul-mouthed crime lord in In Bruges and the emotionally remote husband in the Duchess, his role here once again shows that nobody plays neurotic iciness as well as Ralph Fiennes at his best.  Kate Winslet is simply amazing in a very difficult role.  Over the course of the film, her character and our perception of her character is constantly evolving.  She goes from being earthy and practical to endearing and awkward to seductive to pathetic to frightening to hopeful and back again and she is never less than credible.  Winslet is both human and enigmatic and, it is only after the film's end, that we realize that Winslet's performance has seduced us just as surely as her character seduced Fiennes.  It's hard not to feel sympathy for her whenever she's on screen.  It's only in retospect that it becomes obvious that Winslet's performance was full of subtle hints indicating that there was something far darker lurking underneath the surface.  It's those hints that continue to haunt her former teenage lover over the course of the movie and it's those hints that will continue to haunt the viewer after they leave the theater.

Winslet, it should be noted, does such a good job that -- at times -- I worried that this was going to turn into one of those "Good German" films about World War II.  These are the movies that go out of their way to remind us that not every German was enamored of Adolf Hitler during WWII.  And while this is indeed true, these films often -- regardless of their good intentions -- wind up diminishing just how evil the Holocaust truly was.  Luckily, The Reader avoids this by giving us Lena Olin in a devastating cameo as a Holocaust survivor who, decades later, is allowed the final word concerning the consequences of Winslet's actions.  Olin's scene is rather low-key and both Daldry and Olin don't give into the obvious temptation to descend into melodrama.  However, just through the pain in her eyes and the strong yet wounded defiance in her voice, Olin commands the screen for the few minutes she's on it.  By the end of her scene, the viewer is painfully aware that, in the big picture of things, whether or not there were "good Germans" is ultimately a pointless debate.

Among those who appreciate the various actresses who, over ther course of a career, have been frequently cited as "the thinking man's sex symbol," there's long been a debate as to whether Kate Winslet is the English Lena Olin or if Lena Olin is the Swedish Kate Winslet.  The Reader proves that, in the end, all that matter is that they are both great actresses.

It's A Wonderful Life...Again

I'm watching It's a Wonderful Life on NBC right now as I type this.

No year is truly complete without at least one viewing of this film.

It's always tempting to play "what if?" whenever you're dealing with a significant cultural event like this movie.

Tonight's what if: What if Mr. Potter had been played not by Lionel Barrymore but instead by another actor considered for the role, Vincent Price?

Do you remember, back in the 80s, when they colorized It's A Wonderful Life?  At the time, I really couldn't understand the controversy that this caused.

Now that I'm older, I can actually see that gray was rarely as beautiful as it was in this movie. 

It takes maturity to truly appreciate black and white.

Why do we care what one in five Americans think when three in five are complete idiots?

I just heard on CNN tha, according to a recent poll, 1 in 5 Americans consider Dick Cheney to be the worst vice president in history.

Of course, it should be remembered that more than 1 in 5 Americans probably couldn't tell you who was vice president thirty years ago, let alone now.

Some thoughts Inspired By The Passing of The Rev. James Bevel

Rev. James Bevel died of cancer on Dec. 19th, 2008.  He was 72 years old.

At one point in his life, the Rev. Bevel seemed to be destined to be remembered as one of the true heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.  It seemed that his name would be enshrined with the names of Martin Luther King, Megdar Evers, John Lewis, and others.  Instead, Rev. Bevel ended up becoming a somewhat unfortunate footnote of human history.  By the time of his death, he was all but forgotten except by a select few conspiracy theorists and a handful of people who make it a point to observe the paranoid subculture of America.

In his youth, Rev. Bevel was a close associate of Dr. King's.  As a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Bevel played a key role in such seminal events as the 1963 March on Washington.  Bevel organized and led the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, a crusader that played no small part in the passage of the national Voting Rights Act.  Bevel was with King when he was assassinated in Memphis and, at the time, one would have had every reason to believe that Bevel was emerge as King's successor as the most prominent civil rights leader in America.

That didn't happen.

Bevel, instead, spent his later years as an associate of two rather dangerous men -- the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and political extremist and cult leader Lyndon LaRouche.  He was such a close associate of LaRouche's that he even served as LaRouche's running mate during Lyndon's 1992 presidential run. 

LaRouche, of course, has a reputation for being a kook and most people don't seem to take him all that seriously.  However, a close examination of the man and his organization reveals an ideology motivated by anti-Semitism, racism, and everything that the civil rights movement that Bevel helped to lead was meant to oppose.  There is something quite disturbing about the fact that a man of Bevel's previous accomplishments would end up embracing a man like LaRouche with such enthusiasm.

Bevel's association with LaRouche didn't end after the '92 campaign.  Perhaps most infamously, Bevel invited LaRouche to attend Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March in 1995.  Farrakhan, it should be added, was another disturbingly close associate of Bevel's.

It was during Bevel's association with LaRouche that Bevel took it upon himself to publicize the so-called "Franklin Sex Abuse Scandal" in Nebraska.  Though too complicated to get into here (this wikipedia entry will give you the basics but it doesn't even begin to get into just how elaborate and insane the hysteria and paranoia of this whole thing eventually got), the Franklin Case is one of the most spurrious hoaxes ever played on the conspiracy-minded folks of this country and it continues to twist minds and distort realities to this day.

During the Franklin Case, Bevel promoted himself as a crusader for "abused children" and essentially presented himself as someone battling against a conspiracy of child abusers and perverts.  What make this especially ironic is that, while none of the people accused in the Franklin Case were ever convicted of sexually abusing a child, Bevel was.In 2007, Bevel was arrested and charged with sexually abusing his 13 year-old daughter.  Though, not surprisingly, Bevel claimed to be the victim of a conspiracy, a jury of his peers disagreed and convicted him after three hours of diliberation.

Bevel was out on appeal when he died.

What can one say about such a life?  Perhaps the only lesson that can learned from Jim Bevel is that a bad man who does a good deed remains, ultimately, a bad man.

Jim Bevel, R.I.P.