HBO ran a Da Ali G Show marathon last night and it might have been the funniest couple of hours I can remember lately. I haven't gotten out to see the Borat film yet but after Rolling Stone called it the "funniest movie ever made" I think I'll have to. That is, if they even play it around these parts. I'm still waiting for Marie Antoinette to show up in the theaters here, because Lord knows I love me some Sofia Coppola.
So...what's news on Sunday...
Saddam sentenced to death by hanging
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's High Tribunal on Sunday found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The visibly shaken former leader shouted "God is great!"
Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of the former Revolutionary Court, were sentenced to join Saddam on the gallows for the Dujail killings after an unsuccessful assassination attempt during a Saddam visit to the city 35 miles north of Baghdad.
The death sentences automatically go to a nine-judge appeals panel which as unlimited time to review the case. If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days...[READ MORE].
Sidenote: Ironically, some of Borat's stunts could—and almost did—get him lynched. MSNBC reports on the man from Kazakhstan.
I wonder if when they string up Saddam the feeling for those oppressed by him will be a little bit like this. Ok, I know that's no comparison, but I needed an excuse to post that clip other than by saying that's how I feel every day in between Monday and Friday.
Entertainment
I finally got a chance to see Lucky Number Slevin last night, which I thought was great and true to everyone's recommendation, and so I'm in the movie spirit. Luckily, the New York Times is running a section on the upcoming holiday season releases. We've weeded out the field to let you know about the ones you should cough up the bucks for:
Babel
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael García Bernal.
I'm going to warn you right now: Do not sleep on this film. Inarritu is hands-down my favorite international director, having directed some of my personal favorites like Amorres Perros and 21 Grams. From a film scholar view, the style of Innaritu's directing (juxtaposing narratives rather than a continous plot line) is classical and yet avant-garde (as we've seen with Crash, also)...and is helping film viewers to understand how the medium of film is ever changing and diverse. Believe it or not, there's more to some films than a beginning, end, and middle.
Here's what the NYT has to say about the upcoming release: The biblical story of Babel takes up a handful of verses in the 11th chapter of Genesis, and it illustrates, among other things, the terrible consequences of unchecked ambition. As punishment for trying to build a tower that would reach the heavens, the human race was scattered over the face of the earth in a state of confusion — divided, dislocated and unable to communicate. More or less as we find ourselves today.
To make sense of this condition requires an ambition nearly as great as the one that got those ancient architects into trouble in the first place. Any discussion of “Babel,” therefore — whether grounded in skepticism or lost in admiration — has to begin by acknowledging just how much the film, the third collaboration between the director Alejandro González Iñárritu and the screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, sets out to do.
It tells four distinct stories, disclosing bit by bit the chronology and causality that link them and making much of the linguistic, cultural and geographical distances among the characters. The movie travels — often by means of jarringly abrupt cuts and shifts of tone — from the barren mountains of Morocco, where the dominant sound is howling wind, to fluorescent Tokyo, where the natural world has been almost entirely supplanted by a technological environment, to the anxious border between the United States and Mexico. Each place has its own aural and visual palette. The languages used by the astonishingly diverse cast include Spanish, Berber, Japanese, sign language and English. The misunderstandings multiply accordingly, though they tend to be most acute between husbands and wives or parents and children, rather than between strangers...[READ MORE].
For Your Consideration
Directed by Christopher Guest, starring...well...anyone that's usually in a Christopher Guest film (Euguene Levy, Harry Shearer, etc.)
...Now it’s the turn of the unfortunates in “For Your Consideration.” Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer and Parker Posey play a trio of near-anonymous actors (two hard-slogging veterans and a bright young escapee from comedy clubs) who start out in a state of near innocence, working on an indie production titled “Home for Purim.” It’s a period melodrama about a Southern Jewish family that tries to keep a-kvellin’ for Mama’s sake, ’cause she’s been schleppin’ along right poorly — the sort of picture whose cast, by definition, will be short of money, respect, reliable representation and access to decent scripts. “For Your Consideration” shows what happens to such deeply needy people when a blogger types “Oscar-worthy” next to their names...[READ MORE]
The Fountain
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz
Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky switches gears from drug-induced urban malaise to science fiction romantic drama with this time-tripping tale of one man's thousand-year quest to save the woman he loves. Upon learning of the mythical Tree of Life that is said to bestow immortality upon all who drink of its sap, 16th century Spanish conquistador Tomas Creo (Hugh Jackman) sets out to find the tree before time runs out for his true love. Centuries later, the struggle between life and death continues as modern-day scientist Tommy Creo desperately searches for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Isabel (Rachel Weisz). Flash forward to the 26th century, where an awestruck astronaut named Tom drifts through the farthest reaches of the galaxy in a bubble-like spaceship that also houses the South American tree that he has sought throughout the centuries. As the mysteries of life and the universe slowly unfold before him, Tom finally begins to understand the meaning behind his extraordinary odyssey.
Related link: Six ways of looking at The Fountain
Stranger Than Fiction
Directed by Marc Forester
A socially isolated IRS agent whose every move is documented by a disembodied female voice discovers that his life is the subject of a book currently being written by a best-selling author, whose creative block has stunted her repeated efforts to kill him off, in a quirky fantasy comedy written by Hollywood hot property Zach Helm and directed by Finding Neverland's Marc Forester. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) lives a life of solitude. Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) can't seem to find a way to finish her latest book. Though Harold and Kay have never actually met, their fates are about to become intertwined in a most unusual manner...[READ MORE].
Sports
Couple of huge matchups this Sunday: Cincy at Baltimore, Denver at Pittsburgh, and the biggest one of all, Indy at New England. I'm thinking Cincy gets in done in Baltimore against a secondary that isn't as good as it used to be. I'm picking the Steelers to rebound at home against Denver, despite Denver's great defense.
It could really go either way at New England, but I'll point out that despite what anyone says, Tom Brady is a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. Manning may be more talented and have better skills, but he doesn't lack that championship attitude that Brady does. In an all out battle, I'll give the nod to the Patriots and their coaching staff to take the victory at home in this one, unless their ex-kicker ends up winning it for his new team. I'm supposed to meet a buddy at the bar to watch the games so I better wrap this up...
Music
Featured Artist: Silversun Pickups
Every day at work I'm treated to "Lazy Eye" by the Silversun Pickups since it's a huge request on Y-Rock on XPN, which I listen to during the day. All those playbacks have really put me in the mood to share some Silversun Pickups with you, even though you're probably sick of hearing about how talented this group is.
As Spin.com notes, "When the inevitable '90s music revival cranks into full gear, Silversun Pickups are ready and waiting to fill the Smashing Pumpkins slot, only with a much less nasal vocalist. Their guitars fuzz gloriously, feedback squeals over their anthemic melodies, vocals whisper and then scream, and keyboards make unrecognizable but appealing noises. On songs like the quiet-to-soaring "Checkered Floor" and the loud-to-even-louder "Well Thought Out Twinkles," it all coheres into one of the catchiest debut albums of the year." [photo credit: Shirley Kurata]
Silversun Pickups- "Melatonin"
Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
Silversun Pickups - "Checkered Floor"
Enjoy your football and last day of freedom before it's back to work.