Tag: Film

If Bush Tax Cuts Don’t Kill Economy, Congress Will

Trish

Speaker Freckles, Senate Majority Leader Fluffy, Rep. Peanut, and Sen. Blackie

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The economy is in recession following years of wild spending on private contractors and unwanted embassies in Bush’s Iraq occupation, combined with tax cuts for the very rich. So what are we are going to do about it? Give everyone a tax rebate, plunging us even deeper into debt. Or, as Dartmouth Economics Prof. Andrew A. Samwick put it:

It is ironic that additional borrowing is prescribed as the remedy for a malady that arose from unwise borrowing.

Somebody explain to me how giving American tax dollars to people in Guam will stimulate the economy in the United States.

Everyone loves Ronald Reagan now that he’s really dead so let’s bring back this old favorite: voodoo economics. That was the counterintuitive scheme that said money rich people were no longer contributing for the public good would trickle down and benefit us working stiffs. It caused Reagan’s successor, Bush Jr.’s father, to ban lip-reading and raise taxes, but we still wallowed in recession until Bill Clinton forced us to spend within our means.

So here we are again. But Samwick notes there’s a new buzzword this time.

Let’s drop the euphemism of “stimulus package” and call this agreement by its proper name: “deficit spending.”

When you and I get our $300, we will have two choices: go to Wal-mart and blow it on more cheap crap from China, or use it to pay down our credit card bills. Neither option stimulates our economy, although I’m sure the Chinese will laugh gleefully.

Wait, it gets better. Bush originally called for a “tax rebate,” which would imply that those receiving a check had actually paid into the system to begin with. But thanks to the bunny rabbits in Congress whose only concern is staying in office, coverage is now extended to retirees and people on public assistance, who never paid any taxes. And — hold on to your hat — even people who don’t live in this country.

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Heath Ledger, Dead at 28

Jon Ponder

Heath Ledger, 2006 Academy Award nominee for his role in “Brokeback Mountain,” has died in his home in New York:

He was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3:35 PM ET today. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they believe it was not a crime, adding that prescription pills were found near his body.

According to NYPD a masseuse arrived at Ledger’s apartment and was let in by a housekeeper. When Ledger didn’t answer his bedroom door, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened it and found him unconscious. They attempted to wake him; when they couldn’t, they called 911.

We’re told when paramedics responded, the actor was in full cardiac arrest. They attempted to perform CPR on him, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 28-year-old actor has a two year old daughter with former fiancee Michelle Williams — they separated in September, 2007. He plays The Joker in the upcoming Batman film, “The Dark Knight” and is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking role as Ennis in “Brokeback Mountain.”

RIP Johnny Grant, ‘Mayor’ of Hollywood

Jon Ponder

Johnny Grant died today in his penthouse suite at the Roosevelt Hotel. You know his face from because he was the perennial master of ceremonies when movie actors and others were awarded stars on Hollywood Boulevard.

He was called the “Mayor of Hollywood,” which is a bit of local humor because Hollywood is not a city, it’s a district of Los Angeles. Johnny’s spokesman role for the district fell under the auspices of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

This quintessential Californian — he was the only person ever to twice receive an Order of California, the state’s highest honor — was born and raised in flat coastal plain of North Carolina, in Goldsboro. He came through Los Angeles during World War II, fell in love with the city and stayed.

He was 84.

Hamburger and Milk Are Primary Causes of Global Warming and Water Pollution

Jon Ponder
In California, the nation’s leading dairy state, 1.7 million cows on 2,100 dairies produce 65 billion pounds of manure a year.

Which contributes more to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, cars or cows?

According to a study released a month ago by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it’s cows, hands down:

the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent — 18 percent — than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

The report projects that global consumption of meat from cows and other farm animals is projected to raise from 465 million tons in the next 40 years.

The report says that methane from ruminants’ digestive system is responsible for 37 percent of methane in the atmosphere. Methane is 23 times more powerful as a contributor to global warming than carbon monoxide.

Livestock now uses 30 percent of the surface, when pastureland and the farmlands used to raise their feed are combined.

Closer to home, the pollution produced by farm factories producing meat and milk are pushing the fragile geography of the state to the brink:

In California, the nation’s leading dairy state, 1.7 million cows on 2,100 dairies produce 65 billion pounds of manure a year.

What can you do? Stop the madness. Quit eating meat. It’s that simple. The earth cannot sustain itself indefinitely as billions of people depend on these farm factories where living, sentient beings are “processed” like inanimate objects.

It is barbaric and it is killing the planet.

Despite Cancellation at Theatre Owned by Homophobe, ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Tops Sales at Two Other SLC Theatres

Jon Ponder

Shot in foot: You have probably heard by now that, in an extremely unusual move, a movie theatre in Salt Lake City canceled the scheduled run of “Brokeback Mountain.”

The theatre – the poetically named Megaplex 17 – is owned by car dealer Larry H. Miller, and the movie’s run was canceled, of course, because “Brokeback Mountain” is a love story about two ranch hands who fall in love.

What you may not know is that while “Brokeback Mountain” was canceled at the Megaplex 17, it played at three other SLC theatres where it did strong business. According to Box Office Mojo:

On the four-day New Year’s frame, Brokeback Mountain earned $46,300 at the Broadway, landing among the top nationwide per-screen averages that weekend. For the weekend ending Jan. 8, the movie took in $18,823 there, still No. 1 in the complex… At the Century 16, Brokeback Mountain was also No. 1 with $12,741.

While Miller cancelled “Brokeback Mountain” assumedly on moral grounds, he had apparently no problems with “Hostel,” a (het) sex-drenched, violent horror film, for which the theatre grossed about $10,000 over the weekend.

As noted, theatre operators rarely cancel movie runs. A rep for Focus Features, the distributors of “Brokeback Mountain,” sounded outraged:

“It’s the most despicable practice that any exhibitor can do,” Focus’ head of distribution, Jack Foley, told Box Office Mojo. “It was a flagrant dismissal of a commitment, and without even a phone call. So I’m not in business with him anymore. It’s a breach of contract. It’s unethical. We can sue him.”

While a cynical observer might note that Larry Miller’s violation of his contract with Focus Features is part of a larger picture – that conservativism has a corrupting effect on its adherents that makes them put their own judgments and benighted moral positions above the law – why not focus on the positive: All the ink given this one cancellation out of 484 theatres nets out to be more free publicity for the film.

This leaves us with a win-win for the movie – nobody in Salt Lake City who wanted to see “Brokeback Mountain” was prevented from seeing it and the distributor got a lot of free publicity – and a loss Larry Miller, who lost ticket sales to other theatres in his market and comes off looking a big ol’ homophobe.

‘Brokeback’ Politics – Can a Movie about Gay Ranch Hands Change Hearts and Minds?

Jon Ponder

Cultural shift: “Brokeback Mountain” has the pedigree of a major hit movie: Two hot young stars, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who are also great actors; an Oscar winning director, Ang Lee; a screenplay by Pulitizer-winning novelist Larry McMurtry (“The Last Picture Show” and “Lonesome Dove”) and is based on an incredibly powerful short story by another Pulitzer prize winner, Annie Proulx, author of the novel, “The Shipping News.”

Hint to the ladies: If your man refuses to go see “Brokeback Mountain” with you, go with a girlfriend. After you’ve seen it, you may want to check up on Mr. Macho’s “fishing trips with the boys” and his annual “trip to Talladega.”

The result of all this talent is a magnificent thing – one of the few truly great films Hollywood has ever produced. It will likely receive Academy Award nominations across the board, and could well score big wins on Oscar night.

It is a bona fide critical success, leading in nominations in most critics’ association awards from coast to coast, and in nominations for the Golden Globes. If it does well at the Oscars, it could become a “must-see” film.

Or maybe not. There is good reason to doubt the suburban and small town conservative enclaves are ready for a movie about gay ranch hands in love.

So “Brokeback Mountain” isn’t for everyone – what movie is? In 2004, for example, despite the fact that millions of us stayed away in droves from “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson’s S&M epic about the torture and killing of Jesus, the film made $370 million worldwide.

“Brokeback Mountain” could easily make $100 million and more, which would qualify it as a hit by most standards, without selling a single ticket to a NASCAR dad, a homo-threatened “straight” guy or a Christian torture fetishist.

(Hint to the ladies: If your man refuses to go see “Brokeback Mountain” with you, go with a girlfriend. After you’ve seen it, you may want to check up on Mr. Macho’s “fishing trips with the boys” and his annual “trip to Talladega.”)

No movie could convert millions of homo-haters into gay-friendlies, but this particular film will definitely open a few eyes.

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