Oh, man.

Via an article in Buffalo Report:

A friend sent along this 1902 cover from the first Life Magazine of GI's waterboarding Cuban prisoners...



...while soldiers from other countries comment, "Those pious yankees can't throw stones any more."

I never thought of it this way before, but it's true: The Bush-Cheney crowd set us back more than 100 years.

I thought it was terrorists that did that sort of thing...

Popular culture lies to you

What Leonard said (because I meant to mention the score in my post and forgot)

From Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy:

Up celebrates life as the greatest adventure of all, whether you’re a young boy just starting out or an old man. It paints its unpredictable story on a broad canvas with engaging characters, wonderful visual ideas, perfect voice work (by Ed Asner and company) and the attention to detail that defines a Pixar movie. I’m also very fond of the character design, which is based on the idea of caricature rather than a replication of reality: one more reason Up is such a pleasure to watch. It’s also a joy to listen to, thanks to Michael Giacchino’s evocative score.

You know...it's not like I was expecting Transformers 2 not to be a bad movie...

But in a way, it's comforting to know there isn't a chance in hell of its being a good movie.

Talking at this weekend's BotCon, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman explained the unusual genesis of Revenge's story, which started two weeks before last year's WGA writers strike, when the two had to pound out a 20 page outline for the movie that would be used as a pre-production guideline while the strike was going on. Once the strike finished, months later?

When the strike ended in February, Mr. Kurtzman and Mr. Orci were asked to get moving, post haste, on a full script for a movie that was already barreling toward the screen.

Yes! Die! Die die die die die!

Last week's #2 movie, TERMINATOR SALVATION, dropped like a hooker on New Year's Eve, losing 63% of its audience from last weekend, while nabbing another $16M along the way. The film has now grossed $90M in the first 10 days of its release, which isn't a great number considering that it apparently cost about $200M to make.

Sorry. It's just that it's not often you get this kind of immidiate satisfaction after a smart, exciting and stellar TV series that you loved and are really gonna miss is...terminated.

I mean, Life has said bye-bye, and as you know I'm sorry about that. But in a way, I'm sorrier still that I didn't get to see someone try to "reboot" the idea without Rand Ravich or Damien Lewis...and fucking die at the box office.

Yee-ha!

MTV Movie Awards Fashion

The MTV Movie Awards were tonight. Most of the celebrities on the red carpet are on The Hills, people I don’t really recognize, or people that are too old to be there. Both Stephanie and Lauren chose to wear ugly dresses to the event. Megan Fox is usually pretty attractive, I will give her that. Tonight she thought it would be appropriate to slick her hair back like a porn star and show off her awkward/ugly tattoo. Of course Paris Hilton was there, she would show up to a Burger King opening if there was a chance she’d be photographed.

Angelina Jolie Injured

Angelina Jolie was taken to the hospital today after getting hurt on the set of her new movie.

Angelina was shooting "Salt" on Long Island, when she bumped her head, getting some sort of nick in between her eyes. She bled a bit and was taken to the hospital.

Her manager tells us she was doing a stunt when the incident occurred. He says she is completely fine.

We just got a statement from the film's production company:

"This morning while filming an action sequence... Angelina Joli sustained a minor injury. As a precautionary measure, Ms. Jolie will be taken to the hospital and examined. Production on the film has resumed."

World's Wealthiest Model Named Gisele Bundchen

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen is the highest-earning model in the world, according to a list compiled by Forbes.com.

The model has topped the list for the third year running after making $25 million from June 2008 to June 2009, reports contactmusic.com.

Despite raking in a fortune, Bundchen, who married American football star Tom Brady in February, has been hit by the global economic crisis, making $10 million less than in the previous financial year.

But the 28-year-old catwalk queen still has lucrative campaigns with Versace, Dior, True Religion jeans and Ebel watches. She also has her own successful shoe line.

German supermodel Heidi Klum finished in second place with $16 million, earning $2 million more than the previous financial year while British beauty Kate Moss finished at third place with $8.5 million, earning a million dollars more than the previous year.

This is the part of the show we like to call "It's too easy..."

Don't expect Paris Hilton to tune in to The Hills anytime soon.

"The show is, like, so lame and fake...

Queen Latifah in Georges Chakra Fall 09'

Up to something...

Pixar's latest feature, Up, for me is slightly lower-level Pixar...but that means I would only give it, say, 95.5% instead of 100. It's been said more than once, by more people than me, but even when they don't hit 100% they're so far and above what anyone else is doing...

For me Pixar's greatest achievement, and the one against which I judge all others either consciously or unconsciously, remains Finding Nemo. Then on the low-end we have movies like Cars and Monsters, Inc.

You see my point.

It's certainly possible that this one could inch "up" in my regard on repeated viewings--Ratatouille did. I liked Ratatouille just fine when I saw in the theater; through repeated viewings on DVD and cable I'd now say it's one of my favorite films.

As an achievement in animation, Up is really something; like WALL-E, it has the confidence to tell large parts of its story without dialogue. And you're really struck--I was, anyway--by how deeply its characters feel, and just how much of that feeling is conveyed by, well, pixels.

If they gave awards for animated performances, Carl Fredricksen would be a shoo-in. He's well-voiced by Ed Asner but, as I'm sure Asner would be the first to agree, his is only one part in this memorable and substantial character. The whole Pixar team, led by director Pete Docter on this project, would have to share in the award.



Even Carl's conception is something fresh for a family film.

As Roger Ebert wrote in his Journal, he is a

cranky old [man], which is a wonder in this era when the captain of the Starship Enterprise must be three years out of school, lest fans be asked to identify with a veteran officer. "Up" doesn't think all heroes must be young or sweet, although the third important character is a nervy kid.

Chuck Jones used to tell a story of being introduced to a child as "the man who draws Bugs Bunny," and having the child reply, affronted: "He does not! He draws pictures of Bugs Bunny"--implying that Bugs had a separate existence from that of his representations--which, of course, he does.

So does Carl Fredricksen.

Sheryl Crow in 3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 09'

Aerin Lauder in Lanvin Spring 09