So Much Hate, So Little Time

I have plenty to talk about tonight, so I'll be splitting this into two posts.

First, more on Prop 8; Day Without a Gay and those Bible-thumping idiots at Westboro Baptist.

The "Reverand" (and I use the term loosely) Fred Phelps and his family of hate-mongers have now taken on the last bastion of childhood - Santa Claus, himself. These morons apparently actually believe that God is punishing America for it's permissive attitude toward homosexuality (did they not see the results on Prop 8?) by killing US soldiers abroad and ruining our economy. Now, they have come out with this delightful bit of propaganda:

I refuse to post the rest of the poem here, simply because it makes me sick to my stomach. Suffice it to say, I know who'll be standing at the gates of Hell saying "What the f...?" come Judgment Day. (Hint: Fred Phelps and Family).

This is the kind of hateful ignorance that leads religious extremists to fly planes into skyscrapers, folks. Make no mistake, the Devil has an especially hot pitchfork poised to poke their particularly ignorant asses.

Now, on the opposite end of the hate spectrum, comes this delightfully funny little short film, Love is Love. Sadly, the people who need to see it either won't get it, or won't even watch it.

And last, but far from least, here is just one more reason to love the hilarious Wanda Sykes:

Bad Taste in Movies

I just paid my daily visit to Rotten Tomatoes, the website that aggregates movies reviews and rates films on their "Tomatometer" as either 'Fresh' (Good) or 'Rotten' (bad). A movie must have 64% or higher positive reviews to be noted as 'Fresh.'

Now I know that most people don't rely on film critics when choosing the movies they see. Most people choose movies based on who stars in them, who directed them or how good their trailers are. Some even choose based on genre (personally, I'd rather see a horror movie than a melodrama or a sci-fi action flick than a period romance). But I do read what the professional critics have to say and when critics overwhelmingly deride a movie as bad, I usually avoid it. Likewise, when critics overwhelming praise a film as wonderful, I try (with some exceptions) to see it.

Still, I am stymied by the Top Ten movies of last week. Particularly by the biggest box-office earner for two weeks in a row, Four Christmases. It has the second lowest RT rating (25%) of all of the Top Ten. In fact, five of the Top Ten are rated 'Rotten.' Only Punisher: The War Zone was rated lower (20%). Yet even it still managed to break the Top Ten. I mean, really now. Is it me? Just take a look at the Trailer for Four Christmases:

Now I ask you, was there anything even remotely funny in that trailer? And seriously, what the hell are Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenbergen and Kristen Chenowith doing in this movie? Do they really need the paychecks that badly? And why is this the number one movie in America? I mean, I love Reese Witherspoon in Election and Walk the Line and Vince Vaughn was okay in Swingers and The Wedding Crashers. But honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to see this movie.

So, does this make me a movie snob? Maybe. But I like to think I know the difference between a good film and bad one. Apparently, the American movie-going public does not. But, as my mother is fond of saying "That's why they make vanilla and chocolate."

More of this, anon.

Prospero

Day Without Gays

Wednesday, December 10th is 'Day Without a Gay.' Members of the LGBT community and their supporters are encouraged to take off from work (or "call in gay") and not contribute to the economy in any way, but spend the day doing volunteer work, instead. I will be participating and I encourage all of you to do the same.

But in all honesty, I have to wonder what impact this "strike" will actually have. In this uncertain economy, how many of us can actually afford to take the day off? I have personal time available to me at work, but a temp co-worker (and friend of mine) isn't so lucky. He has to work tomorrow to pay his bills, no matter how much he wants to participate. And while it is my fervent hope that employers and retailers will feel the pinch of the loss of their LGBT employees and customers for a day, I hope it doesn't backfire on us.

Political activism of any kind has always been a slippery slope. Without political activists, Americans would still be British citizens, women wouldn't be allowed to vote and African Americans would still be slaves. But "political activists" were also responsible for the single worst attack on American soil, ever, resulting in the loss of 3000 lives in a single morning. And in California and Utah, some LGBT activists are infringing on the religious freedoms of members of the LDS Church, whether they contributed to the "Yes on Prop 8" campaign or not. Yes, everyone has a right to believe in whatever religion they want to (even the followers of the infamous Flying Spaghetti Monster). But does the LGBT community have a right to deny them their faith, simply because we disagree with them? No.

What's the answer, then? I honestly do not know. What I do know is that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, whether you personally agree with them, or not. What is important, is how we address those differences on a mature and civil level.

So, stay home from work on Wednesday. Volunteer at your local LGBT Center. Donate money to your own state's anti-discrimination causes. Go to a hospital and spend an afternoon holding an AIDS baby. Just don't be like Pat Boone - old, ignorant and bigoted:

More of this, anon.

Prospero

The Greatest Action Hero Ever!

Here Comes Dr. Tran!

(Warning: Not for Children and Not Safe for Most Workplaces)

The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week

Move over Beyonce, Brittany has a new boy in town!



More of this, anon.

Prospero

DVD Review: "The X-Files: I Want to Believe"

I'll admit it - I was an "X-Phile." I never missed a Sunday night episode with my friends and fellow fans. As frustrating and enigmatic as the series was, we faithfully gathered on Sunday evenings for our weekly dose of Scully and Mulder and whatever madness they happened to be caught up in that week. The first "X-Files" movie, Fight the Future was highly anticipated, and while it did much to advance the show's complicated alien/government conspiracy plot, it served mostly as a primer for the non-initiated. It was also loaded with action and intrigue, as was the series.

Now, six years after the show went off the air, Mulder and Scully return in I Want to Believe (a phrase not unknown to fans) to help a new pair of FBI agents in their investigation into the apparent abduction of another agent in the middle of the night. Aided by a psychic (and pedophillic) ex-priest, they must race against time to find the missing agent before she is killed. Along the way, they discover a plethora of body parts, all sharing the same rare blood type and all bearing traces of animal tranquilizers.

Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now working at a Catholic hospital, seemingly obsessed with helping a boy who has an "incurable" disease. When Special Agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) and her partner, Agent Mosley Drummy (rapper Xzbit) approach Scully in an effort to find former agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovney), Scully contacts him and encourages him to end his isolation and help find the missing agent (is it me, or does Chris Carter have a penchant for creating some of the most unlikely character names ever?). The priest, played by Billy Connolly (Fido) leads the FBI to a severed arm buried in the snow, and then to a whole collection of body parts in the West Virginia ice (with the plains of Vancouver standing in for a wintery WV). Despite recruiting Mulder to help with the investigation, Scully is hardly willing to once again "look into the darkness" and resists Mulder's attempts at teaming up for one more investigation. "This isn't my life, anymore," she repeatedly tells him.

The end result is more like one of the series' sillier episodes, involving Russian body part transplantation experiments, than the great alien conspiracy that series creator Chris Carter employed to great effect on TV. None of the shows' other great characters (Cigarette Smoking Man; Deep Throat; The Well-Manicured Man) makes an appearance and Mulder and Scully's boss Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) appears only briefly at the end. Ultimately a let-down for the series' fans, I Want to Believe isn't a bad movie; it just isn't a very good one. And certainly not worthy of what the fans have so long waited for. ** (Two Stars)

DVD Reviews: "Wall-E" and "Wanted"

Well, I finally had time to watch some movies on DVD today.

First up, Disney/Pixar's Wall-E the story of a trash-compacting robot and the survey droid he loves.

700 years ago, humans abandoned the trash-covered Earth for what was supposed to be a five year space cruise while robots cleaned up the mess the humans left behind. 700 years later, one little robot is left, still compacting and piling blocks of trash. Wall-E has developed a bit of a soul over the years and like Ariel in The Little Mermaid, has a collection of interesting human memorabilia (among them a spork, a Rubik's cube and a VHS copy of Hello Dolly! which he plays over and over). One day, a survey droid named EVE is sent to look for evidence of photosynthesis. For Wall-E, it's love at first byte (sorry, I couldn't help the pun). Using minimal dialog and hilarious visuals, first-time director John Lassiter (who has previously done voice work in many Pixar hits) imbues his anthropomorphic robot characters with far more soul than the fat, nearly-boneless humans who have evolved on the giant spaceship Axiom (their hover-chairs and service bots have long since turned them into nearly useless, complacent and blubbery drones, themselves). The few voices are provided by Jeff Garlin, Kathy Najimy, John Ratzenburger (Pixar's ever-present lucky charm) and Sigourney Weaver as the voice of Axiom's computer. Delightful, funny and even romantic, Wall-E is a film for more than just "family" audiences. **** (Four Stars)

Next I watched the comic-book-inspired Wanted, starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and Terence Stamp in a story about a wimpy and neurotic accountant named Wesley Gibson (McAvoy) who is unable to find a single entry about himself on Google, but is soon recruited by a secret society of assassins known only as "The Fraternity." Fox (Jolie) tells Wesley that his father was the greatest assassin who ever lived and that he had been killed that very morning. Wesley, believing his father abandoned him as a baby, is hesitant until he starts getting shot at.

After a training period in which Wesley learns to use the hidden talents he'd always mistaken for anxiety attacks, he and Fox start taking on assignments, killing people whose names are encoded in the weavings of a mystical loom in The Fraternity's headquarters. Outrageous stunts, ridiculous action sequences and plenty of bullets, blood and mayhem ensue as Wesley gets closer and closer to the truth about both his father and The Fraternity. A park-your-brain-at-the-door movie on the order of Crank, Wanted is terrific and bizarre popcorn movie of the highest order. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Daywatch; Nightwatch and the upcoming Twilight Watch), Wanted isn't likely to win any awards other than for special effects, but it's a very fun way to waste an hour and half or so. **/2 (Two and a Half Stars).

More of this, anon.

Prospero