Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Movie Monday

 

I got sidetracked this morning because I started to crochet a winter hat. Which is probably a good idea, since last winter I knitted/crocheted the mother lode of warm hats and the winter was mild. And while I love cold winter weather, I worry about those who have to travel in it. I am such a worrier. My mom used to say I got my nightmares ready before I went to bed.

 

Which brings me to the US presidential election. This a real spooky one. I think I'm going to have trouble looking at many of my neighbors if Romney gets in without seeing them as uncaring bigots because the argument that Republicans are good for the economy doesn't wash this time since Obama's greatest achievement over the last four years is that he has saved American capitalism. I really only see this election as another four years in the decline of the country with Romney assuring us that our "fall from grace" will have a hard landing while under Obama, the landing would be softer.

 

However, I also believe that if the Republicans get in we will lose any hope of meaningful change for social and economic equality forever. Period. Never again. Nada. After this election, as the kids say in game playing, there will be no "do over."

 

On Friday, I was listening to NPR interview a NASCAR attendee. NPR informed us that while the NASCAR community is definitely going to vote Republican, they are not in love with Romney. And then a NASCAR interviewee said: Who creates jobs except the rich? Did you ever see a poor man create jobs? Why wouldn't I vote for someone who creates jobs?

 

And I thought: Wow, I'm listening to a medieval serf talking. Because those were probably serf thoughts as they tilled the lands outside the castle in order to garner some food for their families after they gave the bulk of it in payment to the lord of the manor. Thinking erroneously, as historians tell us, that when the barbarian hordes appeared over the hill, their feudal master would open the castle gates and give them protection.

 

Let's talk stage set talking movies this Monday because that's all I've got. As you know, I have been bemoaning the contents of my movie package for sooooo long. (We will be getting the dog of John Carter soon which made $30M more than its $250M production budget [Box Office MoJo] with 75% of that coming from foreign sales.)

 

Stage set talking movies have been around for a long time. In fact, that's how Hollywood started with speaking pictures, by taking stage stars and stage plays, putting usually rich people in rooms, adding some outside scenery and action and just filming. The plays of Noel Coward (Easy Living, Bittersweet, Private Lives, Design for Living, etc.) which became films are examples. 

 

It's a tough genre since with the wrong actors it can sound stagey and phony fast. That's what happens in Carnage (2011) where two sets of parents meet to discuss a violent incident concerning their sons (one bashed the other with a stick.) From the very beginning, I felt like someone was whispering in my ear: Wait for it. Wait for it. You knew from the get-go that these sophisticated parents were going to descend into feral behavior fast.  

 

You need very natural actors to handle talking scenes and scenes of talking do work. In fact, the talking scenes in A Dangerous Method were much better than the "action" ones. But stage set movies are tough on actors and while I liked Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lamb, in Carnage she weighed down an already shallow plot. 

 

In varying degrees of unbelievability, I watched Kate Winslet, Christopher Waltz, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly read their lines and hit their mark. Granted they didn't have much in plot or character development. Was director Polanski trying to revisit Who's Afraid of  Virginia Woolf? WAoVW came from an Edward Albee play, had real bite, two famous stars (Taylor and Burton) playing seriously against type, revelation and resolution. Not so with Carnage.

 

At IMDb, Carnage rated 7.2 but user critics there and professional critics at Rotten Tomatoes (those who gave it a rotten tomato) honed in on the fact that it just wasn't real. (Also, at IMDb, there was a long discussion of: "wanted to see this until i saw polanski directed", which is a topic for another day.)

 

If you like to watch and listen to people talking, grab My Dinner with Andre.  

 

See you next Monday.