RIP. A week late, but she's apparently not known enough here to make this newsworthy--still nothing from the New York Times. My entry point into classical Japanese cinema (non-Kurusawa) was Ozu. Unfortunately (and taking nothing away from Setsuko Hara), Takamine appeared in Ozu's more forgettable...
General
The first fifteen minutes of Fight Club strongly suggest to its audience that they're about to watch a much better film than the one they're actually watching—the critique of material.
Always worth keeping in mind: [A]ctual small government conservatism -- as opposed to opposition to unspecified waste or a misunderstanding of the size of the foreign aid budget -- is.
A superficial analysis of the House Republicans' pledge to vote to repeal health care reform is that it's nothing more than a symbolic gesture. While many might downplay their modest intellectual prowess, they must possess a rudimentary understanding of the basic institutional structure outlined in the...
Never let it be said that our comments section is not the site of unprecedented events! David Nieporent has actually attempted to cite erroneous claims in Ted Kennedy's famous Bork.
If I had to choose my "most underrated middlebrow filmmaker," it would definitely be Jim Sheridan, whose work I've admired for a long time (up to and including 2009's fine.
Clay Shirky has the lead article in this month's Foreign Affairs on social media and world politics. Although both governments and activists both seem to be assuming that the effects are a boon to civil society, Shirky begins by pointing out that the record of...
Robert George -- having already discovered that natural law is in perfect accordance with the 2008 Republican platform -- has some new intellectual innovations. His pretexts for opposing same-sex marriage.
Bobby Farrell, R.I.P. A real blow for fans of rigorous, sober-minded historical analysis. (OK, I guess that will be when Frank Farian dies, but...)
Shorter Col. Mustard: "I believe I'm the millionth person to quote Ted Kennedy's Bork speech as if it was ipso facto beyond the pale, without actually noting anything in it that was inaccurate." What a justice who lost an up-or-down vote has to do with...
It hasn't exactly been getting great reviews: the 1982 version had a plump, red thumbs-up rating of 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, whereas the sequel is at a festering, sickly 49%..
Silver's take is, as always, worth reading. To me, Palin still clearly has a serious chance of getting the 2012 nomination, and the key is point #3. The GOP establishment.