Furiosa (let's be honest, FURIOSA) is great. Performances are excellent with the exception of Liam Hemsworth who isn't terrible, but who never can decide if he's Chaotic Evil or Chaotic Good. And the script is very polished, with actual character development and everything that kind of lacked in FURY ROAD. At 79, George Miller can make whatever the hell movies he wants from now on (BABE 3?).
But I can't shake the feeling -- FURY ROAD is a better move, even though FURIOSA is terrific as well.
Recent polls don't look good for Biden! Then again, we all know 2024 is going to be close no matter what.
Here's two reasons I'm still optimistic that Biden will prevail though:
1) Trump taking over the RNC as his own piggy bank is going to really hurt GOP candidates all down the ballot, including himself. That money is going to pay off bills, not buy advertising.
2) It's somewhat clear that Trump never expected to win in 2016, and maybe didn't want to. Standard disclaimer -- we all have to vote, donate, and do our part. That said, if I was Trump and now staring down the debt incurred with losing multiple lawsuits (not to mention paying lawyers), what would be better than losing closely this November, then spending yet another four years fund-raising off of that for a 2028 run?
Totally hypothetical I realize. But to put it another way -- Trump makes a lot more money out of the White House than he does inside of it.
Who knows.
Last Tuesday I spent the day (6 am to 9:30 pm) as a poll judge for the Maryland primary election. It was a great experience that I obviously can't say too much about, other than to say that the full-time elections board folks I was trained by and worked with are really dedicated public officials. The idea that they would try and cheat any election is risible.
That said, there's a lot going into the security protocols to make sure every ballot cast is counted properly. There's simply no easy way to count the vote of hundreds of thousands of people either perfectly or quickly. Working as a very small cog in the machine made this beyond clear.
And yes, I was paid. And I'd like to do it again depending on how my schedule shakes out for this November.
I'm late to the game, but a great musician and -- provocateur? theorist? righteous asshole? -- of creative independence is now gone.
To have worked on The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey's Rid of Me, Songs: Ohia Magnolia Electric Company and, I don't know, Nirvana's In Utero is incredible, and just the tip of the iceberg really.
He's also a guy who managed to grow up a bit and reflect on past mistakes, and that's something we should all strive for even if we manage to never buy a Taylor Swift record.
Princess Mandu is meditating right now, but please return later with Churu and skritches.
Some random shots in and around Brunswick, Maryland, right on the border with Virginia. It's a very funky town -- MAGA flags fly freely next door to purple houses with rainbow flags. The tank is party of a very strangely placed World War II memorial.
Alex Garland is responsible for some of my favorite movies ever -- 28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, Annihilation. Hell, I even liked Men. (That was a comedy, right?)
But Civil War is something I can only describe as actively stupid. It's the filmic equivalent of a college freshman realizing that the media is only interested in violence, man!
There is political violence, drained of all politics. There are bizarre decisions made by the characters -- let's take an aging man into a war zone, just for lulz!
And in an age where journalists are routinely targeted by militaries around the world, there are many naïve scenes where the characters grasp their little PRESS cards and are all of a sudden adopted by different military units, or invited to witness atrocities that they would more than likely be trying to cover up.
And why are they, sometimes, still shooting on film?
This movie is awful. It makes no sense. The ending is not nearly as clever as it seems to think it is.
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