THE HHS CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE OPENS PANDORA’S BOX

Published on February 14, 2012 in Current Events, Health Care, Politics

The Catholic bishops are refusing to take the bait of the silly “compromise” offered by the Obama administration, whereby the insurance companies would be paying for the contraceptives, rather than the employer or the employee. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that such costs would simply be passed on to the employees in the form of higher insurance premiums, and eventually work their way back into demands for higher salaries, and thus be transferred back to the employer.

More than that, this little melodrama will force people to start thinking long and hard about the whole so-called health insurance matter.

Back in the day, “health insurance” meant catastrophic event coverage. The idea was that if you were really laid up with a serious illness or devastating accident, and the hospital bills would cost a fortune, your health insurance would kick in. It was NEVER intended that every little thing be covered by this insurance, any more than auto insurance would cover gas, oil, and routine repairs.

You may not care about the conscience of the Catholic Church, but maybe you DO wonder why your premium dollars should pay for someone else’s Viagra. You may have great sympathy for someone else’s mental health problems but wonder why your premium dollars should pay for overpriced—and not very effective—proprietary psychotropic drugs.

You may agree with the concept of sharing the risk, so that your premium dollars provide needed care for heart patients. But, I’m guessing that you are probably disgusted by how the system has been played by unscrupulous cardiologists and their useless stents.

And if you think that private insurance plans have been scammed, don’t even get me started about Medicare and Medicaid.

The debate over federally-financed health care—as one-sided as it was—began 50 years ago. It’s high time for round two, don’t you think?

 

CHRONICLE

Published on February 10, 2012 in Movies

ChronicleOne more teen angst flick, this time supposedly presented in the “found footage” format, ushered in by The Blair Witch Project (1999). I say “supposedly” because helmer Josh Trank makes little effort to promote this concept, except for occasional references to TV and security cameras, and the fact that protags are constantly filming everything. Editing is tight, perhaps further betraying the fact that there is little story here. The special effects are quite good for this low budget project.

Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) has a pretty crummy life. His mother is dying, his father is an abusive alcoholic who’s always home because of an occupational injury, and he gets picked on at school. His only friend is his cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell). Matt persuades Andrew to go with him to a rave, and there they hook up with cool guy Steve (Michael B. Jordan).

The trio discovers a large hole, and climbing inside gets exposed to something odd. Before long they realize that whatever this was, it has given them what first appears to be the power of telekinesis (the ability to move objects with your mind). Within a few days, though, they now have superhuman strength and the ability to fly.

One interesting scene has them playing catch with a football at around 30,000 feet, with Andrew saving Steve from an airliner that suddenly enters their space.

As their powers keep increasing, Matt stresses the need for some rules as to how they would be applied, but Andrew balks, apparently liking his new status as an “Apex Predator.” Not surprisingly, the situation deteriorates, ending up with some death and destruction, and a battle reminiscent of General Zod versus Superman.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

One wonders if there were originally a lot more to this pic, before it got edited out. For example, Casey (Ashley Hinshaw) has some screen time as Matt’s girlfriend, but serves little purpose other than to be another person constantly filming, and thus maintaining the ridiculous conceit of a “found footage” movie. Hinshaw is an attractive performer, and the film needed another sympathetic character.

No explanation is given as to why Andrew becomes the strongest of the three guys, and his sudden turn to the dark side is an unexpected and foolish character arc.

There is clearly some footage missing concerned with Steve’s death, even if this void sets up the funeral surprise sequence. I doubt whether this was intended at the outset of the project.

Given the movie’s PG-13 rating, the aftermath of the implied sex scene between Andrew and a party girl seemed to push the limits. Upon reflection, her yelling “You’re disgusting!” to him refers to the fact that he puked all over her. However, at first blush this vomitus could easily have been mistaken for another bodily fluid—as disgusting or even more so. The producers got away with one here.

Telekinesis with kids has been tried before, of course, but has really only succeeded with Carrie (1976).

 

THE GREY

Published on February 1, 2012 in Movies

The GreyToo talky, too long, and more introspective than many viewers probably expected, this feature does touch on some big themes. However, helmer Joe Carnahan gives us plenty of room in how to interpret them.

As the pic opens, Ottway (Liam Neeson) is introduced as a sort of low-grade soldier of fortune, currently employed as a hunter/sniper, protecting a team of “ex-cons, fugitives, and assholes,” who work on a remote Alaska drilling operation, from bears and wolves. Straightaway, we see him take down a wolf, but you can tell that he identifies with these majestic creatures, as he hovers over the animal until it dies.

It is clear he does not like his co-workers nor his situation, and contemplates suicide, while he flashes on his wife (Anne Openshaw), who has left him for some as yet unknown reason. The cry of a distant wolf either distracts him from the suicide attempt, or inspires him to keep on living.

The scene now switches to a chartered jet, taking a number of the workers to Anchorage, for a bit of R & R, or perhaps in Ottway’s case, to the end of his term with the drilling company. His hopes for some rest on the flight are dashed as the flight becomes increasingly turbulent, ending in a crash—oddly foreshadowed by Flannery (Joe Anderson), one of the passengers.

There are only seven survivors, who think that their big problems are how to stay warm, and what to eat. But these considerations pale in comparison to a threat they soon discover: A pack of wolves, intent on killing them, to protect their territory.

Ottway convinces the group that they must abandon the plane’s fuselage to take refuge in the forest, only a short distance away. This is easier said than done, of course, as two survivors are soon lost to the wolves. Indeed, the survivors are knocked off one at a time, à la And Then There Were None (1945), also referred to as “Ten Little Indians” style.

Between wolf attacks, we get to know each character, and none of them dies in the manner you might expect, based on other movies of this genre.

The situation becomes increasingly grave, even as there are also hopeful signs. The group encounters an area that has been recently logged, and finds a river that is sure to lead them to civilization—if the wolves don’t get them first. Ottway relates a poem written by his father, to the dwindling band:

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

Clearly a riff on Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V, the poem reminds the men that as they fight off the wolves, they will never feel more alive, as that moment just before they die.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

It is revealed toward the end that Ottway’s wife “left him” by dying.  Yet, a note—presumably of regret—is being written by Ottway throughout the film.  He feels responsible for her death, I guess, but why?

Although you might surmise that Ottway is the last man standing, we never learn his fate, even if we stay beyond the final credits for a fleeting scene showing him and the alpha male wolf lying on the ground.  The implication is that the alpha is wounded.  Maybe there will be a sequel.

Verified attacks by wolves on humans are exceedingly rare, and a tale of the men fending off bears would have been more realistic.  However, that’s already been done in The Edge (1997).

Much is being made of the connection between the death of star Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson, and the bereavement of his character Ottway.  No doubt, this charged his performance.

 

BISHOP PAUL S. LOVERDE’S REACTION TO THE HHS CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE

Published on January 31, 2012 in Current Events, Politics, Religion

The Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde is Bishop of Arlington and spiritual leader of Northern Virginia’s nearly half million Catholics.  He recently commented on the decision by the Obama Administration to mandate sterilization and contraceptive coverage, including abortifacients, in health insurance plans offered by religious institutions, such as colleges and hospitals.

Here are my feelings on his statement:

1.    Loverde asks us “…to be prepared to engage in a strong defense in the civil arena of the basic human right of religious liberty.”  He adds that he “…will speak out consistently in the weeks and months ahead on this gravely important struggle for the freedom to practice our faith as full citizens of this great nation.”

But, I must ask:  Whom do we engage, and whom is he speaking out to?  The mandate is a policy created by an executive branch agency, headed by Kathleen Sebelius, a supposed Catholic and ardent abortion advocate.  Indeed, Sebelius is so owned by the abortion industry that her recent opposition to over-the-counter sales of the Plan B “morning after” pill, in a unprecedented move overriding the FDA, was done only to protect abortion providers.  Of course, her boss Obama was the most pro-abortion member of Congress.

If the mandate is to reversed, it would take a change of heart by these two, and absent divine intervention, this will simply not happen.

 

2.    One might ask what it takes for a notorious public sinner, such as Sebelius, who brings great scandal to the Church, to be excommunicated.  Then again, why stop with her?  There are several hundred nominally Catholic politicians, some of whom attend mass regularly, who openly defy Church teachings on marriage and life issues.  They do so with impunity because the Church is afraid to act.

You are possibly unaware that Dr. James McMahon, a Los Angeles abortionist and inventor of the partial-birth abortion procedure, was given the sacrament of anointing of the sick and was buried “by mistake” with full Catholic honors.

 

3.    For all the reams of statements issued by Church figures on Roe v Wade since 1973, the faithful are dismayed that Catholic justice William Brennan, one of the majority, was not publicly rebuked, let alone excommunicated.

 

4.    Moreover, most American bishops have embraced the intrusion of the Federal government into virtually all aspects of our lives in the name of “social justice,” quite foolishly not realizing that with such intrusion comes control–secular control.  Thus, their alarm over the present issue, while sincere, is far too little, far too late.

 

5.    Gone is the masterful way in which Pius XII engaged the Nazis, saved lives, and still preserved the Church.  One can only conclude that after World War 2, and certainly after Vatican II, this sort of Church Militant is long gone.  These days, our leadership does little more than craven posturing, whereby Loverde’s statement represents an almost worst case scenario of preaching to the converted.

 

6.    I am well aware of the boilerplate reasons for why the Church does not act.  Washington Cardinal Wuerl is quick to say that the errant Catholic politicians must be disciplined by their home diocese bishops.  How convenient.  Likewise, we are told that overly aggressive actions by the Church could threaten its tax exempt status.

 

So, it’s all about effete legalisms and the dollars.  The Pharisees would surely be proud.

 

JOE PATERNO (1926-2012)

Published on January 22, 2012 in Sports

Having one of the most storied careers in college football, only to see it all come tumbling down in the wake of a sordid sex scandal, was not what anyone anticipated for JoePa.  Sadly, his death will only heighten the speculations as to his involvement in the Sandusky affair.

Likewise, the achievements of this same storied career will no doubt be further scrutinized.  Technically, he was the head coach of record who did win 409 games, but one wonders how much actual involvement he had during the last few years.  Was he kept on merely as a fund-raising icon?  Given the power he wielded on the Penn State campus, the highly-touted graduation rate of his players is surely subject to question, as well.

Yet, the Penn State scandal is merely the tip of the iceberg, when one examines the travesty that is big-time college athletics, and the cartel status of the NCAA.  This miserable organization is only too willing to penalize players for even slightly profiting from their association with their team, while the schools earn millions from their slave labor.

Yes, a very few of the stars go on to professional careers, but what about the rest?  Should they be content with the psychic benefits they garnered?  And regarding the stars, why should the colleges be able to profit from their images, with no compensation to the athletes?

The entire system stinks to high heaven.  Perhaps the Penn State disaster will prompt someone to take a closer look.  As to Paterno, he’ll never get a chance to really explain what happened.  But then, he already had almost ten years to do so.

 

 

BRONCOS DEFEAT THE STEELERS

Published on January 9, 2012 in Current Events, Sports

What a game, and what an ending!  After all the hype about how the overtime rules for the playoffs have changed, Tim Tebow and the Broncos proved that none of that mattered.

The new rules provided for both sides to get the ball, unless one team scores a touchdown on its first possession.  Not only did Denver score a touchdown on the first series, they did it on the first play.

Credit brilliant play-calling by offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, and the blinding speed of wideout Demaryius Thomas.    Tebow faked the hand-off to running back Willis McGahee, and then hit Thomas at the Denver 38, in the left flat.  Thomas streaked through coverage all the way to the right, and shredded the Steeler secondary for the TD.

For those keeping score, Tebow passed for 316 yards (as in John 3:16), and his ten completions averaged 31.6 yards.

As to those who attack Tebow’s religious beliefs, and his aw-shucks manner, one wonders if there is some sort of Stockholm Syndrome going on, whereby the pundits not only accept, but actually prefer their sports stars to be thugs.

It’s anybody’s guess how the Broncos will do next week against New England, but one thing’s for sure:  This Tebow kid is a gamer.

 

 

 

THE PENN STATE, SYRACUSE, AND ENSUING SEX SCANDALS

Published on December 6, 2011 in Current Events, Religion, Sports

Here in the Washington, DC metro area, there are plenty of Penn Staters.  Some of these alums are rabid enough football fans to tackle the 400 mile round trip necessary to attend all the home games.

Needless to say, they are in shock, and many refuse to speak about the matter at all.

While there has been no shortage of media coverage, one topic is strangely absent from any story I have read or watched.  Maybe it’s because the topic is indelicate, although today’s media can hardly be accused of having much restraint.  Perhaps it’s because the topic cuts way too deep.

What I’m referring to is the undercurrent of homoeroticism that exists in all competitive sports.  There is, after all, a fine line between the promotion and admiration of physical perfection, and the tendency to take it a step further.  Likewise, there is a fine line between so-called “horseplay”—the same word has always been used as a cover, going back at least to Bill Tilden—and intentional sexual harassment.

Moreover, for a predator such as Joe Sandusky, few environments can match an athletic locker room.

Inevitably, these scandals will be compared to the pedophilia occurring in the Catholic Church, but I will offer one difference—slight though it may be.  There were a number of priests, including Fr. Leonard Feeney, who spoke out against the rising number of gay priests, and the acceptance of a gay subculture within the priesthood.  These clerics also noted with dismay the overly close relationship between certain priests and their charges.  Sadly, many of those who did speak out were persecuted, and even worse, were ignored.

The records show that the majority of the so-called “pedophilia” cases that occurred within the Church actually involved adolescents, some of whom appeared to be in consensual relationships.  Yet, based on the promise of easy money and the built-in animosity that society has always had for the Church, the lawsuits and media coverage proliferated.

No, I am not justifying any of this sordid behavior, but the word “pedophilia” conjures up the image of a small, defenseless child being molested, which provokes even more outrage.

Contrast this with the fact that no one within Penn State or Syracuse spoke out on these matters until the story had already broken.

If athletics are to be held in greater esteem than religion in this society, more’s the pity that the overwhelming interest is in being a spectator, rather than as participant.

 

DREAM HOUSE

Published on October 5, 2011 in Movies

Dream HousePanned by most of the critics, this movie is a riff on the typical “Honey, we’ve bought a haunted house” scenario. Apparently, the studios took over production, much to the chagrin of helmer Jim Sheridan and the stars. Then again, perhaps it should have been pulled from the director.

As the pic opens, NYC publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) is going through the process of voluntarily leaving his job, to spend more time with his family at his recently-purchased rural home (Ontario, Canada filling in for Connecticut), and finally finish his novel. His wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and young daughters are happy to see him, and look forward to having him around the house.

However, this domestic bliss is short-lived, as the girls see a prowler in their yard, and Will discovers goth teenagers performing a ritual in their basement. The goth kids are surprised to hear that Will knows nothing about the brutal murders, which occurred at the house five years earlier.

Will probes for more information and finds out that a mother and her two daughters were killed, with suspicion falling on the father—but there was insufficient evidence to charge him. What’s more, this father—Peter Ward—has just been released from a mental institution, and is said to be back in town.

Making matters worse, Chloe (Rachel Fox)—a girl from across the street—tells Will’s girls that “Everybody who lives in this house gets killed.” Will complains to Chloe’s mother Ann (Naomi Watts), who is not particularly friendly to him.

She has her own problems, with a bitter custody dispute on her hands, but later warms up to Will. Meanwhile, as Will makes further inquiries, he begins to realize that all is not quite as it seems.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

Ironically, a big spoiler is provided in the film’s trailer, whereby it is revealed that there is no Will Atenton.  “Will” is actually Peter Ward drifting into an imaginary identity he developed to ease the pain of the loss of his family.

Peter was put away, not so much as a killer, but as a complete wreck—reacting to his loss. In occasional lucid moments, he sees that the dream house is abandoned and vandalized, but also sees the ghosts of his family.

It would appear that the original story got changed, explaining the murder of Peter’s family as a paid hit gone terribly wrong. Since this is the real plot twist, maybe the studio figured that it had to give away the “Will is Peter” bit in the trailer. I guess too many twists are difficult to follow.

I’m not sure about the auds, but the critics have a great deal of trouble following the storyline of many films. If you don’t believe me, try watching a movie with a complicated plot, and then read some online reviews—even by the so-called elite critics.

Many reviews ask how a “talented” director like Sheridan could have come up with what they call such a mess, and then blame the studios for ruining everything. The fact is that Sheridan is greatly overrated. Check out my review of his awful In America (2002).

A better story would have come up with a more sensible reason for the homicides, possibly having Peter really commit them, and being able to completely fool the public. Otherwise, the pic has its moments, and certainly does not deserve all the negative press.

 

CONTAGION

Published on September 15, 2011 in Movies

Not for a single moment does this pic live up to its marketing hype as a medical thriller. At best, it plays like a fancy documentary with some name talent onboard. At worst, it comes off like a vanity project with a script so weak you wonder how it got financed.  Maybe teenage boys really do want to see Gwyneth Paltrow die a horrible death.

Patient Zero of the movie’s pandemic is Beth Emhoff (Paltrow), who contracts the super-virus in Hong Kong. Beth is headed back to Minnesota by way of Chicago. This gives her plenty of time for a little offscreen mufky-fufky with an old flame—thus cheating on her husband Mitch (Matt Damon).

Perhaps this character flaw was further developed in the original script, but it is truly pointless here, as she quickly dies once she gets home. Not long after, her young son succumbs to the virus, leaving daddy and daughter Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron).

Pretty soon, people are dropping like flies, even if it is apparent that certain of them, including Mitch, have immunity. At this point, the rest of our stars get into the act.

Kate Winslet plays an investigator, working for CDC honcho Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne), and Elliott Gould does a nice job as academic virus guru Dr. Ian Sussman. What little dramatic tension that does exist is largely brought by conspiracy theory blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law).

The narrative grinds down to a predictable conclusion, and most auds will fell cheated.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

Besides the adultery in Beth’s character, which comes to nothing, there are also little blips regarding Dr. Cheever and Krumwiede, and they’re not fleshed out either. The panic caused by lack of vaccine is only briefly hinted at, and that’s surprising, since it would have actually provided some dramatic tension.

A good deal of screen time is devoted to the misadventures of a WHO researcher played by Marion Cotillard, that (surprise, surprise) also comes to nothing.

Finally, the epilog involving Mitch’s teenage daughter going to the prom might “personalize” the story, but you’d think there would be much more to say in the wake of a pandemic that has cost tens of millions of lives worldwide.

 

THE BIG BANG

Published on July 30, 2011 in Movies

The Big BangRegular readers of this column know that I am no big fan of movie critics. It is quite clear that the vast majority of them don’t work terribly hard at their “craft,” and tend to have prefabricated, fixed opinions on most aspects of cinema. To show their supposed sophistication, they know just which names to drop and which obscure films to cite in in their reviews.

Perhaps most maddeningly, they often don’t understand the events unfolding on the screens before them, and get major plot details wrong. If this is a genuine occupational hazard of seeing hundreds of movies per year, then they owe it to us to work to avoid it. After all, they ARE professionals, right? Would we excuse a sports writer such flaws?

I offer the above as a prelude to my review of The Big Bang, a film almost universally panned by the critics, and misunderstood by them to the same degree. The pic is a sort of neo noir, with numerous riffs along the way that poke fun—with all due reverence—at the conventions of the genre.

Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) is a private eye, hired by Russian mob thug Anton ‘The Pro’ Protopov (Robert Maillet), recently released from prison. Protopov wants Ned to locate Lexie Persimmon, a gorgeous stripper, who is his prison pen pal girlfriend. The story is told in flashback, with frequent voice-over by Ned.

Ned is reluctant to take the case, but the money is impossible to turn down. More than that, he is falling in love with the subject of his quest, à la Laura (1944). After some false starts in Los Angeles, the action shifts to San Celeritas, New Mexico, and an encounter with eccentric billionaire Simon Kestral (Sam Elliot), who has built a linear accelerator below the desert floor, in search of the so-called God particle.

In the meantime, a mysterious black car is tailing Ned, in search of $30 million worth of diamonds connected to Protopov.

All will be revealed against a backdrop of brilliant production design, and a host of character actors including William Fitchner, Delroy Lindo, Thomas Kretschmann, Bill Duke, Snoop Dogg, and Jimmi Simpson. Saying anything more will ruin it for you.

Check this one out.

 
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