Oh, anticipation

Arguably the happiest words I've read in years:

The French have a word to describe "Ratatouille," the tale of a provincial rat named Remy who becomes a great Parisian chef. The word is "génial." Not genial as in cheerful, though Pixar's latest animated feature is certainly that, but génial with an accent, as in brilliant, or inspired. The characters are irresistible -- why would anyone want to resist a hero who so gallantly transcends his rattiness? -- the animation is astonishing and the film, a fantasy version of a foodie rhapsody, sustains a level of joyous invention that hasn't been seen in family entertainment since "The Incredibles."

If, after I see the film, I feel the same way then Brad Bird will be enshrined as an animation and film god. (Actually, he already was. Both The Iron Giant and The Incredibles are just that good.)

Coming soon: I Am Legend

This looks neat.

Apparently based on the book by Richard Matheson, it ends up looking like a version that starred Charlton Heston, namely The Omega Man. We shouldn't forget, however, that there's an even older version titled The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price in the lead.

If the trailer is accurate, the premise of I Am Legend follows that of The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth. Namely, a plague gets lose. A good chunk of humanity is annihilated, while most of the rest...mutate. Standard zombie movie stuff, really, except that in Matheson's book -- and pretty much in the previous two movie versions -- things are more complicated. In both the book and the Vincent Price film, survivors mutate into vampires; Charlton Heston didn't face vampires so much as albino religious fanatics who can't tolerate daylight.

What makes all interesting to me, however, is Matheson's underlying question: If everyone has mutated, isn't the lone "normal" man the aberation? I can't recall if there are any other "normals" in the Price film, or the novel for that matter, and there are precious few in the Heston film. Again, though, the queston we keep returning to is just what is normal?

I wonder if the 2007 rendition of I Am Legend, now officially titled after the book and complete with Will Smith, will ask the same question. Somehow, I doubt it.

Film: Nancy Drew

I was going to write a review, but then I read this one, with this summary:

Nancy Drew is wholesome, entertaining, imperfect fun. It’s also the first time since 300 I didn’t check my watch. I don’t oppose female empowerment films. I think women should be empowered. But while a film like Gracie beats you over the head with the lazy liberal ideal of feminism (Men. Are. Bad.), Nancy Drew presents a smart, strong, sweet, polite, likable character whose radical individuality is found in her unwillingness to conform to the radicals. Nancy Drew is a nice young lady. And in today’s world isn’t that really the new counter-culture?

...and I agree with that 100%, so why re-invent the wheel? I saw this with my 21+ year old daughter and we both enjoyed it, despite all the flaws that Dirty Harry accurately lists.

Needless to say, I'm amazed how much I liked it.

We'll always have Paris...unfortunately

As a society, we coddle drunk drivers. We tolerate them like no other class of criminal. We forgive them their trespasses, regardless of how often and blatantly they trespass, and we only appear to become incensed when they kill someone. When that happens, we reduce their offense to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, which in California carries a maximum sentence of one year in the county jail. They might do a month, maybe. It's as though we collectively say, "There but for the grace of God go I..."

Your average drunk driver -- someone just caught driving drunk, with no one hurt, no one killed -- gets a much lighter, albeit expensive, sentence.

Paris Hilton was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI). She pled no contest, was convicted, and received the standard sentence that included probation and a suspended driver's license; pointedly, no jail time. She then behaved like most convicted drunk drivers: She went for a drive on her suspended driver's license, down to her favorite watering hole, and had a drink or three. And like lots of drunk drivers, she got caught again. And again.

Hilton's current favorite car is a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which has a top speed somewhere north of 200 miles per hour. Most drunks are satisfied with killing people using little economy cars or family sedans. Hilton arms herself with a high-speed cruise missile.

Hilton is not a "non-violent offender". Some classify her as such because she hasn't yet crushed someone with her SLR. I'm trying to figure out how "non-violent" it is to be smashed like a bug into the windshield of a high-speed car. The SLR's windshield does have a nice rake to it, so I suppose you'd just roll up into the air and splat onto the pavement. With that sloped nose the car's paint job wouldn't be too scuffed, either, thank goodness; the repair bill must be horrific.

At some point in her journey through the criminal justice system, and that point varies from case to case, the system decided enough was enough. This is a rare circumstance, as rare as being born into so much money that you are oblivious as to how the world operates.

I don't envy the LA county sheriff, but I would applaud if he just came out and said, "Hey, my jail ain't big enough for her kind." Of course, if he said that he would have to explain why he's still housing others whose sentences were for less time than Hilton, or who were convicted of actual non-violent offenses (e.g., shoplifting). Oops, that might be embarrassing, having to explain away such inconsistencies.

The LASO still hasn't complied with the judge's order to present evidence of a medical condition requiring Hilton's early release. All we know of her "medical condition" is that she cries real well. I recall the opening scenes from The Shawshank Redemption. Didn't a "new fish" get beaten to death because he couldn't stop crying? Seems crying is not sufficient reason to release someone from custody. If it were, we'd never arrest anyone for anything at anytime, because few cry as much as those who have been caught.

Not that I'm arguing to have Hilton beaten, to death or otherwise. I do wonder, though, how different her life might have been if her mother had spanked her a few times. I also wonder if Mom's behavior would improve if someone spanked her, and I don't mean someone from Olga's House of Pain.

Paris Hilton is a serial drunk driver. Like other celebrities before her, notably Martha Stewart, she's shocked to discover that she's not above the law and the court is serious when it says, "Thou hath offended, get ye to jail."

Welcome to the simple life.

The iPhone, a mad perspective

I just can't get enough of this preview:

Dear Linda Chavez

Source: Townhall.com::Latino Fear and Loathing::By Linda Chavez:

What is said today of the Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and others was once said of Germans, Swedes, the Irish, Italians, Poles, Jews and others. The only difference is that in the past, the xenophobes could speak freely, unconstrained by a veneer of political correctness. Today, they speak more cautiously, so they talk about the rule of law, national security, amnesty, whatever else they think might make their arguments less racially charged.

Where once the xenophobes could advocate forced sterilization and eugenics coupled with virtually shutting off legal immigration from "undesirable" countries, now they must be content with building walls, putting troops on the border, rounding up illegal aliens on the job and deporting them, passing local ordinances to signal their distaste for immigrants' multi-family living arrangements, and doing whatever else they can to drive these people back where they came from.

Golly, I hope she doesn't mind that I hold an opinion slightly in conflict with hers. I was going to go into a long dissertation how she has lept into the void of reason by conflating all immigrants into one big pile. Without thought she treats illegal immigrants are the same as legal immigrants. (That must make the legals feel real smart about following the law, oh but "rule of law" is now a code phrase for "racist". Amazing.) Without taking a breath she implies that all illegal immigrants come from south of the US border, which isn't true. At least 40% come from somewhere else, many from lands that are outright hostile to the US. (Oh wait, I'm not supposed to imply that this is a national security issue. Darn.) Last, I could go on about my own upbringing in that little part of the world known as The Mission (in San Francisco), but why bother? In the end, I found that Lou Dobbs had just the right response, even if it's not explicitly aimed at her. You tell 'em, Lou!