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Well, let us know what you think! On the extras, Oldman talks about how he admires Guinness' performance, but thinks he made him slightly more likable than in the book, where he has a dark side. I do agree with one of Lance's commenters that the Esterhase confrontation stands out as better in the miniseries (because it can take the time). But we'll see how you feel about it all...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Commentary By Ron Beasley I love a good spy novel. I read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré shortly after it came out in 1974 and shortly after I left the DIA. I heard about the movie and looked forward to seeing it. I had it in my Netflix que but but then I read this by Eric Margoli...
Ron, I noticed that about Smiley's People. It's really unfortunate. Smiley's People is not as good the first, but worth seeing. That said, I'm a fan of both versions of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the film is worth a look. (I wrote about both versions as the fourth entry in this post, and Lance Mannion also has a good post.) Le Carré was involved with the new film, and it's the equivalent of a new production of a classic play. It doesn't play out scenes at length, which is the great strength of the miniseries, but the performances are splendid and the command of the medium (particularly the cinematography) is markedly stronger. Like I said, I like both.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Commentary By Ron Beasley I love a good spy novel. I read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré shortly after it came out in 1974 and shortly after I left the DIA. I heard about the movie and looked forward to seeing it. I had it in my Netflix que but but then I read this by Eric Margoli...
Has John Bolton jumped on this, too? If not, he'll surely get around to it. For Bolton, rvery time is a good time to a foreign country.
US readying for stupid intervention in Libya?
By Steve Hynd It's difficult to find analysts who think armed intervention in Libya would be a good idea, with even most warfare welfarists backing off from talk of invasion or hard-to-implement "no-fly" zones. There are, however, some notable exceptions. Neoliberal Iraq cheerleader Michael O'Ha...
Occasionally, Scalia is sensible and follows legal precedent. He's become more crackpot and "activist" in terms of ignoring precedent over the years. There's the 2000 Florida decision of course, and his opinion on Hamadan, but he's gotten more bullying since Roberts and Alito came aboard.
Justice Scalia, the Moderate
By John Ballard In a world of slippery slopes, some good news is better than none. Yesterday, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to a gathering of mostly-Republican lawmakers about separation of powers under the Constitution. During that gathering, Scalia was asked to embrace one of the ...
Thanks for the post, Gary.
MAJ. Andrew Olmsted
by Gary Farber Andrew Olmsted was my friend. He honored me with that. He's in my thoughts, every day, several times a day. Please forgive me for being very personal in this post. I am also apt to edit it and change some of it. Hilzoy on January 04, 2008: Andrew Olmsted, who also posted ...
Thanks for participating and spreading the word, Tom. Have a Happy New Year!
Blogging Still Matters
I was going to get around to a similar post in and about the joyous festivities of the semi-pointless holiday of New Year's, but the estimable Robert Stein beat me to it - and I don't think Bob will mind this particular quotation in full: Generosity, a fading trait these days, comes back in the...
Thanks for participating and spreading the word, Steve. Have a Happy New Year!
The Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2010
By Steve Hynd I'm having a bit of a break until after New Year's, but I couldn't let the Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2010 go unmentioned. Jon, aka Al Weisel, was one of the great satirists of Blogtopia - a remarkable long-form blogger who could convince you he was a social conservative right up t...
Condolences; that's a lovely piece. I lost my dad four years ago now, and it's just a tough blow. Your stories about your dad working three jobs and "time" really resonate. In our case, it was a bit surprising to hear about small (and large) acts of kindness my dad had done for others that he never bothered to mention to us kids, and certainly didn't brag about. In another sense, it wasn't surprising at all. There's something special about that sort of energy, that generosity, that does endure. While I have warmer memories than those Hayden describes below, he really does capture some of that spirit, if not as well as The Lamplighter:
Those Winter Sundays
By Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueback cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?
The Lamplighter
Even in his last hours, Dad had a smile that could light the shadows of a room and chase away despair. He was that kind of man - the hail fellow with a bit of wit on his lips and the glitter of companionship in his eyes. No one ever minded seeing Don Watson walking toward them down the street....
I saw the Coens' version a couple of weeks ago, and caught the Wayne version on TCM last week, which I only dimly remembered. I haven't read the book yet. Overall, I preferred the Coens' version, particularly Hailee Steinfeld. I enjoyed the haggling scenes, but casting Buscemi is a really intriguing idea, as is your idea of casting actors from old westerns at the end. I found the epilogue a bit jarring for many of the reasons you describe, but I'm a sucker for 'the cost of revenge' in stories, so I sorta liked it. I agree on The Searchers front (Roy Edroso linked the final scene of it in his review of True Grit). I'd rate the Coens' version as very good, not great, but well worth a look, as is almost everything they do. They've got a good feel for (at least one approach to) the aesthetic of the western, and Roger Deakins' cinematography was wonderful, as always. Regardless, I'll have to read the book and give the film another viewing. It's always fun to see a film through Mannion's eyes.
I'll confess I'm not generally a fan of Fish's political analysis (or writings on faith versus atheism or empiricism), but I thought that was one of his better pieces. Meanwhile, what a remarkable passage from Hepburn! The John Wayne films I remember the most fondly are The Searchers, Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, which I think is one of his best performances.
True Grit and True Grit and…True Grit
Including the epilogue was not a good idea. The Coen Brothers have been direct about how they were not remaking the John Wayne movie when they set out to film their own version of True Grit. They were adapting Charles Portis’ novel and they planned on their adaptation being more faithful, in sp...
Very well put, Lance, thanks. I may have to steal your intro for next year.
Bloggers pay tribute to Jon Swift by boosting themselves
Our late and much missed comrade in blogging, journalist and writer Al Weisel, revered and admired across the bandwidth as the “reasonable conservative” blogger Modest Jon Swift, was a champion of the lesser known and little known bloggers working tirelessly in the shadows of the Great Blue and ...
Good roundup, Steve, thanks. What's going on right now is unconscionable – but it was also unconscionable the past thirty-some years.
Earlier this year, I wrote a long post on wealth inequity and plutocracy, mainly so I could refer to it in subsequent posts, but I've found it's been relevant to most stories.
A Sunday Soundtrack for the Class War
By Steve Hynd I read the news today, oh boy. -- The Republicans are holding unemployment benefits hostage to make sure the ultra-rich get to keep their tax break...and Obama seems to be willing to pay the ransom. -- The "elite can’t easily visualize the pain of Social Security cuts" on those ear...
I still prefer the name "Armistice Day," myself. But thanks - I'll include this one in my 11/11 roundup.
Poems For Remembrance Day 2010
By Steve Hynd We call today Remembrance Day in the UK, to mark the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, when the guns finally fell silent on a war which had eviscerated the young men of every city, town and village of Europe. It's a day to remember all the fallen of all the war...
Nice! Thanks for spreading the word on Banned Books Week. I just finished this year's post, and am linking folks who write posts celebrating it.
Enough About You: Let's Talk About Me
by Gary Farber My name is Gary Farber. You killed my father. Some of you are familiar with me, and some are not. Who the hell am I? I'm the FNG as an Obsidian Wings front-page blogger. But! My first appearance at Obsidian Wings was via a post by Katherine R. on December 16th, 2003, when she l...
Well, it's about time, Gary!
Good luck with the upcoming move, by the way.
Oh, and Banned Books Week started yesterday. (I'm encouraging bloggers to post on it.)
Enough About You: Let's Talk About Me
by Gary Farber My name is Gary Farber. You killed my father. Some of you are familiar with me, and some are not. Who the hell am I? I'm the FNG as an Obsidian Wings front-page blogger. But! My first appearance at Obsidian Wings was via a post by Katherine R. on December 16th, 2003, when she l...
Good thing we're a democracy, huh?
Poll: Majorities Want Jobs Over Deficit Reduction, Out Of Afghanistan
By Steve Hynd Bloomberg's new National Poll is out today (PDF) and two figures are worth noting: 70 per cent. That's how many people say it sure feels like a recession to them - and that creating jobs needs to take precedence over reducing the deficit. Many economists say the US emerged from th...
Thanks, as always - this is a valuable compilation.
Eyewitnesses, both activists and reporters, contradict Israeli account
By Steve Hynd As Israel releases detained activists and journalists after the assault on the Gaza relief flotilla, they are beginning to tell their version of events. The story has so far been dominated by Israeli offical releases and "hasbara" so it's important that the voices of these witnesse...
Um, interesting comment thread ya got going here... "The majority of non-tea partiers actually agree with the economic opinions of the tea party movement"...?
I had seen the Cole piece already, but this is a valuable roundup. I know Friedman needs to fill copy, but it's pretty sad that the bleeding obvious escapes him and so many highly-paid columnists.
Still Clueless After All These Years
Commentary By Ron Beasley Just when I thought the overinflated and clueless ego of Thomas Friedman couldn't become even more clueless and inflated he pens a gem. The "Green Tea Party?" I’ve been trying to understand the Tea Party Movement. Sounds like a lot of angry people who want to get the g...
I still call it Armistice Day. I wrote a series of posts for the day, one of them on Wilfred Owen, actually. I had seen Quiggin's piece, but thanks for the other links.
Honoring The Fallen
By Steve Hynd I have to admit that, as a European - a Scotsman - in a foreign land I don't really get America's Veterans Day. Reading blogposts and tweets by American writers today, I've seen countless expressions of support for those who serve because they "defend our freedom". I managed to ups...
Thanks. Powerful.
"Burial At Sea" for Memorial Day
By John Ballard This is something for Veteran's Day I came across several years ago. I posted it at my old blog with regularity since most readers don't read archives and items like this are unforgettable. The original link is still active but the formatting has become messy. (First posted at Ne...
Come on, Steve, we're there fighting for their freedom to do what we choose for them. The imperialist always knows best. And it worked so splendidly in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Chile...
Karzai's Narco-Trafficking Brother Is On CIA's Payroll
By Steve Hynd The New York Times, in what must be a measure of how sure they are of their information, rolled out the big guns today - Filkins, Mazzetti and Risen - to write the story of how Afghan president Hamid Karzai's brother has been on the CIA payroll for years. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the br...
Congratulations!
My Wandering Days Are Over...
by Eric Martin Today, I got married to the most beautiful woman in the world. Both beautiful because she is on the outside, and also because she puts up with me. It ain't easy. She's special. I'm just a louse.
I read this item at Greenwald earlier in the week and it stopped me cold.
What doctor or psychologist could do this without thinking of Mengele? And no one else involved said, "Wait a minute..."?
If Holder follows the law, Purham's investigation will necessarily lead upwards and outwards. If.
Paging Dr Mengele Of The CIA
By Steve Hynd I meant to post a link to this story days ago, and it seems to have flown completely under the radar in the U.S. - "CIA doctors face human experimentation claims": [Physicians for Human Rights] says health professionals participated at every stage in the development, implementatio...
I ponder this one quite a bit, Lance. I don't know. I think there are different and overlapping causes, and that your take might be true for some of them. Josh Marshall thinks they're wired for Republican rule. I think many of them are more conservative than they realize, and define "liberal" by the confines of their youth and have never updated it. They might have supported civil rights in the 60s, but many were Reagan Democrats. Many of them feel the need to go hippie-punching, like Joe Klein. I think in some cases, it's less that they think they're liberals - they're sell-outs, and don't want to be reminded of it. Because they're cynical, they assume everyone else is insincere. (Remember those pieces about McCain and why they loved him?) Whatever else one thinks of John Edwards, the Beltway media mostly hated him, and hate most talk about poverty, which they assume must be fake. FDR was derided in his day as a "traitor to his class," and it's a funny Village attitude that one shouldn't trust the rich guy working to help the poor, but instead the rich bastard voting to make himself even richer. It doesn't help that most media types - certainly on TV - are quite wealthy. And you're right, they're definitely establishmentarians - and suck-ups.
Disproving their "liberal" bias by giving liberals a wedgie
Pretty much it's gotten to the point that if the producers of the bobblehead shows stopped inviting known liars on their shows and the editors of op-ed pages stopped giving column inches to known liars and reporters of all stripes stopped using known liars as sources, then Republicans and "conse...
Welcome! It's a good fit. I am glad, though, that you clarified at Majikthise:
I won't be giving up Majikthise. Some of my posts will appear on ObWi and Majikthise, but there will continue to be Majikthise-only content.
Did Bushies seek to disregard terror alert guidelines on eve of election?
By Lindsay Beyerstein (Hello, Obsidian Wings readers. I'm the newest member of ObWi and I'm truly honored to be here. Thanks to Publius and the team for inviting me. A bit about me: I'm a freelance journalist based in New York City. I also write for the Media Consortium, UN Dispatch, In These Ti...
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