I don't watch many liberal-leaning news casts, as my politics also lean to the left and I don't need to hear news or opinion that only support my political views. However, I do pay attention to conservative media outlets and pundits such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and most of the personalities on Fox News.
All I keep hearing from these conservatives is attacks and criticism against the teacher's unions. Glenn Beck even tries to draw connections between these unions, the protesters in the middle east, and a wide variety of communists/socialists/marxists, etc. They are one of many bogeymen that Glenn likes to trot out on his television and radio programs. Some of the comparisons are so ridiculous that I doubt even he believes them.
However, I have no problem with Glenn Beck's wild conspiracy theories. I do have a problem with the criticism being leveled at teacher's unions, when these same media outlets refuse to level a single bit of criticism against the NFL Player's Union, which is also locked into a labor dispute that threatens to abridge the upcoming football season. And the biggest difference between the two unions is that NFL players are millionaires, and teachers are not. Granted, teachers are public sector employees. But why is there so much vitriol towards these teachers and absolutely NO criticism against the player's union? I find it to be extremely hypocritical and absolutely disgusting.
That being said, I don't disagree with either of the unions. NFL players perform an extremely dangerous job. Every play could be a career-ender for some of these guys. Although I don't know the details of their dispute with the owners, I don't have any preconceived notions that these guys are greedy, selfish, etc.
I also have no preconceived notions about the teacher's unions. If all they want is the ability to collectively bargain, I think that's an extremely reasonable goal. Although their profession is nowhere near as dangerous as playing in the NFL, they perform a much more important service to our country and they deserve the right to collectively bargain. If Republican lawmakers were actually serious about reducing the deficit and cutting government spending, how about we stop incarcerating people for non-violent drug offenses. Hell, the legalization and taxation of marijuana alone could conceivably generate billions in savings and revenue for the state. Busting teacher's unions would not.
Unfortunately, conservatives don't seem to see it that way, and they insist on painting this picture of rich, greedy teachers, leeching off the state and even working to destroy our Republic. It's nothing but hypocrisy, and it has no place in our media. I wish they would just admit that they have an agenda to fulfill, but clearly that will never happen.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday the 13th Part 2 / Movie Review
I love slasher movies. The genre is pretty tired and boring, but nothing excites me more than an indestructible killer in a creepy mask, stalking people with sharp and creative weaponry. Of the many slasher franchises, I'm especially fond of Friday the 13th and Halloween. I also enjoy reading reviews of the many films (22!) from both franchises. So now I'm going to add my own take, starting with Friday the 13th part 2. I chose 2 because it is the first film with Jason Voorhees as the prime antagonist, and I think Mr. Voorhees is just great.
Before I get to the highlights of this film, I want to quickly address some of the lowlights. I know that criticising the faults of a Friday the 13th movie is about as challenging as beating the crap out of a toddler, but whatever.
My first problem with this movie starts in the very first scene. Alice, the "Final Girl" from the original film has returned to the Crystal Lake area about a year (I think) after beheading Mrs. Voorhees. I have no idea why she would want to return there, but we quickly discover that some mysterious stranger is stalking her. This is the first appearance of a grown-up Jason, although the audience is unaware of this so far.
So as Jason lumbers along, we see Alice inside her house, speaking to her mother on the phone. She hangs up, and goes into the bathroom for a shower that literally lasts less than 30 seconds of screen time. The camera never cuts away, so we can only assume that this is the shortest shower in human history. The phone rings. Jason is on the other end, and he asks Alice if she wants to play a game. No, there's just silence, but we know it's him. Which leads me to two of my objections to this premise.
1) How the HELL does Jason know where she lives??
2) How the HELL does he know her phone number??
Now, I'm willing to ignore the question of how Jason got to her house. Maybe he took a bus, although he would have looked mighty strange getting onto a Greyhound while wearing a potato sack and carrying his mother's decapitated head. But are we seriously supposed to accept that Jason called 411 to get her phone number? Or that he figured out her address?
But wait, there's more. First, he's supposed to be mentally disabled. Second, he doesn't even know Alice's full name, much less her city and street address. From the phone conversation with her mother, we can infer that Alice has just recently returned to the area. So perhaps she lives very close to Jason's Crystal Lake stomping ground. That's reasonable, and could explain how Mr. Voorhees was able to get there without any transportation.
However, it doesn't even begin to explain how Jason could know that she just returned there, how he knew where she lived, and how he found her phone number. Or, for that matter, how he found a phone to use. I suppose he could have broken into a neighbor's house and used their phone. He didn't even need to call her in the first place. Unless he calls her house every night until she answers? Sorry, there are just too many questions here and I can only suspend my disbelief for so long.
Shortly after Jason's creepy phone call, he finds Alice and drives an icepick into her brain. It's the first of many murders for the iconic serial killer. Seconds before her head is perforated, Alice opens her refrigerator and finds Mrs. Voorhees decapitated head. From her hysterical reaction, we can tell that Alice didn't put the head there herself. Which means that Jason must have done it....which leads to my final objection to this portion of the movie, albeit a minor one. Did Jason seriously just carry his mother's head with him to the house? Did he at least put it in a bag or something?
That being said, the rest of the movie is a pretty basic, modest slasher film which creates far less questions than the opening sequence. And for this reason, I will list no more objections.
Actually, I lied. There is one more scene I have to nitpick, and it is the scene where "Crazy Ralph" from part 1 meets his demise. Ok, he's standing with his back to a tree, when Jason wraps a length of wire around his throat and ends him. When this happens, take a good look at the tree Ralph is standing in front of. It's pretty tall, taller than him, and it extends up past the view of the camera. If someone is standing behind the tree, it wouldn't be difficult to strangle Ralph. However, that would require a person to hold the wire with one hand while reaching around the tree, right? But if you watch closely, Jason's hands never leave the wire. So next time you're standing behind a tall tree with a wire, try wrapping the wire around the tree while still gripping it with both hands.
This one is decent, but it's very much a clone of the original. A competent sequel but nothing special here.
Lowlight: The potato sack, and all of the objections listed above.
Highlight: Unmasked Jason crashing through the window at the conclusion of the movie. That must have scared the shit out of people in the theater.
2.5 out of 5 stars, 5th best movie of the original 10
Before I get to the highlights of this film, I want to quickly address some of the lowlights. I know that criticising the faults of a Friday the 13th movie is about as challenging as beating the crap out of a toddler, but whatever.
My first problem with this movie starts in the very first scene. Alice, the "Final Girl" from the original film has returned to the Crystal Lake area about a year (I think) after beheading Mrs. Voorhees. I have no idea why she would want to return there, but we quickly discover that some mysterious stranger is stalking her. This is the first appearance of a grown-up Jason, although the audience is unaware of this so far.
So as Jason lumbers along, we see Alice inside her house, speaking to her mother on the phone. She hangs up, and goes into the bathroom for a shower that literally lasts less than 30 seconds of screen time. The camera never cuts away, so we can only assume that this is the shortest shower in human history. The phone rings. Jason is on the other end, and he asks Alice if she wants to play a game. No, there's just silence, but we know it's him. Which leads me to two of my objections to this premise.
1) How the HELL does Jason know where she lives??
2) How the HELL does he know her phone number??
Now, I'm willing to ignore the question of how Jason got to her house. Maybe he took a bus, although he would have looked mighty strange getting onto a Greyhound while wearing a potato sack and carrying his mother's decapitated head. But are we seriously supposed to accept that Jason called 411 to get her phone number? Or that he figured out her address?
But wait, there's more. First, he's supposed to be mentally disabled. Second, he doesn't even know Alice's full name, much less her city and street address. From the phone conversation with her mother, we can infer that Alice has just recently returned to the area. So perhaps she lives very close to Jason's Crystal Lake stomping ground. That's reasonable, and could explain how Mr. Voorhees was able to get there without any transportation.
However, it doesn't even begin to explain how Jason could know that she just returned there, how he knew where she lived, and how he found her phone number. Or, for that matter, how he found a phone to use. I suppose he could have broken into a neighbor's house and used their phone. He didn't even need to call her in the first place. Unless he calls her house every night until she answers? Sorry, there are just too many questions here and I can only suspend my disbelief for so long.
Shortly after Jason's creepy phone call, he finds Alice and drives an icepick into her brain. It's the first of many murders for the iconic serial killer. Seconds before her head is perforated, Alice opens her refrigerator and finds Mrs. Voorhees decapitated head. From her hysterical reaction, we can tell that Alice didn't put the head there herself. Which means that Jason must have done it....which leads to my final objection to this portion of the movie, albeit a minor one. Did Jason seriously just carry his mother's head with him to the house? Did he at least put it in a bag or something?
That being said, the rest of the movie is a pretty basic, modest slasher film which creates far less questions than the opening sequence. And for this reason, I will list no more objections.
Actually, I lied. There is one more scene I have to nitpick, and it is the scene where "Crazy Ralph" from part 1 meets his demise. Ok, he's standing with his back to a tree, when Jason wraps a length of wire around his throat and ends him. When this happens, take a good look at the tree Ralph is standing in front of. It's pretty tall, taller than him, and it extends up past the view of the camera. If someone is standing behind the tree, it wouldn't be difficult to strangle Ralph. However, that would require a person to hold the wire with one hand while reaching around the tree, right? But if you watch closely, Jason's hands never leave the wire. So next time you're standing behind a tall tree with a wire, try wrapping the wire around the tree while still gripping it with both hands.
This one is decent, but it's very much a clone of the original. A competent sequel but nothing special here.
Lowlight: The potato sack, and all of the objections listed above.
Highlight: Unmasked Jason crashing through the window at the conclusion of the movie. That must have scared the shit out of people in the theater.
2.5 out of 5 stars, 5th best movie of the original 10
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