Category: Media / Pop Culture
Ten classic movies you probably should watch, but haven't
December 21st, 2011With so many movies out there, it does become hard to know what good ones may exist. Below is a list of some of the best films ever made, that are likely to have not been seen by the reader.
The Petrified Forest (Drama/Thriller) - Remarkable small set film starring Bette Davis (pre-typecasted role) and Leslie Howard, which also launches Bogart's career as a gangster. The film is claustrophobic, set mainly in a diner in the middle of desert. Howard pretty much owns the screen with his character. A short but fulfilling film.
The Apartment (Drama/Comedy)- Brilliant plot, brilliant acting, Jack Lemmon shines along with Shirley Maclaine... cookie-wise.
Witness for the Prosecution (Drama/Whodunnit)- Laughton, Powers, and Dietrich star in this absolutely strong court room drama. The film is perfect, writen by Billy Wilder.
Shadow of a Doubt (Thriller) - Hitchcock's first American film and it is an unsung classic. One of the best thrillers ever. It grasps the viewer today just as it would have when it was first released.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (Drama) - Trifecta film (best film, actor, actress) which has acting so rich that the small players are big league. It is incredible the "nobody" actors in this film. Some call it a tragedy, I call it a fulfilling film.
Missing (Drama/Thriller) - Absolute engrosser of a film about the "Pinochet" Coup (never actually mentioned, but that is the timing). Spacek and Lemmon are just remarkable. Lemmon does such a great job of transforming his character through the film. There is a particular scene late in the film which not only is poignant for his character, but truthfully jabs the viewer. Some view the film as too political. Of course, those that died during the Pinochet Coup would probably have though otherwise.
Bringing Up Baby (Comedy) - One of the best comedies ever. Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant are a perfect match in this film. The comedy in the film really catches you by surprise as there is "modern" wit.
One, Two, Three (Comedy) - James Cagney stars in this tour de force slapstick comedy. Cagney seems so natural in the roll about a Coca Cola manager who is entrusted with the care of the Boss's daughter and all the problems to ensue from there. The film is just so jam packed and relentless. Comedies like this are a rare breed.
The Male Animal (Comedy/Drama) - Brilliant drama/comedy that tackles the issue of free speech without getting preachy.
In This Our Life (Drama) - Powerful film starring Olivia DeHaviland and Bette Davis. You get to see Hattie McDaniel actually act and the two main African American actors in the film aren't typecasted as stupid twits, but one a loving mother and her son, a smart person who is trying to get into law school.
Hundreds of Thousands of Ignorant Families to Discuss World Issues this Christmas
December 19th, 2011UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -- A think tank that concentrates on domestic and foreign policies has estimated that hundreds of thousands of American families will gather this Christmas and discuss important issues from taxation, the deficit, illegal immigration, and foreign policy without having a "single clue" about any of the issues.
"We expect that most of these people will be arguing points they heard on the radio, seen on the Internet, gleemed while skipping through a book at Barnes and Nobles, or entirely made up on the spot," noted John Emerson of the CSIS. It is expected that many will makes comments on the economy without ever reading an article on the economy, discuss the US Budget without ever have seeing a page from a US Budget, talk about foreign policy decisions with nations that they couldn't locate on a map, and committ several false equivalence fallacies about how "both sides are just as bad".
The CSIS estimated that nearly 60% of all discussions on the deficit will include a comment about "earmarks" needing to be done away with, despite only representing 0.1% of the Federal Budget. It is estimated that 5% of households will include conversation about the alleged lack of a birth certificate. Expectations are that over 50% of households will hold discussions that include how "obviously fair" a flat tax is.
Think tanks agree that in general, households should expect that roughly only 5 to 10% of claims or statements are actually factual and shouldn't be treated as the bullshit it really is.
College Football Bowl Game Madness
December 13th, 2011Remember the jokes back in the day... The Toliet Bowl game. Ha ha... crude toliet humor about a Bowl game named after a toliet. It seems these days that College Football might as well start naming these games as such, because of how meaningless they are becoming.
Back in the 1990-91 season, there were 19 bowl games. That number has nearly doubled... and it isn't because there is great talent that needs to be given a stage. Among the heros of the Bowl season, The Gator Bowl will pit .500 has-beens of Ohio State (6-6) and Florida University (6-6). Oh please remind me to DVR that one! But it isn't just big conferences that are piling into the Bowl Game phone booth... there is the Beef 'o Brady's Bowl which pits 8-4 Florida International verses 6-6 Marshall.
The Conferences (read Cartels) might as well remain the Bowl Series as the "Make a Mockery of the Not-For-Profit Status Bowl Series". As has been demonstrated, these bowl games can typically cost colleges more money than they make, and those running the Bowls make a nice salary for a "non-profit" organization that does one thing a year.
And to make matters worse, because the Conferences is so busy piling colleges into phone booths, teams that had pretty good seasons Boise State (11-1), TCU (10-2), Southern Mississippi (10-2) are rewarded with playing the likes of Arizona State (6-6), Louisiana Tech (8-4), and Nevada (7-5), respectively. With the "smaller" school programs trying to expand their football programs, you'd think there would be emphasis on allowing them to play higher level teams. But that sort of thinking is flawed as we all know that the Bowl games have nothing to do with determining football ability and everything to do with making money.
To really showcase the lack of quality these additional Bowl Games offer, in 1990-1991, 8 of the 19 bowl games had both teams not ranked. That number is now 20. Twenty Bowl games that have neither opponent being ranked. Fourteen teams have records of .500 or worse, fifteen have records of 7-5. That means about 2 in 5 teams in bowl games have a record of 7-5 or worse. Of course, this is to be expected when you have around 70 teams playing in post season college football bowl games. So we are to be treated to games like Iowa State (6-6) vs Rutgers (8-4), Mississippi St (6-6) vs Wake Forest (6-6), and Texas A&M (6-6) vs Northwestern (6-6). The best bowl game would be the Fight Hunger Bowl which features an under .500 team in UCLA (6-7) verses, you guessed it... another (6-6) team, Illinois.
Personally, I can't wait for the innovation when they start putting together Celebrity Teams for some colleges to play against. Until then, I guess College Football has a little bit more room to drop, in order to make a mockery of its own Bowl System.
FTC and Facebook Reach Agreement on Fraud Allegations
November 29th, 2011WASHINGTON DC -- The FTC and Facebook have reached an agreement on the fraud charges made against Facebook. Initially in 2009 Facebook indicated that a user could choose to make their personal information private, however, documentation indicates that Facebook made the information public and sold it.
In a post on Facebook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has made a "bunch of mistakes, but typically has profitted greatly from them."
The agreement will force Facebook to pay $10,000 in fines, but they don't have to admit to committing any fraud or wrong doing. Additionally, Facebook will have to promise not to commit the crime again, however they are not legally bounded to do so.
The spokesperson for the FTC noted, "This is a triumph for consumer's rights in the market place" before quitting to work as an advisor for Facebook.
Cain - "Fucking Around Has Taken a Toll on My Family"
November 29th, 2011ATLANTA, GA -- Herman Cain is starting to question whether his campaign can continue after the latest allegation that Cain was having an on-again/off-again relationship with a women for 13 years while being married. The allegations were made by a woman that has kept a years long log of calls received from Cain which indicate that some sort of relationship was taking place.
Publicly denying the allegations, Cain now notes that fucking around behind his wife's back is "taking a toll" on his family and he needed to reassess the viability of his campaign and what people may start thinking about him fucking around behind his wife''s back.
Meanwhile, Cain's wife did come out of seclusion to defend her husband by stating that his 9-9-9 tax plan was a reasonable idea and that she supported it fully despite what other people are saying about it. "I have full faith in my husband's tax reform plan," she noted to reporters.
Baseball ponders new rules
November 23rd, 2011Major League Baseball is pondering establishing new rules with the current labor agreement coming to an end. Here are some of the ideas they have been pitching around:
- Increase the chances of a game-changing balks.
- Improve fan interaction by letting the crowd be involved in pitch selection and judge on instant replays
- Expand playoffs to include 4 wild card teams instead of 1, just to screw with the schedulers who have to figure out how to have a playoff system with an odd number of teams.
- Random on the field HGH drug testing during In-Field Fly Rule pop-ups.
- Change the schedule without letting the Yankees or Mets know.
- In case of a tie after nine innings, just end the game because it is likely the outcome won't matter anyways because the season is one hundred sixty-fucking two games long!!!
- Replace the title Designated Hitter (DH) with the title Designated Guy Who Can't Field (DGWCF).
- Allow the fielding team to score runs by pelting the players at bat and base runners with the ball.
- Have an Annual Tribute to Teachers Day where elementary and secondary level teachers are allowed free admission to the ball game to be reminded that their arduous efforts go unappreciated by society as the people in front of them get paid hundreds to thousands of times more money to hit and catch a ball.
- Introduce a new pledge where players and owners say to themselves that Baseball is still the American Pastime and hasn't been maginalized and replaced by the NFL.
Demi Moore Pregnant with Justin Bieber's Baby
November 21st, 2011HOLLYWOOD, CA -- The entertainment world was abuzz over the disclosure that Demi Moore was pregnant with Justin Bieber's baby. Moore and Kutcher had recently announced their separation on what many presumed was because of Kutcher running around with other women. But today, sources began reporting that the separation was due to an affair that Demi Moore was having with pop star Justin Bieber. The publicists of Bieber and Moore would not comment on the story.
Justin Bieber sleeps with Olsen Twin, but doesn't know which one
November 19th, 2011Bieberland, CA -- Sources close to Bieber have disclosed that teen pop star Justin Bieber had sex with an Olsen Twin, however, he is uncertain which one it was. Bieber noted the Olsen twin as skinny, short, and kind of frigid, which did not help identify which twin he slept with. Bieber noted he did prefer having sex with "mature" women instead of his teenie bopper fans, citing that they had more experience.
Vegetables - "Only a pussie would be afraid of having veggies"
November 17th, 2011DES MOINES, IA -- During a joint press conference of vegetables, a broccoli, turnip, rutabaga, an acorn squash, and Arnold Swarchenegger informed the press that they felt that someone "would have to be a pussie" to be afraid of eating vegetables. The comments came in response to Herman Cain's statement that manly men would only eat pizzas with lots of meat and fungus on them, not "sissy" vegetables.
"I was taken by surprise," noted the turnip. "We've been food for mankind for countless generations. This Cain guy must be a pussie."
Herman Cain's comments came from an interview with GQ magazine where he was expressing his views on what it means to be a man.
"I've been eating veggies my entire life," noted Arnold Swarchenegger. "I think that I'm about as manly as it gets. I'd like to see Herman Cain do a few bench presses. It takes a lot more than committing sexual harassment to make someone a man."
Herman Cain Denies Sexual Harassment Charges
October 31st, 2011WASHINGTON DC -- During what will be several interviews today, Herman Cain has begun publicly denying charges that a settlement with two women was made by the National Restaurant Association due to allegations of sexual harassment in the 90's.
"Let me set the record straight," noted Cain in an interview on NBC's The Today Show. "I did not sexually harass anyone. I didn't walk up to Wendy from behind, press my erection into her ass, and say 'Do you want to try some of my black walnuts?'"
The allegation was reported by Politico based on a document that was based on a number of documents, via anonymous sources.
Herman Cain's spokesman noted, "This is typical of DC politics. Once an outsider enters the fray, the Beltway gets nervous and starts making unsubstantiated rumors and reports about Cain putting his hand under the table and rubbing Yvonne's inner thigh. It's absolutely ridiculous!"
The cited record notes settlements of five digits and a gag on the allegations, and the names of the women are not stated.
"It's this simple," noted Cain in a taped interview for ABC's The View, "I didn't sneak up from behind on Yvonne, trap her in my bathroom and say 'Suck my dick, I'm the Godfather damn it!' and after she managed to break away from me, I didn't follow her down the hotel hallway, half naked, screaming at her and then needing to bribe a bellboy $100 to be quiet. It just isn't true. It is just typical DC styled mudslinging."