A Rubber Door

Maybe you’ve heard that a Utah Theater decided to ban Brokeback Mountain this week so I thought it would be interesting to see what movies they find acceptable. Here are some of the more interesting ones being shown at the Megaplex chain in Utah:

Hostel - …Initially distracted by the good time they’re having, the two Americans quickly find themselves trapped in an increasingly sinister situation that they will discover is as wide and as deep as the darkest, sickest recess of human nature itself–if they survive.

Casanova - …In Venice, a fifth-generation Casanova meets his match when he falls for the sister of the boy he is hired to tutor on the ways of seducing women. A re-telling of the Casanova story set in the 18th century.

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - obviously mormons will watch crap.

So bloody massacres are fine with the Mormons but love stories not? If they’re going to censor they need to stop being selective about it. I would think that the violence that many current films portray is much more damaging to our country than a story like Brokeback Mountain.

I really wish that we could just relegate all the religious freaks to one state.

Oh it’s a fine line the media attempts to walk. Take Anderson Cooper - during the whole Katrina situation I said to the girlfriend “I really like that Anderson Cooper”. Well that day has passed. Note to Anderson - if you show up at every disaster you go from being the next Peter Jennings to being the next Barbara Walters in a flash.

BTW - I don’t care, I’m taking credit for the term disaster whore.

(Image from the Onion)

Thanks to Todd for pointing out this Whitney Houston Bobby Brown clip:

The following video is one of the funniest things last year. It’s from MTV’s show Next.

Enjoy.

Girl falls out of the bus on Next

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQbQHG2d7cs

Newspapers all over the U.S., especially here in the east, went with the story of the miners surviving the blast. It’s a testament to how difficult a job it is to accurately report the news.

I can not imagine the joy the families felt only to have that joy dashed a mere 3 hours later.

There’s so much pressure to put blame here. This was a horrible accident followed up by a horrible mistake. Everyone was so excited that it got away from them.

My sincerest condolences to these families that have suffered too much over the past 2 days.

The most exciting show on television is about to start its new season. 24 is coming back with 4 hours over two nights on January 15th and 16th. Even if you’ve never seen an episode I still recommend giving the show a try. If you don’t know, each season of 24 covers 1 day with each episode being one hour of that day played out in real-time. The writers and directors of the show make the most use of this format by packing it with the most thrilling situations on TV. To make things even better they’ve moved to a January through May format that allows them to show 24 new episodes without taking weeks off. No re-runs. No American Idol breaks. No month long hiatus (take that Lost).

Because each episode covers a different situation over the course of a day, it’s very easy to begin watching the show midstream. Don’t worry that you haven’t seen seasons 1-4, it doesn’t matter; not seeing 24 before this year should in no way diminish your enjoyment.

Do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

Click here to view a trailer for the upcoming season.

At one point early on in The West Wing John Spencer’s character Leo McGarry was outed as a recovering alcoholic to the press. When the intern that leaked the information attempts to resign Leo refuses to accept it and tells her that she was doing what she thought was right. (I don’t remember this episode, but I’ve been told about it - so pardon if my retelling is off).

This is a great story to lead into the Bush administration’s response to the recent spying scandal. First there’s the refusal to talk about it, then it was defiantly acknowledged, then my favorite is Dick Cheney saying “Especially in the day and age we live in the President of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of the conduct of national security policy.” He is essentially saying that the President acted with powers he should have. Is that not illegal?

So ok - there is a grey area here. Something that probably should be looked into. And today it is announced that the Justice department will be investigating the leak of the alleged unconstitutional acts of the Bush Administration. Going back to The West Wing, that story displayed a remarkable amount of character. Fictional character - but character none the less. If there are illegal acts going on in the White House it is the responsibility of the press and the officials that are entrusted with running this country to admit the wrong doing, address it, and then move on.

“Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the 1970s, served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area,” Cheney told reporters traveling with him on Air Force Two. It is funny that Cheney brings up the checks and balances that were instituted after the Watergate scandal as if they were a bad thing. The reason we need the checks and balances are to prevent rogue administrations running amuck.

Why is it that republican administrations are unable to live within the guidelines set by the constitution?

I had to wonder why every year I seem to like New Year’s Eve more than Christmas and last night I figured out why - New Year’s Eve is for friends and Christmas is for family. As much as I beat myself up for not spending enough time with them, last night I was reminded why that is.

Last night I decided to visit my parents house because it was the last day that my brother and his family would be in town - I see them once every couple of years or so, so it was the polite thing to do. The TV was on and so began the search for something that everyone could watch - not too violent, not too sappy, etc. It seemed we struck gold when the 3rd installment of Harry Potter was beginning. At this point my jesus-freak half-brother stated that Harry Potter is what’s wrong with this country. My brother is sort of like the father from Douglas Coupland’s book Hey Nostradamus!, claustrophobically devout. He believes that Harry Potter and its “devil worship” is the bible to too many kids. To the defense of the rest of my family, we all argued against him commenting on the many evils this world has endured in the name of some god. How many clan members put the hood over their head with one hand because they have a bible in the other?

Any way, the argument quieted down when my brother provided the next nugget of wisdom: the other problem with this country are the gays. For me, all of the mirth and frivolity of the holiday weekend came to an abrupt end. No sense arguing with this level of close-mindedness.

No matter how much you love your family, you didn’t choose them. At times it becomes hard to believe that you could even be related. No better support for the argument that we are as much a product of our peers as our family.

Either that or my brother was simply born an ass. Either way I’m glad the long holiday weekend is over.