This was just too good to not share. Courtesy of the best writer on the web, The SportsGuy:
Q: Wanted to make sure you saw this NPR story about what life is now like in Zihuatanejo, Mexico (the scene of the world’s most famous platonic man-hug). Apparently, it is ground zero for the Mexican drug war. A sampling: “A few months ago, the heads of eight soldiers and a former police chief were found in plastic bags just north of Zihuatanejo.” Between Andy’s boat-rehabbing ability and Red’s reputation as a “man who can get things,” don’t we know who sits atop this new narco-syndicate?
– Dan L., Brooklyn, N.Y.
On second thought, we don’t need a “Shawshank” sequel.
SG: Good Lord, what if you just described the plot for “Shawshank 2: A Place With No Name?” Since Shawshank ended with Andy and Red getting reunited in the late-’60s, you’re asking for a slight leap of faith in the “fudging the years” department. But what if it was set in the mid-’80s and Robbins and Freeman signed on? What if it was more of a retro-’80s action movie (think “Miami Vice” or “Scarface”) and Michael Mann signed on to direct? What if a bitter Andy (still haunted by his “Shawshank” experience) edged to the dark side and decided to become a drug kingpin, with Red begrudgingly joining him but narrating things like, “When Andy started wearing white linen suits and slicking his hair back, I guess you could say I was concerned …” and “There was a look in Andy’s eye that I had never seen before. He had gone over the edge. This wasn’t a case of missing my friend. My friend was gone. And he wasn’t coming back.” My question is this: Let’s say everything I just wrote was the plot for “Shawshank 2.” Would you see it in the theater? I feel like I would.
(Note: With my luck, they’d make the sequel … but with Danny Glover as Red and Dane Cook as Andy. Let’s just move on.)
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The Schmooze: To put it simply, a broadband stimulus bill moving through Congress has had language put in, then taken out, but possibly put back in that will allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to inspect data transferred between users to check for copyrighted materials. This language, strongly lobbied for by Hollywood, would raise major privacy issues. Additionally, it would significantly weaken the “Fair Use” provision that allows the use of copyrighted works in certain circumstances. Though the most recent version of the bill had the language taken out, this morning the bill is in committee where it could be slipped back in. For more information, check out Public Knowledge’s blog. To send a letter to your Senator to express your objection to the inclusion of this language, click here.
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Last night I had the distinct pleasure of viewing Crescendo Production’s Traitor, starring Don Cheadle. It is a rare occasion that I don’t find at least some facet of a movie that I can appreciate, whether it be the cinematography, an underlying message, or even the performance of one actor who lifts the overall impression of the film despite the lack of a storyline. Traitor has no such redeeming qualities.
This movie handles one of the most critical topics of this century, terrorism and its raison d’etre, with such broad brushstrokes and oafishness as to be rightfully called irresponsible. The first half hour or more of this movie literally comes across as an Al Quaeda recruitment video with higher production values and less angry Arabic.
We see resolute, smart, well-educated, and self-disciplined men masterminding attacks on western targets. The motivations of Cheadle’s character Samir Horn, are unclear, but his actions are certainly frightening; he is providing massive deliveries of high-tech plastic explosives Read the rest of this entry »
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