Snippet of Conversation

Elena and I went to Parisia's for dinner Saturday night. I think I caught a snippet of something on CNN out of the corner of my eye and this sent me on an anti-government rant.

Elena: Uh... you are more anti-government than usual tonight.
PK: Well, we watched Serenity last night and I watched V for Vendetta today.
Elena: That explains it.
PK: Yeah. And I haven't even paid my taxes yet. I should probably take something to keep me calm during that experience.

* partially modified because I can * :)

Casino Royale

KICKED A$$!!!! I LOVED IT. OK, I'll stop screaming now. I give this movie my "yes, it is worth it to pay full price" rating. I definately want to see it again.

Daniel Craig is a much better Bond than I thought he would be. In fact, dare I say it, he's better than my personal favorite Bond, Sean Connery. In fact, I really wanted to make my place sort of inspired by From Russia, With Love/Goldfinger in terms of style. But, even I don't want to live in some place that looked like my nana bought the stuff new and never updated her surroundings. There's vintage and then there is sad.

I really should go back and watch the Timothy Dalton era movies again. From my readings, I may be short changing him. I've seen all the Bond movies (and am a fan... der.) Some I really like. Others - I would gouge my eyes out if forced to watch them again.

I loved Craig's version of Bond - ruthless, intelligent, yet full of humanity. And for his personal hatred of guns - meh. He handled the prop guns well enough.

They cut out the camp (with a couple of one-liners thrown in for good humor). I did miss John Cleese as R (Q's replacement). I liked Judi Dench alot more in this movie than I did in her previous attempts at M. The score was AMAZING - will be getting that off of iTunes. The opening sequence rocked (even the Chris Cornell song is growing on me.) Some reviewers complained about the long poker scene. I enjoyed it. I thought it was broken up with some good action bits as well as the extended action sequences.



It just kept going and going. There were at least 2 times when I thought the movie was over. But no! There's more stuff to blow up!

This movie is seriously PK-approved. Go see it. If you have seen it, go see it again.

Must See Movie

I certainly don't need any help in suspecting and distrusting the government. I never ever want to hear the phrase "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" because... well, quite franly, I don't think so.

So there's a movie to help keep people like me on pins and needles and thinking 'how can I get out of the system'. National ID cards? RFID chips in citizens? Finally, people are asking the question: where is the law that says my labor is to be taxed?

America: Freedom to Fascism will be playing at the Belcourt starting Oct. 6th. Congressman Ron Paul is in it. He is the only libertarian in Congress.

Aaron Russo also attempted to run as the LP candidate for President in 2004.

Movie Quote

Teacher: Earth that was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new solar system, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Each one terra-formed a process taking decades, to support human life, to be new earths. The Central Planets formed the Alliance. Ruled by an interplanetary parliament, the Alliance was a beacon of civilization. The savage outer planets were not so enlightened and refused Alliance control. The war was devastating, but the Alliance's victory over the Independents insured a safer universe. And now everyone can enjoy the comfort, and enlightenment of our civilization.

Young River: People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.

THAT is why I love Serenity.

Pink Kitty's Movie Review

So, like everyone else in the US, I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest this weekend. (I'm not linking it because y'all are smart enough to google it for yourselves if you are really that curious.) Spoil-eriffic review....

It was good. I liked it. More Captain Jack Sparrow - what's not to love. More cheesy goodness in the action sequences and references to the first film ("Hide the Rum." and "Why is the rum always gone" being 2 of the references). Totally unbelievable fighting ability from Elizabeth Swann (do I really think that a young lady brought up in the aristocracy of 17th Century England would be able to handle 2 swords at the same time and fend off mystical sea creatures that used to be sailors? No. I don't but it was fun to watch anyway.)

Here's my problem with it: talk about your political propaganda... the EVIL in the "Mum! Don't touch it! It's EVIL!" category person in this whole movie is the representative from the East India Trading Company. I left with a sour taste in my mouth at the implied notion that the EIC is the root of all evil over the seas; that they are worse than an immortal Davy Jones who has the Kracken eat ships because his heart was broken. Why are they worse? Because they want the heart of Davy Jones so they will control Davy Jones and therefore the Kracken. I mean... Davy Jones is evil but at least it's because he has a broken heart... not that he's a greedy capitalist.

Be sure to stay for the end of the credits. Bonus goodness!

Favorite moment of the screening: When the trailer for The Transformers movie comes up and Michael Bay's name appears and the entire audience groans. That was funny right there. I don't care who you are. All I can think of whenever I see/hear his name is "Why does Michael Bay get to keep making movies.... Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you." From Team America.

C.S.A - The Review

Now that it isn't playing in Nashville and that I've had the opportunity to really think about the movie, here's what I thought:

As a movie, it was good. As the director said in his talk while in Nashville, it could very easily have gone way overboard on satire and not been effective in challenging people to consider the continuing issue of race in America.

My questions for Kevin didn't really gel in my mind until the very end (when the Q&A portion was over, of course)—Wasn't all of this the fault of government intrusion into the personal lives of individuals? When does it become the responsibility of the state to make moral decisions? Should they be making moral decisions? Can a state even make moral decisions?

You say that we shouldn't be trying to impose our culture on other countries [this came out in a question about what was going on with American policy in the Middle East and how that paralleled with the film and its 'Tropical Empire' plans the Confederacy had] but as Vox Day pointed out over a week ago, where are those complaining that the British were wrong in ending the practice of widow burning in India?

You say the end of slavery was good but in the same breath say that we shouldn't 'export democracy' or our way of thinking/life to other countries and cultures. Should we not export the Western value that ALL types of slavery is bad? There seems to be a serious problem with sexual slavery across the globe. People might say that is a human value but you can't say since not all humans have the same values. Ted Bundy didn't value the lives of young women the same way, oh.. Mother Teresa did.

You are right in saying that when a prime field hand was worth the equivalent of a luxury car. When the government attempted to take individuals luxury cars, there was going to be a fight. Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. There is no fight. By sucking the taxes out before we get our pay checks, people don't think about it. That money was never theres. Yes it was. You earned it. It should be yours.

(Side rant: I love DC's comment that the IRS is like the mafia.. except that the mafia tells you how much you owe them up front. The IRS gives you forms, makes you fill it out and if you do it wrong, they will beat you up. People who think that they still own their property ought to not pay their property tax... see how long they own their property then.)

Other things that I took away from the screening: a room full of white guilt mixed with the anger of black people. One woman admitted that after seeing the movie that for the first time she wanted to beat up some white folk. Several white folks got up and stated that they felt guilty for what happened. I was probably one of the few people in the room completely indifferent to the whole white guilt tidal wave.

I didn't do anything to cause slavery, Jim Crow laws, or the like. Therefore, I have no reason to be or feel guilty over something that happened in the past. The only thing I can control is my attitude and response - now.

Also, as a Christian, guilt and shame can become tools of the enemy to trap us and hold us down. How many people do you know that are held hostage by guilt over something?

Don't mistake this for being cavalier about it. I'm not. Yes, there are racial issues that need to be addressed.

I applaud the director for also saying that liberals are just as much at fault for covering everything up with politically correct language that the lingering hurts, pain, continuing discrimination cannot be openly and honestly dealt with.

M Is for Movie

M is for Murderer
M is for freakin' creepy.

So that didn't quite work out with the Sesame Street tune, but M is a old horror movie staring Peter Lorre' as a child killer.

What struck me about it was the very "CSI-Berlin"-circa-1931 feel to the beginning of the flick where they are searching for clues. Then a near-police state is created in an effort to find the killer. Because of the increased police presence, the criminal underworld goes on a hunt for the child killer. They are ticked off because the child killer has put a cramp in their day-to-day thieving and whoring. When they catch him first, they put him on "trial." Just as mob justice is about to take over, the police show up.

Just remember that when you exchange freedom for security, you are likely to have neither. Sure, initially you may feel safer, because you trust the police; but it is easy for them to abuse their power. Then you fear the state, as well as the criminals (who will always be out there). And because the state wants to control the populace, they have probably taken away one of the ways that you can defend yourself and family: personal firearms. Lang, the director, said that the message of the movie was for parents to watch over their children themselves---not to depend on others to do it for them.

The killer, Hans Beckert, sees himself as a victim. How can he stop doing what is just a part of him? How can he help himself? Something inside him drives him to kill. Haven't we heard that before? The mobsters don't buy it and say that he is better off dead at their own hands than in a prison where he will be evaluated as crazy and could be out in a few years---back on the streets to prey upon children---when the prison officials say he has been "rehabilitated." Again, the arguments haven't changed in over 70 years.

Lorre's child murderer is scared, small, and animal-like. You hate him the moment he comes on the screen. Compare that to the contemporary standard for a movie serial killer: Anthony Hopkins's Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, who is suave, charming, funny, and---in a twisted way---likable. It isn't that you are rooting for him. No, you hate Dr. Lecter too. You don't really see what he does or what he did, but his nonchalant description of eating liver with a chianti is more chilling than seeing Buffalo Bill shot to death, in my opinion. Both Beckert and Lecter are devoid of a moral center. How can they be human?