First off some movie talk.
My friend and I went to see "Shooter" last night. (I had wanted to see Zodiac, but apparently they are pushing that out of the theater already - I'll wait for dvd). So, I saw that this movie had gotten some mixed reviews on yahoo. (I don't generally like to read reviews before a movie, but I will check yahoo's overall critic and user grades, it gives me a general idea without reading specifics). But, as I said to my friend, "Marky Mark hasn't let us down yet". He's probably gonna kick my butt for calling him Marky Mark. Anyway, we took the gamble and for me I was very glad we did. My friend didn't enjoy it as much as I, because of some of the plot holes and "Hollywood coincidences" - I agree with him, the level of "suspension of disbelief" gets stretched pretty thin. But, I kinda liked this movie because of the way it was spoonfed to us. I usually complain about this, but I guess I just wasn't in a thinking mood last night. I was entertained, it was a fast past movie, gun fights, chases, etc... I also have to admit, several of the topics of this movie was right up my alley... snipers, conspiracy theories, shadow governments, and a wild west morality to clean up the trash. The scene where Swagger goes to visit the old dude who knows all about "sniper stuff" was classic. I also like all of the acting, Mark Wahlberg I think can hold his own, but then to see Glover and Ned Beatty, that was just icing on the cake. (And Kate Mara was easy on the eyes too ;)
So, maybe not the movie for everyone, but if you can suspend your disbelief for a show like 24, which I'm starting to dislike now after 5 seasons on dvd, then I think this movie will pass. OH... The other reason liked it... there were some political statements made in the movie, which I tend to agree with. If you don't like those statements it might ruin the film.
Whew, sorry I went on so long about this one.
Finally a bit of politics. I have been seeing brief clips on TV of the recent debate or hearing in which Al Gore went before a bunch of Senators to face questions about Global Warming issues.
As I type this, it's still being played on C-span now, but thanks to C-span I got to see some of the more controversial parts (unedited). Of particular interest is the interview with Rep. Senator James Inhofe. I've seen Inhofe interviewed before on the Glenn Beck show and he's one of the leading cheerleaders for "anti-global warming". So to see Inhofe in the same room with gore was a bit like watching oil and water in a boiling pot.
If you go to C-span.org, you should be able to find the video (realplayer - yuck) pretty easily - look for "Former V.P. Al Gore at Senate Environment & Public works Cmte. Climate Change Hearing (3/21/2007)". Here's the times of the "juicy parts" - fast forward to 51:58, then skip to 53:23 to see Inhofe try to "trap" Gore in a bogus Pledge. Then continue on to 54:54 for a rather rude outburst on Inhofe's part to say that Gore can't respond to his questions, at which point (56:40) Sen. Barbara Boxer stops the debate, and pulls little Jimmy aside and smacks his wrists. It was such a motherly moment of trying to correct a little brat from misbehaving in a supermarket! :)
I don't know if this debate helped or hindered the GW efforts. It was a bit of a dog an pony show. But I hope there will be some positive things that came from this debate.
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