'Best of TBH Politoons'
Ralph Cuts the Classics #5
Citizen Kane
NOT a Kung Fu Movie
Ralph Cuts the Classics
Many film critics consider Citizen Kane [view trailer] the greatest movie ever made. Very well. Many baseball writers considered Barry Bonds the greatest baseball player, at least until they realized he was the second most steroid pumped character in California. I don't disagree that it is a "good" movie, but when one argues that it is not the greatest movie ever made one is frequently viewed by "movie people" as having said that Dom Perignon is OK, but you'd rather have a beer.
The brainstorm of Orson Welles, Citizen Kane is the story of Charles Foster Kane, a young man of passion. Kane has a passion for newspaper reporting, dancehall girls, architecture and politics. The movie begins with the death of Kane (who does not, much to my chagrin, do any Kung Fu), followed by a newsreel of his accomplishments. Kane's dying word: "Rosebud," provides the impetus for a curious reporter to interview Kane's friends and colleagues (Rosebud is Kane's sled).
No Kung Fu in the whole movie…
The movie is told in a series of flashbacks, covering various periods of Kane's life through the eyes of his various acquaintances. Kane starts a newspaper. Kane goes into politics. Kane as a patron of the arts.
The movie is a sharp poke in the eye to William Randolph Hearst. What Welles had against Hearst, I couldn't guess, but basing a movie rather roughly on his life of Hearst brought the ire of the newspaper baron. Hearst once said he preferred the newspaper business to the movie business because you could crush a man with newspapers, but not with a movie Welles, evidently, set out to prove him wrong.
Strangely, the movie leaves out Hearst's worst nightmare-the death of Thomas Ince. Rumors around Hollywood were that Hearst had killed the movie producer accidently, jealous over an affair between Charlie Chaplin and Hearst's lover Marion Davies. Later the subject of the movie The Cat's Meow, the subject does not come up in Citizen Kane.
Nevertheless, Hearst was FURIOUS over the movie, and did his best to suppress it. Hearst questioned Welles' patriotism and threatened to expose dozens of scandals if RKO didn't pull the movie from theatres. In fact, Citizen Kane did not enjoy a long theatrical run. Nominated for nine academy awards, Citizen Kan lost in every category except for best screenplay. The best movie for the year was the insipid How Green Was My Valley. Welles was the first person ever nominated for writing, directing, producing and acting for the same movie.
It is, I think, this backlash against the movie that made it such a sacred cow among movie people. Often, the story behind a movie can be as compelling as the movie itself. And movie buffs know these stories. Once you have the context, it makes you think differently about a movie and it is impossible to separate the film from its context. That changes your perspective, but it doesn't make it a better film.
The movie is tightly directed, well told and had a solid cast-I especially like Joseph Cotten as Kane's newspaper reporter pal-but it is not the best movie ever made. One could reasonably put any number of movies ahead of it, in my opinion. It did produce a load of spin-offs and references, from Monty Burns to John Sayles' underrated Silver City.
Another reason this movie is so beloved is undoubtedly the cinematography. I find a recurring theme among movies that are not as good as their reputation, including Ran and La Dolce Vita, is excellent cinematography carrying a movie. There is something to be said about cinematography, but I think it is overrated among movie buffs. Kane has it, however, as well as a stronger story than most. Classic shots like this:
and this:
Overall, a very good movie. But the best movie ever? I doubt it.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Cindy Sheehan: My Response to George (AlterNet)
I would give everything I own to have one more glimpse of my son. How dare Bush live a normal life when he has ruined mine by his lies?
Rose Aguilar: 'One state at a time' (AlterNet)
It's been six months since Howard Dean visited Jackson, Mississippi, but locals are still talking about his fiery speech in which he criticized President Bush's plan for social security and said Republicans are doing nothing to help the people of Mississippi.
DeWine may face Hackett (cincypost.com)
Democrats have yet to find a candidate to challenge Republican Sen. Mike DeWine next year. But one name that has been coming up a lot lately is Paul Hackett.
Rick Evans: The gift of being gay (Advocate.com)
If gay men are, as is increasingly revealed through research, natural components of the human spectrum, we must have particular gifts to offer our fellow human beings. What might those be? Let's start a dialogue.
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: Dressing Up the Lesbians (afterellen.com)
Exodus International's "restoration" therapy for lesbians must involve mind-erasing drugs that induce adolescent behavior in grown women and suck them dry of anything resembling self-esteem. The result gives new meaning to the term Psycho-Ex.
JANE E. BRODY: There's More Work to Do for Longer Lives and Better Health (nytimes.com)
Dr. Jeremiah Stamler: It's been a farce for decades that insurance will pay for bypass surgery but not for measuring risk factors, routine physicals, dietary and exercise counseling and stop-smoking programs. This guaranteed we'd have the highest per capita medical care costs in the world.
Richard Roeper: Is focus on blond alleged killer a model case of bias? (suntimes.com)
In 1997, I noted the emphasis on looks in coverage of stories ranging from Nicole Simpson's murder to the "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher to Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, writing: "Sweet or evil, victim or perpetrator, if you're a woman in the spotlight, your looks will be a factor when the media determine just how much coverage you're going to receive." Nothing has changed.
Bob Adams: "Family Guy" has fun with AIDS (advocate.com)
Fox TV's irreverent animated series aired an episode this summer that showcases a comic musical number called "You Have AIDS." Overburdened AIDS service organizations are not amused.
Another Rant
Avery Ant
For Preventing The Army Of Canada
From Being A Burden To Taxpayers…
(With Apologies to Jonathan Swift)
The Wall Street Poet
Global Economics - The Poem
©2005
**************
For more satirical verse:
www.wallstreetpoet.com
Freshly Updated
DickEatsBush
Reader Comment
Re: Citgo
Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your gasoline at Citgo stations.
Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the US. (Click here to find one near you.) By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans.
Sharon
Thanks, Sharon!
Interesting idea.
And it comes with the bonus of pissing off Marion 'Pat' Robertson, too!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The traditional heat of August returned with a vengeance.
I'll be a guest on the
Erin Hart Show on
710 KIRO probably Sunday night around 9pm (pdt).
The audio streams live online & you can call in, too!
'Best Band on Planet' Award
Green Day
California trio Green Day was named the best band on the planet and best live act Thursday at the Kerrang! music awards.
The band - whose singles include "When I Come Around" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - took top honors at the annual event, which was held at The Brewery in East London.
Shock rocker Marilyn Manson took home the annual Icon Award for "a notoriety that has spread all over the globe."
Green Day
Lowering The Bar - Again
Faux Lies
A couple whose home was wrongly identified on national television as belonging to an Islamic radical has faced harassment, and police are providing special protection.
After the report ran on Fox News on Aug. 7, people have shouted profanities at Randy and Ronnell Vorick and spray-painted "terrorist" (spelling it "terrist") on their property.
John Loftus, a former federal prosecutor who appears on the Fox News segment "Inside Scoop with John Loftus," gave out the house address during the broadcast.
He said the home belonged to Iyad Hilal, whose group, Loftus said, has ties to those responsible for the July 7 bombings in London. But Hilal moved out of the house about three years ago.
Loftus apologized and told the Los Angeles Times last week that "mistakes happen. ... That was the best information we had at the time."
Faux Lies
Gift Bag Break Down
Do Goodies
This Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami there will be a few things we can rely on happening. Diddy will host, Shakira will shake, and scores of celebrities will walk away with a ton of swag. The VMAs join a list of 13,747 (by our rough estimate) award shows that will take place this year, and while not every celebrity will win a statuette, no celebrity will go home empty-handed. Not for nothing is Hollywood called the most giving community on earth; the loot in the Emmy bag alone tips the register at $30,000. A lot of people might not appreciate how generous that is. Especially people so selfish that they don't even own a television on which to watch award shows, or perhaps even a house in which to put a television.
To translate party swag into terms those people can understand, Radar Online sifted through the contents of another MTV goody bag-this one from June's Movie Awards-and figured out what its contents could buy from two popular charity catalogs, Good Gifts and Heifer International.
Two bottles of José Cuervo Reserva de la Familia ($200) = A llama to produce wool for a Bolivian family
Two pairs of retro New Balance sneakers ($140) = Seven flocks of baby chicks to improve nutrition in Papua New Guinea
Twelve cases of Dos Equis, delivered ($336) = 11 beehives to help a Mexican family start a business
For the rest of the list -
Guesting on 'That '70s Show'
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore will return to the soundstage where "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was filmed in the 1970s when she guest-stars in three episodes of "That '70s Show."
Moore will play a local newscaster who hires Jackie ( Mila Kunis) as her personal assistant. Beloved by her audience, Moore's character isn't so charming when the TV cameras are off, as Jackie discovers.
Mary Tyler Moore
Baby News
Shepherd Kellen Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica, have a new addition to the family. A son, Shepherd Kellen Seinfeld, was born Monday morning, Seinfeld's publicist, Stephen Rubenstein, said Thursday. The couple, who were married in 1999, have a 2-year-old son, Julian, and a 4-year-old daughter, Sascha.
The 51-year-old comedian has in the past worked babies into his standup routine: "Make no mistake about why these babies are here - they are here to replace us."
Shepherd Kellen Seinfeld
Baby News
Poet Sienna Rose Goldberg
Soleil Moon Frye, best known for her starring role on the '80s TV series "Punky Brewster," and her husband have welcomed their first child, Poet Sienna Rose Goldberg.
Their daughter was born Wednesday in Los Angeles. The baby weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and is 19 inches long, People magazine reported.
Poet Sienna Rose Goldberg
When Wingnuts Attack
Cat-Killer Frist
An evangelical group has begun a weeklong advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for backing expanded embryonic stem cell research.
"We know Iowa is a way to get everybody's attention," said Gary Cass, head of the Florida-based Center for Reclaiming America. "Our hope is Senator Frist will hear from Iowans and they are kind of a bellwether state in the heartland."
In the ad, which shows a photo of a smiling baby, an announcer says: "Senator Frist: we cannot save innocent lives by destroying them. Tell Senator Frist to stand with resident Bush and oppose research that destroys human embryos."
Cat-Killer Frist
'Jailed Journo' Comic Strips
Berkeley Breathed
On the past two Sundays, Berkeley Breathed, in his comics strip Opus, has chronicled the disaster that befalls the Bloom Picayune's Scruples Boy after he decides to protect a source for one of the paper's most scandalous stories (the mayor's sex-change operation). This leads Opus -- who has been connected to the Picayune in various capacities since 1982, first in Breathed's popular Bloom County -- to jail. There he encounters a hulking cellmate named Mr. Rampaige, who rails against the media for, among other reasons, its coverage since 9/11.
While her name is never mentioned in the strips, the figure of jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller certainly hovers over the color panels. E&P wondered what Breathed felt about her current plight, and the inspiration for this month's strips (which are syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group). Here's what we found out.
For the interview: Berkeley Breathed
LA Producer Missing
Christian Julian Irwin
A Grammy-nominated music producer who has been missing since Sunday called a friend that day on his cell phone to say he was being chased by people with dogs, authorities said.
Christian Julian Irwin, 48, of the Topanga area of Los Angeles, called a friend around 3:45 a.m. and said he was being chased through water and had lost his glasses and shoes in a creek, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said Wednesday.
Deputy Luis Castro, a sheriff's spokesman, declined to comment on reports that Irwin was caught up in an Internet scam run by Nigerians. His sister, Sharon Riolo, has said he got scared when he received a check for $50,000 in the mail from the group.
Christian Julian Irwin
Buys Liberty Corp
Raycom
TV station owner Liberty Corp. on Thursday said it has agreed to be bought by Raycom Media for an estimated $987 million.
Raycom, a privately held owner of 37 TV stations in 28 markets, will pay $47.35 per share of Liberty Corp. in cash, representing a 26 percent premium over Thursday's closing price.
The deal will add 15 network affiliated stations in Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio and South Carolina among other areas, to Raycom's group.
Raycom
Sells Nine TV Stations
Emmis
Emmis Communications Corp. said Monday it will sell nine of its 16 television stations in transactions worth a total of $681 million.
The largest of the deals has the Indianapolis-based company selling five stations to Providence, R.I.-based LIN TV Corp. for $260 million. They are: WTHI in Terre Haute, Ind.; WALA and WBPG in Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla.; WLUK in Green Bay, Wis., and KRQE in Albuquerque, N.M.
Emmis will sell three stations - WFTX in Fort Myers, Fla.; KMTV in Omaha, Neb., and KGUN in Tucson, Ariz. - to Milwaukee-based Journal Communications for $235 million.
Gray Television Inc., of Atlanta, will buy WSAZ in Huntington/Charleston, W.Va., from Emmis for $186 million.
Emmis
Leaving Atlantic City
Miss America
There she goes - Miss America is packing up her tiara and leaving the city she's called home for 84 years. The famous beauty pageant, a fixture on the Boardwalk since its 1921 start as a bathing beauty revue, announced Thursday it will seek another city in hopes of changing its luck.
The pageant is in financial straits and last year lost its broadcast network TV contract with ABC. It will be entertaining offers immediately, pageant CEO Art McMaster said.
McMaster surprised the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority on Thursday by asking it to release the pageant from the last two years of its five-year contract to stage the annual event in Boardwalk Hall, where Miss Americas have been crowned since 1940.
The board voted 7-0 to release the pageant from its contract, saying it did not see the point in prolonging what Miss America officials said were money woes affecting the contest in New Jersey.
Miss America
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