Hey, I really liked "Cloverfield." Some of the dialogue and character moments pushed it a bit, but overall I found it to be a fun and terrifically engaging movie, one that in an odd way has stayed with me in the week since we saw it. Some people are really put off or even sickened by shaky handheld camera work -- if you're one of them I'd strongly suggest waiting for home video and the small screen. Liz and I saw it at The Grove on one of their huge stadium screens, so every bump and jerk was seismic. The employees were handing out sick bags, which is certainly a first in my cinema-going experience. It reminded me of the famous gimmick used during the original release of Hitchcock's "Psycho," when posters warned those with medical conditions or weak hearts not to see the movie. Audiences, of course, flocked to it in droves to find out what could possibly be so scary. In the case of this guerilla-style, YouTube-era monster movie, though, I think the desire to prevent motion-sickness was sincere. It's a very bumpy -- but genuinely thrilling -- ride.

The creature effects are great and the filmmaking is really sharp. But the movie works because of its totally postmodern device -- it's supposed to be "found footage" from a home video camera recovered from "the area formerly known as Central Park." Moviegoers today are pretty hip to Hollywood's tricks and so telling the story of a huge action movie from the point of view of a small group of friends is a fresh take. Increasingly, we tell our personal stories to each other and view each other's lives through shared digital media --- YouTube videos, shared pictures from cell phones etc. So this is an effective frame to tell a larger-than-life story and make it seem intimately real.

I know there are quite a few people who vehemently disliked it, but for me the movie succeeded.

I'm just baffled by the title, though. How the code-name/working title (which is named after the street over here in Santa Monica where the production company is located) became final. . . ? It makes me believe that you can create any title you want for a film and it doesn't matter as long as you have a catchy poster and a prominently displayed release date.

-jw

. . .was a good actor. His upcoming performance as The Joker this summer (is it complete?) looks like it might well be great.

Apparently he was also a really nice guy.

-jw

P.S. Brand Renfro was a really good actor, too.

One of my dearest friends from college, Jeff Mason, has mostly been in Europe since we graduated, working as a reporter for Reuters. We're very excited to find out that he's now back in the States and swept up in the '08 Primaries! Having seen him only a handful of times in the last five years, we're especially thrilled that he's been through LA *twice* in the past week. He's already filed some great stories from the political trenches. But please note that, as a consummate professional journalist and a deliberately impartial observer, he does not necessarily share the staunchly progressive viewpoints of myself or anyone else here at the Casa.

But check out his stories from the campaign trail at Reuters!

-jw

The Political Compass has a test which will plot your socio-political beliefs on a chart compared to famous politicians and world leaders. It goes beyond a simple liberal/progressive paradigm. It's kind of fun. If you're me, at least. :)

I came out a whopping -6.75, -6.26. Where are you?

The Political Compass

-jw

. . .on his birthday.



-jw

It's a race now, isn't it? Oy. I have a lot of work to get done this month, too. . . :)

Oh, and someone asked me last night what I think about the Repub side. Other than their field resembling a "circular firing squad," I have no idea how it will shake out. I can hardly stand to listen to any of them, so I haven't been paying very close attention. The irony, of course, is that the least offensive, backward, and ideologically corrupt among them is McCain, but I don't want to see him get the nom because he'll be the hardest to beat. I used to like McCain. I used to have a lot of respect for him. No more. He sold out his principles in vigorously and repeatedly supporting the Bush Regime's criminal conduct, and he even kissed the asses of the Christian Fascists he always criticized in order to pander to his party's knuckle-dragging base.

This is how I will always think of John McCain:



-jw

Highly, highly reccommended reading -- Matt Bai's NYT Sunday Mag article on "Clintonism."

The democratic primary, he posits, is really a referendum on not only Bill and Hill, but the new Democratic direction they forged, an outsider movement that has essentially become the core of the Democratic establishment today. At issue: was the movement that catapulted Clinton to power and dominated the 90s a partial sellout to the Right that weakened progressivism (and led to Bush), or a "Third Way" that saved liberalism from going off a cliff and put the Democratic Party back on the map? Was it both?

-jw

The voter turnout in yesterday's Iowa Caucus has astonished every informed observer. It was nearly double that of 2004. The number of young voters *tripled*. But this doesn't signify a newfound interest among iowans in politics across the board. Because it was the democrats that Iowans came out for in such large numbers. Obama, who won a state that is 92% white and which voted reliably and overwhelmingly for Bush in the last two presidential contests, got *three times* as many votes as Huckabee, the Republican winner.

We don't know yet how far this will go. But he's right -- this moment will be remembered.

Back in LA after a busy but fun holiday sojourn in New York. Does anyone else feel like flying becomes more and more of a pain in the ass? I used to dread Southwest and fear Continental, but I just flew both and the truth is, they're no worse than the rest. Our return trip connected in Cleveland, where it was frigid and snowing, but the temperature in the cabin of that Airbus must have been 90 degrees. The hours trudge by at a glacial pace at 35,000 feet. Not even "The Nanny Diaries" playing on five-inch screens could help pass the time.

Hope everybody had themselves some delightful holidays! It's a new year, and one of the things I'm planning to do with it is post a lot more to this site. Interesting times are ahead. Check back often!

-jw