An Early Frost

One of the first movies to deal with the plague of AIDS among the homosexual community and society's reaction to both the virus and gay people, I felt a little underwhelmed by the effort.

My biggest problem was with the uber-theatricality of the acting, but also with the over-stuffiness of the script. They tried to jam so much material into this made-for-TV movie that, inevitably, the end result feels rushed and forced.

They tackle everything that happens between the protagonist and his partner, his father, his mother, his sister, his grandmother, etc... and everyone reacts in a different way, just to make sure they covered all their bases.

As much as I appreciate the effort to humanize gay people who were so unlucky to catch the HIV virus, I can't really give this a passing grade. Maybe when it came out it didn't feel so bad, but it hasn't aged well.

Grade: 5

Changeling

Another great movie directed by Clint Eastwood. At this point, Eastwood has become one of my favorite directors.

I used to be ambivalent about him. On the one hand, he used to be incredibly handsome, with a roughness about him that added to his masculinity. On the other, he used to play the tough cowboy in countless Italian spaghetti-westerns, which I hated but my brother loved.

I actually don't recall seeing any of his Dirty Harry movies because of how much I despised his western roles. I understand though that they are supposedly quite good, so someday I'll watch them.

At any rate, Eastwood has now become the kind of director that whatever he makes, I must watch.

In Changeling he tells the true story of a woman who must find in herself the strength to fight a system that is in no rush to find her missing son.

Angelina Jolie turns in an Oscar worthy performance (she earned her second nomination for the role) and is supported by a worthy group of supporting actors.

The cinematography, editing and score are all very good, and a special nod goes to the art direction/set decoration and costume departments, both of which did a superb job or recreating an early 20^th century Los Angeles.

Watching this movie is like watching a moving postcard. Absolutely beautiful.

Grade: 8

Iron Man

One of the best superhero/comic book adaptations to date, this movie saw the return to relevance for Robert Downey, Jr. after years of personal troubles that gravely affected his career -- a real pity, considering he is such a good actor.

The movie's production values are overall very high: the acting is good not only thanks to Downey, Jr. but also to Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges; the script is well thought out and fully developed; the visual effects are stunning. In short, the sequel that was ordered right after the premiere is more than justified.

After The Dark Knight, another welcome addition to the seemingly unending series of comic book adaptations.

Grade: 8

Same-sex foes are losing the battle

That's what transpired from this Frank Rich's article in The New York Times.

An excerpt of this very good op-ed:

Iowa and Vermont were the tipping point because they struck down the right’s two major arguments against marriage equality. The unanimous ruling of the seven-member Iowa Supreme Court proved that the issue is not merely a bicoastal fad. The decision, written by Mark Cady, a Republican appointee, was particularly articulate in explaining that a state’s legalization of same-sex marriage has no effect on marriage as practiced by religions. “The only difference,” the judge wrote, is that “civil marriage will now take on a new meaning that reflects a more complete understanding of equal protection of the law.”

Some opponents grumbled anyway, reviving their perennial complaint, dating back to Brown v. Board of Education, about activist judges. But the judiciary has long played a leading role in sticking up for the civil rights of minorities so they’re not held hostage to a majority vote. Even if the judiciary-overreach argument had merit, it was still moot in Vermont, where the State Legislature, not a court, voted to make same-sex marriage legal and then voted to override the Republican governor’s veto.

It's only a matter of time...

Is the Religious Right really losing its grip on America's conscience?

That would be the implication of this Telegraph article, starting with the title "US religious Right concedes defeat:"

America's religious Right has conceded that the election of US President Barack Obama has sealed its defeat in the cultural war with permissiveness and secularism.

Leading evangelicals have admitted that their association with George W. Bush has not only hurt the cause of social conservatives but contributed to the failure of the key objectives of their 30-year struggle.
[...]
Despite changing the political agenda for a generation, and helping push the Republicans to the Right, evangelicals have won only minor victories in limiting the availability of abortion. Meanwhile the number of states permitting civil partnerships between homosexuals is rising, and the campaign to restore prayer to schools after 40 years - a decision that helped create the Moral Majority - has got nowhere.

Though the struggle will go on, the confession of Mr Dobson, who started his ministry from scratch in 1977, came amid growing concern that church attendance in the United States is heading the way of Britain, where no more than ten per cent worship every week.
[...]
Recent surveys have suggested that the American religious landscape has shifted significantly. A study by Trinity College in Connecticut found that 11 per cent fewer Americans identify themselves as Christian than 20 years ago. Those stating no religious affiliation or declaring themselves agnostic has risen from 8.2 per cent in 1990 to 15 per cent in 2008.
[...]
A growing legion of disenchanted grassroots believers does not blame liberal opponents for the decline in faith or the failures of the religious Right. Rather, they hold responsible Republicans - particularly Mr Bush - and groups like Focus on the Family that have worked with the party, for courting Christian voters only to betray promises of pursuing the conservative agenda once in office.
[...]
“It’s a failed movement,” he said. “We will end up like England, where the church has utterly lost its way.”

Michael Spencer, a writer who lives in a Christian community in Kentucky, said the religious Right had suffered from its identification with Mr Bush, the most unpopular president in living memory, and the extremist rhetoric of some on the religious Right.
[...]
In an online article in the Christian Science Monitor that has became a touchstone for disaffected conservatives, Mr Spencer forecast a major collapse in evangelical Christianity within ten years.

“Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake,” he wrote.

Wow!!

I should print this article, frame it and put it up on the wall it's so uplifting!!

Babel

A very well made movie that tells the story of four different families in different parts of the world. What's the connection?

Babel was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, which (deservedly) went to The Departed instead. Perhaps because of that nomination, I think I was expecting something more from the film.

Technically it is flawless. Cinematography, art direction, makeup, and editing are all excellent. The score is intimate and elegiac, and represents the film's lone Oscar win. The acting is above par, especially from Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, both of whom got nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The screenplay is good and so is the direction. So what's missing?

I'm not sure. Maybe I just didn't find some of the different storylines that interesting or exciting. Maybe I just didn't feel that invested in any of the characters (except, perhaps for the Japanese girl or the Mexican lady). Or maybe because in the end the connecting thread among some parts of the movie (like the Morocco-Japan one) wasn't strong enough to hold up.

In any case, the movie is good, I just felt underwhelmed when it was over. I guess I simply had too high expectations.

Grade: 7

Ghost Town

A cute little comedy that feels a little like you've seen it all before, but that still manages to be entertaining, thanks in large part to Ricky Gervais, one of the funniest comedians I've ever seen (his HBO show Extras was hysterical).

As the title implies, the film deals with ghosts and their interaction with the living in what happens to be the always magnificent New York City. Not much else really happens.

Both Greg Kinnear and Téa Leoni do an ok job, but it is Gervais who steals the show.

Grade: 6

Marriage's real enemy: divorce

This Cal Thomas anti same-sex marriage article did have a good point after all:

To those on the political and religious right who are intent on continuing the battle to preserve “traditional marriage” in a nation that is rapidly discarding its traditions, I would ask this question: What poses a greater threat to our remaining moral underpinnings? Is it two homosexuals living together, or is it the number of heterosexuals who are divorcing and the increasing number of children born to unmarried women, now at nearly 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

Most of those who are disturbed about same-sex marriage are not as exercised about preserving heterosexual marriage. That’s because it doesn’t raise money and won’t get them on TV. Some preachers would rather demonize gays than oppose heterosexuals who violate their vows by divorcing, often causing harm to their children. That’s because so many in their congregations have been divorced and preaching against divorce might cause some to leave and take their contributions with them.

The battle over same-sex marriage is on the way to being lost. For conservatives who still have faith in the political system to reverse the momentum, you are—to recall Harold Hill—“closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge.”

Who can argue with anything he's saying here? Sure, he's against same-sex marriage, but he also admits that there are worse problems affecting heterosexual marriage than gays and lesbians wanting to share in it.

They should take on those who divorce, since they consider marriage to be created by God and God made it eternal. But they don't, because often they are divorced as well.

Hypocrites.

Vermont upgrades from civil unions to same-sex marriage

WOW!! What a week we've had. First Iowa, and now Vermont. Although Vermont already offered civil unions to gays and lesbians (the first state to ever do so) they now passed legislation to make same-sex marriage legal (the first state to ever pass legislation without the courts forcing them to do so).

The governor, unfortunately, tried to stop the legislation with his veto, forever tying his name to bigotry, but the legislature had enough votes to override him, and so they did:

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A ten-year battle to grant same sex couples the legal right to marry culminated in a dramatic political showdown Tuesday at the Statehouse with the house voting to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of the gay marriage bill.

The House voted 100-49 to override the veto Tuesday. The vote tally was greeted by rousing applause in the House chamber.

The state House and Senate sent the bill to the Governor’s office Monday evening where, as expected, it met with rejection.

The Senate began the override debate at about 10 a.m. as lobbying continued in the House chambers nearby. "This is our moment," Sen. Peter Shumlin told senate members as the Senate debate began.

The debate was short as the Senate voted to override Douglas' veto 23-5.
[...]
"For the people voting to override the veto, they're voting to support the majority of Vermonters," Smith said. "They believe the majority of Vermont should be heard and should not be blocked by one man."
[...]
"Everyone should have the same rights for who they want to marry," said Moira Adams, who supports the bill. "It doesn't matter who they want to marry. If they're in love, they should be able to marry."

"They definitely should override him, absolutely," said Sean Tymecki, who supports the bill. "Vermont's always been the first -- first to abolish slavery and first to have civil unions -- and we should keep going with it."

Thank you Vermont!

Sweden says YES to gay marriage!

Following on the good news from Iowa, I also have to congratulate Sweden for having taken the necessary steps to join the still small club of nations that recognize all persons as equal:

Stockholm - A broad majority in the Swedish parliament Wednesday approved adoption of same-sex marriage legislation after a six-hour debate.
[...]
The new legislation is to take effect as of May 1, and replaces the legislation approved in 1995 that allows same-sex couples to form a union in Sweden via registered partnership.

Sweden joins the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, and three states in the United States in allowing its gay and lesbian citizens to legally marry.

Iowa approves same-sex marriages!!!

Iowa last Friday joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay marriages. Not only did the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in our favor, but they did so unanimously, unlike the other 3 courts that found in favor of gay marriage so far -- California, alas, had joined the 'progressives' club, but the religious fundamentalists were able to undo that ruling.

They will not be as lucky in Iowa, or at least not very easily. Amending the Iowan Constitution is not a straightforward process as it was in California. The earliest they could get an amendment on the ballot is 2012 and by then it's unlikely they would be successful. Timing, I'm sure, is the only reason they succeeded in California.

From Yahoo!:

Iowa Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa's Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state — and first in the nation's heartland — to allow same-sex couples to wed.
[...]
The Iowa justices upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected a state law restricting marriage to a union between a man and woman.

The county attorney who defended the law said he would not seek a rehearing. The only recourse for opponents appeared to be a constitutional amendment, which could take years to ratify.

"We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the Supreme Court wrote.

Iowa lawmakers have "excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification."

To issue any other decision, the justices said, "would be an abdication of our constitutional duty."

The Iowa attorney general's office said gay and lesbian couples can seek marriage licenses starting April 24, once the ruling is considered final.
[...]
John Logan, a sociology professor at Brown University, said Iowa's status as a largely rural, Midwest state could enforce an argument that gay marriage is no longer a fringe issue.

"When it was only California and Massachusetts, it could be perceived as extremism on the coasts and not related to core American values.

"But as it extends to states like Iowa, and as attitudes toward gay marriage have evidently changed, then people will look at it as an example of broad acceptance," Logan said.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said his office will not ask for the case to be reconsidered.

"Our Supreme Court has decided it, and they make the decision as to what the law is, and we follow Supreme Court decisions," Sarcone said.

Gay marriage opponents have no other legal options to appeal the case to the state or federal level because they were not parties to the lawsuit, and there is no federal issue raised in the case, Sarcone said.

Given its geographical location, Iowa is considered part of the Midwest, a historically conservative area, so reading the following was really surprising:

Iowa has a history of being in the forefront on social issues. It was among the first states to legalize interracial marriage and to allow married women to own property. It was also the first state to admit a woman to the bar to practice law and was a leader in school desegregation.

THANK YOU IOWA!!

More from the Des Moines Register here.

A Quote By:

Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, on the recent California Supreme Court hearings on Proposition 8 and the coming decision:

"Unlike right-wing opponents of equality, who denounce and seek to punish courts for doing their job, I criticize only when they flinch or fail to do it. If the Court, and if this Chief Justice, vote to uphold Prop 8's damaging blow to American constitutional principles, it will be a terrible mistake, failing their obligation under and to the California Constitution. If in so doing, they compound that mistake by selling short, or sidling away from, the truths set forth so powerfully in Chief Justice George's 2008 ruling — the fundamental nature of the freedom to marry, the way in which exclusion from marriage itself denies equality and imposes the stigma of second-class citizenship — they will do a powerful disservice to the people, to the Constitution, and to history, which for the moment still ranks them alongside the judges who struck down race discrimination and the subordination of women in marriage in the face of the passions of the moment, and were vindicated. Failure of judgment and duty now will tarnish their own legacy, wreak real harm on gay people and their loved ones, and shatter the faith of millions in the courts and their legitimate and crucial role in our constitutional system."