I admit I liked Body Double and Blow Out when I was younger, and still, for reasons not quite fathomable to me, find them appealing somehow. But DePalma has been remaking the same sort of movie throughout his career and he just never seems to get it quite right. All that practice, so many bites at the apple, and he just can't seem to get his One Movie In Twenty-Six Iterations right.

It's not DePalma's fault, I guess, that Hollywood only thinks of him for Dressed to Kill type gory thrillers, but it's his fault that so many of them are bad. Including Black Dahlia.

To describe The Black Dahlia as one of the worst movies ever made is an insult to many of the worst movies ever made. And it has what may be the single most ridiculous climax I've ever seen. It's almost worth seeing so you can stare open-mouthed at the screen in abject disbelief...

Oh well. Thought I might check it out because the case is interesting (if repulsive). Guess I'll wait for DVD. Then again, I saw The Avengers because I heard it was just this level of open-mouthed WTF? awful, and I was not disappointed in the least. I. Love. Godawful. Movies.

So maybe I will see it. At least I won't have to show up early to get a good seat.

I feel kind of bad for DePalma. He had some talent, but his contemporaries (and friends) were Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. Talk about being a clique's ugly chick.*

I didn't even know the Black Dahlia was directed by DePalma until someone mentioned it. The ad campaign doesn't seem to want the public to know that.

Maybe DePalma doesn't want the public to know that, either.

* Heh: I'm reminded of the time Lucas screened Star Wars for his friends, including Spielberg and DePalma. The special effects weren't done yet -- the battle scenes were just footage from WWII fighter-pilot sagas, which Lucas had copied for Star Wars anyway -- and DePalma mercilessly mocked Lucas. Lucas, if I remember right, was pretty hurt, and pretty worried, by DePalma's savage reception. He kept asking him things like, "What the hell was that walking dog, George? A 'wookie'? A Wookie? What were you thinking, George?"

Spielberg, on the other hand, walked away from the very, very rough cut saying the movie would make at least a hundred million dollars (and that was back when hundred million dollar movies were a new phenomenon, and more or less a singular one, with Spielberg's Jaws pretty much the beginning and end of the list).

I don't want to call DePalma a dick, even if he did direct the dreadful Bonfire of the Vanities. But for a guy who described the anxiety about a mvoie's opening weekend as feeling like he had the film's box office flashing in neon on the back of his jacket, he sure seemed kinda dickish about Lucas' big gamble.

Not DePalma's Fault? J-Pod seems particularly put-off by the idiotic solution to the murder, whatever it is.

I'm thinking maybe this is the fault of whoever hired DePalma. At first blush, one might think DePalma was born to direct a movie about the Black Dahlia.

But actually, he's the worst choice possible. He's done this movie about fifteen times already. Ergo, he has to do something different to avoid being criticized for plagiarizing himself (which he will be accused of anyway, because he always does repeat his old tropes) and also to simply feel like he's not directing Body Double II: Double Down.

A different director might have felt more comfortable rehashing a more standard, less idiotic solution to the crime. But DePalma's tread this ground so many times that option really isn't open to him.

Posted by: Ace at 10:29 AM | Comments (40)
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Crazy rightwinger Michelle Malkin, whom Andrew Sullivan has compared to Iran's Ahmadinejad, suspected Hussein to be an accomplice to terrorists.

A new report on the story seems to confirm that.

The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. "He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces," according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.

"The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities," Gardner wrote to AP International Editor John Daniszewski.

AP maintains that being part of a terrorist cell is "just good journalism."

The press flacks for terrorists, and even employs them. Unapologetically.

Posted by: Ace at 10:14 AM | Comments (14)
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Everyone spells his name differently. I'm keeping the spelling I used originally just for clarity.

Take it with a grain of salt, but Al Qaeda is claiming an "American Hiroshima" is on the way, courtesy of Mr. Al-Shurki Juma.

Jim Geraghty counsels skepticism fo such claims, noting, as an intel source reminds, that Al Qaeda is prone to make such declarations simply to boost jihadist morale.

Even so, Al Shukri-Juma is a terrorist and probably inside the United States (or Canada). BOLO.

Posted by: Ace at 09:56 AM | Comments (12)
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In the real world, the Pople continues apologizing for speaking the truth. As a show of goodwill, Islamists murder an Italian nun in Serbia Somalia. (Corrected.)

In the "I wish life were really like this" Marshall MacLuhan world, the Pope declares that Islamists can "suck it."

Mary Katherine Ham notes that the Pope uses the word "placate" in his newest round of trying to calm the perpetually outraged.

It's a sad day when Chris Klein has a firmer comprehension of moral clarity than the Pope.

If only Chris Klein were Pope.

Are Pope Klein and Islam friends? Yes. Do they talk? No.

"Jihad Is The Hump Of Islam:" More truth in advertising.

Australians Don't Placate: The Chris Klein Principle in full effect, yo.

AUSTRALIA'S Muslim leaders have been "read the riot act" over the need to denounce any links between Islam and terrorism. The Howard Government's multicultural spokesman, Andrew Robb, yesterday told an audience of 100 imams who address Australia's mosques that these were tough times requiring great personal resolve.

Mr Robb also called on them to shun a victim mentality that branded any criticism as discrimination.

"We live in a world of terrorism where evil acts are being regularly perpetrated in the name of your faith," Mr Robb said at the Sydney conference."

The victim mentality is a huge problem. And of course they're aided and abetted in that dark fantasy by the world's media. Like the New York Times, for example. Which, once again, displays its firm belief that free speech is sacred and religious fundamentalism is scary, except if we're talking about Islam, in which case there is only one God and Mohammad is his prophet and anyone who denies this should be beheaded.

More... British Muslims make threats; Somali cleric wants to bag a Pope.

Posted by: Ace at 09:25 AM | Comments (11)
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I was making noises a while back that McCain should be forgiven and, while not supported enthusiastically, considered an acceptable nominee for President.

I retract that.

Mr. Straight Talk won't answer the question whether he believes it's more likely that a US soldier will be spared torture (and execution) at the hands of Al Qaeda due to his moral grandstanding and media preening or whether a US soldier will be spared capture due to information gleaned from a coercive interrogation.

And of course the media will never press him on the question.

Posted by: Ace at 09:19 AM | Comments (19)
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Probably your only chance to read about this:

Rep. Benjamin Cardin has fired a campaign staffer who posted racially charged comments against his opponent on the Internet, the congressman's campaign said Saturday.

The staffer's blog includes references to Oreo cookies. Cardin's opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who is black, has said people threw Oreos at him during a 2002 debate as a slight directed at his race and political views.

In a statement, Cardin, who is white, also condemned comments written by the female staffer on her blog that he considered derogatory to Jews.

Only "considered." Brian Witte of the AP can't quite make the call himself.

...

A blog posting Aug. 25 refers to a stack of Oreo cookies "looming in the back of one of the campaign pantries" and how staffers have to "surreptitiously glance around" before eating them.

"The subterfuge would be unnecessary, and snack time would be far less amusing, had an angry citizen not thrown the aforementioned delicious snack food at one of our opponents to comment on his lack of racial loyalty," the blog entry reads.

The blog also contains an entry describing Cardin's friends as "large men with strong, loud voices and Jewish noses."

I think people are better able to restrain character flaws they're aware of than that they're ignorant of. The first step is admitting you have a problem, etc.

A lot of people on the left wing simply believe they're incapable of racial insensitivity or outright bigotry just because they vote "the right way." And thus, you have idiots like this trying to be "funny" with allusions to Oreos and "Jewish noses."

Thanks to Riehl World.

Update: Wizbang Blog says it broke this story, and I believe them, though of course the MSM gives them no credit.

Kevin Aylward finds the Cardin campaign claim that this woman was just a "junior staffer" somewhat unbelievable.

The woman seems to have had assistants, who in turn had interns.

That doesn't sound particularly "junior" to me.

Spot The Missing Word: It's sort of tough to write an article about a scandal in the midst of a political campaign and not mention the fact that Cardin or his "junior staffer" were Democrats, but the AP's Brian Witte manages it so seemlessly I didn't even notice.

Posted by: Ace at 09:10 AM | Comments (10)
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There are a lot of players in this pool, and somehow I managed to garner third place after the first week. But the spreads and the picks were pretty easy.

This week, I like four of my picks and that's it. I probably should weight those and not vote for the other six, but that seems like an easy out. Kick off is in something like 1 hour, and my personal fortunes should be made the subject of ridicule and derision.

CHI 1
DEN 2
PIT 3
IND 4
TB 5
BAL 6
DAL 7
SEA 8
CAR 9
NYG 10

If you still want to be in the pool, I don't think it's too late. You just forfeit the points that you might have won during last week. But then, most of you losers forfeited points last week and you were playing anyway. Details on last week's results and subsequent smack here.

Posted by: Ace at 07:57 AM | Comments (12)
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2 hours, 49 minutes ago

HAT YAI, Thailand (AFP)

Four people, including two foreigners, were killed overnight after five bombs ripped through a popular tourist area in Thailand's mostly-Muslim south, police said.

Two, including a Canadian holidaymaker, were killed instantly by the multiple blasts, police told AFP, adding that two more later died of their injuries.

A female Chinese tourist was among the dead, officials at Songklanakarin hospital said. Some 62 others were wounded in the blasts, including 11 foreigners, according to police.

Two foreigners among four dead in south Thailand blasts

Posted by: Ace at 09:11 PM | Comments (20)
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Also: Flying planes into buildings with innocents was a "peaceful dialogue." And kidnapping soldiers was simply "an invitation to party."

Why do these jack asses think that they're the only ones who can declare war? And that they're the only ones who can be filled with indignation, shock (shock!), and outrage (outrage!)?

The most extreme opinion was voiced by Hani Pahas in the London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Hayat, who wrote “the pope’s comments may lead to war; we fear that the pope’s statements may lead to a war that we, Muslims and Christians alike, are trying to prevent through dialogue between East and West.

Why, yes, thanks for asking. The last 5 years have been simply wonderful. It's been delightful, like Sunday Brunch in the Summer. But nope, no war here.

Hussein Shabakshy wrote in an article published by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat “It is clear that such remarks only contribute to the fueling of the fire raging between Islam and the West. There is no difference between Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking from their caves in Tora Bora and the stage of an important Christian saint. Both parties contribute to the world verbal weapons for mass destruction.”

This is so obtuse, so oblique to reality. As noted below, while the Pope's speech was primarily an outreach to the Western Rationalist tradition, it also recognized that there are two enemies in the war. But in recognizing the cause of war, the Pope is providing a path for peace: first by getting the West to come to terms with its own duality, and second by pointing out the historical point where Islam was poisoned.

Wanna save the West? Accept the duality.

Wanna save Islam? Cut out the cancer.

Is it too much to think that the Pontiff was making a foundational speech to the University of Regenstref? Perhaps. But listen to the Imams:

“The pope’s latest statement cannot be considered a slip of the tongue or a comic bit from a TV show; the situatio0n here is different, and his remarks are indicative of an important and highly symbolic stance toward the religion (Islam) and the prophet of about a billion and-a-half Muslims,” he said.

“These are ignorant comments previously made by Adolf Hitler, who spoke of a supreme white race against all the other races, especially the African race.

"Yeah ... 1,500,000,000 Muslims knockin' on your door ... Benedict." Did that sound like a threat to you?

Of course, just to prove we're not at war ... yet ... there were 5 Christian churches attacked in the West Bank and Gaza ...

Firebombings left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of Nablus' Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches. At least five firebombs hit the Anglican church and its door was later set ablaze. Smoke billowed from the church as firefighters put out the flames

In a phone call to The Associated Press, a group calling itself the "Lions of Monotheism" claimed responsibility for those attacks, saying they were carried out to protest the Pope's remarks in a speech this week in Germany linking Islam and violence.

Lions of Monotheism ... just like Ace's old gang, the Blades of Bensonhurst.

Religion of Peace ® ... catch the fever.

Update: ROP ® group calls for suicide attacks on the Pope ...

Update II:Oh it's getting even better. Malkin has a great piece on the latest threats on Christians in Iraq (via AINA):

"According to the website Islam Memo, one Christian was killed in Baghdad after the Pope's speech two days ago. The speech created a wave of anger throughout the Islamic world, including Iraq. A poster has been placed in many Baghdad mosques for the previously unknown group, "Kataab Ashbal Al Islam Al Salafi," (Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions). This group threatens to kill all Christians in Iraq if the Pope does not apologize in three days in front of the whole world to Mohammed."

So are we sure that it's the Pope's comments that were incendiary? 'Cause it seems like it's maybe something else.

Posted by: Ace at 08:20 PM | Comments (86)
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Remember when Saturday Night Live was...what's the word? Watchable?

Yeah, I barely remember those days myself. What I do remember, though, is one fact that is incontrovertable: Saturday Night Live introduced me to the funniest man who ever lived.

That's right: Norm McDonald. Even though he's a lousy Canadian, for my money he's still the best Weekend Update host ever. And that's real American money, not that monopoly-like Canadian stuff.

Anyway, here is a short clip of Mr. McDonald on a recent episode of the Daily Show that reminds me just how far SNL had fallen. In the clip, he reflects on the death of the Crocodile Hunter, as only he can.

"Fruity fish". Heh. Watch the whole thing.

Posted by: Ace at 07:56 PM | Comments (21)
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