Usual Suspects, Jujutsu, & Obama On Penn.

The Usual Suspects

So true to my word, we popped in The Usual Suspects last night for a good time. I had seen it before, but it was long ago and I was curious as to whether or not I thought it was still a decent movie. Crap, it was originally released in 1995. That’s like forever ago.

Anyway, the 2008 viewing… We watched, it ended, and we thought about it. I thought about it a lot. Have you seen the film? They’re questioning a guy about a mass murder scene in San Pedro, CA. He’s this cripple, and he’s got immunity but there’s some local and other law officials that want to question him anyway. So he tells them a story. And then it ends. And you learn that that’s all it was; a story he told.

Which left me with questions. You see, the thing is our only window into “the story” is that which Kevin Spacey tells us. So, if it’s just a story, then really there’s nothing the audience really knows. What happened? How are we supposed to know what really happened versus what was just made up? I mean, you can wash away any discrepancies in the film just by saying “yeah but he was just telling the cops a story,” but then it really makes the film pointless. And that bothers me. Because then, why watch it? We watch, we want to know the “real” deal, what really transpired, and what story he’s told to cover his tracks. I think about it, and I don’t have any respect or admiration for the main character.

And I mean, if he’s as awesome as he’s purported to be, why bother telling a story? He’s got immunity and really the whole premise of the movie fails immediately, because they start by telling us he’s got immunity. So how do they get him to talk? He’s got nothing to say really, and no need to say it. Why bother…

It’s not a bad movie, but for me once you’ve seen it it really is a lot worse than it should be. I’ll give it a straight C. It really could have been better, if they hadn’t used the “twist ending” to justify the rest of the entire film.



Wax On. Let set and dry. Wax Off.
So I have talked about it before, but now I think it’s going to happen. The other day I cut out of a dinner date with The Girl early, as she was actually at work and I was making her serve me food, and went to check out a Dojo just down the street. They have classes thrice weekly, and it’s going to run about $65 monthly for me, or $100 monthly for both. The Girl might join, she’s kinda interested in the idea.

So yeah, the forearm isn’t quite back to 100%, but it’s getting pretty close, and I think I’m going to go for it. Oh, and I also learned that it’s “jujutsu,” not “ju-jitsu” so apparently I’m an idiot. Actually not quite. I sort of cross-pollenated two different brands of martial arts is what happened. “jujutsu” is the original art form that dates back to feudal Japan. Then there’s also "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” which is, um, Brazilian. They’re similar, and in fact related, so you can see where I may have made this boo-boo: drop the I, and we’re done!



Elitist? Probably just honest
I really don’t want to have to jump ship, but Clinton’s making it hard. You heard the guff over Barack’s “Elitist” comments? I read all of them. They’re not that bad. And quite honestly I agree, and I think he’s got the right idea as to the why’s of certain people’s discontent.

And then Clinton & McCain both go and jump on the guy. Know what? I want to hear their ideas for a lot of American’s discontent then. What, do they think it’s because they are unhappy with their cable TV offerings? What do they think it is then?

More than anything, I think that there’s this big divide between reality and TV reality. Obama’s right, dammit, but so are Clinton & McCain, in that you can’t actually say that stuff aloud. That’s something that you discuss behind closed doors with friends and advisors; it’s the elephant in the room, you know? We all see it, but no one is allowed to talk about it. The elephant? The reach of the Military-Industrial Complex into our living rooms. Sure it may not be making bombs, it may even look gentle, but the idea that gov’t has not only tied its constituents to the business machine, but actually gone so far as to sell them out to it is oh so very real. People don’t see it like that all the time, but it’s the reality: we’re ‘just’ consumers for the machine, so that those atop can live the life while we chase the carrot on the stick.

Yeah, shame on Obama for mentioning it…

Peace.