straight up chasing paper.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Apologies / Munich / Game of Four

Sorry that posting has been sparce of late, particularly from me. I attribute this to the fact that really not much has been happening. I'm at the end of a very relaxing and necessary three week vacation from teaching and I guess I took it as a bit of a break from the blogging world as well. Don't worry though. I'm back in the classroom tomorrow and that hopefully means more interesting tidbits about what's going on.

We saw Munich on Saturday and I immediately liked it quite a bit and seem to like it more and more as I reflect upon it. My slight annoyance over it was that it was a bit too long. However, I think the only reason it was too long was because of some exposition Spielberg was kind of forced to but in to equalize what many critics call his Jewish bias. In the end though, I don't think the point of the movie was to champion any one side of the conflict (even though the perspective of the film is Jewish/Israeli) but rather to kind of say both sides are completely right and completely wrong at the same time and more importantly to put forth the argument that violence is NEVER a viable means to solve any political conflict. Anway, you can read Ebert's review here and a great more politically aware review from Alternet here. I predict Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor and a pretty good chance to win at least one of the first three. Go see it so we can talk about it.

Finally, though I wasn't "tapped" officially, I like J. August Pollak's Game of Four...

Four Jobs You've Had in Your Life: mall bookseller, house painter, photo lab technician, composition instructor.

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over: Ghostbusters, Boogie Nights, Fight Club, Annie Hall.

Four Places You've Lived: Lansing MI, Detroit MI, Mt. Pleasant MI, Bowling Green OH.

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch: Lost, Pardon the Interuption, The Office, The Daily Show.

Four Places You've Been on Vacation: The Beauty and Bounty of Northern Michigan, The Oregon Coast, Disneyworld, Las Vegas.

Four Websites You Visit Daily: Ain't It Cool News, CNN.com, ESPN.com, McSweeney's

Four of Your Favorite Foods: steak sandwiches, caramel corn, overripe bananas, homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Four Places You'd Rather Be: Downtown Detroit, Seattle, Amsterdam, Anywhere where I own my own home.

Four Albums You Can't Live Without: Pavement, Wowee Zowee; The Beatles, Let it Be; Bruce Springsteen, Darkness at the Edge of Town; Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Four People Tagged Next: If you're reading this and you have a blog...then you're it...

paul at 1/09/2006

2comments

2 Comments

at 11:44 AM Carrie said...: Ok, so the bomb guy in Munich - Robert - was the dude from Amelie. Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0211915/Ss/0211915/s_1105_34.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Kassovitz,%20Mathieu

The german dude Hans, was in Sunshine, which I vaguely remember and possibly saw.

Just thought that might put your mind at ease! I know I'll forget to tell you this by the time I get home...
at 3:10 PM Mrs. White said...: We saw Munich this weekend too, and I have to admit that I agree with pretty much all of your comments. I was slightly annoyed that he (main dude's name?) went to live in Brooklyn when he really went back to Israel and the guilt thing was probably PC fiction, but who am I to judge.

Oh, and thanks for tagging me, nerd.