Guns, Guns, GUNS, GUNS!!

Conditions: Desperation Station

Waiting On A Friend

In the wake of the most recent shooting rampage in America, where 12 people were killed in Washington DC, President Obama revealed just how far down the rabbit hole America had gone in terms of life amid gun violence.

In remarks to service members and their families who packed the bleachers in the barracks about two and a half blocks from where the killings took place last week, Mr. Obama vowed that he would not accept inaction after the latest in a string of mass shootings during his presidency.

But the president appeared exasperated with the political system that he leads, admitting that changes in the nation’s gun laws “will not come from Washington, even when tragedy strikes Washington.” He acknowledged that his previous effort to pass new gun laws had failed, but he did not specifically call for a new political battle, saying change would come only when Americans decide they have had enough.

- nytimes.com/

So I consider that a final throwing in of the towel. If the President cannot pass even simple legislation that could at least cut down on the likelihood of these kinds of massacres (especially after the slaughter of a classroom of children), and basically says “Well America, when you do finally get tired of this crap, I’ll be waiting in my office” then frankly the whole society at large is nuts. Bananas. Wacko. Insane in the membrane.



Film Review: White House Down

What is it that Roland Emmerich has against the White House? Not only has the man made a career and a shit-ton of money out of blowing it up, knocking it down, washing it away, and generally laying waste to it, but even now as a successful and somewhat respected director he keeps coming back, like an abusive husband, to knock it over yet again. I mean one or two times is okay, I guess, but this is just starting to get weird. Is he trying to make some kind of point, is he completely obsessed, or is this just about the craziest career rut ever? Anyway, his latest film is Die Hard in the White House. That’s basically what it is. You could walk away now with that line and understand exactly what this film is and does. Channing Tatum is in the McClane role, as a cop who is visiting the White House with his daughter to apply for a position as a secret service guy. Wouldn’t you know it, they’ve turned up on the same day as an elaborate plan by a team of bad guys is swung into action to take over the White House and capture the President (played by Jamie Foxx) for money and the nuclear football. What follows is a series of big action sequences, gun fights and gruesome deaths as Tatum and Foxx try to stay one step ahead of the bad guys as they tear the White House apart trying to find them.

Of course I say it’s Die Hard in the White House, but it’s got none of the teeth or heart that the John McTiernan classic had. Emmerich has a keen eye for action sequences but he has a grander and more bigger focus as to how his films will work, which means it’s a much broader canvas that is stretched out for us, and subsequently the characters can’t really dominate the movie because of all the Big Action Stuff getting thrown at us. However he does know how important it is for an action film to have actual characters in it, who require some depth and development. This puts him head and shoulders ahead of other blockbuster filmmakers working today, who seem to think characters are just the cardboard cutouts that get jerked around in front of the explosions. Also, I’m happy to report that this film does have a political message to it, regarding the power the military industrial complex has over how the whole world works these days, and middle eastern politics as applied to American troop movements. It probably gets lost amid all the destruction but I was glad to see it there.

Ultimately this is a disturbingly absurd movie, where we watch the American political elite either go down in a hail of gunfire, or get blown up, while the White House is turned into a literal war zone. Amidst it all, the president comes across as a wise cracking tough guy who teams up with a plucky cop to take down the bad guys one by one while bouncing jokes off each other. There isn’t really any ongoing negotiation or interaction, and I don’t think we were ever informed of how the bad guys thought they were ever going to get out of the building to collect their ransom. It’s strange, it’s a well made film, quite exciting, but it's hollow, and it’s about the literal and metaphorical destruction of the American government, and transforming the President into a gun toting tough guy. In the end we sit amongst the wreckage and think well, is this really a victory? I think, unlike Emmerich’s previous disaster movies, all it is is an ending. Three doughnuts out of five.



- Peace out