Under Capricorn

Under Capricorn is a 1949 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotton and Cecil Parker.

Internet Archive has this online:


Variety calls it "overlong and talky". The New York Times says, "it seems that neither Miss Bergman nor Mr. Hitchcock has tangled here with stuff of any better than penny-dreadful substance and superfical demands."

Ingrid Bergman

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1982 of Ingrid Bergman, remembered best for her role in Casablanca.

I have blog posts on the following of her films:

Casablanca (1942)
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Notorious (1946)
Under Capricorn (1949)
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
Hedda Gabler (1963, TV)

FilmReference.com has a lengthy list of resources and discusses some of her roles.

The photo at the top of the page is from Wikipedia Commons.

Privatize the Fire Department! It's the American Way!

If you think a free market privately-owned for-profit health care system is the way to go, then why not a privatized road system? Why do we allow the government to compete with the private schools? And surely we should also adopt this system for the fire department:



HT: Southern Beale

Waters of March by Art Garfunkel

I heard an instrumental version of this song on the University of Memphis jazz radio station WUMR this afternoon. Here's Waters of March as I remember it:



I used to have Breakaway, the album by Art Garfunkel that includes this song, but I didn't keep it after I wasn't able to play vinyl any more and never replaced it with the CD.

War is illegal for the U.S.

and has been since we signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact on this date in 1928. It says:

ARTICLE I

The High Contracting Parties solemly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.

ARTICLE II

The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means.

ARTICLE III

The present Treaty shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties named in the Preamble in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, and shall take effect as between them as soon as all their several instruments of ratification shall have been deposited at Washington.

This Treaty shall, when it has come into effect as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, remain open as long as may be necessary for adherence by all the other Powers of the world. Every instrument evidencing the adherence of a Power shall be deposited at Washington and the Treaty shall immediately upon such deposit become effective as; between the Power thus adhering and the other Powers parties hereto.

It shall be the duty of the Government of the United States to fumish each Government named in the Preamble and every Government subsequently adhering to this Treaty with a certified copy of the Treaty and of every instrument of ratification or adherence. It shall also be the duty of the Government of the United States telegraphically to notify such Governments immediately upon the deposit with it of each instrument of ratification or adherence.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty in the French and English languages both texts having equal force, and hereunto affix their seals.

DONE at Paris, the twenty seventh day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight.

This is a binding treaty that we remain subject to. It's on the government list of treaties in force. Hmmm... I wonder, if someone brought this document to Washington's attention, could we bring our troops home?

Women's Equality Day

Today is Women's Equality Day, a celebration of the anniversary of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. That was a short 89 years ago. When my mother was born women were not allowed to vote. My maternal grandmother had 3 children before the 19th Amendment was passed.

Tennessee was the deciding vote for the 19th Amendment, which states

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This is the text of the Joint Resolution of Congress in 1971:

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.

We should not forget the battles that have been fought on our behalf, and we should show our appreciation by educating ourselves about the issues and exercising our rights. Before they take that right away from us, too.

Sick Around the World

At the UT Health Care Forum this past Saturday one of the questions was whether or not panelists had seen the Frontline program Sick Around the World. I searched for it online and found it can be viewed at the PBS site. I watched it there tonight:


There is a teachers guide here. There are links, but nothing recent, particularly nothing related to the current attempts at legislation.

The New York Times says,

This fast-moving and entertaining hour starts from the premise that the American health care system, with its high costs, multiple gatekeepers and failure to provide insurance for much of the population, is a failure. And Mr. Reid makes the case (in about 10 minutes per country) that other capitalist democracies have not just cheaper and more equally available health care, but also better care over all, with longer life expectancies and lower infant mortality rates.

The Huffington Post has an article that says,

The film draws a sharp contrast between five other capitalist countries where everyone receives needed health care without risking bankruptcy and the fragmented non-system of U.S. financing and health care delivery where many fall between the cracks.

Charlie Rose discusses the documentary with T.R. Reid. You can watch that video here:

"The fundamental question is a moral question." -T.R. Reid

Paul Muni

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1967 of actor Paul Muni. He has a Facebook page, which is where the photo above came from. TCM has a short biography. FilmReference.com says,

Muni required months to research his character and prepare for his performance. If the character was a historical figure, he would read every available book on the subject. If the character required a certain dialect, he would rehearse into a recorder until he was satisfied with his accent. Once filming began he would remain in character between takes and even when he was off the studio lot. Muni would literally become the person in the script, which helped to build his reputation as one of the finest character actors of his time.

I have blog posts on the following of his films:

Scarface (1932) below
Angel on My Shoulder (1946)

Scarface is a 1932 film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Paul Muni, George Raft and Boris Karloff.

Youtube has this film online in 9 sections (though there's part of it missing between parts 8 and 9), but embedding is disabled for the first part, which can be viewed at youtube. The remainder of the film should autoplay beginning with part 2 from here: [4/15/2012: this film is no longer available there]

The New York Times likens the slaughter to "that of a Shakespearean tragedy" and says, "Paul Muni as Scarface Tony Camonte gives a compelling portrayal." FilmReference.com names it as "one of the three major films (along with Little Caesar and Public Enemy) that defined the American gangster genre in the early 1930s." Senses of Cinema has a short article exploring the film.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg

Ain't Too Proud to Beg is a 1966 hit from The Temptations.



This song is on the list of 500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921 film)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1921 Rudolph Valentino film, one of his most famous. FilmReference.com says that "today's viewers, even those whose main interest is in nostalgia for Valentino, will be struck by the excellence of the film itself."

via Youtube:

The Sheik

The Sheik is a 1921 Rudolph Valentino film.

Internet Archive has this online:


Reviews are hard to come by, though the Wikipedia article reports mixed reviews when it was released. It apparently caused quite a scandal in some places.

Rudolph Valentino

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1926 of silent film star Rudolph Valentino. FilmReference.com says,

Rudolph Valentino contrived to be a legend in his lifetime and, thanks to the ministrations of his fans and a life that was both contradictory and confused, he continues as one of the few immediately recognizable giants of the silent screen more than 50 years after his death.

I have blog posts on the following of his films:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
The Sheik (1921)
Blood and Sand (1922) below

His 1922 film Blood and Sand, in which Valentino plays a tragic bullfighter, is available here at Internet Archive in a "digest version," severely cut and with music and narration added. LikeTelevision has the entire film interrupted by commercials:

LikeTelevision Embed Movies and TV Shows

The Brother from Another Planet

The Brother from Another Planet is a 1984 science fiction comedy directed by John Sayles. I had not seen this before, figuring it was just a mindless comedy, but it seems to me to be more of a social commentary.

"We're in for the Self-Actualization conference." LOL!

The Internet Archive has it online:


Roger Ebert likes it. Moria calls it a "marvellously witty little film".

Another Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform

A friend of mine knew how much I enjoyed Steve Cohen's Town Hall Meeting and invited The Daughter and me to go with her to the one at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. There were signs prohibiting signs inside the auditorium and forbidding weapons. Security was thick as fleas. We've decided that the lack of any publicity for this event was due to fear that there would be disruption from outside agitators, as had happened at the Cohen forum, but the lack of publicity resulted in a lack of attendees. Many seats were empty. Even people scheduled to be on the panels didn't show up, so I wonder how seriously they took this event.

The event was webcast, which was written on the agenda but not announced to the audience. It is archived and can be viewed at the link.

It was scheduled to begin at 9, was to include 3 separate panels (Federal, State and Local) and was to end at noon. None of that actually happened. The start time was delayed because the moderator was late. When he did finally show up -oh, it must have been 9:30 or so- he said he was over 50 and didn't have to give an excuse. Not a good start to my experience. There was an invocation offered by Bishop William Young of The Healing Center Full Gospel Baptist Church to "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" and prayed in the name of Jesus. The moderator was Leon Gray from Clear Channel Radio, and he began by talking about some of the myths that have grown up around the idea of health care reform and the importance of debunking those myths. He then introduced panel members for the panel on "The National View," mentioning several times throughout the morning that the representative from Cohen's office had not yet come.

Joseph Kyles, vice-president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, was out-spoken in his support of the 1,000 page "liberal" plan currently being considered in the house. He spoke about the concept of "disproportionate share". He was clear and concise.

Calvin Anderson from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, scheduled to be on the "Local View" panel, was on this first panel instead and I think had left before the later panel convened. He gave an overview of the history of health care reform, pointed out that there are currently 5 bills being considered (3 in the house and 2 in the Senate) and was insistent that a public option be required to abide by the exact same rules under which the insurance companies operate. Another clear, concise speaker.

Jim Kyle was on the agenda to be on the "State View" panel, but appeared here. He was next, and he was much fuzzier. He's a current candidate for governor, but I was not won over by his ability to get his point across, much less convince. Saying he had to leave at 10:30 (but not because this event wasn't important...) he talked about TennCare and his role in capping state health care expenses at 26% of the budget, leaving many uninsured. He used the phrase "cost shifting". I'm assuming that's the same concept as "disproportionate share".

Tomeka Hart, Executive Director of the Memphis Urban League, shared her knowledge of the needs and desires of Jane and John Q. Public. They just want this done. They've waited a long time already.

Brad Cobb, executive Directory of NAMI Memphis, openly insulted Jim Kyle, saying (perhaps loosely quoted, though this is the essence), "I care. It's a shame you don't." There was an audible gasp. My friend and I have not had stellar experiences in our admittedly very limited experience with NAMI locally, and I wondered how Mr. Cobb had been able to mount such a high horse. He said we need more Federal help. He said the more we talk about reform the worse it seems to get. He mentioned that 201 Poplar is not a nice place to be, and he rambled a while about the trouble the mentally ill have getting medical care in emergency rooms. He felt combative to me.

Rep. Hardaway (host of the event, for which he received continual accolades) said he will offer a bill in the fall that will, if passed, open the state insurance plan for everybody.

Michael Caudle, M.D., Vice Chancellor, Health Affairs/Government Relations UTHSC, talked about the number of people who are uninsured but noted that having an insurance card does not guarantee a doctor will provide care. He talked some about end-of-life issues.

Emily Fulmer, Lead and West TN Organizer for the Tennessee Healthcare Campaign, was one of my favorites. Short and to the point, she said that it's a shame that hard-working people in America can't get affordable health care choice.

Randy Alexander, Memphis Center for Independent Living, said we should look at what we should do and find a way to fund it rather than just saying we can't afford it. He said we must overcome the fear-mongering.

George Flinn, radiologist (and owner of 7 radiology clinics)/Shelby County Commissioner/founder and CEO of Flinn Broadcasting Corporation, talked, but I was unable to follow a coherent thread through what he said. He spoke strongly for tort reform, telling a story about a 2 plus million dollar medical malpractice settlement and seemed to be saying tort reform must happen before heath care reform can. At one point late in the going Flinn noted that doctors will never abandon their charge, that they have taken an oath, that he sees patients who can't pay and who don't have insurance.... I want to know, if this is the norm, why folks seem to be having trouble accessing health care.

Above is a picture of George Flinn texting during the meeting while the other speakers talked. (He seemed to spend a lot of the time he wasn't talking texting. At least that's what he was doing whenever we looked in his direction.) Just checked and he wasn't tweeting, as his last tweet was in June. Maybe he was updating his Facebook status? No, he hasn't mentioned the forum on his Facebook pages. What was he saying that was too important to wait? We'll never know.

At that point, the moderator had collected the questions from audience members and began the Q&A. He said the questions about the federal aspects of the issue would be set aside and passed on to Cohen, since his representative was still not there (and yes, we know Cohen's in Africa, but a representative from his office had committed to attend).

These are the questions that got much response:

Q: What's the rush?
Answers:

• Tomeka Hart said there is no rush, that we've been working on this since about 1912.
• Randy Alexander said let's just pass a law and change what we need to later.
• George Flinn said he's against the rush and believes everyone should be heard.
• Brad Cobb wants to rush tort reform
• Calvin Anderson says not to rush the details and not to push past the implications.

Q: What are 3 things we can do after we leave this forum?
Answers:

• Randy Alexander said
  
  • Find the truth.
  • Spread the truth.
  • Be a community.
• Emily Fulmer said
  
  • Get involved with the TN Healthcare Campaign.
  • Call and write Corker and Alexander and write letters to the editor.
  • Educate yourself and others.
• George Flinn said
  
  • Tort reform
  • Don't treat your doctor like a criminal.
  • Cut out the bureaucracy.
• Calvin Anderson said
  
  • Continue to participate in forums.
  • Discuss the details of the plan.
• Tomeka Hart said
  
  • Talk to representatives about economic development.
• Rep. Hardaway said
  
  • Be better educated and access information from broader sources.

At this point there was a short break. When the meeting re-convened, the moderator said UT had granted us an extra 30 minutes use of the facility. Cohen's representative had finally arrived citing a "miscommunication" and said he wouldn't be answering any questions but would pass them on to Cohen. Wharton was supposed to be on the local panel but never did show up. Maybe he forgot about it in the midst of all his other excitement. It seemed that this next panel and the 3rd one had been scrapped and substituted with a panel of the willing. They all spoke, some rambling less than others. At one point the moderator called a panelist by the wrong name, and when she provided her name he told her she had talked so long he had forgotten it. Not funny. And she was not one of the longest-winded.

Rep. Hardaway interrupted the proceedings, saying he had seen a couple of people who had specific expertise to offer and would like to use 10 minutes of the Q&A time to allow them to address the forum. No one objected.

The first one must have talked 10 minutes herself. She provided endless statistical figures, and her point seemed to be that minorities are generally not as healthy as whites and get poorer health care. For a point that, I'm sure, would have been conceded readily by most folks there, she did go on and on... I got restless in my seat. Many people left.

The next woman was abusive of the privilege in a different way. She screamed into the microphone. She said she'd been diagnosed with everything we could name (Leprosy? Really?) but didn't take medications. Surely I mis-heard that... She talked about the mind controlling the body and mentioned faith a couple of times. I have no idea what her point was, but I had to hold my hands over my ears, because the sound was so loud as to be painful. She told her name and her web address. It seemed to me like she was promoting something, though I'm not sure what, and I found her participation to by highly inappropriate.

After that, another Q&A began, but we left after a few of those. As I check the video it looks like we missed about 15 minutes.

This was our second town hall meeting, and they were as different from each other as night from day. We did see one person we recognized from Steve Cohen's meeting: one of the nice men in line behind us at that event sat one row behind us on the other side of the room at this one. We didn't see him after the first panel finished.

8/23/2009: The Commercial Appeal has a report. The reporter gives most of the print space devoted to quoting panelists to the BCBS rep and Dr. Flinn.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is, obviously, the 2nd movie in the Terminator series. Directed by James Cameron, this 1991 film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. The Younger Son chose this. Neither he nor The Husband had seen it before. The Younger Son likes the first movie better.

trailer:


Moria likes it. So does Roger Ebert. Time.com calls it "A humongous, visionary parable that intermittently enthralls and ultimately disappoints. T2 is half of a terrific movie -- the wrong half." Variety says the director

has again taken a firstrate science fiction film and crafted a sequel that's in some ways more impressive - expanding on the original rather than merely remaking it.

The New York Times says,

Mr. Cameron has made a swift, exciting special-effects epic that thoroughly justifies its vast expense and greatly improves upon the first film's potent but rudimentary visual style.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is a fascinating book by David Mitchell. Structured in a way that has the first plot stop mid-sentence and conclude at the end of the book, the entire book is made of nested stories. Each story takes place further in the future than the last, with the one uninterrupted plot at the center of the book taking place in a far-future post-apocalyptic society of isolated primitives, and each story contains an element from the earlier narrative. The language is standard English suitable for its time, and the central story uses language that reminds me of that used in Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker.

from the back of the book:

A postmodern visionary who is also a master of styles and genres, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian love of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending philosophical and scientific speculation in the tradition of Umberto Eco and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction how disparate people connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

A.S. Byatt wrote the review in The Guardian and says, "Trust the tale. He reaches a cumulative ending of all of them, and then finishes them all individually, giving a complete narrative pleasure that is rare." Salon.com calls it "a genuine and thoroughly entertaining literary puzzle." The New York Times says,

It is a devious writer indeed who writes in such a way that the critic who finds himself unresponsive to the writer's vision feels like a philistine. So let it be said that Mitchell is, clearly, a genius.... The novel is frustrating not because it is too smart but because it is not nearly as smart as its author.

A Day at the Races

A Day at the Races is a 1937 Marx Brothers movie. Groucho plays Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush in this one, a veterinarian who takes a position as chief of staff at a sanitarium at the insistance of Margaret Dumont's character.

Veoh has this one online, but you have to download their player to see it. No, thank you. Been there, done that. Thought I'd never get the mess cleaned up.

trailer:


Variety calls it "surefire film fun". The BBC has a mixed review.

At the Circus

At the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers movie. Groucho sings "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" in this one. You can see that piece of the film here at youtube.

Googlevideo has the entire film online:


The New York Times doesn't like it as well as their earlier films.

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers is a 1930 Marx Brothers film. In this one we get "Hooray for Captain Spaulding!" (watch it at youtube) and "Hello, I Must Be Going" (which can also be seen at youbube).

GoogleVideo has the entire film:


The New York Times says, "This mad affair suits the principals and its absurdities brought forth gales of laughter yesterday afternoon. "

Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers is a 1932 Marx Brothers movie that takes place on a college campus. I love the line, "Whatever it is, I'm against it!"

Googlevideo has it online:


The New York Times likes it. TCM has an overview.