NATIONAL NEWS This Is All I Was Asking For...
President Bush today, in a news conference with Iraqi leader Talabini, took full responsibility for the slow response time of our government in response to Hurricane Katrina. He said (according to Yahoo!) "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." Wow... and he went on to ask, "Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm? And that's a very important question and it's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on so we can better respond." To me, this is a big deal. For someone in the government to take responsibility for something? Clinton did when his back was against the wall, Reagan never did... Hell, we impeached Nixon because we found him to be responsible, so taking responsibility is a very big deal. And it's not like Bush didn't tell us something we didn't know or did something illegal (as Nixon did), there isn't the same threat of impeachment... but today is a big step towards fixing the problem. As my weekly meetings tell me, admission of the problem is ALWAYS the first step. I think (I hope) we took a very big step today.
MOVIES Spoilers Abound!
Chelsey's visit this weekend brought with her thousands upon thousands (or a hundred) movies. With them, were dozens of movies that I have never seen. The following are my thoughts on two of them. CAUTION! SPOILERS! Good... let's talk then.
The first movie I saw of MCs was The Village. The Village is M. Night Shyamalan's political thriller. I say political because it really is an exposition on his feelings towards using fear to keep people in line. It is a though-provoking piece, but Shyamalan fails in a few key places. While this was supposed to be suspenseful, we never feel the immediate danger than comes with seeing someone die in the first five to ten minutes. Granted, looking at the whole scope of the movie, he couldn't kill someone off... but, still, I never felt worried that someone was going to die. Additionally, the "twist" at the end was M. Night trying too hard. By placing the Village in modern day, he went a little too far. If he had set the movie in, say, the 1940s or 50s, it would have been possible for the audience to believe that no airplane, helicopter, or any other vehicle show up in that valley. Additionally, the time-line of the plot doesn't really work. How could a whole village be built and raised to fear the woods in such a short time? For as much as I'd like to recommend it, simply for the sake of thinking about the creation of a village completely separate from the rest of the world... I can't recommend it. But, if you do want to see this one, watch it for the witty dialogue and interesting characters... not to be scared.
After Chelsey left, I watched I, Robot for the first time. I found it to be an interesting movie, actually. It did right what The Village did wrong... as the audience, right away, was worried for Will Smith's safety. To have the opening action of the movie be a suspected homicide allowed for the audience to fear for the characters (if they wanted to). I love Will Smith... I enjoy his acting, and I think he's got a lot of charisma. I, Robot didn't have any plot twists, and it seemed a fairly straight-forward plot... but I enjoyed the action and Smith's performance. And, besides, all those philosophy classes have given me an appreciation for robots with human personalities and traits. Whatever, I'd give it a thumb up. But someone else's thumb.
FOOTBALL Notre Dame Surprises Even Me
This weekend was a big football weekend, so let us start with Saturday. Notre Dame surprised me... but, considering I missed the entire game, any score would have surprised me. And, seeing as though I did miss the entire game, I can't really talk about it. Although I can ask if, perhaps, ND simply needs a new coach every season. Remember what they did under Willingham the first year? Is this team good because of Weis, or are they good because Notre Dame always gets talented, unmotivated players who need a new coach every year? I don't know. We'll see, though, as ND's schedule continues it's brutal run.
The Texas/Ohio State game was good, but I was (frankly) disappointed with both teams. Ohio State should have won, even though the better team (Texas) did win. The offenses of both teams proved to be pretty impotent... as the two quarterback OSU system is lame, and Texas goes only as far as Vince Young goes, since they have no running game without him. I look forward to the Florida/Tennessee game this weekend.
FOOTBALL Packers Surprise Me Too... In A Different Way
Sunday was also a day of football... and also a day for surprise. Though I didn't watch the whole game (my level 3 show meant only the first half for me), the Packers looked terrible. And, I'm sorry Lions fans, this win is no reason to celebrate. You only scored 17 points against a horrific defense. Next week, against the Bears, your defense and special teams had better score or you're in big trouble. Granted, the Bears' offense might not score even three points, but that doesn't mean your defense is any good. I want the Lions to do well, yes, but there's a lot of season left to be played, signified by Charles Rogers not being injured yet. I have no doubt the Lions will continue to get better... but beating Favre, in a dome, is nothing to celebrate. Beat us in Lambeau and then you can dance on my grave. You fair-weather bitches.