The New Censors

“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

- Ray Bradbury, Author of Fahrenheit 451

In all things, there are debates about which side is right and which is wrong.  These debates often lead both sides to see nuance, modifying their views and coming to a synthesis idea which is better than either of the original ideas.  Sometimes, the two ideas are diametrically opposed and cannot reach common ground.  For instance, Israel would like to exist and Palestinians - at least their leadership - will only be satisfied if Israel doesn't exist.  Irreconcilable differences.

When the two sides are closely matched in debaters, free and open debate reigns.  The pundit class has long sat across from each other on various news programs to spout their talking points and degrade the arguments of the other side.  The classic of this format was The McLaughlin Group.  Stalwarts Pat Buchanan for the Right and Eleanor Clift for the Left along with a rogues' gallery of guest pundits would discuss the news of the day.  Great stuff!

In recent years, the pundit class has become soft.  Unable to answer the broadsides launched by new players on the field (e.g. Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, etc.), the opposition seeks to ban them.  The current target is Joe Rogan and his Spotify podcast.  Unable to counter whatever arguments are aired on his podcast or reach as large an audience, his adversaries have called for his cancelation.  "We can't win the argument or answer his claims, so we demand that he be silenced."

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself."

Potter Stewart, Supreme Court Justice

When you call for censorship, you are on the wrong side of history.  The censor does not want to control what information he consumes but rather the information you consume.

Solve Poverty by Giving Cash

EconTalk had Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus of GiveDirectly.  They have been giving cash - no strings attached - to people in poverty.  Their argument is that the recipient, not the donor, is better suited to determine where best to spend the money.  One example was that many recipients in Africa would buy a tin roof.  Though this seemed like an extravagance, it was a cost-saving and quality of life decision.  Tin rooves are more costly but last much longer than a thatch roof, don't get infested with mosquitos, and are less likely to leak.  The other benefit of cash is that it doesn't undercut local industry.  For example, sending excess food to be distributed has the effect of bankrupting native farmers whereas cash will allow recipients to purchase more from local farmers and create local prosperity.

Russ offered the argument that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.   He modified it a bit for our modern age.  Of course, cash gifts will raise the recipients' standard of living while the money is flowing, but once it stops, they will revert to poverty.  The goal must be to improve productivity.  The counter was that programs that sought to 'teach a man to fish' or whatever other skill have not proven effective.  Faye observed that a cash transfer in the United States showed that the children of recipients lived longer, had higher incomes, and attained greater education than the children of those who had not received cash transfers.  This was tracked over a 50-year span.  The pair argued that extreme poverty could be resolved through such grants at a cost of 1% of US and European GDP.

Though obviously some people will spend wisely and improve themselves while receiving grants, it is questionable if most will.  Big lottery winners almost always descend back to their pre-lottery lifestyle when the money is all spent.  Interesting and worth a listen.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

In 1939, Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) dragged the shrouded body across the floor and dropped it into a shallow grave in the middle of the house.  On his way out the door, he ignites the house.  Soon after, he is on a bus that stops near a cafe.  By chance, a dwarf walks by him and he turns to follow him.  He arrives at a carnival and soon becomes a carny himself.  There is Bruno the Strongman (Ron Perlmam), Clem (Willem Dafoe) who has a tent full of pickled oddities as well as the crazed geek who bites the heads off chickens, Zeena (Toni Collette) the Seer, Pete (David Strathairn) the mentalist, Molly (Rooney Mara) the electrical girl, and others.  Stanton is soon having an affair with Zeena, learning mentalism from the frequently drunk Pete, and pursuing Molly.  Before long, he has mastered mentalism and runs away with Molly to start an act.

Two years later, they are having considerable success as a mentalist act.  It is then that Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) attends the show to test his talents.  He proves sufficiently impressive that she provides her card and makes richer marks available.  Of course, her clients are rich and powerful and won't take kindly to him if he is shown to be a fraud.  The payoff is great but so is the risk.

Throughout the movie, Stanton is warned against carrying his mentalism shtick too far, against crossing lines, or starting to believe your own lies.  Despite the wise counsel from every carny he has met, he pushes forward to the big score.

Here is a movie about a bad man who does bad things and has a bad outcome.  Karma.  Though well-made and excellently acted, it is hard to enjoy watching an unsympathetic character on the make.  Sure, his final mark deserves to be cheated, but he's putting Molly in the crosshairs.

Of all the Giullermo del Toro films, this one has the fewest bizarre monsters.  In fact, other than the pickled oddities in Clem's collection, all the monsters are human.  Worse, this is a two and a half hour slog that reaches the conclusion that has been telegraphed from the start.

Hard pass.

Trump Won Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that the 2019 law that allowed mail-in ballots was unconstitutional.  Prior to the law's passage, only 300,000 mail-in ballots were submitted.  These would be the standard absentee ballots that required a request from the voter.  After the law, the mail-in total exceeded 2.5 million votes.  Let's look at the 2020 election results.  The following graph is available at The Data Corner.:

Of particular note, 58% of Biden's votes were mailed-in while only 18% of Trump's were.  Reverting to the previous 300,000, but using the same proportion for each candidate, how does that look:

If mail-in ballots are disallowed, Trump wins 62% of the state compared to 37% for Biden.  This same trend goes across the country.  As I noted in a previous post, nearly 60% of Biden's votes were mailed-in vs. a third of Trump's.  Disallow mail-in, Trump wins in a massive landslide.

Of course, it is too late now.  Biden is president and no court will or should reverse the election, flawed or not..  However, this should be a clarion call to the states to get their voting systems in order.  Right now, too many citizens distrust the outcome of our elections.  It does not matter if the concerns are valid or not, only that the citizens are distrustful.  You want a functioning system that does not see more January 6 events, you need to have a system that both sides trust.

The Law of Innocence

Mickey Haller leaves the bar after celebrating a victory when he is pulled over.  He has been a non-drinker for years and thinks the cop is just harassing him.  However, his license plate is missing.  Then the officer noticed something leaking from the trunk of the car.  It's blood.  The Mickey refused permission to open the trunk, the officer did so and discovered a body.  Mickey finds himself in jail and charged with the murder of a former client.  Though everyone on his team and all his family are certain he has been framed, the prosecution case is strong.  The victim was shot in Mickey's garage at a time when he was clearly home.  Though familiar with the saying that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, Mickey elects to defend himself.  This is no easy task while incarcerated.  Luckily, he has his team doing the legwork outside and even his half-brother Harry Bosch is on the case.  To make matters worse, Covid-19 is a top story and jail guards have started wearing masks.  Can Mickey beat the charges by placing the blame on another party?  Can he overcome the multiple roadblocks that Prosecutor 'Deathrow' Dana Berg keeps placing in front of him?  Even if he can win the trial, can he escape being viewed as a murderer who got away with it?  He wants his innocence confirmed, not merely a not guilty verdict.

A very tense thriller that gives Mickey the experience that all his clients have suffered.  Another excellent story from Michael Connelly.  Though Bosch appears, his part is limited and it feels like he wasn't that much help.  This is something of a Best of Haller story in that so many characters from previous novels return.  Also, for a lawyer, Mickey gets beat up a lot.  In one novel, he was driven off the road, an accident that killed his driver.  In another, he was severely beaten.  Mickey finds himself in the hospital a lot.  Who knew the life of a defense attorney was so dangerous?

Highly recommended.

Return to Paradise (1953)

In the late 1920s, the South Pacific island of Upolu is ruled by a strict pastor, the son of the previous pastor.  Pastor Cobbett (Barry Jones) has regimented the people of the island, using a band of thugs called wardens to enforce his code.  It is for the good of the people that he punishes sin.  On a random day, Mr. Morgan (Gary Cooper) the American lands on the beach and decides to call Matareva home.  Cobbett is adamantly opposed but Morgan enforces his desire to stay.  Unlike the natives, Morgan does not bow to Cobbett's regimentation and is more than willing to stand against the wardens.  Soon, the island is in rebellion and Cobbett's power is gone.  Nonetheless, the folk still attend his church.

Among the islanders, Maeva (Roberta Hayes) pursues Morgan and he relents.  However, he is restless.  He has repeatedly explained how he trusts no one and would have left Cobbett to his despotism if the pastor hadn't interfered with him.  He's a wanderer and plots his departure.  But Maeva is pregnant.  Soon after Turia is born, he leaves the island.

Years later, he returns.  World War II is being fought.  Turia is a young woman and eager to spend time with her famous father, whom the islanders view as a George Washington-like figure.  Morgan is torn between a desire to stay with his daughter and the constant pull of wanderlust.  In a twist of karma, Morgan finds his daughter being romanced by a young American pilot who has crashed on the island.  The parallels between the pilot and Turia to Morgan and Maeva cannot be missed.  Cobbett voices that uncomfortable truth.

This is an unusual role for Cooper, who is usually - in my experience - a paragon of virtue.  Such is not the case for Morgan.  He's rough around the edges and hard on his companions.  Maeva was giving and undemanding, but Morgan couldn't accept her.  He didn't want the commitment.  Always he would hint at his plans to move on.

Cobbett has the most dramatic story arc.  He goes from a strict disciplinarian to a kindly old pastor.  Where he was easy to hate in the early part of the film, he is a beloved member of the island family in the end.  He was never a bad man, just misguided in the way he taught the faith.  Being humbled by Morgan did him a world of good.

Just okay.

Learning from Ginsburg

In the last year of President Obama's tenure, there was much pressure on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire.  She had had several bouts of cancer, starting in 1999.  There was concern that, if the worst happened and a Republican was elected in 2016, she would not survive to 2021.  Though she nearly made it, Trump was able to replace her in the days before the election.    Where Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had only seated two justices each in there two-term presidencies, Trump sat 3 in his single term.

With a Republican wave predicted in November, Justice Stephen Breyer has elected to retire from the Supreme Court.  Though President Biden will still be in office for another 3 years, his margin in the Senate is at stake.  Trump was able to get conservative justices by the barest of margins thanks to the change in filibuster rules for judicial nominees and having a majority in the Senate.  Gorsuch (54-45), Kavanaugh (50-48), and Coney Barrett (52-48) would not have been seated if the Republicans didn't hold the Senate.  Trump would have had to nominate more moderate justices.  By that same token, Biden has a shrinking window in which he can place a liberal justice.  Come next year, Biden's nominees will have to satisfy a Republican majority in the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell.  By leaving now, Breyer's replacement is more likely to share his views, rather than have a watered-down version of his views.

Terror by Night (1946)

The Star of Rhodesia has a cursed history.  Premature death seems to follow any who own the huge diamond (valued at £50,000 in 1946, 2.2 million today).  Lady Margaret Carstairs is the current owner and is traveling with her son, Roland, from London to Edinburgh.  Concerned that there might be an attempt to steal the diamond, Roland employs Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to protect it.  Of course, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) is also at hand.  While Holmes and Watson are enjoying dinner with Watson's old army pal, Major Duncan Bleek, Roland is killed and the diamond is stolen!  Luckily, Inspector Lestrade is also aboard the train.  Following suggestions from Holmes, he seals the train car and canvases all the passengers to ferret out the murderer.  While Lestrade bumbles, Holmes deduces who is responsible.

Only an hour long, the story is rushed; it is less than an hour.  It is like a TV episode rather than a movie.  Though Bruce is the classic Watson, he is alarmingly oafish.  He is all comic relief and a clueless foil to Rathbone's hyper serious manner and lightning deductions.  Though entertaining, the plot is ludicrous.  Considering the willingness to kill, why do it on the train with Holmes and Inspector Lestrade aboard?  The villain has so many cohorts that he could have overwhelmed the train if he had so desired.  Though I've read all of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes stories, this one didn't ring any bells.  Why not adapt one of them rather than this awkward original that is mostly reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express.

Because he is my first Holmes, I have always pictured Holmes as Basil Rathbone.  Though Rathbone's Holmes is a bit too perfect and upright compared to the literary Holmes, he's often brusque and arrogant, which fits better.  Though Basil Rathbone is the face and voice of Holmes, Jeremy Brett did a better job of staying faithful to the character.  Much of that is because he had screenwriters who used the source material rather than just the characters.  Robert Downey Jr. is over-the-top craziness, Holmes crossed with Indiana Jones.

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is bringing the band back together for a new mission.  The first recruit is Savant (Michael Rooker), a man with supernatural spatial awareness.  He can bounce a ball off a wall and ricochet it on three more walls before it hits an unsuspecting bird.  In exchange for 10 years off his 15 year sentence, Savant accepts a suicide mission to Corto Maltese.  Other members of the team are Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Mongal, Javelin, TDK, Blackguard, and the Weasel.  No sooner have they landed on the beach than all hell breaks loose.  The landing is compromised!  Meanwhile, on a different beach, another suicide squad has landed.  Bloodsport (Idris Elba) leads this team, which has benefited from the distraction of the first suicide squad.  Among his forces are Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone!).

The movie is hilarious, a massive improvement over its predecessor.  Bloodsport plays the straight man with his team, being the only relatable person.  Everyone else is odder than the next.  Ratcatcher 2 is basically the Pied Piper, capable of summoning rats to do her bidding.  She has a pet rat named Sebastian.  She is always tired but has a good heart.  Peacemaker is so keen on peace that he will kill as many men, women, and children as it takes to get it.  The constant one-upmanship between Bloodsport and Peacemaker is great fun.  He delivers ridiculous lines with the utmost seriousness.  I had been impressed by John Cena's comic abilities in Trainwreck and that was no fluke.  He's terrific and I am now eager to watch the spinoff series, Peacemaker.  The Polka-Dot Man, who looked like he might be some cringy villain, is absolutely stellar.  Though arguably the most powerful member, he is clearly not leader material. Despite being depressed and infected with a potentially lethal multidimensional virus, he is a constant source of laughs.  Oh, to see through his eyes!  His mom is epic!   As great as all these characters are, King Shark is nonstop fun.  Silvester Stallone does his best dumb Rocky voice, making the constantly hungry shark-man a source of immense humor.  He is both childlike and monstrous.  He's nigh indestructible, insanely strong, and a lovable dunce.  His primary attack is to eat you!  And he eats a lot in this movie!  Num num.

James Gunn had taken the low tier material of Guardians of the Galaxy and turned it into gold.  Here, he has done it again.  More of this and the DC-verse could become an equal competitor to the MCU, especially since Marvel has been sagging since Avengers: Endgame.

Highly recommended.  Great popcorn fun.

No Time to Die (2021)

The latest James Bond film is a reworking of the novel version of You Only Live Twice (YOLT) with some aspects of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS).  Let's take a look at those two books, which the movies are not always faithful in adapting.

In OHMSS, Bond is searching for Blofeld in the wake of Thunderball but has come up empty.  However, he has saved Tracy from committing suicide.  It turns out that Tracy's father is a mobster who offers Bond a fortune to marry his daughter.  She had been suicidal since the death of her daughter, but she wrote highly of Bond in her suicide letter.  Despite his attraction to Tracy, he declines.  He does ask for one favor: does he know where to find Blofeld?  Indeed, he does.  Bond infiltrates Blofeld's Swiss fortress and discovers that Blofled has infected a number of British women with specific viruses that will spread when they return to England.  One has a virus that will ruin the wheat harvest and another to wipe out poultry.  If all of them return, England is going to suffer a famine.  His cover blown, Bond flees and encounters Tracy!  Fleeing together, Bond realizes just how attracted to her he is.  He decides he will marry her and asks her father for a wedding gift: an assault force for Blofeld's stronghold.  Though the plagues are averted, Blofeld escaped.  Bond and Tracy are married but she is killed by Blofeld later that very day.  The movie is surprisingly faithful.

In the YOLT novel, Bond had fallen in depression after the death of his wife and was on the brink of being tossed from the service.  Instead, M gave him an assignment in Japan.  His code number was changed to 7777 and his mission was to acquire intelligence from Taiga Tanaka, head of Japanese Intelligence.  Taiga is willing but he wants something in return.  With the approval of the Japanese government, a foreigner named Shatterhand purchased a castle and its grounds.  He has planted all sorts of deadly plant species around the property.  As such, the castle has become an oasis for the suicide-prone Japanese.  If Bond eliminates Shatterhand, Taiga will share intel.  Though Shatterhand normally appears in full Samuri regalia - including a mask, there is a picture when he is without the mask: it is Ernst Blofeld!  Bond accepted the offer and, as far as the Secret Service was aware, died during his successful effort to destroy Blofeld's lair.  Unbeknownst to them, Bond survived but had amnesia.  A local fishing girl, Kissy Suzuki, had fallen for him and took advantage of his amnesia.  She was also pregnant though Bond is unaware of that when he leaves.  The movie uses the characters and setting but an entirely different plot.

No Time to Die uses many of the parts but reorders them and assigns them to different characters.  The movie picks up immediately after Spectre with Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) driving in Italy.  In the wake of an assassination attempt on him, Bond leaves Madeleine, believing she had betrayed him.  She is pregnant but he does not know that.  Years pass.  Introduced wearing a Japanese mask, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) has developed some toxins that only harm specific DNAs; it is safe for most people but lethal to the chosen target.  Bond is no longer in the Secret Service and his code number has been given to another agent, Nomi (Lashana Lynch).  Safin has a grudge against Spectre and uses his designer toxins to kill every member, including the incarcerated Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).  Bond discovers that Safin's base is an island between Japan and Russia.  He and Nomi infiltrate the base, rescue the captured Madeleine and Mathilde (Bond's daughter), and make sure the blast doors are open for an incoming missile strike.  As Bond has been infected with a toxin that is lethal to Madeleine and Mathilde, he stays behind to protect them.  James Bond is dead.

The movie sweeps the field.  Felix Leiter?  Dead.  Ernst Stavro Blofeld?  Dead.  James Bond?  Dead.  How do you move on from here?  Though Nomi was the new 007 in Bond's absence, he regained the number on his final mission.  Well, it's available again and she can have it back.  Even so, I don't see her carrying on the series.  It was always a given that the role would be recast soon, but how does that work?  Is EON embracing the idea that James Bond is just an alias for MI-6's top operative?  Maybe they are going with the Bond multiverse.  In the Daniel Craig-verse, Bond dies.  Sherlock Holmes has been played by many actors but, so far as I know, he's never been killed and there has never been an issue with the Basil Rathbone Holmes vs. the Robert Downey Holmes.  Both are different interpretations of the same character.  The same should be true of Bond.

Not a bad movie, but a real problem for an ongoing series.

Death Valley Days: David Farragut

It is June of 1856 in San Francisco and the Vigilance Committee is arresting citizens and has already hanged two men.  Doctor Ashe has managed to escape the committee and reports the troubles to Captain Farragut (Ronald Reagan).  Farragut says he can't do anything without orders from the president.  So long as the committee doesn't attack federal property, there's nothing he can do.  Nonetheless, he takes a longboat to the Barbary Coast of San Francisco to see for himself.  He is unsatisfied by the answers from a committee functionary named McCartney.  McCartney is sending bands of men to arrest all sorts of people without due process.  Farragut checks with the head of the committee, JD Calhoun.  Calhoun denies all blame for McCartney's actions.  As luck would have it, Farragut had left orders with Lt. Burnell to sail three ships to stand off the Barbary Coast.  Farragut threatens the miscreant committee men with a barrage that will flatten the area.  Everyone comes to their senses and the city is saved.

All this was new to me, so I decided to research the topic.  Sure enough, there was a Vigilance Committee that took law into its own hands, once in 1851, and again in 1856.  William Tecumseh Sherman - future arsonist of Atlanta - was a banker in San Francisco at the time and had been asked to command the city militia during this exact period.  His letters show that he was frustrated by the inaction of General Wool - the army commander in the region - and the mixed signals from Governor Johnson.  He also noted that Farragut refused to get involved without orders from President Pierce.  As Pierce had already taken a hands-off attitude in what became Bleeding Kansas, it seemed unlikely he would authorize military action in San Francisco.  In his biography of Farragut, Alfred T Mahan - author of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History - offers an oblique comment that the Navy approved of Farragut's actions during those troubled times in California.  In an article from the National Review, it was noted that Farragut dispatched a ship "for moral effect."

It would appear that The Battle of San Francisco episode vastly expanded Farragut's minimal role in the taming of the Vigilance Committee.  As an active participant in opposing the committee, it is a certainty that Sherman would have mentioned this astonishing effort by Farragut, especially since Sherman had been denied assistance by Farragut the day before the proposed events in the episode.

Farragut was in the region to establish the Mare Island Naval Station and was living aboard a sloop-of-war with his wife, Virginia.  I had thought it odd that she was living on the ship, but the episode was accurate on this point.  There were no accommodations on the island as yet and he was stationed here from 1854 to 1858.  6 years later, he would "Damn the torpedoes" and steam into Mobile Bay during the Civil War.

Disappointing.

Beat the Devil (1953)

In a coastal city in Italy, Peterson (Robert Morley) and his confederates wait for the SS Nyanga to set sail to Africa.  They have grand plans to acquire uranium-rich property and become millionaires.  Of course, not all is on the up and up.  Ex-pat Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) is the formerly wealthy man with contacts in Africa, but he is now a pauper.  Billy's wife, Maria (Gina Lollobrigida), is an anglophile who wants nothing more than to find a refined British man with a well-manicured lawn.  As it happens, Harry Chelm (Edward Underdown) appears to be just such a British fellow.  Harry's wife, Gwendolen (Jennifer Jones), is smitten with Billy, proclaiming her love for him soon after they meet.  She is flighty and prone to exaggeration about her husband and most everything else.  Will Billy and Harry swap wives?  Will Peterson have Major Jack Ross kill either Billy or Harry to protect his plans?  Will the captain of the SS Nyanga remain sober long enough to set sail?

A peculiar comedy that more often gets its laughs by the crazy events than any humorous lines.  The most outrageous bit was when the stalled car got away from those pushing it and plummeted off a cliff and into the sea.  Truman Capote was on hand for the screenplay while John Huston directed.  The cast also includes Peter Lorre as one of Peterson's associates and Bernard Lee, the future M of the James Bond series, as Inspector Jack Clayton of Scottland Yard.

Robert Morley is particularly good as the oafish and yet often menacing villain.  He is outwardly genial but there is always the undercurrent of threat.  This mixes quite humorously with how all his plans go awry.  He is hapless.  Peter Lorre is Peter Lorre, though a bit less threatening.  As Morley's lieutenant, he plays messenger while Ivor Barnard's Jack Ross is the big threat.  That too is kind of funny since Bogart towers over him, and Bogart was not a tall man.

It certainly has its moments, but the pacing is uneven and the overall story unsatisfying.

Vera Cruz (1954)

It is 1866 and many Americans have traveled across the Rio Grande to become mercenaries in the Franco-Mexican War.  Colonel Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) of Louisianna is one of those.  Unfortunately, his horse has broken a leg.  However, he encounters Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) who has a horse for sale.  It is not a particularly good horse and the price is steep.  Trane accepts.  No sooner has he purchased the horse than a column of troops approach and give chase.  Trane is perplexed by this until Erin reveals that the horse he just purchased belongs to them.  Despite their difficult start, Ben finds himself joining with Joe and his band of mercenaries, an impressive crew that included Pittsburgh (Charles Bronson), Tex (Jack Elam), and Donnegan (Ernest Borgnine).  They are hired by Marquis Henri de Labordere (Cesar Romero) to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre (Denise Darcel) from Mexico City to Vera Cruz, where she will set sail for France.  Of course, there is something more valuable than the countess in the wagon - 3 million in gold - and Joe has notions of getting his hands on it.  The road to Vera Cruz is crowded with Juaristas, who seek to unseat Maximillian I and want that money to fund their efforts.

Joe Erin is a black hat to the core.  He never misses an opportunity to cheat or steal.  When offered the commission from the Marquis, a couple of men decline the offer so he shoots them.  Nice.  I'll bet that does wonders for morale.  He repeatedly makes plans that don't include his cohorts and is then startled when they turn on him.  When his goal is in sight, he gladly abandons allies or even shoots them.  There's very little nuance to him.

Ben Trane is mostly a white hat.  Sure, he shows a willingness to abscond with the gold, but decides that's not the right thing.  He's always rescuing ladies from Erin's band of brutes, showing his noble attitudes, proving to have culture and grace, and helping anyone in need, even Joe Erin.  For a guy who made a living by owning a plantation full of slaves and fought to keep that state of affairs, he's a pretty cool guy.  Despite being the good guy, Lancaster scene-chewing overshadows Cooper's subdued performance.

There is plenty of action, usually in the form of an ambush on the road to Vera Cruz.  The incompetence of the Marquis by riding down narrow defiles that have not been scouted is embarrassing.  In the final battle, it was dumbfounding how easily Ben and Joe were able to flank and take out a key gun emplacement, showing a catastrophic - and obvious - hole in the Marquis' defense.  Don't let our heroes win because the bad guys are abysmally stupid.  It would have been nice if Joe weren't quite so bad and Ben wasn't quite so good.

As for the history, it's pretty weak.  Vera Cruz was the entry point for Spain, France, and England during the 1861-1867 Mexican Adventure.  This was the main port for all support and the port where France made its exit.  It was not captured by Juaristas in a mass attack in 1866.  By 1866, the United States was providing arms to the Juaristas and was intent on kicking the French out of Mexico, per the Monroe Doctrine.  Also, the Gatlin gun that appears in the final battle is not yet in service.  Many of the guns seen were not yet available in 1866.  Maximillian I was only 34 at the time of the film, but is portrayed by the 54 year old George Macready.

Entertaining and fast-paced, but too predictable.  Good popcorn fun.

Death Valley Days: California's Paul Revere

It is September 1846 and the US garrison at Los Angeles is under siege by Californios.  Lt. Archibald Gilespie is in command of no more than 50 men.  Fort Moore has no water supply and his ammunition is limited.  He needs reinforcements to avoid defeat.  John Brown, locally known as Juan Flaco (Spanish for Lean John), volunteers to ride to Monterey to inform Commodore Stockton of the siege.  He rides through the Californio lines and is off to the Cahuenga Pass.  After a series of fictional challenges, he arrives in Monterey only to discover that Stockton has sailed on to San Francisco.  On a fresh horse, he finally delivers the news of the siege, six days after he had left.  Stockton orders the USS Savannah to assist Gilespie.

Though Death Valley Days proposes that Juan Flaco saved California by his impressive Paul Revere-like ride, the truth is that it hardly mattered.  Gilespie had brought the revolt on himself by imposing martial law on a city of 3,000 when he had such a tiny command.  The day Juan Flaco delivered his message, Gilespie surrendered the fort and retreated to San Pedro.  The Californios now held Los Angeles.  It was not until the California Battalion under Fremont, sailors and marines under Stockton, and dragoons under General Kearny combined forces in January of 1847 that Los Angeles was retaken.  John Brown's ride was a marvel in its time but failed to save Gilespie from surrendering to the Californios, the entire point of his ride.

Meh.

Death Valley Days: Spring Rendezvous

With a horse full of fur from his time in the mountains, Kit Carson (James MacArthur) is headed to the Rendezvous at Green River in Wyoming.  He has decided he needs a wife and he knows just the one: Waa-Nibe (Brioni Farrell) of the Arapaho.  However, there is a Frenchman who also has eyes for Waa-Nibe.  Shugar is a giant of a man who is regularly seen trouncing other trappers with little difficulty.  By contrast, Kit is a smallish man, even called Little Man by the Arapaho.  Kit challenges Shugar and the pair mount horses at 200 paces and carry rifles.  Kit's crack shooting wins the day and he marries Waa-Nibe.

Though I cannot speak to the particulars, the gist is entirely true.  In 1836, Kit Carson attending the annual Rendezvous.  The Rendezvous was an opportunity for fur trading companies to purchase all the furs that the mountain men had collected since the previous year.  It was the annual county fair for those living in the wilderness.  Joseph Chouinard (Shugar in the show) was known as the Great Bully of the Mountains, threatening to beat Americans as he had beaten his fellow Frenchmen.  Kit Carson replied with threats of his own and the duel was on.  Though both are shown with rifles in the episode, Carson more likely had a horse pistol.  The two men were on horseback and practically face to face when they shot at each other.  Carson was a split second faster, shooting the Frenchman's hand and ruining his aim.  Even so, Carson had a slice under his right ear and powder burns on his face from the near miss.

Kit Carson was 27 at the time and Waa-Nibe was the first of his three wives.  She died shortly after their second daughter was born in 1841.  Though it was funny to see Hawaii Five-O's Danno as Kit Carson, the episode was an entertaining and reasonably accurate peak into the life and times of a mountain man.

The Price of Everything

There has been an earthquake and power is spotty in the bay area of California.  Ramon and Amy head to Home Depot to buy a flashlight and perhaps other items.  Home Depot is sold out.  They decide to try Big Box, a Walmart-like store. but the prices have shot up.  The woman in line in front of them cannot afford baby formula.  Ramon helps her afford her purchase while grumbling that Big Box has raised its prices during this emergency.  And so begins Ramon's economic awakening.

Ramon Fernandez is a Cuban-American who happens to be a top tennis player in his senior year at Stanford.  On account of his tennis fame, he has considerable recognition and decides to speak out against Big Box for gouging in the wake of the earthquake.  However, Amy is taking an economics course with Professor Ruth Lieber, who evangelizes for the power of prices to organize the market.  Before long, Ramon finds himself talking to Ruth about capitalism, fairness, gouging, and other such topics.  Initially, he disagrees with her and speaks at a rally against Big Box.  He has hardly finished when the crowd breaks windows on the campus.  It was not what he had wanted but he was the face of it.  The organizers had used him.  Even so, he still opposes Big Box and doesn't like the idea of the company making a huge donation to the campus.  Ramon can't help but notice that Ruth had warned him that it wouldn't go as he hoped.  Now hooked, he spends a lot of time conversing the Ruth and she with him.  He is slated to give a speech at commencement and he thinks she is just trying to get him not to denounce Big Box, but he can't figure her angle.  She does make some provocative points on how prices guide resources to where they are most valuable, but it's still unfair.

This is a book about economics that is embedded in the tale of students in their final year at Stanford.  It is a long lecture that is broken into different scenes in the lives of the characters.  Much of what is here has been repeated multiple times in EconTalk.  It is a great economics book presented in an entertaining narrative form.  Lots to digest.

Recommended.

The Real Glory (1939)

It is 1906 and the United States Army is withdrawing troops from the Philippines.  The decision has been made that the native forces - The Philippines Constabulary - must learn to defend the country.  However, a batch of American military advisors will be provided to the town of Mysang on the island of Mindanao.  Lt. Bill Canavan (Gary Cooper) arrives at Mysang where he is greeted by Lt. McCool (David Niven) and Lt. Larsen (Broderick Crawford).  Colonel Hatch is in command.  The last of the Americans are Captain Manning and Captain Hartley.

The Moros (Muslim ethnic group in southern islands of the Philippines) are determined to wipe out the forces of Mysang and resume control of the island.  Currently, they hide in the jungles where they are safe.  In fact, they want the Philippines Constabulary to attack them in the jungle where they will have an advantage.  To do this, Alipang, leader of the Moros, sends juramentados (suicidal assassins) to kill commanding officers and trigger a reprisal.

Canavan is a doctor with the assignment of keeping the town healthy.  He gets the opportunity to treat wounds, address a cholera outbreak, and practice psychology.  Of course, like most doctors, he also gets the chance to blaze away with a pistol, blow up a damn, toss sticks of dynamite at charging Moros, raft through rapids, trek through a trap-laden jungle, and romance Linda, the commanding officer's daughter.

Niven is miscast as he is clearly not an American soldier.  No explanation is made for his English accent.  He plays a good friend as well as a potential rival for Linda's affections.  Crawford plays an amiable fellow obsessed with orchids.  Andrea Leeds plays Linda Hartley in one of her last roles.  Despite her father's wish for her to leave for her safety, she insists on staying.  She's no damsel in distress.  During the cholera outbreak, she becomes Canavan's assistant.  During a siege, she provides ammunition and even orders the Constabulary back to their posts.

Though not based on any specific incident in the Moro Rebellion (1899-1913), it does hit the highlights.  The Moros used suicide assassins, tended to be armed with spears and blades, and struck from the jungles.  Cholera was a major issue through the islands in the era, killing an estimated 200,000 people.  Actual combat only resulted in 18,000 to 26,000 deaths.  The US involvement in the Philippines was very similar to Vietnam, with many of the same issues in both conflicts.  Where Vietnam had the My Lai Massacre, the Moro Rebellion had Bud Dajo, which saw many more dead.  It is not a laudable conflict, which is probably why there have been few movies on the subject.

Good popcorn fun.  Recommended.

Death Valley Days: Emperor Norton

In 1853, Joshua Norton is a successful commodities trader in San Francisco.  His latest financial coup is having purchased a shipload of rice from Peru.  Unfortunately, more shiploads of rice arrive and the price drops dramatically.  He is ruined.  Now destitute, he bemoans the state of affairs in the country and declares that there should be an emperor for a country the size of the United States.  Epiphany!  Dressed in outlandish finery, he arrives at a local newspaper and requests that his proclamation of being emperor be published.  The paper does exactly that, tongue in cheek.  However, the city of San Francisco embraces Emperor Norton I.  Soon, Norton has an entourage of 2 dogs, Lazarus and Bummer.  He has regular proclamations published but none are obeyed.  However, he does drive George Washington II, a man who claimed to be the reincarnation of the first president, to leave San Francisco.  When Norton I died in 1880, his funeral was attended by thousands.

Ludicrous as this sounds, it is all true.  Born in England in 1818, Norton grew up in South Africa before migrating to the United States in 1845.  He arrived in San Francisco in 1849 and was quite successful for several years before his rice disaster.  The Presidio provided uniforms, local businesses accepted his scrip as money, and the local police saluted him on the streets.  Lazarus and Bummer were stray dogs who were often associated with Norton I on account of political cartoons by Edward Jump.  Frederick Coombs, another Englishman, bore a striking resemblance to George Washington and declared himself the reincarnation.  Norton issued a proclamation to have GW II sent to an asylum; GW II departed San Francisco, but resumed his claims on the east coast.

Emperor Norton was an inspiration for one of the characters in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; Twain had lived in San Francisco during part of Norton I's reign.

Entertaining and educational.

Scream (2022)

Tara Carpenter is cooking dinner and waiting for her friend to come over when the landline rings.  She ignores it.  Then it starts ringing again.  With a sigh, she answers it.  It comes as no surprise that she is eventually asked what is her favorite scary movie, followed by the appearance of Ghostface.

In Modesto, CA, Samantha "Sam" Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) is sitting on a curb with her boyfriend, Richie (Jack Quaid) when she gets a call.  Her sister has been stabbed but is still alive.  Sam and Richie head to Woodsboro immediately.  Upon arriving at the hospital, they meet Tara's group of friends (i.e. the suspect group).  Sheriff Judy Hicks is less than pleased to see Sam back in town, hinting that Sam was a bad girl.  Since Ghostface has returned, Sam knows who to see: Dewey Riley (David Arquette).  Dewey let's both Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Gale (Courtney Cox) know that Ghostface is back then sets out to find out who the current copycat is.

Overall, this is a weak entry.  The new cast is not particularly engaging, and the inclusion of the old cast is mostly awkward.  Dewey is terrific.  He's the old guy who has done this before and knows the rules of a horror movie.  That he is separated from Gale and retired from the sheriff's department provide an excellent excuse for him to be in Woodsboro.  However, Gale arriving to cover the story is clunky.  She should just be offering her commentary from the New York desk while some field reporter is on the ground.  I suppose her concern for Dewey might be an okay excuse but still...  Finally, Sidney comes because of reasons.  She's the old pro at this.  No, she's not wearing protective armor and a helmet.  She doesn't have a band of bodyguards with her.  She has gun, will travel.

(SPOILERS)

The villains are particularly bad.  When revealed, I was shaking my head.  They are toxic fans who are upset with how the latest movies in the franchise have failed to keep faith with the earlier movies.  As such, they are providing new material that will make callbacks to the original movie.  Right.  Worse, one of the villains is 5'3" and yet takes on the 6'2" football player.  Before the villain was revealed, who knew?  But after the fact, what?

There was a twist that Sam was the illegitimate daughter of original murderer, Billy Loomis.  Moreover, she is taking anti-psychotic meds as she keeps seeing her long-dead father who died before she was born.  Right.  Anyway, this plants the seed that maybe she is one of the murderers and she is just hallucinating when she is attacked.  Nope.  Maybe that is a plot thread for the next movie.

Skip

In a Lonely Place (1950)

Dixon "Dix" Steele (Humphrey Bogart) hasn't written a hit script since before the war.  While out to meet his usual crew of drinking buddies, he is asked to adapt a novel.  Not interested in reading the book, he invites Mildred, the hat check girl, to his home so she can tell him the plot; she had just finished the book while he was at the bar.  Shortly after midnight she leaves.  At 5 AM, Dix hears knocking on his door and it is his old pal, Brub Nicolai.  Brub was a soldier under his command during the war and is now a police detective.  At the police station, Dix is told that Mildred was found dead and he's the last person with her.  Also, Dixon has a violent history, including a scuffle he had at the bar last night before taking Mildred home.  His disinterested attitude about her death alarm the detectives.  It looks bad.  However, his neighbor had seen him.  Soon, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) arrives at the station and provides an alibi, stating that she saw Mildred leave alone at 12:30 AM.  Dix finds he is attracted to Laurel and it was not by chance that she had noted the departure of the girl.  Soon, they are a couple and he is adapting the script in a flood of productivity that thrills his agent.  However, his violent outbursts and the continuing murder investigation begin to give Laurel doubts.  Can the relationship survive the strain?

The growing tension is done quite well.  From the initial infatuation to the slow creep of doubts.  Laurel's suspicions trigger angry outburst from Dix that further increase Laurel's distrust.  Once it starts, it's a vicious cycle and played to perfection by Bogart and Grahame.  Made the same year as Sunset Blvd., a movie about another troubled screenwriter.

Recommended.

Death Valley Days: Joaquin Murrieta

The story opens with a raid by Joaquin Murrieta and Manuel Garcia AKA Three-Fingered Jack.  They kill several men and steal bags of gold.  On the way out of town, the bandit cries, "I am Joaquin!"  Elsewhere, Stephen Dix is enjoying an evening with his wife and infant daughter.  He commands a riverboat that travels to and from the gold fields, leaving for a week at a time.  He begs his wife to let him take their daughter on his next circuit and she reluctantly agrees.  Of course, Joaquin and his band attack the riverboat, killing Stephen and absconding with the infant.  Ann is desperate to locate her missing daughter and thus wants to talk to Murrieta.  She contacts Captain Love, the ranger assigned to track Joaquin and end his long series of crimes.  Love and his men encounter Murrieta's band but are forced to kill both Joaquin and Three-Fingered Jack.  Deciding that she will never find her daughter, Ann retreats to a church she has visited many times since the tragedy only to find that her daughter was left there by Joaquin shortly after the river raid.  Happy reunion of mother and daughter.

The framing of the story is awkward.  How to tell the tale of a notorious outlaw without having the outlaw as the central character?  Joaquin Murrieta was active during the California Gold Rush.  His banditry was brought to an end by Captain Harry Love.  Love had been a Texas Ranger who fought in the war with Mexico before joining the Gold Rush in 1850.  His mining efforts came to naught.  He instead found his fortune by tracking and killing Joaquin Murrieta in 1853.

Originally, Murrieta was a 49er like many others.  The legend from a dime novel of the period is that he was beaten, his brother killed, and his wife raped.  He killed those responsible and was thereafter branded a criminal.  This background was not provided in the episode, and he is a straight black hat, his only redeeming feature being his refusal to leave an infant on a riverboat of corpses.

By contrast, Love is shown as the clean-shaved white hat who is eager to help Ann find her missing daughter.  That is far from an accurate portrayal of Love.  It was often said that he killed innocent men in place of Murietta and Garcia to claim the immense reward offered by California.  In later years, he killed his estranged wife and was in turn killed by her bodyguard.

Joaquin Murietta, Three-Fingered Jack, and Captain Love appear in The Mask of Zorro (1998), though greatly fictionalized and placed in the wrong decade.

Will Rogers & HL Menken

The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.

I was challenged to identify this quote earlier today and failed with my first guess.  It sounded like something George Carlin might have said.  Nope.  I was told it was an older quote from a cowboy comedian.  Huh, what cowboy comedians were there?  I mulled for a moment before saying it was the guy who never met a man he didn't like.  Darn, what's his name?  You know, the one who died in the plane crash with Wiley Post.  The examiner said no.  Okay, I give up, who was it?  Will Rogers.

"I never met a man I didn't like"    Will Rogers

Will Rogers died in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska.  Wiley Post was the pilot.

Everyone laughed, both because I couldn't remember the name and that the questioner was unaware of these tidbits about Will Rogers.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) was a more good-natured version of HL Menken (1880-1956).  I've enjoyed reading about each.  Here are a few samples of their rival wits.

"I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat."

"Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago."

“There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.”

"There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin’. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”

“If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?”

"A fool and his money are soon elected.”

Rogers is light-hearted and funny, but his commentary has bite. There is joy and wisdom in what he has to say. It is hard not to like Will Rogers and that is likely why he liked everyone he met.

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable...”

“On one issue, at least, men and women agree: they both distrust women.”

“A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.”

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses. It is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Menken had a much darker view.  A fan of Nietzsche, he ladled the criticism on every aspect of life in his time.  Where Will Rogers offers good-natured ribbing, Menken is hostile and cynical.  Still, he makes some good points and some of his quotes have appeared regularly in recent years.  Though Rogers is more warmly remembered, I have seen Menken more frequently quoted.

Death Valley Days: Lola Montez

The story opens in Grass Valley, California, in the 1850s.  Lola Montez (Paula Morgan) has married Patrick Hull.  Lola breaks the 4th wall and offers some of her history, from eloping as a teen to marry Lt. Thomas James, to dancing in England, to an affair with composer Franz Liszt, to her elevation to Countess of Landsfeld in Bavaria thanks to the besotted King Ludwig I.  From this great height, she fell during the revolutions of 1848.  She tells of meeting Patrick on her way to San Francisco and their marriage.  Now caught up to the present and halfway through the episode, her life plays out.  The marriage to Patrick crumbles, her fortunes falter further, and she ends her days in a sanitarium in New York where she died at the age of 39.

This is entirely too much story told in too short a time.  Sadly, her most interesting life events all took place outside of the American West, the putative subject of Death Valley Days.  So, rather than an entertaining and brief anecdote about her life in the West, here is a lighting fast biography of one of the 19th century's most interesting women.  This is a thumbnail sketch that deserved a fuller telling.  The best option would have been to find something interesting in the West - like that she was an inspiration for actress Lotta Crabtree while she was in Grass Valley - rather than offer a slapdash biography.

Meh.

Death Valley Days: The Girl Who Walked the West

The Corps of Discovery is entering Shoshone territory and Sacajawea (Victoria Vetri) offers Lewis (Dick Simmons) and Clark (Don Matheson) some pointers on how to interact with her people.  She offers a history of how she came to be Charbonneau's squaw.  She was kidnapped 5 years earlier and sold from one tribe to another until she came to be bought by Charbonneau in the Mandan territory.  Though Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau as a guide, it is really Sacajawea who knows the way west and they will miss her guidance if she rejoins her tribe.  Charbonneau (Victor French) is a nasty and thoroughly dislikable man.  At one point, he strikes Sacajawea and Clark intervenes, threatening dire consequences to Charbonneau if he hits her again.  The eventual meeting with the Shoshone goes poorly until Sacajawea reveals herself and proves to be the chief's sister.  Furnished with horses by the chief, the Corps of Discovery continues west toward the Pacific and Sacajawea goes with them.

Another true tale of the West, but, again, there are casting issues.  Don Matheson was a only a few years older than the actual William Clark, but Dick Simmons (54) was old enough to be Lewis's (31) father.  Charbonneau (38) was older than either Lewis or Clark but is played by someone younger (33) than either of the actors playing them.  Still, French did a credible job.  Also of note, though the Corps is depicted much smaller than it was, York - who was William Clark's slave - is shown among them.

The epilogue - offered by host Robert Taylor - stated that Sacajawea lived into her 90s.  The more probable case is that she died of a fever in 1812.  In 1809, William Clark was entrusted with raising and educating Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (the baby that Sacajawea is usually depicted carrying).  In 1813, he took in Lizette Charbonneau.  In 1825, when listing the fates of the Corps of Discovery members, he listed Sacajawea as dead.

Entertaining and informative.

Clueless FBI

Bureaucrats from the FBI were questioned by the Senate today.  The topic of discussion was the January 6th 'Insurrection' at the Capitol.  When asked about Ray Epps, who has been trending in the news of late, neither had any idea about him.  Really?  Senator Cotton asked if they had prepared for the hearing.  Clearly, Ray Epps should be a person of interest that would have been covered in background for anyone sent to testify about the event.  Nope.  When asked if Ray Epps was a Fed, they didn't know.  Not a yes, not a no.  Don't know.  Did the FBI have people in the crowd on January 6th?  Did any of them commit crimes or incite violence.  Can't say.  Not a denial, but a plead of ignorance.

The FBI has ceased to be a law enforcement agency and become a political one.  It gladly jumped on the Steele Dossier, using it to get wiretaps on Trump associates.  However, Hilary's offsite server was brushed aside and everyone connected to it was granted immunity.  Hunter Biden's laptop was 'Russian disinformation' until after the election, when it turned out it was really his laptop.  When Obama was president, the FBI had it out for Trump and covered for Hilary.  When Trump was president, the FBI had it out for Trump and covered for Biden.  Huh.

By its nature, government officials are overwhelmingly pro-government.  The Democrats are far more pro-government than Republicans.  It is thus no surprise that government agencies tend to side with the party that is pro-government and eager to allocate more money and power to government agencies.  In a country almost evenly split between the parties, the seat of government - Washington DC - votes 90% for Democrats.  They are all feeding at the government trough and vote for their interests.

Death Valley Days: Kit Carson

Death Valley Days went off the air when I was 3 so I missed out on this show. I've heard about it and have watched a couple episodes over the years. I just finished watching one that drew my interest: Samaritans, Mountain Style.  The tale opens somewhere in the West in 1843 or 1844, during the Second Expedition of John C. Fremont (Dick Simmons).  Kit Carson (Phillip Pine) and Frenchy Godey (Michael Pate) are playing pranks on the hapless William Gilpin (Don Keefer).  Gilpin has a low opinion of these rough mountain men, but Fremont says they are necessary for the success of the expedition.  Later, a Mexican man and his son arrive, having just survived an Indian attack which cost them many relatives and a herd of horses.  Gilpin urges Fremont to take action but he declines, stating that his job is to blaze a trail to Oregon, not risk the expedition on fighting Indians.  On their own, Carson and Godey locate the missing horses and snatch them from the Indians.  Gilpin is quite impressed and changes his opinion of mountain men.

It is a simple tale and even true.  Carson and Godey did retrieve horses for a Mexican during the expedition.  Generally, quite enjoyable.  However, the casting is a bit of a problem.  34 year-old Kit Carson is portrayed by 46 year-old Pine.  Godey was only 25 but Pate is 46.  Gilpin was 30 while Keefer is 50.  Lastly, Fremont was only 30 but is portrayed by a 53 year-old Simmons.  Though probably not a problem for most viewers, this took me out of the story repeatedly.  Also, this expedition had around 50 men who brought along a canon.  As shown, Fremont has fewer than 10 men in the expedition.  Changes have been made for budgetary reasons and casting must have depended on the stock of regular actors for the series.

Entertaining and even mildly educational.

The Little Drummer Girl (1984)

The movie closely follows the book, including minor characters such as Charlie's theatrical agent, the Israeli forger, and the Palestinian youth who added 'used to' to every sentence in English.  There were small changes that are of little consequence.  Charlie is lured to Greece alone rather than being brought there with her entire company of actors.  The cleanup of the terror cell is blunt violence rather than clever assassinations.  Nevertheless, it is a very faithful adaptation.

Diane Keaton is miscast.  She was much too old to play Charlie.  Keaton was in her late thirties while Charlie is in her mid-20s.  Charlie is a good driver while Keaton backed into a tree.  Really?  Charlie is the kind of woman who could attract a 20-something playboy and make him fall for her.  That's not believable with Keaton.

Klaus Kinski was great at Kurtz.  At first, I thought he was wrong for the part.  For some reason, I pictured Kurtz more like Rod Stieger or George C Scott.  Obviously, the part isn't as deep as the novel but he commanded any scenes he was in.  I've never much cared for Kinski, but really enjoyed him here.  Probably the best I've seen of his work, except maybe as the hunchback in For a Few Dollars More. 😃

Yorgo Voyagis is flat as Joseph.  The whirlwind love affair between Charlie and Joseph is entirely unbelievable.  It took time to mature in the novel while here we only have a couple of scenes that show a woman too old to be easily smitten by a bland suitor and a bouquet of flowers.  There is no chemistry here.  Joseph has a deep history in the novel that is gently touched by the movie.  Yorgo mostly plays serious or depressed.  Very forgettable.

Having read the novel very recently, I caught a lot of the tiny details that were included and had no trouble following the story; it was like a highlight reel.  For someone who had not read the novel, this would probably have been harder to follow.  There are lots of characters, many of whom should probably have been left out.

Skip.

Highly Educated yet Uninformed

Or consider 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who used his semi-automatic weapon to kill two Black men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while waging a glorious race war on behalf of his inherited White power.  That's not to mention the White people who rallied behind him to post his bail.  Fear has gripped the patriarchy, and the threat of righteous violence - or the lethal use of it - is the patriarchy's response.

The Good Kings, Kara Cooney

Kara Cooney, a PhD Egyptologist at UCLA has a new book out: The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World.  The excerpted passage appears in the book.  The falsity of the claim calls into question the rest of her scholarship.  If she had done minimal research on the case, she would have discovered that Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were both white.  Even the man who survived being shot by Rittenhouse - Gaige Grosskreutz - is white.  Where is the race war in this?  Where exactly does patriarchy figure in this event?  Whites killing whites signals white power?  Clearly, she was on the receiving end of propaganda from some source that she trusted and just put it blindly in her book.  This glaring error slipped by her editors too.

We no longer have news, we have narratives.  Dr. Cooney is trapped in one of those narrative bubbles.  Maybe the embarrassment of having to revise this for the 2nd edition will pop her bubble and make her question the propaganda she has been consuming.

Quark (1977)

It is the distant future and Adam Quark (Richard Benjamin) commands a garbage scow that trolls the galaxy for space baggies.  The ridiculous crew consists of Betty and her clone, also named Betty.  There is Gene/Jean, who is a transmute; he/she has chromosomes of both sexes and shifts between masculine and feminine personalities.  Dr. Mudd is the one-eyed science officer.  Lastly, there is Andy the extremely rudimentary robot.  Quark also has a pet blob named Ergo, which seems intent on eating Quark.

While on patrol, the ship is threatened by an approaching wave of energy that will atomize them before sweeping through the galaxy and erasing human civilization.  Are our heroes doomed in the pilot episode or will they save the galaxy?

This goofball sci-fi comedy was created by Buck Henry, best remembered for creating the spy comedy Get Smart.  The pilot happened to be broadcast just when Star Wars was released.  The show only received one season and is quite campy.

Goofy fun from a bygone era.

The Curious Case of Ray Epps

On January 5, 2021, Ray Epps was filmed while calling for Trump supporters to enter the Capitol on the following day.  Onlookers accused him of being a "Fed!"  Considering the events of the following day, he looks like someone to be picked up for incitement.  But wait, there's more.

The following day, he is again on film.  This time, prior to Trump's speech, he is announcing that everyone must march on the Capitol after the speech and points the direction to the Capitol.  Hmm, really boosting for this march.  But wait, there's more.

After the speech and at the outermost barrier to the Capitol, Ray is on film as a mob hovers.  He is spotted whispering in the ear of a man.  Seconds later, that very man makes the first breech of the Capitol perimeter.  He is later seen among the crowd that clashed fiercely with the police at the Capitol steps.

Considering all this, it is no surprise that he was pictured on the FBI most-wanted, an obvious organizer and/or cheerleader for the attack.  Despite being identified relatively quickly, he was not arrested.  The day after Revolver.news did a report on Epps, his picture was removed from the FBI most-wanted.  What is going on?

Some suggest that he was indeed a federal plant.  That sounds like conspiracy stuff.  However, when you consider how many FBI agents were involved in the would-be kidnapping of Governor Whitmer of Michigan, it seems less far-fetched.  Another possibility is that the Ray Epps clips are out of context.  A fuller viewing might reveal something entirely different, or even opposite, of what these clips show.  Such misleading edits led to the 'Fine People Hoax' and the 'drink bleach hoax' for Trump.  What's to say that some Trump supporter didn't do the same to Ray Epps?

That Epps was removed from the wanted list and Attorney General Garland refused to offer any explanation to Congress is curious.  He could say that they looked into Mr. Epps and cleared him of wrongdoing.  Nope.  Were there federal agents inciting the crowd on January 6?  Not going to comment on that.  Oh.  The fact that a straight denial was not offered is troublesome.

Scott Adams has recently stated that "Innocent until proven guilty" only applies to individuals.  The government should be held to the opposite standard: guilty until proven innocent.  The government needs to demonstrate its innocence via transparency.  Failure to be transparent should be held as evidence of corruption.  I like that standard.

The Little Drummer Girl

There is a Palestinian bomber targeting Jews in Europe.  His most recent attack in Germany missed its target but killed a young boy and maimed his mother.  Martin Kurtz, an Israeli intelligence officer, arrives to investigate.  He learns that the bomb was delivered by a college-aged Scandinavian blonde who claimed to be friends with the vacationing Swedish nanny.  Other bombings had similarly made use of attractive European women to deliver bombs.  Meanwhile in Greece, Charmian "Charlie" Ross and her band of actors were on vacation after touring the stages of England.  Charlie was a particularly talented actress who also had a history of extreme leftist politics.  Charlie and her group take note of a handsome man who is rather standoffish; he's this fascinating mystery that they want to solve.  Everyone tries to impress Joseph and he eventually consents to fraternize.  In fact, Joseph is an Israeli operative who recruits Charlie to infiltrate the bomb operation and allow Kurtz and him to eliminate Khalil, the bomb mastermind.

I had not read John Le Carre until now and I'm indifferent to his style.  The story is great, but he more often tells than shows.  He sketches his characters by offering a flurry of vignettes that paint the character.  It's like a literary montage.  I found this mostly distracting.  Nothing is happening, I'm just being told a random collection of things to outline a character.  It's not just a sentence or two, but an outline of relationships, past incidents, various noteworthy events, revealed attitudes and opinions, and so forth tossed like a mixed salad.  The first few chapters of the book were full of this as characters were introduced, giving it a glacial pace.  Of course, once that is done, the pace improves somewhat.  However, these montages also happen when a character stays in one place for a while.  Yes, now there are small events to outline to show the character of the area, be it a quiet street in a German town or a Palestinian camp in Lebanon.  There are long sequences of minutia, such as Kurtz portraying an American movie producer with Charlie's London agent in order to procure samples of her correspondence and handwriting.  This is key to being able to forge her convincingly.  On the one hand, I appreciate the attention to detail.  On the other, there is a lot more of the genial drunk theatrical agent than you would expect in a spy novel.  There is very little action but loads of tension.  Often, the stakes seem massive on the next sentence a character might utter.  Was that the right thing to say?  Will the character ruin everything with a misstatement, a verbal faux pas?  There are more often battles of words than bullets.

Charlie is the book.  Recruited by Israelis, she has her leftist politics demolished during her 'audition' and finds that many of her beliefs are rooted in sand.  She is soon won to the Israeli cause and gladly joins this 'theater of the real' to test the limits of her acting chops.  The curtain never falls and the stakes get increasingly bigger as she consents to each escalation of her involvement.  Once deep undercover, she finds herself siding with the beleaguered Palestinians.  She has sunk so deep into her role that she often believes she had a love affair with a dead terrorist and longs to kill Zionists to avenge him.  It is no wonder she convinces the Arabs of her sincerity, since she believes it herself.  Can she hold herself together to the end or will she finally crack as her Israeli and Palestinian views drive her insane?  Though I felt for Charlie, I didn't particularly like her.

Overall, a solid book and a good spy thriller.

Boys v. Girls

When I was in fourth grade, we went out for PE and the coach said we'd do flag football.  The coach then divided us into two groups: those who were confident in their football skills and those who weren't.  I hadn't played much football at that time, so I went to the noob group.  As it happens, that group consisted of every girl in the 4th grade and 3 boys.  Hmm.  The other two boys quickly decided they were more confident after all.  I didn't.  Looking back now, I feel a bit embarrassed about that, but there you go.  There I was, a 9 year-old boy with a bunch of 9 and 10 year-old girls, some of whom were already taller than me.  In 6th grade, I remember the tallest kid was Kirsten, this beanpole giant of a girl.  I saw her about 8 years later by which time I towered over her.  Funny.  Anyway, there I am with my flags and on one of the two teams, this pre-pubescent boy.  What do you suppose happened?  My team dominated.  If I got the ball, it was a touchdown.  I made most of the 'tackles' on my team.  We trounced them.  Wow, that was fun.  I had never been the best player on any team.

Today, we have post-pubescent men who have decided they are women.  Fine, I have no problem with that.  Live your life.  However, a surprising number of these trans-women have decided to compete in women's sports.  Currently, the big story is about Lia Thomas, who is breaking records left and right in NCAA women's swimming.  The thing about Lia is that she had participated in NCAA men's swimming for three years when she was Will Thomas, but seldom won.  By transitioning, she's the GOAT of women's swimming.  Huh.  Reminds me of a 9 year-old boy I knew.

What to do?  Though dominant trans-athletes headline the news. they are relatively rare.  It's not like every women's team has a coterie of trans-athletes.  As far as I know, Lia Thomas is the only trans-swimmer and it is her senior year.  Many trans-athletes have competed and lost.  For example, Laurel Hubbard made it to the Olympics and failed to even finish the event.  Change to a unisex system?  That would essentially wipe out women in athletics.  Venus Williams, often said to be the greatest female tennis player ever, was trounced by Karsten Braasch, who was ranked 203rd in men's tennis.  How about requiring trans-athletes to compete against fellow XX or XY chromosome people?  In Texas, something like that happened.  Mack Beggs, a trans-man who wanted to compete against other men in wrestling, was instead left in the women's league.  As he was taking testosterone, he decimated other wrestlers, winning the state championship two years running.  It was a big story.  If not for being trans, the taking of testosterone would instantly disqualify a competitor.  What about a separate trans-category?  Men, women, trans-men, and trans-women divisions?  Nope, because that is clearly stating that trans-men aren't men and trans-women aren't women.  That is the sort of talk that draws a lot of flak (e.g. JK Rowling).  Perhaps the problem will resolve itself.  In the not too distant future, it may be possible to do some gene-editing that will dramatically transform the body.  Or maybe Meta (formerly Facebook) will really take off and sports events will be held in cyberspace where only skill determines the outcome.  No good solution presents itself as yet.

Runaway (1984)

In the near future, Jack Ramsay (Tom Selleck) is a police officer who serves in a special unit that responds to malfunctioning robots.  Robots are common, providing office security, agricultural service, home care, and restaurant staff.  On this particular day, he has a new partner.  Karen Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes) is eager to learn the ropes.  There is immediately a call about a malfunctioning agricultural robot.  As they fly to the scene, they can see the maze-like pattern the defective robot has carved in the cornfield.  The chase is mostly comedic but gives an idea of what the job entails.  However, right out the gate, it is unclear why this is a police matter rather than a technical support issue.  Later robots prove to be more dangerous, even deadly.  Ramsay and Thompson soon discover that someone is sabotaging robots by inserting a chip on the motherboard.  The villain proves to be Dr. Charles Luther (Gene Simmons).  Not only can he sabotage robots, he has a rocket pistol with heat-seeking bullets that can differentiate heat signatures.  Can Jack and Karen stop Luther before he sells his killer chips to a terrorist?

Watching the movie today, some of the technology looks primitive.  However, much of what is shown did not exist at the time.  I didn't blink at the wireless headsets, signs of the internet, voice-activated computers, and camera drones.  The one cellphone that did appear was the large brick with a stubby antenna that was high-tech in the late 80s to early 90s.  The robots are all primitive, mostly rolling boxes with an extending arm or two.

Jack is a single father, which figures into the film when Luther targets his son, Bobby.  Karen is almost immediately smitten by him; he is Tom Selleck, after all.  She often seems more love-interest than partner.  Oddly, Jack is rather dense about her attraction to him and instead has eyes for Jackie Rogers (Kirstie Alley).  In fact, he does the stupid male bravado bit to rescue her from a security robot, getting repeatedly shocked in the process.  That diminished my view of him as an expert on dealing with robots.  You just beat them with a chair.  Right.

The Chief of Police is played by GW Bailey of all people.  Earlier in 1984, he had stared in the first Police Academy movie as the comically villainous Lt. Harris.  He reprised that role 6 times in the next 10 years.  As such, it was hard not to laugh when he would chew out Ramsay.  

Gene Simmons just glowers through the movie.  He is pure hostility.  He betrays everyone and has no hesitation in killing whoever gets in his way.  One wonders why anyone made deals with this obviously untrustworthy thug.

Both written and directed by Michael Crichton, it is much like one of his books.  The characters are mostly two-dimensional while the villain is one-dimensional, but the setting is amazingly well-developed.

Good popcorn fun.

Little Big Man (1970)

Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) is a very old man - 121 years - when the historian came to interview him about his time in the West.  Jack outlines his life in which he experienced all the Old West had to do.  His parents were killed by a Pawnee attack.  He was raised by Cheyenne.  He was 'rescued' from the Indians when he was a teenager and pressed into religion.  He tried being a Cheyenne warrior - which earned him the name Little Big Man, a churchgoer, a snake oil salesman, a gunfighter - the Soda Pop Kid, a businessman, an army muleskinner, a drunkard, a mountain man, a trapper, a husband, a father, and an angel of vengeance.  His grandfather, Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), is a recurring presence, always offering wisdom and prophecy on the occasions when Jack finds his way back to the tribe.

There are two primary threads to the movie.  One follows Younger Bear, a Cheyenne warrior who owes Little Big Man a life.  Younger Bear is very bitter about this state of affairs and never pleased to see that his rival yet lives.  The other is George Armstrong Custer (Richard Mulligan), who first appears as a dashing cavalry officer who suggests Jack go West.  However, in later encounters, he finds Custer to be repellent and something of a self-important oaf.  These two threads meet at the Little Bighorn.

Jack is a hapless character, who bounces from one failure to the next.  Hoffman gives him a naive quality.  He is never sure of himself, always speaking with uncertainty and hesitation.  He is a tumbleweed, mostly traveling where the wind takes him.  When he does choose a path, it inevitably ends in failure.

Old Lodge Skins is the best part of the movie.  He is the perfect grandfather, with nuggets of wisdom, spirit visions that invariably come to pass, and a "today is a good day to die" attitude about life.  Walking across a battlefield while invisible was both hilarious and tragic.  It is no surprise he won an Oscar.

Custer was portrayed as a dull-witted fool.  His bravery was attributed to his stupidity.  He proclaimed that he could tell a man's profession by looking at him, which is how Jack became an Army muleskinner.  He led his column into the disastrous attack at Little Bighorn, despite doubts among his officer, because Jack told him to do it.  Despite knowing that Jack wished him ill, he did a reverse-reverse psychology and rode to his death.

An array of other characters make appearances.  Mrs. Pendrake (Faye Dunaway) is first a devout Christian and later a soiled dove (i.e. prostitute).  Allardyce T Meriweather (Martin Balsam) is a snake oil salesman who keeps losing limbs to his dangerous profession.  Wild Bill Hickok (Jeff Corey) turns Jack away from gunfighting, but later hauls him out of his drunken stupor.  Of course, the Cheyenne have a cast of characters who change over time.  In addition to grandfather and Younger Bear, there was Shadow That Comes in Sight, the warrior who brought him back to the tribe as a child, Little Horse, a Cheyenne boy who chose to live as a woman.

The movie is in no ways historically accurate, but it does look at the Old West from a different perspective than the typical Western.  It is a lot of fun.  Recommended.

The Professionals (1966)

Henry "Rico" Fardan (Lee Marvin) is hired by millionaire JW Grant (Ralph Belamy) to rescue his kidnapped wife (Claudia Cardinale) from Jesus Raza (Jack Palance), a Mexican revolutionary.  Fardan's crew consists of Hans Ehrengard (Robert Ryan) who is former cavalry officer and all-around horse expert, Jake Sharp (Woody Strode) who is a master tracker, crack rifleman, and a skilled archer.  Rico says he needs an explosives man added to the team, suggesting Bill Dolworth (Burt Lancaster).  Grant happily agrees.  The four men cross into Mexico.  They haven't gone far when they discover they are being hunted by a party of ten bandits.  The professionals show just how professional they are by taking down the larger force.

During the trek, it is learned that Rico and Dolworth had both joined the Mexican Revolution in 1911, but returned to the United States after 6 years.  Rico had had a Mexican wife who was killed during the revolution.  Both have fought alongside Raza and are puzzled by his kidnapping of Maria Grant; it's not his style.  After overcoming several obstacles along the way, the team arrives at the hacienda of Raza and make plans to grab Ms. Grant and race back to the US border.  The fuses are already burning when they discover that Maria Grant was not kidnapped; she returned to the man she loved, Jesus Raza.  They carry out the plan.  With Maria seeking to escape her rescuers, can the team outrun the pursuit? 

The banter between Marvin and Lancaster is great fun.  They feel like old friends and one would never guess they had a contentious relationship while filming.  Lancaster is the standout, stealing scenes, laughing infectiously, and doing most of his own stunts.  He's a cheery fellow who contrasts nicely with Marvin's stoic seriousness.  Ryan and Strode are good, but clearly secondary to Marvin and Lancaster.  Jack Palance makes a good villain, as always.  However, he transforms along the way as his side of the story is revealed.  Claudia Cardinale's part is undemanding.  She has a much more substantial role in Once Upon the Time in the West.  Maria Gomez, who plays Chiquita the Bandita, did a lot with her small role.  Fardan and Dolworth know her from their time in the Revolution and provide a background sketch for her that was lacking for Maria Grant.  More character development despite less screen time.  The big plot hole is that Raza didn't send a message to his former comrades rather than seek to kill them.

Highly recommended.

The Deep (1977)

David (Nick Nolte) and Gail (Jacqueline Bisset) are scuba diving off the coast of Bermuda.  During their dive, they discover a pair of interesting items.  One appears to be an old coin from 1714.  The other is an ampule, a small bottle with a brownish gold liquid.  Back on shore, the man who collects their empty tanks takes an interest in the ampule.  That evening at dinner, Henri Cloche (Louis Gossett Jr.) sits at their table and offers to buy the ampule.  David brushes him off, claiming to have no such thing.  A foray to the local library gives little idea of what the coin might be, but they do learn of local treasure hunter, Romer Treece (Robert Shaw).  Treece explains that the coin is actually a medallion and might be worth enough to pay their vacation expenses if they don't drink too much.  He pockets the ampule while they aren't paying attention.  David and Gail are kidnapped by Cloche's goons.  Cloche wants the ampule, but quickly deduces that Treece has it.

Based on a novel by Peter Benchley, this is a sunken treasure story with elements of a thriller and a dash of Jaws (his previous novel) added.  A swarm of sharks make an appearance, but it is the moray eel that serves as the monster of the deep.  The movie isn't quite sure what it wants to be.  There is a lot of scuba diving that includes digging for treasure, avoiding sharks or the eel, and fighting Bermudan goons.  To add some horror, there is the inclusion of voodoo on the part of Cloche and his goons.  Despite several serious crimes and events that surely would have drawn the police, no police ever arrive.  Apparently, Bermuda has no police.  David's quest for sunken treasure blinds him to the danger involved.  Gail's inexplicable love for David makes her overlook the obvious danger that she is in.  Hard to accept.  A big draw for the movie at the time of release was Jacqueline Bisset in a wet t-shirt throughout the opening dive.

Despite often being preposterous, it is an entertaining watch.  Director Peter Yates often makes entertaining films that are watchable, but not great.  Among his other films are Krull (1983), Year of the Comet (1992), The Hot Rock (1972), and Bullitt (1968).