The Hot Rock (1972)

No sooner was John Dortmunder (Robert Redford) released from prison than his brother-in-law Andy Kelp (George Segal) recruited him to a diamond heist.  Dr. Amusa (Moses Gunn) was a UN Representative from an African country that laid claim to the Sahara Diamond.  Several other countries also made claims.  In order to strengthen his claim, Amusa wanted the diamond acquired; it was on display in the Brooklyn Museum.  He offered $25,000 each to a four-man team.  He further acceded to pay expenses and a weekly stipend.  The two added men were Murch (Ron Leibman), who could operate any vehicle, and Allan Greenberg (Paul Sand), an explosives expert.  The plan went reasonably well, except that one of them got caught with the diamond.  A new plan must be developed to break him out of jail.  But they still don't have the diamond!

The movie is a comedy of errors that sees the heroes always one step away from securing the diamond and each new plan requires ever increasing expenses, much to Amusa's irritation.  Zero Mostel appears as a shady lawyer who proves to be yet another hurdle to overcome.

Great popcorn fun and highly recommended.

The Game's Afoot, Holmes!

You Can See Everything is a new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the Theranos. Prior to her incarceration, she allowed a documentarian - Nathan Fielder - to have access to her life.  I have not seen the film, but the trailers are informative.  What particularly struck me was when Nathan and Elizabeth are face to face, almost like he's about to kiss her.  Nope, they are just chatting about how she has no reason to deceive him.  Look at how close they are:

This is framing.  I wonder about the cameras being setup to film this.  There is something off-putting about the conversation they have, because she clearly has reason to deceive him.  In fact, the film has gained her some positive PR.  This may get some time shaved off her prison sentence.  Yeah, good reason to deceive.  But is he being deceived?  In another part of the trailer, he questions her husband about why she married him, highlighting the fact that his family is rich.  Then we have scenes of Nathan rolling his luggage toward the house, standing by a bed, staring out a car window, and similar antics.  Is this a story about him?

Not having watched Fielder before, it looks like his schtick is to mix truth and fiction.  The trailers do not delve into the evidence that convicted her, but it does show her bafflement at her impending incarceration. It also shows her with a baby in her arms, lap, or otherwise nearby.  What exactly is being documented in this documentary?  Is it exposing a fraudster or building sympathy for a mother headed to prison?  That Holmes agreed to a live-in spy with cameras would lean toward the second option.

I am curious.  The trailers are well done and certainly pique interest in the full story.  Holmes convinced seasoned investors to give her hundreds of millions of dollars, so it would not be surprising if she could convince me to watch a movie.  I'll certainly review it when that comes to pass.

The Enemy Below (1957)

The USS Haynes was a US Destroyer on patrol in the South Atlantic when it caught sight of something.  It turned out to be a German U-Boat.  Though a one-on-one battle between a destroyer and a U-boat isn't generally advisable, Captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) ordered a pursuit.  Aboard the U-boat, Captain Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens) had little interest in tangling with the American ship.  He was on a mission to Argentina to retrieve intelligence.  As such, he submerged and waited for the destroyer to move on after a desultory bombardment of depth charges.  He changed his course temporarily and then resumed his original course.  Murrell had already guessed that the German was bound for some rendezvous and used that hunch to continue the chase.  While the destroyer launched barrages of depth charges, the U-boat surfaced briefly to launch torpedoes.  A thrilling duel at sea!  It is a game of chess between to skilled commanders.

As usual, Mitchum makes for an engaging lead.  He is one of those actors who could deliver lines without effort and still be terrific.  It is unclear if he ever really acted, or just arrived on set as Robert Mitchum with an alias.  David Hedison plays Lt. Ware, the executive officer on the Haynes.  This was great preparation for his eventual role as Captain Crain in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.  Where Mitchum has this look of world-weariness and maybe a case of insomnia, Hedison is chipper and optimistic.  Also of note, Doug McClure has a small role as Ensign Merry.  This was one of his first movie roles.  Curd Jurgens made a career of playing German officers from WWII, though I best remember him as the Bond villain from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).  Where Mitchum had Hedison, Jurgens' captain had the support of Schwaffer (Theodore Bikel).  To make Von Stolberg more sympathetic, he is shown to be a loyal German who is not keen on the Nazi party, even bumping heads with the political officer on the ship.  Yes, if not for the war, Murrell and Von Stolberg could be friends.

Good popcorn fun.  Recommended.

In the Game of Thrones, You Either Win or Die

Yesterday, Brazil had its runoff election between President Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro.  Of note, Flavio is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.  Jair had a J6 incident after the last election and, unlike Trump, he was successfully prosecuted and sent to prison.  Back to his son, Flavio lost.  However, there were some irregularities.  The Supreme Court called for polls to be held open for an additional 2 hours on election day.  Flavio protested.  Today, the Supreme Court ordered Flavio to turn in his passport as he was viewed as a flight risk.  Flight risk for what?

President Lula is a member of the Workers' Party.  It proposes socialist solutions and governs from the left.  Lula had served as president before.  Of note, he is older that President Trump.  What is with all these old politicians?  It is noteworthy that he appointed the judge on the Supreme Court that extended voting and has now demanded Flavio's passport.  These are not good signs.  This gives banana republic vibes.

In the primary election - 1st round voting, Flavio had received over 2 million more votes than Lula.  In the 2nd round, Lula received over 4 million votes more than Flavio.  Impressive recovery.  Could that 4 million gap have been produced in a two-hour voting extension?  Does Brazil have early voting?  Whatever the case, Flavio's failure to accept his defeat looks to be a case of win or face prison.  Like his father.

Checkmate, Matt Walsh!

Recently, Matt Walsh - of What is a Woman? fame - has been producing true history documentaries.  He has tackled the Civil War, Slavery, and the American Indian.  Concerning that last one, Atun-Shei Films made a response video.  Atun-Shei has produced the brilliant Checkmate, Lincolnites! series, which is a deep dive into primary materials that thoroughly tears down faux justifications for the South.  Here are two YouTubers I have greatly appreciated.  This clash should be informative.

Walsh sought to dispel the peaceful, environmentalist ideal that has be painted of the Native Americans in recent decades.  They fought brutal wars before Europeans arrived and continued to do so afterwards.  They could be quite brutal in war and savage to captives.  He dismisses the smallpox blankets as untrue, states that there was no genocide, talks about a difference in private property rights, and spends some time on the Trail of Tears.  At an hour, it is just a general overview with the primary purpose of challenging the modern narrative.

Atun-Shei begins by pouring himself a drink before denouncing Walsh and being generally offended by every part of the documentary.  Though clearly infuriated by each section of the documentary, he concedes that the gist is true, but it is more complicated than that.  His best point was where he challenged the private property topic, which Walsh handled in an apples and oranges sort of comparison.  Where his other videos are well-produced and scripted, this one felt like an extemporaneous drunken rant.

After watching both, I have to side with Walsh.  His goal was to bust the myth of the peaceful noble savage that has become the default narrative.  Yes, Atun-Shei is correct on saying many of Walsh's points are oversimplified, but he conceded that each point is true.  Of course, he titled his response as Matt Walsh Hates Indigenous People.  The tone of presentation makes a big difference in the watchability of each.  Walsh offers a fairly neutral recitation of his thesis, while Atun-Shei answers with an angry, profanity-laced, rebuttal.

If you have a couple of hours free, this is probably not the best use of your time.  If you are interested in the topic, see for yourself which YouTuber makes a better case.

Une Demonstration Pratique

The current riots that are tearing France apart make for an excellent, though tragic, object lesson for other Western nations.  The rioters are clearly from Africa and the Middle East.  They may be second or third generation immigrants, but they have not become French.  Without assimilation, immigration is just a means of Balkanizing a country.  As the saying goes, "Import the third world, become the third world."  Any immigration must always be very gradual and demand assimilation.  If assimilation is impossible, then such immigrants should be turned away.  For example, Muslims cannot assimilate without leaving Islam.  Now, a country can survive a small number of Muslims, but there comes a point when the Muslims will seek to overthrow the existing order and install Sharia.  That is its nature.  By the same logic, a communist will use the freedom of a host country to undermine those very freedoms.  Much of Europe has flung open the borders to immigrants who will inevitably seek to destroy Europe.  Gad Saad calls this suicidal empathy.  Let in the downtrodden, out of compassion, and become conquered when the number of downtrodden reach critical mass.

France may have a new Napoleon soon.  One of the early appearances of Napoleon was when he put down a riot by firing cannon at the rioters.  The government was quite grateful.  I suspect there are a lot of French - the real ones, not these imports - who would appreciate a man like Napoleon today.  And that is truly tragic.  It takes catastrophes like this to create dictators.

Flock You

Happened to tune into a radio program while driving today.  The topic was Flock cameras.  There is a guy who created a program on his laptop that would identify only police cars.  He tested it a couple of times by going to a site and setting up his camera and laptop.  After a few hours, he checked his results.  Then, he blogged about it.  Bing!  The police soon showed up at his door.  Huh, that's odd.  The police wanted to know if he intended to create a database of police activity.  Huh, that's an interesting question.  Really, if you aren't doing anything wrong, you have no reason to care that you are tracked in public.  Right?  It is funny how instantly concerned the police were to be subject to the same surveillance that they are so keen to impose.  What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

The hosts directed listeners to a website: deflock.org.  There is a map that shows all the known License Plate Readers (LPR) scattered throughout the United States.  There are a lot.  As alarming as this may be, one must remember that almost everyone now carries a tracking device in their pocket or purse: a cellphone.  If the authorities want to find you, they will.  If they want to know where you have been, that's just a matter of strongarming your cell carrier.  However, cell records are not as easy to access, which provides at least some friction for the police to track you.