The election was bullshit. The Bush family has many financial ties to the Saudis. The Bush family makes money from war. The troops are the real victims, support the troops. Eat the rich.

Robert S. McNamara is an almost universally a vilified character. He served under General Curtis LeMay, and helped plan and support the carpet bombing and burning of Japan. He was the first non-Ford family president of Ford. He served as the Secretary of Defense under two presidents, Kennedy and Johnson. He was JFK's right hand man during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He ran the Vietnam war. He was the president of the World Bank. There is simply no way you can have done that much, and not be vilified.

In this documentary by Errol Morris, he attempts to share some of the lessons of his life, and does so in a completely non-apologetic or remorseful way. Unlike a Michael Moore movie, this stays focused on McNamara and what he wants to share.

At this time, more then any other, this is a very important film. I was familiar with much of what this movie covered, but hearing it from the perspective of McNamara was extremely interesting. I found myself admiring the man. There is a side to him that is not seen, through the mistakes of Vietnam and the horror of the burning of Tokyo, that can be seen through this documentary.

Some of the most important lessons can be learned from someone who has failed, and McNamara does not seem to have any illusions about the places where there were failures, both on his part and others. His telling of the Cuban Missile Crisis shows the elements of human nature at play. His analysis of Vietnam is sobering and clear. And while completely unremorseful for the burning of Japan, his lessons clearly resonate to the horror of the situation.

There are many questions he refuses to answer outright, in particular about Vietnam. As he explains, he is "damned if he does and damned if he doesn't", and he would rather be "damned if he doesn't". However, there is plenty of room to read between the lines.

IMDb: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)

The trouble for these monster corporations is that an America of niches doesn't always play to their strengths. Top-heavy conglomerates are geared up for producing mass-common-denominator products, but when that mass common denominator disperses, they can be flummoxed.

What Ails Hollywood

The Iron chef of filmmaking. Casts and crews are given the ingredients and have 9 hours to produce a 4 minute movie.

Sounds interesting..

cinemasports

] Tim Sullivan's directorial debut is whipping itself into
] shape to become next year's morality-free, grue strewn,
] wild and crazy horror freak show. At the time of this
] writing, post-production is currently next on the menu
] for Sullivan's 2001 Maniacs before it gorges on the main
] course: theater-bound fright fans curious to see how this
] fledgling director has given H.G. Lewis' original 2000
] Maniacs a modern spin.

I just received this link in email from Tim. Looks like they are wrapping up production and going into post.

Creature Corner | 2001 Maniacs Report

check the recommendations list...

Number Ones by Michael Jackson

The LA Critics Association has canceled their awards this year.

From Henry Sheehan via Roger L. Simon via Glenn Reynolds:
] The cause was the Motion Picture Association of
] America's decision to ban screeners (video and DVD
] editions of the year's film releases) from
] distribution to voters in the Motion Picture Academy and
] the various critics organizations which award annual
] prizes.

] The L.A. critics don’t like being manipulated into a corner
] by this policy. Of course it would be best to see every
] movie on the big screen. But in the years since screeners
] have become common, the number of films released per
] year has increased by 33%. You just can’t see everything.
] Moreover, as the year draws to an end, critics like to go
] over films from earlier in the year for second or even third
] viewings, especially when considering categories such as
] best score, production design, and certainly the two
] supporting actor slots.

And it appears they are drawing some lines in the sand also..

] The cancellation is contingent on the MPAA’s rescinding the
] screener policy. If it goes, the cancellation goes. But the
] crucial word is “rescind.” Not alter or modify. Rescind.

And why are they doing this you ask? Simple. Its been well proven that the source of most pirated movie copies floating around the net are these screeners.

This is going to be interesting to watch develop.

Newsreel | LA Crix Nix Pix Prix

Uma Thurman stars in Quentin Tarantino's fourth film venture, Kill Bill. Thurman plays a character known as the Bride, a pregnant assassin who is shot by her boss, Bill (David Carradine), on her wedding day, leaving herself and the wedding guests lying for dead. She survives and after being in a coma for five years, she wakes to seek revenge on her co-workers and boss who had attacked her. She sets out to strike down her once fellow assassins, leaving Bill for last.

I saw Kill Bill last night. This movie is damn good.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

] A report from the front lines of the real culture wars

] Learn how corporations use 'statutory damages' as a
] secret weapon to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars
] from people who are 'guilty until proven innocent'. YOU
] COULD BE NEXT!

] WILLFUL INFRINGEMENT was produced on digital video, is 58
] minutes long, in color and stereo. It is available only
] on DVD and comes with over 45 minutes of bonus material
] including an interactive discussion guide for educators
] and exclusive 'Mickey & Me' sidebar video.

I must see this..

Willful Infringement

] I was sure we'd see a silly "Hackers"-esque 3D animated
] "hacking scene".
] Not so! Trinity is as smart as she is seductive! She
] whips out Nmap (!!!), scans her target, finds 22/tcp open,
] and proceeds with an über ssh technique! I was so surprised,
] I almost jumped out of my seat and did the "r00t dance"
] right there in the theatre!
]
] There can be only one explanation: Carie-Anne has the
] hots for me!

Fyodor wants a screenshot..

Update: And the screnshots are at: http://images.insecure.org/nmap/images/matrix/

Nmap Hackers: Whoa!