The Crucifixion of Barack Obama

With the public crucifixion of Barack Obama this weekend on cable TV and talk radio, I couldn’t help but think of my favorite movie ever made about the Christ. Let me say at the beginning that I am in no way comparing Senator Obama to Jesus Christ. But with all the false outrage filling the airwaves and online concerning the overblown reaction to the comments by Obama’s pastor, I just can’t help but see a disturbing trend and comparison.
Made in 1979 and directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Jesus of Nazareth was an all-star mini-series offering a reverent depiction of the Christ story using stories from the Gospel. With a lush score by Maurice Jarre, and featuring a hypnotic performance by British actor, Robert Powell in the title role, Jesus of Nazareth was one of the best films to tell the Christ story. But what made me think about the film in reference to Barack Obama, was the film’s focus on the political and religious hierarchy, as well as the social and economic state of the Jewish and Roman citizens of the time. The depiction of outrage spurred on by religious zealots on both sides in bringing down this upstart who dared to preach about what was only prophecy in the minds of many and dangerous political rhetoric to others has a familiar ring this weekend. And I don’t mean because it’s Easter.
Obama’s speech on Tuesday was one for the record books. Does anyone remember George W. Bush or Bill Clinton ever being so honest and forthright in a major address before? I certainly don’t. While watching and then reading the speech again online, I couldn’t help but think about some of the scenes in Zeffirelli’s film. The ones depicting Christ’s dealings with doubters and hypocrites and the honesty in which he was depicted in doing so. And then following the speech came the expected reaction by professional media pundits whose cynicism and denial of any inspiration gained from the address seemed all-too planned-in-advance. But what truly amazed me was the increase in vitriol for the Senator by those in the media who are determined to not only destroy this upstart who dares us to talk about such taboo topics as race but who also threatens an establishment who would rather lead out of fear than with intelligence. Many of the scenes of Christ appearing before the Sanhedrin or Pontius Pilate in the film could be played along side cable news or talk radio clips dealing with the Obama speech and one would think you were watching the same movie.
I believe that Senator Obama has the possibility of being a rare gem in a chorus of duds who make up our politics today. He is a flawed man just like the rest of us. But his calm, cool, thoughtful way of dealing with the issues ahead of this country as well as his unique understanding of what divides and joins us together as a people is as inspiring to me as that British actor portraying Christ on TV almost 30 years ago.

10,000 Bad Choices!

With "10,000 B.C.”, director/screenwriter Roland Emmerich borrows a little something from every movie he’s made thus far along with every myth and factual fancy from early human history to create a new mythical story of early man’s adventures here on earth. And despite the CGI eye-candy of “Lord of the Rings”-type vistas, oversized woolly mammoth’s, prehistoric birds and saber tooth tiger’s along for the ride, “10,000 B.C. suffers from 10,000 bad choices!
Emmerich relies heavily on his prior work in 1994’s “Stargate”, but minus a teleportation device to excuse historical inaccuracies like prehistoric cavemen with boats and forged metals of all kind, “10,000 B.C.” asks far too much of it’s audience in forgoing any sense of basic logic.
I knew I was in trouble when certain tribes speak perfect English in the film, while others speak in foreign dialects accompanied by subtitles. One unintentional laugh comes when one English speaking tribesman questions how one of the foreign tribes has learned to speak the same language as he.
Co-written by composer-turned-screenwriter, Harold Kloser, what fails most in “10,000 B.C.” is a lack of interesting characters to keep us caring between the magnificent set pieces and choreographed action sequences that have become a staple in films like these. Positively wooden portrayals are delivered here by leads who despite their dread-locked hair and animal skin clothing still manage to have the prettiest teeth and hairless bodies found anywhere in prehistoric times. When a character dies in an adventure film these days and I feel absolutely nothing I blame the writer not the actor.
The basic premise in this film of a stronger tribe kidnapping and enslaving the weaker is as old as the film’s title suggests. And wrapping it in a unlikely modern-type love story does nothing to make us care for what is happening on screen. I really was hoping Raquel Welch would show up magically reviving her character “Loana” from 1966’s “One Million Years B.C.” just to spice things up a bit!
The juxtaposition of different historical timelines and topographical regions causes some head scratching along the way as well, and it would be forgivable given this was an actual episode of “Lord of the Rings”, but it’s not and it’s painfully obvious. The producers are not saying this film is history but by calling it “10,000 B.C.”, they have opened themselves up to some deserved ridicule. Where on earth and at what point in time has any of the many different tribes, civilizations and geographically-opposed peoples ever managed to live so closely together? With very little passage of time to account for, characters in this film cross so many different landscapes that one would think you could go from a sandy desert to a snow-filled mountaintop in a matter of minutes. When the pyramids of Egypt suddenly show up on screen I knew the film had lost me.
Director Emmerich has a knack for remaking and reusing material and ideas already done before. Despite the obvious nods to “Stargate” and “Lord of the Rings” found here, many ideas from other films are rehashed throughout. Not too surprising considering director Emmerich is the one who gave us 1998’s dreadful remake of “Godzilla”, along with disaster retread “The Day after Tomorrow” in 2004. So, what’s next for the budding director you may ask? Emmerich is hard at work on none other then a remake of “Fantastic Voyage”, another sci-fi flick from 1966 which it just so happens also starred Raquel Welch. One can only hope a cameo by the former screen goddess will be included to liven up that newest version of an old idea.

Oscar's 80th!

Oscar's 80th went off smoothly last night finishing only 20 minutes past it's scheduled time. Although it's too soon to see any real numbers as far as ratings go, I would be surprised to see any increase in viewer ship. On the whole the show was entertaining, thanks mostly to Jon Stewart's edgy yet still classy performance as the evenings host. His opening monologue was short and right on target. His best joke of the evening... "Democrats have an historic race going. Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama. Normally when you see a black man or woman president, an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty." He remained funny all evening. His relaxed style and mostly topical humor grew great laughs from the Hollywood A-list audience. Although their tepid response was clearly visible during Stewart's most controversial joke of the evening when mocking both the box-office failures of the Iraq War-themed films and Presidential candidate John McCain in saying...""I am telling you, if we stay the course and keep these movies in the theaters, we can turn this around. I don't care if it takes 100 years! Withdrawing the Iraq movies would only embolden the audience. We cannot let the audience win." It was a great joke and one I'm sure the audience completely agreed with, but it was not surprising that most were too hypocritical to respond.
My predictions about endless montages was not realized, most were short and to the point and Stewart's alternate writer strike montages were especially funny. I only wish he and his Daily Show crew had supplied more of the extremely funny faux acting award campaign ads like they did during his last outing as Oscar host.
I cared little about who wore what, fashion was never a concern to me. It was good to see all of the acting nominees present this year. The two upsets in both actress categories were unexpected and supplied the evenings only surprises.
All five of the Oscar nominated songs proved once again that the song-writing branch of the Academy is in disrepair. All three of the nominated songs from "Enchanted" were uninspired and unmemorable. Why couldn't the Academy bring back the Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score award which has been given from time-to-time over the years to honor one of this year's crop of musical adaptations. "Across the Universe", "Hairspray", "Once" and the brilliantly orchestrated "Sweeney Todd" were all deserving of this award.
In the end despite hosts Stewart's noble attempts, I thought the show lacked anything special for an 80th celebration. I suppose the writer's strike was settled too close to air-time to allow any great thought to be put into commemorating the occasion properly.