Time for Tony's Movie Reviews

I saw War of the Worlds with my friend Rob last night (NOT a Joey movie!) I could go on about what I liked & didn't like, but what really hit me was the depth of the disgust for humanity Spielberg seems to have. Yeah, I know- it's more realistic- we probably would be rioting and killing each other for any tiny advantage if the world was to come to an end- but still it shocked me. I'll leave the "Earth is Iraq & the murdering Martians are the US Army" interpretation to the nut jobs.

I've always felt that the popularity of disaster movies comes from our secret collective desire to see a giant "reset" button pushed- wiping out our bad credit histories, corrupt politicians, & international cartels in one fell swoop. We can dream, can't we?

Speaking of nut jobs & films, my favorite childhood book- The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe- is finally being made into a movie. For those of you who don't know, the story is very heavy with Christian allegories. I took a gander at the IMDB forums for the film, & I was a bit taken aback at the hatred of Christianity I saw there. I'm not talking about poking fun (which is so easy to do & everyone's right to do to ANY religion) or asking questions about the millions of inconsistencies in the faith- I'm talking about outright hatred. Now, personally, in the words of George Carlin, "I was born a Catholic- now I'm an American-" but I don't hate the faith. This is the problem I've always had with the hypocritical "politically correct." If you want to scream your head off that we must be tollerant of everything under the sun, then you'd better damn well be tolerant of everyone- including, yes, Christianity- yourself.

Here endeth the preaching.

Speaking of IMDB, it's starting to suck. People who were tired of the paid-off reviews in the papers started turning to the internet to see what real people thought of the films. Sadly, sites like IMDB & Rotten Tomatoes are now flooded with gushing reviews & high ratings that are written by the studios themselves. Sigh.

TTFN
-Tony

Sorry It's Been So Long

Sorry it's been so long (hey that sounds like a great idea for a title.) But things have been very topsy-turvy around here.

For those of you who've been here since the beginning, the Penguin Electric saga has come to an end. Yep, I've been given the boot, laid off, kicked out the door, whatever you want to call it. My crime? Agreeing to work at 2am- but expecting to get full compensation for it. Not to toot my own horn, but in seven months, I've missed only one day when Jen had to get an MRI. I've never been late, always given the bastards a full days work, even when they weren't paying benefits & my checks bounced. But if you stand up for yourself (and I've called the union throughout this nightmare on all Mr. Penguin's shenanigans) you have to go. The sad thing is, I'm sure the other poor bastards in the shop are going to think twice before saying "no" when the boss tries to screw them. (I know, that was the POINT.)

"But these things aren't supposed to happen in Local 3," I hear you cry. Well, these things DO happen if the other guys in the shop agree to let the boss screw them over. It creates an underclass- those who allow the boss to cheat them without saying a word get to keep their jobs, & those who say, "no, I actually expect to get PAID for my time" get the boot. As I was laid off, I get to collect unemployment & my supplementary fund, so I guess I'll look on it as a vacation until the union gets me another job. I get to spend time with the wife & kids, get my shit together as they say.

While I'm at it, I want to make an adventure game. Why the hell not? I have a million projects I'm working on, so why not a million and one? Maybe get some extra $ going.

So anyway, that's it. 'Till later…

TTFN!
-Tony

It's 12:45 AM & I can't think of a title. Illustration Friday, baby!

The Illustration Friday word of the week is METROPOLITAN.

You all know the drill... my entry can be found at my web-comic here. You please clickie on #13. Thank you oh so much. It is almost 1am, & I have to get up at 5. So do me a favor and check out the damn thing. OK, it's my fault I didn't get it done sooner, but I have a life too, you know! EESH!

TTFN
-Tony

Incompetent Supervillany

All right- just what kind of Evil Puppet Master is Karl Rove anyway? First of all- if he's pulling the strings, he doesn't NEED an official position in the Bush administration. Hell- he looses points because we even know his name and his face! If I was an evil puppet master, I would be a ghost! I am so goddamn disillusioned. Just what the hell is the world coming to?

Second of all- as I discussed in a previous blog- the guy can't even get propper revenge on CIA agents he doesn't like! If I had all the power that guy is rumored to have, any CIA agents who pissed me off with inconvenient facts would find themselves begging for the sweet release of death. I would put them on a secret mission where they would be forced to listen to boy-band music all day long. Or even better- I would tell him that there were secret codes hidden in episodes of that goddamn CSI show, and force him to watch every single episode. Hell, I would be begging for someone to put a bullet in my brain after a day of that.

Sigh

-TTFN
Tony

A Quick Review

I finally got to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I liked it, though it was slow in some parts- and the scene where Steve defends his boat against the pirates is so ridiculous that I wondered if the whole sequence would just turn out to be a dream. William Dafoe played the best character, IMHO. I didn't know he could do comedy. All in all, though, it was a thoughtful, intelligent comedy, from the Bowie songs in Portuguese to the cartoony CGI sea life. I'd recommend it if you like quirky humor. It seems to be one of those movies that people either loved or hated.

TTFN
-Tony

Random Acts of Blogging

I keep starting and stopping blogs, because my brain is completely disorganized right now. I mean it. Pure tofu. So, I've decided just to give some snippets that cross my mind.

1) London. I am so sorry. I remember the fear after 9/11 that anything could happen in our city again, at any time. My heart goes out to you all. Now we have this huge show of highly armed police all over our subways again. I think we're on code fuchsia or something.

2) "Was Valerie Plame's ouster Karl Rove (*wolves howl*)?" This wet dream of Bush haters is sweeping across the internet. Personally, I just don't see it. Pretend you're president of the US & you want to get back at a CIA agent for saying that Saddam wasn't trying to buy uranium in Africa. Would your revenge be to a) kill him b) send him on a covert mission to clean out public toilets in Baghdad for a year, or c) blow his (fellow CIA agent) wife's cover? Sorry, but I just don't see what possible reward the Bush (or his evil puppet masters, if you're convinced he has them) would get out of option C. Then again, NOTHING Bush has done has made any sense, so I suppose…

3) Speaking of terrorism, wanting to keep "America is the root of all evil" artwork out of future Ground Zero memorials is NOT a violation of free speech- it's a matter of respect and kindness to the families of the almost 3000 people who died there. Free speech means that I can declare here that I believe President George W. Bush is a supreme nincompoop and not be arrested for treason. That's all. It does NOT mean that I can turn a site of mass murder into a politically correct free-for-all.

4) Oh darn- NYC lost the bid for the Olympics. I read in the Daily News that one of the O.C.'s main concerns was that 75% of NYers DID NOT F**KING WANT IT. I sure as hell didn't- Shea Stadium is a mile from my house on the LIE. IT ALLREADY TAKES ME AN HOUR TO DRIVE TEN MILES ON THE LIE IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. OK, now that Bloomberg has tried once again to distract us from the fact that NOTHING has been done at Ground Zero since 9/11, can we PLEASE rebuild downtown NY and work on our decrepit infrastructure? Is that too much to ask?

All right, enough ranting. Go to sleep. 'Nite

TTFN
-Tony

Confused Conservatism

Yes, twenty years after the original, Live Aid is back. (And so, thank God, is Pink Floyd!) Those of us who grew up in the 80s remember Sally Struthers, Mother Theresa, Ethiopian jokes, and of course, the line "do they know it's Christmastime at all?"

Yes, dear friends, there is terrible poverty in the world. But I have to ask: after twenty years and untold billions of donations- from the governments of the world, businesses, & the private sector- I have to ask… where did all the money go? Did the people in need get any of it? Or are blind eyes turned to corrupt governments swallowing the donations up, as in the Oil for Food scandal? (You know, that thing where France & the other UN Nations were calling us Nazis & conquerors while they were taking kickbacks from Saddam so his people could suffer. I know- I know, it doesn't matter.)

I'm NOT saying there's anything wrong with charity, nor am I saying that we should ignore the problems of the world. But before the world cries out that the U.S. just isn't pouring out enough $, please just tell me- what happened to all the donations from the last 20 years?

TTFN
-Tony

On Channel 3, there's SPORT!

The Illustration Friday word of the week is SPORT.

Here we go again! As before, my entry can be found at my web-comic here. This time, be a SPORT (ha ha, get it?) & click on #12. Thank you oh so much!
Warning: this comic was written by a well adjusted adult, with no issues or bitterness about his childhood whatsoever. The artist also does NOT have a sick and twisted sense of humor. Would I lie to you?

TTFN
-Tony