Rants, reviews, and reflections

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Monthly Archives: February 2012

THE HHS CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE OPENS PANDORA’S BOX

Posted on by Posted in Current Events, Health Care, Politics

The Catholic bishops are refusing to take the bait of the silly “compromise” offered by the Obama administration, whereby the insurance companies would be paying for the contraceptives, rather than the employer or the employee. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that such costs would simply be passed on to the employees in the form of higher insurance premiums, and eventually work their way back into demands for higher salaries, and thus be transferred back to the employer.

More than that, this little melodrama will force people to start thinking long and hard about the whole so-called health insurance matter.

Back in the day, “health insurance” meant catastrophic event coverage. The idea was that if you were really laid up with a serious illness or devastating accident, and the hospital bills would cost a fortune, your health insurance would kick in. It was NEVER intended that every little thing be covered by this insurance, any more than auto insurance would cover gas, oil, and routine repairs.

You may not care about the conscience of the Catholic Church, but maybe you DO wonder why your premium dollars should pay for someone else’s Viagra. You may have great sympathy for someone else’s mental health problems but wonder why your premium dollars should pay for overpriced—and not very effective—proprietary psychotropic drugs.

You may agree with the concept of sharing the risk, so that your premium dollars provide needed care for heart patients. But, I’m guessing that you are probably disgusted by how the system has been played by unscrupulous cardiologists and their useless stents.

And if you think that private insurance plans have been scammed, don’t even get me started about Medicare and Medicaid.

The debate over federally-financed health care—as one-sided as it was—began 50 years ago. It’s high time for round two, don’t you think?

CHRONICLE

Posted on by Posted in Movies

ChronicleOne more teen angst flick, this time supposedly presented in the “found footage” format, ushered in by The Blair Witch Project (1999). I say “supposedly” because helmer Josh Trank makes little effort to promote this concept, except for occasional references to TV and security cameras, and the fact that protags are constantly filming everything. Editing is tight, perhaps further betraying the fact that there is little story here. The special effects are quite good for this low budget project.

Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) has a pretty crummy life. His mother is dying, his father is an abusive alcoholic who’s always home because of an occupational injury, and he gets picked on at school. His only friend is his cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell). Matt persuades Andrew to go with him to a rave, and there they hook up with cool guy Steve (Michael B. Jordan).

The trio discovers a large hole, and climbing inside gets exposed to something odd. Before long they realize that whatever this was, it has given them what first appears to be the power of telekinesis (the ability to move objects with your mind). Within a few days, though, they now have superhuman strength and the ability to fly.

One interesting scene has them playing catch with a football at around 30,000 feet, with Andrew saving Steve from an airliner that suddenly enters their space.

As their powers keep increasing, Matt stresses the need for some rules as to how they would be applied, but Andrew balks, apparently liking his new status as an “Apex Predator.” Not surprisingly, the situation deteriorates, ending up with some death and destruction, and a battle reminiscent of General Zod versus Superman.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

One wonders if there were originally a lot more to this pic, before it got edited out. For example, Casey (Ashley Hinshaw) has some screen time as Matt’s girlfriend, but serves little purpose other than to be another person constantly filming, and thus maintaining the ridiculous conceit of a “found footage” movie. Hinshaw is an attractive performer, and the film needed another sympathetic character.

No explanation is given as to why Andrew becomes the strongest of the three guys, and his sudden turn to the dark side is an unexpected and foolish character arc.

There is clearly some footage missing concerned with Steve’s death, even if this void sets up the funeral surprise sequence. I doubt whether this was intended at the outset of the project.

Given the movie’s PG-13 rating, the aftermath of the implied sex scene between Andrew and a party girl seemed to push the limits. Upon reflection, her yelling “You’re disgusting!” to him refers to the fact that he puked all over her. However, at first blush this vomitus could easily have been mistaken for another bodily fluid—as disgusting or even more so. The producers got away with one here.

Telekinesis with kids has been tried before, of course, but has really only succeeded with Carrie (1976).

THE GREY

Posted on by Posted in Movies

The GreyToo talky, too long, and more introspective than many viewers probably expected, this feature does touch on some big themes. However, helmer Joe Carnahan gives us plenty of room in how to interpret them.

As the pic opens, Ottway (Liam Neeson) is introduced as a sort of low-grade soldier of fortune, currently employed as a hunter/sniper, protecting a team of “ex-cons, fugitives, and assholes,” who work on a remote Alaska drilling operation, from bears and wolves. Straightaway, we see him take down a wolf, but you can tell that he identifies with these majestic creatures, as he hovers over the animal until it dies.

It is clear he does not like his co-workers nor his situation, and contemplates suicide, while he flashes on his wife (Anne Openshaw), who has left him for some as yet unknown reason. The cry of a distant wolf either distracts him from the suicide attempt, or inspires him to keep on living.

The scene now switches to a chartered jet, taking a number of the workers to Anchorage, for a bit of R & R, or perhaps in Ottway’s case, to the end of his term with the drilling company. His hopes for some rest on the flight are dashed as the flight becomes increasingly turbulent, ending in a crash—oddly foreshadowed by Flannery (Joe Anderson), one of the passengers.

There are only seven survivors, who think that their big problems are how to stay warm, and what to eat. But these considerations pale in comparison to a threat they soon discover: A pack of wolves, intent on killing them, to protect their territory.

Ottway convinces the group that they must abandon the plane’s fuselage to take refuge in the forest, only a short distance away. This is easier said than done, of course, as two survivors are soon lost to the wolves. Indeed, the survivors are knocked off one at a time, à la And Then There Were None (1945), also referred to as “Ten Little Indians” style.

Between wolf attacks, we get to know each character, and none of them dies in the manner you might expect, based on other movies of this genre.

The situation becomes increasingly grave, even as there are also hopeful signs. The group encounters an area that has been recently logged, and finds a river that is sure to lead them to civilization—if the wolves don’t get them first. Ottway relates a poem written by his father, to the dwindling band:

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

Clearly a riff on Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V, the poem reminds the men that as they fight off the wolves, they will never feel more alive, as that moment just before they die.

 

***SPOILERS AND OTHER COMMENTS***

It is revealed toward the end that Ottway’s wife “left him” by dying.  Yet, a note—presumably of regret—is being written by Ottway throughout the film.  He feels responsible for her death, I guess, but why?

Although you might surmise that Ottway is the last man standing, we never learn his fate, even if we stay beyond the final credits for a fleeting scene showing him and the alpha male wolf lying on the ground.  The implication is that the alpha is wounded.  Maybe there will be a sequel.

Verified attacks by wolves on humans are exceedingly rare, and a tale of the men fending off bears would have been more realistic.  However, that’s already been done in The Edge (1997).

Much is being made of the connection between the death of star Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson, and the bereavement of his character Ottway.  No doubt, this charged his performance.