I'm Betting on Hong Kong

Be water.

As powerful and committed as Beijing is, the protestors are part of the revolt of the public. CCP is 20th century, these guys are 21st.

The Public vs. The People

Fascinating Martin Gurri podcast on the revolt of the public.

We "the people" have got a real problem on our hands: the public. They're leaderless and defined by what they oppose and hunt in rabid packs. My prediction: they will eventually go after everyone's money (hint: they already are in subtle ways). They are laying the groundwork for it.

And to study the public, we ought to study infants and toddlers as I see similarities between the two.

This Could Be One of the Biggest Events Of Our Lifetime

What will become of Hong Kong.

Sad

Why are Americans not in more vocal support of the Hong Kong protestors? Protestors are non-violent, want self governance and freedom from authoritarian rule. They are facing down the most powerful autocratic government in the world who threatens the use of military force, who has employed such military force on their own population before, and yet, no one in America gives a shit. Maybe this is part of America's long history of isolation, or maybe it doesn't neatly fit into the current ideological narratives of the moment.

Why don't these Congresswomen who are so vocal against the Israeli state's injustice not equally vocal against the Chinese state injustice? Why don't they promote divesting from China?

Logging

Film: T2

Watched a little bit after reading the script and doesn't hold up as well as I imagined, or the script.

A-Fucking-Men

A good article about Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Alfred Hitchcock once said that cinema is life with the boring bits taken out. If Richard Brody wants to see “political protest, social conflict, any sense of changing mores,” there is no shortage of movies now that address social justice and society’s other ails. Tarantino makes an appeal to Aristophanic virtues, those of irony, passion, beauty and song. At a time when everything is soaked in political resentment, his principle aim is not to bog us down with ever more crises, but to distract us from them. He is not interested in New Hollywood’s naturalism or anti-Hollywood’s moralism. He doesn’t care who wins the du jour culture war. His is a bright, prismatic fantasy of Hollywood. It’s ahistorical, it’s a myth. It’s pure Tarantino.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Re-Watch

Takeaways on 2nd viewing:

-Tarantino films are the only films that consistently make me want to make movies. I imagine others in the business feel the same. The vast majority of films - whether good or bad - don't inspire me to want to make anything. I have theories on why this is, but for another post...
-Brad Pitt definitely killed his wife.
-Leo's performance underappreciated - he plays Rick as a stutterer who loses his stutter when he drinks.
-Tarantino writes the story toward set pieces, which is why it feels uneven. He doesn't value "structure" very highly but plants and pays off very well.
-I stand by my initial claim the sequence at the Spahn Ranch is the best in the film, although upon second viewing the Bruce Lee - Brad Pitt dream sequence was pretty excellent.
-The entire movie takes place over the course of only 2 days with a few flashbacks. Night of Day 1 through end of Day 2 comprises about 2/3 of the film -- about 1.5 days. The final third of the film happens on half a day.
-Anyone offended by the depiction of Bruce Lee should be equally offended by the depiction of Steve McQueen which was more cartoonish IMO.
-Tarantino gets excellent performances - in general - from smaller actors without much acting skill, but who possess something right for the part. In this film, Margaret Qualley and the three Manson killers are examples.
-Never bored
-Audience cheered for Leo's flamethrower.
-Audience chuckled at Brad Pitt's line "don't cry in front of the Mexicans."

-OTHER THING: Narrator is used to build tension where we think Tarantino is documenting the Manson murders, but instead reminds us we are in a fairy tale.

Logging

TV: Seinfeld Re-runs from season 6

Greatest show ever -- knew exactly what it was and executed it consistently. Majority of episodes are more subversive and provocative today than any other show on TV.

Jemele Hill

Is a social justice warrior posing as a sports fan.

I promise you she never watched Kap play in his last two seasons. I also promise you she knows nothing about soccer, yet writes about how the women are unfairly paid.

Meaningless Life

On the despair felt by these school shooters.

It’s important to remember that these murders are also, in most cases, suicides.

Robert Putnam chronicled our societal transition to disconnectness nearly 20 years ago in Bowling Alone. Now, we face the daily horror of this stuff and instead of doing anything to change, we double down on the blame culture and discuss gun regulations which would solve and stop nothing.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood Thought

I wonder if the critics who want more dialog for Margot Robbie simultaneously think the movie is too long.

Logging

Script: T2

Arguably the great action movie of all time and the greatest sequel of all time for the way it ironizes its predecessor.

Book: Black Echo

I was told Michael Connelly was of a different caliber than say, Lee Child. Maybe this is a right, but I nevertheless found this book to be a bit of a slog. Nice twist toward end, but...made me realize something: maybe I don't like the detective (and its cousin, the spy) genre as much as I thought I did. The whodunit aspect are continually unsatisfying and I keep thinking author execution is to blame, but perhaps it is the genre itself...

Mass Shootings

Do liberals honestly believe if Trump didn't get elected or didn't tweet we'd see any less of them?

These mass shootings are a horrible virus. I wish the news would stop covering them. I wish our communities had the resources - both financial and moral that were strong enough to cope with the 3% of folks who are basically nutso and need psychological help.

Why We Have A Populist Uprising Across the World

Rage dad goes viral.

Wall Street promoting "Beyond Meat" to the public while the insiders get out.

Elites wonder why the masses are rising against them? This is why. How many times does this need to happen? Public doesn't grasp the details of how and why, but they know they're being systemically fucked.

Gender

Someone does a gender breakdown of dialog lines by women in all Tarantino films.

Because I know when I watch movies, what I'm most looking out for is the number of dialog lines split by gender, race, class, ethnicity, etc.

Logging

Film: Den of Thieves

A shameless Michael Mann rip off, but nevertheless somewhat enjoyable. Heist details were quite good.

Unpopular Global Warming Thoughts

Is an easy solution to the problem of global warming moving to colder climates of which there are many? Isn't this what earlier humans would've done?

I often hear people talk about global warming, I rarely see anyone taking any action whatsoever in their every day lives to help curb global warming. I will believe we are in a crisis when the people who say we are in a crisis act like we are in a crisis. That said, a few things people could do, but won't or don't:

1) Move to a smaller house
2) Move to a closer commute
3) Travel by car or air less and train instead
4) Make less garbage, and by that I mean not getting Starbucks and all those paper cups with plastic lids
5) Eat smaller portions of meat.

These seem like reasonable ideas and very doable. Yet, I rarely see anyone choosing them.

Drastic, difficult to implement ideas seems crazy to me - so for instance, why do we...

1) Attempt to pass global warming legislation like the Green New Deal which also tries to tackle all sorts of other weird progressive ideas like guaranteed jobs program?

2) Why do we encourage people to give up meat altogether when an easier, more reasonable solution would just be smaller portions?

3) Why would anyone who thinks we are in a global warming crisis not immediately support nuclear power generation as the solution?

Unhealthy

Americans continue to promote and participate in an unhealthy national culture. Our biggest problems are cultural, not political. We continue at our own peril.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood

Is it strange I am liking the film the more I read about it? Even the "bad" reviews? Or is the film oxygenating like a nice red wine? Why am I thinking about it so much? Why does it make me want to rewatch it over other QT films?

Is this a movie only for Tarantino fans? For movie fans? For those seeking some other way of thinking about our current politics? For people who like movies about male friendship?

Is the film's messiness intentional in some way? Why does he use that narrator? Is it basically a hang out movie?

Did Tarantino just make Zodiac meets Dazed and Confused? Or Jackie Brown meets Inglorious Basterds meets Death Proof?

Logging

Film: Shoplifters

Filmmaking at the highest level.

Marianne Williamson and Reparations

Heard her discussing the idea in more depth. Odd to admit, I'd be open to a discussion about reparations for descendants of slaves as a way to replace race-based affirmative action policies.