Taiwan Days 1-2

14 hour flight to Taipei. Watched two Don Lee films - The Plastic Men and The Round Up. The guy is a movie star -- some people like Jason Statham, others like Liam Neeson. I'm for Don Lee. 

Day 1 - staying in Songjiang Nanjiang neighborhood. Convenient location. Not entirely legal airbnb. Street food everywhere in Taipei - sure 100% sure how I feel about it. Some tastes good, definitely cheap but not exactly healthy and clean. That said, I'll try a lot of it. I get the feeling a lot of people who live in Taipei don't cook a ton because it's so easy to pick up food quickly. Right near a 7-11 and a small kids park. Notice quite a number of these little city parks for kids around town. 7-11 very popular. I think people get their coffee and breakfasts there. Hot foods somewhat attractive and similar to street food. Then again, I notice this in LA - a lot of laborers eat their lunch from 7-11 now.

Lunch - beef noodle soup, one of the staple Taiwanese lunch meals. Probably the best I've had - this was sort of the fancy version - the beef super tender and soft. Broth flavorful. I added some spice but actually thought it tasted better without. I still can't figure out the name of the restaurant, but the website is called www.noodle3.com (figured it out: Tien Hsia San Chueh beef). Michelin rated.

Walked around neighborhood. Noticed two wine bars and a lot of coffee/brunch shops. One below us serves a lot of different items they call hamburgers. Some have chicken in them, others with fish. Not sure I'm going to try. 

General note: last time I was here was 10 years ago and I see a lot more white, western faces than I recall from before...and apparently american breakfast more popular now (strange because traditional taiwanese breakfast is fav amongst taiwanese folks...)

Dinner - Cantonese restaurant with roasted / Peking duck specialty. Dragon Restaurant. It was terrific. Taipei might be the most efficient place in the world to get a high variety of quality Chinese food at decent (by American standards) prices. American dollar must be strong right now coupled with Taiwan being a tad cheaper in general.

Day 2 - Temple in New Taipei City. New Taipei City used to be countryside surrounding Taipei, but has now developed into the equivalent of New Jersey to New York. Anyhow, the temple we went to was just a bit up a hill and had this wonderful Buddha carved into rock. Then, a narrow rock staircase up through the massive rocks. A highlight of the trip. Kids loved exploring this mountainside. Far up these dirt paths were little huts/platforms set up where people (farmers?) were doing karaoke. I don't totally understand if they live there or just go up there to hang out. 

Followed by lunch, shaved ice, and boba in Ximen - a popular tourist neighborhood in Taipei. Massively popular - a lot of young folks in this area...goofy gambling type games for kids (like Pachinko parlors)...a store merchant spoke to me in Korean. 

Considered going to basketball game for New Taipei Kings (featuring Jeremy Lin), but waaay too exhausted and looks like we'll miss out on that opportunity.

Visited local wine bar after kids went down - got an Italian red - solid. Rules in bar involved an extra charge should you vomit. 

Day 3 - Morning at Taipei 101. Quite a tourist mecca. Perfect weather - great for kids to see entire city from that perspective. When built, it was the tallest building in the world. Super crazy fast elevator. Followed by Din Tai Fung, the original. Menu larger than the LA franchises. Some delicious additional dishes -- a sticky rice with meat dish, golden lava bun, hot and sour soup...

Sorry notes needing to be written quickly...

From The River to the Sea

Matt Yglesias has a funny twitter point about the people in the US who advocate for a secular democracy with equal rights and no ethnic or religious basis "from the river to the sea" in Palestine actually have that system right here in the United States and ought to be celebrating it more effusively.

Taleb and Macaes

I admire both Nassim Taleb and Bruno Macaes quite a bit, so I listen when they offer strident criticism of Israel right now. But I can't help but notice strange themes in their commentary--

1) They seem to think the Israelis have boxed themselves into a stupid/immoral position. Which may be the case. But I find it odd they think the Israelis should be able to play 12 dimensional chess while the bar for the Palestinians is to "try your best not let your representatives commit mass murder."

2) Taleb points out there are 2 billion Muslims in the world. Okay. As if this is an argument to not fight Hamas. Why is this stat always referenced with respect to Muslims. How many white people there are in the world? How many Christians? To what degree does this matter?

3) I find it strange for all these "Pro-Palestinian" folks become rabidly passionate about their condition 5 minutes AFTER Hamas slaughtered all those Israelis. Wasn't the time to be passionate advocates BEFORE the rampage? Don't you think it might've played a bit better?

4) Best line I've heard about a "ceasefire" was from Hillary Clinton: "there was a ceasefire on October 6th."

5) A lot of anti-Israeli people say "Israel is falling into a Hamas trap." Maybe. Is it not equally accurate to say Hamas fell into an "Israeli settler trap?" After all, at the end of this Israel is going to rule Gaza and the West Bank. Who is going to stop the settlers now?

6) A lot of Western liberals say they are Pro Palestinian, not pro Hamas. If that were the case, wouldn't the logical position be to march in favor of a Hamas surrender? And to advocate for 3rd party (non-Israeli rule). Wouldn't that save the most Palestinian lives at this point? But no...they march against Israel and accuse them of war crimes before the war started. They won't say a word against Hamas. Interesting strategy - it would be my approach if I didn't give a shit about the Palestinians at all. 

7) General thought: a strategy that would encourage war crimes and racism by the powerful over the weak: how about accusing the powerful of war crimes and racism regardless if they've committed them or not? To put it in perspective - imagine a wife who accuses/treats a husband as if he were cheating regardless if actually was. Doesn't that incentivize the husband to actually cheat? Because you've taken away any repercussions to it. Are we not edging toward that situation in general? Think about generals. In the past, we treated Robert E Lee with respect because he behaved gallantly in war, despite being on the "wrong side of history." If I were Lee today, I'd look at the landscape and say "fuck it." What incentive do I have to behave gallantly? They're going to melt my statue down either which way.

8) So far my big takeaway is that social media has made people more arrogant about their stupidity and more bloodthirsty.

9) In real life, I've yet to meet someone who is vocally pro-Hamas/Palestinian in this conflict. Social media / AI amplifies this bullshit and/or I have a great social filter. All said, I get the impression if Charles Manson was doing his thing right now, he'd have 10s of thousands of supporters in the streets following him. 

Radical Proposal

Insane idea that could work: sell the Gaza Strip to Donald Trump. Russia, Saudi, Israel, everyone puts up the money (since Trump doesn't have enough). He can develop it into the greatest tourist destination in the entire world. It's all beach front property. It probably can be bought for near nothing. All the Palestinians get jobs working for Trump hotel and casinos. Pay is generous. Only problem: no guns or weapons of any kind in the entire place. It's like a giant Vegas. This solves two major problems: Hamas goes away. Trump stays occupied. Vlad Putin gets a big penthouse suite. Putin and Trump get to hang and act like heroes. The rest of the world goes on.

Who says no?

Hot Take

My current hot take is this: Israel will crush Hamas. 

DEI

Anyone else noticed an increase of hate since the introduction of DEI? Me too. That's by design, I hope everyone understands...

My Flood The Tunnels Idea Getting Traction!

Maybe they read public musings... 

PS - Looking at a map of Gaza. People keep claiming Gaza is this hellhole piece of shit territory. What are people talking about? This is Mediterranean beach front property people. This could be Miami fucking beach or the Amalfi coast if developed properly. There is one problem and we know what it is.

Nepo Babies

Kids are more likely to follow their parents occupation. So we're all nepo babies...

Priscilla

Has anyone looked into Sophia Coppola's whereabouts on the day Lisa Marie passed away? 

Ceasefire!

What the Western Leftists mean by calling for a ceasefire are: let Hamas regroup, rearm, so they have the capacity to murder more Israeli civilians. What an insane position. If the groups wanted peace, they would call for a Hamas surrender.

Tunnels

I know nothing about engineering tunnels, but it strikes me that they need 1) an exit and 2) air. If I were worried the tunnels were full of traps and murderers, I would simply seal the exits and airways. Maybe that is easier said than done? The other option - isn't there an ocean nearby? I'd set up a big hose and just fill the tunnels with salt water. Again...I'm not an engineer.,,

China and Housing

If China and the US were companies, we should probably merge. 

We could use the housing and infrastructure. They could use the education, innovation, and culture.

A Feint

I kinda hope the Israel war plan to invade Gaza is a feint as well and they have an actual plan to deal with Hamas leadership and a way to punish Iran.

Logging

Film: Killers of the Flower Moon

With the underlying theme of: don't trust white people you would think this would be a hit with woke people. But guess what? They won't like it, people because there's no fucking way they can sit still for 3.5 hours. I loved parts of this movie - Leo standing there being interrogated was just a chef's kiss acting performance...and man the first hour...so incredible. DeNiro great. But the seams and stitching of this movie and story didn't quite add up. I remember reading this book awhile ago and thinking something similar -- the author didn't really have a sense of what actually happened or what the relationships were actually like. I don't think Scorsese did either. Because so much doesn't really track. Does she think her husband was involved with killing her sister or not? What would your reaction be to that? Trusting him? I dunno...maybe it was really weird times back then, but then the film doesn't capture that weirdness. Not saying it would be easy to...but still. And the movie does "The Oppenheimer" and goes into an hour long act 3 trial. My eyes were heavy at times. 

In the parking lot, two couples were animated talking about Taylor Swift and I realized one reason why the movies are dying. The great auteurs are not delivering to their audience the way Swift does. She delivers every time and her fans become her marketing machine. The auteurs still have their defenders, but you need to deliver to the fanboys in a way that aren't anymore. 

I hate to say it, but we need Harvey Weinstein...or some other movie whisperer who can provide the perspective of the world/audience. Because without this kind of collaborator, the auteurs go off the rails it seems to me...

PS 

We should recognize the Hamas attack for what it was: an attempted genocide. Anyone calling for ceasefire in Israel must come up with an appropriate worldwide response to such a thing. Propose ideas people...

Anyone Find It Odd...

How the Assad family has routinely committed war crimes, massacred citizens, used chemical weapons on opposition, murdered leaders in an occupied country (Lebanon) -- and nary a peep from the progressive Left, the DSA, the WGA, or a single campus organization about it. I wonder why? It's in the exact same neighborhood. Perpetrated by a minority (Alawite) against Arab and Muslims civilians. Look up the Hama massacre for historical context. For other context - look up what happened in the Syrian Civil War and during the Lebanon protests in the mid 00s. 

I really, really wonder what it could be? It's a gigantic mystery wrapped in a riddle...

Maybe I Was Right?

When I proposed Israel should be carpet bombing Tehran? 

How Every Sane Person in The West Feels About the Woke People Around Them

Logging

Film: Misery

One of the great films about being a writer.

Film: Tremors

Also holds up...did they use the same music as Midnight Run...?

And Spielberg straight up stole stuff from this film for Jurassic Park...

Logging

TV Show: Lioness S1 E1

Military porn. Super lazy final scene. Still, a few good scenes and lines of dialog. People very serious in the Sheridan-verse. 

Mistake

Nassim Taleb pointing out the Arab world is turning on Israel because of the hospital strike. Which turned out to be a lie. He's pointing out new dynamics - more Muslims in Europe, more on social media, etc. Here's what I think: we need to start caring a whole lot less of the Muslim street thinks and they need to starting a lot more about what we think. The Muslim street responds to one thing: the strong horse. We're the strong horse. We need to start acting like it. 

And so you say: what is the goal of this war? I say to end Hamas as an organization. The Arabs can get on board or not. 

Anti-Israel

Being anti-Israel is code/dog whistle for anti-Semitism. Full stop. Everyone knows it. The entire reason for Israel's existence is to prevent what happened in the holocaust from ever happening again. The "pro-Palestine" position was tried before. The Jews relied on more populous "friends" for defense and political power. We know how it worked out when push came to shove.

Liberal Jews who spout platitudes and criticisms of Israel ought to be super, super careful of what they're empowering and indulging. They're getting in harmony with a tapestry of people who hate their existence and their success. There are psychological reasons for this - read up on scapegoating. Don't indulge this shit. Don't be Little Red Riding Hood. That's not grandma - it's the wolf. Face reality now. 

Hospital Bombing

Desire...

Israel doesn't want to bomb hospitals

Hamas wants Israel to bomb hospitals

Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys?

Don't say it's complicated. It's not. 

Why don't pro-Palestinian voices ever say Hamas shouldn't build the political and war infrastructure underneath hospitals?

Redistribution - A Problem with Nepo Babies

A fresh argument for redistribution is the problem of nepo kids. Exhibit #1: Oakland A's owner is the son the folks who created The Gap. A billionaire idiot. He gives two shits about baseball, the A's, or anything and is moving them to Vegas. Why? No reason, just something to do. We see this with Abigail Disney as well - nothing but a last name and a few sociology courses. 

I don't know how we can solve this problem, but it's real because the amounts of money controlled by these people are staggering and they can really screw things up.

Overton Window

Every horrified liberal who finds themselves surrounded by hateful terrorist cheerleaders has no one to blame but themselves for letting the Overton window shift leftwards the past 20 years. 

Logging

Film: Sneakers 

Government agents and Hollywood stardom feels superior and more powerful than the tech bros in the movie. Times have changed. Tone and execution of the movie still enjoyable. The liberal platitudes / politics of the film hold up poorly. 

My Least Popular Opinion: The Iraq War Was Still Not A Mistake

Neither was Afghanistan, but the pullout was.  

Noisy voices on both right and left casually dismiss the Iraq was as some sort of horrible travesty - one of the dumbest and worst things the US has ever done. Really? Have we been attacked again by Al Queda? Has Saddam spread violence and instability across the region? Have WMDs spread in the region?

ISIS and Al Queda are exhausted forces. It's a practical miracle they didn't manage any follow ups post-9/11. Israel has normalized relations with almost all the Arab states.

If anything, the big mistake with respect to the Iraq War was France and Germany fracturing the UN and making it feckless. 

Question

Why don't activists who want to return land to the indigenous peoples celebrate the only country in the world who did exactly that: the state of Israel.

Efficient Way to End The War

A lot of calls from the far left for Israeli restraint and peace, etc. Why not call for the thing that actually could end the war: Hamas surrendering? 

Israel - Palestine

At least in the NY Times, US intel says Iran didn't know about the Hamas attack so I guess my carpet bombing idea was a bit hasty. Still, the world now knows what "decolonization" means in practice. 

Indigenous People's Day

For those who celebrate: were the indigenous people you are celebrating slave holders and murders? 

We Already Knew

Where these people stand...the squad, the far leftists, the feckless Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians, Hamas, Iran...just don't ever forget it. Print the receipts. 

"Exercise Restraint" 

Any country that says Israel should "exercise restraint" (ie China) should have its border invaded by a neighbor, its citizens murdered and taken hostage, and then exercise their own fucking restraint.

Logging

TV: Poker Face S1 E2 

Didn't like this episode nearly as much as the pilot. Feel like we are back in TV propaganda land... all the female and minority characters are heroic (and boring) and every white male character is a villain. 

Strategy - For Starters

1. Taiwan needs to draft and train 1.5 million militia troops in how to defend the island against Chinese invasion starting next week.

2. NATO and the US need to start manufacturing massive amounts of ammunition and military supplies next week. US needs to demand NATO allies get on board or kick them out of the alliance. 

3. Sanctions put back in place against Iran immediately. 

4. Israel has carte blanche.

5. Build a fence on the Southern border. 

6. Question: what would the Greeks have done to the Palestinians?

UPDATE:

Further thoughts in the shower:

7. Make an arrangement like this: if the Iranians attack US interests, we decimate their navy and give half their country to the Saudis and Iraqis if they're willing to take it. 

8. Make a deal with the Indians, Vietnamese, and Japanese that if the Chinese invade or blockade Taiwan, the Vietnamese will invade the Yunnan province from the South, the Indians will invade from their border region and the Japanese will defend Taiwan from the sea. 

9. For the crowds cheering on Hamas in Rotterdam and any other European countries, I'd get names and revoke immigration status of 10-25% of all participants. I'd put them on a boat to Gaza next week. If they protest again, another 10-25% and so forth. 

Tehran

Among the many reasons I'd make a bad leader of a country, I see little reason why Israel isn't carpet bombing Tehran right now. And to be honest, I wouldn't even call and ask US permission.

Palestine-Israel

In reaction to efforts toward peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Hamas decided to mass murder civilians with rockets and a killing spree. 

I'd love to see someone take the Palestinian side on this one...what kind of mental contortions it would require is beyond me. 

Logging

TV Show: Poker Face Pilot    

This is one of the best network TV shows I've seen in a long time. There is one tiny problem baked into the design. The show is for dudes. The lead is a sassy woman. The show will never be able to square the fact that dude-dudes won't tune in for the long haul to watch a sassy women. They'll watch a film with a sassy woman lead. But if given the choice of Justified vs. Poker Face (or even old school Miami Vice or Sopranos) - they will always opt for the dude in the lead.

So as excellent as the show is, it won't be a hit. Which squares perfectly with what Hollywood is right now - politically correct instead of a money maker.

You Must Like Our Themes!

Producer complains buyer turns down their project because of the LGBT+ themes.

Because there isn't enough LGBT content out there, right?

Movie Biz

Generated just 49 mil this past weekend. 

The biz committed slow motion suicide over the past decade. I've been a witness. 

Equity

What percent of the "equity" issue could be resolved by a renormalization of 2 parent homes in disadvantaged communities? 50% would be my guess. 

Absent consistent abuse, I would guess even a shitty dad would be a net positive. A dad who simply filled up the cars with gas, earned minimum wage, and put away the dishes once in awhile would still help the household a lot. And just being around, who knows, he might even play with the kids once in awhile. 

Why this never is "on the agenda" is beyond me... 

Believe All Women

Do we recall that believing women was the cause of both Emmitt Till's murder and the Salem Witch Trials?

So You're Saying There's a Chance...! 

LA Times doing their best Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber impression with respect to cash payments for reparations. Despite nearly 3x as many Californians saying they are against reparations (in a poll done by the LA Times), LA Times writes this headline:

Most Californians want reparations for slavery but don’t want to pay cash. Now what?

Several decades ago this phenomenon was addressed by the book He's Just Not That Into You, but I suppose liberal women gotta be liberal women...

The above headline is literally the opposite of what the polls, data, and common sense say. 

Logging

Film: Tender Mercies

Why are there so many great films and writers out of Texas and Oklahoma? No Country/Cormac, all Larry McMurtry films and novels, Horton Foote, Tracey Letts, Terrence Malick? Is it something about the landscape? The food? The public schools?

What to say about the film? Well, it's a family melodrama that's really one of the better movies about being an artist. I loved the writing - incredibly direct and a great contrast to the other film I just watched --

Film: Molly's Game

A few good scenes but ultimately felt like a long voice over with a movie playing in the background.

Film: The Sound of Music

The thought crossed my mind while watching this: we enjoy movies because they were made by human beings not so different from ourselves. Would it be interesting to watch a basketball game played by aliens or androids? I think not. The other thought that crossed my mind: this film puts to shame the films currently produced by the Hollywood studios. And a third thought while watching this amongst a packed house at the Hollywood Bowl sing-a-long: if somewhere in LA played Easy Rider on a Saturday night, how many folks would attend? 20-30? Whereas Sound of Music gets thousands. Recall, Easy Rider was made in '67 and supposed to be a marker of "New Hollywood," etc. Sound of Music is 1965. So what, in the end, holds up? When I was 25, was probably (sadly) more impressed by Easy Rider. But these films - pardon my QT reference - aren't even the same sport. 

One last thought: I think the country and people that were able to make this film still exists, just the Hollywood that made this film does not. 

Logging

Film: Hustlers

One of the worst films I've seen in awhile. Somehow Rotten Tomatoes has a 87% fresh rating from critics. How? My guess: they hired a PR film to juice those ratings. Because this one is bad. Not like man-hating Barbie bad - although it has a little of that - Barbie at least makes you think. This one just lacks basic drama or human characterization or much of a story. What it does have, however, is an abundance of slo mo shots of a diverse group of strippers walking into a bar, restaurant, or club. That's about all that can be said about it. 

Funniest part - the big looming arrest and sting operation leads to some hardcore probation and 4 weekends in jail for the ladies. We're talking super high stakes in this one.

Pain Hustlers

A movie about big pharma selling opioids. Now do puberty blockers and hormones - the stuff they're doing today, not 20 years ago.

The Hopeless

I theorized 25% of people were hopeless, turns out the actual number appears to be 23%. I was pretty close.

"Discussions"

Read a children's book today on accident about a kid who runs around naked, discovers his parents clothes closet, doesn't fit into dad's clothes, and instead loves mom's clothes. Story ends with mom teaching him how to put on make up. Reviews on amazon: "Wonderful!" "Affirming!" "LGBT+ friendly."

Do these people realize that 97% of kid-parents who read this story and have a "real" discussion, it will go like this: well that was super fucking weird, wasn't it? How about we never read this piece of shit again?" Or at least that's how my conversation with my 5 year old went. 

I'm not so sure the LGBTQ+ strategy of putting all this stuff in the face of normies is going to have the intended effect. When people find out you're in a throuple or banged 10 dudes in a week or are cutting off your tits, I just think people are gonna be grossed out and think you're totally weird no matter how many thoughtcrimes they are breaking.

Everything Wrong With the Movie Biz Summed Up

Susan Rice back on the Netflix board. 

She has no business being anywhere near a local theater production, but somehow in a major position of power at the biggest producer of film and tv content in the world.

Logging

Film: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

3rd or 4th watch...what's new? 

Imagining the movie  through the eyes of a non-film bros - is the Margot Robbie storyline nonsensical if you don't know the Sharon Tate story? 

Is the narrator Kurt Russell or the character Kurt Russell is playing in the film?

Still don't understand the shot of Polanski drinking french press in his backyard.

My favorite moment this time around - Leo losing it when he's describing Bronco Billy story.

Thought: does Tarantino think about movies in 20-30 minute segments? I watched the date sequence from Pulp Fiction the other day and noticed his segments are wonderfully self contained and full of unexpected twists and turns. I wonder if part of his "magic" lies within his ability to break films down into smaller narrative components -- thereby disrupting the audience's boredom and expectations with certain narratives tropes (ie story structures) they've become overly accustomed to. We have no idea how long the sequence at the Spahn Ranch is going to be. We think maybe Pitt will get laid? Robbed? Killed? Maybe there will be a huge fight? Maybe this is the entire rest of the movie. Maybe he just drops her off and waves to Charlie Manson before going to watch a movie by himself. 

If Tarantino made this film at a different moment would there have been some sequences in Italy with Rick and Cliff? Would we see how Rick meets his Italian wife?

You need the scene, but one of the scenes I liked least this time around was the Manson murderers in the car.

Logging

Film: Kill Boksoon 

Another strong Korean action-dark comedy film. A bit bloated in b-stories, I could've lived without the seeing the potential future conceit, but nevertheless stylish, fun, cool. I do worry we might be entering a time when Hollywood closes shop for the most part and no one notices or cares. Like maybe Hollywood goes in the direction none of the creatives want - just making the highest of high end product - 20 movies a year and nominate all of them for Oscars. 20 TV shows and nominate all of them for Emmys. Korea, Italy, Scandinavia, Japan, Argentina are where all the middle class movies get made. 

Unsubtle

Russia's new rocket weapon is called Satan II. 

Building A New City

Silicon Valley elite trying to build a new city in Norcal.  Two thoughts:

1) Great idea. I think we should be building 10 new American cities.

2) This also sounds like the bad guy plot of Chinatown

Disliking the US

Whenever I hear someone poo-poo the US, it just makes me think they haven't travelled enough. 

Ramaswamy

Sounds good for about 3 minutes before you realize he's a complete charlatan with terrible ideas.

This is a guy who thinks and operates on 3-4 year timelines which is probably why he's running for President.

Separate, I don't understand how DeSantis can't just be running on the message: all these guys may sound right but I can govern and they can't. 

Gender Surgeon Justification

Consider - gender surgeons often say they do what they do to kids because the alternatives are suicide - that is, a 13 year old says I'm going to kill myself unless you change my gender. But what if the 13 year old just cut out the middle man part of the equation and said, "Gimme 10K or I'm going to kill myself." Would the gender surgeon pony up the cash to do this? Why not?

The Antidote

To how depressing the world can be is to have kids and play sports and games with them. 

Logging

Short Story: Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard 

Boy, is he good. Packs so much feeling, character, joy, humor into short little space. Inspiring really. The whole TV pilot is laid out in this story...

Film: The Fabelmans

Halfway through...obviously terrific filmmaking but I find myself experiencing low level depression watching it. Why? Among other reasons, I see the America being depicted here as irretrievably lost and in a bad way:

1) Hardly anyone has 4 kids anymore - the early scenes of Spielberg teaching himself to make movies was with his sisters. No sisters no Spielberg.

2) The Boy scout pack is HUGE and fully engaged with the filmmaking of young Spielberg. Could any kid gather such help to make movies today? Would the parents stop them for not meeting diversity requirements? No Scouts no Spielberg.

3) The father's job. He's so excited about building things and examining how things work in the physical world. Do Americans have jobs like this anymore? Are Americans like this anymore?

A Brief Theory on Education/Teaching

You learn so you may forget. 

When you teach a child phonics, you hope they will internalize the lessons so much they don't need to expend any brain energy on the formation of words when they are reading. You learn it, so you can forget it and concentrate on the bigger issue of meaning.

You teach basic math so that the lessons are internalized and you don't need to count on your fingers when getting change at a store. You learn basics so more complex math can be done at a later time. You can intuitively understand compound interest when you know multiplication. Without it, you are lost.

Many great writers de-emphasize learning "structure" when it comes to storytelling suggesting it isn't helpful or how "real writers write." But many people who aspire to write don't actually understand or know structural basics. It's like saying, real race car drivers don't check the RPMs when they shift gears. No shit. Because they've internalized the lesson. But a kid learning to drive stick shift should probably think mechanically about the steps as they are practicing in the parking lot.

Hurricane in LA

Judging by the traffic and weather of the last two days - I hope we get more hurricanes in Los Angeles. Shit, I think we should have one every month. God - are you listening?

Logging

Film: Detectives vs. Sleuths 

Needed to wash off the stink of Barbie so I watched this insane Hong Kong action film that 100% deserves a nomination for a holy fucking shit movie of 2022. Question: can a holy fucking shit movie also be good? I think so, but could see a debate on the issue. This movie is somewhat close to being good but engages in a familiar problem with Chinese action films - a complete lack of characterization in favor of "twists." Still, the main character is a paranoid who believes he is the "chosen sleuth" meant to solve all the botched cases within a corrupt police department. He also sees demons. In my language that translates to "you had me at hello."

Logging

Film: Barbie 

So much to dislike! Bill Simmons coined a term "sports hate" to distinguish between actual real hate and just "sports hating" a certain player. So I "movie hate" Noah Baumbach films and he's managed to extend his circle to his now wife Greta Gerwig. 

Where to begin? In no particular order:

Hitting a trifecta of things I hate in films: corporate brand extension, misanthropic hipsterism, gender studies 101 themes...  

Irony - the best parts of the movie are Will Ferrell and Ryan Gosling. At least I laughed (lightly) during their scenes. So in a movie about feminism, the guys steal the show.

The underlying misanthropy. This is my main issue with Baumbach film in general. It's shallow cruelty masked as "realism." I find them boring, tedious, and untrue. Like I'm hanging with a depressive. So while yes, a lot of ideas are brought to the fore in the film - none of the ideas are interesting. The father gets mocked for trying to learn a second language. The Ken's are mocked for their helpful attempts to show Barbie's how to work photoshop and invest. There was some wit in that final sequence, but if you excavate the underlying meaning, it's got an upside down world view. The Barbie's basically steal the election validating the claims of the Jan 6 protestors! This is the Gerwig-Baumbach political philosophy?!?

Lacking emotion. The only vaguely true emotional moments are tiny moments between America Ferrara and her daughter and Gosling's lack of identity. For a movie about Barbie, she's a pretty uninteresting character. I don't buy her existential crisis one bit.

I don't mind the nonsensical plot mechanics. Par for the course for these type of movies. 

Kate McKinnon was a tiny jolt of life into a movie that starts off dead for 20 minutes. I was in a theater about 30% full - not a single laugh for nearly 25 minutes into a movie that is supposed to be a comedy.

Musical numbers were lacking passion. Like they were just there to fill in runtime. Also - just me - or were there too few musical numbers to feel like a musical and too few jokes to feel like a comedy?

Thankfully no audience cheers for America Ferrara's lecture. Pure cringe. 

Why does Barbie decide to become human in the end?

In her "meeting God" (ie Rhea Pearlman scene) was it just me, or is this what I imagine happening in an acting class?

Gerwig likes 80s and 90s sitcoms, doesn't she? This is a point in her favor and probably why she's a better filmmaker than her husband.

Gerwig seems to diss on her dad in a lot of these movies - reading into this and Ladybird I'm sorta like: does she blame him for dealing with a bout of unemployment when she was a teen? Sorry to be so Freudian. 

Some nods to wokeness being hijacked by corporate stooges. Fine point. Not sure what to take away from it. Not sure the film knows. Does this undermine wokeness? Further validate it? Similarly, not sure if handicapped and trans Barbie's were making a joke about inclusivity or trying to be legitimately inclusive. Does Gerwig know? Does WB know? Does Mattel know?

Trans Barbie tough to stomach on screen. No one will say it, but everyone will think it. You can tell because post-production did a job on actor to make it seem like maybe just a sort of ugly barbie - but informed viewers will recognize the actor and someone involved with the film is hoping it will "open up discussion" on the matter while others see it as an opportunity to sell dolls.

My wife defends the film because it was a smart move by Mattel and better-than-expected-for-a-Barbie movie. Is there a term that can describe this nonsense? Like a cousin-term to "damning with faint praise." A good move for Mattel? That's what we ask of our movies now?

This is not a film for kids. This is a film for women who want to it every which way. This movement of women taking their daughters (and sons) into this cult of hateful nonsense will have a very nice backlash that I am going to enjoy watching.

UPDATE: Just had a realization about the end of Barbie - the weird mother-daughter /tree of life montage at the end was about Barbie discovering she wanted to be a mother (never felt this emotionally at all in the film). Trip to gynecologist nails this point. Took me 2 days to figure this out - either I'm dumb or the hid the ball on it. Why? 

Logging

Film: Yojimbo

Definitely a rewatch but strangely I have no recollection of when I watched the film or how many times I've seen it. Not one of my favorite all time films - nor even one of my favorite Kurosawa films - but nevertheless it feels like it belongs on any list of greatest films of all time. Is this discussed as an action film? It might be the birth of the genre...alongside James Bond.

Good

NYC pension funds threaten to divest from entertainment companies unless they resolve strikes. 

More like this please. I feel we need total replacement of all management at all the major studios. But that's just me.

Alcohol

Good twitter post on alcohol.  Turns out all studies saying modest alcohol is good for you are full of shit. Any alcohol is bad. Makes sense since it is a poison.

But the important question is not: booze or no booze. It's what to do in the evening when you can't/shouldn't be working anymore or hanging with kids. 

Milf Island Storyline in 30 Rock

In 30 Rock there was a storyline where Jack superimposes Jerry Seinfeld into his "Seinfeldvision" programming and Jerry is the host/spokesperson for a show called Milf Island and a dozen other NBC shows. Naturally, Jerry finds out and gets upset. Jack threatens Jerry with a lawsuit and Jerry counter threatens to buy NBC at which point Jack realizes NBC could be bought for 4 million dollars.

Does any of this sound familiar? 

And yes, there is a show called Milf Manor running on TLC right now.

San Diego Notes

Timkin Museum in Balboa Park what museums ought to be. Small, doable in an hour. Roughly 12 incredible paintings in the Dutch/Flemish room alone including a Rembrandt.

Safari Park twilight tour worth the time and money. Saw a few different rhino species, giraffe, a lot of antelopes. I sheepishly asked whether predators get mixed with prey. The guy laughed and said a lion in the park would mean the end of the other animals. 

Barrio Logan in SD. Gentrifying, but still feels like "the barrio." Kids wanted to play on playground with drug addicts around, possible gang graffiti, and no other children around -- my answer was "no." Went to eat at Las Cuatro Milpas, a Mexican restaurant open since 1933. An hour long wait. Worth it for the experience and to "have done" it. Food was good, but perhaps not remarkable. Best thing was chorizo and huevos...basically a stew with chorizo, eggs, beans, and rice -- you could barely tell there was chorizo and eggs in there. Squeeze some lemon, eat with the magnificent homemade tortillas - very good. I'd skip the "rolled tacos" which are just taquitos. 

North Park neighborhood. Like other hipster areas but with a San Diego vibe. Tribute Pizza joint in wonderful old post office location. Got a Jeni's ice cream shop. Felt younger than LA hipster areas or maybe I'm just older...

Hillcrest brunch...place called Trust. LGBT blah blah blah flags flying everywhere. Sort of weird. Wasn't pride month several months ago? Menu looked terrific, food was solid.

Might San Diego whether the current California weirdness better than LA and SF? Both LA and SF have noticeably declined in the past 7-8 years. And I noticed a considerable homeless problem in San Diego, so it wasn't immune. But certain characteristics - military presence, older folks, a science-oriented UCSD, and just being generally less attractive to the most batshit people on the planet suggests selling LA/SF and buying some San Diego.

Travel With Kids

Is a battle of attrition against the use of iPad, one you will eventually lose. 

Good Title: Beware Psychotherapy That Works

On a macro level the more ubiquitous and de-stigmatized psychology becomes we seem to be more awash in mental illness. 

One would imagine the opposite to be true.

And Behold The Business Genius of Our Time...

These are the types of people who make money in show business now...the person who came up with the brilliant idea of branding popcorn.

Logging

Film: Man on Fire 

Never been a gigantic fan of the ADHD style of this film. For what gets remembered as a classic action thriller - remarkably little action. Sure, Denzel sticks a bomb up a guy's ass but the film is more drama than action. I suppose for the entire 2nd half of the film, Denzel's walking around with a gun or bazooka but the set pieces are more memorable for their brutality than spectacle. An interesting flick - almost for how much people seem to know, follow, and remember it. Can anyone explain to me Mark Anthony's scam for getting his own daughter kidnapped? Insurance pays ransoms for these things? Seems like a pretty flawed system and would encourage mass kidnapping... Nice use of music in the film.

Film: The Apartment

Writing lesson: a lot of plot revelations early into the film pulls us into the story. I mean we start with the guy already loaning out his apartment. Most of the 2nd half of the film just deals with emotional fallout and the various ironic scenarios of Lemmon being a ladies man. 

Depressing that such a film of this scale would be an "indie" today and look like shit compared to what we were making in 1960... Even more depressing it wouldn't even be made as an "indie" because of various "problematic" elements featured in the film -- no point in getting depressed pointing these out.

Film: The Drop

Watched the first half so far. Crime films from book adaptations often allow for much more sprawling, digressive narrative structure that has high risk and high return when done well. They should've promoted this film as a "dog movie." Amazing cast...want to see how it ends.

Luke Combs Version of Fast Car

He kept in the lyric "worked in the market as a check out girl..." a beautiful, elegant choice to honor the original song and simultaneously make a subtle fig leaf gesture on the "gender wars." Not sure who can object to this thing.

Ohtani

Saw in person last night. A few notes:

-He's an incredible player. Took an extra base on a single with no outs to put himself in scoring position. 

-I haven't watched a ton of baseball in recent times, but he's a bit Barry Bonds-ish at the plate. You can feel the entire stadium stop and watch. Each pitch a giant moment.

-He whacked a fly out that seemed to go up 1 mile in the air - a millimeter off a monster home run.

-A single man interested in meeting a Japanese woman would put himself in a good position to do so by attending Angels games.

-The Angels as a team stink.

-"He Gets Us" was advertised at the stadium. Clever. It seems like the Christians are stealing a page from the BLM playbook by creating a strong slogan and pushing their ideas through sports and other significant cultural touchstones.

-As I get older, I think the food at games improves slightly and yet I'm more disgusted by it.

-Beer is tempting to order, but I'm glad I didn't have any. Why do stadiums/events carry the large/22 oz type of beers now? I would prefer smaller sizes (and order more) to maximize number of cold sips. Temperature of drinks an underrated vital factor in enjoyment. This applies to beer, martinis, coffee, soft drinks, just about anything and why Musso and Franks martinis are the best (the extra bits kept cool in ice bucket for you)

The Studios

This WGA-SAG strike will create 1-2 generations of people in entertainment who fundamentally hate and distrust the studios and their new friends in tech. But of course the people who work in those places don't care since they know they will be fired or quit by the time the chickens come home to roost. Hence the problem. 

Nuggets of Gold

I haven't even finished reading this yet, but there's already genuine nuggets of gold in the article. 

And so misogynist, once a term used for men who repeatedly beat their wives or who pushed a sexually aggressive “PUA” agenda, now accrues to those of us who don’t find much to love in the music of Taylor Swift.

and 

The assumed ideology in 21st-century American life is that your personal and political virtue is expressed in your consumer choices, that you reveal your innermost ethical self not through your actions or even your utterances but with the consumerist cultures you labor to broadly associate yourself with.

Logging

TV: Jack Ryan S1 E1 and E2, Justified City Primeval, S1 E1 

Something about John Krasinski is a bit hard to buy as Jack Ryan. There's just no comparison in screen presence between him and a younger Ford. The show also feels a bit cheap, even though they globetrot and have pretty serious action sequences. Everything sort of looks like shows of similar character like 24. Part of the Jack Ryan appeal was the verisimilitude of the movies/books. This network TV treatment diminishes the brand. 

In contrast, Justified is perfect TV. The humor plays and balances nicely against the medium-high stakes of the situations. To sustain tension and interest, they jump around to numerous POVs and introduce layers of dramatic irony. Also, the great achievement are the side characters, each given some sort of morsel to play with in the story. Strong casting compliments the writing. And Olyphant holds it all together. As Milch says in the Deadwood commentary, "He is one handsome man."

A Sign Of A Good Day

Computer reads zero screen time from the day before.

Our Elites

Researchers faked data about honesty. 

We raised a generation of folks who cheat to get ahead by meritocratic standards and are now reaping the whirlwind. My "optimism" revolves around the fact that elites in hostile countries like China and Russia are considerably more corrupt than our own.

Question

I wonder if Bulworth holds up. 

Oh No

I don't like death posts on the internet in general, but this one really bums me out: Sinead O'Connor.

Logging

Film: Oppenheimer

To contextualize the experience: seeing with a group of friends at the Mann's Chinese (one of the greatest theaters in the city - if not world) in 70MM Imax with a packed audience - before the credits rolled, the night was already a win. The film didn't disappoint by any stretch and the first 1.5 (?) or 2 hours about the creation of the bomb were gripping, if not spectacular. The 3rd act didn't totally land for me. I was going with it but kept thinking to myself: is this really just going to be about the appointment of a cabinet secretary? 

So...a tad mixed feelings about the overall film...I was yearning so much to be blown away. I think part of me was expecting to feel what movie lovers of a prior generation felt about Citizen Kane...which I suppose means I went in with too high expectations. A few other notes/thoughts:

-Cillian Murphy was terrific, but didn't he do something similar with Tommy Shelby (and maybe even better?)

-Josh Harnett should model the next phase of his career on Alec Baldwin and just make sure the weapons masters he works with aren't drunk and high on cocaine.

-I've read criticisms of the dialog. Was it so bad? Have I lost my ear?

-Valid criticisms: there are at least 2 movies in here, maybe 3? The best one was about the team of nerds building the bomb.

-If I rewatch, it will be in the theater and I will most be paying attention to the first sequence.

Film: Ash is the Purest White

A masterpiece and a must watch for serious movie lovers and those curious about China. A Touch of Sin and this are two of the top 5 Chinese films I've seen (same director). Asian-American actors should take lessons from Asian-Asian actors. This one will live with me.

Film: Cutter's Way

Is this the 2nd or 3rd time I've watched this film? I like it better each time. The performances are astonishing. John Hurt is beyond...and I imagine it will be (or already is) fashionable to mention Lisa Eichhorn and even Jeff Bridges...and don't get me wrong, they are terrific. But sometimes it's okay to just take the non-contrarian position and say: yeah, I think Lebron James is the best player on the court. John Hurt reaches a different and rare level in this film.

Visiting Death

We should all plan a 2nd or 4th career starting around age 60. Maybe I'll become a film director. Or a soccer coach. Or a financial planner. Or an academic. Or a deli owner. Or a car salesman. Or a writer of detective fiction. I have no idea.

Filmmaker

What would happen if a studio hired a filmmaker to run it? Soderburgh in change of WB. Spielberg in charge of Universal...

Barbieheimer

Imagine how much money studios could make if instead of spending all their resources on cinematic universes, streaming, ripping off the talent (aka Business Affairs), they instead spent resources making movies?

Alien Thought

If aliens visited earth whether would they find it puzzling that we have homeless humans meandering about DTLA in 90 degree heat while air conditioned office buildings were empty of workers.

A Step In the Right Direction

Barry Diller suggests top execs and stars take a 25% pay cut as a good faith measure toward resolution of the strike. 

Or shoot, maybe that money trickles down and the strike gets resolved.

It would work.

New Genres

Some new genre observations based upon stuff I've watched recently

1) Middle Aged Woman Wanders Around - Nomadland, The Lost Daughter

2) Action Hero Fights a Circle and There Are Lots of Other Characters, Too - MI7, Across the Spiderverse

3) We All Crazy As Shit - Yellowjackets, The Idol 

4) White People Are Dumb and Imma Get in Touch with My Roots Now - Joy Ride, You People

Goddamn

Freaking Fran Drescher on Bog Iger.

I wouldn't mind if every CEO of the studios and their entire teams were replaced.

Men and Women

I understand women find fighting, pseudo-intellectualizing, and farting tiresome and boring. But do they realize men find relationship talk, sisterhood, and nesting topics similarly tiresome?

Logging

Film: Joy Ride (2023) 

I'm not the audience for this film. Easy enough to watch. Some charm in the cast. Points off for repetitive jokes.

Question for a Humorist

Is rolling your eyes and saying "white people" now what passes for a joke in movie comedies?

Theory

The moment AI can create written "movies" either by writing, directing, or acting - the AI movie becomes irrelevant and boring because it will feel immediately cliched. The best argument for AI is that human made films are already cliched. Hardly an endorsement.  

Recently, I started playing Risk a bit on the iPad. Playing against the hardest level AI is quite easy to defeat already. I suspect they don't make the AI too good otherwise people wouldn't play at all. But you know who is good? Actual other players...the games are much more challenging playing against real folks. The downside to "real" games is they take too long whereas the AI games are fast. But after awhile the AI game becomes pointless. 

Questions 

1) Isn't AI more likely to replace studios executives than writers? 

2) Looking at Soderburgh dropping a tv show on his own website: why can't Hollywood retain underlying rights and sell content to Youtube, Vimeo, or frankly any streaming service just as easily as Netflix?

Studios Execs Own Houses Too, Don't They...

Unbelievable leak to Deadline from an anonymous studio exec about letting writers go broke. 

Question: how long do corporations keep printing paychecks for executives making tv and movies if they aren't making television and movies?

Logging

Film: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1

A thing the studios ought to consider is not making the same creative choices across similar films. From an audience perspective, it's pretty boring to watch a big train action sequence from Indiana Jones on Monday followed by a big train action sequence in Mission Impossible on Wednesday. Although to be fair, the last sequence in MI7 is the best part of the movie. The other best part are the random faces cast (particularly the femmes). But pairing old action star with young femme (both Indy and MI7), ending on a part 1 (Spiderverse and MI7), and having a bad guy that is basically a picture of a moving circle with spooky music (Spiderverse and MI7) feel awfully similar.

And did "The Entity" do a script pass? Because man those information dump dialog scenes...

Logging

TV: Yellowjackets S1 E2

The cuckolded husband wore a shirt that I own, which I take as an indictment against my wardrobe. 

This episode is largely about Missy...and thinking a bit deeper about the show and why ultimately it feels "less" than Lord of the Flies...this show is about female psychopaths. They missed the point of Lord of the Flies, which is this is about us. So much of prestige tv has this same/similar uber message of: we humans suck. But what they really mean is: all the people around me and you (audience) suck, huh? And I'm a bit sick of it, but worse than that - I don't think it's true. 

Prank Calls

The cell phone has deprived a generation of children the great pleasure of the prank call. 

Logging

Film: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Lifeless. At moments Phoebe Waller Bridge had some charm, but Harrison Ford didn't seem into it. Around the third act I realized: holy shit they stole my idea from years ago called Time Traveling Nazis...and I can tell they had put about as much thought into it as I had. Which is to say very little. 

Too much time spent on de-aging technology and DEI participation in casting and too little time spent figuring out whether there was any point to making this movie. 

TV: Pilot for Yellowjackets S1 E1

I hope the pitch for this show was Lord of the Flies meets Dazed and Confused.

Logging

Book: Lord of the Flies 

Holy shit what an amazing end sequence...

Logging

Film: No Hard Feelings

An okay night out, but I prefer my sex comedies with sex. 

TV: The Bear S2 E2

Something rubs me wrong about this show. Like the show Girls before it, fans seems to relish in the "authenticity." What an awful word, "authenticity" especially as applied to a TV show. Freaking TV! Imagine wanting to sit on a couch eating potato chips and watch "authenticity." If one wants "authenticity" wouldn't the smarter move to go get paid minimum wage to work in a shitty kitchen? At least you'd be making some extra money. No, what this audience wants is "real life" porn - the illusion they are living when in fact they are lonely and sad. Get off the couch, you bums!