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16  the Arts / Music / Laws Of Illusion: New Sarah McLachlan CD on: July 19, 2010, 03:10:01 pm
Laws Of Illusion: New Sarah McLachlan CD
Sarah McLachlan
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"LAWS OF ILLUSION is Sarah McLachlan returning to her finest form, last seen since SURFACING, released 14 years ago. This album took 7 years and perhaps countless ups and downs in McLachlan's life to make - and the wait is every bit worthwhile. McLachlan's discography has always been timeless, such that SURFACING could have been released yesterday and LAWS OF ILLUSION in 1996 and no one would be able to tell. Such is the excellence of musical craftsmanship and brilliance of song-making partnership between McLachlan and long-time producer Pierre Marchand.

There are 12 songs (and an additional bonus track) on this latest album, 2 of which previously featured on GREATEST HITS released 2 years ago. Initially I was critical of this, blaming laziness and lack of effort. Then I became appreciative. "U Want Me 2" is one of the best McLachlan songs ever - lush instrumental, poetic lyrics, ethereal vocals all lending to heartbreaking imagery. I'm glad I have it on here as part of the collection rather than having to keep going back to the GH collection to hear it. It fits in perfectly with LAWS OF ILLUSION like the last piece of jigsaw. And 13 songs on a McLachlan studio album is always a bonus, considering SURFACING and AFTERGLOW only had 10!

LAWS OF ILLUSION is perhaps McLachlan's hardest and edgiest sounding collection - swirling electric guitars are present on most songs. But the sound never drifts too far from what all fans will claim is McLachlan's (sort of what you'd expect if Enya did rock). The album also contains some of McLachlan's happiest sounding songs in a sing-songy, chorusy way: "Illusion Of Bliss", "Loving You Is Easy", "Out Of Tune" and "Heartbreak". Even the instrumentation is fuller, more uplifting, a little bit more bouncy as if it were skipping happily along. But make no mistake, those "happy" songs never end up sounding like cotton candy having been through the hands of this queen of melancholy. McLachlan always finds a way to serve them up as mostly minor-chord songs that transition into a major-chord chorus. "Illusion Of Bliss" is a misnomer, there is no illusion about the bliss contained in this song.

I need to specially mention "Forgiveness", my newest, favourite McLachlan song. The instrumental arrangement is exquisite, the melody is trademark McLachlan. The solitary piano beginnings deceive the listener into thinking this as "Angel" #2, but when the beats drop, background cooing vocals enter and guitar envelope the song, you discover the masterpiece. I think this song inspired the classy and dreamy album cover. I also need to single out "Awakening". It is different, moody, electric-guitar-rock-loud and has a song structure that is not immediately discernible. But it is a stand-out and showcases McLachlan as a rock goddess doing Coldplay. Finally, "Rivers Of Love" and "Changes" deserve attention too, as a throwback to the SURFACING era. This is your 2010 "Do What You Have To Do" and "Full Of Grace" respectively. Check out the saw.

I have deliberately left out the most important ingredient on LAWS OF ILLUSION for last. Shimmering, magical, breath-taking, expressive, soothing and flawless: McLachlan's voice. It is what makes a McLachlan CD a McLachlan CD. It has remained the same from the day I first started listening to her. Her phrasing is unique; her slight cracks are emotion-drenched; and the oft-featured yodel-break is skilfully used throughout.

LAWS OF ILLUSION is pretty much perfect. I'll be spinning this one for however long it takes for the next McLachlan CD to drop. If she takes this long to release music as astounding as this, so be it."
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17  Atlantis Arisen - Old Posts & Memorial / Atlantis Arisen - Memorial / Re: Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies after heart attack on: July 13, 2010, 11:13:35 am


Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died today at the age of 80.
18  Atlantis Arisen - Old Posts & Memorial / Atlantis Arisen - Memorial / Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies after heart attack on: July 13, 2010, 11:13:09 am
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies after heart attack
Comments

July 13, 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The Yankees say owner George Steinbrenner has died. He was 80.

Spokesman Howard Rubenstein said he died Tuesday morning. He had a heart attack, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and died at about 6:30 a.m, a person close to the owner told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not disclosed those details.

Steinbrenner, who celebrated his birthday July 4, had been in fragile health for several years.

Flags were immediately lowered to half-staff at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' spring training complex. The Yankees says many employees there were in tears.

The death comes two days after the team's beloved public-address announcer Bob Sheppard died at 99.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

19  Media & Film / Cinema / The Green Zone on: July 13, 2010, 11:10:20 am
"The Green Zone" DVD with Matt Damon. The Hollywood Action Film that Exposes the Lies About WMDs that the Bush Administration Used to Push the U.S. Into the Iraq War.
Directed By Paul Greengrass of the Bourne Supremacy
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
If You Want the Compelling Hollywood Version of Exposing the Bush/Cheney Lies About Weapons of Mass Destruction, "The Green Zone" Provides a Pulsating, Riveting Reminder of How We Were Had Into War. -- BuzzFlash

The New York Times panned the film no doubt because the NYT led the nation into believing there were WMDs largely through the bogus reporting of Judith Miller and others who were metaphorically sleeping with the Pentagon and the Bush Administration. That makes "The Green Zone" even more important to see.

"Matt Damon reteams with his Bourne Supremacy director to create a thriller grounded in contemporary politics: the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) travels across war-torn Iraq, pursuing the intelligence he's been given, but every site indicated comes up empty of WMDs. Investigating the source of the intelligence, he finds himself caught between CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson, 28 Days Later) and politician Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine) over the identity of "Magellan," the supposed source. As Miller tracks down an Iraqi general, he ends up further and further afield, facing danger from all sides. It's hard to say which is the greater accomplishment--that Green Zone manages to turn a still-volatile political issue into a propulsive action movie, or that it manages to depict Iraqi people as individuals with a wide range of responses to what's happened to their country. Damon's performance is low-key but effective as Miller tries to maintain some semblance of moral clarity in a circumstance that muddies everything. Also featuring Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) as a compromised journalist and Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner) as an Iraqi civilian who gets dragged into far more than he expected."


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20  Literature / Book Reviews / Rules for Radicals on: July 13, 2010, 11:08:22 am
Thom Hartmann's July Exclusive "Independent Thinker" Review for BuzzFlash: "Rules for Radicals"
By Saul Alinsky
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
THOM HARTMANN'S INDEPENDENT THINKER REVIEW OF THE MONTH FOR BUZZFLASH:
July 2010 "Rules for Radicals"

Each month or so, BuzzFlash is privileged to have nationally syndicated progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann review a progressive book or DVD exclusively for BuzzFlash. See other progressive premiums at The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace. See all of Thom's reviews for BuzzFlash at "Independent Thinker"

Thom Hartmann's Review -- Exclusively for BuzzFlash -- for July 2010:

Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals"

With any book, one of the most important pieces of that work is its frame or context. In “Rules for Radicals,” Saul Alinsky lays out his largest frame brilliantly in his chapter “The Purpose” when he talks about class distinctions.

“The setting for the drama of change has never varied. Mankind has been and is divided into three parts: the Haves and Have-Nots, and the Have-A-Little, Want Mores.”

Alinsky then includes a social critique worthy of writers from Thomas Hobbes to John Locke to Thomas Malthus to Karl Marx. In many ways, he summarizes the meta-story of most of Charles Dickens’ novels (Dickens’ father had spent time in a debtors prison). For example:

“On the top of the Haves with power, money, food, security, and luxury. They suffocate in their surpluses while the Have-Nots starve. Numerically, the Haves have always been the fewest. The Haves want to keep things as they are and are opposed to change....Politically they are cold and determined to freeze the status quo.

“On the bottom are the world’s Have-Nots. On the world scene, they are by far the greatest numbers. They are chained together by the common misery of poverty, rotten housing, disease, ignorance, political impotence, and despair. When they are employed, their jobs pay the least and they are deprived in all areas basic to human growth. Caged by color, physical or political, they are barred from an opportunity to represent themselves in the politics of life. The Have want to keep; the Have-Nots want to get....Politically, they are a mass of cold ashes of resignation and fatalism, But inside there are glowing embers of hope which can be fanned by the building of means of obtaining power. Once the fever begins the flame will follow areas they have nowhere to go but up.”

In “Rules for Radicals,” Alinsky lays out his famous 13 tactics. The first 11 include: “power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have; never go outside the experience of your people; wherever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy; make the enemy live up to their own book of rules; ridicule is man’s most potent weapon; a good tactic is one your people enjoy; a tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag; keep the pressure on; the threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself; the major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition; and, if you push the negative hard and deep enough it will breakthrough into its counter side.”

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21  the Arts / Music / Stones in Exile (2010) DVD on: July 08, 2010, 11:05:20 am
Stones in Exile (2010) DVD, Just Released Documentary on the Rolling Stones.
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
June 2010 DVD Release


"In the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones departed the UK to take up residence in France as tax exiles. Keith Richards settled at a villa called Nellcôte in Villefranche-sur-Mer and this became the venue for the recording of much of the band s masterpiece Exile On Main Street . Stones In Exile tells the story in the band s own words and through extensive archive footage of their time away from England and the creation of this extraordinary double album, which many regard as the Rolling Stones finest achievement.

Bonus Features
Extensive additional footage including interviews with all the band members, footage from C...sucker Blues and Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts returning to Olympic Studios and Jagger s country house Stargroves where a lot of the early work on the album was done."

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22  Suppressed Knowledge / Suppressed Knowledge / Fuel.: The World is Addicted to Oil. It's Time for an Intervention. 2010. on: July 08, 2010, 11:04:15 am
Fuel.: The World is Addicted to Oil. It's Time for an Intervention. 2010.
Directed and Starring Josh Tickell
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)

Given the catastrophe in the Gulf, this film is as timely as it comes. We screened it when it came out in the theaters, and it is an inspiring story of one young man who drove a biodiesel van around the country to educate Americans about alternatives to oil, only to realize that biodiesel fuels have their drawbacks too. Ever the optimist, he comes up with potential alternative fuels that could offer limitless energy.

A wonderful, uplifting and optimistic film about what an agent of change can accomplish. Inspiring!

"IMPRESSIVELY COMPREHENSIVE"..."FUEL" is a vital, superbly assembled documentary that presents an insightful overview of America's troubled relationship with oil and how alternative and sustainable energies can reduce our country's -- and the world's -- addictive dependence on fossil fuels."

- Gary Goldstein, LOS ANGELES TIMES

"THE UNOFFICIAL SEQUEL TO AL GORE'S 'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH'"...Tickell gets points for intellectual honesty for directly addressing critics who are concerned that increased use of biofuels will impact the global food supply, possibly pricing poor countries out of the market for such staples as corn. He doesn't dismiss the argument but offers some next generation technological solutions, from algae farms in the desert to "vertical farms" in the cities.
- Kerry Lengel, ARIZONA REPUBLIC

"DYNAMIC, STIRRING...A MUST SEE AND NOT JUST FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS"...We all know about ethanol, solar-and wind-generated power, hybrid engines and the like. But by the end of "Fuel," one might very well come out of the theater ready to invest in companies deriving energy from wood chips and algae, or growing food in vertical, inner-city farms.
- Tm Keogh, SEATTLE TIMES

"DEEPLY PERSONAL AND SURPRISINGLY PERSONABLE"...one of the refreshing traits of this action-nudging documentary is Tickell's willingness to wrestle his own biases. Tickell and writer Johnny O'Hara make a pragmatic case that one solution can't cure our energy woes. With candor, the doc often lets a nagging question cloud hope: Can energy ever be consequence-free?
- Lisa Kennedy, DENVER POST

"Every American who considers themselves a patriot must see this movie. It changes the way you think about America's dependence on oil. It also provides a path for a sustainable future that will not only make a greener planet, but save us all. Where most films of the sort leave you with a sinking feeling in your stomach, "Fuel" leaves you with hope and a sense of empowerment that you can, and will, make a difference. Own this film and share it with everyone you know."


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23  Suppressed Knowledge / Conspiracies / Barry Eisler's Novel of CIA Torture Intrigue, "Inside Out" on: July 08, 2010, 11:03:32 am
As Praised by Truthout and Laura Flanders, Barry Eisler's Novel of CIA Torture Intrigue, "Inside Out" [Hardcover]
By Barry Eisler

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
Publishers Weekly:

"Eisler's rock-solid sequel to Fault Line finds black ops spy/assassin Ben Treven dealing with anger management problems that have landed him in a grim Filipino jail. To the rescue is his old boss, Col. Scott Hort Horton, chief of Ben's secret unit, the absurdly blandly named Intelligence Support Activity. Hort tried to have Ben killed in the last book, but no matter—in exchange for his release, Ben must hunt down fellow agent Daniel Larison, a rogue who's demanding $100 million worth of uncut diamonds in exchange for 92 secret tapes showing extreme torture, instigated and sanctioned by the office of the U.S. vice president. Caught in this rapidly escalating disaster are various high-level government officials, all of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the tapes from being revealed. The open ending promises to unite Ben with Eisler's other series hero, John Rain, a matchup that should prove to be thriller gold for anxiously awaiting readers."

Truthout.org: "Barry Eisler "takes us on a tour of the darkest crevices of the new National Security State." As constitutional scholar and Harper's contributor Scott Horton notes, "Inside Out" is "a brilliant work of fiction - but is it really so fictional? Eisler’s plot lines move dangerously close to real life; they are animated by a reality behind the headlines."


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24  Media & Film / the History of Film / The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition): on: July 06, 2010, 11:52:16 am
The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition): Okay, Let's be a Little Nostalgic! No Harm in That.
Starring Julie Garland
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)

"The Wizard of Oz Two-Disc Special Edition DVD has the sharp 2005 restoration using Warner's Ultra Resolution process and an accompanying featurette on how it's done. The technicians also discuss how the sound was remixed, though that would have been more effective had it included surround-sound demonstrations (the featurette is in 2.0). Other features include a commentary track by critic John Fricke supplemented by vintage cast interviews (he offers a lot of trivia, and debunks the myth that Shirley Temple was ever close to getting the Dorothy role); profiles of nine cast members and clips of other movies they appeared in (including Toto); a lightly animated 10-minute storybook narrated by Angela Lansbury; and the original mono track and a music-and-effects track.

"New is a sing-along track that you can turn on as you watch the movie or you can select from 10 numbers to sing along with karaoke-style subtitles. The second disc has the Lansbury-hosted documentary The Making of a Movie Classic; outtakes and deleted scenes, including Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" reprise and the home-movie recording of "The Jitterbug"; sketches and stills and composer Harold Arlen's home movies; audio underscores and radio programs; 1979 interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley; 2001 and 2005 behind-the-scenes featurettes; a 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast; and other items too numerous to mention."

Special Features:

Commentary by Historian John Fricke Including Archival Interviews with Cast, Crew and Family
Restoration Featurette
Illustrated Video Storybook
Supporting Cast Profile Roundup
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic and Memories of Oz TV Specials
Archival, Making-of and Retrospective Featurettes
Harold Arlen's Home Movies
Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
Extensive Stills & Theatrical Trailer Galleries
Audio Vault (6 Hours +): Includes a Jukebox of Recording Session Materials, Radio Shows and Promos Off to See the Wizard TV Series Excerpt


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Other Reviews
"Like most baby boomers, I've watched this film dozens of times in the past on broadcast TV, then VHS tape, then LaserDisc ... but I had never actually SEEN "The Wizard of Oz" until this newly restored DVD came out. It's an amazing transfer. The sepia-tone Kansas sequences are startlingly sharp and clear, and the Technicolored world "Over the Rainbow" is truly dazzling."
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25  Media & Film / Cinema / To Kill a Mockingbird on: July 06, 2010, 11:51:16 am
Sale: To Kill a Mockingbird (Collector's Edition) DVD, A Classic for Any Collection and Repeated Viewing, Particularly in Light of the Tea Party's Emergence and the Ongoing Neo-Confederate Republican Party. An Equisite Exploration of Hate, Bigorty, Injustice, Fear, and Courage.
Based on the Novel by Harper Lee
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
The superbly scripted, acted and rendered story of racial injustice in the Deep South (Alabama), with peak performances by the ensemble cast led by Gregory Peck as the wise, courageous small town attorney, a widowed father of two young children.

"To Kill a Mockingbord," as a book, but particularly as a film, has been a haunting inspiration about racial injustice to generations, including the Editor of BuzzFlash.

This is a film to share with friends, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. No speech, no letter to the editor, no religious homily, could have the impact of this remarkably moving and extraordinary masterpiece of cinema.

"Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South) and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important "message" movie that should be required viewing for children and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest performances with his impassioned defense of a black man (Brock Peters) wrongfully accused of the **** and assault of a young white woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbor Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score) that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern cinema."

Plenty of bonus material in this collector's edition.

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26  Media & Film / Cinema / Inherit the Wind on: July 06, 2010, 11:50:35 am
Inherit the Wind (DVD), the Original with Spencer Tracy and Frederic March. Obviously the Scopes Trial of 1925 Didn't Put the Creationists Out of Business.
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
We saw a stage production of "Inherit the Wind" and were astounded at how a play 50 years old, based on a celebrated trial more than 80 years old, could be so prescient.

Or maybe prescient is the wrong word, because "Inherit the Wind" appears as if it is a drama written this year, but set back in the 1920s to give it more charm and character. After all, it doesn't seem, in the age of Bushevism, that we have "evolved" beyond the basic issues at stake in the famous Scopes trial: creationism vs. evolution.

The play, and the gripping movie adaptation that BuzzFlash is offering appear to put on trial the Bushevik creationists -- and their PR packaged cousin, "intelligent design."

The remastered-for-DVD film starring Spencer Tracy and Frederic March, as Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, is a courtroom battle of acting titans playing the roles of brilliant legal minds. This is the utlimate debate of fundamentalism vs. the age of enlightenment: blustering Biblical oratory vs. the power of and right to individual thought.

It's a movie more than 45 years old that shows how far backward the religious right has taken us: to an argument that appeared settled nearly a century ago.

"Inherit the Wind" is a masterful dramatic presentation of one of the most basic issues still facing America: upon which side of the Age of Enlightenment did our Constitution put us?
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Other Reviews
Roger Ebert:

"History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."

This statement by Karl Marx admirably serves two functions: (1) It describes the difference between the two times the teaching of Darwin's theories were put on trial in this country, in Tennessee in 1925 and in Pennsylvania in 2005; (2) Because it is from Karl Marx, it will automatically be rejected, along with the words to follow, by those who judge a statement not by its content but by its source. That is precisely the argument between Darwinism and creationism. Stanley Kramer's "Inherit the Wind" (1960) is a movie about a courtroom battle between those who believe the Bible is literally true and those who believe, as the Spencer Tracy character puts it, that "an idea is a greater monument than a cathedral."

The so-called Monkey Trial of 1925 put a young high school teacher named John T. Scopes on trial for violating a state law, passed the same year, prohibiting the teaching of any theory that denied the biblical account of divine creation. Darwin's theory of evolution was also therefore on trial. Two of the most famous lawyers and orators in the land contested the case. Scopes was defended by the legendary Clarence Darrow, and the prosecution was led by three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Darrow's expenses were paid by the Baltimore Sun papers, home of the famed journalist H.L. Mencken, who covered the trial with many snorts and guffaws.

In Kramer's film, Darrow becomes Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy), Bryan is Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March), Mencken is E.K. Hornbeck (Gene Kelly), and Scopes is Bertram T. Cates (Dick York). Another major player is the gravel-voiced Harry Morgan, as the judge. So obviously were the characters based on their historical sources that the back of the DVD simply refers to them as "Bryan" and "Darrow," as if their names had not been changed.

....But Drummond is unswerving in his emotional courtroom scenes, arguing that "fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding." When he is asked if he finds anything holy, he replies, "The individual human mind. In a child's ability to master the multiplication table, there is more holiness than all your shouted hosannas and holy of holies."


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27  Media & Film / Cinema / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on: July 06, 2010, 11:49:50 am
A Classic Must for Your DVD Collection: The Classic Metaphor for America, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" With Jack Nicholson. Says More About Our Nation Than Any Website, Including BuzzFlash.
Based on the Novel by Ken Kesey, Directed by Milos Forman.
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)

"One of the key movies of the 1970s, when exciting, groundbreaking, personal films were still being made in Hollywood, Milos Forman's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest emphasized the humanistic story at the heart of Ken Kesey's more hallucinogenic novel. Jack Nicholson was born to play the part of Randle Patrick McMurphy, the rebellious inmate of a psychiatric hospital who fights back against the authorities' cold attitudes of institutional superiority, as personified by Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). It's the classic antiestablishment tale of one man asserting his individuality in the face of a repressive, conformist system--and it works on every level.

"Forman populates his film with memorably eccentric faces, and gets such freshly detailed and spontaneous work from his ensemble that the picture sometimes feels like a documentary. Unlike a lot of films pitched at the "youth culture" of the 1970s, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest really hasn't dated a bit, because the qualities of human nature that Forman captures--playfulness, courage, inspiration, pride, stubbornness--are universal and timeless. The film swept the Academy Awards for 1976, winning in all the major categories (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay) for the first time since Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1931."

"DVD Extras:

The restored picture really makes a big difference in viewing. The Behind-the-Scenes documentary is very interesting talking about the time period, the themes from the book, the casting, and the time members of the crew spent at a similar facility to prepare for their roles and how they refused to drop character during the shoot. The Cast/Director Career Highlights don't give you much more information than if you used IMDB, but the audio commentary by the director is again very interesting, though the documentary is better."

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28  Literature / Book Reviews / The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest [Hardcover], 576 Pages on: July 06, 2010, 11:49:01 am
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest [Hardcover], 576 Pages
By Stieg Larsson
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)

"As the finale to Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is not content to merely match the adrenaline-charged pace that made international bestsellers out of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Instead, it roars with an explosive storyline that blows the doors off the series and announces that the very best has been saved for last. A familiar evil lies in wait for Lisbeth Salander, but this time, she must do more than confront the miscreants of her past; she must destroy them. Much to her chagrin, survival requires her to place a great deal of faith in journalist Mikael Blomkvist and trust his judgment when the stakes are highest. To reveal more of the plot would be criminal, as Larsson's mastery of the unexpected is why millions have fallen hard for his work. But rest assured that the odds are again stacked, the challenges personal, and the action fraught with neck-snapping revelations in this snarling conclusion to a thrilling triad. This closing chapter to The Girl's pursuit of justice is guaranteed to leave readers both satisfied and saddened once the final page has been turned."

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29  Media & Film / the History of Film / Sale: The Marx Brothers Box DVD Collection (A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Ra on: July 06, 2010, 11:48:11 am
Sale: The Marx Brothers Box DVD Collection (A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Races/A Night in Casablanca/Room Service/At the Circus/Go West/The Big Store) 5 DVDs
The Marx Brothers

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"This set includes seven of only thirteen Marx Brothers films ever made! Collection includes: "A Night at the Opera" (1935) - The Marx Brothers turn Mrs. Claypool's opera into chaos in their efforts to help two young hopefuls get a break. It contains the famous scene where Groucho, Chico and Harpo cram a ship's stateroom with wall-to-wall people, gags, one-liners, musical riffs and two hard-boiled eggs. "A Day at the Races" (1937) - Groucho stars as Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a horse veterinarian dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee. Chico selling racing tips, Harpo destroying a piano to turn it into a harp and favorite foil actress Margaret Dumont make this thoroughbred comedy wall-to-wall hilarity. "A Night in Casablanca" (1946) - This parody of the Bogart/Bergman 1943 classic features the Nazis vs. the "nutsies" as the Marx Brothers foil Axis criminals when they find stolen jewels and paintings Nazis have hidden in a hotel. "Room Service"/"At the Circus" - These two films are combined on one disc to provide double doses of laughter.

"In "Room Service" (1938), Lucille Ball and Ann Miller provide comic co-star support while the Marx Brothers play producers trying to keep their show above water and a hotel room over their head. In "At the Circus" (1939) Groucho stars as professional shyster lawyer J. Cheever Loophole in the middle of big-top bedlam as the boys try to save the circus and look to Margaret Dumont for the money to do so. Groucho sings one of his famous songs, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." "Go West"/"The Big Store" - Another Marx Brothers twin bill makes this a hilarious comedy "two-fer." In the first, the Marxmen "Go West" (1940) to the land of outlaws and Indians where the fun never stops and where they outwit a land grabber. In "The Big Store" (1941), Groucho plays Attorney Wolf J. Flywheel who with sidekick Wacky (Harpo) and bodyguard Ravelli (Chico) are investigating the shady dealings of a crooked department store owner. Bonus extras include commentary by Leonard Maltin."

"Well, my sanity for one, is finally back to normal (if such a thing is possible with the Marx Brothers) with the release of this Warner Bros. set. I was knocked out at how great the transfers looked on DVD. I thought the audio was GREATLY improved as well, (Harpo's playing is even MORE beautiful-didn't think that could be possible) but yet the original charm of the movies is there as well, not an easy task to achieve. I didn't mind the extras. It made me feel like I was back in the 30's and 40's, in a movie theater seeing it all for the first time. My faves in this collection: "Opera","Races","Casablanca", and "Circus". But, one of my favorite scenes is when Chico and Harpo have a piano duet in "The Big Store". Take a close look at those two. If you can't see how much those two brothers loved each other, then you need spectacles! Of course, then they try to outdo each other, as all siblings do.......... that scene is so funny, never fails to get a laugh out of me."

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30  Media & Film / Documentary / Plunder: The Crime of Our Time (DVD): A Great Basic Understandable Explanation o on: July 01, 2010, 11:22:51 am
Plunder: The Crime of Our Time (DVD): A Great Basic Understandable Explanation of the Criminal Wall Street Scheme That Brought Down the Mightiest Economy in the World (2010). Especially Good for Discussion Groups. Just Released.
By Danny Schechter

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
Danny Schechter exposed the credit card industry in the prescient "In Debt We Trust" a few years back. And indeed it was the stagnation of wages that began with the Reagan tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation of Wall Street that led to the economic collapse that Schechter makes the case was a criminal fraud.

Schechter doesn't have the money to have an A-Team of Hollywood cinematographers with him, but his case convincingly comes through loud and clear. Although much of what Wall Street did to crash the wealthiest economy in the world was legalized by the repeal of regulations in the late 1990s, Schechter makes a strong argument that the overall strategy of most of the large "too big to fail" financial firms was fraudulent and deceptive, in short subject to a RICO act indictment, were not the same people who led these companies now in charge of the economy under the Obama Administration, making DOJ indictment highly unlikely.

"Plunder: The Crime of Our Time" is a great background documentary for those Americans who are so confused -- and who isn't -- by the terms used for exotic wall street financial instruments that they tune out. Schechter lays out in a straightforward fashion how the nation was taken to the cleaners by Wall Street and how they did it, complete with understandable diagrams and a clear, lucid script.

You don't get the dazzling Hollywood camera work that big studios can afford, but, hey, you get something more important: the truth about why the guys who ran the casino on Wall Street should be in jail.

*******

A hard-hitting investigative film by Danny Schechter. The “News Dissector” explores how the financial crisis was built on a foundation of criminal activity uncovering the connection between the collapse of the housing market and the economic catastrophe that followed. To tell this story Schechter speaks with bankers involved in these activities, respected economists, insider experts, top journalists including Paul Krugman, and even a convicted white-collar criminal, Sam Antar, who blows the whistle on intentionally dishonest practices.
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