Movie Reviews for the New Year

I highly recommend Invictus, Clint Eastwood's new movie about Nelson Mandela using the vehicle of the national (mostly white) rugby team as a metaphor for healing the country of its vast racial wounds. I am not much of a sports fan, but I was thrilled by the scenes of all the ass-kicking, sweat drenched scenes of ruby players engaged in what looked like struggles to the death. What a pity the US cannot seem to model this kind of political courage in our absurdly partisan take on every issue, including race. This movie hasn't gotten much promotion, but it is well worth your time.

Avatar is visually spectacular, and I appreciated the obvious parallels with the destruction of pristine environments and cultures (read Native Americans; the aliens on the planet Pandora are known as Navi.) by the, US military machine,determined as always to exploit the resources of others. I found it much too long. Spoiler alert: the underdogs prevail in this special effects fantasy extraqvaganza by James Cameron.

If foreign films are your thing, you could check out Cloud 9 (about an old married woman having an affair with an even older man and the tragic consequences which result for her family. Another possibility is Pedro Almavador's Broken Embraces, yet another movie involving the tragic consequences of cheating on one's significant other, which in my opinion didn't come close to living up to its hype. It's convoluted without being particularly compelling or emotionally affecting. Penelope Cruz was way better in Cristina Barcelona when she was directed by Woody Allen. I have to admit to being partial to American movies and directors.

Jane Campion's Bright Star about the untimely death of the Romance poet John Keats is a heartbreaker. Don't avoid it just because you might think it is impossible to make a watchable movie about poetry; this one won't disappoint you.

Fall Festival at the Santa Fe Racetrack

Our community held its first annual fall festival with mariachi music, fokloria ballet, face painting, pumpkins, bird aviary, costume parade and flea market. The kids costumes were terrific and some of them were photographed for local newspapers. There was a little Batman and a fireman complete with firetruck. Very colorful and fun. The event was held at the Pojoaque Pueblo race track which is no longer used for horse racing.

Public Option Still Alive and Well

Remarkable what the progressive push-back has managed to accomplish in the health reform arena. Looks like we might actually get a decent bill passed after all.

Kudos to Obama for Winning the Nobel Peace Prize

Ok, I have recently been grousing about the incrementalism of the Obama administration and worried about the continuing wars, but this is clearly a positive thing for both Obama himself and the country. Right-wing pundits who are saying this is embarassing or undeserved are misguided as usual. This is about the Nobel Committee encouraging peace overtures and saying that the war and fear mongering of the Bush administration will no longer be held against the USA. Obama does seem overly cautious at times, but he is so far from Dubya and his horrible thugs like Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al it is no surprise the world is celebrating this. Good for our President, and here's hoping this will encourage him to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and pursue genuine peace in the Middle East and all over the world. That would really be change we can believe in!

Fall Blahs and Swine Flu

My household and some of those with whom I share children have suffered bouts of swine flu already. It seems to me the CDC is sometwhat behind the eight ball on this epidemic. My son still has not received his promised vaccinations through his school. Nobody in Santa Fe appears to even have the vaccine which is supposed to protect against swine flu available as of this week. Younger people are documented to be at greater risk of serious complications and even death from this strain of the flu. Why wasn't the US more prepared to deal with this in a timely fashion?

Harvest Festival in La Cineguilla

My neighbors and I got together this weekend for a lovely feast from our community garden. The green tomato pie was divine! There was lively discussion of the continuing need to "act locally" when it comes to food, water, and energy. There are a number of initiatives in our beautiful little rural area near Santa Fe which aim to accomplish that so we can become truly sustainable. Relying on the government in these perilous times is probably not too smart. I still hope for the best with regard to universal health care, but if they are just going to charge us money to put in the pockets of insurance companies, I would prefer to opt out. Taking care of each other in our local areas is the wave of the future. No doubt about it.

Get Out of Afghanistan and Iraq Now!

It has become increasingly clear that the "missions" in both these disasterous war zones are muddled and unclear. There is no genuine defense being mounted in either arena. Instead we are now told that "nation building" is the new goal. (Before it was regime change, WMD and a dozen other murky excuses.) Billions of our tax dollars continue to be spent for what now appears to simply be a political purpose, i.e. that we cannot afford to "lose" these pointless wars (reference Vietnam where we stayed a decade after it was clear there was no way to "win" there.) Our young soldiers continue to die for no reason that has anything to do with defense of the nation. Healthcare could be funded many times over with the money we are wasting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wake up and smell the coffee, Obama. Don't become another Lyndon Johnson with the albatross of these failed wars tainting the legacy of your presidency. There is still time to change course before it is too late.