HOLLYWOOD CAN MAKE GOOD MOVIES TOO-- THE CONSTANT GARDENER IS ONE

Here's a semi-non-Bush-bashing blog entry-- although I must say that sentiment is running overwhelmingly against Roland's advise to tone down the Bush-bashing-- 2 in 2 days.

From the mean things I said about generic movie producers in the piece yesterday, you might think I hate Hollywood movies. Misunderstanding. Although the VAST majority are mass consumption cheap-thrills-garbage, sometimes they make a good one. Remember how good CRASH was a few months ago? My drummer friend whose Texas ancestors included the KKK grand dragon (and local sheriff; he was both at the same time, an ole southern tradition) who owned the pig farm Bush now uses as the ranch-prop/backdrop in his reality TV show ("THE DISASTROUS PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W BUSH")? He talked me into going to see a movie a couple weeks ago. It was a life-changing experience. I WILL NEVER GO SEE A CRAPPY HORROR MOVIE AGAIN NO MATTER WHAT. This one was called THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (I think) and-- you'll have to have seen it to understand this-- I have woken up at 3AM every night since. It totally sucked and, as though that weren't bad enough, it planted these gratuitously fucked up terror thoughts in my head. Yesterday I went to another movie and this one was excellent-- THE CONSTANT GARDENER. I'm not a big fan of love stories but this one was thrilling, the polar opposite of insipid, and quite moving (and beautiful, talented Rachel Weisz reminded me of my friend beautiful and talented Ann-Marie Shields). On top of that, and the uber-realistic African scenery and camera angles, it shows viscerally how Bush's brand of unfettered corporatism is probably the worst political/economic system man has come up with yet. I noticed in the reviews it is being dismissed by the socially handicapped as "left wing propaganda." Be sure to see it.