Have you heard about this book? Author David Horowitz lists 100 (well, 101) academics whom he says “spew violent anti-Americanism, preach anti-Semitism, and cheer on the killing of American soldiers and civilians—all the while collecting tax dollars and tuition fees to indoctrinate our children.” Yowza.
So far, I’ve only found a list of historians mentioned in the book but am trying to find a complete listing somewhere.
My hope is that someone from Virginia Tech is on the list. Otherwise, I’ll feel sort of robbed that I didn’t get a “dangerous” education. (Other than, you know, on Fraternity Row.)
For the record, the only intolerance I saw at Tech, other than intolerance towards frat boy broadcast majors who skip class a lot, was the engineering department’s insistence that women couldn’t hack it as engineers, despite the fact that my girlfriend Mary Ann did quite well in the program and afterwards. I suspect the professors’ attitude had a lot more to do with why Mary Ann was one of the few women in most of her classes.
The only semi-political cause I saw at Tech that stirred up more than 10 or so people (of a student body in the tens of thousands) was student parking, which was capable of generating marches and protests.
Flightplan
is a nicely executed mystery.
Most of the fun of this Jodie Foster star vehicle (other than seeing Greta Scacchi again) is in unravelling what’s actually going on. Once the mystery is untangled, the movie loses a bit of steam as it changes modes to deal with the consequences of the answer. But it still has enough steam to propel it to the end.
Flightplan is long on atmosphere, shot more like a top-drawer classic horror movie, complete with long, lingering, mysterious camera shots and spare music. Everyone around Foster’s character seem to be in on some grand conspiracy and stare at her with portentous expressions.
This wasn’t a movie I expected to enjoy as much as I did.
A strongly recommended mystery/thriller.
It would be hard to imagine a sweeter, gentler comedy that the whole family will actually enjoy (as opposed to “family friendly” fare only small children will enjoy) than Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Loaded with gentle humor, this Wallace & Gromit full-length feature has a much lighter touch than Chicken Run while still retaining a core of sharp wit.
A must-see film.
The latest entry in the romantic haunting mini-genre started by Ghost, Just Like Heaven, is a surprisingly sweet and effective little treat.
What the haunting means, and how the pair deals with it is a lot of fun, although whenever the focus expands to include other actors, particulary Mr. Napoleon Dynamite, the movie wavers somewhat.
In the end, this wasn’t as romantic or compelling as Truly, Madly, Deeply, a warts-and-all British entry in the genre, but Just Like Heaven will likely put smiles on a lot of faces. (Heck, the cover versions of the title song by the Cure made me smile all by themselves.)
Recommended for fans of Reese Witherspoon or Ghost.
It’s either a good sign or a bad sign, depending on your view of such things, that 90 percent of the dialogue in Wedding Crashers sounds like the stuff I heard around the fraternity house back in college. That goes for both the mature stuff and the immature stuff alike.
Now, some folks will read a paragraph like that, and go screaming for the door. Bye!
The others will go to the door, pause, and wonder “mature stuff?” Come back on in, folks. We’ve got a juvenile comedy about getting your ya-yas off and then growing up.
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (and the luminous Rachel McAdams and the kind of fascinating Christopher Walken) absolutely sell this buddy movie, about buddies who have discovered, they think, the ultimate way to hook up with girls. But crashing weddings and nailing emotionally vulnerable women only works until the guys fall for some of the girls. And when that happens, the emotionally retarded is totally unprepared to deal with the consequences.
Wonderfully and believably profane while still being sweet and even kind of smart, Wedding Singers is a great movie for every aging frat boy out there, and those that love us despite all that.
Strongly recommended.
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