Leaves of Grass had a red carpet premiere at the Sunshine Cinemas on Houston St in downtown New York tonight hosted by Gen Art.
The movie was directed by Tim Blake Nelson who had a featured role alongside Ed Norton. Norton played Billy and Brady, twin brothers from Oklahoma who grew up to live completely different and separate lives. Billy, a published writer and professor, lives an ordered life in New England while his brother lives a life of crime and growing marijuana.
The movie is filled with excellent actors including Richard Dreyfus, Susan Sarandon, Keri Russell and Melanie Lymsky.
It's a good film. Well paced and interesting with some good humor and touching moments. Ed, as usual, gives an excellent performance. It's funny to watch him playing an intelligent redneck, which he somehow manages to pull off believably.
Keri Russell, who plays Billy's love interest, is endearing. Although she seems a little too thin, she's very naturally pretty in the film. Her character is extremely insightful and poetic and leaves you wanting to embark on some introspective soul searching.
I'm not sure what kind of distribution this film will get, but if you have a good independent movie theater, then I'd suggest you go see this film. It's Ed at his versatile best.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Go go government
Health reform has passed! Finally!
There are many different angles that the health reform bill is being attacked or praised on. Mostly, I just can't understand why anyone would think it's a bad idea for our government to put a bill into place that would protect people from the greedy and immoral insurance business. This bill will allow millions of people to get medical insurance, followed by proper health care, that would never have been able to do so before.
Here's the thing, health insurance is supposed to help people get the care they need in the event that they fall ill. That illness can be anything, cancer, anemia, a heart attack or the flu. But it has become the practice of the insurance agencies to deny coverage to those people or drop them from coverage when they become sick. What's worse is that we the people have had to accept that as being okay because there was nothing else we could do.
This new bill speaks for the people, not the insurance agencies. Which, frankly, is something the government hasn't done in a long time. Year after year we've seen the politicians sitting in the pockets of big business. The auto industry, big oil, the banks, insurance firms, time and again get things passed in their favor because they have the deeper pockets. But we now have a president who was put in place by us, the constituents, and who does not have to worry about whether he will lose that financial backing from some huge firm.
Obama cares about the people of this country. It's a very strange concept to find on Capitol Hill. All those fat old men have been cut off from reality for so long they only see their own point of view and blindly believe it's what's right since they've been in place for so many years.
Hopefully this bill passing, and all the disgusting antics from the republicans that went on through the process, will show people that the government can change and actually achieve something great for our benefit. It should also show people the real faces of their republican politicians. The fact that they will vote No for no other reason than to spite the democrats. That's not what they are supposed to be there for. Elections are not supposed to be the reason for a congressmans actions. It seems as though they can't simply think on their own and do what they feel is right for the people they represent. Instead they do as they are told by the petty men who want their way and want do whatever they can to undermine the other party, even if it goes against something they themselves actually stand for. Where's the common sense in that. This is not high school. These are peoples lives they are messing around with and I hope those people realize it's time to put some fresh faces into those seats, even if they are still republican. I have to believe there are some good, smart and reasonable republican politicians out there. I know plenty of republicans and they aren't irrational people, they don't hate democrats and they are not opposed to every single liberal idea just because it's liberal.
I'm very excited about health care reform. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction to protecting people's rights to health care. If someone is willing to pay for insurance, then let them. They shouldn't be denied because they beat cancer five years ago. Every child should be covered. A parent shouldn't have to worry about whether they'll go broke if their child get sick or in an accident.
I can only hope that people will see how beneficial this will be to them and stop being so divisive. I'm tired of seeing the ugly things that people will do to get their point of view across. It's unneccessary and only makes you even more wrong when you attack people, verbally or physically.
This was a big win and now it's time to move on to the next issue. The republicans need to get over it and move forward to work on something new. And no, trying to repeal this bill is not something new.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
There are many different angles that the health reform bill is being attacked or praised on. Mostly, I just can't understand why anyone would think it's a bad idea for our government to put a bill into place that would protect people from the greedy and immoral insurance business. This bill will allow millions of people to get medical insurance, followed by proper health care, that would never have been able to do so before.
Here's the thing, health insurance is supposed to help people get the care they need in the event that they fall ill. That illness can be anything, cancer, anemia, a heart attack or the flu. But it has become the practice of the insurance agencies to deny coverage to those people or drop them from coverage when they become sick. What's worse is that we the people have had to accept that as being okay because there was nothing else we could do.
This new bill speaks for the people, not the insurance agencies. Which, frankly, is something the government hasn't done in a long time. Year after year we've seen the politicians sitting in the pockets of big business. The auto industry, big oil, the banks, insurance firms, time and again get things passed in their favor because they have the deeper pockets. But we now have a president who was put in place by us, the constituents, and who does not have to worry about whether he will lose that financial backing from some huge firm.
Obama cares about the people of this country. It's a very strange concept to find on Capitol Hill. All those fat old men have been cut off from reality for so long they only see their own point of view and blindly believe it's what's right since they've been in place for so many years.
Hopefully this bill passing, and all the disgusting antics from the republicans that went on through the process, will show people that the government can change and actually achieve something great for our benefit. It should also show people the real faces of their republican politicians. The fact that they will vote No for no other reason than to spite the democrats. That's not what they are supposed to be there for. Elections are not supposed to be the reason for a congressmans actions. It seems as though they can't simply think on their own and do what they feel is right for the people they represent. Instead they do as they are told by the petty men who want their way and want do whatever they can to undermine the other party, even if it goes against something they themselves actually stand for. Where's the common sense in that. This is not high school. These are peoples lives they are messing around with and I hope those people realize it's time to put some fresh faces into those seats, even if they are still republican. I have to believe there are some good, smart and reasonable republican politicians out there. I know plenty of republicans and they aren't irrational people, they don't hate democrats and they are not opposed to every single liberal idea just because it's liberal.
I'm very excited about health care reform. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction to protecting people's rights to health care. If someone is willing to pay for insurance, then let them. They shouldn't be denied because they beat cancer five years ago. Every child should be covered. A parent shouldn't have to worry about whether they'll go broke if their child get sick or in an accident.
I can only hope that people will see how beneficial this will be to them and stop being so divisive. I'm tired of seeing the ugly things that people will do to get their point of view across. It's unneccessary and only makes you even more wrong when you attack people, verbally or physically.
This was a big win and now it's time to move on to the next issue. The republicans need to get over it and move forward to work on something new. And no, trying to repeal this bill is not something new.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Graphic Novel review: Emily the Strange The Lost Days
I love the artwork for Emily the Strange. I've always loved checking out the products with the character and her cats and bats and things. I have not had the chance to read any of the comics though. They've been on my, and I've quickly skimmed through some of the collections. I wanted to start at the beginning and work my way through, but it just hadn't happened yet.
I was in the bookstore the other day looking at the new releases and what do I see, an Emily the Strange novel. I picked it up skimmed through, read the back, saw the cheap price of $8.99, and took it straight to the register. For some reason the novel appealed to me in a way te comic never did. It's weird because I read comics all the time.
The book was very good. A quick, fun, easy read. The artwork throughout the book is very cool. The cats and characters that Emily encounters are brought to life through her eyes. The writing is great. Basically, Emily has amnesia and you are reading her journal as she goes through her adventure of trying to figure out who she is and why she's in a small, desolate town called Blackrock. Her perception of the world is interesting. She's obviously not a normal 13 year old girl. Belgium! She's quite funny as well.
Emily is a very interesting character. I will defintely read the next couple of novels that are slated for release this year.
I'd recommend these books for any young adult reader. I think a lot of girls can relate to not feeling as though they belong, as well as knowing that strange can be a lot more interesting than normal. I'd also recommend this for any current fans of the comic or any similar comics like Dead @ 17. This is very relatable for any age group.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I was in the bookstore the other day looking at the new releases and what do I see, an Emily the Strange novel. I picked it up skimmed through, read the back, saw the cheap price of $8.99, and took it straight to the register. For some reason the novel appealed to me in a way te comic never did. It's weird because I read comics all the time.
The book was very good. A quick, fun, easy read. The artwork throughout the book is very cool. The cats and characters that Emily encounters are brought to life through her eyes. The writing is great. Basically, Emily has amnesia and you are reading her journal as she goes through her adventure of trying to figure out who she is and why she's in a small, desolate town called Blackrock. Her perception of the world is interesting. She's obviously not a normal 13 year old girl. Belgium! She's quite funny as well.
Emily is a very interesting character. I will defintely read the next couple of novels that are slated for release this year.
I'd recommend these books for any young adult reader. I think a lot of girls can relate to not feeling as though they belong, as well as knowing that strange can be a lot more interesting than normal. I'd also recommend this for any current fans of the comic or any similar comics like Dead @ 17. This is very relatable for any age group.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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