Category Archives: Celebrity

'Foxy Knoxy': Another Toxic Export

America, Celebrity, Crime, Europe, Media

Ann Coulter is right about very many things; it’s a shame she rarely writes about the things she’s right about. This week, she has—and with a vengeance—in an excellent column exposing the crime that is America’s news coverage of the case of creepy, corrupted “Foxy Knoxy” (Amanda Knox), an American college student, aged 21, from Seattle, Washington, who is on trial for murder in Perugia, Italy.

With O.J.-type evidence in support of their case, Italian law enforcement agencies are alleging Knox murdered and sexually assaulted one of her roommates, British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

I’ve watched the case unfold and have had similar thoughts as those Ann Coulter expresses in “NYT: DUKE LACROSSE PLAYERS KILLED MEREDITH KERCHER:

“The evidence includes:

— a large kitchen knife, believed by forensic investigators to have caused at least one of Kercher’s three wounds, found at Sollecito’s house. Despite having been thoroughly washed, the knife had Knox’s DNA on the handle and the murder victim’s DNA on the blade.

— a bloody footprint at the crime scene that matches Sollecito’s. The floor had been cleaned so that the footprint was invisible to the naked eye, but was revealed with Luminol (just like on “CSI”).

— Knox’s bloody footprints, mixed with Kercher’s blood, were found in another roommate’s room, where a window had been broken to make it look like there had been a break-in — a theory discounted immediately by investigators. Knox’s footprints, too, had been scrubbed but were discovered with Luminol.

— Kercher’s bloody bra strap at the crime scene that had abundant amounts of Sollecito’s DNA on it.” Read on.

[SNIP]

The case is instructive in what it says of a deep-seated pathology infecting American society, where reality takes a backseat to some self-serving parallel universe. You see it again and again … Something else that’s worth noting and is not forthcoming from the American media, paragons of pity that they are: Meredith Kercher, whose throat was cut with a pen knife during the sexual assault, died an agonizingly slow death.

Updated: DVD Distractions

Art, Celebrity, Film, Hollywood

I’ve been promising The Judge a list of reasonable DVD distractions.
We folks might not be able to afford a shopping trip to Paris, as the one Michelle Obama, the Royal Grandma and Girls took courtesy of the taxpayers, but we can all kick back with a reasonable film and some home-made popcorn, and try and forget our odious overlords for a short while.

Here are a few picks, ranked from best to worst.

1) “Doubt” with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams. Excellent performances and a powerful lesson about gossip. I liked the analogy of a slashed feather cushion. The feathers fly away, irretrievable like gossip. I don’t know about Christianity, but a Jew is prohibited from bad-mouthing another. Of course, this is a sin we all commit.
I suspect the story was also meant to poke at the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church. However, that minor folly can easily be ignored.

2) “Changelin.” With the edification of our friend Thomas Szasz, we covered the topic in a previous blog.

3) “Hard 8”: excellent acting. This 1996 film is a real old-school flick. The characters are well-developed, the plot unexpected, and an emphasis placed on what drives the protagonists. When I say the storyline was good, I mean this: Most film scripts these days offer such thin gruel for stories that, I don’t know about you, but by the time 10 minutes have passed, I’ve figured out the next 1.5 hours.

4) “Gone Baby Gone.”. A respectable directorial debut from Ben Affleck. More than respectable: this was a good, gripping story. It brought into sharp relief the damage self-righteous, know-it-all do-gooders can cause.

5) “The Stone Merchant”: Starring Harvey Keitel as an Italian convert to Islam for whom terrorism is a religious duty. This [is] a highly improbable tale, which also features F. Murray Abraham, Jordi Molla and Jane March.”
It’s barely passable.

6) “Rain.” An obviously obscure movie, since I am unable to find a trace of it online. And, no; it’s not this “Rain.” The “Rain” I saw was a torrid, Oedipal tale of a woman who kills her husband, and, unbeknown to her, has an affair with her … son. She resolves the latter conflict as ruthlessly as the former (husband). It’s well acted, but morbid.

7) “Lakeview Terrace“ with Samuel L. Jackson is poor, but even poorer is our #eight, “Righteous Kill.” Robert De Niro can do no wrong in my eyes: he’s always good. Al Pacino, on the other hand, is the most overrated actor living. He can’t act, even though he has had the benefit of good roles. He bellows and screams and gesticulates and annoys the hell out of me. But you may be more patient than I with Pacino’s once-you’ve-seen-one-you’ve-seen-’em-all performances. He gives me a fat headache. The script is weak too.

Have fun.

Update (June Eighth): I must have seen “October Sky” at the same time Dan did, and had the same thoughts he expresses hereunder. It’s a true story. I loved it so much, I looked-up the title and hero at the time. The young man went on to great achievements.
There is another fine film I stumbled on in the manner Dan described. It’s with Robert Redford as a frontier man; fabulous too. Anyone recall the title? In fact, I think the Judge will find the last two films mentioned the best of the bunch.

Updated: Farewell Farrah

Celebrity, Healthcare, Pop-Culture, Science, Sex

I watched “Farrah’s Story” on NBC. I was expecting the worst. I watched, I guess, because Farrah Fawcett was such an icon.

There is already in-fighting over the production. To be expected.

The film follows Farrah’s diary, which is both poignant and quite well-written.

In its review, the New York Post makes a point I expected to echo here, but I’m not, because I did not get the sense that,

“It does not register with [Farrah] that her wealth and fame, which afford her private jets to Germany and an international team of doctors, are unavailable to the vast majority of cancer sufferers, and that, if not for her station in life, she would not have had extra time. She does not seem to wrestle, at all, with the notion that there may be some experiences best kept private, that the unintended consequences of oversharing can be a cheapening and coarsening of the most meaningful moments.”

Fair enough. (Update: May 17) The docudrama is in the tradition described above. However, one need not resort to such a formulaic verdict when the overall effect departs from the usual Oprah menagerie of moral degenerates. Fawcett is a nice lady; she was not over-dramatic or emotional.

One of the idiots that writes at Fox News.com dubbed Fawcett a “starlet” in what was a “straightforward” news story. The woman who pulled off “Extremities” and “Burning Bed” had become a bit more than a “starlet.” So, that was not entirely warranted, but maybe I just have a soft spot for someone who “came across as a nice Texan girl.”

Farrah’s Story was so obviously Farrah’s trip—her tribute to herself—and it worked.

However, if Fawcett meant to be an advocate for American patients, she failed miserably. The treatment modalities she availed herself of in Germany are banned in the US by the fascistic FDA. In the United States, legitimate, medical procedures are thus labeled “alternative treatments.” Decent advocacy would have broached this aspect of the disease and the treatment. I have no doubt that the problem of FDA approval—a process that kills—applies to other diseases and treatment options.

But mostly, not a word was said about the horrible, yet extremely rare, disease Farrah has: anal cancer.

Without wading into this indelicate topic, risk factors include:

* Being over 50 years old.
* Being infected with human papillomavirus (HPV).
* Having many sexual partners.
* Having receptive anal intercourse (anal sex).*
* Smoking cigarettes.

In 2008, there were only 5,070 new cases, and 680 Deaths. That would have been an important bit of information to impart to viewers. (Update: May 17) The FDA kills more people in a year by proscribing new treatments and new drugs.

Prevention follows from the risk factors.

* I first found out that heterosexuals engage in this perversion when I arrived in North America. I was already a married woman with a 12-year-old daughter. South Africa was a blissfully conservative country.

Update II: Annual White House Sycophants’ Dinner

Barack Obama, Celebrity, Hollywood, Journalism, Politics, Uncategorized

It’s a sickening specter: some of the most pretentious, worthless people in the country—in politics, journalism and entertainment—get together to revel in their ability to petition and curry favor with one another, usually to the detriment of the rest of us.

Those gathered at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner are not the country’s natural aristocracy; but a group of people who make their living pretending to be something they are not. Poseurs and parasites.

Granted, actors do not coerce the citizenry to patronize their (mostly) lousy flicks. However, when they use their celebrity to push unconstitutional, naturally unlawful policies—then they are acting as enemies of the people.

Mostly, I find Hollywood disgusting. Every time I turn around a “celebrity” is preaching and propagandizing for the leftist cause du jour. Some of these tarts were using their tushes and other assets to tell their betters (YOU) to be good and do your “duty.”

Like nothing else, the annual White House correspondents’ dinner is a mark of corrupt politics. The un-watchful dogs of the media have no business frolicking with the president and his minions. This is co-optation. And when did the phonies of Hollywood become a fixture in this event?

The toxic “tradition” began in 1920, and, as far as I know, is sponsored by THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ ASSOCIATION. The event and the invited tell a great deal about the Association and its ethics and code of conduct.

The president’s performance was a little wooden. He had a few good lines. For example:

“I strongly believe my next 100 days will be so successful I will finish them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day I will rest.”

The dig at John Boehner’s tan: “We have a lot in common. He is a person of ­color, Although not a ­color that appears in the natural world.”

The dig at the sycophants: “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.”

On Rahm Emanuel on the eve of Mother’s Day: “It’s a tough holiday for [Emanuel] … He’s not used to saying the word ‘day’ after mother …”

On the other hand, this one captured how privileged Obama feels:

“Sasha and Malia aren’t here tonight because they’re grounded. You can’t just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan. I don’t care whose kids you are.”

Wanda Sykes, a talented comedian, began with some great material and then descended into vulgarity and sheer spite.

Update I (May 11): Glenn Beck gave into the temptation to join the high-flying toadies in Washington. It’s a shame; it damages this scrupulous soul’s credibility.

Written after attending the press palooza, Beck’s barbs would have rung truer had he watched the event from his bunker. For once, this is not a case of Beck bearding the proverbial lion in his den:

Glenn decided to attend the White House Correspondents’ dinner this weekend and called the atmosphere ‘slimy.’ Glenn said Obama did a good job with his delivery but was robotic, and he took issue with comedian Wanda Sykes’ routine. Typically this event serves as somewhat of a roast of the President (Imus bashing Clinton, Colbert bashing Bush) but apparently no entertainers these days know how to make fun of the Messiah, so instead Sykes made fun of Rush Limbaugh. Included in her hilarious (translate=crappy) routine were jokes about how she wished Rush’s kidneys would fail. Glenn imagines the things he can say with the new ‘kidney failure’ comedy bar set so low

Update II: Wanda Sykes’ gentle teases “ took a very ugly turn when she laid into Limbaugh.”