Borat Sagdiyev discusses the politics of Central Asia during a visit to Washingtons.
The earlier confusion about his disposition was clearly deliberate, intended to throw potential saboteurs and protesters off the scent.
** GEORGE LUCAS SAYS INDIANA JONES 4 SET FOR NEXT YEAR. Now the really big news of the day. In his pre-Rose Parade comments, 2007 grand marshal George Lucas , creator of the franchise, says the long in the making fourth Indiana Jones picture will go before the cameras next year, for release in 2008. Star Harrison Ford and director Steven Spielberg have at last approved a script. Or so we hope.
** UPDATE: ROB LOWE OUT! Arnold Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund advises that former West Wing star Rob Lowe has just cancelled his headlining role for the Schwarzenegger Inaugural’s big environmental event on January 4th at the state Capitol. Okay. I like Rob Lowe. He got into a little trouble in 1988 with some underage girls. But they looked older, you know. Later on, his leaving The West Wing played havoc with a TV show I was a consulting producer on. Hmm. Maybe not so okay. Not that his new show got nearly the ratings ours did. Now he has ditched the Arnold for yet another TV show. That is the latest.
** ARNOLD GOES GREEN AND VEGAS FOR HIS SECOND INAUGURAL IN SACTOWN. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s inaugural committee announced green and Vegas-oriented lineups for his second inaugural as governor of California. On January 4th, the Schwarzenegger Inaugural galas kick off with an open to the public festival of environmentalism in Capitol Park headlined by former West Wing star Rob Lowe and former NBA star and fellow European Vlade Divac. (Incidentally, an appearance was made by yours truly on the infamous Rob Lowe tape. More about that another time.)
Further Arnold Inaugural entertainment choices are set for January 5th, including welcoming taiko drums (bring your extra strength Excedrin), Irish folk dancers with loud clogs, mariachi bands, Jose Feliciano, Paul Anka, and Donna Summer.
Hmm.
Ms. Summer will perform her famous hits, “Hot Stuff” and “She Works Hard For The Money.” I think I know what that song is about. Anka will perform “My Way,” the Frank Sinatra standard, with special lyrics customized for Arnold. Feliciano will perform the national anthem at the actual inaugural ceremony. (Which will not actually be the actual inaugural, but ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies.)
I think I know where the governor got the Feliciano idea. (He had the fabulous Vanessa Williams perform the national anthem at his much bigger, overflow inaugural three years ago.) At a recent dinner with a special friend in the capital, at a Schwarzenegger favorite restaurant, Feliciano was singing his version of the Doors classic “Light My Fire” while I was in the men’s room. As for Anka and Summers, let’s say that I love Vegas. I’ll be there in a few weeks for my first 2008 presidential campaign road trip. But couldn’t Arnold have been into, you know, the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac or the Police as his ’70s/’80s fixation? Just asking.
** BIG CROWDS FOR JOHN EDWARDS. Former Senator John Edwards is doing well on day two of his Democratic presidential campaign announcement tour. Yesterday, he announced his candidacy in Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, then did an overflow town hall meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, site of the first-in-the-nation Iowa presidential caucuses. This morning he was in New Hampshire for a big event. He’s flying across the country for a 5:30 PM event today in Reno, Nevada, site of the second-in-the-nation Nevada presidential caucuses.
“My vote was a mistake and I should never have voted for this war,” he said of the Iraq War, adding that the Bush Administration “has been an absolute disaster in the conducting of the war. But none of that changes or affects my responsibility. I’m responsible for what I did.”
** U.S. FORCES FREE IRANIANS. Two Iranians operating in Iraq with diplomatic credentials, captured by U.S. forces on December 21st during a Baghdad raid and suspected of weapons trafficking and related insurgent activities, have been released. The two were reportedly in Iraq at the invitation of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as part of the aftermath of his summit in Tehran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
** 4:30 PM UPDATE: SADDAM EXECUTION. The former Iraqi dictator’s execution is now reported to occur in a matter of hours. US forces have been holding on to his physical, as distinguished from legal, custody, to ensure his continued custody and to avoid his humiliation while still living and mutilation once deceased.
** SADDAM HUSSEIN REPORTEDLY HANDED OVER TO IRAQI AUTHORITIES. Saddah Hussein has, according to his lawyers, been handed over by US forces to the Iraqi government for execution. The Iraqi government, however, says it does not yet have him.
** CASINO ROYALE PASSES TERMINATOR 3 ON ALL-TIME GLOBAL BOX OFFICE LIST. Not only did Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger break his leg last weekend, his third Terminator picture was passed on the all-time global box office list by the new Bond film, Casino Royale. Coming out of Christmas weekend, Casino Royale — released on November 17th — had taken in $454 million at the box office around the world. Terminator 3 is at $435 million. Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig as the new Bond, also passed the last Pierce Brosnan outing in the role, Die Another Day, which was the previous highest grossing Bond film around the world.
But it’s not exactly all bad. Schwarzenegger is a huge Bond fan. Indeed, he played his own version of Bond in True Lies — replete with a Goldfinger homage at the beginning in which the former action superstar emerges from a lake in scuba gear with a white tuxedo underneath — which Casino Royale passed a couple weeks ago. Despite being passed by the new Bond, Schwarzenegger has three movies on the Top 100 all-time global box office list: Terminator 2, Terminator 3, which Schwarzenegger opened just before parachuting into the tumultuous 2003 recall campaign in which he was elected governor, and True Lies. Popular as the new Bond film is, it’s not likely to catch up with T2.
What’s number one on the all-time global box office list? That would be Titanic, at $1.8 billion, from Terminator director and Schwarzenegger motorcycle buddy James Cameron. Number two is the final Lord of the Rings picture, The Return of the King, at $1.1 billion.
** Monitor computer memory prices on a daily basis. Prices are stable.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices dipped below $60 per barrel in one one market on milder than normal weather in much of the US.
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Yay!
I love Borat.
Why didn’t Cameron put Schwarzeneger in Titanic?
Arnold in Titanic. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Not quite right for the DiCaprio role. He could be the prow of the ship.
He could play the villain. lol
I think the ship designer.
Bill-
On non-non-random note, I’ve got a question regarding the Governor’s inaugural: As far as I can tell, he’s raised several hundred thousand for the ball; can that be used for other purposes, or is it all being spent on the event? The root of my question, basically, is am I attending a $500k party? I really don’t know what to expect.
Thanks.
I think they’re raising money for Inaugural events. They’re going to announce another one later today.
Something oft left out of box office discussions is the effect of ticket prices and other inflationary factors.
Sure Casino Royale passed T-3, but how much were tickets back in those days leading up to the Recall?
The one that blows them ALL out of the water is this fact back from the days when tickets were $0.25 (or something like that). Gone with the Wind did $198,676,459 in business in the 1930s. Adjusted for inflation that’s $1.3 BILLION, according to this useful page at Box Office Mojo.
Titanic drops to number six in this list, still a respectable accomplishment. Looking at this list is also reflective of changing entertainment media. Titanic is the only movie from the nineties in the top ten. The next most recent film in the Top 10 is E.T., from 1982.
Two films from the thirties still hold Top 10 spots, one from the fifties, two from the sixties, three from the seventies, and one each from the eighties and nineties.
Oh, for the days when movies were still king!
BTW – T-2:Judgment Day still hangs in at the bottom of the list.
Accurate, but not necessarily true. In comparing different eras you are comparing apples and oranges.
People didn’t have televisions when Gone With The Wind came out. A lot of people didn’t even have radios. There were very few entertainment options available.
Lousy TV shows in the pre-cable era had bigger audiences than today’s hit TV shows.
More choice means more fragmentation.
Ticket prices are up a little in the last three years, but not much. Casino Royale also has fewer playings per day than T3 had, because it is so long.
Gone with The Wind is boring. I doubt it would be that big today.
Are they going to execute Saddam soon or not?
You’re absolutely right on fragmentation, with the very numbers I cite being the best evidence.
Still, the size of the pie (population) has grown tremendously at the same time the slices (fragmentation) have grown smaller. Even with a smaller share of the entertainment market, the massive population growth multiplied by the ever-higher ticket prices should result in higher box offices.
I think it’s a symptom of Hollywood movies. Today’s blockbusters are functions of marketing, not movie-making. That’s why they don’t achieve old-time blockbuster status.
Look at the more recent films in the Top 10 of the inflation-adjusted list. Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, Titanic. These movies were spectacles, but they were centered on story and character.
Today’s blockbusters are all style, no substance, plus a healthy dose of marketing and front-loaded opening weekend numbers.
The effects and production value were in service of the story on Titanic. People came back over and over again to see Kate and Leo…not the iceberg. And it clocked in at over three hours…
As for Gone with the Wind being boring, I much preferred the Carol Burnett version (the one with the curtains).
Film making has come a long way, including physiological studies of the effects of the film on the viewer. For example rapid eye movements in quickly-cut action scenes fatigue viewers, producing a physical reaction that takes verisimilitude to new levels. As a result action film makers figure out how much of a break they need between big sequences to not exhaust the audience. It’s the super-charging of experience through science…but it’s NOT storytelling. Story is inherit to the human experience from the days around fires in caves, to the Greek tragedies (now there’s an pre-fragmentation audience), to Titanic.
I like fun, explosive action flicks. But, if Hollywood wants to reclaim dominance, they need to learn that people watch what they connect to. Thus TV (with it’s familiar friends in your living room) and the internet (actual human connections) have the edge and will continue to batter the silver screen, until they learn that they must move our hearts more than simply make them race with flashy colors and movement.
Capitol Boy declares “Gone with The Wind is boring.” I think he is a bit off on that. Issac Asimov in one of his autobiographies told the story of how he once idly picked up the Marget Mitchell novel and found it so compelling he stayed up all night to finish the hefty tome.
Tommy Boy, all that is accurate. However, not especially on point.
It’s a new world now, in which people are very famous among a relatively small number of people. It’s called demassification.
As I’ve experienced myself, with people wanting my autograph and wanting pictures with me, which I can assure you never used to happen.
Dana, you’re referring to the Margaret Mitchell novel. I agree that the movie would not be nearly so big today. It’s a potboiler.
I fell asleep in Gone With the Wind.
Geez – some tough words about GWTW. Remember, it was a love story set within a war, not a war story. Plus it was also the most popular book for years as well. Finally, unlike the audience today, most people in this country had studied and were very familiar with the Civil War period, and had great/grand/parents that live and even fought during the war; as opposed today’s audience who are not sure of the century the battle was fought let alone the decade.
Since the Civil War, America has been in about 20 wars, half of which the general public doesn’t really know about.
All part of the Age of Acceleration.
Too much history. Kill Saddam.
Death to Saddam Hussein.
Those of us old enough to remember the 1968 World Series will remember Jose Feliciano and the National Anthem.
Before the 5th game, Feliciano sang the anthem in a stylized, soulful fashion that was unheard of back then. It was very controversial, especially in the midst of the Vietnam War.
I remember thinking it was very cool and having a discussion about it in my 6th grade class.
Now, of course, everybody puts their own spin on the anthem. But Jose was the first.
http://www.josefeliciano.com/anthem.html
That’s a great report. Thanks, Carroll!
It sounds like Edwards is real.
INDIANA JONES!
You know, I am really doing a fantastic job of not writing today.
Incidentally, Barbara is reporting in on a very big crowd for John Edwards in Reno.
And a lot of evidence of labor organization for the senator. That’s a strong early sign for his prospects in the Nevada caucuses.
Saddams death serves no purpose. it is an empty act of selfish symbolism for the sake of the bush adminstration.After all they are killing their former buddy. bush sr., rumsfeld the whole crew put him in office.This is the only way bush and co. can try to get into iran.
bush and co are responsible for the death of 2,990+ american soldiers,thousands of permanently injured,destined to live in vegetative states, psychological,emotional wastelands the rest of their lives, children without parents and countless broken homes. We watch them leave in large platoons yet they are not worthy for us to openly receive them when they return in caskets by the hundreds. their final trip home is very important. this is your compassionate conservative president order. this is the price we pay for a man placed in office by bush.sr., rumsfeld and others, who had no wmd.
there is no difference between king george and saddam
they both are guilty of committing crimes against humanity.
You fall into one of the many typical fallacies of the left.
Bush I is not allied with Rumsfeld and Cheney in this not so little adventure, which you would know from actually reading NWN.
Saddam? Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Ding dong the wicked witch, the wicked witch, the wicked witch.
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead.
I’m glad the piece of shit is dead. But America is no safer with him dead than when he ran Iraq. Certainly less so.
I hope the draft dodging neocons don’t imagine they did something.
It’s good he’s dead. Anything changed? Did they find Bin Laden YET?
lol
GWHB as VP funneled
arms to saddam to wage war with Iran. {Gates/Baker were also a part of that team.} the same way they trained and armed osama to fight the russians.
I understand that the suicide rate among our soldiers in Iraq is higher than in any other war/conflict.
saddam is dead, three more soldiers are dead and everthing is the same. just like we all will be one day. no one escapes dead just the way you go is different. and life goes on.
It’s called the balance of power strategy.
The Afghan strategy of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan was a great success. It bled Mother Russia and the Soviet Union tremendously, and led to the Soviet loss of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union.
That’s pretty good.
Fooling around with the Iran-Iraq War was to make sure there was no one dominant power in the Middle East that could threaten Israel.
I was not aware that the suicide rate for American troops is higher in Iraq than in previous wars. That sounds like a canard to me.
no that is not pretty good. Russia is quite prosperous lots of oil still a major world power. it’s the afghans, iraqis, palestians, israeli still fighting, their people living in total chaos, . all leaders who tried any attempt at peace were assassinated
or negated.{not to forget the genocide in africa}historically all of that territory was originally africa anyway. so its the divide and conquer strategy for them.power g. keep them fighting each other while we reap the power and ill gotten riches of the war.
what is happening now is unconscionable and is truly the dark night of the soul for america. millions of people, especially children throughout the world and the us of a are without the basics of life; food, shelter and clothing; including those not impacted by war. those are the issues
We are to address and help solve. as the peace warriors we are destined to be.
Oh, I think ending the Cold War, a bigger threat than anything that is happening now, is quite a good thing.