The Meta-Irony and Lack of Self-Awareness of this Vanity Fair article could fold time and space in on itself.

Vanity Fair congratulates Jason Isaacs for using teachable moment to complain about the Emmy's being too political...

...because Sean Spicer was involved.

I kid you not.

//But there is at least one man who used it as a teachable moment. One man who clocked the former press secretary and saw that it was not good. One man who made jokes at Spicey’s expense on Instagram. That hero is Lucius Malfoy. Well, Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, and who is also starring in the upcoming CBS All Access Star Trek: Discovery. At the Netflix post-Emmys party on Sunday night he took a photo with Spicer in the background and wrote an unforgettable caption that started thusly:, “Hoping to forget politics for one night and bask in other people’s glory at the Netflix Emmys party, and who do I spot at the bar late at night but the poisonous purveyor of lies, Sean Spicer. What were the Emmys thinking celebrating this modern day Goebbels, who was the thuggish face of Orwellian doublespeak just moments ago?”//

Another reason to not watch the new Star Trek series.

How is this not an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment right of Free Speech/Free Press?

While the Left distracts everyone with hysteria about Trump's "fascism", it sets about "liquidating" the First Amendment.

How did this get passed and signed without warning cries about incipient "fascism"?

Notice also how the rhetoric of "anti-discrimination" gets used to trump the express Constitutional language of the First Amendment that mandates that there be "no law" that restricts the right of the press.

Obviously, the age of actors is a minor issue, but the principle that "discrimination" concerns can be used to restrict any speech is a big deal.

Also, the concern is idiotic. Most people who read IMDB are not hiring actors and the people who do hire actors have other resources to find out this information.  Also, there is a law already in place that prohibits age discrimination.

//“On behalf of everyone in the industry who has struggled with age discrimination, whose opportunities to showcase their talent may have been blocked, I want to thank Gov. Brown and the bill’s author, Assemblymember Ian Calderon," says SAG-AFTRA’s Gabrielle Carteris.
California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed legislation that requires certain entertainment sites, such as IMDb, to remove – or not post in the first place – an actor’s age or birthday upon request.

The law, which becomes effective January 1, applies to entertainment database sites that allow paid subscribers to post resumes, headshots or other information for prospective employers. Only a paying subscriber can make a removal or non-publication request. Although the legislation may be most critical for actors, it applies to all entertainment job categories.//

If you want to know who your elites are, find out about whom you may not know their ages.

Weaponized Intertextuality

Because in the fin de siecle, we are too decadent too create or imagine.

I suspected something like this.

The subtitle to the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" is "On Stranger Tides," which happens to be the title of one of Tim Powers fantasy meets history novels, aka "On Stranger Tides."

According to Wiki, the Disney movie draws its "inspiration" from the Powers' novel...which probably means that the only thing that remains the same is the subtitle of the movie.

Here is a Johnny Depp fansite that has an interview with Tim Powers, who does not seem to know how Disney will use his book.

Still, it seems like Powers might be a good novelist to mine for movie adaptations.

Could be good.

Trailer for Coen Brother's "True Grit" remake.

Aristophanes in Hollywood.

This is a surprisingly literate deconstruction of the enjoyably screw-ball police comedy "The Good Guys."

Edifying Thought for the Day.

Who knew that there were "100 Hot Women from New Jersey"?

Lisa Edelstein - aka Dr. Lisa Cuddy from House (and a former cheerleader for Donald Trump's New Jersey Generals) - clocks in at #7.

Gentlemen, it's them or us.

Do we want to live as men or live in a world of "sparkly vampires" and "Eat, Pray, Love"?

Watch the damn movie.

A Rogue's Guide to Reagonomics.

We saw "The Prince of Persia" yesterday.  It was a decent but sometimes slow sword and sorcery epic.  The best part, though, was Alfred Molina's desert scum businessman with a commitment to tax reform:

The film’s greatest gem however is Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar, a self-described unscrupulous small businessman. He waxes moderately and eloquently about a great evil that plagues the empire: taxes. His exasperation over government attempts to control his business, and later over the secret government-run, tax-funded assassin organization that is after Dastan, left the audience I watched with laughing and even clapping.


This harmless film is complete with a significant message regarding brotherly bonds and government involvement. Not a bad way to start the summer.

How that flew under the radar is something of a mystery.

Red Dawn.

With any luck, the movie my cousin is directing won't be a total sellout.

The "Omega Man" is gone.

R.I.P. Charlton Heston.

Heston's wife of 64 years, Lydia, was at his side at the time of his death, according to the family statement.

Heston is survived by a son, a daughter and three grandchildren.

"We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor," the family said. "He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved."

"... wife of 64 years..." How many people - let alone Hollywood stars - can say that?

A class act.