The Daily Outrage: Alaska Vs. Starving Children

I consider myself to be a fairly optimistic person. I may not always seem like it, because I love to talk about bad news and am generally introverted and, shall we say, not cheerful, but I tend to think the best of things. I feel that as bad as things in this world are, we wake up each day with the chance and power to fix it. There are, however, times when a news story crosses my path that fills me with bottomless rage and despair for the human race. Most often these stories involve a major oil company, or Sarah Palin, but this one merely involves someone associated with Palin; her former lieutenant governor(and current Alaska governor) Sean Parnell.

Recently Sean Parnell vetoed a bill that would have increased funding to Denali KidCare by 2.9 million dollars, a move which would have covered an additional 1,300 children and 218 pregnant women. For those who don't know, Denali KidCare is a program that provides care and aid to children and expectant mothers in low income families. It's a program very dear to my heart, because it helped Amber and I immeasurably when Pandora was born. Amber lost her job early into her pregnancy, and was having trouble finding a new one when she would have to take maternity leave so soon. And, truth be told, neither of us wanted to both be working full time, so I picked up a couple extra jobs so Amber could stay home. I was, for a time, working three jobs. A couple days a week I would be working 20 hours a day, biking between jobs that were on opposite ends of town, and sleeping for a few minutes here and there in the backroom at work. And still I was having trouble making ends meet. Technically I should have been above the poverty line, but I could barely pay the phone bill, let alone afford the medical care Amber and my unborn daughter required.

With Denali KidCare, Amber was able to stay home through the last half of her pregnancy, and almost the first year of Pandora's life. We were able to afford regular checkups for the both of them with a family practitioner, and we never had to worry about having essentials like bread, milk, eggs, cheese, or pre-natal vitamins. Without Denali KidCare, I can't honestly say we would have been able to have all of that. It is a program that I credit for the fact that I have a healthy 6 year old tearing up my house. Surprisingly, I'm thankful.

So, why would Sean Parnell veto a program that provides such a desperately needed service to thousands of struggling children? Because he discovered that some of Denali KidCare's money goes towards 'abortion related services'. Some of you probably agree with this decision, or at the very least can understand why a republican governor up for re-election would take a stand on a topic sure to please his party. But here's the kicker; Denali KidCare only spends about .18% of their annual budget on abortions, or abortion related services. And that phrase, abortion related services, is important; the money spent went towards services like medical consultation, and counseling for women interested in abortion, and only covered abortions when medically necessary. Meaning, abortions would only be covered under Denali KidCare when the pregnancy threatened the life of the mother. And there's more: Denali Kid Care is legally required to cover medically necessary abortions due to a 2001 State Supreme Court ruling that stipulates any program providing medically necessary care cannot discriminate in the case of abortions.

But let's say that Denali KidCare did cover 'elective abortions'(whatever that means- I've never met anyone who wants an abortion), so what? What gives Sean Parnell the right to deny funding to a program that provides a helpful, and legal, service, simply because he personally disagrees with it? He's an elected official, not an arbiter of culture or values. This was not a moral decision on Parnell's part, this was pandering to his political party. But here he's radically misjudged the situation. He's standing up for his 'beliefs' against a program that not only doesn't violate those beliefs, but actively works to uphold them. Nobody wants an abortion; they're a final resort for people who see themselves as unable to care for a child. If low income expectant mothers have a lifeline in Denali KidCare, a program that would provide them with help when they most desperately need it, there would be remarkably fewer abortions.

This is an outrage, and Sean Parnell needs to hear from us on this. The State Senate also needs our input, as they are reluctant to override Parnell's decision. So I urge everyone reading this to email Parnell and our senators at the addresses listed below and share your feelings on the subject.

Addresses and phone numbers for all members of the Alaska State Legislature can be found here: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/senate/senate.php

Sean Parnell can be reached here: http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell/contact/email-the-governor.html

And you can even find him on Facebook, here: http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell/contact/email-the-governor.html

Superman's Dark Desire

The characters of Nightwing and Flamebird in the DC universe have a bit of a complicated back story, with at least half a dozen separate characters taking on each of those names. For example, the Nightwing and Flamebird that are currently the focus of Action Comics not that Superman is off in New Krypton bear no relation to the Nightwing of the Batman comics, which is the costumed identity of Dick Grayson, the first Robin(although he was inspired by the characters, who were inactive at the time he chose the mantle). Basically the names Nightwing and Flamebird are archetypal, and many people have taken over the mantle in order to give a symbolic weight to their heroic antics.

But that's not how the characters first saw light way back in the early sixties.

In the Superman comics of the 60s and 70s, Supes and his pal Jimmy Olsen had a series of adventures in the Kryptonian city of Kandor, which had been shrunken down and bottled by the villain Brainiac. In this miniature city Superman had no superpowers, and through some weird misunderstanding he was branded an outlaw, so he fashioned himself a new identity based on a bird native to Krypton; Nightwing. Jimmy Olsen joined in as Flamebird, and together they became a famous vigilante duo, fighting crime and righting wrongs.


The implication is clear: Superman's secret desire is to be Batman, and he roped Jimmy Olsen into his role-play fantasies as his own Robin. This is a theory pretty much confirmed by the comic itself; the persona's of Nightwing and Flamebird conform to the Batman and Robin iconography, with Nightwing in all black and Flamebird in bright oranges and yellows. Instead of a Batcave they have a Nightcave, and a Nightmobile instead of a batmobile. If that wasn't explicit enough, Superman chooses the name Nightwing because there are no bats on Krypton, so the name Batman would just confuse people.

But wait, there's more!

In post-Crisis continuity(for the non-comic nerds, Crisis on Infinite Earths was an event that spanned every DC Comics title in the mid-eighties, ending in a massive rewrite of the continuity up to that point, in an effort to streamline the comics and in some ways start from scratch) Nightwing and Flamebird were re-written as part of the Kyrptonian creation myth. Nightwing and Flamebird are part of a trinity of servants to Rao, the Kryptonian god(the third servant would be Vohc, the Breaker). Each generation, the essences of Nightwing and Flamebird are reborn in two individuals with a great love for each other that is doomed to end tragically in death.

I'm not quite sure how Jimmy and Supes fit into that equation.

An Abominable Birthday

Vincent Price is probably the one celebrity I regret never having the chance to meet. His screen presence- a unique mix of gravitas and winking flamboyance - never really masked a genuine(if slight) creepiness. Yet he seemed so genuine, so pleasant, and he was always so much fun to watch. Today would have been Vincent Price's 99th birthday, and in honor of the occasion I plan on using my long Memorial Day weekend to catch up on a few of his many films that I haven't seen. I also plan on revisiting some old favorites, so for those interested in hosting their own celebratory film fest at home, here's a short list of personal Vincent Price favorites.

The Masque of the Red Death: Vincent Price was already a horror icon by the time he started making adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories with director Roger Corman, but it might be this pairing that most informed his popular image. In all, they made 8 Poe films together, and they proved immensely popular. They all hold something to recommend them-The Fall of the House of Usher in particular has some wonderfully spooky monologues from Price- but none of them quite reach the heights that Red Death does. Corman's horror films were always slightly campy, and usually had some experimental, psychedelics moments, but Red Death drops camp in favor of majesty, while still allowing for a trippy dream sequence. Vincent Price reins his performance- as a sadistic prince who throws a party while the plague ravages the countryside outside his castle walls- in to a level usually reserved for his non-horror films, and Corman matches that tone and allows the film to maintain a sense of creeping, mounting dread.

The Tingler: William Castle was a much better showman than a director, and once removed from the theatrical gimmicks his films often seem horribly creaky and dull. The Tingler miraculously escapes that rut with a nifty idea for a monster(one that kills and can only be thwarted by the sound of screaming) and a few in-film gimmicks that still live up, like the one shocking scene that utilizes color in an otherwise black and white film.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes: Not only my favorite Vincent Price films, but one of my favorite horror films period. Price plays Dr. Phibes, a disfigured man who is presumed dead, and uses this to his advantage as he systematically kills off the physicians who he believes allowed his wife to die, utilizing a series of complicated Rube Goldberg devices meant to mimic the biblical plagues. The film is ultra-stylish, and it maintains a pretty fun tone throughout, with an acidic sense of humor befitting the grand guignol style. Avoid the sequel, which is for completists only.

Laura: Price only plays a supporting character in this film, a top-notch film noir from Otto Preminger, but it's interesting to see him in a non menacing role. Aside from suave, menacing characters, Price excelled at sheltered, dandyish blue-bloods, which is what he plays in Laura, as the fiance of a murdered advertising executive. The film is all about police detective Mark McPherson investigating the death of Laura Hunt, and slowly falling in love with the woman the more he learns about her, but Price steals the show in every scene he's in.

The Baron of Arizona: A fatally flawed film, Samuel Fuller's second as director, The Baron of Arizona features a great performance from Vincent Price in the lead. The story(very loosely based on true events) is interesting, but the film repeatedly shows AND tells through a completely unnecessary voice over. Though the film ultimately fails, it has a standout performance and a couple great scenes to recommend it.

Movie of the Day: Lake Mungo & Zombies of Mass Destruction

2010 marks the fourth year in the After Dark Horrorfest, an annual collection of 8 independently produced horror films grouped together to give them a higher profile. Previous years have seen the horrorfest in nationwide theatrical release, but these days the films usually get a week long release in one theatre and a quick DVD turnaround. In theory I love the idea of the ADHF; an attempt to give 8 struggling indie film-makers per year some well deserved recognition. In execution, though, the films leave much to be desired. Horror has long been the genre of choice for up-and-coming directors looking to make an impression; Sam Raimi, James Cameron, Joe Dante, Guillermo Del Toro and Jonathan Demme all got their start with low-budget horror or exploitation productions. The problem with ADHF is that while their motivations may be honest, the enterprise is ruled by economics. This leads them to pick movies that mimic or aspire to fit in with the big budgeted stuff Hollywood is putting out these days, so the lineup is usually a mixture of bland Saw knockoffs or bland zombie films. And yet I keep watching them, or at least a couple of them, every year, because you never know when you might stumble across the next John Carpenter.

But that act of slogging through the crap to get to the good stuff CAN be hellish. Most of my friends have given up entirely on the series, and these days I usually just pick and choose which films I watch(for the first couple years I tried to watch each of them). I have been uniformly disappointed by each entry in the series, with the exception of From Within, and even that film could only really be called successful when graded on a curve with the rest of that series. A few of my friends quite enjoyed Mulberry Street, but I felt that outside of the clever Were-Rat premise, the film was a fairly typical(and oddly humorless) zombie film. So this year, with 8 new films to choose from, I read a few brief rundowns and picked two of the most promising titles; Zombies of Mass Destruction and Lake Mungo.

It's clear that the makers of Zombies of Mass Destruction took most of the right lessons from Romero's zombie epics; a focus on flawed and disparate individuals standing against a zombie horde that can be seen as a metaphor for any number of perceived social ills, and a fairly healthy dose of gallows humor. I can not stress enough how much a little bit of humor can elevate a shitty zombie film. In this film, the zombies are a physical manifestation of the xenophobia and religious fervor that swept America during the darkest points of the Bush years, as a small secluded community is overrun by the walking dead. With a pretty healthy sense of humor, and a target ripe for satire, the writers(Ramon Isao and Kevin Hamedani, who also directed) drop the ball with their sense of timing. A gag that could have been hilarious, as when the rural pastor awkwardly and cheerfully welcomes his congregation to the apocalypse and is met by sporadic but ecstatic applause, isn't even chuckleworthy because of it's indifferent presentation. And this problem doesn't just affect the humor, but the horror and action scenes as well. There's no real visual style other than 'put camera here, lets get it on film, and go home.' Those problems don't always have to kill a film. Plenty of borderline inept films are much more enjoyable than ZOMD turned out to be, but in this case the slapdash execution smothers any of the modestly good ideas.

The second of this years ADHF films I rented was Lake Mungo, which isn't a title that really grabs your attention. To call Lake Mungo the best film of the entire ADHF run would be faint praise indeed, since those films can most generously be called 'aggressively mediocre.' But against all expectations, Lake Mungo turned out to not only be a good film, but maybe even a great one(I only say 'maybe' because I am easily swayed by the manner and circumstances in which I watch a movie, and this one was viewed in a manner very conducive to my enjoyment of creepy and sad entertainment)

Lake Mungo is an Australian film, fashioned like a modern documentary, chronicling what one family goes through when the eldest daughter drowns. Shortly after her death, the teenage girl begins popping up in the background of photos and videos taken at places she used to frequent, and her family begins investigating the possibility that their daughter may be trying to communicate with them. The film mainly avoids comparisons to the Blair Witch Project by not acting as sensationalistic 'found footage', but as an actual documentary you would see on the Discovery Channel, or PBS, complete with unseen interviewers and interviews with friends and neighbors. This of course means the film never becomes very scary; there are no moments in which you're filled with tension or nail biting fear. What the film has instead is tons of creepy atmosphere, and a mournful sadness that you rarely find in genre films of this nature. It's the sadness that gets you, as the unbearable loneliness of the family(and the dead daughter) grows and crystallizes over the course of the film. Lake Mungo is a bit like Twin Peaks rendered into a ghost story, with a family's investigations into their daughter's secret life revealing mysteries they might wish they didn't know. By the end, the point isn't to scare the audience, but to show what happens when the living(and dead) refuse to let go of each other.

I've just read that both films are due to be remade for a higher budget 2011 release. In the case of Zombies of Mass Destruction I think this might be beneficial, but a big budget remake of Lake Mungo will most likely ruin what made that film so special, turning a gentle little film into a hyperbolic Paranormal Activity

Movie of the Day: Paranoid Park

I have often said that I am not a Gus Van Sant, and I've often had mildly humorous, disparaging things to say about him. I've slowly come to accept that my opinion may be a bit harsh, and very premature. I say this because I'm basing my entire opinion on his lengthy career(which includes 14 feature films, and many short films and music videos) on only two movies; Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and his pointless Psycho remake. Beyond that, I can honestly say that none of his films interested me in the slightest. I've seen parts of My Own Private Idaho, and I can appreciate his influence and attraction to others, I've just never thought he was for me, nor have I ever had the inclination to test that theory. Until last Sunday, that is, when I happened to channel surf over to the opening of Paranoid Park and, well, decided to test that theory.

The movie grabbed me fairly early on, with it's drifting camera, dreamy music and fractured chronology. The movie's timeline jumps around a bit, taking a roundabout path to the story. This is more than just an overused stylistic trick, though, as the jumbled timeline reflects the mental pathways of Alex, the teenaged main character, as he documents recent events in his journal, building up slowly to the main tragedy in the film. It's clear very early in the film that Alex was involved in the tragic death of a security guard on some railroad tracks near a popular and infamous skate park(the Paranoid Park of the title), but we don't actually see this event until near the end of the film. Alex is writing his journal as a letter, an apology that no one will read, and he isn't ready yet to face the death head on, he needs to circle around it as he tries to make sense of it.

In a way, Paranoid Park is a perfect, if extreme, metaphor for the lives of every teenager. Alex is drifting, and feels, like most of us do/did, as if he's incapable of forging his own life, and is instead at the mercy of forces he doesn't understand. In reality, he's making decisions even when he doesn't realize it, and by the end of the film, although the future looks wide open, a large part of his life is already written.

Paranoid Park hasn't exactly made me a Gus Van Sant convert; Even Cowgirls Get The Blues is still an inexcusable piece of excrement, but it has made me think I should maybe go back and catch some of his more well regarded films, just to see what I'm missing. That said, I still reserve the right to make fun of the fact that middle-age, openly-gay Van Sant found his cast by cruising skate parks and myspace for teenage boys. Seriously, how creepy is that?

Rating: 4 out of 5

Movie of the Day: Sanshiro Sugata 2

Kurosawa has said: "This film did not interest me in the slightest. I had already done it once. This was just warmed-over." It is considerably worse than merely warmed-over. In it we have what the original Sugata might have been had an ordinary director done it.
From The Films of Akira Kurosawa(3rd edition) by Donald Richie

Now, it may be that this film was forced on Kurosawa, and that he wasn't incredibly interested in it, but Sanshiro Sugata 2 isn't quite deserving of the sentiments stated above. During his lengthy career, Kurosawa directed only two sequels; this and Sanjuro, the lesser-known(but possibly even more awesome) sequel to Yojimbo. While Sugata 2 isn't quite as essential as Sanjuro, and maybe not as good a film as it's predecessor, but it's unfair to discount it entirely for those reasons. So allow me to offer some minor dissent among the critical community.

The original Sanshiro Sugata, produced in 1943, had to adhere to strict postwar censorship which forbid the mention of anything Western. Sugata 2, on the other hand, is pure propaganda, and from the very first scene it's obvious that the film's stance on Westerners is decidedly negative. The film opens with Sugata rescuing a young rickshaw driver from being mercilessly beaten by an American sailor in only the first of many ugly caricatures of Westerners. There are two story lines in this film that run concurrently, although they never really connect in any way. The first is Sugata's moral dilemma as he struggles to show that Japanese martial arts are superior to Western boxing without breaking his dojo's rule about never fighting for pay or entertainment. The second is about Sugata's moral dilemma as he struggles to defend his honor against a pair of brothers(the brothers of the first film's villain, who is now infirm after his battle with Sugata) who have challenged him without breaking his dojo's rule about never entering into duels. Obviously it will become clear that neither of these dilemmas are problems after all. Both of these stories are fairly common to this type of film, and there's nothing new or fresh about them, but that doesn't mean the film containing them is not entertaining.

Though the film's story is generic, and the sentiment seems more dictated by propaganda than any artistic desire, the package is nevertheless pretty well put together. Kurosawa never seems visually bored, and continues with the same mature, confident style he'd shown off in the first film, and keeps things moving at a pretty brisk pace. There's even a scene where Sugata says goodbye to his beloved that edits out everything he says, so that we get the gist of the entire conversation through her questions and reactions to his answers. The fight scenes are typical Japanese showdowns, meaning they're long on shots of men circling each other, leading up to one or two quick blows, followed by either more circling, or an end to the match. None of them quite live up to the fight scenes in the original film, although the final snowbound duel has some good shots in it.

Sanshiro Sugata 2 was Kurosawa working basically as a director for hire, which means that yes, it isn't one of his greater films. In fact, I'd have to admit that it's probably only for people who are already fans. But you know what? Screw the haters, I still enjoyed myself through every minute of the film.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Movie of the Day: The House of the Devil

As a child that was too nervous and squeamish to watch scary movies, it wasn't until the early 90s that I began to develop a taste and tolerance for horror movies. Most of this expansion of attitude can be credited to numerous sleepovers with a group of cousins who had HBO. Through the magic of pay-cable I first ventured into the world of R rated monster movies, starting with A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. My cousins, knowing of my squeamishness, assured me that it was funny, and had more in common with a scary adventure film than a true horror film. And they were correct. Or, they were at least correct in the assumption that once I relaxed and sat down to enjoy the film, I found I was pretty much entertained throughout. I also watched Nightbreed during one of these sleepovers, and while Nightmare 4 showed me that horror movies didn't have to be as imposing as I'd built them up in my mind, Nightbreed more than anything else changed how I perceived horror films. Instead of seeing them as just terrifying nightmare inducers, I began to see the beauty and romance in horror(which of course is a recurring theme in every Clive Barker story).

Owing to the time period in which I began experiencing horror movies, I obviously saw a lot from the 80s, and a fair amount of them were of course slasher films. But slasher films have never been my favorite subgenre. Unless the film has something special to recommend it(Halloween's Hitchcockian suspense, Nightmare's decidedly supernatural surrealism), I find nothing more boring than a horror movie about some crazy dude slicing up coeds. Slasher films are generally nothing more than murder and nudity delivery devices, and that's usually all they aspire to. That's fine, and I admit I've enjoyed some of them from time to time, but I can find nudity and clever death scenes in movies that have plot and originality, also. So although I am not necessarily the target audience for Ti West's nostalgia tinged 'House of the Devil', I nevertheless found myself sucked into it's pervasive creepiness.

'The House of the Devil' is a slasher film aimed straight at those people who grew up watching Halloween, Sleepaway Camp, or Friday the 13th, but without the post-modern irony of Scream, Cabin Fever, or even Rob Zombie's wholehearted odes to late 70s sleaze. In 'House', the details are key, from the book-sized walkman to the feathered hair. From the font of the opening credits to the ever-so-slightly grainy film stock, giving the movie a visual depth that few films these days attain. 'House of the Devil' is a love letter to the bottom of the horror barrel, but it's treated with the care and reverence of a Hitchcock film, making it more in line with John Carpenter's Halloween than the slew of lesser slasher films.

The House of the Devil spends the majority of it's running time doing nothing much at all. From the very beginning it's obvious that something is wrong and bad things are coming, and there's an early shock that puts the stakes into sharp focus, but most of the time we're just following a babysitter wandering around a large, possibly empty house; ordering pizza, watching TV, peaking into cupboards and closed bedrooms. This will very possibly bore many people, especially when they realize the scares aren't exactly forthcoming. Me? I found it deliciously nerve-wracking, and strangely inviting. 'House' attains a tactile presence that I found strangely inviting; it portrayed a world I would love to live in(of course, without the bloody satanic sacrifices. Or possibly with them, depending on which side of that equation I ended up on). The film hit that sweet spot of haunting creepiness, the suggestion of something terrifying without blatantly hitting you over the head with it. So it was a bit of a letdown when the finale of the film fell in line with what I usually expect from a slasher film. To be fair, most critics found the final 20 minutes relentlessly terrifying, but I found it overwrought and too on the nose, where the rest of the film had been all about subtlety and suggestion. Still, that's pretty much what you have to do when you make a movie in this mold.

Rating: 4 out of 5. I originally rated this a notch lower, because the ending left a bad taste in my mouth, but that first hour or so is really something fantastic.