A Reporter’s Creed

by Tarzana Joe

Bush is a bum, his mind is numb, his brain’s been through a blender;
And when I go to work to cover the jerk I have no agend-er.

The surge is nuts, it’s run by a putz, a jumble of confusion;
But on that matter, despite this chatter, I’ve reached no conclusion.

The dice were tossed, the war is lost, and Bush is Exxon’s minion;
But on issues of the day, I’m proud to say that I have no opinion.

If you demand I take a stand, well I’ll say the sky is blue-ish
And once when stressed… well I confessed that one plus one is two-ish

So I aver and must defer to quote that great Virginian
Who said in re: Death or Liberty, “I have no opinion."

1.18.08

I know it's been a while since I last wrote. But if there is anyone still reading this blog, you've probably also been getting my other posts not on this blog with family pictures and such, so it's not that I've been out of the loop that much.

But this afternoon I saw a movie trailer for a new movie that was just too cool to not pass on to my one or two faithful readers. From the writer of my favorite TV series Lost (and the producer of the next Star Trek film) J.J. Abrams comes a new movie that is merely titled 1-18-08. As you would correctly presume, the movie releases next January 18.

First - check out the trailer.

It is some of the coolest cinematography I have seen in a long time. This takes full advantage of the power of CG. I might go so far as to say this takes it to a new level, although I'd have to admit this sort of thing was really perfected in many of the excellent CG sequences on the Battlestar Galactica series. In addition, it adds a great first-person perspective to the film in a way I haven't seen done with any notable effect since the Blair Witch Project which I also thought was genius film making.

My only fear is that the trailer is not a true representation of the movie. I hope I'm wrong. I hope the whole movie is shot in this style. I think the way the story can unfold in the first-person perspective is really suspenseful and could seriously ratchet-up what has become an already cliched and almost boring genre.

Getting back to the title, I find it reminiscent of another date: 9-11-01. On that day, a cataclysmic attack was viewed real-time by most of the country. Unlike other infamous days like "Pearl Harbor Day", that day wasn't called "World Trade Towers Day" or somesuch, but merely "9/11". I wonder if that is what Abrams is doing with the title of this film. By releasing it on that day and filming it the way he has is he trying to create (at least on opening day) a sense that what we're watching is happening "now" the way it felt that crisp September morning? Perhaps.

Given what he's been able to do with Lost, I can't help but feel great anticipation for what could be a really exciting movie. I just hope it doens't turn out to misfire along the lines of Godzilla.