Monday, December 20, 2010

“The Dark Knight Rises” rumors – Tom Hardy to play Hugo Strange?

Collider.com reported “that the “Dark Knight Rises” is script expected in January and shooting set to start in May of 2011, the rumor mill for The Dark Knight Rises is cranking up. The latest speculation has the movie based on Prey, a story arc in the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight graphic novel series.

This comic series is widely considered a follow-up to Frank Miller’s “Year One” and would easily be a good fit for the Christopher Nolan series. Nolan has confirmed that the Joker will not return and the Riddler will not be the villain in “Rises.

So, is this a manufactured frenzy to sell some comic book back issues?

Possibly.

At that same time Christopher Nolan describe this as the final chapter in his trilogy: “…complete a story that has begun. This is not starting over, this is not rebooting. We’re finishing something, and keeping a consistency with what’s come before has real value.”

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 11-15: Prey

A story by Doug Moench:

Gotham City’s new psychiatrist, Hugo Strange, is obsessed with Batman. He convinces the mayor to prepare a special task force to capture Batman with Commissioner Gordon as its head. Gordon deploys the seemingly not-too-bright, overzealous Sgt. Max Cort to lead the task force. Later, it is found that Strange hates the Batman because he loves what the Batman does, becoming a creature of the night but he can’t do it. He deduces the Batman’s identity and plays psychologically with him by placing life-like mannequins of his parents in Wayne Manor with audio tapes. He then hypnotizes Sgt. Cort into donning a costume & becoming another vigilante, who then kidnaps the mayor’s daughter. Batman rescues the mayor’s daughter, while Hugo Strange is shot several times before falling into Gotham Bay. His body is never recovered.1

So enter Tom Hardy, who is confirmed to be playing a villain, would be a nice fit from the psychopath Dr. Hugo Strange. The human experimentation and mental instability parallel the Scarecrow and the Joker, so I can see the appeal to the Nolan universe.

Read more: http://deskofbrian.com/2010/12/the-dark-knight-rises-rumors-tom-hardy-to-play-hugo-strange/

Christmas Memories: “Christmas Story” & the Leg Lamp

“Christmas Story” remains one of my favorite Christmas movies because of the how well it holds up to multiple viewings. My children tease me because I watch the film with the captions “turned on” to discover amazing line after line.

Old Man Parker: In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.

One of the most famous scenes in the film is the arrival of the “major award”: the leg lamp.

[Mr. Parker reads a side of the box with the prize that he won]
Mr. Parker: Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.
Mrs. Parker: Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear.
Mr. Parker: Oh, yeah.

This is a list of my favorite quotes from “A Christmas Story”

* Only one thing in the world could’ve dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.
* Only I didn’t say “Fudge.” I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the “F-dash-dash-dash” word!
* We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice. (as Randy dives into the presents)
* Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor – heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand…
* Grover Dill! Farkus’s crummy little toadie. Mean! Rotten! His lips curled over his green teeth.
* Scut Farkus! What a rotten name! We were trapped. There he stood, between us and the alley. Scut Farkus staring out at us with his yellow eyes. He had yellow eyes! So, help me, God! Yellow eyes!
* Schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!
* All right, I’ll get that kid to eat. Where’s my screw driver and my plumber’s helper? I’ll open up his mouth and I’ll shove it in.
* The old man stood there, quivering with fury, stammering as he tried to come up with a real crusher. All he got out was…(Old Man) Naddafinga!!!
* I left Flick to certain annihilation. But BB gun mania knows no loyalty.
* Strange. Even something as momentous as the Scut Farkus affair, which it came to be known, was pushed out of my mind as I struggled to come up with a way out of the impenetrable BB gun web, in which my mother had me trapped.

Fantastic!

Read more at: http://deskofbrian.com/2010/12/christmas-memories-christmas-story-the-leg-lamp/

Monday, December 6, 2010

Leftists Delusions of Obama's Accomplishments

Read the complete article here at www.DeskofBrian.com: http://deskofbrian.com/2010/11/the-leftist-delusions-of-president-obamas-accomplishments/

This Facebook post is spreading through Democratic and leftist circles to mobilize support and tighten the buzzwords of support for their glorious leader.

Nancy Lloyd’s list is a utopian wishlist of campaign propaganda designed to program the disciples for the upcoming campaign without any serious analysis to truth or execution.

At the top of the list in “Ethics” is the Obama favorite – “Transparency”

Let’s forget for a moment that Congress pushed healthcare through Christmas sessions at midnight or the series of thousand page bills which were never read –no, let’s look at the President’s most recent move: Bob Bauer.

The “Ethics Czar” (Norm Eisen) has been relocated to ambassador detail for the Czech Republic leaving Bauer to head this “fictional” concept of “transparency” from the Oval Office. Bauer, a Democratic lawyer and opponent to Campaign Finance, has a reputation of ‘pushing the limits of how these rules are interpreted, he’s paved the way for more unethical outcomes.”

On a similar notion is the concept that there are “no lobbyists in the White House” – they use the phrase “placed limits on” them – no matter what color you paint the fence, it’s still designed to keep the chickens on the farm.

From President Obama’s State of the Union: “We’ve excluded lobbyists from policymaking jobs” which translates to “We told a bunch of people no, but we have 40 lobbyists currently working in the White House.” (Read Washington Examiner article here)

Nancy Lloyd Facebook article says: “* Note: After saying he would not hire lobbyists, a few have been hired in the Administration” — yes. “Few” = 40!

Promises broken are so easily redefined or ignored:

* Freedom of Information Act to be repealed – now, “respect” the act and overturn Bush era limits
* Close Guantanamo Bay Prison (“due to opposition”) – even though he’s had a super majority in Congress
* Afghanistan & Iraq: I love the spin here on “intentions and efforts” instead of results
* Ended the Bush-era “blackout” imposed on media coverage of the return of fallen US soldiers (CALVIN GIBBS!?!?!)
* On that same blackout: Wikileaks documents and the mysterious missile off the coast of California

Let’s continue the back and forth with Nancy’s proposed “Accomplishment” and the reality:

* Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office — apologized for America tour, bowed to Saudi and Japanese leadership and dissed Great Britain, our strongest ally on several occasions.
* Spoke on Arab television, spoke at an Egyptian university, and met with Arab leaders in an effort to change the tone of US-Arab relation — We’re Sorry
* Authorized a $789 billion economic stimulus plan – It’s NOT going to work because it was a spending bill for Democrat districts
* Authorized a continuation of the US financial and banking rescue plans initiated at the end of the Bush administration and authorized TARP funds to buy “toxic assets” from failing financial institutions — see Bush gets blamed for the mess, but Obama continued the horrible bailout bill, turning it into a slush fund for bankers
* Ended the Bush-era policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs – in India he describes outsourcing as having “enormous win-win potential” Read here

The post ends with “Share the Facts” – well, there are a ton of “half-truths” or skewed perspectives to share. So as I prepared for responses: “Let ‘er RIP!”

Read about the Calvin Gibbs case on DOB: http://deskofbrian.com/?s=calvin+gibbs

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=463254009536&id=1229467734&ref=mf

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/08/12/the-things-bob-bauer-was-doing-before-taking-over-ethics/

http://washingtonindependent.com/95343/good-government-groups-raise-questions-about-new-white-house-ethics-czar

MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell: “I am a Socialist”

Read the complete article, with videos at www.DeskofBrian.com: http://deskofbrian.com/2010/11/msnbc-anchor-lawrence-odonnell-i-am-a-socialist/

MSNBC Anchor O’Donnell: “I Am A Socialist. I Live To The Extreme Left Of You Mere Liberals!”

O’Donnell: “I don’t pretend that my views which would ban all guns in America, make Medicare available to all in America, have any chance of happening in the Federal government.”

Glory! Glory, is the truth.

Note: this is the first 40 seconds of the video and look at the face on that “poor Progressive liberal” – he’s in shock at the public pronouncement of their ideology.

Morning Joe – Kudos, praise…finally the truth!

O’Donnell: “If you think Socialism is bad, then you are against Medicare. You are against Social Security. Tell your Mother and Father to stop taking those Social Security checks.”

I want to personally thank Larry for his candor and honesty. Socialism is growing and the advocates are in the media, in our local governments and running the White House. They refuse to accept the history of failures and push this Marxist philosophy under a well-packaged, well-marketed campaign slogan of change.

Well, America doesn’t need change or transformation, it simply needs the Constitution.