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My Astonishing X-Men 6 finally arrived, which made me happy. ( Spoilers ).
In other news, I've watched The Manchurian Candidate, i.e. the remake. Which was well-made and interesting, but flawed. The basic problem, imo, is that given the extent in which big business already influences politics, one wonders why an organization likeHalliburton Manchurian Global would bother with this incredible elaborate scheme. I mean, it's not like a brainwashed candidate can give them anything they haven't gotten already, or if there is, the movie didn't make it clear. One of the many things I appreciate about JMS' Earth storyline in Babylon 5 that that various influential parties don't support Clark's path from Vice President to President to Dictator because they're villains and thus obliged to do so. The Shadows help Clark as a part of their greater agenda, stirring up wars in the galaxy. Psi Corps initially supports Clark because they expect more concrete legal power out of it, then splits into at least two factions once Clark's deal with the Shadows becomes clear because, as Bester frankly puts it to Ivanova, "we can't be on top if these Aliens get there first". And so on.
Other than the lack of just what Manchurian Global expects to gain from a Shaw presidency which they haven't already got, the other complaint I have is that even for a satire, Meryl Streep's Eleanor Prentiss Shaw is over the top. I guess she's supposed to make sure the paranoia of the film is bi-partison, because if Manchurian Global stands in for Halliburton, Eleanor Prentiss Shaw is the demonized version of Hillary Clinton dear to many a right-wing journalist's heart. (Looking at you, William Safire.) They even gave her the same hair style. Now I don't have a problem with female villains, or Evil Female Politicians. (Servalan, Winn, you know I love you dearly.) But Eleanor was such an assemply of clichés - the demon (incestous) mother, the black widow, the power-hungry string puller. She's the version of Indira Gandhi Salman Rushdie offers in Midnight's Children, but Rushdie makes Indira-as-Kali exuding a dark fascination Eleanor lacks.
On the other hand, I liked all of the other performances. Denzel Washington as Ben Marco is a tortured man who ( spoiler ).
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penknife has posted a series of drabbles ficlets which I love, the one about Mystique and the Picard/Crusher one most of all. Go, read, admire!
In other news, I've watched The Manchurian Candidate, i.e. the remake. Which was well-made and interesting, but flawed. The basic problem, imo, is that given the extent in which big business already influences politics, one wonders why an organization like
Other than the lack of just what Manchurian Global expects to gain from a Shaw presidency which they haven't already got, the other complaint I have is that even for a satire, Meryl Streep's Eleanor Prentiss Shaw is over the top. I guess she's supposed to make sure the paranoia of the film is bi-partison, because if Manchurian Global stands in for Halliburton, Eleanor Prentiss Shaw is the demonized version of Hillary Clinton dear to many a right-wing journalist's heart. (Looking at you, William Safire.) They even gave her the same hair style. Now I don't have a problem with female villains, or Evil Female Politicians. (Servalan, Winn, you know I love you dearly.) But Eleanor was such an assemply of clichés - the demon (incestous) mother, the black widow, the power-hungry string puller. She's the version of Indira Gandhi Salman Rushdie offers in Midnight's Children, but Rushdie makes Indira-as-Kali exuding a dark fascination Eleanor lacks.
On the other hand, I liked all of the other performances. Denzel Washington as Ben Marco is a tortured man who ( spoiler ).
Now:
penknife has posted a series of 
