"Hear the one about the elitist?"
Newt Gingrich appears to be worth at least $7 million. Mitt Romney is worth around $150 million. My question is this: If both men are millionaires many times over, does the poorer one get to call the richer one “elitist”?
That’s the mood here in north Florida, apparently. CNN has this story about how Gingrich, with his patched overalls and his paltry $7 million, is now being seen as the candidate who understands the plight of the working man.
The working man. To Gingrich, “working” means getting paid $300,000 a year to make a few phone calls on behalf of corrupt mortgage institutions. I mention this lest some Republicans out there begin to conjure images of the silver-haired Gingrich in a hard hat, toting his lunch bucket to the job site so he can keep up the payments on the Ford.
Folks, any candidate for president is by definition an elitist. That’s how it works. Gingrich’s hands are as soft and pink as a baby’s behind, just as Romney’s are, and the only thing either of them care to understand about working people is that they’re going to need quite a few of those votes to win the Florida primary. So pandering to ignorant, “working class” social sensibilities is the order of the day.
Judge them any way you want, but a millionaire’s a millionaire. You don’t get that way by working the swing shift. Or by being all starry-eyed about social issues.
The most loveable narcissist you'll ever want to meet.
Expanding on yesterday’s post, we did go and see
The Artist. Two thumbs up. While it’s hard to judge whether the movie’s appeal derives more from the gimmick ( a silent film in black and white) or the story (the inevitable arc of celebrity in Hollywood), maybe it’s best not to overthink it. What I liked most was Jean Dujardin’s wide and infectious smile. I found myself grinning right along with him.
Yes, both he and his costar (Berenice Bejo) tend to chew the scenery, but that’s kind of how it worked in the days before spoken dialog. The fact that both are mostly unknown on this side of the pond makes it charming rather than grating. You wouldn’t want to see an American star like Brad Pitt mugging his way through this. That might make the film feel like an overlong joke.
I’m not sure I’d rate this the best of the year’s Oscar contenders, but it’s close. I like it when filmmakers take a chance, and do it for the sheer fun of the exercise rather than the pursuit of profit. I like seeing how well a story can be told using only the tools they had in the '20s. I like a really smart Jack Russell terrier. And the ending … well, I won’t spoil it. Dave Bob says check it out.
This had better be good.
Of this year’s Oscar nominees, so far I’ve seen three: The Descendants, Moneyball and War Horse. Tonight, the wife and I may go see The Artist. Maybe we’ll get to some of the others too, but really: the nominees are no longer must-see cinema, are they? Were they ever? We just go for the same reason we suddenly tune in to a couple of NFL games during the playoffs: We like to stay in touch with the zeitgeist (which is a word I try to use in a sentence at least once a week).
Quick question, and no Googling: Remember which movie won Best Picture last year? Remember who won Best Actress? Me neither. Had to look ‘em up. I had no idea who won the Super Bowl, either. Which kind of puts it all in perspective. These massively hyped things are not really about determining excellence or rewarding it. Like every big thing in American society, they directly reflect contemporary buzz and the amount of money spent on promotion. Remember when The English Patient beat out Fargo? If both movies were on TV right now, which would you watch? How about a choice between True Grit and The King’s Speech? I rest my case: An Oscar winner is not necessarily a movie you’d care to see again.
None of which will stop me from weighing in with superficial opinions. Moneyball? I liked it, but if Jonah Hill’s comatose turn as a statistician makes him best supporting actor, the bar is not very high. The Descendants? It’s the best of the pictures I’ve seen, but seemed to lack any of the truly resonant moments you hope for in this type of story. War Horse? I’ve talked about this before, and I suspect only Steven Spielberg’s stature as director put it in the running. It’s pure treacle, elevated by some stirring scenes but finally undone by an incredibly shallow script.
Gotta love her.
I’ll let you know what we think of
The Artist. Meantime, consider the nomination of Melissa McCarthy as best supporting actress in
Bridesmaids. I enjoyed that movie quite a bit — a lesson to the
Hangover 2 folks on how to make a gross-out comedy that’s actually funny. McCarthy doesn’t have a prayer of winning, but I’m glad to see the movie mentioned. One thing, it’ll make for some entertaining clips during the show.
