URLs du Jour

2007-01-18

  • We previously noticed the threatening efforts of Weather Channel's "Heidi Cullen, Climate Expert" to silence any hint of skepticism or dissent from global warming orthodoxy. Now Marc Morano of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has a short article mentioning this and similar efforts by others. (Via Drudge.)

    The Blog Hero also has thoughts on the Global Warming Thought Police.

  • Jacob Sullum is skeptical of that claim from Slashdot we passed along yesterday that Senate Bill S.1 would force bloggers "to register with the Federal Government as lobbyists."

    So I'd say there's no immediate reason to start packing for the slammer. Honest, I almost appended "It's Slashdot, so there's a good chance this is alarmist bullshit." to my post yesterday.

  • Jacob also reports on the thuggish behavior of newly elected New Hampshire State Representative Delmar Burridge (D-Keene), who responded via e-mail to a constituent who asked him to support HB92, a pot-decriminalization measure. Representative Burridge declined vociferously, and said in closing:
    I am copying two members of the Keene Police Department in case you want to change your ways and act legal and save your friends.

    You are very passionate in your beliefs and would make a great snitch. It is thrilling to dime on your so called friends.

    Excellent! As I type, asking the Google for "Delmar Burridge" garners 70 hits. This will only go up. I predict at least one link will, when followed, contain the word "asshat".

    Oh yeah. This one. Duh.


Last Modified 2007-01-18 7:03 PM EDT

The Illusionist

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)
[4.5
stars] [IMDb Link]

A very pleasant surprise. This movie got decent reviews from the critics; I liked it even better than they did.

The film's setting is Eastern Europe in the early 1900's. The aristocracy is beginning to decay and crumble. Little aristocrat Sophie and little son-of-a-furniture-maker Edward find themselves falling in love; once Sophie's family finds out, she's spirited away, and Edward moves on to become, after many years, Eisenheim, master of illusion. And then they meet again, with Sophie about to become engaged to a murderous slimeball prince-in-waiting.

The acting is top-notch, as expected from Edward Norton (as Eisenheim) and Paul Giamatti as the ambivalently corrupt policeman who loves magic, but is tasked with eliminating Eisenheim. Playing Sophie is Jessica Biel (to whom I always refer as "that nice Jessica Biel", ever since she was on Seventh Heaven), and she steps up to go toe-to-toe with these heavy hitters, a pleasant surprise.

The movie is deliberately old-fashioned—when was the last time you saw an iris-to-black transition, for example? The magic is astounding (the great Ricky Jay was an advisor on the film). All in all, a lot of fun to watch.


Last Modified 2024-02-02 4:47 AM EDT