So...the editors at the
Harbinger, Illinois Central College's newspaper, expects their contributing
columnist to walk by their office that is two stories above the only
class he is attending this semester. It's funny because he only had
to enter the office once in his three semesters of contributing.
Enough of this 3rd Person
bullocks, makes me feel like those right-wing twats who were offended
at my "Destroy Popular Culture, Rebuild, Repeat" shirt...at
a strip club. Did one of the girls pay them off just, so I would plead for
one of them to take me back for a dance?
The editor had told me,
if they could pay me for my reviews and my opinion pieces, they would.
Personally, I like not having the hassles of showing up to meetings,
and if that cost me a few bucks, that no big deal. All I expect is an
e-mail telling me when I have to get my shit finished.
Maybe it just slipped
their mind, maybe the A&E editor saw a flick and wants my space,
or the editor-in-chief did not like Ghosting my last opinion piece. Whatever
the reason, I feel a little put out by a newspaper that hardly updates
its website.
Yes, I guess I maybe taking
the inevitable "sorry, we were so busy e-mail" too hard, but
I have an ego, and when I do not do too many things well, failing to
get published hurts.
After receiving the e-mail,
it was a reality check. The staff simply had college things to do, the
stuff that will further careers. Writing for a college newspaper is
kind of a secondary thing in comparison. Like it or not, that is pretty
accurate.
C'est la vie, I guess.
With a Polanski movie review, that seems appropriate. As long as my
works were not published for making an observation about pedophilia in
this critique, everything will work out fine. I bought a domain for
a reason right?
Exiled director Roman Polanski
once again proves his brilliance as an auteur with his ironic tale of
an exiled prime minister. "The Ghost Writer" is a film where
the talent of the cast and crew shine as they present a rather uneventful
story.
Ewan
McGregor portrays The Ghost. His living is made by piecing the together
the memoirs and irreverent thoughts of celebrities into autobiographies.
His latest assignment is the task of telling the life story of the recently
retired British Prime Minister Adam Lang, Pearce Brosnan. It should
not prove to be too difficult since the last ghost writer for Lang had
finished a first draft before he drowned off of Martha's Vineyard. That
is until the UN calls for an investigation into the PM's alleged involvement
in kidnapping terror suspects and handing them over to the CIA torture
programs.
Because the US does not recognize
the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction, Lang heads to Washington
for the support from government that most of his decisions seemed
to truly benefit. This leaves The Ghost left to entertain the PM's wife,
Olivia Williams, and his own curiosity into the who, what, why, and
how that led to the last ghost's fate. His impromptu investigation may
not only uncover what happened to his predecessor, but also some secrets
that may make him the next big threat to international security.
One
has to be amazed at Polanski's ability to set a film in a country that
he cannot even visit. The framing of each shot is near perfect, each
actor nails their role, and the film's story flows very well. In many
ways, it is an ideal conspiracy flick because of the lack of violence.
If people are talking about
a conspiracy, all the violent acts happened in the past, and all that
there is left to do is investigate. Oliver Stone bent a lot of truths
for "JFK," but like Polanski, he knew that there was no place
in the story for someone to get into a gun fight with Kevin Costner.
Unfortunately, this story
is not based on the greatest conspiracy on the 20th century, so audiences
may feel this film is missing something if McGregor is not using his
Jedi skills to outwit assailants. Add to the fray that this film can
seem to be rather insulting to audiences from the Red States. Polanski
delivers a left hook to the US by showing the evils behind the motives
of the last administration, and retracts from that strike with a backhanded
slap about how the nation will not prosecute war criminals, but will
never forget an all too common indiscretion.
"The Ghost Writer"
is a piece of art, and like most great art, is not truly meant for mass
consumption. It is an excellent narrative delivered by a marvelous director,
but it is a film for a patient audience, and will disappoint anyone
with preconceived standards of what conspiracy and espionage films from
films with spies whose last names start with "Bo".
