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Monday, September 30, 2019

January 2010: The Ghost Writer: War Criminals vs Pedophiles

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.



Supporting castEwan 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.

Image from film's posterOne 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".

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