Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men-the poorest-would pay nothing;
The fifth would pay $1:
The sixth would pay $3;
The seventh $7;
The eighth $12;
The ninth $18.
The tenth man–the richest–would pay $59.

That’s what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement-until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

“Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.”

So now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six—the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being *paid* to eat their meal.

So the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of his earlier $59.

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth. “But he got $7!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got seven times more than me!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night he didn’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Unfortunately, too many politicians want to exploit the differences between the so-called economic classes. That’s why they whine and screech over “tax cuts for the rich.” It’s riotously funny how they use this argument. They agree that tax reductions are needed to help boost economic growth, but they want to reduce taxes for people who don’t pay taxes anyway. And now, some of them are screaming for the rich to pay more social security tax. When will Americans learn that voting for politicians who promise to “give” them something only means that the politicians are going to steal from someone else and keep most of the loot for Washington anyway?

On another side note, We are not going to back down. So Bush ” THE CHILDREN HAVE THE SNIFFLES” lets get going, the camo boys are ready. We have a couple unruly kids in the playground, and we have to start spanking now. Before the good kids get traumatized…..peace out.

Frida (3.2 of 5)
Story of the wife of Diego Rivera, a Mexican painter in the 20-s 30-s and 40-s. More tragic than uplifting, but the color palette in the film was amazing. Art Direction and cinematography should get a nod this February. Salma was good; Molina, Golino and Rush were superb. As well as Salma breasts which make about 6 appearances in the movie. The story was jointed and has bad flow, and was probably the reason for limited release in probably one of the hardest markets so far this year. The art to life transitions were wonderful but Amele still takes the cake on this arena. Probably would have done very well in Mexico if it wasn-t in English. Saw at the regal in Rolling Hills, Clean and bright and only adults in the theater. Side Note :Come on chick directors-you need to step it up if you want to be among the greats. Amy Heckerling is the closest but she hasn-t even broken the top 100. I think James Cameron-s ex. Kathryn Bigelow has the best shot since she is still making films.

Extreme Ops (3 of 5)
Ahhh so much potential. Seemed like a fragment of a movie instead of a complete movie. Canada-s own Christin Duguay (The Assignment, Scanners 2, Live Wire) is one of my favorite second tier directors. He is incapable of making a sub par shot, no matter what the budget is. But the is story needed about 4 or 5 more rewrites. Not that what was up there was not good…just incomplete. It-s the story of making a commercial for a Sony camcorder, showing extreme sports people using it in extreme situations. With 80 percent of the commercial done, a very cool commercial I might add, the final shot is a skier using the cam while racing an avalanche. So the crew heads off to Austria. Great shots, great stunts, great dog chase. Bad ending. Saw this at the AMC 9 in Union station in Washington DC. Boy I thought the Galleria was bad. The screen was the same size as mine-literally. They had no VOT center so they put the voices through the left speaker and the music and sound through the right. Lame beyond belief.

Die Another Day (3.8 of 5)
New Blood, New Style, New Meanness, and a New Chick. I haven-t seen bond this pissed since License to Kill. The beginning takes a new twist by capturing and torturing Bond for 14 months-all the way through the title sequence (the weakest so far-but still fun). Bring in new character Jinx and one of the best sword fights I have ever seen, and this bond is worth the price. A few hooky escapes and a lot of coincidences doesn-t make this the best Bond, but almost all the slow parts were cut out to make a fast and nonstop Bond. Saw this in Pentagon City mall in Virginia, not bad considering they were using technology from the 70-s ..old seats, old speakers, old screen.

Rams Win !! 3 in a row. We dominated AZ, even though the score looked close. I was down in San Diego for a Volleyball tourney and a few Birthdays. My Brother Mike wrenched his back on his European Vacation. So he was barely mobile. Anyway we went to a local La Mesa Bar to watch the game. TV-s were small but the food was good, wings above average. And the people were nice. The 20- TV with the ram game was 40 feet away, and OK for me but Deb had a hard time seeing it. So hopefully I am going to be able to stay home for the rest of the season, or cry a lot.

Rams do it again.
This was going to be one of the hard ones, SD leads there division and are playing well. We come in 5-3 with a 3rd string quarterback. We dominated this game. But every trip to the red zone-except the first one. Resulted in a fumble recovered by SD. We fell behind in the first and it just got worse til the 4th. Then something amazing happened. The Rams from 1999 showed up. We didn-t skip a beat, Issacc did his best catch ever for a touchdown. Wilkins and Bly did the most perfect onsides kick ever, followed by another touchdown strike. When the dust settled, the team I gave up on at the half performed one of the best games of the season. And 3rd stringer Bulger threw for 450 yards. Zowwie!

I Spy (1.5 of 5)
Little hint; Never see a movie at the South Bay Galleria on a Saturday when a Hip Hop (8 mile) is playing. This many black people don-t live in Redondo or Torrance. I guess since they destroyed the theaters in Hawthorne during the riots and cant find a place to park at the Pacific this is the only theater they can goto. But good god, there were 300 people in the lobby and Deb and I were the only whites there-almost in the whole mall, we apparently didn-t get the memo. Anyways-even the added excitement of 4 crying babies and Deb getting hit from flying projectiles (Skittles) couldn-t save this movie. Betty Thomas is a journeywoman director that needs a script, she didn-t get one. She goes out on a limb for no one, and that-s how the movie felt. It was very cheesy throughout, Eddie was over the top and irritating just like METRO and SHOWTIME. Owen is Owen, he has the range of a single pump daisy air rifle from the 60-s. So if you can believe he can play a RIO on an f-18 then I guess he can be an insecure spy. Chases were lame, Famke was hot, but the real surprise was Gary Cole. He was hardly used but very neat when on the screen. So it was in focus and had 3 good lines:-Smells like ass soup in here- was one, otherwise is was not worth the matinee price. I don-t know maybe I-m just bitter about writing a short story about 15 years ago about a stolen optical pass though camouflage airplane called the Chameleon, and that-s what the main spy gadget is-grrrrr!

Well, it got as bad as it could get. We play Dallas, who looked bad opening day as well as on Hard Knocks on HBO. Should be the easy team we need to get back on track. First play hand off to Marshall, 20 yard run-. and-fumble! My god, could this get any worse-Warner back to pass-picked off under pressure then compound fracture of pinky (out 8 weeks)-ahhhhhhhhhh!!! It-s only the first drive!!! Enter Jamie Martin- 4 beautiful passes-.all dropped by receivers. The Superbowl run is over. After the half the defense plays perfectly and Jamie controls the clock. But we lack High-Octane. Then we lose to the 3rd worst team in the last 2 seconds.
Good News: Ummmmmmmm-maybe more reps for Jamie can make us a .500 team. And rooting for a .500 team to win is usually fun (no high expectations). I would feel better if Pace on O and Williams on D were back. But maybe we can slide by till they are ready. If we can get Warner back by Philly game in December and the defense does what it has been doing all year, we can win our weak division.

P.S. 4 and 0 Chargers are looking good and fiesty!!

Deb and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary on October 1st, she bought me Outback and I got her 2 hours at DuBunne.

Everything looks broke, I thought the defense would step and make it a real tight game. Nope didn’t happen, may never happen this year. Dammit. So from this point on…I would like a win against Oakland and really want a win against Washington (Only cause I am going to the game) Other than that…bring on the draft!!.

Latest dose of the democrat mentality:
NY Times Pool: When asked whether it was fair for Lautenberg to replace Torricelli on the ballot, 54 percent in the Quinnipiac poll said no, but only 30 percent said they would not vote for Lautenberg because of the switch.

Red Dragon (4 of 5)
A closer adaptation of the book than Mike Mann-s MANHUNTER, but creatively it was on the same level. While Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson kicked ass over Manhunter (sorry Joan Allen but she did- The BJ sealed it for me), everything else goes to Mann-s version. Yes Cox-s Hannibal was very good and creepier because he was just like you and me. While it sounds negative, I give both films above average marks. The ending in red dragon was more fun. Edward Norton is fun watch, but lacks the intensity that William Peterson brought to the character. And I would hope that the someone like Farina would be my FBI contact, not the drab Keitel. Most of the movie was an on going comparison for me. Until Emily and Ralph were onscreen, then all comparisons were turned off and I just enjoyed the film. Went to the AMC 30 in Ontario Mills, they have 4 big theaters and this was one of them. A perfect presentation, considering AMC was the source.

The pic comes from the Orange County Register. The monday after the LA Rams played the LA Raiders in 1994. It was from a fight 4 sections away from my season tickets. And yes the Raider Fan (Dock Worker) is the one getting the beat down. 10 years later…it happens again..this time on the field..GO RAMS!!

Saw the game at Bar behind Qualcomm Stadium, A nice little place that reminded me of the sports bar at Mammoth. Will probably go there again for the AZ game.

Angels tied up the World Series, a very exciting one I might add, 1-1 this weekend also. Game 3 tonight in SF. I have a meeting at HOOTERS tonight to pick up some HK DVD-s from jimmy. Hopefully it wont be to rowdy.

White Oleander (1.5 of 5)
Not only was this film a Chick-Flick it was even edited like one; fractured scenes/thoughts/plot. It had good acting and an intriguing story line, but failed in delivering the goods. Saw the film with my Mom and Deb, and all three of us were asking questions after the film. Pfeiffer did her best acting to date, of a woman all men should be weary of. Hell every woman in this film warrants running away from while they are asleep. This was an Indy film with big backing so the failure gets multiplied a few times. Two critics summed it up for me : ROGER EBERT–The performances are often touching and deserve a better screenplay- and PETER TRAVERS-”…the estrogen overload damn near did me in.” Saw in San Diego at the Rancho, nothing in the picture was big screen quality so the lack of big sound and clean picture at the theater was no big deal.

Stat of the Week: Attacks on civilians by Palestinian armed groups :128 attacks / 350 civilians, most of them Israeli, were killed since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000.

All the Answers in the Movies:
1. Is the American flag over Mecca the only way to solve all of this? – West Wing
2. Nuke the site from orbit – only way to be sure – Aliens
3. Well you know what I’d Do – I’d start blastin’ – Rio Bravo

1) The next time you see an adult talking during the playing of the National Anthem…..kick their ass.

2) When you witness firsthand someone burning the American Flag in protest…kick their ass.

3) If you witness someone calling an enlisted Marine “Sir,” stand back…..a Marine will kick their ass.

4) Roseanne Barr’s singing of the National Anthem is not a blooper….it was a disgrace and disrespectful. Laugh, and sooner or later your ass will be kicked.

5) Next time Old Glory passes by during a parade, get on your damn feet and pay homage to her by placing your hand over your heart and quietly thank the military member or veteran lucky enough to be carrying her……of course, failure to do either of those will earn you a severe ass kicking.

6) What Jane Fonda did during the Vietnam War makes her the enemy. The proper word to describe her is “traitor.” Hate her or else (asses will be kicked).

7) Last but not least, whether or not you become a member of the military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas that you enjoy with family and friends please remember that there are, literally, thousands of troops overseas wishing they could be with their families. Thank our military for the sacrifices they make every day. Without them, our country would get its ass kicked.

Ram Game Three: Loss-.Dammit.
Rams lose on Monday Night Football and I have become numb too it all. I see what is going on and it kills me that we can-t overcome it. For the last three years we had so much power that overcoming the loss of key players and mistakes was easy. Now we seem one dimensional, and it-s never the same dimension that fails. We came out good, sure 91 yards to a TD is great, but Warner was throwing some of the worst passes I have ever seen. On the second drive we lost marshal and our key against Tampa Bay. Now all they had to do was get Warner. St. Clair gets better each game, but this was a great front 4 he was going against. Warner was knocked silly, and the only defense that can beat us :COVER 2, TB did perfectly. 2 of the 4 picks down the stretch were Warner-s fault. But it was Marshall-s replacements that hurt us by doing bad routes, Warner was throwing where they were supposed to be, and picks resulted. Trung looked horrible, but third string rookie RB Gordon looked great. Also playing great was our defense, almost all of their points came from their defense, because we shut their offence down. We played at 60% not enough to beat TB, but should be OK against the Cowboys-.maybe.

Updates:
Put up a new Movie Trivia Contest in Daily Fun.
My top car choice for next year has a new website: The Honda Element

The Banger Sisters (2 of 5)
An-Indy-, dammit, about 2 groupies from the 60-s that meet each other after 30 years. Hawn is the Penny Lane character from-Almost Famous-, and Sarandon is the-Faruza Balk- character who grew up to be a straight laced mom. The producers shoot for a R-rated Disney flick. But it comes off more like a flick about 50 year old irresponsible sluts. And the mix hurts it in the long run. The one bright point is Jeffery Rush. An anal-retentive innocent, think spacey-s character in-Pay It Forward-, who gets caught up with Hawn along the way. The F-words (and pictures of all the celebrity penises they had) are the only things that made the film R, and it didn-t need them. Saw in San Diego, Indy = Bad Sound, so that didn-t matter.

Sorry I haven-t written, Kind of a weird chain reaction weekend.
Sunday I watched my new Shaolin Soccer DVD ..AGAIN-.I think that is 6 times now.
See review below. Then on Sunday I had a Double whammy-My Birthday and the most frustrating Ram game I have ever seen.
For my birthday deb got me a new rams emblem for my car and a new dodger shirt from my yearly DODGER/PADRE game with the family. And she even decided to cook for me on my-Football Day/Sunday-. All was great, and then all fell apart. Giants went up 10-0 when a tipped pass landed in Jason Sehorn (who Martz just happened to call overrated not to long ago) it was a truly slow start. And just was we were starting to heat up, god stepped in and told the refs:-THE RAMS SHALL NOT WIN THIS GAME!- The next 2 quarters showed some of the worst penalty calls I have EVER seen. A P.I. on Aneas when he was in front of the receiver trying to catch the ball, a fumble called back cause Collins was ruled down, 3 off sides never called and bouncing INT. Jesus!! When we had the ball going down for the win with 2 min left-I knew a pick was coming…and I was right. Maybe god just wants us to start with a challenge. Oh well, off to Tampa.

-A Palestinian boy was shot dead today while stoning an Israeli tank.– AP
Boy, I hope the other kids were watching, cause the-Things Not To Do List- doesn-t seem to have enough entries in Palestinian Territories.

Shaolin Soccer (4.7 of 5)
This is the Hong Kong Version not the Miramax-Kung Fu Soccer- or whatever they are going to call it. The DVD is subtitled in English but there is more action than words, so it works out just fine. It-s a comedy/action film about a down and out soccer star and a middle-aged streetwalker. But this is no ordinary streetwalker, in his youth he and his orphan friends were trained by shaolin monks, til the teachers death while the boys were in their teens. Each of the boys mastered a skill: Iron Leg, Iron Head, Iron Shirt, etc.. The Ex Soccer star sees the-iron leg- in action in a street fight and comes up with a plan to create a soccer team to play in the national championship. The old friends are gathered, and the training begins. There is a love story, good vs. evil, and much more. What made this different were the effects. Hong Kong effects have been sub-par compared to US digital. And while not perfect , the effects make the story fun and very watchable. I grew up on 70-s Kung Fu movies, and the same people who loved those films made this film. Stephen Chow is considered the Jim Carrey of Hong Kong, but the fact that he writes/directs/produces and stars in this great film kind of moves him above that. I can see why Disney (Miramax) wants this film, a little trimming and a great family film can come from it.

Whitney Houston at Superbowl XXV
John Byner-s BIZARRE on HBO (Canadian skit comedy show with nudity) and 18 year old named Celine Dion in 1982.
And Kelly Clarkson in the Final Episode of the-2002 American Idol-.

Kelly was amazing, and I even cried when she could not sing her now signature song because of her tears of joy. Pop music is not about singers it-s about music; Catchy songs with people who cant even hit the second registers. But there are singers, good singers, there are just hidden away on Broadway and opera houses and obscure sections of Record stores. Great singers have tried to cross over into the MTV trash by converting to Divas or Michael Bolton, but with mixed results. Simon would smart to steer her away from MTV and more toward VH1. P.S. if you want to see something truly amazing check out her version of ‘Surrender’ 3 weeks ago. It’s available on the American Idol Website. She had strained her vocal chords for 3 months..but still powered through the song and made it even more special.

My favorite quote thus far:
-Whether Kelly has the savvy to support a career is open to question, but she has earned a chance to try. Like an athlete, she marshaled her talents and performed under incredible pressure. Compare that to the dullards on Big Brother, who hope to become TV stars by complaining about each other’s hygiene.–USA Today

Speaking of Big Brother, we are getting down to the nitty-gritty. The-Perfect Gay Man’ Marci has flipped some mental switch this last week to turn from Homo to Homicidal. Amy and Roddy have taken the brunt of his anger. HOH is power and you know what power does. The other thing Deb and I have noticed is that Roddy has kept all of his deals, and everyone has broken theirs. And they blame him. Nice Society kids. I still pick Josh or Dani (boy does Deb hate Dani)

Blue Crush (3.3 of 5)
Chicks Only version of NORTH SHORE. A few really good visuals, and some truly bad ones too. This is a chick flick, Not that-s it-s mushy and relies on emotions that men keep hidden, but the underlying story is about female empowerment without degrading men…and that-s a good thing. It-s about finding you place in life, and the friends that help you along the way. As-amateur entering a pro competition- movies go-it-s beats most of them (does anyone remember RAD or HOT DOG the movie) with the exception of North Shore, Aspen Extreme and maybe Tin Cup.
The new technology helped non-surfers compete at pipeline, with mixed results (facial roto-scoping is still difficult with hand held cameras). As far as the surfing footage went Endless Summer 1+2, North Shore and Big Wednesday still were more effective. Saw this in San Diego at the Rancho, A 2.35 movie shown on a 1.85 screen with shitty sound. But I have become used to it when I see a movie in SD.

Undisputed (2.8 of 5) Probably the weakest of the films I have seen in the theaters this year. Acting was top notch across the board, but the cinematography and action direction was horrendous. Grainy and obstructed by foreground objects for more than 80% of the action sequences. Walter Hill just can-t make cheap movies. He needs 60 Mil or the film just looks like crap. Interesting story idea, but that-s it, no body is flushed out, and nobody is likable. Ving is a bad MF and does a stand out job. Saw this in San Diego at the Rancho, with the worst sound yet (2 blown speakers). And to top it all the lamp was on it last legs, arcing at about 30%. It was almost like watching the movie with the lights on.

Well, a few developments have kind of squelched me a bit. First I got sick. My track record of catching something from sick babies remains a solid 90%. This time it was Tony-s middle child. Certainly not his fault, But babies seem to be my kryptonite. Anyways I-m on the tail end now, riding again and all. Second was the loss of a few friends, no, not death. Just moving away with no plans to return. One got a job in New York though his company, Hint: he is the keyboard player in the Huey Lewis Wanna Bez video on the FUN PAGE. Second was Dave and Timmerie, they got married and decided to move on. They had about 20 pics on this site but I digitally removed them from the pics of took down the pics altogether. Deb had a tough week food wise, but is coming back around this week. She will have a new update to the log tomorrow. And our adopted son Eddie will be moving to San Diego this weekend. Not sure how Ashley and Luci will take it, but I-m sure all will be fine.
Rams lost both the preseason games so far. But everyone looked good. Faulk didn-t play either game, Warner didn-t throw farther than 15 yards-but I think that was the plan.
3rd string Running back looked great even though he almost got his head taken off by an illegal hit in the bears game. Crouch and St Claire are settling in but no trick plays from Crouch yet, but once again, I think that-s the plan. 3 more weeks and all my prayers will be answered. I-m ready for some football.

Bloodwork (2.5 of 5)
I saw it all comin- but everyone else didn-t. So I guess that make it run of the mill for me, and a good film for the over 50. The concept and story was a good one, but clint-s direction was far too loose. To many things just happened…or didn-t happen. Scenes were drawn out when they should have been tighter. At best it was a One-hour SVU episode expanded way to much. Paul Rodriguez-s motivation was off base, Angelica overacted, Jeff-s character was, I don-t know, dull!!!. Even white guys in the theater were yelling-Shoot HIM!!- and not because it would have been climatic…but because the person on the screen was too stupid to do it. Shot in Long Beach…so it was fun to see the scenery, and like most of his movies, Clint does a good job acting and bags another chick half his age. What a life. Saw it at the South Bay Galleria-so just OK across the board.

XXX (3.8 of 5)
James Bond with Slow Motion. Rob Cohen always makes great visuals (Bruce Lee, Dragonheart, and yes Daylight) so they chance to have him do a James bond movie, got me all excited. The film was a hoot to watch, Vin was just as good as his PITCH BLACK character, with even more coolness. And best of all everything (except the Avalanche scene) looked like it was really done. The Drug Raid was by some of the best full-scale shots since HOOPER. There was no clapping at the end, mostly because it was just a James bond movie; we are all so jaded these days. Music was good, No real signature stuff (i.e. Bond, Indiana Jones) but the heavy metal and opera crossovers worked very well. Good job Sony…once again. Sequels will be coming. But the entire JACKASS / XANDER ZONE clones that will come from this will be a scary sight indeed. Sony has made enough this year to release 3 years of crap and still be ahead of the game. (Much like the 3 years before this one). And what the hell was up with the end credits!!! The was one of the best Bridge showings I have seen (on bads were getting stuck in bad seats and Deb-s chair being kicked throughout the show)

I have liked M Night-s stuff since 6th sense, yes I liked Stuart Little. He maintains a slow moving tone that is more perfect than boring. It-s your life, not a Hollywood life, in real time. He has other gifts that make the entire experience work as well. You have seen these situations before, but you still have no clue how it will turn out. Then BAM something happens, not far fetched at all mind you, that throws the big picture you expected into a tailspin. The vibe in sixth sense maintain a series of muffled-wows- that by the time the end came you had to remind yourself to breathe. Unbreakable was the same tone but less-wow- and more of a journey of discovery. The only way I can describe M Night-s masterful work is to take plot points write them on puzzle pieces, lay the pieces out then slowly build the puzzle. It-s not just one plot point that leads to another, each point touches 2 others as well. All his films are like this. So how does-Signs- make this work you ask?
Well, imagine-War of the worlds- from the point of view of a small family in Pennsylvania. There are no big battles like ID4, or government help. This is Joe Blow-s story, right when the shit hits the fan. That-s the premise, but not what makes the film great. M. Night does what I have not seen in a film in over ten years; he hits every emotion available. Love, Doubt of Faith, Fear, Courage, Anger, Release, Sadness, Understanding, Helplessness, Wonder, and That cool feeling when Arnold suited up and kicked ass in Commando (I think only guys felt that, but it is in this movie). Not only did he hit these marks, each one was required to take us to the next one, or the next three. Without telling you the movie, each item (props, emotions, camera angles) is not wasted and is crucial in the film. Remember the fear you felt watching-The Legend of Boggy Creek- or the robe in your closet that seemed to wave at you as you peak out from under the covers? Those feelings are in this movie. Saw this at the Pacific Theater in Manhattan Beach. Framing was bad but that didn-t matter, sound was the key, and it worked just fine.
One last thing, M. Night is the only filmmaker recently that has had me thinking about the film 2 hours after I left the theater. I can-t eat; I can-t sleep til I understand the big picture of what just happened. This is-Field of Dreams- in that sense. I would love to make commercial films, it-s been my dream since I was 13 with my first 8MM flipper, I, like many others, have seen 90 percent of the films out there and thought of ways to change them to make them better. I still haven-t figured out a way to make M. Night-s films better. It-s a tribute to his talent, and a shinning beacon of my inadequate filmmaking skills. But that-s why I am a computer tech, and not under contract with Lightstorm, Revolution or Village Roadshow-he he

Austin Powers in GOLDMEMBER (3.9 of 5)
Part three, and if you follow the Hollywood trend the most commercial – but not the best. True but don-t fret; all is good in the world! This flick is funny…. real funny. Austin is the same old Austin, and plays the straight man to a much-improved Dr. Evil. Hard to improve upon perfection, but mike did it again. Dr. Evil is still the B-Movie Villain who wants to be A-List Bad Guy. Scott Evil and Mini-Me expand their roles and it is wonderful to see the new directions. Mini-me even has one of the best jokes in the film, not to bad for a guy who plays a mute. All the other players were perfect as usual. Caine was fun to see, but didn-t add much to the film. Two running jokes were so bad that I can’t even recall them right now. But everything else hits the mark.
A side note that I thought was funny….Mike Myers hates guns, and if you watch any of the three films you can see him blinking wildly and not aiming when ever he has to do it. That-s not a quirk of Austin, that-s a quirk of Mike.
By the way the thing that makes this a 3.9 instead of a 3.5 movie is the great opening sequence staring Austin and newcomer Dixie Normus…he he…worth the price of the film all by itself. Saw it at the Bridge in a Directors Hall…Perfect Showing.