The Harsh Truth

"Charlie Wilson's War"

Charlie Wilson's War is a film based upon the story of Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), Congressional Representative from the 2nd District of Texas from 1973 to 1997. The film centers around the early 1980s, when Wilson was, while still a lesser-known politician outside of Texas, sat on several foreign policy and covert-operations subcommittees. Through wealthy Texan supporter Joanne (Julia Roberts), Wilson becomes educated in the condition of the Afghani people under the Soviet invasion. Wilson decides to use all of his clout and position within the government to single-handedly supply the Afghanis with the weaponry needed to fight the Russians. His plan is successful, leading to a billion-dollar campaign ending in Soviet withdrawal. Unfortunately, Afghanistan ended up under the control of the Taliban, leading to the United States' eventual invasion around 2001.

The film, though based on actual historical events, breaks down the political to a digestible level. Aaron Sorkin, well-known for "The West Wing" and The American President, again succeeds in making what could be stifling political jabber into clever banter in his screenplay adaptation. Though close attention may be required to really understand all of the political explanation, allowing this information to glide over you without worrying about complete understanding does not detract from enjoyment of the film.

Hanks again is outstanding as Wilson. It was nice to see Hanks play a bit of a dirtier character. Wilson is the epitome of a skirt-chasing, cocaine-using, whiskey-guzzling salesman, but Hanks allows his flaws and strengths to compose a complete character. In the end, his virtues shine through, and Wilson becomes an incredibly likable character.

Roberts, as the Texan supporter, is underused in the film. Aside from a few scenes, Roberts is relegated to sideline supporter, much like her role in the Oceans franchise. As beautiful as ever, I would've liked to either have seen her more in the film or cast a lesser known actress to reduce the distraction from Hanks's portrayal.

Philip Seymore Hoffman has become one of my favorite actors, and he does not disappoint here. Hoffman plays Gust Avrakotos, a CIA operative who's bad attitude has left him punished as the point man for Afghanistan. The teamplay of Hanks and Hoffman is great, and Wilson's likability is matched point-for-point by Hoffman's surliness.

The film is incredibly enjoyable. While not a "film" (read: Oscar worthy, necessarily), it is a great way to spend a few hours watching the best acting America has to offer. I recommend it highly for a low-stress, low-emotion movie.

ROTTEN TOMATOES GRADE: 83% critics, 88% viewers

ANDERSON ELLIS GRADE: A-

Why MLB Doesn't Need Instant Replay

Before everyone gets riled up and calls me prehistoric (I prefer "purist", but whatever), I think MLB needs replay for home-run and foul calls. The A-Rod homer incident of a few nights ago is inexcusable when replay is available. A mistake like where the ball hit in relation to the top of the wall or the foul pole should be quickly reviewed and the right decision made.

However...

Opening the Pandora's Box of replay to MLB could do more damage than it would prevent. Think about how often controversial homer and foul calls are made: infrequently. Now how many times are those calls made incorrectly? Not often. I agree that its unfortunate when they're made, but the volume of incorrect calls is negligible. Though I don't watch a huge number of games, I can't remember a call like this that decided a game.

If replay is allowed for a few instances, it will soon be requested for others. Take, for example, an aggressive slide into home on a walk-off single. These calls are exciting as much for the action as they are for the umpire's call. Baseball, if still "America's past-time", is founded as much on Americana as it is on the assumption that well-trained umpires make the right decision most of the time. To bog the game down with second-guessing of every close call would kill baseball. Imagine a coach, every time its a close call at first or a near-miss catch in center, could request replay analysis. Games would go from 3 hours to 5 in a heartbeat. You thought pitchers tossing the rosin bag or batter waggling and tightening gloves extended game times? This would be much worse.

The fact of the matter is that baseball cannot afford to tinker with their formula. If replay for limited use could assuredly be only used for those purposes and the slippery slope of "progress" be made slipless, replay could serve a quasi-important function in the game. But amid a steroid scandal that has ripped most of the sentimentality from the game, baseball must preserve their last bastion of faith in human judgment, and allow umpires the discretion to make technology-free calls, believing that they will be correct more often than they're wrong.

Turner Field's Bloodlust Is Quenched... For Now...

In a "shouldn't be funny but picturing it is" story, a fan fell to his death at Turner Field Wednesday after sliding down a railing on the club level and falling down to the field level.

Here's a diagram of the incident, courtesy of PKM.com's amazing graphics department:

Click on the picture to get a bigger version

This really isn't funny, unless you picture the guy's buddies before and right after the incident.

"Hey man, one of us should slide down this fucking railing! That would be awesome!"
"Yeah, but I'm too drunk. Hayes, you've only had 15 beers, you do it!"
"Dude, sure I will. I'm just a 25 year old man getting ready to slide down a railing some 150 feet above the ground! What could go wrong? Wheeeeeeee... oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit...."
"Holy crap, man, I think Justin kept going when the railing ended."
(All in unison) "Bummer."

New Music Added

I don't know if anyone listens to the music player I installed to the right-hand column, but it really is becoming a collection of some of my favorite songs.

I put two more songs on there today.

"Punkrocker" by Teddy Bears
Teddybears (formerly Teddybears STHLM) is a Swedish band formed in 1991, known for mixing pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, punk and many other genres. The song is a cover of the song "Punkrockarn" by the Swedish band Träd, Gräs & Stenar, and features Iggy Pop.

"Wake The Sun" by The Matches
The Matches are a band of four members which was formed in 1997 in Oakland, California and is currently signed with Epitaph Records. This 2008 single is off of the album "A Band In Hope".

All information is from Wikipedia.com, the most reliable source on the 'Net, period.

Apologies

In what is becoming a disturbing trend, I apologize for not posting recently. I just started summer work at the Lafayette County, MS District Attorney's office, so I'm getting into the routine here before I can really figure out if I can post as much as I would like. I'll get to it, though, because I know there are many of you whose day is just not complete without reading my genius musings.

Complaints? I'm right here, bitches. Bring it on.

18 Things A Grown Man Should Never Have

On MSN.com today, they had a list of 18 things a grown man should never have. Here's my take:

1. A black eye. True that. Anyone older than 20 knows that actual fighting is ridiculous. Talking shit and posturing, however, is always animalistically acceptable.

2. A witty e-mail signature. This annoys me so much, especially when its a "Hotmail" or "MSN" account. Odds are I don't really care to read what you've written to me, so I'm certainly not going to give a shit what extra text is under your name. You could quote "Rocky" there or "A Walk to Remember"; odds are, its still kinda gay.

3. An empty refrigerator. Yes. Now that I live on my own, I know the benefits to stocking up, so that a dinner can be made on the fly.

4. PlayStation thumb. Disagree. There is nothing wrong with video-game callouses, especially if you have something to show for it, like beating the game or winning the Super Bowl. And this is one point I will never back off.

5. A key chain with a bottle opener. Creepily convenient, and a little too reminiscent of that guy in your college fraternity who bought those sandals with openers in the sole. You don't wanna be that guy.

6. A lucky shirt. Disagree again. Every man owns something he feels most comfortable in. Whether its lucky or just your favorite, everyone's entitled to have something that puts them at ease. Don't judge me, MSN.com.

7. An unstamped passport. I've been to a good number of European countries and never got my passport stamped. Whoever wrote this list must be 100 years old, remembering the good ol' days when the conductors on the coal-powered trains stamped your passport at every border. Not so anymore.

8. Olympic dreams. To go or be in? Being in: not ok. Grow up. To go: definitely ok.

9. Less than $20 in his wallet. I don't have business cards yet, and I only use a charge card, so I fail this one, although I probably shouldn't. I wish I carried cash, but I spend it too fast.

10. A name for his penis. Sick. Agreed.

11. Any beer that costs less than $20 a case. WOAH WOAH WOAH. Hold on a damn second. Good beer comes cheap, too, you arrogant bastard. Not all of us like to chew our brewskies. Get off your high horse and drink normal beer with us peasants.

12. The need to quote The Big Lebowski/ Caddyshack/Superbad. I agree, but I'd change it to "Austin Powers", "Wedding Crashers", and any 1990's Adam Sandler movie. "Superbad" is still new enough to be funny, and "The Big Lebowski" is adult humor, so you can get away with it.

13. A futon. I fail this, too. Its a couch AND a bed. Very utilitarian. Sue me.

14. Code words for ugly women. In college, we had codes for everything. Now, not so much.

15. A Nerf hoop in his living room. Disagree. Under my roommate moved out a few days ago, I had one in my dining room. Broke up the seriousness of the room, in a "I just got a big-boy bed" kinda way.

16. A secret handshake. What kind of toolbags still have these that aren't on "The Fresh Prince"?

17. Drinking glasses with logos. I own pint glasses with beer logos on them. Its a little different than restaurant kitsch, so I'm gonna pretend like I never read this one.

18. A recent story with the phrase "So I said to the cop…" Yes. Please. Its no longer cool to antagonize police officers. Especially after I've taken Criminal Procedure class and found out how much cops really can legally fuck your world up.