It's been a while...

Haven't posted a movie review since The Adventures of Prince Achmed, and that was way back in September. Holy crap! But I've seen more before and after that that's worth mentioning, if only briefly. So let's catch up on the good and bad of the last three months, shall we?

Airplane (1980)
One of those movies everybody in the business must have seen because of all the gags they lifted from it over the years sounds like it dictates a must see. But while the more popular jokes are good the rest is flat and terribly average. C+

Riding Giants (2004)
A surfing documentary I stumbled across right after watching another surf doc called Step Into Liquid. In comparison, Riding Giants is a more tightly cut, interesting production that would probably hold the attention of those uninterested in either surfing or documentaries. B+

Stagecoach (1939)
Stagecoach tells the story of nine strangers in the old west and their trials and tribulations crossing the range. A classic western in every sense of the word. B+

Traffic (2000)
Probably Steve Soderbergh's best work. It's not just one, but several stories involving drugs in some way, shape, or form. The film stock and color balancing chosen for each vignette is a nice touch but ultimately unnecessary for a superbly acted film. B

Sunrise (1927)
Old, old silent picture is everything you've probably imagined nickelodeon era pictures to be from today's pop culture. The first act draws on a bit, but not so much to spoil a solid piece of cinema. B+

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Sergio Leone's last film deals with prohibition era Jewish gangsters and the span of their lives. It's long, but so good you won't notice. A fine send-off to a great director. B+

Dodgeball (2003)
At the risk of being unpopular I'm writing the truth that Dodgeball fails to meld all the pieces into even an average flick. Put your Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, etc. biases aside and realize that the slapstick only holds up for so long. C-

The Cell (2000)
Probably the winner of the "Try and make a film out of all the unused sets and props from the past year" contest. This movie is all over the place and even the cooky effects can't save it. C-

Team America (2004)
A very good South Park episode. Unfortunately it's 90 minutes long and done with puppets. Like the other Parker/Stone films some of the jokes are brilliant, but the rest are just the same one in a different suit. C+

Wings of Desire (1987)
An angel falls in love with a girl and longs to become human. Yeah, it's like City of Angels, except it's also German, good, and made 11 years earlier. Not many of you will like this one b/c it requires patience, thought, and probably an additional viewing, but there's really no disputing it's beauty and power. B+

Another Open Letter to Jack Thompson

For my fourth article for the Daily Cardinal I decided to write an open letter to that now infamous Miami based attorney named Jack Thompson. It was my original hope that I could make it through my tenure as video game columnist for this paper without having to write about video game violence. It's a subject I consider a non-issue and it's been beaten to death for the last dozen years. But this man angers me so (and my editor thought it'd be a good idea) I just had to.

Sorry.

As I write this I'm reading that Mr. Thompson has withdrew his $10,000 to charity proposal, claiming that it was satire. Real nice. What kind of sick people say they'll donate money to a good cause and call it satire? Sick.

So here's the article if you have troulbe linking to it:

Dear Mr. Thompson,

For a long time, you have been a critic of violent and sexually explicit video games. Or as your website calls them, "virtual reality murder and sex simulators."

Recently, you wrote an open letter to the video game industry suggesting a scenario for a new game. The point of the letter and the game escapes me presently, but let me remind you just what your proposal entailed.

Your game centered on a man bent on revenge for the murder of his family. This isn't uncommon for video games, or Hollywood movies, books, plays or television shows for that matter. However, the motivation you gave this character is that he seeks revenge on the video game industry for creating, marketing and successfully putting into the hands of a child a violent "murder simulator" that trained him, desensitized him, and motivated him to commit the murders previously mentioned.

Furthermore, some characters and companies in the game bear a striking resemblance to real world people and businesses. I'm not saying you suggested these people should be murdered or ravaged in any way-that would be vile and sick of you. I'm just pointing out the irony behind all this stuff.

But I digress. You may not realize this, Mr. Thompson, but there are a lot of people who are angry with you and your letter right now; myself included. And do you know why? It's not for expressing your opinions, that's for sure. Time and time again in this country we've seen cases brought to court where people or groups tried to inhibit certain speech because they didn't like it or it was unpopular.

No, sir, I admire the fact that you are exercising your free speech privileges to bring up a cause you are so adamant about. I believe people are angry with you because your opinion is tactless, insulting, biased, unnecessary, prejudiced and ignorant, and it attempts to suppress the free speech, livelihood and happiness of others all while making you appear to be a vile, misinformed, dogmatic, headline grabbing, attention-seeking prick.

As a gamer, I'm sure you'll dismiss my claims as hatred and to some extent they are. But do you believe that the average non-gamer, or anybody else with an ounce of rationality or intelligence in them, really buys into your claims that games are warping the minds of youth and making them commit deplorable acts of violence? Have we not had wars, assassinations, theft, rape, murder and genocide before the advent of video games? You often cite the Bible or refer to family-oriented organizations that support your claim, but now even some of them are asking that you not use their names in association with your own. Why would they do that, Mr. Thompson? Why?

Perhaps it's because they know that kids act out, violently at times, and always have. It's terrible, yes, but natural. And your claim that pushing buttons while blankly staring at a TV and pretending they're defending Earth from aliens somehow magnifies these outbreaks is, I'm sorry sir, just ridiculous. If kids are so messed up that they'd entertain the idea of committing a Columbine-type scenario, then it reaches far deeper than a piece of plastic they rented from Blockbuster.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Mr. Thompson, is that your letter and game have no point. You are preying on the ignorance of others with ignorance of your own. Nobody likes to look at themselves as the cause of the problem, and you are providing the convenient scapegoat of video games for what is clearly a matter of personal responsibility.

Seethingly angry,

Jason Ducat

If Mr. Thompson would like to contact Jason, he can be reached at jmducat@gmail.com.

World of Warcraft: The Virus

The same article is posted in Questions, Comments, and Snide Remarks, but you're reading this one, so....