Recount

There are some things that just get your blood pressure up when you remember them. An event a lifetime ago can make one feel like it just happened when it is remembered. Humans I think are programmed to remember loss and feelings of being treated unjustly much more than feelings of happiness and contentment. It stands to reason, for most of us days that we experience loss and what we perceive as unfair behavior are not everyday occurences. I guess we should consider that a person who remembers vividly a very happy experience might not have had as many of those to paint his memory banks with.

My point is that the election of the year 2000 is on of those events for me. I have a friend who to this day remembers a high school basketball game in which the timekeeper messed up preventing an important win against an arch rival. We all have these events.

I believe that in their heart of hearts most people who favored Bush know that were all the votes counted in Florida in 2000 that Bush would have lost. Now their are many arguments to mitigate this fact. They range from Gore probably stole other states, that's why we put the Justices in, to, after Gore became a caricature of himself, did you really want that guy to be President during 9/11.

I will not visit that history and ask pertinent questions like if Gore had been in office would there have even been a 9/11? They are inflammatory, cannot be argued with any certainty, and most positions are set in stone.


Still for me reading Jeffrey Toobin's excellent book on the 2000 Florida election and watching a movie like this HBO production are exercises in masochism. In short they drive me nuts and literally make me sick to my stomach.

In this wonderfully acted movie Kevin Spacey, a very underrated actor, plays Ron Klam a Democratic strategist who spearheads the Gore forces in Florida. Equally strong is Tom Wilkinson who plays James Baker. Playing Katherine Harris is Laura Dern in a performance that is honestly a bit over the top. I suppose it is possible that Harris was that ill prepared for the national spotlight and was likely led like a puppy dog by the Bush forces but her performance to me is a little unsettling, if this is an approximation of the truth it makes me feel worse to know it.


The movie moves crisply offering excellent dialogue and a full representation of the event a month after the election. In the end Rom Klam feels like he let the Vice President down by not winning but he was handicapped from the beginning. As the movie shows and Toobin's book cites the Democrats in choosing Warren Christopher as their original team leader in Florida brought in a man who was more in love with the process than the result. The Republicans led by Baker knew right away that this was a street fight and that people would only remember who won, not how they won. With this advantage the Republicans had all the advantages. With the state wired with Republicans it is amazing that the recount process got off the ground.


Many questions will never be answered. Who won? Both sides are confident they did, it does not really matter now. More important today is why did this happen. The purging of 20,000 people mostly black, fron the voter rolls, the foolish Butterfly ballot that had Pat Buchanan winning the Jewish vote in Palm Beach. The questions go on and on.


We will never know the whole truth but what we do know is history is written by the winners. Bush wrote the history. If it could or should have been a parallel history is something historians will be fighting about for the next hundred years.

This movie is an excellent telling of the events. If you will excuse me my blood is boiling, I need to go meditate.

Kevin Spacey on David Letterman

Last week Kevin Spacey appeared one night as an unannounced guest on David Letterman. I like Spacey but I was not aware of how strong his impressions were. Twice he appeared on stage and did his best Johnny Carson.

Spacey has the voice, did the golf club swing and then we heard Paul and the band go into The Tonight Show theme.

It was very enjoyable. Moments like this make me aware of as much as I love Letterman we all miss Johnny. He was the absolute best. Watching a documentary on Bill Clinton last week we saw a clip of Clinton appearing on Carson after his diasterous 1988 convention speech. Clinton saved his career that night. Carson just did what he always did. He was the perfect host.

Kevin Spacey reminded me of how much we miss Johnny Carson.

The Usual Suspects

This 1995 movie was made for just 6 million. Even in 1995 that was not much for a movie. This movie was quite complex, a bit confusing, and wonderful.

The story is told mostly in flashback by Roger " Verbal" Kint. Roger is a small time criminal who has been one of only two survivors of a shoot out and boat burning in Los Angles Harbor.

This is complex. As Roger is interrogated by U S Customs Agent Dave Kujan played wonderfully by Chazz Palminteri we learn more about how this boat was caused to be blown up. The story goes back to several different crimes. The twists and turns are so complex and everchanging ( as Roger's story changes under questioning ) that one has to watch the movie and watch it with great attention to detail.

Still even doing that in the end you are left wondering if what you think you saw and deduced is correct. With the story changing and the ending coming with a twist even now after watching it some questions are unanswered. This movie assumes we are smart enough to follow along and mature enough to accept that in life sometimes the only thing you do know is that you do not know.

Spacey who won Best Supporting Actor is brilliant in his role and the rest of the cast beyond Palminteri is strong as well. Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin and Benecio Del Toro stand out as the other " suspects" in Roger's group.

Do not try to read, text, or have conversations with this movie. Be prepared to pay attention. You will not be disapointed. Great movie.

Horrible Bosses

As the second feature in our comedy festival last evening we watched this movie after Bridesmaids. Interestingly the two movies seem to be a bit of bookends with the female and male perspectives.

In this movie Charlie Day, Jason Sudeilis, and Jason Bateman play three men who work for what could be deemed Horrible Bosses, hence the title.

Those bosses played by Jennifer Aniston ( a play against type as a sexual harassor, Colin Farrell as Bobby Pelitt, and Kevin Spacey as the dastardly as Dave Harken.

Also in the movie is Jill Clayburgh, her last role before dying of luekemia, and Jamie Foxx as Motherf---er Jones who might have the funniest part in the movie.

Called a dark comedy this too was a funny movie. I would call it not as even as Bridesmaids but still there were several laugh out loud movies. Jason Sudeikis is a very funny actor...one wonders if he could not be funny.

A good movie with very funny moments.