Julie & Julia
2.5 stars
Written & directed by Nora Ephron. Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. PG-13. Opens Fri. Aug. 7 in area theaters.
With just one word — “Butter!” — she’s got you.
Meryl Streep slathers so much salacious joie de vivre onto that one line early in Julie & Julia that we know we’re in for a glorious ride.
If only.
If so, it would be a good omen for the art world.
Dreams that the Obamas would usher in a new era of cultural savvy in Washington took a beating last week when the Senate voted against including funding for the arts in the economic stimulus bill, calling theaters and museums “wasteful” and “non-stimulative.” The fact that the thumbs-down vote was 73-24 and included a number of prominent Democrats, including Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer, added insult to injury.
The House version of the bill that was approved earlier today retained $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, and the prognosis for Senate approval is good; the vote is taking place as I write, so we’ll see. But the message from last week’s vote was harsh — and if the Obamas send a sign that their support for the arts is solid, that could help salve the wounds.
A dance image from the NEA site, no doubt the kind of thing Senators regard as "wasteful" and "non-stimulative."
In keeping with their Obama-inspired “No We Can’t” strategy — that is, flat-out no-compromise obstructionism because it’s the only way they have left to make any political hay — the Republicans unanimously voted against the $787 billion economic stimulus package, despite earlier indications that there might be a few Republican defectors. Now, in addition to hoping that this thing works because otherwise we’re dead in the water, we have the added incentive that if it does work we can rub it in the naysayers’ faces when the party goes down in flames in the 2010 congressional elections.
Maybe the best part of the story about Republican state committeewoman Carol Carter’s suspension for sending around a racist joke via email: the comment in her follow-up mea culpa about the eight folks to whom she sent the email, at least one of whom had the temerity to forward it:
“I am also sorry to learn,” Carter opines, “that some of these persons are not real team players.”
Carter’s timing was especially unfortunate, as Janet Zink’s story in the Times points out: She sent the email on Friday, “the day the Republican party announced the selection of its first African-American chairman, Michael Steele.”
The Carter flap follows in the wake of two previous instances of GOP racist email dunderheadedness, thanks to jokesters Al Austin (former state party finance chair) and David Storck (former county chair). Read the full text of the latest witticism (which is based on the assumption that Hurricane Katrina is a surefire laugh-getter) after the jump. (more…)
Yes, the Dildo Whisperer. She gives candid LGBT sex advice on my new favorite radio show, The Derek and Romaine Show, aka DNR. I stumbled onto DNR while flipping through the channels on XM Satellite Radio, whose recent merger with Sirius has yielded up cool stuff like SiriusOutQ, the radio-station equivalent of TV’s Here! or Logo, only lots raunchier.
Romaine Patterson’s name may be familiar; she’s famous for staging the Angel Action counter-protest when Rev. Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps showed up to picket her friend Matthew Shepard’s funeral. Now she’s co-hosting DNR, a drive-time show that includes the Dildo Whisperer call-in segment. The sex advice is funny but useful for all orientations, I suspect, and surprisingly frank: I didn’t know they could say “snatch-licking” on the radio. FCC, you didn’t hear it from me.
Michelangelo Signorile, Frank DeCaro and other highly entertaining queers are also on the SiriusOutQ roster. You can find it at XM 98 and Sirius 109.
It’s old news that Barack Obama (and/or his speechwriters) has a way with words. But his remarks today about religion strike me as among his most moving to date. The speech, in its embrace of difference and its vision of faith as uniter rather than divider, signifies a profound paradigm shift from the previous administration.
I liked this passage in particular, clear-eyed but hopeful:
“I’m not naive,” President Obama says. “I don’t expect divisions to disappear overnight, nor do I believe that long-held views and conflicts will suddenly vanish. … But I do believe that if we can talk to one another openly and honestly, and perhaps allow God’s grace to enter that space between us, then perhaps old rifts will start to mend and new partnerships will begin to emerge. In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding.
“This is my hope. This is my prayer.”
Read more at USA Today’s ‘The Oval’ blog.
The New York Times‘ Stuart Elliott says the ads ranked with such disappointments as the movie Australia and errant airport birds. The Washington Post’s Tom Shales marveled at the expensive-looking production values. For a quick overview, check out Creative Loafing’s live blog of the game.
Or, watch for yerself:
“My gold hip replacement!”
More videos after the jump: (more…)
If that was lip-syncing, she’s an even better actress than I thought she was. But that was apparently the case, at least according to this passage from a HuffPo report (Minor is pre-game show producer Rickey Minor):
Although entertainers can perform live, Minor insisted that Hudson and Faith Hill, who sang “America the Beautiful” before the national anthem, use the tracks the NFL requires them to submit a week before the game.
But even that explanation’s unclear. What “tracks” does this statement refer to? Background tracks? Were some parts lip-synced, some not? Whatever. To quote a HuffPo commenter: “That Lady can flat out SANG!”
Judge for yourself:
Americans for the Arts is making a push to get arts funding included in the economic stimulus package. Here’s the text of the email they’re sending around:
The House version [of the bill] currently has $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts to distribute to state and local arts agencies to help preserve jobs; the Senate version does not. They are deliberating this stimulus package now. Americans for the Arts has made it easy for you to communicate to your members of Congress about maintaining the arts in this Economic Stimulus Recovery Package. Click the link below, and take action now. Thank you.
And here’s the link. “Two minutes,” says the headline. “That’s all it takes to tell Congress you support the arts and arts education.”
So take two minutes and add your two cents.
The Washington Post is closing down the print edition of its Book World section – one of the last of the Sunday-paper stand-alone book review supplements. The NY Times Book Review is looking lonelier all the time. Nothing in this blog post suggests the Book Review will go the same route, but the comments raise the question. There’s also the predictable “get with the program, the world’s moving online” comment, which provokes a nicely sarcastic reply, no doubt from a print journalist.
