many blogs have posted this...
Now Playing: It's A Good Time To Remember
I think, most of my readers would have read it but...I'll still post it.

***********************


That there are still a few Americans out there that I am proud to be a fellow of.....

John Cusack's latest film grew out of Iraq grief and outrage at Bush
TARA BURGHART
June 08, 2006
CHICAGO (AP) - John Cusack's motivation for his latest film grew out of something he did not see - flag-draped caskets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pentagon policy bans media coverage of America's war dead as their remains are returned. The administration of U.S. President George Bush has strongly enforced the ban, something Cusack describes as "one of the most shameful, disgraceful, cowardly political acts that I've seen in my lifetime."
So the actor started looking for a project that would illustrate "what happens when the coffins come home."
The result is Grace Is Gone, a small, independent film in which Cusack plays a man whose wife Grace is killed in service in Iraq. Filming wrapped last month. The movie's producers - who include Cusack - will be looking for a distributor or film festival opportunities.
Cusack's character, Stanley, delays telling his two daughters about their mother's death, instead taking them on a road trip while the former military man sorts out his complicated feelings about the war.
While Cusack's motivation for taking the part are political, he insists the movie is not. "It's kind of a spiritual story about grief and, hopefully, a little bit of redemption," Cusack said recently.
The screenplay was written by James C. Strouse, who penned Lonesome Jim, which was directed by Steve Buscemi and released earlier this year. Grace Is Gone marks his directorial debut.
While Grace is set in a vague Midwestern city, most of the six-week shoot took place in Chicago due to Cusack's influence. He grew up in suburban Evanston and divides his time between homes in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Before shooting the scene of Grace's funeral in a Methodist church on the city's North Side, Cusack, 39, folded his 6-foot-2 frame onto a pew for an interview. Dressed casually in a grey T-shirt and blue cargo pants, with sunglasses pushing his rumpled black hair off his forehead, Cusack spoke of his feelings about the war, the film and what he has tried to accomplish with his career.
Cusack got his start more than 20 years ago in teen comedies like Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead and The Sure Thing.
Unlike many of his Brat Pack contemporaries, Cusack easily made the transition to adult parts, often as an underdog or unconventional hero. He stood out as an underachieving kickboxer in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything. He was a con man in The Grifters, an out-of-work puppeteer in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich, and a cheating playwright in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway.
In the past decade, he has branched out into writing - co-writing Grosse Pointe Blank, about a hit man who returns home for his high school reunion, and also High Fidelity, in which he also starred as a record-store owner who compiles lists of most everything in his life, including his top-five breakups.
While High Fidelity was an adaptation of British author Nick Hornby's London-based novel of the same name, Cusack moved the setting to Chicago.
"I always love to bring films here if I can," he said. "If you finish work in time, you can go to a Cubs or Sox game."
Over the years, Cusack has balanced big-studio projects, like America's Sweethearts, Con Air and Must Love Dogs, with smaller, more personal films.
"One allows me to do the other. If I do the more commercial ones, then I can leverage those into the smaller ones, which are harder to get made," Cusack said.
One movie he often mentions is 2002's controversial Max, in which Cusack played a Jewish art dealer who befriends a young Adolf Hitler and encourages his artistic ambitions. He also produced the film.
"I got that made, which took me three years and a was a real labour of love, because I've done some romantic comedies. So that's just how it works, or that's how I've figured out how to work it," he said. "But these are the ones that kind of get me up in the morning."
Still, Cusack isn't a film snob. He said he enjoys some of the "great big movie experiences" that Hollywood likes to release during the summer and holidays, specifically mentioning the Lord of the Rings series and the most recent Harry Potter instalment.
Regarding his participation in Grace Is Gone, director Strouse said when he was writing the script, he and his wife - producer Galt Niederhoffer - compiled a "dream list" of actors to play Stanley. Cusack was at the top and Strouse said that once he signed on, filming started a month later.
"John's kind of a gutsy actor. He likes to try different roles and I think this was one that he hadn't really had a chance to play - a repressed midwesterner. I don't want to say loser, but a lot of times John plays these very hyperarticulate, energetic, urban characters," Strouse said, "and this guy is sort of 180 degrees from what you think of when you think of a typical John Cusack character."
The actor said he wonders if people reading about his political opinions will keep some from seeing the movie. Others, he believes, will appreciate the timeliness.
"I feel that people will be interested in seeing the story of the human cost of this" war, Cusack said. "I think people are probably tired of being manipulated endlessly on the reasons and realities of this misadventure - political misadventure. I don't mean the soldiers fighting, I mean the civilian leadership."
Whatever the case, Cusack said he does not dwell on how his movies are initially received by the critics or public.
"I'm not worried about how it turns out in the first two months after it's released. A piece of art takes a while to be appreciated or not - if it is a piece of art. You try to make something that has some value and then in three, four or five years, it will still be interesting or it will have a pulse.
"Some things that you make, people say are terrific right away and they don't really hold up," Cusack said. "You just sort of make it, and it's all about the process of making it. Trying to do the best you can. And then you have to wait for a long time to see if it has resonance anyway."

Coolest web site ever...
Now Playing: IF you remember the 80's...90's....
http://www.theraconteurs.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7aOWIFgIZQ&search;=raconteurs

the video's great as well....

a good movie...
Now Playing: rent it...watch it....


A good movie.


How strange is that to announce?
Casanova.
Heath. Oliver Platt. the whole cast.....good job guys!

'nough said.....

later sass

s@xiest theme song....
Now Playing: E V E R , E V E R........EVER!!!
The Sopranos


I knew there was something I recognized and loved in the writing of The Sopranos...

"Sometimes I go about in pity of myself and all the while a great wind carries me across the sky.."
- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
The main writers behind Northern Exposure.

Tony Soprano redefines the word macho and good lord his son scares the crap out of me. He redefines the term "what's the youth of today coming to...."

later
sass

Steven Colbert
Now Playing: YOU MUST WATCH THIS
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879


or stop reading sass....this is just a CLASSIC.

can't wait for the impeachment!!!!
i want front row seats...

later
sass

Saving us from Mexico..
Now Playing: from: 100 monkeys typing.
Four to five thousand National Guard troops being deployed to our southern boarder to protect us against illegal immigration but we couldn't deploy enough troops after Katrina to effectively rescue our own citizens? How ironic is it that the Federal Government's working overtime to protect us from low wage earning immigrants while ensuring rebuilding contracts in New Orleans are structured in such a way as to encourage the hiring of the same individuals.

Bush Administration: Contradicting itself since 2000.
******

Backassward once again....
later
sass

OK......great idea here....
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Cruise CONTROL....
******

OK from this blog: http://voxpopulix.blogspot.com/ Couldn't have said it better and I will post this and send it to everyone I know.......

__________________________________________________________________

Thursday, May 04, 2006
Have We All Forgotten the Real Tom Cruise?

I was going to let it pass. I had been willing to forgive and forget. I had given him the benefit of doubt and just called it a day. But, when I turned on the news today and all I could find were stories about how Tom Cruise sped through Manhattan on a motorcycle, speedboat, taxi, helicopter, sports car and subway train, well, I could no longer just sit idly by and let this pass without comment. Was there nothing more important going on? Has everything gotten so out of hand that this was the most important event in our lives?

Does He Deserve Our Attention?

I ask you. Is it right that we should pay such attention and homage to someone, who in my opinion has no longer earned the right of our attention or respect? Should we just drop everything we are doing for some publicity stunt and forget all that he has done and said over the last year just because he has a movie coming out? We all know that this film will only make him richer, more powerful, and will just give him more opportunity to push his "opinions" upon us in the future. Isn't he rich enough? Does he need more power? Is this really what we, as the public, as Americans, want to reward him with for all the good he has done for us?

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with someone expressing his or her opinion. In fact, it is the whole point of this rant. He is entitled to his opinion, as I am entitled to mine, and as you are entitled to yours. That is what makes our country special. We are all free to express our opinions. But I do have a problem when someone uses his or her position irresponsibly to push his or her own agenda or beliefs. That is something entirely different. That is wrong. If the President did this, then it would be called abuse of power, and we would not stand for it. Why should the rules be any different for a movie star? Should a movie star be exempt just because he or she is a star?

Abusing His Power For Self Interest

The reason I have a problem with this abuse of power is because while we are all busy with our everyday lives, we may just miss the fact that the very freedom of speech and choice we all love could be in jeopardy simply because we were not paying attention. This has happened before and it could happen again, even here in America. So, when I watched all the coverage today, I thought to myself, have we all forgotten? Did we forget that this was the same man that told Brooke Shields that using medication to cure her post-partum depression "is dangerous and damaging to her career"? Has he given birth? I ask this because only women who have given birth actually suffer from post-partum depression. So, what direct knowledge about the subject could he actually have? What do these comments mean? Were they responsible comments? Or were they simply to push the agenda of his religion and personal beliefs?

Shortly after he did the same thing again with Matt Lauer calling Matt "glib" because he was expressing his opinion on the drug Ritalin. Has the movie star ever been prescribed Ritalin? Not likely with his views on prescription drugs. What message does this send to people taking the drug that may actually been helped from its benefits? After all, this is a movie star - he has influence - people listen to him.

South Park - Censoring What We See

But for me, it wasn't these events, or the Oprah "couch jumping" incident that set me off. It was South Park. We all know the rumor. He didn't want the episode about Scientology played on Comedy Central. The episode poked fun at both him and the religion. So, allegedly, he called a meeting with key executives of Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures who produced Mission Impossible 3, and also owns Comedy Central. The rumor claims that Cruise threatened not to promote MI3 if Viacom would not pull the episode down. We all know what happened, the episode was not aired. Later, Cruise claimed he knew nothing about the incident.


Well, does his statement seem true? Why would Comedy Central suddenly pull down an episode of South Park for no good reason? Does this make sense? Or was there someone who influenced Comedy Central's decision? Was there someone who would have cared about people seeing that episode? I think that it is obvious who cared enough to make sure that we didn't see that episode. If it is true, then, what happened was a gross abuse of power and something far, far worse.

If he used his power to stop South Park from being aired. Then, he censored what we, as Americans, had the right to see. If it is true, he stopped us from being able to enjoy the episode freely, and form our own opinion about his religion. He infringed upon our rights, our freedom to choose. He decided for us. He did not let us decide. Can we allow him or anyone else in a position of power to alter so greatly what we see or the opinions we form. If we do, then we will loose what is most precious to us - our freedom. And, if we don't pay attention, if we forget so easily, that is exactly what we will do. The scariest thing is we almost let him get away with it. We almost forgot and got so taken up with all the excitement of the land and sea journey through Manhattan and the release of his film. Almost.

What Can You Do?

So, you may be asking well what can I do? He's Tom Cruise. He's a big movie star and I am just a regular person. Well, remember, he's only a star because we made him a star. Without us, he is just a regular person. He's just like us. So, if he has abused the power that we gave him, then we can take it away by using our right as people to choose. Just like an election. We can decide what will happen to him. But, there is only one time that we can make a difference to him. Only one time when him, and others like him will care and be reminded that if they ever try and take our freedom away, we will be watching and we will act. For him, that time is this weekend. When his film opens tomorrow. When he needs to make money for his boss, the film studio. When he has something to loose. When he really cares.

Now, people have said boycott his film, sign a petition against him, and come up with many other worthy ideas. All of these are good, but if we really want to make a statement, if we really want to show our power as the people, we need to make it count. We need to do something that matters to him. Well, here's how we make a difference this weekend.

We make it count with the price of our movie tickets this weekend. That's right, less than $10. Now, I am not saying that we should not go see his film because I don't think that we should change anything we actually want to do for him. If it is M13 that you want to see, then see it. You shouldn't change anything you want to do for him. What I am saying is that if you were planning on seeing his film (MI3), then go...

...BUT WHEN YOU BUY YOUR TICKET THIS WEEKEND, PAY YOUR MONEY TO ANY OTHER FILM PLAYING AND SNEAK INTO HIS FILM. JUST ASK FOR A DIFFERENT FILM. THEN, HE DOESN'T GET THE MONEY.

That's it. Change nothing for yourself and change everything for him. This one small act, our $10 each, which we were spending, anyway this weekend, will make a huge difference to him. It will make all the difference to him. This weekend, our $10 makes us as powerful as him and has the power to change his life. With this one act, done by all of us, we are choosing. We are bringing the power back into the hands of people and making them stand up and take notice. We are showing him, and others like him that we matter, we are important. We matter. We choose.

All we need to do is REMEMBER, and remind our friends that we are going with to buy a ticket to another film. There are lots of new one's. That's it. But, we need to do it this weekend. This is the only time that we can really make a difference.

Forward This To Everyone You Know

We need to send this rant to everyone we know as soon as we get it. We need to tell them to forward it to everyone they know. We need to act quickly because we need as many people to do the same thing this weekend. We need to be united and act as a group, because it is by our doing the same thing at the same time that will make the difference. The more of us that do it, the more of a difference it will make.

This Weekend You Can Make A Difference

So, I have said my piece. I have expressed my opinion and let you know what you have the power to do to make a difference this weekend. To be heard. But, unlike others, I am not telling you that you have to do this. I am leaving the choice to you. The choice is yours. I hope that you make the right one.

_____________________________________________________


YEAH! Great idea!
later
sass

There are no angels in a Tom Cruise movie...
Now Playing: PLEASE.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it.....
Mission Imp 4.......please don't see this new movie.
Make a stand.
I challenge every sane person that reads any of my blogs, please don't add fuel to the insanity of Tom Cruise and other similiar celebs.
Add your name here and pledge NOT to encourage any more of this crazy-cruise nonsense.
Furgit Cruise, The Simpsons, Lindsey and Nicole......

anyone watch the Darfur Episode of ER?

http://www.nbc.com/ER/

Hope?

There are other things we need to be watching/thinking about in this day and age.

later sass

PS: See Pirates or Poseidon...instead. Because who can resist a Pirate or Kurt Russell for that matter? Just NOT Cruise, OK?????

100 proof Otis Campbell....
Mood:  mischievious
Late night remote clicking brought about this mish-mash of Americano.
And I'm glad to say, that once again we can see Andy Taylor knows best. In the Andy Griffith Show episode that discovers Otis, the town drunk, is the descendent of all-American war hero Nathan Tibbs.....Otis announces that...."just because a guy's related, that don't mean he's worth anything....."
Click back to The Daily Show with John Stewart and Madelyn Albright discussing Bush.
She states that being invited to a White House meeting with George Bush......"He's just like he is on TV....actually believes what he sez....."
Just because Daddy was President.....
Also Albright notes that Bush truly believes "God wanted him to be President..."

This is a very sad time in our history. God needs to get his priorities straight.

At the moment I'd rather Otis be in the oval office.

At least he'd have Andy as his right-hand man.

Stephen is hard to take...
Now Playing: and totally hilarious!
A blistering comedy "tribute" to President Bush by Comedy Central's faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.

Earlier, the president had delivered his talk to the 2700 attendees, including celebrities and top officials, with the help of a Bush impersonator.



I wish I could have been there...

later
sass