I just couldn't bring myself to watch the -- God, what do we even call it? Stiffly rendered break w/ reality? -- last night. I watched "The Andromeda Strain" instead. For me, it's like "2001" in that I can understand that it must have been a big wowzer back in the day, but it's difficult for me to engage it on the techno fetish level, and damn, they do love their science-y tech toys, cool scientists, and even cooler machines. It's interesting to me, socio-culturally speaking, but it's overdone by half.
They spend an hour of the film just getting to investigating the precipitating event. The pecipitating event I liked. The scientists' varied reactions I liked. I lamented finding a comparable, what I would call, "No Nukes! ethos" in a contemporary film about potential biological disaster. Is the altruistic scientist acting on behalf of The People gone (as represented in film, I mean)? These scientists actually expressed sentiments independent of the government employing them! That I liked mucho.
Way too much exposition, good Lord. Did they have such little faith in their audience that they had to talk us through each step (or is this the convention of the era, or is it just poorly written)? The lead scientist functions as an ongoing Cliff's Notes. Happy to see two whole female characters in this sciencey bastion, though one of the women's job is to screw things up for the big climax, which, well.... okay, I guess. But the final scene gets a thumbs-up from me, ending on a warning note -- difficult, ambiguous, alright!
I liked the style, the throwback (from this vantage point) *Science Thriller!* soundtrack and camera tricks, and, I would say, a very well utilized split-screen, which I quite enjoyed and, were I to make a film in the near future, would definitely rip-off pay homage to. The split-screen may have been my favorite thing, actually. No, the decided anti-biological warfare sentiment driving the narrative was my favorite.
Then again, maybe the woman playing Dr. Ruth Leavitt was my favorite. I'm not seeing very many Ruth Leavitt-looking female scientists in films these days. Instead, we have the Blonde Scientist phenomenon. The Blonde Scientist is cousin to The Blonde (Assistant) D.A. This is modern Hollywood's nod to feminism (bwahahah!), because, you see, these women are professionals, not mewling/stripping girlfriends and fetishistically purposed victims. Oh, that is another post for another day. Sigh.
So anyhoo, in lieu of my own wishes for a Bush impeachment, which occur naturally and do not need the benefit of a poorly rendered speech about a poorly rendered response to a poorly rendered strategy for a poorly rendered war, I give you Mad Kane's Yet Another Impeachment Limerick.
It is time for another Bush speech,
Which leaves honor and facts in the breach.
Please do not expect reason:
Just more acts of treason.
Enough with this nonsense. Impeach!
Right the hell on, MK.
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