Powwow Highway

As always, spoilers ahead.

This is a story about a couple of Native American guys, Buddy Red Bow and Philbert Bono. Philbert seems quite certain that he is a warrior like his ancestors, while Buddy fights a political fight to keep his reservation from the dirty paws of the big corporations. They take off to free Buddy’s sister, who has been set up/framed by nasty corrupt cops, from jail. With Philbert’s newly bought war-pony Protector, in reality a battered old car, they undertake a hilarious journey across half the USA to accomplish their goals. Along the way, both of them find out things they haven’t expected. It also turns out that the big guy Philbert, who dreams of being a warrior, actually is one, but not in a way you would have anticipated.

The man who plays Philbert, Gary Farmer, is one of the most tangible actors I’ve seen in years. Every thing he does, every word he utters falls into place. There is one scene where he, in tears, talks about history and ancestry: that might as well be the pinnacle of emotion and understanding in the whole film.

I won’t spoil any of the jokes here; I’ll just say that the biggest prank is played, in the end, at the expense of the corrupt people in power. Without any further ado, go out, find the movie, and see it. You won’t regret one minute of it.

Obama Administration Blues

While I was posting away a couple of minutes ago, I remembered that Jonas had published some short, sharp analyses during my weeks of silence. So, a couple of links to pieces I appreciated very much:

Killing the Somali pirates

Torture (But This Time, Not Devised by Good Old Frank Zappa, Unfortunately)

On capitalism and the Obama admin

He’s politically better informed than I am, so read him when you can.

As a final afterthought, I can only say that I feel something close to political Weltschmerz — that a good chance for democracy is going down the drain fast, that hopes were not met with promised action, that a good country will probably suffer more in the future to come. Just the thoughts and feelings that can inspire a slow, sorrowful blues tune. Might write one myself someday.

X-Men, X-Men, X-Men

I recently saw the three extant X-Men movies. Realising I had seen and enjoyed the first one a couple of years ago on TV, I focused on the second and the third.

The second one is definitely a classy affair. Tough story about a father who cannot cope with the fact his son’s a mutant, can’t understand that his son’s probably too powerful for anyone to help him, and can’t understand that killing all mutants on the planet won’t solve the problem. We also get to see a somewhat different side of Magneto. The 3D, non-cardboard, real-thing characters from the first film get entangled into even deeper relationships. All comes down to a grand finale of fighting for both human and mutant rights in the end. Simply beautiful. And very recommended, if there’s anyone out there who hasn’t seen it.

The third movie — quite the contrary. Chaos reigns here supreme; the Professor is suddenly much weaker than before; some of the things happen somewhat out of the blue, without logical connections; characters don’t talk right, not in terms of speech and pronunciation, but of words fitting their roles seamlessly; the Phoenix exercises meditation through three quarters of the movie until there’s something for her to do. Intriguing story, good ending, but too much unnecessary killing off of interesting people. And whatever happened to Mystique? You can’t just leave the sexiest villain out there in a truck! Ahhh… what a mess. Not recommendable, unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

If I manage to see the origins of Wolverine one day, I’ll write about it. I’ve heard that it’s boring, but you never know. Q. W3ary out.

Back from the Dead, Again

Here I am, back from the dead. World’s not doing so fine, so we have to talk about it all.

Situation in Guatemala not good. People getting sentenced for posting on twitter — within the day! How long until all sorts of bloggers – on free platforms, on paid platforms, on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace – are forced under the same knife? Or should I better say — under another Damocles’s sword. I feel we’re slowly getting there, and it’s a shame.

Situation in the UK crazy, too. Now, in addition to all the CCTV surveillance, Internet monitoring, cities barricading, etc., they’re setting up a database for all children in the country. For all CHILDREN? What kind of madness is this now? And who’s to follow suit first? France? The USA? China? Russia? Me say, let’s profile the unborn! New convention for the UN: registration of all unborn mandatory; to be done two weeks after conception at the latest; people failing to comply – jail!

Situation in teh USA just as insane as before. I’ve got no words to describe that one.

So, fight the Good Fight for Human Rights, but insist on those rights in all cases, even while fightin’. And listen to Street Sweeper Social Club.