Barbie ★★★

"It’s like I’ve been in a dream where I was really invested in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League."
I burst out laughing at that line. I just didn't see it coming, and the fact that it was said in a Warner Bros. summer blockbuster made it all the funnier. Then #GretaGerwig seemed to take aim at me by taking shots at Godfather stans and 'Slanted and Enchanted' enthusiasts (not Gerwig's first pot-shot at Stephen Malkmus) in the space of a minute. I momentarily had an existential crisis, and pondered "am I as toxic and horrid as those Snyder bros?" Nah.
Anyway, Barbie is good, and it should be applauded for being a $145 million feminist satire on patriarchy that's absolutely bonkers, but I don't think it's great. Performances wise, Ryan Gosling seems to be getting the majority of the praise for his high-Kenergy comedic work (even getting Oscar buzz), and he certainly got the biggest laughs in my screening tonight. However, I just think Margot Robbie as an icon of ideal beauty is perfect casting. And not to sound too pretentious, I kept thinking about The Passion of Joan of Arc. There is a surprising amount of emotional close-ups of Robbie in Barbie that reminded me of Renée Falconetti's heartbreaking work in Dreyer's 1928 French silent historical film.

A clip from a 2008 episode of Boston Legal has gone viral where actor James Spader TORCHES the Roberts Supreme Court.

Here are the details. 👇

Spader, in his Alan Shore character, criticized the entire Supreme Court to its face during an oral argument before look-alike justices.

Shore lets the Roberts Court have it:

“In your short term as Chief Justice this court with your narrow majority has turned back the clock on civil rights, school segregation, equal protection, free speech, abortion, campaign finance.

“Let's consider your respective Senate confirmations. You all testified under oath that you never actually considered how you would rule on abortion. You must be kidding me! Never gave it a thought? No perjury there?”

Spader’s character then goes after the impropriety if the Court: 👇

“Justice Scalia? You went duck hunting with Vice President Cheney while he was a named defendant in a case before this court. Congratulations on not getting shot, by the way.”

“Justice Alito? You were caught hearing a case involving a company you'd invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in. Ha! No conflict of interest there?”

He then goes after the political nature of the bench:

“The Supreme Court was intended to be free and unadulterated by politics. It is now dominated by it. You're hand-picked by Presidents with ideological agendas, and of the two dozen five-four decisions of your 2006-2007 term, nineteen broke straight across ideological lines. That's politics!

And while you claim to be against judicial activism you rewrote--check that--invented new law to decide a presidential election for God's sake! If that's how it's going to be then at least have the decency to put your names on ballots like the rest of the politicians so that we the people get a voice!”

The Tiger in the Tale
Episode aired Oct 8, 2012
TV-14

Seeley Booth: So, what're you doing there?

Temperance Brennan: Should I run for president? I believe every American should consider what is his or her greatest contribution to the common good.

Seeley Booth: Right. And yours would be running for president?

Temperance Brennan: I'm brilliant. That is not in dispute. I have a profound depth of knowledge of the evolution of government from early Mesopotamian city states to the Ching Dynasty to Moorish caliphates, the laws of Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi...

Seeley Booth: Woo! Go figure. You can't run for President of the United States, Bones.

Temperance Brennan: Well, not this election cycle, obviously. But look what I have on my pro list.

Seeley Booth: Excellent understanding of the criminal justice system.

Temperance Brennan: Because of our work together. And I have an impressive conviction rate, too.

Seeley Booth: Oh. Empathy with the struggles of the working class.

Temperance Brennan: I worked several minimum wage jobs while on the run. I'm actually thinking of a tax plan...

Seeley Booth: You sort of just glossed over on the run. You know, you were a fugitive. Where's that? That's not on the list.

Temperance Brennan: I was cleared.

Seeley Booth: Well, after evading arrest for three months. Give me the pen - fugitive, con.

Temperance Brennan: Are you saying that you think I would be a bad candidate? Because Donald Trump was thinking of running.

Temperance Brennan: I hope you'll be more supportive if our daughter decides to run for president.

Seeley Booth: Well, we'll cross that bridge when she starts walking, okay?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2419832/

It is still unclear whether Prigozhin’s candor will have any impact on right-wing extremists in the U.S. who support Putin and have defended his invasion of Ukraine. Right-wing pundits like former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson have been cheerleaders for Putin’s war, disseminating pro-Russian conspiracy theories like the false claim that the U.S. funded bio-weapons labs in Ukraine. The right-wing support for Putin and his invasion is strongest among Christian nationalists, a segment of pro-Trump evangelical Christians who have come to hate Western liberalism and yearn for an autocrat like Putin who would wipe away wokeness. They have been joined by members of other fringe groups, like those who claim to be anti-imperialists while supporting Putin’s imperial ambitions.

Prigozhin is a terrible messenger of the truth. He certainly had his own selfish reasons for stating that Russia’s war is built on lies. Yet his truth-telling may ultimately help rip off the façade Putin erected to conceal the reality of his war in Ukraine. ...

https://theintercept.com/2023/07/01/prigozhin-truth-putin-war-ukraine/