Presenting the 2010 Movieline Sundancies Awards!
The Golden Balls Courage-in-Filmmaking Award: Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington
These co-directors spent close to an entire year's deployment with a platoon stationed at the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan, and managed to hold on to their cameras and wits even while under heavy fire. Enjoy your balls, boys -- you've earned them. -sa
Tensest Q&A: The Killer Inside Me and Catfish (tie)
Whether it was the woman asking why Sundance would program a graphic film like Killer -- then storming out of the theater -- or the man who told Catfish's filmmakers that he didn't buy their story, this year's Q&As were a contentious bunch. -kb
Most Chilling Transformation of a Formerly Unthreatening Apatowian: Jonah Hill, Cyrus
Spending one of many unsettling nights sleeping over at his new girlfriend's house, John C. Reilly runs into his jealous potential son-in-law, played by Hill, standing in a kitchen in nothing but his underwear and a T-shirt, with a butcher's knife in his hand. AAAAH!!!! -sa
Best Sex Scene: Splice
Just trust me. The more left unsaid about it, the better. -stv
Worst Sex Scene: Blue Valentine
The abortive coitus shared by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams's shattered married couple is supposed to be uncomfortable, sure. But when you just wind up feeling sorry for the exploited Williams, something went wrong somewhere. -stv
Best Incorporation of Vintage, Hardcore Gay Porn: The Kids Are All Right
You'd think the most graphic depictions of two sweaty, nude men engaging in stridently anti-Mormon activities at Sundance might have appeared in something like Enter the Void, but you'd be wrong. The lesbian couple at the center of this feel-good family comedy actually get off to the stuff, and watching Julianne Moore trying to explain to her son just why that is makes for some hilarious awkwardness. -sa
Most Egregious Vanity Project: Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks
Just in case it wasn't clear that the Indiana Pacers superstar owned the rival Knicks in the early '90s, he went and co-produced a documentary about his life and triumphs to affirm it for posterity. Tacky, tacky, tacky. -stv
The "Hey -- What the Forgettable Guy From The Hangover Doing in Hasidic Garb Making Out with a Black Cocktail Waitress?" Award: Holy Rollers
Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha were a treat as Holy Rollers' bickering pair of Hasidic ecstasy runners -- particularly Bartha, who finally makes a lasting impression as the bad seed who draws Eisenberg into the dangerous racket in the first place. -sa
Best Make-up: Hesher
It's not especially sophisticated, but the huge middle finger and stick-figure suicide tattoos worn by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's anarchist freak never fail to elicit a laugh. -stv
Agent of the Year Award: Alia Shawkat's Representation
As the bassist of The Runaways, Shawkat has exactly zero lines -- and yet she somehow scored third-billing. Now that's a negotiation! -sa
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Three years ago, just before the 2006 mid-term elections, Kevin Tillman published his eloquent letter “After Pat’s Birthday". Kevin hoped a Democratic Congress would bring accountability to our country. But, just as with warrantless wiretapping and torture, those responsible for the cover-up of his brother’s friendly-fire death have never been held accountable for their actions.
Both the film “The Tillman Story” and Jon Krakauer‘s book, “Where Men Win Glory,” blamed the Bush administration and the Army for the whitewash of Pat Tillman's death. However, the cover-up was actually a thoroughly bi-partisan affair. In particular, the Democratic Congress and the Obama Presidency have protected General Stanley McChrystal from scrutiny and punishment for his central role in the handling of the aftermath of Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death.
I’ve posted the following documents on http://www.feralfirefighter.blogspot.com that detail how General McChrystal has been protected by Congressman Henry Waxman, Senator James Webb (along with Senators Carl Levin and John McCain), the New York Times Pentagon Reporter Thom Shanker, and the Center for a New American Security's (CNAS) Andrew Exum:
“WHERE MEN WIN GLORY” -- Andrew Exum, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and the Whitewash of General McChrystal’s Role in the Cover-Up of Pat Tillman’s Fratricide
“LIES … BORNE OUT BY FACTS, IF NOT THE TRUTH” -- Senator James Webb, Thom Shanker & The New York Times and the Whitewash of General McChrystal’s Role in the Aftermath of Pat Tillman’s Death
“DID THEY TEACH YOU HOW TO LIE YET? -- Senator James Webb, General Stanley McChrystal, and the Betrayal of Pat Tillman
"A SENSE OF HONOR -- Pat Tillman & Senator James Webb
"REMEMBER THE ICONOCLAST, NOT THE ICON -- Pat Tillman 1976 -- 2004"
"BATTLE FOR THE TRUTH -- Iddo Netanyahu, Kevin Tillman and the Cover-Up of Their Brother's Death"
It’s not surprising that after the initial fratricide cover-up fell apart, Army officers and the Bush administration lied to protect their careers. Reprehensible, but understandable. But the Democratic Congress, after they took control of both Houses in 2006, could have gone after those responsible. Or at least not promoted them!
Five years ago, Pat Tillman’s family were handed a tarnished Silver Star. It was a travesty of justice that General McChrystal was promoted to the Army’s highest rank, and handed his fourth star.
funny, that's exactly what I was thinking about yesterday