Trump administration insults our friend, Great Britain

Chalk this source to conservative President Trump's favorite news outlet, Fox News. On Tuesday's Fox & Friends, Fox News Analyst Andrew Napolitano accused the British of "wiretapping" Trump at behest of President Obama. Trump White House spokesman, Melissa McCarthy er... Sean Spicer repeated the allegation yesterday. Huffington Post.

Great Britain strenuously denied it. You see what's happening here. As Trump's wild accusation that Obama wiretapped Trump's phones at Trump tower unravels due to its baseless foundation, his administration is searching for anything to show that the Donald was not lying. Except now, conservative Trump is insulting our friend, Great Britain. And why doesn't Trump label Fox News as fake news?

Kong: Skull Island review

Have I got a movie bargain for you. This film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Oscar winner Brie Larson and Mr. Taylor Swift. Er, ... make that Tom Hiddleston. It's a fusion of Moby Dick, None But the Brave, Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park. But wait. There's more. It's got one of the most iconic, legendary characters in film. I mean Hollywood has made three movies about him. It's got the big guy himself. Mickey Mouse? No, it's got King Kong. The film is Kong:Skull Island.

The movie takes place in 1973. The United States is winding down its war with Viet Nam. Bill Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) lead a scientific expedition to Skull Island which is somewhere in the South Pacific. They enlist the help of James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) a former SAS soldier whose role is basically your Great White Hunter. Providing protection is Col. Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his Army company of helicopter borne infantry. Brie Larson plays Mason Weaver, a photojournalist. I have no idea why she is in this movie other than to provide a Fay Wray to King Kong. She does rock a tank top. Another thankless role for the other woman in the cast goes to Jing Tian as scientist San Lin. My guess is that her presence in the movie is for the Chinese audience.

Randa and Brooks decide it's a good idea to drop bombs on the island to map it. What?! Anyway, Conrad's choppers come upon King Kong who doesn't like the wake up call and is not a morning person. He destroys all of them. Obviously, that makes it hard to "get to the chopper" to escape. Anyway, Packard, Randa and others survive but are separated from Conrad and Weaver. The latter team finds a bloated Marlon Brando leading a savage, unauthorized war against the Viet Cong. Oops, sorry that's Apocalypse Now. Conrad's team really discovers a World War II American airman named Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly) He's been living on the island with the help of a now deceased foe, a Japanese pilot, and some silent islanders. They're probably silent because it was cheaper not to write them any lines. But I digress. Marlow tells them of something worse than Kong. They're giant bony lizards called Skullcrawlers. Conrad's team then decides to work on escaping while Col. Packard has a different motive. He wants revenge.

For any movie to work, it's got to start with a competent screenplay, followed by good acting and direction. Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly wrote a cliched movie that needlessly crams Hiddleston and Larson's characters into a monster mash up of Moby Dick, Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park. There is even a homage by Larson to Fay Wray, and Jessica Lange, the other blond damsel in distress in the 1976 King Kong movie. I won't say there is a beauty killed the beast moment so as to not spoil it but folks, there is a Samuel L. Jackson one and you can guess what his line is going to be. That being said, the movie sticks to the compelling story lines, that being Packard's desire for revenge and the monsters that like eating human snacks. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts keeps the action moving with clear action scenes and no wasted time.

When I was watching this, I initially thought they could have made this film without the big stars. I mean it could have been a glorified SyFy movie. However, they're are two performances that carry this film. Samuel L. Jackson as the revenge bent Col. Packard, gives an intense and riveting portrayal. I know he's like that in many of his movies. But here, you can't take your eyes off him. He's so good, you will believe in his need for vengeance. He's Captain Ahab wrapped up in Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. The other performance is actually the comic relief. John C. Reilly as the isolated Marlow steals the show. He clearly is having fun as a guy who has lived without verbal communication for decades. That leads to Marlow unable at times to control his expressions.

Kong: Skull Island is not going to win the Oscar for Best Picture. However, it's entertaining. If you see this movie, stay for the post credits end scene. Yes, the producers are confident for a sequel. Thankfully, this movie is not The Last Airbender. As for the future of this franchise, you'll ask yourself, Warner Brothers has the right to that monster? The grade is B.

New nick name for Trump: "Lying Donald"

Last fall, I was going to name Donald Trump by a derogatory nickname he likes to pin on his enemies. "Demagogue Donald." Nah. It's accurate but Trump's caveman supporters wouldn't get that. And before you Trump people get all mad, not all of you are cavemen.

But then over the course of President Trump's campaign and first one hundred days, I have come to the conclusion that the conservative Donald Trump is a huge (huuuuge) liar. There was the lie about seeing hundreds of American Muslims celebrating 9-11. Then there's the one where he keeps saying that he had the biggest electoral college victory since Reagan. That was literally fact checked to the right-winger in a news conference by NBC's Peter Alexander. Now that's literally "truth to power." There's more whoppers but I don't want to bore you.

Just recently, this conservative President accused preceding President Barack Obama of wiretapping him in Trump Tower. Now, we know he was making this wild and dangerous claim without evidence. Time to call Trump what he called Sen. Ted Cruz. Let's call this conservative, "Lying Donald."

Stephen Colbert skewers Rachel Maddow

I like Rachel Maddow and her show on MSNBC. But she has a shtick where she takes forever to get to the point of her opening segment. Well last night Stephen Colbert skewered her with a parody of her show and particularly her Tuesday show where she made a big deal out of getting two pages of President Donald Trump's 2005 tax return Memo to Rachel. The Donald is a master at getting back at people. Just ask Sen. Ted Cruz. As your guest David Cay Johnston pointed out, Trump may have leaked that crumb of a tax return himself. It was irrelevant and made him look good. Try to be, how do I say this, more diabolical when analyzing The Donald. You got played.

But I digress. Stephen Colbert had fun parodying Maddow's style and showed he could be "fair and balanced." Enjoy Maddow fans. Laugh at yourself a little.




Last night's Colbert monologue.

Logan review

I'm going to guess that Donald Trump will get the metaphor in the movie Logan all wrong. You see in the film, Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) must escort a dangerous mutant from Mexico across the United States to a place called Eden. I can just hear Trump now. That's why we need a great wall to separate us from Mexico. A lot of "bad hombres." Well, Donald, the metaphor is actually pro-immigration.

Logan starts out sometime in the future of the X-Men film franchise. A ninety something, Dr. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is suffering from a disease which cause him to lose control of his telepathic abilities and must use drugs to treat it. He's taken care of by Logan (Hugh Jackman) who is also ailing and dying. They've isolated themselves by living on the Texas-Mexican border. Logan earns a living by working as a limousine driver. He's approached by Gabriella (Elizabeth Rodriguez) who wants him to take a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to a sanctuary place in North Dakota called Eden. You see she's a biologically bred mutant who's escaping a company in Mexico called Transigen that breeds mutants to be assassins. And Transigen wants their product, Laura back.

The acting by the cast was remarkable. Patrick Stewart delivers one of his best performances. He's frail but when he loses control, watch out. It's an essay on becoming older yet he's more sentimental. Dafne Keen delivers a feral performance. She is a girl who was raised in a lab with virtually no social skills but a set of "special skills" that won't surprise you as to who is her biological father. Hugh Jackman again delivers as a man who was made into something he didn't want to be. He's tortured and on a journey to find himself. If this is Jackman and Stewart's final performances as these characters, it's a wonderful send off.

Scott Frank, director James Mangold and Michel Green have constructed a screenplay that is more of an indie film character piece than a superhero epic. Don't get me wrong. There are still some awesome action set pieces and extremely violent ones. But the superhero stuff seemed real. Perhaps that is because of Mangold's direction. His film is lit naturally. Yeah, there is dramatic lighting but it doesn't depend on CGI. I'm talking to you, Batman v. Superman. Like Wolverine's adamantium bones, Logan is a contemporary road picture fused to a western, a film noir, and to finally to a superhero movie. And it works.

What makes Logan such a great film is that it's much more than a popcorn superhero movie. Like the original Star Trek TV series, it has something important to say. And one can only hope after the shallow Star Trek Beyond, that Paramount also makes a thoughtful Star Trek film. But I digress. As said before, Logan barely hides its pro-immigration theme. Yep, Laura is a Mexican, fleeing oppression and seeking sanctuary in the United States. And isn't that one of the main reasons for people to come to America. Meanwhile, on Logan and Charles' excellent adventure, they will learn the meaning to their lives. It's warm and heartfelt.

Logan is beautifully filmed, written and performed. It is one of the best films of the year. The grade is A.

Some conservative Republicans are idiots

Now let me say this now. Not all conservative Republicans are idiots or act like idiots all of the time. Hey, I'm not a liberal version of Ann Coulter. But over the last week, two conservative Republicans have shown they can be idiots. They are Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Let's go over what they said.

1. Rep. Jason Chaffetz. He told CNN in regards to the conservative Republican plan to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something that may not cover the working poor this right-thought,

"Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care."

CNN

You sir are an idiot. Any average American will tell you that her monthly health insurance premium is ten times the monthly smartphone fee.

2. HUD Secretary Ben Carson. In speech before HUD employees, Secretary Ben Carson said this,

"That’s what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less."

Huffington Post, with video of Carson.

You sir are an idiot. Dr. Carson, yes believe it or not he is a brain surgeon, slaves were not immigrants. They did not voluntarily come to the United States. They were kidnapped. Mr. Samuel L. Jackson, what do you say about this? Okay, not going to embed his response but let's just say it's a catchphrase. (Caution, cussing involved.) Oh, there . was other crazy stuff in his speech. We need Stephen Colbert's commentary on this.

Trump refuses to reach out to the majority of Americans

I'll admit if you are a right-wing conservative, you would love President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress. It wasn't the hateful stuff we've seen at his campaign events. However, if this was supposed to be some effort to bring the country together, then you can forget about it. Take away the platitudes, it was boiler plate Trump. Hard right. Nothing for moderates, or liberals. This is not reaching out to the majority of Americans who did not vote for him.

On healthcare, he promised to repeal and replace Obamacare aka the Affordable Care Act. Yet, the day before he admitted how complicated national health care was. Folks, conservative Republicans really don't have a plan to replace it. They have nothing close that will cover the millions of citizens that Obamacare protects. That's because anything that looks like national health care to conservatives looks like socialized medicine. And let's face it. Insurance companies aren't going to keep costs down when they have to cover pre-existing conditions without an individual mandate. There won't be enough customers. So, there's no willingness by conservatives to improve Obamacare.

On immigration, Trump still rails against immigrants for bringing in crime. This broad stroke goes against statistics that immigrants commit crimes at a much lower rate than citizens. (The Atlantic.) He still wants to build that stupid great wall along the Mexico border. This goes against the majority of the people who oppose it. Yet he wants billions of dollars for the walls construction. And folks, he is not going to get Mexico to pay for it. So you the taxpayer will pay for it. In his speech he seemed to want only rich people coming to the United States. Hold on. Doesn't the Statue of Liberty say something about poor, huddled masses yearning to be free as the basis for immigration. I mean it's nice to have rich people come to America but that should not be the only criteria.

I will say he sounded like the Republican god, Ronald Reagan in his economic policies. Tax cuts for the rich. Massive defense spending. And guess where that's going to lead us? Gigantic deficits just like it did during Reagan's term. His policy that for every new governmental regulation there should be a reduction of two others is just too arbitrary. If you follow this illogical plan, you might end up getting rid of good government rules.

My fellow Americans, don't let Trump's flowery words fool you. It's like the movie Soylent Green (1973). The character Sol (Edward G. Robinson) is shown pretty pictures before he is euthanized. That empty stuff about renewing the American spirit is just pretty pictures. Trump's plans are still evil.

For you in the opposition, continue the fight. Keep the pressure on. Resist. Fight until we get justice.