The Huffington Post has been pretty accurate in their Plamegate coverage thus far. Needless to say, we hope this is true.

The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are working on stories that point to Vice President Dick Cheney as the target of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name.

by Dave Thomas

Actually made it to the Toronto Film Festival this year, so I’ve got a little more info than usual. Of course, I only made it to half so my insight won’t help at all with our first two selections, which were both at the fest.
OCTOBER 7
IN HER SHOES
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Secret grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) forces two estranged sisters (Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz) to get along.
WILL IT SUCK?
Of course not. It was filmed in Philadelphia. The real reason to have hope, though, is the director, Curtis Hanson, who’s been on a roll since “L.A. Confidential.” Doesn’t hurt that the writer has “Ever After” and “Erin Brockovich” under her belt. And Toni Collette kicks ass. Early buzz is pretty good.

Read the rest of this entry »

They’ll be playing at Irving Plaza Dec 2-3. Plus they’ll be filming it for their first ever DVD. Tickets will go on-sale TODAY via Dinosaur Jr. ticketing at 12:00pm:

Dinosaur Jr. – who has never before released a DVD – has finally announced plans to issue an official Dinosaur Jr. DVD release. This full length concert DVD, which will feature the band in its original line-up, will be filmed at New York’s legendary Irving Plaza during the bands upcoming two night stand on December 2-3, 2005. The DVD will be directed by Gold In Berlin, which is run by Mascis’ own brother in-law, German filmmaker Phillip Virus. With unfettered access to this famously elusive band, fans can expect complete backstage access to Dinosaur Jr.’s recent reunion tour, one-on-one interviews, behind the scenes goings-on and a full set of performances of Dinosaur Jr. favorites. The DVD will be packed with bonus materials that any fan of the band – seasoned or brand new – will find thrilling and entertaining. Look for the DVD to be released during the first half of 2006.

Tortoise
Jeremy Blake: Sodium Fox – multimedia art opening
Fri 10.7 (6-8pm) at Feigen Contemporary (535 W 20th St)
FREE

[From Flavorpill]
Sodium Fox is Jeremy Blake’s latest installment in his delirious oeuvre of acid art films. A collaboration with Nashville poet and Silver Jews frontman David Berman, it updates Eugene Delacroix’s Romantic painting Liberty Leading the People, replacing revolutionary symbolism with the post-consumer icon of a Los Angeles stripper from a club called Crazy Girls. Blake’s deft patchwork approach to the medium combines animation, found photography, and heady staging, for a romp through fractured, 21st-century American psychology, while his humor cuts close to the bone, re-imagining such prominent forbears as Ed Ruscha and Barry Hannah as a “fantasy gang of poetic ruffians.” A salon-style installation of paintings, drawings, and photographs is also on display.

Then check out Tortoise with Daniel Lanois at Irving Plaza

Do the math:
a. The President’s approval rating hits an all-time low
b. In the past, raising the terror alert scared the public into supporting the administration, but has since come under attack as being a tool for political gain
c. The President gives a big speech on terrorism to combat criticism of his leadership
d. A heightened security alert is announced on the NY subway
Sounds like a backhanded way to raise the terror alert to us.

From ABC News:
“Department of Homeland Security sources told ABC News they were very doubtful the threat information is credible…”
The city’s police department said it was taking the threat seriously and believed the source was reliable, but also urged the public not to be alarmed because the information had not been verified.

So we were listening to Howard Stern this morning — yes we admit it, we like him — when guest, Kevin Bacon, began to plug his new movie, Where the Truth Lies. Turns out the MPAA thought it was too sexy for an R rating, so they assigned it a much-maligned NC-17. Bacon appealed and ended up going with an Unrated instead of an NC-17. What disturbed us was his account of meeting with the MPAA where two clergy were present to discuss his appeal. Since when is the church directly involved with rating movies? Additionally troubling, acording to Bacon, The Today Show cancelled his appearance because of the MPAA decision. None of the other morning shows will talk to him either, according to his account. We have no idea if the movie (whose screenplay is written by Atom Egoyan) will be any good, but here’s our review: GO SEE IT. If only to give a big fuck you to the MPAA and Today.

Evidently, James Dobson devoted a large chunk of time on Tuesday’s radio broadcast to reassuring his audience that Miers was on Jesus’ team:

From Dailykos:
“I can’t reveal it all, because I do know things that I’m privy to that I can’t describe, because of confidentiality.” He then states that Miers “is a deeply committed Christian” and that people who know her have all told him that “she will not be a disappointment.” ….
“If I have made a mistake here … the blood of those babies that will die will be on my hands, to some degree. And that’s why is has weighed so heavily on me”

He then went on to confirm that GOP Senators had been calling him to find out what he knows, stating that he was privy to inside knowledge from the White House and Karl Rove:

“I’m getting calls from members of Congress saying ‘tell us your take on this, we’re not sure what we think of Harriet Miers.’” He then admitted “It was leaked to the media that I’ve had conversations with Karl Rove and the White House, which is true.”

Is it just us, or is the fact that some hack religious leader in Colorado has more access to the White House than Congress and the media? George Bush hates Democracy.

Bush on his lack of support among African Americans.

“I was disappointed, frankly, in the vote I got in the African American community.” [article here]

This ranks among the most comical statements of his career. Get a clue, Dubya. Maybe repealing your tax cuts on the wealthy would have helped. Or rethinking the inept No White Child Left Behind initiative. Or ending your vacation in the wake of Katrina. Or how about having your mom apologize for this statement:

“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”

[Cracker]

Our boy Wesley Clark (he was our pick in the 2004 primary) bitchslaps O’Reilly about Abu Ghraib on the “no spin zone.” Definitely worth checking out.

James Dobson’s enthusiasm scares us. From Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family:

“We welcome the president’s nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. He pledged emphatically during his campaign to appoint judges who will interpret the law rather than create it. He also promised to select competent judges who will ‘not use the bench to write social policy.’ To this point, President Bush’s appointments to the federal bench appear to have been remarkably consistent with that stated philosophy. Based on the information known generally about Harriet Miers, and President Bush’s personal knowledge of her, we believe that she will not prove to be a lone exception.”

There’s no way in hell Dobson would have issued this statement unless he was privy to inside knowlege about Miers. After all, we’re talking about a man who routinely threatens politicians on Capital Hill who interfere with his Jesus-filled agenda.