A list was sent to law enforcement and the media today that claimed to list 1,300 “illegal immigrants” living in Utah.
Each page of the list is headed with the words “Illegal Immigrants” and each entry contains details about the individuals listed — from their address and telephone number to their date of birth and, in the case of pregnant women, their due dates. The letter was received by law enforcement and media outlets on Monday and Tuesday. A spokeswoman for Gov. Gary R. Herbert saidWednesday that an investigation was under way to see if state employees might have been involved in releasing the private information.
But Obama’s Hitler for suggesting health care reform.
To those complaining about the lack of any good movies out right now (and happen to live near a good theater), I offer the following retort:
- Winter’s Bone - The rare mix of (1) a thoughtful, elegiac indie picture that really explores place and (2) a tight, driven narrative. It has the thematic depth of a novel and the narrative economy of the best film noirs. Jennifer Lawrence owns every frame and has a badass aura that Mark Wahlberg and Jake Gyllenhaal would kill for.
- Exit Through The Gift Shop - If this wonderful oddity is still playing near you, seek it out now. I don’t know how to describe it other than saying it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in a theater this year. It offered more laughs than any PG-13 comedy.
- Cyrus - A wonderfully dark and well-crafted comedy that offers an overflow of heart with its sharp bite. It speaks so much to the current human condition without ever stating it bluntly.
- I Am Love - I didn’t love it, but Tilda Swinton owns the screen, which is saying something for such a beautifully shot and interestingly cut film.
- Micmacs - A joy, if a trifle.
- Toy Story 3 - I don’t think it’s the best Pixar or even Toy Story picture (the first still owns that title thanks to its endlessly inventive and witty screenplay), and the film stumbles out of its first act with recycled dialogue and jokes, but once the toys reach Sunnyside Daycare the film reaches another level entirely. Hysterical, sharp, and tight, the last two acts of Toy Story 3 are masterworks of writing and direction. It doesn’t adhere to convention, instead exploiting a day-care/nursing home/Cool Hand Luke prison camp for all of its comic and thematic potential before ending at the mouth of hell. It’s operatic in its imagery and themes of mortality and the purpose of life. What defines us - our maker, the ones who love us, or ourselves? How do you let go without feeling like you’re abandoning someone else? How do you accept old age and death? [Spoiler] I have never seen a character in a blockbuster summer picture (let alone a kids’ picture) accept death the way Woody does. You want him to say, “Not today!” You want any of them to do something, anything, but they are faced in that moment not only with an insurmountable obstacle but the smallness of their own existence. There are battles we will lose, no matter if we fight. That is a dark place in the human heart, the part that knows I am only temporary, only a moment, and there are forces outside of myself that could crush me at any second.
There is great, important work happening. And then there’s Grown-Ups. Choose your fart jokes wisely.
