Reading: Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
Music: NOFX
TV/Movie: Henry Rollins Uncut: South Africa
Link o' the Day: The Daily Cabal

I'm going to hit you folks with another movie review this morning--wake up to The Last Supper.

What a twisted little movie!

Five educated, snobbish liberals hatch a misguided plan to invite various right-wing ilk to their home for dinner, engage them in debate over their views, and if unable to change their minds--kill them. (Right-wing whackos make great plant fertilizer as hundreds of blood-red tomatoes blatantly symbolize.) Note that I say whackos. I'm not talking about people who voted for McCain because they thought he was the better person for the job, but more the extreme whackos who murder Planned Parenthood doctors, protest funerals of AIDS victims, burn books, etc. The kids mean well, but their little mission begins to affect them all differently. Some feel guilt, others exhilaration. One begins to see it more as a holy mission as guests who seem on the brink of succeeding their acid test (i.e., changing their views around) are instead discouraged from doing so--and end up buried in the garden.

Finally the little group meets its match in a Rush Limbaugh-like pundit who they get over for dinner. Their own preconceptions are then challenged right down the very core.

Who survives and why and with how much panache? Well, watch it. It's not a terribly long movie, and the pacing, while not breathless, is at least steady.

Does it pay off? Eh. It's like a pot of water that never comes to quite a complete bubbling boil, but more like a brisk serious simmer. I beliebe its theme is sufficiently intriguing enough to warrant sitting through the flic. And it has a good setup premise...what if you could go back in time and meet Hitler in say, 1909, before he did anything bad--would you kill him?

It's an interesting movie from a moral standpoint. And no one really comes out on top as far as who's better--liberals or conservatives. (Yeah, I know.) Sure, the liberals in this movie are spoiled, sheltered, and homicidal, but most of the conservatives they meet are the sort that do not contribute to the betterment of human life and, in many cases, have been likely responsible for the loss of human life.

So it's an even-ish playing field--until lines get crossed and no one is then sure where the lines are anymore.

Kudos to Ron Perlman as the pundit. The man defies typecasting. Courtney Vance (who most will recognize as the Assistant Distruct Attorney on Law & Order: Criminal Intent was pretty good as the most sinister of the Last Supper crew, but there was also something lazy about his performance. He fell back on that minty-cool voice of his and that intensely unflappable, superior expression of his. Eh. He was fun to watch most of the time even if I didn't think his character very believable.

It's a 1995 film, so The Last Supper has been out for a while. I'm catching it on cable/on-demand and it's definitely a recommendation for those with similar access. I also recommend it as a rental, but I doubt I'd want to own it--unless I was a film student studying the use of color and imagery.

It's a thought-provoking film that mostly satisfies. It would work well as a starter to an evening's conversation on comparative morality.

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I've been hearing reports of snow from facebookers across the country. I'm pleased to report that we in Rhode Island haven't been so afflicted as of yet. We're starting to get nights well below freezing, but thus far winter is but a warning--not a daily reality. I kind of wish winter would make up its mind and get started. I get what I call "Winter Bookend Headaches" meaning that for a few weeks before the winter settles in and a few weeks after winter releases the world to spring, I get these massive headaches. I've learned to deal with them over the years, but false starts extend the experience.

But then again, winter can kind of suck too, overall, so why wish for it?

Ah well. If I were consistent I'd be boring. (This assumes, of course, that I'm not already.

Moving on!

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Today's link goes to The Daily Cabal--an interesting concept for a site. It's a"cabal" of writers, presumably friends, who have banded together and provide a new piece of short fiction every weekday. Some of the names of the cabal are ones you may recognize from other short fiction venues. I recommend giving it a visit.

Cheers!