Movies/TV

And Also: An interesting article discusses the growth of the "unitary presidency" in the last twenty-five years, noting that President Bush took things to a new level. One less well-known method is "signing statements," written comments submitted when the President signs a bill into law. Art. I, sec. 7 references statements explaining why a bill was vetoed, but executive statements [75 until Carter, 322 until Bush, 435 so far under Bush] is a nifty end around ... especially for someone with no vetoes. One appropriations bill was signed with a statement issuing 116 specific objections, sort of a "sure ... but in these areas I reserve the right to nullify this law." Or, "I'll support a weak interpretation of this whistleblower statute...." And, you thought excessive secrecy was a problem for the Bush administration ...

Casanova provides Heath Ledger a chance to show everyone that he really is a heterosexual. The film is mostly a trivial but fun farce that is a nice holiday diversion. It concerns the one that did not immediately succumb to the famous lover's wiles and is handled with just the right amount of not to be taken too seriously period pic levity. Oliver Platt is starting to make a career out of such films, adding another amusing guest perf and old hands like Lena Olin and Jeremy Irons join with some new faces to add to the fun.

[Nearby was a Borders ... I took a look at The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family, And Fate by Marjorie Williams (deceased/edited by Timothy Noah -- her husband) and it looks promising. I know that some support indie book stores, and they have their place, but I like the megastores too.]

The Book of Daniel (NBC/Fri) concerns Aidan Quinn as a Westchester County Episcopalian minister handling troubles at his church and among his family -- and darn if there are a lot. Well, let's list a few: he is addicted to pain killers, his wife drinks too much and previews suggest her mother is a bitch, his mother slips in and out of rationality / father having an affair with his (Quinn's) bishop, one son is gay, another (adopted -- Asian) is going out with a local moneybags' daughter to their racist disdain, the first episode starts with his daughter getting caught selling marijuana, a sis-in-law has a lesbian affair with ... Enough.

Too much soap opera ... there is room for a Seventh Heaven without the G rating (though they are a rowdy bunch ... more PG), but the first episode suggests the show wants to be too controversial. Has some potential with good acting etc., but there was just too much over the top soap opera. I also think the talking to a personified typical blonde Jesus is just a bit too cute. Perhaps, the first episode just was used to catch one's eye, but they did so by basically giving nearly everyone some major problem, if not more than one. As noted, overkill. This annoyed me enough that it might ruin some of the likely superior story lines dealing with religious and family matters.