Film: XXY (2007) was a good character study about a father growing to accept the fact his child is intersex as we also see some family drama going on and her (the child is raised as a girl but has some clear masculine tendencies) own relationships. An Argentinian film there also was a beautiful sense of place, it largely taking place in a fishing village. The actor (Ricardo Darín) who played the dad was later in another very good film about a retired Argentina prosecutor struggling with an old case and his attraction to someone involved who later becomes a judge. Good DVD commentary as I recall.
The Secret in Their Eyes won an actress for Best Foreign Film and its director [not the same as the one for XXY] has a diverse resume, including American television, both a Law & Order series and a Comedy Central one.
Being a fan of XXY, The Fish Child (2009) by the same director seemed to have potential. The film is strongest as a human drama, a daughter of a troubled well off family falling in love with a maid, whose troubled past comes out as they deal with the mysterious death of the father. A bit heavy-handed but well acted with a good sense of place and the dramatic desperation of its characters. The film is a bit confused, imho, as to the homicide and a bit on government corruption and the DVD box's blurb citing Thelma and Louse is misleading. [edited for clarity]
Book: I am about half-way through The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir by "Ambassador Joseph Wilson." Both books by the Wilsons have a big picture of the authors on the cover, setting the tone -- he is all serious in his suit, she looking sorta sexy (if in a down to earth outfit with well worn looking hands) and smiling. Both books also aren't merely about the controversial events, but only one is filled with redactions.
The title and focus of the back cover is misleading -- you expect the book mainly to be about the Plame Affair and various negative reviews at Amazon have a partisan slant. But, the first half of the book (minus a prologue of sorts) is in fact a down to earth "diplomat's memoir," a bit over two hundred pages that might not have been as widely read without the other drama, but is well worth reading. This is the deputy who was the one in charge of the embassy when Iraq invaded Kuwait. He also had an interesting career in Africa (in various former French colonies) and was political adviser to the C-i-C U.S. Armed Forces, Europe. The fact this public servant called a "hero" by George Bush Sr. was screwed over just underlines how disgusting the whole thing was.
[Update: Half-way through the "16 words" / Valerie Plame stuff (note the book was completed in 2004, years before his wife's account added more up to date details) & one thing that is a bit off is that the infamous words talk about a recent attempt that "sought" nuclear weapons, which can technically mean something pretty trivial -- the implication is that it was a serious effort or that Iraq actually got something from them.
Wilson's infamous op-ed (linked above) basically refutes the latter, the book technically leaving open some vague possibility someone from Iraq made some sort of request though even that was deemed very unlikely. An official denial from Niger was present; as to obtaining it, the actual yellow cake would not merely entail stereotypically corrupt locals but also foreign involvement too. Hard to refute something that vague and again the clear implication was something a tad more solid.
Also, there is some dispute over his wife having "no" involvement in him checking things out but she could have passed his name along upon request or something. No need to be absolute here -- she did not have the authority to send him and the idea appears to be independent of her to send someone to check it out though it already was checked out in fact.
Overall, outing a CIA agent for spite, CYA & to send a message to others to not call the government out for mistakes is disgusting and the failure to address it alone imho was enough not to vote for Bush in '04. The "send a message" part helps explains, along with the inapt timing as seams in the cause were coming out, why such an act of apparent overkill occurred. Also, we are dealing with some true assholes here.]
TV: I did not see the first episode of the new USA miniseries about some Hillary Clinton clone played by Ms. Weaver. Not watching the Mets get swept by the Braves (after losing two of three vs. the now playing well Cubs before the break, the Mets have to stop things or reaffirm "same old Mets" chants), I did later watch Army Wives and Newsroom, both decent if not overly exciting episodes of series drama mixed with soap opera.
Being a fan of XXY, The Fish Child (2009) by the same director seemed to have potential. The film is strongest as a human drama, a daughter of a troubled well off family falling in love with a maid, whose troubled past comes out as they deal with the mysterious death of the father. A bit heavy-handed but well acted with a good sense of place and the dramatic desperation of its characters. The film is a bit confused, imho, as to the homicide and a bit on government corruption and the DVD box's blurb citing Thelma and Louse is misleading. [edited for clarity]
Book: I am about half-way through The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir by "Ambassador Joseph Wilson." Both books by the Wilsons have a big picture of the authors on the cover, setting the tone -- he is all serious in his suit, she looking sorta sexy (if in a down to earth outfit with well worn looking hands) and smiling. Both books also aren't merely about the controversial events, but only one is filled with redactions.
The title and focus of the back cover is misleading -- you expect the book mainly to be about the Plame Affair and various negative reviews at Amazon have a partisan slant. But, the first half of the book (minus a prologue of sorts) is in fact a down to earth "diplomat's memoir," a bit over two hundred pages that might not have been as widely read without the other drama, but is well worth reading. This is the deputy who was the one in charge of the embassy when Iraq invaded Kuwait. He also had an interesting career in Africa (in various former French colonies) and was political adviser to the C-i-C U.S. Armed Forces, Europe. The fact this public servant called a "hero" by George Bush Sr. was screwed over just underlines how disgusting the whole thing was.
[Update: Half-way through the "16 words" / Valerie Plame stuff (note the book was completed in 2004, years before his wife's account added more up to date details) & one thing that is a bit off is that the infamous words talk about a recent attempt that "sought" nuclear weapons, which can technically mean something pretty trivial -- the implication is that it was a serious effort or that Iraq actually got something from them.
Wilson's infamous op-ed (linked above) basically refutes the latter, the book technically leaving open some vague possibility someone from Iraq made some sort of request though even that was deemed very unlikely. An official denial from Niger was present; as to obtaining it, the actual yellow cake would not merely entail stereotypically corrupt locals but also foreign involvement too. Hard to refute something that vague and again the clear implication was something a tad more solid.
Also, there is some dispute over his wife having "no" involvement in him checking things out but she could have passed his name along upon request or something. No need to be absolute here -- she did not have the authority to send him and the idea appears to be independent of her to send someone to check it out though it already was checked out in fact.
Overall, outing a CIA agent for spite, CYA & to send a message to others to not call the government out for mistakes is disgusting and the failure to address it alone imho was enough not to vote for Bush in '04. The "send a message" part helps explains, along with the inapt timing as seams in the cause were coming out, why such an act of apparent overkill occurred. Also, we are dealing with some true assholes here.]
TV: I did not see the first episode of the new USA miniseries about some Hillary Clinton clone played by Ms. Weaver. Not watching the Mets get swept by the Braves (after losing two of three vs. the now playing well Cubs before the break, the Mets have to stop things or reaffirm "same old Mets" chants), I did later watch Army Wives and Newsroom, both decent if not overly exciting episodes of series drama mixed with soap opera.