Trailer Overload...

Man, 2012 has been an amazing movie year… and we’re only halfway through! The following movies could not possibly open soon enough…

The Amazing Spiderman

I will not deny the fact that a large part of why I want to see this is because of the ever-adorable pair that is Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. However considering the better outcomes of reduxes in the recent past (eg. The Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton, X-Men: First Class…), I am more than willing to give this movie a go. I especially like that Andrew Garfield was a genuine Spiderman/Peter Parker fan growing up so it will be even more interesting getting to see what he is able to bring to one of his own favourite characters.

The Dark Knight Rises

Bale, Caine, Freeman, Oldman and Gordon-Levitt under the direction of Nolan. Uhm, why in hell would I NOT watch this??? Closing the trilogy ought to be intense and quite honestly, despite my utter lack of enthusiasm for her work as of late, I am looking forward to seeing how well Anne Hathaway handles the role of Selina Kyle, not to mention the likely fight scenes.

The Great Gatsby

I love just how much Luhrmann is ALL OVER THIS TRAILER. One of my all-time favourite stories, I can’t wait to see how he and the cast bring it to life because there is just so damn much to work with - the social, historical and geographical backdrop, the symbolism, not to mention so many moments of sheer character intensity - Gatsby’s romantic delusion, Tom’s assholery, the ultimate multiple deaths… do NOT let me down, Luhrmann.

The Bourne Legacy

Er… first, I need to regain my ability to breathe. I can currently think of few things, if any, hotter than watching Jeremy Renner in action.

Damn, damn, damn. Ok, as big a Matt Damon as I am (and I really am, I fucking love that guy), I have yet to watch The Bourne Ultimatum and I may have to finally do so before I watch this. That said, considering the obvious direction in story, I’m curious how well they’ll work with combining Aaron Cross’ storyline with that of the previous movies. Being a ‘legacy’ film, it ought to bring a lot together and that should be interesting. Not to mention, insanely awesome looking fight sequences aside, I love Jeremy Renner as an actor. The man can do intense like nobody’s business. Him and Ed Norton as adversaries ought to be mighty fun to watch.

Sittin' on the fence...

This is incredible, however the full article MUST ALSO be read here: Liberals Are Ruining America. I Know Because I Am One.

I am one of likely many ‘fence-sitting’ moderates out there (I may not be from the US, but let’s face it, ‘left VS right’ politics exists everywhere) in that I find no one entity on either side wholly espouses my personal convictions. I also find that nowhere near as contradicting as the pundits would make it seem. Quite honestly, I think that political parties end up so desperate to keep the party line that even if they agree on something, they’ll find some way to disagree/argue/extend the madness.

That said, they are the ones in power (regardless of the democratic process claiming we are) and we have to work with them as much as they have to work with one another. That, I think, is the best point made by Steve Almond’s article. Instead of running into issues determined to butt heads, people need to listen to one another and actually try to find common ground upon which to build solid foundations for real progress and problem solving.

However, take a look at the comments below the story. Already you can see who has gone in determined to find an agenda in the article that ‘undermines’ their own or to berate the author for his naivete, or simply further propagate the prejudices held on both sides via the typical name-calling.

Clearly, it’s not just the political parties who aren’t willing to actually listen to anyone other than the wingnuts, spectrum end regardless… and these people are just as loud. So basically, the loudest groups in any issue are the extremists and the people decrying (and therefore calling more attention to) said extremists while anyone suggesting any actual communication gets drowned out.

Mr Almond, it appears as though you ask too much.

But hell, I’m hoping right along there with you.

(article found via rtnt tumblr)