shout outs

You know that poker movie Lucky You that came out a few weeks ago? I was all but certain it was going to suck based solely on its preview, although as a poker enthusiast I genuinely wanted to be wrong. Apparently I wasn’t. The always-insightful critic Mike D’Angelo not only explains why, but describes the overall problem with dramatizing poker on film.

I’ve been a fan of Mike’s writing since I first encountered him on the now-defunct Cinemarati.org about six years ago, when I believe he was writing reviews for Time Out New York. Unsurprisingly to me, he has since progressed to become regular columnist for Esquire, as well as a contributor to Nerve.com and the Las Vegas Weekly. At least, that’s as much of his resume as I can discern from his web site, which is where I go to keep up with his latest output.

Aside from Andrew Sullivan’s considerable gifts as a writer, much of the value of his blog lies in his calling attention to unique, important expressions emailed to him by his readers. Of his scads of pithy and illuminating recent posts, this one affected me the most by bringing to my attention the video clip below. Major kudos to Sullivan.

At its core, Bronowski’s message is in no way political. It’s about hubris. It is profoundly sobering that our president demanded (and was granted) full, unimpeachable authority to seize any person anywhere, detain that person indefinitely without charge or trial, and determine what treatment of that prisoner is or is not torture. Among other things. You’ve gotta be pretty thoroughly immersed in your own moral universe to even reach for that kind of absolute power.