MAO'S LAST DANCER Review (4 out of 5 stars)

A gripping, true-to-life story translated faithfully to the screen.
 
MAO’S LAST DANCER is based on the true story of internationally acclaimed ballet dancer Li Cunxin (portrayed by newbie Chi Cao, himself a principal with the Birmingham Royal Ballet). Plucked from his tiny farming community in native China (all scenes in China were actually filmed there) in the early 70’s, Li goes on to endure rigorous training and government supervision in Beijing and ultimately embarks on a new life in Houston. Bruce Greenwood plays choreographer Ben Stevenson, to wonderful effect and with much heart, perfectly encapsulated in his sweet response to Li’s query about a racial slur. 

The movie shifts back and forth in time between Li’s regimented youth in Beijing and culture shock-laden existence - and eventual defection to - Reagan-era America, kicking off with his arrival in Texas in 1981, agog at ­the skyscrapers lining his drive into the city. From such minute details as his brothers’ family names (“Fifth Son,” “Sixth Son”) to their stern instruction in the classroom that life in capitalist countries is unbearable and dark (literally), the film deftly illustrates daily life – and the Chinese people’s terrified fealty to the State - under Mao.

Amanda Schull plays Li’s pretty (but sadly one-dimensional) young wife Liz Mackey; Kyle MacLachlan appears out of the blue as the drawling immigration attorney who assists Li in a dramatic showdown at Houston’s Chinese consulate. By then I’d felt the storyline was complete, but a far more powerful climax still lay in store that admittedly brought this reviewer to years (and I’m not a crier) and ends on a beautiful, emotional note. None of the details of which I’ll give away…
 
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Rand Paul Said Wha?

Huff Post: Hear What Rand Paul Said Yesterday?

Insane. (Video below.) He was on Rachel Maddow - quite the get for her; he'd announced his candidacy on her show as well - and she pressed him on his view that part of the Civil Rights Act of the '60s was flawed. Specifically, the law forcing private institutions to desegregate. In other words, a diner can't turn away black people. Paul thinks businesses should be able to say "we don't serve your kind" to blacks, Jews, gays - take your pick. Insane.

I adore Rachel - she performs some hard-hitting journalism - and while most television pundits would have let Mr. Paul get away with endless hedging on the subject, she grilled him for a full 20 minutes to make sure we were all clear on his point of view. And I could not believe my eyes and ears.

What will be more depressing is if the man actually wins despite this - it's Kentucky, and Kentucky trends Republican. On a brighter note, the Democratic primary drew bigger numbers than the Republican primary, a possible sign that Democrats are more enthused about the race than their counterparts. We'll find out in November. If he's smart, the (D) nominee, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, will pound away on his opponent with this new piece of information every day until the polls open.

CNN's Non-News

The Wrap: "Campbell Brown Quits CNN, Falls on a Sword"

People yawned at this story. I yawned at this story. CNN is a joke, losing half their viewership in the last year if I remember correctly? Which makes me happy because it at least means people know ineptitude when they see it. I think CNN should go the non-profit route. They could be our BBC and no longer feel the need to dumb their content down for ratings' sake or to compete with Fox and MSNBC's bloviating. But as long as they make merely cosmetic changes to their programming, nothing is going to change.

It would be soooo nice to have a news network that performs reputable, fearless reporting. On the danger of corporate monopolies, need for campaign finance reform, failed drug war, unchecked lies of politicians and pundits, outdated minimum wage, our deranged health care apparatus, need for election reform, bloated war budget, insensible occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and on and on. There's no shortage of news to report on - let alone news not getting reported elsewhere. And this is due to media congloms' obsession with the bottom line, and failing in their obligations as the fourth estate.

Tiny Helpers

One evening while catering a party in LA, I spent some time with the kids, who were bored with all the adult talk. These 5-7 year-olds helped me serve dessert, then clear tables -- and they had a blast with it. I told them they were naturals at the job - I'd get them applications! - and two of them carefully wrote down their numbers so I could schedule interviews. One little one enjoyed himself so much that when Dad said it was time to go, he cried his eyes out. He wanted to spend the night there with me! He got it into his head that the hotel was my home. I pulled him aside and told him the manager would be locking up so we'd all have to leave, and he accepted that unquestioningly. At the end I tipped them each a dollar, watching their eyes light up. Just getting those kids to grin, to run up to me yelling "Thomas! Thomas!" to see how else they could help... Well, let's just say that a certain cocktail napkin with backward 3's is now a treasured possession of mine.

Two Viable Political Parties: I Like Neither

And liberals can find a home in neither. Obviously not in the Republican party. But not really in the Democratic party either... Yes, there are liberals in the Democratic party, and wonderful ones, at that - Russ Feingold, Anthony Weiner, Patrick Leahy, Sherrod Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Marcy Kaptur, Barney Frank... But for a multitude of reasons, Democratic party leaders feel constant pressure to to move rightward. Even with a liberal, Nancy Pelosi, in charge of the House of Representatives.

The health care bill and where it currently stands is a case in point. Even though a majority of Democrats in both houses of Congress wanted a public option - or at least Medicare's expansion as an alternative - as of the last week the current bill contains neither. Why? Because of a few conservative Democratic senators. (Republican senators don't even bother.) In fact, only one senator - Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Dems, and so gets a committee chair - is responsible for the Medicare option being dropped. And this, after he extolled the virtues of just such a plan three months ago. He even says he dropped it because he saw how happy it made liberals! Great guy, that one.

And that's just one person. One conservative Democrat. After concession upon concesssion was made to the handful of Conservadems to begin with. Thus, essentially, giving those half dozen or so people all the power in the party.

Now that both options have been dropped, liberals like myself are crying foul, let alone over Medicare being dropped solely due to Lieberman's flip-flop. (And this, after defecting from the Democratic party, stumping for McCain for president and criticizing candidate Obama at the Republican convention.) Howard Dean - the man behind our expanded congressional majorities but ignored by the White House once Obama moved in - has called the bill a bailout for insurance companies and recommended a move toward reconciliation (majority rule) instead.

So the White House and some Democratic senators came out swinging - against Dean. Not against Lieberman. Not against Republican party members in Congress. Obame and company have chosen to come out swinging - not for the first time - against Dean, and the liberals he represents. Who have already given concession after concession to begin with.

Long story short: liberals are taken for granted in the Democratic party. And have been for decades now. We don't have a party. And the expectation from the party at large has been that we have nowhere else to turn, so we'll continue to accept being ignored, even abused.

It's BS! I don't have a viable political party. A party that, as Bill Maher often points out, does not embrace progressive - but also widely held positions - on a host of issues. Those include legalization of marijuana, universal health care, a scaled back war budget, strong anti-trust legislation, campaign finance reform, gun control legislation and much more. I'm tired of not belonging to a party that respects me. Not only that, I'm tired of a party that too often runs rightward, embracing the positions of the opposition. Bill Clinton ruled as a Republican essentially, and they still tarred and feathered him for it. Obama's ramping up the war in Afghanistan, backed off banking regulatory reform, allowed the public option to die, closed off to the possibility of prosecuting members of the Bush administration for possible crimes and so on.

I want a party with real progressive values. I want a party that won't make me feel bad for what I believe. I want a party that excites and inspires people. That isn't a shell of its former self. The Democratic party is none of that.

Jon Stewart Gets Laughs Over the Joke the Real News Media Has Become

Kudos to Jon Stewart for simply being his usual smart, insightful self. Apparently, there are legions of young people getting their news from "The Daily Show." Which I admittedly found a little odd - they couldn't at least supplement it with browsing The Huffington Post or New York Times? Still though, it shows what a chord Stewart is striking with the X and Y generations these days.

What it says terrible things about are the network and cable news networks. They are unwatchable, in most cases. They gloss over or ignore altogether the finer details of hard-hitting news stories and  spend much of their time instead on sports, weather, the weekly box office race and your standard Hollywood gossip.

And then as the under-appreciated Ralph Nader points out about local news formats (a whole other beast), viewers are endlessly subjected to the phony, cringe-inducing banter of the anchors we're presumably supposed to find charming in their "spontaneity." Every news show does it, and for starters it's not even remotely possible that every group of anchors out there gets along gangbusters as they'd like us to believe. But even if it was in every case genuine, from Tallahassee to Spokane, it's yet more time taken away from actual news. Which is the point of "news" programs, is it not?

Finally, take out one third of total viewing time for ads, too many of which are devoted to erection pills (which is all that seem to play on Olbermann), and you're left with even less information to glean.

Sad to say, but TV news is a joke now. CNN, as a prime example, just seems to get worse with time. Whenever I'm caught in its evil web, while channel-surfing or in an airport lobby, I'm amazed at how much more dumbed down and entertainment-driven it's become since the last time I saw it.

I assume CNN thinks making their format "pop" more will bring in additional twenty-somethings. But the fatal flaw in that line of thinking is the assumption that young people are like monkeys, attracted to bright, shiny graphics, Twitter mentions and Britney coverage. But America's 20- and 30-somethings are instead drawn to ingenuity, to that which rings true - a rarity on television.

Which brings us full circle to "The Daily Show." Stewart doesn't bullshit us. And he's really, really smart. Which is what Wolf Blitzer, Charlie Gibson, George Snuffaluppaguss and all the other white anchors (plus Katie) should be for their news shows to be  relevant. Perhaps those individuals are equally as clever and incisive as Stewart (who, admittedly is also white), but if it's the case they're not exactly proving themselves on camera.

Alas... "What's Wrong With TV News " is a huge topic I can't possibly winnow my rambling thoughts about into one blog post, so I'll leave it there for now.

But it bears repeating that TV news has become a farce. Thank God we have Jon - and not just for his jokes.

Chris Matthews Should Apologize for Cheerleading the Iraq Invasion

I know plenty of liberals who love the guy. There's no question that he's likable. And he's knowledgeable of the ways of Washington - I'm not arguing that.

But every time I hear Chris Matthews go off on what a mistake the Iraq War is, I can't help but wonder where all this gusto, outrage and skepticism was, back when it mattered? One line I'll always remember is his gung ho declaration that "We're all neo-cons now!" It was as Bush & Co. plowed headlong into this needless war. This is around the time he referred to Bush as "Lincolnesque." Anyway, we could have used you then, Chris. Perhaps you could have even have helped prevent the war, for all we know.

His crowing now over what a colossal foreign relations blunder Iraq's turned out to be is maddening to listen to and a fairly easy position to take now that anti-war voices are no longer the minority. For me personally, the only way Matthews' now perfectly safe display of outrage matters is if he acknowledges his unwillingness to ask the hard questions back when the case for war was still being made by the Bush administration.