"Peace on earth and goodwill toward man"

The title is a quote from the movie "Sneakers" (1992) starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix and Ben Kingsley (among others)

The selective quote is (mainly) from "Whislter" (David Strathairn).

The situation is this - The FBI (or similar govt. organisation) is negotiating with a team of "security consultants". The FBI is asking each "consultant" what they want before the team of "consultants" will agree to hand over a device that the FBI need desperately.

And thus goes the conversation;

Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man. 

Bernard Abbott: Oh, this is ridiculous. 

Martin Bishop: He's serious. 

Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men. 

Bernard Abbott: We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing. 

Martin Bishop: You're just gonna have to try. 

Bernard Abbott: All right, I'll see what I can do. 

Whistler: Thank you very much. That's all I ask.

P.S. Bernard Abbott is played by James Earl Jones and Martin Bishop by Redford.

I found this piece of dialogue to be HILARIOUS when I first watched this movie... But if every one of us thought like Whistler we'd surely be in a better place - wouldn't we? Idealism... hmmmm...

Oh and by the way - STILL find it hilarious BUT it has more meaning to me now...

Why now? Not sure. BUT I remember, during early January 2009, being in Sri Lanka and seeing some residents of Colombo running around on the streets waving Sri Lankan flags and celebrating amid exploding fire crackers...

Painting from RICHARD CARDONA PAINTING, PRINTS, & DRAWINGS.
Mainly cos I got stuck deciding on an image to go with the post... Lennon kinda seemed appropriate... but do feel free to suggest other/alternate images/art/etc.

They were (rightly?) celebrating the Sri Lankan Army's success in the war against the LTTE... But somewhere in there I couldn't help but think "Why are they celebrating the loss of human lives?". In all honesty, they must have just been celebrating a victory - but that victory caused a hell of a lot of lives, Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, Buddhists, Men, Women, Children... human beings...

If we HAVE to choose a side... maybe we should choose humanity... the sanctity of human life - forget race/religion/[insert other denomination(s) here]...

Think this might solve all the conflicts? If the "buck" stopped at loss of human lives? Idealism again...

I should stop that... shouldn't I?

Alejandro González Iñárritu is a genius!

Alejandro González Iñárritu behind the lens

He's proven himself a master storyteller with the likes of Amores perros (2000), Powder Keg [part of the BMW Films - The Hire] (2001) and 21 Grams (2003).

The man is an artist - an auteur in the truest sense of the word.

Promotional art for Babel

I know I'm a tad late to the party BUT I have to say this. I need to say it;

In Babel (2006) Iñárritu gives us an almost lyrical story born of a masterful script (Guillermo Arriaga) supported by sublime music (Gustavo Santaolalla) and emotive cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto) - to say nothing of the subdued, exceptional, performances by a brilliant cast.

True to his style, there are still the consistent, more-bitter-than-sweet, seemingly-unrelated-at-first interconnecting, storylines... but truer still, is the manner in which he presents this - an exquisite masterpiece.

If you are a fan of any of Iñárritu's previous efforts, or of film in general, and you've still not seen this - you're in for a treat when you do...

Save "Eli Stone"

Fan art for the "Save 'Eli Stone' effort"!

One more week to go...

Joker'ized' version of The Dark Knight poster

and the critics... lucky @#$@#$@!%@#$%$# who got to see it before us mortals... are raving...

CHAMPIONS!

After a near perfect campaign... a perfect semi-final... followed by a BRILLIANT final... we are FINALLY and MOST DESERVEDLY the 2008 SAFF Champions!

The Maldives are the new SAFF Champions!!!!

Photo from maldivesoccer.com

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

Taking the plunge!

Finally... after two years going 'should I, shouldn't I' I'm finally ready... errr... for a beta test at least...

Seriously - you need me to spell it out for you?!?!

Yes, I'm transitioning to Linux... Ubuntu to be exact... Time will tell if I can stick it through... Initial feeling is that 'this might actually work'...

Seems like Iron Man's flying high

More than 200 million dollars in less than a week! PLUS the fanboys are lovin' it!

[Check out these reviews by Joe Tirella, Michael SanGiacomo, Steve Ekstrom at Newsarama for a true Iron Man / Comic book fan perspective].

Iron Man - concept sketch / art from the movie

They must have done something right - must be a cinematic experience worth... experiencing!

Can't wait for the DVD and/or BluRay!!! ... but I guess I have to...

Next up: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.