Blogcritics Author: Heloise

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

Heloise — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:35:37 EST

If practice makes perfect then Howard�s ability to keep Frost/Nixon on nimble toes is evidence of that perfection.
What director Ron Howard has wrought in Frost/Nixon is riveting. Hands down this movie is best picture of the year material. Howard's handling of Peter Morgan's screenplay (itself an adaptation of Morgan's play) will be studied for years to come. Frank Langella’s Richard Nixon is a study in the flawless character presentation of a...

Book Review: Red Highways - A Liberal's Journey Into the Heartland by Rose Aquilar

Heloise — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:05:31 EST

Red Highways captures the essence of America in a political time capsule, its author changing time zones and hoping to change minds.
Rose Aquilar, political blogger and radio talk show host, chose the year 2006, one of national upheaval, to trek through four red states -- Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Montana -- interviewing random bystanders, shoppers, Wal-Mart workers, state representatives, folks leaning right and left and dozens in between. She and her husband capture the...

Movie Review: Australia

Heloise — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:41:48 EST

Despite a few blemishes, I believe that Australia will be atop many Best Picture lists come January 22.
Beautiful movies require beautiful words. And Australia is not only an epic-length film but it is also beautiful to look at, and so is the hot hunk Hugh Jackman, a veritable Warren Beatty in his prime, who plays opposite beautiful love interest Nicole Kidman. This Baz Luhrmann action/adventure film is set in 1939 northern Australia. In it, Kidman...

Oh, Now What's Wrong With The Right?

Heloise — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:55:25 EST

If the right wingnut bloggers want war then the lefty bloggers should oblige.
Like a crying baby awaiting a bottle or with a wet diaper drooping full and needing change, the right is whining again. They have it down to a science. Still smarting from November 4th’s thumping — word is they are retooling, trolling and trotting out actual ideas to be on par with lefty blogging fools. Imagine that, trying to beat the...

Senator Stevens: 1 Republican Resignation = 58 Democratic Senate Seats

Heloise — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:45:44 EST

The news just keeps getting better for the Democrats on the Hill, president-elect Obama and senator-elect Begich.
From one comes many is the kind of math the men and women on the Hill like to count, smile at and take a page from, any Democrat man or woman that is. Ted Stevens' resignation amounts to more grim news for the Republicans around the country. What will Rush do? Yes, what a difference a day makes. Talk of Sarah Palin resigning as governor, and by...

I'll Take One Hot Palin And One Cold Piyush "Bobby" Jindal To Go... Please

Heloise — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:01:45 EST

What�s an unpopular party to do? Give a party where everyone is invited and not just the rich, the WASP, and the redneck.
You have to admit that the GOP is really the COP, comical old party. I am still laughing. Sarah Palin single-handedly put the “bet” in "you betcha." Conservatives and radio pundits in the past election cycle have deigned to give the Democrat party advice, earning my famous rejoinder “Thanks, but no thanks.” And I...

Book Review: Taking On The System - Rules For Radical Change in a Digital Era by Markos Moulitsas Z�niga

Heloise — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:18:18 EST

A clarion call for this �Why Generation,� Taking On The System is a well-written how-to tome about grabbing political power.
Kos may be the longest name among politicos both left and right who use the Internet as their medium to network with like-minded individuals. In his third book Taking On The System, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga flexes his political muscle for a book that might also be titled How To Take On The System. In 272 pages Kos, a moniker he acquired from...

Democracy's Choice: President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama

Heloise — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:59:16 EST

Take cover it's an Obama landslide: head for the Hill�Capitol that is!
It was two years in the making. Election 2008 is over, but nothing will ever be the same after January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th POTUS. There was only one person I wanted to share this Obama moment with: my daughter, who gave me the first sip of the “Obama Kool-aid.” I caught up with her only to find that she...

An Interview with John McWhorter, Best-Selling Author, Linguist, and Cultural Critic

Heloise — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 19:58:50 EST

"In terms of prosaic vs. prophetic, I must admit that much of the time the word I would choose [for blogging] is pathetic."
John McWhorter’s profession may not put him on the fastest name-recognition track, but his pluck in taking on hip-hop made him an iconic target this summer among his peers and would-be (or wannabe) hip-hop politicos when he challenged this musical sacred cow. The publication of All About The Beat found some "haters" and yielded him...

What Will Conservative Pundits Say When Obama Closes the Deal?

Heloise — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:58:25 EDT

What�s more difficult than reading Heloise? Try reading John McCain's message or the lips of highly conservative Republicans.
The primaries are over and Barack Obama has won and accepted his party’s nomination. But you wouldn’t know that by the months of canned advice from the right. The McLaughlin Group’s right lineup included the ubiquitous Pat Buchanan, the smart blonde Monica Crowley, and on the left, Eleanor Clift and Derek McGinty. Among the...