Day: June 14, 2009

Twelve hours ago CNET News’ Daniel Terdiman reported that ‘as the Iranian election aftermath unfolded in Tehran — thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to express their anger at perceived electoral irregularities — an unexpected hashtag began to explode through the Twitterverse: ‘CNNFail.’

“Even as Twitter became the best source for rapid-fire news developments from the front lines of the riots in Tehran, a growing number of users of the microblogging service were incredulous at the near total lack of coverage of the story on CNN, a network that cut its teeth with on-the-spot reporting from the Middle East.

“For most of Saturday, CNN.com had no stories about the massive protests on behalf of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was reported by the Iranian government to have lost to the sitting president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The widespread street clashes — nearly unheard of in the tightly controlled Iran — reflected popular belief that the election had been rigged, a sentiment that was even echoed, to some extent, by the U.S. government Saturday.

“‘The Obama administration is determined to press on with efforts to engage the Iranian government,’ the New York Times cited senior officials as having said Saturday, ‘despite misgivings about irregularities in the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.’

“Yet even as word of the urban strife, seemingly led by those posting to Twitter, spread next around the world on news networks like the BBC, NPR, and the Times, CNN remained mostly mute. Even when the network’s Internet site finally posted a story late Saturday, the network’s first ‘story highlight’ was, ‘Ahmadinejad plans rally after winning second presidential term.'”

“If you can’t shove some real reform down the [Republican’s] throats now, when? Obama needs to start putting it on the line and fight the banks, the energy companies and the health care industry. What he needs in his personality is a little George Bush. Obama needs that some of that smug insufferable swagger that says ‘suck on it, America.’ [He] needs more audacity.”

Criterion’s Bluray of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal comes out Tuesday. “Love is the blackest of all plagues…if one could die of it, there would be some pleasure in love, but you don’t die of it.”

…with the sounds of chanting crowds and screaming women and the whup of billy clubs and the roar of burning buses. It’s where the action is, Anger Central, the flames of freedom flashing. And yet Americans, this afternoon, don’t seem to be paying all that much attention. Not as far as I can sense. I’m detecting more interest in the Yankee-Met game going on right now. It’s Sunday, bro…chill. The Hangover is #1 again. Zach Galifianakis!

Here‘s N.Y. Times reporter Roger Cohen discussing the suspicious aspects of Iran’s contested election.

In a review of Sony Home Video’s “The Jack Lemmon Collection,” a DVD package of five Columbia-produced films, N.Y. Times columnist Dave Kehr summarizes the “recurring predicament” of Lemmon’s screen characters as “that of the desperate conformist who ultimately discovers that conformity comes at too high a price.”

Very nice. Exactly. Kehr’s description is so clean that I’m envious. I’ve also begun to wonder how many other name-brand actors have experienced the same recurring predicament time and again? Actors and actresses who are so well known for a particular personality and character-type that screenwriters have adapted and wound up writing the same kind of story for this actor/actress, over and over?

How, for example, would one describe the recurring predicament of the classic Clint Eastwood character? “That of a low-key, steely-mannered nonconformist who tries to just get along, is challenged by ne’er do wells, and is always pushed into settling his scores by violent means.”

Jim Carrey? “That of an anxious but free-spirited eccentric who finds that expressing a heretofore suppressed side to his personality or experimenting with alternate values is fun for a while but ultimately makes things worse.”

Julia Roberts in the ’90s? “That of a spirited, independent-minded single gal who initially tries to breeze or arm’s-length her way through a relationship (or an adventure of some kind involving an attractive guy), only to eventually fall in love and put her serious emotional cards on the table.”

Seth Rogen? “That of an extremely bright but immature slacker-stoner who’s constantly being challenged by life’s complications to crawl out of his pot-smoking, lay-around conch shell and become an active, reality-facing, decision-making adult.”

Jeffrey Wells? “That of an enterprising and impassioned movie columnist whose daily opinions and musings are constantly challenged and sometimes belittled by internet trolls, this forcing a daily metaphorical shoot-out on Main Street with one or more of these hecklers.”

Shia LeBouf? “That of a plucky and somewhat irresponsible young guy trying to have fun and chase girls, only to be thrust into super-threatening situations involving supernatural life forms that force him to put away young-guy things and stand up and be a man.”

All interesting characters are defined by the three Ds — desire, deception and discovery.