Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the Iranian version of George W. Bush. Both have professed a devotion to religious fundamentalism but in fact owe(d) their power to secretive cabals fronted by cold-eyed men. They’ve both appealed to and depended upon the rube mentality as a base of popular support. Both have shown outward hostility to other nations. Both have been terrible for their economies. And both have constantly said stupid, embarrassing things.

The U.S. now has Barack Obama, and a large segment of Iran just decided they couldn’t stand the idea of another four years with their version of Bush.

Just as there is a long list of films that I can watch and over again, there are also those that I will never again submit myself to.

I’m not talking about films I don’t care for. I’m talking about films that I wouldn’t watch again if someone offered me a cash bribe. Would you sit through Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for $20 bills? Would you watch A.I. or Always again? The Cannonball Run II? Sylvester Stallone‘s Cobra? Practical Magic?

Robert DeNiro during first Russian Roulette scene in Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter

I was moved to write this when I learned of an upcoming British Bluray of Michael Cimino‘s The Deer Hunter. Oh, the memories. That idiotic Russian Roulette device. Those absurdly majestic Northwestern mountain peaks that happen to be in rural Pennsylvania. Those working-class townspeople singing a wedding song like practiced professionals in a Russian opera. The relentlessly cloying and obnoxious working-class camaraderie.

The Deer Hunter is one of the most full-of-shit films about the American proletariat ever made. The way it simultaneously used and ignored the Vietnam War was sickening.