There are many reasons to see PROUD MARY -- airing on STARZ currently -- but I would argue the main reason is Dan Lausten.
He did the cinematography. I've seen pro and con reviews of the film. But I haven't seen any review that noted the cinematography. It is gorgeous. It is textured and it adds to the plot repeatedly. I can't say enough about how incredible it is.
The film?
I didn't think it deserved the trashing it got when it was at the movies. I think there was a hostility against the film -- and we tend to see that when a woman stars but, more and more, especially when an African-American woman stars in the film.
Taraji P. Henson created a new character, Mary. Mary is not her character on EMPIRE or on PERSON OF INTEREST or HUSTLE & FLOW or . . . Do you realize how rare that is? Meryl Streep gets a lot of credit for creating new characters. She doesn't. She's a busy actress -- busy on screen -- who adds various business but it's the same basic two characters no matter how she enhances them.
Taraji gave a brave and layered performance.
Others did as well. I was so taken with Danny Glover's performance as Benny. It was a really incredible piece of work. And Margaret Avery, in only two scenes, created a fully formed character.
Billy Brown was also a surprise. Until now, he'd just been the sexy guy on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. I don't mean he was a bad actor on the show. I do mean he only registered to me for his sex appeal. He played a bad guy here and he was very effective and didn't try to pretty it up. Yes, his character loves Mary. But as Taraji made clear through the use of her voice and body, it's not a good love, it's not a love you want if you're a woman. And he met her there. He didn't try to pretty it up or be smooth leading man. It was a really strong performance.
There is a great deal to recommend in PROUD MARY but, I repeat, for the cinematography alone, this is a film you should watch -- especially now that you can catch it for free on STARZ, you have no excuse not to watch.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, September 18, 2018. The Iraq War continues, despite pretense otherwise.
"We want to end the war and we want to end it now!" Barack Obama spent most of the first half of 2008 yelling that at rallies as he sought to secure the Democratic Party's nomination. Remember those days?
He clobbered Hillary Clinton over the head for her 2002 vote for the Iraq War. Remember that? Kimberle Crenshaw and so many others rushed forward to pile on. Fair enough . . . if they gave a damn about Iraq but, as their actions have demonstrated, they didn't.
And they didn't give a damn that Barack refused to follow his campaign promise. And they didn't give a damn that he did a drawdown, not a withdrawal, at the end of 2011. And they didn't give a damn when he sent a unit of special-ops back into Iraq in September of 2012. And they didn't give a damn when Tim Arango got that reality into print in THE NEW YORK TIMES. And they didn't give a damn that he kept sending more and more US troops into Iraq in the last two years of his presidency. They just didn't give a damn.
"We want to end the war and we want to end it now!"
"We want to end the war and we want to end it now!" Barack Obama spent most of the first half of 2008 yelling that at rallies as he sought to secure the Democratic Party's nomination. Remember those days?
He clobbered Hillary Clinton over the head for her 2002 vote for the Iraq War. Remember that? Kimberle Crenshaw and so many others rushed forward to pile on. Fair enough . . . if they gave a damn about Iraq but, as their actions have demonstrated, they didn't.
And they didn't give a damn that Barack refused to follow his campaign promise. And they didn't give a damn that he did a drawdown, not a withdrawal, at the end of 2011. And they didn't give a damn when he sent a unit of special-ops back into Iraq in September of 2012. And they didn't give a damn when Tim Arango got that reality into print in THE NEW YORK TIMES. And they didn't give a damn that he kept sending more and more US troops into Iraq in the last two years of his presidency. They just didn't give a damn.
"We want to end the war and we want to end it now!"
Don't forget, we're still in Iraq, which means the Iraqi military is also doing bad stuff
The US remains in Iraq. So does, as RT AMERICA did a good job of pointing out yesterday, the United Kingdom. And the two aren't the only foreign forces occupying Iraq. For example, Anna Whyte (TVNZ) reports:
The Government are extending New Zealand's
military training deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as
renewing three peacekeeping missions in Middle East and Africa.
The Prime Minister announced
the extension today, with the Iraq deployment extended to June 2019 and
reducing the number of military personnel from 143 to 121 from November
this year.
Emma Hurley (NEWSHUB) reports:
Green co-leader James Shaw
grilled the Minister of Defence about New Zealand's deployments to Iraq
and Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon, calling it a "seemingly
never-ending military engagement".
It follows the Government's
announcement on Monday it would extend the deployments until June 2019,
despite Labour calling it "mission creep" in opposition.
Mr Shaw asked if the Minister
agreed "that continued military involvement of outside forces has
actually further destabilised the region and made it easier for terror
groups to recruit and has led to an increase in violence rather than a
decrease".
Marta Subat (INFOSURHOY) adds:
Most personnel are based at Taji Camp, but there are also three intelligence officers working out of Qatar.
Ms Ardern said the deployment will be reviewed again in early 2019, to assess New Zealand’s options to contribute to stability in Iraq beyond next June.
So New Zealand could keep troops in Iraq beyond June. Apparently, no one ever leaves. Also at Camp Taji? Germany. REUTERS notes:
German forces will be needed in Iraq for a long time to help rebuild the country’s military as it struggles to ensure that Islamic State militants do not regroup in underground cells, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.
Germany, which has about 125 soldiers in Iraq, is committed to supporting Baghdad as it rebuilds now that the fight to reclaim territory formerly held by Islamic State (IS)militants is largely over, she said during a visit to German troops at the Taji military base about 30 kms north of Baghdad.
And along with the military multitutdes, there are the mercenaries, the contractors. Zack Kopplin and Irvin McCullough (DAILY BEAST) report:
The U.S. government has paid Sallyport Global, a military contracting company, over $1 billion since January 2014 to provide security, life support, training and other basic operations at Balad Air Base in Iraq. But the results, according to 17 current and former Sallyport employees, have been chaotic, bizarre, in many cases sinister, and posed major risks to the personnel on the base at a time when the so-called Islamic State controlled swathes of territory nearby.
Sallyport employs roughly 1,850 people at Balad. Its company headquarters is in Virginia, but it also has a corporate presence in Bermuda.
What Sallyport runs in Iraq is basically a small army of private military contractors, known in the trade as PMCs, recruited from around the world. Employees are paid handsomely to survive insurgent attacks, blistering heat and crushing boredom for a few years while supporting American international military and policy objectives.
As Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil explained decades ago:
We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
'cause girl, there's a better life for me and you
Instead of getting out, the US government continues to occupy Iraq and attempt to control it.
U.S likes to see Barham Salih as Iraq president.
Salih has some rivals -- most compettive is Mala Bakhtyar.
Salih has to officially agree to rejoin PUK
Even if this happens, he has to convince KDP to support his bid for Iraq presidency.
KDP sees Salih as more Iraqi than Kurdish
KDP values Kurdish nationalism and probaly would like to see someone as president that if he would not further Kurdish nationalism, he would not at least hurt it. Salih is seen as a libality for this. If Salih is nominated, KDP could have his own nominee, too. PUK has to decide.
Salih?
Why?
What the hell has that piece of trash ever accomplished? Selling the Kurds out to ExxonMobil?
More to the point, the position of prime minister has traditionally been reserved for a Chicken Ass Coward who fled Iraq. Now the post of president will also go to such a person?
First, in 1979, Chicken Ass Salih fled to England. Then he fled to the US following the Gulf War. When did he finally return to Iraq?
After the US-led invasion of 2003.
This is a president?
This is a coward. This is an embarrassment. From 1979 until the fall of Baghdad in 2003, he lived outside the country, cowering in fear, begging other countries to invade Iraq.
And that behavior is to be rewarded?
Recipe: Chicken Ass Coward Salih Salad
1) Check to ensure that all of Salih's bones have been removed (this is just a safety step, the spine was removed years ago).
2) Add corporate backing from his corporate masters such as ExxonMobil.
3) Stir in US backing.
4) Add a dash of empire and a touch of chauvinism.
5) Serve immediately because with Salih, as with all cowards, there's a huge chance he'll flee quickly.
The US government repeatedly backs the weakest and most controllable Iraqis. It's not interested in an independent Iraq. That's why they backed the weak Hayder al-Abadi. They installed him in 2014. Then they backed his weak ass over and over. The Iraqi people didn't back him. They saw him as the failure that he is.
For example, Iraq is facing a huge water crisis. The US press never wanted to tell you that, but it is reality. And Hayder had four years to address it but did nothing.
Iraq is running out of water - 90% of its land is now desert aje.io/5g3qy
Even now, the US press tries to pretend that Hayder was something to admire. Nabih Bulos (LOS ANGELES TIMES) maintains:
It was only a few months ago that Haider Abadi, Iraq’s avuncular prime minister, seemed to do no wrong.
He
had been credited with defeating Islamic State, among other
accomplishments, and was expected to easily net a second term in
parliamentary elections in May. He had the backing of the U.S. and
others in the West. He looked to be Iraq’s first genuinely
post-sectarian leader.
Nabih lies that he stopped the Kurds. Stopped them from doing what? Holding their non-binding measure? They held it. The Kurds want their freedom and independence. And it will happen. It will probably have to wait until the US finally leaves, but that it the future. Hayder stomped his feet and threatened but he didn't stop the referendum.
He did not end the Islamic State. Only US presstitutes ever believed that lie. The US and Iran were part of the operation and the operation was not a success, it was a War Crime. As Carl Boggs notes at INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE this week:
It is easy to forget that it was the Obama administration that planned and carried out the first phases of the Mosul operation (begun in October 2016) which produced hundreds of thousands of casualties (with at least 40,000 dead), left a city of two million in Dresden-like state of rubble, and drove nearly a million civilians into exile. The same fate, on smaller scale, was brought to other Sunni-majority cities in Iraq, including Ramadi, Tikrit, and Fallujah (already destroyed by U.S. forces in 2004). Whatever the official goal, and however many secondary collaborators were involved, these were monstrous war crimes by any reckoning.
The Iraq War continues, the death and destruction continues. The politicians aren't really that interested -- certainly not interested enough to end it. Women's March on the Pentagon next week is about ending the wars.
Happening soon! #WomenRise4Peace
October 20 and 21st. Women's March On The Pentagon.
Interview of Women’s March On The Pentagon founder Cindy Sheehan
The Green Party US and others have endorsed the #WMOP and HRGP gets a shout out from David Cobb
WMOP: Oct 20-21st, Washington DC
marchonpentagon.com
#People #Planet #Peace facebook.com/story.php?stor…
This Sunday, September 16th, Join FURIE-Feminist Uprising to Resist Inequality and Exploitation to grow the Anti-War Movement in Chicago! This is a follow-up/planning meeting for the Women’s March on the Pentagon on Oct. 21, 2018 in Washington DC. bit.ly/2CTyVv1
Only ten days left to order your March on the Pentagon shirt in time for the march!! Hurry!
The Women's March on the Pentagon encourages all those opposed to endless war to write #LettersToTheWarMachine, during our "Why I Oppose War" campaign.
The Pentagon's lust for endless war takes a heavy toll on the daily lives and the... marchonpentagon.com/letters
War is a woman's issue.
War is an environmental issue.
War is a community issue.
#Imagine #LivingWithoutWar
Women for Justice Midwest marchonpentagon.com/war
Good question! @calebmaupin We ask it a dozen times an hour. When did working for an end to armed hostilities become a wrong goal? Like wishing for a sunny day is a crime, right? marchonpentagon.com
@WomenMarch4Paz @masspeaceaction @answercoalition
Not to be confused with WM, this is being led by Cindy Sheehan. Even if you can't go, you can write a letter and make your voice be heard.
#WomenMarchForPeace #LettersToTheWarMachine #NoMoreWars #GivePeaceAChance #SundayMorning marchonpentagon.com
The Women's March on the Pentagon encourages all those opposed to endless war to write
#LettersToTheWarMachine
It is a misconception that we can't do anything about this terrible reality.
facebook.com/events/3331118…
October 20-21: Women's March on the Pentagon
If you missed yesterday's community conference call, don't worry! You can listen to the recording here -->
The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley and BLACK AGENDA REPORT -- updated:
Release everything
2 hours ago
yemen
2 hours ago
A death on MODERN FAMILY?
8 hours ago
Team Aaron all the way!
9 hours ago
