While the public in the US debates an alleged ‘love affair‘ of the mainstream media with the Democratic presidential hopeful, there is absolutely not the slightest doubt about the big crush the German press and public alike have on Obama. The Germans are pretty much a fourteen-year old teenager right now, minus the pimples, but with all the obsessions a young and unexperienced heart can develop when it is captivated by a charming heartthrob for the first time.
“Forget the pie charts, color-coded maps and hyperventilating pundits. What’s the street-level experience of voters in today’s America? In a triumph of documentary storytelling, “Election Day” combines 11 stories — shot simultaneously on November 2, 2004, from dawn until long past midnight — into one.”
The documentary streams throughout July 2008, ending on July 31. Only 4 days left!!!
They did it. With the stroke of a pen, The New Yorker did what the Republicans have been trying to do ever since Obama proved a force to be reckoned with in the 2008 election: they created the perfect GOP Smear Campaign poster.
On its July 21, 2008, cover, The New Yorker is portraying Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office as fist-bumping, ‘fro donning (Michelle), US flag burning, bin-Laden-outfit wearing (Obama) and bin-Laden praising (crowning the mantlepiece) connivers.
The Obama Campaign is incensed, and HuffPost is not about to quench the fire. But let’s be honest: this cartoon barely has enough spark to ignite the bomb in the Prophet Muhammad’s turban (if you still don’t know how it got there, ask Jyllands-Posten), let alone a firecracker. To be sure, I’m not even certain if this qualifies as a stroke for freedom of speech.
So I was just watching a repeat of the Colbert Report on television today. Will Smith was there, promoting his new Movie Hancock. The story is a little lame. It’s fun at the beginning but gets really pathetic at the end. As you might expect from Will Smith it’s kind of a failure, even for a summer movie. So I can tell you what it’s about without even spoiling a great movie experience. And yes, I have to admit that I’ve seen it.
It’s basically the story of a desperate superhero indulging in alcoholic beverages. So this guy hates his job - but keeps doing it anyway - to the point that the people of Los Angeles wish him to New York City because he usually leaves a big mess every time he’s on a mission. Finally he meets this publicist played by Jason Bateman who wants to help him gain popularity by (among other things) talking him into voluntarily going to jail .
Thank God Obama stuck to guns and religion, when trying to illustrate the big bind America has gotten itself into over the last years. One can only imagine what would have happened, if he had been deemed elitist for stressing an even (literally) bigger one: obesity. The Mister Softee jingle (“Bubblicious RMX” feat. Celine Dion and Enrique Iglesias) would go triple platinum, Ronald McDonald would clinch a last-minute nomination and pull home an election landslide, and Coca-Cola would break the NASDAQ after announcing its plan to fuse with leading water providers to deliver sparkling soft drinks fresh from the tap.
Ever since the HBO series Sex and the City ended four years ago, its fans have been waiting for the announced movie. Now, it has finally arrived. Finally? Something has gotten lost on the way. [Read more]
Film club b-ware! are again organizing their “Awarded Summer” (Ausgezeichneter Sommer) in Berlin, which means independent movies screened at amazing outdoor locations Bar25 and Badeschiff (at Badeschiff you can even enjoy the movie from the pool!).
See the trailer here and learn more about the movie and the screening at Bar25 after the jump.
Just when you thought the Dems were beginning to move in circles, looking to something as colorful as gas taxes to spike the “Donkey Punch,” Obama supporters turn the knobs and change the beat.
Following Will.I.Am’s wildly popular “Yes We Can,” featuring soul saint John Legend, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the angelic Scarlett Johansson (just to name a few), TI$A (from the superior, but much overlooked, hip-hop/r’n'b producer/writer/super group Sa-Ra Creative Partners) drops another MTV/Hollywood gem to keep the election spectacle vibrant.
Exactly one year ago, at 9:01 am, Cho Seung-Hui paid $14.40 for a U.S. Postal Service express parcel, two hours after he had killed two students at a dormitory of the Virginia Tech University.
The package was bound to go to NBC’s headquarters; the Zip code and street address were incorrect, so it reached the network with a little delay. The parcel contained 27 quicktime-files with videos of Cho, several pictures and a collection of his writings. Cho signed with „A Ishmael“ and returned to the Blacksburg campus to murder another 30 people before shooting himself.
NBC went on to air parts of Cho Seung-Hui’s “Multimedia Manifesto” – a decision which has been widely attacked, as well as it has been defended. What guided the editors at the Rockefeller Center to impart those disturbing communications of a multiple murderer? Why are the decisions of TV producers still relevant in the age of the Internet video? And when does Cho become too much Cho? [Read more]
Something about the current campaign is quite surprising for Germans, apart from the fact that millions are spend just to determine the final candidates. It’s the notion that many people and institutions of the public life explicitly take sides in this hard fought campaign. But isn’t that what we should expect from them? [Read more]
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