Frost/Nixon was a movie that just kinda arrived in the theaters with very little press, hype or advertising.  When I first saw the trailer several weeks back the movie looked quite good but I wondered if it had any power to draw in an audience…. it does!

To start Ron Howard, the director, pulls the viewer in to the story by blending news footage of the time into the movie.  This provides the audience with the back story and serves as a launching pad for an engrossing viewing experience. The sets and costumes recreate the period with an expertise Howard and company are known for.

For the most part, the movie does not take any liberty with the events that took place.  Sure, it would be easy for any historian to point out any major errors, but there wasn’t anything glaring that I could pick out.  Heck, lets talk about specific historical detail…  Frank Langella, the actor who played Nixon, managed even pull off Nixon’s eye movements with ease.  

Most people are probably unaware of is that Frost/Nixon was a Broadway play. If the two lead actors seem very comfortable with each other, it is because the reprised their roles for the movie, a movie that is an outstanding political drama that is entertaining and engaging. 

What I find most interesting about the movie is the lack of any major A-List actors.  There is no Huge Jackman, Brad Pitt or Will Smith.  There was no “draw”, per se, besides the story.  I no way am I trying to take away from the cast; frankly I am a big fan of Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon,  but in a time of $200 million dollar production costs it’s refreshing to see that people can still manage to make engaging entertainment on the cheap – well, $25M – and without one of the top 3 actors in Hollywood.

This is, by far, one of the best movies I’ve seen in quite some time.

4/4 in my book!

Let me tell you, this has been one long ass week.  Maybe it’s the whole “going back to work” thing, kind of a post holiday hangover, but days seem to drag on and on.

I held off on any major posting the last 24 hours simply to decompress a bit, just felt as if I needed to.  What really shocked me was that I had almost 700 unread items in my RSS reader… over a 24 hour period… yea… so I simply ended up “marking all as read” and just started this morning as a new day.

There are a number of things that happened in the last day that I’ve wanted to comment on, covering a range of topics, so here you go:

Snow again!

I was a bit surprised that Chicago got hit with snow once again.  Yea, its winter and all, but it seems that it came out of nowhere.  While not snowing now forecasters are expecting another 4 to 6 inches overnight.  Unlike most, however, I love the snow!

While driving in I took a picture of downtown but I cannot seem to get my iPhone to send email, so it will have to wait.

Frost/Nixon

I plan on seeing Frost/Nixon this evening with the little lady. Looking forward to that, especially since Oliver Platt has a supporting role.  Since this is a Ron Howard film you know his brother will show up…

The Stock Market goes down

As I had expected, the stock market headed back toward 8600.   The Santa rally that took place over the holiday was provided too much upside too quickly.  There was no data to support such a positive move, and once the retail numbers and unemployment data hit, it was only bound to go down.

In a number of ways I think traders expected this information as the Volatility Index, while up over the past three days, in no way reflects the extreme movement we experienced late last fall.

Next week will be interesting as earning seasons will be kicking off on Monday.  The first big player, Alcoa, is expected to report and may set the market mentality for the week.

Obama on the economy

The President elect is showing America how he plans on governing – by public opinion.  Why do you think he is continuously talking about the economy and stimulus plan that will be needed?  He wants to gauge how the public is going to react, as well as determine future resistance from political opponents.

You have to give President elect Obama credit for communicating but I fear this practice may lead to governing by popularity, not by what is best for the community.

Obama on the economy (part 2)

How does the United States expect provide stimulus for the economy?  It’s broken down into two categories – public spending (highways, infrastructure, and schools) and money back to citizens.  While in theory, I have two problems with this.

1. Funding provided for public spending will not provide an immediate impact on the economy.  It may actually take years.  The planning and execution of such programs usually take time to get moving.  Even if $250B was provided to states today in order to initiate such projects, you are looking a 6 to 9 month lag before the money is utilized in any meaningful way, let alone impact the economy.

   I question is this is the best short term stimulus – long term, it make sense…short term no so much.

2. $200B is expected to be given back to roughly 95% of the United State population as a refundable tax credit.  The problem is this; the top 1% of earners pays roughly 40% of all federal income tax. The top 25% pay about 85% of the federal income tax! If you falling the top 25% your credit would be insignificant, while the majority of the funding will go to the bottom 50% of income tax payers.

   Essentially the haves are paying for the have nots and the only way this will be supported is finding another way to generate revenue (or taxes).  You can almost count on corporations having a higher tax rate, which will only prolong the recession

I know there is no easy answer, but this is a very dangerous game the politicians are playing.

Jimmy Johns

I enjoy Jimmy Johns sandwiches – you know, the “subs so fast you’ll freak” – as a nice alternative to Subway.  Today I tried something different from JJ… the Lettuce Wrap.  They took the meats they would normally use in the sandwich and used lettuce as a replacement for the bread.  It was very, very good!

Meditation

Yesterday was the first time I did meditation in roughly 2 years…maybe 3.  Previously I had a meditation routine that I practiced almost daily but my mind ended up simply getting the better of me as I found very little return after a significant amount of time and effort was put into the practice…

My attempt yesterday was through a guided CD and was interesting, one I will be practicing more.  I can see a solid benefit if I can manage to keep my focus.

Site Development

I have been working on the next template for the site quite a bit, despite a few delays.  I had expected to release the beta a few days ago but I ran into a few formatting issues in Internet Explorer… so that is still coming.

I’ve also decided to write a basic health tracker for my personal use, as well as an SMS web interface that would allow the communication with a number of people at one time…

So there you go, there are the thoughts that have been on my mind the last few days…  I hope to have a relaxing weekend that will allow me to focus on programming… And maybe make dinner in there as well.

Enjoy the day!