GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE I can change, I swear... Stop him before he kills again. That is the judgment of the American people, and indeed of the entire world, as to the performance of our president, and no State of the Union address can erase that dismal verdict. President Bush has accomplished what Osama bin Laden only dreamed of by disgracing the model of American democracy in the eyes of the world. According to an exhaustive BBC poll, nearly three-quarters of those polled in 25 countries oppose the Bush policy on Iraq, and more than … [Read more...]

From NYTimes Arts Briefs this morning: 'CSI' vs. 'Grey's Anatomy' The addition of Liev Schreiber to the cast of "CSI" helped give CBS the top spot Thursday night, but "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy," which both won Golden Globes on Monday, put ABC on top among adults 18 to 49. According to Nielsen's estimates, 21.3 million viewers tuned in at 9 p.m. for "CSI," ranking it just behind "Grey's Anatomy," which had 21.9 million viewers in the same time slot. CBS led during the 10 p.m. hour opposite a repeat of NBC's "ER" (6.1 million), as … [Read more...]

The Painted Veil Sleeper of the year, with an unnecessarily distracting and anachronistic score by Alexandre Desplat featuring the very overhyped Lang Lang. Eragon Featuring the Come Hither Line of the Year: "You look... fit for battle." The Good Shepherd Good performances, weak writing, especially for the lead, which also weakens it central metaphor (that American wasps have no soul, God's frozen people, yada yada yada...) Juicy cameo by Joe Pesci. Choice score from Bruce Fowler and Marcelo Zarvos which melts right into the picture … [Read more...]

You could quibble, punch up the lead (a Johns Hopkins report has Iraqi civilian deaths surpassing 650,000), but this wins the year-in-review prize for tone alone: Thousands of people died in the Iraqi civil war, which was costing the United States $100,000 a minute. U.S. forces began to negotiate with Sunni insurgents, and the Pentagon, short of buglers who can play taps at military funerals, ordered 700 automated digital bugles. Oil companies announced record profits; President George W. Bush said that America is "addicted to oil" and … [Read more...]