Polanski directed the hell out of this film.  The script is pathetic.  Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer who is brought into finish penning the memoirs of Adam Lang (played by Pierce Brosnan), England’s ex-Prime Minister,  after the previous ghost writer dies under mysterious circumstances.  Within the first twenty minutes, the phrase “I’m/You’re way in over your head,” (or some variation thereof) is uttered at least four times.  Lang is being investigated for war crimes and he’s staying in the U.S. and fears returning to England where he’ll face a war crimes tribunal.  Polanski not only steps in front of the camera and waves, “Hello!” during a scene where Lang and his wife (Olivia Williams) discuss his options with his lawyer, but he then takes a dig at the U.S.  Explaining why Lang can’t be extradited to England, a character notes that the U.S. doesn’t acknowledge the ICC (International Criminal Court) along with Iraq, China, and other nations whose company we tend not to celebrate.  It’s clear Polanski thinks his situation is ridiculous and he basically blows a big whistleberry at America even though he finished this film while under arrest in Switzerland.

As McGregor’s character, whose never named and is referred to as “The Ghost” in the credits (which is one of the few script touches I liked), digs deeper, he discovers the evidence against Lang and the motive for why his predecessor was murdered.  The problem is there’s no reason for him to dig deeper.  The Ghost has no character, and while you may argue that it’s intentional, he’s an active character and we’re left scratching our heads why a reluctant writer–whose only draw to the project is $250,000 for a four-week polish on an already-written manuscript–would turn into an investigative journalist.

But most regular moviegoers will know the culprits well before the film ends and it’s remarkable that suspicious characters in the film raise gigantic flags with the emblem of the great nation Immalionmyassoff, and that the music and tone is equally sinister.  But Polanski somehow weaves it all together where you care about what happens to The Ghost and want to see the film through to the end (although the final moment feels forced and leads to a close that should not surprise anyone familiar with Polanski’s past work or life).

When it comes to Roman Polanski, you may hate the man (I don’t because I don’t really care about his personal life one way or the other), but you have to admire the director.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

And the second installment of my new podcast, Running Dialogue, with Russ Fischer and Curt Holman

Artwork by Cliff Rathburn

That way he’ll know where it is.  He tells the Joker to “Eat foot,” but kicks him in the back of the head.  Way to go, “World’s Greatest Detective.”

As Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed today, “We have seen obviously that though there are some that are supportive of this, there isn’t enough political support in a majority to get this through.”  They don’t have the votes.  Because the President thinks that the measure wouldn’t pass, he doesn’t support it.  It isn’t because he thinks the public option is bad or that it needs better definition.  It’s because he thinks he might lose.  He is a coward.

So this is our President: a man who will fight for the people as long as he thinks he can score a political victory.  He won’t fight for us, he won’t fight for change, he won’t even fight for what’s popular.  He’ll fight for what he thinks Congress can accomplish.  He’ll fight for nothing.

Don’t buy it.

Would it be nice if the extended editions were included?  Sure.  Will they arrive in a box set of their own sometime in the future?  Of course.  But fans aren’t owed anything.  Warner Bros. could lock it in a vault never to be seen again.  Just because you’re a fan of the series, that doesn’t make you entitled to the exact product you wanted.  None of these “reviews” are based on the product or how these movies look in HD (my prediction: they will be visually stunning), but because Warner Bros. wants more money.  Yes, this is how a business works.  You’re not getting ripped off because you’re not being forced to buy anything nor are they selling you a defective product.

I don’t recall this amount of whining back when they released the DVDs this way.  Want to know why?  Because they’re entirely different.  There’s an entirely different set of features and the films play differently because of the pacing.  Peter Jackson has said he’s happy with the theatrical cuts and he should be.  They’re the whole reason people wanted extended versions in the first place: so fans could have even more of this world that Peter Jackson scored with when they debuted in theaters.  That’s fine, but they also change the way the movie plays.

So why doesn’t Warner Bros. include the extended editions as well?  Contrary to popular belief, Blu-rays cannot hold seven hours worth of highly-detailed visual data.  Well why not put them on separate discs?  That’s a great idea except now you’ve expanded the nine disc set to a twelve-disc set.  Keep in mind that on DVD, the extended editions had even more special features than the theatrical editions.  So now you’ve got a 15-disc set: 3 theatrical cuts, 3 digital copies (of the theatrical cuts), 3 extended editions, three special feature discs for the original version, and three more special feature discs for the  extended edition.  How much do you think that set would cost?

But why not release them at the same time so people can choose?  Because they can already choose.  They’re just not getting one of the versions right now.  Want to know why?  Because you can’t up-convert a DVD to a Blu-ray in an afternoon and Peter Jackson, being committed to the franchise, is busy with other stuff like helping to make a fucking prequel to these beloved films.  And yet people are being whiny babies about how they’re not getting what they want right now, so they’re giving one-star ratings to the Blu-ray of the theatrical cuts because they feel entitled to have both and Warner Bros. is screwing them and trying to earn more money with a double-dip.  It’s not really a double-dip when you’re getting two different movies and two different sets of special features.

If you honestly believe that the extended versions are better than the theatrical cut, then I respect that, and I’m sorry you’ll have to wait for your preferred version.  But if you’re pissed off because you want everything right now and Warner Bros. isn’t giving it to you, then I you need to grow up.

Aaron Sorkin’s tales of politics may be the stuff of fairy tales, but it helps bring out of the cynicism by reminding us what we should want in a leader.  No real President will ever meet an Andrew Shepherd or a Josiah Bartlett, but they should inspire us rather than disappoint us.  President Obama has not been the president we hoped he would be.  He has offered no substantive change in our politics, only in our president.  I shudder to think what a John McCain presidency would look like, but Obama has been a letdown in a big way.  We need to remind him what we voted for.  It’s not enough to just bitch about it.  You have to write a letter, donate to a cause you believe in, educate yourself about the discussion rather than just echo talking points.  We should always hope for Shepherds and Bartletts, but we can already make ourselves better citizens.