I gotta say, every time I see an ad for this new World Trade Center movie I get really creeped out. Maybe Nick Cage is donating his fee to charity. I really hope so. Because if not, it kind of seems like a case of a movie star using a tragedy (and one of his terrible accents) to pad his bank account and ego.

I understand that people want to make and watch movies about 9-11. I don't count myself among them, but I can comprehend the impulse. But I don't think this is a situation where casting a movie star is appropriate. When things start to matter, movie stars can throw telethons or maybe record some narration. But they need to stay the fuck out of our shared pathos. There's a difference between pretend heroes and real ones, and I think it's extremely distasteful to blur the lines between them.

I know that Cage, having won occasional acclaim for his acting, probably fancies himself a Serious Actor well-suited to this Serious Role. I'm sure he hung out with some firefighters, visited Ground Zero — maybe buried himself under a little rubble. I'm sure he'll talk a lot about "respect" on the junket.

But c'mon — he's still part of America's modern celebristocracy. Consequently, watching him pretend to be a 9-11 firefighter is like watching Kim Jong Il pretend to be a military hero. I'm sure it sucks to be pigeonholed. But when you decide to play Cameron Poe some things come along with it besides just a paycheck and a nagging sense of shame.

ALSO: Check out one prong of their media strategy. What a bunch of scumbags.

did anybody else ever listen to pizzicato five back in the late 90s or whenever it was they were around? i haven't listened to them in years, i've lost track of their cds, but for some reason i woke up this morning thinking about them. they were a japanese group, but made some of the catchiest lounge-y music i've ever heard. plus they're just fun and campy. and i also realized their song "baby love child" was featured in one of my favorite scenes out of futurama - the montage where leela is growing up, presumably an orphan, but her parents are sneaking her presents and secretly tucking her into bed at night. aww.

anyway. this was a totally random post, but here are a few links to blogs where you can get a few pizzicato five mp3s to brighten your monday.

baby love child and room service

twiggy vs. james bond

the girl from ipanema