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The county administrative board of Dalarna (Länsstyrelsen i Dalarna) has made Kris Kristofferson “Ambassador of Honour of Dalarna“. I am not sure if this will have any effects beyond short-term publicity, but I like this initiative anyway. The award is given to someone with a strong connection to Dalarna, which Kristofferson apparently has this through his ancestors. In return, the administrative board expects him to spread “the many values” of the county to a wider audience. This fuzzy language could mean pretty much anything.

It is hard not to like the versatile Kristofferson. He will accept the award at a concert in Dalhalla, July 28.

According to IMDB, he has uttered words of wisdom like: “Never go to bed with anyone crazier than yourself.”

written by Jacob \\ tags: movies, music

No Country for Old Men is a good movie. It is a good movie in the way Terminator 3, Escape from L.A. and Legionnaire are great movies. These movies are awesome if you have not seen time-traveling with Arnold Schwarzenegger before, if you have not seen Snake Plissken in New York, and if you have missed watching Van Damme kick people in the face.

My point is that No Country for Old Men is just a best of the Coen Brothers. It is formulaic, and essentially a rip-off from Miller’s Crossing, Fargo and Blood Simple. Regardless of how many compressed air tanks you put in it, nothing is going to change that.

The only thing that is innovative compared to previous movies is their take on Hobbes. Life is clearly solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short in No Country for Old Men. In Fargo there was some order and structure imposed by the law; the Leviathan had some power. Not so in Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s latest installment. Police officers play by the same rules as everyone else in what seems to be an essentially lawless country.

written by Jacob \\ tags: coen brothers, hobbes, movies

Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris, they are all back. What to make of it? New York Times explains this in terms of a lost sense of American security, and personality factors.

First the situational factor, the lost sense of security. NYT uses a few juicy quotes from media people. For example, “‘We have weak, uncertain political leadership right now’, ‘Everything seems to be up for grabs; we don’t believe in institutions. This country needs stability, and in an archetypal, hyperbolic way, that’s what these figures represent’ and “Anxious Americans, after all, are suddenly very unsure of their position in the world, which leaves some open to any ‘fantasy having to do with a sense of traditional masculinity.’”

But where is the evidence? Are Americans really more insecure today than, say, in 2002? In frightening times we usually see people rallying around actual political leaders rather than fantasy figures like Walker, Texas Ranger. The rally ’round the flag-effect has never, to my knowledge, involved actors.

Did really people bother to pay attention to Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone around September 11 or at the beginning of the Iraq war? (I am ambivalent towards rhetorical questions, but that was one.) It would have been great if New York Times had presented a time-line showing that right now there is an unusual urge for stability. Besides, lack of trust in institutions is nothing new, it has been around since the 1970s.

I think the personality factor is more interesting. New York Times writes: “But Mr. Koops, speaking on Tuesday, New Hampshire primary day, said the appetite for these action figures represents more than a joke. Rather, it speaks to a sincere desire among some men — likely not Hillary Clinton supporters — to return to what he called ‘a comfort zone’ symbolized by heroic characters of yore.” In other words, New York Times are saying that fearful, conservative men are pushing this potential trend. I would like to see an empirical study on that.

Finally, just thinking in probabilistic terms, are there more action heroes in the limelight now than you would expect by chance? Some are back and some are not. (Steven Seagal anyone?)

written by Jacob \\ tags: movies, newspapers, statistics