V For Vendetta -- 17Mar2006!

[sagas4]

I went to see it again Saturday. I was surprized since it has been out for a while now; the theater was still packed, there were only about 10 seats open.

[tharrin]

Now Now. I haven't a statist bone in my body. I did get an ejamacation in da publik skool systim and thay tryed hard two learn me.

Darren what have I said that sounds statist?

I am a realist. What is...is. I begin by examining what is and then try to clearly define what can be.

[Darren Dirt]

tharrin said:

Darren what have I said that sounds statist?

Mostly agreed, hence the " j/k "

Although there have been a few times where your "one extreme or the other extreme" perspective seemed to be leaning heavily in the collectivist direction -- it seems similar to what a lot of great thinkers (e.g. Emmanuel Kant" have historically done when they saw the alternative to collectivism as basically dividing people into "owners" and "non-owners", not realizing that the "owners" are just as dependent on the "non-owners" as the n.o. are on them. i.e. a fundamental fallacy of collectivist thought, when it is a result of rejection of individualist-capitalist thought, is that those who 'have not' are the "means" to the "ends" of the 'haves' -- when in reality it is reciprocal, just like a biological ecosystem.

(I been reading Mises' "Socialism" this week; much of the above ^ comes from my understanding of what I have been reading )


PS: We all appreciate the diversity of POVs here, including (and I think, especially) Tharrin's

[Darren Dirt]

Earlier post, in another thread re. films that expose the government hoax, etc...

thereisnostate.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1140978185&page=1#1141082580

"V FOR VENDETTA IS THE MOST DANGEROUS FILM OF THE YEAR"

;D

[Blade]

Here is a review of the film I found very interesting. Skip the patriot nonesense part. ;D


www.wingtv.net/thorn2006/vendetta2.html

[Darren Dirt]

blade said:

Here is a review of the film I found very interesting. Skip the patriot nonesense part. ;D


www.wingtv.net/thorn2006/vendetta2.html

Fascinating. But easily dismissed.


The Wachowski bros. may have written the screenplay for the movie, but it was based on the graphic novel including most of the key plot details and the spirit of the same theme.


The author of the linked "review" (which is not really a review but rather a theory re. symbolism and such) claims to be an informed student of history, especially re. "secret societies" and the like. Yet he doesn't make mention of the original source material for the film he is analyzing. (!) Perhaps he didn't know the "history" of the making of this film? or of the film makers?


While I agree that there *may* have been double-meaning symbolism in V for Vendetta, along the lines of the painfully-obvious Illuminati stuff in Matrix 2 & 3 (especially the names of characters) I do not agree that blowing up the Old Bailey and Parliament was intended to say "and what's left is CANON law".

I think it is just as possible, if not *more* plausible, that "and what's left is NO law, aka ANARCHY".


In fact, think for a moment: in the graphic novel, it was not about "one man against a corrupt government", which overall the film is. The graphic novel was "on man exposing the problem with the idea of government itself", i.e. promoting raw anarchy (not the violence that he believed would lead to it, but an absence of formal and non-consensual government itself). This significant change in the movie has puzzled me since I saw it.

Perhaps the significant changes in the movie plot are indeed the result of influence from some secret Jesuit powers, perhaps not... But speculation does not an expose make.


But you know what? Here's my own interpretation, after reading the one linked above -- it got me thinking.

Perhaps the Wachowski bros. could not get the "green light" if they had a clear and direct anarchistic message like in the novel. So instead they decided to have 3 incidents of vivid destruction:

First the Old Bailey (representing the *corruption* of common law into what even *we today* know as "statutory law" i.e. manmade law i.e. the opinions of antisocial men and women fraudulent claiming to represent "the people", enforced at the barrel of a gun by mindless obedient antisocial jackbooted thugs -- and therefore the end of the coercively violent JUDICIAL branch of so-called government).

Second the Chancellor (at the conclusion of a very intense fight scene a la the Matrix movies -- representing the end of the coercively violent EXECUTIVE branch of so-called government).

Third the Parliament buildings (which may indeed represent "democracy" aka "mobacracy" aka "3 wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner" -- thus representing the end of the coercively violent LEGISLATIVE branch of so-called government).


So thanks, anonymous movie reviewer and student of history, I think you make baseless accusations and laughable speculations, but I still tahnk you because you got me thinking -- perhaps now I appreciate even more the skillful writing of the Wachowski bros., former house painters who were so influenced by reading the graphic novel in the early 90s that they let the concepts and themes of *that* story develop into some popular culture that hundreds of millions have viewed, analyzed, and been impacted by. And inspired countless others to do something too, to expose "the violence inherent in the system" in our own personal way.


- - -

PS: -Spot the logical fallacies! ;D ...

Common law gave us two very important and foundational principles without which it is not possible to have a free society: 1) trial by jury; 2) innocent until proven guilty. ** The opposite of common law is canon law--the law of the Roman Catholic institution. **

Even more troubling is the blowing up of the English Parliament, which brought us modern democracy and gave rights to common people, a concept that was pretty much unknown in the medieval world.

Three important freedoms that were granted to all people were freedom of the press; freedom of conscience; freedom of thought. Believe it or not, under canon law all three of these freedoms are anathemized, that is, they are cursed by canon law even today.

V truly foreshadows the coming dark ages: rampant disease, civil wars, rioting, curfews, govenment agents everywhere, listening in on us, watching us, instilling fear everywhere, exactly as it happened all over Europe for 600-plus years of The Inquistion.

The first Matrix was a very intelligent movie, more so than V in my opinion, but I believe both movies are agenda movies. They seem to promise hope and freedom, but if we dissect them, the message both these movies convey is the opposite of hope and freedom.

Major Hollywood motion pictures always have an agenda. Movies such as V show us the problem, then offer a solution which furthers the agenda of the very totalitarianism they supposedly oppose.

By having people wearing Guy Fawkes masks at the end of the movie, the movie makers make a mockery out of history and present the enslavers as the emancipators.

[sagas4]

Blade, Darren,

I read the review and found it interesting.

Here's what I thought; If you review the dialog of the movie, it does not match the visual imagry the reviewer is describing he believes it means. (Sure there may be some real historical connections in the imagry that is true and has the meaning as the reviewer suggests. i.e. Rome being upset with Protestants, Fawkes being Catholic etc.), but his connecting them to the message of the movie in the analysis does not match with the dialogue in the movie.

If one does even a cursory search and does some reading one will find that Moore and Lloyd initially entertained the idea of some stereotypical comic book superhero image for V. The publishers wanted a darker character or imagry though so Moore and Lloyd came up with V in Guy Fawkes attire. Set that in a modern scene with a dark cape and a character masked a man who tried to kill the King . . . that's a pretty dark image.

Basically I thought the review was an entertaining if not interesting look into the mind of a statist shill.

[Darren Dirt]

sagas4 said:

Basically I thought the review was an entertaining if not interesting look into the mind of a statist shill.

Not just a statist shill, even more dangerous: a fundie, a fundamentalist-anti-catholic-self-proclaimed-expert-at-history distract-the-reader-from-the-REAL-issues-covered-in-the-movie intellectual-sounding make-average-reader-doubt-their-own-wisdom statist shill.

[Darren Dirt]

I just took in a second viewing yesterday with my brother (his first viewing).

Wow.

There was a *lot* I could not have possibly noticed or absorbed the first time. Especially the visual stuff (like in the shots of newspaper articles, or especially the "scrolling text" at the bottom of the TV screens). Plus the tidbit that the Chancellor was previously the "Secretary of Defense". I immediately imagined Rummy being lifted to the High Throne of the Presidency. Yikes!


Highly recommended a second viewing on the Big Screen -- when I buy the DVD it will be like re-living the big screen experience.

EnglandFreedom Prevails!



PS: a few more fan-tastic links...

"Welcome to the V for Vendetta Shrine!"

Shrine: info on the movie


Valerie's Letter

Music found in the graphic novel



An Annotation of Literary, Historic, and Artistic References in Alan Moore's Graphic Novel, V For Vendetta

by Madelyn Boudreaux, [e-mail]
April 27, 1994
Last Revised: March 21, 2006


Wikipedia entry (quite detailed)

[lummox2]

The book is phenomenal.

"And he hungers in his secret dreams
For the harsh embrace
Of cruel machines
But his lover is not what she seems,
and will not leave a note"

Do you think that me reading it when I was ill in hospital as a kid might have effectd me long term? ;D

[Darren Dirt]

lummox2 said:

The book is phenomenal.

"And he hungers in his secret dreams
For the harsh embrace
Of cruel machines
But his lover is not what she seems,
and will not leave a note"

Do you think that me reading it when I was ill in hospital as a kid might have effectd me long term? ;D

Only in a good way ;D

Brilliant literary work, no question -- the movie is about as good a mainstream-release adaptation as one could hope for (I had tears of joy well up in the *exact* same places the second viewing -- especially the Finch-narrating-over-a-montage-including-the-dominos) and I just hope it gets people all the more interested in the more blatantly anarchistic source material. ;D Like the more detailed words V shares with "The Old Bailey", and *ESPECIALLY* the written version of the "Pirate TV Station" broadcast.


I have read the gfxnovel 2.5 times (i.e. 2 fully, skimmed a bunch perhaps half) and I'm going to let my 10 year old son, who loves comics (Archie, Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, Peanuts) read it prolly next year. In the meantime, reading out loud to my kids "Jonathan Gullible" and "Letters to Jessica" are going to help in deprogramming them... Oy, hard work being truth-ful...

[Darren Dirt]

Another glowing review, with good reason... ;D

www.freedomsphoenix.com/Feature-Article.htm?InfoNo=004433

V for Vendetta

Powell Gammill
Website: Gammill For Congress
Blog: Fascist Nation
V for Vendetta

If you watched The Matrix, and its sequels, you should have noted a certain anti-government theme. A certain 'you are a complacent dupe plugged into government, subservient to its will, and too stupid or comfortable to leave.' That movie was written by the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry. Well, they're back. V for Vendetta was adapted by the Wachowski brothers from a graphic novel of the same title, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. This movie was made for the people who have to be hit over the head. This time they aren't hinting.

The tagline for V for Vendetta says it all: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

Who is "V"?!!!! That is what the government wants to know. It is central on its mind. Anonymity. Chaos. Disorder. Something the government doesn't control. Government cannot have that. It takes the movie, but in the end we finally get our answer to whom V is.

I am not sure how this movie will fare at the box office. The great action scenes and special effects in The Matrix trilogy are almost completely omitted here. Those who drool over the latest action flick that needn't bother with dialogue will be disappointed. Those who love the gore and mayhem of how to kill people in every sickening manner Hollywood can dream up will have wasted their money. That is not to say there isn't action, there isn't violence, but....

But if you ever, I mean ever in the deepest part of your soul, ever wanted to stick it to the government... I mean tell the IRS to go take a leap, or hell, give them a return that sends them strait to hell... tell the licensing jerk at your local government what you really thought of waiting in line to beg for permission to... get that pompous, uncaring County Supervisor to open his eyes in terror and listen to you for once... make that cop who pulled you over swallow hard with fear... this is the movie that says everything you wanted to say, but knew you would be locked away or just plain shot in a pre-dawn raid. This is the movie for you.

This movie tells the tale of government coming into power not with overwhelming force, but with fear. By making you progressively fearful, the people increasingly hand over their freedoms for promised securities, until the only thing to fear is government itself. And fear you do. Hell you even hide the fear, ignore it, pretend it isn't there, it cannot be your government doing this to you. It shows you how government does this. And it shows you how to defeat government. The secret is ... well, you have to see the movie, or read the very end of this review.

To tell you specifics would be to spoil the movie. But be prepared to pay attention. It is funny, tragic, comic bookish, heroic, villainy, and above all entertaining. Government should be fearful of the audience reaction I witnessed: Cheering and clapping at the end. If this continues government will be very fearful indeed.

Two big thumbs up, because I liked this movie a lot, and I am big enough to deserve to deliver two thumbs all by myself. Released March 17, 2006 (Warner Bros. Pictures) in both Theaters and IMAX. This film has been rated "R" by the MPAA for "strong violence and some language." If this is an "R" rated movie, I would ask, 'why they don't want your 13 year old to see?'

Moderate spoilers from here on ... the plot in outline, so if you wish to know absolutely nothing about this movie cease reading here ....................................................................................................................................................

From Warner Bros. synopsis (abridged from Rotten Tomatoes): V For Vendetta is set in London in the near future. Though still anchored by venerable landmarks such as Parliament, Old Bailey and Big Ben, the city, like the rest of the country, has fallen into a state of post-war isolation and depression.

Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt) wrested incalculable power over this tightly-controlled society by championing his extremist Norsefire party as England's only safeguard against war, disease and famine. Yet Sutler's oppressive policies have stripped the culture of its spirit, vitality and hope. Food is rationed but fear is in great supply. Personal freedoms are an antiquated notion of the past, and no one dare raise a voice in dissent, lest they be "black bagged" by Fingermen - Minister Creedy's secret police force - and never heard from again.

V For Vendetta tells the story of a young working-class woman named "Evey" (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as "V."

Profoundly complex, "V" (Hugo Weaving) is at once literary, flamboyant, tender and intellectual, a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance. He is also bitter, revenge-seeking, lonely and violent, driven by a personal vendetta. [One note: Hugo Weaving does a great job of acting almost entirely behind a mask. A real accomplishment transferring humanity without us being able to see his face, not unlike Hurt in The Elephant Man.]

In his quest to free the people of England from the corruption and cruelty that have poisoned their government, V condemns the tyrannical nature of their appointed leaders and invites his fellow citizens to join him in the shadows of Parliament on November the 5th – Guy Fawkes Day.

On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in a tunnel beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He and his co-conspirators had engineered the treasonous "Gunpowder Plot" in response to the tyranny of their government under James I. Fawkes and his fellow saboteurs were hanged, drawn and quartered, and their plan to take down their government never came to pass.

In the spirit of that rebellion, in remembrance of that day, V vows to carry out the plot that Fawkes was executed for attempting on November 5th in 1605: he will blow up Parliament.

As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious past, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to ignite a revolution, bringing freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Chief Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea) is the detective on the hunt for V, racing to stop his string of murders and find him before he fulfills his promise to destroy Parliament on the 5th of November. Leading the state's investigation into the mysterious and eerily similar murders of several prominent figures, Finch is determined at the outset to simply catch the elusive terrorist and his seeming accomplice, Evey.

Director James McTeigue describes V for Vendetta as a political thriller first and foremost with a very dark and multifaceted character at its center. "On one hand, V is altruistic, believing he can bring about great social change, but on the other hand he has a murderous vendetta towards anyone who's done him wrong."

While preparing for V for Vendetta, McTeigue was influenced by a host of films, principal among them 1965's The Battle of Algiers, a highly realistic account of the Algerian revolution against the French, fought from 1954 to 1962. Like Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, George Orwell's 1984, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or Lindsay Anderson's If...., V For Vendetta cautions against the dangers of corruption, control, manipulation and repression, while exploring the perils of extremism - whether it be a government abusing its power or an individual taking the law into his own hands.

"V For Vendetta is a multi-layered film," says producer Joel Silver, whose long and impressive film career includes the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy and seminal action films such as the Lethal Weapon series, Die Hard and Predator. "It can be enjoyed as a dynamic action picture, or audiences can go deeper into the complex issues and ideas it explores, about the individual's responsibility for the power they entrust to their government, and what means are necessary or acceptable to bringing an end to tyranny. It raises a lot of fascinating questions, but doesn't provide any easy answers."

The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name - V for Vendetta first appeared in Warrior, an independent monthly comic magazine published in 1981, quickly capturing a cult following. Co-created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, it ran in 26 issues before the magazine folded, leaving fans hanging mid-plot. After a five-year hiatus, Moore and Lloyd completed V for Vendetta in 1989 under the DC banner when it was released in its entirety as a graphic novel.

"The principal message is that every individual has the right to be an individual, and the right - and duty - to resist being forced into conformism," comments Lloyd. "V resists by directly attacking government installations and murdering the regime's supporters. So it's not just a story about a battle against an evil tyranny, but a story about terrorism and whether terrorism can ever be justified - and that's something we have to try to understand if we're ever to solve the problem of it in the real world."

Said Director McTeigue, "We [with the Wachowski's ] felt the graphic novel was very prescient to how the political climate is at the moment. It really showed what can happen when society is ruled by government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people. I don't think it's such a big leap to say that things like that can happen when leaders stop listening to the people."


In the film V's horribly burned and disfigured face remains hidden behind a mask that carries the visage of Guy Fawkes, another legendary saboteur who came to a violent end over four hundred years ago…


“V” wears the mask to hide his physical scars, and in obscuring his identity, V becomes more than just a man with a revolutionary idea - he becomes the idea itself. This underscores V's belief that a man can be defeated, but ideas can endure and retain their power forever. V's mask also provides contrast to the metaphorical "masks" worn by his fellow citizens, who have surrendered their individual identities and beliefs in order to assimilate and avoid persecution by the government.

Portman found Antonia Fraser's Faith and Treason about the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 informative. "I learned about the British royal oppression of Catholics and their uprising and the inspiration for Macbeth coming from all the plots on King James I's life."

Rea feels the ideas in the story are timeless. "It's about what happens when government pushes people too far. It's a warning, a pretty ancient warning, about the function of government and its responsibility toward its citizens.

The villainous head of England's totalitarian regime is Chancellor Sutler, played by the venerable John Hurt, two-time Oscar nominee for his lauded performances in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man. Sutler's government rules by fear, ensuring submission of its citizens through intimidating means - secret police, constant surveillance and the threat of imminent and apocalyptic dangers. Censorship, propaganda, and subverting freedom of speech are the order of the day, and eliminating minorities is but a necessary casualty. "Sutler represents a society that believes that a fascist government is the best way to run a country," says Hurt. "Don't ask questions, let the Party get on with it and above all, don't criticize our authority."


Ironic Production Note


[As with the multiple permissions secured to film on Whitehall, the production also had to obtain authorization for the use of the two tanks and simulated weaponry during rehearsals and filming at the location.

The decommissioned ex-military tanks were acquired from a prop warehouse in the UK. Prior to transporting the vehicles to Whitehall for filming each night, the tanks were inspected off-site by government security personnel to ensure their weaponry was not functional nor had been altered in any way. They were then taken via trucks to the location - with no stops or changes to the tanks allowed during transport - and were accompanied by security officials at all times. (On screen and on set, the tanks moved under their own power.)

Background checks were conducted on every actor and technician who carried simulated weapons during production of the Whitehall sequence. Barcodes on the weaponry were scanned to track each piece and the individuals authorized to handle them.

Meanwhile, government security personnel surrounded the production at all times - some of whom were identifiable to the cast and crew, and others who maintained anonymity within the crowd to ensure the security of everyone involved.]

The secret? The secret is to cease being afraid to start making them afraid.

[Darren Dirt]

Quite a colourful review, with some good questions and insights peppered throughout...

www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=2030&p=.htm

'Matrix' Makers' Latest Blows Up Fascism in Grand Fashion

by Scott Holleran

Set 20 years in the future, the flamboyant V for Vendetta is less science fiction than social commentary done in comic book style, though this exhaustive movie is not easily described. With several odd-sized pieces, it is one strange puzzle -- and an allegorical warning against tyranny.

With government control of people's lives on the march, it's easy to see what V for Vendetta is aiming for: a knock on the Weimar-era fascism spreading around us. A dictatorship based on faith -- run by 1984's John Hurt in a goatee and an Adolf Hitler hair flip and powered by priests and thugs -- is realistic, down to the consent of the passive masses, vacantly staring at their TV screens. It takes place in Britain.

...How statism happened is one of the movie's mysteries -- a warning more than a conspiracy theory -- and this brings us to the V for vendetta.

V is branded a terrorist by the state because he seeks to awaken a revolution among the sleeping masses, setting the date Nov. 5 as Independence Day. ...

...By creating the illusion of invincibility, he earns the people's confidence (and none of this can reasonably be compared to today's Islamic fundamentalists who attack free states, not enslaved ones, and terrorism as a tactic is not exactly endorsed).

With operatic explosions, thick melodrama, corny dialog, slow-motion blood spurts -- and a disappointing climax that cloaks the madman's sword skills instead of indulging his devotion to Alexander Dumas -- the whole thing is frightfully over the top.

It is also tender, hilarious and ironic and, occasionally, thought-provoking. The best aspect of the story -- which, despite the chaos, is structurally sound -- involves the notion that evil triumphs when the good consents.

Making Moulin Rouge! *** look practically sedate by comparison, the freedom fighting incorporates flashbacks to frolicking lesbians, Evey's childhood secrets and John Hurt drawing on his Contact eccentricity and spinning it into a perfectly believable dictator -- who might have started his treacherous clawing as the local water commissioner, town council gadfly or a clerk at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

There is more: a concentration camp for undesirables, Tchaikovsky blaring to orgiastic violence, and the movie benefits greatly from strong performances from Rea as the inspector, Stephen Fry (Oscar Wilde in Wilde) as a television propagandist who mistakes Benny Hill for rebellion and Tim Pigott-Smith as Britain's chief heel-clicker.

The society is not entirely plausible -- even 20 years of totalitarianism would preclude such technological advances as are evident here -- but one may regard them as leftovers from a more productive, capitalistic era. London is ruled by cretins who throw black bags over people's heads if they are suspected of free thought, speech, travel, association, religion, sex -- any sign of exercising individual rights.

Bordering on absurd, and with an obvious nod to Phantom of the Opera, this is one wild ride not likely to be forgotten.

*** I think the reviewer meant to say "Molon Labe!" (a novel by Boston T. Party) ***



PS: Also, coming soon, a comprehensive behind-the-scenes chronicle of the movie, "V for Vendetta: From Script to Film" (seems it might be along the lines of the "Smart Pop" series) ... Author Spencer Lamm is more than just a fan: he was co-creator of the content used for the website TheMatrix.com, which became the highest trafficked site in Warner Bros. history... and also wrote and edited the bestselling 480 page book "The Art of The Matrix".

[Darren Dirt]

Stephen Colbert = REAL LIFE GORDON DIETRICH!

Remember the part of the movie where Gordon Dietrich (played by Spehen Fry) has his talk show do an over the top Benny Hill like sketch, skewering the "dictator in chief"? ...sure it ends up biting him in the butt in the end (spoiler, sorry ) but we need folks like that today, not afraid to satirize in order to truth-tell!

And we do. He is Stephen Colbert.

Stephen may be afraid of bears, but he's not afraid of buffoons, especially "roasted" ones:


(I can't believe he was INVITED to speak at the dinner for the White House press corps! What idiot -- or secret Colbert Report fan -- would do that? :-\ )

Video links (3 parts)

1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIRXur61II&search=colbert

2. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN0INDOkFuo&search=colbert

3. youtube.com/watch?v=rJvar7BKwvQ&search=colbert%20bush


Follow some of the other links at www.thankyoustephencolbert.org/ and you'll also find a transcript, as well as mention of the Deafening Silence (tm) that the MSM has offered in response to the intense truthiness offered by Stephen...


- - -

There's quite a few revealing comments on the 'part 2' page:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN0INDOkFuo&search=colbert

Helpful poster: Looks like by the time Colbert got to his crack about Bush's energy policy, after talking about Bush's photo opps like the Mission Accomplished"aircraft carrier appearance , Bush finally figured out this was no conventional "roast". Normally you're supposed to make fun of people by mocking silly things they've done wrong; Colbert was pretending to take Bush's side on grave mistakes Bush has made. ouch.

Sarcastic poster: thanks for the explanation

- - -

update 7pm EST: a brief comment on this blog: Colbert Quips for Prez and Press

And the whole time Colbert the pitbull gnawed on Bush's jugular, he continued to periodically turn and look evenly at Bush, holding his gaze and addressing him directly as 'Mr. President.'
...
Standing in front of a room full of people who didn't, couldn't, laugh, letting them have it with everything he's got, sweating bullets, Colbert would look dead at Bush and never blink. In the midst on the onslaught, he even dared, 'Mr. President, I'm so pleased you've agreed to be on my show. How does Tuesday work for you?'"

and also here: [url=http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/04/stephen-colbert-at-white-house.html
]Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner[/url]

Wasn't it awful to perform without laughs? Maybe he should have filed the edges off a couple of jokes, but, basically, he did what he had to do to maintain his credibility with his real audience, those who watch "The Colbert Report." And we'll remember the horrible laughlessness of that night and marvel at the steely nerve of Stephen Colbert.

^ So true. ;D The man has big brass ones (profanity warning).

[Darren Dirt]

...apparently the 2-disc DVD is being released August 1st.

Just a heads-up.


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FS9FCQ

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JOE8



Personally, I bought "Serenity" the first week it was out on DVD. I plan on doing the same for Vendetta.