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Father & Son

My 10-year-old wants to see this and, although it’s rated PG-13, I’m not only gonna let him, I’ll go with him if he’ll have me (I think he prefers to go with his friends).

The Washington Post wrote it up today:

Nerve Of Steel: To Pull Off the Making of ‘Iron Man’ Took Some Transformative Powers By John Anderson, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, May 1, 2008

NEW YORK–Not all superheroes are created equal. Some have X-ray vision. Some are born to great wealth. Some are deemed worthy of two major Hollywood features in less than five years (the Hulk). And others are, well, Iron Man. He’s not Superman, he’s not Batman, he’s not even Spider-Man . . . “or Hulk or X-Men or Fantastic Four,” admits director Jon Favreau. “You could really go down the list till you get to Iron Man.”

Somewhere in the vicinity of the Mighty Thor, maybe?

“Yeah, that’s in the ballpark.”

And yet . . . and yet . . . “Iron Man,” Favreau’s armor-plated action-adventure epic (which arrives in theaters Friday), is perhaps the most anticipated feature of the ever-earlier summer movie season, a roboticized tent pole with more handicaps than a stakes race at Pimlico. The hero is obscure, the star is too old, the studio’s game plan is brand new and the director is anti-special effects (“anti-CGI, definitely”). Still, the sense is that the movie’s already a blockbuster, that success is a fait accompli.

“We’re in a kind of pre-victory lap,” jokes actor Robert Downey Jr., whose casting as “Iron Man’s” inventor/weapons manufacturer Tony Stark lit up the Internet when first announced. It is, on the surface, a long-shot casting call. But it’s also Downey’s insouciant charm and dry wit that will be the not-so-secret ingredients of any “Iron Man” windfall.

Meanwhile, . . .

Dan Froomkin’s “White House Watch” in the Washington Post has always been a must read for me. Today’s piece show one of the reasons why:

Five Years After ‘Mission Accomplished’

Much has happened in the five years since President Bush flew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in “Top Gun” style, stood under a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished” and proudly declared: “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.”

Five years ago, 139 American troops had died in Iraq. Now that number is 4,064. Five years ago, 542 American troops had been wounded in Iraq. Now that number is 29,395.

Five years ago, the national debt was $6.5 trillion. Now it’s $9.3 trillion. Five years ago, your average gallon of gas cost $1.44. Now it costs $3.57. Five years ago, Bush’s job-approval rating was at 70 percent. Now it’s at 28.

Five years ago, Bush’s appearance on the carrier was widely hailed as a brilliant PR move, imbuing the president with the aura of a conquering hero. Now, it’s possibly the single most potent image of Bush’s hubris.

One thing that’s not so different: Five years ago, there were about 150,000 American troops in Iraq. Now there are slightly more.

John Kerry said it

http://media.redlasso.com/xdrive/WEB/vidplayer_1b/redlasso_player_b1b_deploy.swf

WITT: Okay. He said it. A 20-year relationship. Reverend wright married him. He is the one who baptized a god parent. How personally painful is this for him?

KERRY: Can I say something to you? Obviously it is painful and he said it. You folks need to let go of this. Television needs to stop dwelling on something that is in the past. I thought Barack Obama yesterday gave America his second big presidential moment of this campaign. The first when he spoke out about the issue of race. The second yesterday, when he made it clear, every one of the statements of the minister are just unacceptable. They’re not the person that he knew before. Now let’s move on to how we’ll put people to work. How are you going to give people health care? How are you going to create jobs in america? What Barack Obama is offering in this gas price issue is real leadership. I mean, do we want people who sort of put their fingers in the wind and throw out an idea for the short term that is sort of politically pleasing, or do you want a here who stands up and says, no, what we need is to really lower gas prices by having a real energy policy, an intelligent policy that puts in place the incentives for renewable fuels and alternative fuels. That’s what Barack Obama is doing. And it is you guys have to focus on the thing that really matter to the American electorate. The other thing is just worn out, old history now. This guy had his narcissistic moment and it is finished.

WITT: Okay. Point well taken. Did I say to begin, can I just say, sir, I knew you weren’t going to like that question. On the record.

KERRY: Let’s move on to the thing that really matter to people. I think people in America are tired of this stuff.

WITT: Okay.