Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Ranking the Batman films

My friend Beau saw this nonsense about Batman movies and asked me to weigh in.


13) 1997's BATMAN & ROBIN -- all time worst.  George Clooney can't play Batman or any hero.  Alicia Silverstone needed to work out before taking on the role of Batgirl and the only thing weaker than her body was her whiney voice.  

12) 1966's BATMAN: THE MOVIE.  Adam West wasn't my favorite Batman by any means.  I did love Burt Ward as Robin.  That said, this film sucks supreme. The TV show was funny and fast-paced and colorful.  This is a slow slog, lifeless and it's so bad that the dull actress playing Catwoman isn't even dressed up as Catwoman.  Hideous.

11) 1943's BATMAN. Rote and uninspired but the actor Lewis Wilson does a good job. 

10) BATMAN BEGINS.  A boring film made by a nihilist.  There's not a single moment of joy in this film nor anything that resembles a human being.  They could have really used some personality somewhere in the cast.

9) THE DARK KNIGHT.  Heath Ledger died of drugs.  Didn't make him a better person or a better actor.  His ridiculous voice in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN ruins that film for me.  He was always a so-so 'actor.'  Better suited to teen films.  Again, more nihilism from the MAGA director Christopher Nolan.

8) BATMAN FOREVER.  Val Kilmer was stilted and didn't have any chemistry with Chris O'Donnell.  When the film works, it works because of Chris, Nicole Kidman and Jim Carrey.  They never should have replaced Billy Dee Williams with Tommy Lee Jones.

7) 1949's BATMAN AND ROBIN. Johnny Duncan joins Lewis Wilson -- Duncan plays Robin. Jane Adams joins as Vicki Vale.  It's a silly movie but it's a good one.

6) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.  Another bad film from Nolan but Anne Hathaway is in this one and that makes the best of his awful three films.

5) BATMAN V SUPERMAN DAWN OF JUSTICE.  Ben Affleck was a good Batman.  I'm sick of these 'bad guys' that aren't human.  Give me a Lex Luthor or a Joker.  Henry Cavill was great as Superman and we get Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman for the first time.  If not for the ending, I'd rank this higher.  But I saw this at the movies and parents brought their kids so Superman dying was not good.  And worst of all, knowing that he wasn't dead.  But the kids didn't.  

4) JUSTICE LEAGUE.  Zach Snyder's cut is the best but I'm going to place them both here.  Real villains are better.  Along with Ben, Henry and Gal, praise needs to go to Ray for Cyborg and Jason for Aquaman.  

3) THE BATMAN.  This was a very strong film.  I think RP made a great Batman and Zoe was great as Catwoman.  Best of all, you felt like there were people, actual people, in the film.  Well directed, well pace, I'm eager to see THE BATMAN PART II next year.

2) 1989's BATMAN.  The film that reinvented comic book movies.  Tim Burton's classic.  Kim Basinger, for example, has personality.  That's what was missing in Nolan's first two movies.  Jack Nicholson is the best Joker ever.  Michael Keaton is the best Batman.  A great movie.  And Prince does the soundtrack.

1) BATMAN RETURNS.  Tim Burton again and he's outdoing even himself.  Michael's even better as Batman.  Danny Devito does strong work as Penguin.  And anchoring the film and making it so amazing is Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.  She was amazing in that film.  She redefined Catwoman and then some.  One of the saddest films not made in the 20th century as a Catwoman film starring Michelle.  That would have been amazing.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Tuesday, January 30, 2024.  Israeli forces invade a hospital and shoot people, Nancy Pelosi is rightly called out, we look at the latest from the campaigns of Marianne Williamson and Little Robbie Kennedy Junior, and much more.


As we noted in yesterday's snapshot, Nancy Pelosi is using McCarthy tactics, is slandering in the same way Donald Trump does and she owes the people an apology.  Amy Goodman (DEMOCRACY NOW!) notes "former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged the FBI to investigate pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Without sharing any evidence, Pelosi claimed on CNN that the protesters may have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pelosi said, 'For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message'."

Here's THE MAJORITY REPORT on Nancy's outrageous remarks.


Here's THE HUMANIST REPORT on Nancy's offensive remarks.








At THE NATION, Katrina vanden Heuvel responds to US House Rep Nancy Pelosi's ridiculous remarks:


According to a December New York Times/Sienna poll, a plurality of Americans—44 percent—±support a ceasefire, including 50 percent of women, 62 percent of 18–29 year-olds, 59 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of those who voted for Biden in 2020.  

Sixty-seven members of the Democratic caucus in the House, including 13 members from Pelosi’s California delegation have already joined the call. These include centrists like Don Beyer, Debbie Dingell and Judy Chu, Pelosi allies like Jan Schakowsky and Jared Huffman, as well as progressive leaders like Pramila Jayapal, Barbara Lee, Jamie Raskin and members of the “Squad.” They are joined by leading Senate Democrats including Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen and Dick Durbin.


The White House has labeled such calls “repugnant and disgraceful.” Pelosi attributes them to Putin’s machinations. But it is the White House and the former Speaker that are out of touch with the country and the world. In reality, the growing support is not a product of Putin’s “financing” or of Russian disinformation but of people moved by their conscience and their sense of decency.  

Which leads one to ask the former Speaker, to paraphrase Joseph Welch’s famous query to Joe McCarthy in the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearing: “Have you no sense of decency Madam?”


She has no sense of decency.  Few in the US government do as they rush to cut off funding to UNRWA.  From yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!



AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

Palestinian officials and human rights groups are denouncing the move by the United States and at least 12 other countries to temporarily suspend funding to UNRWA — that’s the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees — after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of helping Hamas stage the October 7th attack. Nine of the employees have been fired. UNRWA said two of the accused employees are dead.

UNRWA is one of the largest employers in Gaza, with a staff of over 13,000. It provides aid to most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. The agency has long been targeted by Israel. Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began, over 150 UNRWA staffers have been killed.

Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said on social media, quote, “The day after @ICJ concluded that Israel is plausibly committing Genocide in Gaza, some states decided to defund UNRWA, collectively punishing millions of Palestinians at the most critical time, and most likely violating their obligations under the Genocide Convention,” unquote.

Meanwhile, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini condemned the freezing of funds at a time when famine looms in Gaza. He said, quote, “Palestinians in Gaza did not need [this] additional collective punishment. This stains all of us,” he said. And the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged donor nations to continue supporting UNRWA.

For more, we’re going to Oslo, Norway, where we’re joined by Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Norway has decided to continue its funding of UNRWA.

Jan, thanks so much for being with us. Can you start off by responding to the cutting off of funding at a time when, among other things, Gaza is under bombardment and is on the edge of famine?

JAN EGELAND: Yeah, it’s the worst possible reaction to these allegations that some — I mean, maybe a dozen — of the 13,000 UNRWA aid workers betrayed our humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence and participated in the horrific attacks on Israel. That, however, was met immediately with the response of UNRWA by, as you said, firing these staff and now having an independent investigation. What the donors did — the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Australia and some others did — was to cut all aid to the children of Gaza, to the women in Gaza, to the completely innocent there. It’s the worst possible move, at a time when this trapped population is under bombardment. Do not punish the many innocent for the sins of the few who did very wrong, it seems.

AMY GOODMAN: Now it will be interesting to see if Israel hands over the evidence for the U.N. to investigate this situation, because we’re talking about an immediate cutoff by many of these nations, suspending weapons. I wanted to read you a clip of the former Israeli official Noga Arbell, who said, “It will be impossible to win the war if we do not destroy UNRWA, and this destruction must begin immediately.” The Prime Minister Netanyahu said there will be no UNRWA in postwar Gaza. Your response, Jan Egeland? And talk about the — you’re the head of large humanitarian aid group. How important is UNRWA to all of the groups, not to mention the people on the ground?

JAN EGELAND: UNRWA is completely essential. I mean, it’s true that I lead the NRC, Norwegian Refugee Council. We’re a large humanitarian group, across the world. We’re on all sides of all conflict lines, for the displaced and the refugees. And we’ve been in Gaza for two decades. We’ve been funded all over the world by the United States and by 40 other donor nations and international agencies.

In Gaza, we have to recognize that all of us combined other groups are not even close to be what UNRWA is for the people of Gaza. UNRWA was the response to the creation of Israel and the 1948 War that displaced so many of the original Palestinian population to Gaza, to the West Bank and elsewhere. UNRWA was then created to give them relief and works. Since then, there has not been a political, peaceful settlement. And that is because the international community has not been able to force the parties, Israel and the Palestinians, to settle this conflict, and thereby we end up by having humanitarian groups like, first and foremost, UNRWA provide for the population.

So, to undermine and undercut UNRWA as extremists, which the Israeli government are doing, is basically to say, “We’re going to punish the women and children, the innocent, on the other side for what some extremists have done, in a situation of utter turmoil and perpetuous conflict, that we’re not ourselves willing to try to settle with talks on a future.” It’s very wrong.

And the international donors must stay with the humanitarian organizations, like Norway did. Norway is a large donor, giving much more per capita to Palestinians than any other donor. We stay with UNRWA, and we say, “Good that you terminated all of those contracts and fired these people, and good that there is an investigation, and then we’ll draw the conclusions what we should do for the future.”

AMY GOODMAN: Jan Egeland, what evidence is there of Israel’s charges? Have they handed over the evidence?

JAN EGELAND: As far as I know, it’s not been received by UNRWA or by the U.N. investigators. I hope they will be received, so that they can do a thorough investigation of this, very serious allegations. I read about them in The New York Times. And if it’s true, again, they betrayed all of our principles, really — neutrality, impartiality, etc. — that is so important for us, who are unarmed humanitarian workers in the crossfire around the world.

But, of course, no one who’s working across the Middle East can guarantee that there are not people within our midst that may, in the end, have hidden agendas. Palestinians cannot do that. Israelis cannot do that. We know of many Israelis who have done very bad things in Gaza, shooting at people with white flags. It’s documented and detailed. They’ve even shot their own people with white flags. They have settler organizations, Mafia-style settler organizations, displacing unarmed women and children and families across the West Bank. Many of these are recruited to the Israeli Defense Forces. They belong in jail, but they are in the Israeli Defense Forces. No one can guarantee that there are not problems. Therefore, they have to be investigated, and there has to be action taken every time something happens. But don’t cut funding to people in great need. It’s the worst possible response.

AMY GOODMAN: Jan Egeland, I want to thank you for being with us, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, speaking to us from Oslo. I’m Amy Goodman. This is another edition of Democracy Now!



International aid agencies have said they are “deeply concerned and outraged” at the “reckless” decision by major donors to cut funding to a UN Palestinian aid agency after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’ 7 October attack.

“We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job,” the coalition of 21 agencies, including Oxfam, Save the Children and ActionAid, said in a statement on Monday.



  Amnesty International on Monday joined the growing global chorus denouncing Israel's allies for suspending aid to the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency even as they continue to support the Israeli military's war on the Gaza Strip, risking complicity in genocide.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty's secretary-general and the former U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, said that while Israel's claim that a dozen staffers at the refugee agency played a role Hamas' October 7 attack is "serious and must be independently investigated," the "alleged actions of a few individuals must not be used as a pretext for cutting off lifesaving assistance in what could amount to collective punishment."

"Some of the very governments that announced they will cut off funds to UNRWA over these allegations have, in the meantime, continued to arm Israeli forces despite overwhelming evidence that these arms are used to commit war crimes and serious human rights violations," said Callamard. "Rushing to freeze funds for humanitarian aid, based on allegations that are still being investigated, while refusing to even consider suspending support for the Israeli military is a stark example of double standards."

"Instead of suspending vital funding to those in need," Callamard added, "states should be working to halt arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups and pushing for an immediate and sustained cease-fire and full humanitarian access to help alleviate devastating suffering." 


Gaza remains under assault. Day 116 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  THE HINDUSTAN TIMES notes, "At least 26,083 Palestinians have been killed and 64,487 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday."  AP has noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."  Max Butterworth (NBC NEWS) adds, "Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies on Sunday reveal three of the main hospitals in Gaza from above, surrounded by the rubble of destroyed buildings after weeks of intense bombing in the region by Israeli forces."   


ALJAZEERA notes this morning, "Israeli special forces dressed as doctors and nurses killed three Palestinians inside Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday." CNN adds, "The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned the attack and the targeting of a health center. They called on the UN General Assembly and NGOs to provide the necessary protection for medical treatment centers and emergency crews." THE PENINSULA offers this description of the events:

Israeli forces disguised as civilian women and medical workers stormed a hospital Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, and opened fire inside the wards of Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, killing three. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry condemned the raid and called on the international community to pressure Israel's military to halt such operations in hospitals. A hospital spokesperson said there was no exchange of fire, indicating that it was a targeted killing. 



CNN notes, "Israeli shelling killed dozens of people and wounded others east of Gaza City on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. CNN is unable to independently verify the report. Elsewhere, the Palestine Red Crescent said it lost contact with a team dispatched to rescue a 6-year-old girl trapped in a car in central Gaza after it was fired upon. The Red Crescent said the girl's father and four siblings were killed in the attack."



“They are weak now, they always have diarrhea, their faces are yellow,” Hanadi Gamal Saed El Jamara, 38, whose family was displaced from northern Gaza, told CNN on January 9. “My 17-year-old daughter tells me she feels dizziness, my husband is not eating.”

She tries to feed her kids at least once a day, she says, while tending to her husband, a cancer and diabetes patient.

As Gaza spirals toward full-scale famine, displaced civilians and health workers told CNN they go hungry so their children can eat what little is available. If Palestinians find water, it is likely undrinkable.

When relief trucks trickle into the strip, people clamber over each other to grab aid. Children living on the streets, after being forced from their homes by Israel’s bombardment, cry and fight over stale bread. Others reportedly walk for hours in the cold searching for food, risking exposure to Israeli strikes.

Even before the war, two out of three people in Gaza relied on food support, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme (WFP), told CNN. Palestinians have lived through 17 years of partial blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

Learn more about the looming famine in Gaza.


Let's wind down on US politics.



Marianne Williamson is running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  She came in third in New Hampshire.  Dean Phillips came in second (Joe Biden won).  Dean is not news.  Dean has never been news.  He doesn't know how to make news.  Marianne is news.  She's making news by going all out for Nevada and by going all out on social media.  It'll be interesting to see what happens in Nevada.  It may be no different.  But it is news.  For her latest YOUTUBE videos, click here.  For her Twitter feed, click here. And click here for her campaign site.  What she's doing is news and should be covered as news.  How's this going to turn out?  The media should be paying attention.  It could be very humiliating for her.  It could shake up things.  It's absolutely something poli sci majors with an emphasis in campaign politics should be following.

Marianne may end her campaign and seek the Green Party's presidential nomination.  I don't know that she will.  She didn't in 2020.  But based on what we're about to quickly talk about, I want to be clear that if she does the following does not apply to her.  She would have gone from a run in the Democratic Party to a run for the Green Party's nomination.

Yes, it's time to talk about Little Junior and his Daddy issues that led to his embarrassing campaign.

Robert Kennedy Junior started out running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination but no one wanted him.  So then he announced he was an independent candidate!  

But he's had trouble getting on the ballot -- he's only made the ballot for one state.  He and his corrupt cronies looked around and saw that he'd have less requirements to make the ballot if he pretended to have a political party so they'd just create a political party.  As we noted weeks ago, that is called fraud. Worse yet, it's intended fraud that can be proven because they were stupid enough to publicly state their plans and goals.  It's fraud.  Realizing that he will face challenges -- legal  challenges -- on any ballot that he makes due to some newly created 'political party,'  Junior's floating a new idea.  He's thinking about pursuing the presidential nomination of The Libertarian Party.

He seems to think he would be the obvious choice.  Is Junior back on the heroin?

The Libertarian Party is fine with losing as long as they feel they keep their principles.  They're in for the longterm and they're not lured by celebrity.  So there's not real need for them to get a 'name' on their ticket.

Second, The Libertarian Party wants a cease-fire. Junior has repeatedly rejected a cease-fire and has championed the Isreali government's 'right' to carry out a slaughter.  

Again, is he back on the drugs?

He really needs to shut down his embarrassing campaign that has disgraced the memories of his father and his uncle as well as every living member of his family.  See Ruth tonight for more on this topic.



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