Stop kidding yourself, America.

Home of the brave, land of the free.
Mecca of justice, epitome of integrity.
You were a beacon of hope to those who craved a second chance at life.
You championed, you cheered, you inspired,
Anybody who wanted to be somebody, could, in America.
Anybody who wanted to make an honest day's living, did, in America.

But not once did anybody stop to question why this was so.
Despite the insatiable curiosity of its scientists and inventors, they didn't think it worth their while to be curious about the reason for America's success.
Stupid question.
"Everybody knows America's secret of success is that anybody can do as they please here. You can be what you want. You can think what you want. Nobody will judge you. Nobody will think lesser of you. America is successful because it allows its citizens true freedom. Everybody has a voice. And it is heard."

How incredibly blind.

America's obsession with its present success blinded it to its past.
So it refutes all claims to a 'Biblical' foundation.
It quotes thousands of sources to substantiate the 'fact' that the vast majority of the founding fathers weren't actually practicing Christians.
For if America was indeed to accept its founding fathers as God-fearing men, then that would be akin to shooting itself in the foot.
For America knows the filth it is wallowing in.
America knows it has betrayed the God who blessed it.

From being proud of being a nation built on Christ, America now distances itself from anything faintly Christian.
It has robbed God of His voice by throwing Him out of public schools.
And now it takes great pleasure in giving that voice to Pornographers, Gays and Lesbians.
And those who promote Greed under the guise of 'The Good Life'.
This is freedom, it says.
The freedom to be who you are and be proud of it.

Stop kidding yourself, America.
Stop being surprised that your financial system is going belly up.
That your children are killing their friends in school.
That your families are getting more and more dysfunctional.

I hate to tell you this, America;
but you asked for it.

What Lions?

Your regular jingoistic Yankee propaganda. Only difference is that the enemies aren't Vietcong rebels or Arab insurgents. It's the suits in Washington DC. However, this isn't the first time America has taken a look at its own slimy underbelly and then tried to take credit for what it should have done years ago. Kudos to the scriptwriter, who attempts to put war into the only perspective that matters- justification for increased military spending, and hence, justifying the existence of military suppliers and vendors.

We know that it's unfair to compare it with A Few Good Men which also sought to expose the uglier side of the military. The secret of its success was the strongly crafted character for the villain in that case, Jack Nicholson. You respected him, and yet you were glad he got taken down. Tom Cruise's character was well-scripted too. And their interactions was the stuff that made sparks fly. If only we could say the same for Lions for Lambs.

Unfortunately, Tom Cruise doesn't make a good Bad Guy. So you don't hate him enough. Unfortunate, also, that Robert Redford's character is far too romantic to be real. Meryl Streep vacillates between both extremes as a highly successful journalist whose conscience seems to have returned to haunt her for having sold out. (Come on, get real guys!!) Problem is there's nobody to hate in the movie (come on guys, you can't hate Tom!!), therefore, you don't really appreciate the Good Guys. Problem #2 is that there are so many Good Guys that your attention (and sympathy) get kinda divided. So there's a villain you don't really hate, and there are too many heroes, each one to weak to stand on his/ her own merit.

All in all, an average-ish flick. What hurts is that it isn't great because that's what you kind of expect with a cast such as Redford, Streep and Cruise. Pretty lame lions for lambs if you ask me.

Felon-y

Looks like some Hollywood executive woke up to the ratings that America's Toughest Prisons was getting and decided to make a movie about it. So you have a pretty gritty insider's view of prison with prison politics as an added bonus. However, the politics are limited to the men in uniform instead of dealing with gang politics (which is the whole point of America's Toughest Prisons).

Val Kilmer looks pretty cool as a bearded lifer who spends his time philosophizing and writing poetry. Stephen Dorff does his best to portray the angst of An-innocent-average-Joe-trying-to-live-so-why-is-shit-happening-to-me. If only he could get under your skin.

Truth be told, Felon feels a bit like Lock Up. Donald Sutherland's character is played by Harold Perrineau (of Lost fame), Mr Dorff takes Sly's place; not sure whether Lock Up had a bearded lifer, though, who spent his time philosophizing and writing poetry. So Val's about the best thing in Felon. After the cool tattoos on the inmates.