Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Almost Perfect, But For The Politics

 

Andrew Roberts at the Daily Beast likes the new film version of thriller writer John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, but he dislikes the anti-American, anti-west politics.

The new movie version of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is as good as cinema gets: subtle, taut, intelligent, gripping. The normally jaded audience at the theater where I watched on the Upper West Side of Manhattan burst into unaccustomed applause at the end. Because the book was written by the now obsessively anti-American John le Carré, it had the inevitable despicable moral equivalency one has come to expect from his work (more on that later), but stylistically, the film could hardly be bettered.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/11/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-almost-perfect-but-for-the-politics.html

I liked the novel and the TV miniseries based on the novel. And despite having the same objections as Andrew Roberts, I plan to see the film as well.

I wrote about le Carre's spy world in a previous post that responded to le Carre's unfair attack on the late Ian Fleming.

As for le Carre’s realism, I’ve spokened to a good number of former and current CIA and military intelligence officers who object strongly to the moral ambiguity found in his novels. Most Cold War intelligence officers were, like Bond, patriots who were dedicated to fighting communism.

British, American and other Western intelligence officers were certainly not like their utterly ruthless KGB and Eastern bloc counterparts who were defending a totalitarian, evil empire. There was a moral distinction between the Cold Warriors that you will not find not in a le Carre novel.

William F. Buckley Jr, the late author, columnist and political talk show host, noted that films and novels in the 1960s and 1970s often portrayed CIA officers as no better than the KGB.

Having served briefly as a CIA officer, he objected. Buckley, who wrote his own series of spy thrillers, believed the CIA and the Western intelligence services were a force for good in the Cold War. I agree.

You can read the rest of my piece via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/08/spy-writer-vs-spy-writer-john-le-carre.html

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of John le Carre's latest novel via the below link:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/LeCarreOurKindOfTratiorReview.jpg

Guns Don't Kill People, Just Like Spoons Don't Make Rosie O'Donnell Fat

I saw the above expression on a bumber sticker yesterday and I laughed.

I liked the logic as well as the mocking of gun control advocate Rosie O'Donnell.

The humorless comedian wants to limit your right to own and/or carry a firearm for protection, yet her hired bodyguards all carry legal firearms.

You can watch a video clip of the awful O'Donnell badgering an intelligent and polite Tom Selleck on her TV show in 1999 via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkgoGY4Cm4

Take The Lead: Encore's 'The Take' Is A Four-Star TV Crime Series

Linda Stasi at the New York Post rates the new crime series on cable a four-star series.

If you missed the first episode of Encore’s original miniseries, “The Take,” then be sure to order it up on OnDemand before you watch tonight’s knock-you-on-your-butt two-part episode.

The series from Martina Cole’s best-selling crime thriller centers around an East End London crime family in the 1980s and it’s every bit as good as “The Sopranos” was in its prime — which was all the time.

You can read the rest of Linda Stasi's piece via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/take_the_lead_01il9DYFAR9yWsX5dpbrkN

I saw the first episode of The Take and I liked it. I plan to catch the second episode tonight, or I'll catch it later Comcast's On Demand.

Linda Stasi compared the British crime series to The Sopranos, but although Goodfellas was a film, not a TV series, I see The Take as more of a British version of Martin Scorsese's great crime film.

Tom Hardy (seen in the above photo) portrays a half-crazed British hood similar to Joe Pesci's wild and violent character Tommy in Goodfellas. I also liked Brian Cox as the crime boss. The character is like a British Paulie, the mob captain portrayed by Paul Sorvino in Goodfellas.

I look forward to watching the rest of this excellent crime series.

Philly D.A.: Abu-Jamal Can Go Rot In Jail

Mensah M. Dean at the Philadelphia Daily News covered yesterday's announcement that the Philadelphia District Attorney would not seek the death penalty for the convicted murderer of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

The bitter, divisive and protracted Mumia Abu-Jamal death-penalty case reached its legal conclusion yesterday with District Attorney Seth Williams' decision to not seek a new death sentence for the convicted cop-killer.

Williams' decision - backed by the family of slain Officer Daniel Faulkner - means that Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther, MOVE sympathizer and radio-talk-show host who became an interational anti-capital-punishment figure while on death row, will remain in prison for the rest of his life without parole.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20111208_D_A___Abu-Jamal_can_go_rot_in_cell.html

The above CBS photo is by Steve Tawa.

You can also read my previous post of Mumia Abu-Jamal via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2011/12/philly-da-wont-seek-death-penalty-for.html

Political Correctness Vs Security: Lawmakers Blast Obama Administration For Calling Fort Hood Massacre 'Workplace Violence'

FoxNews.com reports that lawmakers are criticising the Defense Department for labeling the shooting and murder of American soldiers at Fort Hood by an Islamic fanatic, Army Major Nidal Hasan, as mere "workplace violence."

Thirteen people were killed and dozens more wounded at Fort Hood in 2009, and the number of alleged plots targeting the military has grown significantly since then. Lawmakers said there have been 33 plots against the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, and 70 percent of those threats have been since mid-2009. Major Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, who is being held for the attacks, allegedly was inspired by radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in late September. The two men exchanged as many as 20 emails, according to U.S. officials, and Awlaki declared Hasan a hero.

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the military has become a "direct target of violent Islamist extremism" within the United States.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/06/military-growing-terrorist-target-lawmakers-warn/

Harry Morgan, TV And Film Star, Dies At 96

The Hollywood Reporter writes that film and TV star Harry Morgan has died.

Harry Morgan, who was best known for his long-running portrayal of the fatherly Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H*, died at his Los Angeles home Wednesday morning at 96 years old. Morgan won an Emmy in 1980 for his performance as the unflappable medic.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harry-morgan-dies-97-mash-270852

I enjoyed Harry Morgan's fine comedic role on M*A*S*H and I also enjoyed his outstanding performances in a couple of my favorite films.

Harry Morgan was very funny in Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner and he was also very good alongside John Wayne in the Duke's last film, The Shootist. (Morgan is seen above on the right of John Wayne).

Harry Morgan shall be missed.

Philly D.A. Won't Seek Death Penalty For Convicted Cop Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

With the widow of slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner at his side, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced that he will not seek the death penalty for the convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal  (seen in the above photo).

"Every reviewing court has found the trial fair and the guilty verdict sound," he said. ". . . Our best remaining option is to let Mr. Abu-Jamal to die in prison."

Friday marks 30 years since Abu-Jamal's arrest for the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, who was on patrol Dec. 9, 1981 when he was gunned down. A jury unanimously handed down a guilty verdict the following year, and Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death.

Today's announcement was a response to the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal in October hear a petition by Williams' office seeking to reinstate the death penalty against Abu-Jamal.

You can read the rest of the rest of the Philly.com story via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20111207_Phila__D_A__to_make_Mumia_Abu-Jamal_announcement_today.html?cmpid=125219969

You can also read my earlier post on the Mumia Abu-Jamal case via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/11/forman-in-convicted-cop-killer-mumia.html