Another Week: Number 88

Kamala Harris, Tim Walz interview on CNN

The on-air personalities on CNN often give me the feeling of birds perched on a wire trying to maintain their equilibrium by alternately leaning forward a little and back a little. Rather than striving to accurately describe the truth of a thing, they are hyper-aware of any perception of partisanship, so they constantly self-correct to avoid ruffling feathers on the left or the right, favoring balance over facts. Most of each weekday on CNN is spent letting each side vent on a topic for a minute or two, while the anchors remain aloof and scoffing.

You can see this calculation constantly performed behind the eyes of Dana Bash, the CNN anchor passed off by the network as an insightful journalist. She was partnered with Jake Tapper to moderate the Trump-Biden debate, which they did about as well as any modern text-to-speech software — and she was chosen to conduct Thursday’s interview with Kamala Harris, the newly-nominated candidate accused of ducking serious interrogation while Donald Trump phones into Fox and Friends and Elon Musk streams without the benefit of his dentures.

Staged at a random table inside Kim’s Cafe in Savannah, Bash ticked off her unimaginative list of gotcha questions, Harris and Walz volleyed them back like they were practicing with a ball machine, and CNN promoted it as the interview of the century.

CNN does employ a thoughtful and politically astute journalist who could have done a better interview. Her name is Kasie Hunt, and they mostly keep her hidden.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Midnight Cowboy is one of those few movies I have seen maybe a dozen or more times. Amy and I sprinkled little Midnight Cowboy quotes and references through our chatter for decades. But my sister Karen had never seen it, so on Sunday, she and Mom and I watched it via The Criterion Channel, and Kevin joined us about halfway through.

It was the first time I realized that Jon Voight’s character is named Joe Buck, just like the sportscaster. Karen felt that even as Ratso Rizzo, Dustin Hoffman was pretty good-looking, and that you can see Voight’s daughter, Angelina Jolie, in his face.

The movie was X-rated when it came out — yet it won Best Picture and my mom enjoyed it without complaint.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Friday night, Mom and I watched Dog Day Afternoon, in which Al Pacino and an almost silent John Cazale attempt to rob a bank in Brooklyn. Based on a true story, the film depicts a hours-long standoff as Pacino and Cazale hold bank employees hostage, and the excellent Charles Durning negotiates with them.

I’ve seen it before, but was still surprised by how expertly the movie was put together. There’s a scene where law enforcement attempts to gain access through a back window, setting off a rapid chain of reactions all around the building, and the editing is fantastic.

Bridesmaids (2011)

I was sure I had seen Bridesmaids before — but no. I knew a few scenes from clips, but as I watched with my mom on Saturday night, most of it was new to me.

Bridesmaids is certainly one of the most successful comedies of this century, and I love both Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne, but I can’t say the movie made me laugh out loud at any point. It held my interest well enough, I guess. Some of the premises were peculiar. As a whole, it didn’t quite jell, and it didn’t strike me as all that funny.

It was strange to see a movie set in both Milwaukee and Chicagoland, with the characters driving back and forth like they’re twin cities. At the end, the Wisconsin State Trooper gets a call on his police radio while he’s in suburban Chicago. I don’t think so.

My mom likes Melissa McCarthy, but didn’t recognize her in this until I pointed her out.