Three Things for the New Year

One is that Danny Boyle wins for Best Director and that Slumdog Millionaire is Best Picture at the Oscars. There are a lot of strong performances this year from some great actors, so I hope its star, Dev Patel, is, at the very least, nominated for this incredible film.

Two is that people do not get fooled by lower prices at the gas pump. Keep the pressure on Detroit to manufacture and market the most fuel-efficient technology available. If a major car maker should die in the New Year, that would be regrettable. But this industry has no one, absolutely no one, to blame but themselves. If you can't make your car payments, you think GMAC has any sympathy for you? Detroit has been warned that they were on an untenable path since 1980. They scoffed. Buy a hybrid car, if you are in the market for a new vehicle! Start worrying about yourself and your future, because Detroit and Exxon-Mobil certainly are not going to.

Three is that there is no SAG strike. Thoughtful and conscientious SAG leaders such as Frances Fisher write eloquently about the need to empower the current SAG leadership with a strike authorization. Had that faction succeeded in merging with AFTRA quite some time ago, that might have worked. But the DGA, WGA and AFTRA have all moved forward with contracts that were settled before the economy tanked to its current level. In this economy and with actors as divided as they are now, a strike would be a major mistake. MERGER IN 2009!!

Happy New Year to my Mom, recovering from surgery up in Syracuse. Or, as we call it, Siber-a-cuse.

Comments

[yukoner]

Watching the unravelling, before the unveiling.

Today: Thursday, January 8, 2009, for the lack of any hard news, short of a shot up Gaza: The American press among others, in cahoots with the ever willing suspects at House and Senate among others, have begun shorting the Obama administration, before it begins administrating.

The Americans, among others, have, it seems, learned nothing about orchestrating a real revival of a unified progressive approach, to correcting the correction, before it becomes a rejection, of order instead of chaos.

We have a different animal in the cage. The citizen has forgotten his place in a social order. He now wants ice cream before before any real steam, has come from his own arm pits when applied to turning the wheel, that makes his hot tub hot. His Lexus come out, his latte shout.

Wake up.

[Syraguy]

Alex, Sybera-cuse needs you. The Syracuse Film Festival could sure use your help. I represent a property they would like to auquire as a permant venue. Imagine "The Alex Baldwin Independant Theater"! What do you think? Want to change the face of the Syracuse Arts Scene?

[blithespirit]

Happy New Year to one and all! Just 14 more days until Barack Obama is sworn in! We are already starting out 2009 right...by FINALLY getting rid of George W. Bush (or as Keith Olbermann would say: "The Worst President...in the woooorld!") and will have Obama's hand at the tiller for the next 4 (please God make it 8) years.

I am in the market for a new car, but cannot afford a hybrid yet. Until Detroit makes a bio-friendly car that is reliable and cheap, I shall stick with Honda.

I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, but have heard it is quite good. I don't go to the movies much as there is very little worth seeing. I watch TCM, or one of my DVDs of movies of the 30s and 40s. One of MY wishes is that Hollywood starts to make more intelligent fare that are character-driven, and don't depend on special effects, car chases, monsters and gratuitous violence for "entertainment". I just read a new bio on Claude Rains, and am watching some of his films.
As an actress, I hope SAG doesn't strike. We cannot afford it right now. I understand their posish, but now is the worst possible time. Now if only we could strike for better scripts and fewer reality shows...and better roles for women!

Excuse me while I go watch "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"...

[Spiritualwarrior]

Hey Alex I was also in the film Along came Polly. I wanted to say I've always supported you and your wife.
I saw u on Larry King and I really am glad u shared your side. I know it's hard but it can help millions. For my friends have divorced also. Sometimes a divorce hurts friends on both sides. A divorce means also that our friends are also divorced from the couple. The children are important and I'm glad your there for your daughter. Good on u

Jsu Garcia

Spiritual Warriors

[PaisleyBrooks]

Hero

I’ve been where you are
All alone and confused
I didn’t know what to do, I was crying
Because I had an ache that wouldn’t end
Didn’t think I’d ever mend
And I thought about dying

It hurt so bad to hear everybody say
They didn’t want to see me anyway

I know what you’re going through
It’s so hard because nobody believes you
But, you’re not alone
We need a hero

So hang on, don’t give up, don’t ever give In
We need a hero here to let the truth come shining in
Just hang on, come on, don’t ever give in
We need a hero here to let the truth come shining in
Let it begin, we need a hero

The kids are used like pieces in a game
The dice is thrown, they gotta play
How could I ever blame them
They didn’t have a choice, didn’t make the rules
If they loved me they would lose
Who'd think that I could save them

It must’ve hurt, hearing people say
They shouldn’t really see me anyway

When I look upon the bitter face
Of the one who teaches hate
I can see some kind of fear of me
Because I refuse to shed innocent blood
Of the ones entrapped by love
Imprisoned by such poverty

What kind of rights could ever justify
To teach the children that their love is a lie

Mr. Baldwin, my hero, thanks for the book

www.myspace.com/PaisleyBrooks

[Jacki Zehner - Huffpost Blogger]

I vote for SLUMDOG - read my entry on it!
Why did I love it? Because it is about destiny. Because it is about every life, even the most unlikely one, having a purpose. Because it is about seemingly disconnected, somtimes horrible events, giving you a gift that will only reveal itself much later. Because it is about a moment when everything in your past has it's place in your history that brings you to a place of opportunity and perfectness. Because it is about love, about family, about loyalty, about trust, abour good winning over evil. It ROCKED!!
http://pursepundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/slumdog-millionaire-must-see.html

[losangelian1]

Slumdog was a brilliant movie! If it were to win Best Picture, it would be very fitting in this season of Obama's win and the message of hope!

[noneIn2008]

Best of all, 2009 sees the continued decline in the impact of Hollywood and TV. Breaks my heart to see TV ad revenues in the toilet. Worst will be when the remaining advertisers wake up and move their money from this ineffective medium. The interesting question is what will fill the void for hawking goods to the massess?

[blondecuban]

Hi Alec,

I saw SDM this week. I feel the same way about it. It's a movie that works on every single level. It's just beautiful. The story is so needed right now. Everyone needs to believe that even the most outrageously good thing is possible. I do hope that the movie wins best director, picture, music, cinematography and screenplay. Anyone who hasn't seen it should. It might convince Hollywood that audiences actually want to see great movies versus the crap that's made and shoved down our throats.

[mcostello]

While the Big Three makes crap product and Ford in particular put all of their eggs in the SUV basket, the real problem with American cars is that there is not an American market anymore since we are all broke and over-extended with credit.
The party had to end eventually.

[levibatgirl]

I saw Slum Dog yesterday and loved it. Never a dull moment.

(Even the closing scene during credits)

; )

[NewsJunkieLA]

I agree with Mr. Baldwin and hope that there is no SAG strike. As an outside observer, it seems to me that the SAG members in favor of a strike have no clue about what's going on in the world outside of their Hollywood bubble. People are hurting financially and worried about their jobs. They are cutting back on unnecessary expenses. That means that are staying home, watching more TV, going to the movies more often because these are relatively inexpensive forms of entertainment. A strike would kill that, and there would be no sympathy for the SAG members from the general public. I am not saying there are not legitimate grounds for a strike, but timing is everything. And now would be the worst time to authorize one.

[BubbaG]

Mr. Baldwin, my hope for the new year is that you and other celebrities use your powers of persuasion to bring forth a Palestinian state. I know this will be difficult for Hollywood celebrities because there is a very powerful pro-Israeli contingent in Hollywood -- people who blindly support Israel no matter the cost to human rights.

But the Palestinian people deserve their own homeland so that they can be free. The Palestiinian people deserve a life, like all of us, where they can begin to build for their futures. A life where their children can go to school and not worry that there school will be bombed by Israel.

The world is shocked and outraged over the "collateral damage" inflicted by Israel against defenseless men, women and children who have nowhere to hide when the planes drop their bombs. Where are their human rights?

I plead with you to be brave and to stand tall against the pro-Israeli forces in Hollywood and Washington, and to stand up for human rights and to support a permanent Palestinian state.

[phlashba]

Slumdog was great but lost me in the third act.

[MomfromTexas]

WHAT is with the attraction to Slumdog??? It starts out with a torture scene, moves on to children living in a slum, on then to a mother getting murdered, on then to a child being drugged by some kind of sick MFs running an orphanage, on to my walking out of the theater, so I'm not sure what happened after the rag was put over the kid's face. GOD! Forty minutes of watching human misery was enough for me.

[daedelus]

If you really want to put yourself through the wringer, go see "Marley and Me".

[in4success]

keep voting republican and that will be america's reality too, perhaps. only you won't be able to get up and walk out.

the film is about their reality. sorry it confuses your texas-dubya mind. but don't fret! i hear fred thompson and ron silver will be back on the silver screen soon enough for you to get all starstruck again.

sorry alec . . . couldn't resist.

[MomfromTexas]

Go have a shot of whiskey, take a valium, do some yoga, or just calm down, jerk. I didn't like the movie. That doesn't mean I vote Republican.

[blondecuban]

You might have watched the movie with an openmind through to the end. First of all, it's difficult to watch, but it is the reality of Indian slumdog life. If you'd stuck with the movie, you would have seen what it was about -- hope. The message of the movie is that anything wonderful is possible if you don't give up and take risks.