Not country enough

Former U.S. congressman Ben Jones (also known as "Cooter") speaks out against the new Dukes of Hazzard movie here. Normally I gloss over these kinds of articles, but I liked the part where he said: “It’s one thing to do whatever movie they want to do, but to take a classic family show and do that is like taking I Love Lucy and making her a crackhead or something.”

Yes, that's exactly what this movie must be like.

I'm a little torn on the remake myself; it's directed by an Indian guy (Jay Chandrasekhar of Super Troopers), and it has Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse, but the rest of the cast leaves a lot to be desired. They're just... not country enough. Back in the 1990s, when the idea of a remake was just gaining steam, I thought Matthew McConaughey and Jason Patric were the way to go. Those two would be good enough to have some fun and play it Southern, in the spirit of the TV show. They're a little old for the roles now, but get younger substitutes Josh Lucas and Paul Walker, and hire Paul Giamatti for Boss Hogg, and you'd have something. It really wouldn't matter who plays Daisy, so long as the actress was a young, non-anorexic brunette.

When I first saw this magazine cover back in April, I thought to myself, "The men aren't much to look at, and I know nothing of their acting ability, but these three would already be better than Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, and Jessica Simpson."

When 55 Fiction Friday gets political...

Quick stopovers last week in Manila and Majuro. The weekend in Madrid and Monaco. Yesterday in Moscow. Later this week: an African sampler of Malabo, Moroni, Maputo, and Maseru.

“I should know this! 39-down, most windy world capital, six letters, starts with M.”
“You know, Madame Secretary, they’ll print the solution in next month’s issue.”