I recently read David Denby's article in the New Yorker, The Moviegoer, about Susan Sontag's film criticism. It's a thoughtful look at Sontag's work as well as an interesting discussion of U.S. filmmaking and film criticism in general. Denby explains why Sontag came to feel that U.S. cinema no longer mattered. In doing so, Denby quotes one of those devastatingly accurate remarks that Sontag had a knack for making. Sontag claimed that the the overpowering influence of commercial forces on moviemaking in the U.S. had destroyed U.S. film, leaving a "lightweight cinema that doesn't demand anyone's full attention." If you like Sontag, or care about the movies generally, Denby's essay is well worth a read.

Sontag's insult to U.S. filmmaking made me recall one of the many times when I had gone to hear her speak in person. It was before Bush had been "elected" to the Presidency for the first time. Someone in the audience asked Sontag what her opinion of candidate Bush was. She made the audience gasp when she called Bush "the mass murderer from Texas." At that time, Sontag was only referring to Bush's enthusiasm for the death penalty while Governor of Texas. But it was a good call, considering the tens of thousands of people of many nationalities who have died through his wars of aggression, his incompetence, and negligence in handling his duties.