-By Frederick Meekins
Viewers wanting to see “Knowing” staring Nicholas Cage might expect a film not all that different from his “National Treasure” series or even perhaps “The Da Vinci Code” as from advertisements the story appears to center around an aged parchment with a series of numbers scribbled across it that seemingly predicts a series of disasters. However, by the film’s conclusion, the apocalyptic symbolism alluded to is much more complex and potentially confusing than one might initially suspect.
After a series of catastrophes Cage’s astrophysicist character witnesses as a result of deciphering the cryptic document, one begins to get the impression that the transcendent presence guiding events is more of a tangible one rather than a force in the background. Hints of this are introduced when mysterious figures reminiscent of less than normal looking versions of Men In Black begin to stalk Cage’s son as well as the granddaughter of the character who wrote down the prophetic string of numbers in a flashback set fifty years in the past.
In most films one usually gets a distinct impression as to the forces overseeing mankind’s eschatological destiny. Usually they are traditionally supernatural or more in the vein of what moviegoers would consider extraterrestrial or interplanetary. Seldom do I remember a film where the distinctions were blurred or melded to such a degree as in “Knowing”.
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Do Viewers Know About “Knowing”?”
On August 16 the Associated Press published a story on the growing ratings success that Fox News is enjoying in this age of Obama. While all the facts that the AP reported are completely accurate, one key aspect of the Fox News ratings story was left out and it is an aspect that can materially affect the reader’s understanding of the story.
Orlando Sentinel movie reviewer Roger Moore was excited to report on the efforts of some Harry Potter fans that want to “
Way back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, way back before personal computers, way back before cyberspace became the new frontier, there was Science Fiction and I was addicted to it. I read everything that I could get my hands on. I cut my baby teeth on Jules Verne and H.G. Wells but came to love all of Isaac Asimov’s works, read Heinlein until dizzy, lingered over Ray Bradbury’s prose-poetry, consumed A. E. Van Vogt, enjoyed Kurt Vonnegut’s quirky extrapolations, got into compare-and-contrast mode between Aldous Huxley and George Orwell’s dystopias, fantasized my way through Tolkein and C.S. Lewis and always made a beeline for anything written by Theodore Sturgeon, Philip K. Dick, Fritz Leiber, Harlan Ellison and Larry Niven. I was the first in line at the local news agent for the latest monthly editions of Amazing Adventures, Analog, and Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine.
While U.S. President, Barack Obama, is back from apologizing to our enemies for America’s existence, First Lady, Michelle Obama, toured London’s Westminster Abbey on Tuesday in an outfit so outlandishly silly that it appeared she wanted to go that one step further and hold up America as an object of ridicule. The Drudge Report has a cropped picture of her in a childish and unflattering beribboned and 3-D flowered tunic nipped in at the waist with a black checked belt, topped with two sweaters and wearing what can only be described as a retro-nod to 80’s tapered pants. Under this picture of a fashion disaster on the hoof are such glaring headline links as 
Well, if the angry glare Michelle Obama gave to France’s chic First Lady and former fashion model, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, at the 65th anniversary D-Day ceremonies they both attended in Normandy on June 6th is anything to go by, the Brits got the neurotic part right.
I like the NBC series 
In another nearly orgasmic tribute to The One, in its Arts section The New York Times published a May 30 story buoyantly jubilant over the fact that Obama’s face “
As the American Main Stream Media, public in general and conservative talk show hosts in particular lose interest in the on-going saga of bumptious talk show host, Michael Savage, being banned from Great Britain because of his political beliefs, a small news article and a newsletter alert popped up today that may seem disparate but added together form a troubling pattern. Blame it on the twelve-day shelf life of news stories when fickle public attention finally wanders away but Michael Savage’s story may soon segue from one man’s struggle to every man’s struggle to preserve their freedom of speech, thought and political beliefs within and without their own country.
Remember how the left always asserted that George W. Bush was stupid? Remember how they were so thrilled to have the Obammessiah that spoke so well, a president that was perpetually the smartest man in the room? Well, after the many stammering TelePrompter free stump debacles during the campaign, many began to doubt this claim of his superior intelligence. Certainly by itself this is no big deal. But added with the whole here is another small dent in the perception of Obama’s overrated superiority. 
A new propaganda video created by an extreme environmental activist is making its way into America’s classrooms and The New York Times 
This year comedian Wanda Sykes was given the spotlight for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This made everyone wonder if she’d throw a barb or two Obama’s way as is customary. All past hosts have spared no opportunity to skewer the current commander in chief and his administration. That is what the thing is for, after all. But with the kid gloves that the Old Media and Hollywood have handled Obama with thus far, the question reamained: would Sykes slap Obama?
Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik should check into a clinic somewhere to have his delicate mental balance checked. Maybe they might have some nice medication he can take to temper his Palin Derangement Syndrome? His is so bad he can’t even write about a little reality TV show without 
I respect Polish concert pianist Krystian Zimmerman’s moxie. Oh, he hasn’t a clue what he is talking about, but he has the courage of his convictions at least, which is more than I can say for all those wild-eyed, half-informed, hypocrites in the American entertainment industry.
Someone needs to sue Santa Monica High School for education malpractice on behalf of the ill-educated Sean Penn. I mean, the man is nearly illiterate and he certainly has no grasp on history, philosophy, or statecraft. But his wacko left-wing inanities aside, it is his illiteracy that seems the most lamentable. Oh, it isn’t Rosie O’Donnell illiterate, hers is a special class of insensibility all by itself, but Penn’s brand is proof of the lowest quality of education. I mean the man can barely put two words together sensibly much less exhibit a grasp of grammar and syntax. It really is a crime how badly he’s been educated.
Back in 2007, lefty comedian Jon Stewart mercilessly mocked lefty talk show host Chris Matthews over the title of his book when Matthews appeared to flog the tome on Stewart’s The Daily Show. The ribbing was so unexpected and so mean spirited that Matthews later said it was a “book interview from hell.”