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Friday, March 25, 2016

How Do You Know it's a Lie?

That's actually a classic line in one of my favorite movies, GlenGary Glen Ross. The line was delivered by one of my favorite actors-Kevin Spacey. I just like the guys he plays. Not always good guys-sometimes very not good guys.

But there is something about it. The "How did you know it was a lie?' question was how he caught hapless Jack Lemon aka Shelley Levene, the salesman who stole the leads and sold them for cash-as he was struggling so hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW7WlT6OJxE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55wIwwmrHxk

"The film then skips to the next day when the salesmen come into the office to find that there has been a burglary and the Glengarry leads have been stolen. Williamson and the police question each of the salesmen in private. After his interrogation, Moss leaves in disgust, only after having one last shouting match with Roma. During the cycle of interrogations, Lingk arrives to tell Roma that his wife has told him to cancel the deal. Scrambling to salvage the deal, Roma tries to deceive Lingk by telling him that the check he wrote the night before has yet to be cashed, and that accordingly he has time to reason with his wife and reconsider."

"Levene abets Roma by pretending to be a wealthy investor who just happens to be on his way to the airport. Williamson, unaware of Roma and Levene's stalling tactic, lies to Lingk, claiming that he already deposited his check in the bank. Upset, Lingk rushes out of the office, and Roma berates Williamson for what he has done. Roma then enters Williamson's office to take his turn being interrogated by the police."

"Levene, proud of a massive sale he made that morning, takes the opportunity to mock Williamson in private. In his zeal to get back at Williamson, Levene accidentally reveals that he knows Williamson lied to Roma minutes earlier about depositing Lingk's check and left the check on his desk and did not make the bank run the previous night — something only the man who broke into the office would know. Williamson catches Levene's slip of the tongue and compels Levene to admit that he broke into the office. Levene finally caves in and admits that he and Moss conspired to steal the leads to sell to a competitor. Levene, who had become Moss' accomplice after Aaronow turned Moss down, attempts to bribe Williamson to keep quiet about the burglary. Williamson scoffs at the suggestion and tells Levene that the buyers to whom he made his sale earlier that day, Bruce and Harriet Nyborg, are in fact bankrupt and delusional and just enjoy talking to salesmen. Levene, crushed by this revelation, asks Williamson why he seeks to ruin him. Williamson coldly responds, "Because I don't like you,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glengarry_Glen_Ross_(film)

I guess that film always struck a chord with me because I've been there-a telemarketer.

I find Spacey's career in terms of the characters he's played fascinating up to the infamous Frank Underwood in House of Cards. It's interesting though. The other day a woman friend on Twitter told me that she's watching House of Cards for some escapism.

That's amazing when you think about it. Remember when Frank Underwood was the epitome of everything that is bad about politics? I mean Underwood is so power mad and evil we can take solace that no one in Washington is that bad.

But with the rise of Trump, Frank Underwood has been escapism from the too gritty real world.

Speaking of the Devil-aka Trump- this question 'How do you know it was a lie' is what comes to me in the face of Michael Savage's demand that Trump disavow the National Enquirer story about Ted Cruz' having multiple affairs:

"Donald Trump supporter Michael Savage has threatened to withdraw his backing of the billionaire over the National Enquirer story that alleges Ted Cruz had multiple extramarital affairs."

"Savage – a conservative radio host – has endorsed Trump but said that if Trump doesn’t disavow David Pecker, the CEO of American Media, which publishes the Enquirer, he may pull his support from the mogul entirely."

“I don’t blame Donald Trump but if he finds out that this Pecker is behind it he should get rid of this connection because this is not gonna help him at all,” Savage said on his radio show Friday, according to audio posted on The Right Scoop. “I’ve supported Trump, probably still will but if he won’t disavow this guy Pecker and the story I may withdraw my support from anyone in this campaign.”

"Trump has said his campaign was not involved in spreading the story."

"Savage who is known for his controversial views and statements, said he wouldn’t support anyone who engaged in “assassination by innuendo.”

“I find this to be disgusting by the way, because I have been a victim of assassination by innuendo for my entire career,” Savage said about the allegations over Cruz. “It’s not pretty to live through this garbage but when it comes from conservatives it’s even more irking.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/michael-savage-donald-trump-national-enquirer-221250#ixzz43yKREltv

1. I'm sure Savage wasn't cheering Trump on when he went after Hillary on Bill's infidelity in the 90s.

2. How can Trump disavow the story? How does he know whether or not Cruz has had any sexual affairs or not?

3. How for that matter does Michael Savage know if it's true or not? I for one have no idea either way and how does anyone else know any better?

4. Trump has already given himself deniability he had nothing to do with the story. He's not going to come out and say he knows the story is false.

7 comments:

  1. Great movie. David Mamet did some good ones (I think he just did the play and the screen play in this case... he didn't direct). Have you seen his film "Homicide?" One of my favorites.

    I too am a Kevin Spacey fan. "Swimming with Sharks" is one of my favorites.

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  2. Yes, Swimming with Sharks is a great one. It was not until recently that I figured out that Kevin Spacey:

    1. Is Williamson in GGR

    2. The Hollywood producer in Swimming

    3. And Frank Underwood.

    It's a very seamless body of work.

    I'm not sure that I have seen Homicide. Maybe I should check it out.

    Another Spacey movie I got to check out is Usual Suspects.

    'The greatest trick the devil ever played is convincing people he's not real.'

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnGo6Qm0Wt8

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  3. Another guy I like a lot is Al Pacino. Devils Advocate is a great one.

    But Spacey may be a master of a genre I really like

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  4. I mean Spacey may be the master, second to none. Obviously he is 'a master.'

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  5. Just so I don't mislead you, "Homicide" is not a Kevin Spacey movie: it's directed (and written by) David Mamet. It stars Joe Mantegna and William H. Macy. It could easily have been a play too, but the Wiki article makes no mention of that. Of the David Mamet films I've seen (I'll count GGR, even though he didn't direct) those are my two favorites by far.

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    1. There's probably a dozen films and TV shows called "Homicide" ... it's the one from 1991. Like I say, it's very play-like. A police crime drama, but no car chases or much in the way of action scenes: mostly dialog... and a mental teaser. Its hard boiled characters and makes-you-think-about-it plot reminds me a lot of GGR. I especially like William H. Macy in it.

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  6. David Mamet always does very edgy stuff. A lot of his stuff has been panned by feminists over the years as well.

    I do think that Disclosure was kind of problematic-was that a Mamet movie?

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