Rented some movies
I rented some movies over the weekend.... actually, yesterday. Constantine was sold out (damn it), so I got Million Dollar Baby, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I-Robot. I'd only seen I-Robot before, and not the other two. I loved Robot the first time around. The voice of Isaac Assimov is clearly heard throughout the film. Why did it take such a bashing from critics? Check this out: 61% of reviewers at www.RottenTomatoes.com liked I-Robot, and 25% liked Fantastic Four. One in four critics liked Fantastic Four. These are probably the same people who went straight to Burger King after the movie and bought themselves whoppers, hoping to see a picture of The Thing on the side of their large coke.
But hey, I liked "Chronicles of Riddick." Is my opinion one you can trust?
My response to Million Dollar Baby: "meh."
A Series of Unfortunate Events was surprising. I enjoyed that one a lot. Not so much that I'll run to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of the book, but enough that I'd recommend it. Jim Carrey is, of course, brilliant. What's it take for people to respect the guy? Ace Ventura was a decade ago.
We're talking about homicide now in my Criminal and Delinquent Behavior lecture. This morning's discussion included a quick analysis of the Death Penalty. Professor Hay explained that there isn't a single study by anyone in all of social science that suggests that there is a deterrent effect; that is, that executing murderers reduces the chances that someone will commit murder. His exact words were something like this: if a politician ever says that he supports the death penalty because of deterrence, he's either lying or ignorant. So, that's out the window.
So why do we execute murderers again? The other two reasons, as explained in several of my criminology classes, are Incapacitation and Retribution. So I ask you this: what's the difference if he's locked up forever or dead? He's incapacitated and removed from society forever either way. That leaves retribution. Is that really the only reason we should execute murderers?
But hey, I liked "Chronicles of Riddick." Is my opinion one you can trust?
My response to Million Dollar Baby: "meh."
A Series of Unfortunate Events was surprising. I enjoyed that one a lot. Not so much that I'll run to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of the book, but enough that I'd recommend it. Jim Carrey is, of course, brilliant. What's it take for people to respect the guy? Ace Ventura was a decade ago.
We're talking about homicide now in my Criminal and Delinquent Behavior lecture. This morning's discussion included a quick analysis of the Death Penalty. Professor Hay explained that there isn't a single study by anyone in all of social science that suggests that there is a deterrent effect; that is, that executing murderers reduces the chances that someone will commit murder. His exact words were something like this: if a politician ever says that he supports the death penalty because of deterrence, he's either lying or ignorant. So, that's out the window.
So why do we execute murderers again? The other two reasons, as explained in several of my criminology classes, are Incapacitation and Retribution. So I ask you this: what's the difference if he's locked up forever or dead? He's incapacitated and removed from society forever either way. That leaves retribution. Is that really the only reason we should execute murderers?