Preaching to the Converted

According to BBC, Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 911 is the most serious contender for this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival. Most of the critics are ecstatic and 15-minute standing ovation at the premiere is unprecedented in the history of the festival.

So, the whole shebang with Disney and censorship has paid off. Equipped with the image of martyr and with the film that tells its audience exactly what it likes to hear, Moore is cinema deity of our times.

Standing ovations and rave reviews at Cannes are exactly what everyone could have expected, regardless of the artistic quality of Moore's film.

I feel sorry for all those reviewers, at least those outside USA, that would try to give this film with anything less than the best ratings possible.

The only comforting thought is that this film is going to become irrelevant after November, one way or the other.

Serbian JFK Saga Continues

Goran Svilanović (Goran Svilanovic), former foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro, was guest on yesterday's HRT talk show Nedjeljom u 2. There he informed Croatian public about rumours that are currently circulating in Belgrade.

According to rumours, Milorad Luković "Legija" (Milorad Lukovic "Legija"), former leader of Serbian paramilitaries and chief suspect in murder of prime minister Zoran Đinđić (Zoran Djindjic), is going to use rather original defence at the trial. He is going to claim that the assassination was supposed to be staged as a pretext for huge purge against organised crime (which was conducted following the assassination). According to Legija, the fake assassination was part of the deal with Đinđić – only the prime minister's bodyguard was supposed to get killed. However, mysterious third party got involved and made sure that Serbian prime minister gets killed instead.

Thirteen Years and Twelve Points Later

Much to the shock and disgust of those who take pride in being called Croatian nationalists, voters of Croatia have given the maximum 12 points to Serbia-Monetengro representative on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. For them it is inconceivable that the people of Croatia would have such short memory and allow themselves to embrace the very nation responsible for destruction, rape, plunder and killing of Croatian men, women and children in 1991-95.

Then again, 12 Croatian points for Serbia weren't that surprising for all those willing to spot cultural trends in contemporary Balkans and Croatia.

Lane moje won Croatian favour by being the only song whose lyrics Croatian voters could understand. And the song in many ways belong to "turbo folk", musical style which is immensely popular in Croatia, especially among rural and people of right-wing persuasion.

How popular this music is, even when it comes from Serbia, is best illustrated by two concerts held in Split last year. First, held by Serbian rock star Momčilo Bajagić "Bajaga" (Momcilo Bajagic "Bajaga"), was interrupted by tear gas, apparently thrown by group of Croatian cultural vigilantes. The other concert, held some time later, feature Vesna Zmijanac, "turbo folk" star who had performed for Serbian soldiers besieging Vukovar in 1991. Common sense tells us that Zmijanac's concert should have been marked by even more controversy and incidents than Bajaga's. But common sense has little to do with sentiments and many in Split were too fond of "turbo folk" music to allow themselves to be distracted by ancient history.

Another Title

In the end Dinamo trashed Osijek with 4-1 score, but it didn't matter. With 2 points of advantage at the league table, Hajdukhas just secured another title.

2-0

Dinamo Zagreb has a 2-1 lead over Osijek, but after Hajduk's second goal at Poljud Stadium it is unlikely that this would change the winner of Championship.

1-0

If the current score in the game against Varteks holds, Hajduk Split has secured another title of Croatian soccer champions.

Granić (Granic) Saga Continues

Mate Granić (Mate Granic) might have case against himself thrown by Croatian judicial authorities, but the court of public opinion is another matter. Apparently someone within USKOK, deeply dissatisfied by the way their case against former foreign minister collapsed (although Supreme Court would have the last word on this), leaked the transcript of the conversation between Granić and Vladimir Delonga, businessman and USKOK informer.

The conversation (or at least the first part I had read in newspapers) clearly establishes that Granić was involved in illegal activities. At least this is the impression by most of Croatia's political commentators.

The most shocking aspect of this story isn't in the scandal, Court decision or leaked evidence. The most shocking aspect is in Mate Granić showing incredible incompetence in handling delicate negotiations between Delonga and Darinko Bago, at least judging by the transcripts.

More Eurovision Scandals

Željko Joksimović (Zeljko Joksimovic), representative of Serbia-Montenegro at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, created some sort of outrage in Istanbul by raising three fingers in the air (which is traditional Serbian battle salute) and allegedly stating that he would "win in Istanbul in order avenge centuries that his country spent under the Turkish yoke".

Before the semi-final Ivan Mikulić (Ivan Mikulic), representative of Croatia, allegedly complained to Aleksandar Kostadinov, head of Croatian delegation in Istanbul, that UDBA (Tito's secret police) tried to poison him and thus prevent him from entering the finals.

Both Joksimović and Mikulić entered into finals, partly because former Yugoslav republics traded each others' votes.

Croatian Eurovision Scandal?

It seems that some of the things that tend to happen with Croatian reality and music talents shows – voting problems – found their way into this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

For all those who want to know what Eurovision Song Contest is, I recommend this excellent post.

Salam Pax: The Movie

So, they are going to make a feature film about Salam Pax a.k.a. Baghdad Blogger.

This is undoubtedly going to create a lot of speculation in the blogosphere. I think this is going to be relatively low budget production.

Casting is going to be a little bit of problem. Major Hollywood stars are going to stay out. I've seen how Baghdad Blogger on BBC and he is not likely to be played by the likes of Banderas or Orlando Bloom. Colin Farrell, if he goes "De Niro" and gains some 10-20 kilograms, is the only major league star I can envision as Salam.

Depending on the script and producers' priorities, there would be place for other real life blogosphere characters to be played by Hollywood stars.

I envision Susan Sarandon as most likely candidate for the role of Diana. Character of Riverbend could be played by Michelle Rodriguez or Eliza Dushku.

Dynasty Continues

So, contrary to all the polls and pundits, Congress Party has apparently won Indian parliamentary elections. Sonia Gandhi is going to be next prime minister and thus continue the legacy of her late husband and mother-in-law.

This election upset shows how polling can be bad indicator for the predicting of elections results. Apparently, polls and pundits were seduced by the booming economy and visibly improving living standards in the big cities, completely ignoring conservative countryside.

Something like that happened to Ivica Račan (Ivica Racan) last year.

Granić (Granic) Off the Hook

Zagreb County Court upheld the decision of their investigative magistrate. There wouldn't be any criminal investigation against Mate Granić (Mate Granic) and Darinko Bago.

This decision would bring huge collective sigh of relief from Croatian political and business establishment. Granić might be political Has Been, but his arrest or eventual prison sentence would establish nasty precedent.