Key steals her thunder

What a humdinger. Key's State of the Nation speech shows that his skills from merchant banking may be of use in the political arena. Here's a man who knows how to do a trade-off and get on with it. If the Nats continue in this vein, they will sit like a colossus come the election. Once again, Clark has been out-manoeuvred by the Smiling Assassin.

It is evident that Key has not only forced Clark's hand into making a state of the nation speech of her own tomorrow, he has stolen much of her thunder portended by the pre-schooler vetting preambles that appeared earlier in the year. While Jordan Carter has been asking Dude, Where's My Ambulance?, he lets slip that Clark's theme tomorrow is "It makes more sense to tackle these problems when a kid is a toddler." Clearly, the pre-schooler vetting thing will be a lynch-pin of Clark's speech. Of the two solutions, teen control or toddler dissection, Key's teen control plan is the more sellable position.

Key's speech got Goff on the defensive, who pointing out that while military-type training camps have been successful with unemployed young people, youth offenders are a different story. Annette King accuses Key of wrapping Labour policy in blue ribbon. King is right. Much of the essence of Nat policy is slowly passing through Labour's digestive and consultation tract. There is still a legislative window of ten months before the election. Key would be a moron to posit anything too novel while there is still time for Labour to snafu the policy as their own. Better to tweak stuff that should have already been done by now and save the juicy bits for when they really need it.

But the speech did what it was intended to do, get people nodding to John Key's rhythm. NZ First is neutered by the Nats because of the sensible idea to shift serious juvenile offending by 12 and 13 year-olds from the Family to the Youth Court system. The Spotlight Sentence, allowing Youth Court Judges to pursue diversion-like sentencing contracts with offenders, is also a goer. Ron Mark looked justifiably rattled on the telly, beseeching the Nats to please consult them.

Behind the criminal courts, the Family Court has the largest caseload. Better that the Youth Court, which was designed with rehabilitation foremost in its mind, deals with the nitty-gritty and leaves the Family Court to deal with the matrimonial property and custody disputes. The new policy also hints at the old Law Commission report, Delivering Justice For All: A Vision for New Zealand Courts and Tribunals, which Labour have studiously ignored.

The universal education supplement for 16 and 17 year-olds sews Tim Shadbolt's campaign for the Southern Institute of Technology into the bargain. Even the policy costing is included. At only 0.1 MS (Mallard Stadium) per year, $100 million is a not unrealistic price tag.

Doozy, dude.

Year of the Rat

Auckland Anniversary Day is over, New Zealand is back to work.

Colin Espiner clears his throat. Welcome back, Colin.

Nine to Noon has a long talk on tax cuts. For some reason, tax incentives for KiwiSaver are being labelled as a tax cut. How two three-letter words can be so prone to misunderstanding is beyond me. I blame the tax credit mumbo-jumbo that was the Working For Families package. Let's make this very clear. A tax cut is when you CUT TAX.

Scoop releases a Rocky Road report from The Main Report Group, makers of the TransTasman. Things discussed include the two-edged sword of the China FTA.

Oh, and Monkeys with Typewriters reckons they have proof of a link between John Key and the Illuminati. Heh, I wonder if the Nats ever plugged that hole those Brash emails leaked from.

Reasons to be Cheerful IV

2007 was a good year for movies. Black Snake Moan and Pan's Labyrinth led the pack by some lengths, although other reviewers had their own favourites. Haven't seen The Darjeeling Limited yet... hmmm... Kiwi movies made a splash on Empire's Top 5 lists, with Eagle vs Shark in Best Laughs, and Black Sheep for Best Tagline. Kiwi humour today. Tomorrow, the WORLD!

What does 2008 have in store from the storytellers? Kate Roger says American Gangster and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are worth a go. All good stories involve blood. If you can throw a musical into a bloodbath and get away with it, then it's worth a go. Paul Thomas Anderson shows that the Western ain't dead with There Will Be Blood. It's about oil.

Roger Donaldson returns with The Bank Job, an anti-authority movie harking back to Sleeping Dogs:

"In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London's Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth over three million pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared - the result of a 'D' Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden for the first time. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved."

2008 is brought to you by the number 2. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. All hell breaks loose. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Hopefully, Doogie doesn't. Of course, one can't ignore the return of The Dark Knight. Some particularly bad timing for Helen Clark. Lots of cartoon mileage to be made here:



Versus:



Yes, it's going to get very dirty. But that is another post.

Fernando Meirelles' follow-up to City of God, City of Men, is the most anticipated of the number 2s. While we're in the ethnic (non-Hollywood) section, best to keep an eye out for Mongol. In the kids' section, there's the classic Where The Wild Things Are. Directed by Spike Jonze with fantastic casting.

Back in the Hollywood category, the studios have doubled 2 and discovered Indy 4, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Rocky 6 proved not only that Sly can't count higher than one hand, Stallone's synapses have stretched his creative talents to calling Rambo 4, John Rambo. This time he's not conspiring with Taleban.

Enough dreck. The most anticipated movie of 2008 is a draw between Burn After Reading and Synecdoche, New York. Burn After Reading is a Coen Brothers spy comedy, while Synecdoche, New York is Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut.