Seriously? Leonardo?

The first memory I have of Leonardo Di Caprio is his role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?", a great movie in which I think he did a fantastic job. I recall thinking that this was a kid with a lot of talent. But soon that image was supplanted by his role in 'Titanic', where he did not act quite as well and displayed a sort of egoistic arrogance that was not very appealing.

Ever since the Titanic, I've never really taken him too seriously as an actor, although he has been quite a prolific one. One would think that his long experience with acting, and the ups and downs of his career, would have given him a better grasp of the silver screen, but I have not found it so. Granted, I never saw The Aviator or Catch Me If You Can, both supposed to be good movies, but frankly the previews did not really capture my imagination. I loved Gangs of New York, but more for the directing and the topic than the acting. He was good, but not great, in that movie.

But recently I have seen two movies in which I believe Leonardo has come into his own. The first was 'The Departed', a well designed film that put him on screen with some great actors such as Nicholson and Damon. So it's no lowly compliment when I say that he was the best actor in that film by far. Not only was he believable, but he created a persona out of his lines that was engaging and interesting both in action and drama sequences.

Today I saw 'Blood Diamond', and once again I was impressed with Di Caprio's acting abilities. Working with a topic more engaging than in 'The Departed', but perhaps with a less veteran cast or director, he carried this movie and turned what could have been a cheezy political commentary into a somewhat compelling drama involving not only politics, but a human tragedy. That egoism that surfaced in the Titanic has disappeared, replaced with a sort of vulnerability that carries well on screen.

Bravo Leonardo. Keep it up. Next on my viewing list for this holiday break: The Good Shephard.

Nature Finds a Way

In the movie Jurassic Park, the scientists controlled the population by populating the island with only female dinosaurs so they could not reproduce. Then during the movie it was discovered that the females were reproducing asexually - much to the scoffs, guffaws, and general disbelief of many skeptical members of the audience. I remember protesting that this was possible, and being ridiculed for it. But vindication is here at last.

Just recently a Kimono dragon in a British zoo has done just that. Never having mixed with another male, genetic tests confirm this so-called virgin birth. The process is known as parthenogenesis, but has never been observed in such a large animal or reptile.

And just like that, another traumatic experience comes to a close.

1 down, 7 to go…

Yesterday I took my final exam for Civil Procedure, a grueling and boring class that ended with a (you guessed it) grueling and boring exam. And with the completion of that hellacious test, I’m now officially done with fall semester.

CLS, like most law schools around the country, assigns grades for all of its classes based on one final exam at the end of the semester. This archaic and brutal method of evaluation is really quite evil, and the fact that it’s standardized across the country makes it worse. Everyone does it because everyone else is doing it, and nobody wants to be the first to change, even though it’s universally acknowledged to be dumb.

While test taking in general is a poor indicator of success in the real world, continuous testing on material as the semester progresses is probably a much more useful indication of competence and intelligence than one massive exam. The idea is simple: more data points are generally better. They allow one to trend things out, to remove unfair questions, and to engage the students throughout the course of the semester. This whole ‘one test to regurgitate everything you know’ idea is baloney.

Indeed, it’s not the only facet of law school that has survived unchanged since the 1800’s. The first year law curriculum, which is mandatory, has not noticeably changed for over a century. I’m serious, a century! It’s a little absurd. Now don’t get me wrong – I think that the courses taught are important and the concepts in many cases are necessary foundations for understanding the newer evolutions of the law. But things have changed, and not all students need to know the details of property rights. 200 years ago in an agrarian society that made a lot of sense. It no longer makes sense. I would advocate trimming these classes down significantly, even making some of them optional.

But hey, I’m only a first year law student, so perhaps my perspective is a little skewed. All I know is that I had to spend 3 weeks almost chained to my desk as I tried to absorb an crapload of material, which I will probably never need again. Luckily, they say it gets easier from here. Next semester will be hard – although not as hard as this one – and then it’s all downhill from there. Sweet.

And now, the brilliant part is that I have 2.5 weeks free! I don’t have to use vacation days or anything – I just do whatever the heck I want. It’s great. I’ll be posting daily for the next few weeks.