Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day (A Day Late)

I hope everybody had a marvelous Valentine's Day weekend. I spent Saturday night seeing the last Academy Award Best Picture Nominee that I needed to see with Sara. We went to see An Education and then ended up at Skip's, home of the best nachos in Des Moines. They really are fantastic and they are worth the trip to Des Moines.

Now I've seen all 10 Best Picture Nominees, I feel a need to rank them. Even though I think that it is a rather tragic oversight by the Academy that they failed to nominate (500) Days of Summer. I also feel that Julie & Julia should have been nominated for Best Picture, but other than those two omissions, I can't complain about the list too much. Okay, Fanastic Mr. Fox should have gotten more love as well. I also understand that the Oscars this year will hold very little suspense. Avatar will win Best Picture. That being noted, here is how I rank the 10 Best Picture Nominees from Best to not so good. Also, in case a person was to get invited to an Oscar Party, the movies that are currently available on DVD have been noted.

  1. The Hurt Locker (DVD) - Most action movies have one big bomb diffusing scene at the end of a movie. Now imagine a movie with 4 or 5 of those scenes. On the surface it sounds like that could get boring, but every sequence is slightly different and slightly more intense. I'm not usually a huge fan of war movies, but this movie about the final few days of a bomb squad in Iraq is original and intense.
  2. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Released on DVD March 9) - For starters, Mo'Nique should win the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. This movie is strangely uplifting even though I can't think of a more depressing story. Precious follows the story of an illiterate teenage girl that is approximately 150 pounds overweight and is pregnant for the second time with her father's baby. As bad as that sounds, the mom might actually be the worse parent. Her first child is born with Down's Syndrome and you never actually learn the name of the child because they call the child Mongo. Yes, that is short for mongoloid. Despite how screwed up everything is in this movie, it somehow works extremely well. Even the casting of the normally wretched Mariah Carey even works.
  3. Up (DVD) - Perhaps the least impressively animated Pixar offering to date, but who cares? It has the most heartwarming and beautiful story. Finding Nemo is the most beautifully animated Pixar film (besides WALL-E) and it is their worst movie.
  4. District 9 (DVD) - For the most part I've parted ways with science fiction. Rarely does anything interesting or original come out any longer. This movie and Moon were two releases this year that have helped slightly restore my faith in the genre. Now if I could only wash memories of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation out of my mind. This is science fiction how it used to be - smart. It also comes with a sociological message. Reminds me of the glory days of The Outer Limits.
  5. Avatar (Still playing in Ames) - James Cameron certainly deserves to win Best Director for this movie. It is a technological milestone in cinematic history. Unfortunately it isn't really a great movie. It is great to look at, but the story is only so-so at best. It is basically Dances with Wolves in space. Dances with Wolves is the 2nd worst movie to ever win Best Picture, next to Annie Hall. This movie isn't bad. In fact it is good, but the majority of me just wishes that the story was half as good as the visual effects.
  6. Up in the Air (Released on DVD - March 9) - I was a little disappointed in this movie. It is a good movie, but it was better in my mind. All of the really great sequences in the trailer were better in the trailer than they are in the movie. The movie is also filled with great characters, but I don't think the story is as great as the characters deserve. There certainly aspects of the story that are fascinating. Just the thought that it is okay to lay people off over video conferencing and that anybody can do such a thing by following a simple flow chart was a perfect snapshot of corporate America. The performances are all great. In particular J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifanakis are superb in small roles.
  7. An Education (Currently playing at The Fleur) - A good little movie that probably would have scored higher on this list if the ending wouldn't have felt so rushed and thrown on. An Education is the story of a 16 year old girl with dreams of going to Oxford that begins a romantic relationship with a much older man. The movie never really reveals his age but the actor that plays him (Peter Sarsgaard) is 39 years old. It is the type of movie that is frustrating because the parents of the girl completely sign off on the relationship because they think the man is suave and sophisticated and is good for the future of their daughter. The thoughts of the dad are best illustrated when he points out that David (the older man) is better for his daughter than a love interest that is her same age because he know C.S. Lewis. The daughter points out that the "boy" could become a famous author some day. Her dad retorts: "Knowing a famous author is better than becoming one. It shows you're connected." It is my hope that Carey Mulligan wins the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as the 16 year old girl that gets seduced by an older man. It is certainly a better performance than Sandra Bullock's overhyped performance in The Blind Side. Olivia Williams is also brilliant (as usual) in her performance as the girl's school teacher and seemingly the only adult that sees what a colossal mistake this relationship is going to be for the girl.
  8. A Serious Man (DVD) - Funny, quirky and a return to form by the Coen brothers, after the dreadful Burn After Reading. Not anything particularly great though. Funny in parts. Solid performances, but probably not Best Picture nominee worthy.
  9. The Blind Side (Not playing anywhere that I know) - This is a decent and well made feel good movie. Sandra Bullock is good, but this isn't an earth shattering performance. There is nothing decidedly original about this movie and there is a very painful sequence where football coaches play themselves. Not one of them is a thespian of note. It is a good movie and I will no doubt watch this again on some sleepy Sunday afternoon, but that is about it.
  10. Inglourious Basterds (DVD) - This movie is a collection of great scenes that does not end up to a great movie. There is Tarantino's normal addiction to violence and gore and he does do it in an artistic manner, but at the end of the day, it is still just violence and gore. This movie easily has the worst ending of any movie I've seen in a very long time. But the hype surrounding Christoph Waltz's performance is well deserved. I do hope that he wins the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.


Here is Saturday's love letter from The Writer's Almanac:

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Puritan-inspired, New England-based works of dark romanticism, and he was largely a recluse. But he was cheerful about his personal romantic life. In his 30s, he fell in love with another reclusive person, Sophia Peabody. She and Nathaniel Hawthorne secretly became engaged on New Year's Day in 1839.

They got married in her family's bookstore in Boston. She was 32; he was 38. The newlyweds moved out to an old historic mansion in Concord, Massachusetts, where Henry David Thoreau made a vegetable garden for just the two of them. Hawthorne wrote to his sister: "We are as happy as people can be, without making themselves ridiculous, and might be even happier; but, as a matter of taste, we choose to stop short at this point."

Then, on his first wedding anniversary, he wrote to his wife: "We were never so happy as now — never such wide capacity for happiness, yet overflowing with all that the day and every moment brings to us. Methinks this birth-day of our married life is like a cape, which we have now doubled and find a more infinite ocean of love stretching out before us."

Writer James Joyce said things like, "A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." But he often apologized wholeheartedly to his wife, Nora. And he said things like, "I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality." But to Nora Barnacle, he wrote things like — on October, 25th, 1909 — "You are my only love. You have me completely in your power. I know and feel that if I am to write anything fine or noble in the future I shall do so only by listening to the doors of your heart. ... I love you deeply and truly, Nora. ... There is not a particle of my love that is not yours. ... If you would only let me I would speak to you of everything in my mind but sometimes I fancy from your look that you would only be bored by me. Anyhow, Nora, I love you. I cannot live without you. I would like to give you everything that is mine, any knowledge I have (little as it is) any emotions I myself feel or have felt, any likes or dislikes I have, any hopes I have or remorse. I would like to go through life side by side with you, telling you more and more until we grew to be one being together until the hour should come for us to die. Even now the tears rush to my eyes and sobs choke my throat as I write this. Nora, we have only one short life in which to love. O my darling be only a little kinder to me, bear with me a little even if I am inconsiderate and unmanageable and believe me we will be happy together. Let me love you in my own way. Let me have your heart always close to mine to hear every throb of my life, every sorrow, every joy."


From Sunday's The Writer's Almanac:

Today is Valentine's Day, the day on which we celebrate love, especially romantic love. The holiday was named after an early Christian priest, St. Valentine, who was martyred on February 14 in 269 A.D.

The tradition of exchanging love notes on Valentine's Day originates from the martyr Valentine himself. The legend maintains that due to a shortage of enlistments, Emperor Claudius II forbade single men to get married in an effort to bolster his struggling army. Seeing this act as a grave injustice, Valentine performed clandestine wedding rituals in defiance of the emperor. Valentine was discovered, imprisoned, and sentenced to death by beheading. While awaiting his fate in his cell, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of a prison guard, who would come and visit him. On the day of his death, Valentine left a note for the young woman professing his undying devotion signed "Love from your Valentine."

Poets Robert Browning (books by this author) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (books by this author) carried out one of the most famous romantic correspondences in literary history. They first introduced themselves by epistolary means, and fell in love even before they had met in person. The letter that began their relationship was written by Robert in January 1845; it was essentially a piece of fan mail to esteemed poet Elizabeth Barrett. He wrote:

"I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett — and this is no offhand complimentary letter that I shall write — whatever else, no prompt matter-of-course recognition of your genius and there a graceful and natural end of the thing: since the day last week when I first read your poems, I quite laugh to remember how I have been turning and turning again in my mind what I should be able to tell you of their effect upon me ..."

Elizabeth Barrett responded right away: "I thank you, dear Mr Browning, from the bottom of my heart. ... Such a letter from such a hand!"

She continued, "I will say that I am your debtor, not only for this cordial letter & for all the pleasure which came with it, but in other ways, & those the highest: & I will say that while I live to follow this divine art of poetry, ... in proportion to my love for it & my devotion for it, I must be a devout admirer & student of your works. This is in my heart to say to you & I say it."

They continued writing to each other, clandestinely, for a year and a half, and then they secretly got married in 1846. Right before the wedding, Robert mailed off to Elizabeth a letter that said: "Words can never tell you, however, — form them, transform them anyway, — how perfectly dear you are to me – perfectly dear to my heart and soul. I look back, and in every one point, every word and gesture, every letter, every silence — you have been entirely perfect to me — I would not change one word, one look. I am all gratitude — and all pride (under the proper feeling which ascribes pride to the right source) all pride that my life has been so crowned by you."

And then, the day after the wedding, she wrote to him:
"What could be better than [your] lifting me from the ground and carrying me into life and the sunshine? ... All that I am, I owe you — if I enjoy anything now and henceforth, it is through you."

During their courtship, she was composing sonnets for him, which she presented to him as a wedding gift. The sonnets were published in 1850 and include one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's most famous poems ever:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I know that there are some Scrooge McDuck's out there that loathe and hate Valentine's Day. I hope you can at least appreciate the great writing that was posted last week.

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Monday, December 21, 2009

Proust Questionnaire Number Twelve

Proust Quote:
"All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last."

Confessions Question:
Your main fault.

Confidences Question:
My main fault.

Proust's Answer:
Not knowing, not being able to "want".

Ye be warned, any that go much further. What lies below is discussion of the movie Gone Baby Gone. If you haven't seen the movie and don't wish for the ending to be spoiled for ye, stop reading right now!

The offense that I'm about to admit to is not easy for somebody that is as extremely manly as I am to confess. I have come to realize in the last few months that my greatest fault is that I am too emotional.

I have been reassured that being this way is a "good thing", but I am not without my doubts.

For example, on two separate occasions this year, I reacted to situations at a very visceral level. I don't want to go into details about those situations, but one time it took the counsel of very good friends to prevent me from making what would have ultimately been a huge blunder. The second situation caused me to send a profane text message to my eldest sister. Perhaps the first time she has heard me utter such filth. I think you all know how I feel about base language and why I feel that way.

Even more than those situations, I think I can pinpoint my reaction to the movie Gone Baby Gone as when I realized how emotional some of my reactions have become.

Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 movie directed by Ben Affleck. I know that makes it sound awful, but it turns out that as bad as Affleck is as an actor, he is a pretty good director.

I am fairly dreadful at writing up a synopsis of books or movies, so I lifted a synopsis from the Internet Movie Database:


The tough private eye Patrick Kenzie was raised in a poor and dangerous neighborhood of Boston, and works with his partner and girlfriend Angie Gennaro generally tracking missing losers in debt. When the four year-old Amanda McCready is abducted from her apartment, her aunt Beatrice 'Bea' McCready calls the police and the press, and the case is highlighted with the spots by the media. Then Bea hires the reluctant Patrick to work in the case because he is not a cop and based on his great knowledge of their neighborhood. Meanwhile Capt. Jack Doyle, who lost his own daughter many years ago and is in charge of the investigation, assigns detectives Remy Bressant and Nick Pole to give the necessary support to Patrick. After interviewing the addicted low life mother of Amanda, Helene McCready, Patrick goes to a bar and discloses that Helene was on the streets with her boyfriend Skinny Ray Likanski dealing and using drugs on the day Amanda disappeared. Along his investigation, Patrick faces smalltime criminals, drug dealers, pedophiles and corruption, facing a moral issue to solve the case.

The first time I watched this movie I was outraged by the ending of the movie. I don't mind a movie having a sad and/or depressing ending. Some of my favorite movies are Once, The Ox-Bow Incident, Paths of Glory...

But at the end of this movie, one character that I had grown to love makes the wrong decision. A very wrong decision. In fact, the thought never even crossed my mind that he made the right decision. That was until I began discussing this movie with other people. I quickly found out that I am the only person that thinks that Patrick Kenzie makes the wrong decision at the end of the movie.

Well, almost the only person.

But as I reflected on the movie some more, I realized that Patrick actually makes 2 moral decisions. Then after discussing the movie extensively I came to realize that there is actually a third moral decision that other characters in the movie make that I never even considered whether or not they were right or if they were wrong. I instinctively knew what I thought was right, but as it turns out, I am also in the minority on this as well.

As it turns out, the only person to agree with me (that I have found) on these 3 moral dilemmas 100% is Jill. Everybody else seems to disagree with me 100%.

I am going to do some extensive quoting of the movie Gone Baby Gone and it does contain quite a bit of profanity. I apologize if this offends anybody's delicate sensibilities, but that is the way it has to be.

Gone Baby Gone starts with this line of dialogue. I don't know if it is particularly relevant to this discussion, but it sets the stage for Patrick's personal code of morality.

Patrick Kenzie: I always believed it was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family. People here take pride in these things, like it was something they'd accomplished. The bodies around their souls, the cities wrapped around those. I lived on this block my whole life; most of these people have. When your job is to find people who are missing, it helps to know where they started. I find the people who started in the crack and then fell through. This city can be hard. When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God said to His children: "You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves."

When Amanda McCready is kidnapped, her aunt and uncle hire Patrick and his girlfriend Angie to augment the investigation. Amanda's mom Helene is a drug addict and a terrible parent. Imagine all of the Wal-Mart parents you have seen in your life. Now multiply that by 10.

Angie does not want to take the case:

Angie: We have a good life, right?

Patrick: Is that a trick question?

Angie: I don't wanna find their little kid in a dumpster.

Patrick: Maybe she's not in a dumpster, babe.

Angie: I don't wanna find a little kid after they've been abused for three days.

Patrick: Hon, nobody does.

Patrick and Angie meet up with the police that are assigned to keep them in the loop and find out that the only lead the cops have is a pedophile that has dropped off the police radar.

Detective Remy Bressant: Corwin Earle. Serial molester, recently work-release. Went AWOL around the time Amanda disappeared.

Detective Poole: Known associates - Leon Trett and his handsome wife, Roberta. The Tretts were released six and eight months ago, respectively. They have drug habits. We don't know where they are, but we think Corwin's with them. Jailhouse snitch claims that Corwin confided in him and told him when he got out, he was gonna move in with his family. Apparently, the three of them have some kind of Addams Family deal going on.

Bressant: Corwin's plan is to keep a kid in the house to have sex with.

Patrick: Well, that sounds promising.

Bressant: Not for Amanda, it doesn't.

Through Patrick and Amanda's investigation they learn that Helene wasn't at her neighbor's house on the night that Amanda was kidnapped. She was down at the Fillmore (think Wilson's Tap if you are from Boone or Deano's if you are from Ames) doing drugs. They also learn that Helene and her boyfriend robbed a local drug dealer named Cheese. With the blessing of Bressant and Poole, Patrick and Angie approach Cheese in an attempt to broker at trade: the stolen money for Amanda.

Cheese denies he has Amanda and turns down the offer.

Cheese: You got my money, you leave that shit in the mailbox on your ass way out, you feel me? Some mother fuckers let fool rob on them. I don't play scrimmage. But I don't fuck with no kids. And if that girl only hope is you, well, I pray for her, because she's gone, baby. Gone.

Later Cheese calls in and brokers a deal with Bressant. But the deal is intercepted by Captain Jack Doyle. He does not want to go through with the deal, but feels obligated to, since to welch on the deal would put Amanda's life in danger.

Jack Doyle: Do you have any children, Miss Gennaro?

Angie: No, sir.

Doyle: My only child was murdered. She was twelve. Did you hear about it? What you probably didn't hear, and what I hope you never have to deal with, Miss Gennaro, is what that feels like. What I have to deal with. Knowing that my little girl likely died crying out for me to come and save her. And I never did. My little girl died afraid and alone in a shallow ditch bank by the side of the road, not ten minutes from my house. I know what it feels like to lose a child. Now damn it, you force my hand and then you question the way I handle it.

Bressant: No one's questioning you, sir.

Doyle: I honor my child with this division. So that no parent has to go through what I've known. This child. That all I care about. I'm gonna bring her home.

The deal doesn't go as planned. Amanda ends up falling to her death. Captain Doyle is forced to resign. Patrick and Angie are forced to live with the guilt of not being able to save Amanda.

Life starts to normalize when another kid goes missing. This time, nobody comes looking to hire Patrick and Amanda. But after a few days, Patrick is approached by his friend (a local drug dealer) who has found Corwin Earle.

Patrick contacts Bressant and Doyle. They approach the house where Corwin Earle is living. Shots come from the house and Doyle is killed. Patrick goes inside the house and finds the body of the kidnapped child. He was raped to death.

Patrick shoots Corwin Earle in the back of the head while he pleads for his life. Afterwards, Patrick is treated like a hero by Angie and Bressant.

Angie: They told me what happened. I'm proud of you. That man killed a child. He had no right to live.

Patrick: You're proud of me?

Angie: Of course I am. You did what you had to do.

Later...

Patrick: They say how old the boy was?

Bressant: Seven.

Patrick: Second grade.

Bressant: Should be proud of yourself. Most guys would've stayed outside.

Patrick: I don't know.

Bressant: What don't you know?

Patrick: My priest says shame is God telling you what you did was wrong.

Bressant: Fuck him.

Patrick: Murder's a sin.

Bressant: Depends on who you do it to.

Later...

Bressant: I planted evidence on a guy once, back in '95. We were paying $100 an eight ball to snitches. We got a call from our pal Ray Likanski. He couldn't find enough guys to rat out. Anyway, he tells us there's a guy pumping up in an apartment up in Columbia Point. We go in, me and Nicky. Fifteen years ago., when Nicky went in, it was no joke. So it's a... it's a stash house, right? The old lady's beat to shit, the husband's mean, cracked out, trying to give us trouble, Nicky lays him down. We're doing an inventory, but it looks like we messed up because there's no dope in the house, and I go in the back room. Now, this place was a shithole, mind you? Rats, roaches, all over the place. But the kid's room, in the back, was spotless. No, I mean, he swept it, mopped it; it was immaculate. The little boy's sitting on the bed, holding onto his playstation for dear life. There's no expression on his face, tears streaming down. He wants to tell me he just learned his multiplication tables.

Patrick: Christ.

Bressant: I mean, the father's got him in this crack den, subsisting on twinkies and ass-whippings, and this little boy just wants someone to tell him that he's doing a good job. You're worried what's Catholic? I mean, kids forgive. Kids don't judge. Kids turn the other cheek. What do they get for it? So I went back out there and put an ounce of heroin on the living room floor and sent the father for a ride, seven to life.

Patrick: That was the right thing?

Bressant: Fucking A! You gotta take a side. You molest a child, you beat a child, you're not on my side. If you see me coming, you better run, because I am gonna lay you the fuck down! Easy.

Patrick: Don't feel easy.

As Patrick reflects on these events he figures out that it was actually Bressant and Amanda's uncle that kidnapped her. This leads to a shootout where Bressant is killed.

Patrick and Angie visit Captain Doyle and discover that Amanda didn't actually fall to her death. It was an elaborate ruse to fake her death and that she was now living with Doyle and his wife.

Patrick has to make a decision. To turn in Doyle and return Amanda to her wretched mother where her chances of having a successful life are practically zero. Or let her remain kidnapped where she will be loved, pampered and spoiled.

Despite the pleadings of Doyle and Angie, Patrick decides to turn Doyle in and return Amanda to her mother.

Patrick: I'm calling state police in five minutes. They'll be here in ten.

Doyle: Thought you would've done that by now. You know why you haven't? Because you think this might be an irreparable mistake. Because deep inside you, you know that it doesn't matter what the rules say. When the lights go out, and you ask yourself "is she better off here or better off there", you know the answer. And you always will. You... you could do a right thing here. A good thing. Men live their whole lives without getting this chance. You walk away from it, you may not regret it when you get home. You may not regret it for a year, but when you get to where I am, I promise you, you will. I'll be dead, you'll be old. But she... she'll be dragging around a couple of tattered, damaged children of her own, and you'll be the one who has to tell them you're sorry.

Patrick: You know what? Maybe that'll happen. And if it does, I'll tell them I'm sorry and I'll live with it. But what's never gonna happen and what I'm not gonna do is have to apologize to a grown woman who comes to me and says: "I was kidnapped when I was a little girl, and my aunt hired you to find me. And you did, you found me with some strange family. But you broke your promise and you left me there. Why? Why didn't you bring me home? Because all the snacks and the outfits and the family trips don't matter. They stole me. It wasn't my family and you knew about it and you knew better and you did nothing". And maybe that grown woman will forgive me, but I'll never forgive myself.

Doyle: I did what I did for the sake of the child. All right. For me, too. But now, I'm asking you for the sake of the child. I'm begging you. You think about it.

Patrick pays a heavy price for turning in Doyle. Angie leaves him. In the end of the movie it seems like he puts himself in a guardian angel position over Amanda. Watching over her to see that she will be okay.

There are 3 moral issues in this movie as I see it. The first one I thought about when this movie was over was whether or not Patrick did the right thing.

One of the weekends that Jill was back from Minnesota, we went over to Jen and Derrick's to watch a movie on their Blu-ray player. Derrick's dad gave Jen and Derrick a Blu-ray player when they moved into their new house in January. I believe this movie watching night was the Saturday following Thanksgiving. It has been 11 months and they still had not watched a movie on their Blu-ray player. This is quite the tragedy in my mind.

I was given the power of selecting the movie on this evening. I chose Gone Baby Gone. Jill chose Full Metal Jacket as a backup.

We might have ended up watching both movies, but the first part of the evening was devoted to watching the Iowa State-Northwestern debacle. Thankfully that is far behind us now.

After watching the movie, I posed the following question to Derrick, Jen and Jill: Did Patrick do the right thing at the end of the movie?

Derrick and Jen thought that Patrick had done the right thing.

Jill agreed with me. Patrick had done the wrong thing.

Then I asked them if Patrick had done the right thing when he executed the pedophile.

Derrick and Jen thought he had done the wrong thing.

Jill agreed with me that he had done the right thing.

However, this is how I think that I am too emotional. Philosophically, I want to be opposed to the death penalty. I want to think that all life is precious. I want to think that I am evolved to a point where I don't believe in vigilante justice. One of my all-time favorite movies is The Ox-Bow Incident. A movie that is about a posse that lynches 3 innocent men.

The movie ends with a member of the posse reading a letter that one of the innocent men has written to his wife. Writing the letter is one of the last things he gets to do before he his hung. That scene is one of the most beautiful movie scenes I have ever seen. The letter reads like this:

My dear Wife, Mr. Davies will tell you what's happening here tonight. He's a good man and has done everything he can for me. I suppose there are some other good men here, too, only they don't seem to realize what they're doing. They're the ones I feel sorry for. 'Cause it'll be over for me in a little while, but they'll have to go on remembering for the rest of their lives. A man just naturally can't take the law into his own hands and hang people without hurtin' everybody in the world, 'cause then he's just not breaking one law but all laws. Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that have ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you. Your husband, Donald.


I love the line, "if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience?"

Philosophically I want to think. "Just bring him in Patrick. Let the justice system handle him."

But do I really think, "Shoot him Patrick"? You're damn right I do! That is clearly an emotional response that I can't override with my powerful intellect.

It was during this discussion that Jen said something that really stuck with me. In fact, it completely blindsided me. I am paraphrasing, but she said:

"Morgan Freeman's character (Doyle) didn't have much compassion for Amanda's mother. He knew the pain of losing a child and he was willing to put somebody else through it."

It was a Saturday night when she said that. I thought about that for a long time. Of all the characters in the movie, I have the most in common with Doyle, but this is something that had never once even dawned on me. It never occurred to me that somebody might think that what the kidnapper's had done was wrong. How can giving a child a chance at a decent life be wrong?

I told Jen and Derrick that I had one more Gone Baby Gone question for them.

On that Monday I talked to Jill and asked her if she thought that what the kidnappers had done was wrong.

She agreed with me that what the kidnappers had done was dumb and not the best way to handle the situation, but it was still right.

That Wednesday was Iowa State's embarrassing performance against UNI. I already had tickets for the game, so Jen took my season ticket and sat with Derrick. At halftime I went over to talk to them. Jen asked me what was my 1 more Gone Baby Gone question.

I asked them if they thought that the kidnappers had done the wrong thing.

They said that they did think the kidnappers had done the wrong thing. Just because somebody doesn't deserve to be a parent, doesn't give somebody else the right to take their children.

I can see their point intellectually. I understand the reason for the rule of law, even though I don't think people should follow laws that are contrary to their moral code, but I disagree.

I look around and see people who shouldn't be parents and my base emotional response is why not take their kids from them and give them to people who deserve to be parents. People who would actually love the kids and raise them to be proper adults.

Then I think about Derrick's keen insight. He pointed out that the whole movie can be boiled down to one scene involving Patrick and Bressant:

Bressant: Would you do it again? Clip Corwin Earle?

Patrick: No.

Bressant: Does that make you right?

Patrick: I don't know.

Bressant: It doesn't make it wrong though.

I think on my emotional responses to outside stimuli and I tell myself again: "It is a good thing". My emotional response to that is, "Maybe it is."

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Saturday's Accomplishment

On Saturday, Jason and I got the garage opener put on the garage door. This makes parking in the garage a lot easier. This was a good thing, because when I looked out my back door on Sunday after I got home from church I saw the following:





Thanks to that garage, I didn't have to clean off my car. I just backed the car out of the garage and onto the street and I was off to Ames.

Once in Ames, I picked up Nader so that we could check out Adventureland.





Maybe you can't tell from that picture, but he was complaining about the weather. Despite my best efforts over the years, I fear that I have failed to man that guy up.

Adventureland turned out to be a fair movie. It does have an incredible 80s soundtrack and a great performance by Kristen Stewart, but I found the movie to have more ambitions than it could deliver on.

After the movie I took Nader to Super Wal-Mart to buy groceries. I found something very disturbing in the frozen food aisle.





Excuse the crude cell phone picture, but that is the best I could do under the circumstances.

My favorite captain from Deadliest Catch is hawking his own brand of frozen fish products?!?! Captain Sig has become Captain Sellout. Oh the humanity!

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Sunday, January 04, 2009

Goodbye, Old Friend

I got word on Friday that this week will be the last week of operation for the Varsity II Theater in Ames. The Cinemark Corporation had been wanting to close the theater down for quite some time, but they were stuck in a lease. Unfortunately for fans of thoughtful, intelligent films, Cinemark was able to negotiate an early termination of their lease and will be closing down the Varsity forever on Thursday night.

This is a sad day. I know that frequently when I have attended movies at this theater there was little more than me and my companions there, but I think this theater could have made it. The Fleur Cinema in Des Moines seems to flourish showing similar movies to the Varsity and it doesn't have the built in audience of Art, Independent, Foreign and Documentary Film fans that the Varsity's close proximity to a major college campus gives them.

It never seemed like Cinemark was interested in making the Varsity work. I know from firsthand experience what it is like to run a business for a person that is doing everything they can possibly do to make that business fail. When it happened to me, it ended with a meeting where my staff and I were served burnt pretzels and burnt hot chocolate.

I hope, if nothing else, that the staff of the Varsity was given properly prepared food when their theater was lead to the chopping block.

I will remember fondly that I saw some of my all-time favorite films at the Varsity. It is the theater where I saw Once, Hustle and Flow, Born into Bro,thels, Young at Heart, Son of Rambow, Napoleon Dynamite, Fight Club, Insomnia, Akeelah and the Bee and The Queen.

Not everything I ever saw at the Varsity was great. Some movies were quite dreadful, but it was always interesting.

It might seem like losing two movie screens in Ames isn't going to reduce the amount of movie options in Ames, by much. But when you look at the type of movies that will be lost, the amount of movie options in Ames just hit an all-time low.

I will be going to the Varsity for one last time on Monday night to say goodbye to an old friend.

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Monday, November 17, 2008

Aesthetically Qualified

Because I know interesting people sometimes the beget me more interesting people.

Such as Lowell begot Bill who then begot Willy who then begot Faust.

Frank from work met a guy while working at Best Buy that is a movie producer. Well, he is sort of a movie producer. He moved out to Iowa from some place out East and is trying to raise enough money to make a movie.

He hasn't made the movie, but he has made a movie that is over 90 minutes long about the movie he wants to make. It includes lots of his theories on movie making. Lots of the sets he wants to use. Pictures of the women that are going to be in the movie in bikinis. Pictures of horses that will be in the movie. Pictures of dogs that will be in the movie.

However, nowhere in the sale pitch does he indicate what the movie is actually about. The closest you get to know what the movie is about is the discussion of the characters that will be in the movie and you can combine that with the sets that will be used for the movie and maybe get an idea of what is going to happen in this movie.

There is one exception. One little sliver of information that comes through. The producer does include 5 rehearsals of one scene from the movie. Here is the dialogue from that one scene, starring the producer as the lead character from the movie, talking to somebody that isn't there:
(Try to imagine this being said with a Jersey accent, by a guy wearing a leather jacket and gloves.)

Johnathan Sinclair
What does that mean? What you just did? I saw that.
I see women doing that? What does that mean?
You pulled your shirt down over your butt. What does that mean?
Does that mean that you think your butt's too big?
Or perhaps I'm not aesthetically qualified to give you the once over?
Or maybe I'm not financially qualified to give you the once over?
Babe, you're like a fantasy world?
Like a dream world. Like a dream world.

I don't think it is too big of a stretch to call it poetry.

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Saturday, September 27, 2008

Back in the Saddle

On Thursday night I returned to the movie theater for the first time since I can remember. It has been at least a month, maybe two. Nader and I went to see Burn After Reading. It was the first movie the Coen brothers have made since their Academy Award winner for Best Picture: No Country for Old Men.

I would have to say that it was an extremely large disappointment. The Coen brothers have a history of being kind of hit and miss, but this was quite the miss. I can't remember this large of a dropoff after a Best Picture win since Clint Eastwood went from Unforgiven (one of the greatest Westerns ever) to A Perfect World (flat out one of the worst movies ever made).

Even though Burn After Reading wasn't particularly funny or interesting and it was rather depressing that Frances McDormand's character never got her comeuppance for her shallow behavior, the previews before the movie reminded me of why I love this time of year.

Gone from the movie theaters are the loud, obnoxious, boring and mildly retarded Summer blockbusters. Finally the theaters will start to get interesting and provocative movies. It is the best time of the year to drag yourself off your couch or wherever else you plop yourself when you get home, and plop yourself into a theater seat. It is a season to remind you that people are still trying to infuse art into movies. That there are people out there that are trying to express themselves through movies. That there are people out there still taking risks with movies. That there are still people out there trying to say things with movies. That there are people out there still making movies that matter. Sometimes this is easy to forget when every weekend during the summer is a new comic book movie that complete with a collector's cup from Burger King.

AKA Movies that aren't filled with shiny things to entertain the stupid people.

The movie that I'm excited to see this week is The Lucky Ones. It is playing at the Varsity, so I will be making a trip there this week to check out this movie.

Check out the trailer:





I do have to enjoy The Varsity while it is still around. Rumor has it that they are going to try and close it down by the end of the year.

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

AFI's 10 Top 10

The American Film Institute recently released their yearly list. They released the Top Ten movies in ten different genres.

Animation
  1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  2. Pinocchio
  3. Bambi
  4. The Lion King
  5. Fantasia
  6. Toy Story
  7. Beauty and the Beast
  8. Shrek
  9. Cinderella
  10. Finding Nemo
My observation: Beauty and the Beast needs to be higher. After how dreadful Shrek 2 and Shrek 3 were, it is hard for me to remember how brilliant the original Shrek was.

Romantic Comedy
  1. City Lights
  2. Annie Hall
  3. It Happened One Night
  4. Roman Holiday
  5. The Philadelphia Story
  6. When Harry Met Sally...
  7. Adam's Rib
  8. Moonstruck
  9. Harold and Maude
  10. Sleepless in Seattle
My Observations: The Philadelphia Story should be number one. Annie Hall and Moonstruck do not belong on the list.

Western
  1. The Searchers
  2. High Noon
  3. Shane
  4. Unforgiven
  5. Red River
  6. The Wild Bunch
  7. Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
  9. Stagecoach
  10. Cat Ballou
My Observations: The Searchers (despite having Natalie Wood) and The Wild Bunch are quite overrated. Where is The Ox-Bow Incident and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? I would also had Once Upon a Time in the West, but it is not an American Movie.

Sports
  1. Raging Bull
  2. Rocky
  3. The Pride of the Yankees
  4. Hoosiers
  5. Bull Durham
  6. The Hustler
  7. Caddyshack
  8. Breaking Away
  9. National Velvet
  10. Jerry Maguire
My Observations: The Hustler should be higher. Bull Durham is too high. I don't see how Jerry Maguire qualifies as a sports movie.

Mystery
  1. Vertigo
  2. Chinatown
  3. Rear Window
  4. Laura
  5. The Third Man
  6. The Maltese Falcon
  7. North by Northwest
  8. Blue Velvet
  9. Dial M for Murder
  10. The Usual Suspects.
My Observations: The best list. The Usual Suspects could stand to be higher.

Sci-Fi
  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
  3. E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial
  4. A Clockwork Orange
  5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
  6. Blade Runner
  7. Alien
  8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  10. Back to the Future
My Observations: A Clockwork Orange needs to be number 1. Star Wars doesn't need to be on this list. Either does Terminator 2. Where is Forbidden Planet? Where is The Planet of the Apes?

Gangster
  1. The Godfather
  2. Goodfellas
  3. The Godfather Part II
  4. White Heat
  5. Bonnie and Clyde
  6. Scarface: The Shame of a Nation
  7. Pulp Fiction
  8. The Public Enemy
  9. Little Caesar
  10. Scarface
My Observations: This seems like an unnecessary genre. What about musicals? Of course Scarface is horribly overrated. They could have made room for Reservoir Dogs or Angels with Dirty Faces.

Courtroom Drama
  1. To Kill A Mockingbird
  2. 12 Angry Men
  3. Kramer vs. Kramer
  4. The Verdict
  5. A Few Good Men
  6. Witness for the Prosecution
  7. Anatomy of a Murder
  8. In Cold Blood
  9. A Cry in the Dark
  10. Judgment at Nuremberg
My Observations: No real complaint. 12 Angry Men should be number 1 and To Kill A Mockingbird should be number 2. I'd like to see Inherit the Wind on the list.

Epic
  1. Lawrence of Arabia
  2. Ben-Hur
  3. Schindler's List
  4. Gone with the Wind
  5. Spartacus
  6. Titanic
  7. All Quiet on the Western Front
  8. Saving Private Ryan
  9. Reds
  10. The Ten Commandments
My Observations: Schindler's List should be number 1. Gone with the Wind number 2. But no other real complaints.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Something Special

I had a free night foisted upon me. So now I can get caught up with entries. So some of this might seem dated.

On Tuesday, September 16, the movie Young @ Heart came out on DVD. This would easily be my favorite move I've seen this year. The only movies that come close are WALL-E and Son of Rambow.





Back in 1993 Jim Valvano gave a moving speech while he was dying from cancer. He said something that I've always found profound:

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

I also consider these to be pretty good criteria for evaluating movies. Young @ Heart certainly does all three. Next time you are in your video store pick it up and give it a spin. You will not regret it.

Even if you hate old people (like Jay) you will love this movie.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

That Potter Kid

Today is the birthday of J.K. Rowling, therefore it seemed like a good time to post some Harry Potter stuff.

From today's Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of children's fantasy writer J.K. Rowling, (books by this author) born Joanne Rowling in Yate, England, in 1965. She has written seven novels in the Harry Potter series, a series that has sold nearly 400 million copies.

Rowling grew up in rural England. She says that the character of Hermione in her series is "a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." She studied French and Classics and went on to be a secretary for Amnesty International, but she didn't like secretarial work. One day on a cross-country train trip, the idea of Harry Potter "came fully formed" into her mind. "It started with Harry," she said, "then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head." She was frustrated because she didn't have a pen to write things down, so she just sat for four hours thinking and hoped she would remember, then started writing as soon as she got home.

In the next few years, she went to Portugal, got married, and then divorced. She moved to Scotland with her young daughter, where she started writing in cafés because taking her daughter for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep and give her a few hours to write.

It took J.K. Rowling a while to find a publisher for her novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the U.S. as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). In 1997, Bloomsbury published the first Harry Potter book with a print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which went to libraries. It has now sold about 120 million copies. Her publisher thought young boys were her target audience and was worried that they wouldn't buy a novel by a woman, so they encouraged her to use initials instead. Joanne didn't have a middle name, so she took her grandmother's name, Kathleen, and made herself J.K. Rowling.

J.K. Rowling is now the highest-earning novelist in history.

J.K. Rowling has launched a new generation of readers (and some adult readers) into the world of fantasy, but it's a genre that she doesn't actually like much herself. She didn't even realize that she was writing fantasy until after her first book was published. She says, "You know, the unicorns were in there. There was the castle, God knows. But I really had not thought that that's what I was doing. And I think maybe the reason that it didn't occur to me is that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy." She has never managed to finish the Lord of the Rings series or the Narnia series, and her favorite authors are realists: Jane Austen, whom she calls "the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire," and contemporary Irish novelist Roddy Doyle.

She planned out the entire Harry Potter series before she wrote the first book, and she says: "I wrote the story I meant to write. If I lost readers along the way, so be it, but I still told my story. The one I wanted. Without permitting it to sound too corny, that's what I owe to my characters. That we won't be deflected, either by adoration or by criticism."

And she says, "You have to resign yourself to wasting lots of trees before you write anything really good."

And, "What we forget is that kids lead this whole hidden life, however close they are to their parents. I'm aware of this with my seven-year-old daughter. I don't find it constantly, but I know it's the reality. It's the slow process of separation—and slightly underground. I have to be aware that my daughter is leading this kid life I cannot share. And that's part of the books."

J.K. Rowling, who wrote, "If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time."

And, "To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

And, "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

Recently the trailer for the new Harry Potter movie was released. Have a look. Of course you will actually have to go to the website to view this video if you subscribe via RSS or email.





The last movie was kind of a disappointment, but this movie looks to be fantastic. I can hardly wait until November 21.

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Finally

It took until June 26, but finally I saw a movie that I loved this year. I finally saw my Once of 2008. I finally saw a movie I'm willing to call great. Up until now the best movie I've seen all year is Son of Rambow, but even that movie was only very good and not great. The first movie that I love from 2008 is Young @ Heart.

If this movie is playing near you, I urge you to run out and see it. The only thing I can say is "wow". After this movie was over, not a single person left the theater until the credits were over. I haven't seen that happen at a movie I've attended since Once. I haven't even seen this happen for movies that try to blackmail you into staying until the end of the credits to see one last extra scene.

Below I've posted some videos from the movie. If you subscribe to this journal through e-mail or RSS feed, you will have to go to the website to see the videos. I think it is worth the trip.



Trailer



Schizophrenia



Fix You


If you think that this performance of Fix You is powerful (and it is) you should see it when it is put in the context of the movie. It will blow you away.


I repeat, if you have a chance, go see this movie.

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

3 Things

Relay for Life

So Relay for Life is coming up pretty darn quick. As it turns out I forgot to start raising money. I have raised some money, but that money consisted of me sitting on my rump when somebody came up to me and threw some cash into my hand and said, "That's for Relay for Life."

I don't want to give you a long winded sales pitch about why you should donate money for Relay for Life and tell you about how cancer has effected my life or the people in my life. I think I can distill the entire thing down to its essence.

"It is cancer, stupid!"

So if you have a couple extra bucks stuck in your couch cushions or have a bag full of beer bottles in your basement that need to be taken back and you don't really have much use for that money and you aren't mad that I just called you stupid, I would be in your debt if you would throw it my way for Relay for Life.

There are a couple of ways to do such a thing. First you can go to my Relay for Life page and donate there:


Relay for Life Donation


You can also just give me money when you see me.


Flood Pictures


From time to time I get asked if I have any flood pictures. But I will post the one flood picture I do have.






Son of Rambow


I'm pretty jacked up right now. One of two must see movies of 2008 has finally came to Ames.

Take a look at the trailer. (If you received this through a RSS Feed or e-mail, you will actually have to go to the website to view the video.)





I'm hoping to put together a small platoon of people to go see this masterpiece next week.

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Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day and the Crystal Skull

Memorial Day wasn't really meant to be a good-time-feel-good holiday. It was established to honor Union Soldiers that died in the Civil War and was first known as Decoration Day.

Regardless of its original intentions, this solemn holiday has become a chance for most Americans to barbecue and enjoy a 3 Day weekend. I'm not different than most Americans. I just wanted to have a good time on Memorial Day.

My day started out good enough. I watched 4 straight hours of Animal Planet with Alexis in the morning. Jay came over and we had tacos and nachos for lunch. Then we headed over to the Cinemark to catch a matinée of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull with Derrick.

+++SPOILERS+++

Usually I'm not the type of person that gives away spoilers about movies. I want people to see movies on their own, but this is one movie that I don't feel the need to protect any of its secrets. This movies is a piece of garbage.

I've alway been a big fan of the Indiana Jones movies. Sure Temple of Doom blows a little bit, but the other 2 are excellent. Crystal Skull is an insult to all 3 of those movies.

I didn't understand why so many Star Wars fans were upset with the prequels that came out a few years back. True, they weren't very good, but the first 3 Star Wars movies stunk as well. What was the big deal? Instead of 3 movies with terrible acting and writing now you had 6 of them. Star Wars fans should have been elated.

I still don't understand Star Wars fans, (there are certainly much, much better science fiction movies out there, I refer you to the two that Stanley Kubrick made 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange just for starters) but now I can relate to them a bit. I've seen a movie franchise that I love torn to shreds before my very eyes.

On Sunday when we were driving down to The House of Bricks Willy told me that Crystal Skull was not very good. I told him that I could handle it if it wasn't very good, but I would not be able to handle one thing. If they tried to set up a series of sequels starring Even Stevens, I would be angry. I would leave the theater in a rage.

I should have seen the warning signs. Even Willy would be the first to admit that I have much higher standards for movies than he does. The dude loves Van Damme movies!

Despite my bold proclamations, I left the theater angry. In fact, I haven't been this angry leaving the theater since I sat through the misogynistic propaganda piece masquerading as entertainment known as Sin City. I was madder than when I left the theater after Transformers. Another example of taking something I loved from my childhood and making it suck. Incidentally also starring Even Stevens.

The one good thing I can say about Crystal Skull is that they didn't end the movie by setting up sequels for Even Stevens. They came close. They made you think that is what they were going to do. At the end of the movie Indy's hat blows off a hat rack and rolls to a stop at Even Stevens' feet. As he bends over to pick up the hat, Indy picks it up before him and puts it on his head. Me physically vomiting in the aisles was averted.

I suppose that I don't have time to write on all the things I hated about this movie, because there are so many of them. I'll try to keep it to just two.

ALIENS!!!!

Are you kidding me? Could Lucas and Spielberg not turn the last Indiana Jones movie into a science fiction movie? I now fully expect that the next Spielberg WWII movie to involve aliens in some way, shape or form.

CGI!!!

CGI has already, for the most part, ruined most summer movies. It was as if they had missed the point of the first three movies. They were an homage to old time serial movies and they were done with trick photography and stuntmen. Crystal Skull is an homage to the other 3 movies basically, only with way too much CGI. I should have known it was coming when the first shot of the movie features a CGI prairie dog.

My day was ruined from that point on and I don't think that there was much that could have happened to turn my day around.

+++SPOILERS OVER+++

My day did turn around though. I headed out to Roland for Monica's barbecue. The only low point of the barbecue was having Happy Birthday sang to me for the third time in 8 days. I'm glad I won't have to hear that again for some time. Although Monica did make me a sweet Jello birthday cake.















































I don't really like getting presents all that much. Unless it is something the person has made, like a sweet painting or piece of stained glass or cake or rhubarb pie or a card.

Teresa sent me this birthday card.



Front



Inside



Back


There is the occasional exception. Sara got me this sweet gift:





The camera is 30 years old and still is in its original box. This will look great on my shelf of old cameras.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Looking for a Scab

The Baiers and I took Nader out for supper tonight. He leaves for London to be reunited with his family on Saturday. He will be there for six weeks.

That is excellent news for him, but that leaves me without a movie buddy. So I might put out a Help Wanted Ad for a Temp.

Help Wanted

Scab Nader - Temporary position that could last up to six weeks. Job responsibilities involve going to movies with me. Must love art house movies, independent films, foreign films and documentaries. It would be considered a bonus if any applicant can change the name of movies they don't like with the use of mild profanity. Example: Lord of the Crap. Applicants should forward their resume and list of favorite movies to bennett@photography139.com. Applicants that include Sin City or Transformers will have their resumes shredded and then burned. I don't care what the Equal Opportunity Laws say.


I wonder if I will get any applicants.

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Son of Rambow

This is the new must see movie of the year for me. It appeals to everything I love about movies.





I might try to re-assemble the old Rambo platoon for a viewing. I might need Baier to guilt trip Russell to get him there though.

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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Chicago 10

Last night I went to the Varsity with Nader to see Chicago 10. This is a fascinating documentary about the trial of the Chicago 7, 8 or 10 depending on what name you want to use. The film mixes animation with archival footage. I'm not fan of hippies, yippies, Democrats, police, Chicago, numbers, or 1968, but this film is fascinating.





If you are wondering why there the movie is called Chicago 10 when the group was originally known as the Chicago 8 and then the Chicago 7, well there is an interesting story.

When the trial began there were 8 defendants. Bobby Seale (the leader of the Black Panthers that was only in Chicago for a couple hours during the Democratic National Convention) was denied his right of defending himself. Actually he was originally denied his right of having his own attorney. He wanted his trial delayed while his attorney recovered from surgery. When this was denied he requested to defend himself and that request was denied.

In the end, Bobby Seale was severed from the trial and sentenced to 4 years in jail for Contempt. Thus the Chicago 8 became the Chicago 7. However, Jerry Rubin insists that they should be referred to as the Chicago 10 because the two lawyers that defended them also spent time in prison as a result of the trial.

That is the hardest part to soak in for me. How often do lawyers end up in jail because of the people that they are defending? Or because of how crooked the judicial system was at that time?

Jerry Rubin is quoted as saying:

"Anyone who calls us the Chicago Seven is a racist. Because you're discrediting Bobby Seale. You can call us the Chicago Eight, but really we're the Chicago Ten, because our two lawyers went down with us."


The film is definitely heavily slanted towards the side of the protesters, but I don't really know how it couldn't be.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Random Romantic Thoughts

During the week I engage in random intellectual discussions with Andree, Russell, and Jason Baier. The topics covered range from music to movies to politics to sports to religion to fine dining.

Yesterday Russell wanted to know what we considered to be the best romantic movies ever made. I thought I would post my response. Even though it is fairly random and just what I thought about off the top of my head.

In no particular order:

Casablanca- One of the greatest movies of all-time, period.

West Side Story- Greatest musical ever made, period.

Roman Holiday- Audrey Hepburn, what can I say Russell, when you are right, you are right.

My Fair Lady-My 2nd favorite musical. Very sexist ending though.

Singin’ in the Rain- 3rd favorite musical. Makes me wish I could dance in the way that West Side Story makes me wish I was in a gang.

King Kong (1933)- One of my favorite movies of all-time, but most chicks don’t dig it.

Beauty and the Beast- French version or Disney version.

Titanic- Badmouth the movie all you want. It won 10 Academy Awards and is the highest grossing movie of all-time, yet it isn’t cool to admit you like it. I love it.

It Happened One Night- One of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Clark Gable at his best.

The Philadelphia Story-My favorite romantic comedy of all time. Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. What more do you need to say.

Shakespeare in Love-Funny and sad and beautifully written.

The Graduate-Kind of creepy, but still a great love story with a great ending.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner- Another movie that trendy people don’t like, but you give me a movie with Poitier, Hepburn and Tracy and I’ll take it every time. There are at least 3 great scenes in this movie.

Sabrina (1954)- Audrey Hepburn, does it every time, except Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I really don’t like Breakfast at Tiffany’. Perhaps it is because of the overt racism.

The Apartment- Perhaps my all-time favorite Jack Lemmon movie. I think he plays a character that a lot of guys can relate to.

Marty- A chick flick from a guy’s perspective. The lesson of this movie is a great one and I wish more guys could learn it.

The Princess Bride-Still the best fantasy movie ever made. “As You Wish”

Lady and the Tramp- The spaghetti scene, come on!

Dirty Dancing- I hated this movie so much growing up, but it has grown on me over the years.

Grease-What happened to you John Travolta? Unfortunately spawned the worst sequel of all-time.

Jerry Maguire- “You complete me”.

Funny Face- Audrey Hepburn, say no more. Say no more.

Once- I repeat, if you haven’t seen this movie yet, do what it takes to see this movie.

Good Will Hunting-“Sonofabitch, he stole my line.”

Ever After-Not quite as clever as it wants to be, but still pretty good.

It’s a Wonderful Life-Best Christmas movie ever made.

On the Waterfront- Reveals how the love of a woman can push a man to new heights.

Forrest Gump- Glad they didn’t make the book straight up.

10 Things I Hate About You- Cute high school movie with an extremely talented cast.

A Beautiful Mind-Not a great movie, but I do like it. "I need to believe, that something extraordinary is possible."

This is all I got for now. I’m sure when I get home and look through my DVD catalog something else will strike me.

I don’t care for Sleepless in Seattle or the remake, You’ve Got Mail.

I would point out that I do love Gone with the Wind, but I do not consider it to be a great love story. Unless you consider the love story between Scarlett O’Hara and herself. She is an evil person and the movie is about Rhett finally figuring it out. There is a reason why one of the greatest lines in movie history is at the end of this movie. No, Scarlett would have never gotten Rhett to take her back. Margaret Mitchell is on record as saying that and that is why she never wrote a sequel.


I'm curious if anybody else has any thoughts?

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Oscar Party Pictures

I got some pictures e-mailed to me from Brenda of the 2008 Oscar Party. These are a little bit small, but I think you will get an idea of the glamor of the event. This event is also doubles as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.



Brenda



Jen & Derrick



Brenda with her Beau



Jen in her Fur Coat



With Jen and Derrick


I'm still waiting to get some more pictures from Jen, so there may be more pictures posted in the future.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

Oscars

I hope to have pictures up from the formal Oscar party at some point in the future, but until then, the thing that made me the happiest about the Oscars was a win for Falling Slowly for Best Original Song. I can't put into words how much I love the movie Once. I love this movie.

Below are clips of their acceptance speech and the performance of the song by The Swell Season.








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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Rambo Platoon

Tonight was the big Rambo night. Below is a picture of the gentlemen that made their way to our local multiplex to view Rambo with me.




Pictured left to right: Jeff, Yours Truly, Scottie D., Jesse, Derrick, Jason Baier, Jay, Andree and Greg.

Not pictured is Russell. He finally relented to viewing Rambo despite contending that his "self respect was not expendable". However, Russell took off immediately after the film and is not in the photo.

Preceding the movie was a dinner and Rambo discussion. Almost everybody shared a favorite Rambo moment from the past. I will publish those in due course, after I compile my own personal list of my ten favorite Rambo moments.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Best Picture Nominations

They announced the Academy Award Nominations this morning. These are the 5 Best Picture Nominees. I still need to see There Will Be Blood, but at that point I will have seen all the nominees.



Michael Clayton



There Will Be Blood



Juno



No Country for Old Men



Atonement




At this point in the game, I think my favorite would be Juno. My least favorite would definitely be Michael Clayton. Atonement has a great beginning, but I have no love for the way this movie ends. I would consider No Country for Old Men to be almost a perfect movie up until the last 15 minutes. Most people I know hate the ending. I didn't love the ending, but I do love the movie.

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Monday, January 21, 2008

New Top Ten of 2007

I saw two new movies this weekend. These movies do make it necessary for me to reorder my Top Ten of 2007.
  1. Once
  2. Juno
  3. Into the Wild
  4. No Country for Old Men
  5. Ratatouille
  6. Hairspray
  7. The Kite Runner
  8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
  9. You Kill Me
  10. The Bucket List
There are still a couple of decent movies from 2007 that I need to witness. I am planning on seeing There Will Be Blood on Sunday. I would like to go see Enchanted if I get a chance. The Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow. I am excited to see what makes the cut.

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Young at Heart

I went to see The Kite Runner on Saturday night. It was an excellent movie, but what I'm posting here is a preview for a movie I saw before The Kite Runner. It is a documentary called Young at Heart and it is certainly on my list of must see movies now.





This is an awesome clip of the Coldplay song Fix You performed by Young at Heart. This is already a hauntingly beautiful song, but this performance really takes the song up a notch for me. Similar to the way Johnny Cash changed the NIN song Hurt for me forever.



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Monday, January 14, 2008

Top Ten Movies of 2007

Now seems like a good time to release a preliminary list of what I consider to be the ten best movies I saw from 2007. This is a preliminary list because I hope to see a few other movies in the next couple of weeks that might make a change in the list. I still need to see Bucket List, There Will Be Blood and The Kite Runner.

Top 10 Movies of 2007

10. Atonement
9. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. You Kill Me
7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
6. Hairspray
5. Ratatouille
4. No Country for Old Men
3. Into the Wild
2. Juno
1. Once

I would consider making a list of the 10 worst movies of 2007, but I think that list would hardly be comprehensive. You see I don't rent or go to the theater to see things that are obviously garbage. I'm certain that Bratz, I Know Who Killed Me, Hostel Part 2, Norbit, Good Luck Chuck or the Halloween remake are some of the worst movies ever made. I don't know for sure because I haven't seen them. The worst movies from last year I've seen are Transformers and Beowulf. I highly doubt they are worse than anything starring Dane Cook or was directed by Uwe Boll.

I'll change the list if any of the movies I still need to see warrant a changing of the list.

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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Atonement & Persuasion

Masterpiece Theater is running a series of movies based on Jane Austen novels. In fact they are doing all 6 Jane Austen novels and a dramatization of her life. I'm kind of excited about this and it started tonight. The first movie they showed was Persuasion. This movie is about a 27 year old spinster who had to turn down her one chance at marriage when she was 19. By a strange twist of fate, the man that she had to turn down and the man she still loves comes back into her life. I found it interesting that 27 was considered too old for marriage and the large amount of cousins marrying each other. One suave guy asked the main character (and his cousin) to marry her by saying: "Anne Elliot. I think you should keep that name." You see because they were cousins and they shared last names, so hers wouldn't change. Yeah, gross. She didn't end up with her cousin.

It was pretty good, but the highlight for the movie was the best description of being in love I have ever heard. "I am half agony and half hope."

Today I also went to see Atonement. I have little doubt that Atonement will be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but the movie didn't do that much for me. It did for awhile. The beginning was great and then it slowed down and got less interesting. However, it was the surprise ending that completely ruined it for me. I can't give away the ending because I don't want to ruin the ending for anybody out there, but I take great umbrage with the belief that sacrificing truth was the proper way to end this story. I am a great believer in truth and believe that it is the most important thing in the world, so I don't believe in the good intentioned lie that this movie endorses. That is also why I hate the movie Amelie and believe that the main problem with it is that the main character is evil and never gets a just punishment for the lies and deceit she spreads.

It is my belief that Film School has more or less been canceled. Jay has yet to confirm this fact, but I think it is safe to presume that it is so. So I'll go back to writing brief movie reviews this way. However, they will be very brief. Thursday I'm going to see The Kite Runner with Teresa. 14 days from today it will be time for Rambo. I believe that already 6 people have signed up for this viewing. That number just might grow.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Film School: Beowulf

I heard something yesterday that incredibly angers me, but that might be for a later time. Here is a new episode of film school about the movie Beowulf. Jay is getting pretty good at the editing. Now if only I were to improve we might have something here.



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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Film School: Calm Down

This episode is devoted to a movie made by a co-worker's cousin. There is a prize for any person can figure out what word has been censored.




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Monday, December 03, 2007

American Gangster

This blog is 89 views away from 10,000! That might not be many views for you, but it is a lot for me so bugger off. No, I don't mean that. Keep coming back.


What a great weekend to be a Cyclone! In reality it is always a great Cyclone to be a Cyclone, but this was a particularly great weekend to be a Cyclone. What did we accomplish:

On Friday, the volleyball team upset No. 16 San Diego 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The men's basketball team beat the Oregon State Beavers 71-64.

On Saturday, the swimming & diving team went up to Cedar Falls and whipped the Panthers 180-57.
The women's basketball team beat up on Montana State 76-50.
The volleyball team beat No. 8 Wisconsin 3-0 in the NCAA tournament to advance to play No. 7 California on Friday in the regionals.

Then today, (in a sport I actually loathe) the No. 2 wrestling team went to Minnesota and defeated the No. 1 ranked Gophers 18-13.

Another review is ready for public consumption. Below you will find my review of both American Gangster and eating at King Buffet.


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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Just to explain what is going on in this video, somehow the original recording was lost. Jay recapped what I said with my good buddy Emperor Solar System.




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