Maybe on a full belly

I viewed this movie under the pretense that Kar Wai Wong’s “In The Mood For Love,” could be a substitute for a novel, fulfilling a ”Film as Literature” class. This movie would be better suited as an exhibit for a “Film as Art” class.



There are so many big problems in the world today. And directors use film to voice their opinions on the subject matter. Seldom though, do film directors offer viable solutions; they more or less use their star power to shine a light on the situation. Sometimes these opinions are expressed with deficit busting budgets. Sometimes their greatest expense is expansive use of right brain thinking. Wong, uses the big screen here to voice a small problem. If only the worst the world suffered was hi infidelity!

The dialogue only digs a few syllables deeper than the “how is the weather” pleasantries. The plot is written in this economy of line and is stingy in coherency, but it is the visual experience that is an embarrassment of riches for me.

I could run my fingers through the images. One of the more fetching images that greet the eye is Maggie Cheung’s character Mrs. Chow. I could visually hear the frou frou of her swooshing dresses. I should note, which are an endless variation of the same dress. Those dresses are clue as to when time passes. Pay close attention to the taxi ride.

Maggie Cheung’s character walks a Sirens call that falls on the ears listening male fantasy. She embodies that submissive cliché but her body holds more than the power of suggestion. Those hips are in charge.
Like I said, it is the visuals that caught my eye but not my imagination.



Now I never felt like an intruder when the camera sneaks down a long hall shot. I never felt like I was eavesdropping on a private conversation when the camera lurked behind a corner. I never felt like I over stayed my welcome when the camera entered a room full of people. A few low angle shots even made me feel like a little kid hiding under the bed, but it was the story itself that made me feel like an adult. An adult plagued with mundane marriage problems. Maybe if we talked about politics or religion my interest would have been piqued. This is a Soap Opera hiding in Drama’s clothing. A sheep in wolves clothing. This movie filled an empty space but the story telling left me with no empathy for the characters.



Yimou Zhang’s film “Raise the Red Lantern” could be viewed as a novel. Zhang is the Chinese Charles Dickens.

The maid of Orléans

I came across this quote in the BBC archives about the 17,000 year old art gracing the walls of the Lascaux caves; When Pablo Picasso visited the newly-discovered Lascaux caves, in the Dordogne, in 1940, he emerged from them saying of modern art, "We have discovered nothing".



Two weeks ago I watched La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc by film director Carl Theodor Dreyer in a Film as Literature class. Two weeks ago I got the wind knocked out of me. It was a short sharp shock to my imagination. I never saw it coming.

This movie crippled my fingers. This movie slugged me in the jaw. I’ve taken two aspirins and now I am healthy enough to tell my side of the story...




They say you never should bring up religion or politics in a friendly conversation. So what do you talk about in the company of enemies?

When asked by the French Ecclesiastical judges, with English soldiers leering over their shoulders, if she knew she was in God’s Grace; Jeanne d’Arc answered ” 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.'

Damn good answer. She may have also mentioned that the English dogs will lose their dominance and the French will crown Charles VII king.



1431 was a busy year for France. 1928 was a busy year for film director Carl Theodor Dreyer. He worked La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc from the actually trail transcripts. Dreyer made a statement so strong, that he might as well as declared war. This is the loudest silent picture I have ever witnessed. Take a handful of actors and have them capture that moment in time. Fiercely.



Eighty-Two years later we have sound systems that can shake foundations with the sound of a pin dropping. We have created zoomed in visuals so seamless clear we can see a tear in the fabric of space. We have made our make-believe into our reality with computer-generated special effects. We have mastered our machines. Yet for all the modern technology at our disposal; nobody has committed a stronger statement in film since.

After the credits rolled and the lights came back on, I thought of today’s top contenders like Avatar, and muttered to myself "We have discovered nothing".

In February

Happy Valentines Day to those in Love, to those who hope to be in Love, or maybe those happy-go-lucky individuals that are not ball 'n chained at all. Either way, my movie pick today will be all warm and fuzzy. In fact today’s choice will stare back at you with big puppy dog eyes.



Director Fatih Akin’s “In July” is the perfect pick. Being a quest for true love and a road adventure, this gives off appeal to both sexes. ”In July” stars that guy, Moritz Bleibtreu from “Run Lola Run” fame, who portrays student teacher Daniel. Take him out of class and he is not smart enough to know what is right smack dab in front of his nose. It takes a trip from Germany to Turkey and back to learn. Press play and get cozy!

9 out of 10 Bon Bons

Mutant Genes of the Super Ape

Apes descended from Humans. Blasphemy!



Planet of the Apes was directed by Franklin Schaffner and slipped into the world's consciousness during the spring of 1968. Mr. Schaffner loosely based his movie on Pierre Boulle's novel, La Planete des Singes. Planet of the Apes stars Charlton Heston and he gives us a performance of biblical proportions as astronaut George Taylor. Roddy McDowall is so convincing as Chimpanzie Dr.Cornelius, that I forget that he is wearing a monkey suit. No, I do not mean, a suit and tie.



For me, Planet of the Apes, encapsulates the imminent domain thinking of Homo sapiens.
Especially, my fellow fair skinned race, although people from all creeds and colors can get that look in their eye. If they cannot speak like us, then obviously their craniums are undeveloped. If they cannot worship like us then they are savages. If we can raise a flag on it, it belongs to us. It most certainly gives us the right to take theirs. God gives us his blessing.



Nah, just kidding, Planet of the Apes is about a group of human astronauts led by George Taylor that crash lands on a planet run by various species of apes. Orangutans seem to occupy societies highest rung while the average Joes are the Chimpanzees. It is the Gorillas that really run things around there. Gorillas control the military. A pair of non average Chimps, Dr. Cornelius and his lovely partner Zira, break a few taboos and risk all too save our human hero. This human is different; he speaks! This movie ends with one of the most iconic finishes. Honestly, I loved this movie as a kid, loved it even more as grew into a know it-all-teen and still love it with all my jaded adult heart.



Wait... I am wrong, that was a NRA rally!



Wow and they use this to sell popcorn. And guns!

Bad Genes

While the great minds of science go on debating whether or not God is dead, Art, rest assured, was laid to rest sometime in the sixties. It was a quiet funeral, in fact nobody seemed to notice, especially the artists. Art’s closest surviving relative is Film. I say living, but Film is on life support. There are a few Film directors keeping the Art alive by playing doctor. Director Pedro Almodovar has dropped to his knees to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on an industry that is choking for air. Pedro can't keep it breathing all by himself. Do your part, rent Films and keep them placed off of the critically endangered list.



Pedro Almodovar and yes, she is born with it!

So what then distinguishes Film from a Movie you may ask? What the Hell then is a Motion Picture? The term Film is reserved for those movies that stimulate more than your erogenous zones. They message your cerebral parts. A director of a film is an artist that captures the fate of faces and not a merely choreographer of people and places. Films can be an acquired taste. Films do not need to age. Films are best viewed alone. No distractions. An altered state is not necessary. An effectively shot film should get you right between the eyes!

Movies are what you take your date to. Movies are what you prop the kids in front of if you need two hours of “me” time. Movies are for entertainment purposes only.
Motion Pictures are movies that have simply stood the test of time.



As with all distinctions, lines can be blurred. Take for example, Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. Is ” The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” cinematic high art or merely a lowbrow shoot’em up. Are they a statement of mans existential existence disguised as a chew spittin' thug in spurs? Science here proves nothing..

Silent running

I call this a Sci-Fry movie because of the stoner hippie ideals. Not a bad thing, mind you, I am just saying. I caught this movie at a midnight showing in our capitol city. That was back in the early hedonistic 80’s. I paid my admission, and could not say no to a large bucket of buttered popcorn, (in those days, probably my late dinner). I pushed my way through the theater doors. The audience reeked of weed. I caught snippets of pseudo intellectual babble. Nervous giggles from their dates. As I sat down I knew I was in for a mellow buzz.
Bruce Dern was inspired pick of the litter to play our main man. There is something unsettling about him whether he is in character or not. It is those beady penetrating eyes. I would not trust him with my pin number even if he swore on his mother’s grave, but that’s beside the point.



Our movies hero, botanist Freeman Lowell, is the keeper of earth’s last gardens. Nature has been trampled over by the machinery of industrialized civilization. What has been rescued is up in space in giant dome like green houses. A half dozen of these extra terrestrial Edens are a burden to the commercial freighter Valley Forge. To help perform the duties are a trio of maintenance droids and a few human co-workers. Word from earth calls for their jettison and destruction so that the Valley Forge can go back to making the big bucks. No different with today’s funding of our museums. Any politician will remind that it is much cheaper to yank the plug. Kids learn all they need from TV anyway.
So Freeman’s co-workers like good union drones go about obeying their orders. One by one a pod of earth’s last gardens are destroyed. One by one Freeman is losing his composure. This must stop. Wrongs can happen during righteous Crusades. That’s all ready to much plot given away. I will tell you the droids names though. They are Huey, Dewey and Louie. The drones’ names are unimportant. 4.5 out of 5 stars