Before Borat the Movie
Need some short piece of comedy to cheer up your workday. Then check out the funny TV episodes of Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G and Borat. Go to Youtube.com and search for Ali G or Borat.
What I may have done in the 14th Century
I recently met a woman who told me that I am an “old soul.” “No, I am young! Much younger than you think!” I retorted. But she would be pleased to learn that a priest by the name of Peter Murmann existed in the 14th century who founded a cloister called Klosterli in the Swiss town Fiesch. Anyone who believes in perfect reincarnation could now believe that my soul is a good 700 years old. The beauty of the Internet is that you can figure out whether you have a doppelgänger. Since there are least 10 living “Peter Murmanns” on the Internet, it becomes quite legitimate to ask question who of the many Peter Murmanns currently in existence has the rightful claim to possess the soul of the 14th century Swiss priest.
Grizzly Man
Timothy Treadwell lived for 13 summers with grizzly bears as if they were tame and loving creates before he was killed by one them. Treadwell created in total 100 hours of film footage that Werner Herzog has woven into an arresting documentary. The film is the most original piece of work that I have seen in a long time. It deserves to be seen by any serious student of the cinematographic art. Treadwell tells us that he is unable to live in “the people’s world.” Casting himself very successfully on the 100 hours of footage as an actor in a film shot in beautiful Alaska, he goes on to say that he committed himself to spending all summer protecting what he believed to be an endangered species. He constantly risks his own life and during the last two years also that of his girlfriend.
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Like with many borderline crazy people, there is rationality in his madness. Treadwell deep down knew that at his core he was an artist (who can only exist in relationship to society) and that he was willing to sacrifice everything to create a piece of art that had never existed before and but for him would have never seen the day of light. By taking us away from civilization into the wild and brutal world of grizzly bears, Treadwell was able to provide an entirely new perspective on civilization. He brings us right to the point where we can see: Man Grizzly.
Dr. Love has one More Piece of Advice for You!
This is a good story. I wish I had written it.
By JANE GORDON (NYT)
FOR years, Charley Wininger, a Gestalt psychotherapist and dating coach in Brooklyn, had wined and dined serious, intellectual women. A hippie who recalls being gassed while protesting the Vietnam War, he has always been passionate about politics and philosophy. He has also been passionate about relationships, pontificating about them on talk shows and in news articles, so much so that he was dubbed the Love Doctor by Newsday.
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Rupert Murdoch’s Family Values
Murdoch believes in family values. That’s why he married three times. In a recent profile in the New Yorker (October 16, 2006) he explained. “I am a radical in the sense of supporting change… I also believe in free markets and family values—in a low-key way. I am not one to preach about it, having been married three times. But I really believe that the family is the basis of society.”
Rupert, you are too modest. It makes perfect sense that if you really value families, you feel a moral imperative to create more than one! And why would a radical believer in change not exchange the wife once in a while. After all, a mariage market can only function efficiently if there is some trading going on!
Jazz Washes Away the Dust of Everyday Life
Art Blakey uttered this wonderful line in the superb documentary on Jazz by Ken Burns. I am presently watching the 10th and final episode of a film that taught me a new understanding of American history.
Cars
The two previous blockbuster movies by Pixar, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, became such an artistic success because the animal and cartoon characters were more human than most characters in films populated by humans. I was skeptical whether you could turn automobiles into believable human characters. After all, people often love their cars, but they don’t transfer onto the inanimate objects the same emotional energy as they do onto their pets. Cars is not on the same level as Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, but it turned out surprisingly good. It is a great movie for kids, communicating lessons that every parent would like to teach. Adults will also enjoy the film because the computer animations are once again done so well. Imagine what car racing through the Arizona landscape will look like in a computer animation. You will be surprised
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a film about the live radio show presenting a mixture of folk music and comedy for the heartland of America every Saturday night. Periodically I would stumble upon show on my classical radio station, but never listened more than a few minutes because the humor was not my cup of tea. I suspect that the director Robert Altman grew up with this kind of show and was willing to make a film about a fictional last show of radio program out of sense of nostalgia for a time gone by. One could have made a beautiful film about American folk music and its cultural meaning. But the ambitions of the film are too modest. It simply wants to preserve for posterity one of these shows and what its dominant host was like. This does not amount to much despite its great cast of actors, including Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson.
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn
Ernest Hemingway proved that it is possible to write an entire novel in one line.
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