50 First Dates
Deeply built into our notion of romantic love is the idea that there is one other person out there who is tailor-made to be your mate. The only real question in this particular notion of love is whether you are able to find this person among the 6 billion people who could be the one. The film is firmly built on these premises. But it cleverly explores the complications of keeping even the most promising romance going. What if you have short-term memory loss and wake up every morning with no recollection whatsoever that you fell in love yesterday. Is romantic love possible under these trying circumstances? Can you form a meaningful relationship? If you are looking for an interesting little romance movie, this is a film for you.
Annie Hall
During the first thirty minutes of the movie I wanted to scream out after every sentence of the dialogue: Brilliant!!! The rest of the movie is excellent as well. Woody Allen could (perhaps should) have stopped writing, acting and directing movies after Annie Hall (1977), and he would have deserved to be inducted into the hall of fame of great comic analysts of the human (New York) condition. Three thumbs up! This is the one Woody Allen film that you don’t want to miss if you like intellectual comedy.
Calling All Ids: Freudians at War
D. D GUTTENPLAN filed this interesting report from Britain in today’s NYT. I have one recommendation for British vacationers in Spain and Portugal, age 18 and above, who are thinking about seeing a psychotherapist. Look up the local catholic priest. He does not charge any money for a talk therapy.
LONDON, May 28 - Who owns psychoanalysis? That question is
at the center of the most recent battle here in the Freud
Wars, the epic (or as the man himself might say,
interminable) struggle over the legacy of Sigmund Freud,
pioneer psychotherapist, cartographer of the unconscious
and former resident of Hampstead, the leafy corner of
Northwest London where the concentration of therapeutic
couches per square mile may be even higher than on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan.
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Unlike Gladiator, Russel Crowe’s earlier historical action movie, the drama in Master and Commander” is quite dull. I was so bored after the first hour that I needed to rest a day before I could watch the second hour. Why did I continue at all? Well, Britain became the world’s greatest power in the 18th century by virtue of its navy. As a piece of historical sociology, the film has some splendid moments depicting the social organization of an British warship. Because of the enthusiam of the ship’s doctor for collecting species on the Galapagos Islands, we also get a sense of how important natural history was to British science from the 15th to the 19th century. Unfortunately, the film’s educational ambitions are frequently thrown over board.
Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chlo
I have heard the main piece of this synphony many times but never with the ears that were given to me tonight. It reminded me of the momentus transition in the history of life when animals moved from the sea onto the shore. I wonder if I will have same association after having listened to the entire symphony.
Twins Reunite After 20 Years
Here is a fascinating story I recently came across again as I started to read a book on what is known about the similarities in behavior of identical twins raised apart.
New York. As soon as Tamara Rabi arrived at Hofstra University, she
noticed the bizarre behavior. People she had never laid
eyes on would smile, wave and greet her as an intimate.
Then, met by Tamara’s blank stare, they would walk away. A
few friends claimed to have spotted someone who looked just
like her. Someone else from Mexico, she figured.
So when a friend of a friend showed up at her 20th birthday
party and could not stop gawking, insisting that Tamara
looked just like his friend Adriana Scott, it was mildly
annoying but not a surprise. As the other guests dug into
ice cream cake, the friend’s friend persisted. Adriana had
also been born in Mexico, he said. Like Tamara, she was
also adopted. And the two young women shared a birthday.
Thus began the real-life unfolding of a fairy-tale story
line, a paradigm that has inspired psychological studies
(nature vs. nurture), movies (“The Parent Trap”) and at
least one sitcom (“Sister, Sister”).
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Science Diet Canine Food
For some people going on a diet used to be a frightingly solitary affair. Do not despair! The end of solitude is here. Thanks to the Science Diet company, your dog can now go on a diet with you. This is a barrier-shattering moment in the relationship between the canine and human races. Canines finally are no longer treated as inferior creatures. Too long have they been discriminated against in terms of equal access to modern dietary and health products.
The mission of the the Science Diet Company is to produce only the best products for your dog. Its promotial materials make this clear: “Nutrient control is the basis of all Science Diet products. Science Diet dog foods are specially formulated to provide proper nutrition specifically for your dog based on age, activity level and physical condition. Does your dog have ‘Special Needs’”?
You can buy Science Diet Dry Dog Food and Science Diet Canned Dog Food at ePatPals.com.
Continue ReadingOn the Waterfront
This movie directed by Elia Kazan holds up even 50 years after its making. Labor unions in America no longer enjoy the power they did after World War II when their struggles with management made the front page of newspapers almost every day. If the movie were made today the corrupt union boss would be replaced by the corrupt Enron manager. But what would remain is the dramatic struggle between the many decent people who are exploited by the few, but don’t seem to be able to overthrow their exploiters until a few muster enough courage to do so. Marlon Brando delivers one of the most moving acting performances I have ever seen.
In America
A young Irish family emigrates to Manhattan to start a new life. But first the old life has to be left behind, and this proves to be harder than anticipated. Although death seemingly looms behind every corner, life struggles mightily to get back on its feet. This is a wonderfully perceptive film. Jim Sheridan (the director) has the touch of a poet. The two young actresses playing 10 and 8 year old sisters are pure gold.
The Science of Love
The Economist (print edition) Feb 12th 2004 published an interesting report about what scientists know about the chemistry of romantic feelings.
I get a kick out of you
Scientists are finding that, after all, love really is down to a chemical addiction between people
OVER the course of history it has been artists, poets and playwrights who have made the greatest progress in humanity’s understanding of love. Romance has seemed as inexplicable as the beauty of a rainbow. But these days scientists are challenging that notion, and they have rather a lot to say about how and why people love each other.
Is this useful? The scientists think so. For a start, understanding the neurochemical pathways that regulate social attachments may help to deal with defects in people’s ability to form relationships. All relationships, whether they are those of parents with their children, spouses with their partners, or workers with their colleagues, rely on an ability to create and maintain social ties. Defects can be disabling, and become apparent as disorders such as autism and schizophrenia
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