Shall We Dance?
Stuck in the airplane, I watched Richard Gere dance again. Dirty Dancing or last year’s sequel Dirty Dancing Havanna Nights are filled with teenage lust and broken hearts. This film is the middle aged version of the earlier dance films. Everything is cleaned up. A young women makes a bored estate lawyer take up ball room dacing because he craves some adventure after 19 years of marriage. Fortunately for the institution of marriage, dancing keeps his lust in check. The story has some surprising twists, but on the whole remains quite banal. What this light romantic comedy has going for itself is that the dancing is beautiful. If you like ball room dancing, the movie will not bore you.
I, Robot
I am not much of a fan of the Sci-fi genre, but this film kept me entertained while sitting on a plane. It is based on a book by Isaac Asimonov, who was clearly informed about the debates philosophers carried out over the last 5 decades concerning artificial intelligence. Will it ever be possible for robots to think and feel like human beings? Robots have become so cheap and so sophisticated in Chicago of 2035 that people buy them in electronic stores as cheap labor. Will Smith plays a cop who does not like robots and suspects that they are not as peaceful and moral as the largest manufacturer, US Robotics claims. The chief scientist of US Robotics is found dead after falling down 30 stories into the courtyard of the U.S. Robotics firm. Will Smith correctly believes that the apparent suicide was murder but who did it? Could a robot ever turn against the human creators?
Prince Charles to Marry His Lover
As far as stories goes, this one printed in today’s New York Times is a pretty good one…
Charles Calls End to the Affair: He’ll Happily Wed His Camilla
By SARAH LYALL
LONDON, Feb. 10 - They have been friends for more than 30 years and lovers for most of that time. They have survived marriages to and divorces from other people; the icy disapproval of relatives; the resentment of the public; and, perhaps most excruciating of all, the publication of intimate details of their risqu
Continue ReadingTom Jones
This film, which received an Ocscar for best picture in 1963, takes an hour to become funny for someone who is not English. The first hour is filled with dry British humor. The second hour adds drama, making it easier for me to forget that I was standing on a stairmaster, trying to lose a few pounds while watching a movie. It was fun to see Albert Finney as a young man. As many a woman remarks in the film, he was quite easy to look at.
Standing Ovation during the First Day on the Job
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales received a large round of applause when he appeared at the Justice Department for his first day of work. Did the employees at the department break out into spontaneous applause when the new boss showed up because John Ashcroft was so bad? Or did they simply want to preserve their chances for promotion? I was told a long time ago: “If you have been installed by someone else to lead a bunch people, don’t fall into the trap of believing that the applause you get on the first day is sincere! They will clap will clap again when the next boss shows up.”
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The Golden Dream Goes on and on in Southern California
Verylyn Klinkenborg published today interesting travel notes in the NY Times.
Rereading the Landscape of an Essay by Joan Didion
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.
Forty years ago this month, a housewife named Lucille Miller - just turning 35 - came to trial in San Bernardino for the murder of her husband, a dentist who was named Gordon Miller and called Cork. The murder was a clumsy one. Cork Miller burned to death in the back seat of a 1964 Volkswagen. According to the district attorney, Lucille Miller intended to make it look as if the car had rolled over an embankment and burst into flames. She would have had time in that deserted neighborhood to get home before the accident was reported. Instead, the car got stuck in the sand in low gear, and burst into flames anyway.
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Million Dollar Baby
There is an iron-law of film-making that every director should recognize: When the script is poor, it is impossible to create a good film. Million Dollar Baby has noble intentions. It wants to be deep. Towards the end, it surprisingly gains gravitas and you want to forget that three quarters of the movie were slow and banal, especially for a guy like myself who thinks that deriving joy from watching peeople beat each other up (boxing) is infantile. I don’t mind a martial arts film because martial arts is all about self-defense and not pointless thrashing.
House of Flying Daggers
This is one film that deserves an unequivocal endorsement: Absolutely beautiful! It is a feast for the eyes and for the heart. You don’t want to miss this motion picture event.
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