February 2009
Look At All These Unsold Cars →
Current Thesis
Examine the cultural evolution and significance of the Italian neo-realist movement and its relationship with contemporary naturalist cinema. Interest: why filmmakers felt compelled to make darker, grittier films post-WWII and why this attitude still lives today with contemporary filmmakers. Methodology: prepare the ground by first providing a basic overview of what the Italian Neo-Realist...
WatchClint Edwards - “Broad Standards” Reading
I love this guy.
-thanks bear
Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was...
Spencer Russell: Ballad of Matthew Black
...
kari-shma:
brokenmachine:
Frou Frou - Let Go
Anonymous
A builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace and skill;
Pillars and groins and arches,
All fashioned to work his will.
Men said,when they saw its beauty,
“It shall never know decay;
Great is thy skill, O Builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye.”
A parent builded a temple,
With loving and infinite care,
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None praised...
The Band's Visit Review
The Band’s Visit was a brilliantly awkward film. I loved it! I don’t know a lot about the soured relationships between both Egypt and other Arab countries, but I did recognize a very uncomfortable atmosphere between these cultures. The entire setting and mood is one of isolation. The film starts with a bus dropping off the band in front of a barren and desolate airport: the air seems somewhat...
New Movie Idea
A hyper-individualized positivist dies, but does not, as expected, flair into non-existence. He is in an afterlife, and he finds that, contrary to what he expected, there are consequences for actions, for his actions in life. He never became liberated, and what he thought was bold was following the herd. He wasn’t new and exciting, but one of a vast throng of brayers, baaers, and mooers. ...
Mythos (Revisited)
We were telling stories before we understood the concept story: it’s in our blood. Many of these stories we believe, and many of which are true, and at the core of all these stories are ideas, values, and other accepted principles that are not only viable, but vital for our collective well-being. We have coined our stories and their subsequent maxims as ‘myths.’
We think, for example, that ‘truth...
Doors
The running theme seems to always be about opening doors, as if to suggest there aren’t doors that should remain locked.
We’re inebriated on finding their keys, as if to suggest we’ve forgotten the tale of Pandora’s Box.
We’re opening them in the name of tolerance, “freeing the mind”, and succinctly love, as if to suggest that history books have taught...
On David Mamet's Screenwriting Book, "On Directing...
Mamet talks about paying the necessary price in order to learn the trade of screenwriting. That price is expensive, and though it frequently tends to tantalize my mind with hopes of success, it becomes, however, dreadfully painful to pay when I get in front of the computer screen. The glamour is gone, the limelight dims low, and my mind draws blanks of grey clouds. Sometimes I just sit there for...
Spencer Russell: Severance Song
Spencer is a...
People of the Lie (Part 1)
Renowned psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, makes some fairly noteworthy commentary in his book, “People of the Lie.” His dissected subject: human evil.
According to Peck, common themes reside in evil people: hiding, stealth and covertness.
Evil people are not necessarily noted for the illegality of their deeds or the magnitude of their sins, but by the consistency of such.
This partly...
The Link Between Science and Religion: The Problem...
Not all theologians (esp. Joseph Smith) loath to employ the reductionistic methods of science, but they are also not reluctant to use more integrative “right-brain” means of exploration: meditation, intuition, feeling, faith, and revelation.
Ironically enough, even scientists today use what Smith called “faith” and “revelation,” yet they classify such terms...
The Link Between Science and Religion: The Problem...
This is to say, psychology cannot be a purely secular branch of science.
After all, science was born from myth: how can it completely divorce from its parent?
Science of all types must pay serious attention to literature, particularly mythology.
As human beings battled against evil throughout the ages, they consciously or unconsciously seriously incorporated the lessons they learned into mythic...
The Link Between Science and Religion: The Problem...
The separation of Science and Religion no longer works, at least in my eyes.
We’re a right and left brained race of individuals: we need both Logic and Emotion harmoniously intertwined with one another to figure it all out.
Why divorce from one and praise the other?
If you fall into such a trap, you’re either admitting that you’re some industrial automaton incapable of feeling,...
The Link Between Science and Religion: The Problem...
After Galileo stressed the dangers of mingling religion with science, the world quite arbitrarily divided into two realms: the “natural” and “supernatural.”
Religion agreed to keep it’s nose out of scientific affairs, and science with religious affairs.
Each had their respected domains.
Thus has been the acrimonious divorce between the two for the past 300 years, and,...
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Review
Given any particular event, we all have our own version of how that event transpired, whether it describes things as they really took place—or—describes things as they were merely imagined. The viewer is able to see both a real and imagined paradigm in this very dark and twisted love story; one which most, at first, will not expect to deliver darkness later on. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is one...
the devil's are pervasive: discern and rend the...
What would it take for someone to knowingly...
The Objective Tongue vs. The Mystic Tongue
The one speaks with iron boldness: straight to the soul no-holds-barred style.
The other: like soft milk that kittens drink slowly.
The objective tongue was never meant to be popular or easy_
but like a fire hydrant, tsunami, or boiling cauldron.
It can have a caustic voice; one that doesn’t sing pleasantly, but forcefully.
But it can also have a firm, resilient voice; one that stands...
101 goals in 1000 days
miianwilson:
awesome stuff mike! I laughed out loud on a couple of them. Sounds like quite the ambitious goal schedule, but it’s all worth pursuing. i wish you the best of luck.
As for my top 5 films, that’s incredibly tough. I typically go by directors but I’ll try and be as honest and close as possible. [Note: these will be based more upon inspiration than aesthetics).
Here...
havent-got-a-prayer:
shutupinternet:
Mad World -...
A fairly misleading article about Mormons and Prop... →
matthewcolvin:
(MATTHEW COLVIN POSTED):
During the election, the Mormon Church pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the push to ban same-sex marriage in California — a campaign that deprived people in a different state [from where the church is based] of a fundamental civil right.
LDS officials initially claimed they donated $2,078 to the Yes on 8 campaign (although direct donations by...
Myth
“And what if religion were de-mythologized? What then?” asked the dreamer to the hermit.
“By de-mythologize do you attempt to present religion rationally?” the hermit retorted.
“Yes.”
“I grow weary already then.”
“But would you reject without listening?”
“I listen. Yet mind you my ears are dull to your future words.”
The...
lovethatmixtape:
kapi:
thismightsuck:
Enjoy...
An extremist Christian killed John Lennon
optimisto:
This doesn’t mean all christians are extremists. Those that demonize Muslims as a group of Extremists is completely confused. There are some extremists on both sides. John Lennon was a threat to the US Government. He was killed by an extremist Christian....
The New Commandment
Vomit with those who vomit.
