[Rafflesia]

I wathced Kill Bill when it came out on DVD to see what the hype was about. The violence in the fight scens did not disturb me much, beucase it was so voer the top, that it didn't seem real, and I like watching graceful mvoements of martial arts. What I couldn't stomach was the potential rape scene in the hospital; it seemed too real and I was disturbed that every one seemed nonplussed by it. I see things like that and think some pervert probably recieved a new idea, or am horrified by the discovery of a new attrocity that probably characterizes our society. When I want to watch violence, I watch documentraires; at least I learn something and then have people (congress news papers) I can write about it afterwards.

I generally like foreign movies better. The Bosnian "No Man's Land" is a great commentary on the absurdity of war. The inadequacey of UN managemnet, and the vulture-like behavior of the media. I like thriller movies, meaning every thing is connected and your'e not sure how until the end, rather than high crime movies. My favorites are the Argentinan movie "Nine Queens" abotu a heist, and "Alias Betty" about too much to write, but deals with the loss of a child. The Lebanese movie "When Maryam Spoke," is one of the best movies I have seen ever, but not yet available on DVD...it's about how much pain searching for happiness can cause when people listen to outside voices to tell them what happiness is.

I also like old movies - no one will ever replace Katherin Hepburn.