What are you currently watching on DVD/Video and at the Movies?

[Nancy]

Hi All,

Here is another thread for the Cybermacro Lounge to enable sharing on current interests. Gary has described the former Cybermacro practice of viewing a film and sharing comments about it in a post in the Reading thread. Please feel free to post your current interests in DVD/Video and Movies here.

Nancy

[Nancy]

As my interests tend to range wide,

I am currently following up on the actor, Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ". As Mel Gibson does, I find him fascinating and capable of enacting his craft with deep passion in the parts he's played. Interesting actor.

"Passion of the Christ" Jim Caviezel. Understandable to Christians who share a deep relationship with Christ and particularly Catholics, who have an even deeper understanding of the "passion", and are unafraid to decpict the "suffering" (Greek meaning of passion) of Christ.

"Angel Eyes" Jennifer Lopez and Jim Caviezel. Two injured people, due to life circumstances -- one by personal tragedy, the other by dysfunctional family issues, reach out to each other through the seeming darkness of this world. They save each other's lives, without knowing each other. Then find love and healing together.

"High Crimes" Ashley Judd and Jim Caviezel, with Morgan Freeman. Young, vibrant, successful, female attorney meets stiff challenges when her loving husband is abducted by the FBI and accused of crimes that might bring him the death penalty.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" Jim Caviezel and Richard Harris. Swashbuckling extravaganza with spiritual overtones. Innocent young man believes all those he meets will deal with him honestly. He receives training in the realities of the world and lands falsely accused in prision with wise old spiritual mentor who arms him for life's battles. Then he escapes...


Also seen lately,

"Kill Bill, Vol. 1" Uma Thurman -- in order to know what the hoopla is all about.

"The Last Samurai" Tom Cruise.


Looking forward to,

"Hero" with Jet Li

"Collateral" with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx


Nancy Un

[garymill]

Well now that Nancy's thread seems to be back on DVD/Videos. I am going to get this started with discussing.

I saw this movie last fall when it first hit theaters. Before seeing it, I already knew that Quentin Tarantino had made the movie so long that it had to be split into two parts and also that it contained highly stylized violence, and not much back story concerning the characters. All we really knew was that the main character, Birdie played by Uma Thurman had been shot in the head and left for dead at her own wedding 4 years earlier, along with the killing of the rest of the wedding party. She had also been pregnant at the time. Birdie wakes up in a hospital room after being in a coma for 4 years, escapes, and vows revenge upon the people responsible for this, her former gang of female assigns led by Bill (David Carradine). One by one she murders most of her former associates. One of the most interesting fight scenes was all done purely in Anime.

The movie to me seemed to be mostly a lot of martial arts type fight sequences. You could say that they were all very impressive, but I would have preferred the movie to have been more character driven, then all of the sudden after one large fight scene, the movie just ended. I knew about part two coming, so this did not come as a shock to me, I just got up and started walking out, actually the first one out. Everyone else it seemed was just sort of stunned, and was still sitting in their seats not realizing the movie had really ended.

All the missing character development did actually come in volume 2. I really enjoyed this one. I also really enjoyed reading the Rolling Stone article about Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman. It seems that Uma came up with the general idea for the movie about ten years ago when they were filming Pulp Fiction. Quentin considers Uma his Muse, and Uma’s ex husband supposedly has at times resented the relationship the two had in that way. Many people often wonder if the relationship between Quentin and Uma actually goes deeper than that, but both of them flatly deny it. I thought that David Carradine was just incredible in the role of Bill. Hard to believe that Warren Beatty was originally supposed to have had this role.

One movie that I will write about soon is Stuck On You, about two conjoined twins, played by Matt Damon Greg Kinnear. I knew the type of movies that the Farley Brothers were responsible fo and had serious doubts about wanting to see it. I had rented this via NetFlix as I could not think of another movie to, and when I received it, kept putting off watching it, thinking the premise was just too off the wall. I was very pleasantly surprised. Something for another review.

Still on the subject of Movie celebrities, I was doing some work on CyberMacro in restoring some of the old content to the new web site. I noticed that a few people were doing a Google search for a Nadine Barner, and ending up on CyberMacro viewing a page which is a log of a chat we had with Kaare Bursell over 5 years ago. http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobiotic_Articles/CyberMacro/Cybermacro_Chat_32899/
Turns out that Nadine has been Gwyneth Paltrow’s macro chef for the past couple of years, and years ago she participated in our Sunday Chats.

Small World.
Gary

[qzw52]

Fahrenheit 9/11 was great. I love Michael Moore's movies and books very much.

Someone here wrote about the Station Agent: highly recommended.

On DVD/Video been watching the Kung Fu series with David Carradine. Whole first season is available on DVD at a really good price. Check it out!

Today might see a movie called Garden State.
http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/ne...item_8770.html

This movie looks uplifting in content and context.

:nader:

Dave

[garymill]

Hi Dave,

Have been reading good things about Garden State for the past few weeks now. I am looking to see this movie myself soon.

Gary, who can't afford to be a proud sponsor of the

[Mara]

For the love of all that is good, I really can't understand the popularity of the Kill Bill movies.

Human acts of violence, for me, are a thing that I study seriously, try to understand, and find terribly painful to contemplate.

I cannot distinguish, empathetically, between real life violence and that on my television. Intellectually, I can, but in my heart I cannot, and it hurts for me to watch excessive, glorified violence.

Some of my favorite films are musicals. Old fashioned musicals. I love the pure joy that they communicate to me. I love to sing and dance, and watch other people do the same.

Have you heard the term "the poetry of violence"? It is used by many of today's film reviewers to describe the works of Tarantino and others. This phrase makes me want to cry. Violence is destructive and ugly, through and through. Yet the "song and dance" of my generation is that of stylized slaughter.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on Kill Bill. I abhor senseless and gratuitous violence in movies and video game. It disgusts me and breaks my heart.

[garymill]

Hi Mara,

I totally agree with you about violence in Movies, that and horror films just do not interest me. More in this case I was interested in seeing his movie because of all the hype surrounding it. Similarly in terms in TV I am not into reality tv either.

[Nancy]

Hi Mara,

I broke down and watched "Kill Bill Vol. 1" because it is spoken of so much, especially with Vol. 2 recently out, that I like to be apprised of society's tastes. I knew going in, that it was going to be stylized violence, without a well developed plot, and a lot of martial arts. I do find martial arts fascinating. I think this has come from my further education in the culture of Japan.

"The Last Samurai" is a good treatment of the conflicts of war. Tom Cruise is first a guilt ridden U.S. Calvary soldier, drinking himself to oblivion. He is assigned to update the war strategies in Japan at a time that many still live by the honor of the old codes of war, and face-to-face, hand-to-hand combat, rather than the distance of bullets and cannons. As the plot twists, he finds himself educated in the traditional warrior ways of Japan (Samurai). His new education, values, and heart cause him to go to the other side.

The realities of this world are that men must go to battle at times, to protect their own way of civilization, home, family, women, and children. I think the men of any nation in the world will fight to protect their homeland and their way of life.

Quentin Tarantino is an odd guy who hit the film world by storm (shrewd). He won a Palm D'or at the Cannes Film Festival for "Pulp Fiction". The highest honor awarded at Cannes. "Pulp Fiction" is also replete with stylized violence...go figure...

Thus, Tarantino is positioned to give us more...

"Pulp Fiction" also resurrected John Travolta's languishing film career.

It was a chore for me to watch "Kill Bill" all the way through with any kind of focused attention.

Not my favorite film.

My review is this: that's all I'll say...

I was shocked to hear Star Jones say on "The View" that Tom Cruise in "Collateral" is the sexiest killer she's ever seen. What is our collective mentality coming to?

No doubt, Denzel Washington was somewhat chagrined to have received the Academy Award for "Training Day", rather than all the famous (Malcolm X) and courageous (Hurricane) people he played in starring roles, previously.

I still reserve the right to keep tabs on society's mores and follow my un
information gathering.

It doesn't mean I like everything I see, sometimes I dislike it intensely.

Nancy Un

[Mara]

Of course, I intended no moral judgement at all of the brave men and women who fight and have fought in battles throughout history.

"The Last Samurai" was a great movie, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. And all movies about battle in general, for example "We Were Soldiers", I feel serve an important educational purpose by showing us up close the destructive and horrifying nature of war.

It is only when violence is taken so lightly as it is in films like Kill Bill, that I'm bothered by it. Seems so strange to me, that so much slaughter would be viewed as fun entertainment for the masses, and even considered "poetry."

[denann]

I agree with Mara. I'm not too into violence and gore!

My favorites are:
"Little Women", "Radio" I just LOVE this movie!!!
"Rudy", "A Walk to Remember" "Steel Magnolias"

I love all the heart warming movies.

Denise
:bush2004:

[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.

[Mara]

Hi Rafflesia,

Welcome to Cybermacro! Thanks for all your input, and questions.
I've been away for awhile, but I am back for the winter.

Best,

Mara
Lounge Mod

[garymill]

Hi Mara,
I have missed you, glad to see you back posting.

[Mara]

Thanks Gary,

It's been a wonderful time in my life, with a lot of adventures and opportunities coming from all directions, and I've felt a need to pursue things offline with all my energy. I am secure in a job now, though looking for another one, and involved in a great relationship.

Back for the winter months, though I will be taking a three-week house-sitting hiatus at a place out of town with no 'net access from Oct 25-Nov 17... hopefully that is okay.

Thanks for understanding,

Mara

[garymill]

Hi Mara,

Really happy to hear all the things that you are up to and that you are doing well.

Gary