Some Theatre, A Religious Background, and Films
I went to see the play "Les Miserable" (based on the Victor Hugo book of the same name) on Sunday night at the Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick. I've been going to at least 1 of their 4 plays each summer for the past 14 years and I'm always amazed by the performances these actors give. Sunday night's performance was no different. I had never seen "Les Mis" but I was familiar with the story (although I didn't know it contain some of the raciness that it does). I mean, who isn't familiar with it? I haven't seen the Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe film that came out last year (but I think I will see it now, to sort of compare the two).
I thought the play was extremely well done and the actor that played Javert really stole the show. It's quite an emotional show and I thought Jean Valjean kind of dialed down his performance, which was sort of disappointing. The characters that should have been at center stage were sort of upstaged by the smaller roles.
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Film 190
"Office Space"
starring: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston
written and directed by: Mike Judge
This is probably the kind of film everyone has seen at least once in their life, either because they found it themselves long ago, or a friend has told them they have to see it. I will be that friend. You must watch this film. Especially if you work at a job where you find yourself in a cubicle every day and you hate the job and its mundane tasks, so you fight the boredom by scheming ways you could take down the company. That's exactly what the guys do in this film. But, sensing that everyone has seen this film, I won't bore you with the details of the plot.
I've been lucky enough to enjoy and almost downright love every job I've had. In high school, I worked at Wendy's (fast food, so cliche and inevitable, but I followed my sister's footsteps into that job and ended up really enjoying it because the cast of characters I worked with on the crew made the time pass easily, we joked, we laughed, we pranked, we sexually harrassed each other, all in a days work/pay, and oh yeah, we served some food. Besides, I lived out that typical teenage boy movie fantasy of working with the girl-next-door who I had a major crush on). I also worked at Bull Moose Music (an independent record store in Maine), where I got to listen to music all day, joke around, make fun of and criticize customers, get a bunch of free shit, go to many concerts, and again, befriend some wonderful people (some of whom I'm still friends with to this day, a mere 13 years later). Working there, back in the day, was like an amalgamation of films like "Empire Records" and "High Fidelity." Then, while attending college, I worked 3rd shift in a group-home environment for people with mental illness. This basically meant that I got to watch TV, movies all night, read many books, do my homework, or even, yes, sleep. When I got this job (and held on to it for 6 years!), I gloated to my father and said, "Remember how you said I would never find a job where I can watch TV and sit on my butt the entire time...well, I just found that job!" Ha! Take that, dad! So much for you trying to teach me how certain jobs help build character through manual labor and help expand your mind! That was a sweet gig, most of the time, and I put up with it for 6 years because it was the perfect situation for me, since I was attending college and interning as a teacher. And now, for the past 6 years, I've been a teacher (from 1st grade, to 2nd grade, to Kindergarten) and I cannot imagine doing anything else as a career. I have a great schedule with built in vacations to do whatever I want. And I genuinely have fun at my job every day. Some days, I think to myself, "I cannot believe I get paid to do this!?"
My dad instilled in me, very young, to only do the things I enjoy doing and to stop doing such things when they become no longer fun. I've carried that philosophy with me throughout my life. Now, if I could just remember his values in the relationships I get into (because for some reason I never bow out soon enough to avoid pain and heartbreak).
"Office Space" is the equivalent of Mike Judge's comical rage against the machine or the nightmare of "modern" office life. I say modern because this film is from 1999 and I'm assuming a lot has changed (hopefully) in the past 14 or so years. I'd love to hear people's office work stories, though. Please share them in the comments section below.
To Mike Jodge, office life and work crushes the spirit of man. It's the equivalent of placing yourself in jail, and getting paid minimally for what you do. Cubicles are like your own personal cells, which you are allowed to decorate and make as home-y as possible, within reason. Supervisors are like wardens. And management's theories and ideas about how to best run a company are screwed up.
Ron Livingston plays Peter and when we meet Peter, we can tell almost instantly that he hates his job, that he feels absolutely stuck in it, with no way of getting out. He is clearly just going through the motions at this point. Perhaps he saw something better for myself at one point, but all hope is gone within him, now. Thanks to his job! It has effectively crushed his spirit and will to survive. The only way Peter has found he can survive is by finding solace with his two office buddies: Michael Bolton (not the singer) and Samir (and Indian dude). They take frequent breaks from their office duties by heading to Starbucks or lunch breaks at an unnamed chain restaurant across the street. They go to this restaurant often because Peter is in love with one of the waitresses there, played fantastically by Jennifer Aniston (stepping away from her duties on "Friends"). Joanna (Aniston) clearly has her own problems with management as well, and she attempts to buck the system as best as she knows how, by doing the bare minimum of what's asked of her. Working in the restaurant business has its own special way of crushing someone's spirits as well and I loved how Mike Judge to include both types in his brilliant, 90 minute film and has so much life in it throughout the entire thing.
Peter goes to an occupational hypnotherapist, who puts him in a long-lasting trance. From there, Peter's life begins to improve because he stops giving a shit about his job and he just decides he is going to enjoy his life. He plays hookey from work, he goes fishing, he knocks down the walls of his cubicle so that he can have a view out the window, and he tells some efficiency experts that he really only works approximately 15 minutes per week. Ron Livingston's deadpan manner and delivery is exactly what this film needs in order to get the point across. He is a perfect comedian of material that was written for him, not by him. He knows how to deliver it.
The subplot in the film that drives the second half of the story is that Peter, Michael Bolton and Samir hatch a plan to stick it to the company that has taken their souls and their lives. They will deposit small amounts of the company's profits into their own bank accounts. Awesome, except of course something goes wrong, but before they are caught, a bit of good fortune comes their way.
If you haven't seen this film, you must. If you have seen it, watch it again. And again. I'm pretty sure I've watched it at least a half dozen times. Any time it's been on TV, I always get sucked into, too.
If you work in a cubicle and have ever wanted to send a malfunctioning copier to its violent death, you'll know how these guys feel. You might laugh until you cry, because you realize Mike Judge has defined your life so well.
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Film 191
"Religulous"
starring: Bill Maher
"Religulous" is the kind of documentary that sort of preaches to a choir, this choir being one of agnostics and/or atheists, people who have a general "problem" with organized religion. It's handled with biting sarcasm and humor, in a true Bill Maher fashion. I really appreciate his no-bullshit approach to questioning authority and reality, as well as politics. He tells it like it is. He lets you know his point of view and he really wants you to believe him, because he knows he's right, especially when it comes to something as ridiculous as religion and believing in something like the stories and fiction that seem to come attached to each religion.
I love that the title is a mash-up of two words: Religion AND Ridiculous. Well played Bill Maher. Oh yeah, and kudos to the director, Larry Charles, who also directed the satirical comedy, "Borat," which really showcased America as a foolish state of the union. And here, Bill Maher really wants to showcase his beliefs that religion, of any form, is a foolish endeavor, as well.
He takes on all organized religions, because he doesn't discriminate. He doesn't set out to learn more about each religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, TV evangelism, Scientology) and then refute certain points about each that he finds ridiculous that people actually believes. For example, certain stories in the Bible or the idea that the Koran is a violent tome of literature that preaches revenge and retribution or some of the expectations found in Judaism, oh, and let's not forget the whole background stories behind Mormonism and Scientology. I mean, how can people being duped so well to believe that someone like Joseph Smith was spoken to by God directly, who told him that Christianity history began in America. I mean, how self-righteous is that? I've also held a belief that in order to begin your own "Religion" albeit through evangelism or Scientology or Mormonism, you just have to be an excellent public speaker and you have to be extremely suave/smooth with your words and how you speak them. It's almost like being a rock star. If you can control a crowd, you can get them to do whatever you say (i.e. give money in support of religion, in order to "buy your way into Heaven"). Hmm, does anyone remember Hitler? He was good with words. He was a great public speaker. He could control a crowd. He was a very convincing individual.
"Religulous" is a film about Bill Maher's concrete opinion of organized religion. No one can refute that he is smart, quick, and funny. He knows how to entertain an audience. And he comes into the film with a lot of background knowledge about each religion he sets out to "attack." He can be slightly mean to his targets when engaged in discussions with them. He sometimes cannot believe that they truly believe what they are telling him, and he says it more than once. Each conversation is a little more than one-sided and you can almost see Maher's gears grinding in his mind as the other person is talking, as he is thinking of what he wants to say next. He is an excellent debater, but a terrible person to have a meaningful conversation with. He interrupts, talks over, puts subtitles on the screen, has strategically edited in random clips, and just plain simply doesn't play fair...but then again, this isn't supposed to be a "Fair" look, a bipartisan debate about religion. It's pure agenda, much in the same vein as any Michael Moore film. It's pure propaganda, and that's what I mean by "preaching to a choir." So, as a film, its intent is to entertain and it certainly achieves that goal.
There are some great and highly entertaining scenes throughout the film. A couple of my favorites include Maher's impersonation of a Scientologist in London's Hyde Park, where he stands up and spews the beliefs associated with the religion. It's pretty ridiculous and I encourage you to Google some of that stuff. I also enjoyed Maher's conversation with a "radical" priest outside of the Vatican (which Maher was kicked out of after attempting to speak with the Pope). The priest openly attempts that a lot of the teachings and stories from the Bible are in fact ridiculous to believe, word for word. He also spends some time at "the Holy Land Experience" in Orlando, FL. That's correct. You read that right. Someone or somebodies had the brilliant idea to cash in on religious beliefs and created a theme park with souvenirs and actors and the whole nine yards. Maher has an interesting conversation with the actor who plays the part of Jesus while visiting the theme park.
I grew up Catholic. I went to church for all of 16 years (until I got my licence and was expected to drive myself to church on Sunday mornings with my best friend in tow, and sometimes my sister- instead we would go out to breakfast and stop by the church to get a pamphlet, as proof that we went, because I started to see the hypocrisy not only in the religion, but in the fact that us teenagers were expected to go when our parents did not). I also grew up going to private Catholic school for my entire educational career. That alone was enough to drive me away from the religion and in high school I started to study more and more teachings and beliefs in Buddhism. I found myself to become more spiritual in the way I lived my life and the moral codes that I have chosen to live by, then the teachings from any Bible or organized religion. I think spirituality is more about one person's relationship with what they believe in, whether it's something in nature or a god. I've never really needed a place to go and pray. I've never believed in a concrete, physical place that defines religions (church, temples). Your faith should be with you throughout each day. You should want to live your life as you see fit, answer to yourself, and not necessarily visit a building once a week and therefore you are forgiven and saved. And no one should be telling you how to live in order to reap the benefits of something that may or may not exist when you die. Growing up religious, Catholic to be more specific, actually turned me away from organized religion as I became a critical thinking individual, in high school and as I became an adult.
Religion opens a heated debate among lots of people, as it should, because I think Bill Maher makes some excellent points, points that I already knew and held the same disbelief in, points that I think people need to think more critically about before just blindly believing in what they are told to be truth.
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Film 192
"Rango"
starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher (voices)
directed by: Gore Verbinski
"Rango" is the kind of animated miracle that us, smart moviegoers pray for every time another comes out that isn't a Pixar produced film.
"Rango" is an animated inspired-Western with a lot of heart and great characters. It was directed well by Verbinski (I'm still not exactly sure I understand how one goes about "directing" an animated feature, because I've always assumed that actors showed up and said all their lines into a microphone, in a sound-room by themselves and the animation has already taken place or will then happen). The film looks great, it's brilliant with flashy colors but not so much that your eyes burn. They pop from the screen without needing to be in 3-D (which a lot of films are opting to do nowadays), because this is an animated feature that relies on the story and the heart, as well as its characters to tell the story, and it works perfectly, so it doesn't need to be flashy and showy. It's filled with wit and satire, thanks to great writing, and it plays itself like a real movie because you get involved with the characters (and it's almost as if they are not creatures, much less animated creatures).
Rango is the title character. He's just an ordinary lizard, green and scaly with popeyes, voiced by Johnny Depp (of course, one of his few recent films to not be a dud, because let's face it, his stock is plummeting as of late), who gets thrown from a car during a trip, one can assume the family that owns him is moving because the car is packed to the gills. His tank smashes on the road and he is soon left to fend for himself. He finds his way to an untamed Western-inspired town called Dirt.
Because of some dumb luck and good karma, Rango (that's the name he gives himself among these new creatures) is adopted as the town hero and savior. He is dubbed the sheriff of the town because they think he killed one of the many villains that has been tormenting their small town. Yes, there's the cast of villainous creatures, like a rattlesnake who is the leader of the gang tormenting the town. There's also a well-to-do mayor who cannot seem to do his job because he's sort of a bumbling fool elected into office. Oh yeah, and the town is running short and very low on water (its currency, apparently). There's even a Bank of Dirt, which houses a water cooler in its large safe, which the gang of villains has been tapping into for awhile. Rango must not only protect the town from these miscreants, but he also has to find a way to bring water back to the town.
"Rango" follows the Western storyline very well, that being: Step 1- a new man, stranger arrives into town and Step 2- he faces down with a villain and challenges are thrown about and Step 3- the new man in town must then face obstacles and tests of his heroism (he must meet the expectations set upon him by the townspeople in order to keep his "Hero" title. Johnny Depp's Rango does all of the above, without me telling you any details as to the "how" because I want you to watch this wildly entertaining film for yourself. Let's just say, Rango finds his hands full on several occasions. Oh, also, he has a bit of a love interest in the form of Isla Fisher's female creature, who apparently suffers some kind of freezing spell or narcolepsy.
This is a great, refreshing animated film. And this is coming from someone who does not particularly enjoy animated films. I wanted to see this one because of Johnny Depp. I've always been a fan and respected most of his film decisions. This one will not disappoint.
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Film 193
"Tanner Hall"
starring: Rooney Mara, Tom Everett Scott
This film is like watching a mash-up of all the typical, yet better-than predecessors that came before it, and it only works some of the time because it's trying to be all those films at once, and it ends up being all over the place. Recall if you will, films like: "Heathers," "Mean Girls," "Election," and "Juno." Strong female characters out to prove something, out to come-of-age, out to cause trouble and rebel. The trouble here is that it never really establishes its own voice. It's almost like the duo of female writers/directors/producers decided to spend a weekend watching all these coming-of-age films for girls and then said, "Hey, we can do that, too!" Especially with the help of the familial lineage- turns out they are a countess and a princess...one if the stepdaughter of Ringo Starr and an actress, and the other is the daughter of a clothing designer and the chairman/senior executive for the company responsible for creating Fox Broadcasting Company). Hmm, nepotism, got to love it!
The film opens at the beginning of a new academic year, the most important year- senior year, at an all-girls (except for the headmaster's son) boarding school. The main character is a girl named Fernanda, played by the restrained Rooney Mara, who is the leader of her little pack (which includes seductive, wannabe Lolita- Kate and understated and sensitive Lucasta). Kate sets her sights on the male teacher, played by Chris Kattan, and seducing him (hmm, familiar plotline from a much better film, "American Beauty").Fernanda seems to run the show in a subtle way, that is until her old childhood friend Victoria shows up, who is all the bad-apple and manipulative little bitch that one could muster up for a film. Victoria, played by Georgina King, is the kind of friend who will be nice to your face and then talk about you behind your back and/or stab you in the back (in fact that's all she does through the entire film, and it's not in any kind of endearing or redeeming way that makes you feel sorry for her). Victoria definitely has a charred background story, someone has to if they're going to act the way she does, a backstabber and also a cutter.
Aside from the mess of subplots involving pretty much everyone in the story, the major one to follow is Fernanda's bizarre affair with Gio (Tom Everett Scott) becomes more of just a schoolgirl crush to full-blown sexual affair that it very uncomfortable to watch because it's so wrong, and Gio knows it.
Sure, it's a coming-of-age story, for girls, and I think I've said it before but because I'm a guy, not a girl, I just don't understand girls's stories on film. I think they are stereotyped characters in these types of films, unfortunately. It's almost like some girls have to take their brief encounters during adolescences and tell everyone that it's always like that for all girls. Some girls are very sexual. Some girls are manipulative. Some girls are depressed, cutters, pill-takers. I get that. But, just once I'd like to see a different sort of film when it comes to girls and growing up.
This one doesn't work for me because of all its flaws that amount to one big flaw (trying to create a amalgamation of all girl predecessors. You don't really ever care for these 4 girls, even when things come to light at the end. Although, the setting is beautiful. Fall is the best time to film a movie in New England. Fall Foliage in the town of Providence, Rhode Island. Unfortunately, again, the foliage can't carry a story that's not there to beginning with.
I thought the play was extremely well done and the actor that played Javert really stole the show. It's quite an emotional show and I thought Jean Valjean kind of dialed down his performance, which was sort of disappointing. The characters that should have been at center stage were sort of upstaged by the smaller roles.
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Film 190
"Office Space"
starring: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston
written and directed by: Mike Judge
This is probably the kind of film everyone has seen at least once in their life, either because they found it themselves long ago, or a friend has told them they have to see it. I will be that friend. You must watch this film. Especially if you work at a job where you find yourself in a cubicle every day and you hate the job and its mundane tasks, so you fight the boredom by scheming ways you could take down the company. That's exactly what the guys do in this film. But, sensing that everyone has seen this film, I won't bore you with the details of the plot.
I've been lucky enough to enjoy and almost downright love every job I've had. In high school, I worked at Wendy's (fast food, so cliche and inevitable, but I followed my sister's footsteps into that job and ended up really enjoying it because the cast of characters I worked with on the crew made the time pass easily, we joked, we laughed, we pranked, we sexually harrassed each other, all in a days work/pay, and oh yeah, we served some food. Besides, I lived out that typical teenage boy movie fantasy of working with the girl-next-door who I had a major crush on). I also worked at Bull Moose Music (an independent record store in Maine), where I got to listen to music all day, joke around, make fun of and criticize customers, get a bunch of free shit, go to many concerts, and again, befriend some wonderful people (some of whom I'm still friends with to this day, a mere 13 years later). Working there, back in the day, was like an amalgamation of films like "Empire Records" and "High Fidelity." Then, while attending college, I worked 3rd shift in a group-home environment for people with mental illness. This basically meant that I got to watch TV, movies all night, read many books, do my homework, or even, yes, sleep. When I got this job (and held on to it for 6 years!), I gloated to my father and said, "Remember how you said I would never find a job where I can watch TV and sit on my butt the entire time...well, I just found that job!" Ha! Take that, dad! So much for you trying to teach me how certain jobs help build character through manual labor and help expand your mind! That was a sweet gig, most of the time, and I put up with it for 6 years because it was the perfect situation for me, since I was attending college and interning as a teacher. And now, for the past 6 years, I've been a teacher (from 1st grade, to 2nd grade, to Kindergarten) and I cannot imagine doing anything else as a career. I have a great schedule with built in vacations to do whatever I want. And I genuinely have fun at my job every day. Some days, I think to myself, "I cannot believe I get paid to do this!?"
My dad instilled in me, very young, to only do the things I enjoy doing and to stop doing such things when they become no longer fun. I've carried that philosophy with me throughout my life. Now, if I could just remember his values in the relationships I get into (because for some reason I never bow out soon enough to avoid pain and heartbreak).
"Office Space" is the equivalent of Mike Judge's comical rage against the machine or the nightmare of "modern" office life. I say modern because this film is from 1999 and I'm assuming a lot has changed (hopefully) in the past 14 or so years. I'd love to hear people's office work stories, though. Please share them in the comments section below.
To Mike Jodge, office life and work crushes the spirit of man. It's the equivalent of placing yourself in jail, and getting paid minimally for what you do. Cubicles are like your own personal cells, which you are allowed to decorate and make as home-y as possible, within reason. Supervisors are like wardens. And management's theories and ideas about how to best run a company are screwed up.
Ron Livingston plays Peter and when we meet Peter, we can tell almost instantly that he hates his job, that he feels absolutely stuck in it, with no way of getting out. He is clearly just going through the motions at this point. Perhaps he saw something better for myself at one point, but all hope is gone within him, now. Thanks to his job! It has effectively crushed his spirit and will to survive. The only way Peter has found he can survive is by finding solace with his two office buddies: Michael Bolton (not the singer) and Samir (and Indian dude). They take frequent breaks from their office duties by heading to Starbucks or lunch breaks at an unnamed chain restaurant across the street. They go to this restaurant often because Peter is in love with one of the waitresses there, played fantastically by Jennifer Aniston (stepping away from her duties on "Friends"). Joanna (Aniston) clearly has her own problems with management as well, and she attempts to buck the system as best as she knows how, by doing the bare minimum of what's asked of her. Working in the restaurant business has its own special way of crushing someone's spirits as well and I loved how Mike Judge to include both types in his brilliant, 90 minute film and has so much life in it throughout the entire thing.
Peter goes to an occupational hypnotherapist, who puts him in a long-lasting trance. From there, Peter's life begins to improve because he stops giving a shit about his job and he just decides he is going to enjoy his life. He plays hookey from work, he goes fishing, he knocks down the walls of his cubicle so that he can have a view out the window, and he tells some efficiency experts that he really only works approximately 15 minutes per week. Ron Livingston's deadpan manner and delivery is exactly what this film needs in order to get the point across. He is a perfect comedian of material that was written for him, not by him. He knows how to deliver it.
The subplot in the film that drives the second half of the story is that Peter, Michael Bolton and Samir hatch a plan to stick it to the company that has taken their souls and their lives. They will deposit small amounts of the company's profits into their own bank accounts. Awesome, except of course something goes wrong, but before they are caught, a bit of good fortune comes their way.
If you haven't seen this film, you must. If you have seen it, watch it again. And again. I'm pretty sure I've watched it at least a half dozen times. Any time it's been on TV, I always get sucked into, too.
If you work in a cubicle and have ever wanted to send a malfunctioning copier to its violent death, you'll know how these guys feel. You might laugh until you cry, because you realize Mike Judge has defined your life so well.
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Film 191
"Religulous"
starring: Bill Maher
"Religulous" is the kind of documentary that sort of preaches to a choir, this choir being one of agnostics and/or atheists, people who have a general "problem" with organized religion. It's handled with biting sarcasm and humor, in a true Bill Maher fashion. I really appreciate his no-bullshit approach to questioning authority and reality, as well as politics. He tells it like it is. He lets you know his point of view and he really wants you to believe him, because he knows he's right, especially when it comes to something as ridiculous as religion and believing in something like the stories and fiction that seem to come attached to each religion.
I love that the title is a mash-up of two words: Religion AND Ridiculous. Well played Bill Maher. Oh yeah, and kudos to the director, Larry Charles, who also directed the satirical comedy, "Borat," which really showcased America as a foolish state of the union. And here, Bill Maher really wants to showcase his beliefs that religion, of any form, is a foolish endeavor, as well.
He takes on all organized religions, because he doesn't discriminate. He doesn't set out to learn more about each religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, TV evangelism, Scientology) and then refute certain points about each that he finds ridiculous that people actually believes. For example, certain stories in the Bible or the idea that the Koran is a violent tome of literature that preaches revenge and retribution or some of the expectations found in Judaism, oh, and let's not forget the whole background stories behind Mormonism and Scientology. I mean, how can people being duped so well to believe that someone like Joseph Smith was spoken to by God directly, who told him that Christianity history began in America. I mean, how self-righteous is that? I've also held a belief that in order to begin your own "Religion" albeit through evangelism or Scientology or Mormonism, you just have to be an excellent public speaker and you have to be extremely suave/smooth with your words and how you speak them. It's almost like being a rock star. If you can control a crowd, you can get them to do whatever you say (i.e. give money in support of religion, in order to "buy your way into Heaven"). Hmm, does anyone remember Hitler? He was good with words. He was a great public speaker. He could control a crowd. He was a very convincing individual.
"Religulous" is a film about Bill Maher's concrete opinion of organized religion. No one can refute that he is smart, quick, and funny. He knows how to entertain an audience. And he comes into the film with a lot of background knowledge about each religion he sets out to "attack." He can be slightly mean to his targets when engaged in discussions with them. He sometimes cannot believe that they truly believe what they are telling him, and he says it more than once. Each conversation is a little more than one-sided and you can almost see Maher's gears grinding in his mind as the other person is talking, as he is thinking of what he wants to say next. He is an excellent debater, but a terrible person to have a meaningful conversation with. He interrupts, talks over, puts subtitles on the screen, has strategically edited in random clips, and just plain simply doesn't play fair...but then again, this isn't supposed to be a "Fair" look, a bipartisan debate about religion. It's pure agenda, much in the same vein as any Michael Moore film. It's pure propaganda, and that's what I mean by "preaching to a choir." So, as a film, its intent is to entertain and it certainly achieves that goal.
There are some great and highly entertaining scenes throughout the film. A couple of my favorites include Maher's impersonation of a Scientologist in London's Hyde Park, where he stands up and spews the beliefs associated with the religion. It's pretty ridiculous and I encourage you to Google some of that stuff. I also enjoyed Maher's conversation with a "radical" priest outside of the Vatican (which Maher was kicked out of after attempting to speak with the Pope). The priest openly attempts that a lot of the teachings and stories from the Bible are in fact ridiculous to believe, word for word. He also spends some time at "the Holy Land Experience" in Orlando, FL. That's correct. You read that right. Someone or somebodies had the brilliant idea to cash in on religious beliefs and created a theme park with souvenirs and actors and the whole nine yards. Maher has an interesting conversation with the actor who plays the part of Jesus while visiting the theme park.
I grew up Catholic. I went to church for all of 16 years (until I got my licence and was expected to drive myself to church on Sunday mornings with my best friend in tow, and sometimes my sister- instead we would go out to breakfast and stop by the church to get a pamphlet, as proof that we went, because I started to see the hypocrisy not only in the religion, but in the fact that us teenagers were expected to go when our parents did not). I also grew up going to private Catholic school for my entire educational career. That alone was enough to drive me away from the religion and in high school I started to study more and more teachings and beliefs in Buddhism. I found myself to become more spiritual in the way I lived my life and the moral codes that I have chosen to live by, then the teachings from any Bible or organized religion. I think spirituality is more about one person's relationship with what they believe in, whether it's something in nature or a god. I've never really needed a place to go and pray. I've never believed in a concrete, physical place that defines religions (church, temples). Your faith should be with you throughout each day. You should want to live your life as you see fit, answer to yourself, and not necessarily visit a building once a week and therefore you are forgiven and saved. And no one should be telling you how to live in order to reap the benefits of something that may or may not exist when you die. Growing up religious, Catholic to be more specific, actually turned me away from organized religion as I became a critical thinking individual, in high school and as I became an adult.
Religion opens a heated debate among lots of people, as it should, because I think Bill Maher makes some excellent points, points that I already knew and held the same disbelief in, points that I think people need to think more critically about before just blindly believing in what they are told to be truth.
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Film 192
"Rango"
starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher (voices)
directed by: Gore Verbinski
"Rango" is the kind of animated miracle that us, smart moviegoers pray for every time another comes out that isn't a Pixar produced film.
"Rango" is an animated inspired-Western with a lot of heart and great characters. It was directed well by Verbinski (I'm still not exactly sure I understand how one goes about "directing" an animated feature, because I've always assumed that actors showed up and said all their lines into a microphone, in a sound-room by themselves and the animation has already taken place or will then happen). The film looks great, it's brilliant with flashy colors but not so much that your eyes burn. They pop from the screen without needing to be in 3-D (which a lot of films are opting to do nowadays), because this is an animated feature that relies on the story and the heart, as well as its characters to tell the story, and it works perfectly, so it doesn't need to be flashy and showy. It's filled with wit and satire, thanks to great writing, and it plays itself like a real movie because you get involved with the characters (and it's almost as if they are not creatures, much less animated creatures).
Rango is the title character. He's just an ordinary lizard, green and scaly with popeyes, voiced by Johnny Depp (of course, one of his few recent films to not be a dud, because let's face it, his stock is plummeting as of late), who gets thrown from a car during a trip, one can assume the family that owns him is moving because the car is packed to the gills. His tank smashes on the road and he is soon left to fend for himself. He finds his way to an untamed Western-inspired town called Dirt.
Because of some dumb luck and good karma, Rango (that's the name he gives himself among these new creatures) is adopted as the town hero and savior. He is dubbed the sheriff of the town because they think he killed one of the many villains that has been tormenting their small town. Yes, there's the cast of villainous creatures, like a rattlesnake who is the leader of the gang tormenting the town. There's also a well-to-do mayor who cannot seem to do his job because he's sort of a bumbling fool elected into office. Oh yeah, and the town is running short and very low on water (its currency, apparently). There's even a Bank of Dirt, which houses a water cooler in its large safe, which the gang of villains has been tapping into for awhile. Rango must not only protect the town from these miscreants, but he also has to find a way to bring water back to the town.
"Rango" follows the Western storyline very well, that being: Step 1- a new man, stranger arrives into town and Step 2- he faces down with a villain and challenges are thrown about and Step 3- the new man in town must then face obstacles and tests of his heroism (he must meet the expectations set upon him by the townspeople in order to keep his "Hero" title. Johnny Depp's Rango does all of the above, without me telling you any details as to the "how" because I want you to watch this wildly entertaining film for yourself. Let's just say, Rango finds his hands full on several occasions. Oh, also, he has a bit of a love interest in the form of Isla Fisher's female creature, who apparently suffers some kind of freezing spell or narcolepsy.
This is a great, refreshing animated film. And this is coming from someone who does not particularly enjoy animated films. I wanted to see this one because of Johnny Depp. I've always been a fan and respected most of his film decisions. This one will not disappoint.
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Film 193
"Tanner Hall"
starring: Rooney Mara, Tom Everett Scott
This film is like watching a mash-up of all the typical, yet better-than predecessors that came before it, and it only works some of the time because it's trying to be all those films at once, and it ends up being all over the place. Recall if you will, films like: "Heathers," "Mean Girls," "Election," and "Juno." Strong female characters out to prove something, out to come-of-age, out to cause trouble and rebel. The trouble here is that it never really establishes its own voice. It's almost like the duo of female writers/directors/producers decided to spend a weekend watching all these coming-of-age films for girls and then said, "Hey, we can do that, too!" Especially with the help of the familial lineage- turns out they are a countess and a princess...one if the stepdaughter of Ringo Starr and an actress, and the other is the daughter of a clothing designer and the chairman/senior executive for the company responsible for creating Fox Broadcasting Company). Hmm, nepotism, got to love it!
The film opens at the beginning of a new academic year, the most important year- senior year, at an all-girls (except for the headmaster's son) boarding school. The main character is a girl named Fernanda, played by the restrained Rooney Mara, who is the leader of her little pack (which includes seductive, wannabe Lolita- Kate and understated and sensitive Lucasta). Kate sets her sights on the male teacher, played by Chris Kattan, and seducing him (hmm, familiar plotline from a much better film, "American Beauty").Fernanda seems to run the show in a subtle way, that is until her old childhood friend Victoria shows up, who is all the bad-apple and manipulative little bitch that one could muster up for a film. Victoria, played by Georgina King, is the kind of friend who will be nice to your face and then talk about you behind your back and/or stab you in the back (in fact that's all she does through the entire film, and it's not in any kind of endearing or redeeming way that makes you feel sorry for her). Victoria definitely has a charred background story, someone has to if they're going to act the way she does, a backstabber and also a cutter.
Aside from the mess of subplots involving pretty much everyone in the story, the major one to follow is Fernanda's bizarre affair with Gio (Tom Everett Scott) becomes more of just a schoolgirl crush to full-blown sexual affair that it very uncomfortable to watch because it's so wrong, and Gio knows it.
Sure, it's a coming-of-age story, for girls, and I think I've said it before but because I'm a guy, not a girl, I just don't understand girls's stories on film. I think they are stereotyped characters in these types of films, unfortunately. It's almost like some girls have to take their brief encounters during adolescences and tell everyone that it's always like that for all girls. Some girls are very sexual. Some girls are manipulative. Some girls are depressed, cutters, pill-takers. I get that. But, just once I'd like to see a different sort of film when it comes to girls and growing up.
This one doesn't work for me because of all its flaws that amount to one big flaw (trying to create a amalgamation of all girl predecessors. You don't really ever care for these 4 girls, even when things come to light at the end. Although, the setting is beautiful. Fall is the best time to film a movie in New England. Fall Foliage in the town of Providence, Rhode Island. Unfortunately, again, the foliage can't carry a story that's not there to beginning with.
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