Zander’s Weblog

Surely one of the best soap operas I’ve ever seen! A delightful black comedy drenched in Texas drawl with not a little wisdom.

[Spoiler alert: contains some plot explication] Long but enjoyable, entertaining, and instructive. The animation style is unique and artfully done, mostly in B&W but with effective sprinklings of color. The story told is the universal tale of growing up and feeling like an outsider. In this case the specifics involve a child whose parents send her to Vienna to shield her from the harsh realities of life in Iran during the revolution. An outsider in the foreign culture, she returns an outsider to her own family. The film is instructive in providing the outlines of the Iranian revolution and its impact on the common folk.

Here’s what the MPAA has to say about the film: “Rated R for strong disturbing violent content including a graphic killing rampage, child rape/murder, suicidal behavior, pervasive language and some sexual content – all involving teens.” Now if that isn’t enough to draw in the teen audience, I don’t know what is!
Positive notes: the actors were credible as high school students–well cast. The acting was good if not stellar. The cinematography was good if not great. And the script was almost good, mixing two parts teen angst with one part philosophy, although way oversalted with editorial message. The directorial choices I often found annoying–too much evidence of the director’s presence in the film, such as the background music and the frequent cutting away to show the kids filming each other. But a nice try, nonetheless.

Did you believe things as a child that you have since learned are not true? Have you changed and grown during the last 10 or 20 years? Has the world changed? Was there such a thing as laparoscopic surgery or the iPhone or a computer disk drive with no moving parts 20 years ago? And when you go to a foreign country do you get the impression that people are not like you–that they think and speak and behave quite differently? So now try to place yourself back 2000 years, into a very different culture–one struggling to survive in a difficult environment–and try to imagine what they were thinking when they wrote what they did in the bible. Do you think they spoke like kids in California today–that they used words in the same way–to mean the same things we do? They didn’t even have a word or concept for homosexual (word not created until 1869).
Today it is well established that one’s genes (not even imagined in 33 AD) are more important in determining sexual orientation than, say, right or left-handedness. And that the prenatal hormonal environment has a strong influence (as a woman bears more male children, the odds of gay offspring climb since she builds antibodies to male structures).
Many people have little cause to concern themselves with these questions, but if you do this is the best recent film on the subject and well worth a viewing.

A fun, high-energy documentary, that takes a look at Joe Strummer and The Clash from start to finish. Lots of interview footage with the likes of, among many others, Brigitte Bardot, Bono, Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, Johnny Depp, Matt Dillon, David Lee Roth, and, of course, Joe Strummer. Gives you a whole new appreciation for “Rock the Casbah”. My only wish, not being the best with names/faces/famous people, is that they would have tastefully displayed the names of the people appearing in the interviews. Here’s a great cover by the Algerian rocker Rachid Taha:

If you’ve read Micheal Pollan’s book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” the issues addressed in this movie will be more than familiar. The tone, however, is rather younger, more superficial, and lighter. Both are quite enjoyable, and highlight problems most folks would rather not think about. I’d suggest you read the book first, then watch the movie to get the aroma and visuals.

Or Mitt liv som hund in the original Swedish. A treasure. Bittersweet tale of a 9-ish year old boy’s experiences surrounding the terminal illness and death of his mother. Deservedly won a sheaf of awards.

Somehow I had managed never to have seen this film. It is stunning. It swept the Oscars in 1984 (Best Director, Best Script, Best Foreign Language Film, etc.) It is amazingly tight with a fabulous, deep, mystical script, impeccable acting, crisp cinematography, and a lavish, indulgent feel. This is literature written and set to film by a master.

An emotional examination of the Peak Oil/Global Warming crisis that tended to skimp on data. What is the actual ROI and what are the issues with community gardens, CSAs, the various forms of alternative energy, etc.? What exactly does going “off the grid” entail? What are the current frontiers of alternative energy research, and which are available now? I’m all for waving the energy flag, but some hard data would be nice!