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Today's film from Quebec, Robert LePage auteur.

The Far Side of the Moon (2005)

More experimental theater on film.

Rather fascinating. At times boring. Always new and different.

Le Page is a theater guy so he does not constrain himself to film procedures. The film is an adaptation of his play. But here, the fourth wall breaks down. More than a theater can do with all the space stuff.

In this one, two brothers, both LePage seek to breach the gap between them. One is an astronomer the other a television weather man.

This is a comedy with the laughs held just under closed lips. No belly laughs. But it is very inventive.

OK I am tap dancing around this description.

I liked it a lot and can't much tell you what it is about but that it should be seen as all LePage films.

I enjoyed it but once is enough, hence a 3 out of Netflix5. I have a bit of a headache.

Labels: films

I forgot the poppies.

The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) used to sell a fake poppy for this day,

In Flander's fields the poppies grow.......

World War I poetry.

This is the kind of thing that is now gone. Traditions down the hole.

That is OK with me.

A lot of people wore the poppy and then felt smug and satisfied whether they went off to War or not.

This reminds me of the resentments of those who went against those who did not. The phrase "draft dodger" was a pretty strong epithet.

In our small town there were a few people who fit this phrase. They used influence of the cover of a "critical job" to stay at home.

I bet they wore the fucking poppy though.

Labels: war and peace

When I was a kid, Memorial Day was a serious business.

You have to put yourself in the setting of the time.

World War II was just over. Perhaps three years when I first got to participate.

Then there was the Korean War. More dead.

In reality there were just two soldiers from our town who were killed. Their names adorned the American Legion Post.

One was buried in one graveyard, another in another. Word was that there wasn't much to bury in the one but they went through the forms.

So people would meet at the Consolidated School where I went for twelve years.

Then a lineup. A color guard. My Dad carried for the Navy one year.

Then vets from all the wars. Old timers, newcomers.

Then, I don't know.

Somewhere in there were the Scouts. I was not a Scout. Then the school kids. Not optional participation.

We went to the graveyards and a firing squad saluted over the grave of the year. Blanks.

Some words were said. We went home.

Before that and even to this day, graves were decorated. Decoration Day is the old name for it. This dates back to Civil War times.

All of this seems a bit morbid to me now.

My Dad took it seriously though. He had been in the Navy. Volunteered. The war was never over for him.

He had bad dreams, he had a piece of shrapnel in his neck, gift of a kamikaze. He was in the North Atlantic escorting ships back and forth. Then in the Pacific.

We placed flags on all the veteran graves. Little ones.

And so on.

Now, I don't know if any of that is done. Remembrance.

Now that we are in a kind of perpetual war time the past all seems quaint somehow.

Now Memorial Day is just another long weekend for a lot of people. We have not been in a war for a long time. Except the continuing great war with the Muslims.

Religion again.

Have fun, have hot dogs. Go see the parade. We will have a huge one here. Overflights and all.

To me, it is just kind of depressing.

Labels: holidays, war and peace

A group of actors decide to put on a passion play.

Well, they are hired by the Diocese to put on the annual event.

They decide to rewrite the hackie script they have been given.

Miracles ensue.

Not really, no hand of God comes along.

But a lot of happening happens.

I liked this movie a lot.

Robert LePage. Pushing the boundaries. But in a totally coherent way.

Lothaire Bluteau is the actor chosen to do the Jesus part. He takes it very seriously.

A lot of this film is a muddle. It is too long. But is a lot of fun getting to the end.

A modern version of the same story all the way through resurrection. Pretty clever actually.

Once is enough for this film but that is quite a lot. I was really into it. 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

Today's film comes close up to a family and their housekeeper or maid or servant or, well, part of the family?

Que hora lea volta / The Second Mother (2015)

The housekeeper's daughter comes to visit her mother and stays in the same house as the family

A careful balance is thrown off. Modern values clash with traditional. The daughter asks why her mother defers?

At the insistence of the family (mostly the father who is smitten) the daughter stays in an extra bedroom. Mom doesn't want her to. It is not her place.

From there, a quiet hell breaks loose including probable sex with the teenage son. A guess.

This is like a tempest in a teapot. The winds swirl and we get to watch the currents and who and how things change.

All the principals are wonderfully cast. The wimpy father, the cold tough mother, the nice but innocent son.

Regina Casé plays the housekeeper. She holds the screen in her hands and our heart.

I liked this film a lot. It sometimes blows hot and sometimes cold. Not everything works but that is easily dismissed. I wanted to get to the next phase.

Suspense.

The housekeeper is wonderfully present for us. We see all of her, even her thoughts.

The ending is worth the wait although I thought it a bit long at two hours. I did look at my watch.

Labels: films

Today's film is one of the most upsetting I have seen in a long time.

I am still quivering.

The thing is that it has no bloodshed. No violence at all.

It simply tells the true-ish story of a greedy scum of a home developer that sells then takes back new homes from gullible people whose desire for a home and a nice way of life overpowers their good sense.

99 Homes (2015)

Is a muckraker of a film that does not let up. At times it felt unbearable to continue to watch the avarice and meanness involved in the Florida house game.

The acting is intense. I am watching this because it has Andrew Garfield as a guy who takes a job with the asshole who took his home. He is the devil's apprentice who sees the evil in what is going on. Legal evil.

This is not a happy film. It is unpleasant and painful to watch.

Goal accomplished, Garfield is a full on naif who falls into the trap of becoming his own oppressor.

That he sees it happening is even more painful as he is helpless to help himself or the others who he is hurting.

I do not know if this film even got distribution. It is so hard to watch I could see people leaving the theaters.

But it is extremely well done. Indictment by a thousand cuts. Little by little we sink lower in the slime.

Laura Dern is in this film, worn and tired of being shoved around. Michael Shannon is becoming the master villain of our time. Handsome but with a hard core burn of nasty, he all but draws hisses from the crowd as he goes about his shitty business.

I could never watch this movie again. It is too immediate and painful.

If there was a need for a film to show the housing crisis and the economic displacement of a wide swath of people this is it.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

It is amazing that after all this time the GOoPers still want to legislate what happens in my bedroom.

Well, there is not a direct line in that direction but the war against gays is now defined as a war about "religious freedom".

G.O.P. Opposition to Gay Rights Provision Derails Spending Bill

Which is OK. It is your right to be a bigot but don't get your pointy finger in my face please.

We have been a convenient crowbar for the cranky right wingers for a long time. The people who fear that someone somewhere is happy, free and worse, having a good time with other sinners.

What awful politics. The politics of bigotry, fear, prejudice, yadahyadah.

I suppose I should be used to it now. And it hardly effects my daily life at all.

I live in Palm Springs California. Gay central. Well as far as the desert is concerned.

The SFOs and NewYahkahs would dispute our pre-eminence and I wouldn't want to argue. They all come here to take their sunbaths at clothing optional resorts which, of course, is a sin whether you are gay or straight.

The Christers are a pitiful lot. While they make me angry I also pity them. Somehow the idea of "god's love" has eluded them on the ground.

Cynical me also knows that this is about rounding up the yokel vote.

It will be interesting how Donald J. Trump (I just found out that he traveling with the initial now) will handle these asshats.

Labels: bigots, christers, gay rights, right wing whack jobs

Today's movie was a Ridley Scott production.

So you know it was a over the top. Nothing goes half-way with Ridley. And when Jeff Daniels is the head of NASA, well, snore.

The Martian (2015)

I would like to say that I really enjoyed this film but I did not.

As an avowed contrarian I am swimming upstream.

The first part was good. I was into it.

Then long back and forth with NASA and a stream of nerd minutiae buried me.

I have to admit that I skipped ahead.

Perhaps I was marooned because it was on my little screen and not on a movie size.

But this was not a problem with ten thousand steers in yesterdays western.

The cast is good, But there is an awful lot of gasping for air.

That is another thing. I am not a big fan of Matt Damon. He has bulked up here. Workmanlike. But plodding.

Skipping ahead on FF earns it a 2 out of Netflix5.

Maybe I was raised too long on Captain Video one of the first space serials.

I have seen this stuff all my life.

I also am not a big fan of space exploration actually. It seems a bit too much penis waving for me. The biggest, the latest, the hoo-haw thing. Jock science.

And don't tell me it adds to the economy. I worked with NASA for years on the possibilities in technology transfer. Not as big a deal as everyone would like to think it is.

Killjoy.

Sorry.

But why should I have to apologize for going against the stream? A life long contrarian.

Labels: films

Every ten years or so I have to drag this epic western out for another viewing.

Red River (1948)

I saw this when it came out. I was 11 years old. I was with my cousin Barbara. We both went nuts over Montgomery Clift. That should have been a signpost.

I have seen it many times. It does not get old.

The improbable pairing of John Wayne and Clift was cinema magic. Old rough hewn and beautiful youth. Father and son.

As it turned out they could not have been more different in real life.

But the movies don't care about that.

The rest of the cast is classic. John Ireland, Jill Drew (Groot) and Walter Brennan. Noah Beery Junior a bare shadow of his Dad. But still good in the second level comic sidekick role.

It ends the same way as it always did but I always forget what happens. Purposeful forgetting.

This is a 5 out of Netflix5. The quintessential Western with a father son twist. Oedipus in the American west. Timeless theme with timeless actors.

I don't think that they make westerns any more. It has been a long time. Now it is some other cliché genre. Maybe that is because with this film and a few others everything got done that could be. End of sentence. Period and Paragraph.

Labels: best films, films

A long and plodding primary season has hurt Hillary Clinton.

And part of that is the continued agitation from the Berners.

Explaining Hillary Clinton’s Lost Ground in the Polls

What I think we are seeing are bounces.

First bounce is Trump basically winning the Republican nomination. Conventional wisdom, which is conventional because it is usually correct, says that this will cause a bounce for the candidate.

The "know nothing" voters will follow along temporarily because sheep!

The Democrats are engaged in a philosophical battle between Sanders and Ms. Clinton. The ideologists do not give up as easily as the wing nuts.

They will hold out for Bernie whether it hurts Ms. Clinton or not.

I have written here about this. It pisses me off.

It is too early to conclude anything from all this but as a fan boy of the process I am beginning to re-up with some of the more interesting political blogs. The ones I put aside four years ago.

Here. You might want to do the same.

TPM used to called Talking Points Memo. It has interesting insights into what is going on. Today the headline is about Trump's bump. Right on time.

If you do not mind wandering off the path a bit, FiveThirtyEight is a mishmash and always fun. Run by Nate Silver, the political prognosticator, it provides useful color to a lot of stuff other than politics. Today, how the media gets around using the term "groin" when a player gets kicked in the balls. Fun. Mr Silver, incidentally, has a pretty good record of prediction although he missed Trump by a mile. He admits it prettily.

And, to really piss you off we have The Drudge Report

Rhymes with "sludge". Drudge is an aggregator. Nothing but headlines, dense and hard to read. But he finds acorns like no other squirrelly sniffer. You have to comb in the denseness to find an acorn but it is there. The other thing is that Drudge is an asshole and revels in it. If you are entertained by grandiose bigotry, Drudge is your man. He is kind of funny too. He wears a fedora type hat just like the old time reporters from those Thirties movies. If you can see through the bluster, he does have a keen ear for the rumor, the innuendo and especially the mean and vicious. Just the spice that is needed in the midst of the slog and bore of the rest of the political news. Drudge covers everything too. Funny, usually. A Drudge sampler from today: Zuckerberg building secure bunker?, Residents Stunned by Military Drill-Explosions, Helicopters...'Did We Go to War?', Falling toilets snarl traffic on LA freeways...

See? Matt is totally the leading yellow journalist of the internet.

I did not intend to make this about Drudge but I have to admit he gets the adrenaline flowing in me like no other. I like that actually. Love thy enemy because s/he will amuse you.

Labels: Democratic primary, Republican primary

A good stew does not require elaborating on its constituent parts.

If it is good, well that is enough. If it is bad don't eat it.

For awhile it was touch and go with today's film.

Une Nouvelle Amie / My New Girlfriend (2015)

Romain Duris is not quite convincing as a transvestite but then few transvestites are convincing. Look at the hands, the legs.

But that is not the point. The desire to cross-dress is a thing that is inside people. How they act it out is sometimes not pretty but that they can be brave enough to be themselves is quite thrilling.

Think about it. The looks, the jibes. In many cases, the violence. It scares the shit out of some men. They react.

This film takes a lot of risks. Not the least of which is to cast one of the most masculine of film stars in the key role.

His best friend, actually the best friend of his recently deceased wife aids and abets his transition. Trans-ition.

What makes this work? I do not know. I am resistant to the whole idea of drag queens. But this guy is not a drag queen. The drag is not a costume. The inner female is very strong. And so on.

I liked this film a lot and would be willing to watch it again so it is a 4 out of Netflix5. Not bad from one of those guys, me, who is not very transfriendly.

I have an acquaintance who has transitioned. I have seen him a few times since. It is a bit of a surprise at first but one which is easily managed. I have never equated being gay with being either female or a drag queen. I feel pretty secure. So I can hug my friend and wish him well. And admire his courage to carry on with his inner man/woman.

Labels: films, gay films

Our Palm Springs temperatures have been about ten degrees lower than average all this spring.

Very nice.

But a bit mysterious as there is no explanation that I can get through and understand.

Everything depends first of all on the Pacific flow. This year there was El Nino. Maybe that is it.

But then El Nino was said to be weak and had little other manifestations upon us. No rainy February. No dark days.

The first year we came here we arrived in February and had rain every day. Typical until recently.

I am not a skeptic about climate change but I don't think much about it. Most of the predictions have been such that most of the changes are going to happen after I am dead. Another idea that is hard to comprehend. Me? Not to exist?

But that is another blogpost sometime.

It is typical of the desert to be unpredictable. The person who has the unenviable role as weather-person has to live with being wrong almost all the time.

But wrong in a subtle way. Temperatures maybe. Rain perhaps.

But this cool weather is a major outlier.

Maybe someone can tell us what and why?

Until then and even after I will enjoy the late heat and bask in the moderation of today's climate.

For all the hoohaw today's movie is a boring mess.

The Assassin (2015)

I do have to admit its stunning beauty.

Maybe that is it.

Whatever "it" is, it eluded me.

I have been brought up on the Hong Kong product of such things. Hungry for action.

There is not a lot of that in this movie.

That said, the landscapes and scenery are beautiful. So bask in it while you deal with the utter boredom of watching the cast walk through this dreadful plot.

I will give it a 2 out of Netflix5 because I did not succumb to the desire to FF.

I am tired of "artistic successes" at the expense of a good story. Or action. A lot of these films have no real story but at least someone does something.

And I don't need heads rolling or any of that.

The word "soporific" comes to mind.

Zzzzzzzzzzz

A real snooze.

Pretty though.

It is interesting that it as an IMDb rating of 6.5. So I am not the only one who is underwhelmed.

Labels: films

The Berners are trying to find the reasons their man lost.

They really do not have to look very far. It is pretty simple.

He is a curmudgeon without a lot of appeal for sure. And he is/was a socialist. But there is more.

11 reasons why Bernie Sanders lost this thing fair and square

And this is from DailyKos who has a record of supporting leftie candidates.

When you have pissed them off you have definitely been trying.

And now, Bernie is a sore loser. A whiner. The worst.

I had wished, early on, that he would run a respectable campaign. But he has not.

So, say "goodnight" Bernie.

Another film with Vigo Mortensen, my hero.

In this one he plays a guy in the American midwest. Perfect accent. American from the toes.

He has a past and it comes to visit him and his family who have no idea.

He has to clean house. And he does.

A History of Violence (2005)

He goes back to Philadelphia to settle old scores.

This is a thriller with twists as all good thrillers twist. Original surprising. Lots of stuff we do not see coming.

I have seen it a few times and still was at the edge of my seat as his family deals with the "history".

His son is being bullied in school and eventually uses what skills his Dad obviously taught him.

Was that necessary? Is the violence that solves the back east problem necessary?

Is it OK if bad guys get hurt and good guys triumph? How badly hurt is hurt.

That said, a bravura performance for John Hurt who is out of type in his role as the mobster brother that Viggo has to go "see".

I love this movie. A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films, films, violence

There is a lot of turmoil among GOoPer donors.

Key G.O.P. Donors Still Deeply Resist Donald Trump’s Candidacy

Even the richest need campaign money. He wants a billion dollars.

But he is so unpopular that a group of traditional money men (no women apparently) are openly refusing to support him.

“He’s an ignorant, amoral, dishonest and manipulative, misogynistic, philandering, hyper-litigious, isolationist, protectionist blowhard,” Mr. Vlock said. Mr. Vlock said he might give to Hillary Clinton instead, describing her as “the devil we know.” “I really believe our republic will survive Hillary,” he said."

I am sure he will get enough money. The thing is that this unseemly scrambling is anything but Presidential. That whole "timbre*" thing.

The Donald is clearly not ready for prime time at the level of a national election. Not when the people most needed to support him refuse to stand up and what is more vilify him in the process.

Jeez. I was happy to live through another election cycle but now I am delighted. I have never seen anything like this one. From Truman to Clinton we have seen all kinds of things but this takes the cake. Where is the cake, I want to throw it. A cream pie?

*I purposely used this word timbre to awake an old argument about the metaphor and how it is used. Most people assume that the word means timber as a tree, wood, the possibility of useful harvest. But the term came about a different way. by comparing the voices of candidates on the radio in the Thirties. The way that they came across was limited to their words and the timbre of their voices.It is interesting that Trump has used the "call-in" type of format on the early news shows so the voice is back again. A new "radio" effect or is it affect? You are on your own for that one; e/a?

Read more about Presidential Timbre here.

Labels: Donald Trump, Republican primary

We are in the California Primary now.

I say "in it" because we just got our mail-in ballots and they have to be received by June 7.

There were two ballots this time.

A bunch of committee people and one proposition which I really do not understand but I liked the argument against it and so voted NO.

I am easily swayed.

They have two ballots because as a registered Democrat I have a separate party committee and stuff like that.

I don't vote for some of it because I have no idea. But in the one where there are parties I vote down the line Democrat. If it was a voting machine I would be that one lever guy.

I finally did the deed and voted for Hillary. Sanders has pissed me off a lot lately. I have written about this.

I am not sure that I would have ever given him my vote but I did listen for awhile. I ended up not liking him which was enough to cut him down.

I am not a Clinton lover but look she has more experience than any of these people even Trump who, despite his billions, has not really managed anything.

And of course he is a bona fide asshole. See the photo.

This is Kurt Vonnegut's original drawing. I miss Kurt. So I am using his all purpose drawing.

From here on X= Trump.

Labels: Democratic primary, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton

The story of the Stonewall riots needs a good film to tell its story.

Today's film is not it.

Stonewall (2015)

Bloated and sometimes incoherent this film is chock full of over the top gay stereotypes.

It does show what we are all up against in the continuing struggle for equality for gay men, women and young people.

Especially the kids.

Of course I was not there either. But I have read and heard about it from people who were.

But then the Stonewall riots are like a lot of other special events. If all the people who say they were there were actually there it would have been a junta with no survivors on the straight side.

So, too bad most of it is a FF to get through the pain. I did finish it but at warp speed. Maybe I did the skipping over the good parts but I do not think so.

A sad 2 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

But not boring.

Today was the monthly condo board meeting.

I am the treasurer so get to make a financial report in the beginning. Stage center.

We have a pretty serene HOA. There is little or no conflict between neighboring owners and the quality of life is good.

Part of this is based on the fact that we have kept our association fees down below the average in the Valley.

And we are able to do that because the original developer put together a well designed construction that has endured.

There are some problems. The pools are gradually deteriorating. Inevitable after a certain number of years.

We are probably going to face some very costly paving and other infrastructural needs. We continue to rebuild roofs.

And we have depleted our reserves. This mostly because previous boards were reluctant to raise the annual HOA rates to do necessary work and took the cash out of the reserve fund.

We will be replenishing these funds starting this year with an extra assessment of a few hundred dollars per year and continue until we have built up the "grain in the silo".

Farm talk.

I still enjoy this activity into my second term. I used to want to be Chairman but have happily leaned back and do the money work. We have professional managers who do all the heavy lifting so this is mostly a matter of my keeping tabs and signing the checks. I see all the cash that goes out.

Nice job. Other people's money.

Labels: HOA

Impending doom hovers over all three parts of

The Red Riding Trilogy (2010)

I have seen it before.

This time because the first of the three stories involves Andrew Garfield as a meddling reporter sent to The North, a region of England, to find a story in the murder of a young girl.

It is a long commitment to watch a 6 hour film and there better be a payoff.

In this case there is.

The film is suspenseful and violent. Not much candy coating here.

The bleak British landscape, the council estates, the police corridors all provide a background to a "case" that turns out to be unsolved. It goes on for many years. Two more murders.

The drama is deep and there is little uplifting about the experience of watching except that people do get their comeuppance.

This is a character driven program and it took three top actors, one for each segment, to carry it off.

An enthusiastic 5 out of Netflix5 and I will likely not want to watch it again.

Labels: films

That song that clings, and sings.

This has been going on in my head for two days. I hope this might help get it out of there.

I had forgotten that it was Johnny Mathis.

I thought Nat King Cole. Sue me.

Mathis sort of came out as a gay man then back pedaled.

Management told him to get back into the closet.

I was surprised to find that he is still very much alive! And still working. He is 78.

I don't need him to come out. He has gone from a guy who was gay being famous and successful to being a guy who is almost as old as I am and still working, riding those hits to the end.

Labels: gay history, music

Bernie Sanders holds on despite insurmountable odds.

Bernie Sanders, Eyeing Convention, Willing to Harm Hillary Clinton in the Homestretch

A stubborn old coot, the Bern is showing his irascibility.

Sore loser as I see it.

A spoiler of the Party pudding.

I have never warmed to him. I am not a Clinton lover but Bernie is not made of the stuff I want to support in the White House.

He is an old style Socialist. And that means angry. Pissed. Discontented.

These people make good gadflies but I think they would make lousy leaders.

I have known a lot of lefties and most of them are angry and determined to have their say and their revenge for not being taken seriously.

Look, I can out-liberal anyone when it comes down to it. But leadership style is another thing. What good are the principles if their are delivered in a vinegar base.

I am afraid we are seeing some personal issues breaking through here. The temper of a perennial loser.

It is great that he has made it this far. He has had his effect.

Now, be graceful about the inevitable. Embrace it. And hope for a cabinet position. Fat chance now.

Labels: Bernie Sanders, liberals

Candidates for President are seldom foolish enough to make specific promises before their election.

Sure, generalities. Platitudes. Pandering.

But Trumpf is of a new breed.

He wants us to know who he is going to nominate for the Supreme Court now.

I suppose this matters to a target group. But it is such a blatant ploy for votes that it stinks.

I believe that it will backfire.

Most Presidents hold their cards as close to their vest as possible.

Trump is a blabbermouth.

Enough said.

One more display of his deficiencies of character and the unlikely development of any persona which would vaguely be Presidential.

A bloviator and blow hard.

It will be interesting to see what Clinton will do with this in the debates. If any.

Labels: Donald Trump

In this case not the pedophilic kind but rather the kind between two boys.

Or rather gay boys just at the cusp of adulthood.

Very tricky ground.

And the film avoids both the cliché and the prurient.

Boy (2009)

Made in the Philippines. The boys in question are sort of innocent even if one of them dances as a stripper in a seedy night club.

The other is a middle class boy of 14 who is looking for, well, what?

He knows that he is gay. He knows that he likes to look. So he goes to a strip show on a Sunday night when there are no other patrons.

He is told that he can take on of the boys home for a fee. He pays up.

They go home.

What happens is at the core of the film which is quite beautiful as this type of film is meant to be.

There is a lot of fantasy at play here but it is not really bad fantasy. Everyone gets out unscathed. Even the innocent, sort of, mother.

This all takes place on New Years Eve after all.

Symbolic, yes.

I have seen this before. It is short and sweet. I am not turned on by kids, well not until they are older than maybe 18 and mature 18 at that. Perhaps 30.

The film manages to traverse a slippery road and come out the other side with a good taste that is, I think, hard to do.

I have seen this a couple of times so it is a 5 out of Netflix5 even though it is not a great film it is straight from and to the heart. Straight.

Labels: films, gay films

Today's film is an old favorite.Office Space (1999)

I love this movie. It is full of LOL moments which get me in trouble with my office mate. So I know that it is not to everyone's taste.

Maybe it is that I worked in offices for a long time and then did management training for so long.

I recognize all the types although it does have to be said they are written very large here.

The film is actually adapted from a comic called Milton a sad sack mumbler who is always on the wrong end of the swinging door.

To say that he gets his revenge is an understatement. There are other happy endings too.

Let it be said that not everyone is cut out for office life. Perhaps a lot fewer than we think.

By definition a 5 out of Netflix5 because I have seen it over and over again.

Labels: films

Today's movie is a vehicle for two stars.

Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley pair up in a nice non-romantic comedy. Light comedy.

Learning to Drive (2015)

Well written, nicely paced, and very light almost fluffy.

But fluff with a bite.

I don't know how to tell about it without spoiling the experience so I will not.

Just say that someone needs driving lessons and out of the pack gets a Sikh instructor. Cultures clash and near romance blossoms.

The actors know how to keep the car on the road without running into the silly ditch or worse, the other side which gets all squishy about everyone loving everyone else.

Accomplished actors and a good cast including Samantha Bee who I have never seen in a serious role as well as John Hodgman, the same.

Familiar faces in another setting.

A 3 out of Netflix5. Perfectly nice watching which will do as a once in a lifetime experience. The whole point is to watch these two have at it. Kingsley and Clarkson.

Labels: films

Today, a gay first love story.

Nothing new here but we are never tired of hearing these tales of first awakening.

A escondido / Hidden Away (2014)

I have seen this before.

One boy is Moroccan which throws a twist to the plot. He is on the run, an illegal. The part that is hidden. Well, their relationship is hidden too.

This is a good movie with a lot of nice moments and some scary ones.

It is realistic about the young men's situation. No fantasy here.

Hard times.

There is no fat in this quickly moving story but there is time enough for some sweet moments between the guys.

Since I have seen it before and enjoyed it every time, it gets a 5 on the Netflix scale. Not because it is in the film pantheon but because it deserves to be seen and seen again.

Labels: films, gay films

I used to rely on the Gallup Poll for the general election.

But that is not working for me anymore. Too staid. Dripping with history but not very germane to the day.

Now, I recommend to you

Predictwise

A sort of poll of polls but with an inner intelligence.

You are not going to get a lot from it now although there is a kind of awakening going on.

Clinton and Trump have the nominations in the bag so it is starting to look interesting for the general.

It currently looks like Clinton has it in the bag,

But The Donald hasn't started with the real attacks yet. Well, except for the childish "lyin' Hillary".

He really is a jerk.

Labels: general election 2016

Today's Chilean film goes nowhere.

En la gamma de los grises / In the Grayscale

A married guy is unhappy and goes to stay in his Grandad's decrepit house.

He meets Fer, a tour guide, but not on a tour.

They have an affair.

Finding a gay identity is not easy. Gay bars. Hanging out with other gay men.

The sex is good. It is confusing.

Coming out is never easy and to watch an uneasy process is likewise uncomfortable.

But there is no "out" here.

The closet door keeps swinging and the hero is left in the middle of the swing. He keeps getting hit with his own fear and ambiguity.

The evidence is pretty clear. But only we see it.

He is an urban architect so he is working on the restoration of an old bridge that was demolished in urban renewal. Only parts of it remain.

I guess this is the symbol under which our guy will live. Half in, half out. Pain and unhappiness.

This is not a movie to show to anyone who is just coming out. It is probably a tru-ish experience of some men.

Not mine. Nor of many of us who have faced the demons and moved to the other side.

I won't be getting this film for the collection. It is too much of a downer. Not likely to see it again.

I did not fast forward but I wanted to. I guess that makes it a 2 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

Today's film is a visit with one of the world's most successful assholes.

The Social Network (2010)

Of course the business titans of the early twentieth century were assholes too.

It is a long tradition.

But the billions poured in and some people got hurt. Like a war.

And so on.

I am not nor ever plan to subscribe to Facebook.

Mostly because of the asshole factor.

I wouldn't want to get into what I think when I hear people talk about their "page" and all.

Of course, I have my own page. You are looking at it.

The movie, yes the movie, is very well done. Jesse Eisenberg gives his all to the Zuckerberg persnonna and he avoids caricature. The whole thing is a pleasure to watch even while avarice and backstabbing go full throttle.

It is opera of course. Very old fashioned.

And we do know that sooner or later the soprano will die. Either pushed or voluntarily jumping off the cliff.

I got this to see Andrew Garfield again. I like him a lot.

I have seen this a couple of times so that makes it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

No one much liked today's Argentinian film.

But I did. There were even a couple of familiar actors!

El Tercero / The Third One (2014)

A gay couple decides to find a third man on line to shake up their own relationship.

Once they find the young man and things become less than theoretical, the reality of the encounter affects each man in different ways.

All of them good as far as I am concerned.

I know from personal experience that three-ways are pretty tough to carry out without some problems. The biggest is that someone is likely to be left out.

Happy to say that does not happen here, a spoiler, but it might encourage you to know that a good time is had by all including the viewer. And it seems likely that there is even a future for the three guys.

At least they say so.

The big thing is that neither of the couple is threatened by what happens.

Nor is the younger man.

I won't say a lot more about this.

The reviewer at the link complains that there was too much time spent on the sexual part. Huh?

It is very erotic but not gratuitous. There is still a creepy kind of puritanism in all of us.

This kind of film can go a far way to break through that hypocrisy and help make people happier.

Labels: films, gay films

The Twin Towers are two of the stars of today's film of high rise daring-do.

The Walk (2015)

Thrilling and inspirational once it gets off the earth.

The film is based on the walk between the two Towers by Phillipe Petit. The real thing.

I do not know how much is the actual story and how much made up but that question fades in the work of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his team.

Gotta say that the team-work is always in evidence. Strong performances from a supporting cast who know how to be vivid without stealing the light.

I liked this a lot. Once is enough. Knowing the ending, sort of, takes a bit of the zing out of it, but the film somehow avoids the inevitable yawn factor of a re-creation.

Also, the Twin Towers share top billing and the opportunity for one last look gives this a great ending. As if Petit's walk was not a big deal in itself.

My only gripe is giving Gordon-Levitt an unnecessary and obvious nose job. Putty.

I would not mind seeing this again. A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

Science fiction is best when it sits right on our present day situation.

Such is the case in today's film

Never Let Me Go (2010)

a chilling story about kids who are raised to become organ donors. They get to have three donations and then they are "transitioned". I mean, how many parts can you give up?

I suppose there is something wrong with the technical aspect of this idea but there is nothing wrong with the story based on a novel by Kazuo Ushiguro,

It is set in the present day which makes it a little eerie. Perhaps this is really going on somewhere!

It gives an edge to the horror aspect of the film.

But the movie never goes over the edge with the idea. Everything seems quite possible.

The kids are Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. Charlotte Rampling is the house Mistress of the "school" where these kids are brought up.

The three are in a love triangle. Three ways.

It does not occur to them that they can do much to alter their fate. They have to work with what they have which is each other.

I liked this a lot and saw it before which makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

Suddenly, the GOoPers find themselves understanding the story of Dr. Frankenstein.

As the Trumpfer makes even more progress there are cries of alarm and a definite sense of foreboding. Some predict the end of the Party.

But didn't that already happen? Sometime back there when Romney lost and the crazies took control and they decided to make Obama lose no matter what?

Well, they lost at their own game.

Now no-one can stand up to the demagogue who moved into the power vacuum.

For one thing, he had his own money so no one could bribe him to fall in line. Another thing is that they never really took him seriously.

What they forgot is that they had provided him with a pre-stirred pot of malcontent voters who are just simply pissed off and feel left behind. The former (southern mostly) Democrats, the religionists (almost), the downtrodden and the mean bastards who are cranky about everything all the time.

A sick coalition who have found "their man" in one of their oppressors. The big rich bastard who never thought a thing about them until he needed the rabble to storm the gates.

And so on. Rant, rant, rant.

As you sow so shall ye reap. And so on.

Now, no one wants to be the Veep. They are running away.

It is interesting to watch stalwarts like Paul Ryan deal with this. He is young enough to be the one who steps in to pick up the pieces. Maybe.

Spectacle.

Here is more if you want to read about it. Fascinating.

Republican Party Unravels Over Donald Trump’s Takeover

Whew. And in my lifetime. One thing after another.

Rio de Janeiro built a separate city for their slums.

It takes the riff raft out of the main city and puts all the problem people together in one place.

The City of God (2002)

This might be the most violent movie I have ever seen. And I do not mean the kind of violence we see from Hollywood.

This is down and dirty, brutal violence perpetrated by the people on each other.

The film is quite realistic and sometimes hard to bear but it tells a story of hope and redemption.

One kid who finds a camera begins to take pictures of what he sees. A friend who has made it to work in a newspaper develops it for him and the photos are seen by a feature writer.

One thing leads to another and the kid ends up back on the streets as a photographer for the newspaper.

But a lot happens on the way to this barely entry position. And that is what we see going on here.

It has a very high IMDb rating, in the 8's. Unusual.

Edge of the seat, the film moves fast and hard, surely to a climax.

I liked it a lot and would not mind seeing it again. A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

I finally watched an old film that has little snob appeal.

I am probably one of those people who turned their noses up without seeing

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Has it really been that long ago?

I am reminded of the better Abbot and Costello movies in which some pretext sets the two buffoons down into an era of which they are totally ignorant.

I won't go into the intricacies of the plot except to say that it was great fun. I laughed!

Another thing. Dr. Who owes a lot of its concept as well as a phone booth to this film which came first.

George Carlin is underused and a bit off key but it is good to see him endorsing the foolishness. With badly dyed hair.

I won't see it again although I will see the sequel which this review says is even better.

Labels: films

Ted Cruise went out like he came in.

Entitled, belligerent, ungrateful and spiteful.

Of course, I am only taking this from Frank Bruni's unforgiving hatchet job in the NYTImes.

Ted Cruz’s Bitter End

I believe that Ted Cruz is among those poor souls who cannot see themselves as others see them.

I have read that he is pretty much a flaming asshole and had built no coalitions in the Senate.

I am not sure how I feel about collations but if you are a Senator and want to stay that way, you build coalitions.

They did not like him. No one does apparently.

When we talk about people not liking a candidate we mean this on fairly benign terms. The Clinton ego, yes. But the good side of this is also evident and praised. Kasich was a nice guy who finished last. Remember Mitt? Likable even if he was a bit earnest. I certainly never disliked the "him" underneath.

But the thing with Cruz is visible. Coulcn't he ever see, did no one ever tell him about his smarm. his sneer, his wolfish glare.

It reminds me of the old saying that "no one likes a smart ass". OK.

Will anyone miss him?

Labels: republican whack jobs

I got disc one, season one of Breaking Bad.

I didn't want to miss anything.

I can see the appeal and the reason he got an Emmy. But the whole thing is so sordid that I don't want any more than three episodes.

I am beginning to feel like my parents who found they had aged out of everything new.

I do not want to see the gory aftermath of a body soaked in Hydroflouric Acid even though I can see the humor of the stuff eating out the tub and the whole floor.

I can do without watching someone be tortured in a basement.

And the idea of glorifying meth is pretty hard to take. I know that is not the intent of the thing but I know enough people who were meth-heads to see anything in a drama about it.

They will have to carry on without me but I do wish them well. Somewhere in there is a message that needs to be spread. One way or another.

Jesus. And I thought alcoholism was bad.

Labels: television

Labels: diet, fads, health

Donald Trump's success in the primaries has brought about a singular opportunity for Republicans in this state to be important on the national scene.

But it ends up being a curse. A problem. Trump is not a party player and is only by chance a Republican.

And he is a New Yorker.

He is not very popular here and there will be a primary fight.

California Prepares for Long-Denied Star Turn in Presidential Race

The thing is that our primary comes after many of the others and as a result we are always the after thought.

Not so this time.

There will be a fight for delegates and it is heating up nicely.

Nothing like watching the other side getting into a circular firing squad.

As for the Democratic side, there is no real excitement here. Sanders would do better among west coast liberals and there are a lot of us but that race is essentially over.

Any votes Sanders gets will be symbolic, a kick in the ass for the Clintons. But to no effect.

First, the Clintons do not care and second, the outcome is already forgone.

Labels: California, GOoPers, Republican primary

Today's film is a bit of nice fluffy love story.

Two young gay men get together in Toronto.

Seek (204)

One is a reporter for a weekly gay newspaper. The other is a party producer.

Nothing ensues. It is pretty calm.

Mild anxiety over whether they will go to bed together.

Some trepidation that we will have to hear more talk about gay dating today. It hasn't changed much in all the years I have been around gay films. Whether that is true in the real world or not, I cannot tell.

I liked it. It was calm. No screaming, no death threats.

There is the requisite sweet drag queen to push the boys along.

It is a 3 out of Netflix5 if you are queer.

If you are not, do not even consider watching. It is very homospecific in a good way. Not even educational for the curious.

Some nice R-rated male nudity. They are very thin. But young and twinky so that is a good thing.

It will not end up in our private DVD collection.

Labels: gay films