Uncovering Writing

Okay, if you’ve been reading any of my movie entries, you’ll have found some cool reviews about twisted films I’ve watched. I like foreign films, especially foreign horror films. I’ve been watching several cool films lately. My favorites have been Oldboy (more drama/action with a psychological horror twist), Phone, and the most recent one I saw, Samaritan Girl.

It seems that Sundance Channel has a great series that’s returning in February, called Asia Extreme. A few of the movies I’ve watched were shown under this banner in the past, and I’m so looking forward to this new season’s worth of films. It looks like it’s on Sundance channel every Sunday at midnight. Check it out. The first one is Phone on the 28th of January at midnight. This is the film mentioned above that scarred the crap out of me and I had to watch it slowly over a few days so as not to induce a heart attack!

This morning, the Oscar nominations were announced. Here’s my take on the big three.

• Best Movie: The Queen
• Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
• Best Actress: Helen Mirren

Now, if Forest Whitaker doesn’t win, there’s going to be hell to pay, I say! Peter O’Toole’s been up for an Oscar 7 times already and lost. This is his eighth and there’s talk of a sympathy award. Some of the trendier Hollywood sites are saying Leo might have a chance, but that’s just BS!

I wish that Last King of Scotland was up for Best Movie, because (a) it should be and (b) it should win. Alas, it isn’t, so I’m going with my choice above.

Diane & I went to see The Last King of Scotland at my favorite indie theater in DC, the Landmark E Street. This is a must see film, if only to see Forest Whitaker, as Idi Amin, in potentially the best performance of a leading man in decades. Also, to see the idealistic and young Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, played well by James McAvoy.

This film provides a glimpse into the life of Idi Amin, the general who took over the government of Uganda in 1971 and held power until his ouster in 1979. A fictionalized character, Dr. Garrigan, is fresh out of a Scottish medical school and he wants to make a difference in the world, choosing Uganda to fulfill this desire. In a clever turn of creative events, he moves from helping out in a rural hospital to being invited to be the personal physician of Amin in the capital and to be one of Amin’s trusted close advisors.

As the hope and promise of Amin turn into violence and paranoia, our good doctor remains mostly unaware of what’s going on around him, although the clues are laid bare for the viewing audience and other members of the cast. My first favorite moment in the film is seeing the Doctor watch Amin give a speech in a rural area just after Amin has seized power from a corrupt ruler Obote. The fire in Whitaker’s portrayal of Amin burns through the celluloid into your heart. I wanted to jump up and down, supporting Amin, even knowing what the eventual outcome would be. Amin was like this and Whitaker’s portrayal is spot-on. My second favorite scene (or really, scenes) that I love is watching Whitaker/Amin’s descent from charismatic man of the people to paranoid despot.

What has the most impact on me, though, was the sense that I could have been Dr. Garrigan. If I’d left my home country at 25 or 26, and had such power and riches lavished on me by such a charismatic and political figure, I’d probably have ended up in the same situation, intoxicated by the situation and my own desires. That is a haunting thought.

See this film. Forest Whitaker should win an Oscar for his role. I really thought that he stood on the same ground as Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington in this film. That was how strong a character he was, that was the level of his art.

So, I ran across White Skin under my TiVo suggestions. It was on the Love / Romance channel (not porn but sappy love stories; think of it as Lifetime or Oxygen on crack). Figured it wasn’t anything interesting, although it was listed as horror and suspense.

I started watching it and it’s hyper twisted! It’s set in Montreal, and tells the story of Thierry and Henri. They are roommates, Thierry is an aspiring writer / literature student on scholarship. Henri’s job or career isn’t really spelled out, though he does play in a band with some friends during one scene.

Through a series of experiences with his roommate and his newfound girlfriend and her family, a story unfolds that is disturbing, intriguing and sometimes ludicrous. Kind of like seeing an accident on the highway, you sometimes just can’t look away. It’s a cool flick, maybe in the tradition of the Hammer Studio horror films of the 1960s and 70s.

I finally got through Phone, a Korean horror flick that was on the Sundance channel about a month ago. It sounded intriguing and I’m so glad I got it on my TiVo. Here’s a poster for this flick.

The plot was mostly traditional horror material, but the scenery and theme music definitely added to the ambience. There are some cool plot twists toward the end, so do watch all the way through.

One thing I do have to note, and maybe it’s just me or maybe this film took things up a level. While I often knew when I was about to be scared with the surprise appearance of a ghostly figure or when the music or camera angle telegraphed (with a huge bat) that something bad or scary was about to happen, I still jumped out of my skin at each occurrence. I don’t know if it was since it was in a foreign language, it didn’t have any commercial gaps to break the tension (even though I watched the flick over a few weeks), or what, but I really was scared out of my wits each time! Another refreshing piece was that I didn’t scream at the TV telling the main characters not to do something stupid. Like, when you watch a Friday the 13th flick and you just scream at the stupidest character who goes into the dark room where you know the killer has to be. In Phone, I didn’t think that the characters were stupid but were doing things I might do.

Overall, great flick, check it out, but maybe keep the night light on!

I went to see the Jeff Smith 2004 campaign documentary on Monday. My boss let me go since it was kind of work-related: we worked that campaign primary in 2004 and we might also screen the film at our upcoming conference. Anyway…

The film was fantastic. I was a little surprised since it wasn’t shot in 16x9 format, so it was weird to see a big screen with this trapezoid image on it. The film also ran for about 10 minutes before any opening credits showed up and I seriously thought they didn’t started the film at the beginning. But, they did.

The film did a very good portrayal, interspersing interviews with Jeff, campaign events, strategy sessions, and commentary by local talking heads from radio, TV, and newspapers. It was amazing to see Jeff work so very hard to win this primary. Damn, if only I worked that hard! Tons of calls, schmoozing, and most importantly, pounding the pavement and talking with folks. It was cold and hard, showing him happy, excited, sad, depressed, and just plain real. The film ends a day or two after the elections. Even though I knew how it all ended prior to getting my popcorn, I was still glued to the edge of my seat throughout this film.

On a personal note, It was really cool to put faces to the emails and phone exchanges I’d had with the campaign back in the summer of ‘04. I’d met Jeff in our office, but hadn’t met anyone else on the campaign face to face.

As for the films affect on me, that was actually somewhat profound. The title of the film, “Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?” was a play on the classic Jimmy Stewart film. Jeff was a nobody, running against a political dynasty in Missouri (as the film notes, a Carnahan in Missouri is like a Kennedy in Massachusetts). He didn’t have funds, his family didn’t back him, and his campaign staff was younger and less experienced than he was! But, he ran an issues campaign. He didn’t spend time just being an attack dog. He had progressive ideas, talked about them with real people, not just talking heads or through surrogate “grassroots” corporations.

In 2004, I was new at my job and newly introduced to the behind-the-scenes game of electoral politics. I was an idealist and believed in candidates. I backed Jeff in 2004, fought for him to get endorsed by my organization and fought to get him contributions.

In 2006, the question I have to ask myself is whether or not the many Mr. Smiths can get to Washington anymore? Have I become so involved in the process that I can’t see the good candidates anymore and only play the safe bets? I’ve looked at some of the candidates I’ve gotten behind and a few are good. But, I really have to look more closely at what I’ve become and see if that idealist is still inside, maybe shivering in a dark corner, but at least still there.

For me, before John Sarbanes, there was Jeff Smith, a young, political wunderkind out of St. Louis who dared to take on the Carnahan name for Dick Gephardt’s open seat in Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District in 2004. We got behind Jeff, after a great set of CQ responses and an interview with him conducted during the sweltering DC summer of 2004.

Jeff was an amazing progressive candidate who was only about 30 years old and took on the political apparatus with a grassroots campaign that would make any campaign extremely jealous. In Missouri, the Carnahan name is like the Kennedy name in Massachusetts. Jeff took on Russ Carnahan, and lost the primary by under 1%, extremely amazing returns. Jeff graciously supported Russ after the primary and we also got behind him.

This year, Jeff ran another grassroots campaign that he won, finishing ahead in the primary for the state Senate seat from St. Louis. With no official opposition in November, Jeff’s almost assured this seat.

A documentary film was made of his 2004 campaign for the U.S. House and it’s now playing in DC again, down at Landmark’s E Street Theater. Definitely worth checking out if you want to see a great grassroots political campaign! Click here to see what the Washington Post had to say. to the Washington Post’s quick snippet on the film:

Just to clarify, in case anyone missed it, I really liked Jeff. Of the 55 challengers I’ve worked with over two cycles (and the 300+ candidates I’ve helped to recommend an endorsement for), Jeff was one of only three candidates that I could personally say I would support, vote for, and even work for on the Hill.

TiVo picked this up and it’s a really great flick. Lots of action, a tongue-in-check leading “man”, and some very dark drama. Check it out if you get a chance! It kind of reminded me of Blade Trinity, with the dark but so snarky humor of Wesley Snipes. Hellboy has an all-star cast too, for those who’d like to do their star-gawking from their couch. Check out Ron Perlman, John Hurt (love this guy), Selma Blair, and the always funny Jeffrey Tambor.

I really wanted to see this flick when it hit the theaters, but never made it out. I picked it up after it was released, and watched the director’s cut. I’d heard both good and bad things about this, but since Milla Jovovich was the star, I had to watch it. I’ve loved her in The Fifth Element and the original Resident Evil. So, I plopped down this afternoon, tossed the DVD into the player, and fired it up. It was good eye candy. Like my recent review of Brokeback Mountain, it lacked much plot. But, action flicks often require a more robust suspension of disbelief, and Ultraviolet certainly was in this category. The effects were okay and the action was good, in a John Woo kind of way. If it comes on TV, check it out.

Using a gift certificate from Best Buy, we picked up Brokeback Mountain. This movie got lots of attention around Oscar time and received plenty of publicity in political and media circles. So, we sat down with a friend to find out. Sadly, all three of us found that it had major plot holes and didn’t live up to the hype. The photography was beautiful, but the character development was shallow. Even the two main characters lacked much depth. Forget looking to their wives, children, and friends.

However, upon reflection, I wonder if the film serves more as a piece of poetry rather than a traditional story. A poem creates a state of mind, a feeling, evokes an emotion. It’s like a very short story, in that there’s so little time to develop a narrative, that a poem seeks to strike the heart, or the mind’s eye. Looking at Brokeback Mountain that way, I thought that it might have created a sense of the relationship. I also feel that for people with similar life situations, they’d start on a common page and would feel the movie.

I couldn’t recommend the movie in general, but, if it came on late at night, watch it. It’s worth that amount of time investment.

Diane and I saw District B-13 on Saturday night. I ran across this film while looking for something to go see by myself in the theater. I’d never heard of it before, in print, online, or on TV. But, I watched the trailer on Apple’s Movie Trailer site and was pretty impressed. It reminded me a bit of the Transporter, XXX, La Femme Nikita (the movie, not the TV series) and Escape from New York. This was in French, although you wouldn’t realize it from the trailer, which showed only high-powered action scenes and no real dialogue.

Situated in Paris in the year 2010, we find that various poor and crime-ridden neighborhoods have been surrounded by walls and razor wire. The state has withdrawn its support: there are no police, no government officials, and no schools. The plot focuses around one of the good guys who lives in B-13, Leito, and a cop from Paris, named Damien. A nuclear weapon is captured by one of the main gangs in the district and Damien is sent in to find the bomb, enlisting the support of Leito. The plot is full of twists and turns, but this is no Hollywood action flick. The action is gritty, the themes unvarnished, and the pace relentless.

If you get a chance and want to see a superior film, which also includes a great soundtrack, get out to see District B-13!

Diane & I watched The Edukators last night, a German film about three idealistic, leftist young people who rail against unfettered capitalism. The two male characters, working jobs during the day, sneak into rich folks homes at night. They don’t pull a Robin Hood, they only rearrange the furniture and leave messages meant to unsettle the minds of the gated-community crowd. Joining Jan and Peter in their escapades is Jule, a leftist who also straddles the capitalistic world due to her debt to one of the rich men that is targeted by the Edukators later in the film. Ideology and rants against the rich are joined by a burgeoning love triangle. You see, Jule starts out as Peter’s girlfriend by day. Jan introduces Jule to his Edukator alter-ego while Peter is away in Spain. Jan and Jule, spending more time together on personal issues while Peter is away, develop a bond that threads its way through the rest of the film. The main thrust of the latter part of the film is jump-started when Jule and Jan sneak into the home of Jule’s debtor. This man returns home early, seeing and clearing knowing who Jule is. The two knock him out, phone Peter, and then kidnap the debtor, hiding away in a beautiful mountain retreat owned by Jule’s uncle. The interplay between these four characters around politics, love, and economics is fascinating. This is definitely a film to see!

Check out this website. It is a fantastic site that describes an important project at a critical time in our world’s history. Watch the trailers. My friend Val was a part of this project.

From the site:

This is an ongoing multi-faceted research and documentary project on Arabs and Terrorism. It is unique in its breadth and scope: researched in 6 languages and filmed on location in 10 countries, with 90 experts/politicians and hundreds of street interviews in the United States, Europe, and the Arab world. It examines the dominant discourse on terrorism in the United States and Europe and offers critics an opportunity to respond. The research component is available on this site as a resource, and the documentary component is available for viewing in a variety of ways, including on television/DVD, in theatres/festivals, and as part of a made-to-order screening and lecture tour involving the director and crew.

I recently saw the film Night Watch, a theatrical version of the first book of the trilogy by Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko. Released in Russia, it was the top grossing movie of all time there. The film was licensed in the US and I saw it at the Landmark E Street Theater.

The film is about the great battle between Light and Dark. It posits that besides humanity, there are Others who inhabit the planet. These humans that are a bit different have skills that allow them to do superhuman acts, such as shape-shifting, vampirism, seeing into the future, and so forth. In accordance with a truce between the Dark and Light that occurred during the Middle Ages, all newly emergent Others are free to choose whether they will be Light Others or Dark Others. No one may interfere directly in this choice, and all Others must not deceive regular humans from committing good or bad acts. Free choice is paramount. After the truce, each side created a sort of police force to make sure the other side plays by the rules. Night Watch is made up of Light Others who monitor the Dark Others. A similar group on the Dark side is Day Watch. This film focuses on the Night Watch. The main character realizes he is an Other while interacting with a Dark Other. He went to this Dark Other to take care of a personal problem. He chooses to be a Light Other and work on Night Watch. The film progresses from this point, with the action occurring in Moscow.

Visually, the movie is stunning. It is part Matrix, part vampire flick and part drama. It literally feels like you’ve plopped right down in the middle of a Russian novel. It reminded me of The Master and Margarita, a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Go see this movie, it is worth the time and money to see an interesting take on the battle between the Light and the Dark. I can’t wait to see the sequels. All three have been released in Russia and in Russian-speaking countries. Hopefully, the US won’t have to wait too long to get a hold of these flicks. I also look forward to reading the novels, which haven’t been released yet in English translation.

One of the events I worked on at our annual conference in Santa Fe was Saturday Morning Cartoons. I came up with the idea when we were planning the conference back in the spring of 2005. We were trying to get a lot of students and young people to attend and I thought that what is more perfect for Saturday morning than cartoons. Of course, we were going to show politically/activist oriented shorts. People really liked the idea and it was added to the program.

Over the summer and fall, I was working on transitioning to government relations, so others worked on the cartoons. About 2 weeks before the conference, I was asked to help run the session, along with a coworker. I gladly accepted. I liked most of the shorts that were picked for the lineup, but I changed a few. Mostly, I added some of our more edgy flash contest pieces that might not be on an issue we deal with or speak in our messaging frame, but they were cool. They definitely fit into our theme of getting young people engaged on the local level about national and international issues.

To this mix, I wanted to show the trailer for Slingshot Hip Hop , a film about the rise of hip-hop culture and rapping among Palestinian communities in Palestine and in Israel. It was a five-minute trailer that included young men & women rapping about the occupation and identity in Gaza, the West Bank, and inside Israel. It looks to be a fabulous film that should be completed and released in 2006. Showing this might be controversial since my org doesn’t work the Israel/Palestine issue, and this issue has caused problems with the organization in the past. But, I thought this would be a great venue to show something that worked on connecting the global with the local, our conference theme. I decided to show it after the other cartoon pieces ran.

Prior to showing it, I spoke briefly about how what we were about to show had an edgy theme. I noted that it wasn’t an issue that we work on nor is it something that speaks in the message framework we use. However, it is about young people taking an active role in speaking about important issues in their local communities that are intertwined in global concerns and in need of global solutions.

After showing the trailer, there was total silence. I was feeling a bit scared, but then a few people clapped, then a few more. Afterwards, some people thanked us for showing it. A few others said they liked it but next time they would also like to see a short about Israeli youth reaction to the current situation in the region. That was a great response and overall, I’m extremely glad we did it. If you don’t talk about a situation, you can never find common ground and you’ll never be able to move forward to a solution.