Reviews

This is a comedy/drama about an alternate reality. Some of us have probably wondered how life might have been had we made one decision over another. So is the case of Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) an egotistical, arrogant New York corporate investment deal-maker who is assigned to Europe for a year, leaving his college sweetheart Kate (Tea Leoni) behind. Kate's final appeal to him to stay back and be with her is declined. Jack awakens the following morning, not in his hotel room in Europe, but to a fast-forwarded version of what life (15 years later) would have been like to listened to Kate. Cash (Don Cheadle) is his guardian angel. This life is one of an average 9-5 salary family man living in the New Jersey suburbs married to Kate with a baby boy, and elementary school aged daughter. Jack distresses over this change. He dislikes living on budget, his low paying job as a tire salesman, and abhors the responsibilities of being a dad. After a few weeks, however, Jack begins to enjoy this life, Cash shows up again to return him to his original starting point. Jack falls asleep that night and awakens to his original life. Having seen a version of how life would have played out with Kate, he is now determined to have her.

It is common in America to take shortcuts (like drugs) for enhancing productivity. It is a simple, painless, and quick method. In reality, these perceived enhancements are just people creating their own reality. School is really boring. Getting A's is really just regurgitating all the lies and unnecessary memorization of facts that your subconscious mind finds repulsive. The placebo effect of taking Adderall and other ADHD drugs is convincing your mind that the drug will permit your rebellious mind to be more obedient. Pro athletes, programmers, and financial traders who believe in the effects of these drugs are really experiencing a self-fulfilling prophesy (creating their own reality.) By believing and subscribing to the notion that one has to compete at a superhuman level to succeed is the collective turning a myth into a reality.

This movie strikes a cord to all because of its universal theme. it reminds us of the adolescent days of middle and high school when life was like a sitcom world with our friends and classmates. It was life before the matrix world when all were equal economically and infatuation flourished with the opposite sex. The pranks, slumber parties, drag racing matches, and the intermixing of subgroups of greasers, pink ladies, nurds, good boys and girls, jocks, and teacher's pet types were all part of the ongoing effort to, ironically, define one's self. The finally carnival scene captured the enthusiasm of a sad but understandable parting of that world for seniors when one, from here on out, would get in character each day with a work face and demeanor for the adult world of the stage.

Al Pacino's brilliance is in his "closing arguments performances, i.e And Justice for All, Devil's Advocate. If Pacino didn't become an actor, he would have made a great criminal trial lawyer. Most of The Scent of a Woman runs through little incidentals to establish character and a relationship between student Charlie Simms who is hired as retired Lt Col Frank's (who is blind) "guide dog" through a "live it up" outing in New York during the holidays. The real meat of this movie comes in the climatic monologue when Lt. Col. Frank Slade,, Al Pacino defends Charlie Simms, Chis O'Donnel against charges of misconduct in a school hearing. Pacino's brilliant testimony is a harsh critque on our current school system and how it discourages instead of encourages the growth of character and morality in our youths.

It is said that 90% of directing is casting. That is just part of Kubrick's genius. Another part of his genius is for capturing the right setting and ambiance. This movie has two part: first half is the boot camp drama with R. Lee Ermey (Sgt Hartman), the marine drill instructor, Matthew Modine (Prvt J.T. 'Joker' Davis) as the intelligent, aspiring combat reporter, and Vincent D'Onofrino (Prvt Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Leonard) as the overweight, whipping boy of Sgt Hartman. The drama revolves around Pyle, as Sgt Hartman finds pleasure in belittling his screw ups in front of the others. Joker is paired up with Pyle to be his teacher and mentor. This part of the movie describes the dehumanization process a marine endures in basic training as preparation for them to be fashioned into a weapon of war. The second part is the recruits in the battle field. Joker's assignment as a reporter allows him to view the war experience from an audience's point-of- view. Eventually Pyle tags along with Prvt Cowboy's unit (a fellow recruit) as they patrol the ruins of the city of Hue following an attack known as the Tet Offensive. Towards the climax, 2 of Cowboy's men get picked off by an unknown sniper. This represents the hidden death that lurks at every moment during that war when battling guerrilla fighters. Finally at sundown, Joker leads some men to a building where the sniper is positioned. The palm trees and fire in the ruins of the city makes for an eerie, oriental temple like atmosphere. The music (like elephant cries) in the background also contributes to this effect. Finally the sniper is found and wounded. It turns out to be a girl. Badly wounded, she prays and then asks the men to mercifully killed her. Animal Mother, a heavy machine gunner (like Rambo), wants her to suffer to death as payback. Joker, on the other hand, compassionately chooses to put her out of her misery. The segment of the movie with the sniper is Kubrick's commentary on that war. The Vietnam war was sold to the Americans and those who fought it as the U.S.'s answer to help liberate that country from communism. Ironically, it was reduced to a frustrating effort on the part of young recruits to fight an invisible enemy who very much hated them for their presence in their country.

The story is about 2 brothers in Kentucky, Francis and Henry, hard pressed economically, in the winter at the start of the American Civil War, 1861. They live on a farm overrun by weeds. The brothers horse around at a camp fire one night with knives and Henry gets a bad cut. They seek medical help at the estate of the Smalls, a well to-do shopkeeper family in the area. While waiting for Henry to be treated, Francis socializes with the Smalls and their guests at a party being held there. Henry returns, see his brother socializing, feels left out and disappears into the darkness. Francis, now alone, take steps to work the land. Meanwhile, Henry joins the union army and enjoys a life of getting 3 square meals a day in exchange for his service. The two brothers correspond by letter, each forging their own destiny. The climax comes when Henry's unit is overrun and wiped out in a battle. Being the lone survivor, he reject military life, deserts, and makes his way back to the Kentucky farm. Upon arriving at the farm, Henry discovers Francis is now a successful tobacco farmer and married to a Small. The Smalls, on the other hand have lost their business and are out in the cold. This movie is a parable about how one pursues his vision of possibility for the future and another forgoes that and settles for a life of basic survival. This is a universal lesson in life. Each moment, the universe hold an infinite number of possibilities. We choose only one in this life. What we choose can lead to a life from rags to riches or a life of rags to one of being a wandering army deserter.

Kamiyama Seiich is a veteran samurai actor of 40 years specializing in the drop dead role of "kirare-yaku". A young producer cancels the long-running series in favor of a more youth-oriented subject matter. This leaves Kamiyama and the bulk of his aging colleagues out of work. While Kamiyama gets sympathy from the managing director, a long-time colleague and cohort, he receives hostile and disrespectful treatment from the new generations of actors, directors, and producers. Facing a lack of work, Kamiyama is relegated to performing his kirare-yaku with his fellow aging actors live in front of tourist in the studio park performance. His performance catches the eye of a young and up-and-coming actress, Iga Satsuki. She begs him to teach her the art of swordplay. Initially reluctant, he agrees and soon comes to embrace her as his protégé. His advice to her is that if you put your best efforts forward, you will always receive help. With her training, Iga soon rises to become a top star. Eventually the park show closes forcing Kamiyama into retirement. A few years later, Iga is asked to star in a remake and reunion of the long-running samurai series that Kamiyama became famous for. Iga accepts on condition that Kamiyama play the lead kirare-yaku role. During the first take, Kamiyama flinches in his performance. The director immediately decides to cut Kamiyama's scenes and role. The same producer who eliminated the original series, ironically comes forth to overrule the director. As the actors retake their positions for the next take, the lead samurai actor asks Kamiyama if he is OK. Kamiyama replies yes but comments that his performance is "rusty." This derogatory comment sparks the best in the lead actor and the rest as the veterans once again demonstrate their experienced, well honed-in art. In the finale, Kamiyama enacts his famous kirare-yaku. It could be interpreted that his final performance was his best and also his last breath. This movie is metaphoric of the modern times when the younger generation, eager for instant fame and success without paying their dues, puts them at odds with veteran actors whom they view as threats to their job security and careers.

Eerie reminiscence of the mankind's dark, psychopathic past (the Greek Minotaur, the roman's gladiators and the island of Capri, and most recently the drafting of youths into the Vietnam conflict) this movie takes place in the future where society pits male and female youths (a total of 24) selected from 12 districts against one another in a compelling, lethal cocktail of hide and seek, and musical chairs. This movie, like 1984, reflects man's insecurities whereby in the future, he gave up his power and control to the state in exchange for a state managed society. Subconsciously, this movie particularly strikes home to the males of the Vietnam generation who were selected to enter the war games in the jungles of Vietnam when they came of age (and later when it became a lottery system) much like the characters in the movie. And like in the movie, much of the battles in that war were filmed and televised.

I was referred to this movie from a video by spiritualist Teal Swan titled "What are The Akashic Records?" It turns out that the main subject of this movie, that is of a multi-dimensional life and its possibilities, are contain in the Akashic records. Helen, a single public relations professional with a live-in boyfriend named Gerry, gets fired. On her way back home, she is delayed for about a second by a child who steps in front of her as she hurriedly descends down the subway stairway. This causes her to miss the train. In another parallel scenario, the child is moved out of the way and Helen is able to board the train. From this juncture, two parallel and diverse lives of Helen emerge concurrently. In the path where she misses the train, she never finds out that Gerry is cheating on her. In the second path she meets a suitor named James on board, discovers that Gerry is cheating, and dumps him for James. We see both paths weave through Helen's time line with an ongoing suspicious relationship with Gerry on one hand, and a developing relationship with James on the other. Both paths reach a climax at the same physical location, a hospital, with two completely different outcomes. I like this movie because it is an easy to digest dramatization of what in the spiritual world is referred to as controlling one's reality based on how one reacts. Helen could have not gotten fired in which case the two scenarios in the movie would be insignificant. I applaud this movie for tackling a much discussed and pondered subject of multi-dimensional and possible life outcomes that could play out depending on how we react to circumstances.

A young shipmate Jim (Peter O'Toole) enthusiastically embarks on his dream role, a shipmate. Unbeknownst to him, the position requires sacrificing of one's life, if necessary, to see passengers to safety. When that moment arrives one day on a stormy day, Jim, gripped with fear, abandons ship leaving the passengers on board to go down with the ship. Troubled by his action, he tries to rationalize that abandoning ship was involuntarily caused by him falling off the ship. A fellow shipmate who remained on board helps acquit Jim in maritime court of cowardice by making the case that expecting shipmates to give their life is too high a standard for anyone to meet. Jim now punishes himself by losing himself from western society in far off places like Malaysia and surviving off of menial work offered in those areas. This story by Joseph Conrad was written in the 1800's when white people were considered superior to non-whites and therefore had a certain behavioral role standard to maintain. In this regard, O'Toole is brilliantly casted as Jim, an uncertain man whose physical appearance exceeds the image but whose heart and convictions many times are second-guessed and waiver. Jim does demonstrate spontaneous moments of bravery when he gallantly saves value cargo from being burned and skillfully organizes natives to rebel and repel their oppressors. Jim, however, like any human being, cannot overcome moments of vulnerability and fear. Living up to the white male societal expectation of always taking charge and being brave will once again haunt him. This time, however, Jim is prepared to confront his fears and face the consequences.

I enjoy reading children's stories because no matter what the country of origin, they all universally speak for the weaknesses and tendencies of man. Kung Fu Panda, despite not being derived from a classic children's story, has all the elements that teach and prepare children for what to expect from the cynical, imperfect world of adults.

Po is a panda serving as apprentice in his father's noodle shop. Despite being obese and awkward, his dream is to become a Kung Fu great one day. The day of reckoning comes when Master Oogway, a wise tortoise and Kung Fu master, recognizes Po as the "chosen" one to battle evil. Po is dispatched immediately to the "Shaolin" like training monastery.

Po isn't well received by his trainer Shifu and by his highly skilled classmates: the tiger, the preying mantis, the monkey, the snake, and the crane. All are jealous, disappointed and insulted that an unproven novice would overshadow their renowned reputation. Many times our cynical needs to rise in importance will cause us to destroy those destined to save us. In the end, all five and Shifu get their crack at battling evil, the snow leopard Tai Lung. They all fail. Po, the dark horse, finally comes through to save the day. All are now happy in the Valley of Peace. All is forgiven.

Kung Fu Panda is a cartoon metaphor to describe the traditional brick and mortar workplaces in America. "New blood" is often at odds with the senior workforces who see new approaches and ideas as a beachhead for an eventual overhaul of the status quo.

It is said that an author must have a measured amount of distance (in terms of time) from her subject matter before she can write about it. This is to give her time to digest and let the the incident settle in her mind and emotion so that she may do justice to her work. Lorraine Hansberry's work was written in the 1950's at the height of urban white discrimination and censorship against blacks. This adaption is done some 50 years later at a time when the arts are freer to touch on sensitive issues and from a vantage point from which we can evaluate the white American mindset and value system and how it has played itself out over the course of the past 50 years.

Lena Younger is the wise matriarch of a black household residing in an apartment in the urban black section of Chicago in the 1950's. The family is blessed to be humbled and to have a loving and trusting relationships within the household. The well-being of the household is shattered by the expectation and subsequent arrival of a small fortune, a $10,000 life insurance payment to Lena. The expectation of the money is seen as seed money by Lena's son, Walter Lee. Walter Lee has a dead-end job, a chauffeur working for a snobbish white boss. The expectation of the money spawns Walter Lee's imagination as seed money to achieve economic freedom through a business of his own. Berneatha, Lena's daughter, is an artsy, spontaneous type person who looks forward towards using the money to finance her education to become a doctor, a technical discipline. Ruth, Walter Lee's wife, is expecting and sees any additional money as just another way to get by. Lena would like to use the money to provide for the practical future needs of the household and doesn't personally need any funds for herself. The story points out how each of the mentioned character's self-interest agenda, as shaped by the American value system of the time and still applies today, is pursued at the expense of destabilizing the family as result of the $10,000. The money becomes the distraction that takes attention and gratitude away from the most important of family fortunes: the gift of humbleness and the appreciation of the simplicity that harmonized, and lent contentment to the household for all those years before the subject of money ever came up.

The social commentary is that America, to a black person and other minorities, is a land of barriers. The system presents barriers to blacks and other minorities who genuinely just want to fulfill their life's purpose, contribute their talents to society and only ask to make a decent living at that. Money or capital is a way to break through these barriers to enter a profession (doctor), business (liquor store) or to retire. The ironic twist is that the very barriers established by the white people to oppress minorities provides for the very education that nurtures character, humbleness and eventually wisdom. You can see that in the genuine, and heartfelt performance by the actors in this movie who dramatize the sensitive social issues covered by Hansberry's work some 50 years later. With a distance in time of 50 years, it can be said that this sincere, from the heart interpretation of Hansberry's work truly does justice to her intended message.

Overcoming one's own character limitations in youth is a necessary but a daunting task. Those who resign themselves to the safe harbor of postponing efforts to take on risks and challenges have their character development set in time. The characters in the movie, the cowardly lion, the heartless tin man, and brainless scarecrow all symbolize the character flaws in Dorothy's real life adult friends back home. To some degree, Dorothy collectively had each one of those flaws. We see in Dorothy an intelligence, courageous, and a good-hearted young lady. When Dorothy suffers a concussion and drifts into a coma, she mentally commits herself to overcoming those flaws. A mental challenge known as the trip down the "yellow brick road." Her initial expectation was to painlessly be cured by Wizard of Oz and sent home. The Wizard, however, prescribed an arduous journey that would put to test all her capacities. She would have to confront evil in the world, in the form of the Wicked Witch of the West. From her trial and tribulations would emerge her renewed self. In the process, she would show care, compassion, and a deep concern for her companion's safety and well-being over her own. It was Dorothy's final act of forgiveness and concern towards one who would do her harm that would put her over the threshold.

There's a saying: Action speaks louder than words. If I could add another dimension to communications, I submit: Timing of a message speaks louder for its words. The message of Christ is so appropriate for our times. War is causing death, suffering, and despair to our fellow human beings in other parts of the world. When I saw this movie that dramatized the final days of Christ, I saw it as a strong anti-war message. Christ was a peaceful, non-violent activist. His words and teachings speaks for himself. This movie brilliantly focused on how the Roman soldiers and priests took pleasure in hating someone who did nothing to them, except speak the truth and be the truth. Denial will cause men to create their own truths, because facing the real truth is too unbearable. And so it was that the high priests made a case for destroying Jesus by accusing him of heresy because they feared the real truth that he was the prophesied messiah. I picked out a few quotes from Christ, which in context of the movie, says it all. "Live by the sword, die by the sword." "I am the truth, the light and the way." And as Christ underwent so much suffering on the cross, he didn't direct anger, revenge or hate to those who persecuted him for no apparent reason but instead said: "Forgive them my Lord, for they do not know what they do."

I think this movie addresses a universal theme that's almost biblical in nature: Man is basically evil. He will manufacture and rationalize in his own way to distort good (in this case a good man named John Coffey) into evil (Jesus Christ suffered the same fate.) The question pose by this movie as we identify with the main character prison guard Paul Edgecomb(Tom Hanks) who is in the position as a modern day Pontius Pilate is this: When we are faced with what is told to us and packaged to us as evil, and we discover to the contrary, are we bound to be an agent to evil or do we have the backbone and strength of spirit to expose the wrongdoing and act on our principles for what is right? Life is a test and we will pay a dear price for bad choices with our conscience for the rest of our lives.

Metaphorically speaking, the late Pat Morita is the real life Daniel-san. Mr. Morita was humbled by the following incidents in his life: interned during WWI, suffered from a weak spine, short in stature and a stereotypical Japanese, nicknamed "Hip Nip" and casted for mainly comically roles in American TV and cinema. As if through divine intervention, the role of Mr. Miyagi was created, a natural and defining role for Pat Morita. Like the main character Daniel-san, who earned dignity and respect through karate, so too did Pat Morita earn dignity and respect as an actor for his role as Mr. Miyagi. The Miyagi character is a humble, soft-spoken, respected, Asian sensei (teacher.) He is humble not because he is weak and avoids being some bully's victim, but because he knows he holds the fate of all who bullies him in his hands. So it was that Pat Morita finally achieved through the character of Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid series what Daniel-san always gains at the end of each movie: dignity, respect, and honor to compensate for all the times of abuse, suffering, and humiliation.

I think if you summarize this movie, as you would with all good movies, with a single point in mind, you will enjoy it more. I think the point expressed in this movie biography is: a prize fighter's true training is the mental one, the hardening of the spirit that comes from struggle for self and more importantly for those who make life worth living, family. When faced with the prospect of being beaten down, a person left with no other choice will fight back and "not pull any punches." This characteristic is famously referred to as "the heart of the fighter." Outstanding people in all fields of endeavor probably have had their share of life's struggle that tempered their self-discipline and set the stage for their greatest achievements.

A young girl, from a poor fishing village family in pre-WWII Japan, is sold to a geisha house. Groomed to be a geisha, the course of her life is immediately swept into the uncontrollable currents of daily circumstances. One day. a young, politically powerful man befriends the young girl on a bridge. That fateful meeting changes her life forever. His respect for geishas as intimate companions demonstrates to her that a geisha is her path up the social ladder of the powerful, influential and well-connected. This revelation gives her new meaning in life for which she would be eternally grateful and, like a ship in rough seas to a solid beacon on land, deeply drawn to that stranger forever. In the turbulent world of staged advances and mock flirtation that can warm the hearts of clients, and break the hearts of others, there existed one genuine bond for one geisha and one man.

Excellent adaptation of Ernest Hemmingway's award winning work makes the following point: That catching the ordinary one is a function of individual luck. Catching the extraordinary one, however, is a delicate balance of an individual's strength, experience, and skill. Storyline: An old, master fisherman, second-guessed by his younger peers for a failure to make a catch in 84 days, nevertheless perseveres day-after-day -- steadfastly driven by a tremendous belief in self, ability, and the anticipation that puts him only one day's luck away from landing the "big one." When the big one is finally hooked, it turns out that hauling it in is more important for reaffirming belief in self and disproving detractors than it is for the prize itself.

Sam (Patrick Swayze) unable to truly express his deep love for his lover while alive, demonstrates his love and devotion to her in his afterlife as a consequence of avenging his murder and bringing those guilty of it to justice.

Patrick Swayze does a remarkable job of playing Sam, an uncertain, pessimistic character in his human life, who dies and through trial and tribulations in his afterlife protects his lover from evil and brings about personal justice. In the process of bringing this about, Sam defines his love in a way he was unable to do in his living life. The screenplay's strong character arc (from a weak character to a strong hero) gets the viewer deeply involved in the first person and ends in a way that more than satisfies expectation.

Faithful to the work of Pearl S. Buck whose years spent in China as a child of Missionary parents that provided her with deep insights into the Chinese culture and its philosophy, this film adaptation is brilliantly done, both in technically artistry and acting.

Wang Lung is a humble farmer grateful for the basics of life: to survive off of his land and to be newly wed to Olan, a servant to a rich and powerful family in the village area. Despite Wang Lung and Olan's best efforts to farm the land, raise kids, and build savings and wealth, a famine threatens to wipe out everything they have worked for. Choosing not to sell their land, a traditional Asian belief, they instead journey to a major city to wait out the famine. While in the city, they are reduced to begging and being just one of hundreds of other unfortunate homeless families. Although not a looter, Olan gets caught up in a mob looting at a rich man's house. She's summarily rounded up for execution by the army, but is saved at the last minute. Her good fortune, however, is that she found valuable jewels at the looting site that affords her and her family the opportunity to return to their farm to start over again. The newly found wealth transforms Wang Lung. He becomes selfish, self-centered and takes credit for the find. He becomes a very rich farmer but that only makes matters worse as he increasingly becomes more unappreciative, arrogant and difficult to reason with. He loses touch with the basic things in life that money can't buy: loyalty, commitment, trust, fairness and honesty. As punishment, nature once again turns the table on Wang Lung by sending a plague of locust to destroy everything he has. Brought to his knees, Wang Lung enlists the aid of all friends, former friends, workers, and family. With all that help, he succeeds in saving the farm. From that experience, he once again is humbled and appreciative for the basics in life.