The Village Idiots

Recommend films for Kevin to see.

I think Kevin likes visually cool films;
Films that deal with art, religion and politics;
films that are subtle and quiet:
I’m guessing you would like films that deal with NYC and films that may interest an architect.

Code Unknown (Michael Haneke)
Mother and Son (Alexandr Sokurov)
Three Times (Hsiau-Hsien Hou)
The Color of Pomengranates (Sergei Parajanov)
Yes
High and Low (Akira Kurosawa)
Dekalog
The Wire (HBO TV series; seasons are not self-contained so you have to watch at least the first three to appreciate it)

2nd tier
After Hours

Hou is becoming one of my favorite contemporary directors. (I hope his Flight of the Red Balloon plays in Hawai’i). I pretty sure you will like (if not love) the first tier selections.

I’ve been unable to find my mp3 player for about six weeks now, and have relegated myself to listening to NPR and sports radio.  It seems as if a show doesn’t go by where someone doesn’t say something about throwing somebody under the bus.  While this often used cliché clearly gets one’s point across, is it time to throw “throw __________ under the bus,” under the bus, and what would be some good alternatives?

I figure this would be a good time to start a new thread on what others have been reading this year.

Today being the first Sunday in Lent, I thought it might be interesting to share some of our lenten stories.  We can use the following topics for guidance, or add your own Lenten thoughts:

Are you giving up somthing during Lent–how has it been going?

What is the meaning of Lent?

Is there anything you hope to accomplish in this season of Lent?

This is the documentary about post-war Iraq that good reviews last year.

Read Kevin’s Sept. 28, 2007 review about this film below, followed by my own review. Read more »

Discuss the movies you’ve seen in 2008.

Here’s a thread to post movie recommendations for Mitchell. I hope Mitchell responds to films he sees on this list. In addition to listing movies that Mitchell would like or should see, I’m attempting to write about the type of films that Mitchell would like.

Films that Mitchell would like: Read more »

Here’s a thread to recommend films to Penny. I think Penny likes political films (particularly left-leaning ones); films with strong and interesting female characters. Read more »

Name the best looking male and female actor of all-time.

Which restaurants serve the best salads? soups? Which restaurants serve teh worst?

Finding the time to read up on important foreign policy issues can be really difficult. To help out, I found a Terrorism Index created by Foreign Policy Magazine and the Center for American Progress. What I like about this index is that it is made up of survey given to about a hundred foreign policy experts–former secretary of state, national security advisor, senior White House aides, top commanders in the U.S. military, seasoned intelligence professionals, and distinguished academics. More importantly, the experts come from different political perspectives.

Here are some basic findings: Read more »

In the 2006 issue of Honolulu, several (somewhat) prominent locals wrote short articles about where they grew up. I was surprised at how compelling and, even moving, these short, simple stories were. I could relate to the stories because they were about growing up in Hawai’i, I guess. More than revealing something about the individuals, I thought the stories effectively captured what it was like to live in a particular time in Hawai’i.

I thought it would be cool for the idiots to tell their own stories about where they grew up. (And, yes, I really would like to see the non-Hawai’i people participate in this!)

I’m a Giants fan, and I don’t. I think steroids–or the way that Barry has handled all the allegations and the context which these allegations arose–is the main reason why. The fact that I dont’ care is a shame really, and it’s the reason the Major League blew it when it didn’t do more to clean up the game.

I was listening to a track from Jimi Hendrix the other day, and the realization of his greatness hit home again. Actually, what I thought was “Man, is there any other guitartist out there that comes close to this guy?” There may be guitarists out there technically better than Hendrix, but in terms of power, orginality and overall artistry, I’m struggling to name someone in the same league.

The only other name that comes to mind is not a guitarist. I’m thinking of Charlie Parker, the jazz alto-saxophonist. They’re similar not only in terms of their talent, but their influence. Basically, almost everything you hear in jazz after him has his fingerprints all over them, and I’m not just talking about saxophonists. He influenced not only the sound and playing of the saxophone, but on jazz itself. So too Hendrix. Can you be a rock guitarist and not have some degree of influence from Hendrix? I don’t think so.

Maybe there’s another guitarist outside of rock that would be in the same class, but I can’t think of anyone. I can’t think of anyone from jazz. The thing that made Hendrix great, too, was that he changed the sound of the guitar. There aren’t many musicians who have changed the sound of their instrument. (I’d be interested in hearing some of the others.)

There are other guitarists that I like and admire, but if I’m just thinking about greatness–and by that I mean the level of originality, artistry and influence–there’s no onne close.

Hey guys! Is anyone interested in reviving the V-I podcast? Who would like to be involved? Should we keep the same general format or change things up? Any suggestions regarding topics, who you would like to hear from, or who should go head-to-head? Idiots and honorary Idiots, let your voices be heard!

I’ve been having a pancake craving lately, so I’ve been eating pancakes at different places. I guess the topic is not a very good one, as the difference between most pancakes are pretty small.

To me, the best pancakes are Read more »

has anyone been paying attention to the presidential debates? I recently watched the Democrats debate on CNN and was surprised that it was more interesting and more substantive than I thought it would be (although of course, my expectations were pretty low). I planned to just listen with one ear while I was cleaning the house…but I ended up sitting down and paying attention to the entire thing. (No cracks about me actually cleaning or about how easily distracted I can be…bleh!) Read more »

Chris gave me permission to post some of his comments about this film. I thought I had written comments, but I can’t find it. Anyway, here are Chris’ comments:

(spoilers)

I went to it with a fair amount of hype, yet I was skeptical that I would LOVE it — the premise didn’t do anything for me as I thought about it. But what I found was an enormously well-plotted, well-acted, unusual story. And the premise *really* got to me: I think on a Darwinian level (what’s the point if the species dies out) and a Christian spirituality/worldview level as well (sort of pro-life, the image of Christ is more acutely visible in children and what if there were no more children?). So, that really got under my skin. And so did the police-state immdigration thing as well: wouldn’t most countries go that direction given the stresses being endured? But on top of this, isn’t the life of the refugees in that movie pretty much like the lives of millions of people in the world already where the world is at its worst? This doesn’t make the movie so good (even as it rang true for me as I watched it), but the portrayal was so deft, the sentimentality was kept to almost nothing, there was no overacting and the arcs of the characters was pretty unpredicatable. The hero performed one act of violence — bonking that freaky cop on the head with the brick. Just managing to survive and dodge bullets in other peoples’ conflicts was his role as he woke up to some hope that something he could do would actually matter in life. Waking up and caring as heroism. The reluctant hero archetype has a lot of power for me.

Also, the music/soundtrack was brilliant, the sets and art direction were unreal.

In the theater, I was pretty overwhelmed emotionally (I am glad I saw it on the big screen first). At the end of the long-take scene (which blows away any similar effort I can remember), which Theo walks down the stairs with the baby and Kee, I nearly almost lost it — not just crying, which I do a fair bit of in films, either out of appreciation or joy or sadness — but I almost started loudly sobbing. Same thing when I saw the video. Once again, not a measure of the films greatness per se, but I will say that the construction of the film, the proficiency of the performances, and the thematic currents within it concoct a very potent brew. That scene managed to convey grace and stillness in a way that was highly gritty, worldly, and spiritually true-feeling.

Honolulu magazine recently came out with their design issue. I remember Kevin sighing at last year’s issue, and this year was no different. Originally, I conceived of this thread as a set-up for Kevin to get up on his soapbox and rant. But after reading the article on the new Design Center on Kapiolani, I felt I needed the need to rant myself. (Kevin, a moment please. Read more »

Dir. Sylvester Stallone
5/10

As Mitchell and Joel knows, I didn’t really want to see this film–especially after actually sitting through Rocky V. (There’s an example of “1″ film.) What changed my mind were a bunch of reviews saying the same thing: “I didn’t think this would be that great, but, it wasn’t that bad.” (The one that pushed me over the edge was the Village Voice reviewer saying that he wanted to hate this movie, but he really couldn’t.)

So do I agree with these guys? Well, yeah. It’s not as bad as I thought. However, I would have been fine, if I never saw this. Actually, there’s only one scene (and I can’t really think of any movie off the top of my head that I can say this about) that pretty much saves the movie for me. Without this scene, the movie would get at least a score of 3. (I’ll talk it this more later.)

I’m guessing that others would think the movie is OK, not super terrible. It’s definitely better than Rocky V, but that’s not saying much. Read more »