Tanit Phoenix

by Clint Morris – MovieHole.com

Moviehole’s been tipped off that South African stunner Tanit Phoenix (“Lord of War”, “Gallowalker”) has joined the cast of direct-to-disc sequel “Lost Boys : The Thirst”, now lensing in Cape Town, SA.

Phoenix, whose foxy face and frame can be seen often in men’s mags, will play the part of Gwen, a wealthy romance novelist who enlists the help of vampire-hunter/surfboard shaper Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) to track down a family member whose gone missing.

Needless to say – considering Ms Phoenix has been recruited to play her – Gwen’s a dead-set hottie that’s bound to raise Frog’s, er, stake.

Phoenix joins the abovementioned Feldman, Jamison Newlander, Sean Cameron Michael, and Seb Catang for the Dario Piana-directed sequel, out next year via Warner Premiere.

More on the second sequel to Joel Schumacher’s 80’s ‘classic’ as it comes in.

Amazon Specials!

50 mal Crap, ein besonderes Jubiläum

I couldn’t get to sleep last night.  I finally closed my eyes around 4 am.  I had taken a decongestant (been fighting a cold the past couple of days) during the night.  Let me tell you something, getting less than 2 hours sleep mixed with medication that causes drowsiness is a bad, bad combination…

It was all I could do to keep my eyes open all day.  I actually dozed off on the freeway this morning!  I woke up drifting toward the median…  How I got through the day without crunching some metal is beyond me.  I spent my lunch zonked out in my truck with my cell phone alarm set.  It was a long-long-long damn day folks…

So as the clock runs out on my career out in the field, the guys in the shop are fighting over who’s gonna get my truck.  It’s new, and I keep it neat and orderly, so the attraction is high.  Rumor has it management has already “allocated” it and arguing over it is futile.

Just published another movie review on this site.  Heat is under Action/Drama.

Okay guys, I’m beat.  Gonna call Blair and then hit the hay.  I always sleep with a floor fan on (white noise) and usually have a movie going too.  Last night’s was Predator and AVP.  Maybe tonight will be Lord of War???

Selling guns is like selling vacuum cleaners; you make calls, pound the pavement, take orders. I was an equal-opportunity merchant of death. I supplied to every army but the Salvation Army. I sold Israeli-made Uzis to Muslims… I delivered Communist-made bullets to fascists… I even shipped cargo to Afghanistan while they were fighting my fellow Soviets. I never sold to Osama bin Laden—not on any moral grounds; back then, he was always bouncing cheques.

2005: Lord of War di Andrew Niccol

Uno dei peggiori film (??) visti negli ultimi anni: giudizio drastico e immediato alla fine della proiezione.

Un argomento importantissimo (il traffico delle armi) attuale come non mai, e foriero di sciagure senza fine in tutto il mondo, andava trattato col massimo impegno e con la coraggiosa volontà di denunciare il ricco Occidente che vi specula e vi guadagna sopra.

Abbiamo invece la rappresentazione di uno “sciacallo” che racconta le sue imprese e di come da povero immigrato diviene supermilionario, approfittando dello sfacelo dell’ex Unione Sovietica (dove “tutti” sono in vendita) e delle continue crisi in Africa (dove “tutti” sono assetati di sangue).

Una rappresentazione molto simile a un’inchiesta televisiva, interessante all’inizio (visto l’argomento), ma poi noiosa e ripetitiva. Ma è un’inchiesta, un documentario a cui occorre dare la parvenza di film: ed ecco quindi l’inserimento di vicende amorose e familiari del protagonista, vicende che mal si conciliano col resto e che in gran parte sono completamente superflue.

L’onnipresente voce fuori campo racconta tutto, spiega tutto (anche le cose più banali) finendo con l’irritare e infastidire, senza mai che si comprenda la motivazione di “tanto parlare”.

La sceneggiatura presenta personaggi stereotipati, dialoghi piatti e a volte risibili, situazioni altamente improbabili e con l’unico evidente scopo di utilizzare qualche bell’effetto speciale.

Il “pistolotto antiamericano” che appare alla fine (messovi per accontentare i no global? i pacifisti? i movimenti più democratici…?) non ha alcun legame con quanto fino allora visto e appare come la conclusione di un’altra opera.

Dispiace sapere che l’intera operazione ha l’avvallo di associazioni benemerite come “Control Arms” e “Amnesty International” e che questo è il primo film che si sia fatto su un tema tanto tragico. E stupisce che a realizzare il tutto sia un personaggio come Andrew Niccol che nel suo curriculum ha la sceneggiatura di quel capolavoro che fu The Truman Show.

Un lavoro (il rifiutarsi di definirlo “film” è d’obbligo) che nelle intenzioni doveva costituire “una critica sociale radicale”, una “riflessione politica” su “cose che nessuno ha mai visto finora”, una denuncia del “ruolo degli Stati Uniti nella fornitura di armi” (tutte dichiarazioni del regista e della produzione) ma che rimangono sulla carta e che lo schermo non mostra.

Lo spettatore assiste semplicemente ai mille modi che i trafficanti utilizzano per sfuggire ai vari controlli, il che, ripeto, è interessante in una inchiesta (se ben condotta, e qui non è neanche il caso) ma che di per sé non basta per farne un prodotto cinematografico.

Non aiuta l’operazione la performance degli attori.

Nicolas Cage è monocorde al massimo e sembra offrire una prestazione d’ufficio. Ethan Hawke interpreta un inconsistente ruolo senza personalità e ne sembra consapevole. Bridget Moynahan (la moglie) ha un fisico alla moda e porta bene i vestiti (e il nudo) ma è totalmente inespressiva. Il sempre eccezionale Ian Holm è sprecato. Jared Leto (lo avevamo visto fare l’amante del protagonista nell’ Alexander di Oliver Stone e qui ricopre la parte del fratello) è l’unico ad avere sfaccettature, anche perché in una scena è ubriaco e in un’altra è drogato, ma il suo ruolo è completamente ininfluente e non se ne capisce assolutamente la presenza (forse perché è un divo emergente?). Il migliore in campo è sicuramente Sammi Rotibi, autentico e carismatico, lodevolmente impegnato nel ritratto del dittatore africano.

Un’ultima notazione sulla colonna sonora, retorica e banale come raramente capita, con le sue canzoni scelte senza fantasia e originalità (scena d’amore? sentiamo “La vie en rose”; scene in Ucraina? sentiamo “Volga’s boatment’s song”; scene in Liberia? sentiamo “Mama Africa”; rendimento dei conti? sentiamo “Hallelujah”… Avremmo sentito “O sole mio” se qualche sequenza ci avesse mostrato l’Italia?).

Pubblicato su Cinema4Stelle

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The Movie Overdose boys jet off into space with Duncan ‘Zowie Bowie’ Jones for his directorial debut, Moon. The guys then have a chat about Steven Spielberg as regards the twin Hs of Harvey and Halo and the potential of future installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean story. They then have a chat about the need for documentary and biopic subjects to be interesting, the food in Big Night, the scale of Avatar and the relentless cynicism of Ace in the Hole. The boys conclude with a round-up of trailers, noting whether Wes Anderson’s Mr Fox is looking Fantastic, why James McTeigue will never make it and questioning if the gents in Hot Tub Time Machine could ever really be friends.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 29

Remember to check out the post on Tommy’s Competition Corner and to email us, review us on iTunes, fan us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter from the links on the right.

Désolé, mais je suis comme vous: je trouve mon titre bien trop long. Mon article le sera tout autant, je le crains. Mais, à mes yeux, c’est un des sujets les plus passionnants que je connaisse, à savoir les relations particulières que connaissent et la politique, et le cinéma.

Longtemps vitrine du modèle américain durant la Guerre Froide, prolongeant les valeurs de patriotisme, de réussite personnelle, et de libre-arbitre, Hollywood, ainsi que les productions non-étasuniennes, sont aujourd’hui les principaux pourfendeurs de notre société occidentale, car ils jouissent d’un écho incomparable.

(It’s a wonderful life… Quand le cinéma sublimait le mode de vie occidental,  et surtout américain)

Une drôle d’Histoire.

L’Histoire des Etats-Unis a été une formidable source d’inspiration pour le cinéma américain et continue d’ailleurs de l’être. Une Histoire par ailleurs glorieuse et récente. Le rôle des USA à la fin de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale en est le pivot. Des films diffusés dans le monde entier tels que Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan, ou encore Pearl Harbor continuent d’entretenir l’image héroïque d’une Amérique salvatrice, courageuse et providentielle. Cette vision se retrouve également dans d’autres oeuvres non-historiques mais non moins comparables comme l’Independance Day de Roland Emmerich (pourtant allemand) où les américains sauvent la planète des vilains envahisseurs venus de l’espace…

D’autres cinéastes, pourtant, ont suivi un chemin différent et portent un regard plus sévère vis-à-vis de leur pays et de leurs dirigeants… Le plus illustre d’entre eux, Stanley Kubrick, soulignait dans Docteur Folamour (1964)  l’incompétence des politiciens dans leur ensemble, puis s’attaquait à la Guerre du Vietnam avec virulence, dénonçant les incohérences des conflits armés dans Full Metal Jacket (1987.) Bien plus tard, Clint Eastwood, donnera en deux volets une vision de la guerre moins glorieuse et plus réaliste des combats de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale dans ses exceptionnels tableaux que sont Mémoires de nos Pères et Lettres d’Iwo Jima, en insistant davantage sur les souffrances des hommes, peu importe leurs nationalités, que sur les habituels schémas manichéens bons américains/mauvais japonais…

( Lettres d’Iwo Jima, une vision de la guerre moins manichéenne)

… qui continue de nos jours.

Si les fresques historiques paraissent aujourd’hui démodées, le cinéma puise ses sujets dans l’actualité toute fraiche et dans les problématiques de notre société. Et à ce petit jeu, Michael Moore, le cinéaste américain, est devenu un expert dans la dénonciations des nombreuses lacunes de son pays. Tandis que Farenheit 9/11, il attaque avec violence George Bush, il met en relief dans Sicko et Bowling For Columbine deux aspects noirs de la société étasunienne: le système de santé inégal et une violence incomparable. Quand on regarde les oeuvres de Michael Moore, rien n’est laissé au hasard et, en fin manipulateur qu’il est, il multiplie les chiffres chocs, les interviews troublantes cet les images fortes pour parvenir à convaincre son punlic, ce qui est chose faite. Avec des méthodes pourtant troublantes, comme les comparaisons avec d’autres pays (France et Canada), et des témoignages parfois faux (comme dans Sicko, notamment), d’où une certaine perte de crédibilité…

Sacha Baron Cohen utilise une méthode plus persuasive, plus marquante et plus provocante… Le tout récent Brüno s’attaque à l’américain moyen en mettant en scène dans des situations trashs un personnage loufoque, extravagant dans milieux tout à fait réels. En poussant ses “pièges” jusqu’à l’extrême, Sacha Baron Cohen souhaite montrer le véritable visage de l’Amérique, mais il crée également par ce biais des réactions inhumaines et incontrôlées. C’est là toute la limite de son exercice.

(Michael Moore et Sacha Baron Cohen, entre conviction et persuasion)

Les productions Hollywoodiennes sont aussi restés dans le film classique pour dénoncer certains points sombres de notre “fonctionnement à l’occidentale”… Et on pense tout de suite au magnifique Lord Of War avec Nicolas Cage qui suit un trafiquant d’armes de niveau mondial sans scrupules dans son macabre marché de la mort. Cette oeuvre met à la lumière du jour quelques informations qui font froid dans le dos sur ces traffics manipulés par nos dirigeants en y ajoutant, pour plus d’efficacité, des images fortes, comme celles d’enfants armés. Dans le même genre, Blood Diamond mettait à l’écran Di Caprio pour pointer du doigt les situations catastrophiques en Afrique créées par la recherche des diamants.

(Les productions Hollywoodienne et la morale)

Tout de même, on peut se poser la question suivante: ces films répondent-t’ils à une véritable volonté de faire prendre conscience au grand public de certaines choses, ou sont-ils juste des produits lucratifs destinnés à séduire le plus grand nombre? La réponse dépend bien évidemment de la sincérité des boites de production, où l’argent reste le moteur de l’investissement à la base…

Cinéma et politique.  Cinéma et moralisation de la société. Finalement, est-ce une bonne chose? La place du cinéma n’est-elle pas ailleurs? Le débat reste ouvert, mais, au même titre que la littérature, les deux ne sont manifestement pas incompatibles, même si la façon de procéder pourrait être améliorée…

Oceanlook.

Andrew Niccol

Andrew Niccol est un scénariste et réalisateur néo-zélandais.

Il s’est fait connaitre pour avoir signé le scénario de The Truman Show, projet devenu très ambitieux dès que l’acteur Jim Carrey obtint le rôle principal. La réalisation fut alors confiée à quelqu’un d’autre, en l’occurence Peter Weir (à qui l’on devait déjà Witness et Le cercle des poètes disparus, entre autres).

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Bienvenue à Gattaca

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Pendant ce temps, Andrew Niccol a le temps d’écrire le scénario de Bienvenue à Gattaca, et de le réaliser. Doté d’un budget modeste. Le film devient culte pour le monde de la science-fiction.

S1m0ne

Le film sort en 1997, soit un an avant The Truman Show.

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En 2002, Andrew Niccol revient avec un autre scénario, celui de S1m0ne, alias Simone, une comédie dans laquelle Al Pacino se sert d’une actrice numérique alors que la vraie lui échappe.

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Lord of War

En 2005, le réalisateur sort Lord of War, un pamplet sur le traffic d’armes. Niccol retrouve Ethan Hawke qui avait le rôle principal de Bienvenue à Gattaca. Lord of War est une production européenne, le film dénonçant magistralement le soutien indirect des Etats-Unis dans le traffic d’armes.

En 2010, sortira The Cross, un film fantastique avec Orlando Bloom et Vincent Cassel dans les rôles titres. Pour le moment le “pitch” du film n’est pas divulgué.

]]> http://thepassengerseat.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/they-move-on-tracks-of-never-ending-light/ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:05:23 +0000 thepassengerseat http://thepassengerseat.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/they-move-on-tracks-of-never-ending-light/ http://akila87.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/%e0%b6%ba%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%af%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%b0%e0%b6%ba-%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%92%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%ab%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8f-lord-of-war2005/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:19:19 +0000 අකිල http://akila87.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/%e0%b6%ba%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%af%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%b0%e0%b6%ba-%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%92%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%ab%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8f-lord-of-war2005/

Film poster for Lord of War

කාලෙකට පස්සෙ බ්ලොගයට ලිපියක් ලියන්න හිතුනා මේ දවස් ටිකේම කරේ films බලපු එක. බලපු චිත්‍රපට වලින් හිතට අල්ලපු එකක් ගැනයි මේ කියන්න යන්නෙ. චිත්‍රපටය මට දුන්නෙ අරුණ. චිත්‍රපටයේ නම තමා Lord of War මේ චිත්‍රපටයට පාදක වෙලා තියෙන්නේ ලොකප්‍රකට අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවෙක් ගෙ කතාවක්. චිත්‍රපටයෙ හැටියට ඔහුගෙ නම Yuri Orlov. Yuri ගේ චරිතයට පණපොවන්නෙ Nicolas Cage (ඇත්තටම චිත්‍රපටය බලන්න පටන්ගත්තෙ Nicolas Cageගේ එකක් නිසා). මේ චරිතය සැබැ ලොකයේ ප්‍රකටම අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවන් වුණු Viktor Boutගේ චරිතයට (ඔහු මරණයේ වෙලෙන්දා යන අන්වර්ථ නාමයෙනුත් හැදින්වෙනවා) සහ Leonid Mininගේ චරිතයට සමාන බවයි පැවසෙන්නෙ.

චිත්‍රපටය ආරම්භ වෙන්නෙ හිස් පතුරම් කොපු වලින් පිරුණු බිමක සිටින Yuri ගේ දර්ශනයකින්. එහිදි ඔහු මෙහෙම කියනවා

There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That’s one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?

ඒ කියමනෙන් ම අපට අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවකුගේ ස්වභාවය හොඳින්ම වටහාගන්නට පුලුවන්.

මීලගට චිත්‍රපටයේ නම් පෙල දර්ශනය වෙන්නෙ අපුරු රුප පෙලකින්(මම අපුරුයි කිව්වෙ ඒ අදහස මිසක් පෙන්වන දේ නෙමේ). ඒ සෝවියට් කම්හලක නිපදවුනු උණ්ඩයක ගමන් මග පෙන්වන රුප පෙලකින්. එය අවසන් වන්නෙ උණ්ඩය අප්‍රිකාවෙ සටන් වදින ළමා සොල්දාදුවෙකුගේ හිස විනිවිද යන අයුරු පෙන්වීමෙන්.

ඊට පසුව තමයි චිත්‍රපටය ආරම්භ වෙන්නෙ. චිත්‍රපටයෙ සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම අඩංගු වෙන්නෙ Yuri අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවෙකු ලෙස ගත කරන ජිවිතය.

ඉන් පස්සෙ සිදුවන සිද්ධි දාමය හරිම අපුරුයි. අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවන් අපි වගේ තෙවන ලෝකයේ රට වලට සිදුකරන හානිය අපුරුවට පෙන්වනවා. Yuri කියන්නෙ එක් පක්ෂයකට පමණක් ආයුධ විකුණුවෙක් නෙමේ වරකදි ඔහු මෙහෙම කියනවා.

DVD cover for Lord of War

Back then, I didn’t sell to Osama Bin Laden. Not because of moral reasons, but because he was always bouncing checks.

අවි ජාවාරම් කරුවකුගේ ස්වභාවය දැනගැනීමට මෙයම ප්‍රමාණවත්.

තවත් වරකදි යුක්‍රේනය ( ඔහුගේ මවු රට ) සොවියට් සමුහාණ්ඩුවෙන් වෙන්කිරිමේ ප්‍රකාශය දකින ඔහු සතුටින් ඉපිලෙන්නෙ තම මව් රටට ලැබුණු නිදහස නිසා නෙමේ ඒ වෙනකොට සොවියට් හමුදාවෙ සිටි ඔහුගෙ මාමා Dmitri මාර්ගයෙන් යුක්‍රේනයේ සිටි සොවියට් හමුදාවේ ආයුධ හොරෙන් මිලට ගතහැකි නිසා.

මේ ආකාරයෙන් චිත්‍රපටය පුරාවටම ආයුධ ජාවාරම් කරුවන් විසින් සිදුකරන විනාශය පෙන්වනවා. ඒ වගේම ඊට අනුබල දෙන දූෂිත නිලධාරීනුත් මේ ක්‍රියාවන්ට එරෙහි වෙන නිලධාරීන් ඒ සඳහා ගෙනයන් සටනත් පෙන්නුම් කරනවා.

මේ ජාවාරම් වලට එරෙහි වන නිලධාරියෙක් තමා Jack Valentine. ඔහු අවසානයේ දි Yuri ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නවා නමුත් අත්අඩංගුවේදි Yuri ඔහුට මෙහෙම කියනවා.

The reason I’ll be released is the same reason you think I’ll be convicted. I *do* rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of these men are the enemies of *your* enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss – the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year – sometimes it’s embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can’t be seen supplying. So. You call me evil, but unfortunately for you, I’m a necessary evil.

අද ලොකයේ බොහෝ තැන් වල යුද්ධ කරන්නේ ඇමරිකාවයි ඉතින් මේකියමන නිවැරදි නේද? චිත්‍රපටය අවසානයේදි ඔහු Valentine ට පැවසුවා වගේම නිදහස් වෙනවා.

චිත්‍රපටය අවසන් වෙන්නෙ අපට හිතන්න බොහොදේ ඉතුරු කරමින්.

You know who’s going to inherit the Earth? Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other. That’s the secret to survival. Never go to war. Especially with yourself.

මේ චිත්‍රපටය නම් ඔබ නැරඹිය යුත්තක් ම කියලයි මම හිතන්නේ.

මෙතනින් ටොරන්ට බාගන්න

චිත්‍රපටය ගැන :

• http://www.lordofwarthemovie.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_War
• http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1426035200/tt0399295

Memorable quotes : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/quotes

චිත්‍රපටය ගැන ඔබනොදන්නා දේ : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/trivia

Nothing much going on today, except for making omelettes and watching the Goodfellas and Lord of War.

Both of which featured interesting cinematography, I thought.

I can see why the Goodfellas is a Classic. That, and I am totally digging the dresses Karen Hill wore in the movie (when it was the 1950s).

“Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is a 1990 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese. The film follows the rise and fall of three gangsters, spanning three decades.”

“He claims that the film’s style comes from the first two or three minutes of Jules and Jim: extensive narration, quick edits, freeze frames, and multiple locale switches.^[4] It was this reckless attitude towards convention that mirrored the attitude of many of the gangsters in the film. Scorsese remarked, “So if you do the movie, you say, ‘I don’t care if there’s too much narration. Too many quick cuts? – That’s too bad.’ It’s that kind of really punk attitude we’re trying to show”.^[4] He adopted a frenetic style in order to almost overwhelm the audience with images and information.^[8] He also put a lot of detail in every frame because the gangster life is so rich. The use of freeze frames was done because Scorsese wanted images that would stop “because a point was being reached” in Henry’s life.^[8]“

“Scorsese chose the songs for Goodfellas only if they commented on the scene or the characters “in an oblique way”.^[6] The only rule he adhered to with the soundtrack was to only use music that could have been heard at that time.^[8] For example, if a scene took place in 1973, he could use any song that was current or older. According to Scorsese, a lot of non-dialogue scenes were shot to playback. For example, he had “Layla” playing on the set while shooting the scene where the dead bodies are discovered in the car and the meat-truck.^[8] Sometimes, the lyrics of songs were put between lines of dialogue to comment on the action.^[8] Some of the music Scorsese had written into the script while other songs he discovered during the editing phase.^[15]“

Both Goodfellas and Lord of War featured tough badasses, featured the use of guns, blood, and copious amounts of cocaine. And they were both good, violent, interesting watches.

As our society gets more “civilized”, people are getting more and more apathetic.  As the communication between continents gets easier and easier, it seems that the distance between each individual person is further apart. All we care now is our own benefit. Who cares about the rest of the world – people who are starving, the countries which are full of disease and people who are suffering? I wish you will find an idea about this after reading this article. – Erik

A morning, fishes had been rushed to a shallow on the beach by the storm last night. The fishes were trapped in the shallow. Although the sea was just next to them, they could not swim back. A little boy picked up fish from the shallow and put them back to the sea. People walked to him and asked, “There’re hundreds of thousands of fishes in the shallow, you can’t save all of them.” “I know” the boy answered without looking at them. “So why are you still doing this? Who cares?” “This fish cares!” the boy answered while he put another fish back to sea. “ This fish cares, this fish also cares! And that one, and the one over there…”

Everyone only cares about things that affect his or her own life, health or family. We know there are many problems in the world. Some of them have already affected our lives, like the green house effect, soil erosion and the EL Nino phenomenon. There are also many problems happened in the other country that not affect our life. The question is do we have to take care about problems that are far away from us? Many people may answer yes. But do people really do something about it?

As an assignment, I watched The Constant Gardener this quarter. When I first heard about this movie, I thought it must be a boring movie. But after watching it, I love this movie. Fernando Meirelles filmed this movie in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Justin (Ralph Fiennes) was a British diplomat whose complacency was challenged when he was forced into a soul-searching quest for the reasons behind the tragic death of his wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz). People started thinking the reason caused the death of Tessa. Suspicion thoughts came to Justin. Still loving his wife, he decided to find out the truth and reclaim his wife’s besmirched reputation. He discovered a political intrigue between British and Kenyan governments testing a new TB drug on Africans.  The Constant Gardener reminded me of two the other movies, Lord of War and Hotel Rwanda.

Lord of War

“Lord of War” is all about the big business of war, and the cost of selling one’s soul. The whole movie did not talk about Africa until the last part and it was also the most impressing part to me. Yuri reentered the arms market when Baptiste approached him. He was reluctant at first. But when Baptiste told him that he would pay more than the usual rates, Yuri said yes and he decided to bring Vitaly along because he was nervous about the current climate of Liberia. However, they finally noticed that the business was actually taking place in Sierra Leone to the Revolutionary United Front. He said, “all these groups call themselves freedom this and democracy that, when they’re really just worse bunches of oppressors than the last bunch.” During the transaction, Vitaly witnessed a group of Revolutionary United Front rebels killing a mother and her child with machetes. He discovered if the deal got done, the entire village would be massacred. Then he pleaded with Yuri to stop the transaction, but Yuri said, “It’s not our conflict.” Later, Vitaly responded this by taking a grenade and blowing up a truck with half of the guns. Several guards watching the transaction shot Vitaly to death. When Vitaly lied on the ground, he was still trying to throw a grenade, his brother hold his hands and put the leading-wire back. Later, Yuri still accepted the deal and all the villagers were then slaughtered. This scene reminded me that the drug company gave the expired medicine to African People for tax free in The Constant Gardener. In the movie, when Justin went to the village, Dr. Lorbeer showed him these drugs and said that the best way to deal with these drugs was to burn them.

Here, you may ask that: “wait a minute, we have the UN, why won’t UN help to solve these problems?” In the following example, we will see the role UN plays in such situations.

Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda recorded a true historical event during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. During the Rwandan Genocide, over hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager, this movie documented Rusesabagina’s act to save more than a thousand refugees by granting them shelter in the besieged Hotel. The race problem still exits in Rwanda right now. People might wonder why UN did not go to help them? UN did, but they came back. The reason was that they thought they should not intervene other country’s politics. If this is true, one can also argue that the nuclear problem in North Korea and Iran, the human rights problem in Iraq are other countries’ internal problem. But why do UN and other countries step into these countries? My guess is these problems are large enough to threaten our lives whereas the Rwandan Genocide won’t affect the rest of the world at all. In the movie, UN helped save people’s lives, but without Paul it never would happen. UN Colonel Oliver said, “We are peacekeepers, not peace makers”. However, without a “peace maker” where will UN find peace to keep?

Yuri chose to sell weapon to the Revolutionary United Front, even though he knew all the villagers would be killed. UN chose to leave, even though they knew they were “peacekeepers”.  Back to The Constant Gardener, where Tessa asked him to give one family a ride, but Justin refused because he thought there are too many people who need help, they can’t help all of them. But Tessa tried to help any one of them by her best.  After Tessa’s death, when Justin tried to help a black girl get on the UN plane, the staff from UN refused his request. Justin also tried to bribe that staff. The answer was still no. That staff said: “It’s the rule! There’s too many who need help”. Justin just replied to him, “But we can help this one! Just here!”

Why was death the destiny of Tessa and the other people like her who cared enough to other people?  Are they wrong? Do we have to wait until we lost the one we love, until it actually affects our own life, and then we start to care about the other people?

Who cares?

“I care”, a little fish

“The rise and fall of Viktor Bout, arms-dealer extraordinaire, shows a darker side of globalisation”

In clearing out a year’s worth of Economists, I came across this article that had previously gone unnoticed. It details the story of real-life Lord of War Viktor Bout. A ‘Christmas Special’, it’s a bit more sensational than your average Economist report, but it nonetheless has some interesting tidbits among the dramatic re-telling of his exploits:

“In its turn Hollywood produced “Lord of War”, a fictional tale based on stories of his gun-running. (The producers reportedly used one of Mr Bout’s planes when filming.) Mr Bout thought the film was rubbish and said that he felt sorry for Nicolas Cage, who played him as an arch-villain. Another film is in the works, said to star Angelina Jolie. Other books and dramas will follow.”

“As with so much of Mr Bout’s life, the sting could have been lifted from a Hollywood screenplay.”

“A big question remains. Why did he leave Moscow when he had proven so skilled at sniffing out risks? [...] He was tempted by money and, perhaps more important, by the chance of a last adventure while showing off to his younger wife. Mr Bout, too, had a myth to feed, money to make, a wife to impress and middle age creeping up. He may have disparaged his portrayal by Hollywood but he knew, too, that quiet retirement in Moscow was no way to keep a name in lights.”

What I find fascinating about this article is that the author seems to wholeheartedly embrace the entertainment value of the story. The drama, the ‘fame’ – it all seems to feed the aura of mystery that he willingly buys into. The suggestion that his celebrity encouraged him further is disturbing on many levels, mostly because it implies that the public and the media are to some extent responsible. It is one thing to embrace the ‘anti-hero’ -  characters such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Archer and Nicholas Cage’s Orlov – but it is worrisome that this carries over to real criminals . Interestingly, in the comments section, most people are quick to play up the U.S’s role in supplying weapons around the world, and few condemn his actions outright.

This one image from Lord of War struck me as significant the moment it came up on my computer screen that I had to immediately print screen it because I knew there’d be things to say about it.

It is never explained in the film what the role of these boys are so we never really know if they are a similar to boy scouts or they are more like child soldiers.  From this image it is difficult to tell what they are carrying.  They could be ceremonial spears or they could be rifles.  This ambiguity actually serves the purpose of displaying the effect of Yuri Orlov’s gun trade.  For all we know, the guns that he is providing killed these boys’ families and are put in their hands.  But what really intrigued me was having the boys dressed in such a rag tag manner invokes the image of another set of young boys. 

These are The Lost Boys from 1991’s Hook!  It is really interesting to compare these two groups of boys because assuming Lord of War’s boys are child soldiers, they have a lot in common.  The Lost Boys are a group that have no family other than their comrades and their desire is not to grow up.  But Hook actually gives more depth to The Lost Boys and has them face challenges which are really emotionally difficult.  Our young soldiers may have lost their family and do not want to grow up but are forced to.

I have become incredibly mired down in this countdown, so I’ve just decided to throw it all out there in one fell swoop.  I am sure you are tired of reading my drivel anyway.  So watch the slide show below.  It illustrates movies #6-#1 and a bonus Bangkok Dangerous.  I haven’t been able to see this delightful little film, but from what I have heard, it should have won a few Oscars.  Enjoy and so long to Nicolas Cage, at least until his next award-winner premieres.
For those of you too lazy to watch:

#6-Windtalkers

#5-The Rock

#4-The Family Man

#3-Lord of War

#2-National Treasure

#1-Gone in 60 Seconds

!!!

Thorotracks hail from Corona Queens New York and over the past few years have notched up a huge list of production credits. Since forming in 2002 Sam and Jay (who make up Thorotracks) have been turning out track after track with some of the dopest MC’s on the scene. To me it seems the list is endless and the beats they make are the reason behind all the work they have accumulated.
I’ve known Thorotracks for the past couple of years and after hearing a couple of tracks they produced I purchased their street album The Saga Begins and the Shabaam Sahdeeq Lord Of War mixtape and since then i’ve been a fan of what they’ve been producing.
Sam from the production team has told me that they are about to drop their new street album real soon and are also working on a full studio album which will be released towards the end of 2009 / beginning of 2010. Mixed in amongst that they have a whole array of work with various artists dropping now and throughout this year with the latest being the new Krumb Snatcha track Street Merchant  from the album Hidden Scriptures.

Click Image To Download Street Merchant

Der Film, der mich in diesem Jahr am meisten beeindruckt hat, ist Lord of War mit Nicholas Cage in der Hauptrolle, der den Aufstieg eines Waffenhändlers nach dem Ende des Kalten Krieges nachzeichnet. Auch wenn von manchen kritisiert wird, er sei in den Details nicht ganz akkurat – mir ging er unter die Haut. Nicht zuletzt eine Text-Einblendung ganz am Ende: Die USA, Russland, Grossbritannien und Frankreich seien die grössten Waffenhändler der Welt – und zugleich ständige Mitglieder im UN-Sicherheitsrat. (Dazu gibt kommen noch zehn wechselnde Mitglieder). Das ist notabene das Gremium, das von der UNO mit der “Wahrung des Weltfriedens und der internationalen Sicherheit” betraut ist und Resolutionen gegen “verbrecherische” Staaten beschliessen kann.

Laut einem Zeitungsbericht sind immer noch drei der erwähnten Nationen unter den Big Playern des Waffenhandels. Die USA und Russland bestreiten den Löwenanteil, zusammen verkauften sie 2004-2008 Rüstungsgüter für 65 Bio. Dollar. Neu auf Platz 3 ist Deutschland, das sich auch um einen Platz unter den ständigen Mitgliedern des Sicherheitsrates bemüht. Das Hauptkriterium erfüllen sie ja nun.

Und wohin wird exportiert? Import-Weltmeister ist China, daneben sei vor allem der Nahe Osten ein Wachstumsmarkt (Israel, Ägypten, Arabische Emirate).

(july 24)

Didn’t get the chance to blog again. The circumstances wouldn’t allow me to. Din was at my station all night and i couldn’t sneak this one through with her beside me. Im in bed right now using my phone again to come up with this. It’s 3am and I just got home.

The reason why I got home late (wait, i usually go home at around this time) is because Din and i had a movie date in the office haha. After work (which is around 12mn), we watched Lord of War on my desktop pc. I’m glad Din loved it. Her face was all smiles as soon as the credits came up. “I like this movie it sooo muuuuch! This is the best movie everrrr!” she said haha.

And as for me, it has been my favorite movie of all time. I’ve watched it a couple of times already and it still gives me that great feeling each and every single time.

We were suppose to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince again, this time in Greenbelt, but since we just bought plane tickets to Siargao this afternoon we opted to watch something from my movie library instead. And no regrets on that.

As for the vacation placs, we decided to push through with the Siargao trip and snagged good deals on Cebu Pacific. Travel date is on Nov16-20. We’re not sure yet if Din’s parents would approve it but we’ll take our chances. This vacation is something to look forward to. We’re both really excited. I hope the surfing gods will help us with our plans.

Today is payday, and thank You Lord i made it!