Its official, Woody Allen can do no wrong!!!

Tennis pro Chris (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) gets mixed up with the darker side of high society in this suspenseful drama with a Hitchcockian flair from writer-director Woody Allen, who sets the action across the pond from his beloved New York City. Chris is befriended by a wealthy family and falls for femme fatale Nola (Scarlett Johansson). But a clandestine affair involving another woman leaves Chris wondering if murder is the only way out.

Now this film for me raises about two big questions: 1. Does Woody Allen have anything left to say?, and 2. Does Scarlett Johansson have the acting chops to pull off all the roles she’s been getting.

The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. For people that don’t like Woody Allen films well then you may just want to check this out. It is nothing like any of his other usual witty romantic comedies. Match Point is romantic, very dramatic, and by the end turns into a type of psychological thriller.

One thing I really loved about this film was that it’s main message about luck and its effect is shown incredibly well throughout the movie. The opening image stays with you during the film, and is shown again once more and even more touching and meaningful.

The amazing story about infidelity and being caught up in lust really does keep you interested in this film. It is played out so well, as they show you how this one man interacts with both of these women on a daily basis and not once does one story become more interesting than the other. Every moment that happens in this film just keeps you more and more glued to the screen where you are ultimately in love with this story.

Now to answer the second question that is also a resounding yes. Johansson does a great job as well as playing this chick who at first plays hard to get then by the end of the film she starts to really turn out to be one of these crazy obsessed chicks that your just afraid of seeing. Also, Rhys-Meyers basically does an even better job, but the only problem I had with him was that I just felt he was a little too gay looking. I mean check out pitcures of him, he doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would be banging Johansson on the side. But hey that’s just me.

The ending to this film is ultimately effective and it feels very true. This story couldn’t have ended any other way other than the way it did. One of the more effective films I have seen ever from Allen, and overall probably ever.

Consensus: Match Point is one of Woody Allen’s best that features great writing, a compelling story that teaches us the lessons about class and infidelity.

9.5/10=Full Pricee!!!

Would you think that title is true?

feeling lucky?

I’d just finished my fifth Woody Allen movie this weekend – Match Point – and it was a movie all about luck. And after that I’m now officially a fan of Woody Allen films. Annie Hall hooked me in, then The Purple Rose of Cairo, Manhattan, then Love and Death – well they just trapped me with their spells. His movies, aside from being extremely witty and funny, always leave you something to think about in the end – whether it be love, death, luck, relationships, God. Well, Match Point got me with its bit on luck.

“It’s amazing how much of our life is actually based on luck.”

Luck. Exactly how much of our lives is actually out of our control, like just another roll of the dice? It’s pretty scary when you think about it – how we think we’re actually in control of most of our lives when in fact it’s more of something  decided on by an invisible hand of luck that people sometimes label as fate. There are just so many things that go on being decided with or without our consent. One such example is one of the most fundamental and inevitable events on this planet – the meeting of people. Do we really get to choose exactly who we’ll meet? You just never know who might come along your way. For all I know the next girl that I’ll meet might be, in the future, my best friend, my wife, my arch nemesis, a witch, my colleague, my boss, my neighbor, my employee…and the list keeps going. The whole thing just drives me crazy that it’s too tiring to think about.

Even when I think about exams, studying can only get you so far, the rest is all luck! Assuming someone who crams memorizes his stuff, as long as the questions are the ones he studied then he has as good a chance of passing than someone who studied all the chapters in the book only to realize that most of what he studied never would come out. And you know what? The crammers sometimes make it out on top! The world is illogical! – a quote from Love & Death. A quote sometimes that I think to be really true. Sometimes I wonder how we can make sense out of everything going on. Everything seems too much like a comedy than something serious, or perhaps we’re all better actors than we think.

I’m serious, it’s like this. Some people, like my friend The Architect from the Matrix, think that hope is one among many qualities that distinguishes humans from other animals and he calls it “…the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and weakness.” Does that seem logical to you? We call ourselves logical beings in a logical world, but in fact the world we live in is just littered with contradictions and fallacies. And yes, it’s downright scary to allow our logical heads to wrap around this piece of knowledge. It’s scary to surrender to something we’re not in control of.

Take JTA as an example. Aside from Jaime, I had no idea of the names that would fill in the next six slots for Rennes. In how many ways can you place six names from a pool of n names? We were answering those kinds of things in probability classes – a class that somewhat took away our astonishment at how luck governs things. Who would be choosing Rennes? Where did they come from? What were their courses? How were they like? Sure beats me, but people were going to fill in those spots. And six months later, those names would be names I’d never forget. Names that would constantly appear next to mine in facebook tags, JTA-reports, and in my very own travel log. And hopefully, after JTA, those names will continue to pop up on my phone through texts or in my gmail inbox or facebook tags still. Well, only time will tell, and I’m wishing I’d have enough good luck to get it.

***

Para quem gosta do cineasta pirado do Woody Allen, um prato cheio chega à SP e RJ! A retrospectiva A Elegância de Woody Allen  irá mostrar, em ordem cronológica, todos os filmes feitos por ele. Grandes sucessos como ‘Noivo Neurótico, Noiva Nervosa’ (77), ‘Manhattan’(79), ‘Match point’, ‘Scoop’, ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’, dentre outros, estarão passando em suas versões originais, ou seja, em película mesmo. Assim, visualizar a fotografia e detalhes trabalhados por Allen ficará mais fácil.

@SP
ONDE: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil ( R. Armando Alvares, 112)
QUANDO: de hoje até 13/Dez
QUANTO: $ 4

@ RJ
ONDE: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil ( R. Primeiro de Março, 66)
QUANDO: de hoje até 29/Nov
QUANTO: $ 6

Veja a programação completa do evento clicando aqui !

beijinhos!
BF

There has been a lot of lists running around the web about the best movies from 2000-2009. The sad fact of the matter is that none of the lists have been truly correct. I am a movie aficionado, so making this list will not only be a walk in the park for me, but it will also provide you with the movies that actually were the best from this period. It gives me great honor to present to you the top 30 best movies from 2000-2009…

1. Mar adentro (2004) Director: Alejandro Amenábar
2. Sideways (2004) Director: Alexander Payne
3. Match Point (2005) Director: Woody Allen
4. The Pianist (2002) Director: Roman Polanski
5. There Will Be Blood (2007) Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
6. Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
7. American Psycho (2000) Director: Mary Harron
8. A Beautiful Mind (2001) Director: Ron Howard
9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Director: Peter Weir
10. Adaptation (2002) Director: Spike Jonze
11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Director: Ang Lee
12. Donnie Darko (2001) Director: Richard Kelly
13. Lost in Translation (2003) Director: Sofia Coppola
14. Juno (2007) Director: Jason Reitman
15. Y Tu Mamá También (2001) Director: Alfonso Cuarón
16. Casino Royale (2006) Director: Martin Campbell
17. The Departed (2006) Director: Martin Scorsese
18. El laberinto del fauno (2006) Director: Guillermo del Toro
19. A History of Violence (2005) Director: David Cronenberg
20. Superbad (2007) Director: Greg Mottola
21. Babel (2006) Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
22. Dogville (2003) Director: Lars von Trier
23. In Good Company (2004) Director: Paul Weitz
24. Wedding Crashers (2005) Director: David Dobkin
25. Grizzly Man (2005) Director: Werner Herzog
26. The Aviator (2004) Director: Martin Scorsese
27. Old School (2003) Director: Todd Philips
28. The Dark Knight (2008) Director: Christopher Nolan
29. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Director: David Fincher
30. Up (2009) Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

THE TRAILERS FOR THE TOP 3 BEST MOVIES OF 2000-2009

En el fondo, tiene un mérito tremendo rodar una película de hora y media con 73 inviernos. Es innegable. El problema es que la firma un tal Woody Allen que, a su edad, no se da cuenta de que seguir facturando a ese ritmo, una cinta por año, es tan insensato como contraproducente. Lo único que consigue es añadir títulos anodinos a un currículum hasta hace poco brillantísimo.

Aquí ya dimos cuenta de cómo su carrera se deslizaba por un tobogán de mediocridad a base de trabajos como El sueño de Casandra y, aún peor, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Ni siquiera la huelga de guionistas impidió a Allen acudir fielmente a su obsesiva cita en este 2009: y así, hace algún tiempo (pedimos disculpas por el retraso en la crítica), despachó esta Si la cosa funciona (Whatever Works), a partir de un guión de los 70. O eso dice él, porque el libreto podrá ser de hace 30 años… pero esta película habla, desde el primer minuto, el balbuceante idioma de los últimos films del neoyorquino. Sí desprenden un sabor añejo el constante hablar a la cámara del protagonista, o el regreso al personaje arquetípico tan alleniano del hipocondríaco, intelectualoide, misántropo, cobarde y muy judío sujeto que vive encerrado en un mundo paralelo poblado de microbios, prejuicios, disertaciones eternas y desplantes verbales. Ahí sí detectamos al Allen de tiempos pasados.

Ocurre, sin embargo, que la historia no es buena. No seducen los padecimientos de este alter ego en cuya monótona existencia irrumpe un buen día una joven paleta sureña (el doblaje en español es nefasto, salpicando el diálogo de “-aos” por “-ados”), que trastoca sus planes, y a la que siguen la mamá, primero, y el papá, después, ambos para experimentar cambios radicales. Hay unas cuantas líneas de diálogo graciosas, marcas de la cosa, especialmente cuando el protagonista, Boris Yelnikoff, saca a relucir su vena más borde y rancia, pero no consiguen elevar un vuelo que tiende a ser más bien rasante.

Y ese es el gran problema de Si la cosa funciona: que transcurre sin pena ni gloria. ¿Está mal? No. ¿Está bien? Tampoco. Es sencillamente prescindible, y eso es algo que asusta. ¿Podemos prescindir de Woody Allen? Tal vez sí. Tal vez el recurso del DVD, de volver a sus obras maestras de siempre, sea la mejor opción. El problema es que él no se da por enterado. Y pone la función sobre los hombros de Larry David, famosísimo en USA por crear Seinfield y, ahora, la serie de culto Curb your enthusiasm, donde hace de sí mismo; pero todo un desconocido (o casi) fuera de su país. Un tipo bastante alleniano pero también no poco cargante. Le da la réplica la aún verde Evan Rachel Wood y sale además Henry Cavill, visto en Los Tudor y, tal vez, propuesto por Johnny Rhys-Meyers.

¿Es necesario ver Si la cosa funciona? Lamentablemente, no demasiado. Puede verse, pero se olvidará pronto, salvo para los auténticos fans de Allen que, pobres de nosotros, seguimos acudiendo, año tras año, a la sala de cine con la esperanza de que otra Match Point, otro fogonazo de brillantez, sea aún posible. En esta ocasión, no ha habido suerte…

Vakar prieš miegą pažiūrėjau, bet galiu pasakyti, kad veltui. Vertinimai geri, aktoriai irgi, pats filmas – ne.

Tik tiek gal įdomu buvo, kad veikėjas filmo eigoje skaitė Dostojevskio “Nusikaltimas ir bausmė” ir pabaigoje panašiai pasielgė. Bet vis gi “neišrišo” detektyvai žudiko, o viskas dėl sėkmės, kuri buvo labai akcentuojama filme. Tyčia papasakojau vos ne visą filmo esmę ir galima sakyti pabaigą, vien tam kad neleistumėt savo brangaus laiko.

Pažiūrėjau, kad ir tarp pretendentų Oskarui buvo šitas filmas, bet nelabai suprantu už ką. Garsus režisierius? So what

Vertinimai: imdb – 7,8 ( ir nemažai balsavusių žmonių, matyt būsiu kažko nesupratęs, bet čia jau ne mano reikalas ), obuolys.lt – 80%, Aš -4.5.

O melodie mai mult decat geniala. Impropriu zis oricum pentru ca e o arie din Elixirul dragostei de Donizetti. Bineinteles povestea e clasica… Un baiat de la tara care se indragosteste de o fata foarte bogata, cumpara un elixir care i-l da fetei sa-l bea. Una furtiva lagrima este exact aria cand baiatul constata ca ea s-a indragostit de el.

Genial zic eu e interpretarea lui Caruso. Sunetul acela de gramofon, ma duce cu gandul la perioada teraselor bucurestene si a romantelor lui Zavaidoc.

Original nu sunt pentru ca piesa am auzit-o normal in Match Point, regizat de Woody Allen.

Woody Allen maakt als sinds 1992 minimaal één film per jaar. Die hoge productiviteit komt de kwaliteit jammer genoeg lang niet altijd ten goede. Whatever Works lijkt echter verassend genoeg lange tijd de concurrentie met Allens klassiekers Manhatten, Annie Hall en zijn beste film van dit decennium Match Point aan te kunnen. Met de nadruk op lijkt, want Whatever Works kan het niveau van het uitstekende eerste deel bij lange na niet tot het einde vasthouden.

Larry David! Liefhebbers van Curb Your Enthusiasm zullen meteen weten over wie ik het heb en ook de die hard fans van Seinfeld zullen zijn naam herinneren van de begingeneriek of aftiteling. Bij de meeste anderen gaat er waarschijnlijk geen belletje rinkelen. Dat zal na Whatever Works echter wel anders zijn. De keuze voor David als hoofdrolspeler blijkt namelijk een meer dan gouden keuze van regisseur Woody Allen. En voor de mensen die enigszins bekend zijn met Allens eigen acteerwerk gaat Whatever Works een feest der herkenning zijn.

Larry David doet in Whatever Works namelijk dat wat Woody Allen zelf jarenlang in zijn films deed. Het afvuren van een niet aflatende stroom aan bijtende monologen met een snelheid die je als kijker doet duizelen. Hij doet dat als Boris Yelnikoff. Een geniale maar extreem sarcastische en pessimistische man op leeftijd die  per toeval te maken krijgt met het overenthousiaste, spontane en ietwat domme tienermeisje Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood). Aangezien Yelnikoff als bijna winnaar van de nobelprijs ook een hekel heeft aan domme mensen, wordt ook de naïve Melodie niet gespaard door de oude brompot.

Het zorgt voor hilarische dialogen waarbij Yelnikoff met zijn gevatte en niemand sparende teksten de show steelt. Zo heeft hij het over een concentratiekamp van twee weken voor kinderen zodat ze erachter komen waartoe de mens in staat is en zijn de schaaklessen die hij geeft absoluut geen pretje voor het zelfbeeld van zijn jonge studenten. Kortom een afschuwelijke man waarvoor je onherroepelijk een overdosis aan sympathie voelt. Mis gaan kan het dan ook nog maar nauwelijks en toch is dat wat er gebeurt.

De intrede van Patricia Clarkson na 45 minuten als de moeder van Melodie is namelijk het begin van het einde. David verliest zijn scherpe kantjes en de film vervalt langzamerhand in een standaard drama. Het is een gemiste kans die ervoor zorgt dat Woody Allen in plaats van een extra moderne klassieker zijn zoveelste zeer onderhoudende film op zijn cv mag bijschrijven.

Whatever Works draait vanaf 12 november in de bioscopen.

Ludéal – Allez l’amour

Si vous pouviez m’aider à trouver le reste…

1. ???

2. Lost in translation (2002 Sofia Coppola avec Scarlett Johansson et Bill Murray)

3. Pretty woman (1990 Garry Marshall avec Julia Roberts et Richard Gere)

4. Ghost (1990 Jerry Zucker avec Demi Moore et Patrick Swayze)

5. Le secret de Brokeback Mountain (2006 Ang Lee avec Heath Ledger et Jake Gyllenhaal)

6. ???

7. Match point (2004 Woody Allen avec Scarlett Johansson et Jonathan Rhys-Meyers)

8. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004 Michel Gondry avec Kate Winslet et Jim Carrey)

9. ???

10. Autant en emporte le vent (1950 Victor Fleming avec Leslie Howard et Clark Gable)

“Match Point” is Woody Allen’s best movie in years.  Lately I have grown weary of the quirky filmmaker.  He seemed to be descending in to a pit of self-absorbed comedy.  His characters seemed confined to the universe of trendy and way too self-opinionated.  Finally he has given us a movie where the characters sound like real people.

The story follows Chris, a former tennis pro, who takes a job giving lessons at a private club.  He meets Tom.  They hit it off and and Tom invites Chris to the opera.  This is where he meets Chloe, Tom’s sister.  The two hit it off and begin dating.  Soon Chris finds himself completely swallowed in to the family.  They have more money then they can spend, they hook him up with a job in the company and set him up to marry Chloe. 

But has Chris gets further and further in to the family, he becomes intrigued with Tom’s fiancé Nola.  Soon they become romantically involved.  From there the situation takes a couple of twists and turns and Chris finds himself living lies all around.  The situation threatens the new financial life he has become so comfortable with.  How it turns out is tragic.

These plot elements are very familiar but rarely done with such observation and tension.  At first we like Chris, played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, but gradually his actions begin to lead us down a different direction.  How he handles everything is almost worthy of Tom Ripley. 

“Match Point” is a departure for Woody Allen.  Normally he films and sets his movies in New York.  Here everything is shot and takes place in London.  I’m not sure if he is familiar with the territory but he makes everything seem very authentic.  This is unlike anything we have ever seen from Allen. 

The performances are all pitch perfect.  Meyers gathers are sympathy then slowly loses it with his actions.  Scarlett Johansson plays Nola as a woman who just wants life to take care of her.  As Chloe, Emily Mortimer is sweet but not stupid.  When things seem off, she confronts Chris in a scene of true revelation. 

The ending I will not reveal, but I will say that it will haunt me for a long time to come.  Rarely can the closing events of a movie sit with you for as long as they have sat with me.  It has been almost a week now and I am still thinking about it. 

I’m writing this review after seeing “Match Point” for the second time.  The first was when I was a freshman in college, and I went with an unlikely group of guys for such a serious film. Since then, I’ve seen a great number of movies and few have remained as memorable as Match Point. You’ll likely change your personal credo to, “I’d rather be lucky than good,” such is how powerful luck is in this film.

Evidently, Woody Allen considers it one of his finest films, and I’m not surprised by this. The film, like all good dramas, will occasionally overwhelm you with the feeling that you’re watching a play. Since I’m no expert, it’s hard for me to say why this is; usually, it’s the extended, dialogue-heavy scenes that beget this feeling. The drama feels real, as if it could involve someone you knew. There’s also a refreshing lack of special effects, which brings the actors’ performances to the forefront of the film.

As far as the cast goes, I have mixed feelings. The main character, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, makes a convincing oily tennis pro, but sometimes acts so unlikable you’re forced to wonder what the other characters could possibly see in him. The supporting cast, however, is solid all the way through, with Scarlett Johansson’s out-of-work American actress seeming distressingly close-to-home. Unfortunately, some of her interactions with Meyers feel a bit forced, as if the writing/directing was just a tiny bit off. The unnaturalness of people’s interactions is something that often bothers me in Woody Allen movies, and the moments during Match Point that you remember Allen wrote and directed it are its weakest moments.  Thankfully, they’re few and far between, and if you can let them slide you’ll truly enjoy the film.

The pacing of each individual scene itself is excellent, although some better indicators for the overall passage of time would have been appreciated; perhaps some seasonal indicators? Simply having a character mention a holiday is a cheap and forgetful way to show where we are in the narrative, especially when the passage of time is so important to the plot. Inserting such details gracefully allows the viewer to really sit back and enjoy the movie; sometimes, I think things like this are more important to overall enjoyment than the plot itself.  It’s like a band of average musicians who’ve practice consistently with each other: they’re a lot tighter, and sound better, than four incredible musicians still trying to learn how to play with each other.

Scarlett Johansson’s character is one which should absolutely evoke sympathy in anyone watching the film; she is consistently abused by almost every other character. If you’re not careful, however, the subtle implication – that she’s a bit loose when drinking, which is an activity she enjoys too much – will overwhelm any feelings of sympathy, and you’ll realize you could almost rationalize what becomes of her. It’s either a subtle jab by writer/director Allen at your prejudices, or possibly a telling fact of our society that accidentally slipped into his writing; either way, you’ll notice it and it should give you pause.

The truth is that some parts of the movie will probably annoy you; it’s not the meat of the movie that’s the problem, but the garnish. This is a good movie that could have been great, but the ball was dropped on a lot of the details that could have pushed Match Point from memorable to unforgettable.

6

di Woody Allen

Un maturo genio della fisica, campione di cinismo, si ritrova in casa una sprovveduta bella figliola.

Qualcuno lo invoca già da anni. Noi ci limitiamo a ribadirlo a chiare lettere: Mr Allen, si fermi ! Si prenda un anno e anche due di riposo. Basta con un film all’anno. Perché Woody Allen – saranno ormai una quindicina d’anni – davvero non batte la fiacca. Un film all’anno, la maggior parte discreti, un capolavoro recente (Match Point) ma anche parecchi passi falsi, tanta stanchezza e una dose sempre meno sopportabile di cinismo. Dopo infatti i non eccelsi Sogni e delitti, (praticamente una brutta copia di Match Point) e Vicky Cristina Barcelona (praticamente una guida turistica di Barcellona), ecco Basta che funzioni, la quintessenza del Woody-pensiero che appunto coincide con un semplice, banalissimo slogan. Basta che funzioni appunto. Non domandare nulla: il senso della vita, il significato del male e della morte, il valore dell’amicizia e dell’amore. Nulla ha senso: siamo figli del caso, tanto vale prendersela per quello che è, e godersela finché c’è tempo. E’ con questo triste disincanto che affronta la vita Boris, interpretato da  Ed Begley Jr.,   praticamente una controfigura di Allen. Che certo si innamora pure della ragazza-velina che gli finisce letteralmente tra i piedi: ma poi la relazione finisce inevitabilmente. Ma perché disperarsi ? Non ne vale davvero la pena. Scritto, come sempre in maniera molto fluida, interpretato meglio Basta che funzioni è il solito solido film di Allen tanto cinematograficamente privo di pecche quanto da un punto di vista esistenziale privo, paradossalmente, di vita.

Eravamo abituati ad un Woody Allen “europeo” che affascinato dalle nostre capitali si faceva ispirare per nuovi esperimenti cinematografici sfovciati nello splendido  “Match Point“. Ma forse  questa ispirazione è incominciata a venir meno già con “Vicky Cristina Barcelona“  dove il regista, pur avendo a disposizione ottimi attori, si era perso in una commediola romantica senza la magnifica ironia che fa dei film di Woody qualcosa di unico.

Il  ritorno in patria, nella sua amata Manhattan, ha sicuramente giovato e questa sua ultima pellicola brilla di luce propria. Allen ha trovato il suo sosia in David Larry che si diletta a distruggere qualsiasi tesi umana, a spiegare il caos totale dell’universo dove l’uomo è soltanto un’entità insignificante. Woddy Allen non salva nemmeno l’Amore descrivendolo come qualcosa di molto flessibile che serve però per andare avanti nella vita….

Durata: 92 minuti

Regia: Woody Allen

Attori: David Larry, Evan Rachel Wood

Genere: Commedia

Voto: 7/8

Tired of hitting normal passing shots to set up match point in a semifinal of a Grand Slam, Federer decided to make things interesting!

Source:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1921089

If I were not a Christian I would be a nihilist, and I regularly have to keep my natural tendency toward existential nihilism in check. There is a reason Ecclesiastes is my favorite book. It is the most hopeless and nihilistic book in all of scripture. Despite my optimistic, idealistic, and altruistic nature, I thrive on hopelessness and despair.

If you do a quick inventory of my favorite movies (Dogville, Match Point, City of God, 28 Days Later, the Last Kiss, etc), you will see that they are ones in which there is no redemption and where people treat each other callously and without any remorse for the harm they inflict. They often get away completely guilt-free with murder. I would also personally act this way toward others if I truly embraced nihilism, as I am inclined to do – and I know there is real malevolent evil in my heart. That is why those films resonate so personally with me.

In a world completely devoid of any true or ultimate justice, this is truly the way things are. There is no reason at all for a rational person to not act consistently in a manner of complete and total selfishness, even to the point of murder and mean-spirited deception even for entertainment’s sake, so long as it maximizes one’s own rational self-interest. If a person can kill their mistress without getting caught and live with the guilt for the rest of their life because her death will ultimately bring them a far more pleasurable life in the long run (as happens in the plot of one of the films I mentioned above), this is completely morally acceptable. There is NO reason at ALL to condemn this action in the absence of moral values and ultimate justice.

Likewise, in the absence of any moral values or ultimate justice, there is no grounding upon which to condemn infant rape, instrumental rape during war with machetes, brutal female circumcision, animal mutilation and abuse, the torturing and murder of homosexuals going on right now in the middle east and still in our country, generations of racism and violence, or any other heinous and violent act that we consider to be a violation of justice. There is no grounding at all upon which to cry “FOUL!” The best we can do is to say that we just don’t like these acts, but we can never condemn them as truly wrong, because the very concept of ultimate, objective wrong does not even exist.

No humans will ever agree on exactly what actions should be defined as “right” and “wrong” in a moral sense – that has been culturally, religiously, and sociologically dependent even person by person for as long as humans have lived in society together. Even in a marriage no two people are ever going to completely agree on every moral and ethical issue. But if we can’t even agree that the concept of objective, transcendent moral values actually exist (meaning outside of our own collective human consciousness – in other words, outside of our own heads), then we’re really screwed.

I’m not arguing that we should go put up the 10 Commandments at any Capitol buildings. That’s just stupid. My point is much more philosophical and is far broader than any issue that encompasses any religion.

I would be a nihilist if were not a Christian and if I did not believe that objective moral values exist external to the human mind. I do not pass judgment at all on anyone else who believes otherwise, but if I did not believe what I do, I would personally lie, cheat, steal, manipulate, and live my life to fully maximize my own rational self-interest (in other words, completely selfishly). Yes, I might even murder if I thought it would benefit me in some way – and I highly doubt that I would feel a shred of guilt about it. The “guilt gene” seems to have skipped a generation with me. That is why I absolutely love this Aldous Huxley quote (and I also adore Brave New World, incidentally):

I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning–the Christian meaning, they insisted–of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”
[Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means, 1937]

Huxley admits that he had reasons (namely his unrestrained sexual freedom) for believing that the world has no meaning. It seems that the Christians are not the only ones who start from a conclusion and then work backward to their premises. They just happen to get accused of it far more often. Hmmm…

The reason I am a Christian is not merely because I am convinced that objective moral values do exist, but also because of what I find to be an encyclopedic body of evidence in support of the basic claims of the faith‡, and because of the absolute lack of coherence and rationality I find in all alternate worldviews that I have explored. I was a sincere agnostic/atheist from about the time I was around 10 yrs old, through my entire teenage years, and into the beginning of my adult life. Not to mention that the horrors of the flipside of the ‘problem of evil’ are almost too much for me to handle. All of this hit me as a 14 year old atheist when I was writing death poetry in my own blood about how we will all ultimately be turned to dust, with no hope and no redemption.

The ‘problem of evil’ in this world is simply not a problem for me and it never was. However, the problem of no ultimate justice for the Holocaust is a HUGE problem for me, and it’s a huge problem for atheists as well. I guess their only answer is, “it sucks to be Jews.” At least believers in some semblance of a justice-fulfilled afterlife have a kind of response.

Additionally, personal experience is not at all why I believe (especially since it all happened after my conversion), but there have been some very odd coincidences in my life since summer 2001 when I officially “converted” or whatever you want to call it. Yes, granted, it is entirely possible that they are all just coincidences, but the statistical improbability of some of the things that have happened (on specific dates, etc) has been very strange.

Anyway, to sum it all up, I’m a Christian who struggles with nihilism. I still struggle with the evil in my own heart and mind and with the idea that I should care about anything in the world at all. Also I know that I am personally capable of truly heinous acts. People are NOT basically good. That statement is complete and total bullshit. I love the MGMT song Time To Pretend because it is sublimely true. The band has managed to write the ultimate anthem to nihilism. Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.

I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life.
Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah, it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend

I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms.
I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world.
I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home.
Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

But there’s really nothing, nothing we can do.
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we’ll get a divorce.
We’ll find some more models, everything must run its course.

We’ll choke on our vomit and that will be the end.
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend

Yeah, yeah, yeah

_____________________________________

‡ Note that I said BASIC claims of the faith – if you get to know me you will find that I will only try to defend solidly 2 or 3 main issues. The rest of the doctrinal concerns are entirely debatable as far as I’m concerned. I’ll just be over here trying to feed the poor, care for the sick, and fight for those who don’t have a voice. Even if I’m doing a bad job at it, which I admit that I am most of the time.

I managed to watch the rest of ‘Match Point’ in the end. Review available by following the Flixter link to your right (and down).

This day has just turned into a long and painful one. My bus to Brasov was at 14:35 (and takes about 3 hours) and I was at the station before 14:00 but you have to buy tickets from the driver. What I didn’t realise was that it is actually a minibus and when I went out of the inside waiting area at 14:25 it was already full. Boll~cks

So I now have to wait until 17:00 and I’ve no gurantee of getting on that. I’ve a feeling they might be funny about my bag as well because of the limited space. Boll•cks.

Mosquito repelent is high on my purchase list now, I’m sick of litteral little bleeders. Boll¥cks.

I’m also not appreciating the Romanian approach to queuing, I’m going to have to start dishing out some pain soon.

You have probably gathered I’m in a right mood now, my stinking hangover isn’t helping matters. It’s at times like these that I put on this by Paul Simon. I defy anyone not to sing along to that bad boy, if you don’t you must be a cylon. One of the highlights of my trip in the US of America was when that came on the radio while I was speeding through a beautiful forest on route from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. I’ve just found the bluegrass version.

I just gave an old man my seat and he and his daughter were very grateful. Surely that will get me a place on the next bus. You know, instant karma, ying and yang, tit for tat, no?

Need for Speed Undercover on the iPhone is making the time pass quicker than it might. I just bought myself a Golf GTI then added a spoiler and a bodykit, lowered the suspension and spray painted it black. Max power innit!

Some dodgy little gypsy kid (he looked about 3) just spent ages trying to get me to give him my phone by staring at me, pointing at it and speaking in Romanian. Not for a full jar of gypsy tears little gypsy kid, do one.

I’m on the bus now and am feeling most uncomfortable and a tad claustrophobic. There’s no luggage hold so my bag is between my legs in front of me which leaves little room for my legs. I think my right knee is going to be sore shortly. On the bright side it could be a lot longer trip than 3 hours so I’ll manage.

The driver charged me 22 lei, now the nice hostel girl had told me to hit him with an expletive if this be the case but without a bicycle in reserve, I didn’t think this to be a wise course of action. Grudgingly, I paid the man.

The journey went okay in the end, it only took about 2 and a half hours and half way through the guy next to me got off so I had plenty of room then. Jobs a good ‘n.

Brasov look an interesting place, I’ll be getting acquainted with it properly tomorrow.

The hostel seems good too. They give you a voucher for every night you’re there (in my case 3) to get a free beer. It’s local stuff called Ciucas (is that Toadfish from Neighbours on the left?). I don’t think I’m going to have any vouchers left in the morning.

I’ve not had many photo opportunites today so here is one of me gazing in the Transylvanian wilderness.

 Le meilleur, c’est Federer

Cet incroyable point, balle de match en plus, confirme que notre Federer national est bien le plus grand joueur de tennis de tous les temps.

C’est un peu chauvin, mais j’assume totalement mon opinion.

La finale, c’est ce soir à 22h00

Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, comedian, writer, musician, and playwright.

Allen’s distinctive films, which run the gamut from dramas to screwball sex comedies, have made him one of the most respected living American directors. He is also distinguished by his rapid rate of production and his very large body of work. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Ancient Greece, Jewish identity, European cinema and New York City, where he was born and has lived his entire life.

Allen is also a jazz clarinetist. What began as a teenage avocation has led to regular public performances at various small venues in his Manhattan hometown, with occasional appearances at various jazz festivals. Allen joined the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra in performances that provided the film score for his 1973 comedy Sleeper, and a rare European tour in 1996 featuring Allen was the subject of the documentary Wild Man Blues.

Woody Allen is the kind of writer and director that I can relate to on many levels; he relies on characters rather than plot, he enjoys toying with expectations and questioning the walls between genres, and he has a quiet subtlety in his movies which I rather admire. As many of these qualities mirror many of my own tastes in film and literature, Allen has always impressed me greatly: one of my personal favorite movies, Scoop, is one of his more recent comedies, and his drama Match Point also qualifies for the DVD collection I cart around in my car’s trunk.

Allen’s 2005 film Melinda and Melinda qualifies as both a comedy and a tragedy. As a group of playwrights convene for a pleasant dinner, one member poses a plot idea — “A woman barges in on a dinner party” — which is taken and developed into stories by two of the writers, one delving into comedy and the other into tragedy. The woman in question, Melinda, is brilliantly played in both tales by Radha Mitchell, though she joins different casts on each side of her coin; in one case, she comically falls in love with the man who completes her (Will Ferrell), and in another she falls into a deep suicidal despair after years of disappointment, betrayal, and painfully dashed dreams.

This is a fascinating concept for a film, particularly from the perspective of a writer delving into these questions every day, and I would assume that Allen’s experience as a writer may have been the motive for choosing these themes as the subject for his latest movie. Conceptually, this split plot works brilliantly in developing the questions of comedy and drama, laughter and despair, optimism and pessimism, and the use of one actress in the midst of multiple casts would theoretically make for fascinating twists and turns in the script.

Yet the problem with Melinda and Melinda lies in the final product. Though conceptually it works perfectly, in execution the film fails spectacularly.

Balancing two stories in a film is extremely difficult, a fact I mentioned before in my review of Julie & Julia. The pacing must be slow enough to keep the audience interested in both films without even the slightest confusion, but it must also be fast enough to keep the audience involved in the movie as a whole. The acting, special effects, etc. of one tale cannot overtake the other, for then the film becomes so out of balance that both become exhausting to watch.

Melinda and Melinda is a prime example of these mistakes. The pacing remains too slow to keep one interested in the movie and had me checking my watch half an hour in, even though I enjoyed each of the stories. Plus, the drama side of the story, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chloe Sevigny, far outshines the comedic side with Will Ferrell. Though Ferrell fits wonderfully into his bumbling, joking character, a role seemingly made for him, he fails to mesh so nicely with Allen’s witty and subtle comedic dialogue, creating a strange and rather uncomfortable mixture. The cast on the drama side of the story, however, fits in perfectly to Allen’s strange and character-driven dramatic world, particularly Sevigny, who captures the vulnerability and conflict in the girlhood friend whose betrayal sends Melinda into her final despair.

In fact, the only bright point about this film that keeps the balance necessary for such a project is the phenomenal acting of Radha Mitchell, a relatively unknown actress who bursts out in starlight in every role she is given. Her two Melindas are just similar enough to be the same woman, yet different enough to fit into the two stories like pegs into holes, demonstrating a real insight into human nature rarely seen in current working actors. Melinda’s utter desperation in the dramatic tale, instigated by betrayal and fallen hopes, and her confused amusement in the comedic tale from a classic comedy of errors match their stories perfectly, and even her coldcut monologues seem to be taken directly from Allen’s mind and put into actions.

Oh, Woody Allen. If only you would occasionally turn your concepts into novels instead of movies; the world would be a much happier place.

Match Point Invitación

A todos nuestros lectores potosinos, los invitamos a esta interesante proyección especial. Jueves 13 de agosto a las 17:00 hrs. en la recién remodelada Cineteca Alameda.  Entrada libre.

El destí ha fet coincidir en el temps el meu imminent quart aniversari com a blogger (el proper dia 8 d’Agost) amb el moment més àlgid de la meva fama a la xarxa digital! Heu de saber que el passat dilluns dia 3 aquesta web va augmentar un 3.500% la seva audiència habitual fins a la estratosfèrica xifra de 8.080 visites en un sol dia, gràcies a que diversos portals de blogs (Meneame, Bloguniverso i La Tafanera) van enllaçar el meu article sobre les diferències entre ETA i la IRA; la qual cosa em va convertir, de llarg, en el blog en llengua catalana més llegit de WordPress i de la xarxa, durant un dia i mig.

Per què us feu una idea de la magnitud de la xifra, fins ara el meu rècord de visites el tenia el post sobre els blogs gais de dretes amb 330 lectures, la qual cosa suposa un miserable 4% de la xifra aconseguida aquesta setmana.

Aquest fet em porta a pensar en el mític dilema entre si es millor tenir sort o talent, que tan bé ens presentava Woody Allen a “Match Point”: si bé es cert que darrere la meva sorprenent i inesperada fama hi ha un alt percentatge d’atzar, no em negareu que les hores que dedico gratis et amore a redactar, editar i debatre cada post a diari des de fa quatre estius, ben mereixien aquest carmelet.

Clar que ser Nº1 comporta, a canvi, tenir una paciència de sant amb els Trolls, les Walpurgis i altres criatures sorgides del avern que, posseïdes per la corrosiva enveja envers el meu merescut èxit, malgasten el seu temps insultant-me en comptes de publicar quelcom amb un mínim d’interès. Doncs res, he decidit que ja n’hi ha prou d’aguantar silenciós les garrotades i ara que les onades d’audiència m’ho permeten he decidit venjar-me d’una vegada per totes de tots els meus arxienemics: serà el proper dia 15 d’Agost en aquest mateix espai. Hi esteu convidats!

Doncs res, jo marxo a Madrid uns dies i no podré actualitzar fins dimarts dia 11, així doncs m’avanço tres dies a recordar-vos que ja fa 4 anys que caminem junts i que cal treballar per anar més lluny. Amb lectors tan fantàstics com vosaltres de ben segur que ho aconseguirè. Gràcies a tots per llegir-me!

“I wrote this novel just for you
it sounds pretencious, but it’s true.”
PLACEBO

Am inceput sa o plac pe Scarlett dupa rolul din Match Point in care partenerul sau a fost Johnatan Rhys Meyers. Probabil simpatia pe care i-o port acestui actor s-a transmis si asupra ei. Who Knows ? Dintre toate ad-urile in care am vazut-o, cel mai tare mi-a placut cel pentru Moet& Chandon. Realizata de Mert Alas si Marcus Piggott,campania a atras foarte multe pareri pozitive.Mie imi aminteste de vremurile cand femeia era femeie si nu se batea cu pumnul in piept ca stie sa bata cuie bine, nica ca zugraveste admirabil si nici nu afirma ca barbatul poate fi oricand exclus din ecuatie pentru ca nu este indispensabil.
Inca suspin dupa acele timpuri in care femeia nu declarase lipsa misterului, triumful feminitatii. Va place?