September 22, 2011
Faux toes
.
My mother was a dedicated, if somewhat frugal, archivist. By this I mean she kept a diary that was almost strictly composed of short date/event postings (“Aug. 12 - Brookfield Zoo – lost Timmy during dolphin show”) as opposed to flowing, thoughtful prose about the meaning of it all. Indeed, the woman sprang off seven kids, so when the question of existence came up it was filtered through the experience of being pregnant for five-and-a-quarter years, and I can’t help but think that just keeping her eyes on the prize of eternal basking in glory was a suitable default. Photo-wise, she faithfully documented all manner of events from church picnics to her golf league’s crazy hat day, though her Depression-era raising usually precluded anything more than three or four snapshots per. She’d mail rolls of film off to a processor and it would take weeks to get them back. She was just going the usual ultra-cheap route and not considering the cool buildup of surprise unconsciously growing in us to the point of explosion when the mailman pulled out that yellow craft envelope with the green triangles around the border.
I was into photography big time in high school and college. I still regard it as one of the most perfect blends of art and science. I love to take them, I love to look at them, and through the years I've even taken a few stabs at organizing them. Of course there's a difference between artistic compositions and everyday snapshots, and for both I've applied my usual level of slackery to putting them in order. My collection is divided between a few somewhat chronological albums and framed (and hung) work along with several very disorganized shoeboxes full of photos still in the processing envelopes and a pile of to-be-hung frames (some waiting nine years now since we moved to our current residence). A few times I've had the bug for finding certain photos of a certain something and ended up browsing happily through the boxes for hours.
A friend recently mentioned their disenchantment with taking and archiving heaps of photos, and I can’t say I’m immune to the ennui and the conflict between being a packrat or a pragmatic “what are you going to do with all of these?” person. Since my son was born I’ve produced thousands of pictures and several hours of video. The latter is truly compounding my trepidation of what to do, as the task of rendering them into remotely watchable lengths and subjects stands at monumental, and the boy isn’t yet five. But there is a converse comfort to having them available – every time I’ve ever sifted through them I get blissfully stuck in front of the computer screen just as predictably as when I get out the shoeboxes. I’m an incurable shutterbug, for worse but mostly for better.
It’s interesting how the science of photography has changed the hobby, obviously since its inception but also in the 30 years since I had my first 35mm SLR – a Ricoh Singlex TLS. The camera was solid; I sometimes imagined myself as a crime-fighting news photographer, waylaying evildoers with a roundhouse swing of my 5-lb. TLS and then taking the photos for the article on their capture. I’ve long regretted having sold it some years after college for a relatively paltry sum. A couple of years ago I acquired a relatively modern 35mm SLR film camera of very good quality, but I rarely use it. I had meant to have it as a hobby camera for artsy B&W stuff, but over the years B&W film processing has become expensive and of questionable quality. Setting up a darkroom is but a dream at this point, what with most equipment either approaching antique status or, if new, sold at inflated niche market prices. So for now I’ve taken to the popular modern pastime of learning Photoshop fairly well and having fun with that, but I would like to get back to my old school ways someday, at which point I’ll need more shoeboxes.
.
My mother was a dedicated, if somewhat frugal, archivist. By this I mean she kept a diary that was almost strictly composed of short date/event postings (“Aug. 12 - Brookfield Zoo – lost Timmy during dolphin show”) as opposed to flowing, thoughtful prose about the meaning of it all. Indeed, the woman sprang off seven kids, so when the question of existence came up it was filtered through the experience of being pregnant for five-and-a-quarter years, and I can’t help but think that just keeping her eyes on the prize of eternal basking in glory was a suitable default. Photo-wise, she faithfully documented all manner of events from church picnics to her golf league’s crazy hat day, though her Depression-era raising usually precluded anything more than three or four snapshots per. She’d mail rolls of film off to a processor and it would take weeks to get them back. She was just going the usual ultra-cheap route and not considering the cool buildup of surprise unconsciously growing in us to the point of explosion when the mailman pulled out that yellow craft envelope with the green triangles around the border.
I was into photography big time in high school and college. I still regard it as one of the most perfect blends of art and science. I love to take them, I love to look at them, and through the years I've even taken a few stabs at organizing them. Of course there's a difference between artistic compositions and everyday snapshots, and for both I've applied my usual level of slackery to putting them in order. My collection is divided between a few somewhat chronological albums and framed (and hung) work along with several very disorganized shoeboxes full of photos still in the processing envelopes and a pile of to-be-hung frames (some waiting nine years now since we moved to our current residence). A few times I've had the bug for finding certain photos of a certain something and ended up browsing happily through the boxes for hours.
A friend recently mentioned their disenchantment with taking and archiving heaps of photos, and I can’t say I’m immune to the ennui and the conflict between being a packrat or a pragmatic “what are you going to do with all of these?” person. Since my son was born I’ve produced thousands of pictures and several hours of video. The latter is truly compounding my trepidation of what to do, as the task of rendering them into remotely watchable lengths and subjects stands at monumental, and the boy isn’t yet five. But there is a converse comfort to having them available – every time I’ve ever sifted through them I get blissfully stuck in front of the computer screen just as predictably as when I get out the shoeboxes. I’m an incurable shutterbug, for worse but mostly for better.
It’s interesting how the science of photography has changed the hobby, obviously since its inception but also in the 30 years since I had my first 35mm SLR – a Ricoh Singlex TLS. The camera was solid; I sometimes imagined myself as a crime-fighting news photographer, waylaying evildoers with a roundhouse swing of my 5-lb. TLS and then taking the photos for the article on their capture. I’ve long regretted having sold it some years after college for a relatively paltry sum. A couple of years ago I acquired a relatively modern 35mm SLR film camera of very good quality, but I rarely use it. I had meant to have it as a hobby camera for artsy B&W stuff, but over the years B&W film processing has become expensive and of questionable quality. Setting up a darkroom is but a dream at this point, what with most equipment either approaching antique status or, if new, sold at inflated niche market prices. So for now I’ve taken to the popular modern pastime of learning Photoshop fairly well and having fun with that, but I would like to get back to my old school ways someday, at which point I’ll need more shoeboxes.
.
Labels: crimefighters, film, hope, photography
March 05, 2009
Best Pics, part two
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1959 - 1928
1959 - “Ben-Hur” Not too shabby fora flick with a passion play wrapped up inside – worth watching every few years or so.
1958 - “Gigi” – I’ve only seen one competing film from this year, the beloved if slightly over-the-top “Auntie Mame.”
1957 - “The Bridge On The River Kwai” A bit slow in spots, and William Holden is practically recycling his “Stalag 17” role, but a good film.
1956 - “Around the World In 80 Days” I may have seen this when I was very young
1955 - “Marty” I LOVE this movie! It’s so real in it’s presentation of emotions in life among the proletariat.
1954 - “On The Waterfront” Brando.
1953 - “From Here To Eternity” A great screenplay by Daniel Taradash, molding a complicated novel with tons of characters into something so gripping. I like the quasi-trashy Donna Reed, too.
1952 - “The Greatest Show On Earth”
1951 - “An American In
1950 - “All About Eve” A superb film that beat out some great competition in "Born Yesterday", "Father Of The Bride", "Solomon's Mines" and "Sunset Boulevard"
1949 - “All The Kings Men” Quite a dry spell I start here...
1948 - “Hamlet”
1947 - “Gentleman's Agreement”
1946 - “The Best Years Of Our Lives”
1945 - “The Lost Weekend”
1944 - “Going My Way” Must be pretty damn good to beat out “Gaslight” and “Double Indemnity”
1943 - “Casablanca” nuff said
1942 - “Mrs. Miniver”
1941 - “How Green Was My Valley” Such a bleak, northern, industrial story, and considering our planet today, it’s hardly dated. Plus it beat out “Citizen Kane,” “The Maltese Falcon” and “Sergeant York”
1940 - “Rebecca” Loverly film. The supporting cast in George Sanders and Judith Anderson makes it for me, BUT I would not put it above “Philadelphia Story” or “The Grapes Of Wrath”
1939 - “Gone with the Wind” Yeah, yeah, great epic of the South...
1938 - “You Can't Take It with You”
1937 - “The Life of Emile Zola”
1936 - “The Great Ziegfeld”
1935 - “Mutiny on the Bounty”
1934 - “It Happened One Night” – Shame on me for not having seen this yet
1932/1933 - “Cavalcade”
1931/1932 - “Grand Hotel”
1930/1931 - “Cimarron”
1929/1930 - “All Quiet on the Western Front” The first truly epic talkie- brought in a new respect for cinema among many skeptics/art snobs.
1928/1929 - “The Broadway Melody”
1927/1928 - “Wings”
Looks like I've got some Netflixin' to do in these decades.
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Labels: film
February 25, 2009
Best Pics, part one
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I'm a little late on both Oscar fever and Eden's wiping away of the cobwebs over at Film Freaks. Also this is taking longer than I thought, so I'm dividing it into two parts.
With "I've seens" in bold, here is back to 1960:
2008 - "Slumdog Millionaire" Despite the darling status, seems like it's worth a watch.
2007 - “No Country for Old Men” Moving up the Netflix queue, prolly do a weekend (when Jen is gone, I'm thinking...) with this and "There Will Be Blood."
2006 - “The Departed” Definitely a great Scorcese film, but I'm still astounded that he didn't win for "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas" (hell, "After Hours" coulda' been a contendah).
2005 - “Crash” Very well-written and directed. One of the early 21st century's great social polemics on film.
2004 - “Million Dollar Baby” What does having seen and greatly liked the four competing films (The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways) say about this film? It must be pretty damn good. Plus Eastwood, Swank and Freeman - what's not to like even if the ending has been long spoiled?
2003 - “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” It's almost as if Tolkien split up the story into three perfect epic movie parts. They're all "best" for me, despite the unavoidable condensing of the story.
2002 - “Chicago” A great story-driven musical with some classic performances, esp. Gere and J.C. Riley
2001 - “A Beautiful Mind” Ron Howard is the king of "based on" adaptations, and Crowe outperforms his best actor "Gladiator" role by a mile.
2000 - “Gladiator” Still, he was pretty good in this, though Phoenix and Reed (what a great role to go out on for an under-appreciated/utilized actor) were better.
1999 - “American Beauty” A modern classic, worthy of its win along with Spacey's best actor
1998 - “Shakespeare in Love” One of my all-time favorites, if more for its comedy than its romance (both of which did Will proud). One bone - I would have traded Judi Dench's BSActress to have Geoffrey Rush get BSActor
1997 - “Titanic” This modern epic was bloated but entertaining, and paled in comparison to its competition for this year (L.A. Confidential, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, As Good As It Gets).
1996 - “The English Patient” This good but unmemorable film beat out "Fargo"? Pffft!
1995 - “Braveheart” An excellent film which garnered no acting nominations, and thanks its lucky stars that the Academy snubbed "Leaving Las Vegas" in this BPic category.
1994 - “Forrest Gump” People rag on this flick but it's one of my favorites, no doubt due to Hanks' Oscar-worthy performance. In other Oscar news, it's a tough toss-up for me that this was up against "Shawshank Redemption," and that Sinise was up against Martin Landau's Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood" for BSActor was just tough luck.
1993 - “Shindler's List” What more needs to be said about this film?
1992 - “Unforgiven” I didn't like this film upon first viewing, but I must have had an off night because it is one of my favorite westerns - a great turn for Clint for his character and as director, and one of my favorite Gene Hackman performances.
1991 - “The Silence of the Lambs” I've only seen this once, but I feel like its overrated. Probably worth another look.
1990 - “Dances with Wolves” Damn this is long. Damn this is good. Damn "Goodfellas" should have beat this to a pulp.
1989 - “Driving Miss Daisy” Loverly film, top-notch Oscar competition (Born on The Fourth Of July, My Left Foot, Field Of Dreams, Dead Poet's Society).
1988 - “Rain Man” A classic
1987 - “The Last Emperor” Paging Netflix queue...
1986 - “Platoon” A pretty good Vietnam war flick, a pretty good war flick, a pretty good flick (in that particular order).
1985 - “Out of Africa I'm not sure why, but I have never had much of a desire to see this film.
1984 - “Amadeus” Wonderful. Did Mozart really laugh like that?
1983 - “Terms of Endearment” A guy can really get in touch with his feminine side with this tearjerker. The acting trifecta of MacLaine, Nicholson and Winger help keep this film from becoming too dated.
1982 - “Gandhi” One of the best biopics ever, and Ben Kingsley makes it so.
1981 - “Chariots of Fire” Great period piece and not a bad morality play either.
1980 - “Ordinary People” This film does its job well, leaving you frazzled at the end like its characters
1979 - “Kramer vs. Kramer” No really, it's not a Meryl Streep thing. But it’s tough to see this beating out "Breaking Away."
1978 - “The Deer Hunter” I've only seen this once, and I had a difficult time relating to it.
1977 - “Annie Hall” In the O' Tim Top Ten, and higher up than it’s competition, Star Wars.
1976 - “Rocky” The underdog for sure (All The President's Men, Bound for Glory, Network and Taxi Driver). A good flick that had no business squirting out all those sequels.
1975 - “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” Nicholson's (and Kesey's) best work.
1974 - “The Godfather Part II” Man, I was bummed when they killed Fredo.
1973 - “The Sting” Absolutely beautiful movie, flawless.
1972 - “The Godfather” The creme de la creme
1971 - “The French Connection” I liked this okay, but Gene Hackman was better in "The Conversation"
1970 - “Patton” Another of the all-time great biopics, and a solid period piece, too.
1969 - “Midnight Cowboy” One of my favorite dark comedies, but still hard to see how it beat "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
1968 - “Oliver!” Will you kill me if I say it's "delightful?" Interesting how another musical wouldn't win Best Pic for more than 30 years.
1967 - “In the Heat of the Night” You just love to hate Rod Steiger in this film.
1966 - “A Man for All Seasons” I have completely missed this one.
1965 - “The Sound of Music” Is it wrong to think Julie Andrews is hot in this film?
1964 - “My Fair Lady” Palatable, as musicals go (for me anyway), perhaps because of its roots in literature. Is it wrong to think Audrey Hepburn is hot in this film?
1963 - “Tom Jones” Nope
1962 - “Lawrence of Arabia” I've never seen this all the way through
1961 - “West Side Story” I’ve seen this one and a half times, and Shakespearean roots notwithstanding, I found it kinda boring. Worth another look?
1960 - “The Apartment” One of my favorite Billy Wilders, and it is definitely okay to think that Shirley MacLaine is hot in this film.
Next, 1959 back to the first Oscar in 1928
I'm a little late on both Oscar fever and Eden's wiping away of the cobwebs over at Film Freaks. Also this is taking longer than I thought, so I'm dividing it into two parts.
With "I've seens" in bold, here is back to 1960:
2008 - "Slumdog Millionaire" Despite the darling status, seems like it's worth a watch.
2007 - “No Country for Old Men” Moving up the Netflix queue, prolly do a weekend (when Jen is gone, I'm thinking...) with this and "There Will Be Blood."
2006 - “The Departed” Definitely a great Scorcese film, but I'm still astounded that he didn't win for "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas" (hell, "After Hours" coulda' been a contendah).
2005 - “Crash” Very well-written and directed. One of the early 21st century's great social polemics on film.
2004 - “Million Dollar Baby” What does having seen and greatly liked the four competing films (The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways) say about this film? It must be pretty damn good. Plus Eastwood, Swank and Freeman - what's not to like even if the ending has been long spoiled?
2003 - “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” It's almost as if Tolkien split up the story into three perfect epic movie parts. They're all "best" for me, despite the unavoidable condensing of the story.
2002 - “Chicago” A great story-driven musical with some classic performances, esp. Gere and J.C. Riley
2001 - “A Beautiful Mind” Ron Howard is the king of "based on" adaptations, and Crowe outperforms his best actor "Gladiator" role by a mile.
2000 - “Gladiator” Still, he was pretty good in this, though Phoenix and Reed (what a great role to go out on for an under-appreciated/utilized actor) were better.
1999 - “American Beauty” A modern classic, worthy of its win along with Spacey's best actor
1998 - “Shakespeare in Love” One of my all-time favorites, if more for its comedy than its romance (both of which did Will proud). One bone - I would have traded Judi Dench's BSActress to have Geoffrey Rush get BSActor
1997 - “Titanic” This modern epic was bloated but entertaining, and paled in comparison to its competition for this year (L.A. Confidential, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, As Good As It Gets).
1996 - “The English Patient” This good but unmemorable film beat out "Fargo"? Pffft!
1995 - “Braveheart” An excellent film which garnered no acting nominations, and thanks its lucky stars that the Academy snubbed "Leaving Las Vegas" in this BPic category.
1994 - “Forrest Gump” People rag on this flick but it's one of my favorites, no doubt due to Hanks' Oscar-worthy performance. In other Oscar news, it's a tough toss-up for me that this was up against "Shawshank Redemption," and that Sinise was up against Martin Landau's Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood" for BSActor was just tough luck.
1993 - “Shindler's List” What more needs to be said about this film?
1992 - “Unforgiven” I didn't like this film upon first viewing, but I must have had an off night because it is one of my favorite westerns - a great turn for Clint for his character and as director, and one of my favorite Gene Hackman performances.
1991 - “The Silence of the Lambs” I've only seen this once, but I feel like its overrated. Probably worth another look.
1990 - “Dances with Wolves” Damn this is long. Damn this is good. Damn "Goodfellas" should have beat this to a pulp.
1989 - “Driving Miss Daisy” Loverly film, top-notch Oscar competition (Born on The Fourth Of July, My Left Foot, Field Of Dreams, Dead Poet's Society).
1988 - “Rain Man” A classic
1987 - “The Last Emperor” Paging Netflix queue...
1986 - “Platoon” A pretty good Vietnam war flick, a pretty good war flick, a pretty good flick (in that particular order).
1985 - “Out of Africa I'm not sure why, but I have never had much of a desire to see this film.
1984 - “Amadeus” Wonderful. Did Mozart really laugh like that?
1983 - “Terms of Endearment” A guy can really get in touch with his feminine side with this tearjerker. The acting trifecta of MacLaine, Nicholson and Winger help keep this film from becoming too dated.
1982 - “Gandhi” One of the best biopics ever, and Ben Kingsley makes it so.
1981 - “Chariots of Fire” Great period piece and not a bad morality play either.
1980 - “Ordinary People” This film does its job well, leaving you frazzled at the end like its characters
1979 - “Kramer vs. Kramer” No really, it's not a Meryl Streep thing. But it’s tough to see this beating out "Breaking Away."
1978 - “The Deer Hunter” I've only seen this once, and I had a difficult time relating to it.
1977 - “Annie Hall” In the O' Tim Top Ten, and higher up than it’s competition, Star Wars.
1976 - “Rocky” The underdog for sure (All The President's Men, Bound for Glory, Network and Taxi Driver). A good flick that had no business squirting out all those sequels.
1975 - “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” Nicholson's (and Kesey's) best work.
1974 - “The Godfather Part II” Man, I was bummed when they killed Fredo.
1973 - “The Sting” Absolutely beautiful movie, flawless.
1972 - “The Godfather” The creme de la creme
1971 - “The French Connection” I liked this okay, but Gene Hackman was better in "The Conversation"
1970 - “Patton” Another of the all-time great biopics, and a solid period piece, too.
1969 - “Midnight Cowboy” One of my favorite dark comedies, but still hard to see how it beat "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
1968 - “Oliver!” Will you kill me if I say it's "delightful?" Interesting how another musical wouldn't win Best Pic for more than 30 years.
1967 - “In the Heat of the Night” You just love to hate Rod Steiger in this film.
1966 - “A Man for All Seasons” I have completely missed this one.
1965 - “The Sound of Music” Is it wrong to think Julie Andrews is hot in this film?
1964 - “My Fair Lady” Palatable, as musicals go (for me anyway), perhaps because of its roots in literature. Is it wrong to think Audrey Hepburn is hot in this film?
1963 - “Tom Jones” Nope
1962 - “Lawrence of Arabia” I've never seen this all the way through
1961 - “West Side Story” I’ve seen this one and a half times, and Shakespearean roots notwithstanding, I found it kinda boring. Worth another look?
1960 - “The Apartment” One of my favorite Billy Wilders, and it is definitely okay to think that Shirley MacLaine is hot in this film.
Next, 1959 back to the first Oscar in 1928
Labels: film, Nothing about Yoko
March 10, 2008
We be FREAKIN ! ! !
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The event of the season has arrived! March Movie Madness 2008 is upon us! This year it's a fethtival of 64 comedy classics, with yours truly again providing the hard-hitting commentary that freaks need to know the score. Get your Big Lebowski (not an endorsement, though it could be) over to Film Freaks Film Club and see what all the hoopla is aboot.
To set the mood, a clip from my dark horse candidate:
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The event of the season has arrived! March Movie Madness 2008 is upon us! This year it's a fethtival of 64 comedy classics, with yours truly again providing the hard-hitting commentary that freaks need to know the score. Get your Big Lebowski (not an endorsement, though it could be) over to Film Freaks Film Club and see what all the hoopla is aboot.
To set the mood, a clip from my dark horse candidate:
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Labels: comedy, film, friends, fun, madness, movies
October 02, 2007
I Love Hollywood
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This is going to be great:
Here's a brief HuffPo take on John Cusak's new film War, Inc. (along with a very weird but funny scene). Beyond that I recommend Cusack's conversation with investigative journalist Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Makes you laugh, makes you cry.
.
This is going to be great:
Here's a brief HuffPo take on John Cusak's new film War, Inc. (along with a very weird but funny scene). Beyond that I recommend Cusack's conversation with investigative journalist Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Makes you laugh, makes you cry.
.
Labels: film, hooray for Hollywood, humour, politix, war
July 31, 2007
Out in left field (go team!)
Muley: "Who's the Shawnee Land and Cattle Company?"
Land agent: "It ain't anybody. It's a company."
-- The Grapes of Wrath
Last week I received one of the many documentary selections I’ve queued up from Netflix,* The Corporation. It’s a 2003 Canadian film which chronicles the rise of the corporate entity, chiefly in North America. There is no doubt the film is strongly to the left in its point of view, and so barring some minor shortcomings I of course found it very appealing and engaging.
Quickly, just two beefs: I concur with Roger Ebert's review that, at 145 minutes, the film overstays its welcome like "the dinner guest who tells you something fascinating, and then tells you again, and then a third time." I see now that the directors have released an enhanced version DVD with eight hours of "bonus" footage. Good news for the type of person who makes a career out of attending anti-globalization demonstrations, I guess. The other gripe I have is that the music is in that overwrought style of spooky tones so popular in modern documentaries. I'll cut it some slack as it is a social cause film and not some "voyage of the cute and fuzzy whatevers."
The central themes in The Corporation are that today's companies enjoy the same status in liberty as individuals, and that society is suffering from the privatization of elements traditionally held in common in western society since its emergence from the Dark Ages. Several anti-globalization stalwarts such as Dr. Vandana Shiva and Noam Chomsky are interviewed, along with a few unrepentant capitalists for good documentary measure, like Milton Friedman and some jerky floor trader who unabashedly pointed out how good 9-11 and the Iraq war were for the stock market.
The film posits that corporations are today's dominant institutions, replacing the likes of monarchies and other bygone regimes. One of the film’s primary themes is in assessing today’s multinational companies according to the renowned Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or DSM - the bible of the American Psychiatric Association). The latest edition identifies 297 disorders, but the film concentrates on six areas. Dr. Robert Hare, psychology professor and FBI consultant, compares the modern, profit-driven corporation to that of a clinically diagnosed psychopath based on the following symptoms:
- Callous unconcern for the feelings of others
- Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships
- Reckless disregard for the safety of others
- Deceitfulness: repeated lying and conning of others for profit
- Incapacity to experience guilt
- Failure to conform to the social norms with respect to lawful behaviors
The analysis? We’re all going to hell, or at least those of us who can’t squeeze through the eye of a needle on our camels. Okay, lame biblical reference – it doesn’t get that gloomy, but it gives a plethora of evidence to support the notion that we are heading fast in the wrong direction. Good examples of the insidious nature of corporations abound in the film.
Economist Jeremy Rifkin tells us how in the 1980s a scientist for General Electric “invented” microorganisms that ate hazardous waste. GE went to the U.S. Patent Office claiming they had invented these bacteria and needed a patent. The patent office immediately turned down the request citing a living organism cannot be patented. GE corporate lawyers went to court to fight for their patent rights, and lo and behold the patent office was overruled. Rifkin himself appealed this decision by going to the Supreme Court. His argument was that if the verdict was upheld, the blueprints of life would be owned by corporations without Congress or the public's consent. By a ruling of 5-4 Chief Justice Warren Burger upheld the decision, and seven years later the patent office wrote into its laws one sentence that stated any life except a full birth human being can be patented. Rifkin points out that now the race is on in the corporate biotech world to cash in on the Human Genome Project so they can patent the genetic code that causes all known diseases (Ebert aptly comments that Right-to-Lifers should be aghast at the prospects, but "If there is one thing more sacred than the Right to Life, it is the corporation's Right to Patent, Market and Exploit Life"). Rifkin, who is dubbed by his critics as a scaremonger and “the intellectual guru of the neo-Luddites," finishes by stating that within ten years corporations will not only own all human life but that of every other species on Earth. That does sound a tad mongery to me, but Rifkin is a really smart dude and I think he’s perhaps not far off the mark.
One segment that is particularly poignant to me as a journalist shows how a crew at Fox News’ Tampa, Florida affiliate battled with the top brass in New York over their investigation of agricultural giant Monsanto in the late 1990s. Reporters planned on airing an investigative report on the negative effects of the bovine growth hormone Posilac used to boost milk production in dairy cows. Before the story aired corporate lawyers for Monsanto threatened to sue Fox News if the story went on. Fox Broadcasting Company owned 23 separate stations at the time and did not want a loss in advertising dollars, so they agreed to cooperate with Monsanto’s lawyers. After more than 80 rewrites to the story it still wasn’t aired and the reporters were eventually fired. They sued and won $425,000 in damages. The decision was overturned on appeal after Monsanto lawyers found a way to remove the reporters’ “whistle-blower” status on the grounds that falsifying news is not technically against the law. Today, some of the U.S. milk supply still comes from cows that have been modified with Posilac to produce more milk.
The most moving portion of the film for me was seeing the personal testimony of Raymond L. Anderson, chairman of one of the world’s largest carpet manufacturers. The guy looks like a salty old corporate big wig, and for decades he played the part to a “T,” which makes more poignant his description of an epiphany he had about his company and its contributions to/detractions from the planet. He says that in 1994 he read The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken and realized that his company was creating product at an unsustainable rate and thus harmful to the environment. Hawken’s book, voted in 1998 as the #1 college text on business and the environment by professors in 67 business schools, introduced the principle of “comprehensive outcome,” which accounts the entire result of an event or process to all parties, not just the immediate participants. Considerations for natural resource depletion, pollution and the side effects of the production, distribution and consumption processes are key to the calculations. Hawken contrasts this to a merely “culminative outcome” which is simply the obvious result visible to the buyer at the moment and point of purchase, and the profit made therein by the supplier.
So since 1995 Anderson has reduced his company’s waste by a third, and plans to make the company on a completely sustainable platform by 2020. During the first three years of the company's drive toward sustainability it saved $50 million in reduced materials costs, reduced energy costs, and reduced waste. That’s $50 million for their bottom line (and thus more for shareholders) instead of for the atmosphere and the landfill. I firmly believe like my very good friend Al Gore that the key to environmental change is to prove that it pays to go green.
There is a scene where Anderson is speaking to a chamber of commerce group, and he points a finger at the audience and flatly proclaims that not one of their companies operates sustainably, and that the corporate world ignores this at our planet’s peril. The audience was stunned, perhaps not knowing what to think of a speaker who would come to their chamber and not give the standard “cheerleader for growth” speech. Having been an observer to not a few of these meetings myself, I admit to having gotten choked up a bit. Right on, salty old corporate dude!
The Corporation – Three Thumbs UP.
SOURCES:
Fast Company magazine
Speech by Raymond L. Anderson
Wikipedia
OFFICIAL FILM WEBSITE: www.thecorporation.com
* I’ve got to hand it to Netflix. Their selection is incredible and their queue system politely suggests/links other titles which may be of interest to the subscriber. It was thus I perused their numerous documentaries and came across today’s subject film.
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Labels: film, journalism, terms of enragement
March 15, 2007
Movie Madness !
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There's still time to get over to Boiled Dinner and download the amazing bracket of 64 movies set to duke it out for the Blogger's Greatest American Film 2007 title. You have until this Friday, March 16, at 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific) to get 'em to the Grand Cellulophile hisself, the Big Kah-slah-skee. For hardcore film buffs/snobs like me, some of the bracket pairings are brutal.
Choose a victor between Midnight Cowboy and The Maltese Falcon? Ouch!
North By Northwest or Psycho (a Hitch divided cannot stand)?
In my many year and a half of blogging I have not experienced anything quite as challenging, fun and creative. WTG Kos !
And you there - do it NOW ! !
There's still time to get over to Boiled Dinner and download the amazing bracket of 64 movies set to duke it out for the Blogger's Greatest American Film 2007 title. You have until this Friday, March 16, at 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific) to get 'em to the Grand Cellulophile hisself, the Big Kah-slah-skee. For hardcore film buffs/snobs like me, some of the bracket pairings are brutal.
Choose a victor between Midnight Cowboy and The Maltese Falcon? Ouch!
North By Northwest or Psycho (a Hitch divided cannot stand)?
In my many year and a half of blogging I have not experienced anything quite as challenging, fun and creative. WTG Kos !
And you there - do it NOW ! !
January 20, 2007
To name but a few
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Jeff Kah-zlah-skee as good as tagged me with his recent post on films he can watch repeatedly. Essentially this post could start there at Boiled Dinner, as most every one Kos listed could also be on my list. And with that, here are some that I had a great time remembering and rekindling the jones to see them all again soon. My picks here start with some of the old classics and move toward more contemporary films. Of the 16 here, 10 are comedies (including the fifth down, which wasn't released as one), and that pretty much reflects my film-viewing preference. What are some of your favorite lines from these films (um, not the first two, duh)?
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Jeff Kah-zlah-skee as good as tagged me with his recent post on films he can watch repeatedly. Essentially this post could start there at Boiled Dinner, as most every one Kos listed could also be on my list. And with that, here are some that I had a great time remembering and rekindling the jones to see them all again soon. My picks here start with some of the old classics and move toward more contemporary films. Of the 16 here, 10 are comedies (including the fifth down, which wasn't released as one), and that pretty much reflects my film-viewing preference. What are some of your favorite lines from these films (um, not the first two, duh)?
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Labels: "I Likes", entertainment, film
December 13, 2006
Damn good actor
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"Wait! Where are you going? I was going to make Espresso!"
I continue posting with an unfortunate nexus, that being the death of Peter Boyle, one of my favorite actors - the connection being that John Lennon was best man at Peter’s wedding. “We were both seekers after a truth, looking for a quick way to enlightenment,” Peter once said of Lennon.
Peter, 71, died Tuesday evening at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
His most famous film role is arguably that of the monster in Mel Brooks’ 1974 Young Frankenstein, with it’s classic scene of Peter and Gene Wilder decked out in tails, tapping (and bellowing) out their wacky version of Irving Berlin’s Puttin’ On The Ritz.
The story of how he met his wife Loraine Alterman is somewhat famous. As a reporter for Rolling Stone, she was visiting on the set of Young Frankenstein and Boyle, still in monster makeup, asked her for a date.
His last role, that of the churlish and vinegary Frank Barone in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a role he played for 10 years, is also widely known.
“He's just obnoxious in a nice way, just for laughs,” Peter once said of Frank, through whom he inserted the signature phrase “Holy Crap!” at the most comically opportune times.
When Peter tried out for the role, however, he was kept waiting for his audition - and he was not happy. “He came in all hot and angry,” recalled the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, “and I hired him because I was afraid of him. But I knew right away that he had a comic presence.”
Co-star Doris Roberts, who played his wife Marie on Raymond said Peter was not at all like the character he played on television. “He was a brilliant actor, a gentleman, incredibly intelligent, wonderfully well read and a loving friend.”
The son of a local TV personality in Philadelphia, Peter was educated in Roman Catholic schools and spent three years in a monastery before abandoning his religious studies. He later described the experience as similar to living in the Middle Ages. He left to become an actor when he “felt the normal pull of the world and the flesh.”
He traveled to New York to study with famed actress/teacher Uta Hagen, supporting himself for five years with various jobs, including postal worker, waiter, maitre d' and office temp. Finally, he was cast in a road company version of The Odd Couple. When the play reached Chicago he quit to study with that city's famed improvisational troupe Second City. Upon returning to New York, he began to land roles in TV commercials, off-Broadway plays and finally films.
His early roles had him typecast in tough, irascible roles, but he began to escape that image as Robert Redford's campaign manager in The Candidate and left it behind entirely after Young Frankenstein. He won an Emmy in 1996 for his guest-starring role as a morose clairvoyant in an episode of The X Files, in which he uttered the hilarious line, “Sometimes it seems like everyone is having sex but me.” He also received Emmy nominations Everybody Loves Raymond and for the 1977 TV film Tail Gunner Joe, in which he played Sen. Joseph McCarthy. In Martin Scorcese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver he played philosopher cabbie Wizard, who counseled Robert DeNiro’s violent Travis Bickle with the sage advice, “You get a job. You become the job.” He did dozens of other films, including the two classic comedies Johnny Dangerously and Yellowbeard.
In 1990 Peter had a stroke and couldn't talk for six months. In 1999, he had a heart attack on the Raymond set. He soon regained his health, however, and returned to the series.
Despite his work in Everybody Loves Raymond and other Hollywood productions, Peter made New York City his home. He and his wife had two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
Thanks to the Associated Press and Internet Movie Database for contributing nearly all of this post. I love you guys.
"Wait! Where are you going? I was going to make Espresso!"
I continue posting with an unfortunate nexus, that being the death of Peter Boyle, one of my favorite actors - the connection being that John Lennon was best man at Peter’s wedding. “We were both seekers after a truth, looking for a quick way to enlightenment,” Peter once said of Lennon.
Peter, 71, died Tuesday evening at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
His most famous film role is arguably that of the monster in Mel Brooks’ 1974 Young Frankenstein, with it’s classic scene of Peter and Gene Wilder decked out in tails, tapping (and bellowing) out their wacky version of Irving Berlin’s Puttin’ On The Ritz.
The story of how he met his wife Loraine Alterman is somewhat famous. As a reporter for Rolling Stone, she was visiting on the set of Young Frankenstein and Boyle, still in monster makeup, asked her for a date.
His last role, that of the churlish and vinegary Frank Barone in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a role he played for 10 years, is also widely known.
“He's just obnoxious in a nice way, just for laughs,” Peter once said of Frank, through whom he inserted the signature phrase “Holy Crap!” at the most comically opportune times.
When Peter tried out for the role, however, he was kept waiting for his audition - and he was not happy. “He came in all hot and angry,” recalled the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, “and I hired him because I was afraid of him. But I knew right away that he had a comic presence.”
Co-star Doris Roberts, who played his wife Marie on Raymond said Peter was not at all like the character he played on television. “He was a brilliant actor, a gentleman, incredibly intelligent, wonderfully well read and a loving friend.”
The son of a local TV personality in Philadelphia, Peter was educated in Roman Catholic schools and spent three years in a monastery before abandoning his religious studies. He later described the experience as similar to living in the Middle Ages. He left to become an actor when he “felt the normal pull of the world and the flesh.”
He traveled to New York to study with famed actress/teacher Uta Hagen, supporting himself for five years with various jobs, including postal worker, waiter, maitre d' and office temp. Finally, he was cast in a road company version of The Odd Couple. When the play reached Chicago he quit to study with that city's famed improvisational troupe Second City. Upon returning to New York, he began to land roles in TV commercials, off-Broadway plays and finally films.
His early roles had him typecast in tough, irascible roles, but he began to escape that image as Robert Redford's campaign manager in The Candidate and left it behind entirely after Young Frankenstein. He won an Emmy in 1996 for his guest-starring role as a morose clairvoyant in an episode of The X Files, in which he uttered the hilarious line, “Sometimes it seems like everyone is having sex but me.” He also received Emmy nominations Everybody Loves Raymond and for the 1977 TV film Tail Gunner Joe, in which he played Sen. Joseph McCarthy. In Martin Scorcese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver he played philosopher cabbie Wizard, who counseled Robert DeNiro’s violent Travis Bickle with the sage advice, “You get a job. You become the job.” He did dozens of other films, including the two classic comedies Johnny Dangerously and Yellowbeard.
In 1990 Peter had a stroke and couldn't talk for six months. In 1999, he had a heart attack on the Raymond set. He soon regained his health, however, and returned to the series.
Despite his work in Everybody Loves Raymond and other Hollywood productions, Peter made New York City his home. He and his wife had two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
Thanks to the Associated Press and Internet Movie Database for contributing nearly all of this post. I love you guys.
Labels: arts, comedy, film, Holy Crap, remembrance, TV
