ken park

great movie through and through....an incredible memorable moment.....and statement was the last scene where the guy who we say in the opening scene kill himself.....is talking to the girl he just knocked up about getting an abortion....and she says... "well aren't you glad you weren't aborted" ......END of MOVIE....woah.....

there was also a part where three of the main characters are all having an orgy...and they talk about the book "island of paradise" where people jsut fuck all day long....

MAD MEN

Excellent T.V. show about MADison Avenue advertising executives in the 60's. Explores human psychology and marketing manipulation...two of my favorite topics. The first episode was better than the other two I have seen, but the show is still insightful and entertaining. I was won over by the show (well, initially it was the cover box and Christina Hendricks) by a part in the first episode where they were trying to market cigarettes now that it was undisputable that they were bad for you. They had a psychologist come in and suggest the use of the freudian idea of humans having a death wish. This was initially rejected by the main character (top ad. executive). Later you see him lying on the couch and as he's about to fall asleep he watches a fly buzz around the room before going straight at the light. Ultimately, however, the advertiser rejects this idea and comes up with something better. He understands it, the appeal of it, but knows its not good enough and that it would never fly with the company execs.

Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

Great Documentary. It explores four different people and their professions. Each profession has a unique and insightful perspective on life and humanities relationship to nature. A robot specialist talks about how we may just be made up of systems...there is no magical "life" to us. He talks about a future for us that will have robots everywhere and shows some robots (documentary was made in 1997) who don't take commands but still walk around...he describes it being "in their nature." There is an elderly topiary artist who talks about how he must work with nature and mold nature into the way he wants it. He also states nothing can surpass the hand shears - this is an art that stands a part from what any sort of technological advance could give us.(?) A Mole Rat specialist talks about his fascination with a species of mole rat found in Africa that sheds light on our species. This mole rat defies what it means to be a mammal. It is basically coldblooded, has no hair and can do peculiar things like decide to only partially digest some food so that their babies can eat the fecal matter. The rats also seem to have amazing evolutionary adaptation ability. Finally a circus wild animal tamer talks about animal psychology and how although weaker than a Lion he is able to control it (basically by making it believe he is stronger).

CHOKE

actually viewed it a few weeks ago at a sneak preview.

very good movie....thoroughly enjoyed it. It was definitely different/akward in the way it switched from serious moments to laugh out loud moments. A lot of people did not know how they were supposed to act. I was definitely in this boat as well. The irreverent nature of Fight Club and parts of this movie makes one feel as though the sentimentality at times might be sarcastic (and so you don't want to look like a fool taking it seriously) and then you realize it is supposed to be serious. A glaring example of this is when he (SPOILER WARNING) stands next to his mother's bed when she dies and then (because he thinks he is the son of Jesus Christ) stands up with tears in his eyes and raises his hands in the air then throws his hands towards his mother's body if casting out power and shouts "LIVE, I COMMAND YOU TO LIVE." This unconventional mixture of real drama and irreverent comedy didn't bother me though, and I'm not counting it as a negative. I like a movie to be challenging and akwardly not like others, so it was a treat, but i can see how this movie will not be found appealing by most.

A value the movie has, even if you end up not liking it in its entirety, is that there are a few scenes that warrant uncontrollable laughter....and it wasn't just something i experienced, but seemed to be the entire theater.

In comparison to Fight Club the one glaring thought i was left with was..."wow, Paillahunaanieuek, has a heart." It surprised me see him as such a believer in romantic love. Then again it was the movie and not his book...

DOWNFALL

A very worthwhile and interesting WWII film. The story is about (and told from the perspective of) Hitler and his closest associates starting on 4/20/1945 and ending with the fall of Berlin.

For me it was an interesting meditation on the power relationships that were involved and the unflinching loyalty to National Socialism most of the people had. It was the first film I felt showed how all these people were real humans which i feel is important. Too often the easy route of just writing them off some sort of un-human pure-evil monster is taken - they, including the millions of people that went along with them were of the same species as you and me.