Take me out to the Movies

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Last week I went to see “The New Babylon”. The movie was written and directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg in 1929, a time where the still young Soviet Union’s artists were experimenting heavily with new languages or media. Almost 80 years later, the movie seemed naive and even a bit silly to me. Its story is quickly told: After the war of 1871 between France and Prussia, which ended in France’s defeat, Paris was ruled for a brief period by the Paris commune. The movie tells the rise and the fall of the commune in eight parts: First, the status quo is shown, with rich Parisienne stuffing their bellies and partying the whole night through, while the poor are working their asses off and the soldiers are sent on their way to kick Prussian ass. But the war is lost, so the rich guys flee to Versailles, leaving the town in the hand of the people and the army. The army follows the orders to return to Versailles, where they are brain washed and told to take Paris by force. Meanwhile, Paris has turned into worker’s paradise, with everyone being happy doing their daily chores. But, oh, beware, the army is back and after a bloody fight, the commune is defeated. In the aftermath, the captured leaders are put to death, but not before they can raise their voices once more to cry out their defiance: “Vive la commune!”

This movie is silent. The score was played by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Now, most silent movies don’t have a dedicated score, usually a pianist would improvise something from a standard repertoire of melodies. Not in this case. Shostakovich, barely into his twenties, composed a whole score (his first) for “The New Babylon”. The score is very much the young Shostakovich: light, fresh, witty, and ironic. His sense for getting the most out of the score shows very well in the scenes where the music is directly describing the action: The first shot of the cannon against the communards, for example, is accompanied by cymbals. Or later, when in a short break an old man plays a memorial to the dead on a piano, this is all we hear.

I think that without the score or a score any less ingenious as Shostakovich would have maqde the movie unwatchable, except for historical and educational purposes. It is the music that makes the rather shallow treaty of an important historical incident almost profound.

Ben Affleck directs? Sounds scary at first, but “Gone Baby Gone” is a fantastic movie with an uncomprosing and grim feel story to the very end! After the disappearance of a small girl, Casey Affleck and his partner Michelle Monaghan, both PIs that are speciallized in missing people, are asked by the aunt-in-law to help find her. The police captain, Morgan Freeman, teams them up with two experienced cops played by John Ashton and a brilliant Ed Harris. Investigating together in Boston’s poor neighborhoods, they quickly find out that the missing girl might have actually been abducted, with drugs and stolen money being the key reasons… Sure enough, things turn out not to be what they seem at first or at second, and after some very well placed surprises and twists, the movie concludes quite low-key and with a bitter taste.

What I found most intriguing at the end was that after our “heros” all tried to do the right thing, what they thought was the best and most ethical, they all pay the price in a real world, where the right thing to do isn’t necessarily the best. None of the good guys choices is too outrageous, making their motivations accessible to the viewer throughout the whole film, thus underlining the moral ambiguity at the end. All in all I would say that this is a very interesting movie and a must!

Well, this is going to be a short post. There isn’t really much to say about this movie. The (main) story is pretty much straight forward: After a CIA operative is unintentionally killed during a suicide bombing, an Egyptian-American is taken and sent to one of the many secret interrogation cells the CIA has in cooperation wioth local agencies. Allegedly, he has received phone calls by the very terrorist whose organization claimed responsibility for the bombing earlier. To make the whole thing spicier it turns out that the target of that bombing is the very same Egyptian police officer that conducts the interrogation…

Now, the setup is good and could have led to a very important movie about the US’ decent into the lowlands of terror and torture. Instead, the plot above that I would consider to be the central story of this movie is told in paralled to two more (sub)plots: There is for one the obviously super pregnant wife of the abductee that is starting her very own investigation efforts without achivieng anything except triggering the birth of her child; and secondly, the daughter of our police officer has fled from home and is mingling with a boy that has a secret agenda… While trying to balance those three threads into one narration, the movie looses its main objective and message. Rather, the whole mix looks and feels like a not so succesful copy of 21 grams or Babel: Different characters, all connected with each other through a violent event. But here, one will not find Iñárritu’s artful links between his protagonists: the chracters that are linked just meet or know each other. Period.

After two hours or so, the movie left no memorable moment, no lasting impression with me…

Looks like as if I am going to write my second post today! Truly shocking! Anyway, there is a good reason for this outburst of creativity: To discipline my feeding frenzy in the evenings, I am going to go to the movies every evening this week! That way, I stay away from my fridge and get to catch some flix that seem very much worth watching!

So, tonight I kicked off with “Into The Wild”. Sean Penn directs an adaption of Jon Krakauer’s book with the same title about the life of Christopher McCandless: After graduating from college, Chris severes his ties with his hitherto life, abandoning his family, most of his possessions, and his prospects of an ordinary life, to embrace his own version of Thoreau’s Walden project. After being two years on the road, criss crossing the US, he ends up in Alaska, spending there the last four months of his life before he dies of starvation.

Chris’ journey from his childhood home to a bus wreck made shelter in the Alaskan wilderness is twofold: There is his own quest; and there is him touching the lifes of the people he meets on the road. These two apsects are interlinked by the very philosphy that drives Chris:

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
— Henry David Thoreau

However, I think that this is also the source of the tragedy in his story. As much as his search for truth and profoundness changes the people he meets, he does not seem to find his answers till the very end. Always on the edge of being driven away from or compelled towards something, his journey outward is an adventure to uncover his inner self. And it is in the solitude and the bitter fight for his own life that he seems to find the truth about himself.

What I liked most about the movie is that it withhelds (almost) any kind of judgement on the characters. Certainly, we get to know Chris’ family through his and his sister’s eyes, a view that passes a strong judgement on their parents. And there is the scene in Los Angeles, where Chris watches the rich and beautiful hanging out in a bar, underlining the contempt he has for their life style. Besides that the camera remains neutral: we don’t have to choose between Chris the hero or Chris the fool nor do we have to understand his choices. It is up to each viewer himself if Chris’ outlook on life does reflect on his. And that, in my opinion, makes this a great movie…

A Moroccan father buys a rifle that wounds an American women, whose two children get lost while crossing the US border together with their Mexican nanny. Where did the rifle came from? A Japanese hunter gave it as a gift to his guide, the man who sold the weapon to the father. But is it the twisted paths of fate that are in the center of Iñárritu’s third feature length film, “Babel?. As in “Amores Perros” or “21 grams” that both follow the connections between their characters back to a single violent incident?

I think the answer is no. In “Babel”, those connections already exist, the world that we live in has tied us already together. But being part of the same story isn’t enough, we have to make a concious effort to bridge the inevitable gap between “me” and “them”. However, just like the biblical tower builders, Iñárritu’s characters are confronted with a world that seldom speaks their language. But is it literally language that divides us? Doesn’t the deaf-mute Japanese girl very well understand her mother tongue? Can’t she get across because everyone else doesn’t understand sign language? Or is their something deeper that separates her from anyone around? What about the American couple that hasn’t been able to reach each other ever since their third child was born still. Why do the words elude him when she ask a simple question? And how can the Mexican nanny, who turns out to be an illegal emigrant, possibly explain to a border patrol, what those two little American children mean to her?

So there are a lot of small incidents in “Babel”, where different spheres of communication collide with each other. The situations that arise from those impacts pose communication challenges for the individuals in “Babel”. Some of them get resolved. Others don’t. And we are left with the feeling that are smaller world doesn’t necessarily mean that we are closer to each other. This film is a must. Period.

Otherwise, things have been quite lately. What remarkable things did happen last week? I totally went overboard while shopping German chocolate at the “World Store”. I had a pre-thanksgiving turkey. My car is maaking more and more strange noises. I finished my medicals and sent my South Pole paper work to the authorities.

Hmmm, I guess that’s about it. Next week promises to be interesting, since there are elections her on Tuesday! Expect some long rambling about the outcome of that! Oh, and the ID piece is still in the making, but it will eventually be done…. 😉

Surprisingly enough, the Film Fest made a come back this year. Apparently, there are enough people in this crazy town that appreciate non-mainstream movies… At least, from time to time.

Anyway, since I was rather busy and had other plans (the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square! Check out my pix), I only watched 4.5 movies. Before I start ranting about the 0.5, let’s have a look at the other 4:

– “Wordplay” — The world is full of nerds. Some hack computers, other collect Ü-Eier, others… well, solve crossword puzzles. But not any: obviously, the celebrity of all is the daily New York Times puzzle. Starting Monday, it gets increasingly more difficult till the Sunday edition blows your mind and wrecks your self-esteem. Actually, I reach that point already on Mondays. But the people shown in this lovely documentary solve the Sunday puzzles in 10min or less time! This is so amazing that the NY Times chief “enigmatologist” Will Shortz is organizing the Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournamen, this year being its 30th anniversary. All in all a wonderful picture about people with a very special, uh, gift.

– “A Prairie Home Companion” — Robert Altman’s latest movie is an hommage to a live radio show on NPR. If you know that show, you’ll love the movie. If don’t, there is no reason whatsoever to watch it.

– “Half Nelson” — Ryan Gosling (brilliant in “The Believer”) plays a history teacher and basketball coach working in high school in some big city. Though trying to inspire and interest his pupils, he himself seems lost and aimless, sinking deeper and deeper into his drug addiction. Meanwhile, he slowly develops a fragile bond to one of his students. This friendship strengthens over the cpourse of the film and becomes his only support in a time of distress. I loved this movie. It is very slow and rather silent (not much dialogue), but the actors are superb and the storytelling is great.

– “Who killed the electric car?” — In the 90s, GM and some other companies produced electrical cars for the Californian market. For evalutation purposes, these cars were only leased, not sold, to a few hundred customers. Though these cars had the usual limitations of electric cars (long charging times, low range), they not only gained appreciation by their users, no, slowly, an infrastructure started emerging in and around LA where you could charge your car while shopping or so. However, the whole thing didn’t last very long and GM collected all their cars and destroyed them. So, the question is, why? And who is to blame? As a documentary, the thing isn’t as solid as “An Inconvenient Truth”, for example, but it is nevertheless an interesting piece, especially in times where gas prices are sky rocketting….

All in all, the whole festival was rather entertaining. Albeit, there was one movie left that I wanted to see and that turned out to be an desaster….

This year, the festival featured four movies by local filmmakers. I decided to watch “The Legend of God’s Gun”. The director seemed to be more a musician than a movie maker (he was there to introduce his movie). So naturally, it seems, he got the idea for the film while shooting a music video to something and thought that there is more to it. Slowly, over a period of five years, the whole thing grew into this, uh, “Machwerk”, that was test screened for the second time in front of an audience (which consisted to 80% of friends or people involved in the film) during the Fim Fest. Apparently, the plan is to release it next year to festivals. I hope that it’ll never happen….

See, everyone can go ahead, get a camera, and shoot something. One might have a grand idea or just enjoy doing it. However, if the product at the end is supposed to come together and become whole, a film that can tell a story to an audience, having a funny idea isn’t enough. Albeit, that seemed to be the case here. The director was so proud that thanks to Final Cut Pro he was able to do lots of stuff with colors, special effects, cuts, slow motion, and what not that he seemed to have forgotten that it is a story that drives a movie and not its effects. Believe it or not, he even added some scratches and textures to make it look like shot on film. But all those effects were arbitrary, as if someone was just browsing through the menues of that program and trying things out. Same with the characters: no one had tried to make an effort to define them thoroughly, so that the actors (all non-professionals, friends mostly) didn’t have any clue what do to. Awful. Finally, the story. What story? The movie, supposed to be a western, starts with some narrator telling of a person would draw his gun to bring justice. Or something. In the movie, as far as I saw it, this guy or his magical gun were not mentioned once. Instead, there was some outlaw, and a bounty hunter, and a sheriff, his wife and a deputy…. I am not kidding! The whole thing was just arbitrary scenes patched together. To make things worse, the DVD player had problems reading the disc. At some point the movie stopped entirely and restarted after 30min or so. When it happened a second time, I just got up and left.

Puh, I needed to get that of my chest. Anyway, so much for the Film Fest. The rest of the weekend I spend outdoors so check my pix from Longwood Gardens (harvest themed) and a few from Kennet Square. Enjoy!

oder: das Ende eines langen Sommers. Denn nächstes Wochenende ist Labor Day, der den Beginn der Schulzeit und das Ende der Sommersaison markiert. Bitte versteht mich nicht falsch: Ich werde, wie jedes Jahr, dem Sommer keine Träne nachweinen. Nein, meine Jahreszeit ist der Herbst, und nach drei Monaten Schwüle, Hitze und Schwüle bin ich so bereit wie nie, voranzuschreiten und das Sommerkapitel dieses Jahres zu schließen.

Was hat der Sommer gebracht? Nun, ein wenig Urlaub, noch weniger Ausflüge. Im wesentlichen habe ich meine Zeit mit Filme gucken verbracht. Daher ist dies der perfekte Moment, den Kinosommer noch einmal Revue passieren zu lassen.

Tja, die Parade der großen Ferienblockbuster wird mal wieder von Fortsetzungen oder Remakes angeführt: X-men 3, Superman, Pirates of the Carribean 2, Miami Vice, MI 3 oder Poseidon, um einige zu nennen. Natürlich gab es neue Filme wie den Da Vinci Code, dunkle Scanner, Frauen im Wasser oder Schlangen im Weltall, ups, ich mein natürlich im Flugzeug.

Um es kurz zu machen: die meisten Filme waren mässig unterhaltend. Tatsächlich waren von all den Superproduktion die Schlangen in der 747 noch am lustigsten: Tempo, ein wenig Augenzwinkern beim Durchkauen der üblichen Klischees und eine Menge übler biestiger Schlangen. Selbst eine Anakonda durfte sich in 12000m Höhe austoben. Sehr unterhaltend!

Was ich mir bisher erspart habe sind die “filmischen Aufarbeitugen” des 11. Septembers. “United 93” und “World Trade Center” haben beide gute Noten von (lokalen) Rezensionen erhalten, trotzdem zieht es mich in keinem von beiden.

Jenseits des großen Kinos gab es einige Lichtblicke. “Invincible” erzählt die “Mann von den Straßen Philadelphias kommt gross raus” Geschichte auf eine sehr leise und einfühlsame Weise. Natürlich basiert die Geschichte auf einer wahren Begebenheit. “The Illusionist” bleibt leider etwas blaß, hat aber einen grandiosen Paul Giamatti in einer Nebenrolle.

Doch nicht nur das Kino hatte gute Momente zu bieten. “Brick” ist ein Film, der sich nicht in eine Kategorie zwingen läßt: Ein Teen-neo-noir-drogen-krimi-drama, oder so. Ist ohne Einschränkungen zu empfehlen. Ich hatte auch endlich Zeit, mich durch einige alte Projekte zu wühlen: Wes Anderson, Wim Wenders, ein paar Klassiker, diesen oder jenen Independent, z.B. “Second Best”…..

Den Abschluß dieses Rückblicks widme ich dem Film, der mich mit Abstand am meisten erfreut hat. Mit “Beyond The Sea” hat Kevin Spacey ein bildschönes Denkmal für Bobby Darrin geschaffen. Natürlich ist es im Prinzip ein Musical. Wenn man das nicht mag, dann: Finger weg! Ansonsten kann ich nur sagen: Ausleihen, angucken, sich wundervoll unterhalten lassen!

Tja, soweit zum Filmsommer 2006. Mit dem Herbst kommen einige interessante Projekte auf uns zu. “The Prestige” sah recht gut aus in der Vorschau, ebenso “The Black Dahlia” (de Palma). Scorseses “The Departed” ist auch schon angekündigt. Das ist das hochkarätig besetzte Remake von “Internal Affairs”. Ich hab heute eine Vorschau gesehen, bin gespannt, ob Nicholson, Damon, Di Caprio, Wahlberg usw dem Original Paroli bieten können.

Auch das “Newark Film Festival” ist wieder am Start. Das Programm ist nicht spektakulär, aber interessant. Das Unikino fängt nächste Woche wieder, da kann ich dann für läppische drei Grüne den einen oder anderen Blockbuster nochmal gucken. Und zu guter letzt wird in einigen Wochen auch das Internationale Filmprogramm wieder an Start gehen….

Wie schon gesagt: Ich liebe den Herbst.

Einen sportlichen Gruß an alle zugeschalteten Zuhörer. Es ist Sonntag nachmittag, beinahe schon abend, so dass die Aussage, die Woche sei vorbei, mit Zuversicht und Überzeugung auf den Bildschirm gebracht werden kann. Das ist gut so: eine Woche mit Frust und Streß ist ins Land der Erinnerungen gewandert, von wo sie mir womöglich die eine oder andere schlaflose Nacht bereiten wird…

Natürlich überschattet mein Unfall vom letzten Samstag alle Ereignisse dieser doch recht missratenen Woche. Es hat sich in den letzten Tagen schnell herausgestellt, dass mein Töfftöff zwar reparabel ist, die Kosten jedoch jenseits des Wagenwertes liegen. Somit wandert mein erster Wagen wohl oder übel nach recht kurzer Eingewöhnungszeit in die Tonne. Das sollte eigentlich heute geschehen, aber die Pfeifen vom Abschleppdienst haben mich versetzt. Natürlich habe ich bei den Nasen angerufen, aber nach dem dritten Anruf warte ich immer noch auf einen Rückruf…. Naja, es gibt ja noch andere Abschleppdienste.

Auch körperlich hat der Unfall diverse Nachbeben ausgelöst. Die Verbrennungen an meinem Handgelenk sind doch recht arg gewesen, so dass ich am Donnerstag zu meinem “Hausarzt” gegangen bin. Für $10 “Praxisgebühr” hat er dann das gemacht, was ich schon von Anfang machen wollte: Die Brandblasen aufgeschnitten und mir ‘ne Salbe verschrieben. Nun, die Salbe hilft tatsächlich, insofern hat sich der Besuch gelohnt. Zusätzlich zu den Verbrennungen hatte ich am Montag mal wieder eine von meinen “Hornhautvorfällen”, der vom Airbag ausgelöstet worden sein könnte. Übrigens hat meine Augengeschichte mittlerweile eine neue Diagnose bekommen: “recurring corneal erosion”. Der Name könnte aus Star Trek stammen… Zwei Besuche bei meinem Augendok (jeweils $20) haben kaum zu Linderung oder neuer Erkenntnis geführt, obwohl ich mein Augentropfenrepertoire um drei weitere Produkte erweitern durfte. Als ob das nicht alles nicht genug war, habe ich dann noch im Laufe der Woche eine Erkältung abbekommen, die noch ein wenig anwesend ist. Naja, ich bin auf dem Wege der Genesung…

Um die Woche so schnell wie möglich zu verdauen, habe ich mir Freitag abend so richtig die Kante gegeben: zuerst schön beim lokalen Mexikaner einen Monsterburrito verputzt und genüsslich mit zwei Margeritas runtergespült. Um dann den Druck um die Bauchgegend herum mit Kopfschmerzen zu bekämpfen, habe ich im Anschluß das “Doppelsommerblockbusterspezial” gegeben: MI3 und den Da Vince Code hintereinander weg. Oh mann, das war gar nicht mal so gut! MI3 ist zwar zu Beginn solide Aktionkost: ein hohes Tempo, viele nette Orte und Szenenwechsel , zuhauf extrem geekige Gadgets mit fantastischen Funktionen, die selbst den guten 007 etwas antiquiert ausschauen lassen; ja, das hatte wenigstens Unterhaltungswert. Doch dann wird der Film so, so… emotional, denn plötzlich ist Cruise Angetraute mitten in den Strudel von Gewalt und Verrat geraten. Tja, daraufhin wird der Film immer öder und ekliger, bis das ganze in eine herz- und magenverkrampfenden Widerbelebung unseres Lieblingsscientologen durch seine Herzdame kulminiert. Schrecklich, einfach schrecklich. Konnte der Code das toppen? Ja, ohne Schwierigkeiten. Ein Massenaufgebot von nahmhaften und ansonsten recht guten Schauspielern (Paul Bethany oder Ian McKellen, z.B.) in einer dünnen und recht schleppend erzählten Verschwörungsgeschichte (Nein, ich habe das Buch nicht gelesen). Boah, in dem steten und recht durchschaubaren Wechsel von pseudo-geschichtlichen Vorträgen und spannungsbremsenden Verfolgungsjagden fragt man sich nach kurzer Zeit, was von beidem das schlimmere Übel ist. Da war aber Indi 3 der deutlich bessere Gralsjagdfilm!

Ich weiß, schlimmer kann bzw. darf es nicht mehr kommen. Oder doch? Nun, normalerweise würde ich der ursprünglichen Einschätzung entsprechen, aber dieses Wochenende wartete nochein Leckerbissen des schlechten Geschmacks auf mich: Der Grand Prix. Oder Song Contest, wie diese alberne Schlagerveranstaltung neuerdings genannt wird. Nun habe ich keinen Fernseher und außerdem hoffe ich inständig, dass diese jämmerliche Darbietung von Klangmüll hier nicht übertragen wurde, der Ruf Europas ist schon schlecht genug hierzulande. Aber wir leben mittlerweile im 21 Jahrhundert, daher gab es eine kostenlose Internetübertragung, die ich mir komplett angeschaut habe… Ehrlich ist es weniger die Veranstaltung, auf die ich mich mit einer seltsamen Mischung aus Nostalgie und Heimweh gefreut habe, sondern das “danach”: Wenn mal wieder über die jedes Jahr wiederkehrenden Themen ausgiebig debatiert wird. So konnte ich im Netz mal wieder über die Deutsche Enttäuschung über einen mageren 15. Platz lesen: dass niemand die Deutschen liebt; dass der Deutsche Beitrag doch Qualität hatte im Gegensatz zu den besser platzierten Ost- oder Süddeuropäern; dass Punkteschieberei und Gekungel unter Nachbarstaaten “unfair” sei; dass neue Regeln her müssen, damit “wir” nicht immer 12 Punkt an “die Türken” vergeben; usw…. Auf der Gegenseite gab es natürlich mindestens soviele Beiträge über die traurige Vorstellung, die Texas Lightning im Vergleich zum “hohen Popstandard” der anderen, aber besonders der osteuropäischen Nachbarn gegeben hat.

Da haben wir es wieder einmal, die urtümlichsten Momente einer Deutschen Debatte: Auf der einen Seite die Verschwörungstheoretiker, die Deutsche in der ganzen Welt verfolgt und betrogen sehen. In Berti Vogts Manier könnte man formulieren: “Vielleicht war der deutsche Schlager zu erfolgreich.” Auf der anderen Seite die Flagellanten, die jegliche nationale Selbstdarstellung verachten, insbesondere die eigene Deutsche. Da wird selbst der seichteste Girliepop aus der Ukraine zur einer kulturellen Offenbarung, gegen die die Deutsche Popmusik “an sich” nichts gegenzustellen hat.

Ja, ich genieße diese so höchst überflüssigen Debatten. Natürlich führen sie zu nichts, zumal die meisten angeführten Punkte in der Natur der Sache liegen. Denn selbstverständlich war der Deutsche Beitrag gut gelungen und recht gefällig. Für einen Grand Prix Song, jedenfalls. Deswegen muss er aber noch lange nicht die Trophäe nach Hause bringen (“Wir sind Grand Prix”?). Natürlich schustern sich die Nachbarn in Europa Punkte zu und natürlich votieren Emigranten zu einem großen Teil für ihre Heimatländer. Na und? Wo steht geschrieben, dass es in Wahlen “fair” abgeht? Oder nach objektiven Kriterien entschieden wird? Jede Folge einer Castingsendung belegt das Gegenteil, da ist es müßig, über komplexe Regelwerke zu diskutieren, die ein solches “unsportliches” Verhalten unterbinden. Und ja, Deutschland ist nicht notwendigerweise die beliebteste Nation in Europa. Gilt übrigens auch für die anderen “Großen”, Frankreich und Großbritannien. Na und? Das ganze Problem löst sich in Luft auf, wenn man das Ganze aufhört, Ernst zu nehmen. Aber das wäre wohl zu undeutsch…

Nun gut, soviel zur letzten Woche. Hab ja nun auch genug geschwaffelt. Ich werde mich jetzt mit den “Leuchtturm” auf mein Sofa schmeißen und meinen dritten (vierten?) Anlauf unternehmen, durch dieses Buch zu kommen…

Hi folks!

I know, I am still lagging on promise to round up the trip to Baton Rouge, but, hey, I did start writing it! Otherwise, I might entertain you with tidbits from yesterday night.

It was one of those leisury Saturdays, I didn’t have anything to do, didn’t have to be anywhere… So I decided to go to Philly and treat me to some movies and coffee. The choices for the evening were “Keeping up with the Steins”, the story of a soon to be 13 year old and his approaching Bar Mitzvah, and “The Promise”, some over the top Chinese fantasy story.

The first one is a coming of age story, not only for our hero Benjamin, but also for his father and even his grandpa. It has the warmth of a comedy that takes his characters and their silly woes seriously, but never fails to serve it with a wink. Recommended.

The second is an opulent fantasy/love story that is closer to “House of Flying Daggers” than “Tiger & Dragon”. However, even though some scenes are pretty cheesy, it does tell us a story about fate, promises and lies, friend and enemy. The actors are all not too bad and over and all I say that it deserves 8 points out of 10 or so…

The evening was rounded up by a good coffee and “Becoming Jefferson’s People”, a small little book that turned out to be quite interesting and thought provoking. Using citations from Jefferson’s letters, the author Clay Jenkinson is trying to model what it would be like living up to Jefferson’s ideas of citizenship. I first wasn’t convinced at all by this approach, sounding too much of an idolization of the far less than perfect Jefferson himself, but I realized that taken with a pinch of salt the book has a few good points.

Having fared thus well, I was walking back to the parking garage, unaware that the evening was about to take a few weird twists and turns. Suddenly, there was this man when I was about to enter the elevator in the garage, who out of the blue started telling me his story about a flat tire, strange and suspicious cops and a repair shop charging him 300plus for essentially a minor repair, and him not having his wallet with him. I didn’t understand every detail of the story, to be honest, but ended up helping him out with some 30 bucks or so in exchange for his phone number. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, naive Levent was conned. Maybe. But I had a good feeling about it, so…..

20 minutes later I was driving down I95 south, good jazz in the radio and still thinking of that odd episode. The next three or four things happened more or less at once, so my recollection is a bit fuzzy. First, there is this deer on the road. Next, I am braking and trying to avoid it. Then there is a bang and a lot of smoke in the car. I remember yelling something but I don’t know exactly what. My guess is that gutter language was involved. For at least a few seconds I was complete panicked out, steering wildly in the middle of a three lane expressway! Then I did get myself to think straight, pulled the car over, and jumped out of it. In short: I am fine, got only a few burns on my arms from the airbag which was completely useless in this case and actually caused half of my panic and disorientation! The deer most likely did not survive this incident, I could see it laying on the shoulder but I did not dare to walk up there.

After making sure the car wasn’t any danger to me I called the cops. First, they send me a Delaware State Tropper who told me that I am still in PA, so he couldn’t do anything. Next came the real guys who said that there isn’t much they can do either. So I called AAA who send me a tow truck (breakdown lorry?), and three hours after leaving Philly I was finally at home, safe and sound.

This morning I did inspect the damage and took some pictures. Looks pretty bad, doesn’t it?

Please click on the picture to enlarge!

I guess this ends my short affair with my first car. I might have it checked out to see how much a repair will cost, but I have a hunch it’ll be way too much… Anyway, everything’s cool. I am alive and unharmed yet still a bit shaken, I suppose.

I hope you guys back home are rockin’ and having a good Mother’s Day! Sending you all my best wishes!

tja, das koennte einem aus Langeweile schon passieren, nicht wahr? Gesteht es, so denkt Ihr ueber meine Wahlheimat: ein kleines Kaff umgeben von WIRKLICH INTERESSANTEN Orten….

Aber: weit gefehlt! Denn was wertet so einen Ort so richtig auf? Genau, ein Film Festival!

Puenktlich zur Ankunft des Obergeeks (meine Wenigkeit) startet das oertliche Nicht-So-Multiplex eine Show der Extravaganzen. Die Intellektuelle Elite Newark’s (sprich: alle aelter als 25) werden anwesend sein!

*raeusper*

Das Programm stellt sogar Internationale Filmfeste in den Schatten:

Mad Hot Ballroom
Murderball
* Me and You and Everyone We Know
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Spellbound
* The Beat My Heart Skipped
* Sideways
The Animation Show
* Mysterious Skin
ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Touching the Void
The Aristocrats
* Cronicas
* Paperclips
Rize
Deep Blue
* WINTER SOLDIER

CLASSIC FILMS:
Raging Bull
Babette’s Feast
Napoleon Dynamite
BIG
Kingpin

Die mit Stern markierten werde ich mit anschauen. Ok, ich gebe zu, das ich nicht verstehe, was Kingpin oder BIG (ja, der mit Tom Hanks) in dieser Auswahl zu suchen haben, aber ok, ich bin sehr zufrieden….

Hier noch die Webseite zum guckeln und surfen: http://newarkfilm.com

Howdyho, Ihr Suessen! Levent