Month: July 2012

MOVIE REVIEW: Moonrise Kingdom

The movie Moonrise Kingdom is really difficult to describe – without revealing too much – except to say that, despite all logic, one starts rooting for the couple.

The Wife and I were in Binghamton, NY for the Olin family reunion, among other things, and we decided to stay at a downtown hotel called the Binghamton Riverfront; nice place. We discovered that there is a two-screen theater called Art Mission less than a half-mile away. It appears to be a refurbished fire or police station, but in fact, it used to be a city mission; thus, its name. There were fewer than 75 seats in the theater. I originally sat in the third row, but found it to be too close; row four was much more comfortable for me visually. The theater was showing the new film by Wes Anderson called Moonrise Kingdom, which was NOT playing at the local Regal or Loew’s.

My spouse wanted to see it because she liked the trailer, which she saw in Albany’s much larger art theater, the Spectrum. I was less interested, because I had only seen one Anderson film that I can recall, The Royal Tenenbaums, and I did not much relate to it. (No, I didn’t see Bottle Rocket or Rushmore or The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.) And in the end, I really enjoyed the film, the Wife, not so much.

The movie is about two not especially likable children (newcomers Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman) who meet strange, and the pursuit of them by the police captain (Bruce Willis), the scoutmaster (Edward Norton), and the girl’s parents (Bill Murray, Frances McDormand). This takes up the first act, but then things change up. Harvey Keitel and especially Tilda Swinton have roles in the latter part of the film. The movie is really difficult to describe – without revealing too much – except to say that, despite all logic, one starts rooting for the couple, maybe because the adults in their world are so dysfunctional.

Interesting that almost all the analyses, positive (94% at this point) and negative, note that Anderson is doing Anderson again, except that, the good reviews say, THIS time, he’s infused them with some level of whimsy and humanity.

The use of color and art, giving the film a real 1965 look, was quite effective, especially the occasional segments of narration by Bob Balaban, which felt really authentic.

But what I appreciate almost as much is the music. If you grew up with Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, you might have a bit of a flashback. Oddly, all the patrons left after the credits started rolling, which I thought was too bad, for it was a reprise of the music educational record that starts the film.

Z is for Zzzzzzz

“A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.”

 

More than almost any topic in the popular media, sleep, or the lack thereof, has been the subject of seemingly countless articles. This article from PARADE magazine is a typical example, which notes: “If you feel tired all the time, talk to your doctor. Persistent ­fatigue could ­signal a medical condition such as sleep apnea, an underactive thyroid, or ­anemia.” Here is Mark Evanier’s sleep apnea history, for example.

The Centers for Disease Control has a whole section devoted to sleep and sleep disorders, which cites diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression as being associated with insufficient sleep. According to a recent study by the National Sleep Foundation, 60 percent of men and women experience sleep problems almost every night. Harvard University research suggests that 7 out of every 10 adults do not get the quality sleep they need.

One of the great interrupters of sleep is Daylight Saving Time, which Jaquandor kvetched about. There is an increased number of accidents each time the clock goes forward.

Still, I was fascinated by a BBC article: “A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.

“In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted an experiment in which a group of people were plunged into darkness for 14 hours every day for a month. It took some time for their sleep to regulate but by the fourth week, the subjects had settled into a very distinct sleeping pattern. They slept first for four hours, then woke for one or two hours before falling into a second four-hour sleep. Though sleep scientists were impressed by the study, among the general public the idea that we must sleep for eight consecutive hours persists.”

The Beatles recorded at least two songs about sleep, I’m Only Sleeping and I’m So Tired.

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

Shafted into Soaps: Richard Roundtree is 70

Richard Roundtree turns 70 today.

In 1990, I was a Census enumerator, which meant I wold go door to door to count people. I used to watch the noon news, then started viewing whatever was after it. There was a soap opera featuring Richard Roundtree. Yes, Shaft himself! It was called Generations, and I ended up watching it at 12:30 pm until it died in 1991. (It had started in 1989). It was the first soap, reportedly, where about half the cast was black. Roundtree played Dr. Daniel Reubens, implicated for a crime he did not commit.

I never actually saw any of the Shaft movies, though I did see an episode or two of the short-lived (1973-1974) TV series based on them, but I was intrigued that this semi-famous movie actor was in this daytime TV show I had never heard of. The bad thing about watching it is that, eventually, I started watching Days of Our Lives at 1, and got sucked into that until some over-the-top plot line drove me away. Subsequently, I started watching Another World at 2, and I viewed it until two weeks before the end in 1999, when I got married and went on my honeymoon. But I’ve read the synopses.

My grandmother and great-aunt used to watch the CBS soaps (Guiding Light, Edge of Night, Secret Storm, and others) when I was a kid, and I’d see them quite a bit, especially the latter two (on at 3:30-4:30). As you probably know, lots of actors moved from the soap to prime time TV. I saw Henry Simmons on AW and then he spent the last 6 years on N.Y.P.D. Blue. AW’s Amy Carlson was on Third Watch, then the 4th Law & Order show.

Anyway, Richard Roundtree, who developed breast cancer in 1993 and had a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, is still a working actor. I remember him well in his guest appearance on the television series The Closer as the retired Marine colonel who was the father of a sniper.

He turns 70 today, and I wish him well, and forgive him for being my gateway drug to soap operas, an addiction I’ve now overcome.

A book I ought to read: Jesus for President

“We in the church are schizophrenic: we want to be good Christians, but deep down we trust that only the power of the state and its militaries and markets can really make a difference in the world.”

 

There was a study of a book in Albany called Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. Claiborne was even in town, leading some workshops. But I was busy. Then I read this excerpt of the book in my church newsletter:
“Christianity is at its best when it is peculiar, marginalized, suffering, and it is at its worst when it is popular, credible, triumphal, and powerful.”

Sounds like my kind of book.

From the preface:

This book is a project in renewing the imagination of the church in the United States and of those who would seek to know Jesus. We are seeing more and more that the church has fallen in love with the state and that this love affair is killing the church’s imagination. The powerful benefits and temptations of running the world’s largest superpower have bent the church’s identity. Having power at its fingertips, the church often finds “guiding the course of history” a more alluring goal than following the crucified Christ. Too often the patriotic values of pride and strength triumph over the spiritual virtues of humility, gentleness, and sacrificial love.

We in the church are schizophrenic: we want to be good Christians, but deep down we trust that only the power of the state and its militaries and markets can really make a difference in the world. And so we’re hardly able to distinguish between what’s American and what’s Christian. As a result, power corrupts the church and its goals and practices. When Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters,” he meant that in serving one, you destroy your relationship to the other. Or as our brother and fellow activist Tony Campolo puts it, “Mixing the church and state is like mixing ice cream with cow manure. It may not do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.” As Jesus warned, what good is it to gain the whole world if we lose our soul?

So what we need is an exploration of the Bible’s political imagination, a renovated Christian politics, a new set of hopes, goals, and practices. We believe the growing number of Christians who are transcending the rhetoric of lifeless presidential debates is a sign of this renovation. Amid all the buzz, we are ready to turn off our TVs, pick up our Bibles, and reimagine the world.

Over the last several years, the Christian relation to the state has become more dubious… Professing Christians have been at the helm of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, implicitly or explicitly referencing faith in God as part of their leadership. Patriotic pastors insist that America is a Christian nation without questioning the places in distant and recent history where America has
not looked like Christ. Rather than placing our hope in a transnational church that embodies God’s kingdom, we assume America is God’s hope for the world, even when it doesn’t look like Christ. Dozens of soldiers who have contacted us confess a paralyzing identity crisis as they feel the collision of their allegiances…

I’ll have to get a copy and add this book to my ever-expanding summer reading list.

Happiness runs in a circular motion

“Time. I can always get more money, but I have only so much time.”

 

Dustbury, among others, has responded to the Happiness Project’s Want To Know Yourself Better? Ask Yourself These Questions.

If something is forbidden, do you want it less or more?

I suppose it depends on WHY it’s forbidden. If I think the reasoning is stupid and arbitrary, then I’ll want it more. If I understand the rationale for the prohibition, I’ll want it less. The way the world is, that would be a slight “more.”

Is there an area of your life where you feel out of control? Especially in control?

There are two ways I look at this. In my personal life, I have an eight-year-old, and that dictates a lot of my life. In the world, there are things (war, environmental catastrophes) being done, sometimes in my name, and it appears than I have absolutely nothing to do about it.

On the other hand, personally, I do love doing certain things the same way: my glasses go on the same place on my dresser every night; this is not obsessive behavior; this is the fact that I won’t FIND my glasses if I don’t put them in the same place every night.

What I do have some control over in the world is writing about it all.

If you unexpectedly had a completely free afternoon, what would you do with that time?

See a movie if there is a movie I want to see. Otherwise, read, with a baseball game on in the background.

Are you comfortable or uncomfortable in a disorderly environment?

This was Dustbury’s response: “Whose disorder is it? If it’s mine, it’s not too disorderly, and I usually know where to find things. If it’s someone else’s, I will complain, loudly.” Sounds about right.

How much time do you spend looking for things you can’t find?

Depends on what it is and the time available. But it does explain why I have a backup pair of glasses and a backup house key.

Are you motivated by competition?

Only in games. In fact, people who know me only from work or church have been startled by how competitive I am in hearts or backgammon. But in most settings, I am quite cooperative; I think it’s what drew me to librarianship.

Do you find it easier to do things for other people than to do things for yourself?

Goodness, yes. It’s much easier to help clean up someone else’s stuff than my own. I’d rather help move someone else than moving myself; no emotional ties.

Do you work constantly? or think you should be working?

I believe that the more I work, the more work there will be. At the library, I press more when we get past a week’s turnaround. I am in charge of my work blog, and I’ve been known to blog those posts at home when I have time. In any case, procrastination is not so bad!

Do you embrace rules or flout rules?

I seldom embrace rules, although I’ve developed my own over time. Dumb rules are just begging to be broken. But, of course, there is the cost/benefit thing going.

Do you work well under pressure?

Not especially, and external pressure is even worse than internal.

What would your perfect day look like?

It would involve exercise, such as racquetball. Time to read, time to write. A good meal or two made by someone else, at least one in a restaurant. And a massage.

How much TV do you watch in a week (include computer time spent watching videos, movies, YouTube)?

Maybe 10 hours. The shows I watch in the winter are replaced by baseball in the summer.

Are you a morning person or a night person?

It’s a curse from my wife that I’ve become a morning person because when I met her, I DEFINITELY was a night owl.

What’s more satisfying to you: saving time or saving money?

Dustbury: “Time. I can always get more money, but I have only so much time.”

Do you like to be in the spotlight?

Dustbury: “Not especially. I appreciate being looked in on once in a while — if I didn’t, I’d never have had an online presence at all — but being the center of attention is not something to which I aspire.” Also, I am rather shy. About 70% of the people I know personally would say this is a bunch of hooey – a few of them have done so – but it is true, nonetheless.

Is your life “on hold” in any aspect? Until you finish your thesis, get married, lose weight?

Dustbury: “I’m almost sixty years old. It’s too late to have anything ‘on hold.'”

What would you do if you had more energy?

I’d tackle those damn housecleaning projects, sorting stuff in the attic, and the like.

If you suddenly had an extra room in your house, what would you do with it?

The Daughter’s room is rather small, so her stuff creeps into the guest room and even the living room. The extra room would be her room with room for all her dolls and games.

What people and activities energize you? Make you feel depleted?

Ken Levine did this piece called Actors: How to give notes to writers. One can give criticism/suggestions in positive ways or in ways in which you want to rip someone’s face off. So some “helpful” people energize, because they are actually helpful, while others just enervate.

Energizes: Racquetball; learning new facts; writing what I want to write; getting in touch with people I like with whom I had lost contact; reading.
Enervates: Almost any rote activity, any mechanical task that I cannot master; nostalgia for its own sake; being outside in the midday sun.

Is it hard for you to get rid of things that you no longer need or want?

No. What I need has been shrinking, BTW, and what I want has most definitely diminished as well.

Do you get frustrated easily?

Depends on the task and what is at stake. The aforementioned mechanical ineptness does bother me some. But making a gaffe in a public address, not so much. Rude people are frustrating almost all of the time; many of them drive cars.

On a typical night, what time do you go to bed? How many hours of sleep do you get?

10:30 pm to bed; much past that and I’m sunk for the next day. I get up at sunrise, which, of course, varies with the season. I sleep more in the winter.

If at the end of the year, you had accomplished one thing, what is the one accomplishment that would make the biggest difference to your happiness?

I don’t seem to have a list of things to accomplish, at least those things that if I DON’T finish, my world will end. Perhaps that saves me from disappointment. Too many things arise; I try (and I emphasize, try) to take these things as they come.

Happiness Runs – Donovan
Get Happy – Judy Garland (from SUMMER STOCK, 1950). I learned this song in 1975 being in the play Boys in the Band.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial