Weblog
Thursday, 09 July 2009
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The Illusionist
Movie Review #6
The Illusionist is a romance caught up with illusion, wit, magic and a daring race for survival.
It's a movie that keeps you guessing, enthralled and captivated until the very last moment.
The character portrayals are excellent, with motivations left just ambiguous enough for some to draw their own conclusions.
Edward Norton in the lead role is always going to take the headlines but a performance of particular note was that of Paul Giamatti as Chief Inspector. Trying to appease both sides of the two male leads - Norton as the Illusionist, Eisenheim and Rufus Sewell as Crown Prince Leopold, he gradually gets drawn in and ultimately decides to uphold a righteous justice... or so he thinks. Sewell's portrayal of the Crown Prince is excellently carried out, and the emotional journey that he takes is extremely convincing.
The twist at the end where everything comes together can be seen as either a spoiler that ruins the suspense of the film, or an ending that goes a long way to clarifying everything that has happened in the previous 2 hours.
Philip Glass' score is a masterpiece, moving the story along and striking all the right notes to ensure that no minute goes by without ensuring the audience's full attention is on the screen.
There's nothing really bad about the movie per se, but the ending falls a little flat once it's over and you start to reflect on it. It's a story that is told for entertainment's sake, rather that for any grand or social commentary reasons along the lines of similar-yet-different movies such as the Prestige.
Overall, this is a great movie to watch and watch again while you try and work everything out... if it's even there TO figure out. A worthy watch, and very much worth 4 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, 08 July 2009
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Currently
The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)
By Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan
see relatedWaltzing Mathilda
Feeling a bit... reminicisent right now, so I thought I'd share with you on of Australia's most famous folk songs...
Waltzing Mathilda! :)
Here's the link... Waltzing Mathilda
For your interest:
Billy: tin can used to cook/heat water
Billabong: Pool of deep water
Tuckerbag: Food bag
Or, just listen to this: I'm a lazy so-and-so! -
Daniel's Gloves
FAIR WARNING:
This won't be for everybody, but for those who are interested it's a powerful and compelling post that will fire resolve and give encouragement to all who read the whole letter.
"Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name." 2 Samuel 22:5
An Anonymous Story called "Daniel's Gloves"
(Author Unknown or is it? Please. Read on.)
I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.
As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.'
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.
'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'
'Have you eaten today?'
'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'
'Would you like to have lunch with me?'
'Do you have some work I could do for you?'
'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'
'Sure,' he replied with a mile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'
' St. Louis '
'Where you from?'
'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'
'How long you been walking?'
'Fourteen years,' came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona.. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.
He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God .
'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'
'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.
'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice.. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'
'What?'
'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'
'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'
I felt as if we were on holy ground.. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite.. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.
'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.
'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'
'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'
'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked.. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'
'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'
'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'
'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.
A long time,' he replied .
And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'
'I'll be there!' was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'
'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them.... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...
'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'
This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Please do not break this pattern. Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!'Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'
GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!
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Currently
The Illusionist
see relatedAmerican History X
Movie Review #5
This was recommended to me by Liz - check her out over here
This is an incredibly powerful and political movie about the coming of age of two brothers linked together by their membership in a skinhead gang.
Incredibly intense, with a hot-button issue that was dealt with in a very impressive fashion. At no moment did the movie appear to get away from the director or producer which ensured the script remained tight, and brilliantly (and scarily) representative of working class struggles everywhere, but particularly so in poverty-centric urban areas.
Through the course of the movie, which intertwines flashbacks and present day narratives, the story is powerfully told.
This movie teaches about the consequences and responsibilities of setting an example to younger impressionable family members.
It all leads to a shocking, and for this viewer, an unexpected ending. However, I think that the ending was necessary for the full impact of the film to be made: the worst of our personal excesses sometimes don't come back to haunt us - they come back to haunt the ones closest to us.
Brilliantly acted, with a pitch-perfect score this is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. Edward Norton gives one of the performances of his career.
Definitely one that you must watch if possible.
Tuesday, 07 July 2009
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Currently
The All-American Rejects
By The All-American Rejects
see relatedHealthcare, the US and the options
Having lived, observed and used three healthcare systems now, I have come across several alternatives and it's interesting observing the US federal debate, that is attempting to reform a system that is quite frankly, bloated, expensive, insufficient and a drain on all US resources.
This post is in part inspired by this article from the BBC: "The McAllen Problem"
The main point that I got out of the article is that That cost-of-care does not necessarily mean, or result in better care.
This is something that critics of the proposed Obama plan need to consider. Especially in the comparison of McAllen and El Paso, geographically close, it is worthy of noticing. If a government-subsided plan can compete with a privately-owned plan in terms of care but at a much lower price, it can only be of benefit to everyone involved and could go some way towards reducing the exorbitant cost of medical care. Is this socialized medicine, such a hot topic currently that many people automatically shy away? There are some, like ProfessorTom who may agree, and post blogs such as this with quotes from individuals who have experienced a "socialist" system of healthcare. However, that individual was commenting on the healthcare system in Russia, a country that has only just started to rollback the massive spending on their military and are directing it towards other, more important needs of their population such as education, transportation, and yes, healthcare.
A much better comparison of potential models that the US could look towards would be those in the UK - the first country to have a nationalised system of healthcare - or even that of Australia, which as one of the best partnerships between private and public healthcare and countries in which everyone has access to at the very least a basic level of healthcare. This is a much better system then is currently offered in the US for the majority of Americans.
Screaming "SOCALIST" at any and every attempt at reforming a system that is quite blatantly in need of some reform is at best counter-productive, at worst a death sentence for the millions of Americans who do not have access to the level of healthcare that they need.
The time has come to stop associating the word "socalist" with "communist" with "terribly bad and something to be avoided at all costs". It's incredibly short-sighted, misguided and a blinkered view of watching the world. It does not mean that captalism is going to fall, or even that it's going to be shunted to the side. There is still room for capatlism to flourish, as can be seen particularly in Australia, and it creates a much greater equitable situation for a broader majority of the population. Surely that, rather than the race to make as much money as possible, is a far more noble goal when we are discussing healthcare?
So what, then, would I suggest would be a good start at reforming/overhauling/tweaking the current system?
Firstly, the goal has to be to make a reasonable level of healthcare available to as many legal residents of the US as possible. With the vested interests in the healthcare system - providers, doctors, insurance companies, drug companies, employers and hospitals to name just a few - there is never going to be an easy answer, or solution but the goal must be first and foremost to create a healthcare plan that the majority of Americans can afford. Whether this should be government-backed or not is a moot point but I do believe that there should be a legislative-led charge to make healthcare affordable for all. This has so many benefits: less days will be lost at work, producitivity from those days will be increased, there'll be more money overall as more money will be poured into the system from those with insurance plans rather than the lucky few, standard of care will rise.
Better regulation of teh dispensation of awards and benefits and the controls on prescriptions and method of billing will also help to keep costs low which will ensure that the best care, the most useful care will be dispensed. This will help avoid situations where patients who self-diagnose themselves (often wrongly) will "shop around" until they find a doctor who is willing to dispense the care the patient wants which will only hurt them in the long run and increase the strain on the system.
This comes in part from creating a healthcare system in which it is run more like a business then a needed service. This trend must be reversed, and it will save so many lives in doing so.
By removing the ease in which a profit can be made - not necessarily removing it completely - healthcare can return to it's needed roots: the diagnoses, treatement and rehabilitation of as many patients as possible.
The healthcare system in the US, as it stands today, is a mockery of the American Dream and an oozing sore on the reputation of Uncle Sam. Look abroad, understand the motivations and ideologies of over healthcare systems and implement the recommendations into the US system then with the ingenuity of the American people and the resources that no other country can match and it will not take long before the American healthcare system in the envy of the world.
