This week's Movie review......

[Ang Mo]

Well Bryan, Jon graduated in the top 5 at BYU which has state of the art facilities, they have their own television studio for the students to practice in. Jon is a successful author, and I think he is a successful journalist seeing how he is still working in that field.

http://www.abc15.com/content/aboutus/bios/story.aspx?content_id=c84340eb-4049-4018-8f8d-bfe629a12955

I believe his side of the story concerning his career with FOX.

I will not attempt to convert you. If you watch a Michael Moore film you get his interpretation, if you watch FOX news you get their intrepretation.
But then you have to look at a couple of questions and just simply answer them YES or NO or A OR B

The Iraq War was based on "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and threats of terrorist attacks on the U.S. from Iraq.

Question #1 Were Weapons of Mass Destruction found?

Just answer YES or NO

Question #2 Who profited from the IRAQ war the most?

A. The oil companies and other corporations like Halliburton.

B. The American people.

Without any hoopla or singing yourself a Lee Greenwood song or getting caught up with what FOX news tells you just honestly and independently answer those questions. I don't want you to watch a Michael Moore documentary either or anybody's else's leftwing documentary for that matter. Just answer the two questions and look at the facts.

I have no hard feelings towards you or any great need to argue. I use to be a Republican myself, but switched to being an independent. The two party system has failed. Unfortunately the third party alternatives seem to only offer ex professional wrestlers and lunatics like Pat Buchanon.

I watched a film called "Green Dragon" about the Vietnamese people who relocated to America after the war. It was an interesting film and entertaining too.

[rahau]

I also doubt if I will change anyone's position. On the other hand, as long as we're having a political food fight ...

My two cents, the biggest myth in America is that of the "Liberal Media." I worked in broadcast news for fifteen years, and have some first-hand experience with this. Every commecial broadcasting company that employed me was owned by conservatives. Every one. No exceptions. It's much worse now, when deregulation has allowed one or two companies to swallow up the vast majority of broadcast and print media.

On the national level, there is a great website called MediaMatters that cuts that myth to shreds on a daily basis. One of the contributors, Eric Alterman, wrote a book called "WHAT Liberal Media?" Great book.

A fine and timely example is the supposedly liberal media's coverage of John Edwards. While he was trying to talk about poverty, the media spent most of their time talking about (A) his hair, or (B) how "hypocritical" it was for him to talk about poverty when he is wealthy. I guess it's more "honest" to be conservative and wealthy and NOT talk about poverty.

The bottom line about the national media: Sure, they'll be liberal, as long as there is no money at stake. Will they take the occasional snarky cheap shot at, say, organized religion? Sure. After all, churches and synagogues don't buy billions of dollars worth of advertising. Gun control? When was the last time you saw ads for guns on TV? Nothing to lose there, either. But just try to run a story that might offend the banking or insurance or oil industries, and watch what happens. For example: The whole subprime mess has been going on for years. It only became a story when the banking and housing industries started melting down. When it was the consumers melting down, it wasn't news.

By the way, BB, I haven't yet seen "Manufacturing Dissent," but I promise I will. Interesting fact, though: The film played at the very liberal Roxie Theater in San Francisco, and did pretty good business. It also received generally positive reviews from the very liberal San Francisco media. Somehow, I don't think "Outfoxed" did that well in places like Colorado Springs.

[Ang Mo]

Edwards was the candidate I wanted to vote for of the remaining candidates as of this week. He was the only one of the surviving nominees who came from a working class family. I believe his father was a factory worker. The remaining contenders from both parties have always been wealthy and haven't a clue of what it is like to live in the world of the average American or the poor American for that matter. Kucenich would have received my vote had he been able to survive. He was the only one out of all of them that voted against the war and the funding of the war. Just on moral principles alone, he would have received my vote, but he never had a chance.

Interesting point you made Rahau regarding the "Liberal Media". I have a friend who was a television reporter for over ten years who said the same thing. Every owner of the station was a right wing radical and you could never break stories about sponsors no matter how corrupt. He had the evidence and the proof about how a prominent local car dealership was ripping off the general public on auto repairs. The story was canned because the dealership was a sponsor and the station could not afford to get them upset and lose the advertising dollars.

[Jade]

Um, sorry to interrupt this political conversation but I wanted to post about a movie I saw a while ago...

I saw an early screening of Lust, Caution in December. That's Ang Lee's most recent film, for those who are keeping score. It was an exquisitely executed film, with stellar performances from the main cast. Since everyone likes to talk about the sex scenes, I'll say that they were indeed graphic, but there was so much character and story buildup that took place before they happened that I was much more disturbed by the emotional subtext of those scenes than the scenes themselves. And to me, the part of the film that I would least want a young child to see wouldn't be any of the sex scenes at all, but a very violent scene that occurs at the end of the first act.

I thought the film was good, and I'm glad to have seen it, but I can't really say I "enjoyed" it. It really drained me emotionally and is not the kind of film I'd want to watch over and over.

[Scot]

Interesting point you made Rahau regarding the "Liberal Media". I have a friend who was a television reporter for over ten years who said the same thing. Every owner of the station was a right wing radical and you could never break stories about sponsors no matter how corrupt. He had the evidence and the proof about how a prominent local car dealership was ripping off the general public on auto repairs. The story was canned because the dealership was a sponsor and the station could not afford to get them upset and lose the advertising dollars.

I read Bernard Goldberg's book a while ago (a somewhat different persepctive)
and found it pretty interesting. There are always too sides to every story,
though and the "liberal media bias" is certainly no exception. What Goldberg's
book doesn't consider is a media dominated by liberals in the "lower" echelons,
but by conservatives at the very top. This model has very interesting and telling implications, I think.

And I agree, Kucinich and Edwards were quite interesting candidates.
Which is why neither one stood a chance.

s

[Ang Mo]

I saw an early screening of Lust, Caution in December.

I declined watching that film. I had a chance but I knew it was going to end depressing and be a big downer. I was hoping Ang Lee would concentrate more on ABC stories to try to get a few more Asian Americans on the American movie screen but maybe it is not a matter of wanting too but perhaps having the clout to do it. I don't know.

I personally don't use much caution when lusting. I fell madly in love with a Basque woman a few weeks ago. I decided to get closer to her by trying some Basque cuisine in a restaurant to try to understand this unique cultural group. I ordered something that sounded exotic, when it came out it looked like someone had dumped a can of Van De Kamp Beanie Weanies onto the plate with nasty sugary sweet sausage replacing the little hot dog bits. I tell you, lust is an adventure. I think I would rather fight a pit bull bare handed then eat another plate of that slop.........

I told Seletta that maybe I would like to meet this Basque girl at the local Starbucks. A Starbucks is the equivalent of the "Worm Hole" in Deep Space Nine. All sorts of people from all over congregate at them. It's like an intergalactic pit-stop for hot beverages. Seletta goes to Starbucks, reminds me of a Kardasian or Gemma Dar. So much danger and excitement at the Starbucks........................

[Jade]

I was hoping Ang Lee would concentrate more on ABC stories to try to get a few more Asian Americans on the American movie screen but maybe it is not a matter of wanting too but perhaps having the clout to do it. I don't know.

Oh, I think Ang Lee has the clout. I saw a recent Q&A session with him where he basically said, "After doing Brokeback Mountain, I can pretty much make whatever movie I want now!"

The reason he did "Lust, Caution" was because of the stories of China that his parents told him when he was growing up in Taiwan. It's almost like a personal mythology for him, and he really wanted to tell a story about that time so that he could feel that connection that his parents felt. But in general, I get the feeling that Ang Lee doesn't like to keep doing the same thing over and over - just look at his resume and you'll see what I mean.

Your comment about ABCs reminded me that I also recently saw "Saving Face" - a film about a young Chinese-American doctor in New York who also happens to be a lesbian. While she deals with her secret relationship with the daughter of her boss, she finds out that her mother, who's been a widow for 20 years and is nearing menopause age, has somehow become scandalously pregnant. It was a cute romantic comedy, although I still think "The Wedding Banquet" is the epitome of that sort of endeavor.

[Ang Mo]

I have not seen Saving Face as of yet, but intend to sometime. I have a backlog of films that I have not watched yet to get through before I start new ones.

[ben]

I actually saw Lust, Caution without knowing what it's about. Just saw the movie poster from a distance and realized that it's a Chinese movie. We don't have that many Chinese language movies coming to the theater nowadays so I got in. It was nice surprise to realized Ang Lee and Tony Leung were a part of it.

By Jade
And to me, the part of the film that I would least want a young child to see wouldn't be any of the sex scenes at all, but a very violent scene that occurs at the end of the first act.

I totally agree, having to watch those students taking turns with the knife was chilling. It wasn't just about the gruesomeness of what we see but what that scene can make you feel. That was indeed a disturbing scene.

[rahau]

By Jade
And to me, the part of the film that I would least want a young child to see wouldn't be any of the sex scenes at all, but a very violent scene that occurs at the end of the first act.

I totally agree, having to watch those students taking turns with the knife was chilling. It wasn't just about the gruesomeness of what we see but what that scene can make you feel. That was indeed a disturbing scene.

I agree with everything said so far. I guess you could say Lust, Caution falls into the category of "The Best Films I Never Want To See Again." Brilliantly made, but deeply disturbing and depressing. It was the clumsy amateurishness of the students that made the stabbing scene so difficult to watch. We're used to seeing professional killers coldly dispatching their victims. The sight of otherwise normal people killing someone for the first time is another matter.

Ang Lee said in an interview that every shot of the sex scenes was important. Maybe so, but I found myself averting my eyes more often than not. As Jade said, it was the emotional subtext that was the most disturbing element, and I think Lee could have illustrated that without being so explicit. Besides, I just don't like sex scenes of that sort - harsh, violent, unloving, more about power and dominance than anything else. The vast majority of contemporary filmmakers seem to have no idea how to create a loving sex scene. Perhaps they agree with - among others - 1920's German filmmaker G. W. Pabst, who thought sexual love was just some enervating myth created by polite bourgeois society. To Pabst, sexual hatred was the only reality. I can't help but feel sorry for people who feel that way.

I really feel badly for Wei Tang, the female lead. She's a brilliant actress, and reportedly wants to be a writer and director as well. When the film ended, I thought about Chloe Sevigny. After being nominated for an Oscar in Boys Don't Cry, Sevigny all but wrecked her career with the explicit sex scenes in Brown Bunny. I just hope that doesn't happen to Wei Tang.

[Ang Mo]

Ang Lee said in an interview that every shot of the sex scenes was important.

When I watch a sex scene I get interested, then I get really interested, then I get really really interested, then I am not interested anymore and take a nap, later on maybe I make a sandwich, then watch another sex scene and get interested, then really interested, then really really interested and then I am not interested anymore and take another nap. Sort of like the whole circle of life thing..........

On a serious note, the explicit sex scenes, and gruesome scenes of violence in the movies of today make them far less appealing. I don't believe in the idea of a movie that was so good and yet you never want to watch it again. Perhaps Lust Caution had good cinematography, realistic backdrops, nice costumes, great actors, etc, but if it really was a downer/turnoff then it is probably not that great of a film. I think a film should be entertaining as well. Special Effects are another part of today's films that seem to be overbearing as well. I guess that is why I have gone back to the old classics.

[ben]

I'm actually on the opposite side of rahau's "The Best Films I Never Want To See Again." categorization. While it is a downer and disturbing, it's not exactly a one-time-watch movie to me. The story was still a good one. It's actually the first movie I've seen about nationalistic students doing their nation a service by planning to assassinate a traitor. And there's some good historical facts or truths to it. Lust, Caution is not exactly a "the more tears you shed, the better" like Million Dollar Baby or The Color Purple.

[Scot]

Hmm, Lust,Caution is playing at a local theater today as part of a free
Chinese film festival. Knew nothing about it when I got tickets. Sounds
like perhaps I should stay for the Hong Kong Kung-fu comedy afterwards
if I go ...!:)

s

[cmooreNC]

The remaining contenders from both parties have always been wealthy and haven't a clue of what it is like to live in the world of the average American or the poor American for that matter.

Wait a minute, have you read Obama's Dreams From My Father? Yes, he grew up going to some very good schools and it is definitely his education that has gotten him to where he is, but he attended those schools largely through scholarships rather than the financial wealth of his family. And he was raised through much of his childhood with his mother and her parents, with all three working. Not to mention his later work as a community activist, working with poor African-Americans (and not just in his free time, but as his full-time job) in Chicago before going on to law school. The man definitely did not grow up wealthy. So... I guess that I beg to differ with this statement that none of the remaining candidates have a clue about the world of the average American or poor American!

[Ang Mo]

Chris,

Aren't you suppose to stay on topic and keep yammering on about the sex scene in Lust, Caution?

The biography probably did not state he grew up real poor either.

I will have to scan through his book and see for myself.

I plan on voting for him. He won four states today it said on MSN. I think he has a better chance of beating McCain then Hillary. I am glad McCain thrashed Romney. Romney spends a hundred million dollars and still couldn't win. What a hoot! McCain has kooky ideas though. Over on Youtube you can watch him talking about fighting in Iraq for the next hundred years. I really don't see the benefit in that and also talking about how we are going to be in a lot of wars soon. Oh boy! What a way to rally the American people. Nothing like coming home from a stressful day at work and then watching the news where American soldiers are dying so Oil companies and other parasitic corporations can enrich themselves.