As The Sun Rises

With each sunrise there is hope that we to will rise above any battle, or trial, or problem, or obstacle that we may face.

As the sun sets, we know the same sun will surely rise and there is hope that we too have been given a new day to rise.

Life doesn't end when the sun sets.

I Don't Want To Be Sane

"Sane" is not free – wild is free – wild is beautiful. 

Why pretend to be tame when your soul is screaming from your head that it wants to be free.  It wants to come out of every confinement including our skulls that keep our minds confined when in fact our minds live free. We are not what’s in here but mostly what we see.  How we see things and what’s out there. 

Life has no borders and no boundaries READ IT observe it live it. 

Free yourself from man-made restrictions rules borders and boundaries limits and laws. Go ahead and let the child within live.  Let the mind be in the best state to live life to the fullest to understand that there is something bigger than the standards humans have set. 

The supernatural, the crazy, the powerful mind -- let it bring you to nirvana.  Let it bring you closer to you, closer to others, and closer to god, and closer to the spiritual mind, the non-religious, non-prejudiced non-hateful, and the non-jealous. 

These things are enemies of the mind and are other forms of bondage of the mind. 

Every day take a step to be free that’s what life is

Flight - A Descent Into Hubris

T he year 2012 came and went, the elections are over and the Zombie Apocalypse, or worse, the fiscal cliff still haunts us.  In one of the last films of the year, Hollywood deemed it necessary to give us a lesson in choices to open our holiday season.  If you are looking for a review of the new Denzel Washington ('Man on Fire,' "The Book of Eli" film, I'll give you that and a bit more.  For openers, the MPAA rates this film ‘R' for a very good reason, this film is about a man whose moral compass is swinging somewhat out of control, like a plane without pitch control.  As just about everyone I know who talks about film has mentioned, this is director Robert Zemeckis's first live action film since 'Castaway' starring Tom Hanks back in 2000.  In the meantime, director Zemeckis has been working with some top animators to pull off films like 'The Polar Express.’  'Beowulf and 2009’s ‘A Christmas Carol.'  "Flight" is written by John Gatins (Real Steel 2011), and gives us a character study of a man who makes choices, that when seen by other characters in the film and the audience themselves, are clearly unwise, if not just downright wrong.  The character of Whip Whittaker is able to swagger away from his wrecks as if he blessed by some divine being.  ‘Flight’ is a study of hubris.

I am absolutely sure that the executives at Paramount have no reason to think that today's audience is looking for a moral lesson in choice and responsibility.  I am sure that they were looking for a film that would just make them millions of dollars taken directly from the moviegoers pockets.  However, 'Flight' is more than about money or greed; it is about pride, choices, and consequences.  Denzel plays probably one of the coolest characters in film today.  In 'The Book of Eli,' he was the humble servant of the Divine who, like the prophets of old wandered for many years on a spiritual journey to deliver the word of God to a place where that word can be heard by many.  In 'Man on Fire’, he is the tormented ex-CIA assassin out to redeem himself of the many sins of his past.  Washington's character pulls this off by sacrificing himself to save a young Dakota Fanning.  Probably the closest Denzel has come to the character of Captain 'Whip' Whitaker was that of Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling in ‘Courage Under Fire' back in 1996 with Meg Ryan.  The difference is obvious but subtle.  In 'Flight' Denzel is Captain 'Whip' Whittaker, the coolest (did I mention that before?), drunkest, highest S.O.B. that ever flew a commercial airplane.  John Goodman (who has been in just about everything) plays his too-hip-for-you 'friend/supplier/demon' and Bruce Greenwood (Start Trek - 2009) and Don Cheadle ('Iron Man 2,' 'Hotel Rwanda') play the team who are there to keep Washington's ass out of the fire.  Most people who come to see films like 'Flight' come because they saw the trailer where Denzel flies the airplane upside down.  Needless to say, what takes place in the remaining hour after the flight is just as riveting, The action is toned down, however, the acting, editing, and characters jump into high gear as we see how Whittaker, deals with the aftermath, his demons, and the NTSB inquiry into the days leading up to the crash.

Honnestly, Robert Zemeckis is obvious as he gives us musical cues to each character as they step onto the screen.  In some cases, one may wonder if he is a bit too condescending toward his audience, or, does he just want to make sure he gets his point across about the character.  Our antihero, Captain William 'Whip' Whitaker's thematic cue is 'Feelin' Alright' by Dave Mason from the time he was in Traffic, and sung by Joe Cocker.  The song not only plays well when Capt. Whitaker's swaggers into the cockpit after a night of partying with stewardess, Trina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez).  The lyrics hint at a man who is trapped and has a need to escape, and that man is Whitaker, and guess whom he needs to escape from?  Our captain has alcohol for breakfast and a coke chaser (read cocaine) to even himself out.  Arriving at the plane on a cold wet morning, he meets his co-pilot, Ken Evans played by Brian Geraghty ('The Hurt Locker,' 'Jarhead') as your typical Southern Baptist type Holy Roller.  Evans is clean cut and is put off by Whitaker's morning wake up routine of coffee, aspirin, and hits of oxygen.  Now for those of us who went through our twenties living our life on the edge -- this sounds perfectly normal.  People like this thrive on this type of lifestyle, they put on their shades and swagger into work and don't think twice about it - except that these people don't have 102 lives in their hands.

Actor/writer John Gatins ('Coach Carter,' 'Real Steel') has two storylines going during the first act.  The first, of course belongs to Whip and his adventures in the sky, the second belongs to Nicole (Kelly Reilly).  Nicole seems like your typical anorexic, tattooed, needle scarred, heroin addict.  Reilly's plays Nicole almost perfect in the sense, that she too like, Whip is trapped in a life filled with choices that are dragging her down.  We follow Nicole as she tracks down her next heroine score.  What Zemeckis shows us, is the stereotypical girl from the wrong side of the tracks who has some sense of morality.  Nicole, while begging for a hit of Heroine flatly turns down being in a porn film.  Nicole is messed up, but has some sense of morality.  While Nicole is shooting up some high-grade Afghanistan heroine, the Cowboy Junkies are heard in the background singing 'Sweet Jane.’  What Gatins and Zemeckis try to show us are two characters that are fated by their choices, and perhaps by a higher power to meet.  This is one of those scenes where Robert Zemeckis makes it painfully obvious as he shows the paramedics who are wheeling the overdosed Nicole out her apartment in a gurney as they, along with Nicole’s sleazy apartment manager take a second to look up into the sky to see Whitaker's plane is flying upside down.  In many ways, Robert Zemeckis spoon-feeds his audience details that are obvious to the most clueless viewer.  I find that insulting, however, because of the pace of the film, and the journey Whip, Nicole, and the audience are quickly taking, I will forgive the director for this.

Although Washington's Whitaker makes his own choices, he is not alone in making them. 'Flight' gives us several excellent, but brief, performance from John Goodman, as Whip's over the top drug dealer.  As Goodman's character -- Harling Mays -- saunters into the hospital telling the nurses that 'he is on list' while listening to, The Rolling Stone's 1968 classic 'Sympathy for the Devil.'  This song too, is very appropriate, because, like the devil, Mays doesn't cause Whitaker to make bad choices.  However, like Old Nick himself, he is there to ensure that those dark choices are made.  Goodman, in his several short appearances, also provides in this otherwise serious film, a touch of comedic relief.  What we find in 'Flight,' is a closer look at what we a moviegoers, and how filmmakers tend to gloss over - the aftermath of disaster.  I don't know how many main characters in the history of filmmaking have causes so much destruction in a film, and because they are the 'hero,' of the film, they walk away scot-free.  Think ‘Die Hard.’

Haling Mays is not Whitaker’s only enabler.  Bruce Greenwood serves as the pilot’s union representative, Charlie Anderson. Anderson informs Whitaker upon regaining consciousness in the hospital that essentially he has his back covered.  In entering into this relationship with Whip, he too enters the world as a co-conspirator in Denzel’s descent into deception.  Enter Don Cheadle as the lawyer brought in to get Whip out of the potential prison sentence for flying while impaired.  

While watching this film other flight disaster films also come to mind, such as ‘Alive,’ ‘Castaway,’ ‘Flight of the Phoenix, ‘Passengers,’ ‘Final Destination,’ etc. where the passengers struggle with trying to survive after the crash.  The difference here is that the person struggling to survive is the pilot himself.  There are many scenes where there is no action but intense conversations between, Greenwood, Washington and Cheadle volleying back and forth about right and wrong and Denzel always declaring himself the winner because he save 96 people out of 102.  Most people in today’s society would see Captain Whip Whitaker’s point of view, and there lies the problem.  In today’s society, being right seems to come down to a matter of opinion, and we root for Whip as he lies to himself.  We feel bored and annoyed as Whip attends an AA meeting with Nicole and has to listen to a guy talk about how he is an alcoholic.  We don’t care, we don’t want to hear him, we want to focus on how the hell Whip is going to stay out of jail.  Whip leaves the meeting with a look of annoyance on his face, goes off, and does what he always does… drinks to excess.  As William Blake said, “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”  For Whitaker, the road is a bumpy one.

Robert Zemeckis paces his film, giving us equal amounts of fast pace action with moments of thoughtful introspection, giving the audience a moment to reflect on Washington’s performance, and his choices.  The scenes are crisp, to the point and while giving the audience that moment to breathe and allow them to ask the question:  Would I have done that?

For the most part, ‘Flight’ is peppered by Rock and Roll classics like the ones already mentioned but also including another Rolling Stones hit ‘Gimme Shelter,’ Bill Withers’ ‘Ain't No Sunshine,’ Marvin Gaye;s "What's Going On," and trying to sum it all up with Johnny Lee Hooker’s  blues classic, ‘Never Get Out of These Blues Alive.’  The music is blatant but helpful in setting the tone of the scene and describes the mood accurately.  Or maybe, too accurately. 

My favorite scene comes near the end of the film when Whitaker is found in a hotel suite passed out and hung over right before he is supposed to testify at a NTSB hearing.  A hearing that Don Cheadle’s character has gone through enormous effort in trying to prepare both the NTSB head investigator and Whitaker himself into steering the board into declaring the whole tragedy an ‘Act of God.’  What Cheadle and Greenwood come up is insane, wrong, and very funny.  Denzel’s performance during the hearing is worth watching as you see a man who is totally struggling with his conscience, his integrity, his demons, and the truth.  Flight is worth watching, if not for the story, but for Denzel Washington’s performance.  Like a man with both a devil and an angel on his shoulder, he tries to ignore both and go his own way only finding that he cannot serve two masters.  ‘Flight’ is a little over an hour and a half, and is a great film to rent or own.

Movie Data

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Year: 2012

Staring: Denzel Washington, Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Kelly Reilly

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Producer(s): Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis

Writer: John Gatins

Rating: R

Running Time: 138 minutes

Release Date: 11/2/2012

Cold Heart and 'Warm Bodies'

S ometimes a classic story takes on a different form.  In the case of "Warm Bodies" that story may be familiar, however, in the case of life in a post-apocalyptic nightmare of zombie hoards, which form comes in the form of a wishful dream.  A fun, shambling foray into the romantic comedy genre with a side of horror, "Warm Bodies" stars Nicholas Hoult ("X-Men: First Class," "Clash of the Titans," "A Single Man") and Teresa Palmer ("I Am Number Four," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice") as a cute mismatched couple on a journey of discovery.  "Warm Bodies" is rated PG-13 for some of the violence. 

It doesn't take long to realize that you are watching the most recent adaptation of Shakespeare's adaptation of the 1562 Arthur Brooke's Italian tragedy "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet."  An older version of the story comes from Ovid's "Metamorphoses," called "Pyramus and Thisbe." Our story's protagonist, is named 'R' because he can't remember his real name, other than it may have started with an 'R.' He spends his days shuffling around an airport terminal.  R, unlike other zombies tends to be introspective wonders why he doesn't seem to be like any 'normal' zombies.  Why he has flashes of thoughts, almost memories, while he ponders the mysteries of life, somewhat odd for a zombie, don't you think?  R is a hoarder, a collector, and he appreciates music.  'Warm Bodies' is based on Isaac Marion's book of the same name and explores the world of zombies as more of a metaphor of the dull grind of everyday life that we find ourselves trapped in.  A world where we, as humans, live day to day without any real friends, any real thought of what is happening around us.  However, occasionally that one special person appears in our lives and things change. 

Enter Julie (Teresa Palmer).  Julie lives with her father, Grigio, played by John Malkovich.  Grigio is the leader of a walled fortress near the center of town.  Malkovich plays the father and leader as sort of a gray character, not sure, where he stands in this film other than a minor antagonist.  Julie and her boyfriend, Perry (Dave Franco - James’s younger brother), along with a small group of armed scavengers are raiding a pharmacy for medical supplies when R and his group of shamblers smell human flesh and attack the pharmacy.  During the melee of humans against the shambling corpses most of the group is killed except for Julie, her friend, Nora (Analeigh Tipton), and of course Perry.  At this point, I have to mention that "Warm Bodies" main flaw is a lot of exposition, rather than action.  For the first 20 minutes of the film is almost total voice over by R.  I guess, that can't be helped, because eh, R is dead.  Throughout the film, R interjects humor as we hear his thoughts like when he is munching on Perry's corpse he takes a moment to think about how nice Perry's gold watch is.  Or when R and his zombie 'friend,' M (Rob Corddry - 'Hot Tub Time Machine,' 'What Happens in Vegas')  try to have a conversation that consists mostly of grunts and groans while the two try to express their feelings for each other.  Another road bump that 'Warm Bodies' runs into is that in some cases the pacing is a bit slow.  Either because director/screenplay writer, Jonathan Levine (50/50), and editor Nancy Richardson ("Twilight," "The Vow," "Red Riding Hood") were trying to take their time to develop the character of R and Julie, as people (zombie) meant to be together, or perhaps, zombies just don't move that fast. 

Like the Shakespearian story, R and Julie come to terms with their differences and although he is dead, R does his best to come off slick in front of Julie despite his handicap.  The audience witnesses what we as young adults in love go through.  It is about half way through the second act that the pacing picks up.  What I liked about this film is the sense of hope that the film gives the audience in its schmaltzy kind of way.  'Warm Bodies' also brings to mind another concept that I like is that in the acceptance of diverse states of being or just differences in people.  What I didn't care too much for was the amount of exposition along with the concepts that by eating someone’s brains you get their memories.  I thought that this one concept I thought was just too farfetched.  In this case, R's feelings for Julie are not only due to a physical attraction for her, but mostly by the fact that he ate her boyfriend's brains.  In spite of my minor objections, 'Warm Bodies' is just a fun film to take your older kids to, or a great date movie. 

Movie Data

Genre: Comedy, Horror. Romance

Year:  2013

Staring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, John Malkovich

Director: Jonathan Levine

Producer(s): David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Bruna Papandrea

Writer: Jonathan Levine, Isaac Marion (novel) 

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 98 minutes

Release Date: 2/1/2013

Mama - The Creepy Factor

We all have to start the big leagues of film making somewhere, and for the director of "Mama," this film is a great place to start.  Based on his own short film, director Andres Muschiett, while under the watchful eye of Executive Producer Guillermo Del Toro, has brought us a horror film, that although is not perfect, does deliver what we go to see films like this for, shock and fear.  Like other films, that Del Toro has attached himself to, this one also involves children, as well as a mysterious, and typically malevolent being that has a hold on two young girls.  The film stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ("Game of Thrones"'), and Oscar Nominee Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty," "Lawless," "The Help,"  and "The Debt") and two young actresses that just exude an aura of creepiness. "Mama" is about two young children left in a cabin in the woods for five years, and have finally reentered society. However, they brought something back with them.  Like other recent horror films, "Mama," is rated PG 13.

The first act begins about five years ago in about 2008 during that horrible economy we all remember like a bad memory, with the father of the two young girls killing his financial partners and then his ex-wife. The girls, waiting in their pink girly innocently decorated bedroom, unaware of the violence going around them, finally see their father, who in a frenzied state, takes them on a wild ride into the snow covered mountains where they finally end up crashing their car off the side of a cliff.  Finding shelter in a run-down cabin, the father plans to commit murder-suicide.  At that moment, a hideous, dark, mysterious creature whisks the father away and prevents him from committing a horrible crime. A note here to the viewer;  the girls, played by two or three actresses each,  Victoria the oldest is played first as a three year-old by Morgan McGarry, and by then by Megan Charpentier ("Resident Evil: Retribution," "Red Riding Hood") and the younger child, Lilly, as a baby is played by twins Maya and Sierra Dawe. As a six year-old Lilly, she is played creepily by Isabelle Nélisse. Horror movies, especially ones where Guillermo Del Torro is involved, seem to want to capture an innocence lost, or in this case, the bonds between a child and the need for a parental figure in their life.  In 'Pan's Labrinth', the loss was a loving father, in "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," the loss is of a loving mother figure, and here in 'Mama,' the figure missing is the mother.

"Mama's" second act starts five years later in the present day, and the children's uncle Lucas (Coster-Waldau plays both the uncle and the father, Jeffery), and Annabel Chastain), his dark, bass playing, hard rock, tattooed girlfriend take in the two feral children.  Lucas and Annabel are both artists whose lifestyle is not necessarily conducive to child rearing  are also having their own fears about starting a family.  The girls, as part of their transition back into civilization, become the research subjects of Dr. Gerald Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash - "Aliens"), a child psychiatrist whose motives seem questionable at times.  Especially when he agrees to support Lucas and Annabel in a custody lawsuit against Jean, the aunt of the girls dead mother.  Dreyfuss wants complete access to the kids for his research project and later a book, in return he offers Lucas and Annabel the All-American suburban setting -- house and all. 

What becomes apparent in this act is the fact that although the girls are adjusting out of their feral ways and acting more human, Lilly, is struggling with her new settings and is downright strange.  Older sister, Victoria, who has had bad eyesight since she was three, and had lost her glasses during the car crash with her dad five years earlier seems torn between her loyalties to her uncle and her new mommy figure Annabel, and the mysterious entity the girls call Mama. 

The first and second acts do their jobs very well, they introduce the plot, build the characters, and shows us the need for the children to live normal and happy lives. We see Lucas malevolently man-handled and who ends up in the hospital, leaving the child rearing to Annabel.  Annabel, a person who not only doubts herself as a mother figure, but also doubts herself as an adult.  Clearly in her thirties or quickly approaching thirty, she struggles with her inability to bond with a child and clearly sees this as a reason why she an Lucas have not started a family. Because of the quick pace, that director Muschietti and Editor Michele Conroy keep through the first and second acts we don't explore Annabel's emotions too deeply and perhaps that is what keeps this film from going a level deeper.

'Mama's' third act continues at a wild pace but quickly slows down and allows the reader to catch his or her breath.  The climax of "Mama" is, in my opinion, mixed.  There are parts of this film that seem inconsistent in both story and in the acting.  However, in the third act is where the film is made or unmade.  We come to understand the relationship the girls have with Mama, we see certain things that explain who this creature is and its need for the children, and Chastain's character’s need to find the mother within and save the children.  There is a Lovecraftian notion to never show too much of the monster, just hint at it.  Muschietti does an excellent job of this for the first two acts, using real life creatures and makeup to display his horror, however, it is at the end that he filmmaker tend to rely too much on CGI to tell the story for them.  I enjoyed a great deal of the one hour and forty minutes, and although the ending was not a complete letdown, I did wish for something  a bit more.

My personal notion is that if you are going to make a horror film, go all the way and make it R-rated and pull out all the stops.  Hell, even if it is cheesy and gory take out all the stops.  'Mama,' on the other hand is rated PG-13, however, "Mama" does provide the audience with the thrills, the shock, the horror, and catharsis that we go to see films like "Mama.".

Movie Data

Genre: Horror

Year:  2013

Staring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash

Director: Andrés Muschietti

Producer(s): J. Miles Dale, Barbara Muschietti

Writer: Andrés Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, Neil Cross

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 100 minutes

Release Date: 1/18/2013

A love letter from an old friend.

Sitting on your shelf, gathering dust, I was new once, now my ears are dogged, torn and I am tired, yellowed and faded. 

I remember when you found me, how thrilled you were when first you saw my face, and you held me to your heart. We spent treasured times together, hours upon hours traveling through time, traveling through space, flying across the desert plain, across to the mountains and past the sea.

I heard you laugh, I heard you cry, the smile on your face at the happy times, the tears running down your cheeks, the grief and pain. Every day with you was like a new chapter of a book, new and exciting, bright and fresh.

Now our time together come less frequently, you have learned much from me and need me less. You grab me from time to time, reaffirming our friendship, if only for a short while. I come to life when you think of me, I awake from my sleep and for a while there is no death, there is no end.

I saw you the other day, you came around, but you didn't come for me. Instead, you put another one of my kind upon this shelf; we sit here sharing stories of the times we spent with you. How lonely we are together, without you.

We miss you, but we know that you love us, you cherish us, you will never forget us. We know these things and many more because you have not discarded us, or gave us away. On your shelf we stay, till you want to read us again.

Sincerely,

Your loving books.

by Robert Barbere