Border Justice Redux

“I wanted to use the vinyl I’ve been listening to for years – complete with all the pops and cracks. I even kept the sound of the needle being put down on the record. Basically because I wanted people’s experience to be the same as mine when they hear this soundtrack for the first time." Quentin Tarantino

 I made a Coco-Cola Brisket Stew which we ate for breakfast yesterday...and then apple pie and ice-cream...and then we went downtown to see Django Unchained. I believe this was a straight up made with love classic Western movie, of the kind I loved seeing growing up...the kind of movie as a girl I fell in love with the cowboys and felt the betrayal of the bad guys and the need for redemption. Tarantino's new movie gives us this emotional loss and payback and all kinds of fun action on the way.

 I love Kerry Washington and was so glad to have such a strong powerful female actor in this movie up against and with so many intense male characters. Oh the characters and acting is fantastic! Samuel L. Jackson seemed unrecognizable to me. I kept forgetting most of the actors were famous...they were so engaged in their roles. I expected Di Caprio to be good, but he was really maybe the best he's ever been. The surprise of all was how much I got into Jaimie Foxx. I love Jaimie Foxx, but I wasn't sure how he would carry the movie. The movie, the plot, the payoff and deliverance of the story...demands we MUST care about this character Django really depended heavily on Foxx's performance. Django Unchained gave me the feeling I had so many years of watching my old favourites in this genre...movies like Billy Jack, Walking Tall, Death Wish, Coffy, Straw Dogs, Taxi Driver, Carrie, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia and so many more...

 Why were these movies so popular and meaningful to their audiences? A lot of young people loved these movies at the time because many of them felt injustice. Hatred and bigotry for different colours and races, for gender, for economic status...and those issues have not changed as much as we might like to believe. A lot yes, but they still are there... Django Unchained is absolutely a knot in a string of these movies of the past. Django is right on the same rope. The plot depends upon character...which is also a catalyst as the revenge movies of the 70s. These characters want to control themselves, to control events. But what happens is that no matter how hard a character tries to be someone else, or control themselves, or hold back...their true selves, their true colours will surface.

This works on the bad guys as well as the good guys. We had the most delightful audience. A terrific thing about going to an opening day show of Tarantino's movies is that it's a room filled with movie lovers and fans. And there is applause, cheering, screen talking and a massive community energy in the theatre. Tarantino is one of the few directors who inspires movie audiences to behave like old-school movie audiences...it's really terrific. At one point when a particular character gets shot...a woman yells out "Dumb ass!". It was delightful! He really was a dumbass and he deserved to be shot. These days so many of us feel we can't get justice at our jobs, or in our government, or in daily life as simple as someone acting with care and courtesy driving.

Studying history can create even more sense of injustice...what if WE were there we say to ourselves...how would I live or act? Some of us really wish we could turn back the clock and take a stand...we want to be a Django. Acting out our revenge fantasies in real life...not good. But having the sense that such injustices from sexism, to racism, to corporate bosses not taking care of their staff...the communal emotion of a movie theatre audience and a movie gives us the feeling we are not paranoid. We are not alone...we are not imagining that the potential for injustice is something we can only have in hindsight. We hope there was a guy like Django in real history. We hope we can do the right thing in our regular lives...even though we kind of know the house always wins.

 The audience wants payback. And Tarantino not only knows that...he showed so much respect to the history and crime of slavery by delivering the payback. Sometimes it is enough that we have release and deliverance from art, if not real life. And this is a mystery of artmaking Tarantino understands.

Watching...

Kerry Washington is one of my new favourite actors. She is so so good in Life Is Hot In Cracktown a movie that has an astounding ensemble of actors and is one of the best movies I've seen in a few months. I felt claustrophbic...in fact, I sort of had a panic attack during the beginning of the movie. I had a snack...but lost my appetite completely. I just simply loved this movie, loved the storytelling, how it played out and the editing and how the director, who was also the writer put this group of stories and people together. You really really have to see this movie. 10/10. Trust me, the trailer doesn't do it justice...but at least you can see what an incredible cast it offers.

You see those three boys...I almost didn't put their pic on here...i was so mad at them in the movie. I hate them thats what good actors they all are...





Isn't this a great image? Megan Fox was superb in her supporting role as a ditsy starlet. I was pretty impressed with her voice work and portrayal in what turned out to be a totally fantastic movie called How To Lose Friends And Aliienate People. Its not fast paced, its not slick...but its got a sweet and slow growing humour and a soft centered protagonist who first appears as a total jerk...but he grows on us. I have to admit I partly liked this movie because the main character kind of reminds me of me ha ha. Just the way he puts his foot in his mouth and says things that are true but really bother people, I have had this experience as a foreigner many times in the USA. Stagg is always telling me "Candy, you can't say that!" We have seen many fish-out-of-water movies right? This one has a tiny feel like Peter Sellers in The Party. British guy tries to make it in Hollywood. There were just little things that gave this tried and true plot a couple of nice new flavours. Lots of heart and very funny. 10/10. Stars Simon Pegg, you know, the genius from Shaun Of The Dead.


Advertized as a comedy I found Four Christmases to be a cleverly disguised horror movie posing as a comedy. What a nightmare. I mean that in a good way. Cute funny movie about visiting family during holidays. 7/10.




A real life hero, von Stauffenberg, who Cruise really resembles: The Nazi officer who tried to kill Hitler.

The last thing I expected to like was the movie Valkyrie. the promotions for this movie did not give us agood idea of what an incredible story this movie was telling. I had avoided this movie because it really looked lame in the trailers. The movie might not be the best movie in the world, but it iis tense, suspenseful and has the feel of a graphic novel portraying history. i found these aspects very interesting but the story was awesome. I had no idea of this plot to kill Adolf Hitler and I think it was such a good idea for a movie. The way director Bryan singer sets up the close cameras on faces, on boots, on street scenes captures the struggle for human touches in a fascist oppressive time and place. Tom Cruise is very good but the actor who plays his protege Jamie Parker, is very very good as is Kenenth Branaugh, Tom Wilkinson (does he steal every movie he is in?)...the beautiful and wonderful Terrance Stamp (who lived through bombings in WWII) and Eddie Izzard are just some of the amazing actors who add to this movie immensely. I cried like a baby at the end. 7/10.


The 10th Annual BET Awards were fantastic last night. All kinds of outstanding performances with Usher, Alicia Keyes, a surprise with "Dark Gable". I had mixed feelings about Chris Brown...he did a dance tribute to Michael jackson with three songs...during the final song "Man In The Mirror" he broke down and cried and couldn't finish the song. The audience for sure was ready to accept and forgive Brown for his scandal last year when he missed the BET Awards after hitting his girlfriend Rhianna. he's a young man and he made a mistake..I hope he does feel bad about it and wasn't faking it last night.


There are a few commercials intersperced in the above video...but if you didn't see the BET Awarfds...this is worth watching . Patti laBelle, Esperanza Spalding, Janelle Monae and Alicia Keyes perform some of Prince's songs...Patti LaBelle kills it. prince gives a short think you...totally worth putting up with adverts to see this video.

Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics

Check out this site if you always suspected something was up with political leaders and the spokesmodels for religion. Like what is the psychological make up of Pat Buchanan? Did you know binLaden was a malignant narcissist? John Kerry is a elitist narcisist? And George W.Bush falls pray to a follow the sheep personality, could that risk his leadership skills?