Recently most of my movie-watching seems to be on the airplane. Here’s one formulaic romantic comedy (anti-social guy falls for pretty girl with emotional baggage, add twist of lemon–the ghosts) that managed to be enjoyably simple, witty, and charming. Great movie for a date or night at home with your bf/gf. Great music!
Watching the trailer though, seems like I saw a slightly edited version on the airplane…
Official Website: ghosttownmovie.com
Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas turned the last section of Barack Obama’s New Hampshire speech into an heart-moving song, but the words, these words below, are the most inspiring.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change. (We want change.)
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea: Yes We Can.
Phew. I just finished seeing the new batman movie “The Dark Knight” so a few quick thoughts.
It was long, but surprisingly deep, a movie that makes you think about human psychology. The villians were, unlike previous versions, less comic-like and more realistic…yet without changing the character of their comic book counterparts. Realistic therefore quite scary.
The movie also explored the good and evil inherent in all of us. You find yourself rooting not only for the “hero” but also for the ordinary citizens, hoping that they will do the right thing.
This is more of a note to myself to take a look at this photographer’s work a little more closely: Akio Tomari (www.littaitomari.jp). My friend Yu-ki Matsuoka, a photographer himself, just recommended Tomari’s exhibition.
He seems to have that Kawauchi Rinko-like, soft, opaque, subdued atmospheric style for some of his photos which I like, but which I also believe is often used in place of having actual message to communicate. If the artwork is not communicating anything, then it’s just pretty. Just pretty isn’t so bad, but it does separate the artists from those who are simply technically talented. Then again, in Japan’s tiny art market, artists are often forced to become designers…that is, working commercially.
Another thought, artists working as designers (commercial "cameramen") have counterparts in actors and actresses in Japan who are given as much credit for their commercials as they are for their movies and TV shows. Maybe they are the contemporary manifestations of Kawabata Yasunari’s "Palm-of-the-Hand" stories?
Anyway, more later once I get to see more of Tomari’s work.
