MOVIES: “SURROGATES”

"Unplug yourselves…and look in the mirror. This is how God made you. We're not meant to experience life through a machine." Thus opens "Surrogates," an intriguing, inventive, satisfying, futuristic thriller, set in a time when people don't come out of their homes any more, but live every aspect of their lives (work and play) through their good-looking, real-life avatars or "surrogates." Surrogates are robots that are so life-like it's hard to tell them from their "operators," except that they're a little too perfect. Of course, some operators choose "Surrogates" very different from themselves, much like people today creating divergent online personas.

"Surrogates" repeats elements from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Blade Runner," "I, Robot," "District 9," and "Wall-E," but is unique in that it is about real humans living vicariously, hooked up to "stem chairs"—super-sophisticated VR (virtual reality). Everyone uses surrogates except a rag-tag band of resisters who live on a run-down "reservation," led by "The Prophet." The status quo highly encourages use of surrogates because it is "safer," "cleaner," etc. The company that makes the surrogates has as its slogan: "Do what you want. Be what you want."

The history and lingo of this brave new world are quickly set up in the opening scenes, and we're ready to follow FBI agent Tom Greer (the well-cast Bruce Willis), on the trail of a brand-new kind of crime: two operators died when their surrogates got destroyed. But this is not supposed to be possible. Something is going radically wrong.

Amidst crime-solving and existential questions about what it means to be human, there is a moving love story between Tom and his wife who are both grieving the loss of their young son. Tom is rethinking his use of a surrogate while his wife is using hers to escape from life, and escape even from Tom. She says of her "surry": "This is who I am now." This is so realistically portrayed that it makes you think of those of us here and now who are holed up in homes and offices, addicted to or slaving away at an online existence, and perhaps acquiring a blurred sense of our own identity. "Surrogates" operators look rather pale and sickly. Real humans are disparagingly called "meatbags" (by operators speaking through surrogates: self-hatred, anyone?) It's chilling to watch the middle-aged, vulnerable, flesh-and-blood Tom out on the streets among the young, eerily-gorgeous, airbrushed, steely, powerful, slightly-mechanical, clinical, cold surrogates, and watch how they treat him (air of disdain). Much food for thought, she said, as she typed her movie review hunched over her glowing screen after many hours at her glowing screen….

Are "surrogates" a future possibility? In the film, surrogates are also used for war—something the U.S. military is already working on (we have "drone" planes bombing in Pakistan as we speak, robots that approach and diffuse bombs, and potential recruits training on video games such as "America's Army").

There was 1) one piece of "on the nose" dialogue, 2) one faulty continuity visual, 3) one big logic gaffe, and 4) one inexplicable device, but other than that, a very smart yarn with sharp dialogue and superb acting. It made me think of how pockets of people ARE choosing to "resist" the "online life" in its infancy. Christopher West (Mr. Theology of the Body) was recently interviewed on Nightline, but he couldn't watch himself because he doesn't have a TV. A friend called him and said: "Just go to a neighbor's house!" But alas, Christopher lives in Lancaster, PA. All his neighbors are Amish!!

OTHER STUFF:

--Theology of the body? The whole movie is quite literally a TOB movie!

--A bold, remarkable visual statement about true beauty at the end of this film.

--Gotta keep track of who's real and who's a surrogate, and then who's "operating" which surrogate when. But it's not THAT hard.

--Reminds me of the supertacular DCTalk futuristic music video "Breathe." Everyone walks around like zombies with oxygen masks on (in some kind of police state), until someone rips one off and realizes they can breathe and it's great and it's OK and they won't die.

--Takes place in Beantown, USA! (Specifically "Dawchestah")

--SPOILER ALERT! 1) "If they killed my son looking for me—then it's my fault!" 2) Miles Strickland's body suddenly disappears as it's supposed to be burning on the bier 3) How the hey is the "rebirth of humanity" supposed to happen if everyone on the planet gets killed? 4) Why didn't the surrogate just untie the portly human computer geek and let HIM type in the codes and stuff at the end, instead of having him dictate it to the surrogate?

PHILOSOPHY: DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

The late writer, David Foster Wallace, (also a brilliant philosopher) defeats fatalism as a philosophy: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14wwln-Wallace-t.html

THEOLOGY OF THE BODY: CARDINAL RIGALI & BISHOPS SUPPORT CHRISTOPHER WEST

Bishops Affirm Support for Christopher West, Send Message to Theology of the Body Institute

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, SEPT. 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Philadelphia and the bishop of Harrisburg are expressing support for Christopher West and his work at the Theology of the Body Institute.In an Aug. 10 statement released today, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, who is chairman of the institute's episcopal advisory board, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades, head of the diocese where the organization is located, affirmed their "strong support" for its "important work."The prelates affirmed: "We are convinced that John Paul II's Theology of the Body is a treasure for the Church, indeed a gift of the Holy Spirit for our time."Yet, its scholarly language needs to be 'translated' into more accessible categories if the average person is to benefit from it."To do this is the specific mission of the Theology of the Body Institute, and we believe that Christopher West, the Institute's popular lecturer and spokesman, has been given a particular charism to carry out this mission."The communiqué continued, "In light of recent discussions, we are happy to state our full confidence in Christopher, who continues to show great responsibility and openness in listening carefully to various observations and reflections on his work and in taking them into account."The prelates affirmed that West is in communication with them as his local ordinaries, and has their blessing.In our view, they stated, the institute's "programs, courses, and materials reflect strong fidelity to the teaching of the Church and to the thought of Pope John Paul II."The prelates affirmed their "enthusiastic encouragement" for the work of the institute, and expressed the hope that more people, including priests, deacons, religious and laity, will "avail themselves of the valuable training and resources offered" by the institute.--- --- ---On ZENIT's Web page:Full text: www.zenit.org/article-26893?l=english

MOVIES: “THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE”

YYYY

Ever since God made us clothes to cover our bodies, we've been obsessed with those coverings. But what is fashion? What is beauty? Anna Wintour, editor of "Vogue" magazine, and her longtime collaborator, Grace Coddington, seem to know.

Grace Coddington & Anna Wintour

In "The September Issue," a low-key PG-13 documentary (could've been PG)--an A & E indie film that feels like television--we not only get to follow Anna and Grace all over the world to fashion shows and fashion shoots, and observe their interaction with the world's top designers, we also get inside Anna and Grace's heads and eyes as they work on the September issue of Vogue (a phonebook sized mag). What's the big deal with the September issue? It's THE time of year when women see what's new and change things up in their wardrobe. And Anna Wintour will have a lot to do with making or breaking what's "in." She is considered the world's most powerful woman in couture.

If you read/saw and enjoyed "The Devil Wears Prada," a novel-into-film about Anna Wintour (played to the teeth by the incomparable Meryl Streep), penned by a young woman who used to work at Vogue, you'll want to meet the real Wintour. She's more an intensely-focused British businesswoman than the ice queen she's made out to be, although she doesn't readily suffer foolishness. It's fascinating to watch her work and carry herself with a sort of unquestioned absolute aesthetic moral authority. "Vogue" not only operates like a tightly run ship, but also like a religion. "High priestess," "pope," "church," and "infallible" are alternately used to describe Wintour's world and verdicts.

Grace Coddington, a former model from Wales, is a hands-on stylist and a warm complement to Anna's efficiency. If Anna is the soul of "Vogue," Grace is the heart. (Interestingly enough, the names "Anna" and "Grace" both mean "grace.") Despite the tremendous respect, admiration and trust in each other's ability, you'll probably want to get out of the way when they go toe to toe over their differing tastes. Both are women of incredible resolve who love what they do. So much of what they do is simply SEEING. Anna and Grace's eyes take us through "SI." Anna's fixate like a hunter's, Grace's constantly dart around, gathering and creating.

This documentary is getting high marks from all corners, and for fans of "Project Runway," and "The Rachel ["I die"] Zoe Project" or fashion magazines in general, "SI" is a wonderfully human window into the day-to-day innermost workings of the industry. I expected this doc to be a fast-pasted, pumping catwalk, madcap ride, but it's actually quite contemplative. Models (and their crazy world) don't figure in too heavily. "The September Issue," after all, is just that: an "old media" printed periodical (albeit dominated by pictures), and Wintour's world is anything but frenzied. (Sing to yourself the Mary Poppins' song: "A British household is run with precision….")
I was hoping to learn something about color and fabric and artistry and design, and I did. Anna is less candid about her rationale than Grace, and because of that, Grace begins to steal the show. Grace comments that she feels "left behind," because she's a "romantic," and she hearkens to a sensibility of the past (which shows up so elegantly in her artistic choices—I'm with you, Grace!) However, she draws herself up bravely and says: "But we have to charge ahead." Anna echoes these words about fashion being futuristic: "So, what else?" This must be the meaning of "fashion forward."

Never having flipped through even one issue of "Vogue," I was pleasantly surprised that Wintour's choices tend to be classic rather than avant-garde (like the New York Times Style Magazine which I DO read: you know, models throwing raw meat at each other, sitting on rubbish heaps, and often dressed in garb that one wouldn't even wear on Halloween). The ethos of "Vogue" is to tell stories through the photos, to create thematic worlds of fantasy and make-believe. Wintour's personal style is conservative, feminine, multi-colored, contained and slimline—always looking like a young Mom from the 60's or 70's. Her hair and makeup fit her perfectly and give her a certain agelessness.

What's fascinating about the Vogue offices and those that work there, is that it seems Wintour alone dresses up every day. Others, especially the women, are make-up free, with often unkempt hair and the plainest of clothes. Most are model thin. There are many wonderfully human ("they're just like us") moments, inclusive of Anna, Grace and everyone else: When Anna leaves the room, the staff look around nervously: "So what are we supposed to do with feathers this Fall?" Someone breaks the tension: "Wear 'em!" And even the best designers make giant fashion faux pas. Wintour herself wishes for "a better back end."

In the opening minutes of the film, Wintour shares that she thinks some people are intimidated by fashion, they don't understand it, and so they put it down (reminiscent of Anne Hathaway's character in the film "Devil Wears Prada" being cut down to size by the Wintour-character when she giggles at the seriousness with which everyone is taking fashion).

So, do nuns care about fashion? Why not? We're women, aren't we? At World Youth Day 2000 in Rome, I was with twenty other congregations of Sisters. We voted on the prettiest habit, and the Sisters of Life won. Designer: the late Cardinal O'Connor.

OTHER STUFF:
--Anna Wintour wears/promotes fur. :[
--There were many men in my audience. The whole audience felt free to groan (disagree) with Anna's decisions.
--"September Issue" has lots of genuine, not-set-up humor.

MOVIES: “DISTRICT 9”

YYY 1/2

The sci-fi hit "District 9" is 30% social statement (a la Ray Bradbury) and 70% blast 'em to Hades violence and special effects.

An alien spaceship breaks down over Johannesburg, South Africa, and the government sequesters the aliens in a refugee camp that quickly turns into a restive slum. Signs—many which you and I saw on buses and billboards as a clever promotion for the film—are everywhere: "Humans only!" White South African writer-director Neill Blomkamp is, of course, holding a mirror up to apartheid. White and Black South Africans are now united against the new outsiders. The two-legged, erect, human-sized aliens that look like a hybrid of Star Wars' Storm Troopers and giant shrimp are pejoratively called "prawns."

The movie is filmed in a gritty, pulsing, hand-held cinema-verite style, much like "Cloverfield." It's hard to look away, and the acting is superb. Much of it is presented as a video news magazine/diary that makes it seem even realer. "D9" feels like a European film without the "auteur" arbitrariness, and like a Hollywood action film without the greatly overblown pyro-technics and soundtrack. But this is not a small film. It's big, just somehow a little closer to the bone and a little less sleek than an "American film," which, for me, is a welcome change. Small horrors, encroaching on our normal lives and growing, are far more terrifying than big, loud, "BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID RIGHT NOW ON CUE!" Tinsel Town tropes. The CGI creatures (whose language is translated by subtitles) are completely, I mean completely, and seamlessly integrated into the live action as never before.

Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a government operative, is in charge of re-settling aliens in a new camp. He likes his job way too much, and has prawns killed with impunity. (He has much more pause killing humans later on.) This almost-goofy overachiever transforms (in more ways than one) into a desperate fugitive in a matter of hours. The hunter becomes the hunted. The story-line is very imaginative, and the film world can toast a fresh talent in the not-yet-30-years-old Blomkamp (who has a background in visual effects)!

The ethos of "D9" can be summed up in Wikus's terse reply to an alien's son who is delighted by similarities to himself that he observes in Wikus: "We are NOT the same!!"

A thought-provoking subplot involving bio-tech, power-lust and armaments firmly embeds "D9's" subject matter in the sad realities of (often black market) international commerce. I thought to myself at one point: just change up the players and the goods a little bit and we've got reality happening somewhere in the world this very moment.

The action only lags at the suddenly slowed-down, drawn-out gun battle ending which tries to play up a few heart-warming plot-points that were thin to begin with. Also at the end, the terms, conditions and rules of the story are repeated too much. We get it. But these are minor flaws. The final resolution is rather unique and complete, albeit with a hint of mystery.

"D9" is rated "R" for "bloody violence and pervasive language." It's no more violent than today's general movie violence, but there's a lot of, well, carnage. Alien weapons vaporize/liquefy people like juicy tomatoes. And there's a lot of vomit. Oodles of vomit. If you don't like violence, gore and just plain groddiness (although I wouldn't deem it "gratuitous), "D9" is not for you. The considerable use of the F-bomb doesn't feel gratuitous either, given the circumstances. And uttered with an Afrikaner accent, it doesn't even sound like our harsh American usage, if there's such a distinction.

Nigerians come off looking very, very bad in this movie. This would never happen in a contemporary American-made film. There's a huge buzz online that "D9" is racist. It seems to be an intra-Africa thing as to how certain Africans look at other Africans. Seems to me this is the REAL "alien" story here! However, at one point, it was confusing, because when the Nigerians supposedly switched into their own language, they were speaking the Zulu "click" language. Forget "Inglorious Basterds": D9" seems to be some kind of revenge film when it comes to Nigerians. Just Google "Nigerians and District 9."

"D9," in the end, is pure entertainment. There's not a whole lot of heroism. Nobody really changes. The good stay good. The bad stay bad. In the main, everyone is just trying to survive.

And what does the ever-hovering spaceship signify? Home--always out of reach? And what is home? Where you're welcome?

OTHER STUFF:

--"D9" is based on a graphic novel.

--Is the slightly mysterious ending ripe for a sequel?

--You will not, I repeat, not be able to eat a Big Mac or any other meat for a while after watching D9. Trust me.

--The magic elixir that every protagonist in every movie is after is actually an elixir!

WOMEN FILMMAKERS STARTED EARLY--1895!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/movies/homevideo/30kehr.html

DOCUMENTARY: FATHER ALBERIONE--MEDIA APOSTLE

Please pray for a documentary on Blessed James Alberione that is underway.
Blessed Alberione is Founder of the Daughters of St. Paul (media Sisters) and the Pauline Family.

Blessed James Alberione, SSP --1884-1971 -- Feastday: November 27

Incidentally, after over 100 years of cinema, cinema has no official patron saint, though some have been proposed to the Church. Perhaps she's just waiting for a saint that was actually a filmmaker? (The internet has no official patron saint either. Fr. Alberione once said: "Someday, we may be getting our newspapers through the phone lines.")

MEDIA: HUMAN DIGNITY, DIALOGUE, FRIENDSHIP

3 Keys to Living in a Communications World--Pontifical Council President Offers Tips

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 24, 2009 (from Zenit.org) There are three keys to living in a "culture of communication," according to a Vatican official commenting on insights from Benedict XVI's message for World Communications Day.
Archbishop Claudio Celli spoke with L'Osservatore Romano about the need to use digital technology in ways that promote the dignity of the human being.
Technology has "great possibilities and great limits," the prelate affirmed, adding that the Holy Father is not naïve when he gives it a positive evaluation.
"He [the Pope] does not forget the difficulties and problems that these technologies can create," Archbishop Celli said.
The Vatican official went on to give three keys for using technology well:
The first, he said, is maintaining the value of the human person. In this regard, the archbishop recalled, the Pope "says care must be taken when it comes to words and images that are degrading to the human being; what fuels hatred and intolerance must be shut out, as should that which attacks the beauty and intimacy of human sexuality."
A second element to the age of communications, Archbishop Celli suggested, is dialogue between people of various countries, cultures and religions.
This dialogue, he said, "should not conceal who we are because that would not be respectful of the person with whom we are speaking. It must be an attentive and respectful dialogue that sincerely seeks the truth."
Finally, friendship is an element of the communications age, the prelate stated.
"Our friendships grow in our journey as human beings," he said. "We cannot trivialize the concept of friendship because it is one of the greatest riches that the human being can have."

http://www.zenit.org/article-26674?l=english

Sr. Helena's note: Archbishop Foley, the longtime head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (as it was called) used to give these three points: human dignity, truth, common good.

CELEBRITIES: REAL MEN THANK GOD

Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic Faith for 'second chance.'

Priest was his 'best friend.'
8/26/2009
Catholic News Agency (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/)
Speaking to the Bosnian daily 'Avaz,' Rourke said, 'God gave me a second chance in life and I thank Him.'
(Mickey Rourke) 'When you fall people push you down even more. The world is full of materialism and envy. When you are famous and you fall, people don’t want you to come back. It is almost impossible to come back. It’s hard enough the first time, but the second time it’s like you don’t even exist …God gave me a second chance.'
Rome, Italy (CNA) - Famed Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke, who was at the Sarajevo Film Festival last week, told a Bosnian newspaper that he thanks God and his Catholic faith for giving him a “second chance” in life to overcome his addictions, which almost led him to commit suicide. Speaking to the Bosnian daily “Avaz,” Rourke said, “God gave me a second chance in life and I thank Him.” Rourke achieved fame in the 80s with action films and erotic thrillers. At the beginning of the 90s he left film for boxing and fell into heavy drug and alcohol addiction. According to the newspaper, during the most difficult moments of his life, his psychiatrist and his priest were his best friends. “When you fall people push you down even more. The world is full of materialism and envy. When you are famous and you fall, people don’t want you to come back. It is almost impossible to come back. It’s hard enough the first time, but the second time it’s like you don’t even exist …God gave me a second chance, the guy upstairs helped me out,” he said. Several years ago Rourke began his return to the big screen and this year he won his first Golden Globe Award for the film “The Wrestler.” Rourke was also an Oscar favorite. Now, he says, he doesn’t think about Hollywood much. “I don’t care about Hollywood and what the people of Hollywood think. I don’t think about how it works because I simply don’t care. I don’t even dream about it.” In 2005, when he began to land bigger roles in films, he revealed to a magazine that he was meeting often with his pastor in New York and was on the verge of suicide. “If I weren’t Catholic I would have blown my brains out,” he said

MOVIES: OLDIES BUT GOODIES

Last night in Chicago's Grant Park, a bazillion people were enthralled by the old 1939 B & W "Young Mr. Lincoln." Really enrapt, laughing at all the jokes, enjoying the continuous melodramatic soundtrack, etc. Me, too.
Were we just movie lovers? Lincoln lovers? History lovers? Nostalgia lovers?

NEW MEDIA: ACTUAL VIDEO AD WILL BE IN A PRINT MAGAZINE! (Like Harry Potter's Daily Prophet Newspaper!)

By ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writer - Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:17PM EDT http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090819/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_techbit_cbs_print_video_ad
NEW YORK - An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly's print edition will be embedded with a video player that will run ads for CBS shows and Pepsi.
The ad comes in a heavy-paper package resembling the kind of novelty greeting cards that make noises. A roughly two-inch screen starts playing automatically as the page flips open. A speaker is embedded below it.
CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s Entertainment Weekly billed the video advertisement as the first ever to appear in a print magazine. CBS says the video player insert, made by a Los Angeles company called Americhip Inc., will be able to withstand the binding processes and mail delivery.
Ink-on-paper titles have been trying new formats to boost advertising revenue. Major newspapers have taken the once-taboo step of offering ads on their front pages, while magazines have tucked ads into cover flaps and even distributed video promotions on DVDs.
CBS won't say how much it is paying for the spread, but the idea behind these new experiments is generally to charge a premium for advertising that has more potential to catch readers' attention.
The video inserts will appear in some copies of the fall TV preview issue mailed to subscribers in New York and Los Angeles.
In the ad, characters from CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" talk up EW and give a how-to on navigating the different buttons that bring up more clips.
A menu of additional spots includes a clip from "Two and Half Men," a sneak peek at the new CBS comedy "Accidentally on Purpose" and a preview of the network's fall drama slate. There's also an ad for the Pepsi Max diet soft drink.

MOVIES: “500 DAYS OF SUMMER”

YYY 1/2

A young woman who doesn't want to commit. A young man who's smitten. We usually think of it the other way around, but Summer (Zooey Deschanel—some of her best work to date) doesn't believe in "true love" or finding "the one," and Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) does.

"500 Days of Summer" is fresh, young, not-too-edgy, and uses a technique of showing scenes from the 500 days, numbered, but out of order. It works seamlessly and never feels choppy. The whole winsome-but-not-gooey romance is tied together with a soundtrack which often breaks into the story itself because Summer and Tom bond over a shared love of music (Deschanel, also a singer in real life, gets to perform—as she often does in her on-screen roles).

Where do Summer and Tom get their respective, conflicting ideas about love? A brief but important retrospective of their growing-up years tells all. Summer is the child of divorce, Tom is the child of pop culture with its hope-filled dreams. But their stubborn clinging to their fixed ideas blocks them both from facing reality. Although "500 Days" is a light touch (though not quite a romantic comedy), Tom's pain can truly be felt. Tom's advantage is that he's not alone. His buddies and his little sister all help interpret and even narrate his love life for him, with some not-too-shoddy advice. Love isn't just a private thing, it's a social thing. It's heartening to see how much the younger generation "gets right" about love. The disheartening part is the (all too true-to-life) complete trivialization of the body and sex. Even though Tom complains about the casualness of it all, it doesn't slow him down one bit. The emphasis is on the spiritual, finding a soul mate, almost to the point of a kind of "spiritualism" of male/female relationships.

I would have rated this "R" for the several coarse moments. It's true kids see this kind of stuff daily, but it's almost worse when it's portrayed in such a sweet, consequence-neutral manner. I wish I could say: "Fifteen-year-olds and up might actually benefit (with guidance for the objectionable parts and purely 'feelings' criterion for love) from the many age-old truisms and good pieces of advice regarding twenty-first century love relationships." BUT here's the problem: there's two very quick scenes (among other hopelessly dishonest scenes) of the two watching porn (we only see the video jacket). Summer says: "that looks do-able," and they try it behind a thickly clouded shower curtain. Porn is oh-so-quaint-and-harmless. No big deal. For couples. And this generation is so cool and media-jaded that they are completely in control and above-it-all when it comes to porn. Um, not. Porn is more addictive than crack cocaine. We must keep calling the bluff of this lie that is now firmly embedded in mainstream culture. There's a lot of money riding on the normalization of porn. We're supposed to nod like bobbleheads to the lie and not be shocked as we see it seeping in EVERYWHERE. Sorry, no can do. Those who work in porn prevention and recovery say that even so-called "soft porn" is a gateway drug. How unfortunate that this lovely film is marred in this most grotesque way, even though supposedly "everyone's doing it." It's such a shame that this well-crafted, sensitively acted movie is sugar coating dollops of poison.

The ambience of the movie incorporates a huge swath of influences from foreign films, the 60's, jazz, literature, art, architecture—in which we can feel the protagonists sincerely reaching out for meaning, authenticity and beauty. An attempt is made to make the city of Los Angeles a character in the movie, but it doesn't happen. The clichés ring true that the city of L. A. rings hollow (I lived there for five years): soul-less, history-less, community/communion-less. Instead, the city almost stands as a cautionary symbol of what can happen when we don't risk, don't commit, don't suffer in love.

Summer is reminiscent of the genuine-love-phobic Holly (Audrey Hepburn) in "Breakfast at Tiffanys" (a movie that many young people today are re-discovering and "trust"—in their own words!) A line from the movie states: "People DO belong to each other." We don't need movies from 1961 or 2009 to tell us so, but "Breakfast" and "500 Days" certainly reinforce our own conviction that love trumps all.

In the end, "500 Days" is Tom's fated/fatalist/determinist/magic-pixie-dust idea of love versus Summer's serious/troubled/sad/it-never-works-out-so-let's-just-have-fun idea of love. The truth about love is somewhere in between.

"Love consists of a commitment which limits one's freedom—it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means to limit one's freedom on behalf of the other. This might seem to be something negative or unpleasant, but love makes it a positive, joyful and creative thing. "Freedom exists for the sake of love. Man longs for love more than for freedom—freedom is the means, and love is the end." --JP2G, "Love and Responsibility"

There's no God in the movie. BUT there is an attempt to match earthly events with some kind of cosmic significance. (The primal religious impulse. Which is good, but left to itself it becomes superstition.) I wanted to stand up in the theater and shout: "Yes! Yes! There is a cosmic significance to your relationships--and it starts with the body!" Theology. Of. The. Body. "The body and it alone makes visible the mystery: the spiritual and the divine." TOB #76.

An O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"-style exchange of gifts is given and both Summer and Tom are better for it. At the beginning of the movie we were warned that this was not a love story. But it is.

PHILOSOPHY: AYN RAND & BAILOUTS

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/give-bbt-liberty-not-a-bailout-chief-says/

CATHOLIC CULTURE ONLINE

 

 

Fr. Robert Barron Enters Year for Priests with an Online Mission to Spread the Gospel

 

Chicago, July 31, 2009 – Fr. Robert Barron is one of the world's great and innovative teachers of Catholicism. Chicago's Cardinal George calls him one of the Church's best messengers. He is a prominent theologian, author and sought-after speaker, and now the priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago is using today's technology to evangelize the culture. Barron founded Word On Fire Catholic Ministries, a global media organization, and hopes to attract millions into or back to the Catholic faith.

At the hub of Word On Fire is an interactive website (www.WordOnFire.org) with newly launched features which invite visitors on a journey and into a conversation about faith and life. "Our website is incredibly dynamic," raved Fr. Barron. "Every day, every where, visitors can visit our site to deepen their faith and bring the peace of Christ to their otherwise chaotic worlds."

Resources can be found in a variety of formats from articles and books, to CDs and DVDs, as well as YouTube videos, radio sermons and television programs. Visitors to the Word On Fire website can take a virtual pilgrimage with Fr. Barron as he films his most ambitious venture, The CATHOLICISM Project. A landmark epic series about the Catholic faith, The CATHOLICISM Project takes visitors to Rome, the Holy Land, Mexico, France, Poland, Germany and Spain.

"People spend a mammoth amount of time at their computers every day," stated Barron. "And just as Christ took the message of the Gospel to the people of his time, we have harnessed the use of emerging technologies to go out into the four corners of the globe."

The mission of Word On Fire is to draw people into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby gives them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his people to enjoy. Word On Fire places an emphasis on the use of innovative communication technologies and contemporary forms of media. The website is a one-stop shop where visitors can learn about and be inspired by the Catholic faith.

"We have designed an interactive site where people can gain knowledge about the faith from not only our content, but they can also learn from one another," said Fr. Barron. "New content is being developed and produced every day and we invite people to visit WordOnFire.org and explore everything it has to offer."

The website was originally launched in 1999 and currently draws over 300,000 visitors each year from every continent.

Fr. Barron is available for interviews. Please contact Christine Schicker with The Maximus Group at 404-610-8871.

 

 

CHICAGO CHRISTIAN FILMMAKER DIES AT 29 (ACT ONE ALUM)

For Immediate Release
July 22, 2009

Hollywood Above the Line

Act One Mourns the Loss of Kerry Brown,
WP 2000

Please join us in praying for the repose of the soul of Kerry Brown, an Act One alum from the Summer Writing Program, 2000 and for his family.

Wake and funeral services were held last Friday in Chicago at the Gatlings Chapel, 10133 S Halsted, IL followed by the burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Chicago.

Brian Bird, part of the Act One Faculty and Mentor to Kerry  remembers his friend in the following message.

When I received the email Sunday morning, July 12, I felt the universe tear a little bit. Just two weeks earlier, I had spent hours on the phone with my friend Kerry Brown, going scene by scene through his director's cut of his first independent film, "Leaders." We talked about pacing and how to cut around some not insignificant sound and continuity problems and moments where his actors felt they knew better than him how to play those moments -- which clearly they didn't. But mostly I told him how proud I was of him for not giving up on his 9-year dream to direct a film he first conceived in Act One as a member of the Class of 2000. It was a script I mentored him through way back then, and then again a year ago when he found an angel to put up enough money for him to make it more than a student film.

Kerry was a frail young man physically. He had suffered from a relentless pulmonary condition and congestive heart failure for a long time. But he was not frail of spirit or optimism. He was a spiritual lion. A devourer of scripture. Conan the Interceder. Because of his physical condition, he was not always able to work, so during his sick days and all those midnight oil hours, he wrote scripts. Several completed screenplays. Epics like his script about the rise and fall of Atlantis, and another battle royale between heaven and hell after the fall of Lucifer to earth. He learned the challenges of trying break through the iron gates of Hollywood from a Chicago vantage point. Sometimes his dream dimmed during his post-Act One years because nothing seemed to be working for him. He experienced what we all experience no matter what our level of achievement. That Hollywood is not called "Show Friendship," it's called "Show Business." That it's junior high with money. That you have to start out with the understanding that getting a film made is nearly always impossible. And that the only way anybody ever gets one made is by chipping away little by little at the impossibility until one day they wake up and they are saying, "Action."

"Leaders" is not a perfect film. Kerry was beset by all the problems any filmmaker is hit with, no matter what the budget. Production issues. Location issues. Weather issues. Actor issues. But there is a raw power to this little film because it bubbled up out of his heart as a young African-American man raised in marginal circumstances in a big American city. He had an unmistakably good eye for composing his shots and moving the camera. And there is an autobiographical thread here as his hero, "Hope," tries to survive the tides of sex, drugs and violence of life in the projects while clinging precariously to his faith in God. He did not shy away from the profane, or the sacred, so this is not a vanilla film. It's red. Red on white.

I told Kerry I wasn't sure if there would be a buyer for his film because it's a little too raw for a faith-based church marketing campaign. And it's a little too faithful for the schizophrenic home video distributors who can't decide whether they are in or out of the faith business. But I told him I would try to help him find somebody to take "Leaders" to market when it was ready for prime time. He didn't flinch at my long list of notes or that there was still a lot of impossibility at which we would have to chip away.

However, he did tell me that he might have to work with his editor, Joel Kapity, from a hospital bed. He was never quite sure when the lungs would fill or the fluid would build up around his heart. He said it with such a gleam in his voice, I thought he was joking. And then I received the email from his mother, Jayne Johnson, on Sunday, with the very sad news that Kerry had passed away on Thursday. His heart had finally given out at just days after his 29th birthday.

I don't know now how to compute why God takes some, and leaves others who don't deserve to stick around. Or exactly how to resolve the idea of a young man who fought great odds in his life to reach a dream that at least by the world's measure of success he didn't live to see finished. Or what becomes of his very personal little film. Perhaps the digital age will preserve Kerry Brown's eye in democratic cyberspace for a thousand years. But I do know this. He blessed my life more than I'm sure I blessed his. And I'll always be thankful for the way he signed off all our calls or emails: "I love you, Mentor."

Perhaps it is Show Friendship after all.

www.actoneprogram.com

ST. GENESIUS--PATRON OF ACTORS

MOVIES: “HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE”

The amazing half-blood death-eating princess actress HELENA Bonham-Carter!

The Harry Potter juggernaut continues to delight with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." This installment gets off to a slow start with lots of tangents and a lack of momentum. (This might be because it's an adaptation. Readers always say there is so much in the books that's left out in the movies.) But we don't much care because we know it's going to be good. The actors portraying the three main characters, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, continue to endear and manage to look like they're still in high school. We feel the screws tightening as Lord Voldemort's evil attacks mount and gain strength. Hogwarts School is now subject to tight security. But friendship and young love can flower anywhere and does.

Some of the funniest moments and sweetest touches are the budding romances. Young people should see HBP just for these parts! Too bad every romantic comedy doesn't charm like this. There are mispairings, jealousies, longings and general lovelornness. Ron Weasley eats too many chocolates infused with a love potion intended for Harry. Two girls fight over a recuperating Ron in his sick bed. All of this while being schooled in the intricacies of how to be a powerful wizard without ever resorting to the dark arts, black magic, wrongdoing, evil. Of course, here's "the rub" when it comes to HP.

As Christians, we know that NO magic is good magic or so-called "white magic," or "natural" magic like Wicca. Sorcery is not make-believe. It's real, comes from "below," and is never to be used, even for "the good." Thus, many Christians have shunned the HP books and movies all together. Other Christians maintain that lots of classic fairytales and folk stories contain witches, spells, etc., and that we just need to make sure children and youth know they must never dabble in it themselves. I'm somewhere in the middle on this, because HP presents the use of magic BY young people in such a modern and compelling way, that it seems to me extra precautions need to be taken. However, if I were a parent, I would definitely accompany my child through this cultural phenomenon (allowing them to read/watch), not because it's "inevitable," but because I would want my kids to be equipped to reach the culture, their peers with the Gospel, and that would mean engaging WITH the culture. J. K. Rowling says that she is a Christian, and she has certainly embedded Christian virtues in HP: obedience, love, kindness, truth, loyalty to friends and family, heroism, sacrifice, bravery, etc.

Many of our favorite characters re-appear. Snape (still looking like Trent Reznor twenty years on) is still a bit of a mystery, and we are introduced to all kinds of new gadgets, devices and creatures in Rowling's enchanted world. More and more layers of information and backstory are dispensed. There are some truly Tolkien-esque moments when Dumbledore seems more like Gandalf than himself.

There is a real apprenticeship going on with Dumbledore and Harry. Harry is "the chosen one" (chosen to defeat Voldemort's evil), but he is still young and has a lot to learn. The HP series teaches that none of us can go it alone. Each one plays their part, however humble. Everyone has a strength and a gift that the others need. The professors at Hogwarts know that evil is tricky and that constant vigilance is needed, but they also have to know and trust who is on their staff. They truly form their students to use their consciences and abilities well in difficult situations. HP teaches that love is greater than fear: Harry's mother sacrificed her life for Harry, and he stands ready to make the same kind of sacrifice. Harry is not afraid of his nemesis, Voldemort, or to say his name, as some of the adults are. Truly, our worst enemies are ourselves. As Dumbledore tells the students: YOU yourself can be the worst weapon of those who seek your harm.

Whenever I watch an HP movie, I reflect that there is a REAL spiritual warfare going on around us at all moments: angels, devils, sin, grace, death, eternity, heaven, hell, etc. Do we teach young people this reality in their religious education? Do we stress it? If not, it seems to me we do them a great disservice. They're clearly interested and up for the challenge.

MOVIES: "PUBLIC ENEMIES"

YYY

First off, if you don't like loud noises or violence, don't even go to the cinema NEXT DOOR to "Public Enemies." "Public Enemies" is a gun fest. A shoot fest. A machine-gun shoot-fest. If you have a good, strong heart, you'll be fine.

"Public Enemies" is not, however a gore-fest. You'd think it would be with all that shooting. The only thing I didn't buy in PE was the constant point blank, direct-line-of-vision shooting-with-no-barriers and no one even gets nicked? C'mon! Everything else I bought.

Johnny Depp, with his guy-liner and first becoming hairdo in a long time (on- or off-screen), captivates in that slow, smoking way of his. He's got a bit of a drawl and even looks a little like a very young Elvis. His character is somehow sympathetic (excuse: horrible childhood; charm: he's nicer to the gals than the guys, is calm, cool, collected and witty), but not out-and-out glamorized. Because he comes off as totally sane, we can forget he's a cold-blooded killer. And I do mean cold. HUGE body count, LOTS of innocent bystanders (this might be another thing I don't buy. Really?) Although he's not a Robin Hood,* he's kind of desperate, so we start to see the cops and FBI as the enemy, too. Dillinger being played by America's box office offbeat male sweetheart doesn't hurt to get us on Dillinger's side either.

Dillinger's total confidence in himself and a carefree future (he was so close), combined with his criminal genius makes him outshine the often bungling law enforcement. But let's remember that the lawmen think twice before THEY shoot. They are a bit like lambs led to the slaughter in some scenes. A young J. Edgar Hoover (the always astonishing Billy Crudup--another chameleon like Depp) is building up the FBI and his own career. Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is the "star" FBI guy, who knows and has what it takes to bring the lawless down. John Dillinger is the prize for both of them. Purvis brings in a crack team from Texas and Oklahoma to do the job. In a sense, these hardened outlaws CREATED a lean, mean "scientific" FBI machine. Both Dillinger and Purvis seem to have the same character trait, or flaw, of pushing too hard, pushing others too hard and never being able to "let go." Dillinger committed a kind of suicide by the risks he took. It was reported that Purvis actually committed suicide in 1960, but that's under question.

What's even more sinister than watching one reckless individual? Watching the birth of the mob: syndicated, systemic, "coast to coast," organized crime, that is so tough it doesn't even need guns, just phones. Dillinger and his ilk are passe. At 31, Dillinger is already an old-fashioned crook. Perhaps the mob crime boss was Dillinger's real nemesis--if the FBI hadn't gunned Dillinger down, perhaps he would have done away with him (inter-state laws being passed on account of Dillinger were redounding on the mafia).

Dillinger's love interest, Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), is portrayed as a rather innocent coat check girl. In real life, she associated with criminals even before Dillinger, but she was no Bonnie (of Bonnie and Clyde). What does she see in Dillinger? Someone who truly loved her. He never lied to her. It's almost as though their love story happened on an island. She wasn't part of his bloody sprees, and they love each other in a vacuum that has nothing to do with "that other part" of his life. There's definitely a woman's touch in the story here (one of the screenwriters is a woman). He was her hero, and indeed, Dillinger was a hero to many Depression-era Americans. But as members of today's mob admit, the Feds will always get you, it's just a matter of when.

"Public Enemies" speaks to the contradictory American spirit: so proud of our rule of law AND our scofflaws. We want "just the facts, Ma'am," and are pragmatists, BUT we love to escape into unrealistically optimistic fantasy worlds. Maybe it's just part of being human.

Set in Chicago (I watched it being filmed!) by Chicagoan, Michael Mann, a notoriously meticulous director, PE is a solid period piece, and I was eager to see it because:
1) I love Chicago.
2) I love Johnny Depp's acting.
3) To see what "they'd do with it."
But I don't really care about John Dillinger or criminals in general. They just don't do anything for me except turn me off.

In the end, Dillinger and his gang, like the much-feted "Sopranos," are just a bunch of thugs, out for illicit personal gain and an eventually easy life. The really exciting man is the working man, doing the right thing. The honest thing. The hard thing. Every day. (See "A Bronx Tale," "Norma Rae," "On the Waterfront," "The Great Debaters.")

OTHER STUFF:

--Populous, authentic-looking cast! (Found out later why: the cops are real cops, the reporters are real also--cast by "detailist" Mann himself!)

--Don't ya just love the dapper FBI--fighting crime in those gorgeous suits and hats? Far cry from S.W.A.T. gear.

--Johnny Depp is such a great actor. Such a chameleon. Great actors can act with just their eyes. Depp can act with just his irises.

--Remember "The Untouchables" TV series with Robert Stack? Wasn't that in B & W in the 70's?

--Southern blues, gutbucket and jazz soundtrack. Nice.

--Some accents, instead of sounding like those old-time American radio broadcasts, just sounded British.

--Johnny Depp and John Dillinger have the same initials. (Like Jim Caviezel and Jesus Christ.)

--Go to http://www.imdb.com/ to catch all the cameos and itty-bitty parts. Did you see Diana Krall? Channing Tatum? LeeLee Sobieski?

--There's really not much of a story-line. JD holds up a few banks and gets killed. But the ending is terribly ironic: life imitating art. The gangster watches a gangster movie and then goes out and lives it. And at this point, he even looks like Clark Gable (with little moustache), and you can see Billie's resemblance to Myrna Loy also.

--Wonderfully shot in lots of close-up, extreme close-up and some mid-range and long range. Reminiscent of "The Insider," but without being in the constant "extreme closeupness of the foreheadless people."

--But if the real Dillinger loved Billie so much--what was he doing with Polly? (They were lovers.)

--I still don't get why the FBI shot Dillinger up and didn't arrest him? Did they just lose it in the heat of the moment?

__________________
*Actually, wouldn't he be just the opposite from a Robin Hood? Stealing little people's hard-earned money for himself? People that might be just scraping by?

THEOLOGY OF THE BODY

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/opinion/28kristof.html