Don't Look Now

A mother (Julie Christie) and father (Donald Sutherland), devastated by the loss of their daughter, travel to Venice for restorative distraction, only to find themselves immersed in the inexplicable, struggling to comprehend what simply cannot be.

Thus, as a blind woman's (Hilary Mason) murky clairvoyance confuses yet spiritually syndicates, John Baxter's rationality holds strong, even if he can't deny he's seen something odd, or that her predictions coldly generate truth.

Monopolistic reason can lead one to disregard his or her non-linear senses, the pursuit of pure logic having yet to clarify visions and premonitions, the sustained consistency of which always cause the sure and steady to question enthusiastically, or deny nevertheless, with vehement sincerity.

It's much better than a culture which values psychic claims above all else, for such an unqualifiable elevation begs a preponderance of chicanery.

Mumbo-jumbo as it were.

I believe there are rare people who possess such gifts notwithstanding who shouldn't be shamed and sidelined consequently.

How much of it is basic logic psychologically or historically applied remains to be determined, not by me malheureusement, but by those who make a living marketing such things.

Take prophecy.

If I remember correctly, France was in a state of disarray years after the revolution and Napoleon judged that for order to return, the disorganized people needed something to do.

So he went about conquering Europe.

I applied aspects of this scenario 10 years ago to the United States, thinking that if masses accustomed to wealth and comfort one day found themselves struggling to get by, a madman could unite them with gilded promises, which is what Trump is trying to do.

It's not prophecy.

It's speculation based on historical precedent.

Don't Look Now isn't the greatest film. It's shot in Venice but the cinematography focuses more on dark alleyways and run down buildings than what I imagine are architectural wonders. It keeps you anticipating the next action throughout without offering much compensation for your trouble, apart from some timeless interactions between Christie and Sutherland, and a vague sense of conspiracy which would have benefitted from value added information.

It's character driven but the material doesn't exactly situate them on the 417.

Did Venice have a highly xenophobic reputation at the time?

Magic in the Moonlight

Cold disbelieving hallowed critical reservations cynically socialize themselves in Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight, intent on exposing the genuine article, whose youthful pluck, ravishingly portends.

It's scientific reason versus supernatural serendipity, the influence of the latter, interventioning mischievous universals.

With lunar exactitude.

Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) is difficult to take as he asserts his cantankerous incredulity, as smug as he is exceptional, it's still fun to watch his stubborn transitions, his development of feelings, which can't be rationally explained.

Thanks to Sophie Baker (Emma Stone).

I've encountered too many startling coincidences to categorically deny the existence of the supernatural.

Just the other day, I changed an ______ online for the first time in years, and then, less than 2 hours later, I see my old _______, who was associated with the ___ ______, for the first time since then, casually walking by.

I'm _______ in the middle of nowhere and suddenly I see someone from the town where I grew up, we head out later, and s/he's reading _______ while I've just rented the movie.

It could have been an elaborate joke.

Strange though.

But the number of times nothing exceptionally coincidental takes place far outweighs the number of times something does, meaning that attempts to clarify the seemingly supernatural and base economic and/or political forecasts upon them can be thought of as being somewhat nutso, scientific reason reigning in these domains being of paramount importance, as long as it doesn't attempt to eliminate its spiritual competition.

Not Woody Allen's best, but Magic in the Moonlight does warmly call into question the practice of reasoning, deducing to high jink, which causes love to seem more beautiful.

Clever, quaint, obtuse, and restrained, it caresses and cuddles the curmudgeony, to clarify why some friendships last a lifetime.