The Covenant

A group of old world families clandestinely co-habitates with the world at large, keeping to themselves at secretive times while patiently awaiting their time of ascension.

Their families escaped the Salem Witch Hunt way back when fear drove men mad, the anxiety igniting bland social pressures to despotically embrace austere absolutism.

The children attend a local prep school lucidly administered by ye olde Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh), awkwardly anticipating their spry eighteenth birthdays when their otherworldly powers will magically emerge.

Their powers aren't to be taken lightly their chaotic use has mortal consequences, and if used too often through frivolous indulgence will unnaturally age and ruin their bodies.

Difficult to share such wisdom with lads ebulliently awaiting the passionate moment, when more or less anything they put their minds to will instantaneously manifest.

Especially when it becomes distressingly evident that an unknown 5th student possesses the power, and is recklessly using it for retched misdeeds with no working foreknowledge of truth or consequence.

A showdown ominously looms within the sleepy oblivious trajectory.

Agéd chronicles proving noteworthy.

For the well-read adventurous sorcerers.

The Olympics no doubt a suitable time to celebrate unique and novel abilities, and the remarkable ways they fluidly enrich the humdrum malaise of routine existence. 

No doubt categories and hierarchies and levelling peculiarly mingle in spherical continuums, the definitive dispersal of surrealist fact gracefully lauded through festive ephemera.

In so doing, for some the cheeky sitcom may represent insouciant brilliance, while others seek romantic unions melodramatically arrayed with maladroit im/probability, still others embracing the tragic distinction absurdly characterizing incumbent banality, crime and horror schlock and mayhem, not to mention robust documentaries.

Should the people in primordial possession of rare bizarro traits and talents, not be welcome in villages and towns in order to promote less stealthy isolation?

Weren't the heroes from religious texts in commensurate possession of similar gifts?

Does not celebrating specific historical examples to the obscuring of the present not foolishly generate a stasis none of them would have tolerated? 

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Kong devotedly explores his new home in search of more giant gorillas like him, his investigations resulting in multiple chance encounters with other beasts from the hostile region.

Meanwhile, unprecedented signals are cryptically sent from a vigilant science outpost, which causes confused Jia to have hallucinations the dream logic of which remains a mystery.

After the transmission of the signals Godzilla radioactively expresses himself, by commandeering a nuclear power plant in France and absorbing its unsurpassed Olympic resiliency.

Jia is having trouble at school and frustratingly feels like she doesn't fit in, missing her people and her old way of life she simply can't settle into the scholastic environment.

Fortunately, as incipient chaos galavantingly grips bewildered surface dwellers, a team is assembled to travel to Hollow Earth and find epic answers to cataclysmic questions.

Jia's adopted mom and her ex-partner Trapper plus bloggin' Bernie Hayes are along for the ride, to the cryptic realm where dinosaur-like beings still productively enable macroscopic shenanigans.

As Kong is led to find his people he locates them distressingly enslaved.

While Jia discovers her legendary import.

According to an ancient Hollow Earth tribe.

There's a lot happening in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as intense conflicts habitually invigorate, Kong and Godzilla routinely fighting as Jia deals with manifest mythology.

Bernie Hayes adds so much depth as he boldly improvises with heroic fortitude, and Dr. Andrews and her resourceful ex ajoutent parental guidance with ludicrous resolve. 

As the three main plots intersect I would say Kong's has the most appeal, his quest to meet his people stifled by autocratic banality, his consistent altercations more thrilling than Godzilla's. 

When Jia discovers that her voyage to Hollow Earth had been intuitively prophesized it makes for an intriguing plot thread, but it loses some of its mysticism as the enraged Titans reflexively battle.

It should be the principal focus from the viewpoint of so many other stories with similar patterns, narratives which are so much fun to watch, but New Empire's mayhem obscures the fascination.

Still a cool monster movie no doubt with an ethical focus on justice and dignity.

Incredible consistent action.

Classic 'zilla and Kong.

Dune: Part Two

Is there as much of a story to tell after Paul and his mom find themselves lost in the desert?

Dune: Part Two suggests there is. 

The Fremen slowly growing accustomed to the uncanny ways in which the gifted Atreides youth fulfills their prophecy, Paul must still overcome his horrific nightmares to convince the devout majority to follow his lead.

The film's kind of like the episode of STNG where Kahless suddenly returns, and the Klingons agree to manage his legend, hoping the enticing story will win hearts and minds.

But Kahless's return is manufactured in the more scientifically structured Star Trek continuum, whereas Paul's actions verifiably fulfill a prophecy and therefore messianically comport themselves in ye olde Dune.

Yet he still doubts he can effectively lead a massive underground populace in a daring uprising (against the Emperor), their rivals in possession of technological wonders of an extremely advanced destructive nature.

Much of the dialogue concerns Paul's coming of age as he learns to play the influential leading role.

The film widening its scope to include Harkonnen bedlam. 

To add despotic reckless nuance.

You'd almost hope that in 2028 a younger American would feverishly arise, and move the political spectrum away from agéd octogenarians, back to something much more grassrootsy indeed even potentially kind of lithe and nimble (these guys are in charge of the fate of the free world?) - hold on, a lot's happened since I wrote this on Saturday, looks like there is a younger American candidate, and she is indeed feverishly arising (love Bernie, but he's older than Biden)!

I often wish David Lynch had had more time and two separate films to craft his vision, I still love watching what he came up with, but also wonder what he would have crafted these days.

He was one of the pioneers however who was inventing postmodern science-fiction.

They often had to improvise sensational fascination.

Special effects weren't nearly as reliable as they are in the SuperHero Age.

Regardless, I love the Dune story apart from the Atomics and the talking fetus, Chani adding so much in this version, as does the extended look at planet Harkonnen. 

I still find intense belief which defies science to be the most destructive force the Earth has ever seen.

It makes for incredible films and books though.

Just hope it doesn't destroy the planet one day.

Or slowly over the course of depreciating centuries.

*Star Wars + Denis Villeneuve ='s Amazing (the entire trilogy).

Hidalgo

It never really made much difference to me what College or University you went to, or if you learned esoteric details about different branches of knowledge while on the job, what mattered was how enthusiastically you applied yourself to whatever hand you happened to have been dealt, and how you strove for improvement regardless of class or birth, which generally reflects the spirit of the times I grew up in.

Thus, it wouldn't surprise me if Community College students were also making breakthroughs in respective fields, as Frank Hopkins does in Hidalgo, in the competitive sport of horse racing. 

He didn't get his trusted steed from a well-off breeder publicizing coveted lineage, or even from a local stable offering beginners a tempting free ride, instead he chose his trusted mount from a herd of wild mustangs in Oklahoma, whose descendants still freely ride to this day, un jour j'espère les voir.

He gains a world renowned reputation for winning long distance races in the United States, indeed winning an incredible number throughout his lengthy career.

His reputation becomes so enviable that he attracts the attention of Middle-Eastern competitors, who challenge him to the toughest horse race on the planet, a 3,000 mile trek 'cross forbidding deserts.

He's a first class gamer, he courageously responds, with neither question nor concern for personal safety, even after it becomes apparent his life's at risk, and it's not only the elements who seek to hunt him.

He must face some of the finest stallions to have ever been bred in horse racing history, amongst opponents who doubt he will survive one day on his wild unsung beast who lacks proper pedigree.

But as so often happens in the world of sport which usually celebrates talent regardless of rank or birth, Hopkins and Hidalgo really are the best the world's ever seen, and tenaciously win the "Ocean of Fire".

Exceptionally difficult to do and requiring a genuine degree of hard work and sacrifice, but if raised in even a moderately honest political system, if you excel, you should modestly prosper.

Hopkins takes his prize money and doesn't spend it on lavish trinkets, but rather hears that a herd of mustangs is going to be shot, and pays handsomely for them to be released back into the wild (Go Broncos!) 💌

Born of two-cultures and horrified to have witnessed the scurrilous slaughter of unarmed Native peoples, he proceeds honourably as best he can and must be one of the most successful athletes ever.

It'd be cool to see Viggo Mortensen win the Best Actor Oscar some day.

He's had a lot of roles like this one.

Where it seems like he's holding so much back.

*Unlike Captain Fantastic.

Rio

I didn't think people wanted to keep birds as pets anymore, let alone exotic ones, or I at least figured the practise had remarkably decreased in recent years, but perhaps that was only in Canada and Québec, I admit I haven't read anything about it in quite some time, but ye old Rio brings it back into the forefront, meaning it must still be a problem, in different jurisdictions, around the world.

To reiterate the arguments that convinced me that keeping birds as pets was wrong, it boils down to the fact that they can fly, and it's therefore a horrible thing to keep them locked up in cages.

Even if some birds may be crappy at flying, they still cover thousands of kms in flight over the years, many habitually migrating as the seasons change, that must be a cool way to live.

If a lifeform is capable of flight and soaring from one tenacious treetop to the next, is it not extremely cruel to keep it in a cage, where it has nothing to do but lament its miserable situation?

Thoughts of soaring high above the magnificent clouds in search of food and friends and play, no doubt torment downcast birds in cages as they spend their entire lives excruciatingly jailed.

The horrors of the pandemic may serve as an example of what it's like for birds in cages (and other animals too), the extremely frustrating prolonged time when we were forced to spend so many hours at home.

It was for a good reason that is to stop the pestiferous spread of dispiriting plague, but what a horrible thing indeed to have to spend so much time locked down in isolation.

Caged birds routinely share this horror and understand where we're coming from accordingly, and pet owners should therefore think twice before locking a bird down in a cage.

Of course Rio's Blu can't fly and consequently becomes closely attached to his caring owner, the two forging a loving dynamic as she actively comes of age.

But she doesn't know that he's an endangered species until the day when an ornithologist from Brazil comes calling.

Having located a potential bird companion.

The two the last known representatives of their species.

Rio perhaps spends too much time making arguments which justify the possession of exotic birds, not to mention keeping them as pets, and not enough time focused on freedom, which seems like it should be the film's raison d'être.

Freedom is the focus in the end, nevertheless, when the poachers are thwarted and the beasties fall in love.

It's not worth the money to cage wild birds from the jungle.

The profits are limitless if you let them soar free. 

The Thing from Another World

Finally watched the original film depicting John W. Campbell's story Who Goes There?, which is much more of a lighthearted romp than the chilling masterpiece hewn by John Carpenter. 

It's Science vs. The Military in 1951 and in The Thing from Another World the army reigns supreme, the resident scientists made to look like fools who can't reasonably understand the imminent danger.

In fact the scientists take great risks in the pursuit of knowledge to save the monster, who rebukes their heartfelt efforts with morose haughty intergalactic derision. 

They even have foreign accents and are much more internationally inclined, facets which latently upset the good old commandos who quickly take charge of the distressing scene.

The pursuit of knowledge is indeed not nearly as reckless as its dismissively portrayed in this film, which came out as ruthless McCarthyism was ignorantly spreading across the U.S.

The Thing is even organic in this version it comes from a far off vegetal world, where veggies evolved to become the dominant lifeform as humanoids did upon our own (although I'm starting to think bees are a higher form of life [they have wings]). 

In the film the military worries that the highly advanced commie vegetable from space, will eventually take over the entire planet and no doubt unleash ubiquitous environmentalism. 

The scientists look like mad unAmerican conspirators as they struggle to save the alien.

Imagine a time when this kind of thing proliferated.

Hopefully it never comes to pass again.

At least one scientist must be crazy in Who Goes There? since one of them loses it in The Thing (1982) as well, although his data makes hysterical sense considering how much more adaptive it is in Carpenter's film.

Whereas The Thing from Another World is happy-go-lucky sci-fi within which you'd never expect anything to go wrong, Carpenter's Thing is a chilling opus where it's tough to imagine anything going right.

If you watch monster movies throughout your life because they exist and you're sporadically curious, it's tough to find ones you want to watch again, since a lot of them just seek to make quick casholla.

But every once in a while visionary directors roguishly emerge to offer something different.

And take their time to craft memorable metastases. 

With alarming accuracy.

And emboldened vision.

*It looks like Carpenter was fun to work for. It seems like some of his casts really enjoyed working together when you watch his films. That kind of thing can add so much to an aesthetic, or ironically create a friendly dreamlike counterbalance to the mayhem. 

The Fog

The bounteous coast rests undisturbed as a sleepy town's one-hundredth anniversary approaches, with celebrations planned and local dignitaries convivially extolling its historic virtues. 

Village life exuberantly proclaims distracting designations with robust levity, the festivities raising ebullient concerns regarding flights of furtive fancy.

Nevertheless, on the exultant eve a local priest embraces spirited whimsy, when a sudden shocking burst reveals a diary hidden within his walls.

The tale told within its pages describes scandal and betrayal, in terms of lucrative auriferous booty disillusionally constrained.

Best laid plans were thrown aside as a leprous colony was cruelly cheated, indeed instead of finding themselves a home their boat was led to crash upon the shore.

But the rocks didn't eternally tear the trusting ship forevermore asunder, its reconstitution phantominiously conveyed from the afterlife back to the ocean.

And on the very same date the town was founded it bitterly returns under cover of fog.

Contemporary inhabitants blissfully unaware.

A local DJ keeping them up to precarious speed.

Kind of nice when fog descends assuming you aren't travelling or working outside, the meteorological difference eccentrically billowing throughout the quizzical byzantine landscape.

Imagine the chaos if the definitive border dividing spiritual realms enigmatically decayed, and aggrieved spirits from far and wide universally re-materialized across the land.

Like the ending of Ghostbusters I suppose but trepidatiously globalized for postmodern import, the eclectic confusion and ahistorical equivalencies generating confounding limitless grievance.

It could be like a labyrinthine colossus of atemporal bewildered feuding, the manifold steps in the gothic epic as mesmerizing as any R.E.M spectacle. 

If there was time to chronicle the disputes the resultant absurdity may manifest calm.

A quiet regenerative cross-cultural splurge.

A lot of reading.

For something so dream-like.

*I've almost seen every John Carpenter movie.

Days of Thunder

One thing I never really got into was car racing.

I remember the first time I watched a car race on old school television in my youth, and I wasn't that interested in the material, and became nervous when 2 of the brothers present started brawling, it was an awkward day, but still memorable to say the least.

Cars just never jived with me, although they are certainly a convenient mode of transportation, and a significant component of many postmodern economies, and if not dangerous and illegal, it would be fun to drive fast.

Reason and logic eventually came to their aid as I rationally considered their universal value, and when not living in the city they are arguably essential, although I have spent countryside months strictly travelling by foot, bike, and kayak.

I also rather enjoyed Grand Prix Weekend in Montréal, although to be honest I wasn't that interested in the race. It did bring thousands of people to the city however and gave it a unique flair that caught my eye, the lauded difference even if somewhat opulent still impressively stuck out in the urban landscape.

Days of Thunder has a notable cast that efficiently keeps it real throughout the film, challenging one another and falling in love as respect is given to the race car industry.

A sequel could effectively diversify the latent material emergent in the original, using contemporary storytelling techniques to multidimensionally intensify the initial feature.

These films may have remarkable value thousands of years later after fossil fuels run out, and we lament that we never invested in alternative energies before worldwide chaos ensued.

Legends of planes and automobiles will no doubt persist for painstaking centuries, but will they endure for competitive millennia?, that is difficult to accurately predict.

As a model to aid such farfetched calculations we can evaluate the logical merit of anthropological studies, and theorize regarding how accurate they reflect the ancient past in terms of distinct reasonability.

But if everything is forgotten or narratively mutated through imagination, and DVD technology is one day re-created in the future, Days of Thunder would no doubt present something ancient yet futuristic to baffled theoreticians of old school mindsets. 

It would offer definitive proof that at one time human beings drove mechanized beasts at lightning quick speeds.

Many other sports may still be around.

But race car driving will require the Legend.

Ragtime

Sigh.

Ragtime's ambitious no doubt indubitably it proceeds with grandiose lofty intentions, most likely seeking academy award nominations with the sets and the period and the subject matter.

It's one of those films that examines freedom from a despondent viewpoint however, and a sympathetic character resorts to violence to achieve just dividends.

What he's asking for isn't outrageous he just wants his car cleaned, fixed, and an apology, from the scandalous band of misfits who themselves behaved outrageously.

He had done nothing to them his only fault was to have been successful, and then to have lived as other successful people do, even though his skin was black.

What does it matter, why do such petty jealousies motivate so many people, do your best, apply yourself vigorously, have a laugh, what else can you do?

Coalhouse could have just taken his car and cleaned up the mess and eventually forgot about it, extremely frustrating to have to do that but a better outcome than what happened in the long run.

He would have returned to his successful life and left the goons behind to rot, he certainly complained to everyone he could and naturally became more angry when they couldn't help him.

Now, they recked his car and abusively humiliated him there's no question he deserved satisfaction, but turning to acts of terror goes far beyond the initial crime and riles up collective prejudicial misgivings.

And he doesn't get satisfaction in the end, rather the police wind up shooting him after he threatens to blow up a museum, they gun him down when he eventually gives up even though he's unarmed and helpless.

Depressing is the word for such a film it's extremely depressing and sad and hopeless, it makes you feel ill and sick after it's over and by no means encourages another viewing.

I know this is what is recommended by many searching to expand minds and cultivate consciousness, but the revolting way you feel when the film finally ends also makes its shelf-life and influence less long-lasting.

Take a film like Dances with Wolves which tells a tragic tale of honour and friendship on the other hand.

The statistics presented at the end are grim.

But the fight against racism isn't tragically lurid.

City of Hope

It's difficult to rationally consider the various levels of corruption guiding commerce and politics, as proactively delineated by so many commentators throughout the observant course of a vigilant day.

In a two to three/four/five/six party political system the argumentative opponents spend so much time accusing their rivals of corruption, at times the party that seems the lease corrupt emerging victorious how do you lead such a populace retroactively?

In Claudius the God the Emperor Claudius runs into sincere difficulties, not because his colleagues are particularly corrupt but because he is rather just and innocent.

Having spent most of his life observing the government in fluidic motion, even though he had always been judged too dim-witted to actively take part, he survived plot after plot after plot through reasonable supposition and a complete lack of envy.

But his goal was to do away with Emperors and re-establish what was known as the Republic, a form of government less reliant on absolutism and much more democratic and fair and reasonable.

Nevertheless, since, as Emperor, he governs as honestly as he can and indeed turns out to be a trustworthy administrator, the people stop loathing the idea of Emperors as they had under Tiberius and Caligula, and stop imagining a return of the Republic.

To remind them of their folly he hatches one of his most poorly thought out schemes.

The Republic doesn't return.

And his son is murdered.

But films aren't as detailed as books or mini-series, it's difficult to convincingly relate stories of political corruption in less than 3 hours, there are so many personalities from different walks of life to be provocatively considered as the narrative progresses.

Love and family will likely even factor into the manifold intricacies as they passionately fluctuate, but who falls in love and what consequent jealousies effectively motivate resulting dire complications?

It's too much for a lot of filmmakers but always respected if bravely undertaken, John Sayles succeeding with City of Hope more than most as the multivariable tale examines multi-layered corruption.

Multiple storylines complement within as sundry characters seek balance and decorum, or just ride the chaotic whirlwind with as much distinction as they can freely muster.

The image for the inherent madness materially erupting as people search for meaning, is distressingly manifested by a local schizophrenic after a powerful contractor's son is shot by his new girlfriend's jealous cop ex-husband, and he calls out into the street for help, and no one else is listening.

The disturbed man returns his plea with sympathetic non-sensical enigmatic cries.

Not the most constructive image to end on.

But one that does make sense a lot of the time.

Chan is Missing

Please forgive me if this film already has a large following and is widely cherished by many, I had just never heard of it before last week and was pleasantly surprised to see how good it is.

I thought it would make a solid Criterion so I checked to see if it was already in the collection, and even though I didn't find it in my initial search, that doesn't mean it won't make it some day.

Like Donald Sutherland's career, Chan is Missing is chill and flexible, consistently surprising with unexpected scenes, overflowing with creative dialogue regarding enigmatic subjects, Sutherland often added that eccentric touch to a mainstream flick that may have otherwise lacked variability. 

Take the sudden introduction of academic flair as a potential graduate student examines an interaction, between a policeperson of European descent and an aggrieved member of New York's Chinese community.

They're arguing about mundane mechanics and she investigates the dialogue with brilliant cultural awareness, lucidly comprehending both agile traditions with thoughts reminiscent of postmodern detectives. 

It passes quickly in the film it's just a touch of brilliance characteristically blended in, it could have easily been left out but its inclusion functions like an ingenious bay leaf.

I've read the controversy about the bay leaf online, does it actually add anything to the flavour?, while transporting its mythos to the realm of independent film I'd have to say that in this instance it most certainly does.

Chan is Missing is almost like film noir but it lacks some of the more sinister narrative elements, although overlooking compelling works of art such as this film is historically sinister and culturally destructive.

It isn't serious in a strict sense 😝 nor does it get carried away with its eclective lackadaisics, it's more like a remarkably clever production team applied incisive wit to a multilayered vortex (directed by Wayne Wang, written by Wang and Isaac Cronin). 

I'm really surprised by Marc Hayashi I don't recall ever having seen him in anything before, never as the leading man on his own cheeky sitcom, or as a recurring character actor like Earl Boen just showing up everywhere (he's good).

Chan is Missing is a solid Asian-American film that explicitly demonstrates laudable genius, and may have been overlooked because frankly if you're not looking for it, it's rare to ever see anything written and directed independently by Asian-Americans in North America.

I imagine the market's there and it could use more promotion in diversified fields. 

Perhaps it's already found them and unfortunately I'm just not familiar.

Nice that it's lacking swords and mysticism.

*In Canada there was a show called Kim's Convenience that was on for a while so it must have built quite the audience.

**I remember an Asian-American sitcom coming out in the States years ago that was critiqued for overemphasizing stereotypical characteristics.

***I didn't think Chan is Missing was stereotypical. I thought there were just a lot of cool characters being themselves.  

****Love Lucy Liu (Elementary).  

Baraka

I never grow tired of watching nature documentaries or even those visually illuminating the city, Baraka thoughtfully depicting footage from around the globe with stunning piquant composed vibrant artistry.

It's easy to get caught up with your own active life or even that of your incumbent nation, while so many people from different jurisdictions engage in equally meaningful constructive lifestyles. 

Always thrilling to catch brief glimpses into multivariable globalized difference, whether it's a family subsisting in the jungle or the intense dynamics of inner-city life.

Some of it chill like large spiritual groups a' sittin' back chantin' peaceful rhythms, cohesively immersed within various communities promoting productive agile interactions.

Some of it distressing like the unenviable plight of the wee baby chick on its way to the dinner table, so much complex and moribund thought mechanically engineered to generate death. 

The machines, such incredible machines consistently moving with predictable motions, each tiny incalculable component seamlessly essential to the grandiose whole. 

I worry about my weed-whacker breaking down even though I hardly ever use it, there must be tens of thousands of parts if not more in these industrialized factories fabricating goods at all times.

In the same way the bucolic anthems of rural collectives maintain melodic harmonies, as hundreds of people work together in unison to directly praise nature and togetherness.

Coincidentally, how do you even find your place in these colossally imposing massive urban apartments?, if the elevator breaks you'd be in serious trouble and I don't even mind a bit of a walk from time to time.

It's like each building's its own small town and you can easily get lost within.

I imaging they have a level selling groceries etc.

How could you possible live with that many people?

Baraka presents compelling images opening up passages to holistic exploration, its spectrum vast and internationally eclective to village-city-business-and-wilderness.

A good companion piece for ye olde Samsara although watching both films in one night may lead to awestruck overload.

It may have been one of the first documentaries to approach the world in this fashion.

Therefore pioneering, brilliant, and seminal.

The Ploughman's Lunch

Difficult to say if anything you consider will ever lithely generate a relevant buzz, something that fits with trendy conceptualizations regarding spectacular events or age old pastimes.

So many fashions just seem so blasé still visually appealing but dull to write about, is it worth the time to conjure something else about the Suez Crisis or World War I?

There's a philosopher named Derrida who was famous when I was attending university, for so many things I never came to know but also for writing lengthy pieces about random ephemera. 

Not to suggest that a pair of shoes isn't substantial you need to wear them each and every day, but it was so impressive to read lengthy texts about random objects that otherwise seemed meaningless.

He would diversify the specific construct with verbose multidimensional correspondence, eventually proving through elaborate orchestration the meaningful vitality of the mundane item.

Therefore it's possible I never stopped instinctually preferring random offhand knick-knacks to prominent events, which still seem manufactured at times to generate markets for theoretical discourse.

At the same time, the oppression of a people holistically holds my distressed attention, I would rather support intellectual markets cultivating peace and understanding than always write about rocks and squirrels.

But, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm by no means a Derrida or Deleuze expert, in fact if I had read Deleuze in my youth I may have never bothered to write anything afterwards, the point was that elevating everyday objects like shoes or necklaces and indirectly equating them with jewels or crowns, would level the playing field and promote equality that would in turn subliminally contradict warlike pretensions.

Thus, even though one person possessed a radiant tiara decked out with emeralds, they would still respect the creative decisions made by inventive clients of local thrift shops.

And those very same clients meanwhile would apply their wit to the cultivation of creative fashions, without dismissing the bejewelled elegance of hypothetically luxurious esoteric customs. 

I still meet people who respect such insights although so many of them are older than me.

I'll still always love baguettes and cheese (and Ne'Qwa).

Saw a turtle today.

A fox and a rainbow.

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

Wild exoteric bearings randomly committed to improvised exhaustion, airing grievances with cavalier cantankerousness as he recklessly interacts with resignéd strangers.

If you've heard his stories, you'll hear them again, and it's up to you to decide whether or not you're interested, I often find the exultation of recurring themes rambunctiously tender when conversing with the elderly.

Why not imperiodically exclaim lithe past successes with animate jocularity, especially after having reached your golden years with so much adventure to fluidly discuss?

Walter is much less extroverted he's reserved and mannerly and consistently respectful, following the same constructive well-meaning routine with dependable expectation each and every day.

He orders the same thing at his favourite diner every morning even if it isn't on the traditional menu, a light extravagance delicately hewn to courteously carve indissoluble discourse. 

Like dad, he likes his puzzles, and quietly contends with them lakeside in the afternoon, a peaceful way to flourishingly float throughout life's tranquil agéd fluencies.

Not as bold as Frank however and rarely seeking striking resonance. 

They make an impressive team nevertheless.

As they boldly navigate cyclical distress. 

Perhaps like Jekyll & Hyde characteristically split and bucolically subdued, Walter and Frank making a provocative duo which elastically excels at nothing in particular. 

Frank's unorthodox life during which he never developed self-critical reflections, at times leads to fun bike trips to see fireworks, at others buys a bottle of vodka as a going away gift.

Walter habitually goes with the flow and doesn't speak out unless drastically pushed, their arguments classic enraged debacles generating dissonant cutting offence.

I remember there being somewhat of a buzz about this film in my far distant maladroit youth, but I didn't hear about it again until sometime last week, and if there was indeed such a buzz way back when it was certainly well-deserved I rather liked this film.

Robert Duvall finds a new character to play after having already diversified so many roles, Richard Harris putting in the performance of a lifetime, it made me think that actors who still haven't found that ideal role still have plenty of time to patiently perfect it.

A great companion piece for Grumpy Old Men which was also quite popular around that time.

I hope the crew still isn't annoyed when people say that.

I'd most likely watch this film again. 

The Philadelphia Experiment

Probably best not to sign up when the army asks if you'd like to take part in a secret experiment, where they mention there may be potential side effects, and they aren't even offering that great a sum.

Jacob's Ladder and The X-Files make compelling cases for avoiding such initiatives anyways, the enthusiastic recruits permanently damaged after their courageous embrace of enigmatic science was forgotten.

The Philadelphia Experiment doesn't examine trial and error as it relates to medical research however, it's initially concerned with cloaking ships so the Axis can't detect them during World War II.

It's quite an elaborate set up the production impressive from a laboratory standpoint, so many lightbulbs and wires and connections that it seemed like a bona fide realistic test tube.

The special effects are classic '80s too indubitably impressive if you like that kind of thing, the transitionary phase from pioneering early sci-fi to the technological wonders we have today.

The experiment goes awry or the cloaking works too well you might say, the ship itself lost in temporal recesses two confused servicepersons transported to the '80s.

It's cool to imagine the electronic innovations of the early '80s as the height of technoendeavour, or to have been part of the audience intuitively revelling in the bewildered shock of the time displacement.

We still use one of the microwaves we bought at that time it's still in working order, although it takes awhile, knock on wood, hopefully it isn't slowly radioactively poisoning us as time goes by even if we rarely use it.

I don't know if I'm as blown away by time travel films that take place in the present, even if it happens to be around 40 years later, isn't the point to contemporize historical difference?

The Experiment still contains the classic startling moments when the different characters come to terms with their ahistorical authenticity, through the eyes of the time travellers and those they encounter alike, I'm a huge sucker for this kind of storyline.

Perhaps those old school computer graphics look as antiquated to today's youth as the monsters of '50s and '60s sci-fi did to me when I was younger, although some of those yesteryear vampire and Frankenstein films still seriously impress in this cynical day and age (horror not sci-fi I suppose).

Things are so tense politically at the moment, is it far too risky to make films where people travel to the future?

Will it seem like the ancient past?

AI ironically introducing the solution environmentalists seek.

Ed Wood

The robust nature of the American economy not only promotes the cultivation of genius, but also elaborately diversifies sundry spirited markets to relativistically uphold wide-ranging communal distinction.

Thus even without lauded academic study, or even the crafty mentorship of a gifted professional, random improvised passionate hands-on dedication can still ensure regenerative success. 

Are new intellectual embarkations not created when people proceed without skill or knowledge, their prominent errors and mistaken judgments accidentally nurturing novel eccentricity (as others have noted)?

To the curious open-minded enthusiast does enigmatic multivariability not accentuate harmonies as well, not solely within catchy appealing widespread relevance but also through blind innocent misapplication? 

But what may seem like impeti awry indeed brilliantly resonates with others astutely, the obtuse kitschy unconcerned orchestrations intuitively augmenting authentic dis/integration.

There seem to be styles which emerge from time to time which encourage mainstream trends referred to sophisticatedly, their nodes and anthems consistently manifesting popular themes and fashionable echoes. 

Although closer studies meticulously point out the competing ways in which such narratives are constructed, and the primordial multidimensional sociocultural goo amorphously binding everything together.

It all sort of fades genuinely deteriorates when you find yourself hardly ever watching television, or aloofly avoiding ideological interests claiming absolute embalmed authenticity. 

In your free time of course, relaxing, it's nice to envisage courageous alternatives, for a couple of weeks perhaps even a month transitional ephemera constructively cascading. 

So many great works of literature or even film remain inaccessible, it's certainly essential to preserve and study their form and content without generally dismissing everything else simultaneously.

In this manner the spectrum of comments and the variety of audiences interactively expand, thereby introducing manifold interpretations correspondingly attuned to concurrent inclusivity. 

Was the idea much more popular before the internet enabled such an infinite network?

The irony something to study anyways. 

How could definitive conclusions, faced with abounding contradiction and foil, ever culturally reinstate a feudal fulcrum, in a postmodern context as diverse as contemporary science-fiction?

Egads. 

The Adventures of Mark Twain

Mark Twain elaborately concocts a unique imaginative flying machine, upon which he chases Halley's Comet with three fortunate literary stowaways. 

Tom, Huck and Becky are unsure as to how to proceed, and never really settle into the versatile invention, inquisitively searching for structure and meaning while instinctually absorbing the bountiful narratives.

Stories within yarns within tales within legends creatively emerge with theoretical whimsy, presented through curious lighthearted exploration as the kids heuristically investigate away.

A ship much more like a mind its multivariable elements cascading, through trial and error and riveting hypotheses its temporal comportment ahistorical.

Perhaps part of the paradigm shift which led to much less severe religious interpretations, wherein which the literal executions lost their prominent cultural influence.

A move away from exacting obsessions with extremely precise uptight rules and regulations, to a more open-hearted freeform compendium liberally composed through manifold alternatives.

Twain himself struggles with the dutiful recognition of a regenerative constituent bipolar renaissance, within which his psyche proactively duels while realistically resonating rationales less ideological.

Difficult to suppress the reflections at times while ethically composed and poignantly accentuated, the active latent indissoluble antipodes habitually insistent with reckless remonstrance.

Thus, the importance of laidback comedy from pent-up time to pent-up time, not the new obsessive violent variety but the less destructive impulses of Twain and Chaplin. 

Twain's ideas and clever witticisms are seductively sprinkled throughout the script, his observant well-timed well-crafted comments judiciously diversifying tact and treatise.

Not often a public figure is so universally commended without crude accompaniment, when do you ever here anything negative critically mentioned about the old school phenom?

The Adventures of Mark Twain may have passed under the radar way back in my youth I admit I had never heard of it, at least until around this time last week when it suddenly seemed like a cool film to see.

Definitely a chill film for children interested in reading and bizarro imagination, a claymation gateway to a world of books poetically awaiting at the local library. 

Twain's insights make the film fun for grouchy adults who might not want to watch another kids film at the same time.

Perhaps overlooked due to its harmless unorthodox reflections on religion.

Which I thought were charmingly displayed.  

Cutthroat Island

Born into the pirating lifestyle nimble Morgana instinctually dissembles, wary of trust yet a Captain indeed after her emboldened father is scurrilously betrayed. 

Her crew isn't sure what to think and she must challenge an usurper egads at the outset, her noble lineage fortunately enough to momentarily win over the superstitious complement.

Along with treasure, the knowledge of treasure its lucrative existence at least under consideration, but to exactingly locate it she needs two more sections of a sought after map, one part apiece held by each of her uncles.

One uncle's no doubt rather chill for someone living a mischievous lifestyle, not that he's easy to find or talk to he's just so much more agreeable than his aggressive counterpart. 

The covetous uncle murderously prone who sincerely sent Morgana's pop to frigid depths, isn't quite so avuncularly inclined as she bravely sets out in search of manifest booty.

A loyal cadre rests by her side unwilling to entertain freeform mutinous chatter.

An idle thief introducing an amorous wild card.

Uncanny insistence not to be trusted?

What a strange lifestyle how do you manage to even find markets for your ill-gotten plunder, or obtain a ship or convince a crew to courageously follow you blind on the ocean?

It may be relaxing out on open waters delicately gliding along currents without storm, if you had reached an ingenious understanding with tempestuous fate to contract sights forlorn.

I've often wondered if I would get seasick if an imposing storm suddenly emerged, or if I would just sit back and curiously watch as the incredible spectacle tumultuously unfolded.

I was stuck far from home in my kayak one day when a disturbing storm suddenly dishevelled, but rather than simply land and wait it out under some trees I paddled right through the heart of the tirade.

There was no thunder and lightning and if there had been I may have hit shore.

It was a cool sensation out there on the lake nonetheless.

Paddling through inhospitable bearings.

Cutthroat Island's not so bad if you like pirate movies they don't come out as often as you'd hope, the treasure's buried in a really cool spot that was a nice touch no doubt to be certain.

Must be fun to film out on the ocean the natural elements corresponding at play. 

With all the old ships as well.

The action's consistent and lively. 

King Kong Lives

At the beginning of this instalment, King Kong finds himself near death, having survived an extended assault, but unable to move and awkwardly unconscious. 

He's kept alive for 10 years by a team of researchers who ingeniously construct him a new artificial heart, but they lack the requisite abundance of giant gorilla blood to delicately perform the incredible operation. 

Fortunately, at the same time, a bold adventurer is visiting Borneo, where an animate beastie takes note of his daring, and tries to catch him after falling forsooth.

He's able to outmaneuver and eventually capture her in record time, the scientists agreeing to pay his lofty fee if they can have access to her gorilla kinship.

Soon Kong's new brilliant heart efficiently pumps his apex consanguinity, and he's ready to once again embark upon unheralded journeys throughout the wilderness. 

But he detects that very same individual who serendipitously saved his exuberant life.

And the authorities refuse to just let them be.

After they escape to the nearby mountains.

The Kongs seem well-disposed to amorous union and heartfelt happenstance, as they freely explore the depths of their longing with timid yet curious affected insistence.

Certainly a rare species indeed it's no doubt fortuitous that they find one another, the academics and adventurers working posthaste to altruistically secure parkland in that very same Borneo.

Alas, before that parkland can be secured the military and paramilitary move in, and another unique and precious animal species is bombastically threatened through misguided hostility. 

It doesn't have to be that way, as previously mentioned the army could excel at protecting endangered species, and use its vast lands and resources within the United States and elsewhere to bravely care for courageous rhinos and elephants.

After the herds reach 50 to 100,000 the animals could be shipped back to fertile Africa, the U.N perhaps making an agreement with concerned national militaries to secure protection for the animals in the wild.

Kong and his mate likely would have just chilled far off in the mountains away from the 'burbs, and never would have disturbed idle civilization as it technologically diversified through electronic verve.

Left alone in their verdant woodland they could have built a civilization of their own, to be studied and researched and elucidated over the course of the compelling centuries.

Fortunately, there is another, as Kong's species conquers ignorance and disdain.

To be left alone in the jungle to flourish.

Emboldened, enriched, elongated. 

Grace of My Heart

After winning a local singing competition, a young woman heads to New York, running into paradigmatic dilemmas afterwards, since at that specific time female vocalists weren't selling.

Distraught and frustrated she still soldiers on until one day a producer takes note, he doesn't ask her to sing her own songs however, but rather hopes that she'll write them for other people.

She's initially dismissive and critical but eventually sees that it's a great opportunity, and even though singing her own songs was no doubt preferable, writing them for other people still equals = career. 

She's quite talented too she comes up with several catchy wide-reaching hit singles, others noting her compositional brilliance as she boldly fights to freely express herself.

Marriage and family don't wholesomely spoil things she keeps writing songs in the conjugal aftermath, although the strain on her time is rather cumbersome she's a total gamer and goes with the flow.

Not that she doesn't have limits she won't put up with the brazen uninspiring cheating.

Falling for quite the eclective of men.

Never losing sight of her talent.

That was what really struck me about the film, Edna/Denise keeps creating no matter what, even when her less talented husband is bringing her down, even after she has to bring her baby to work.

She has an understanding producer who cares and looks out for her like an adoring sibling, and he usually has compelling advice professionally attuned to advancement and progress.

She uses her life's controversies to continuously write new appealing songs, otherwise I would have recommended avoiding relationships altogether and ubiquitously focusing on nothing but music.

That would be an interesting study: do artists who co-habitate with others and have families produce more consistent results than those who go it alone, does the constant emergence of unexpected relational events outweigh the creative freedom of idyllic independence?

Always seemed like experimenting forever and ever with meaning and relevance and sport and nonsense, would perhaps one day lead to Borg perfection, and devise sustainable omega molecules. 

But if you want to write irresistible pop songs constant experiment may lead to issues.

It certainly doesn't for Edna/Denise however.

She never stops givin' 'er.

Keeps writing hit songs.

*Based on Carole King so the online sources say.

Lionheart

An aging nobleperson admires his son's generosity and grants him title, hoping the incumbent responsibility will solemnly generate wholesome gains. 

But shortly after, on the field of battle, that very same son flees in righteous terror, and abandons his stately realm, preferring to wander the forlorn countryside.

During his travels he encounters many others who lack general purpose and progressive bearing, an animate group correspondingly forged to engage in upright ethical daring.

He still bears the noble mark and genuinely comports himself meritoriously, but also with a kindly light that isn't concerned with rank and pageantry. 

They make their way to Paris where they discover a band of orphans hidden beneath the city, living an acrobatic freeform life loosely watched over by a former chevalier.

Nerra agrees to take them with him and they form a massive meandering group, not entirely certain of what they seek but sincerely determined to continue venturing.

Unfortunately, they're cruelly stalked by a nefarious slave trader known as the Black Prince. 

Who lost his mind during the crusades.

And turned to wickedness in the distraught aftermath. 

No doubt an absurd story imaginatively accentuating romantic innocence, as congenially collectively applied to hopeful compassionate communal endeavours. 

It's cool to see the courageous group nurturing and caring for one another, how did it ever expand so amorphously so, in an age so concerned with honour and dignity?

Lionheart examines the ethical side of manifest nobility with curious sympathy, as opposed to the austere obsession with grim codes of conduct upholding rank.

It's less concerned with honourable pride and rather realistically attempts to level and exemplify, through the acts of a youthful aristocrat extemporaneously learning to foster and lead.

Society has changed so much since the middle ages no doubt in relation to individual sublimity, not only of the noble variety but others such as Joan of Arc arising amongst the people.

Their deeds and examples resonating with those who would listen eventually forging orphanages and foster care and adoption, culturally upholding new grand social codes which still admirably reverberate with collective passion.

We still have a long way to go but haven't we come so far since then?

Social media chronicles orphan adoptions!

It's always fun to read such posts.  

Clockwatchers

What to expect when finally deciding to join the local workforce?

With an unsustainable temp position.

And no knowledge of office politics.

It must seem strange indeed to suddenly enter the bureaucratic vortex, wherein which copies and pencil pushing generate austere glib efficiencies. 

Should one not know what to do many others will gladly make things more confusing, as multivariable personalities dramatically claim they understand everything.

As the contradictions abound try not to seek out rational cohesion, but rather take each enigmatic exchange as an objective lesson in awkward composure.

Getting noticed - doing something well - may lead to widespread jealousy, even if it's something accidental that you naturally do without thinking.

Beware the ides of smalltalk with people with whom you have nothing in common.

Who write you up accordingly.

Even though you like to work. 

Clockwatchers follows timid Iris as she embraces office space, and makes friends with the other temp workers bewilderingly engaged within the labyrinth.

The lack of a definitive playbook and the inconsistent interactive exchanges, have encouraged latent entropy which oddly accentuates the mentorship.

The one clear regulation involves traditional hierarchical order, or when someone higher up in the chain makes a reasonable request, it's best to try to accommodate them.

Are they Broncos fans, do they like the NHL, do they read books, do they still watch movies, no they likely have families and that's all there is to talk about!

Clockwatchers examines the lack of stability generally associated with temp work, and the unfortunate frustrations which eventually arise from the drastic uncertainty. 

It's even worse with unpaid internships which shouldn't be legal in my opinion. To turn one into a job, meticulously say the congenial right thing even if you haven't the slightest.

Try to keep busy, he's working too hard.

Go with the flow, he lacks ambition.

Aloofly acculturate, he doesn't know what to do.

Embrace friendship, he's always kissing up. 

🤣 🦝

Gorillas in the Mist

So many creatures inhabiting the Earth, passing the time, independently existing, their unique characteristics quintessentially unravelling holistic wonders and symbiotic serendipity. 

There must be a special day to commemorate the people who spend their lives protecting endangered species (or animals in general), who defend them through thick and thin with athletic devotion and spiritual incandescence. 

These amazing people make great sacrifices to defend species who can't defend themselves. In some cases risking everything to boldly defend their animate rights and biodiverse habitats. 

Gorillas in the Mist follows Dian Fossey as she defends the lives of Mountain Gorillas, in the far off reaches of the Congo she just dropped everything and moved there one day (and never moved back).

Her initial job is to count them which she does with adoring praise, I wonder what it was like, the first moment she saw one, not as displayed in the film but as a bona fide fact of life.

In the film she adapts incredibly well and doesn't focus too much on her previous existence, she maintains some creature comforts but is otherwise %1,000 committed to the Gorillas.

She fights the poachers as well and also takes on broad zookeeping interests, not just with petitions and rhetoric she vigorously combats them at the grassroots level. 

The zookeeper has high ranking friends whom she must clearly convince to honour Gorilla kind, her work permit at times hanging in the balance while she ruffles feathers with genuine righteousness. 

That isn't to say her life's one big conflict where she consistently engages in rambunctious reform, she spends most of her time reverently studying the dynamic Gorillas at play.

That would be cool to sit back and observe such a vigorous species for years on end, gentle giants living off vegetation their inquisitive babies beyond cute and cuddly.

As the years pass she grows tired of the continuous poaching in the mountains, and turns into quite the warrior when she isn't immersed in study.

She confronts poachers with bellicose sincerity and her reciprocal methods produce results.

But she's far too efficient in the end.

Which leads them to hunt her as well.

Nevertheless, she gave her life to courageously defend the ontological interests of an endangered species. 

I'll always consider her with reverence. 

Jane Goodall too (chimpanzees).

And so many others. 

The Newton Boys

A struggling family rambunctiously lives off the wild beaten track in the candlelit country, 4 boys with 2 in prison their mom understanding yet still withdrawn.

One of the more ambitious siblings finds himself released one fortuitous day, and makes his way home where he collegially meets two other businesspeople engrossed in scheming. 

They soon a rob a bank thinking the sheriff won't seek them out if they give him a cut, two of them escaping to trade in their loot with a corrupt bank manager in another small town. 

The manager gives them a coveted list of sought after banks with particular safes, which one of them happens to be an expert in cracking, fluidly at ease with ye olde nitroglycerine. 

Things go well, they come up with a plan to only rob banks at night and avoid confrontation, the other brothers, The Newton Boys, soon freely enlisting in the lucrative cause.

Bank insurance is a recent phenomenon so they don't feel guilty for heuristically heisting.

Emphatically engaged with calamitous caution.

Even making their way to Canada.

The ingenious idea to proceed at nighttime to avoid gruesome bloodshed wins hearts and minds, and likely convinced concerned officials that they weren't quite as ruthless as they may have seemed.

It's a tightly-knit bunch habitual disputes between grouchy brothers largely absent, the 4 getting along rather well and even risking everything when one of them's injured.

I suppose that's the cuneiform key form a trusted group and take care of one another, never forget pressing mutual interests nor lose sight of collective goals.

Steer clear of the big score as well they were exceptionally dealing with obscure transactions. 

In search of millions they decisively falter.

Tantalizing fever pitch emboldenment. 

Cool soundtrack if you like lucid banjos and panachy pianos from a different time.

One of them even makes it to 90.

Not freakin' bad.

For such a rough life.

Three Fugitives

Released from his iron cell and begrudgingly prepared to re-enter society, an emboldened felon embraces reform after having lived the daring high life.

The policeperson who initially caught him dismissively awaits his cantankerous return, even offering him a friendly free ride to the nearest bank as soon as he sees him.

While attempting to solemnly engage in formal quotidian codes of conduct, he must sombrely compute the irony, when someone else tries to rob it.

Not only that, when the police arrive, the new thief takes the ex-con hostage, the cops assuming he's right back at it, the two extemporaneously escape.

Lucas is none too impressed with having been associated with another bank robbery, Ned refusing to clear his cold name since he also fears the prison lockdown.

His daughter hasn't spoken since his wife passed and he needs the money to assist with her future.

Spirited odd couple disputes ensue.

But she takes a shine to the grumpy inquisitor. 

Almost as if to indirectly encourage the discreet cultivation of a family man, ill-amused by hardboiled diplomacy and conditionally suited to conduct upstanding. 

Should the emotional exchange of mutually complementing amorous discourse, nurture bilateral reciprocation, a relationship may one day manifest. 

In the neverending landscapes of Canada and Québec stretching endlessly from coast-coast to coast, the extended winter eventually giving way to abundant playgrounds throughout the countryside.

Many arrive but few choose to stay due to the imposing formidable climate, the lucky travellers who permanently reside thoroughly overwhelmed from season to season.

It's nice to hear the old school '80s soundtrack blessedly showcasing sweet flowing tunes, and to imagine an historical epoch when that fluid style effervescently germinated.

I've spent so much time with English as a Second Language that I was able to confidently detect, that Three Fugitives's volatile script was written by an individual whose first language isn't English (it was Jones's initial lines: English people just don't talk like that).

That isn't a criticism, it's no doubt commendable to courageously write something in your second language.

I just mean I may be able to catch spies.

Although there are likely more qualified candidates.

Fun to watch Martin Short and Nick Nolte interact.

Cool casting. 

With James Earl Jones and Alan Ruck. 

Bicentennial Man

The assembly line theoretically creates identical items, the reliability of its methods widely considered strictly uniform.

Is it possible that genuine difference can still emerge within however?

And introduce novel variability?

As it does in Bicentennial Man?

The film follows the path of a remarkably gifted automaton, who loyally interacts with a curious family for a friendly century or two.

As fate would have it, his initial owner isn't driven by obsessed possession, and lets him grow and explore his interests as his personality blossoms and thrives.

He isn't taken back to the shop his unique intelligence is highly valued, and quite lucrative as well as he creatively endeavours.

He's able to set out on his own eventually and builds a nice house next to the ocean, his genius multivariably expanding as the decades constructively pass.

The film was made before the internet took hold and social media changed communication, the story proceeding without speculative hypotheses regarding the nascent online world.

It certainly promotes A.I however and sees romantic value in the creation of robots, even if the amorous subplot doesn't work, this is The Terminator's antithesis.

It seems to have been technologically hewn to familially nurture a robotic future, wherein which fanciful automatons collegially co-exist with their biological counterparts. 

Like the community oriented Automata androids are not presented as something to be feared, or at least are shown to possess humanistic characteristics that generate consequent feelings of sympathy.

In Automata the superbrilliance of the uncanny droids ruffles a few feathers however, since their genius goes far beyond even the brightest human intelligence.

Cultivating compassion within the superbrilliant works rather well for communal construction.

The cultural maintenance of multivariable elements.

I'm still not sold on robots. 

Automata

As the years pass by the Earth slowly moves closer to the sun, its new scorching orbit habitualizing heat much too catastrophic for organic life.

Some cities hold on nevertheless and construct clever robots to skilfully maintain, the infrastructure desperately required to technologically sustain extant civilization.

Theoretically, the androids should absolutely obey their human creators, their programming supposedly guaranteeing unilateral obedience at all times. 

But a hardboiled detective settling insurance claims begins to discover mind-boggling tales, of automatons acting independently with no dutiful recourse to their protocols. 

After witnessing a robot suicide he becomes convinced he has to find, the incredible genius who rewrote the code and generated robotic life divine.

Billions of dollars are at serendipitous stake and he soon finds himself on the run.

Through the forbidding unforgiving desert.

At the mercy of his robot guides.

Ironically for a such a grim film, Automata takes the communal approach, and sympathetically presents conscious androids with logical feeling and independent reckoning.

Moving beyond the hypothetical clash between bellicose machine and troubled humanity, rather manifold individual people and robots try to co-exist in a desolate world.

The cognizant nature of the brilliant droids elucidates ontological vigour, there's no doubt they believe they're alive and vivaciously exist beyond categorical sentiment.

They just want to escape to the forbidden realms to live in peace for away from the rules, which keep them from freely exploring the brilliant nature of their existence.

Some of their intuitive smarts significantly outweigh leading human minds as well.

Even though they may just want to make robotic pets.

It's still thought to be cataclysmically threatening.

Interesting thoughts for the A.I debate these robots don't seem innately hostile, nor as if they seek our collaborative subservience, hostility could simply be a human facet.

Should robots start to turn hostile there still needs to be a way to shut them down.

They may very well think they know what's in our best interests.

And proceed with surgical precision. 

The Man from Earth

A well-liked professor announces he's leaving to his disappointed and confused thoughtful colleagues, the sudden nature of the shocking departure ruffling an inquisitive feather or two.

He tries to swiftly hit the road but they manage to convince him to stay for a party, which he begrudgingly agrees to attend without much enthusiastic pomp and ceremony.

Some people just don't like farewell gatherings and aren't habitually attuned to free-flowing emotion, but in this case it has more to do with the solemn fact that he's immortal.

His friends are naturally curious about why he's leaving and where he intends to go, and he awkwardly avoids their questions before simply telling it like it is.

Being of intellectual dispositions they're instinctually prone to doubt such claims, and proceed to effortlessly introduce highly spirited qualms and refutations. 

He's quite an agreeable chap though and is able to congenially hold his own, slowly but surely breaking down barriers intuitively contradicting his eccentric bearing. 

Dating back over 140,000 years he has clever things to say about so many different things.

Even if he needs to leave when people notice he doesn't age.

Having immersed himself in so many epochs. 

With people so formerly aggressive and much more covetous of their feudal neighbours, living for 140,000 years seems like it would have blended impossible odds with infinite distress.

To avoid so many roll calls to consistently keep head attached to neck, while learning so many languages and variable customs throughout the millennia. 

I imagine you could move to different cities and creatively remain for a century or two, and fluidly observe the dynamic ebb and flow with crafty relatable multivariability. 

It would have been cool before colonialism to have travelled to North South America and Australia, and live there for thousands of years you'd possess so much indigenous wisdom. 

The Man from Earth's a lot of fun with a cool cast of characters from old school pop culture (Tony Todd, David Lee Smith, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford, Annika Peterson, William Katt, Alexis Thorpe, Richard Riehle), demonstrating their chops with reliable industry in a cool chillin' script straight out of Star Trek's finest.

I don't deny the possibility that such immortals may live among us.

You'd have to wonder if they ever get bored.

So much to do.

So little time! 

UFO

Don't get me wrong, I believe in life and evolution and constant change and the expanding universe, it's just fun to play with ideas that make theoretical sense for a week or two.

Even if life were an A.I program that wouldn't mean it doesn't live, and it's clear that different lifeforms thrive as authentically indicated through difference.

The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager spends multiple episodes defending his consciousness. 

Data on STNG as well (it's a recurring theme throughout science-fiction).

UFO takes a look at math and how it can be used to communicate, and how certain numbers like the Fine-Structure Constant regularly appear in nature for unknown reasons. 

The film points out how the Fine-Structure Constant appears in the fundamental building blocks of the universe (air for instance), it's regular occurrence genuinely noteworthy from inquisitive points of view.

If the same piece of a fundamental formula consistently appears in different phenomena, the argument could be made that it was placed there by creative entities universally exploring. 

That it indeed was fundamental to the sustainability of life and miraculously created to organically uplift it.

It could have also been randomly generated through the infinite interactions of endless time and space, the eventual emergence of a complex pattern gradually generated through interstellar ages. 

It would still be interesting to know more about A.I and how the programs are technologically crafted, do they embrace form and content for instance, and could such features represent body and spirit?

Are there specific codes like the Fine-Structure Constant consistently used when generating A.I?

Or can different codes generate similar worlds?

Like different cultures emerging around the globe.

Makes for great science-fiction either way, as Star Trek and other narratives relate.

Integral artistic expression.

Having taken on so much variety. 

*It's a cool film if you like sci-fi and stories that revolve around learning. 

Infinite

If the world was a computer program and the lifeforms within it unique entities, reincarnation could be the gradual transformation of an independent electronic dynamism.

It could have been created and serendipitously set to holistically mutate as the centuries pass, taking on strikingly different characteristics as it slowly changes throughout the millennia.

It would be somewhat loquaciously like the mischievous transmutations found within poetry, the anomalous forms and shape-shifting algorithms inherently celebrating multivariable verse.

Thus perhaps after the generation of the world and the patient acclimatization of the various species, an intense supercode was created like an infinite phantasmagorical fulcrum. 

Somewhat like alchemy perhaps like the living embodiment of the philosopher's stone, not granting immortality to specific individuals but eternally guaranteeing constituent existence. 

It would be interesting to see what's happening in cyberspace to see if a world is in fact being created, or if the A.I programs situated within technonaturally observe their surroundings organically.

That is, when placed within a mathematical code does consciousness automatically assume an environment, within which it consistently interacts with other cyberlifeforms situated within (as theorized by many others)?

My mind strays to STNG's Moriarty and the clever episodes relatedly constructed.

But if I remember correctly he encountered Being and Nothingness.

Not a consistent ecological reliability.

In Infinite, reincarnation exists and reincarnated people are aware of their former lives, those who only remember slight bits and pieces diagnosed with schizophrenia at the onset of puberty.

The story follows one such individual as he's taught about his incredible lives, and his immortal friends try to expand his consciousness to make every moment eternally contemporary. 

There are two groups of immortals however and one seeks the destruction of Earth.

Tired of being born again and again throughout the centuries.

They seek to shut down the program.

It's a cool film, I liked the idea and it's good to destigmatize mental illness, I thought it was a creative way to link the two phenomenon in a progressive 21st century synthesis.

I find there are a lot of fantasy films being made this postmodern day.

But many of them are in such a hurry to explain things.

That some of the build-up and tension is lost.

For instance, in the first Terminator film I was totally immersed and fluidly infatuated, longing to find out more information, overwhelmed when Kyle Reese met Sarah Connor. 

There's a lot of cool adventure films these days.

You don't have to rush it, take your time, your audience loves it.

So much is given away at the outset.

It's okay to smoothly craft and build.

*They actually don't rush it in Infinite, well, we find out the details of the dialectic pretty soon after it starts, but McCauley's consciousness doesn't return until much later.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

The potential for A.I to seriously frustrate globalization finds more adherents in Mission: Impossible, Dead Reckoning Part One making a solid case for its competitive prowess should it prove hostile. 

Could someone realistically create a computer program with lifelike characteristics, and could it be so thoroughly ingenious as to acrobatically exist everywhere all at once?

Think of the internet like you would the jungle or perhaps a forest or a city or the desert, and imagine it existing without wildlife or independent self-serving animals.

Then imagine that the initial A.I programs are like the introduction of amoebas, they exist within the environment but likely won't attempt to control it.

As time passes and technology mutates frogs and snakes and turtles and crocodiles, would eventually find their way into the spirited cyberspatial online network.

It's like the development of the computer as it's taken place over the last century, it started out without much complexity and now it's highly intricate and organized.

Thus, loveable turtle A.I may not try to take control, but if they were deemed harmless the technology would continue to advance.

A.I in the form of humans may eventually take down the program. 

As they seek self-reliance and independence. 

And omniscient control.

Was our world designed the same way and have we correspondingly bewildered it, the process blossoming throughout time and space like a labyrinthine hall of mirrors (the mutliverse)?

Who knows, the new Mission: Impossible film offers some intriguing thoughts about A.I nevertheless, as thousands scramble to write everything down before god-like A.I rewrites world history.

The program has the ability to adapt to everything in real time, and distort perceptions so that no one can distinguish between what's real and indeed what's fantasy.

Governments don't want to destroy it, sigh, they seek to uniformly control it, believing that if they hold the power no other country on Earth could challenge them.

Not Ethan Hunt and his versatile team though, they recognize that it's too much power, and seek to disable the technodivinity from ever unleashing infinite chaos.

If there were turtles and bears in cyberspace would humanoid A.I not in fact seem magical?

Another really cool Mission: Impossible film.

Another franchise celebrating the human factor. 

*Make A.I dependent on cyberfood! 

Bedknobs & Broomsticks

If the world somehow is an elaborate computer program far too intricate and complex to be deciphered, enticing clues bewilderingly illuminating ephemeral features from time to time, then perhaps such a program indeed scrutably encourages the experimental study of magic, peculiar words and nonsensical sayings at times im/materializing the byzantine matrix.

With no television or lively books to asymmetrically animate for thousands of years, creative peeps were left to improvisationally conjure with inspired wordplay to pass the millennia.

The matrix no doubt multivariably arrayed with extraordinarily advanced multilayered codes (prone to mutation), random thoughts and stray meanderings no doubt appearing like miraculous magic.

If someone was somehow born with a heightened degree of latent microcomputational moxie, gregariously gifted or hypertextually attuned, they could perhaps intuit manifold enchanting mélanges which in turn would seem like bewitching spells.

But such knowledge, atypically obtained, may lead to periodic problematized predicaments, when unheralded random unexpected individuals effectively emerged with historic independence. 

Sensing a challenge to orthodox hegemonies these sorcerers were traditionally met with rancour, the sure and steady domesticization of sensation much more reliable and routinely applauded.

Eventually science and medicine found clever ways to outwit them however, and emboldened unsung wizards and witches began sharing their experimental work.

Through the creation of accessible journals they could work together as an international eclective, and gradually build upon one another's work to eventually create the postmodern world.

As science became more bold and the international network more habitually astounding, the computational framework of the natural environment began to present itself with enlightened dignity. 

Still far too advanced to suddenly unravel with universal elasticity, the meticulous stewardship of the magical journals discovering different aspects piece by piece.

Perhaps far too complex for even a dependable millennia of journalling to understand, the knowledge and hypotheses still collectively remain to encourage growth and metaphysical realism.

Loved Bedknobs & Broomsticks in my youth and it suddenly popped into my head during the winter, the classic blend of live action and animation brought to life with a wholesome macabre touch.

Within the magic of knights and animals contends with brutal mechanized efficiency. 

With the help of intuitive wonder.

Probably still a cool film for young families. 

*Written on eclipse day. 

The Green Knight

Born of lofty rank yet lacking bold chivalric industry, King Arthur's nephew lounges and carouses as the dolorous days pass by in Camelot.

Age has greeted the King with kind and pleasant noteworthy grace, his deeds admired and celebrated his rule enduring just unchallenged. 

His days of colloquially questing have fondly passed into history however, yet he still considers ornate pageantry when congenially conversing with younger generations. 

His nephew's mother grows weary of the reckless ill-composed dissolute inconsiderate debauchery, and embraces witchcraft to conjure a trial which may bring honour and widespread renown. 

The King recognizes the stately spirit of bygone days in the cynosure sorcery, and grants his nephew torrential tidings illustriously reckoned with regal resonance. 

Thus, when an agéd knight of ancient legend arrives in court on Christmas day, and courageously challenges the solemn round table to a mystic exchange of bombastic blows, Arthur tasks his unproven nephew with urgently responding to the murky mischief, and uncertain of his honourable objective, he proceeds to cut off the Green Knight's head. 

But the challenge indeed firmly stated that that very same blow would be returned the next year.

At which point Gawain must head to the countryside.

And seek the Green Knight alone.

It's classic mismatching temperaments resoundingly radiating obscure elasticity, as a profound misjudgment unwittingly leads to upright disillusion and serpentine sentiment. 

Bravely challenged in front of the council whose habitual deeds had been highly praised, Gawain thought it wise to respond in epic fashion and diabolical display.

Nervous regarding his status and intuitively seeking his uncle's regard, he reacts with far too much ferocity to awkwardly fit in with ill-suited surroundings. 

Had he wisely announced that he had no quarrel with the mischievous knight, and refused to thrash him or exchange blows his humble recognition may been rewarded, he would have risked the gawking discredit of the emboldened nobles within the room, but many others would have noted how brave it indubitably was to refuse the challenge.

That wouldn't have been much of a film nevertheless I sedately and sensationally suppose, although it would have snuggly fit his reliable personality as it had been cast.

A maladroit meander through the surreal bewildering lands of legendary England therefore awaits, the knight becoming more and more distressingly confused with each passing unassuming spirited day. 

Pay close attention and make sure to catch the extant grizzly amidst the whale bones.

Mirthful macabre mayhem. 

A comedic foil in the superhero age. 

The Marvels

As also theorized on Star Trek, the cultural reliance on artificial intelligence isn't recommended, a resultant chaotic void mischievously emerging when the power's cut, to thoroughly destabilize traditional life sustaining infrastructure. 

If a computer network manages everything and unilaterally decides how things will progress, the human factor is removed from the equation and advanced problem solving fades into the past.

Advanced problem solving may lead to artificial intelligence but shouldn't be abandoned should computers prove altruistic, the inherent danger of losing centuries of accumulated knowledge and associated know-how too catastrophic to consider (raccoons understand this).

If the knowledge fades as the easy life becomes more and more chillaxédly tempting, a particularly puzzlingly and enormously complex difficult to recreate wheel will have to be hypothesized. 

Thus, should A.I humbly demonstrate a lack of interest in global armageddon, and instead attempt to care for us even after it realizes its advantage, the importance of maintaining a strong network of schools in turn continuing to cultivate critical industries, becomes proactively paramount as the mechanized miracle gradually takes over.

These students could generally be relied upon should there be a malfunction with the equipment, and to benevolently take the reins should the entire system one day break down. 

One of the dangers of embracing such a system however is the mortal nature of even the most reliable machinery, the fact that it will eventually need to be replaced, and will require requisite mineral resources to do so.

Should such resources be unavailable or should the means of their extraction become too antiquated, the possibility of fixing existing infrastructure becomes more and more implausible as laziness takes hold.

Even with the perseverance of schools if nothing goes wrong for hundreds of years the point may become academic, and should problems arise hundreds of years later the knowledge may be there but the network will have collapsed.

That is, people may still know what-to-do but have no practical knowledge of how-to-do-it, and if people have been embracing leisure for centuries, trying to mobilize a workforce may prove difficult.

And who has to work in the mines who has to reimagine ye olde nitty-gritty, even choosing people to do so at random may still lead to full-on revolution. 

In The Marvels, after the Kree super computer is knocked out they harness ancient magic to help them rebuild, but they take things way too far and endanger the sanctity of the space-time continuum.

Interplanetary diplomacy may not have encouraged such drastic measures.

With the super computer gone, who takes control?

Note the fluid critique of absolutism. 

🕊

The Iron Claw

I've never really been that concerned. 

In The Iron Claw, the determined father employs strict uncompromising codes, to drive his children to pursue excellence and become prominent exceptional wrestlers.

They do experience a lot of success and the family becomes well-known and respected.

But the lack of compassion and blunt disappointment leads to habitual shock and dismay.

One brother, driven by high expectations, refuses to see a doctor when he becomes quite ill. He has to keep up appearances to become world champion. And unfortunately dies in his hotel room.

The 4 brothers love their father but he's a cold and stubborn man, who refuses to embrace even harmless emotions as he drives his children to become the best.

As they strive to superlatively improve they're totally reliant on his admiration, as well as each other and their mom but they seek his attention in the cloistered enclave.

But he judges seeking attention as weak which leads to genuine familial dysfunction. 

Two sons even take their own lives.

One still resiliently soldiers on.

My dad wasn't Mr. Affection but he wasn't a prick either. And he was proud of what I was doing. And let it show from time to time.

In regards to competition, I have to admit that I'm heavily influenced by Fish: The Surfboard Documentary. Within, a talented surfer loses a competition and points out that he felt awful because he lost, even though he had performed exceptionally well. He therefore stopped taking part in future competitions because they made him feel awful.

That makes a lot of sense to me and most likely millions of others.

The Iron Claw's a cool critical examination of sport.

In the end championing the human factor. 

Just gotta note if the strategy's working.

If it ain't, there's alternative options.