To Die For.... (final assignment)

Wanna be a big rock star?  Really?  

Would you do whatever it takes…to be famous? 

How far would you be willing to go…just to be skinny and pose on the cover of Vogue?  Would you do anything, be it right or wrong, to be filthy rich?  

What would you be willing to die for?

When Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), who plays in the movie To Die For, sees the flashbulbs of the paparazzi, she feels as if her whole world has lit up in front of her.   Her love of self, fame and glamour, embark her on a dark journey of doing whatever it takes, just to be that….famous in front of cameras for all to see.  Regardless of the price, she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her start in that path to fame.   

"What's the point in doing something good if nobody's watching?" she says in one of her lines.  Media has become her obsession.  She feels is the vehicle that will take her to stardom, regardless of how fast or dangerous her journey becomes.

She starts as a weathergirl at a local TV station.  But her aspirations of grandeur don't end there, as she uses this to put her foot in the business door as her goal is to be a star.  

But…she is also a newlywed.   Despite that her husband supports her; she feels he is hindering her quest of fame and glamour.  He wants a family, she does not.  He wants her at home, she lives to be out and thus the conflict and dark path begins.

She befriends school teenagers and has a romantic affair with one, in hopes of coercing him to murder her husband.  She plants the seed, makes the plans, provides the motivation and in her mind, she is willing to do whatever it takes to be in the media.   For Suzanne Stone, the price of this fame and attention is murder.

In the end….the police discover that James, her teenage lover is the one that killed her husband and the police also find out it was Suzanne that was behind the plan.  

Before the police can catch her, James’ parents, involved with mob connections, have Suzanne killed.   

Based on a true story or not, it does expose a reality in certain people that are willing to do whatever it takes to be famous.  Whether it’s TV actor, a photojournalist, politician, a pastor…it shows that their passions can get away from them … in the name of fortune and fame.  

Perhaps that is why ethics is a big part of media.  There are those who might just be willing to do whatever it takes to get their names in the paper, their faces in front of cameras, whether it is right or wrong, true or not.    And those who think they are "oh just so beautiful" and feel that the best way to share that beauty with others, is by being in the limelight.    

How many stories have been changed or embellished to make that quick sell?  How many back stabbings have occurred just to get in front?  How many people have been hurt, when sex is used for selfish gain?

Maybe next time you see a famous actor, newscaster, that skinny model, the "Bernie Madoffs" of the cooperate world or the talk show host….maybe you'll wonder what they did to get to where they are?

What would I be willing to die for?   I can't think of anything.   

But that doesn't mean that as the aspiring "wanna be" photographer that I am, that I wouldn't use this blog to have people check out my portfolio on FACEBOOK and see how good I am???  

Wait…that wouldn’t be the same thing now, right?

PBS Special- An Independent Woman

The PBS special, “An Independent Woman,” was a rather interesting piece on the evolution of women throughout the history of television.     

Starting with Lucille Ball, this show takes us thru a timeline of different women in TV, showing how they were portrayed and how they were an influence to the actresses that followed them. The show ends with Nancy from “WEEDS” and Nurse Jackie.  

I liked how the directors of the show used use of newspapers titles, i.e., “Mother Load”,” Women on a tight room, ” to give the piece a more genuine feel of its time.  Another excellent vehicle of impact for the viewer were the quotes and narratives that many of the guest speakers used.

With Lucy, we see a woman who will not just accept “no” for an answer.  She was set style of the conservative woman in TV of her time, her role as a wife is one that is somewhat submissive.   The evolution begins.  We see Mary Tyler Moore, perhaps a new and improved Lucy, first as the wife in the dick van dyke show, then later we see her in her own show, but now she is single.  I thought it was amusing as how the writers of the show did not want to make her a divorced woman as that would make the public think she was divorced to Dick van Dyke.  She states, “it is more comfortable to show ones faults then having to hide them,” in describing her role.

We see Murphy Brown, no longer in an employee type role, but as a women in-charge, yet with a past of having been in rehab.   We get to meet Rose Ann Barr.  She represents the everyday/real women of America.  She represents those that are “fat,” as described in the show, those unemployed and barely making ends meet, women that are underappreciated … but ultimately, she stands for those who said, “it is OK to be just OK!

Ahhh…Sex in the City, luckily for both of you and me as well, I will spare you that part, as I’m not a fan, Never saw an episode and never will. And you might as well include Desperate Housewife in this category.  There’s a part of “Gray’s Anatomy” that portrays the complex woman, one who is self-assured, career minded first and foremost and feeds off being competitive.

WEEDS….with NANCY, I love this show.  Someone who juggles life, period.  It’s about how she deals with the problems at hand on how the things on the periphery suffer, which includes families and relationships.  It’s about the “collateral damage” in our lives.

NURSE JACKIE:

Inner chaos

Indifference

Addicted

Pain

Drama

Drugs

Sorrow.

This was a nice piece about the transformation of the roles women play, from conservative to the uninhibited.  Although the show really doesn’t include the evolution of sexuality of women on TV showing how far they have come, it is still within the background.  All the women are beautiful in their own right, of course they would have to be, if not, mainstream might not follow them.  But what I found interesting, is that Sexuality, although not mentioned per se, the intro to the show shows a woman putting on eye-make up, then lipstick.  The camera focuses on her lips for a bit.  It grabs your attention.  I’m thinking …, not everything has changed!

Film Review for Moneyball

Film Review for “Moneyball.”


You think it’s possible that you could watch, much less like, a movie about baseball, even if you don’t watch baseball games on TV? Even if you don’t like watching baseball would you watch a baseball movie just because Brad Pitt is starring in it?

Imagine this twist. What if YOU do like baseball, but this movie isn’t necessarily about the game of baseball? Now what?

The movie “Moneyball”, based on a bestseller by Michael Lewis, is such a movie. It leaves you not necessarily knowing what category of movie this falls under, but that’s not a problem.

Moneyball is based on a true story, and it’s a story for anyone who has ever thought of taking on the system. Not as in good versus evil, but the little guy fighting the giant. Brad Pitt stars as the general manager of the Oakland A’s, named Billy Beane. He is the guy that is taking on the system. In Moneyball, Billy Beane has a baseball gut feeling that baseball’s traditional and conventional wisdom is all of sudden wrong. Due to a tight franchise budget, Billy Beane is forced to restructure his team. And now with his own unconventional wisdom, he must think or find a way that he can outsmart and outplay the richer ball clubs around the league by rebuilding his team on the lowest of budgets possible. But Billy, the onetime baseball jock of yesteryear, cannot go at this alone, so he teams up with a not-so-jock looking college grad, Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill) and together form an unlikely partnership to recruit players. The unique thing about their approach is that due to having no money, and the fact that their team’s baseball star has been purchased by the New York Yankees, they go off on a quest to look and acquire bargain players that the scouts have written off as “flawed,” as described by the scouts in the movie. On which here lies the kicker, despite these group of undesirables, due to their lack of star power, they seem to have the ability to get on base. By getting on base, by scoring runs from either hits or excessive walks…it is a technique and a decision that challenges the old school traditions of scouts. By implementing this odd formula that sounds so farfetched, it puts Billy Beane on the sites of those who are accusing him of taking the heart and soul out of the game of baseball. And to tell you how this movie ends, well…it would be like me telling you who wins the game before you even get a chance to watch it.

So then...what is this movie about if it isn’t about a baseball game? It’s about the game not played on the field. It’s the game within the game. And of the script, it’s a well written game. But don’t expect fast past action. It’s actually slow….well, like a baseball game.

The casting is well selected…with seasoned actors such a Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour and Jonah Hill and other character actors you’ve seen around. I just have to mention Jonah Hill, especially since we are not used to watching him play a serious role. The partnership of Hill and Pitt, watching their chemistry, was for me the highlight of the film. Established actor versus the new arrival, the glamour good looks of Brad versus the … well, the looks of Jonah Hill. Age and experience vs. youth. All this sets up the synergy of their combined acting to make this a move of strong acting versus a mere baseball game.

The comedy throughout the movie is minimal, but it exists, perhaps more noticed in the use of sarcasm. Memorable lines such as “There are rich teams and there are poor teams, then there's fifty-feet of crap, and then there's us.” Is probably one of the more catchy lines worth remembering. One on occasion as the mentor is educating the new kid, Billy Beane is telling Peter Brand or better yet, showing him how to fire a player by telling him that he should just deliver the blow. “Would you rather get one shot to the head or five in the chest and bleed to death,” he tells Peter.

What I found interesting about the way this movie is scripted is that even Billy Beane, although the GM, cannot watch the game in person, for fear of jinxing the team. He listens to the game by radio. Perhaps this is symbolic as to the fact that the viewer is not always watching game, but listening to baseball all around the movie itself.

But don’t think Moneyball is not about baseball. It is. There is that crack of the bat you get to see and hear, the frolicking in the locker room, the cheers of the crowd, and the not so powerful star of a player hitting that special homerun. It makes you wanna cheer!

I think it’s a decent movie in its own right, but a bad baseball movie if that is all you are after.

I could have waited to see this movie as a rental but I’m ok with seeing it on the big screen. Could this win as the best movie of the year, I don’t think so. But you decide, go watch it….and have a hotdog while you’re at it.

Batter up!

3 out of 5 jalapeños.

3 of 3. favorite movies

Inevitably, every 5-10 years someone will ask what is your top 5 movies of all time.  Whether it’s in the office, on a trip or just over dinner, someone will ask.   Now…if you’re old like me, well … then you know I’ve been asked this a few times.  What is hard about being asked now - is that throughout your life, your list will change.   If you had asked me 20 years ago, I would have included movies like “looking for mr. goodbar,” “one flew over the cookoo’s nest”  or even “the world according to Garp.”  If I were to only count the movies in the last 5 years, well then you would have to go with movies like Avatar, Batman begins, 300.  How can you not consider these movies with the way technology has changed.  And it’s ever changing and I bet that I one day I’ll even be able to type my posts in 3D, or would that be 4D?

So there lies the dilemma.  Which era will I go with…..hmmm?

Lets see.  

If could only pick three, then I will start with FORREST GUMP.  Now, how can you not love Forrest Gump.  Just the name (Forrest) alone should win you over.  “Run Forrest Run”….would not sound as funny if it were “Run Billy Run,” right?  And how can you pass up saying the “BUH TOCS” when you’re at a party or “bubba shrimp?”   It’s a story about life, tragedy, kindness, love and death, and about despite how many time you might lose, there is also winning in life.  Tom Hanks is superb in that movie, as he is in most his movies.  But I gotta put Forrest Gump up there.

Silence of the Lambs.  Ahhh, it’s one of those movies for me that if your flipping channels and you land on it, well….your gonna see it thru.  Mystery, suspense, followed by a nice kianti.  Not even sure if I know how to spell it, and I definitely cannot spell….sucking your lips and teeth 3 times really fast (work with me here) but I love that sound.  And who else do you know that can slick his hair back and look that cool, (don’t say Pat Riley, he’s not an actor).   I love that movie.  It makes you want to embrace being an evil genius.  Ok, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but you know what I mean.

…and last but not least, I gotta give a shout-out to my man Quinton Tarantino, and his epic: PULP FICTION.  Who knew that you could tell a story starting in at the end and finish at the beginning, totally enjoying the ride!  From all the different actors and story lines, to the connection that people have with each other, to sticking a giant needle in someone’s cardiothoracic organs, what a movie.  It is probably that fact that it is filmed in a non-convention style that draws me to this movie.  The chemistry that John Travolta and Samuel Jackson is quite synergistic. 

So there you have it.  Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll probably say the same three movies, but don’t bet your money on it.  Now I feel like some popcorn … you?

2 of 3.

If I never had to watch the news, I don't think I would.  Why?  I mean, isn't anything that is new, "news?"  And isn't there something new happening next?   I bet if I sat one day, doing nothing but watching CNN, I bet I could turn on the tv the next day and I would find something new.  Ok, stop...i'm not saything new, aren't I?
On to the question in hand.  Where do you get your NEWS?   Most of the news I catch, usually comes in the form of the 10 o'clock news chanel.  I watch KENS tv because I won't have to change the chanel for when David Letterman comes on.  And because the news is usually gloomy and tragic, at least the headliners are, I think I need a chaser of David Letterman just to forget all the ugly news of the day. 
On occasion, I will watch CNN, but only because its on in a hospital lobby, and office or some public place.
Ah, but there is morning radio with Lisle & Hahn.  It's radio, but certainly not news radio.  The 1 -2 minutes of news, well...it isn't all that news-worthy, but its news none-the-less.  Usually mixed in with they cynical, whimsical, scarcastic twist of news.  It's ok.
But I think, although not considered regular media, my information comes from the form of the spoken word.  Someone will say something in the office and if it catches my attenion, then i'll log in to CNN.  I'll search just so I can be informed.
Although we get the newspaper delivered at home, I don't read it.  It's rather messy and there are papers scattered everywhere when your done. 
If something is rather interesting or important, like a pending hurricane or someone going on a killing spree, i might look up CNN online..and then perhaps watch it on the 10 o'clock news.  It's not so much to compare, but perhaps to get a more broad perspective of what has happened or is happening. 
Not sure why....but if you watch national news, like nightline, or the evening news witih Bryan Jennings, for whatever reason its sounds more crediable.  It's interesting, or funny for that matter, that the local news just seems to be repeating the news from some other source and it's nothing that they have investigated, researched, captured or broke themselves. 
I could really do without the 10 o'clock news, but its convenient and easy to watch.  And don't even get me started on Steve Brown, really....a weatherman, really? 
But, we can't do without news.  It's around us, therefore it can affect us, so...if you must, then you must.
I could probably write another line or two, but David Letterman is coming on next.  See ya!

First blog assignment. 1 of 3.

Finally!  After being directed all over the place on this site, being asked how i want my blog to look, what i want to edit, set, add, color, advertise, design ... i feel rather drained.  Whatever leftover creativity i might have had from this long week, which i was saving up for this saturday's morning homework assignment, has been all used up just getting here.  Yeah, ok...it's a lame personal disclaimer, which might not even be true ...but depending on how this first post turns out, you can be the judge of that.   Either way, it's an assignment and it must be done...so, on to the word building.

Probably the easiest way to land this 1st post assignment;  to "describe ALL the mass media" we use thru out an entire day, ...well i would think i would have to recreate my typical day and start from the begining with a list, because there is so much all around us, all day, all the time... but per our instructor's instructions we aren't allowed too write a list, per se, but perhaps i'll "pulp fiction" this post and start from the end of the day and work backwords.  hmmm, that working backward's thing, sounds rather familiar

This is not a list...but you don't have to believe that if you don't want.  
I think it's rather accurate to say...one last look at email right before i close my eyes on my never-leaving-my-side iphone, as if  my day would be considered a failure if I just happen to let one slippery piece of spam email get thru my firewall causing a security breach that will totally ruin my life, please!

Where was I, oh yes, moving backwards without getting dizzy, there's news, reality shows, True Blood, snail mail, billboards, radio and facebook, Facebook-nah...that will take too long, work computers, networking with people as in normal conversations, internet/intranet, emails, computer, morning radio and iphone check.  hmmmm...iphone, didn't i end with that? weird.

Media; it's all communication.  In one form or another, it's all somehow computer driven.  Whether it's a digital billboard, ipad, laptop, desktop, phone, flatscreen tv....it's all communication driven by a computer, feed by anyone who needs to pass on some information, whether to buy something, to inform, to help, to share, to connect....it's all about communication.  We need it, to function, to complete our tasks, to be on top of things, to almost survive.  But I can also enjoy a break from it.  From simple writing, reading and talking...its is all communication and the different forms, sizes and shapes it comes in.

welcome to my blog....