AVATAR!!!

well....I finally saw it...not in 3D thank you!!!!

THE GOOD.... it is pretty and very blue....good running story line...first class CGI....state of the art everything!!! the two leads (SAM WORTHINGTON & ZOE SALDANA  are believable and have good chemistry!!

THE BAD... too much macho posturing a la STARSHIP TROOPERS (STEPHEN LANG is intense enough for 3+ movies)....an overly simplified picture of "aboriginal" people...CAMERON has developed a meld of AFRICAN & NATIVE AMERICAN cultural societies, but the NAVI are PRETERNATURAL ALIENS and more script work was needed to avoid some banal moments...

THE UGLY.... the 3 "bulging" veins in the right temple of STEPHEN LANG'S "SARG"!!!

AND...............

is it worth $300,000,000???  uh...no!!!  could have been made for 30 million easily!!

is this the future of film??? hopefully not!!  I would prefer an old B&W film/story/sound of "BOGIE" from the forties!!!

GIOVANNI RIBISI... How did such an accomplished actor find himself in such a one-dimensional role!!

SIGOURNEY WEAVER...more two-dimensional...barely!!

the ending...sweet, but 100% predictable!!!

AND...if you want to read "GOOD" SCI-FI about "INDIGENOUS ALIENS",  start with OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET by C.S. LEWIS (part of his "space trilogy")...

concerning the "noble savage"...read some JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU with a repartee by the MARQUIS DE SADE!!!

FINALLY...I doubt if the "KING OF THE WORLD" has read "CIVILIZATION AND IT'S DISCONTENTS" by SIGMUND FREUD....he would have avoided a lot stale. wrmed-over plot devices!!

BILL MOYERS SPEAKS

http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-ghost-of-mccarthyism/

a chilling observation of modern politics and McCarthyism!!!

MARK SANDRICH

http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ri-Sc/Sandrich-Mark.html
a nice reference and overview of director MARK SANDRICH...another director NOT listed in 501 DIRECTORS by Steven J. Schneider...the author discusses some causes and reasons for his anonymity...some would say "one-dimensional" film maker...early death at age 45...collapse of the studio system....star-filled films that eclipsed his directorial skills...I would argue that he made wonderful niche films....basically invented the ASTAIRE/ROGERS chemistry....produced quality and successful films...if you do not believe me, check out these five gems!!
#1. THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934)... the first ASTAIRE/ROGERS pairing has a little more plot than most...still has it's share of music and dance...based on the broadway play THE GAY DIVORCE....great songs, including "CONTINENTAL" & "NIGHT AND DAY"...good support from ERIK RHODES & ERIC BLORE...
#2. TOP HAT (1935).... my favorite ASTAIRE/ROGERS vehicle...minimal plot based on "mistaken identity"...a ton of wonderful IRVING BERLIN songs, including "CHEEK TO CHEEK" & "PICCOLINO"....BLORE & RHODES return for comedic relief....look for LUCY!!!
#3. FOLLOW THE FLEET (1936)... a small step down from the high level TOP HAT...plot involves two sailors (FRED ASTAIRE & RANDOLPH SCOTT) romancing two sisters (GINGER ROGERS & HARRIET HILLIARD(NELSON)...based on the IRVING BERLIN musical HIT THE DECK...LUCY as "KITTY"!!!!
#4. SHALL WE DANCE (1937)... an equal in brilliance to TOP HAT..flimsy plot, to say the least....it is really all about the Gershwins..."YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME"...THEY ALL LAUGHED"..."LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF"..
#5. HOLIDAY INN (1942)... sorry..no GINGER...fred and bing crosby try to run an inn that is only open for "the holidays" (it ain't Shakespeare), setting up a song and dance session for virtually every known HOLIDAY, including GEORGE WASHINGTON... a bevy of IRVING BERLIN songs with BING singing the academy award winning "WHITE CHRISTMAS"....

FUNNY "DOPE" FILMS

disclaimer: by no means am I condoning the use of drugs, nor overlooking the tragedy that drug addiction brings upon the individual and society at large....however... these anti-drug films are all hilariously bad...poor production values on all levels...sensationalistic...exploitative.....often incorrect and simplistic in their observations...silly plots...bad acting...no name directors....
#1. REEFER MADNESS (1936)... the "grand-daddy" of all the "drug warning" films...produced by the infamous DWAIN ESPER....one puff and you are hooked...or you play the piano like a madman possessed...this is the one most folks know...I saw it in high school...not a part of civics!!!
#2. MARIHUANA (1936)... directed by DWAIN ESPER...a companion/bookend piece to REEFER MADNESS...made with the "help of federal, state and police narcotic officers" (yea..right!!)....naive youths are given the "evil weed" by a guy with a mustache, and the next thing you know there is nude swimming and a drowning!!!
#3. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH (1937)... a bit more polished than the first two films....too many reefer parties...an invetigative reporter poses as a soda jerk to collect his story...the short film with the film (THE MARIJUANA MENACE) is a hoot!!!
#4. THE COCAINE FIENDS (1936).... young woman takes a "headache powder" from a dope dealer and become instantly addicted...her brother goes "on a sleigh ride with some snow birds"...tawdry/awful/depressing/maudlin/morbid...did I mention that it is awful!!!
#5. NARCOTIC (1933)... the potentially sad decline of a physician into drug addiction (first opium and then heroin) is ruined once again by exploitative director DWAIN ESPER...in the right hands, this could have been a compelling and well told story...sorry..it ain't happening here!!
#6. TEEN AGE DEVIL DOLLS (1952)... chronicles a teenage girl's decline into addiction and crime...NO DIALOGUE...filmed in documentay style with just a voice over...wonder why??
#7. THE COOL AND THE CRAZY (1958)... features two "known" actors (SCOTT MARLOWE & GIGI PERREAU), and that is about it...typical of the 50s juvenile delinquent films, it has thirty-somethings playing teenagers who start with grass and graduate to LSD...filmed on location in KANSAS CITY!!!

MORE GIFS OF THE GODS

IN PRAISE OF PIT BULLS...

THE PITBULL TERRIER, poor fellow, is now almost obsolete, and what a shame! Will no one endeavour bring him back to his rightful own? Not to his former, much abused--pitifully abused--state, which was actually the cause of his downfall, but to the position of a true dog among dogs. Never was there a more noble, well -meaning, loyal, or courageous dog on the face of the earth. While perhaps some of the inferior types of this class were nothing much to look upon, yet those of the better specimens were really splendid-appearing animals and worthy of a place in any home or show ring. This terrier did not lose his reputation, and with it his popularity, because of any fault of his own.

Those who handled him, those who made him fight to maim and even kill other dogs, always at the grave risk of his own life, ultimately caused his decent down the grade rapidly toward oblivion. Left to himself, he was no more of a fighter than many of our other dogs which are held in the highest respect, and under the right supervision he was one of the most peaceful creatures living. Of course, it must be admitted that he could not really boast of blue blood, nor could he exactly claim a true-to-type strain, but, nevertheless, if other breeds could be carefully developed and raised to a standard recognized by the American Kennel Club, why could he not have enjoyed this honour? Surely, he well deserved it. So let us sincerely hope that some sympathetic person, or group of persons, may sooner or later take up his cause and carry it through until he has a fitting place in canine history.

John Lynn Leonard, DVM 1928

HATS by MICHAEL REYNAUD

MORE GIFS OF THE GODS

AMELIE

JACK

LA LUNE

MALCOLM

PENGUINO

WINONA

GIF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED..part deux

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE PHOTOS

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/10/9353814-your-views-of-the-lunar-eclipse?chromedomain=cosmiclog