到不了的都叫做远方

Told a girl on my flist that the structure of her argument is like something Catharine MacKinnon used in one of her works (I was reminded since I had just recently read MacKinnon for one of my essays), and she replies with "the difference between MacKinnon and me is that I'm a sex-positive feminist."

Which, uh, duh, I know that. I'm talking about the structure of your argument, not the content nor underlying beliefs or anything else. If I hadn't read Catharine MacKinnon's works myself, I would not be commenting and telling you that the structure of your argument resembles hers.

I mean, honestly. I don't need you to tell me something that I already know, especially something so freaking obvious to anyone who knows more than cursory information about feminism. Just wtf. :|

Summary: 'Bi the Way' investigates the recent rise in the "whatever" phenomenon. Featuring interviews this documentary explores the changing sexual landscape of America in a bizarre and hilarious road trip that takes us from a swinging cage fighter in LA to an 11-year-old in Texas to a cheerleader-turned-runaway in Memphis. Following the personal stories of five young people, the film also grabs hold of the country's pulse on the topic.


Thoughts: I don't think that this movie portrays an accurate picture of bisexuality at all. This paints a picture of a US that welcomes bisexuality with open arms, with everyone free to date whomever, but that's really not true at all afaik, and the guys in the documentary make that really clear. There's also a lot of interviewing of academics who are really into evolutionary biology and essentialism, all of which just makes me go wtf. All that, added to the fact that I've watched too many lgbtq documentaries about young people of *insert orientation/gender identity*, made this a really boring watch for me.

Summary: Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.

Thoughts: Not gonna lie, I probably like this film so much because it affirms my own views about the military-industrial complex. This is a documentary that highlights a military-industrial complex that has strong ties with the US government and gives reasons for why Congress has been ineffective in checking the executive branch. It shows a government intent on remaining the sole 'superpower' on the planet and dominated by capitalist interests rather than democratic ones. The film interviews civilians in addition to politicians and intellectuals, which leads to a range of answers to the question of "why we fight". And the film leads to a lot of implications about the state of democracy in the US, who is really in the power, and the like. Depressing, but necessary.

Summary: The companion piece to Jia Zhangke's Still Life, which follows the artist and actor Liu Xiaodong as he invites Jia to film him while he paints a group of laborers near the Three Gorges Dam (also the subject of Still Life) and later a group of women in Bangkok.


Thoughts: This is one of those documentaries that more or less actually follows people as they go about their lives, with very little narration or interviewing. The DVD described this as Still Life's little sister, which one could argue for. The first part uses some of the same scenes as Still Life and even some of the same "actors", so it feels like it fits into Still Life and expands to give an actual "documentary" of the setting. Because of the wordless nature of it, though, this seems like a narrative in much the same way Still Life seems like a documentary.

The settings are interesting, and I liked seeing Liu's artwork and his work process, but the second part (in Thailand) was mostly boring to me, possibly because much of it wasn't subtitled on the DVD I watched. The first part I found quite moving, and I might have found the second part quite profound (based on reviews I've read) had I been able to understand it.

Summary: Syriana is a thriller of corruption and power related to the oil industry that tells four parallel stories: the CIA agent Bob Barnes with great experience in Middle East that falls in disgrace after an unsuccessful mission dealing missiles in Lebanese Republic; the investigation of the attorney Bennett Holiday related to the merge of two American oil companies, Connex and Killen; the traumatic association of the energy analyst Bryan Woodman with the son of a powerful emir of Emirate; and the social drama of the Pakistani immigrant worker Wasim Khan that is fired by the oil company.


Thoughts: This was one of the "main" limited release films being heralded around when I first got into indie films. I watched it for the first time three years ago and found it confusing until the very end, and I decided then that I would need to watch it again.

While I do remember the basics of the plot this time around, I still found the film confusing at parts because of how complex it is. It's a smart film that really asks its viewers to pay attention in order to decipher exactly what's going on, and there were things this time around that I didn't pick up until I read wikipedia. This is a film that really needs to be watched multiple times.

Once one figures out exactly what's going on though, this film becomes completely worth it. It's a tale of tangled business and political interests that impact the rich and poor alike, about how one commodity (oil) can direct entire nations, about how people who invest in such commodities do whatever they can to maximize their profits. It's a depressing story but also a story that should be told and heard.

Summary: A Spanish coming of age story focusing on the antics of two 17 year olds, who have a posh beach house almost all to themselves one summer. This is also a summer of sexual awakenings.


Thoughts: I think I'm at a stage of my life when coming-of-age stories just no longer interest me. This movie is basically what the summary says - two seventeen-year old boys get a beach house all to themselves, and they mature into sexual beings.

There's, of course, the homoerotic tension between the leads - the title of the movie refers to a nightly mutual masturbation ritual. But the two grow into different people, and the movie explores that. It's not bad, but I've just seen too many to appreciate stories of "teens growing into adults".

Summary: The story of folk legend Ishikawa Goemon, a ninja bandit hero who stole valuables from the rich and gave them to the poor.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this film, although certain things bother(ed) me. The CG was unexpected, and it was a struggle for me to adjust during the first hour of this two-hour movie. It's a mixture between a Final Fantasy atmosphere and wuxia grandeur and splendour, which just made me go WTF at the beginning. I prefer straight historical to fantastic historical, so I was :| about that. I found myself adjusted during the second half, though.

This is an interesting reimagining of some major figures in Japanese history and folklore: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ishikawa Goemon, Sarutobi Sasuke, Kirigakure Saizou, etc. I read a lot about the historical figures on Wikipedia once I realized this, in order to gain some background. The portrayals of certain characters, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, for one, is really against the grain of history - it worked in this, but I'm not sure I like it. I really like the reimagining of Goemon's story, though.

The romance subplot really annoyed me, but that's because I tend to prefer...straight historical productions. I don't mind romance at all when it happened in history and was crucial to it, and although the subplot wasn't irrelevant to this reimagining, it wasn't exactly crucial, either, and I wasn't sure if this was meant to be something genuine that allows us to better understand the characters or if this was just the usual romance subplot inserted into action to appeal to a wider audience.

Despite this, I really did enjoy it, although I'm a bit tired of the fantastical nature of wuxia CGI (especially when it's set in Japan, which is just no for me. The mixing of Western and Japanese elements bothered me for the same reason - I just don't like fantastic history, I suppose). I still recommend it, though, for the experience if nothing else. It's an exhilarating tale and a great adventure.

(Also, shit, some times I do have things to say about the things I read or watch! I don't just absorb like a mindless sponge!)

Summary: A young photographer Thun and his girlfriend Jane discover mysterious shadows in their photographs after fleeing the sceen of an accident. As they investigate the phenomenon, they find other photographs contain similar supernatural images, that Thun's best friends are being haunted as well, and Jane discovers that her boyfriend has not told her everything. It soon becomes clear that you can not escape your past.


Thoughts: I watched this because I heard it was really scary, and I wasn't disappointed! The framing of the shots are really superb, and that combined with the music...really gave this film a scary atmosphere. I also really enjoyed the plot - there's a twist, as usual, but it's...so different, imo, from that of what's on the market, and so I was just left :OOOO. The ending is particularly well done, as it fits the flow of the film just perfectly, and ah, this is a really good horror film. <3 Asian horror.

Summary: A teenage girl finds that she has the ability to leap through time. With her newfound power, she tries to use it to her advantage, but soon finds that tampering with time can lead to some rather discomforting results.


Thoughts: I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. This film really deals well with the repercussions of time travel, and I didn't expect the twist at all. The end is also quite fitting. Apparently this is a classic in Japan (at least the novel on which the movie is based), and I can understand why.

Summary: The sequel to 2005's "Madagascar", in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, start to leave the island. All of a sudden, they land in the wilderness of Africa, where Alex meets the rest of his family, but has trouble communicating with them after spending so much time at the Central Park Zoo.


Thoughts: This is much much better than the first movie. It's a lot less blatantly offensive and actually has a somewhat heart-warming plot. The anthropomorphizing is still ridiculous (I fear I'm ruined for animated films with animal characters :(), but at least it's bearable this time.