Drama Played Out in the Reality of War

The film, “Red Cliff,” “Chi Bi” is the Chinese derivative, from Director John Woo showcased the brutality of war, while emphasizing the subtleties of diplomacy as coalitions of need are built and the subterfuge of diplomacy is explored. In other words: “Red Cliff” is a fine film that not only mixes the authenticity made possible by the excellent computer graphics in staging the mega battle of Red Cliff, but the tactful reality of the social mesh that was China in the early third century AD.

In 208 AD China, Cao Cao, who had successfully unified northern China, set his sights on the unification of southern China’s two predominate provinces, separated by the mighty Yangtze River: the Ying Province governed by the benevolent warlord, Liu Bei, and the ruler, the southern territory east of the Han River governed by warlord Sun Quan. The Imperial General Cao Cao, played by Fengyi Zhang, in the film, ̶... Read More

This Dude Really Enjoyed the Ladies

"Julie & Julia" takes two outstanding actresses, who are entirely comfortable within their own skin and with each other (having worked very well together in the very fine film, "Doubt"), and makes a female buddy picture. The oddity here is that these two women: Julie Powell, portrayed by Amy Adams and Julia Child, played by the magnificently talented Meryl Streep, actually live in different time periods and are very different people, and yet one is drawn to the energy of the other.

Julie Powell was at a creative crossroads in her life. Her ego was consumed in a perpetually state of angst, and Julie felt that the only way she could reconnect with her saddened spirit, and give her life meaning through the creativity of a special project. And that project would become one that included the woman that spoke to her mother's generation, a woman that gave incredible voice to that generation's domesticated woman. Her name was Julia Child.

Julia C... Read More

Steven Spielberg's Second Alien Film Gave the Children's Perspective

"E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial," was made back in 1982, when science fiction films were more grounded in reality than in special effects. The movie's subject may have been out of this world, but the main human characters were so familiar, it might as well have been you and your family living out the adventure. This "children's film" gives uptight parents a reality check, in that the children in the film sometimes curse, experiment with unlicensed driving and make friends with an alien.

Most of the story takes place within the cozy, lived-in northern California home of a single mother and her three children - which is very "80's" fem, yet still very relevant. Nine-year-old Elliot, played by Henry Thomas, discovers the extra terrestrial, which he names E.T., in a shed outside his house. Much of the film's humor comes from Elliot's surprisingly successful attempt at hiding E.T. from his mother, played by Dee Wallace... Read More

In the Holiday Spirit the Cowboy Way ...

The worn wooden stage at the head of the Turnage Theater was aglitter and aglow with the bright, but tacky Christmas lights adorning some of the many stage props of the night’s entertainment, Riders in the Sky. The fabricated cactus that stood behind Joey the Cowpolka King and Too Slim was strung with the glittering lights, the synthesized campfire glow had its place in front of the singing foursome, with a large Woody action figure (from the Disney animated film Toy Story) aglow in the synthetic light of the fabricated campfire, and stage right, there was the boney skull of a steer atop a box named Too Jaws.

Riders in the Sky, from left to right: Joey the Cowpolka King, Woody Paul, Ranger Doug and Too Slim: Above. Ranger Doug and Too Slim harmonizing a wonderful cowboy melody: Below.

The band members were decked in their finest holiday attire; even Too Slim's standup bass had a Santa's cap atop its tuning fret. And that was the... Read More

The Franklin G. Burroughs and Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum Features an Assemblage of Work: Soul's Journey: The Creative Process

On this occasion when I visited my good friend and publisher at his condo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I took the opportunity to visit the Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum on Ocean Boulevard. Once again this little museum, on the northern edge of the old Springmaid Hotel property, with its back facing the blue of the Atlantic Ocean, exhibited another notable show featuring exotic furniture, textile screen prints and sculptors: glass, wood, fibers, ceramic, wood, and a variety of metals. The exhibit is entitled "Soul's Journey:" The Creative Process. It began October 11, 2009 and will continue until January 8, 2010, with an opening reception October 15th .

This exhibit features southern artists representing states from Kentucky and Virginia to north, Florida to the south and Louisiana to the west. The artists participating in the exhibit, which originat... Read More

I Really Wanted to Like this Movie, But ...

Get ready for the ugly truth. "The Ugly Truth" is just not that good of a movie. It's not an awful comedy. There were some laughs along the way, however, they just were not the belly laughs the that a good comedy bring, and the story was pure formula. And that is sad, because there were many good actors wasted, and that is a terrible thing to waste.

Katherine Heigl plays Abby Richter, a young career driven TV news producer, whose talents are limited to her primary focus on profession. Her lover life is nonexistent. She is beautiful and she wants a man in her life, she just is clueless as to the complexities that is man.

Enter Gerard Butler as Mike Chadway, who produces and hosts a public access show, "The Ugly Truth." The show discusses how men should deal with women in Mike's prescribed manner that borders on misogyny. This singular view of inter-gender interaction is naturally abhorrent to most women - especially Abby.

Re... Read More