WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VIII: SUMMER 2022
Hello People of the World;
Here we are in the throes of summer and its heat and humidity. Being near a lake sometimes lends itself to very humid days. But of course, we will all act like we are surprised it gets hot during the summer. Since scientists say that this will be to coolest summer from now on, man, won’t we be shocked when the climate changes.
I almost made it. Here we are on day one of September posting this. Oh well. Maybe next month.
As always: Stay safe. Stay home.
All right, let’s get going:
1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: we seems to think that we can be so cavalier about this pandemic. As if it is over already. It’s not. It’s not. Because of how much hubris we exude, we have reignited polio and monkeypox. We are supremely stupid. Our attitude that it’s all over now is self-destructive.
2:[ After watching it again, I think that most people get the wrong messaging in “No Country for Old Men”. People think it about going back to a simpler time. Or worse yet. The movie still tries to perpetuate the idea that America was always a violent place, in part because it used to be inhabited by Indigenous tribes. So once again, it gets Native Americans wrong.
First, by never showing them in the contemporary story, though Texas is full of Native peoples. Also, they relegate Natives to the distant past. Look at how Bell’s Uncle Hollis’ story at the end likens Native people to Anton Chigurh. Where Hollis tries to point out that the country was always violent by telling a story of how their grand uncle was shot by a gang of something. He keeps it vague, until;
“Then, they said somethin’ in injun and left.” Tying Native men once again to violence and the sadism of Chigurh, as if they were the same type of thing. Maybe they said, “We finally got the bastard that raped and killed our women.” We just don’t want to think about the idea that the colonists brought their violence here. I mean, a papal bull said it was okay to kill indigenous people….
3:[ I am heading back to Wyoming next month. I was supposed to go back in May but a new strain of COVID made me stay put. This time, I’m bringing Bonnie. It will be a good time. I’ll write more about it in the next episode.
4:[ Hosted another Whiteman Family Film Festival. Last year, I thought since we have some many filmmakers in the clan, we should all pull together and screen stuff we made. It was a semi-success, getting friends and family together to watch our stuff. This year’s was less successful but it was always fun to screen films for our friends. We’ll see what happens next year….
5:[ “Fire of Love” Review: One-third of the Top Review Team saw Sara Dosa's documentary on the volcanologist couple Katia and Maurice Krafft and follows their love story and career through archival footage, most of which the Kraffts shot themselves. They became world famous for being "Edge Dancers" on some of the most explosive eruptions. Yet, their research has led to the saving of lives, through their campaigning for early warning systems in volcanic active areas. While they were a breed apart, they, as Maurice succinctly puts it in a quote that brought a tear to my eye "By being away from humans, I fell in love with humans."
They died together in 1991 at Mount Unzen in Japan. So much were these two a couple, that even Wikipedia lists them as a single entry.
An excellent film overall and a great film about the making of film, my most favorite genres.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – #3 TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2022
“Bullet Train” Review: Based on a book of the same name by author Kōtarō Isaka, of which was not short of controversy itself, Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, a former hitman sent to pick up a briefcase on a bullet train to Kyoto, Japan. He must steal it from Tangerine and Lemon, who are escorting a recused son of the infamous White Death along with the briefcase that contains the paid ransom.
Ladybug is unlucky in his own estimation and the story proves this out as several other assassins board the train with their own agendas. This was a fun, fast-paced, character-driven romp reminiscent of early Guy Ritchie and Tarantino with the current trend of flashy colors and editing.
RECOMMENDED
6:[ MST3K and humor: MST3K is probably my most-favorite TV show (I know "Breaking Bad" and the lot....) and it has informed my humor is many ways. I'm fine with the new seasons. But I watched the later Sci-Fi Channel era shows and it was the greatest thing I saw on television. I taped as many shows as I could.
So, Mike, Bill, and Kevin were the humorists that I emulated the most. I am not funny. In any regard. When a co-worker described me as funny while introducing me to their family, my other co-workers acted shocked. (They were joking themselves. But I never saw myself as funny.)
But MST3k and Rifftrax help me find a way I can break the tension I feel as an introvert. So, all of this is important to me. Plus, they were the best film school I could have ever had. Both have shown me what to avoid in filmmaking decisions….
7:[ Been re-building my TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES in my Blu-ray collection: SO far, all I have left to get is Wim Wenders’ “Wings of Desire”. Sitting at number 10 was asily the best film of 2019. Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.” “Based on an Actual Lie” is how the film opens. The always watchable Akwafina breaks out as Bili, whose family returns to China after 20 years to take part in a cousin’s wedding. However, the wedding is a ruse so the entire family can say farewell to Bili’s grandmother who’s been diagnosed with lung cancer. This beat out H'sou Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" from its #10 perch. "The Assassin" itself beat out Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster" which sat at #10 for many a year.
Alas, this sat at #10 until this year, when the next movie I acquired in my blu-ray collection appeared. "The Farewell" was at #10 until I saw Tracy Deer's "Beans". A story about a young Mohawk girl living in the time of the Oka Crisis, where a golf course expansion was planned to be built over a Mohawk cemetery. The protests and the town's reaction hit close to home. It also about Beans' growing up and feeling that she needs to toughen up and start acting like a "grown up".
This is now #10 on my TOP TEN ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVIES.
8:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: I wrote about this a long time ago. About how women are better at reading body language than men. I see this still today walking in the street going to work. Men will never move or even read my movements. A woman, almost preternaturally, will move to one side or another, or simple stay the path, as I shift my shoulders. They will most times, never even look up. With everything a woman has to deal with in her life that is a danger to herself, it is no surprise that a woman walking at me can read my body language. It is a safety meansure….
9:[ I bought a Collector’s Photo Book on Hara Setsuko from Japan. It was published in the 1990’s so it’s not a vintage thing. But I do enjoy the images of my most favorite actress in it….
10:[ Reading the information on them, I noticed how the PSLF program is for rich/well-off people and not poor people who work their asses off in the public service sector and yet have deferred loans. That is so sneaky….
That is it for this month.
As always, I invite you to comment, correct, or contradict anything I write here. I am open to a critical debate. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I write here and I will see you in a month.
Until next time, remember “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2022 Ernest M Whiteman III
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