JUNE - EPISODE VI: SUMMER 2023

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VI: SUMMER 2023

Hello People of the World;

 

 

As always: Stay safe. Stay home.

 

 All right, let’s get going:

 

1:[ This virus really showed how equal we all really are: how easy it is to forget that over a million people died, how easy it is to brainwash ourselves.

 

2:[ MOVIE REVIEWS: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

 

One-third of the Top Review Team went to see the first opening-day screening of the new "Spider-verse" movie. It is one of the best sequels out there. Better than "The Godfather Part II" and "Shrek II". Yeah, I said that!

 

The styles of animation at play only contribute to the story of multiple universes. And wow, how many Spider-people are incorporated. Still want my boy Takuya Yamashiro to feature more. Here is a non-spoiler synopsis:

 

The story follows up with Miles Morales and his tenure as Spider-man, and working to balance his heroic career with his academic career. It also follows Spider-woman Gwen Stacy as she must try to reconcile her heroic career with her relationship with her father Captain Stacey. Both are pulled into the Spider-verse when a new villain The Spot, threatens to undo the multi-verse. The Spider Society is then activated to stop the threat that Miles is tied to.

 

I would just encourage you to watch it instead. A great sequel.

 

#2 TOP TEN of 2023

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION

 

 

3:[ This Month’s Essay:

 

Masterpiece, or not a Masterpiece:
Night of the Hunter

“Night of the Hunter” is the actor Charles Naughton’s only directorial effort and has received much acclaim since its premiere in 1955. The story follows a preacher chasing two runaway children. For the longest time I thought this masterpiece held some sort of elegant tone and subtle gestures based on all the accolades it has received over the years. When I finally viewed the film, I disappointedly found it to be a trite, overwrought chase picture featuring a mugging Robert Mitchum, as a character that can be clearly defined as a serial killer.

What this motion picture typically receives glowing review for is the artistry of the cinematography and editing, as well as the tone and selected angles and shots throughout. What is overlooked because of the look of the film however is the on-the-line histrionics of Mitchum, a shallow storyline, pandering one-note characters. This film is simply riding its cinematography to “Masterpiece” status.

While not a box office or critical hit when it was first released, the film has sort of gained a cultish filmmaker following praising it for its cinematography, which is highly influenced by early German expressionists.

“Night of the Hunter” tells the story of “The Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is a religious fanatic and serial killer who targets women who use their sexuality to attract men. Serving time in prison for car theft, he meets condemned murderer Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who confesses to hiding $10,000 in stolen loot. Released from jail, Powell is obsessed with finding the money, and he tracks down Harper's widow, Willa (Shelley Winters), and her two children, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce).” According to a synopsis from a Google search.

Roger Ebert wrote, "It is one of the most frightening of movies, with one of the most unforgettable of villains, and on both of those scores it holds up ... well after four decades." I am sorry but I have to disagree with the Great Ebert. From my own viewing, Mitchum’s performance borders on silly rather than scary. His over-urged “sow-THAN” accent and pushed-too-far creepy preacher charms are goofy, just plain goofy. His portrayal loses any dramatic tension for me as a frightening character. Sure, you can say that it was a performance of the time, but “masterpieces” should have the ability to transcend time and fit in neatly into any future era of viewing despite the times it is made in. “Masterpieces” need not the justification to be great.

Simply put: “Night of the Hunter” is a shallow piece skating on its technical merits towards a “Masterpiece” label. I bet no one remembers that the Director of Photography was Stanley Cortez, the man who should truly be getting the credit for the look of “Night of the Hunter” as I would rather look at stills from the film rather than watch it again. Admit it, so would you.

“Night of the Hunter” = Not a Masterpiece

 

 

4:[ Observation: The “Self-Made Bill/Millionaire” is a Myth

 

There are absolutely NO self-made millionaires. They made it on the backs of other’s labor. Unless they created the product from scratch, reproduced it in the millions from scratch, went out and sold it in volumes all by themselves, that allowed them to keep all the money for themselves, paid their taxes, there are no self-made millionaires. That was the failure of the Myth of NFT’s, right? To make money without doing the labor? That’s why the push for AI-created art. But someone, as to build that AI in the first place. The self-made millionaire is a myth….

 

 

5:[ We cannot go back to “Normal” all after this: thinking that fresh water is a infinite resource.

 

 

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.”

 

 

2023 Ernest M Whiteman III