20160401 (movie review)

By no means is this a timely review, but I'm catching up on some goodies

Prompted by a WatchMojo list of the

Ten most beautiful movies I

Watched “The Tree of Life”

Yesterday and came away 

With a few thoughts. The

Flick inspired many which

Have already been discussed.

These are some of mine. For

A movie I would characterize

First as bombastic, it was 

Indeed beautiful and not

Just in all the special effects

Shots as one would expect

But also in the closeups

And long views down the

Waco streets, the way the

Camera lingered on the

Architecture of their home.

They did advise me to set

The sound level at loud. For

A while I wondered why, but

As so many of the voice-overs

Were spoken as whispers

(Thoughts) and the music 

Swelled behind them at a

Comfortable level one 

Will easily miss a lot of the

Guidance given. In keeping

With the double standard

In movies Sean Penn is 

Given higher billing than

Jessica Chastain who to my

Mind carried the burden of

Deft acting at least comparably

To Brad Pitt who has more

Lines where Ms.Chastain’s

Role is the dominated wife

Who would be less likely

To talk. Her very expressive

Face reveals so much. Pitt’s

Role as the stolid authority

Figure relies more on body

Language. In the imaging 

Of the world’s end Malick,

The director uses a clip of

Mercury’s transit of the sun

As a black spot traversing

A background of the sun’s

Roiling surface to suggest

The death of earth when 

The sun swells to be a red

Giant cooking the planet

And ending all life. That

Failed for me, so when the

Next image is from a crusted

Earth being lit by the blue

Light of a white dwarf  I

Didn’t connect the two.

Everybody’s experience

Is different; symbols don’t

Always get the recognition

Intended by the director.

Apparently the flick got a

Lot of buzz as “experimental”

When it first hit the screen.

Certainly it did not follow the

Traditional Hollywood story

Methods in its attempt to link

Long range history and 

Speculative cosmology to the

Events in one family’s life.

To me that’s how it fails. I

Enjoyed the experience of

Universal beauty, even the

Gauziness of Penn’s vision

Of reconciliation, but the

Events portrayed of this one

Youngster now grown to 

Maturity, I thought, did not

Sustain the visual appeals 

To majestic universality. I

Was reminded of Arthur Miller’s

Attempt to stretch Aristotle’s

Formula for tragedy in “Death

Of a Salesman, by replacing the

Central noble character with an

Everyman. Had Malick not 

Aimed so high I think he would

Have accomplished more.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016 

20160331 (the scarlet litter)

I was headed south toward the

Library to return a film. Two

Young women were walking 

North about sixty feet away. 

One was pushing a stroller;

The child was invisible behind

A sunshield. The other had 

Just finished wiping her nose

With something white in her 

Left hand which, as she lowered

Her hand, she casually dropped

Onto a tree lawn as she passed.

When she was within hearing

I called to her, “Miss, are you 

Going to go back and pick up

The litter you just dropped on

The neighbor’s tree lawn?”

“What?” she asked. I repeated

The question. They kept coming

Closer. “It’s just a tissue,” she 

Said as if that excused

Everything. “It’s still your

Garbage—not something

You should be dropping on

Somebody’s yard. Are you 

Going to go back and pick

It up? Take it home or put 

It in a garbage can? At that

She turned around to retrieve

Her tissue but her partner

Chided, “You’re not going 

To do what he says, are you?”

The litterer kept walking toward

The trash but turned around

When her friend unleashed a 

Stream of invective memorable

But too harsh to reproduce

Here aimed, I think, at me for

Telling her friend to mind

Her manners. Rather than 

Pick up her waste she returned

To the friend with the stroller,

Passing me without a word. 

Perhaps she joined in the 

Expletive laden shouting. I

Couldn’t tell but one of

Them kept it up long after

I’d gotten to the next corner.

Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest

Way to change her behavior—

That is, putting it directly to

Her about the offense and her

Responsibility. After all I did

Ask her not tell her. I wasn’t

Quite up to giving her my 

Card and request she read

Any of many rants I’ve

Produced about civic pride

And neatness of neighborhood.

How deep was her history of

Littering? Was she taught to 

Litter by her mother, family

Friends? Or was it inborn 

Knowledge? Either way if

She wants to live in a clean

Environment some day, she’ll

Have first to learn what 

Constitutes a clean environment.

Maybe at home they let her

Drop her tissues wherever

She is. Might have a lot of 

Clogged vacuums if that’s

The case. So somebody has

To tell her. Maybe a teacher

Or her religious authorities.

What if I wasn’t the only one

Confronting the piggies? 

What if they heard it from

Their neighbors, teachers,

Librarians, policemen, and,

Finally, from their peers? 

Those would probably be the

Most effective I discovered

That day.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160330 (unflattery)

I can’t please all of the people

All of the time. Many don’t 

Like my position against war.

Many don’t like my notions

Of taxing the rich or capital

Traders. Many don’t like my

Advocacy of the Palestinian

Causes. Some don’t like my

Being a professed Christian.

Some, don’t like the way I

Look, the way I talk, and

The way I use my hands.

One has cursed me for my

Choice of TV commentator.

Another thinks I’m a fool

For defending Ralph Nader’s

Presidential run. Lots of 

People are tired of hearing 

Me defend Catholics while

Advocating for freedom to

Abort. When it comes to

Disagreeing with me to

Most I would say, “Get in

Line. “ But since I respect

A lot of those who disagree

With me, I can only comment

That I regret we have come to

An impasse and will have to

Agree to disagree (one day 

I’ll write about how much I

Dislike that position). But if

You and I are on opposite

Sides of an issue I may have

To chalk it up to different

Experiences in life—not

Wrong experiences—just

Different. For me politicians

Have to be both realistic and

Tough. Not so tough that they

Can’t feel hurt. I’m sure Mr.

Obama, despite his so often

Reputed cool, suffers greatly

From the hatred slung at him

Daily whether it is as unmasked

As gorilla-likenesses passed 

Around work places or the

Genteel disdain heaped upon

Him by Mitch McConnell

Over the years—his dictum

To obstruct the president in

Every way at every turn.

Whether we are talking about

Daumier or Jon Stewart

Politicians will be mocked

And maligned, as with any

Public figure or celebrity. By

Circulating the unflattering

Image of Hillary Clinton I

Am hoping to alert the electorate

Not to the fact that we all can

Be caught by photographers

With our fingers up our nose

Or scratching our behinds so

Much as caring about it—

Image consciousness—

Her demanding as few

People see it as possible, is a 

Distinct chink in her posture of

Unflappability—nowhere

Near as bad as her pandering

Speech to AIPAC, but consistent

With Clintonian presumption.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016