Definitely a recommended stop for anyone driving in the area, and absolutely worth a detour if you are not.
24 May 2012
American Cemetery and Memorial in the Ardennes
Definitely a recommended stop for anyone driving in the area, and absolutely worth a detour if you are not.
16 May 2012
Film Review: Samsara (2001), by Pan Nalin, ****
The film was released in 2001 and remains a classic in its genre. A spiritual love-story set in the majestic landscape of Ladakh, Himalayas. Samsara is a quest; one man's struggle to find spiritual Enlightenment by renouncing the world. And one woman's struggle to keep her enlightened love and life in the world. But their destiny turns, twists and comes to a surprise ending... Written by Monsoon Films. Tashi has been raised as a Buddhist monk since age five. When he gets erotic phantasms as an adolescent, his spiritual master decides it's time to taste profane life, sending him on a journey in the real Himalayan world. Once he is told his hottest dream was real, Tashi decides to leave the monastery and marries Pema, the daughter of a rich farmer, who was actually engaged with local stone-mason Jamayang. The ex-lama soon becomes a rich land-owner himself, and makes a killing from his harvest by bringing it to the city instead of selling at half price to the local merchant Dewa, but half of his next harvest perishes in a fire, yet he comes trough and raises a bright son, Karma. After committing infidelity, contemplated for years, and as he later hears from the promiscuous Indian labourer girl, Tashi reconsiders his life... Written by KGF Vissers
10 May 2012
Book Review: Russia in Original Photographs (1860-1920), edited by Marvin Lyons, ***
An interesting collections of photographs from pre-Communist Russia. Common people, ethnic minorities, military officers and the imperial family are all depicted here in the decades preceding the October Revolution. One can almost sense the blatant inequalities and an atmosphere of pending tragedy. All pictures are in black and white.
Some great color photos from Tsarist Russia online are visible here.
Some great color photos from Tsarist Russia online are visible here.
08 May 2012
Book review: The Romanov Family Album (1982), edited by Robert Massie, ****
Review
A great book which will make you feel you are living in the imperial family of pre-revolutionary Russia. The photos are B&W, and come from the collection of a family friend of the Romanovs who took them to the United States.
Not all are good quality, the book was printed in 1982 and perhaps a better job could be done with new technology thirty years on in digitalizing the old originals. However the grain of the pics contributes to recreate the atmosphere of the time.
The text accompanying the pictures presents a benevolent image of the imperial family. Too benevolent perhaps. But this is not the purpose of this book, which is about the photographs, and not about political interpretation of the Tsar's rule.
Buy your book here
28 April 2012
Film Review: Lost City (2005), by Andy Garcia, ****
Synopsis
In 1958 Havana, nightclub owner Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia, who also directed) watches as political upheaval grips Batista-ruled Cuba. While his brothers join Castro's revolution, Fico refuses an offer from American gangster Meyer Lansky (Dustin Hoffman) to help turn his club into a casino and falls in love with his soon widowed sister-in-law (Ines Sastre).
The film was shot in the Dominican Republic, ironically the country batista fled to after his forces capitulated to Castro on new year's day, 1959.
Review
A good historical movie to show how right were many middle class Cubans to despise the Batista dictatorship and how wrong they were to believe that supporting Castro and Guevara would improve things much. Yet, the widespread criticism that Garcia does not show enough of the poor and destitute of pre-revolutionary Cuba is only partially mitigated by his ridicule of Batista in the first part of the movie. The title itself (translated "Adieu Cuba" in the French version) betrays a certain nostalgia by the author for the bygone days. But in the end the viewer is left with a strongly negative view of both Batista and Castro, as well as Guevara. Well deserved.
The movie is a bit long but well worth its time for it allows the viewer to savour the colors, music and atmosphere of Cuba 50 years ago. But this is perhaps due to the long script by Guillermo Cabrera Infante.
In 1958 Havana, nightclub owner Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia, who also directed) watches as political upheaval grips Batista-ruled Cuba. While his brothers join Castro's revolution, Fico refuses an offer from American gangster Meyer Lansky (Dustin Hoffman) to help turn his club into a casino and falls in love with his soon widowed sister-in-law (Ines Sastre).
The film was shot in the Dominican Republic, ironically the country batista fled to after his forces capitulated to Castro on new year's day, 1959.
Review
A good historical movie to show how right were many middle class Cubans to despise the Batista dictatorship and how wrong they were to believe that supporting Castro and Guevara would improve things much. Yet, the widespread criticism that Garcia does not show enough of the poor and destitute of pre-revolutionary Cuba is only partially mitigated by his ridicule of Batista in the first part of the movie. The title itself (translated "Adieu Cuba" in the French version) betrays a certain nostalgia by the author for the bygone days. But in the end the viewer is left with a strongly negative view of both Batista and Castro, as well as Guevara. Well deserved.
The movie is a bit long but well worth its time for it allows the viewer to savour the colors, music and atmosphere of Cuba 50 years ago. But this is perhaps due to the long script by Guillermo Cabrera Infante.
25 April 2012
Book Review: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself, by Louise Meriwether Harriet Jacobs, ****
Louise Meriwether Harriet Jacobs in her narrative reveals how she refused to be victimized within her own mind, but rather chose to act instead from a steadfast conviction of her own worth....Hers is an example worth emulating even in these modern times.
Published in 1861, this was one of the first personal narratives by a slave and one of the few written by a woman. Jacobs (1813-1897) was a slave in North Carolina and suffered terribly, along with her family, at the hands of a ruthless owner. She made several failed attempts to escape before successfully making her way to freedom in the North, though it took years of hiding and slow progress. Eventually, she was reunited with her children.
23 April 2012
Stazione ferroviaria di Cittadella (PD)
Arrivo di buon mattino alla stazione di Cittadella, provincia di Padova, per prendere un treno per Treviso. La biglietteria è chiusa, PER SEMPRE, come avvisa perentoriamente il cartello posto sulla vetrata.
Però c'è in bella vista una modernissima macchina automatica per emissione di biglietti. Anzi di "Biglietti regionali veloci". Mi avvicino con mano al portafoglio.
Però anche la macchina automatica per emissione biglietti, che peraltro accetta tutte le principali carte di credito, è fuori uso, ma almeno, forse, non per sempre: il cartello però non si impegna ad una data precisa...
Meno male che c'è il bar! Cappuccino, cornetto, scatola di sigari Toscanelli al caffè, i miei preferiti, e biglietto del treno.
20 April 2012
Film Review: Space Tourists (2009), by Christian Frei, ***
Synopsis
Frei's film takes a humorous and laconic view of the way billionaires depart our planet earth to travel into outer space for fun. Space Tourists succeeds in surprising its audience with images and situations that have very little to do with the futuristic fantasy of space-tourism. The Swiss filmmaker sets up encounters with the least likely people imaginable: places even stranger and more unknown than outer space itself. The film investigates the emotional oscillations of an expensive enterprise and questions the meaning and boundaries of the human spirit and our hunger for adventure and discovery.
Anousheh Ansari is a billionaire who allegedly spent some twenty million dollars (expensive but, as she puts it, how do you put a price on a dream?) for a 10 day flight to the International Space Station. She explains in her own words why she did this and what her Spiritual experience was. An interesting personality, an Iranian who left her country after the revolution and became American but never forgot her cultural roots. She specifically greeted the Iranian people from space, though she was not allowed to do so in Farsi. She also wore the Iranian flag, but significantly without the Islamic writings in the white part.
Review
This film is another Frei foray into the lives and vicissitudes of the most unusual of people. Ansari is a genuine enthusiast of space, her youthful and genuine passion transpires at all times in the film. She has a child-like naivete for looking at the earth from above, but at the same time a high degree of maturity when she speaks of her travel as a symbol for women's rights, especially in the region of the world where she comes from, where women often do not receive the same opportunities that men do. A spoiled girl's whim? Perhaps, but a great adventure nonetheless. And I can say I would have done what she has done if I had had the money! Go for it Anousheh and thanks Christian Frei for bringing her to us.
Buy your DVD here:
If you live in the US you can get your instant video here
Frei's film takes a humorous and laconic view of the way billionaires depart our planet earth to travel into outer space for fun. Space Tourists succeeds in surprising its audience with images and situations that have very little to do with the futuristic fantasy of space-tourism. The Swiss filmmaker sets up encounters with the least likely people imaginable: places even stranger and more unknown than outer space itself. The film investigates the emotional oscillations of an expensive enterprise and questions the meaning and boundaries of the human spirit and our hunger for adventure and discovery.
Anousheh Ansari is a billionaire who allegedly spent some twenty million dollars (expensive but, as she puts it, how do you put a price on a dream?) for a 10 day flight to the International Space Station. She explains in her own words why she did this and what her Spiritual experience was. An interesting personality, an Iranian who left her country after the revolution and became American but never forgot her cultural roots. She specifically greeted the Iranian people from space, though she was not allowed to do so in Farsi. She also wore the Iranian flag, but significantly without the Islamic writings in the white part.
Review
This film is another Frei foray into the lives and vicissitudes of the most unusual of people. Ansari is a genuine enthusiast of space, her youthful and genuine passion transpires at all times in the film. She has a child-like naivete for looking at the earth from above, but at the same time a high degree of maturity when she speaks of her travel as a symbol for women's rights, especially in the region of the world where she comes from, where women often do not receive the same opportunities that men do. A spoiled girl's whim? Perhaps, but a great adventure nonetheless. And I can say I would have done what she has done if I had had the money! Go for it Anousheh and thanks Christian Frei for bringing her to us.
Buy your DVD here:
If you live in the US you can get your instant video here
14 April 2012
Film review: The Dreamers (2003), by Bernardo Bertolucci, ****
Paris, spring 1968. While most students take the lead in the May 'revolution', a French poet's twin son Theo and daughter Isabelle enjoy the good life in his grand Paris home. As film buffs they meet and 'adopt' modest, conservatively educated Californian student Matthew.
10 April 2012
Recensione film: Il Portaborse (1991) di Daniele Lucchetti, ****
Giovane ministro corruttore cinico, arrogante, dinamico, fintamente colto scopre in un giovane professore di liceo del Sud l'uomo adatto a scrivergli i discorsi e a dargli l'imbeccata per dichiarazioni e interviste.
Recensione
Una storia scritta al crepuscolo della della prima repubblica italiana, nel 1991, ma putroppo mai divenuta obsoleta! Alcune scene di grande efficacia che lasciano immaginare quello che può veramente succedere in situazioni simili con politici veri. In senso più lato ci dà una visione del trasformismo italiano, dove cambiano i nomi dei potenti ma non cambiano i metodi che questi, ciascuno al momento del suo turno, usano. Il portaborse è una parola che in Italia è tutto un programma, per la destra, la sinistra, la prima repubblica e la seconda! Per me uno dei migliori film sulla politica italiana.
Puoi comprare il DVD qui:
09 April 2012
Film review: Das Boot (Director's Cut) (1981), by Wolfgang Petersen, *****
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| A trip to the limits of the comprehensible |
It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. Das Boot is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served.
Newly remastered, the Das Boot 2-Disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray features the director’s cut of the film, adding 60 nail-biting minutes to the original theatrical release, which was nominated in 1982 for six Academy Awards® including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Effects/Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound.
The two-disc set includes the original theatrical version of the film as well as three hours of new special features, including the Blu-ray exclusive retrospective documentary with Director Wolfgang Petersen.
Review
This is a classic war movie, and the BD edition is great. I had seen this movie years ago when it came out in the theaters, but it was just as moving now as it was then. The human side of the story is just as moving as the historical documentation of a real story of this crew and the historical significance of the war in the Atlantic. Forty thousand Germans sailors fought in U-Boots, and three out of four never made it back.
It is a great movie about war. It is not an anti-war movie as such, and this adds to its value. There is no ideology here: it attempts to document what this particular aspect of the war at sea was like, and it does so with flying colors.
The submarine in question is U-96, whose name was used as the title for the movie in some countries. The film is not always historically accurate. For example the real sub never used La Rochelle as a base, but St Nazaire, and was destroyed much later in the war, in Germany.
I found the bonus disc very interesting, you get a clear picture of the technology for special effects of the time (early eighties).
Buy your Blu-ray or DVD here:
If you want to get... ahem... deeper! into this subject, you might want to read the book that this film was based on. The thrilling wartime novel that inspired Wolfgang Petersen's Academy Award-nominated, blockbuster film! Written by an actual survivor of Germany's U-boat fleet, Das Boot is one of the most exciting stories of naval warfare ever published, a tale filled with almost unbearable tension and suspense.
Now if you are a real U-Boot buff, consider getting the non-fiction book by the same author, with many great photos he took while on real patrols in the Atlantic.
08 April 2012
Film Review: Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), by Woody Allen, ***
In his mirthful tribute to film noir, Woody Allen reteams with Diane Keaton as residents of a New York apartment who investigate the mysterious death of a kindly old neighbor. The neighbor's husband is a prime suspect, but first Woody and Diane must find a motive and evidence, while getting over their own petty jealousies. With Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Adler.
Review
Typical dry, neurotic Woody Allen humor mixed with a convoluted but quite original thriller plot. keaton is the real protagonist here, a woman who is so bored with her own life that she must involve herself in the lives of others.
In the course of the movie we get a glimpse of Mahnattan life, of the multicultural melting pot rife with creativity, wealth, and crime. Keaton and Allen are a fairly typical middle aged couple, from New York or from any place really, whose life together is not enough to fill the day (or the night as you will find out in this film) but whose mutual bond is still strong despite the occasional jealousy.
05 April 2012
Film Review: Sleepless in Seattle (1994), by Nora Ephron, ***
Synopsis
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in Nora Ephron's wonderfully romantic comedy about two people drawn together by destiny. Hanks stars as Sam Baldwin, a widowed father who, thanks to the wiles of his worried son, becomes a reluctant guest on a radio call-in show. He's an instant hit with thousands of female listeners who deluge his Seattle home with letters of comfort. Meanwhile, inspired in equal parts by Sam's story and by classic Hollywood romance, writer Annie Reed (Ryan) becomes convinced that it's her destiny to meet Sam. There are just two problems: Annie's engaged to someone else and Sam doesn't know yet that they're made for each other. Co-starring Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson and Rob Riener.
Sad to hear of Ephron death in June 2012.
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in Nora Ephron's wonderfully romantic comedy about two people drawn together by destiny. Hanks stars as Sam Baldwin, a widowed father who, thanks to the wiles of his worried son, becomes a reluctant guest on a radio call-in show. He's an instant hit with thousands of female listeners who deluge his Seattle home with letters of comfort. Meanwhile, inspired in equal parts by Sam's story and by classic Hollywood romance, writer Annie Reed (Ryan) becomes convinced that it's her destiny to meet Sam. There are just two problems: Annie's engaged to someone else and Sam doesn't know yet that they're made for each other. Co-starring Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson and Rob Riener.
Sad to hear of Ephron death in June 2012.
27 March 2012
Film Review: Ricardo, Miriam y Fidel (1997) by Christian Frei, ****
SynopsisLike so many thousands of other Cubans, Miriam Martínez means to emigrate to the United States with her family. The daughter of a man who played a crucial part in the victory of the revolution, she finds that this is far from easy, for her as well as for her father Ricardo.
Almost forty years ago Ricardo quit his job as a journalist and left for the Sierra Maestra to join Fidel Castro's rebels. Under the guidance of Ché Guevara he founded Radio Rebelde. Their nighttime broadcasts became the most efficient means of spreading their revolutionary ideas.
26 March 2012
Recensione film: Operazione Valchiria (2008) di Bryan Singer, ****
Tratto da una stupefacente storia vera, Operazione Valchiria, è la cronaca del coraggioso e ingegnoso piano per eliminare uno dei più perversi tiranni che il mondo abbia mai conosciuto. Orgoglioso della divisa che indossa, il colonnello Stauffenberg è un ufficiale leale che ama il suo paese, ma che è stato costretto ad assistere con orrore all'ascesa di Hitler e alla Seconda guerra mondiale. Ha continuato a servire nell'esercito, sempre con la speranza che qualcuno trovasse il modo per fermare Hitler prima che l'Europa e la Germania fossero distrutte. Quando si rende conto che il tempo stringe, Stauffenberg decide di entrare in azione e nel 1942 cerca di persuadere i comandanti del fronte orientale a rovesciare Hitler.
Poi, nel 1943, mentre si sta riprendendo dalle ferite subite in combattimento, si unisce a un gruppo di uomini inseriti nei ranghi del potere che cospirano contro il tiranno. La loro strategia prevede di usare lo stesso piano di emergenza di Hitler per consolidare il paese nell'eventualità della sua morte - l'Operazione Valchiria - per assassinare il dittatore e rovesciare il governo nazista. Con il futuro del mondo e il destino di milioni di persone, oltre alla vita della moglie e dei figli, appesi a un filo, Stauffenberg da oppositore di Hitler diventa l'uomo che deve uccidere Hitler.
Film Review: Valkyrie (2008), by Brian Singer, ****
Synopsis
On the front lines in North Africa, German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) grows increasingly opposed to Adolf Hitler's policies. Following the Allied invasion of Normandy, von Stauffenberg spearheads an elaborate plan with confederates to smuggle a bomb into the Fuhrer's tightly guarded military headquarters. Based on a true story, this crackling war thriller directed by Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects") co-stars Kenneth Branagh, Carice von Houten, and Tom Wilkinson.
On the front lines in North Africa, German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) grows increasingly opposed to Adolf Hitler's policies. Following the Allied invasion of Normandy, von Stauffenberg spearheads an elaborate plan with confederates to smuggle a bomb into the Fuhrer's tightly guarded military headquarters. Based on a true story, this crackling war thriller directed by Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects") co-stars Kenneth Branagh, Carice von Houten, and Tom Wilkinson.
21 March 2012
Film review: Forrest Gump (1994), by Robert Zemekis, *****
Synopsis"Stupid is as stupid does," says Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) as he discusses his relative level of intelligence with a stranger while waiting for a bus. Despite his sub-normal IQ, Gump leads a truly charmed life, with a ringside seat for many of the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Entirely without trying, Forrest teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, meets Lyndon Johnson, speaks at an anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, hangs out with the Yippies, defeats the Chinese national team in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, opens a profitable shrimping business, becomes an original investor in Apple Computers, and decides to run back and forth across the country for several years. Meanwhile, as the remarkable parade of his life goes by, Forrest never forgets Jenny (Robin Wright Penn), the girl he loved as a boy, who makes her own journey through the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s that is far more troubled than the path Forrest happens upon. Featured alongside Tom Hanks are Sally Field, Gary Sinise and Mykelti Williamson.
Review
Forrest Gump is a landmark film, touching on many delicate aspects of human life, love and values. "Life is like a box of chocolate: you never know what you are going to get." Oh so true! Fatalistic? Not really, as a strong implication of the movie is that you have to work hard at your life, no matter what you find in your box of chocolates.
It is just a "feel good" movie as many have written? I don't think so, it goes deeper than that. And in fact it did not make me feel good at all. In the end I could not help but feeling angry at Jenny for what she did to Gump. Of course, most of us men have had our "Jenny" in our lives. Mine (now history, thanks God!) even looks like Jenny in the film!
I could not help but smile at discovering that Bubba, the black shrimp fisherman in the movie, inspired a real company that is now very successful!
The Blu-ray disc is very good, containing interesting interviews with Hanks and the director, as well as other "behind the scenes" material, including the making of special effects which were painstaking to produce and quite advanced for the time. The European version on sale on Amazon.co.uk is in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with subtitles in these languages plus all the Scandinavian languages.
17 March 2012
Film Review: You've Got Mail (1999), by Nora Ephron, ****
Synopsis
The stars (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan) and director (Nora Ephron) of Sleepless in Seattle reteamed for this charming audience favorite. Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton and more great co-stars add note-perfect support to this cinematic love letter in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children’s bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love, unaware they are combative business rivals. You’ve got rare Hollywood magic when You’ve Got Mail.
Sad to hear of Ephron death in June 2012.
Review
Hanks and Ryan are a perfect match for a deliberately paced, if somewhat incredible, love story in New York. I found myself smiling thinking back to the dawn of internet chatrooms in the 1990s... I used them myself though of course I grew out of them and have since moved to dedicated forums for my various interests (travel, photography, music...) and dating websites for meeting potential partners. Listening again to the whirring and hissing of narrow-band dial-up connection had a nostalgic effect on me!
A wonderful feel-good story but much more. It is also the story of modern cities, where traditional family businesses are jeopardized by megastores which offer larger selections and lower prices. It is happening all over the world. Megastores in turn are threatened by e-commerce. I don't share the romantic view that it was better in the good old days of small stores, where one was forced to choose from a smaller selection of goods on offer (be it books or anything else) and had to pay higher prices. Old stores, like everybody else, must adapt to the new world or they will inevitably disappear. Long live Amazon!
European DVD
European Blue-ray
Buy Amazon's instant video of this film:
Blue-Ray
The stars (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan) and director (Nora Ephron) of Sleepless in Seattle reteamed for this charming audience favorite. Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton and more great co-stars add note-perfect support to this cinematic love letter in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children’s bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love, unaware they are combative business rivals. You’ve got rare Hollywood magic when You’ve Got Mail.
Sad to hear of Ephron death in June 2012.
Review
Hanks and Ryan are a perfect match for a deliberately paced, if somewhat incredible, love story in New York. I found myself smiling thinking back to the dawn of internet chatrooms in the 1990s... I used them myself though of course I grew out of them and have since moved to dedicated forums for my various interests (travel, photography, music...) and dating websites for meeting potential partners. Listening again to the whirring and hissing of narrow-band dial-up connection had a nostalgic effect on me!
A wonderful feel-good story but much more. It is also the story of modern cities, where traditional family businesses are jeopardized by megastores which offer larger selections and lower prices. It is happening all over the world. Megastores in turn are threatened by e-commerce. I don't share the romantic view that it was better in the good old days of small stores, where one was forced to choose from a smaller selection of goods on offer (be it books or anything else) and had to pay higher prices. Old stores, like everybody else, must adapt to the new world or they will inevitably disappear. Long live Amazon!
European DVD
European Blue-ray
Buy Amazon's instant video of this film:
Blue-Ray
15 March 2012
Filw review: The Pacific (2012), by Carl Franklin and David Nutter. ***
recensione in italiano di seguito in questo post
Synopsis
This limited collector's Blu-ray edition includes a bonus 7th disc entitled "Inside the Battle: Peleliu."
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before
Inside the Battle: Peleliu: An exclusive look into the battle of Peleliu. Combining exclusive historian and veteran interviews with real footage from the battle of Peleliu, this featurette illustrates the massive undertaking of the battle for Peleliu in the Pacific theater of World War II.
This limited collector's Blu-ray edition includes a bonus 7th disc entitled "Inside the Battle: Peleliu."
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before
Inside the Battle: Peleliu: An exclusive look into the battle of Peleliu. Combining exclusive historian and veteran interviews with real footage from the battle of Peleliu, this featurette illustrates the massive undertaking of the battle for Peleliu in the Pacific theater of World War II.
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| John Basilone |
10 March 2012
Film review: Taxi Driver (1976) by Martin Scorsese, *****
Synopsis
Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.
This edition has the following extras:
Introduction to DVD - Martin Scorsese - this was recorded in 2006 and lasts about 15 minutes during which Scorsese talks about the influences that created Taxi Driver (Jean Luc Goddard etc).
Introduction to DVD - Paul Schrader
Commentary - Paul Schrader
Commentary Robert Kolker (Author)
Loneliness and Inspiration - Documentary
Cabbie Confessional - Documentary
Producing a Cult Classic
Taxi Driver Locations - Then and Now
Animated Photo Gallery
Storyboard to Film Comparisons
Behind the Scenes Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Review
A monumental film about human nature, about the aftermath of the Vietnam war, about New York in the seventies. These are the several layers of reading this film lends itself to and they are all worth the viewer's time. For this reason this is a film that must be seen several times to get all it has to offer. It can not be metabolized in one viewing. One of the best films of the seventies.
The BD version is very good, and quite a few extras complete an excellent deal.
Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.
This edition has the following extras:
Introduction to DVD - Martin Scorsese - this was recorded in 2006 and lasts about 15 minutes during which Scorsese talks about the influences that created Taxi Driver (Jean Luc Goddard etc).
Introduction to DVD - Paul Schrader
Commentary - Paul Schrader
Commentary Robert Kolker (Author)
Loneliness and Inspiration - Documentary
Cabbie Confessional - Documentary
Producing a Cult Classic
Taxi Driver Locations - Then and Now
Animated Photo Gallery
Storyboard to Film Comparisons
Behind the Scenes Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Review
A monumental film about human nature, about the aftermath of the Vietnam war, about New York in the seventies. These are the several layers of reading this film lends itself to and they are all worth the viewer's time. For this reason this is a film that must be seen several times to get all it has to offer. It can not be metabolized in one viewing. One of the best films of the seventies.
The BD version is very good, and quite a few extras complete an excellent deal.
02 March 2012
Bodyworlds exhibition
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| Carrying your own skin is possible |
It took me some time. The first couple of attempts I made when the exhibition was in Belgium failed miserably when I was too impatient to stand in line for hours as long lines of waiting viewer snaked around the building where the plastinated bodies were on display.
This time it was easy. Few people and almost empy halls. A perfect afternoon to look at how we are made inside.
Many exhibits, and they change all the time in different cities. Plastinated men and women displayed in many everyday poses and performing normal activities that look altogether different in this context.
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| Couple mating |
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| Playing cards |
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| Football |
As I walk out I am thinking it might me interesting to be plastinated, though I felt a bit queasy at the end, when a plastinated man was encouraging volunteers for his job from a wall board:
"I was like you are now: alive. You will be like I am now: dead."
Strongly recommended, the visit if not necessarily the volunteering. The exhibition tours the world, you will find its calendar here.
Strongly recommended, the visit if not necessarily the volunteering. The exhibition tours the world, you will find its calendar here.
24 February 2012
Book Review: Triumph of the City, by Edward Glaser, ****
 |
| Singapore, 2012 |
America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of us live on the 3 percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly... Or are they?
As Edward Glaeser proves in this myth-shattering book, cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live. New Yorkers, for instance, live longer than other Americans; heart disease and cancer rates are lower in Gotham than in the nation as a whole. More than half of America's income is earned in twenty-two metropolitan areas. And city dwellers use, on average, 40 percent less energy than suburbanites.
18 February 2012
Recensione: Sale Nero, di Marco Aime, Stefano Pensotti e Andrea Semplici, ****
Taudenni e Ahmed Ela: due "non luoghi" africani, il primo in Mali il secondo nella Dancalia etiope, sono un chiaro esempio di quelle società "diversamente sviluppate" dove il modello è ancora quello della cultura materiale. Per entrambi è grande l'importanza che continua ad avere il commercio del sale, l'uso dello stesso per gli scambi commerciali è ancora ampiamente diffuso.
Il libro racconta con testi e fotografie l'ambiente "umano e geografico" che le carovane attraversano: comunità, culture, ambienti naturali. Mette in rilievo le comunità che vivono di questa economia, i rapporti che si intrecciano, le strutture sociali e parentali delle popolazioni, l'esperienza umana. Chi sono questi uomini, quale la loro esperienza?
Recensione
Recensione
Un libro insolito, il cui il protagonista è una materia prima alimentare, la sola roccia che faccia parte della nostra alimentazione da sempre. Ed è anche merce di scambio in tutte le culture del mondo. L'aspetto economico cruciale del sale è che di solito deve essere trasportato per centinaia o anche migliaia di kilometri dal punto di produzione al consumatore. Il sale, ovviamente, è bianco, ma qui siamo in Africa...
14 February 2012
Book Review: Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor, ****
Synopsis
The author points out that Buddha was not a mystic and his awakening was not a shattering revelation that revealed the mysteries of God or the universe. What the Buddha taught was not something to believe in, but something to do. Buddha challenged people to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, realize its cessation and create a certain way of life and awakening. This awakening is available to all of us, and Batchelor examines how to work realistically towards it, and how to practise and live it every day.
Review
This book immediately rang a bell with me. I have long felt close to Buddhism, among other reasons, because it does not require believing in any dogma. As someone who has been educated in science, I always felt uneasy with beliefs. I prefer to know, or to accept I don't know. I am an agnostic. This book spells out very clearly how Buddhism traces the path to inner peace without requiring anyone to "believe" in anything.
For example, we have no real answers to metaphysical questions (the origins of the universe and such unanswerable eternal open issues) so Buddha stopped asking them. On the ethical plane, the dharma is the logical conclusions one reaches by reasoning on what is good, not some kind of given commandment. The closest thing I can find in Western philosophy is the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, whom I regard as the greatest thinker of Western civilization.
You can find more books by the same author by clicking on this link.
The author points out that Buddha was not a mystic and his awakening was not a shattering revelation that revealed the mysteries of God or the universe. What the Buddha taught was not something to believe in, but something to do. Buddha challenged people to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, realize its cessation and create a certain way of life and awakening. This awakening is available to all of us, and Batchelor examines how to work realistically towards it, and how to practise and live it every day.
Review
This book immediately rang a bell with me. I have long felt close to Buddhism, among other reasons, because it does not require believing in any dogma. As someone who has been educated in science, I always felt uneasy with beliefs. I prefer to know, or to accept I don't know. I am an agnostic. This book spells out very clearly how Buddhism traces the path to inner peace without requiring anyone to "believe" in anything.
For example, we have no real answers to metaphysical questions (the origins of the universe and such unanswerable eternal open issues) so Buddha stopped asking them. On the ethical plane, the dharma is the logical conclusions one reaches by reasoning on what is good, not some kind of given commandment. The closest thing I can find in Western philosophy is the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, whom I regard as the greatest thinker of Western civilization.
You can find more books by the same author by clicking on this link.
13 February 2012
Film Review: The Swimming Pool (1968), by Jacques Deray, ***
Synopsis
Contains the French version and the original English spoken version in FULL HD resolution !!! Classic 60's French drama, the Blu-ray features the full HD version of the originally in English spoken and recorded movie. Starring screen legends Alain Delon (Lost Command, Borsalino, Mr Klein, Swann In Love), Romy Schneider (What's New Pussycat, Ludwig, Deathwatch), Jane Birkin (Blow Up, Death On The Nile, Dust) it's the story of two lovers, Marianne and Jean-Paul who are spending their vacation in a sumptous villa near St.-Tropez. After a visit Marianne invites former lover Harry and his teenage daughter Penelope to stay. With the swimming pool the main centre of action, tensions soon rise and passion turns to deadly violence.
Review
It must have been pretty shocking in the late sixties to see Schneider's naked breasts, but somehow it's not the same 45 years later :) A classic story of possessive love and obsessive lust. The movie makes me sort of detest Alain Delon, a spoiled brat in the story and perhaps in real life? In the disc there is an alternative end to the story, with policemen coming up to ... well I won't spoil it here, but somehow my disc was defective and the alternative end is cut off. There is also a short extra with an interview to the two protagonists just before the shooting of the movie.
What I found most interesting here is the lifestyle of the sixties, the clothing, hairstyle, smoking habits...
Contains the French version and the original English spoken version in FULL HD resolution !!! Classic 60's French drama, the Blu-ray features the full HD version of the originally in English spoken and recorded movie. Starring screen legends Alain Delon (Lost Command, Borsalino, Mr Klein, Swann In Love), Romy Schneider (What's New Pussycat, Ludwig, Deathwatch), Jane Birkin (Blow Up, Death On The Nile, Dust) it's the story of two lovers, Marianne and Jean-Paul who are spending their vacation in a sumptous villa near St.-Tropez. After a visit Marianne invites former lover Harry and his teenage daughter Penelope to stay. With the swimming pool the main centre of action, tensions soon rise and passion turns to deadly violence.
Review
It must have been pretty shocking in the late sixties to see Schneider's naked breasts, but somehow it's not the same 45 years later :) A classic story of possessive love and obsessive lust. The movie makes me sort of detest Alain Delon, a spoiled brat in the story and perhaps in real life? In the disc there is an alternative end to the story, with policemen coming up to ... well I won't spoil it here, but somehow my disc was defective and the alternative end is cut off. There is also a short extra with an interview to the two protagonists just before the shooting of the movie.
What I found most interesting here is the lifestyle of the sixties, the clothing, hairstyle, smoking habits...
12 February 2012
Film Review: Midnight in Paris (2010), by Woody Allen, ***
Synopsis
This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.
This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.
09 February 2012
Film Review: Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), by Michael Anderson, ****
Sinopsys
Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he can circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.
Winner of several Academy Awards, this was written by John Farrow (Mia's dad) and S.J. Perelman, based on Jules Verne's 1873 classic. The fun part is the razzle-dazzle. Todd knew what he was doing with all those exotic locales and over 40 cameo appearances, including Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, José Greco, Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and Red Skelton. A very young Shirley MacLaine was painted and dyed to play a lively Indian Princess. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Review
Five Oscar winner film from 1956, the only one ever produced by Michael Todd, third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who died soon afterwrds at 48. Nice box with two DVDs in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish as well. A pleasant panoramic view of the world's cultures, where the real protagonist is Passpartout, while Phileas Fogg embodies English pleghm in front of every and all adversity and unforseen circumstances. Surely some scenes appear rather improbable (in the book and in the film) but we should keep in mind that Verne was writing in the XVIII century and the film was made in the 1950s technology, no CGI here! But the movie flows well and leads the viewer by the hand around the world for a lively and at times even sparkling journey.
Of course, it is highly advisable to read the book as well, Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. There are several editions available on Amazon if you click here.
Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he can circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.
Winner of several Academy Awards, this was written by John Farrow (Mia's dad) and S.J. Perelman, based on Jules Verne's 1873 classic. The fun part is the razzle-dazzle. Todd knew what he was doing with all those exotic locales and over 40 cameo appearances, including Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, José Greco, Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and Red Skelton. A very young Shirley MacLaine was painted and dyed to play a lively Indian Princess. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Review
Five Oscar winner film from 1956, the only one ever produced by Michael Todd, third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who died soon afterwrds at 48. Nice box with two DVDs in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish as well. A pleasant panoramic view of the world's cultures, where the real protagonist is Passpartout, while Phileas Fogg embodies English pleghm in front of every and all adversity and unforseen circumstances. Surely some scenes appear rather improbable (in the book and in the film) but we should keep in mind that Verne was writing in the XVIII century and the film was made in the 1950s technology, no CGI here! But the movie flows well and leads the viewer by the hand around the world for a lively and at times even sparkling journey.
Of course, it is highly advisable to read the book as well, Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. There are several editions available on Amazon if you click here.
Recensione Film: Il Giro del Mondo in 80 Giorni, di Michael Anderson, ****
Sinossi
Dal romanzo di Jules Verne, l'epopea di Phileas Fogg che con il suo maggiordomo per scommessa tenta di fare il giro del mondo in un tempo record. Cast d'eccezione con una cinquantina di grandi star dell'epoca coinvolte con ruoli cameo (Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Fernandel, Buster Keaton, John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Gorge Raft, Victor Mclaglen, Ronald Colman).
Recensione
Film del 1956 e ben 5 volte premio Oscar. Curioso che fu l'unico film del produttore Michael Todd, terzo marito di Elizabeth Taylor, che morì poco dopo a solii 48 anni! Bel cofanetto con due DVD in italiano ed inglese originale, con sottotitoli a scelta in entrambe le lingue (ma non in altre lingue come riportato su Amazon). Una carrellata della culture del mondo, dove il vero protagonista è il fedele assistente Passpartout, mentre Phileas Fogg incarna la flemmaticità inglese davanti ad ogni avversità ed imprevisto. Certo alcune messe in scena appaiono oggi come alquanto improbabili (nel libro e qui riportate pari pari) ma ricordiamo che Verne scriveva a metà ottocento! Comunque il film scorre bene, e fa vivere, con la fantasia, un bel viaggio!
Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. Ce ne sono varie edizioni disponibili su Amazon cliccando qui.
Il cofanetto contiene anche numerosi extra sulla realizzazione del film.
Dal romanzo di Jules Verne, l'epopea di Phileas Fogg che con il suo maggiordomo per scommessa tenta di fare il giro del mondo in un tempo record. Cast d'eccezione con una cinquantina di grandi star dell'epoca coinvolte con ruoli cameo (Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Fernandel, Buster Keaton, John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Gorge Raft, Victor Mclaglen, Ronald Colman).
Recensione
Film del 1956 e ben 5 volte premio Oscar. Curioso che fu l'unico film del produttore Michael Todd, terzo marito di Elizabeth Taylor, che morì poco dopo a solii 48 anni! Bel cofanetto con due DVD in italiano ed inglese originale, con sottotitoli a scelta in entrambe le lingue (ma non in altre lingue come riportato su Amazon). Una carrellata della culture del mondo, dove il vero protagonista è il fedele assistente Passpartout, mentre Phileas Fogg incarna la flemmaticità inglese davanti ad ogni avversità ed imprevisto. Certo alcune messe in scena appaiono oggi come alquanto improbabili (nel libro e qui riportate pari pari) ma ricordiamo che Verne scriveva a metà ottocento! Comunque il film scorre bene, e fa vivere, con la fantasia, un bel viaggio!
Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. Ce ne sono varie edizioni disponibili su Amazon cliccando qui.
Il cofanetto contiene anche numerosi extra sulla realizzazione del film.
08 February 2012
Book Review: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, *****
Synopsis
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story tells of Charles Marlow, an Englishman who took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa. Heart of Darkness exposes the myth behind colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters--the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the European's cruel treatment of the natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil. Although Conrad does not give the name of the river, at the time of writing the Congo Free State, the location of the large and important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver. However, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another ivory trader, to civilization, in a cover-up. Kurtz has a reputation throughout the region. This symbolic story is a story within a story or frame narrative. It follows Marlow as he recounts from dusk through to late night, to a group of men aboard a ship anchored in the Thames Estuary his Congolese adventure. The passage of time and the darkening sky during the fictitious narrative-within-the-narrative parallel the atmosphere of the story.
About the Author
Joseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1874 Conrad travelled to Marseilles, where he served in French merchant vessels before joining a British ship in 1878 as an apprentice. In 1886 he obtained British nationality. Eight years later he left the sea to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, Almayer's Folly, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. He continued to write until his death in 1924.
Review
A masterpiece about the greed of human nature and folly of men pursuing wealth and power at the cost of their sanity, and of their lives. The writing is disorganized, chaotic, crazy even, but that is exactly the kind of situation Conrad was trying to convey. If you get lost while reading, don't worry, you are supposed to! The Belgian occupation of the Congo was probably the cruellest of all colonial powers, at least as long as King Leopold was running the place as his personal fiefdom. (Things improved when the Belgian state took over at the begining of the XX century.) The value of life was close to zero, and the discrepancy between a white life and a black life could not have been starker. Even Africans often considered an African life worth next to nothing.
There are several additional editions of the book on Amazon.co.uk, including Kindle. Just click here to choose.
Here is the American edition with hardback, softcover and audio options.
Or click here to buy your copy on Amazon.com.
This book was made into a movie in the 1990s. Funny but Amazon only offers the DVD of this title in Italian. The movie, however, is not even close to the quality of the book. Roth does a good job, but the good news ends here. The location is a far cry from the majestic Congo river and the sequence of events is played out in an artificial way, makes it all feel very fake.
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story tells of Charles Marlow, an Englishman who took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa. Heart of Darkness exposes the myth behind colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters--the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the European's cruel treatment of the natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil. Although Conrad does not give the name of the river, at the time of writing the Congo Free State, the location of the large and important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver. However, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another ivory trader, to civilization, in a cover-up. Kurtz has a reputation throughout the region. This symbolic story is a story within a story or frame narrative. It follows Marlow as he recounts from dusk through to late night, to a group of men aboard a ship anchored in the Thames Estuary his Congolese adventure. The passage of time and the darkening sky during the fictitious narrative-within-the-narrative parallel the atmosphere of the story.
About the Author
Joseph Conrad was born in the Ukraine in 1857 and grew up under Tsarist autocracy. In 1874 Conrad travelled to Marseilles, where he served in French merchant vessels before joining a British ship in 1878 as an apprentice. In 1886 he obtained British nationality. Eight years later he left the sea to devote himself to writing, publishing his first novel, Almayer's Folly, in 1895. The following year he settled in Kent, where he produced within fifteen years such modern classics as Youth, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Typhoon, Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. He continued to write until his death in 1924.
Review
A masterpiece about the greed of human nature and folly of men pursuing wealth and power at the cost of their sanity, and of their lives. The writing is disorganized, chaotic, crazy even, but that is exactly the kind of situation Conrad was trying to convey. If you get lost while reading, don't worry, you are supposed to! The Belgian occupation of the Congo was probably the cruellest of all colonial powers, at least as long as King Leopold was running the place as his personal fiefdom. (Things improved when the Belgian state took over at the begining of the XX century.) The value of life was close to zero, and the discrepancy between a white life and a black life could not have been starker. Even Africans often considered an African life worth next to nothing.
There are several additional editions of the book on Amazon.co.uk, including Kindle. Just click here to choose.
Here is the American edition with hardback, softcover and audio options.
Or click here to buy your copy on Amazon.com.
This book was made into a movie in the 1990s. Funny but Amazon only offers the DVD of this title in Italian. The movie, however, is not even close to the quality of the book. Roth does a good job, but the good news ends here. The location is a far cry from the majestic Congo river and the sequence of events is played out in an artificial way, makes it all feel very fake.
Recensione Film: Cuore di Tenebra (1993), di Nicholas Roeg, ***
Sinossi
Nel Congo belga, dove la vita vale pochissimo, Kurtz, funzionario di una compagnia che traffica in avorio, è forse impazzito nel suo isolato avamposto nel Congo. Il capitano Marlowe è inviato alla sua ricerca. Lo trova dopo aver attraversato l'inferno...
Nel Congo belga, dove la vita vale pochissimo, Kurtz, funzionario di una compagnia che traffica in avorio, è forse impazzito nel suo isolato avamposto nel Congo. Il capitano Marlowe è inviato alla sua ricerca. Lo trova dopo aver attraversato l'inferno...
04 February 2012
Neve a Roma
Evento straordinario, era dal 1986 che non c'era una nevicata così. Nella mia vita me lo ricordo due o tre volte. Forse qualche volta non c'ero quanto è capitato.
Triste vedere come sia stata meschinamente politicizzata, pro e contro il sindaco Alemanno. Certo è che come al solito Roma non era preparata, non si può girare né con mezzi pubblici né con quelli privati. Uffici chiudono presto, tutti a casa. Qualcuno se ne compiace, gli fa piacere non dover lavorare senza perdere lo stipendio. Magari andare a tirare palle di neve con i figli.
Triste vedere come sia stata meschinamente politicizzata, pro e contro il sindaco Alemanno. Certo è che come al solito Roma non era preparata, non si può girare né con mezzi pubblici né con quelli privati. Uffici chiudono presto, tutti a casa. Qualcuno se ne compiace, gli fa piacere non dover lavorare senza perdere lo stipendio. Magari andare a tirare palle di neve con i figli.
28 January 2012
Book review/Recensione: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, *****
Synopsis
Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
22 January 2012
Book Review: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps, by Allan and Barbara Pease, ****
Synopsis
The classic international bestselling book. Allan and Barbara Pease spotlight the differences in the way men and women think. Boys like things, girls like people. Every boy wants to be in a gang, and wants a gun; every girl has her best friend, with whom she shares her secrets. Men want status and power, women want love. It's amazing, he concludes, that they can ever live together...
The classic international bestselling book. Allan and Barbara Pease spotlight the differences in the way men and women think. Boys like things, girls like people. Every boy wants to be in a gang, and wants a gun; every girl has her best friend, with whom she shares her secrets. Men want status and power, women want love. It's amazing, he concludes, that they can ever live together...
21 January 2012
Book Review: What the Chinese Don't Eat, by Xinran, ***
Synopsis
Since June 2003 Xinran has been writing about China in her weekly column in the Guardian. She has covered a vast range of topics from food to sex education, and from the experiences of British mothers who have adopted Chinese daughters, to whether Chinese people do Christmas shopping or have swimming pools. Each of her columns inspired letters and questions and more opportunities for Xinran to shed light on the culture of her native land. What the Chinese Don’t Eat collects these pieces together for the first time to give one unique Chinese woman’s perspective on the connections and differences between the lives of British and Chinese people today.
Since June 2003 Xinran has been writing about China in her weekly column in the Guardian. She has covered a vast range of topics from food to sex education, and from the experiences of British mothers who have adopted Chinese daughters, to whether Chinese people do Christmas shopping or have swimming pools. Each of her columns inspired letters and questions and more opportunities for Xinran to shed light on the culture of her native land. What the Chinese Don’t Eat collects these pieces together for the first time to give one unique Chinese woman’s perspective on the connections and differences between the lives of British and Chinese people today.
12 January 2012
Book Review: The Skeptical Environmentalist, by Bjorn Lomborg, *****
 |
| Pollution in the Maldives |
Lomborg, an associate professor of statistics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus and a former member of Greenpeace, challenges widely held beliefs that the world environmental situation is getting worse and worse. Using statistical information from internationally recognized research institutes, Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental issues that feature prominently in headline news around the world, including pollution, biodiversity, fear of chemicals, and the greenhouse effect, and documents that the world has actually improved. He supports his arguments with over 2500 footnotes, allowing readers to check his sources.
05 January 2012
Film Review: Windtalkers, by John Woo, **
Synopsis
US Marine Nicolas Cage--with a scarred ear and a fed-up look--is given the job of looking after Navajo Adam Beach, whose complex language is the basis of a code being used to fool the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. His orders are to protect not Beach but the code, (including orders to kill Beach if it looks like capture is imminent) which makes for an uneasy progress from hatred-at-first-sight through growing respect to agonised male bonding.
US Marine Nicolas Cage--with a scarred ear and a fed-up look--is given the job of looking after Navajo Adam Beach, whose complex language is the basis of a code being used to fool the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. His orders are to protect not Beach but the code, (including orders to kill Beach if it looks like capture is imminent) which makes for an uneasy progress from hatred-at-first-sight through growing respect to agonised male bonding.
Recensione Film: Windtalkers, di John Woo, **
Sinossi
Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, l'esercito americano decide di usare il linguaggio degli indiani Navajos per codificare i messaggi segreti così da impedirne la decodifica da parte dei giapponesi. L'esercito giapponese a sua volta decide di catturare dei soldati Navajos per usarli come traduttori. Gli americani, venuti a conoscenza del fatto, assegnano ai Navajos dei marines come guardie del corpo, con l'ordine di ucciderli in caso di pericolo. Il film narra l'amicizia tra il soldato navajo Ben Yazzie e il sergente dei marines Joe Enders, che dovrà mettercela tutta per non far cadere il suo amico nelle mani dell'esercito nipponico evitando però la soluzione estrema.
Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, l'esercito americano decide di usare il linguaggio degli indiani Navajos per codificare i messaggi segreti così da impedirne la decodifica da parte dei giapponesi. L'esercito giapponese a sua volta decide di catturare dei soldati Navajos per usarli come traduttori. Gli americani, venuti a conoscenza del fatto, assegnano ai Navajos dei marines come guardie del corpo, con l'ordine di ucciderli in caso di pericolo. Il film narra l'amicizia tra il soldato navajo Ben Yazzie e il sergente dei marines Joe Enders, che dovrà mettercela tutta per non far cadere il suo amico nelle mani dell'esercito nipponico evitando però la soluzione estrema.
24 December 2011
Book Review: Inferno, by James Nachtwey, *****
Synopsis
A document of war and strife during the 1990s, this volume of photographs by the photojournalist James Nachtwey includes dramatic and shocking images of human suffering in Rwanda, Somalia, Romania, Bosnia, Chechnya and India, a well as photographs of the conflict in Kosovo. An essay by the author Luc Sante is included. The book is published to coincide with an exhibition of Nachtwey's work at the International Centre of Photography, New York.
Review
This book is a masterpiece of what I would call "political" photography. Nachtwey is a traveler, big time. He goes to war, or follows war's footsteps, and closes in on his subjects where most others would turn away. He prevails over his own emotions in order to show us the horrors of the world. He feels he has to do it, as he explains in interviews (see DVD below) because if he does not, who will? He is humble, understated and brilliant. The book contains only B&W pictures, is big and heavy and expensive, and it is probably the best photo reportage book you will ever buy. It certainly is for me.
You might want to buy this Oscar nominated DVD, made by Swiss director Christian Frei, who followed Jim Nachtwey and placed a micro cam on his film camera. He is also extensively interviewed and so are many who work with him. I have reviewed this DVD here on this blog.
Vous pouvez aussi acheter l'édition française de ce livre:
You might want to buy this Oscar nominated DVD, made by Swiss director Christian Frei, who followed Jim Nachtwey and placed a micro cam on his film camera. He is also extensively interviewed and so are many who work with him. I have reviewed this DVD here on this blog.
Vous pouvez aussi acheter l'édition française de ce livre:
21 December 2011
Film Review: Pacific Battleship Yamato (2010), by Junya Sato, ****
World War II action film set aboard the Battleship Yamato, the most fearsome ship in the Pacific fleet and still to date the largest warship ever built. Based on a book by Jun Henmi with a framing story set in the present day and through the use of flashbacks, Yamato tells the story of the crew of a WWII battleship, concentrating on the ship's demise during Operation Ten-Go.
20 December 2011
Film Review: Assault on the Pacific - Kamikaze (2007), by Taku Shinjo, ****
Synopsis
World War II epic about a squadron of Japanese Kamikaze pilots and their journey through training and first missions toward the terrifying destiny of their battle with the US Navy over the Pacific Ocean. It is essentially a backstage shoot, very little in terms of war action.
World War II epic about a squadron of Japanese Kamikaze pilots and their journey through training and first missions toward the terrifying destiny of their battle with the US Navy over the Pacific Ocean. It is essentially a backstage shoot, very little in terms of war action.
13 December 2011
Book Review: The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang, ****
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| Japanese soldier beheading a Chinese man |
In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Nanjing) and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured, and murdered many thousands of Chinese civilians. The story of this atrocity continues to be denied or minimized by the Japanese government, though some in Japan do recognize it. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents in four different languages (many never before published), Iris Chang has written an emotional account of that disgraceful episode.
09 December 2011
Map Review: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Freytag & Berndt, ****
Description
Explore Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with this Freytag&Berndt road map. The best way to plan your trip, prepare your itinerary, and to travel independently in this part of Southeast Asia.
Explore Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia with this Freytag&Berndt road map. The best way to plan your trip, prepare your itinerary, and to travel independently in this part of Southeast Asia.
07 December 2011
Film Review: Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), by R Fleischer, T Masuda and K Fukusaku, *****
Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. That is one reason to review a forty years old movie. Another is the publication of a stunning new Blu-ray edition. A Japanese-American co-production, director Richard Fleischer (Soylent Green) and two Japanese directors put together this ultrarealistic account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as presented from the perspectives of both nations, as diplomatic tensions rise between the two countries. While the Japanese military plans its attack on American military installations, the American forces nearly stumble into a much greater calamity due to a series of errors and mistakes. As the two sides plunge closer to war, the tension escalates until the final, spectacular air raid, arguably the most realistic ever filmed.
30 November 2011
Book Review: My China Years, by Helen Foster Snow, **
Foster Snow is the wife of Edgar Snow, the author of "Red Star Over China - The Rise Of The Red Army". She actually met "Ed" in China and her book is about her time there, mostly with him. It is an interesting read to grasp the reality of life in China, and especially in Shanghai, in the thirties. She was well introduced in the circles that made things happen then, and had tea with notable Chinese as well as foreign dignitaries. She always was a naive political analyst though, and when she leaves her travelogue mode to draw more general conclusions about politics in China, or her future, it is clear that this was not her cup of tea...
24 November 2011
Book Review: City of Sadness, by Bérénice Reynaud, ****
Synopsis
This work introduces the Western audience to the
richness of New Taiwanese Cinema. It revisits a painful episode in
Taiwanese history, creating an elliptical and impressionistic picture of
Chiang Kai-shek's takeover of the island after the defeat of his
Kuomintang army by Mao Zedong.
Review
This is a moving love story that serves as a conduit to illustrate the period right after WW II in Taiwan, when the Japanese colonial administration was replaced by the ruthless and corrupt rule of Chen Yi, a mainland administrator for Chiang Kai-shek. The infamous episode of 2/28/47 is the background against which the story is set.
Taiwan later became an extraordinary success story and today it is a thriving democracy, but the end of Japanese colonial rule did not start under the best auspices...
23 November 2011
Book Review: Singapore Swing, by John Malathronas, *****
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| MBS from the modern art museum |
For generations of Britons, Singapore was the international crossroads of the Empire, the ultimate colonial posting, the stimulus for writers such as Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham or Noel Coward. Can today’s hightech 24-hour city with its gleaming skyscrapers and high standard of living provide a similar kind of inspiration to a visitor?
John Malathronas penetrates the Oriental psyche and discovers the hustle among the stuffiness, the thrill behind the Confucian ethic and, ultimately, the joie de vivre in what has been unjustly dismissed as “a shopping mall with UN representation”. Still more importantly, during his quest, he realises that this overcrowded, multicultural, multifaith city-state can teach us a lesson about living together in harmony and with mutual respect.
More about the book and the author here on his website, with some additional material not found in the book.
17 November 2011
Film Review: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), by Woody Allen, ****
Synopsis
Two couples discover the grass may not always be greener on the other side in Woody Allen’s breezy comedy on wry, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. Hoping to relive the pleasures of youth, Alfie Shepridge (Anthony Hopkins) dumps his wife of 40 years (Gemma Jones) and pursues a young call girl (Lucy Punch). So when daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) develops a crush on her boss (Antonio Banderas) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin) becomes obsessed with the beauty (Freida Pinto) who lives across the way, the entire clan’s fantasies take on reality as their passions not only drive them out of their marriages, but out of their minds as well.
Review
I had great fun watching this movie. Typical dry Woody Allen irony about the futile attempts by simple people to change the way the world works. And wasting their life in doing so. I got a great quote from this move, that I would probably never have read in the original in my life:
"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 5, scene 5
Thanks Woody for bringing this to my attention!
Two couples discover the grass may not always be greener on the other side in Woody Allen’s breezy comedy on wry, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. Hoping to relive the pleasures of youth, Alfie Shepridge (Anthony Hopkins) dumps his wife of 40 years (Gemma Jones) and pursues a young call girl (Lucy Punch). So when daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) develops a crush on her boss (Antonio Banderas) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin) becomes obsessed with the beauty (Freida Pinto) who lives across the way, the entire clan’s fantasies take on reality as their passions not only drive them out of their marriages, but out of their minds as well.
Review
I had great fun watching this movie. Typical dry Woody Allen irony about the futile attempts by simple people to change the way the world works. And wasting their life in doing so. I got a great quote from this move, that I would probably never have read in the original in my life:
"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 5, scene 5
Thanks Woody for bringing this to my attention!
11 November 2011
Glass and gondolas in Venice
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| Murano glass taking shape |
About a dozen artisans are blowing glass today, all Italian men plus a young and very thin French lady who has moved here six years ago to learn the trade. It seems that with 8% "unemployment" in Italy we need to import tall young girls from Burgundy to keep the magic of Murano glass alive! She follows closely each and every move of the senior master, who sometimes holds her hand in a fatherly fashion to guide her through the moves that transform sand into glass masterpieces.
The atmosphere is magic. In the middle of the shop a huge furnace radiates intense heat, and all around skilled workers dance with their red-hot glass at the end of a steel pole, blowing, cutting, chiselling, attaching gold leaves, shaping and reshaping their creations.
We leave the shop after two very full hours and take the ferry back to Venice, where a lineup of "spritz" is waiting for us at a local bar. They will be followed by delicious cicchetti for a true Venetian lunch by Rialto. I was afraid to run into a tourist trap, of which there are too many in the neighborhood, but ended up in a delightful little restaurant for a very special treat.
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| Fixing gondolas |
As one of them shows us the tools he explains that a gondola costs about thirty thousand euro as it comes out of the carpenter's shop, with no accessories, decorations, or anything one would call an "optional" in a car. It can be twice as much when it hits the water with all its bells and whistles installed. There are only 420 licensed gondolas in Venice and licences are impossible to get unless you are well connected into the inner circles of the city and come from a family of gondolieri.
This squero can only make two new gondolas per year, and spend most of its labor time on maintenance. I had the good luck to witness some of this work today, one master was pushing special straw thread in the crevices between the long beams of a gondola to improve its water tightness. As the sun sets, a gondoliere arrives at the squero to deliver his gondola for repairs. Everyone gives a hand to raise it from the water, and after a first inspection a workplan is agreed upon. It's time for us to say farewell, and head off to town for a dinner of polenta with cuttle fish in its black ink sauce...
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