Spotlight (2015)

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Spotlight (2015)

(minor spoilers)

Spotlight is not your typical Best Picture Oscar-winner because it is not flashy or fancy, neither in its filmmaking nor its acting, but it is a really good and important movie. The performances are all great, nuanced and authentic with not one overpowering the others but simply being believable. Tom McCarthy is a director who doesn’t get enough credit for his style. There are scenes where the camera and the editing do very subtle things that are incredibly effective. The movie certainly takes its time but is never boring for a second because every scene has a purpose and adds to the overall picture and message. Some people call it “boring” or “old-fashioned”, which is not true in either case. It is a compelling piece of cinema that does exactly what it needs to do. I highly recommend it.

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The Daniel Quinn Files: Ishmael (5)

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The Daniel Quinn Files: Ishmael (5)

Last time, we arrived at the end of the myth we tell ourselves about the origin of mankind. That we are working through a constantly progressing development which makes us better and better until humans, the top of the species, will be able to control everything. But Ishmael promised to tell a different story, a story about knowledge of having a way to live which we deny even exists. I’m not sure how much of a “secret” this is anymore, but I still like that part because it goes beyond what we think is there, uncovering what is right in front of our eyes.

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The Battle of Fear: Politics vs. Terrorism

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The Battle of Fear: Politics vs. Terrorism

When Paris happened, I said it won’t be different. What I meant was, that the reactions to it will be the same as after every other major terrorist attack. On the one hand, I was wrong, because I was surprised by many people bemoaning the same reactions and criticizing our ignorant view on these events, which makes me hopeful. On the other hands, seeing how politicians react, how the bombing started right away, how everything became a little bit more insane and extreme, I realize that it’s exactly what I feared, only worse. I’m not the first to say that terrorism’s goal is to instill fear and what most politicians are doing right now, is taking that fear and riding on it to do whatever they want, they increase and nurture it and keep it alive. They do exactly what the terrorists want them to do.

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Revolutionary Road (2008)

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Revolutionary Road (2008)

(no real spoilers)

Revolutionary Road is the adaptation of a great novel by Richard Yates that I read many years ago and dearly loved as an amazingly early criticism of our culture.  The movie achieves to portray the problems from the novel in a very effective way. I don’t want to compare both of them too much, because I think the movie is its own thing that works well. It features great performances, especially by Kate Winslet and Michael Shannon, but really, all the actors are great. It’s beautifully directed and shot, with a great Thomas Newman score. Director Sam Mendes treads very similar territory as in his American Beauty, but the movies are very different in their tone.

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

(some minor spoilers)

Inside Llewyn Davis is a somewhat perfect movie for what it is doing. It stars Oscar Isaac in an amazing performance as Llewyn Davis, a musician, and his struggles. The Coen brother turn this story into something so bigger than this, with their talented eye for interesting and weird characters, their skill for filmmaking and, maybe most of all, their ability as great writers. Their dialogue is so brilliant here, so thought-out, the structure of the story seems so random but makes perfect sense if you think about for a little bit and that alone, their knack for activating your brain, is what makes a good Coen movie like this one so special. And Oscar Isaac is so very good, incredibly good. And Carey Mulligan in her unusual but too short role. Oh well, and everyone else.

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Book Report - 2004 Edition: Building Temples, Cheering and Getting to the Final Sentence [2004 Week]

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Book Report - 2004 Edition: Building Temples, Cheering and Getting to the Final Sentence [2004 Week]

I was tempted to write about music this week because the albums from this year were so important to me. But then I thought again about the books from 2004 and I wondered if I will ever have a year with at least three books that really mean a lot to me and that have something to say that fits here. So, welcome to the 2004 Book Report!

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Once Upon a Time in the Projects (Yo)

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Once Upon a Time in the Projects (Yo)

Back in part 2 of my ongoing Basic Principles series, I mentioned that I had some time for experiments in my two 8th grade classes. Today I want to talk about what those experiments became, how they worked and turned out, but also what battles I had to fight over them. It’s not quite Here’s Your Future but it’s not without its ups and downs.

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Was bleibt (2012)

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Was bleibt (2012)

(no real spoilers)

Was bleibt (Home for the Weekend is the English title) is another good movie by Hans-Christian Schmid who, in my opinion, has not even made an average movie yet. It’s a family drama about a son coming back home to his family and his mother who announces she has decided to live without her medication, which upsets her husband and her other son. It is really fascinating how the drama unfolds, how the family constellation is shifting and how Marko, the homecoming son, tries to remain as a good a man as possible throughout. And even he is not perfect, which makes him all the more relatable. The film challenges us to work through all the family problems and does so very effectively by making all the relationships authentic and not painting anyone as particularly good or bad. The last ten minutes or so didn’t really work for me because the movie sets us up for a more satisfying conclusion we don’t get and the last line is too much on the nose. Apart from that, this is a really intriguing and well-made movie.

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Lessons from the Cosby Case

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Lessons from the Cosby Case

I read this fascinating (and very, very long – it has 15 chapters) article by Max S. Gordon about Bill Cosby and I couldn’t stop thinking about it because the author poses so many interesting questions, not only about Cosby but also about our society. It is interesting how we deal with guilt in our society, how we use double standards depending on gender, race, class, “even today” or more precisely, just like we always did. Things are changing because more and more people write about these issues, but it still happens all the time, everywhere. Gordon has many compelling things to say and I really urge anyone to read his essay, even if I will quote from it.

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The Three Flawed Pillars

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The Three Flawed Pillars

After over 5 years of teaching critical thinking, some ideas seem to repeat themselves, so last year I turned it around for my English course and first introduced what I think are the cornerstones for most problems in our society, before moving on specific topics where you can find those ideas. It worked insofar as that everyone is more aware of these things, but it also makes a good running joke whenever I mention them again. And the students now try to use them for an answer when I ask something. They learned fast that in most cases, they’ll be right with one of the three words I introduced. And I use those words often enough in my posts to warrant some explanation. Which words am I talking about and why are they so important? Good thing you ask, that’s what we’re here for today, kids!

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Book Report: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)

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Book Report: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)

(spoilers ahead)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is a tricky novel. It seems almost innocent in describing the lives of its three main characters which live an uneventful life in a boarding school and how they grow up. But beneath that unexciting surface lurks a dark story about rearing children in ignorance, teaching them to pretend and making them believe in authority at all times. Yes, the book also deals with cloning and what makes us human, but this has been dealt with in enough other books and movies. What fascinates me about that book is the way it portrays education and society but also the way it incorporates the three things I tell my students too often about: ignorance, authority and pretense. I just finished reading the book in my main class and was happy to see it was received (mostly) well, because I wasn’t sure students would find it appealing. But now I know that I would read it again and while working on it, I was surprised how much the novel has to offer and how thought-provoking it is. It has a lot of aspects to discuss and I want to try to get at most of what I deem important, which will still be a lot. For structure’s sake, I will follow the three-part division of the book.

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