mainstream-movie-reviews

A DANGEROUS METHOD

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:43:19 +0100

"... when I become a doctor, what I want, more than anything, is to give people back their freedom, the way you gave me mine." - Sabina Spielrein, A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method is the Reader's Digest version of the story of Carl Jung and his relationship with Sigmund Freud. It is also the story of his non-professional relationship with his patient, Sabina Spielrein, who inspired him to think outside of the box in all areas of this personal life and his career as a psychoanalyst.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film for what it presented and not it's historical accuracy. I did a little research on Sabina Spielrein and found out that she may not have been as enlightened a character after her emotional breakthrough as was portrayed in the film. I have to say that Keira Knightley made a daring performance as a grotesquely wild, straightforward, and extremely intelligent, nerdy woman in true Cronenberg style. Yes, a lot of what was presented in the film may have been idealized, but I really liked those idealizations.

When we first meet Spielrein, Knighley deftly portrays a woman who was holding in her feelings so severely that when she expressed herself at all, her body contorted as if her emotional energy was trying to rip itself out of the clutches of her body. Jung took Spielrein through Freud's "talking cure" which produced amazingly quick results. After sharing all her repressed feelings and experiences through this therapy, she became much more centered and able to function in the world. Just goes to show you that when one acknowledges and lets emotional energy flow, life becomes more balanced.

The Spielrein character contributed many spiritual ideas, while in relationship with Jung, that he later used in his work and research. There are so many great quotes in the film regarding these ideas. One quote by Spielrein (to Jung) I especially like about male and female energies is, "Don't you think that there is something male in every woman and female in every man?" It is especially important in our spiritual awakening to acknowledge our male and female energies which create a whole person. Denying either one creates an imbalance, lack of awareness, and lack of the ability to live a full life.

Spielrein shared with Jung her experiences regarding her "inner voice" or "angel" who told her she was an exceptional person and gave her power to know what people are going to say. She also expressed interest in interplanetary travel, although flippantly. Her unusual experiences supported him in exploring intuition and psychic phenomenon. He grew to challenge Freud's point of view regarding psychological interpretation in light of sexual experience and said, "There must be more than one hinge into the universe."

Jung called Spielrein a catalyst in inspiring him to expand his boundaries in all areas of his life, especially his own sex life. Otto Gross, Jung's patient and fellow therapist played by Vincent Cassel, maybe went a bit overboard in his views of sexual freedom. But he brought up an important life changing point when he said regarding sex, "It seems to me a measure of the true perversity of the human race that one of it's very few reliably pleasurable activities should be the subject of so much hysteria & repression." Jung later elaborated by saying, "Why should we put such a frantic effort in suppressing our most basic instincts?"

So why is this film called "A Dangerous Method?" Because, theoretically, the method allows people to become self-empowered and thereby grow out of the box created by the oppressive rules of society. For me, this film is quite inspiring about the early ideals of the field of psychology. I think if emotional healing were more respected in psychology and spiritual practices, people would be experiencing a greater sense of enlightenment and freedom today. Jung expressed his therapy goals this way in the film, "I don't want to just open the door and show the patient his illness, squatting there like a toad. I want to try to find a way to help the patient reinvent himself; to send him off on a journey, [where] at the end is waiting the person he was always intended to be."

A Dangerous Method is widely available on DVD. I highly recommend it from a spiritual perspective.

ALIEN INVASION MOVIES OF 2011

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:24:10 +0100

"Off to the movies we shall go, where we learn everything that we know. 'Cause the movies teach us what our parents don't have time to say." - South Park the Movie

2011 has been a big year for 2012 predictions of Alien Invasions, fake or otherwise. And I find it quite interesting that there have been a plethora of alien invasion movies in 2011. Why does Hollywood think that alien invasion films are so popular now?  For decades or more, we have been trained in the U.S. to think that we are alone in the universe. And we are ridiculed and laughed at in our society for really believing in aliens. So why are they forcing these films into our mainstream psyches?  I'm not much into these Sci-Fi blockbusters, but I am curious to see why Hollywood is flooding the market with these films.

Below is a growing list of alien invasion films from 2011, listed in chronological order by release date. I've provided my insights and mini-reviews. I will be adding more reviews and insights as I see more.

THE DARKEST HOUR I find it odd that this one was released on Christmas Day. What a festive topic!. I haven't seen it yet, due to the poor reviews and a desire to save money at the theater. From the trailer, it looks like a story of a bunch of young adults vacationing and clubbing in Moscow for the holidays. There they witness a massive alien invasion that is also going on all over the world. Based on the trailer, I think I know what happens at the end. This film uses the typical alien invasion formula that was used in Day of the Triffids (1962). The typical alien invasion film formula is that the human heros figure out that a simple everyday material, easily found anywhere on Earth, can conquer the aliens at their most vulnerable spot.

COWBOYS & ALIENS Release Date July 29, 2011 I have not seen this and technically it may not be appropriate for this list since it takes place in the 1870's. But it is about an alien invasion and thankfully, the humans always win, at least from the trailer it looks like they won. Lots of comments in the trailer about how the aliens underestimated us, which is what I'm hearing all over the internet about us and the aliens. All we need to do is stand in our power and integrity and we win! This is what you do in the face of any bully.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON Release Date June 28, 2011 All of the Transformers movies, inspite of their amazing 3-D animation, really bore me to tears. I was looking forward to Dark of the Moon because of all the speculation about alien bases on the dark side of the moon. But I was too bored to look between the frames of the film for secret messages. Maybe while watching this film, I was being programmed subliminally, so that consciously I could not clearly see the message of the film; but subconsciously, I was being prepared for alien invasion. Just kidding!

During Dark of the Moon, transformers were battling it out on earth and destroying a lot of high-rise buildings in the process. I was sometimes reminded of 9-11 during these scenes. I have heard that there are alien factions battling it out for control of the Earth. A lot of the military tension between countries really has more to do with off-world entities than it does with us humans. No wonder many of us can't relate to why we are at war with anyone.

ATTACK THE BLOCK Release Date (in Ireland) May 13, 2011 I didn't enjoy this inner city version of an alien invasion film as much as I thought I would. It was very gritty and dark which put a damper on the comic side of the movie. The typical alien invasion plot was used where the unwitting heros figured out the aliens' weakness and exploited it to save themselves. So the moral of this story is don't underestimate teens' problem-solving abilities. The kid actors in this film were really good. And the jokes were great inspite of the inner city seriousness.

PAUL Release Date March 18, 2011. I actually enjoyed this comedy about a rogue Grey alien named Paul who's lost and gets found by two UFO geeks from the UK who are vacationing in the US. The two UK geeks help Paul get back to his mothership and on the way pick up a bible thumping woman named Ruth, played by Kristen Wiig.  When Ruth meets Paul, she freaks out at first, but then starts to question her religion and as a result, starts on the road to personal inner freedom. It is thought that if the governments around the world were to admit to the existance and interactions with extra-terrestrials, religion would be one of the first things to break down and then the other pillers of our society.

MARS NEEDS MOMS Release date, March 11, 2011. I found this "delightful" Disney "Family Film" to be quite disturbing and no wonder it was a box office bomb. Even though the 3-D animation was ground-breaking, the subject matter would validate those theories about people being abducted and taken to Mars to create and grow a colony.   Here's the plot line. Mars is looking for human mothers to produce Martian hybrids. A boy named Milo has the usual troubles with his mom, but one day, she is abducted and taken to Mars. Milo somehow grabs a UFO to Mars to rescue her. On Mars he meets up with another boy named Dribble who has been on Mars for quite a while and is still trying to rescue his mom. He lives in secret, fearing for his life if he gets found by the Martians. Really nice family film, eh? Disney has a history of creating films that show children being torn away from their mothers (Dumbo, Bambi, Snow White, just to name a few).

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES Release date, March 11, 2011.   Action films really bore me and this film was no exception. The Marines won in the end because they discovered the source or command center which controlled all the drone aliens. This is how our wars are evolving. War drones are controlled from command centers where unwitting young soldiers are controlling them by software programs that play like video games. Some reviewers have reported feeling like they were watching a marine recruitment movie.  After we all finally get fed up with the unecessary ongoing fake wars on terror, will a fake alien invasion be our next fake war?

ALIEN ARMAGEDDON (http://www.morphiusfilm.com/Morphius_Film/www.morphiusfilm.com_.html) Released straight to DVD. Alien Armageddon was crappily made, dark, depressing, somewhat thoughtful and promoting the idea that humans need to make the ultimate sacrifice to save our race. This crappy film got distribution in RedBox which has machines all over the U.S., but a really great film Happy, the Movie, has had a terrible time getting distribution. Looks like Hollywood would rather promote scary alien invasion films rather than films that promote self-empowerment and creating a great life for ones' self.

More reviews and maybe more films will be added. So stay tuned.

V (2009): Most Believable Alien Invasion Scenario

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:07:44 +0100

"People are scared. The world's in bad shape. Who wouldn't welcome a savior right now?" - Father Jack Landry, V (2009)

If you are wondering how a real or fake alien invasion could take place, take a look at the 2009 TV series, V. So why am I thinking about an alien invasion? Well....In the UFO community, there are many people who are waiting for disclosure. That is, people are hoping that governments, especially the U.S. government, will disclose to the public their knowledge and involvement with beings from other planets (ET's). Many people think that the knowledge gained from our relationship with these ET's would revolutionize the way we live and bring us great physical comfort and reveal our long lost galactic family relationships.

Others think ET's have been with us on Earth for eons and that they have actually been controlling us in the background through our governments, medical and educational systems, and especially our spiritual and religious organizations. So why would they want to control us? They want to keep us from discovering our true power and knowledge of our purpose and origins. Because if we realize that we are actually great beings who can be completely self-empowered, they lose their grip on us. It's kind of like a friend who loves to get energy from you by being your mentor or teacher and when you start to grow and start to behave like a self-empowered person, the friend gets really angry. But maybe more so, it's like paying the Mob all your life for protection, products and services and then deciding you can be just fine on your own. The Mob's not going to let you go that easily.

To keep the awakening masses under control, there are those who think that there is going to be a fake (or real) alien invasion, possibly at the end of 2012. The reason for this is to convince people to submit even more to their system before we become completely self-empowered and aware of our full-potential. They do not want to destroy us because they like sucking our energy, so they need to somehow convince us to submit. When you don't have enough people to control everyone in the world, the next best thing is to convince people to control themselves.

Think this is preposterous? See this YouTube video of the CNN interview with Paul Krugman where he says that something like an alien invasion would fix the economy or this video where former president, Ronald Reagan, talked about how the threat of an alien invasion could fix our society.

The characteristics of this type of alien invasion that many are predicting are amazingly spelled out in the TV show, V (2009).

The story begins with huge mother ships parking themselves over every major city in the world. A type of TV screen appears on the bottom of each ship with a broadcast of a greeting from the ET's delivered by a beautiful, and stylish brunette woman named Anna, played by Morena Baccarin. Anna's slogan is, "We come in peace, always." She projects a loving, grounded persona who's only goal is to trade alien advanced technology for the water, minerals and other resources that they urgently need. The technology they offer would enrich our lives in many ways and they promised to leave when they replenished their supplies. (Yeah, right!)

Anna enlists the public relations services of Chad Decker, an up and coming young TV newscaster. She baits him with promises of fame to broadcast one-sided news stories to make the ET Visitors (V's) seem extremely altruistic and worthy of unconditional trust. And not unlike our current TV and entertainment industry, the V's seek to control the media to manage their public image.

Decker promotes propaganda to advertise ambassador "live-aboard" programs to entice humans to spend indefinite amounts of time on the ships. As the story unfolds, we see that the ET Visitors are actually after human DNA to create hybrids with themselves so that their race can permanently live on Earth. See this story about Reptilian hybrids. http://www.reptilianagenda.com/exp/e012500a.shtml In this story, the process is painful and the humans do not live through it.

We also discover that the V's beauty is only skin deep. Underneath their human skin is their true reptilian body. And underneath their cordial demeanor, we see they are emotionless and predatory. We also see that many of them have been among us long before their ships made a public landing. And it is also thought that the Reptilian ET races have actually been on Earth longer than we have. They have high places in government, law enforcement, as well as other traditional institutions. Sound familiar? V also shows infighting amongst the aliens, an analogy for the infighting we see amongst governments, corporations and banksters, just to name a few of the ruling elite.

Like most of the V's, Anna, the Queen Bee Mother, is emotionless, except for fear and anger. She treats her daughter as a tool rather than a cherished child. Not all of the V's are insensitive and self-serving. Some undercover embedded V's, like Ryan Nichols played by Morris Chestnut, are discovering the power of human emotion. For human beings, emotional intelligence is their real power against the V's.

Alien queen bee, Anna, sets herself up as a savior figure. (One of the predictions for 2012 is that a messiah or savior will be a woman.) She is able to telepathically send a blissful feeling to her followers and children, but it doesn't seem to work on humans, especially the humans that are in touch with their emotional intelligence. Some of the aliens, like Ryan Nichols, have developed an appreciation for emotional intelligence and in the process have grown a resistance to Anna's "Bliss."

This is a great example of the value of being in touch with one's emotions. Being in touch with one's emotional intelligence is like following your gut, or being in touch with your intuition. Relying on intellect alone can be quite confusing and misleading, especially when wading through all the information that constantly bombards us. How do we determine if something is true or not? The best way is by getting in touch with your feeling about it. The feeling level of perception surprisingly gives a tremendous amount of information which cannot be accessed by the intellect alone.

Anna's reptilian family operates on a hive mind system. Because almost all of them are literally her children and come from the same genetics, they all get their information from her. Like bees, they all share the same thinking or information automatically by virtue of their DNA. So it is easy to control them. This is analogous to humans who subscribe to a belief system; they all share the same thinking patterns. If a situation comes up that inspires thinking to go against the belief system, a person who does not listen to their gut feeling will override their emotional intelligence to adhere to the intellectual constructs of the belief system. For example, say a mother belongs to a religious belief system that says gay people should be shunned. One of the mother's children reveals that they are gay. The mother can either listen to her gut, which is to continue to love and care for her child, or she can reject and shun her child to continue to be accepted into the religion's belief system. Her emotional intelligence will tell her that her child is a Divine being to be cared for and her relationship with the child will have immense value, love and growth for both of them. Her intellect will tell her that the religion's construct says to reject the child in spite of the joy and spiritual value that child will bring to her. If she doesn't go for rejection of her gay child, she suffers from the fear that she will be rejected by the mindless members of her hive-minded religion.

The propaganda machine's ability to sway public opinion and behavior is expertly shown in V. The aliens promise Earth's humans free energy technology and miraculous (seeming) healing centers which cure "incurable" diseases. On the internet, I find many people are waiting for aliens to come and "save" us by offering their technology for purifying the world and healing our diseases. The agenda of these beings may be benign or a subtle form of control. It is nice to be helped, but we have the power to help ourselves and our planet. And if we don't exercise our potential and self-empowerment, we may never know how powerful we are. Deciding to submit to an existence where we are taken care of by someone else is, as some would call it, accepting a larger prison or cage.

V is a multi award-winning TV show, yet it was not renewed for a third season. Too close to the truth?
I see that the V series is telling it almost like it is. In observing their behavior, the people who run our government, corporations and religious/spiritual institutions cannot be human. Fans are still dying to see how it turns out. Me too. But maybe we will see the outcome for ourselves if this fake or real alien invasion is not just a bunch of BS.

TAKE SHELTER

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:59:08 +0100

"Listen up. There is a storm coming like nothing you have ever seen and none of you are prepared for it!" - Curtis (Michael Shannon), TAKE SHELTER.

Take Shelter in one way is the simple story of a working class husband and father who has visceral dreams of a strange powerful storm coming and reacts by expanding his storm shelter. And in another way, Take Shelter is an emotionally complex story which questions a man's sanity. It is also a story filled with loosely connected metaphors and symbolism along side the issues of our current lifestyle in the U.S. which gives the film an apocalyptic feel to those viewers that make that connection.

Curtis, well-played by Michael Shannon, is the type of husband and father, who seems to like his life emotionally simple. So when he starts having vivid dreams about a strange rain-storm that coincides with negative changes in his close relationships, he takes them as prophetic dreams rather than symbolic for his own internal issues. One might think he is playing out paranoid fantasies in his dreams. This could very well be the case, since his mother had been institutionalized for paranoid schizophrenia. But I have come to realize that dreams for most people reflect the issues they are working on. Since Curtis does not share his inner life with his wife and close friends, he does not have the chance to stand back and take a bigger look at what his dreams might mean in terms of his own unresolved emotions.

It is so hard to read the symbols in dreams sometimes. I've had my own storm dream. In the dream, I'm sitting in my living room looking out a big picture window. The view is so vast that I feel I can see the whole country, maybe even the world. A storm comes and it looks and feels very frightening, but then it ends and things are just fine afterwards, maybe even better. I took this to mean that the world will be going through a transition that will seem very scary, but the transition will make way for a better world. But then again, maybe my dream is just about my own emotional healing. When people feel through their previously denied emotions, it can seem unbearably scary or just plain unbearable, but afterwards, there is a new sense of peace and a greater understanding of one's self and the world around them.

The biggest question in Take Shelter is: Are Curtis's dreams prophetic or just plain delusional and paranoid? The film contributes to the possibility that they may be prophetic. People who are concerned with a great change coming and feel a subtle pressure of a possibility of great change will resonate with these ideas. The film seems to slowly unfold a simple story, but minimal dialogue and the skillful visual storytelling, create a visceral, deep emotional feeling of a great event coming. Visually, we are constantly reminded of the costliness of gasoline and prescription drugs. Even though he has a supervisor position at a construction company, Curtis has to juggle his families needs with his income and what his borrowing power will allow. His wife Samantha, played convincingly by Jessica Chastain, has a booth where she sells her embroidery. She ends up selling herself extremely short by customers demanding a bargain, which would not happen in a flourishing economy. She also lives in rural Ohio which may be a factor. So we are constantly, but subtly reminded that things are not secure with our society. Just the fact that Curtis is expanding his storm shelter so it is equipped for lengthy stays reflects stories of many people who are preparing for a collapse of the system.

Curtis' dreams remind us of the "prophecies" or theories of strange events being reported in the news such as, birds falling dead out of the sky, dirty raindrops as evidence of polluted or Geo-engineered skies, people going crazy or changing personalities due to chemicals in our environment whether from prescription drugs, pollution or chemical manipulation. Even Curtis' dream of his living room furniture levitating shows concern over fundamental changes in our Earth. Curtis is not portrayed as a conspiracy theorist; he doesn't seem the type that would research these kinds of topics. He seems to be someone who's inner awareness is suddenly and strongly increased. We just aren't sure if he is correctly interpreting his experience or if he's just following in his mother's footsteps.

As you can see, I was very drawn into Curtis' character. All the characters in this film were well-developed and the direction and cinematography deepened the story. It started out slow, but by the end I was floored and thinking about it for days. It's a great subtle end-of-the-world type movie. This award-winning film is in limited theatrical release (probably because it's thoughtful and subtle), and will soon come to DVD. Highly recommended. See the official Take Shelter website for a trailer and more information.

TREE OF LIFE (Why Dinosaurs?)

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:00:33 +0100

Photo from Film Detail.com http://www.filmdetail.com/2011/04/22/tree-of-life-dinosaurs-terrence-malick/

I was clicking around on LAMB (Large Assoc of Movie Blogs) Forums and came across this video review of Tree Of Life by Anders Wotzke. I agree with what Wotzke says in general and was inspired to answer his question on "why dinosaurs?". I have not yet come across any reviewer who has an explanation for the dinosaurs in this film. So I am offering my insights here.

In thinking about this seemingly mysterious or incongruous insertion of dinosaurs into this film, I actually found that the dinosaur idea ties the whole film together for me and makes it coherent as long as I leave out the Christian ideas. For those who haven't seen the film, parts of the beginning consist of gorgeous NASA photos of the universe and Earth. Then we find ourselves in the forest looking at well-CGI'ed images of dinosaurs. The photo above depicts a pivotal scene, for me, where the dinosaur in the background threatens a meek dinosaur and puts his foot on his neck. The emotionality of this scene really grabbed me and I felt the suspense of what might happen next.

The aggressive dinosaur lifted his foot to see what the meek one would do. The meek one submissively stayed put. The aggressor seeing this behavior, seemed to feel comfortable enough to walk away, knowing that he had control. I saw this as an allegory to the introduction of aggressive behavior oppressing those willing to be submissive. Then the film unfolds in flashbacks. Jack, played by Sean Penn, looks back on his life as a boy living with his controlling, oppressive, emotionally abusive father, played by Brad Pitt. The oppressive behavior expressed by his father mirrors that of the aggressive dinosaur. That's what hit me right away!

Why Dinosaurs? from a conspiracy perspective: The kill-or-be-killed attitude is the reptilian mindset that was introduced on our planet eons ago. It is theorized (by researchers such as Zecharia Sitchin and others) that many different alien races have been on our planet before the beginning of human existence and have tampered with our genetics in good and bad ways. There is a species of aliens called the Reptilians who many researchers on this subject say have been with us all along and probably before our existence. Their evidence is all the reptilian animals (such as snakes, lizards, crocodiles and other reptiles) that inhabit our world; and this includes dinosaurs. It has also been said that our planet is inhabited by people and animals with a lineage from many other planets, hence Earth's great diversity of flora and fauna. Science says we have a part of our brain called the reptilian brain which is responsible for our fight-or-flight response. According to alien history researchers, this fight-or-flight mindset is the mindset of the Reptilian Race and not our truly innate mindset. This dog-eat-dog world was thrust upon us by the aliens who sought to manipulate and control us. So it could be said that this is the origin of the abuse of power that has been handed down generation after generation.

In the film, Jack revisits his childhood triggered by his father's death and other personal crises. We get to see how his father expressed this oppressive behavior during his childhood. We meet his younger brother who expressed a free and gentle spirit seemingly unlike his father. On the other hand, it could be said that Jack's younger brother expressed the true spirit of his father who was a talented musician, but who chose to suppress that for an acceptable career in manufacturing in the 50's. The father oppressed himself to fit into society and in doing so frustrated himself. In his denial of the frustration of his own making, he takes it out on Jack as a child. We don't know what Jack's father's background was, but I'm sure he was also passing on the abuse and oppression he experienced as a child.

From a spiritual point of view, I see this film as an example of Right Use of Will, a book and concept I've studied on emotional healing. The book describes how we deny or suppress our own will by denying our emotions. Here is a good explanation from the website:

"Our Will is the feminine aspect in all of us and expresses as emotion, intuition, receptivity and desire. To whatever degree we have been denying our Will, we have had conditional love for ourselves, and so, also, for others. We do not then, have our full Heart presence. Freedom of emotional expression is an important part of our Will’s evolutionary path and can lead us to a greater depth of being. All of the emotions that have been labeled “negative” are a part of what has been judged against and denied in our Will’s expression. A prominent example of this is how often it has been said, “Do you choose love or fear?” Unconditional love would choose both by bringing our fears within love and finding out what they have to offer." - http://rightuseofwill.com/

Jack as an adult seems to come to a crossroads in his life and as a result, he is examining his past. There are often shots of bridges during his adult scenes. I don't know if the director, Terrance Malick, intended this meaning, but Jack who is realizing that he needs a change of life seems to be seeing a bridge to another way of being. According to Right Use of Will, our environment triggers denied emotions in us which gives us an opportunity to enliven or re-integrate a lost part of ourselves. What concerns us in our environment is ultimately a reflection of whether our emotions are in a state of denial or unrestricted flow. Jack contemplates the death of his father, the beautiful-looking sterility of his life and his unsatisfying emotional relationship with his wife. He then starts to revisit his childhood relationship with his father, mother, brothers and friends. Some memories are stressful and some are quite beautiful and loving. The film bathes every scene in gorgeous, artful cinematography and beautiful background music, reminding the viewer that they are a witness, as well as offering a visceral feeling to each experience.

At the end of the film, Jack gets to metaphorically embrace those parts of himself that are represented by his mom, dad and siblings. We see them re-uniting on the beach in the water which is often said to represent emotional life. Jack also encounters his young self in a desert setting. Young Jack leads adult Jack towards a bridge as if to offer a way into a new life. I see this as his inner child symbolically guiding him to greater freedom in uncharted territory. And in Jack's accepting and embracing his younger self and all his experiences, he has the opportunity to move forward into a new and greater beginning.

This film can seem quite disjointed from the point of view of a traditional plot. But from an emotional healing point-of-view, it could be seen as an artistic attempt at painting a picture of the healing and evolution of the emotional body and the relationship to cosmic life.

ALIEN AUTOPSY

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 01:06:25 +0100

"There are things up there so beautiful; sometimes I've cried just thinking about them. Beautiful & terrible." - Harvey, the photographer from Alien Autopsy.

Alien Autopsy is a fictionalization of the true story of the two British men who created the original fake Alien Autopsy film in the 1980's and why they faked it. I keep wondering if this incredible story is really true. It's a great story. It starts out with Ray Santilli, played by Declan Donnelly, advertising that he is looking to buy footage and photos of the Ohio Elvis concert from the 1950's. He meets a retired military combat photographer named Harvey, played by Harry Dean Stanton, who just happens to have a stray copy of an actual alien autopsy performed at Roswell in 1947 including images of President Harry Truman watching the operation on the sidelines. He opens the film canister to show them the film, but exposing the film to the air starts the film degeneration process. When the two open it up again, the film images look destroyed. To satisfy an investor with a dangerous personality, they decide to re-film the alien autopsy from memory. It's a highly entertaining and an amazing story.

You might put it in the category of docudrama, but I think it is more of a docu-comedy. It was really hilarious, and looked historically accurate. The film starts out with Bill Pullman in a small role as a documentary filmmaker interviewing the two fakers. It turns out that the script writer of Alien Autopsy had the very same experience as was depicted in the beginning.

One interesting scene for conspiracy theorists showed that the military looked at the film, realized that it was a fake and laughed their butts off. It gave them a great cover for what really went on in Roswell. There is a lot of interesting history about the transition of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) into the CIA.

From a spiritual point of view, this film showed how hungry people were for evidence of life on other planets. The fake Alien Autopsy film was shown on TV all over the world. It is quite emotional for people to know we are not alone in the universe and this was very touchingly depicted. In the film, people who viewed the fake footage seemed to experience a profound expansion of the heart. Most people didn't get as freaked out as the government would like to have us believe, but there were some characters who fainted at first viewing.

It's incredible to me that Warner Brothers didn't fully promote this film. I'm sure this amazing comedy would have been a hit. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Alien Autopsy was filmed in 2006. The DVD extras show the real guys who faked the Alien Autopsy footage. I found this most excellent sleeper at my local DVD rental story, Casa Video. It was produced and acted by (famous in the UK ) TV show hosts, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. See a trailer here. Available on DVD at Netflix and all fine local DVD rental stores.

Harry Potter Series

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:16:53 +0100

The Harry Potter series: An epic story about the dismantling of the inter-dimensional dark matrices.

This is not so much a review of the Harry Potter movies as it is a spiritual analysis of the series in general from my point of view. Some of my friends told me that the Harry Potter series was very spiritual. I innocently enjoyed reading the books and viewing the films and never thought about it until I watched the very last film in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2). It hit me that the Harry Potter stories are all about dismantling the dark energetic patterns in the astral plane. I've recently been studying the experiences of people who inter-dimensionally travel and how they work in inter-dimensional realms during sleep and while awake.

So what do I mean by dimensions? First of all, the 2nd dimension or 2-D describes a flat existence that consists of height and width and the 3rd dimension consists of height, width and depth. The 3-D world is what we experience when we confine our perceptional experience to what we can see and feel. Then there is the 4th dimension, where the 4th element is time, according to physics. So physics has acknowledged higher dimensions up to 11 which is described by string theory. (Please don't ask me about physics.).

There are also dimensions within dimensions which are described by physics as multiverses or universes within universes. Sometimes they are referred to as Parallel Universes. From an experiential level, one finds these other multiuniverses by visualizing being "sideways" or "next to" the dimension where we currently have our focus. In such dimensions, we may contact the beings in the elemental kingdom, where earth spirits reside along with the fairy kingdom. We may also contact others in a parallel dimension to work out problems or to visualize the best outcome for a situation and find the solution has manifested itself in our current reality or dimension.

An example of other dimensions is Harry Potter's school, Hogwarts, which is located in another dimension and we see this when students take the train to Hogwarts. The Hogwarts Express is at platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. People who are relying on their 3-D perceptions cannot see platform 9 3/4 and in order to get there you must walk right through the wall of the column that separates platform 9 from platform 10.

There is nice example of parallel universes or a Fifth Dimensional experience where Harry has a seemingly near-death experience and goes to a luminous white world where he resolves his relationship with Professor Albus Dumbledore. (Thank God for the Harry Potter Wiki site so I can review this extremely detailed story.) The film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 beautifully portrayed this.

And how about inter-dimensional travel or astral travel? My understanding from my research and experience so far is that the 4th dimension can sometimes be seen as a parallel universe to our 3rd dimension and contains many levels in which one might travel during sleep and while awake. Some of these levels contain energies from unresolved emotional issues, ghosts or souls trying to figure out how to go to the next level, and 4-D beings including good and bad aliens who take a look at us and sometimes try to guide or manipulate us and what's happening on Earth.

All over the Harry Potter series are examples of how other inter-dimensional or 4-D beings, ghosts included, help Harry and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, on their quest to dismantle the dark structures in their current dimension. In the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry has to find the Horcruxes which are objects that hide parts of Voldemort's (the dark lord and oppressor of the wizardry dimension) soul. Destroying the Horcruxes destroys Voldemort's power and soul piece by piece and thereby frees up the wizard's dimension.

I'm not sure exactly how those of us who travel to different dimensions during our sleep time help to dismantle the dark energies in different dimensions. I am not yet aware of my role in this project. But I have heard, if you wake up tired from a good night's sleep, you have been doing a lot of inter-dimensional work during the night. One spiritual blogger says that we break up the dark energies into smaller chunks with our light. And as we can see, the outdated, unfair, dark systems in our world are falling apart. People are waking up and realizing how ridiculous government's and corporations' behavior is becoming and how unrealistic and un-life-supporting our social systems have been. The battle between good and evil is so ingrained in our psyche and our entertainment media. Harry Potter is currently one of the epic stories that deals with this legendary battle, which may really be happening behind the scenes in different dimensions.

I've looked at some other spiritual interpretations of the Harry Potter series and came across one that talks about Harry as the "chosen one" but I don't want to go there with this. I'm into developing self-empowerment and realizing our greatness and infinite capabilities. So I say that Harry is a reluctant leader, showing all his fellow students that they also have the power to change the dark into light. Again, this was nicely shown in the final installment of the Harry Potter series. And we may be reluctant leaders in our 3-D world, but when we travel into the other dimensions during dreams, sleep time, waking, etc... we are the spiritual warriors neutralizing the dark forces and liberating the light, however that may manifest.

Finally, from a filmmaking perspective, I think the Harry Potter films have great special effects, acting and art direction, but they are the Reader's Digest version of the books. I always find the story in the film seems quite rushed and hard to follow, but the books are so easy to read and filled with great detail that gives wonderful emotional depth to the story.

I want to close by saying that I'm not an expert on inter-dimensional travel or inter-dimensionality. And the links I provided to give more explanation for the terms in my blog are meant only to relieve me from having to write a book on the subject(s). I do not necessarily endorse all the ideas in these links. I only use them to create an easy reference to definitions of my terms. So I leave it up to the reader to form your own opinions. And I hope this blog serves as a springboard to more discussion and research into the existence of other dimensions.

GOJIRA VS GODZILLA

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:34:20 +0100

A Japanese classic made into a tamer version for a U.S. mainstream audience.

This was my first opportunity to see the original Japanese Godzilla movie called, Gojira. It was one of the first foreign films to be cut and dubbed for a U.S. audience which usually Hollywood assumes can't or won't read subtitles . I can see that the U.S. film producers tried to dub the film gracefully. Raymond Burr's character, U.S. reporter, Steve Martin, was inserted into the original film and was used to narrate most of the film to avoid bad-looking dubbing and give provincial audiences a U.S. point of reference. I was eager to see the difference between the two films. A lot of footage was left out of the original. Film theorists thought that some scenes were too political for mainstream America to see, having bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki only 9 years before. I found the ideas put forth in Godzilla: King of the Monsters were not that different from Gojira. From what I could see, not that many political views were left out, just condensed and as a result softened.

I really liked the U.S. version, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," when I was a kid and it is still kind of a comfort film for me. Now being an adult, I very much appreciated seeing the original version, Gojira. In comparing the two, Gojira made much more sense. The additional footage created a more coherent story and being able to see the subtitles along with the original voices of the actors brought more depth and poignancy to the characters.

The most controversial of the edited scenes that film theorists questioned in Gojira is the scene showing a zoologist's presentation, given in a "town-hall" meeting. The zoologist, played by the famous Japanese actor, Takashi Shimura, described how the unusual appearance of Gojira (Godzilla to us) and other Jurassic-type creatures in the their village is connected to radiation from atomic testing. The following was left out of the U.S. version. The men in suits who seemed to be connected to government, said that they cannot publicize this because it might harm international relations. The women, who seemed like regular townsfolk, immediately protested and demanded that the public be informed. A brawl started in the hall and this is where the U.S. version picks up, but shows the brawl only briefly.

Another point that was glossed over in the original was the reason the zoologist was concerned with studying Godzilla rather than killing him. He wanted to study what allowed Godzilla to resist the radiation from nuclear testing. Before, after, and during the creation and filming of Gojira, nuclear testing was actually taking place in the Bikini Islands. Here's a quote from the zoologist: "If we keep on conducting nuclear tests, it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again." Some say the Bikini Islands' nuclear testing inspired the film, and it looks like nearby nuclear testing also inspired other films like the Mothra series which talks of a giant moth that defends a Polynesian island near Japan.

Another small mention of the atomic testing occurred during a short scene of people talking on a bus. A man and a woman are speaking about the radiation found in the bay where Godzilla was found. The woman says something like, "Great, the contamination of tuna and now this." I found throughout this film that women seemed to speak out the truth even at great expense to their character. Was this film trying to say that women can't keep their mouths shut, or that women are the catalysts for change and defenders of life? Momoko Kochi, well-played by Emiko Yamane, also revealed the dangerous secret of the Oxygen Destroyer which becomes Godzilla's undoing.

That brings me to another point which was touched upon, but not expanded in the U.S. version. One of the reasons that the young scientist, Daisuke Serizawa, who invented the awesomely destructive Oxygen Destroyer, decided to let himself be killed using his invention against Godzilla, was that even if he destroyed all his notes, he might be forced to recreate the invention for greedy politicians. Serizawa expressed his concerns over the awesome power of his new invention, the Oxygen Destroyer, "If the Oxygen Destroyer is used even once, politicians around the world will see it. Of course they will want to use it as a weapon. Bombs vs. bombs, missiles vs. missiles, and now a new super weapon to throw on us all."

So when one looks carefully at the original Japanese version of Godzilla (Gojira), one finds it is an obvious statement against the injustice and danger of nuclear testing. See a trailer of the U.S. Godzilla here and a trailer of the original Japanese Gojira here. You can see the Japanese trailer (with subtitles) is much more poignant than the U.S. trailer. Both Godzilla and Gojira can be seen at your local DVD rental store, if you still have one and of course, at Netflix.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

Mon, 30 May 2011 17:50:14 +0100

(Photo: George Clooney with baby goat and Iraqi prisoners in The Men Who Stare at Goats.)

"Mother Earth, you're my life support system. As a soldier I must drink your blue water, live inside your red clay and eat your green skin. Help me to balance myself. As you hold in balance, the Earth, the sea, and the space environments. Help me to open my heart, knowing that the Universe will feed me. I pray my boots will always kiss your face, and my footsteps match your heartbeat. Carry my body through space and time. You're my connection to the Universe and all that comes after. I'm yours and you are mine. I salute you." - Bill Django, The Men Who Stare at Goats.

The film, The Men Who Stare at Goats contains jewels of profound spiritual knowledge wrapped in thick blankets of silliness.

This unusual comedy, based on the semi-fictional novel by Jon Ronson, reveals the many personal self-development programs the U.S. military explored and implemented starting in the early 1970's after the Vietnam War. The film is an extra fictionalization of Ronson's book. The story starts out with Bob Wilton, a reporter, played by Ewen McGregor who ventures out into Iraq during the current Iraq war to prove to himself that he is up to the task of war reporting. He meets up with Len Cassidy, played by George Clooney, who is the best psychic soldier or "Jedi" soldier to come out of Project Jedi, the program for developing paranormal powers for the military. Bob follows Len on a mission in the Iraqi desert and learns all about the history of the Project Jedi program. They meet up with the legendary Bill Jango, one of the original instructors of the program. Bill Jango, played by Jeff Bridges, is based on a mixture of people, one of them Jim Channon,who created the idea for the New Earth Army,and the First Earth Battalion, and wrote the handbook called, Evolutionary Tactics. Jim Channon also has a plan to have all departments of the military in charge of cleaning up the earth.

The film is very tongue and cheek, but preserves the original spirit of the self-development military program, which was to protect soldiers, civilians and the Earth by preventing conflict. According to the film, the purpose of the program was to see "how love and peace could win wars." But I must emphasize that the points in the film, even though sometimes awesomely spiritual, are mostly fictionalized. I had to do some research to get to the truth. In the film, they said the phrase, "Be all you can be." was created by fictional character Bill Jango. Clever and inspiring, but not correct.

As the story progresses, we are introduced to Larry Hooper, played by Kevin Spacey. Hooper is a soldier who infiltrates the Jedi Program to discredit Bill Django, introduce Psyops into the program and use the program to control and conquer rather than create peace. The film showed many techniques that were used in this program for good and bad. Terms such as remote viewing, super-soldier, walking through walls and others were briefly introduced. But again, it is up to the viewer to find out what is true in this film and what isn't. The DVD extras featurette section is a must see to find out the inspriation for this story. The featurette, "Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion" has interviews with the actual men who created these self-development programs for the military.

I was delighted that paranormal abilities were mentioned in this film. I was reminded of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras which are mental techniques for creating integration of consciousness or "Enlightenment." Some of these techniques include invisability, levitation, super strength, clairvoyance (remote viewing) and many others. I myself have studied some of these techniques and strongly believe that everyone has the ability to develop "super-normal" powers.

This silly, yet seriously anti-war tale, brought a tear to my eye, espeicially at the end. The humanitarian principles expressed were very profound to see in a Hollywood film. But of course, things like that have to be made silly and unreal before selling it to the public. It had a lot to say about the U.S. in Iraq, but in a subtle way and sometimes a ridiculous way. I also love this film because it brings out concepts of higher consciousness. These may be crumbs of spirituality, but for me each crumb has great uplifting power. See this film anywhere or preferably at your local DVD rental store (if you still have one).

TEMPLE GRANDIN - True Story of an Autistic Inventor (Sleeper)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:06:27 +0100

"...different, but not less." - Temple Grandin

This HBO film, Temple Grandin is the true story of Temple Grandin, Ph.D. who is the first autistic person to write about and lecture about her own autistic experience. She is also an inventor that has created humane systems for herding cattle which are utilized by 50% of the cattle industry today. This is the most uplifting, inspiring film I have seen in the past few years. It won 7 Emmys in 2010 for star, Claire Danes and HBO.

The film shows Temple's social development and education from a young age through her beginning Ph.D. studies. Her sensory difficulties and social difficulties were shown as well as the help she received from her mother and influential teachers she met through her education. She also displayed a true genius in creating mechanical solutions to problems, especially in the humane treatment of cattle. She has a real down-to-earth, logical perception and understanding of animals that would uplift and inspire the most avid animal lover. And she put these two talents, mechanical genius and deep understanding of animals, together to create humane cattle systems that are used all over the United States and the world.

Artistically, the film did a beautiful job of showing the inside of Temple's mind. She thinks in pictures and most of her thoughts were shown in delightful pictures. When Temple was about to expand her boundaries and do something she never did before, she visualized going through a door. I was often moved to tears because of the inspiring examples in her life where she overcame her personal obstacles by using her unique way of thinking and moved to higher levels of personal achievement.

Temple was born right before the 1950's. In the 1950's, mothers were accused of neglecting their children and thereby creating the condition of autism in them. Temple's mother went through terrible guilt and confusion in raising Temple. But as society evolved the Temple's Mom finally realized she did very well by Temple. Another tear-jerking, yet uplifting aspect of the film for me.

It is amazing to me that this film is not very well-known. I recommend it to everyone! It is the ultimate sleeper. I could see it over and over again. It is easy to get at Netflix, RedBox or your neighborhood video store. In Tucson, you can get it at Casa Video. See the trailer here.