4 posts tagged “movie”

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No Smoking, Please!

Mar 9, 2008
2 comments

One of the first rental movies I've watched on my Apple TV is "The Brave One" starring Jodie Foster as a crime victim. I thought it such a good movie! Or at least, Jodie Foster played such an interesting character.

The Brave One w Jodie Foster

What kind of shocked me, though, is that I wasn't disturbed by her violent revenge-seeking that is the main plot line at all. Actually, it pleased me! (Don't get me wrong, I was troubled by the violence. But not by **her** violence, her revenge).

Foster with gun

Bu--I didn't like it when she smoked!! That, I found quite disturbing! It, as much as the gore, made me want to look away.

I suppose that is irrational. Murder is "worse" than smoking, isn't it?

On the other hand, to argue the other side of the question, many many more people die each year from smoking (or, to put it more negatively, are killed by the tobacco companies) than are killed by revengeful crime victims. The numbers I found suggest that there are around 17,000 murders in the U.S. each year. Yes, that is an awful lot!

But some 400,000 people die annual from cigarette-smoking. That is to say, about 23 times more.

So, in a way, smoking is "worse than" murder--and then perhaps my initial instinctive reaction was right. Anyhow, I am more concerned that young girls watching the show will try to emulate Foster's smoking than they will her taste for revenge.

An interesting side-note: some time ago, Foster herself said that the biggest regret in her life is that she had started smoking.

Bonneville--a road trip (and bereavement) movie

Mar 2, 2008
1 comment

Bonneville trailer

I am looking forward to seeing it. Part of my interest is that AAA has provided a "trip tik" of the route the women drove so that viewers can follow it too!

Key Fact #2: 10,000 B.C.

Feb 28, 2008
2 comments

I am enthusiastically waiting for the opening of the movie 10,000 BC, which is to be on March 7th. Just a week. But I am also curious to see to what extent the movie mirrors known facts or best guesses about human physical and social development.

A fact that I have long carried in my head is that the origin of agriculture was about 10,000 years ago. I guess 10,000 years BC (as in the movie's title) would be about 12,000 years ago.

So a movie with the title 10,000 BC really shouldn't show much in the way of extensive farming. And without farming there can be no major settlements, no cities. And without cities there can be no state, no real ruling class. Anyhow, that is my understanding.

10t2

But the film's previews and publicity stills seem to show a lot more than rudimentary urban development. So, I guess that is an "error." Still might be a good movie, though.

A show I watched recently on the National Geographic Channel suggested that the "first man," the single male from which all contemporary males are descended, lived about 50,000 years ago (in what is now Kenya). So that is the beginning of getting a time scale:

--us (complete with blogging capabilities!)

--Christ, about 2000 years ago

--agriculture invented, 10,000 years ago

--male of origin, 50,000 years ago.

Movie rentals on iTunes

Jan 22, 2008
5 comments

As soon as the option showed up, I rented a movie on iTunes. But as near as I can tell, there is not yet a way to transfer such a movie to either Apple TV or an iPod for viewing. I imagine that this will require forthcoming software updates. I'm very interested in having this happen!

Anyhow, because I don't want to sit in front of my computer for a couple hours, the movie is still unviewed.