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"Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse rolls over you and wraps you in its stylish embrace. The plot, such as it is, follows Vittoria (luscious Monica Vitti, The Red Desert) as her engagement falls apart and she slowly falls into a giddy but anxious affair with Piero (Alain Delon, Le Samourai, Purple Noon), a trader in Rome's stock exchange. Like Ingmar Bergman (Scenes from a Marriage, Persona), Antonioni examines the nuances of human relationships--but where Bergman is dense and dialogue-driven, Antonioni is spare and visual (there's maybe a page of dialogue in the first fifteen minutes of L'Eclisse). Every frame is like an exquisite black and white photograph, yet there's nothing static about this movie. It's fluid, sleek, and graceful, achieving its own kind of visual music. L'Eclisse contrasts opposing elements: Light and shadow, noise and silence, laughter and death, love and money, desire and dissatisfaction. Critics often describe the movie as a portrait of modern alienation, but... more... - Ksana from Bookmarklet

“I especially love women,” he has said. “Perhaps because I understand them better? I was born amongst women, and raised in the midst of female cousins, aunts, relatives. I know women very well. Through the psychology of women, everything becomes more poignant. They express themselves better and more precisely. They are a filter that allows us to see more clearly and to distinguish... more... - Ksana

"what can I say? There are days when a piece of cloth, a needle, a book, a man are the same thing" ( from the film, Vittoria's words) - Ksana

The collaboration between Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti is of a rather different kind. Not that Vitti isn’t beautiful, but her presence is less commanding than that of Gish, Dietrich, or Karina, her beauty more tentative, which is in keeping with the unsettled, questioning beauty of Antonioni’s visual style. And in her films with him, Vitti is as much beholding as beheld. Unlike those other actresses, she is identified with the director as the beholder behind the camera, whose gaze she doubles. Other male directors have adopted the point of view of a female character, but none has made a woman his surrogate in the way that Antonioni has Monica Vitti. http://74.125.93.132/search... - Ksana from Bookmarklet

Not saying that The New World and Avatar have the same exact story - clearly they don't. But The New World takes the invader/native premise with an ecofriendly bent and makes a film built of rhythm and poetry that seems to be what Avatar reaches for in many of the Pandora scenes, but Avatar always pulls back into its conventional action plot. - Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF

Jason, thanks for the link. I'd heard about that review, but hadn't read it yet. I hadn't thought about the implications of Jake becoming the leader of the Na'vi, but that's an interesting line of thought. - Jandy, ConcertMaven of FF

"Heath Ledger's last screen performance, a remarkable one interrupted by his tragic death at age 28 in 2008, comes wrapped in the kind of passionate provocation of a movie that the Aussie actor favored. Terry Gilliam, the mad visionary behind Brazil, Time Bandits and Monty Python, was ready to scrap the film after the passing of Ledger, who had filmed only the London scenes. As the movie was conceived, Ledger's con man, Tony, would join the traveling horse-drawn caravan of Dr. Parnassus (a terrific Christopher Plummer) and lead customers behind a mirror to a parallel world of computer-generated fantasy. What saved the film was Gilliam's decision to call on three of Ledger's colleagues — Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell — to play Tony in the scenes behind the mirror. Despite a shaky framework, the magic works. It's a chance to see Ledger one last time in the act of doing what he loved. Take it." - William Harryman from Bookmarklet

"Drooling and exhausted, Neil and I emerged from the fray with the 30 Best Films of the Decade. 4 documentaries. 12 comedies. 13 dramas. 5 in-betweens. 9 foreign. 6 fuck-the-establishment choices. 3 sci-fi. 1. horror. 3 from 2000. 1 from 2001. 2 from 2002. 4 from 2003. 4 from 2004. 2 from 2005. 5 from 2006. 4 from 2007. 3 from 2008. 2 from 2009. A sprawling list, and most likely, the most balanced of all decade examinations. We can’t wait to do it all again next year when the decade is actually over." - Kol Tregaskes from Bookmarklet

"Here is the great contralto singer Marian Anderson. By waiting for the moment when Anderson closed her eyes, Avedon was able to suggest her intense inner concentration on the song and to allow us, the viewer, to focus on her mouth. Even if the viewer knows nothing about Marian Anderson, one can still see in this photograph the total commitment to her voice, that she was the very embodiment of song. And if in fact the viewer is aware of the social context of the photograph—that Anderson fought in a very quiet and effective way to be heard in the 1930s, despite attempts by the Daughters of the American Revolution to prevent her from singing at Washington D.C.'s DAR-owned Constitution Hall because of her race, which caused First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign from the organization—one would be able to detect a kind of moral probity and strength in this portrait as well." fonte: http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH... - paopao

La voce di Marian Anderson - http://www.youtube.com/watch... - paopao

bellissimo - Isola Virtuale

koremo Miyazaki Anime desu. - Keiko Yamada

"How to get truly, fully, forever get rid of everything that bothers us in the whole world—so we can be truly, fully, forever happy." - William Harryman from Bookmarklet

Nice 2nd picture, love the colors! - ElijahBailey-Zu of FF <0,

"For an offbeat travel experience in the Mexico City area, consider a visit to the Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacan. Hidden behind high cobalt blue walls at the corner of Londres and Allende in this charming southwestern suburb, the museo is where the surrealist artist Frida Kahlo was born, grew up and later lived with her muralist husband Diego Rivera, from 1941 until her death at age 47 in 1954. Fascinating not only for the collections and personal effects of the two great artists it contains, the museum also affords a window on the lifestyles of affluent Mexican bohemians during the first half of this century." - M F from Bookmarklet

"Of all the posts I wrote this year, the one that produced the most vociferous email backlash -- easily -- was this one from August, which examined substantial evidence showing that, contrary to Obama's occasional public statements in support of a public option, the White House clearly intended from the start that the final health care reform bill would contain no such provision and was actively and privately participating in efforts to shape a final bill without it. From the start, assuaging the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries was a central preoccupation of the White House -- hence the deal negotiated in strict secrecy with Pharma to ban bulk price negotiations and drug reimportation, a blatant violation of both Obama's campaign positions on those issues and his promise to conduct all negotiations out in the open (on C-SPAN). Indeed, Democrats led the way yesterday in killing drug re-importation, which they endlessly claimed to support back when they couldn't pass it.... more... - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

The subtleness is breath-taking... - MVB (Grinch of FF) from iPod

"Metacritic this week compiled lists of the best-reviewed films released during 2000-2009, and it was a reminder that we live in the golden age of fanboy films -- six of the top 10 films were fantasy or animated features of the sort that we cover right here at Hero Complex. And at the top of the list? The 2006 masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth" by director Guillermo del Toro, and I can't think of a better film to hold that lofty spot." - RAPatton from Bookmarklet

love Pan's Labyrinth (not sure about best of decade, though). love Memento. hate Eternal Sunshine. - jbrotherlove

Unlike Star Wars there probably won't be a long lasting franchise, or characters that live forever, or lines that are often quoted, but what the movie creates is a feeling of awe and wonder unlike no other. The only downside was the one dimensional bad guys, but that wasn't enough to ruin it because as one dimensional as they were, they are plausible given human history. It wasn't too long for me at all, I wanted it to keep on going. The time went like that. The world is well thought out and technically and emotionally engaging. The ability to share nervous systems is intriguing. When people say that the story doesn't break any new narrative ground I think they are paying too much attention to the words and not the feelings, the ideas, and the implications. At that level it's much more engaging than simply clever dialog. - Todd Hoff

"I love spending time outside. From wild places like the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada mountains, to the mundane nature in my back yard, I find comfort in my natural experiences. These places are restful. Peaceful. They restore my batteries, and help me to focus. And I am not alone in these experiences. People around the world seek out natural experiences. Even when confined to built spaces, we add pets, plants, pictures, and momentos from nature. It is part of who we are, and these experiences in nature help us reflect on what is important in life. The benefits of spending time in nature have been well-documented. Psychological research has shown that natural experiences help to reduce stress, improve mood, and promote an overall increase in physical and psychological well-being. There is even evidence that hospital patients with a view of nature recover faster than do hospital patients without such a view." - William Harryman from Bookmarklet

"In a series of studies, Netta Weinstein, Andrew Przybylski, and Richard Ryan, University of Rochester, show that exposure to nature can affect our priorities and alter what we think is important in life. In short, we become less self-focused and more other-focused. Our value priorities shift from personal gain, to a broader focus on community and connection with others." - William Harryman

"At present, there are 104,000 Department of Defense contractors in Afghanistan. According to a report this week from the Congressional Research Service, as a result of the coming surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, there may be up to 56,000 additional contractors deployed. But here is another group of contractors that often goes unmentioned: 3,600 State Department contractors and 14,000 USAID contractors. That means that the current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). And remember, that's right now. And that, according to McCaskill, is a conservative estimate. A year from now, we will likely see more than 220,000 US-funded personnel on the ground in Afghanistan. The US has spent more than $23 billion on contracts in Afghanistan since 2002. By next year, the number of contractors will have doubled since 2008 when taxpayers funded over $8 billion in Afghanistan-related contracts." - William Harryman from Bookmarklet

"As for waste and abuse, the subcommittee says that the Defense Contract Audit Agency identified more than $950 million in questioned and unsupported costs submitted by Defense Department contracts for work in Afghanistan. That's 16% of the total contract dollars reviewed." - William Harryman

"Think of "Avatar" as "The Jazz Singer" of 3-D filmmaking. Think of it as the most expensive and accomplished Saturday matinee movie ever made. Think of it as the ultimate James Cameron production. Whatever way you choose to look at it, "Avatar's" shock and awe demand to be seen. You've never experienced anything like it, and neither has anyone else. Say what you like about writer-director Cameron -- and take it from me, people have -- he has always been a visionary in terms of film technology, as his pioneering computer-generated effects in "The Abyss" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" testify. He is not a director you want to underestimate, and with "Avatar's" story of futurist adventures on a moon called Pandora, he restores a sense of wonder to the moviegoing experience that has been missing for far too long." - RAPatton from Bookmarklet

""Avatar" is definitely not into breaking new narrative ground, but its ability to balance a familiar story with groundbreaking visuals is potent enough that even at an overly long 2 hours and 40 minutes this is a film people will be seeing more than once. Perhaps most unexpected of all, "Avatar" is surprisingly enlivened by all the seeming contradictions it brazenly puts together. At... more... - RAPatton

"With “Avatar” James Cameron has turned one man’s dream of the movies into a trippy joy ride about the end of life — our moviegoing life included — as we know it. Several decades in the dreaming and four years in the actual making, the movie is a song to the natural world that was largely produced with software, an Emersonian exploration of the invisible world of the spirit filled with Cameronian rock ’em, sock ’em pulpy action. Created to conquer hearts, minds, history books and box-office records, the movie — one of the most expensive in history, the jungle drums thump — is glorious and goofy and blissfully deranged." - RAPatton from Bookmarklet

"Mr. Cameron has said that he started thinking about the alien universe that became Pandora and its galactic environs in “Avatar” back in the 1970s. He wrote a treatment in 1996, but the technologies he needed to turn his ideas into images didn’t exist until recently. New digital technologies gave him the necessary tools, including performance capture, which translates an actor’s... more... - RAPatton

"If the story of a paradise found and potentially lost feels resonant, it’s because “Avatar” is as much about our Earth as the universe that Mr. Cameron has invented. But the movie’s truer meaning is in the audacity of its filmmaking. Few films return us to the lost world of our first cinematic experiences, to that magical moment when movies really were bigger than life (instead of... more... - RAPatton

"Disney has just debut a second full-length trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight that will also be attached to most prints of Avatar this weekend (in 3D as well). Everyone went crazy over the first trailer, but you ain't seen nothing yet, as this one blows that old trailer right out of the water! Alice on Wonderland stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Michael Sheen, and Alan Rickman." - Derrick from Bookmarklet

I still say the Mad Hatter looks more like Elijah Wood than it does Johnny Depp. - Derrick

"To a modern eye, the pictures look elaborate, funny, somewhat dated and a little bit naughty. But around 160 years ago, someone in authority was so disgusted by them that the entire album of 40 drawings – including these four examples – was seized and consigned to a vault in the Home Office. There it stayed, forgotten, long after ideas on what was fit for the public to see had liberalised. Then two years ago the Home Office was broken up and many of its functions transferred to the newly created Ministry of Justice. That involved moving personnel, equipment and files to new MoJ headquarters. As a mountain of old files came in from the department that dealt with pornography, David Pearson, an MoJ civil servant, came upon an unusual find which, on examination, turned out to be drawings by James Gillray, one of the greatest political caricaturists in history." - RAPatton

Yes, the last was an engraving of caricaturist James Gillray by Jos Brown - RAPatton from iPhone

"A collage (From the French: coller, to glue) is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. A collage may include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or hand-made papers, portions of other artwork, photographs, a piece of moss or even a dead mole and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty. The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue".[1] This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art." - © D/\\/IIID ℠ ® from Bookmarklet

""The creation of a 'Gitmo North' in Illinois is hardly a meaningful step forward. Shutting down Guantánamo will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture if we continue its lawless policies onshore. "Alarmingly, all indications are that the administration plans to continue its predecessor's policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial for some detainees, with only a change of location. Such a policy is completely at odds with our democratic commitment to due process and human rights whether it's occurring in Cuba or in Illinois. In fact, while the Obama administration inherited the Guantánamo debacle, this current move is its own affirmative adoption of those policies. It is unimaginable that the Obama administration is using the same justification as the Bush administration used to undercut centuries of legal jurisprudence and the principle of innocent until proven guilty and the right to confront one's accusers." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Another reason we're all fucked: the hard right in the houses might oppose Obama reflexively even on things they would otherwise support, like this, but the hard right in SCOTUS isn't so easily gulled and they almost definitely will go with this. - Andrew C

"At a press conference, Ghibli produce Toshio Suzuki said what the story was about.  ''This is a story of a girl who borrows many things from the human's world for her life. I think the film will give viewers suggestions about how to survive this tough time,'' Suzuki said. The movie is set to be released summer 2010." - Shevonne from Bookmarklet

"This expansive graph by Online Education tells you all you need to know about bottled water, as you scroll from top to bottom. Now excuse me while I try to hide my bottle of water. Won't happen again, promise." - ~C4Chaos from Bookmarklet

Congrats!!!! That is fantastic. Happy day! - Mary Carmen

Some people are A, but they're all B; that wasn't exactly what I meant, but it seems to be logically sound! - Lo

"Howard Zinn has long been known as the historian of the American everyman and woman. His groundbreaking work, THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, turned history on its head — concentrating on the power of the people to effect change, not just the deeds of great men and those in political power." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Happy with intermittent panic storms :) - Lo

I remember five good years in Tallahassee - at FSU. Granted it was in the early 60's. I always thought it was the best area in FL having lived for a year in Miami, and visited my folks for varying periods in Sarasota and Port Charlotte. - Lynne

"A British court issued an arrest warrant for Israel's former foreign minister over war crimes allegedly committed in Gaza this year – only to withdraw it when it was discovered that she was not in the UK, it emerged today. Tzipi Livni, a member of the war cabinet during Operation Cast Lead, had been due to address a meeting in London on Sunday but cancelled her attendance in advance. The Guardian has established that Westminster magistrates' court issued the warrant at the request of lawyers acting for some of the Palestinian victims of the fighting but it was later dropped." A good thing that Israel feels the force of international law -there may come a time when it feels it can't act unilaterally to commit what the rest of the world believes are war crimes. - winckel from Bookmarklet