The Impossible is about a family doing all the right things. Mother doesn't allow the children to drink Coke Cola. The parents discuss their financial future. The boys for the most part get along. The family even participates in the Yi Peng lantern festival in Thailand, where they are vacationing in Christmas, 2004. Life couldn't be more perfect. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are a couple with...
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Some Recommendations of Some (Less Seen) Christmas Movies
The Shop Around the Corner
This is probably the best Christmas movie you've never seen (and by "you," I mean people younger than forty). Modern audiences would recognize the similarities between this movie and its remake, "You've Got Mail" (notice the name of Meg Ryan's shop in the latter), but this...
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Some Advice for New English Teachers
Every so often, a friend from home or a former colleague will ask me about teaching English overseas. While I don't claim to be an expert and still consider myself a novice teacher, here is, I think, some helpful advice for those considering teaching English at home or abroad:
1. At times you have...
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The Best Bond Movies
Happy 50th, James Bond! Here's a quick look at some of the best (and not so good) James Bond movies. (Admittedly, this is not necessarily a thorough review of each and every Bond movie, but more of light reflections.)
24. Die Another Day
The bad guy is a North Korean with plastic surgery to...
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Obama 2012
With the first debate on its way in several hours, it's clearly election time. While the race is still close, this is a no-brainer: President Barack Obama should be re-elected.
There are many reasons to vote for a second term for President Obama, economic and non-economic alike. Regarding economic...
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises
It occurred to me recently that Christopher Nolan's Batman films are mostly about fear. They explore the fears not only of everyday citizens but also of a man most of us likely thought was never scared: the Dark Knight. Batman probably follows the advice to never let anyone see him bleed, but we see his premonition that perhaps one day he won't be able to prevent terrible things from happening. There...
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Prometheus
"Why should the thirst for knowledge be aroused only to be disappointed and punished...like a second Prometheus, I will endure this and worse..."
-Edwin Abbott Abbott
Ridley Scott's "Alien" is famously about a group of "truckers in space" who, out of contractual obligations, must investigate an unidentified object deep in space, where no one can hear you scream. Their ship becomes a haunted house,...
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Jerk
Steve Martin is one of the few comics clever enough to come up with a story about an awkward white guy born a poor black child. His character, Navin, can't quite clap to the rhythm of the gospel music his family loves so much and he usually prefers Twinkies and tuna sandwiches to his mother's...
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
"Ferngully: The Last Rainforest" was released in an era of "Captain Planet" and "The Reading Rainbow," among other shows and films serving the dual purpose of entertaining and educating the generation soon-to-be-called the Millennials. "Ferngully" is, as the title suggests, an environmentally-themed...
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Grey
It's my understanding that the perception of the wolf has evolved from two different areas. One (seen in Rome and Japan) viewed the wolf as god-like; in the other (European nations), the wolf is associated with malevolence. Unfortunately, "The Grey" takes the latter view of wolves. At a time when wolves...
Friday, March 30, 2012
The NeverEnding Story
Alice: "I see nothing."
Cheshire Cat: "My. You have good eyes."
In Wolfgang Peterson's "The NeverEnding Story," we have a motherless son whose father doesn't understand him; he's bullied into a trash can and daydreams of unicorns in spite of being afraid of horses. Clearly unable to fit in, he receives a nasty tirade from an angry bookstore owner about "small rectangular things" called books...
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