This is a Kiwi movie that I received for Christmas from a very dear friend. He’s Kiwi too so that might explain his choice…I received a few dvds from him, all of them with the word “warrior”in the main title. He is also a trader- and my mentor- and the other dvds were about trading. I suspect that he’s trying to tell me something…
Anyway, “Once were warriors” is an 18 rated movie. It depicts the life of a family that suffers from internal violence and what the English people like to call abuse. It is not a funny movie in any way but it is definitely worth seeing. What I found most interesting is the selfishness of parents who put their children in a world of violence and refuse to take any responsability for it, even when they are the abusers. I know, it is a common pattern, and if it were any different, then …you wouldn’t have a story. But at the end of the day, isn’t it the parents responsability to give their children the best possible world?. Oups, sorry, I’m becoming idealistic.
I’ve heard that there is a part 2. I expect my friend to give it to me for my birthday although I believe there is no ” warrior” in the main title.
“The new spend less revolution” by Rebecca Ash
This book is for people who don’t know where to start when they have to spend less. It gives you an idea of the reasons why you overspend, how you can change this ( although I thought this was the weakest part of the book) and finally 365 tips you can follow to reduce your expenses. The book is modest but the tips are interesting. It makes sense but if you buy it, it probably is because you don’t have any when it comes to money. I have read quite a few of these books but I’d say this one is simple to understand and very basic, so if you want to take some good New Year’s resolution in the department of your finances ( like me….), it is a good start- i.e. not discouraging. I don’t know if Ms Ash spends less but I hope that with this book she will earn more.
book of the day:” The full fact book of cold reading” by Ian Rowland
I have a little bit of curiosity in NLP and hypnosis. My husband is keen on magic too, which leads us to Ian Rowland. This man has written a book that people who believe in tarot, mediums and astrology should definitely read. His book is a quite exhaustive review of all the tricks that are being used to convince clients that their past, present and future can be told or predicted. Derren Brown has quite famously demonstrated how this work shortly in one of his broadcast. He wrote down a paper that he gave to several people and asked them to read it and tell the camera how accurate he was about their personnality. Derren Brown had actually never seen these people before so it was interesting to see what they would say. I more or less remember that the general opinion was that the reading was 99% accurate. Once this done, the people had to exchange the papers that they had been attributed. Now go and buy his dvds and see by yourself what happened next. Derren Brown might have a”deranged sense of humor” ( said by Ian Rowland) but he is an extraordinary and very convincing illusionist. Yes, I know how his tricks work. But still, I love to see him in action.
Anyway, back to the book. Ian is very precise in his descriptions of the different ways you can be compelled to believe that what the medium/astologer/con person is telling you is the absolute truth. He is not forgiving as he also explains how our minds work and have a natural tendency to compensate for any lack of acuteness in the predictions. But once you’ve read his book, I can bet that you stop throwing money out of the window for thsi sort of frivolous pastimes and start enjoying the fredom you finally gain by discovering that your future…is all up to you. How great can it be?
Thank you Mr Rowland. I wish you write another one. I love your tongue in cheek sense of humor.
Happy Feet
So while we were in Lille we went to see ” Happy Feet” with all the children including Eugenia for who it was a first.
A friend of mine described the movie as cute with cute characters and I expected puking was compulsory. But also he was right and the whole thing was really Hollywood style ( you have a cute penguin born different from his people who at the end saves the day and get them to get into his shoes while on the way winning the heart of the best chicas of the lot) it turned out that something new was pointing out. The whole plot was political. It had a green message, which at the moment is hype, cool, in, you name it. We were showing our kids the results of the extremes we go to in order to put fish on our plates. In the process we deprive the wildlife that was there before us and leave them to their fate when they obviously don’t have a voice that we can hear or understand. So now our children know how selfish and greedy we are and the fact that we don’t take our responsabilities of protecting the weakest very seriously- although in this movie they end up with some hope and a message that is barely disguised: if you want something to happen, go and do it yourself.
Now, before I turn into Brigitte Bardot, was the message really about animals only? Or wasn’t it also about the cute pets most of us have at home, that we feed and cuddle but not always listen to, called the children? What about them? Aren’t we doing to them exactly what we are doing to some other kinds?. Now the movie’s ending is optimistic – even though at no point do we truly see the effects of the hero’s efforts. Will our end be that optimistic too?
I want more political movies for kids. The messages are all subliminals.
Casino Royale…yeah yeah yeah
For the ones who leave far away on another remote planet, the new James Bond is all out. It is a remake actually of the very first James Bond. Bond is Blond now- I guess that he needs it. I have heard nothing but praise about the movie; more action, less gadgets, a love story, the guy is human. Yeah right. The guy now is an assassin and what made the charm of James Bond, his elegant sense of humor that nobody could completely imitate and was until then the privilege of the aristocrats is forever lost. James Bond is not a dream anymore. I prefer Mission impossible.
oh, and the girl….Nice eyes, zero in acting. I warned you: I am not always nice.
Borat…and why everybody should see it
Borat is all the rage everywhere. And when I say all the rage…Good Lord. So Sacha Baron Cohen is the hero of the day. The question is: was he fully conscious of what he was doing? Did he foresee the impact his movie would have on the world? Or is he simply completely schizophrenic?
I guess that if you’d ask the man he would take his Borat’s voice to answer you. The good news is that he’s making fun of everybody. No one gets spared. It’s run for your life- and what makes his success is that by the time people realize they’ve fallen into his trap, it is too late. But at the end of the day isn’t it comforting to see that we all make a fool of ourselves when given the occasion?
Now of course it is not politically correct. And I don’t mind at all. The fact that I strangled myself laughing at each and every one of his scenes didn’t change anything to my actual beliefs and values. But I know when to recognize a wake up call and this is certainly one. It is impossible not to be shocked by Borat. That’s a good thing – but look how far he had to go to this effect.
An interesting fact that I have seen pointed out anywhere is about a peculiar habit that people have. In a scene Borat tries to greet unknown passers-by and underground passengers the Kazakh’s way. He gets rejected quite violently. But when the unknown ( and unsuspecting) people have been told of his visit, they let him go all the way. Curious. I am sure that some crooks and rapists got the fact registered in the back of their mind – and we remain the unsuspecting victims.
Go and see Borat. Make Sacha Baron Cohen rich. The guy will deserve body guards soon.
Sacha Jenkyn 