Controlling Our Food On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television - a documentary that Americans won't ever see. The gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years. The World According to Monsanto is an in-depth Documentary that looks at the domination of the agricultural industry from one of the world's most insidious and powerful companies.
This is one of the most powerful, must see films for anyone interested in the behind the scenes world of the food industry, and how just one world dominating corporation holds the keys and patents to much of the worlds food supply. Monsanto, which started out as one of the planets largest chemical companies is also responsible for such chemical compounds as Agent Orange, Bovine Growth Hormone, PCBs and genetically-engineered crops.
Last night (Tuesday), I went to an advanced screening of a new movie opening in theatres on Friday called, Leap Year.
Leap Year stars: Amy Adams as Anna, Adam Scott as Jeremy, John Lithgow as Jack (Amy's father) and Matthew Goode as Declan.
In this film, Anna and Jeremy live in Boston and have been dating for 4 years. Anna wants to get married and has been waiting for Jeremy to propose to her for a while. She works in real estate and he is a doctor. Her friend gives her news that she saw Jeremy leaving a jewelry store earlier and that they believe that he will propose to her later at dinner. At the dinner, he hands her a box which she fully believes will be an engagement ring, but is disappointed to find some diamond earrings instead. Jeremy gets called away to Dublin, Ireland for business while at the restaurant with Anna. Later that night, she meets her father in a local bar. He tells her of an old Irish tradition of women proposing to their boyfriends in Ireland on February 29 of a leap year. At first she resists, the idea, but then relents and decides to go to Dublin to surprise him. During the flight, the plane is diverted to Wales, England instead because of nasty weather. At the airport Anna finds out that all flights to Dublin have been canceled because of the storm. She decides to find her way there regardless. On her way, she ends up in Ireland and pays Declan to drive her to Dublin so she can surprise Jeremy. They have a series of misadventures along the way there. Will she ever make it to Dublin in time?
The theatre was packed for this screening, so was glad that we got there in time to see the movie. We had tried to see the advanced screening of another movie opening on Friday, the night before; but we got to the theatre too late. There were some funny parts to this movie, especially all the stuff that happens to Anna as she tries to get to Dublin. This might be a good movie for a guy to take his date to. Something that she would enjoy. He might enjoy it also.
A while ago I did a post that mentioned a lady named Heather Veitch. She was an ex-stripper & soft-core porn star who started a Christian ministry called JC's Girls. Last night I remembered Heather's story and wanted to see what had been going on in her life recently. Heather's website now leads to her Myspace page which contains a trailer for a documentary movie called, The Pussycat Preacher.
I watched the film and was amazed at how much persecution she has endured, yet soldiers on. She's even received death threats, even though she's just trying to help others. You can watch her interview at the Nashville Film Festival 2008 on the above link as well. Heather has received help in her ministry from her pastor, an ex surfer turned pastor, and people in the sex industry. I personally applaud her for doing what she believes is her mission in life. She used to do drugs and all sorts of other things, as she mentions in the film. She was on a downward spiral and was able to get out of it with help from her pastor, Matt Brown. She spent 6 years in the sex industry and wanted to help other girls who were suffering in that industry. You see Heather start her ministry and the resulting controversy that erupts afterwards, especially after being interviewed on multiple media shows.
Another lady that used to be a stripper and prostitute for 11 years, Annie Lobert, is also in the film. Annie has a ministry called Hookers for Jesus, where she helps girls that are trapped in human sex trafficking, sexual violence and the sex industry. Her background is interesting and also sad like Heather's is. You can hear more about Annie's story in an September 9 interview with Joyce Meyer that was posted on YouTube. I applaud Annie for what she's doing and am glad that there are people like her in this world.
You can watch The Pussycat Preacher on YouTube, where it is broken into 17 chapters. It is an interesting documentary that can make you think. Without further ado, here is Chapter 1.
Yesterday, I went to the movies twice in one day. The first movie that I saw Saturday afternoon was The Proposal. I will do a post on the second movie I saw on Saturday later.
The Proposal stars Sandra Bullock as Margaret Tate, Ryan Renolds as Andrew Paxton, Mary Steenburgen as Grace Paxton (Andrew's mom), Craig T. Nelson as Joe Paxton (Andrew's dad), Betty White as Grandma Annie, Oscar Nuñez as Ramone, and Denis O'Hare as Mr. Gilbertson of the INS.
In this movie, Margaret is an executive editor-in-chief who is feared and hated by all that work under her. This includes her secretary, Andrew, who has been working for her for 3 years. He also dreams of becoming an editor. When Margaret enters the office, Andrew warns everybody by instant message that, "The witch is on her broom!" He planned on going to visit his family for his grandmother's 90th birthday, but Margaret tells him that he has to work instead. She gets called upstairs by her bosses for an urgent meeting. She tells Andrew to come get her soon. Upstairs, she learns that she is about to be deported back to her native Canada because her visa application has been denied. She thinks she will work from Toronto, but is told that she can't work for an American company if she is deported. Andrew walks in and a quick-thinking Margaret tells her bosses that she is engaged to Andrew. Later, she warns him that if he doesn't marry her, then she will be deported and he will lose his job. So he reluctantly agrees to it and they head to the Immigration office. There, Mr. Gilbertson warns them that if they are commiting fraud, then she will be deported and Andrew can face 5 years in prison. So they head to Sitka, Alaska to surprise his family with the announcement.
In Alaska we meet Andrew's family. Especially funny are Grandma Annie, Ramone and the family dog. The dog hates Margaret. It had been a while since I had seen a romantic comedy (or any comedy for that matter) in the theatres, so I decided to see this film. There were quite a few funny moments that had me and the audience laughing. The cast did a good job on this film. There were some slow moments and this is probably not the funniest movie of the year, but I would recommend The Proposal.
Last night (Friday) I went to the 2315 (11:15pm) showing of Star Trek at the local IMAX theatre. It has been a while since I last saw a movie at that theatre. A movie buff I know recommended seeing Star Trek at the IMAX, so I took his advice.
Star Trek stars Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock) as Spock Prime, Chris Pine as James Kirk, Zachary Quinto (from TV's Heroes) as Spock, Karl Urban as Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott, and Eric Bana as Nero.
This is the first Trek movie since 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis, a drought of 7 years. The average time between movies had been around 3 years before. This movie heads back to the 23rd century that we know from the original TV series. In this movie though, things get changed around a lot from what many Trekkies are familiar with. In the late 24th century, the Romulans aboard the Narada go back in time to exact revenge on Spock for something that he does in the 24th century. Spock Prime also gets pulled back in time with them to 23rd century. The movie begins with the Narada emerging in a space lighning storm near the USS Kelvin, which the Romulans quickly attack. They order the captain to come aboard their ship. He puts his first officer, George Kirk, in command while he is gone. George and his pregnant wife, Winona are onboard the Kelvin and she is in labor. The Romulans kill the captain and continue their attack on the USS Kelvin. George fights back while he orders everyone to abandon ship. The Kelvin is destroyed, but not before Winona and newborn James survive. This creates an alternate universe since orginally James Kirk grows up with both parents. James grows up into a rebellious youth since only his mother raises him. Meanwhile, as Spock grows up on the planet Vulcan, he is teased because he is the product of a Vulcan father, Sarek, and a human mother, Amanda. This is considered a disability since he's not considered a true Vulcan. Eventually their lives will intersect and the Federation is attacked by Nero.
I've been a Trekkie for a long time and was looking forward to seeing this movie. Usually the odd-numbered Trek films are not as good as the even-numbered ones. Since this is the 11th film in the franchise, I was worried about this happening again. Those fears were put to rest with this movie. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was my favorite Trek film until this one. This movie rocks. The characters are well developed here and the action sequences are good. The new cast portraying the familiar characters are well cast. For instance, Zachary Quinto is excellent as young Spock. Seeing this movie on an IMAX screen really enhances the experience. Especially during the space battle scenes, they really look awesome in IMAX. This is the last weekend that they are showing Star Trek in IMAX here, so I am really happy that I saw it before it was too late. If you get to see it in an IMAX theatre, then take it before it is too late. Even if you don't see it on IMAX, then I highly recommend that you go see this movie on the big screen. It will be well worth your ticket price. Below are some clips from the Star Trek movie:
Last night (Saturday) I went to see the new James Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace at the movie theatre. You can see the trailer here.
The movie stars Daniel Craig as James Bond; Olga Kurylenko as Camille; Judi Dench as M; Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene; Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis; Gemma Arterton as Strawberry Fields; Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter; and Joaquín Cosio as General Medrano.
This movie starts a short time after the end of Casino Royale as Bond tries to find the people responsible for the death of Vesper, the woman he loved. Mr. Bond and M interrogate Mr. White who tells them that his organization (which MI6 has never heard of before) is more extensive than they know. He is lead to Dominic Greene, who is helping the exiled General Medrano retake control of Bolivia. This mission takes 007 all over ther world. Will he make this mission personal or will he keep it professional?
Quantum of Solace clocks in at 106 minutes, so it's a shorter film than Casino Royale. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench do very well in their respective roles. Russian born actress Olga Kurylenko is very good in her role as Camille. This was the first movie that I've seen her in and I was impressed with her performance. I'm sure she will have many more movie roles coming her way in the future. The action in this movie is quite intense in some scenes. The movie moves along at a good pace as Bond travels around the world on his mission. I had gotten used to seeing Q, with his many gadgets in the Bond films. It is taking some getting used to the changes that have been made since the producers decided the series needed a reboot. The series had gotten pretty forumulaic and these new movies are pretty refreshing to see. I did enjoy Quantum of Solace and recommend it to other Bond fans, or anybody who likes action movies in general. I think you will be happy that you went along for the ride with James Bond. Now, here are some clips from the movie:
8 years ago, Alex's wife was MURDERED. Today... She e-mailed him.
Earlier this past weekend, I saw the French movie, Tell No One, at a local theatre.
Tell No One is based on the novel by Harlan Coben. It stars François Cluzet as Docteur Alexandre Arnaud 'Alex' Beck; Marie-Josée Croze as Margot Beck; André Dussollier as Jacques Laurentin; Kristin Scott Thomas as Hélène Perkins; François Berléand as Eric Levkowitch; Nathalie Baye as Maître Elysabeth Feldman; Marina Hands as Anne Beck; and Gilles Lellouche as Bruno.
The movie begins with Dr. Alex Beck & his wife Margot together. They go to a lake that Alex's family owns together one day. They spend a fun,loving day together at the lake, when suddenly Margot is attacked. Alex rushes to her aid, but he is knocked out, then wakes up in the hospital to learn that his wife has been murdered. She is believed by some to have been killed by a serial killer who denies taking her life. Alex is still troubled by his wife's death 8 years later. He goes to her parents' house on the anniversary of her death every year. One day, 2 bodies are found near where Margot's corpse was discovered which causes the police to reopen the case. Alex also receives an email from Margot with a video that supposedly shows her alive & to "tell no one." Alex launches his own investigation into his wife's murder. The police were never really satisfied that Margot had been murdered by a serial killer. When new bodies start piling up, they suspect Alex. When evidence ties him to the murders, the police come after him, but he bolts.
I had never heard of the movie before until I read a review of it in the newspaper. I had never read the novel that this movie is based on either. This film is about 125 minutes long with English subtitles. It is very well acted. The action is good, it has some clever plot twists that really make the movie quite interesting. This film is in limited release, so it may be hard to find in your area. If you do find it playing nearby, I recommend Tell No One to you. You will not be disappointed if you do. Below is the trailer for the movie:
This past weekend was pretty good for me. I bought a new PC on Friday, went to see a documentary film with one of my friends on Saturday, and went to a birthday gathering at a friend's house on Sunday.
Friday afternoon, I headed to a small, local computer shop that I had been to before. Months ago, I had taken my 7-year-old Gateway PC there because the power supply had gone bad on it. I went back and purchased the last new computer with WinXP on it that he had in stock. Since I was a returning cutstomer, he gave me a free upgrade from a 19" to a 20" monitor on the new Dell that I purchased. This computer is much faster than the one that I had been used to. I love this widescreen LCD display on it too. I had a 17" CRT monitor with the older computer, so this is much better. I made sure that the computer had Windows XP on it instead of Vista. Some of the IT guys that I know told me that if you have a PC with less than 2GB of memory on it, then you can forget about Vista running well. Plus there have been lots of problems with Vista. A friend told me today that her dad recently purchased a new PC with Vista on it, and she hated it. She was trying to get him hooked up to the network, but she was having lots of problems with Vista. Even Intel says it will not upgrade its computers to Vista. So, I think that I'll keep Windows XP for quite a while.
On Saturday afternoon, I went with a friend of mine to see the documentary film, Up the Yangtze. Before the movie, we went to eat at a Turkish restaraunt that we had visited before. The food was good and I would like to eat there again. Up the Yangtze is about the human toll that the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydro-electric dam in the world, is having on the people who have to be relocated. It mostly follows a peasant family that live on the banks of the Yangtze River. Their oldest child has graduated middle school, but the family doesn't have the money to send her to high school. She is sent off to work on one of the cruise ships that ferries tourists up and down the river. The movie follows the family and many other people who are forced to move because their land will soon be underwater. About 2 million people are being displaced because of the dam project. This is an interesting film that shows the human toll that the relocatees are having to face.
Sunday evening, I went to a friend's house for her birthday, which is today. It was a nice evening hanging out with some nice friends. I had also bought a new all-in-one printer and speakers for the computer. Came back here, hooked everything up and enjoyed it all. I had a wonderful weekend, relaxing weekend, even though I had worked Saturday morning.
(I tried to do this post earlier, but Opera browser crashed on me. I lost my post so now I am doing it all over again. )
Earlier this weekend, I went to a local theatre to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. It stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman; Heath Ledger as The Joker; Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent; Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth; Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes; Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon; and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
The Dark Knight, begins about a year after the events of Batman Begins. Batman has teamed up with Lt. Jim Gordon & the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent. Together, they have put a huge dent in the activites of Gotham City's mobsters and other criminals. The mobsters are running scared since they no longer can operate with the freedom that they once enjoyed. They hold a secret meeting to figure out what to do. The Joker, who has been robbing banks that the mobsters have been using to launder money, crashes the meeting. The mobsters are not happy to see him, but he convinces them hire him to kill Batman. The Joker then starts wreaking havoc throughout the city and killing cops in order to get to Batman.
The acting is well done in this movie. Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman all are very good in their roles. In 2005's Batman Begins, Katie Holmes played Rachel Dawes, but now Maggie Gyllenhaal plays that character in this movie. I think Maggie Gyllenhaal did better in this film than Katie Holmes did in the last one. Maggie Gyllenhaal was a better fit for this character than Katie Holmes. There has been a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding Heath Ledger for his performance as the psychopathic Joker in The Dark Knight. He plays this character closer to his comic book roots than it has been played before in a motion picture. I must say that it seems like this part was made for him. He did excellent in this part that may earn him a posthumous Oscar.
The Dark Knight has lots of action, along with some romantic tension in it. If you are looking for a good summer action movie, then this film is for you. I recommend The Dark Knight to you if you want to see a fun movie this summer. Below is a clip of the first 6 minutes of this film:
On Wednesday evening, I went with a friend of mine to an IMAX theatre to see the concert film, U2 3D. That site has trailers and other videos about the film for you to watch.
The movie is about 85 minutes long featuring U2 in concert. I haven't seen a 3D movie in many years. I remember when the 3D glasses looked like this. The ones we wore the other night looked like a pair of sunglasses. It has also been years since I've been to an IMAX theatre. Combining both was an awesome experience. The movie was filmed using digital 3D technology to make you feel like you are live at a concert. It looks like you are a member of the crowd in sight & sound. When drinks are thrown in the air, it looks like they are about to land on you. The band members seem to be in your face, like you could reach out and shake their hands. The music is great and you can see how well the band interacts with the audience.
I enjoyed the music as much as the visuals in this film. If you have friends that are huge U2 fans, get them to see this film, if they haven't already done so. Even if you are not a big fan of U2, you will still be delighted by this experience.