ALLOWED?

Am I allowed, to fall in love?
To unshackle limbo-trapped spirit,
caught in convulsing confusion,
wrapped in responsibility and regret,
no time for individualism or peace,
or a hand held tight on a beach.

GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Road Warrior meets the Odyssey, with a hero a bit like wise-cracking, irreverent Harry of the Dredsen Files. Some may complain about sexism and violence, and we are not talking great literature here, but if you enjoy postapocalyptic fiction, then I suspect this book may be for you. There are glaring leaps in the storyline, and not a bit of implausibility, but overall it is a page-turning thrill that will satisfy anyone who likes shows such as The Walking Dead. Mortimer Tate ran away from divorce and fortuitously squirreled away supplies in a cave home that protected and isolated him during the destruction of the known world, only to emerge to see what calamity had wrought; a stash of booze and other items allows him entree into a privileged strata in the new reality. Along with two faithful companions (a gunslinging cowboy and tough young lady), he goes on a quest to find his ex-wife. The world is slowly knitting itself together against vicious, brutal overlords and cannibalistic tribes; the emerging society loosely forming around a string of go-go bars (somewhat like western brothels) that provide a sense of the familiar as well as an economic engine that encourages economic industriousness and community building. There are plenty of colorful characters, daring escapes, rough scenes, humorous banter, and even a little sex. One can only wonder why there hasn’t been a graphic novel and screen adaptations, although the book isn’t that old.

BALAT

The struggle between traditional ways in the historical rice terraces of the Philippines and modernization, as represented by the desire for a new pair of shoes, as well as the generational conflict of a youth trying to find his way in the world, is the focus of the nice little movie Balat. A young man—loving brother, dutiful son, and generous friend—from a poor rice-farming family covets some footwear while dreaming of opportunities of the city, which has been robbing the village of its young and talented. Industrious and clever, every time he earns a little extra cash doing odd jobs ranging from porter to tourist guide, he ends up forking over his earnings for much needed rice or other domestic needs, especially while the father is off helping his grandfather repair his terraces. He discovers however that boots do not always solve all problems and that family and old ways are sometimes better. The film is somewhat slow (lots of walking scenes) and obvious, but the scenery is beautiful and the glimpses into local culture are interesting. The movie touches on the love of the land, traditional methods and religion, family relationships.

SORCERY AFOOT

Although he apparently was not involved in the making of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, it seems to me that the writers channeled Jim Butcher (Dresden Files series) as they were constructing their movie. Of course, the timeline is much accelerated to fit the constraints of filmmaking, but in the end I thought this Disney film was an enjoyable romp. I fully expect there will be a second. After a millenium of searching for the Prime Merlenium, the only wizard capable of defeating the evil Morgana (fans of The Magical Treehouse series need to avoid this movie), one of the three original apprentices to Merlin finds a candidate for the role in the guise of a young New York City boy, and after a accidental interlude of ten years, tries to mold and develop him into a sorcerer able to challenge the evil sorceress. Dave, played well by Jay Baruchel, a geeky physics student, has love issues, though. Nicholas Cage is very good as Harry Dr. . .I mean Balthazar. There is a nice homage to the famous Mickey scene in Fantasia. The special effects are constrained and not over the top, which is nice, and the humor is good. It would be really awesome if they could find a way to keep Monica Belucci on the screen longer, should there be a next time. I will let my boys see it; I think Joey (who likes fantasy) will really enjoy it.

BOOTLEG FILM

Masahiro Kobayashi's Bootleg Film (1999) is an interesting, if not completely satisfying, movie about two old friends (one an older yakuza gangster, the other a former policeman) who are travelling by car to attend the funeral of a woman (the gents' lover and wife, respectively). In many ways a cheap fascimile of Tarantino films (which the director repeatedly makes homage to, as well as several other famous American movies), the almost slapstick, bumbling pair argue almost incessantly about the woman and her true affections. Complicating matters further is the prescence of the yakuza's brother (murdered by his older sibling) in the trunk, and the discovery of this fact by a hapless couple that arrive at a rest stop at the same time as the protagonists. The film is in black & white, and most of the scenes sparse and cold (possibly reflecting the budget), but it works well visually. Unfortunately, the humor was often lost on me, proabably due to translation, though often the acting was too, well, excitable (?). Some portions were simply inexplicable (though they may have had some symbolism to Japanese viewers). Overall it was a decent film, but not first rate.

LIFECHANCE 2011

As Radenko Pavlovich and the Columbia Classical Ballet have done for fifteen years, on Saturday night they reprised community favorite LifeChance (International Gala of the Stars), combining the presentation of a variety of styles which benefit both local dance followers and charity, in this case Big Brothers Big Sisters. The interesting dichotomy of classic performances and modern renditions were much appreciated by the large crowd, which was bigger than I have remembered. Almost all of the performers have danced here before. I wish there had been more dances, but we are so lucky to have this wonderful event every year. The crowd also reflected the fact that LifeChance (as are most CCB shows) is accessible to a wide range of patrons, from the well-heeled to families and students.

Most attendees, it seems, come especially to see hometown favorite Brooklyn Mack, presently of the Washington (D.C.) Ballet, who again did not disappoint with his athleticism, grace, and energy. The capitol crowd is lucky to have him up there; I could easily watch him dance all night. His selection from Lacrymosa was beautiful and inspiring, and elicited the usual enthusiastic response from the audience. Although my memory may be off, I remember seeing him dance the selection from Don Quixote before, but it was still great, especially his soaring, powerful leaps behind his beautiful partner, Maki Onuki, who is lovely and enjoyable to watch as well (sue me, cause I am a sucker for the Japanese ballerinas). Yet, despite my admiration and love of his work, I think Brooklyn seemed just a bit off, maybe a little tired, in some of his performace.

The show, however, belonged this year to the energetic dancing of Chanel DaSilva and Dylan G-Bowley, who especially wowed the crowd with Surrender. Last year I thought DaSilva slightly outshone her partner, but this time they were equally matched and highly entertaining. I remember seeing Wild Sweet Love last year, but it was likewise a crowd favorite. Their style is brisk, funny, and athletic; it reminds me of watching swing dancers from Harlem. Also returning to Columbia were Lia Cirio and James Whiteside, of the Boston Ballet, who combined traditional dance in La Bayadere with a little lighted flash in Indestructible (which my boys called Tron). I really enjoyed the elegant Lauren Ciobanu (with Joseph Walsh) in the selection from Madame Butterfly. Jeffrey Cirio (brother to Lia) was very good in Fleeting. Great Galloping Gottschalk by USC dancers Ashley Johannsen, McCree O’Kelley, and Ryan Thomas, was interesting, but in the choreography the guys didn’t seem to have much to do.

The CCB corps presented two nice dances, Essence and You Don’t Own Me. I thought both were well done, though not as spectacular as they could have been. Perhaps the outfits in the first dance could have been a little more exciting, but I loved the red on black of the second. Lauren Frere and Ivan Popov were featured in Essence, as well as in a piece of their own, Manon, which was theatrical. I thought the company did a good job, especially despite being robbed of practice time due to bad weather. Thanks to Myra for remembering me and the boys. My favorite memory of the night was watching Joey react to the dancers, occasionally turning to me and critiquing, “that was really nice” or “she didn’t seem to be trying too hard on that one.”

Black Swan SNL style

Jim Carrey and SNL crew do Black Swan: wonderfully
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live//video/Black-Swan/1268821