Makinadaki Hayalet

Sinirbilim (NeuroScience), Sosyoloji, Felsefe dalları gün geçtikçe birbirine yaklaşıyor. Özgür iradenin olup olmadığı artık sinirbilimin konusu.Ahlak , değer yargıları sosyolojiden ve felsefeden çıkıp biyolojinin konusu oluyor.
Beyin ile zihin farklı algılanıyor, beyin fiziksel madde, zihnin ise sanki daha anlaşılmaz ruhani bir varlık havası var hep (bende hala var). Sanki ruhumuz olmasa et, kan kemikten yapilmis bir makinadan bir farkımız kalmayacak, herşey mekanik ile açıklanırsa varligimizi özel hissetmemiz sonlanacak ("makinada hayalet" var olmadan insan olamıyoruz sanki). Henüz var olmayan ama yapılabilme olasılığı var olan iyi bir tasarıma sahip bir robottan farkımız kalmayacak.
Ozgur irademin olmadigini dusunmek bende panik yaratiyor, ben ben degilim o zaman, herkes ben olabilirdi. Dunyaya geldigim andan itibaren benim  yasadiklarimi yasamis, benimle ayni kosullardan gecmis herkes benim secimleri yapardi. Korkuyorum, ama sanki dusunmuyorum, ozgur iradeye inanmak bir yandan da beni baskalarinin tutsagi yapmiyor mu?
Gelecegimizi sozde planlayabilen  varliklariz, durtulerimizi kontrol alip, konsekanslarini dusunup,  durtulerimizin aksine hareket edebiliyoruz, ornegin sinirlendigin birine tokadi patlatmiyorsun, ya da cok begendin diye yoldan gecen birini cekip opmuyorsun.
Bazilarinda ise, ornegin Einsten (1), ozgur iradenin olmamasi rahatlik hissi verebiliyor, cunku aslinda ne kendi yaptiklarimizi ne de cevremizdekilerin yaptiklarini yargilamak ve cok ciddiye almak gerekmiyor o zaman. O zaman sanki herkes ozgur iradenin olmadigina inandiginda her turlu suc suc olmaktan cikmaz mi? Ozgur iradeye inanarak, inanmayi secerek, toplum olarak bir arada yasamayi beceriyoruz sanirim, toplumun icinde yasayabilmek icin ahlaki, yasal, sozel, yazili bilinen kurallar koyuyorsun ve uymaya calisiyorsun. Bu kurallara uymak icin de ozgur iraden var. Durtulerini, arzularini toplumun kurallari icinde tutmak icin ozgur iradeni kullanmayi secmezsen, secimin kimi nasil ve ne olcude etkiledigine bagli olarak toplum tarafindan cezalandiriliyorsun. (cezan cevrendekilerinin seni gorunce kafasini cevirmesinden, hayatinin sonlanmasina kadar degisebiliyor)
Kafama takilan, sonunda ozgur irademizin olmadigi kanitlanirsa yuzyillardir bu oynadigimiz toplumsal oyunun  kurallari, ki bu kurallarin temel tasi ozgur iradeye inanca dayali,  devam edecek mi?


(1)Einstein, among others, found that a comforting idea. “This knowledge of the non-freedom of the will protects me from losing my good humor and taking much too seriously myself and my fellow humans as acting and judging individuals,” he said. The New York Times
Makine mi Makina mi, makinayi tercih ediyorum.

Yeni Adres

Artik burada olacagim.


http://asdaysgoby.me/wordpress/

Henuz aktarmalari tamamlamadim.
Tamamlayinca umarim yonlendirmeyi de becerecegim.

Son Ayin Film Elestirileri

Bu ay cok sansliydim ve  risk aldigim filmler cok iyi cikti.

Onlardan basliyorum:

Tabloid:  9 (W), 7 (V)
Errol Morris'in son belgeseli (Fog of War'in yonetmeni). Bence film muhtesem. Filmi bastan sona seyrederken,  ne senaristlerin hayal gucune, ne direktorlerin sahneleri ve kisileri yonetmelerine, ne muzige, ne isiga hic gerek olmadigini dusundum. Joyce McKinney tek basina bir film ekibine bedel ve sonuc bir sanat eseri olmasi bile, cok basarili bir film. Kendisi zir deli ama seytan tuylu bir zirdeli. Muzmin bir Mormon'u yataga baglayip 3 gun boyunca (sozde) tecavuz edebilecek kadar sapik asik; sevgili kopegi olunce, Kore'de klonlatacak kadar deli; polis tarafindan aranirken 11 bavulla sagir dilsiz taklidi yapip Ingiltere'den Kanada'ya kacabilecek kadar deli cesur.

Being Elmo, a Puppetteers Journey 6 (W), 7 (V)
Elmo'nun en son halinin yaratici (herkese sarilan ve seni seviyorum diyen Elmo'nun) Kevin Clash'in hayat hikayesi. PBS'teki Sesame Street  kuklalarina, Muppet Show'un yaraticilarindan Jim Henson ve Frank Oz'a hayran olan, Baltimore'daki benzer binlerce cocuktan biri: Kevin, ailesinin hayallerini cocuksu bulmayarak canli tutmasi ve daha sonra desteklemesi ile, cocukluk kahramanlari ile beraber program yapiyor ve yasayan en iyi kuklacilardan biri oluyor.

Carnage 8 (W), 7 (V)
Polanski'nin son filmi.  Yasmina Reza'nin benzer isimli oyununun adaptasyonu. Symbiosis yazimin uzerine cok iyi geldi. Cocuklari kavga ettigi icin bir araya gelen iki ciftin, medeni cift hallerinden siyrilip, cinsel kimlikleri icinde bir bireye donustuklerini, kisa bir sure cinsdaslari ile yeni bir cift olusturduklarini, daha sonra yine bireye donustuklerini  ve ortaya cikan bireylere kendileri dahil hic birinin dayanamadigini goruyoruz. Cok begendim.

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams  5 (W), 6 (V)

Evet sinemada uc boyutlu seyretmedim, ama kucagimda laptopta da seyretmedim: evdeki her turlu teknolojiyi kullandim ve olabilecek en iyi sartlarda seyrettim. Sonuc, Herzog'a hayranligima ragmen, husran. 35 000 yil onceki magara resimlerini gormek, ve onlar hakkinda yapilan arastirmalari dinlemek ilk basta heyacan verse de, surekli ayni seylerin tekrarlanmasi sadece sikiyor. Son 10 dakikalik bolum; bolgedeki nukleer tesislerden dolayi bolgenin ikliminin degismesi ve tropik bir ortam olusup yeni canli turlerin bu ortama tanistirilmasi, insanlarin su andaki yetkinlikleri acisindan, ilk 80 dakikanin cogundan daha ilgimi cekti.

Seraphine  7 (W), 6 (V)

Biografik kurgu filmlerden oldum olasi hoslanmam. Seraphine diye bir ressam tanimiyordum, bu film tanitmis oldu (yine uc asiri sahneler vardi tabii ki, ama hic olmazsa tarihten yeni birini tanimis oldum) Ayrica eserlerini de begendim.




Happy Thank You More Please  5 (W), 5 (V)
Benzerlerinden cok cok cok olan, sikici bir Amerikan bagimsiz filmi.
 
Sleeping Beauty  7 (W), 6 (V)
Uyuyan guzel, sanki daha eskiden cekilse daha degerli olacak bir Avustralya filmi. Cekimler muhtesem, oyuncu Emily Browning, sanki bir Renoir tablosundan cana gelmis gibi(oldukca zayiflayarak). Idil'in soyledigi gibi siir dinler gibi seyretmek gerek belki de filmi, fakat benim icin hem fazla uzun, hem de fazla naif geldi film. Vajinan tapinaktir, burada kimse giremez, bayiltilarak cirilciplak adamlarla ayni yataga yatirilan kiza, soylenmesi kabul edilemez bir saflik gibi geldi.

The Bothersome Man  7 (W), 7(V)

Radyo icin yazilmis bir oyundan adaptasyon Norvec filmi. Yazari radyo icin bir korku filmi yazmak istiyorum demis. Filmin basindan sonuna anlatamadigimiz bir rahatsizlik duyuyoruz, cunku anlamiyoruz, filmin karakteri nerede, ne oluyor, neden orada. Orasi Araf mi, cehennem mi, cennet mi? Neden hic cocuk yok, neden herkes sebep yokken mutlu duruyor?  Biz bunlari koltugumuzdan sorgularken orada yasayan karakter de hem yasiyor hem sorguluyor, ikimiz de sonunda tatmin olmasak da cevabi aliyoruz.

Sherlock Holmes
Birinciye gore senaryosu bence daha dandik olsa da, bin kat daha dandik olsaydi da, RDJr oynadigi surece  yine de seyrederdim.

Misson Impossible
Pazar sabahi ilk seans, ayaklar uzatilip keyifle seyredilir.

Bence 2011'in En Seyretmeye Deger Filmleri

1-Le Gamin au Velo (Bisikletli Cocuk)
2-Tomboy
3-Nader and Simin (Bir Ayrilik)
4-Akmareul Boatda (Seytani Gordum)
5-Carnage (Acimasiz Tanri)
6-Incendies (Icimdeki yangin)
7-Tabloid
8-Winter's Bone (Gercegin Parcalari)
9-Midnight in Paris
10-Life in a Day
11-Bridesmaids (Nedimeler)

12- The Secret World of Arrietty
13-Pina

Yavas Pisiriciler

Yemek hazirlamak ta en az yemek yemek kadar sosyal bir olay.  Evde iki kisiyken, gunun en sevdigim aktivitesi oydu. Yemeklerle  film karsisinda yavsamadan, karsilikli o gunun aktivitelerinin uzerinden gecerken soganlari dogramak (lensler koruyor hic gozum yasarmaz), domates kesmek, yeni bir sey denemeye ikna etmek/ikna olmak, rendelemeyi "lutfen sen daha kuvvetlisin" diye karsimdakine vermek,  aman cok yag koyma demek, kucucuk ortamda carpisarak ocaktaki tencerenin icine dogrananlari atmak, kisaca emek harcarken, eglenmek cok keyifli. Yemekleri yerken de yeni icat bir yemegi degerlendirmek te ayri bir keyif.

Bir kisi oldugunda yemek yapmak ayni kivamda olmuyor. Yorgun argin gelince bir de mutfaga girip bir seyler dogramak, tencere cikarmak, eksik malzeme varsa almak icin disari cikmak hic te dort gozle beklenecek bir sey degil. O yuzden ne oluyor, aksam yemekleri genelde pizza, ekmek arasi peynir, kolay ne varsa ona donusuyor.  Nasil olsa yemek sadece hucrelerimize enerji saglamamiz icin bir arac, bu kadar utileter bir aktiviteyi bir zevke donusturme ihtiyacimiz olmamasi gerek. Ama hem bu beslenme karsisinda vucut isyan ederek sekil degistiriyor, hem de yirmibes yil onceki kendinin inanmayacagi sekilde canin ev yemegi istiyor.
Yavas pisiricinin ne oldugunu ogrendigimde, uzun zamandir aradigimin o oldugunu anladim. Sabah cikmadan, henuz gunun bikkinligi icine yerlesme tehdidinde degilken,  icine et, sebze ne varsa atiyorsun, fise takiyorsun ve 12 saat sonra geldiginde, sicacik yemegin hazir oluyor......... Ama sorunum ne, yavas pisirici satan bir yer yok Turkiye'de. Bilen varsa soylesin lutfen

Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne'un Scarlet Letter diye bir kitabi vardir, 1800 lerde yazilmiş, 1600 lerde geçiyor, genç bir kadının kocası uzaktayken, hamile kalıp çocuğunu doğurmasını ve daha sonra o kasabadaki hayatı anlatılıyor. Kasabada göğsüne A harfini işleyip (Zina'nın Z'si gibi) ancak öyle dolaşmasına izin veriliyor. Dinin arkasına sığınan tutucu toplumu eleştiren bir kitap. Lisede okumuştum beni çok etkilemişti. İronik olan da şimdi de 1800 leri eleştiren, hatta 1990'ları eleştiren kitaplar yazılabilir. Toplum ileriye giderken öncekinin kurallarını sürekli yıkıyor, yenilerini yapıyorlar. Ve yıkım hızı o kadar yükseldi ki, artık bir insan hayatı içinde sürekli değişen toplum değerleri oluyor. Bu değerler bu kadar hızlı değişiyorsa sürekli onları yeninden yapılandırmanın anlamı ne?

Symbiosis - Insan Sekli

Symbiosis kelime anlamı olarak beraber yaşamak demek. (biosis- yaşamak; sym/syn beraber). Bioloji dersinde okumustuk, bir çok çeşide ayrılıyor. Mutualism- her iki cinsinde fayda sağladığı birliktelik, Commensalism- bir tanesinin fayda sağladığı diğerinin etkilenmediği, Parasitism-bir tanesi fayda görürken diğerinin zarar gördüğü, Competition-her ikisinin de fayda görmediği ve Neutralism her ikisinin de etkilenmediği, Mimicry-bir cinsin diğerini taklit ederek onun ortamından faydalandığı, Amensalism-bir cinsin etkilenmediği ama diğerinin yok olduğu birliktelik. Doğadaki bu farklı birlikteliklerde gaye doyma, korunma, taşınma, üreme ve korunma olabiliyor.
İnsanın aklına insanın ve çevresindekilerin gelmemesine imkan yok bu tanımlamalar ile.
Şaşırtıcı olmayan bir biçimde anne ve yeni doğmuş bebeğin ilişkisi symbiosis olarak tanımlanmış pskiyatride. Çocuğun gelişim evrelerinden biri, pre-social evresinden hemen sonra geliyor; çocuk hiçlikten çıkar ve egosu gelişmeye başlar ve annesi ile symbiotic bir ilişkiye girer, (bu ilişki kendisinin annesinden ayrı bir birey oldugunu anlayana kadar devam eder) Aynı şekilde yine pskiyatride iki yetişkinin ilişkisini tanımlamakta da kullanılıyor, bir bireyin kendi egosunun bazı kısımlarından vazgeçerek diğer bir bireyin egosunun o bolumleri domine etmesini ve egodaki başka bir alan için ise tam tersinin olmasından bahsediliyor, iki ya da söz konusu birden fazla birey yeni bir varlık oluyorlar bu durumda. Sanırım aşk zaman zaman symbiosis oluyor, genelde aşk da illa ki kendinin bazı kısımlarını unutuyorsun veya vazgeçmeyi kabul ediyorsun ki öteki ile bir olabil diye. (gerçi tam zıttı da olabiliyor aşık olduğunda kendin daha fazla kendin oluyorsun cunku diğerinin gozunde kendin olarak parlamak istiyorsun)
Benim asıl bahsetmek istediğim insanlar ve hayvanlar arasındaki etkileşim, hayvanlarda ise evcil hayvanlardan bahsediyorum, kesip yemek için büyüttüklerimizden değil, okşayıp, sarılmak için büyüttüklerimizden. Burada benim kafamı karıştıran garip çift yönlü etkileşim var, ne bitki ve hayvanlardaki fiziksel etkileşime benziyor bu ilişki ne de iki insan arasındaki duygusal etkileşime. Burada insan olan duygusal eksikliklerini tatmin ediyor, birinin kendisine bağlı olmasını, sevecek biri olmasını, yumuşacık tüylere dokunabilmesini, evde ses olmasını sağlıyor; evcil hayvan ise sıcak bir ev, her daim karın doyukluğu, gereksiz üremekten veya çatışmalardan korunma gibi faydalar sağlıyor. İlişki tek yönlü kesinlikle değil, fakat nedense bu iliskiyi haksiz buluyorum, daha dogrusu fazla duygusal olarak tek yonlu buluyorum ve acikli geliyor

Haftanin Tarihi Karakteri

Shaka Zulu - (1787 - 1828)
Guney Afrika'daki Zulu kralliginin en guclu lideri. Krallik Ingilizler tarafindan 1870"lerde halledilmis (Guney Afrika Cumhuriyetine giris)
Ilgilenenler Shaka'nin ozet hayatini buradan okuyabilir.

Private versus Ubiquitous

After Sartre's death, Beauvoir published a collection of Sartre's letters to her. After her death, her letters to him were published. Hemingway's private letters were published 20, 31 and 50 years after his death. Private letters of literary or artistic people are often published posthumously. What was once private between two people becomes public. Some of the sentences are taken out of context and are turned into ubiquituos quotes that help less eloquent people express themselves. Now, with efficient devices and internet these  writings are as reachable as one's own feelings.
I question 2 things.
1) it is quite human to be nosy (as can be seen with the obsession with reality shows) but is it right/ethical to publish private writings?
2)  I believe the value of the word diminished in the 2000s. do you?

This Month in Movies & Books

Movies:


A little on the light side :


I was quite depressed this month and thought some light movies can help change my mood.


crazy stupid love
6 (W) it's a teedy beeny too long, but who can get tired of watching Ryan Grosling
2 (V)

change-up
4 (W) very boring unfortunately. two friends find themselves in each others shoes literally, when they get really drunk one night and take a piss in a magic fountain, and wish ' i wish i had your life'. The rest of the movie is their realization that the other's life is not so perfect.

2 (V)

i love you man
3 (W) it was soooo boring. a couple decides to get married, the groom realizes he has no man friends, and starts to man-date , until he finds the perfect mate!
2 (V)

run fat boy run
4 (W) Very cliche "you left the right girl, and messed up your life, go win her back again before she is committed to that rich successful handsome slightly annoying man." movie
2 (V)

the switch
3 (W) What a pretentious movie is all i can say.
2 (V)

mean girls
6 (W) I actually enjoyed it. Being from a girls high school myself, i know how mean girls can be. And it was fun to watch justice coming to them .....
2 (V)


International Romantic Comedies:


bread and tulips
7 (W) An Italian  "its not too late to change your life even if you are a middle aged woman, have 2 grown up sons and an annoying husband" movie.
6 (V)

bella martha
7 (W) A German " yes a child and a man i love can change my life and i want my life to change "movie
7 (V)

italian for beginners
7 (W) From the land of Lars Von Trier, a movie that follows dogma principles. In a small danish town it seems everyone is lonely and want to fill the void in their lives. When all these individuals find each other, the equation works.
6 (V)


The Rest:


tell no one
7 (W) A good French suspense movie.
6 (V)

i saw the devil
5 (W) Very difficult to watch, because of the bloody scenes,  but the character development is excellent. It's a cat-mouse detective story, where the cat becomes the mouse when he starts acting too cocky.
7 (V)

antonia's line
8 (W) This was the movie i really enjoyed the watch this month. A Dutch movie, where we get to see a four generations of women of the same family live in the same village.
6 (V)


Books
we need to speak about kevin Lionel Shriver
3 (R)
6 (V)

bossy pants - Tina Fey
5 (R)
2 (V)

the yoga bitch- Suzanne Morrison
6 (R)
2 (V)

the poser - Claire Dederer
6 (R)
2 (V)

11/22/63- Stephen King
6 (R)
4 (V)

1q84 -Haruki Murakami
5 (R)
3 (V)

Here is what i read and watched on the 8 planes i took this week.

This post was going to be a travel journal, but instead it's going to be about what i read and watched during my time on air on the route Istanbul-Washington DC-Belize and back.

Books:

Cutting for Stone  by Abraham Verghese
The name of the book has a dual meaning, one for its place in the Hippocratic Oath ("I will not cut for stone, even for the patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners,") and one for Doctor Thomas Stone, who is a focul character in the novel.

The novel starts with Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a very young Indian Nun, on her way to a post in Yemen meeting Dr. Thomas Stone on the boat and on his way to a post in Ethiopia. Sister Mary saves Dr. Stone's life, and refuses his offer to come and work with him in Ethiopia. On her way to Yemen, she lives a tragedy she declines to talk about until her death, and makes it to the hospital Dr. Stone works. Years pass, she becomes his assistant, and one day to everyone's suprise, including Stone, she doesnt come to work. They find her in her room, passed out with labour pain, she gives birth to Siamese twin boys joined at their heads. The procedure kills her, because Stone refuses to cut her and perform C Section, instead he tries to crush the skull of one of the twins, assuming the baby already dead. Everyone assumes Stone is the father of the boys. Stone disappears after the death of Sister Mary. The boys both live and survive a seperation operation on the day of their birth. They are adopted by two doctors who work at the same hospital. This book is the narrated by one of those twins, Marion. He tells of growing up in Ethiopia, the relationship between their adopted parents, sibling rivalry, sibling love, carnal love, eternal love, parent love. He makes a very good story in telling all these.
7 (R)
7 (V)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This is the story of the woman behind the Hela Cell Line, which could not only be  kept alive but grown in labs as well. No other cell was able to do that before.
7 (R)
6 (V)

Movies:

Melancholia

6 (W)
4 (V)
I try to be fair but cannot. This is afterall the last movie of Lars Von Trier. and I know he can make great movies that can shake the core of  anyone. And yes he can really direct people, especially women. He has made every one of his protagonist female roles into the all time best performances of the lead actresses. This includes Kirstin Dunst as Justine.

Melancholia tells the story of two sisters in Two Parts.

Before Part One, there is a short part where there is a  kaleidoscope of scenes that really look beautiful but for me is the insolence of the director (yes i admit i have a thing for Von Trier, i do not like the fact that  he acts as a rule bender, but himself creates all the dogma rules for others to follow)  as if saying, i could tell this story in 3 minutes and you would have still liked it.

Part One: Justine.
The setting is Justine's wedding party to which she and groom are two hours late. They seems like a giggly, young, happy in love couple. Justine's sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is the hostess of the party and we can see the stress growing on her. We meet their parents, who are divorced but continue to not stand each other. Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt show  great performances as one being a bitter (or an adjective that is the antonym of loving) unsupportive almost abusive mother, the other a drunk uncaring father. Disappointedly they disappear after a couple of scenes that serve their purpose. As her wedding party continues, her  melancholy of which only a glimpse can be seen in the beginning, moves in more and more, in the time of the party she abandons her groom a couple of times, sleeps(maybe called rapes) with a guy  she just met, verbally abuses her father in law/boss (Trivia: Alexandre Skarsgard playing Michael is the son of Stellan Skarsgard playing his father). Part one ends with the groom leaving the wedding and the bride.

Part 2: Claire
The setting is Claire and John's home (which is more of a mini castle) in which they try to help almost catatonic Justine into life. The most important detail is of course the world is about to end in a few days. How?, A planet called Melancholia will most likely hit Earth, and annihilate it altogether.
We see Claire turn into a nervous wreck as a mother to small boy and Justine gaining more substance from her catatonic state as the end nears.There are really beautiful scenes shot with the two sisters riding their horses and a very erotic scene where a naked Justine Melancholia bathes at night under Melancholia while her sister watches her  hidden behind a tree. I am strangely reminded by Sade's Justine in this scene (and also in the last scene more strangely)

John (Keifer Sutherland) as the rich rational husband is irrevelant, even his cowardly suicide does not move the sisters.

Overall I was disappointed with the movie.


Tomboy
8 (W)
8 (V)
I found Tomboy to be a fairy tale with hope in the ending.
And  it was what I needed when I watched this movie.

This week in Films and Book(s) and Shows

I decided to rate the movies I watch, not that I am in anyway certified to do so.  I will be using two indexes. One for Watchability (W) , one for Value (V).  They are both my subjective evaluations.

So here goes this week's movies:

Le gamin au velo 
7 (W)    
8.5 (V)
The last movie of the Dardenne brothers, it will be one of my all time favorite movies. It is the story of Cyril, who is abandoned by his father. The movie starts off with him running from school and looking for his father, he does not believe anyone who tells him his father left him. He meets Samantha who tries to help him in finding his father and than later in finding who he wants to become. The child actor who plays Cyril is superb.


confessions
6 (W)
6.5 (V)
 Last week German high school kids' malleability shocked me, this week the cruelty and lack of emotion of Japanese middle school kids shock me. A mother takes revenge on the murderers of her small daughter.  The mother is a teacher and the murderers are two of her middle school pupils. On her last day of her school, while she makes a good bye speech to her class, she initiates her revenge plan with an innocent distribution of milk. The movie makes you very uncomfortable,

a moment to remember

7 (W)
7.5 (V)
 A love story,  which starts like a fairy tale. Su-Jin runs into Cheol-Su on the day she breaks up with her lover. Cheol-Su works for her father's company as a carpenter. They fall in love, they get married, Cheol-Su passes the Architecture Exams and Su-Jin gets Alzheimers. The memories they just started making together start to dissapper from Su-Jin.  It is a very beautiful movie that make you remember how precious your memories are.

the taste of tea
6 (W)
7 (V) The surreal portrayal of a family of six who live in rural Japan.









a separation  - Nader and Simin
7 (W)
8.5 (V)
Asghar Farhadi,  also the director of About Elly,  wrote and directed A Seperation. He creates an almost perfect cinematic experience with this movie.


Book(s):

(the same indexes this time Readability (R)  and Value (V)

help
7 (R)
4 (V) A nice book to read with several women characters from 60s Jackson, Mississippi. The women are quite vocal and clear in their voices. The book does not really go deeper than providing entertainment for the 2 hrs you read the book. 

New Fall Shows Continued :

unforgettable
The main character is a woman with a medical condition, which does not let her forget anything ever. Unsuprisingly she is damaged frm some events in her past. She is an ex-cop, she runs into her ex-boyfriend who is also a cop, and ends up helping him in solving a murder. I will not be watching it.

person of interest
A millionaire or a billionaire made a machine after 9/11and sold it the government. The machine gives out two lists. One list is for the government to predict terrorist attacks, the other is for predicting  petty crimes and murders. Our rich guy(who happens to be Ben from Lost)  recruits an ex-something (can be a Seal, an FBI agent a serial killer) to stop all the murders in the list from happening. I will not be watching it

revenge
Will be watching it for a while. It seems to be a mash-up of OC, desperate housewives and Melrose Place. Very weightless and easy on the eyes.

It's been a long long summer!

For some reason, I forgot to have a vacation in the summer '11. Sooo here is a very long list for all the nights spent in the city.

Shorts:

partly cloudy

Who makes babies? The clouds, of course, and they all have partner storks who carry off the babies to their surrogate parents down on the ground! Our stork is a little bit unlucky, its partner cloud always makes babies that hurt it, when carrying them down to the ground. It really needs to find a solution, and very soon, otherwise he will have no feathers left for him to fly!.

the lost thing

It is a bleak world, a bit different from ours . every time and every day of a person's life seems to be planned and lived all the same. when our boy is on the beach he finds a thing. He plays with the thing, and when it's time to leave the beach, the beach is closed on the same hour like like any other day, he finds that there is no one to take care of the thing. He takes the thing home, the thing is not welcomed by his parents, no not at all. He will either have to take the thing to the authorities, - there seem to be other things like him, the authorities collect them all under the same roof,- or he can trust a whisper, and take the thing to the land of the lost things.

It is his decision to make..

the man who planted trees

This is the story of the life of Elzeard Bouffier between 1910-1947. When we meet Elzeard he is already a middle aged man, living alone in the barren mountains with his sheep. The remaining 40 years he turns the barren mountains into a thriving forest. He does everything by himself, with no soul to talk to, he even loses his sheep after the first few years. It is a beautiful tale. One should not look for logic as it is a tale. The animation is not easy to watch, but each screen is like an impressionist painting. I don't know if it were my hormones doing the crying, but i cried a good deal in the end.

hedgehog in the fog

Hedgehog in on its way to meet his friend the bear, but it is night, and the forest is not the safest place to be.

presto the bunny

Presto versus the magician. The magician is ready for his act. He will just pick up Presto and go on stage to perform. Presto only wants his carrot, which he far deserves, so he believes.

vincent

Vincent is

a young boy, Vincent Malloy. He is into Edgar Allan Poe, and wants to be like Vincent Price. A 6 minute short by Tim Burton, the movie is narrated by Vincent Price. Suffice to say!

The Red Balloon

It was this summer i got to see the red balloon finally. Shot in Paris in 1956, the movie unintentially feels nostalgic when seen in 2011. We see a little boy of 6-7 befriend a red balloon, across the streets of Paris. They frolic in the streets, on the way to school, after school. The balloon is banned by the adults from school, from home; but they still manage to stay in touch. Then expectedly a gang of boys are after the baloon , the boy and the baloon try to run away , but are captured. The boy gets to watch his beloved balloon get tortured and...

Documentaries

the ten conditions of love

This is a movie about Rebiya Kadeer, of whom I knew nothing about. Apparently she is the informal leader of Uyghur people in the Chinese Republic Of China. She now lives in Washington DC with her husband, daughter and grandson and continues to campaign for the Uyghur people. Whereas the rest of her children are in China and her sons are in imprisonment. She has turned herself into one

of the richest person in China and represented the Chinese Government in several global meeting before branded as a traitor. the movie itself is not very objective, so further investigation on the subject is recommended.

earthlings

Admittedly i turned off the TV after the first 20 minutes. This is not a movie for people like myself who tend to ignore cruel facts. The movie is about what one species does to the remaining species on our planet. You think you are ready and know everything, wait till you see a garbage man throw a stray dog in a garbage truck and watch him get squashed as the rest of the garbage.

etre et avoir

Some rural French town, there is one teacher to all the children between the ages 4-11. We see all of the children and the teacher interact. We see the parents of the children struggle to help the children with their homework. This is the last teaching year for teacher, he is retiring next year and two of the children will go to middle school. The teacher is strict but he loves each child individually and you see their respect and love for him. you can see the teacher's contribution to the the adults the children will turn into.

Animation

All the following movies are the Production Of Ghibli Studios (founded in 1985 to bring a fresh wind to the Japanese cinema, thus the name Ghibli- run by Miyazaki, Takahata and producer Suziki). And they were all lovely.

the borrower arrietty

Loosely based on Mary Norton's "the borrowers" Arrietty tells the story of Young Arrietty and her family. They are small people, very small people (about 4 inches) known as the borrowers, who live in people's houses with what they borrow from them. The niece of the house's owner moves in for a couple of months, he sees Arrietty, himself a lonely young boy ; he wants to make friends . But Arrietty's family is warned against the humans, and they panic and decide to move away. Moreover , the housekeeper learns about them also, and decide to capture the whole family and keep them as pets. I also liked the eerie ( one is 1.60m the other is 10 cm)crush the young people had on each other. 

Whisper Of The Heart

when i was in school i checked out a few books a week. the first thing i did before i checked out the book, was to look at the card history. who checked out this book before me, when did they check it out. i always tried to see a pattern to see if someone (only young or once young women though, my school was an all girls school) enjoyed the same books as i did . Youko first gets irritated by the boy who checks out the same books as she does, then they fall in love, and on the way to that final closure a lot of sweet things happen.

The Cat Returns

What if you save a cat from being run over by a car, and the cat turns out to be the prince of cats

and the king of cats whisks you off to Kingdom of Cats to marry his son. And what if every hour you spend in the Kingdon you gradually turn into a cat. Who do you need? Yes the cat detective Baron and his sidekick fat Matu; with both of whom we met in the Whisper of the heart. I have a huge crush on Matu.

Shows of the Summer and Early FaLL

Alphas

Did not really like it, there are people with special abilities and a psychiatric doctor who is both their supervisor and their doctor. They all work for the FBI, they also catch other people with special abilities and brand them with being good or bad. The bad ones go to a FBI facility to be tamed.

Damages

Best law show ever, this is its 4th season, and I believe one of the best

Suits

A new show, about two bad ass lawyers, who i didn't find appealing

The Secret Circle

oversexed high school kids and their parents, they are all witches. and apparently there is a circle that need to close for them to have controlled full power 

Homeland

Claire Danes is an FBI agent who believed the war hero saved from Afghanistan after 5 years of torture and imprisonment is actually a traitor. She seems to be right

Ringer

Buffy is back! This time she plays twins, one a witness to a murder case, the other a rich socialite. One of them commits suicide, the other takes her place..sounds familiar? for some reason i am reminded of seagull island from the 80s

For Something Light

the princess of montpensier

A period french drama, where the girl believes in love and risks everything, where the boy believes in lust , money and status. our girl understands this only very late . a bit boring 

My Sassy Girl

korean romantic comedy/drama, i found it very enjoyable. a quote i snatched from imdb, since i didnt write it down during the movie: (When Gyun-Woo tries to give clues to the potential fiancee of his ex-girlfriend)

The 10 Rules: 1. Don't ask her to be feminine 2. Don't let her drink over three glasses 3. Drink coffee instead of Coke/Juice 4. If she hits you, act like it hurts. If it hurts, act like it doesn't 5. On your 100th day together, give her a rose during her class 6. Make sure you learn fencing and squash 7. Be prepared to go to prison sometimes 8. If she says she'll kill you, don't take it lightly 9. If her feet hurt, exchange shoes with her 10. She likes to write. Encourage her

timecrimes

A fun to watch Spanish time travel movie. you think everything makes sense in the end, but not quite. 

midnight in paris

it's like woody allen made everyone's francophil college dreams into a movie.

the misfortunates

a misfit Belgian family, four sons, a mother and a grandson. the grandson reminisces his youth and all the family members that made him what he is. the family is so misfit, it is sometimes difficult to watch. I liked it.

bellamy

a very boring detective movie, where Depardieu is the detective. I think he should have stayed thin.

die welle

The wave has a very good plot. But there are things i dont really buy. I remember being in high school and do not think any of us would be a The Wave fan.

A teacher is teaching autocracy this semester for the project week (he really wanted to teach anarchism) and he offers to live and experiment what an autocracy is. he wants the students to learn while experiencing being part of a group and how strong and safe that group feeling makes the individuals. Unfortunately, he does not realize how some students are vulnerable to this feeling.

summary: dead poets society gone wrong

detective dee

Imperial China: detectve dee is pulled out of prison to solve a crime where the top officials start burning within just a few days before the crowning of the ever first empress.

Nice fight scenes

perfect sense

a bullshit movie. the actors dont make sense together. they are not believable. the plot starts as promising but gets bored with itself. people start losing their senses all around the world, first smell than taste. everyone is waiting what the next sense will be. These losses start with infinite crying for smell loss and gorging on everthing for taste loss. Ewan and Eva find each other accidentally and try to make out with the time little time they have. I walked out after the first hour, so i dont know the rest.

For Something Very Light

hanna

a very unneccesary movie. i'm sorry that i watched it. there is a father and a daughter who've apparantly been training in every martial art, weaponry, language since the girl was born. when the girl is 16 she says i'm ready and they click some button and some agents learn that they are alive and everything turns into a gun,kick,punch movie afterwards. the father dies, he is not the father afterall. he just brought her up. she is the last of the experimental super childs that were genetically played with to make perfect agents. and the agency wants to destroy her, especially one woman , who is obsessed. finally the girl kills the woman, we're content.

bridesmaids

i had fun

friends with benefits

justin timberlake and mila kunis try to work out the friends with benefits deal, suprise, it doesn't work!

and the REST (not on the light side)

sin nombre: The greatest sin of all is risking nothing.

A father, brother, and a daughter travel from Honduras to Mexico. From Mexico they will try to make their way to the US. The father already has a new family in the US and also want to take her daughter. In mexico they meet Casper, who is running away from his gang. The gang leader killed his girlfriend, and he killed tha gang leader, the whole gang and also other gangs are after him, Sanya's father and uncle dies and they try to make it across the border with Casper...

Norwegian wood

Based on Marukimi's same titled novel. The movie tells the story of young, fragile and tragic love. The story is good, but i found the actors are unbelievable in their suffering- thus the scenes become a little pretentious.

woman in dunes

an entomologist from tokyo is on a relaxed work trip in a remote village, where he is collecting insect specimens. he misses the last bus to the city and asks the locals for a bed to spend the night in. They take him to a bed and breakfast where the hostess is the only person in the house. All the houses in the village are in sand dunes and all depend on each other in their built structure. You go down to the houses by a ladder. We learn that the hostess's husband and child dies in a sand storm a couple of years ago. when the man wakes to leave for the bus, he finds the ladder taken away. he is trapped in a house with a woman he does not know. And to survive they need to fill out buckets of sand that blows in all thru the night and send those buckets up to the surface. The man dislikes the woman but thru their continuous physical activities , they start having sexual relations as well, this heightens the man's dislike. He plans on escaping all the time, one time he almost succeeds,. As time passes the man strangely finds himself serene during his days. his restlessness seems to disappear as time passes. he figures to distill water from moist sand and get fresh water, his discovery gives him extreme existential contentment. Then there comes a day the opportunity window is wide open for escape.

the color of paradise

Mohammad goes to a school in Tahran for the blind, during the summer holidays his father comes to pick him up and take him to the village as always. His father is not very enthusiastic to take him home. he is planning to remarry and does not want a blind son to scare off his bride. His two sisters and grandmother is delighted to have him home though. But the father does not rest until he sends his boy away to a blind carpenter for apprenticeship. This move will trigger a set of tragic events that the father did not ask for

it's a free world

a ken loach movie. a young woman working for a recruitment agency gets sacked. She decides to run an agency herself. She has a son who is living with her parents for the time being. To make her life better, she starts turning in to a heartless business person. she forgets that it is people she is dealing not other material. She starts using cheaper and cheaper workers, immigrants with papers, immigrants with no papers. We wait to see that she realize her mistake (there are many opportunities some at gun point) 

turtles can fly

just a few days before American invasion of Iraq, the movie takes place on the turkish-iraqi border. There are many many children on the border, they try to make money by dismantling mines and selling them in markets. There are many children with arms and legs not quite right. When young Satellite falls for Agrin, he does everything in his power for her to like him. Agrine has an older brother with no arms and a younger brother. We learn that the young brother is actually a rape child of the iraqi soldires who also killed her parents. Agrin hates her son, while her brother really loves him. Agrin makes a few unsuccessful attempts to get rif f her son, one being leaving him at the middle the mines. Sattelite risks losing his leg and saves the little boy. Agrin has one last try left in her . Her crippled clairvoyant brother, who despises his clairvoyant capabilities because it never brings anything than grief, tries to stop her.

And Books

Them : Adventures with Extremists

Buzz: The Science and Lore ofAlcohol and Caffeine

Twelve by Twelve: A One Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream

Before I Go to Sleep

Ready Player One

I am Number Four

The Power of Six

The Last Werewolf