Kimmedia

This Sci-Fi TV Miniseries was better than I thought it would be.  The set design was thoughtful and artistic and the actors for the most part did a fine job.  The series runs almost 5 hours and so is able to do justice to the twists and turns of Frank Herbert’s plot for the story.

Often movies based on books don’t do justice and so disappoint. This movie is an exception. The real genius of Virginia Wolf’s idiosyncratic, poetic, psychological style is palpable in the screen play and the actor’s performances.

This documentary was alarming, disturbing and very relevant to understanding weight and health problems in the U.S.

The filmmaker goes on a McDonalds binge – eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the popular fast food joint for a whole month. His pre-binge medical stats prove him to be extremely healthy before he starts. By the end of the McDonald’s feast he’s gained almost 20 pounds and medical tests show his vital stats are in very bad shape. The doctors encourage him to quit the experiment because his health is at risk.

At one point the film asks whether the United States declining educational test scores for children might be related to the mass consumption of high fat – high sugar foods by many young people. McDonalds spends 1.4 billion dollars annually advertising their junk food by showing skinny, happy, smart looking people having fun while consuming their product. It’s hard to believe people would fall for this obvious advertising scheme. But then a high fat – high sugar food diet impairing the ability to think could explain the success of this scam which takes money from people in exchange for bad health. The 99 cent burger is not even remotely a good deal in the long run.

My guess is that people either hate this film or love it with few middle of the roaders. It is about the invisible world of energy and if you don’t believe in that or it bothers you - you won’t like this movie. It takes invisible, healing energy generated by humans very seriously. Mesmer, a historical figure portrayed in this film, heals sick people by using his own energy which he calls animal magnetism. The movie is surprisingly somber and serious – and doesn’t fall for any Hollywood bell and whistle tricks. If you are into this sort of thing it’s very engaging and artistically executed.

"There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America, a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. This documentary explores the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade. It also examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multi-national corporations seek to control the world’s food system.

Editorial Review from amazon.com

You may have heard about the flounder gene grafted into the tomato plant to prolong its shelf life. . . but did you know that the way the genes are grafted from one plant to another or from fish to tomatoe is to penetrate the cells on both ends with bacteria and viruses. EW!

This is a disturbing documentary but one that everyone should see.

This film by Aryana Farshad is a beautiful exploration of mysticism in Iran from Islam to Zorastorism to Sufism.  Much of the film follows a pilgrimmage by a group of women dervishes.  The cinematography is beautiful and the message is one of hope and tolerance.  I highly recommend this film.

Scenes from the film can be viewed at
www.aryanafproductions.com/

	Laughing in the Wind Volume 1 by Li Yapeng, Xu Qing, Zhang Jizhong, and Huang Jianzhong (DVD) - Oct 25, 2005)
	Laughing in the Wind, Volume 2 (DVD - Feb 28, 2006)
	Laughing in the Wind, Vol. 3: Wuxia Warriors Collection  (DVD - April 25, 2006)
	Laughing in the Wind, Vol. 4: Xiao Ao Jiang Nu (DVD - Jun 27, 2006)

From Wikipedia:

A Chinese wuxia television series broadcast in China in 2001. It is based on the epic novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, written by Louis Cha.  Marital arts clans hankering for supremancy in their world intrigue and  fight each other using their highly gifted martial arts skills.  My favorite episode included a duel fought using two types of instruments with dueling musical tones.

I was excited to see that some of the new technology available to filmmakers was being used for a genuinely artistic film. The fantasy theme is captivating and the combination of handmade drawings, CGI and human characters shot on blue screen and manipulated into the scenes makes for a truly creative movie.