The mystery and power of Marilyn Monroe
Ever since I heard that the grave next to Marilyn Monroe’s was put on sale, I’ve been wondering what it was about her that people love so much (men and women) so naturally I had to find out. What was so captivating that today that people are willing to spend millions to spend an eternity next to her be buried next to her?
Time and time again she appears in pop culture representing the epitome of beauty. Many female stars attempt to capture her look or are strongly inspired by it. Need I name some? I’m sure you know. Madonna, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox, Anna Nicole Smith, you get the picture.
She’s got at least one good song about her at least inspired by her. Know Elton John’s song Candle in the Wind? It was originally written in 1973 about Marilyn.
And of course Andy Warhol painted his famous images of Marilyn Monroe.
Why? It wasn’t just because she was beautiful and died tragically (not to mention the conspiracy theories her death spawned) at the age of 36, although that in itself might be enough to develop a cult following. She didn’t let a hard early life stop her from becoming successful. And seriously how many successful model, actress, singers are there? And of course she wasn’t just a dumb blonde.
What do you think about Marilyn Monroe and her influence today?
Kagehime
Rihanna and the World of Tomorrow
For some reason for her next single Russian Roulette, Rihanna wants to look like Angelina Jolie’s character from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Kagehime
Star Trek and Summer Movies
I just saw Star Trek yesterday. Really good. I heard it was but wow. It had both action and comedy. Few things I didn’t like though. A few of the scenes went long (like two) Really shouldn’t complain about that. And the fact that the guys that killed Kirk’s father came at the same time Kirk went into space. What’s the chances of that? And then some of the roles in the movie did seem kind of old fashioned. And did you notice all the fros? I guess they might come back. I’m glad Sylar (don’t know the actors name) from Heroes made a good Spock.
I had planned to go earlier but I had ended up seeing Wolverine instead. That was good too. I really hadn’t expected it to be good. In fact I thought it was going to be horrible. Especially when they showed Wolverine and Sabertooth going through every war they could. The CGI was amazing except for one scene in the mirror. If you saw it you should know what I’m talking about. Wolverine’s claws looked so fake in that scene. Gambit was freaking amazing! Loved his cards and fighting scenes. Some of the scenes were funny and I don’t think they were supposed to be but that didn’t detract from the movie. Like the scene in which wolverine broke free from the faculties and was running around naked and jumped off the waterfall. Also that movie was overly full of “manliness.” So many muscles and fights.
So some other movies I want to see this summer?
Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera Looks hilarious
Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell Funny?
GI Joe the trailer look awesome
Don’t particularly want to see Transformers 2 though. Looks kind of…and besides Megan Fox and Shia Lebouf’s jerk character?
What movies do you want to see?
Kagehime
The Devil Wears Prada
So I finally read the book “The Devil Wears Prada.” It was funny how I ended up with the book and I’m thankful I never had a boss like that.. Phew. Well there are books in the library that are free for anyone to take as long as they have another one to switch it out with, but I’ve never heard of most of the ones out in the open area. The good books, or at least the known titles and authors, are in an office where most people are not allowed to go. But since I work at the library, I’m allowed back there. Anyways, the woman I used to work for had come in for a few so I came to visit her and she was back there. I had to wait a few minutes in order to talk to her, because she had some business to take care of, so I scanned to titles and picked out “The Devil Wears Prada” and started looking through it. My former boss then asked if I would like to read the book then told me I could keep it if I wanted to so I took it home and read it.
So back to the book. I absolutely liked it. The thing the movie had over the book was the abilty to actually see the clothing (and I liked the music too). The movie also managed to humanize the boss much more than the book. Since the book was based on the authors real experience in the fashion industry as an assistant I wondered how much was based on fact and how much was fiction. For one, the main character, Andrea, is described as 5′10 and weighing 115 throughout most of the novel, but says the employees at the magazine made her feel short, fat, and ugly. This makes it seems like models are working there. Why else the height and so little weight? So do people working for fashion magazines really look like this?
Kagehime
Family Game
Family Game or 家族ゲーム（kazoku geemu) is a movie directed by Yoshimitsu Morita in 1983. Its a parody of the Japanese family life in the 80s and the emphasis of school. It was a really strange movie, but it was hilarious. Nobody was truly functional. It was like they were a family that knew about family roles but really didn’t know how to fulfill them.
The father was gone all the time working and when he was home he’s still not truly part of the family. He holds all his important conversations out in the car (which is definitely out of the home). He wants his sons to get an education so they can do well later in life (presumably better than him) but he doesn’t seem to care about anything else in association with them. It gets to the point where the eldest son is alone and the tutor he hires for his younger son is almost seen as a father to him, because he is so much closer to him. I say almost like a father because the tutor is a very questionable character considering how close he gets to each of the family members physically.The mother cares only for her sons’ well being and her husband’s although she upset him once by not realizing something about him.
There are a lot of scenes in the movie that make it seem theatrical and on a stage. The scenery is really industrial and the people are distant. And the last scene is grand. If for no other reason to watch this movie you should see it for that scene. I don’t think anyone who sees it truly understands it, I surely didn’t. I just felt that it had to be powerful and symbolic of mess the whole family was in. It’s difficult to place a game if you know what the rules say, but don’t understand them isn’t it? That’s rather how the movie played out.
Kagehime
Ju Dou
Well I watched the first of eleven movies in my Asian film class. It was directed by Zhang Yimou in 1990. It takes place in 1920s China. The owner of a dye shop buys a wife who he beats and tries to beget an heir with. He has taken in a “nephew” who he adopts. This nephew falls in love with the wife, Ju Dou, same as the name of the film. She also falls in love with him. They eventually have a child together. The uncle is infertile so of course it’s not his. Eventually, the uncle becomes paralyzed and they keep him around to torture him. This and thier son is their downfall. The boy is one of the creepiest kids in film I’ve seen. He would suddenly just be standing their watching his parents together. Not to mention that he killed two people in the movie, but you’ll have to watch to see who.
There is a lot of symbolism in the film and allusions. It was as much a work of art as a show. The setting fit pefectly with the actions of the characters and vice versa. This film was said to be banned in China for its sensual nature. It could also be utter disrepect for authority which is supposed to take presidence over one’s desires which was definitely not the case in this movie.
I liked the movie. I kind of wished I knew Chinese sometimes because the translations made me wonder if that’s what they were really saying. Sometimes things came across as funny in English like the use of the phrase “it’s a fat boy” instead of just “it’s a boy.” And what’s the significance of “fat boy”? Also the child’s outfit in which he could not move and the mother’s words “why won’t he laugh yet?”. Was the outfit supposed to be funny or did I just perceive it that way because I don’t know about Chinese baby clothing in the ’20s. There’s a lot to dwell on in this movie like the treatment of women, tradition, and Chinese society.
Kagehime
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Awesome, awesome movie and an awesome experience to go along with it. It was like the most awesome chic flick I’ve ever seen. It was even better than the first. The girls are a little older and their problems are threatening their friendship and love is a harsh teacher.
I saw the movie in Texas with two of my cousins and a friend of theirs. One of my cousins told my uncle we were going and he thought she said that we were going to the traveling pants show like the pants were going to move by themselves. At the theater the guy selling tickets accidently tried charging 49.99 for four or five tickets to the girls (going to see Traveling Pants of course) instead of 29.99. I was like woo that’s way too much. If he hadn’t got corrected I was about to turn around. Those would have been some expensive tickets.
Inside the ticket collecter said that he heard that the pants could move around and shoot lasers. I told him yes. He wasn’t the only male who wanted to know why girls wanted to see the movie and the only answer I can give to that is that we’re girls.
Then preview time. They all targeted girls and women with previews for Twilight and The women. There was also a preview for a really cute mouse movie. And I heard clapping for the Twilight preview. So excited. I’m worried the movies going to be messed up. Not all good books are turned into good books (Eragon). That was a messed up movie. It was hillarious and it wasn’t supposed to be. If they do that to Twilight….Well I hope they don’t, but I’m not happy with their choice for Edward. He looks really strange. At least Jacob looks good, but I had imagined someone better for Edward…oh well. So what do you think about the choices?
Edward
Jacob
During the movie, the audience which filled the theater, were all female except for two or three guys. Hearing everyone aww and yell in sync was awesome. So girls go see this movie. It’s really good and try not to cry, because you just might tear up without meaning to.
Kagehime
Roman Holiday
I just watched another Audrey Hepburn movie, Roman Holiday. It was a good movie and her first as far as I know. The thing that I noticed was that so many movies have copied that one. Remember First Daughter with Katie Holmes and Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore? Young woman tired of being smothered and having to be responsible all the time. Although I enjoyed both films they were not as good as Roman Holiday of course. And those movies didn’t have an ending like Roman Holiday. I mean we all expect happy endings, but sometimes that just can’t be as in Roman Holiday. Then there’s the episode of Gossip Girls entitled Roman Holiday. Can you figure out why?
I was glad to find that the entire movie was filmed in Rome and had actual Italians. A lot of times old movies just try passing people off… And I can glad say that I’ve been to some of the places showed in the film like the coliseum and the mouth of truth.
Kagehime
The Dark Knight
I thought the Dark Knight was awesome. I had gone to see it on Saturday because I knew it would be crowded and hard to get a good spot on the first day. I had read the Richmond Times Dispatch critic’s review before going and it said that there was an extra 30 minutes attached to the end that almost ruined the movie, but I didn’t see it there. I did look for it, but I guess they didn’t like two face or something. I thought that the last minutes tied up the movie nicely.
Heath Ledger made a good joker. I’m glad the hype was not for nothing. He was simultaneously funny and scary and totally insane. The Joker did not make one sane sound or movement. The way he got under everyone’s skin reminded me of Benjamin Linus on Lost who I think is really creepy, but not as creepy as the joker proved to be. Linus had motives that people understand while the Joker was only interested in Mayhem.
This is one of the better movies based on a comic. It’ll make you both laugh and cringe. So if you haven’t seen it already go ahead.
Movies woo!
Summer is a good time to watch movies and catch up on some stuff. Here’s what I watch recently:
Juno Good. So many people said it and I finally got to see it and it proved to be good.
10,000 BC Kind of reminded me of a non gory Apocalypto without so many subtitles. It was really good and had a fantasy/sci fi twist that involved people from a land that sank (Atlantis?).
Vantage point So everyone in this movie was superman. So many people got hit by cars and then got right back up. I find that hard to believe. Besides this and the fact that there was no explanation or motivation for the terrorists actions it was a good movie.
Superbad Like the critics said funny but with plenty of foul language. And more people getting hit by cars and then getting right back up. Good music helps too.
Kagehime
