Movie Review: Surrogates

Bruce Willis plays Tom Greer, an FBI agent in a future where you stay home hooked up to a "stim chair" and your idealized robotic body double (your surrogate) goes out into the world feeding you data. From your chair, you control what your surrogate does and says with your mind. Sounds interesting, right? It's not. The movie doesn't work for a few reasons. The dialogue is strained and there is simply too much of it. The characters are constantly using dialogue to explain what's going on in the movie. Never a good thing. There are scenes that are so contrived you'll be reminded of Shyamalan's, The Happening (if you were unfortunate enough to have seen it). James Cromwell, the actor who played the inventor of the robots in I, Robot, plays the inventor of the surrogates in Surrogates. That goes beyond typecasting and was truly a foolish decision by the casting director. Ving Rhames provides unintentional comic relief as the Rastafarian leader of the anti-surrogate movement. The movie is based on the novel, The Surrogates, by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldelle which was published in 2005. The source material is good but the movie only plays up the mechanical aspect and misses the philosophical point. Maybe they shouldn't have rushed to get it to the screen and spent more time on the screenplay. Skip the movie. Read the book.

Movie Review: Jennifer's Body

Oh boy! Not Academy Award material but not horrible. I expected worse. It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Mean Girls meets The Exorcist. Yes, I know, it is blasphemy to mention a movie like The Exorcist in the same breath as Jennifer's Body but they are simply both about demonic possession. The major difference (other then the former being one of the all-time great horror movies and the latter hovering dangerously close to being the worst) is that one is about a sweet girl taken over by a demon. The other is about a girl who is already pretty scary taken over by a demon that's only marginally scarier. The only real change in Jennifer (Megan Fox) is that now, she eats boys. Actually, that's not much of a change. I'm quite certain Jennifer has eaten a boy or two prior to her becoming possessed. Only now, she needs to eat them to stay beautiful. If you can look at the movie as a commentary about teenagers and jealousy and rivalry (the pool scene at the end is classic) it's actually pretty funny and occasionally, scary. And yes, it is a showcase for Megan Fox's body. Guys will probably find her sexier in the Transformer movies where she does not have razor sharp teeth. You don't have to see it in the theater. Wait for it to be On Demand.

I Am Never Alone

Knock knock. Who's there? Someone, because I never feel alone.

I Pray For Guidance

Every morning and every night, every time I find myself not knowing what to do or what to say, I pray for guidance. "Do nothing" or "Say nothing" is usually the answer. Most things are not quite as important as I seem to think they are.

Movie Review: Amreeka

Amreeka is a little movie with a big heartfelt story about optimism, pride and hope in the face of hardship, ignorance and prejudice. It's the story of a divorced Palestinian woman (Muna) and her decision to immigrate to the United States with her teenage son (Fadi), hoping for a better life. She leaves her hectic life in the war-ravaged West Bank with it's dirty over crowded streets and humiliating Israeli check points, to come to the U.S. Unfortunately, life here isn't exactly a bed of roses. In addition to all of the usual problems adjusting to a new culture, U.S. forces have just invaded Iraq and racism against Middle Easterners is at an all-time high. As soon as they arrive, they experience treatment from a customs officer that is uncomfortably similar to the abuse they endure at the hands of Israeli's. Muna, a bank executive back home, finds herself flipping burgers at White Castle. Fadi, smart and actually more mature and better educated then his American counterparts, is constantly harassed. The movie goes back and forth between her struggles and Fadi's. With little exposition and excellent acting, the movie tells a real story that will stick with you long after you get home. Find a movie theater where it's playing. Don't miss it.
p.s. Writer-director Cherien Dabis has first hand experience with the prejudice and harassment that comes with being an Arab in the United States. The Secret Service came to her high school to investigate rumors that her 17 year old sister was involved in a plot to kill the president. Ugh.

I Had A Dream Once.....

I was sitting across a table from someone I was very close to at one time but had not seen in over a decade. I reached across the table and touched their face. I said, "I know this is just a dream but it is still so nice to see you." I woke up feeling so calm and better, overall. It felt like so much more then a dream.

Movie Review: The Informant!

Although slow in the beginning, The Informant! is an entertaining, exceptionally well acted and finely crafted movie based on a true story. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, an obsequious pathological liar who has worked his way up the corporate ladder at ADM, the agricultural company. His performance is reminiscent of his pitch perfect performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley (and let's not forget Damon's range, after all, he is Jason Bourne). The Informant won't be your favorite movie or the best movie you'll see this year, but it is definitely worth seeing for its incredibly well chosen cast and the skillful way it gives you a glimpse into the mind of a somewhat likable sociopath.

In The Beginning

Coming soon.....

What To Do If : You Get Bitten by a Poisonous Snake

This information pertains predominantly to pit viper bites which make up the majority of snake bites in the United States. Of those bites, the rattle snake is usually the culprit. Very rarely, someone manages to get bitten by a coral snake. This takes a lot of effort because coral snakes have very small mouths, very small fangs and a very poor delivery system for their venom. You practically have to stick your finger in the mouth of a coral snake to get bitten by one. Never-the-less, it happens.

Most importantly, understand that there are approximately 9000 poisonous snake bites in the U.S. per year and of those, 5 to 10 deaths. Most deaths are a result of inappropriate treatment.

With that in mind:
Make certain the snake actually injected you with venom. Just because he sticks his fangs in doesn't mean he did and there is no sense raising all hell and high water for 2 puncture wounds. Remember, you are not a meal for a snake. You are too big. When a snake lunges out and bites you, 99.9% of the time it is a defensive, "get the hell away from me" bite. The majority of snakes (in this country) are not aggressive. The Cottonmouth (also known as the Water Moccasin found in southern swamps), maybe. Snakes are usually lying around, minding their own business when someone accidentally (or deliberately - never a good idea), steps on them. Two puncture wounds do not necessarily mean you're in trouble. You'll know when you are in trouble because you will be in excruciating pain. The exception is a coral snake bite. Their venom is a neurotoxin and symptoms can be delayed. Most venom is cytotoxic or hemolytic and will begin breaking down tissue or destroying blood cells on contact. The purpose of venom is to start dissolving or incapacitating the snake’s lunch. Fortunately, the snake knows you are not lunch so if he injects, he only injects a small or moderate amount. If he injected you with the same amount of venom he injects into a rabbit, you would be in a lot more trouble then you already are.

O.K., let's assume you have been bitten and injected with venom. The only appropriate action is to immediately figure out how you are going to get to a hospital. Treatment for a snake bite is simple; anitvenom, antivenom and then some more antivenom. You're not treating the bite; you're treating the venom, molecule for molecule. The good news is, if you get bitten by a snake you are probably in an area where the nearest hospital will know how to handle it. If they don't have any antivenom on hand, they'll know where to get it.

There is all kinds of misinformation about first aid for snake bites. Most of it is quite comical.
The funniest is:
Keep calm. Trust me, when a snake lunges with his big fangs dripping with venom and latches on to your arm or leg, you will not be able to keep calm. The reasoning behind it is erroneous anyway. The thinking is, if you keep calm, your heart rate will slow down and you won't be circulating venom through your bloodstream as quickly. Venom circulates through the lymphatics not the blood. So you can jump around all you want. It won't make a difference.
Suck the venom out with your mouth or a straw: This is my favorite. First of all, it's not possible. There is so much swelling and bruising that starts right after the bite that those 2 puncture wounds will not be open enough to allow the venom to tunnel its way out even if you could provide an enormous amount of suction (which you can't). If anyone tells you they have done it and it was successful its because the snake never injected any venom to begin with. If you insist on doing this, you do not have to worry about all the venom leaking out of those holes and into your mouth and poisoning you. The snake venom would be neutralized by stomach acid so go right ahead, you're safe.
Apply ice. This is a dangerous first aid recommendation because the tendency is to stick the bitten arm or leg into a bucket of ice. By the time you get to the hospital the doctor will have to deal with snake bite AND frost bite. If you must, simply apply a little ice pack, a few minutes on and a few minutes off and maybe the bite won't hurt so bad.
Apply a tourniquet: Again, the problem with recommending a tourniquet is that the inclination will be to tie the thing so tight you cut off the blood supply completely. With all the tissue destruction already happening, you will only compound the problem. A very lightly applied tourniquet won't do any harm and you will feel like you're doing something.
To be con't....

FOR MY GRANDMA - Clara Kaplan

No matter what else anyone has to say about my grandmother, one thing is sure, she was always the topic of conversation. Her dynamic powerhouse personality and sometimes audacious and even outrageous acts have left us with an indelible memory of a women who made things happen.

At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, she went to Russia and managed to extricate to Israel, a brother who survived Auschwitz only to end up in poverty in Moscow.

Six months before the fall of Havana to Castro, she made numerous trips to Cuba to help a cousin get his equity to Miami (she literally smuggled his money out) so that he and his family could leave on a supposed weekend trip and never return to a country that would have certainly turned on him with the change of government.

A born meddler - sometimes for the good - she arranged for the marriage of an orphan and prepared a wedding in her own home. She tried in vain to marry off her own children but they foiled her plans and found mates of their own.

Clara lived with Jacob, her beloved husband for 50 years before his death in 1981. He had saved her life. It was on his trip back to the homeland of his parents in Vilna, Lithuania, that he met a beautiful 15 year old country girl living on a farm with her 8 siblings and her father. Her mother had been shot to death for disobeying a curfew as she ran into the street after her five year old daughter.

Jacob married Clara on The Lusitania which was sunk by a U-Boat in World War II. With the exception of one brother, her family perished in the Holocaust.

As a child bride in the United States and speaking only Yiddish, she started her family, guided the establishment of her own home and helped her family build their lives.

I think about her everyday.

Older Movie Review: Rescue Dawn (2006) by request:

Rescue Dawn is the true story of Vietnam War prisoner Dieter Dengler. It is written and directed by Werner Herzog who also directed the documentary about this same subject, Little Dieter Needs to Fly. This, no doubt, helped give the movie a documentary-like realism. The landscape is authentic and brutally unrelenting. The opening scene is taken from actual footage of incendiary bombs (Napalm) being dropped on Vietnam. It was filmed in the jungles of Thailand and there is never any doubt about where you are. The characters are very real; some of them horrible, some good and some so confused they have forgotten who and where they are. Rescue Dawn is less a war movie and more a survival story. Pumped up about his first mission, German-American fighter pilot, Dengler (Christian Bale – Batman Begins, The Prestige, American Psycho, Public Enemies) doesn't last long before his plane is shot down by enemy fire. He finds himself in the middle of the jungle. While trying to brave the elements, he is captured, tortured and confined in a makeshift Loatian jungle prison run by the Viet Cong. He refuses to sign an anti-American confession because "America gave me wings". He is imprisoned with a group of beaten prisoners of war, two of them Americans, Duane and Gene incredibly portrayed by Steve Zahn (Joy Ride) and Jeremy Davies. Dengler is determined to escape from the moment he arrives. And so it begins; the difficult mission to simply stay alive. Filthy, starving, and continually taunted, Dengler plans his escape. Food is sparse, at times no more than a plateful of worms. Sleeping conditions are appalling. Their hands are cuffed and their bare feet are encased in a stockade-like device. The prison escape is successful but as his prison-mate, Duane explains earlier, “The jungle is the prison”, and their ordeal navigating the terrain makes rescue seem nearly impossible. Rescue Dawn is a gripping account of a horrific story incredibly acted by Christian Bale who gives a believable performance (he did his own stunts and lost a ton of weight) as a man trying to rise above his impossible circumstances. It is not a political movie about whether or not the Vietnam War was right or wrong. It is about the triumph of the human spirit and the incredible will to survive against enormous odds. The music, composed by Klaus Badelt, is haunting and used sparingly. Watching the movie it is not easy but it is worth every gut wrenching moment.