Astute Observations, Diary

The Midterm Election Analysis: In politics, perceptions often matter more than facts

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Hendrik Hertzberg provides the facts behind the defeat of the Democrats and highlights that Obama can show in the next two years that he is a great president by overcoming huge challenges. ELECTORAL DISSONANCE (New Yorker) Barack Obama had the mot juste last Wednesday for what had just befallen him and his party: a “shellacking.” The President’s image [Read More]
Comedy, Movies

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

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My Wes Anderson Film Festival continues. This week I screened his fourth film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). While Anderson pushes the cinematography onto a higher plane than in Rushmore or Bottle Rocket, the characters here feel more constructed and synthetic. Owen Wilson co-wrote the first two Anderson films. Perhaps he brought greater image [Read More]
Diary, Must Know

Why you need to take naps

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I welcome any scientific evidence that proves what I am doing is healthy. Readers of my blog will remember that I took a strong position againt the so-called “power-nap killers.” New scientific research shows that naps help your brain to learn better. I sometimes even take two naps to rejuvenate my body and mind. If image image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Rushmore

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Wes Anderson’s 2nd film, released in 1998,  is an even bigger surprise than Bottle Rocket. The 15-year old hero, Max Fisher, loves his elite prep boarding school but he faces a pressing problem. Although he leads almost every extra-curricula club in the school and although he is a genius on many fronts, he is image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Bottle Rocket

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A few months ago I read a story about the director Wes Anderson in the New Yorker. Anderson was hailed as an innovative filmmaker with a peculiar style. I had seen his The Royal Tenenbaums  when it came out and found the film different but not particularly compelling. It struck me as trying to take image image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

A Single Man

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If we don’t meet or if we lose the one person we are meant to be with, then our life is not worth living. Everything becomes meaningless. This is the key premise of the film. It is wrong. But if you suspend your critical faculties and assume this idea is correct for the duration image [Read More]