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shadowkatCold and overcast here, no sun. Actually we haven't seen the sun in NYC in weeks apparently. (I was gone during part of that time, so am relying on the sentiments of co-workers.) And the meterologists had promised a clear, sunny, but cold and breezy day. It's cold and breezy, but not sunny nor clear.
Finished watching two critically acclaimed documentary films, courtesy of Showtime:
1. Listen to me Marlon- which is a bio-pic of Marlon Brando's life and career as told by Marlon Brando, in his own words. It utilizes news footage, interviews, and audio recordings made by Brando over a lengthy period of time. The documentary is an incredibly moving portrayal of a complicated actor and civil right's activist. Brando gave up acting for a while to join Martin Luther King in his fight for Civil Rights, and various social justice causes. Later, he gave up acting to aid the American Indians (Native Americans) in their fight for equality.
His personal life was a train wreck. He's brutally honest about it, blames himself, and is naked in how he feels about these things. And Brando was almost too sensitive for the career he chose - he was a method actor, who dug deep into the characters he portrayed. His portrayal of Stanley Kowaski on Broadway almost drove him nuts and into a depression, because he despised the character and everything he stood for. Loved and respected the play, and the craft. But the work of bringing it every night was more than he could handle.
Becoming disillusioned with Hollywood in the 1970s, he made a few interesting comments about it and the craft of acting:
* "There are no great movies. The audience brings it with them - they find something in the film to relate to. It's their own personal fantasy, that they are alone with in the dark."
*"Movies make people feel good. They take them out of themselves if just for a little while. And that's a good thing to contribute to the world."
* "All actors are liars. That's the craft of acting to tell a good lie. We are all actors. Everyone. And great ones. When we lie - we are acting. That's all acting is."
* "Stellar Adler changed acting...before it was the great expression, overdone, now it was about finding a real moment in the character, digging deep and discovering that moment. She'd tell me -- if you feel 100% - bring at least 60% to the role, 60% bring at least 40%, if you feel less than 60, you might as well just turn around and go home."
Fascinating man, and a wonderfully engaging actor. When he was good, he was amazing. When he was bad, he was terrible. His best roles, which we see snippets of in the film were:
*Stanley Kowaski - Streetcar Named Desire
* Paul in Last Tango in Paris
* Vito Corelone - in the Godfather
* The Men
* The Wild One
There's also a great statement he makes about the American Indians and how Hollywood has portrayed them, from Dick Cavett clip. The documentary doesn't show the first half of the clip, just the American Indian portion that appears at the 2.50 point. He really rips into white privilege.
Regarding his weight gain and difficulty with weight - he makes a statement that I can identify way too closely with. "You see, food was always my best friend. When I came home from school after a bad day, there was always apple pie and cheese in the ice box. Come on, it would say, take me out old pal."
"Think of things that comfort you...milk, cookies, brownies...don't eat them, just think about them." He'd say in one his self-hypnosis calming tapes.
Highly recommend this documentary - possibly the best bio-pic that I've seen and by far the most compassionate. You leave with a true sense of the man and what it is to be an actor, to be human, and to struggle. Found it moving and reassuring at the same time.
2.) Alex Gibney's - Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief - which is about as close as you can get to an in-depth look at Scientology, the religion started by pulp science fiction author L.Ron Hubbard, who went a bit insane developing it. It serves as a cautionary tale of sorts. (I didn't for one minute question the veracity of the documentary, mainly because of my sister-in-law and brother's interaction with the church of scientology while they were interning on a film in Texas. The church kept calling them to get their hands on my sis-inlaws cousin, who had escaped the church and his insane mother, both of which had been abusing him terribly. Also I'd studied it a bit in the 1980s, along with the EST movement.)
It's a disturbing story about how our desire to believe in something can drive us insane and imprison us. And how if you believe in something hard enough it will appear to be true. You can convince the human mind of just about anything.
It also indicates the difference between Scientology and other religions...people of other faiths can summarize their beliefs fairly simply, Scientology - keeps theirs hidden and isn't up front about it.
Also most other religions (ignoring the insane religious fanatics) - tend to help the world or at least try to through charitable causes. To date, Scientology hasn't really done much of anything that I'm aware of. If they have -- they need to hire better PR people.
Now, what to watch next?
Finished watching two critically acclaimed documentary films, courtesy of Showtime:
1. Listen to me Marlon- which is a bio-pic of Marlon Brando's life and career as told by Marlon Brando, in his own words. It utilizes news footage, interviews, and audio recordings made by Brando over a lengthy period of time. The documentary is an incredibly moving portrayal of a complicated actor and civil right's activist. Brando gave up acting for a while to join Martin Luther King in his fight for Civil Rights, and various social justice causes. Later, he gave up acting to aid the American Indians (Native Americans) in their fight for equality.
His personal life was a train wreck. He's brutally honest about it, blames himself, and is naked in how he feels about these things. And Brando was almost too sensitive for the career he chose - he was a method actor, who dug deep into the characters he portrayed. His portrayal of Stanley Kowaski on Broadway almost drove him nuts and into a depression, because he despised the character and everything he stood for. Loved and respected the play, and the craft. But the work of bringing it every night was more than he could handle.
Becoming disillusioned with Hollywood in the 1970s, he made a few interesting comments about it and the craft of acting:
* "There are no great movies. The audience brings it with them - they find something in the film to relate to. It's their own personal fantasy, that they are alone with in the dark."
*"Movies make people feel good. They take them out of themselves if just for a little while. And that's a good thing to contribute to the world."
* "All actors are liars. That's the craft of acting to tell a good lie. We are all actors. Everyone. And great ones. When we lie - we are acting. That's all acting is."
* "Stellar Adler changed acting...before it was the great expression, overdone, now it was about finding a real moment in the character, digging deep and discovering that moment. She'd tell me -- if you feel 100% - bring at least 60% to the role, 60% bring at least 40%, if you feel less than 60, you might as well just turn around and go home."
Fascinating man, and a wonderfully engaging actor. When he was good, he was amazing. When he was bad, he was terrible. His best roles, which we see snippets of in the film were:
*Stanley Kowaski - Streetcar Named Desire
* Paul in Last Tango in Paris
* Vito Corelone - in the Godfather
* The Men
* The Wild One
There's also a great statement he makes about the American Indians and how Hollywood has portrayed them, from Dick Cavett clip. The documentary doesn't show the first half of the clip, just the American Indian portion that appears at the 2.50 point. He really rips into white privilege.
Regarding his weight gain and difficulty with weight - he makes a statement that I can identify way too closely with. "You see, food was always my best friend. When I came home from school after a bad day, there was always apple pie and cheese in the ice box. Come on, it would say, take me out old pal."
"Think of things that comfort you...milk, cookies, brownies...don't eat them, just think about them." He'd say in one his self-hypnosis calming tapes.
Highly recommend this documentary - possibly the best bio-pic that I've seen and by far the most compassionate. You leave with a true sense of the man and what it is to be an actor, to be human, and to struggle. Found it moving and reassuring at the same time.
2.) Alex Gibney's - Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief - which is about as close as you can get to an in-depth look at Scientology, the religion started by pulp science fiction author L.Ron Hubbard, who went a bit insane developing it. It serves as a cautionary tale of sorts. (I didn't for one minute question the veracity of the documentary, mainly because of my sister-in-law and brother's interaction with the church of scientology while they were interning on a film in Texas. The church kept calling them to get their hands on my sis-inlaws cousin, who had escaped the church and his insane mother, both of which had been abusing him terribly. Also I'd studied it a bit in the 1980s, along with the EST movement.)
It's a disturbing story about how our desire to believe in something can drive us insane and imprison us. And how if you believe in something hard enough it will appear to be true. You can convince the human mind of just about anything.
It also indicates the difference between Scientology and other religions...people of other faiths can summarize their beliefs fairly simply, Scientology - keeps theirs hidden and isn't up front about it.
Also most other religions (ignoring the insane religious fanatics) - tend to help the world or at least try to through charitable causes. To date, Scientology hasn't really done much of anything that I'm aware of. If they have -- they need to hire better PR people.
Now, what to watch next?