Movie reviews

I watched the original non-english version. It did have some quite disturbing scenes, but I liked Salander's character and Blomkvist's character. 

Yeah, I think that's the best part of the movie/book, the dynamic between Salander and Blomkvist.

The original subtitled version doesn't have Finchers estethics in the cinematography, but other than that I found them pretty similar. Perhaps Rooney Mara's character Salander felt a bit more convincing at times, but that's def the hardest role to play in the movie.

The Humanitarian War (2012)

 This film investigates the claims of Human Rights organizations and N.A.T.O., regarding Libya last year, and where the "evidence" was gathered by these organizations. One of the most telling parts of this excellent film, was when it was disclosed that all the evidence is hearsay, with much of it being provided by the Libyan Transitional Council, with their Ministers of Media, Education, and the Oil and Finance Minister! I highly recommend this film. 

What theatrical releases of stand up comedians do you like? I think George Carlin was my favorite.

George Carlin and Bill Hicks are my favorites. 

You know, on the Bill Maher's show, the woman who was arguing that "God", or whatever, gets her through the day, is very typical of what I have argued against: The god crutch. I hate it. It is as if she doesn't understand what a belief in gods are. The people who believe in god are not saying that they are having the same thoughts as someone who doesn't believe in gods, but they characterize their belief in a different way. Rather, these people who believe in gods, think entirely different from what people who don't believe in gods, think. She probably thinks she's communicating to them by "understanding" them. She's not. She doesn't understand them, and she's as delusional as someone who believes in gods  

I've noticed that atheists present better arguments than believers. I have a friend who feels that embracing religion is a renounciation of rational thought. I think this is why they present better argumets. They have a world view rooted in the tradition of the Renaisace and reason.

Religious belief is based on belief in things that can't be proven and often don't make sense. It's hard to argue this type of belief in a rational way.

I guess i fall into the agnostic category. I don't know if there's a God, and I don't think the matter can be resolved.

That is very clear and succinct. In studying philosophy, I have to pay attention to some of the clever rationalists in scholastic thought, such as Aquinas and Augustine. And I also have a solitary place in my heart for Kierkegaard, who was a very poetic person whose realization of hopelessness crippled him, and made him believe in gods. Maxims, such as "I believe, because it is not rational", came from the works of these philosophers. 

  I feel for them, for sure. I understand what they see before their "leap of faith". But depression and despair is no excuse for neglecting an honest assessment of knowledge. It is a distraction and an obstacle to knowledge, whatever value one places upon it. In my opinion, of course

oh you should see also joes palace, a movie film i saw on hbo movies a story that revolves around the caretaker named joe and the billionaire who doesnt want to live in his house and palace but just near his home on the streets of london. there are  some depictions which make the story interesting as the show goes on with regards to joes character and the billionaires character.the innocence of thinking of the character joe amuses me plus the billionaires honest intention.,as the movie continues.

Thanks for the review, Benju!

I normally don't like Nicolas Cage movies, but Lord of War seemed different from his normal movies.

I think many of the characters represented different aspects of his conscience.

His brother, Vitaliy.

The Interpol agent, Valentine.

His wife and child.

These were the aspects of his conscience that were against what he chose to do.

On the bad side was the dictator Andre. He seemed to operate under a thin veneer of reasonableness, but really illustrates the ability of people to rationalize their own evil acts.

The dictator's brother, who shoots people for sport, is the extreme negative side.

Overall, I think this movie tries to show the spectrum of conscience as it relates to war. With a glossy overlay of Hollywood.

Interesting, thanks corrijean!

Into the Abyss (2011)

 This is another Werner Herzog film, a documentary which explores the death penalty. Herzog begins the film by stating that he is against the death penalty. He then shows an absurd crime perpetrated by two people, one of which is sentenced to death in less than a fortnight from the filming of his interview. I think it was a very  interesting film

Dreams of a Life (2011)

 This is another very interesting documentary about a woman, or an event, that I had never heard of; the death of  Joyce Vincent. A woman who had been discovered in her apertment three years after she had died. The TV was still on. Her friends were confused. It really is a strange case. It's worth a look

the movie lord of war starred by nicolas cage showed how nicolas cage started to trade arms as a business for profit,it doest matter to whom his dealings were made even it falls to the hands of tyrants in disguise fighting for a cause without respect for human lives. a tyrant knows no international law. he can do anything he wants,hes not bounded by anything.

Well here, Lisa, this made me laugh

Bringing Out the Dead is a 1999 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, and based on the novel by Joe Connelly^[2][3] with the screenplay by Paul Schrader. Starring in it are Nicolas Cage, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Tom Sizemore and Patricia Arquette. The film was a flop at the box office but it received very positive reviews from critics. The film was also the last North American title to be released on Laserdisc.

An Easter story. Frank is a Manhattan medic, working graveyard in a two-man ambulance team. He's burned out, exhausted, seeing ghosts, especially a young woman he failed to save six months' before, and no longer able to save people: he brings in the dead. We follow him for three nights, each with a different partner: Larry, who thinks about dinner, Marcus, who looks to Jesus, and Tom, who wallops people when work is slow. Frank befriends the daughter of a heart victim he brings in; she's Mary, an ex-junkie, angry at her father but now hoping he'll live. Frank tries to get fired, tries to quit, and keeps coming back, to work and to Mary, in need of his own rebirth. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com