Star Trek Into Darkness - Hey Wheelbarrow Balls!

Watching Star Trek Into Darkness awoke the part of me that wants to use dental floss as a garrotte, my impotent rage. Impotent, unending, head aching, day ruining, simmering rage. Director JJ Abrams better stay away from me or my rage might become pretty damned erect.

When a terrorist (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacks Star Fleet command, reckless douche bag space ship captain Jim Kirk (Chris Pine) decides to ignore exploration and feed his blood lust. His second-in-command, Spock (Zachary Quinto) talks to him about it. Eventually things blow up. Sound boring? It is.

Ire convulses from my body when a director has the balls to demand full admission price for a fraction of a movie and JJ is measuring his balls for a wheelbarrow. Star Trek Into Darkness requires hours of independent study. It does not bother to develop characters. It does not bother to explain relationships. It just presumes we will already know what the hell is going on and have emotional buy-in. Entire scenes in the movie make no sense without the context of previous movies and the television show. It stuffed so full of dialogue Easter eggs for fans, there is no room for plot or character development. There are entire subplots that can be entirely removed without sacrificing any plot.

Hey, Wheelbarrow Balls – no one calls you professor. You do not get to assign homework.

Star Trek Into Darkness is less science fiction and more sexless soap-opera. Characters give long winded speeches with their backs to their rivals which climax in a lonely tear – more than once. Someone call the ASPCA, we need to find out how many crocodiles were killed to harvest the tears used in this movie. The actors sputter unnatural, banal and obvious dialogue.

The terrorist was the only character the writers tried to give any depth. He was deep like a footprint but that is about 16 times the depth of any other character. Unfortunately, Benedict Cumberbatch's searing orations and cunning use of eyebrow could not overcome the droll, heartless, melodramatic dialogue.

Here is the trouble with failing to develop the heroes more than the villains: there is no reason to give a crap about them – so I didn't. I actively rooted for the terrorist. I wanted Spock and Kirk to die fiery, hellish deaths while feeling the air being sucked from their lungs in the vacuum of space. Stupid physics.

Abrams and writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof want to make sure no one in the audience leaves without getting the theme so they imply it, they show it, they talk around it, and in case a brain was still intact after the theme-driven skull-beating they just laid down, they summarize it explicitly at the end.

My husband is a fan of the series and he enjoyed the movie. I suspect that will be the case for many fans of the show and previous movies.

Now excuse me, I'm going to fill out a restraining order for JJ's protection. I don't trust myself.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel houses the newest thing to be outsourced to India; senior citizens. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an uplifting, heartfelt film with an intrinsic warmth that can only come from emotional sincerity.

Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) thought her worst nightmare is a dark skinned doctor, but in order to get a new hip, she opted to have her medical care outsourced to India. She decided to stay at the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful, a small family owned hotel run by the young, and ambitious, yet underachieving Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel). Dutiful parents Douglas Ainslie (Bill Nighy) and his wife Jean (Penelope Wilton) come to the hotel after an act of parental sacrifice makes old age very difficult. Judge Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) stays at the hotel while takes care of unresolved business from his childhood. Evelyn Gleenslade (Judi Dench) has lived a life sheltered from adventure and joy and decides to embark on an her life’s adventure starting in India.

Put most succinctly, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a film about love and all its accoutrement – especially regret. All incarnations of love are shown: parental, romantic, friendly, and societal. The richness, warmth, depth, scars, flaws and sacrifices of love are shamelessly laid out for the audience’s examination. It is displayed with all the insight, judgment, and wisdom of a person with a lifetime of experience benefiting and being stung by love.

Even though there are no giant curve balls that smack the audience in the face (flame throwing grannies), the stories are no less compelling. It is exactly because they could be any one of us or any of our grandparents that it impossible for an audience member not to see themselves in the characters. They are all deeply flawed, but no less endearing. Their excuses, duty, loyalty, love, status, and ease are ones we might all use to justify the decisions we make to make small compromises in our life. They show the path of those small bumps in a different direction.

While the story of some of the characters is easy to predict, it is no less enjoyable to watch those characters develop predictably. There are a few characters though, especially Graham and Evelyn, who take journeys of love that challenge younger audience members to examine their choices, and whose stories are not easy to foretell.

The cast of seasoned actors matches the delicate writing, each giving their characters a subtle layered quality. It is pretty hard to go wrong with a cast whose cumulative years in the business may reach quadruple digits. I was most taken by Wilkinson, who used Graham to simultaneously rip apart my heart and sew it back together.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a gift to the heart, because it examines love without mania, without cliché Hollywood mechanics, without syrup, and without losing sight of how love should feel.

The Avengers: Could Give an Infant a Mustache

When an immature demi-god has a megalomaniacal temper tantrum, it is up to the Avengers to save the world. With more fights and explosions than plot, The Avengers has enough testosterone to give a newborn girl a mustache the likes of which would make Tom Selleck weep with envy.

In a cosmic act of a cataclysmically immature sibling-rivalry, Thor’s little brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) comes to earth to have an emotional meltdown and punish the people of earth for it. After initial interventions fail, the government begrudgingly has to employ a semi-functional rag-tag bunch of misfit heroes to save the world and even gives them the snazzy name, The Avengers. The styling sassery of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the stedfast handsomeness of Captain America (Chris Evans), unpredictable green menace Hulk (Bruce Banner), god-like hammer-swinger Thor (Chris Hemsworth), beautiful emotional manipulator Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and her butt (Tushie Johansson).

Do not bother seeing The Avengers with an expectation to understand the plot or much of the dialogue unless you are willing to put in more than ten hours of homework. The Avengers requires the viewer have watched all the previous Marvel Universe films that feature the main characters, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, since 1998: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. The premise of the movie makes absolutely no sense having not seen Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger because the impetus and cause of peril are explained in those movies and not explained at all in The Avengers. The Avengers exploits relationships and characters from the other movies and does not explain them. They give only the most brief and implied explanations of the characters. There are constant references to characters or events that are not in this film, inside jokes, and dialogue Easter eggs that require having seen the previous movies. If you have not seen all of the previous movies past the end of the credits, you may be completely lost and not know some of some of the characters at all. As a consequence they demand the audience be able to identify all the characters, even the ones with the least amount of screen time and that appear only after the credits, relationships between characters, and have a strong memory of the plots of six flicks. With a grand total of 601 minutes, that’s over ten hours, of movie to watch before seeing The Avengers that is a huge expectation to place on a person just to see a movie.

Of course, even if you have done your homework there should be a very low plot expectation, because there is not much plot to The Avengers. Plot to the The Avengers as plot is to pornographic movies; words strung together to make the audience feel a bit better about themselves for watching a visualization of a carnal desire and enjoying it. You know, sort of like saying, “I read Playboy for the articles.”

The characters take advantage of any excuse to fight with each other and even fight when there is no excuse. They fight bad guys, they fight good guys, they fight each other. The only thing that happens more often is smashing things. You are thinking of one character – you are wrong. They all smash things. That building - SMASH IT. Mad at it – SMASH IT. Love it – SMASH IT. That car – SMASH IT! That tree – SMASH IT! THAT OTHER HERO – SMASH HIM! THE AIR – SMAAAAAAAASH IIIIIT!

The Avengers and Loki do not blow things up as often as they smash things or fight with each other, but there is no shortage of segments of explosive extravagance, especially toward the end of the movie.

There are some exciting transportation devices at the end of the movie that are both gorgeous and frightening but worth seeing.

The Avengers is a smashplosionfest sure to raise the testosterone and lower the estrogen of any one in its direct effect cone. I would not be surprised if there is a The Avengers babyboom nine months from its theatrical and DVD releases.

The Raven - As Sharp and Deep as a Sock Full of Soup

Edgar Allan Poe’s final week on earth is a mystery, even to this day. The Raven is a cinematic midrash of Poe’s last week alive. The sparkle of gorgeous costumes, the shine of lovely cinematography, and luminance of a strong supporting cast cannot escape the black hole that is John Cusack as Poe, the vacuum that is James McTeigue’s direction, and the suck that is Poe’s dialogue.

The much loved poet, but much loathed man Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) returned to Baltimore to win the hand of his love Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve). While he is in Baltimore, a killer uses his stories as a blueprint for killing and to get Poe’s attention. Poe’s personal connection to the killings goes far beyond that of inspiration to the killer.

There is something special about a movie that can transport you back in time and The Raven certainly does that. The sets scream late 1800’s America with hints of opulence and gobs of unfairness. The costumes are equally transportative. The costumes are like time machines for the audience wrapped around the actors.

The supporting cast saved The Raven from full cosmic collapse. Even though their dialogue was often unnatural and unconvincing, they delivered them with conviction. Kevin McNally is especially rewarding as Maddux, the editor of The Baltimore Patriot and verbal abuse victim of Poe. Luke Evans gave Detective Fields a professional passion that gave some depth and urgency to the movie. It was not their fault that writers Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare provided them with a script that even the most obtuse person would realize is incredibly awkward and unnatural.

Livingston and Shakespeare wrote Poe like a thirteen year old stoner attempting to be sardonic but incapable because they lack the intelligence, depth, insight, or experience to take apart the self esteem of anyone without a suicide plan. As a result, Poe is constantly coming across as a dullard trying to come across like a literary genius, not a literary genius speaking down to lesser minds. I am certain Livingston and Shakespeare were trying to make Poe a total douche bag, but they don’t have the vinegar to fill the bag.

John Cusack does not give the character any sting or sour either. Endearing douche-baggery is a challenge for any actor to pull off successfully and Cusack fails at both. Cusack’s performance was as sharp and deep as a sock full of soup. He cannot muster the insecurity that makes sarcasm necessary, the malice to make it effective, or the impatience that comes with genius. Instead of embodying what they writers attempted to convey, he perfectly embodied and exaggerated what the writers actually created; a junior high schooler’s characterization of a meanie-pants.

James McTeigue should have worked with Cusack, Livingston and Shakespeare on giving the main character some depth. He was too busy ordering eyeball, teeth, and earring shots from the camera operators to bother improving Poe. Alice Eve’s eyes, the actor who plays the killer’s teeth and eyes all deserve their own credits. There must be fifteen minutes of slobbery teeth, and gushy eyeballs on screen.

About five minutes into the film, the man sitting next to me fell asleep and started snoring. We rode the elevator out of the theater together and he offered that he enjoyed the movie. Had sleep been part of my The Raven experience, I may have enjoyed it as well.

A pretty costume coating cannot change an overwhelming truth; The Raven is a masterful manifestation of mediocrity.

John Carter - The Death of a Thousand Lines

The tides of the thousand year Martian war shift when an earth man lands Mars in the western space fantasy John Carter. Gorgeous, but daft and rambling, John Carter can only hope to satisfy the most shallow and vapid of audiences.

Former Confederate soldier John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) accidentally comes across a portal to Mars while looking for a cave of gold. Once in Mars, the effects of the gravity and atmosphere differences on him make him extremely valuable to the warring factions on the planet. There is a pretty girl who captures his interest, there are priest-like characters called Therns who try to keep the people of Mars down using religion, and evil bad guys who do bad things in the name of religion.

I suspect the story was kept fast-moving and puddle-deep because the themes are potentially offensive to theists and other people who reject rational thought. The story is moved primarily by what the Therns allow or force to occur and what the people of Mars allow to happen because of submission to mythical thinking instead of critical thought.

It could have been a powerful and important commentary on the crises caused by religion and a refusal to employ reason on our own planet. Today a refusal to critically examine beliefs has lead to the justification of the coverup and systematic rape of children all over the world, global warming deniers, those who would deny women access to contraceptives, conspiracy theories, vaccine hysteria, the spread of HIV/AIDS because of intentional misinformation about condoms, the oppression in women, the hunting of albinos, killing people for being witches, necklacing, non-consensual genital mutilation of children, and slowed advances in stem cell research to name a few. Actually, pointing this stuff out literally does not seem to be working, we need a movie that can stab at the heart of irrational thinking. John Carter is not that movie.

Even though it is obvious the writers were trying to cover that ground, they breeze by it so quickly, it has no chance to sink in. It is basically a side note to a war movie. In fact, everything that is not blowing up or killing something is basically a paper cut on the film – insignificant irritation. There are so many themes that the film breezes through that by the end it feels like no part of the film is free to watch without fear of injury.

The heroine and love interest Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) is beautiful, bad-ass, and brilliant. She could be considered a role model for girls, but every other line of her dialogue made me want to kill myself. One second she is capable of making an unprecedented scientific discovery, the next second she speaks like a thirteen year old cheerleader who was just waking up to Justin Beiber giving her CPR after having a jar of chloroform dumped over her head. It was not limited to Dejah though. All of the characters seem utterly incapable of going five minutes without speaking a line that made the audience laugh.

The actors are not to blame for the cringe-inducing moments. There were no award winning performances but the actors were convincing enough that to make the film a comfortable watch had the writing not been so awful.

The writers were not the only ones guilty of crimes against cinema, the director, Andrew Stanton, needs to brought up on charges too. Much of the film is a direct rip off of other film sources, including the sounds that some of the ships make.

I think most of the budget for John Carter went to the special effects and wow – the sparkle. It was not flawless, but there was something magical about the way John Carter looked. The costumes were captivating and interesting; except for the Dejah’s jewelery, which looked cheap and I am convinced was assembled by 3^rd graders. The war scenes were fun to watch. Oh how I wish it were a silent film.

John Carter lacks heart, depth, feeling, and meaning. What it provides in abundance are stunning visuals, undeveloped themes, intellectually insulting dialogue, pointless fight scenes, killing, plot points that must be accepted without question or explanation, and opportunities to place the back of one’s hand on the forehead and tilt the head back without a smidgen of irony.

Salt: A Bloody Belly Flop

Russia and America have to worry about agent Salt. Salt answers the age old question: What’s worse than an action movie with no plot?

CIA agent Evelyn Salt’s (Angelina Jolie) life is thrown into turmoil when her loyalty is questioned in front of her bosses by a man named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) who claims to be an agent high up in the Russian government. They accuse her of knowing about the murder of a Russian dignitary. Worse, she knows that her husband, a Mike Krause (August Diehl), a German arachnologist, is in danger from the people who think she’s betrayed them. Like a caged animal, she breaks out of her surroundings, to find her husband.

When I left the theater after seeing Salt, I all could hear was the eternally true expression; two wrongs don’t make a right. While the acting could pass as adequate, the writing and directing left that adage bouncing around my brain. The writing was shallow and lacking any emotional connection, even though it was obvious that there was an attempt to pull on our heart strings. Writer Kurt Wimmer tries to throw curveballs at the audience but only succeeds and t-ball quality pitches. The actions of the characters range from perplexing to downright strange.

The director, Phillip Noyce, couldn’t elevate the action scenes to a level to compensate for the thin writing. The actors, most of which were convincing and interesting, just had nothing to work with. They were like Olympic divers trying to do triple pikes off a six inch high diving board into a puddle; a bloody belly flop is inevitable.

Noyce should be nominated for the “Use of Stereotypes: Costumes Award”. One could create a drinking game around spotting a Russian. Every time he wants to plant an inference about Jolie’s character, or the other spy characters, there is a clumsy use of fur. American’s can’t be credited with the greatest international understanding, but even to us, using furry hats to tell us something about the character tells me that Noyce thinks we have the culture understanding of a bowl of soup.

I spent more time shifting in my seat than captivated. My fingernails suffered no nibbling from intense emotion but came out of the theater especially clean from the preening they experienced during Salt. I was so disinterested during Salt, I deliberately focus myself on the movie and had to stop myself from writing the review in my head in the cinema.

The ending of Salt left me shaking in fear. It was the only time in the movie that I felt truly, deeply rocked by emotion. Just as I could feel the wave of relief that the movie was finally coming to an end, the ending was a tsunami of terror washing away all my hope.

Angelia Jolie kicks major cross-continental ass, but the fight choreography and killings add nothing to the overall story. In the end she was the unfortunate Olympic diver. Salt’s answer the age old question: What’s worse than an action movie with no plot? A boring action movie with no plot.

The Last Airbender: It's Good, If You Don't Like Good Dialogue

The Last Airbender does not just bend air to his will, he is in charge of keeping the world in balance – but he is not ready for the task. Atrocious writing is the pustule on a strikingly beautiful movie with decent acting and captivating action sequences.

While out hunting, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), of the water tribe, find a frozen sphere with a boy and his floating beast of burden inside. When he escapes the bubble, the brother and sister realize he is different. He is an airbender. Aang (Noah Ringer) is the last of the Air tribe. Aang is not just the last of his kind, he is what the world has been missing to keep the world in balance. When the leaders of the Fire Tribe realize Aang is alive, they dedicate their resources to hunting him down.

A bender is a person who can manipulate the elements of the earth. There are earth, fire, water and wind benders. They control the elements using what appear to be martial arts forms. Much of the movie is the characters using these forms. Occasionally the forms get a bit tiring because there is a disconnection between the motion and the effect, but generally, they are beautiful expressions of discipline. More than just the forms, the fight choreography is captivating. There are transitions between live and computer generated fights that are hard to spot.

In fact, there is no shortage of pristine aesthetics in The Last Airbender. Director and M. Night Shyamalan paid extraordinary and particular attention to the way movie’s visual story. The settings, across an entire world, are rich with cultures. Each group of people and place has their own clothing, terrain, and lifestyle. The differences between different places and people range from subtle to blaringly obvious.

Shyamalan’s most obvious point is that not respecting the sacred is not only immoral, but has world changing consequences. As an atheist, I spent the entire second half of the movie rolling my eyes at how evil those who do not respect the gods are portrayed. M. Night Shyamalan’s opinion about atheists is that 1: We put power first, 2: we don’t care about the world, and 3: we will take, take, take without remorse. It wasn’t enough for him to show spirits that show up for work, it was not enough to show the heroes as warriors of their spirits, no. He had to go a step further, showing those lacking a reverence for the supernatural beings of this realm as so ruthless that they are willing to sacrifice everything for power. Shyamalan can blame us evil atheists all he wants to, but he is only showing his complete inability to escape the restraints of his faith, not the truth of the matter.

The thinly veiled theological biases aside, The Last Airbender is full of lines dumped in the middle or end of a scene that make no sense. Twenty minutes will go by, I’d be lost in the beauty of the movie and the kung fu, when BAAM – a line, usually delivered with all sincerity but horrible timing, that made me go cross-eyed. In one particularly memorable scene, out of nowhere, one character waits fifteen seconds after the last line is delivered and then orders another character to do something so obvious, it didn’t need to be said. She might as well have said during a fight, “Hit that guy.” Every time one of those dump sentences popped up, I checked out for a moment, unable to suspend my disbelief. M. Night Shyamalan then had to earn my trust again, taking time and energy that should have been applied to being emotionally involved in the story.

If you are a theist who wants to watch fights in pretty places, The Last Airbender is just the movie for you. For my ten bucks though, I demand writing that doesn’t make it impossible to care about the story.

Kick Ass - It's fun but that's it.

Tired of watching innocent people get hurt, an awkward high school boy takes justice into his own hands, invents a super- hero persona he calls Kick Ass, and heads off to fight crime. Even though it is a bit bumpy in places, the cheeky nature of combat makes Kick Ass a fun use of a couple hours.

Late blooming high schooler Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) can’t seem to catch a break. Bullies make easy work of him. Frustrated with the abuse and injustice, Dave goes vigilante and becomes Kick Ass. His self-promoted celebrity does not go unnoticed by Mindy (Chloe Moretz) and Damon Macready (Nicholas Cage); a well trained father-daughter vigilante team armed to the teeth. Kick Ass’s interludes into crime fighting also catches the attention of a local crime boss, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong).

All of us have felt the sting of injustice or have felt relegated to the humiliating circle of helplessness. I’d guess that 99.9% of us wanted to take action to correct it but because of the law or maybe just plain cowardice we took one for the “let’s be civilized” team. Kick Ass lets us play revisionist history and play out our butt kicking fantasies from the safety of a theater seat; good and bad.

Kick Ass is a pretty sincere look at what might happen if average folk went out and tried to stop criminals. Yes, it is wrapped in outlandish comedy, and sometimes over the top non-sensery but it is not a candy coated adventure for Dave. Things go terribly wrong. He screws up. Usually it’s a matter of passing importance, but occasionally, the mistake is immeasurable.

For the most part though, his dalliance into super heroism is a giggle-coaxing charm. His hero warm-ups are classic. His girl troubles are a relatable snicker-inducing mess and prove, yet again, that boys will do anything for sex.
On the other hand Mindy and Damon’s emotions run deep; their motivations are scars in their history. They have dedicated a great deal of their life’s energy to revenge and the utter destruction of their enemies. Their story has little levity, but gives weight to Kick Ass, even when he is unaware. The atypical parental relationship is tender, in a strangely brutal way.

The writing for both Damon and Mindy borders on displeasing, often not campy enough to throw it over the edge, but too campy to be taken seriously. There are no easy, unobstructed moments between the two.

My major complaint about Kick Ass is that it doesn’t merge the emotion of the two concurrent plot lines well enough. The Mindy-Damon story attempts to be heartbreaking and multi-faceted, but really only blossoms into a slightly more complex motive. When they finally meet, they still seem like they are running next to each other, not with each other.

There are no shortage of hand to hand combat and gun fights in this flick. The close quarter fight scenes made me feel like I was dodging fists. The weapons discussions, between allies and enemies, will make even the most hardened audience member laugh out loud. The final combat sequence is worth sneaking into the theater to see alone.

Kick Ass has one huge plus: a girl hero with her clothes on. Yes, she is a sailor-mouthed elementary school student. Yes, her childhood was unconventional. Yes, she is bad ass. Kick Ass proves that girls can kick down doors, shoot guns, swear and kick the stuffing out of villains without risk of wardrobe malfunction. Take note, other directors and writers, girls in clothing don’t just get raped or beaten up; they can also rat-a-tat-tat yo ass.

Kick Ass probably won’t go down as a classic comedy or superhero movie, but it sure is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. Giving yourself a brief glimpse of your superhero career and a few good laughs is worth the price of the ticket.

The Massive Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Cover-up and the Silent Acceptance Through Participation

This week it came to light that the Boy Scouts of America have kept “Perversion Files”; thousands of files that outlined sexual abuse in the BSA and how they systematically covered it up. As the BSA propagated acts of prejudice against nearly a quarter of the country’s population by banning gay people and atheists from participating, they allowed the sexual abuse of children in their care. This cover-up and allowance of sexual abuse has been happening for nearly 90 years in the BSA, meaning anyone still alive today who was the parent of, a participant in or a supporter of the BSA has done so during this policy.

These allegations are especially cutting when one considers that the Boy Scouts allegedly allowed Scoutmasters who they knew were pedophiles to continue to lead while they turned away honorable atheists and gay people who wanted to be leaders. The Boy Scouts of America has, through their actions, demonstrated that they find atheism less “morally straight” (part of the Scout Oath) than sexually abusing the children in their care. This is a disgusting policy, one that should shame each and every person who has participated in the BSA in the last 90 years.

One must expect that sexual abuse and abusers will find their way to children, no matter the setting. The BSA must anticipate having child molesters in their ranks, given the scale of their organization and the number of boys in their group. The “Perversion Files” allegedly are not just a list of people of whom to not allow in the BSA because of their predilections, but also contains names of people the BSA let in, knowing their predilections. This extended implanted pedophilic action makes everyone who has given money to the BSA in the last 90 years unknowing participants in the sexual abuse of children. The American federal government, meaning the tax payers of the United States, have given money to the Boy Scouts for decades.

While American bigotry allowed the Boy Scouts to perpetrate acts of hate in the name of “being morally straight”, the resulting lack of examination allowed these crimes to continue. The pseudo-religious, paramilitary, “morally straight” organizational structure creates the perfect storm for concealing wrong-doing. When the moral standard of the organization is the purpose of its existence, it can only continue to thrive if the people the group serves, in this case, boys and their parents, and the overall community believe the organization provides a strong ethical structure for the group. Thus, the reputation of a group becomes more essential than the actual practices of the group. Anything that damages the reputation or image of the organization must be contained, to prevent exposure. In a press release the BSA reaffirms this point by discussing values, image, and ideals but not actions of the Boy Scouts of America.

While we are deeply disturbed by the actions alleged in this lawsuit, they do not represent the values and ideals of the BSA or its councils, professionals, members, or chartered organizations.

It is less important to groups like the BSA that their actions be “morally straight”, but that their image is “morally straight.” When a child comes forth with allegations of abuse, this one case becomes an overall case of brand image. As a consequence, the organization’s image and missions are entirely threatened. It is no longer an issue of child abuse or rape, but an issue of damaging the reputation of millions of people and the group as a whole. A well-meaning person could see it as doing a greater good to hush up the child.

When applied on the scale of the BSA or the Catholic Church, it becomes a systematic practice that harms thousands, maybe millions of children as well as their families. The only way to assure abuses do not becomes systematic is to ruthlessly decimate the false ultra-moral image of the BSA, demand transparency, jail those who covered up abuses and demand they comply with societal standards of behavior.
This is done most effectively by parasites, not attack dogs. People already inside the organization need to withdraw their children and financial support. They need to make it clear that they are leaving the group as long as there are “perversion files” and as long as all people are not allowed in their ranks. I suspect a 5% reduction in numbers would significantly damage the financial bottom line enough to get their attention.

Parents of young boys who have considered entering their boys into Boy Scout programs need to write and tell them that they will not be enrolling their child in the BSA as long as they have a policy of covering up the molestation of the children in their group. I suggest including a check for the enrollment amount with the word VOID written over it. Nothing gets a big organizations attention like a check they cannot cash.

Eagle Scouts (the highest rank in the BSA, a lifelong title that earns an instant promotion in the Army as well as other social considerations) need to come forward with the radical stance that molesting children is wrong, even in the BSA. If they actually believe in the title of an Eagle Scout and what it is supposed to mean, they need to come forward and act bravely, a demand of an Eagle Scout. Speaking directly to their local councils and demand they take a position on the “Perversion Files”, will make a contract with the boys in their charge to report any abuse to the authorities, require them to act within the law, will train Scoutmasters how to report abuse, establish a confidential abuse reporting service and force transparency on the national level. After discussing it on a local level, a council of Eagle Scouts needs to be conveyed independently to write a formal demand of the Boy Scouts of America.

Eagle Scouts need to refrain from participating in any BSA activities. This includes scout meetings, trips, jamborees, or any other event. I encourage Eagles to continue their activities informally until the BSA comes into compliance with common decency.

Scoutmasters, Assistant Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, Assistant Cubmasters and Den Mothers need to withdraw from the organization, with the same policy as the Eagles, until they condemn pedophilia, and commit to a culture of transparent inclusiveness. They need to do this for two reasons. First, it’s the morally correct position. Second is the matter of self-preservation. Until the BSA roots out all the pedophiles and pedophile enablers, the taint is on every single, individual Scout Leader, Assistant Scout Leader, Council Member, Den Mother, etc. The outside world should look upon them as potential threats, because they are, as long as there is an exclusionary, secretive culture in the BSA. Without a significant change, the image of the BSA will be that of NAMBLA, with the same connotations. They should join with the Eagle Scouts and write a separate formal demand with the same provisions as the Eagle Scouts.

I encourage the former scouts and their parents to write letters of disgust and support any demands for transparency made by people inside scouts. This policy put them or their children in danger. Even if they were not hurt, the policy did not assure the utmost protection for their children and violated the trust they put in the organization.

The Scout Law, “A Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, Reverent” is the perfect trap for a pedophile to lay. If a child actually believes these things, a molester and the BSA could use the law against them. A boy who wants to refuse a sexual advance is being disobedient. Then the pedophile can warn the child that if he tells someone he is not loyal to his troop or to the BSA by making the group look bad. Talking about sexual abuse is certainly not friendly or cheerful. Putting people in jail is not kind or helpful. Having sex before married or having gay sex is unclean and irreverent. If he goes against the wishes of Scoutmaster and tells someone, he is not being obedient. Trustworthy scouts would know how to keep secrets. Lastly, a brave child would deal with the sexual abuse themselves, without telling someone.
Without a significant change in the culture of the BSA, the pedophilia will continue, the cover-up will persist, and this cycle of violence will persevere. Refusing to take action against the BSA policies of pedophilia is to enable it to occur. Any Eagle Scout, Scoutmaster, Den Mother, Council Member, parent, child, supporter, or person, who cannot stand up against the molestation of children has no place in any organization with children.

The Boy Scouts have two choices: the status quo, or live up to their oath, law, slogan and promise. Continue to allow children to be abused or change. How could anyone who believes in any aspect of the Scout Law think covering up pedophilia or not speaking up makes a person, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, or morally straight? I ask the Boy Scout community: do you pay these ideals lip service, be a hypocrite and do nothing, or act with bravery to honor the trust given by these boys, their families and the community? Will you do nothing to wipe the stain of pedophilia from the sash worn so proudly?


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/28/eveningnews/main3213145.shtml
http://chattahbox.com/us/2010/03/19/boy-scouts-let-confessed-pedophile-remain-as-scoutmaster/
http://scouting.org/News/Oregon.aspx
http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/03/19/boy-scouts-kept-secret-files-on-molestors-lawyer-says/53597/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_boy_scouts_sex_abuse
http://www.redwoodbsa.org/ContactUs.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America_membership_controversies#Position_on_atheists_and_agnostics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Scout_%28Boy_Scouts_of_America%29
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/ThePack/cmast.aspx

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - A Perfect Dump and Run Movie

Sixth grader Greg Heffley learns important lessons about friendship, being a good friend and identity in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. A light-hearted, middle-school buddy movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a perfect dump and run movie.

Entering middle school wasn’t as easy as Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) anticipated. Some of the kids are way bigger than him. The same things that are cool in elementary school become a badge of shame in middle school. Greg does everything he can to fit in and be a school favorite. He wants to change everything, including his best friend Rowley Jefferson (Robert Capron). The harder he tries to fit in, the worse the consequences to his image.

I was never an eleven year old boy but I can see how Diary of a Wimpy Kid touches on issues boys have during the change from a kid to a teen and what it means. A kid of either gender faces many issues as they experience changes in their body, and social lives. How do I become a successful teen? Why is my body doing that thing? How can I be stronger? Are my friends holding me back socially? Is loyalty more important than popularity?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an utterly sterile look at this change. There are no controversial moments, nothing that a PTA mother might find too mature for their child. Even the most uptight ninny of a mother should have no concern. The most deviant part of the movie is a scene where Greg is trying to avoid his brother but really has to pee, so he has to hold it for an extended period. The horror. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an innocent examination of the age and sense of self felt by tweenie aged children.

Controversy and conflict are how more in-depth moral issues are examined on film, so adults may find the glossiness of Diary of a Wimpy Kid like wading through an intellectual kiddie pool. Then again, like kiddie pools, Diary of a Wimpy Kid isn’t for adults.

It is the non-odious script that makes it a perfect movie to not see with your tweenie child. Feel free to send your child into the theater with no fear of nightmares, offensive language or sexual content. If you time it right, you can see a rated R movie with your spouse, your kid can see the young buddy film Diary of a Wimpy Kid (without his stupid parents) and everyone can have a pleasant, age-appropriate time.

Just this once, you don’t have to feel guilty about dumping your kid and running off to do something grown up.

Shutter Island: You invest 2.5 hours and get 3 minutes in return

U.S. Marshalls go to Shutter Island, a mental hospital for the criminally insane, to find an escaped prisoner and stumble across a bigger mystery. Brief, but frequent moments of shoddy writing and cinematography damage the experience of what might have otherwise been a memorable and insightful film.

United States Marshalls Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are dispatched to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient who seems to have evaporated into thin air. Doctor Cawley (Ben Kingsley) shows them around, tells them about the facility and the patient, but seems to be hiding his true motives. While on the island, some of Teddy’s personal and war experiences come to the surface, affecting his ability to investigate effectively. A storm, both environmental and emotional, overtakes the grounds and reveals some painful truths.

Shutter Island has introspective moments that could shine lights on long forgotten skeletons in anyone’s closet. Sadly, just as one might be forced to ask themselves hard questions, the light goes out. Occasionally, it is because the writing or execution of the lines is unnatural. Even more frustrating are the dollar store green screen visuals.
Director Martin Scorsese and director of photography Robert Richardson pay meticulous attention to the lighting, framing and shadow in Shutter Island. Each location is lit to draw the viewers attention where the director wants it, where the story demands it be, and creates a deeply entrenching mood for the audience.

Then out of nowhere, while the audience is sitting obediently in the visual trench Scorsese dug for us, he throws dirt on our heads. The carefully lit scenery is replaced by green screen effects that would be rejected by the producer of any late night show. There are a few dream or fantasy sequences that are technically well done but leave the audience scratching their heads. Occasionally, Scorsese pays better attention to how the scene looks than how it is acted or written and it distracts from the overall film.

Much of Shutter Island relies on the relationship between Teddy and Chuck. For the most part, their relationship, streams smoothly across the screen. Just as you buy into the silky ride, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and writer Laeta Kalogridis throw tires onto the road. They aren’t interesting; they are the nuisances of bad acting and unpolished writing. The phraseology used by Teddy is inconsistent and bizarre. Even when Teddy‘s dialogue is written within the believable range, DiCaprio occasionally overacts relatively tame scenes. Ruffalo and DiCaprio’s consistency lack chemistry or sincerity. As the film progresses, the nature of their relationship changes, but the feeling between them does not.

My biggest frustration when I reached the end of Shutter Island is that I never feel attached to the characters. The use of fantasy and the obvious secrets throughout the story made me feel like the filmmakers were keeping me at an uncomfortable distance.

Even given all the problems, Shutter Island does leave the audience with something to think and talk about at the end. For those of us who have skeletons hung amongst our skinny jeans, the ending may give pause and may even force introspection. My husband and I discussed the ending and its meaning for nearly two hours.

Shutter Island’s pay off did not feel worth the two and a half hour investment of my time. We can ask ourselves the same question and have the same honest discussion without the context of Shutter Island’s story. There is little, besides the last three minutes of the film, to really grasp onto as powerful, entertaining or interesting. It might be good for a discussion group but barring that, it has little to offer a general audience.

The Lovely Bones - Toothpaste and Orange Juice

In The Lovely Bones, a young girl struggles to reach out to her grieving, self-destructive father as he tries to solve her death. Segmented bits of semi-connected subplots sever the audience’s connection to the story.

Jack Salmon’s (Mark Wahlberg) world comes crumbling down around him when his daughter Susie (Saoirse Ronan) disappears on her way home from school. Even as time passes, he cannot let her go and obsesses about where she is, if she is alive and who killed her if she was murdered. Susie Salmon chooses not to cross into heaven and to stay in her own world between heaven and the world of the living. She looks down on her father, occasionally able to make contact. They both are haunted by the life of her killer.

In an attempt to create a surreal experience, writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens make The Lovely Bones uncomfortable and unbelievable. Separately, the story styles may have worked: one a magical, overly-exaggerated, yet tragic world of grief and beauty; the other story a cutting examination of the power of grief to tear a family apart and strength of love to glue it back together. Together they are nothing less than a cinematic see-saw. When one side goes up, the other plunges down and the audience is left wondering what and where they should be paying their attention. The unpleasant confusion and the nauseating back and forth murder any of the pleasantries in the film.

The absolute worst part of The Lovely Bones is the non-heaven in which Susie lives. The landscape is always in transition and the meaning of the place seems to change. Susie speaks in riddles when the subject of the world creep forth. There is a cast of useless characters who visit Susie in her segregation. Her personal resting point was less ethereal and more commercial break.

The real shame of the really poor decision making by the director and writers is that it takes away from some surprisingly resonating acting. Mark Wahlberg’s grief requires no weapon to remove your heart from your chest. Rachael Weisz, who plays Susie’s mother, Abigail, has a breakdown that could anger the most stoic in the seats. I was most fond of Rose McIver, who plays Lindsey, Susie’s little sister. Her performance is subtle, but genuine. She reminds me a great deal of my own little sister, in personality, and courage.

Personal sentiment aside, The Lovely Bones is an exercise in toothpaste and orange juice. Both may be refreshing alone, but together, they make drinking bleach a real option – no matter how nice the packaging.

Red Cliff (Chi bi) - Exquisite

In Red Cliff (Chi bi), the people of China’s southlands face a power-hungry Prime Minister bent on taking over the entire country. Compelling story telling, exquisite visuals, and captivating battle scenes weave together to create a brilliant cinematic tapestry.

After conquering the entire Chinese northlands in the name of the Emperor, ambitious and ruthless General Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang), who appoints himself Prime Minister, sets his eyes on the southland. In order to get there, he has to enter the territory protected by Liu Bei (Yong Yu). Desperate to protect the lives of his people, Liu Bei asks his strategist, Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to ask the leader of the southern province Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) for help. When it’s impossible to ignore the realities, Zhou Yu decides to join the fight against Cao Cao. They make their stand at Red Cliffs, their stronghold.

The plot flows like water from a pitcher. The writers, Chan Khan, Kuo Cheng, Sheng Hyu, and writer-director John Woo chose the speed and temperature of the water. As the audience sits and watches the story unfold, they can feel the warmth of the characters, the crashing of the shields and the cool calm of strategy. There isn’t much emotion they can’t extract from the audience. At one point I found myself with my mouth wide open, sitting on the edge of my seat, my heart pounding, and my eyes furrowed.

The costuming adds incredible depth to the film. The elite are so clean, their clothing flowing and regal. The soldiers’ uniforms are cheap and dirty looking. The soldiers’ shields glimmer in the beginning of battles and dull at the end. The subtle changes in costuming as the story moves on gives the movie depth and makes the story believable, because the unconscious red flags are not going off.

Woo takes the time introduce the ideas of formations, discipline and tactics to the watcher. They don’t just out-fight the enemy, they out-think them. He has enough respect for the audience that he is willing to cut them in on the how, as much as the what and why.

The war heroes in the story aren’t supernatural, they aren’t magical; they are just extraordinary men doing extraordinary things. Their hand to hand combat is noticeably better than all the rest of the soldiers but it doesn’t cross the line into fantasy.

The martial arts in Red Cliff kick ass. (Ok, I had to.) I found myself dodging spears, stepping left and right to avoid northern soldiers. Everyone who takes up most of the frame in any battle sequence knows how to get the audiences’ heart rate up. Heck, there is even a man who mows through horses like a dwarf – and that will make perfect sense once you see the movie.

There’s real humor in Red Cliff too. It is obvious that Woo doesn’t throw it in there just for the sake of making the story funny, but that even in little slices of life, like those in Red Cliff, life presents little bits of humor. In order to make a complete story, even a war story, humor must be present.

Girly-girls will enjoy the sensual and romantic aspects of the film. More non-traditional women will enjoy the active role women play. There are two women in the movie, one with unrestrained femininity and one tomboy. Both do their part for the war.

The battle scenes captivate, not only because of the graphic violence but because of the subtle emotion, steely strategy and attention to visual details. Do not miss this movie. It’s worth the time to go to the small-run theater and see this film. Man or woman, old or young, everyone will enjoy this masterpiece.

Twilight: New Moon - Yeah, like, whatever

Twilight: New Moon is a 14 year old girl’s dream movie. It reminded me of the romances I had as a teenager – a wreck.


Something happened before Twilight: New Moon began, what that was, the audience doesn’t know. It’s obvious there is a romance between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and they really love each other. Oh yeah, and Edward is a vampire but we never actually see him chew on anyone so we know that because…they told us so. All of the sudden, Edward leaves Bella unprotected from Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) but it’s not clear why. The whole Cullen family is there, but I don’t know why they matter. Then Edward get sad. There is Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who Bella leads on for most of the movie. He has a dark secret. Then Bella, Jacob and Edward do some stuff and get ready for the next movie. Uhm, that’s like…pretty much it.

Now before you ask me, “Didn’t you see the original?”, no I didn’t and that shouldn’t matter. I have a ten buck rule. If I have to pay ten bucks, it better be worth ten bucks. If I have to pay to rent the movie before, and then pay to see the movie, it’s not worth it. Each movie, even a sequel, has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. Twilight is one hundred percent middle. It’s insulting to the audience that they can’t be bothered to put together an entire movie.

The one plus side is there is a pack of half naked hunky-boys that run around the forest. Unfortunately for me, they are playing teenaged kids, so it’s hard to think of them of as sexy little beef cakes without feeling dirty.

What they do put together is a slapdash bit of soap opera drama. There is no real drama, no real romance, no tension, no real danger, not much of anything. The only thing is has in spades is intense eye contact.

They stare at each other from afar. They stare at each other up close. Their eyes dart back and forth. Their eyes melt. They go cold. They open wide. They close. In extreme cases, they turn away. I’m going to watch the out-takes on the DVD because I will bet dollars to doughnuts there are moments where the actors couldn’t hold it together when they were close and staring at each other and started to break up laughing. It will probably be the most entertaining part of the DVD.

There’s just nothing to Twilight: New Moon. There’s no plot and horrible acting. There is certainly nothing worth watching.

Who is the newest writer for Skeptical Inquirer? I AM!

Over the past few weeks I've been talking with Skeptical Inquirer Magazine about writing reviews for skeptics on their website. I'm elated to say the kinks have been worked out and it's official; I'm their voice in the dark (theater). This is a fantastic opportunity for me to write for people like me and I couldn't be more excited that it is with SI. It's more than a little embarassing how much I've been dancing around my house, the store, in bed, at the DMV, and in my car.

This is a huge opportunity for me, no only because this jumps me from strictly online reviews to potentially print but it also puts my foot in the door to write about things that really matter to me in the future. I am by far the most average person at the magazine, which is mostly written by phd's, professors, and well respected scientists, etc. It essentially spring boards me into a new league of both writers and skeptics. It is an amazing jump in status, credibility and opportunity. I'm psyched.

I hope you read some of my reviews or even subscribe to the magazine.

http://www.csicop.org/publications

A Christmas Carol - More Like a Christmas Crisis

Animated and in 3D, Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday story, A Christmas Carol, spills onto screens again. A garish demonstration of the capabilities of the new 3D technology, the story only pops out when it possesses an opportunity to show off the technology.

Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is a miserly old man who holds tight each penny in his pocket. After his business partner, Marley (Gary Oldman) dies, Scrooge loses all perspective, turning even surlier than he was before. Devoid of all Christmas spirit, Scrooge tries to drain the spirit out of everyone around him. The spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come (All voiced and drawn to look like Jim Carrey) warn him about the consequences of inhospitality and holding on to his money too tightly.

Robert Zemeckis should hold his head in shame for such a disgusting display of technology driven plot. He both “wrote” and “directed” this version of “A Christmas Carol.” A responsible director-writer would make Marley, the Spirits and Scrooge feel like they within hands reach by re-arranging the 3D to places in the plot that are enhanced by the extra dimension. Instead, he created a masturbatory mess.

The plot is carved back to the bare minimum and stripped of all opportunity to connect with the audience emotionally. In fact, Zemeckis relies heavily on that fact that A Christmas Carol is so ubiquitous that he commits the sin of Cliff’s Notes. Taken on its face, having no prior knowledge of A Christmas Carol, a viewer would see it as shallow and infuriating. The plot is replaced with scenes meant to show off the remarkable 3D technology. 3D Scenes drone on twice as long as the plot they are supposed to enhance. The floor drops away, fingers are pointed at the audience, and characters are dangled from different angles. In fact, no opportunity to sacrifice the plot for the technology was missed.

Even still, the 3D is so good, it might have been fun to watch this tech demo if the voice acting was varied, interesting and sincere. It wasn’t. Jim Carrey plays Scrooge in all five stages of his life, as well as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future and he does it terribly. Scrooge lacks any depth, has no resonance, all changes seen seem forced and shallow. The Ghost of Christmas Past can only be appreciated by a herpetologist or a speech pathologist and I am neither of those. The Ghost of Christmas Present’s insipid laughter made me consider leaving the theater, but that would mean abandoning my mother-in-law in her seat, and even I’m not that mean. The only saving grace in Carrey’s performance is that the Ghost of Christmas Future barely talks.

Radio Disney brought teams of children to see A Christmas Carol at the press screening I attended. There were scenes that frightened the tiny so badly that they began to cry, scream and cuddle up in the arms of their mothers. There were times during A Christmas Carol I considered jumping into my mother-in-law’s lap and cry like a baby.

This may go down as a rumble worthy topic at family holiday parties because my hubby’s-mummy liked A Christmas Carol. I suggest instead of wasting money seeing such a despicable waste of a classic story, spend the same money seeing the play at a local theater.

Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant

Marvelous reckless abandon in Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant, falls prey to an invisible, ill timed hand of meaningless restraint. The restraint is not only unnecessary, it puts a lampshade over the brilliance in this movie.

Goodie-two-shoes Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and his bad influence friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson), sneak off to attend Cirque du Freak, a traveling freak show. Amongst the standard freak show staples is a beautiful dancing spider, Octa owned by Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) and Darren is instantly hooked. His obsession with the spider leads him down a path that changes his life forever.

I don’t know if writers Paul Weitz and Brian Helgeland were fighting with the studio or with each other, but there is an obvious push-pull in Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant which leaves the viewer with whiplash. There are times during Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant that I felt I was watching inspired film making. At other times, the inspiration is sucked into a vacuum of despair.

As is the theme with Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant often, the conversations bounce between freakishly hysterical, and, not a moment later, is so bad the entire audience groaned, out loud while slapping their foreheads in disbelief. Literally.
At times, visuals were creative, interesting, glittering and spectacular. The exaggerated sets and stunts are almost enough to make me giggle like a little girl. Just as quickly as the child-like snickering came, it disappeared, and all that was left were loud colors and dreadful purple lighting dimly illuminating half-developed characters.

It may not have even been that the colors were dreadful, but that the scenes lasted way too long. Every aspect of Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant lingered on screen long beyond its expiration date. In fact, each exaggerated aspect takes up so much time, the filmmakers didn’t have time to include a complete plot. They ended the movie somewhere around the middle of the plot, without a real climax and while leaving the door open for a sequel.

Cirque du Freak – The Vampire’s Assistant strives to satisfy one’s senses of whimsy, adventure, and fantasy with a bit of cinematic candy but the filmmakers leave it in the mouth so long, it becomes nothing more than a gag.

How the History of Credit Cards Matters to the Future of Health Care

How the History of Credit Cards Matters to the Future of Health Care
Interstate politics, federal regulation and oversight can teach us which direction we should go in, which we need to avoid and provides much needed wisdom to the discussion.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/2190289/how_the_history_of_credit_cards_matters.html

Love Happens - Unfortunately

Even motivational speakers can be stricken with bouts of insecurity and Burke is no different. Love Happens’ flat main characters are almost saved by complex and well portrayed secondary characters who steal the scenes whenever they are on screen.

After the death of his wife, Burke (Aaron Eckhart) shares his grief with other people who have lost their loved ones by creating a self help program called A-Okay! While traveling to Seattle for a conference, he meets the beautiful and interesting florist Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) and is instantly struck by her. It isn’t until she sees his interaction with the conference goers that she becomes interested in return. One of the conference goers, Walter (John Carroll Lynch), is drowning in the depths of his grief. Neither Walter nor Burke will admit the extent of the help that they need.

The writing in Love Happens left me feeling jerked about without regard for brain injury that might occur. One minute Burke and Eloise are engaged in a tedious banter of blossoming romance that could make even the most determined insomniac nod off and make the rest of us grind our teeth. Just a second later, there is a poignant interaction between Walter and Burk that reduces the audience to tears. Then, out of nowhere, comes a scene with Burke’s agent, Lane Fucking Marshall (Dan Fogler), that made me want to poke myself in the eye with a coffee stirrer.

In fact, if Love Happens had been exclusively about the emotional struggle that Burke suffered after his wife’s death and the relief he finds from his clients, it might have been a powerful and moving story with lasting impact. Writers Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson couldn’t leave well enough alone and slapped in an unnatural, ineffective, emotionless, pseudo-love-story that turned me off to everything else.

It wasn’t just a failure of writing; Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston lack the chemistry necessary to make the struggle between the two believable or even palatable. Individually they don’t reach an emotional tentacle out to the audience whenever a secondary character isn’t on screen.

By far the best performance in Love Happens is John Carroll Lynch as the devastated father who lost his son and everything else. He reached into my chest and stole my breath and at times I thought my heart actually tore in two. His story felt so real it was almost tangible and his tears made my shirt wet.

Those moments of deep emotion and undeniably monotonous scenes are sandwiched between endless, unabashed, unashamed brand placement. Eloise obviously works in a florist shop, not because it’s relevant to the story, but because it is a great way to get a huge floral network’s brand in front of the right audience at least ten times during the movie. Burke stays at a nice hotel, not because it’s the best hotel in town, but because we can see their brand all over every wall, in every conference room and in every hallway, even though it adds nothing to the story.

I’d rather watch a ten minute short movie about Burke, Walter and their struggle through grief than a two hour movie that is 90% filler, flowers, marketing and cuddles. On the plus side, your vocabulary will come out bigger than when it went in, if you ignore my warnings and go to this movie anyways.

Lake Local School District in Ohio Makes Belief in God a Goal

There are few things that can get under my skin like the education system in America. We do not do enough to teach our kids about the real wonders in the world through logical inspection and we fail miserably to teach them to respect or understand history. Schools that respect the secular requirements of our government fail to impart the importance of these subjects. What education are we denying children when they are educated by a school district that makes “belief in god” a goal in their mission statement?

Lake Local School District in Ohio dismissed the constitution, and the history it is based on, and wrote in their mission statement, “belief in god” as a goal for their students. Not only is this illegal, it is intellectual negligence on the part of the school district.

It’s imperative that American students understand why the First Amendment was written and the continuous reinforcement of its wisdom that has happened since its ratification. It is impossible for a school district properly impart that knowledge when it thumbs its nose at the law it has the duty to teach.

I’m not the only one to notice the failure of the Ohio education system in the area of history. The 2006 report from Fordham Institute on education excellence gave Ohio a D for their Social Studies Content Standards which covers United States History.

I can only guess what the science curriculum of a school district which pushes belief in god looks like, but in order to meet their goal of “belief in god”, there must be academic skimming taking place. Any conversation about the scientific method must be free of any god slant or it’s not the scientific method. It is impossible to critically examine the world with the presupposition that god exists. When there is a conflict between god and science, which wins when belief in god is a stated value of the school district?

It’s the responsibility of everyone who cares about the education of our children, as well as the future of our society, to take seriously these incursions into the academic system. Slipping the children of Ohio into a dark age is not just disastrous for them. It’s disastrous for all of us.

Having pockets of populations that are less education than others in the same country can not only lead to government issues, but it can lead to exploitation of the people of lesser education. School districts that allow religion to influence their teachings have higher teen pregnancy, teen STD, and dropout rates. Due to the gaps in their education, they are more vulnerable to financial predators, religious exploitation, and exploitation in personal relationships. They also lack perspective to vote in their best interest and the best interest of the country.

A school district that disregards their duty to their pupils should not be met with simple silence. They need to have the consequences ring in their ear. We, as caring, involved citizens need to speak out for the health and well-being of these children. We must tell the Lake Local School District that their unethical, illegal, immoral behavior has not gone unnoticed and will be met with the resistance it deserves.

I already wrote the Lake Local School District, my letter is below. Please take the time to click the link at the end of this article and write a polite but passionate letter to the Lake Local School District. Together we can apply the pressure to stop the intellectual hemorrhaging in Lake Local School District.

Contact Lake Local School District

Hello Lake Local School District,

It disappoints me whenever I hear about an elected body disregarding the constitution of our country, but it shocks my sensibilities when it is a public school district, like Lake Local School District. A school district should concern itself with teaching what is reasonable, provable, and factual. It is utterly unethical, not to mention illegal, for you force even the most sanitized version of religion on your students. It may go against your personal beliefs, but everyone in this country, including your students, has the right not to believe in god.

It seems that you should be aware, as a public education district, that this country was founded on the idea that government and religion should not mix. History has spoken with a bull horn about the consequences of blurring the line between religion and government. It horrifies me that children in your district may not be taught to respect their own rights and the rights of others because you taught them that it has no value.

How can you, with any sincerity, teach the true meaning of the constitution if you so willingly take no notice of it? How can you teach your students to be law abiding, constructive members of society, if you so willfully ignore the first law of this country?

I value the constitution and our free education system. Do not dismiss your duty to your pupils because you can’t separate your personal convictions from your duty. If you were unable to do your duty as a government official, you should not have run for office. Once elected and put in office, you have a duty to all the citizens of this country to do the right thing. I trust, now that you have been made aware that you have violated the rights of your students, you will quickly abandon this effort and act in the manner they deserve.

I will leave you with the words of some of our founders that I hope you take their words to heart.

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..." - Treaty of Tripoli signed by President Adams and ratified unanimously by Congress.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10 August 1787)

I await your changed decision,
LaRae Meadows

http://lake.stark.k12.oh.us/home/contactus/contact-form/

http://www.examiner.com/x-2044-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m8d27-Ohio-school-district-lists-Belief-in-God-as-key-value