I had never seen “Rebel Without a Cause” before, and I thought it was a pretty good movie.  Unfortunately near the end of the movie it began to rain, and a lot of people left.  We tried to stay, but there began to be a lot of lightening in the area which finally pushed us toward home.  Below are a few pictures I took at the event:

The crowd wasn’t too big around 7 o’clock probably because the temperature and humidity were still at oppressive levels.

More photos after the fold.

The cartoon that plays before the movie might actually be my favorite part of Screen on the Green.  All movies should be preceded by an animated short.

A picture of the goofy dance that most people do right before the feature film begins.  I have no idea what it is called or when it originated.

Here is the best picture I was able to get of the movie playing with the Capitol building in the background.  Oh yeah, that is a giant head in the middle of the picture.

After almost not being held this year, Screen on the Green continues to be a very popular event here in DC.  Hopefully the event won’t have as much trouble finding sponsors next year.

Arlington has a similar event during the summer where they show 80’s movies, and Crystal City shows Superhero films.  We might have to try out one of the other outdoor movies in the area and compare the experiences.

The big series starts tonight. Go Twins!

I was predisposed to dislike the movie Fargo¹, but I was eventually forced to view the film for the sake of convenience. Since moving to Washington D.C., I’ve been asked about Fargo frequently. In fact, when I meet someone new around the District, as soon as they find out I grew up in Fargo, they ask either: “Have you seen the movie?” or: “Did you like the movie?” I of course would answer that I hadn’t seen the movie, but the conversation would continue with the topic being the movie. It was always somewhat awkward when someone asked me if I had seen the movie, because once I had said no, they would give me the “how could you have not seen the movie about your home town”² look. I eventually tired of these awkward situations and finally I Netflixed Fargo.³

I’m glad I took the time and have now seen Fargo. The movie was really well done, and being from the area portrayed, I thought the accents were terrific⁴. What I thought made this movie special, and why I would argue it received as much attention as it did, was the way people felt about the movie. I guess that sounds vague, but consider that all of the main characters are cheats, murderers, and otherwise unwholesome characters⁵. But there is an eerie humor to the entire movie. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable when I wanted to laugh. For all of the horrific and sometimes graphic violence in the movie, at times I wanted to laugh (or at least I found parts funny).

Consequently, that dark, brooding, and uncomfortable humor is what I find refreshing. I think the movie’s portrayal of human nature, when faced with the unconscionable acts of others, holds true. No matter what terrible things may happen, there is nothing an individual can do to avoid those events. While the degree of anguish might vary, and indeed it does to a great degree, there are times when a person is going to face the worst. And in the face of the worst, sometimes the best a person can do is look for the humor in life. Fargo was both violent and humorous at the same time; you couldn’t have either without experiencing it all. In this case, art certainly imitated life.

Before posting on Anderson Cooper’s or Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book I’d like to write about a book I just read. On my flight from Washington DC to Fargo, North Dakota I had the pleasure of reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Several of my friends and colleagues had read this book and recommended me to read it, and I bought it right away (although it sat on my book shelf for many months). Generally speaking when a book is recommended so highly it doesn’t live up to my expectations; this was not the case for The Kite Runner. The book which takes place in both Afghanistan and the United States is full of passion and candor. Publishers Weekly states:

Hosseini’s stunning debut novel starts as an eloquent Afghan version of the American immigrant experience in the late 20th century, but betrayal and redemption come to the forefront when the narrator, a writer, returns to his ravaged homeland to rescue the son of his childhood friend after the boy’s parents are shot during the Taliban takeover in the mid ’90s. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab. Spurred on by childhood guilt, Amir makes the difficult journey to Kabul, only to learn…

the boy has been enslaved by a former childhood bully who has become a prominent Taliban official. The price Amir must pay to recover the boy is just one of several brilliant, startling plot twists that make this book memorable both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives. The character studies alone would make this a noteworthy debut, from the portrait of the sensitive, insecure Amir to the multilayered development of his father, Baba, whose sacrifices and scandalous behavior are fully revealed only when Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns the true nature of his relationship to Hassan. Add an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history and its ramifications in both America and the Middle East, and the result is a complete work of literature that succeeds in exploring the culture of a previously obscure nation that has become a pivot point in the global politics of the new millennium.

I was completely enthralled with this novel. I had only around 160 pages left in the book and I decided to read for 5 or 10 minutes before bed. Instead of around 10 min I read for almost two hours finished the book (I started reading at 1 am). As soon as I finished I bought Hosseini’s second book A Thousand Splendid Suns on Amazon so I can read it as soon as possible (By the way you can get both at amazon by clicking the pictures of the books on this page. You can get The Kite Runner for $5.50 which is pretty much a steal).

The Kite Runner is a tale of fatherly and brotherly love, that most men in America can empathize with. Maybe it was just me, but a story about fighting for your fathers love and a story about the demons between you and your brother’s relationship resonates with my experiences. I absolutely loved this book. It had just enough plot twists to keep my interests, but had a story with an ending that wasn’t so much of a surprise that I was mad or let down. This book is easily the best fiction I have read in the last 3 years, and comes highly recommended from me. If you are at all interested in Afghanistan, the middle east, the Taliban or a well written story, you would enjoy this novel. If you have read it please share your opinions.

“When ten-year-old Birahima’s mother dies, he leaves his native village in the Ivory Coast, accompanied by the sorcerer and cook Yacouba, to search for his aunt Mahan. Crossing the border into Liberia, they are seized by rebels and forced into military service. Birahima is given a Kalashnikov, minimal rations of food, a small supply of dope, and a tiny wage. Fighting in a chaotic civil war alongside many other boys, Birahima sees death, torture, dismemberment, and madness but somehow manages to retain his own sanity. Raw and unforgettable, despairing yet filled with laughter, All Is Not Obliged reveals the ways in which children’s innocence and youth are compromised by war.”

I picked this book up on peer impulse. I saw the bright yellow cover from across the book store, and even though I had several books that I had been meaning to read, I couldn’t resist. Although I got quite a few strange looks, reading a bright yellow book, with a blood red title on both the DC Metro and a couple of airline flights.

On one of the flights I was asked by the person sitting next to me if I was Muslim, which I am not. Turns out she was from Sierra Leon: the exact area of Africa where this book takes place. We talked about some of the situations in Africa including the child-soldiers, and sure enough the atmosphere of the flight became increasingly uncomfortable. People’s candor about their experiences and my naiveté surrounding those same events, always strikes me as odd during the conversation. Of course it tends to make sense later: Other people have had experiences that I will never have. While I can try to imagine myself in other people’s situations, that is nowhere near the understanding gained through actually experiencing the same situations.

When I first bought the book I had never heard of Ahmadou Kourouma, but he was one of the preeminent African authors. Kourouma was born in the Ivory Coast town of Boundiali in 1927. He fought for the French Colonial Army in one of their campaigns in Indochina. After his military duty, Kourouma studied science in France thereafter he returned to the Ivory Coast to work. He was later imprisoned for his political and ideologically views (apparently the government of the Ivory Coast didn’t share his views). Before his death in 2003, Kourouma spent many years of his life in exile. His works include plays and four novels; Allah Is Not Obliged, Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote, Monnew, and The Suns of Independence.

Allah Is Not Obliged reminds me a lot of Heller’s Catch-22 in their shared distaste of war. Both authors strive to make the oddities, ironies, and especially the stupidity of war ring through their words. Of course the war is different, and in the case of the book at hand much more worrisome. Throughout the book you encounter children murdering, being murdered, and being mutilated. No character is safe, and Birahima knows that; he makes no strong connections through life because nearly everyone he encounters is murdered at some point. This book is a harsh critique of Africa’s current position in the world. The United Nation’s meddling only seems to further propagate the atrocities throughout the book (not that their home governments help much either). Which begs the question central to this book: What can we do to stop the tribal wars in Africa?

If you watched the movie Blood Diamond and want another view of what being in Africa is like during wars, famine, and refugee epidemics, Allah Is Not Obliged will certainly expand your view. I thought overall it was worth reading, even through all of the rampant swearing, death, and different forms of racism represented throughout the novel. Also if you have been looking for an antiwar statement or have lived in, been to, studied Africa then this book is a must read.

Carrey plays a man, who is generally down on his luck. He is socially awkward, and has great difficulty saying the “right things” to the people he knows. He is an animal control officer, who spends his days bored wondering what happened to his life. The first day in the movie, his birthday February 3rd, he is bitten by a dog that he is trying to capture. This bite is a wake up call, and leads Carrey down a very dangerous and intriguing path including a strange book and a couple of murders.

I thought this film was worth seeing. The suspense builds up quickly from the relatively innocent beginning and bursts over about half way through the movie. I think Carrey does a great job acting and his supporting cast is also believable. The action consistently builds, and every time you think you’ve got the plot pinned down, the storyline shifts. I was really pleased with the ending of the movie, which of course I won’t spoil, but suffice it to say that it was unexpected. The movie questions what people are capable of, and asks you to ask yourself what you might do in various situations. As suspense thrillers go, this one is better than most, and I would definitely encourage people to rent it. Everything is a choice, it is up to you to make the correct decision (as Carrey learns during the film).

Now For something that isn’t an excuse:

Living in the Washington D.C. is a very unique experience (at least in my opinion). I’ve been here for almost a month now, and I’ve noticed a few things.

There are a lot of Mr. Smith’s here. If you’ve seen the classic movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you’ll know what I mean (if you haven’t seen it rent it: its a classic). Basically James Stewart plays Jefferson Smith a great person from a small town, is picked by the Governor to fill a vacancy in the US Senate. The naive Mr. Smith tries to do good from his position, but is met with the harsh reality of how the political system in America actually works. In the end Mr. Smith, rises above the fray to get his goals in the Senate done, and he does it without compromising his morals. Now when I say that there are a lot of Mr. Smith’s here, I mean there are many people here who are new to the area, and that they tend to be motivated and idealistic. Which in my opinion is great; it’s always nice to have optimists around. Idealism is what drives society’s advancement (or is that money…) People like this are crawling up and down the streets of DC.

But there is a stark difference between people who have been here a while and those Mr. Smith’s out there. They are realists, who work hard in the metro, where it is impossible to escape the realities of how our government works. Pork Barreling, Corrupt Politicians, and Scandals are not just something on the news here; they happen here. They also have seen the state that our Nation’s capital is in: shambles. Not to say that the local government isn’t working hard to fix these problems, but every night on the news there are stories that are very troubling. For example, in a period of around 24 hours there were at least three murders; three bystanders in an unrelated event (including one girl toddler) were shot in their car when they got between two cars shooting at one another. Add to the deaths the state of the schools systems in the area. School started this week in most of the area and the news was full of stories about schools with no teachers, schools with no air conditioning, and even more astonishing: Last year some of the DC Public Schools were shut down for days at a time last year because they didn’t have heat in the winter. Some of these schools still don’t have heat, unbelievable. After a while, the glossy exterior of DC tends to wear down, which people who have been here for a while tend to reflect. (And I don’t even want to get into that particular Senator from Idaho…)

Anyway there definitely seem to be two different groups here, and it’ll be interesting to see how their alternate points of view intermingle. How that intermingling effects my perception of DC and our system of government is also something about which I am very curious. From this point on I’ll try to post at least once a week. Look for posts on Anderson Cooper’s Last book, coming up soon.

His name was Jeremiah Johnson, and they say he wanted to be a mountain man. The story goes that he was a man of proper wit and adventurous spirit, suited to the mountains. Nobody knows whereabouts he come from and don’t seem to matter much. He was a young man and ghostly stories about the tall hills didn’t scare him none. He was looking for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30, but damn, it was a genuine Hawken, and you couldn’t go no better. Bought him a good horse, and traps, and other truck that went with being a mountain man, and said good-bye to whatever life was down there below.

Basically, Jeremiah escapes the tragedies of war and his life by moving into the mountains to become a fur trapper.

His first winter nearly kills him, but with a little help, Jeremiah becomes one of the best trappers. The story is very complex, there is humor, action and despair throughout the film and Robert Redford does a very good job of acting. Jeremiah does get into many fights with local Indians (Flatheads and Crows I believe) and while some the fighting scenes could have been done better, the are sufficient. Really the story and cinematics (unbelievable mountain views) make up for any of Jeremiah Johnson’s Shortcomings.

If you are at all interested in the outdoors, camping, backpacking, or even just the 1800′s I definitely recommend watching this film, especially if you thought Cast Away need a little more action. Even better, use the film as a launching point of whatever adventure of your own you can create. It doesn’t have to be as drastic as moving into the solitude of the mountains, a weekend camping trip, a road trip with some friends, or even a day bicycling can create memories that you’ll cherish forever.

How about it? Are there any other movies out there that have inspired you to act? Or are there other great movies about the outdoors?

• The humor is very dry
• The is a lot of nudity in the film and therefore the audience for the film should be adult, and not the same audience that scrubs demands
• There is only one Braff monologue at the beginning of the film

To summerize quickly, I liked this film. It was a very mature piece, which dealt with infidelity and last chances. If you are looking for a movie length episode of scrubs, buy the season dvds, because this is not the film for you. Finally, Kudos to Braff for breaking with his scrubs character, and playing a more human role.

Here are a few things that I noticed about this movie in contrast with Spiderman 1 & 2:

1. It is a much darker movie, both in theme and imagery. Peter Parker takes on “emo” persona when under the influence of the alien symbiote to signify its effect on his persona and emotions. Peter Parker’s outward appearance changes to signify the internal battle his soul is having.
2. This movie is much more violent than the first two films. Or at least the violence is much more visible in this film. There are more battles between Spiderman and the Super villains. Plus the black suited Spiderman and his Peter Parker counterpart are violent and aggressive. At one point Peter even strikes Mary Jane.
3. For the first time in the movie, the realization that Spiderman can be defeated by super villains is shown. Venom and the Sandman are obviously too much for Spiderman to handle. Without some help Spiderman can fail.
4. Teamwork. Spiderman reaches out for help, both in his Peter Parker life and in his masked escapades.

Finally if you are really interested in Spiderman, check out my post on Webslinger, a book of essays on Spiderman.