With Apologies to Feynman

I'm sitting in this busy coffee shop, allowing my mind to ruminate as it will, on what it will. My cup of tea cools on the table in front of me, wisps of steam unfolding in waves as it drifts off into apparent nothingness. Every so often, the scent sneaks past, tickling my nose with the hint of fruity sweetness.

Someone recently expressed to me her bewilderment of how I could enjoy a world without the supernatural, bereft of the unknown and filled only with cold science.

Yellow Line, Silver Hook

A short time ago, Wil made the rounds peddling a magical story of an enchanting busker who saved the day from a misfired urban transit adventure. While I’m not against romanticizing the power of art, even when anchored to a derelict street performer, Wil’s rendition of that Thursday’s events requires some perspective, namely mine. Being immune to all manner of men’s magic and enchantment, I saw beyond the poorly dyed hair and the red, cherry wood guitar to see the nature of the performer’s poorly constructed façade. What Wil, and many others that day, failed to realize was that Jim was so much more and so much less than a mystical roving musician.

Yellow Line

I'm not much of a storyteller. My dad would randomly say "So, there I was- knee-deep in grenade pins and running out of ammunition." By itself it's sort of amusing, but there was never a story that followed- or if there was, it never had anything to do with the introduction. I always laugh, because it's supposed to be funny, but it's not nearly so funny as it is supposed to be. I could claim that my dad's inability to tell stories well became mine over time, but I just like to get to the punchline too quickly. So this story will surely start awkwardly as I try to work into an actual tale and not just giving the long and short of it. Though, really, if we count this as the introduction, we've already started in an awkward manner.

Expulsion from Eden: Troll 2 and the Beauty of Almost There

Troll 2 is widely recognized today as the movie with immense promise but lackluster results. Going over the bare bones of the script, we can see how the plethora of ideas became practically pointless with small errors and mistakes. Now audiences watch Troll 2 to see tragedy occurring on screen – to see what it’s like for a plane full of Fulbright Scholars to crash in a fiery blaze. Here are the 8 greatest ingredients that help craft the magic of Troll 2 and why they came up short.

The Best Korean Movies of the Decade: The Final 5

We now start into the finale! Here’s the recap:

25: The Host
24: Searching for the Elephant
23: A Tale of Two Sisters
22: Samaritan Girl
21: Our School
20: 200 Pounds Beauty
19: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War
18: Forever the Moment
17: Il Mare
16: Sunny
15: Silmido
14: Oldboy
13: My Love
12: Addicted
11: The Chaser
10: Daytime Drinking
9: Welcome to Dongmakgol
8: Voice of a Murderer
7: My Sassy Girl
6: The King and the Clown

The Finale! The top 5 starts after the jump.

The Best Korean Movies of the Decade: The Omissions

I haven't seen every Korean movie made in the last 10 years. I've seen a lot, but great movies have slipped passed. There have been other movies that I've seen that were also good, receiving a lot of attention from critics and audiences around the world, that I simply didn't enjoy. Before I start the top 5, I want to discuss the movies that didn't quite make my list. In no particular order, here are The Omissions:

The Best Korean Films of the Decade: 10 –> 6

Here’s the recap:

25: The Host
24: Searching for the Elephant
23: A Tale of Two Sisters
22: Samaritan Girl
21: Our School
20: 200 Pounds Beauty
19: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War
18: Forever the Moment
17: Il Mare
16: Sunny
15: Silmido
14: Oldboy
13: My Love
12: Addicted
11: The Chaser

So now we break the Top 10!

The Best Korean Movies of the Decade: 15 –> 11

Another recap to set the stage. Here’s where we’re at now:

25: The Host
24: Searching for the Elephant
23: A Tale of Two Sisters
22: Samaritan Girl
21: Our School
20: 200 Pounds Beauty
19: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War
18: Forever the Moment
17: Il Mare
16: Sunny

So now we continue on with our list!

The Best Korean Movies of the Decade: 20 –> 16

The countdown continues!

A quick recap:
25: The Host
24: Searching for the Elephant
23: A Tale of Two Sisters
22: Samaritan Girl
21: Our School

20) 200 Pounds Beauty (2006)
Directed by Yong-hwa Kim 

The theme is tiresome – an ugly duckling becomes a swan. In 200 Pounds Beauty, the motif is taken a step further by examining how plastic surgery functions in Korea (one of the countries with the highest amounts of plastic surgeries in the world), but the similarities between American and Korean perceptions of female beauty are surprisingly similar.

The 25 Best Korean Movies of the Decade!

The late 1990's ended by starting a Korean Platinum age for film (the Golden Age was taken by films in the 60's). One reason for the long layover was due to intense political repression that censored and almost destroyed the entire Korean movie industry during the 70's and 80’s. It wasn't until the democratic handover of power in 1988 that films were allowed to explore creatively, without the blacklisting fist of political censors. Setting the stage for what should have been the new infancy of film, Korean cinema exploded in the late 90's to usher in one of the best decades in Korean movie history.

I've made my list The Most Artistic, Most Accessible Korean Movies (let's just call it the Best!) of the Decade for a specific reason. First, consider the reverse example. If someone had never seen an American movie and wanted to find the Best(!) American film, what would you suggest? You could follow many of the critics and say Citizen Kane. While that is arguable, you may hold back and offer something less boring -- Star Wars? Godfather? Avatar? For this reason, I want the list to be an introduction. Some of these choices are very accessible -- fun to watch, but no breakthrough in bold directing, fearless acting or production techniques. Others are fascinatingly unique, philosophically explorative, boldly subversive, culturally revealing and intellectually attractive that they simply must be watched to fully appreciate the cinematic experience.

Some movies are available in the U.S. with English subtitles. Some were watched in Korea and may not be available in the U.S. at all. Although I wanted to include as many movies that were available to U.S. audiences as possible, I couldn’t ignore the amazing films that never quite make it to American shores. If I could find it on Amazon, I provide the link.

The list starts after the jump!

The Essence of Korean Art

Chae Hyang Soon, a dance troupe from South Korea, claims to “present the essence of Korean art.” This essence goes undefined, but it seems that their entire show is devoted to the task, leaving the audience with an understanding of this essence through their recent performance, Dynamic Korea: Dance and Song. Sponsored by the Alabama Asian Cultures Foundation, the program exemplifying Korean art far exceeded expectations with an astounding plethora of cultural insights for the Virginia Samford Theatre audience.

The attempt is Herculean. Utilizing several musical instruments, costumes and songs, Chae Hyang Soon explores a wide spectrum of traditional Korean art and art culture with two hours of dance, music and song. The performers even synthesize traditional dances to popmusic showing the audience a slice of contemporary art splashed against dances hundreds of years old. In their“Taffy Peddler” dance, after giving the audience 17th century Korean candy produced in a 21st century factory, they used children’s scissors as musical instruments. Perhaps they were humble in claiming to present the essence of Korean art - maybe they wanted to show the essence of Korea itself.

 
In “The Monk Dance”, the dancer’s ghostly sleeves extend a few feet passed her hands concealing mallets with which to hammer on a giant drum in the background. The performance is hauntingly memorable as she floats across the stage, the sleeves punctuating her movements.

City Lights – The Movie and Music

Music in film can sometimes feel an afterthought in modern movies. There are exceptions, but most of the time it feels like the music is an afterthought – the movie is made and then the music is written to match whatever occurs on screen. This was the challenge tackled by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra; to make music the main attraction, the reason for attending, a character in and of itself.

Beautifully accomplished and insightfully executed, the symphony inspires the audience to take a new look at the role music serves in film and see City Lights illuminated by the eyes of Principal Pops Conductor Christopher Confessore.

When Charlie Chaplin started making City Lights, he already possessed complete creative control over every process of the film (producer, director, lead actor and musical composer). The story is fairly straight forward, possessing occasional arbitrary scenes inserted for comedy. Chaplin’s flagship character, the Tramp, falls in love with the blind Flower Girl and then he uses his little amount of money to maintain the perception that he is rich.

Elections or: How I Learned to Parody Movie Titles

Today is a day of great national import. Today we shall discover the "will of the people", who will perhaps grant the new Republican congressional majority a sweeping mandate to utterly overturn every action President Obama has taken, or instead will send a stern warning to all of congress that they'd better get their act together else they'll find themselves unemployed and reviled, or maybe will meekly allow the Democratic congress another chance to prove themselves, hoping that they will contritely do as the country desires.

What a load of crap.

The Rise of Korean Film Superiority

In one of my favorite T.V. cartoons, “The Critic”, Jay Sherman sings "I love French films, pretentious, boring French Films. I love French films, two tickets s'il vous plaît!" That was 1994 and Jay Sherman was taking his middle-school aged son and his Cuban girlfriend to the movies. Sherman was a film critic who hated almost every movie he saw, basically only considering foreign movies worth ratings other than "it stinks!"

I connect with Sherman in this regard. In many cases, I would much rather watch a good foreign movie over a good American movie. This isn't to say that simply because the movie touches American hands that it possesses diminished quality, but instead that American film motifs are familiar, overused and boring. Name one recent American movie that doesn't have love somewhere...anywhere...in the whole film. Even the refreshing originals, like Inception, fall back to some of these overused themes.

Among all the world film industries, Korea stands alone as understanding the balance between art and excitement: French movies are very artistic, much like slowly walking through a museum – and American movies are exciting, like riding a rollercoaster. But like a museum trying to make a “fun exhibit!” or a theme park displaying local art, the movies just comes off as all wrong. There are some gems worth the time and money of viewers, but unfortunately the vast majority of American cinema is starting to rot to the point of inedibility.

Writer's Block

Whenever I find myself sitting before a blank page with pen poised and ready for employment, I remember the movie Throw Momma from the Train. In a scene from this farcical treatment of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Billy Crystal sits at a typewriter attempting to paint the setting of his new book. As he tears nigh unmarked pages from his typewriter, Crystal reaches the precipice of madness, unable to move beyond "The night was..."

I often fair a little better than Crystal's character, composing at least three sentences before the invisible wall stealthily advances and sets itself firmly between the muse and I. Yet, once that third period appears on the page, I too am pacing, tearing, overturning tables, and pillaging villages (I have it on good authority that William's 1066 conquest was the result of the duke's failed novel). Again like Crystal's character, I always seek an excuse for the inspirational stream's meager flow. Perhaps the cream of my talent is skimmed off by the students I help, allowing them to construct passing essays and damning my frequent creative attempts to malnutrition. Maybe I've emaciated my mind by playing too many video games and watching too many cartoons, leaving me with a polluted wasteland for a brain--an atrocious lie given the creative richness of both mediums. Perchance my creative powers have atrophied from a lack of exercise? If only blame were riches.

So often have I fallen that I've sought the most ridiculous of remedies. I've hazarded daily journals, prompts, discussions, practice, abstinence, dramatic experiences(à la Throw Momma from the Train), and pure force of will all in the attempt to rape the muse(read Gaiman's "Calliope" in his Sandman series). Needless to say, none were successful, though some yielded interesting results of other natures.

Strangely, the greatest remedy for the drought of inspiration derives from a musing a friend once spoke on the subject of religious journaling. He suspected that people are intimidated by journaling because they feel they must write something profound. And there was the rub. The same infernal desire which animates the charm of writing serves as its chain. Only when one lets go of the demand for perfection can one dare to brush its robe. As Ken Robinson in one of his TED presentations states, creativity in children stems from their ignorance of failure. By knowing how one can fail, one is doomed to falter, but if one forgets how to fail, one releases his or her skills from the chain. Absolute faith results in absolute satisfaction. The trouble is mustering absolute faith, and that is still beyond my understanding.

The American Temptation

I've gone back and forth on Dinesh D'Souza -- sometimes I like him,  other times I don't.

I vaguely remember seeing him on The Daily Show years back. He was  unassuming -- a little Indian guy with glasses, a soft voice, and calmly conservative (contrasted against Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck). I can't remember why he was on the show, but he  was laid back and funny. I found him pretty charismatic. He also  seemed to be the next poster child for Republicans: educated, conservative,  intellectual, Christian and...well...not old and white.

A few years passed and I watched him debate Christianity at Oregon State. The question in the debate was "Is Christianity Good for  the World." D'Souza was everything I remember: articulate, laid-back, poignant, intelligent. He presented Christianity from a unique viewpoint – his family was converted to Christianity by “The Portuguese Inquisition”, as he said it. He discovered that Christianity literally came to his family “at the point of a bayonet.

Why I Love Trains

Red is an American living in Japan. You too can experience Japan, from the perspective of Red. It goes without saying that this is the best perspective, and probably even better than going to the country for yourself. His experiences will be chronicled here per his own convenience. Any questions may be left in the comments or sent to bethanytable@gmail.com

Tonight is my lucky night.

I managed to catch a ride on the express train home. Hey, that’s about 15 minutes off of my commute.

My luck continues. I look to my left. Score! An open seat! Yes, tonight is shaping up to be a great night.

Why I Love Rhetoric

Reading the recent posts of my friends, I find myself in a romantic mood. Though I find little pleasure in politics, I find myself on the cusp of ecstasy as I read, hear, and generally experience the impassioned debates between ideological foes. If I may be poetic for a brief moment, arguments between people are the breeding grounds of creative language. The passions of the opponents may appear hateful, but they become amorous for their munitions of words as the carefully crafted bullet points storm the gates of opposing minds and seduce the ethereal forms of counter points. When one reads the previous titles: "Why I Love Political Partisanship" and "Why I Hate Political Partisanship," one sees the fruit of such an erotic interview, allusion. In these debates, Rhetoric, the core of argumentative language, finds harbor and sows its seed amongst the ready population of ideological concepts, siring the sling-stones and arrows of argument.

Why I Hate Political Partisanship

There is a core belief at work in Erik's criticism of bipartisanship: he seems to think that being partisan means advocating for your constituency. This fallacy colors the entirety of his arguments, and leads him to a multitude of incorrect conclusions. Bipartisanship does not mean, nor imply, that people with opposing political views will decide to compromise their beliefs for political expediency. Rather, the intention is to achieve progress that is in the best interest of the country.

Why I Love Political Partisanship

I mostly use CNN and Newsweek as my sources for the happenings of Washington D.C. One repeating message coming from many commentators is the growing partisanship of all the politicians on both sides of the aisle – how disagreements in the chamber are turning personal. And the subsequent analysis is that government is becoming paralyzed because those Republicans and Democrats just refuse to cooperate.

On the surface, this may sound scary, perhaps even signaling a growing apprehension between people on the Left with people on the Right. Political discourse over dinner may prove awkward, but it doesn't prevent the dishes from getting cleaned. So people apply the same logic to Washington D.C., attempt to identify government as worse now than it was fifteen years ago, and conclude that things are bad because, gosh darnit, those politicians just can’t get along!

I agree with everything asserted above, except that partisanship is actually a good thing for America. Here are five reasons why: