Monuments Men

My wife and I took advantage of a lazy afternoon this Saturday (which rarely ever happens......lazy that is) to take in a movie in the afternoon. We had heard the Monuments Men was a good movie so that was our choice. I won't tell all the details so as not to SPOIL it if you haven't seen it yet, but basically is was about the collection of art during Hitler's reign. 

First the collection by Hitler. He had the Germans gather up every piece of great art from paintings to sculptures including books and jewelry to be displayed in his own massive Fuehrer Museum. First is was taken from the Jews. Then everywhere else including churches and museums as they marched thru each country and each city. They destroyed anything they could not take.

The second was the RE-collection by the Monuments Men to insure that the Germans didn't destroy it all before the end of the war as they were loosing. Their task was to get it back to the previous owners unlike the Russians who were collecting also but for their repercussions from how much they lost during the war.

A very interesting movie based on much of the true story. But it made me angry......actually sick to my stomach. Seeing part of the movie where the Germans were retreating they burned many of the storage vaults/mines where all the art was stored. Just burned it because they couldn't have it. Great works of art by great masters gone forever. 

It is so sad when war or natural disasters cause damage and things like this get ruined but to just plain burn it is senseless. Sickening. Many of the works created you don't know if they are still lost someplace or were destroyed by the Germans. Again, senseless act of selfishness. Even if I have never known or seen these great pieces it makes me sad to know that me and everyone else will never be able to experience the beauty. I can imagine some of those Monuments Men who had actually seen the works previously......and then saw the ashes. I'm sure it made them sick too.

Brings to me the one artwork I know and very much appreciated growing up that was destroyed. Shin'en kan by Bruce Goff. The private residence of Joe Price who had hired this creative architect to create a piece of architecture artistry. One of a kind unique home that was burned down because the new land owner wanted to build his NEW house one the same spot......supposedly. 

I had visited the home many times and when my mother sent me the newspaper clippings of it destroyed and the loss I was devastated. Sick to my stomach. A senseless waste that now cannot be appreciated by so many others. The Monuments Men reminded me of this event and brought to mind how cruel and irresponsible people can be.

It just goes to show that things on this earth are here for only a short time and that we should learn to appreciate them while we can. Before they are gone. Forever. That goes for art, architecture, cultures and most importantly PEOPLE.

Go visit a museum today my friends!

Or a friend! Don't wait until tomorrow.

ET This I Believe

Eugene Thompson

 

Monkey Business

I watched the new movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night.....okay so it isn't so new, but I never had the chance to go see it at the theatre so I have been waiting for it on DVD. I was a huge fan of the original show and to some extent those weird sequels afterwards. Hey it is talking monkeys and I was a kid....what could be better.  I had noticed several elements in the newest movie that reflect back on the first ones. So of course I googled the comparisons and sure enough there was a list....far more than I had imagined. Some I saw, other I didn't see right off. I have shared the list.

1. Will Rodman: Franco’s character’s name, is an amalgamation of the names of the screenwriters for the 1968 film, “Twilight Zone” icon Rod Serling (whose full name was Rodman) and Michael Wilson.

2. Caesar: The name of the lead ape in “Rise,” played by Serkis, was the name of the chimp played by Roddy McDowall who leads the ape revolution in 1972′s “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.”

3. ALZ 112: The breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment Rodman creates is a timely nod to the past — 112 minutes is the running time for the original film.

 

4. Icarus: A TV newscast playing in the background references the space mission “Icarus, lead by George Taylor,” and a newspaper shown in the third act reveals the vessel has been lost in space. Icarus was the name of the spaceship that crashes on the “Planet of the Apes” in the original film, and  Heston’s character name was George Taylor.

5. Dodge Landon: The cruel ape tender played by Hogwarts alumnus Tom Felton is named after Dodge, who was a crew member aboard the Icarus and played by Jeff Burton.

6. John Landon: Brian Cox plays the dark-spirited owner of a primate house and the father of Felton’s malicious character. Their last name, Landon, is the name of the Icarus crew member played by Robert Gunner in the classic film.

7. Maurice: The name of the orangutan who befriends Caesar in the new film is a nod to actor Maurice Evans,  who played the orangutan Dr. Zaius in the vintage films.

8. Saddle up: The scene where Caesar emerges from swirling fog astride a mounted policeman’s horse is a nod to the signature early moment in the first film when Heston is shocked to see an ape wearing clothes and riding on horseback.

9.  Buck: The big gorilla’s name is a nod to actor Buck Kartalian, the former pro wrestler who played Julius in the classic.

10. Nova’s Café:  The coffee shop in the lobby of the biomedical company Gen-Sys is named after Linda Harrison’s character, Nova, who becomes the mate of Heston’s character and appeared in the first two “Apes” films.

11. The Golden Gate Bridge: The scene evokes the scene in “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” when apes charge across a bridge in the climax of the 1972 film. 

12. Rocket: The mean ape who makes peace with Caesar after a cookie moment gets his name from Norman Rockett, a set decorator on the 1968 movie.

13. No means no:  Caesar’s powerfully enunciated “No!” is a major moment in the new film and ties back into “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” when Cornelius explains that the ascent and revolt by his species began when an ape first uttered the word “No” to protest the human treatment of his kind.    

14. Cornelia: The name of another ape in the new movie, Cornelia, is a nod to McDowall’s role as Cornelius in the original film.

 

15. Jacobs: David Oyelowo plays the mercenary bio-med executive Steven Jacobs in the new film. The character’s name (which is written on a board by one of the chimps at one point in the film) is a tribute to Arthur P. Jacobs, who produced the “Apes” films in the 1960s and 1970s. Jacobs, who had heart problems, died at age 51 in 1973 not long after the fourth sequel was released.

16.  Hosed: When Dodge blasts Caesar with a water hose, it’s a nod to Heston’s character being hosed in the ’68 film — which in turn was a reference to police attacking civil rights demonstrators in the real world.

17. Bright Eyes: In the original film, it’s the nickname given to Heston’s character by the ape scientist Zira. In the new film, it’s the nickname given to the intellect-accelerated ape who gives birth to Caesar.  

18. Statue of Liberty: Before he attacks a neighbor, Caesar is constructing a model of the Statue of Liberty in his suburban San Francisco home. It is, of course, the sight of that statue demolished on a beach that reveals the true setting of the 1968 film is actually far-future Earth.

19. Linda: The lab assistant named Linda in the new film is another nod to Harrison, who played Nova in the vintage movies.

20. Franklin: Taylor Labine plays Robert Franklin, a heartfelt lab worker who is destined to play an ominous role in human history. The character’s name acknowledges Frankin Schaffner, who directed the 1968 “Apes” movie and went on to direct “Patton,” “Papillon” and “The Boys from Brazil.”
  
21. Had to say it: Felton’s character, Dodge, gets the honor or delivering two of Heston’s most memorable lines from the 1968 film: “It’s a madhouse! A madhouse!” and “Take your stinkin’ paw off me you damn dirty ape!”

I know the remake with mark Wahlberg was very much a downer once it came out.  I was worried that this movie would be as well.  However not so.....but, I still love the line said by Charlton Heston as he played an old ape....."Take your stinkin' hands off of me you damn dirty human!"

Classic.......so there is the movie quiz for you my friends.....GO APE!

The Purple Rose of Cairo

One of my favorite Woody Allen films due to it's surrealistic experience the main character Cecilia has at the movie house in New Jersey during the great depression. She loves the movies and escapes from the depressing real world life into the fantasy film world almost every afternoon. After her husband abuses her and her boss fires her from her job, she returns to the movie house to watch The Purple Rose of Cairo all afternoon.....until finally one of the characters begins to speak directly to Cecilia out in the audience. He leaves the films, walks up to Cecilia and encourages her to run away leaving the rest of the film characters stuck in limbo until he returns.

A complete fantasy that really hits home with me.  You see I love movies, I really enjoy relaxing after a long day and just unwinding in front of the television. It can be Sci-Fi, Action, Drama, Superhero (my favorite), even a good scary movie sometimes is fun.  The thing is that I enjoy the escape. I enjoy running way (in my head anyway) from all the surrounding realities in my world.  Just like Cecilia, it was her way of getting some peace from the life she struggled through.  She had it tough. The work environment of waitressing.....not promising during the depression. Not many tips but she could be thankful for it while so many didn't have work. Her husband, out of work and a bum. He would take her hard earned money and gamble it away on cards or pitching pennies. If he didn't loose it that way, he would drink it away.  Cecilia's last straw was when she came home and found another woman in the house. She was ready to run away with the fictional character from the film.

Trouble was, the character Tom Baxter didn't know anything about the real world and wouldn't be able to survive.  His money was fake, he only had one set of clothes, he only existed as what his character was created as. He was pure and wholesome....just not real.  The actor that played Tom Baxter was Gil Shepherd and needed the film counterpart to get back in the film to save his career.  After all, he couldn't have his clone running about town loose.

I guess the whole movie has an inspiring reaction from me with the fantasy of something fictional coming to life. A lot like my superhero blog recently. What a wild imagination.....especially in times that are really pressing. Like these days. Maybe not as much as it was a few years ago but still the world seems less than friendly. The surrounding environment is not a pleasurable one but rather a hostel one.  One that demands so much of us that we cannot exist within its boundaries. We require escape.

There are days that I wish I could run away.....if only my entire belongings would fit inside a single suitcase. That would be sad, but liberating. If there were the moral responsibilities of honoring those responsibilities. The struggle with being a perfectionist is that everything feels like a responsibility, feels like my responsibility, my need to complete to the best of my ability all the tasks that lie in front of me. But really what is so bad? What is so bad that you have to run away? Blessings abound it just isn't always easy to see them. We have been given so much to be thankful for. Sometimes we need to look at all the good things we have in comparison to bad. I am sure it will be very one sided......for the good.

In the end, Cecilia didn't get the fictional character and disappear into the film, she didn't get the actor....he was more concerned with his career.....she was stuck....at the movies. We should think about the real world and be satisfied with what we have....it isn't always that bad! We could be stuck in a film!