tagged w/ Animism
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Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi sits down with the director of Japan's Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro, and explores his lifelike robots in action.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi sits down with the director of Japan's... more
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Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi travels to Japan to investigate the growing integration of robots into everyday life -- from working as receptionists to providing comfort to the elderly.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi travels to Japan to investigate the growing... more
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Sorta weird how this became the globe-trotter episode. I’d seen BABIES a few weeks ago and was going to go with it as the sole focus of the show, then late last week I stumbled onto BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO and — despite the little voice whispering ever so delicately in the back of my head, “YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO BACK OFF THE WORKLOAD, M*TH*F***A!” — I realized I had to cover it as well. Hence, another double-up ep for ya (and just so you’re braced, we’ll be doing it again the week following next).
What changed my mind about BEETLE QUEEN was debuting director Jessica Oreck’s approach to the subject of Japan’s seemingly nationwide fascination for insects. Oreck, who’s also an animal keeper and docent at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, lays the motivations out neatly — turns out much of Japanese culture is rooted historically in the observation and appreciation of creepy, crawly things — and examines how that veneration plays out in contemporary society through a healthy collector’s subculture; commercially marketed supplies for both the support and preservation of pet bugs; and vending machines that dispense live creatures into the eager clutches of the nation’s children (Japan, remember?). But then she takes it further, absorbing the animistic outlook of Shinto and such concepts as mono no aware and using them to model the film as a meta-presentation of the philosophies that drive the country’s appreciation of the natural world. More than just simple nature film or an anthropological examination, BEETLE QUEEN becomes the attitude itself, and a fascinating immersion into another society’s vision of the world.
Director Thomas Balmès has a much simpler mission in BABIES, but with a somewhat similar goal: Travel the world, capture on film the first year-or-so of four babies from markedly different corners of the world, and let the viewer examine what in those initial months are universal, and what is markedly different. The four societies Balmès selects — a tribal group in Namibia; a farming family in Mongolia; and parents in urbane San Francisco and two-minutes-into-the-future Tokyo (again) — all form distinctive incubators for their newest residents. Yet for all that the environments leave their marks on these kids (in one particularly indelible moment, the overstimulated Japanese baby suffers a grand mal meltdown within a nest of playthings), what stands out most is how closely the recently arrived experience their entry into the world. That may not be a revolutionary concept, but it does make for a viewing experience that extends beyond just the obligatory, “Awwwwww.” (But you will probably go, “Awwwwww,” at least once.)
Click on the link to hear the interviews:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/mighty-movie-podcast-emba_b_568738.htmlSorta weird how this became the globe-trotter episode. I’d seen BABIES a few... more
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The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film "Avatar" simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.
L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron's big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.
L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."
"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that while the movie reviews are just that – film criticism, with no theological weight – they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity."
Benedict has often spoken about the need to protect the environment, earning the nickname of "green pope." But he has sometimes balanced that call with a warning against neo-paganism.
In a recent World Day of Peace message, the pontiff warned against any notions that equate human person and other living things. He said such notions "open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone."
The Vatican newspaper occasionally likes to comment in its cultural pages on movies or pop culture icons, as it did recently about "The Simpsons" or U2. In one famous instance, several Vatican officials spoke out against "The Da Vinci Code."
In this case, the reviews came out after a red carpet preview held in Rome just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square. The movie will be released Friday in Italy.
The story of the tall blue creatures who inhabit Pandora and contend with humans intent on grabbing the resources of their planet has made over $1.1 billion at box offices worldwide. Partly boosted by higher 3-D ticket prices, "Avatar" looks well on its way to becoming the biggest grossing movie of all time.
"So much stupefying, enchanting technology, but few genuine emotions," said L'Osservatore Romano, which devoted three articles to "Avatar" in its Sunday editions.
L'Osservatore Romano said the movie's plot is unoriginal and its message not new. It faulted Cameron for taking a "bland approach."
"He tells the story without going deep into it, and ends up falling into sappiness," it said.
Vatican Radio did say, however, that "really never before have such surprising images been seen," while L'Osservatore said the movie's worth lies in its "extraordinary visual impact."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/vatican-slams-avatar-prom_n_419949.htmlThe Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film "Avatar"... more
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James Cameron’s Avatar is Disney’s Pocahontas?
Well, we all know the similarities between “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Forrest Gump,” but what about the latest record-breaking 3D epic from James Cameron?
I thought it was the sci-fi version of “Dances With Wolves” (or maybe “FernGully: The Last Rainforest”) but Matt Bateman makes a pretty good argument for James Cameron’s “Avatar” actually being the same film as Disney’s “Pocahontas.”
http://www.scene-stealers.com/blogs/james-camerons-avatar-disneys-pocahontas/James Cameron’s Avatar is Disney’s Pocahontas?
Well, we all know the... more
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