Incredibly touching video about THE ORIGINS OF LIFE & THE VASTNESS OF THE COSMOS - “YES WE ARE THE UNIVERSE”
Featuring Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson & Lawrence Krauss
"Quote of the Day
“Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness. And so to whatever degree any one of us, can bring back a small piece of the picture and contribute it to the building to the new paradigm, then we participate in the redemption of the human spirit, and that after all is what it’s really all about."
- Terence McKenna on modern society
Amazing discussion with Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan’s wife Ann Druyan & Victor Stenger about Science, Education, & Religion
A few clips from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, about Life and the Universe.Cosmos is truly one of the greatest television series ever created.
Film Review - Red State (2011) : 78%
With Red State, director Kevin Smith steps completely out of his zone. Known for comedies such as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma & Zack and Miri Make a Porno when I first heard he was switching gears and making a horror film I was interested to see his take on a genre so many have failed at.
A typical horror movie displays a monster/killer choosing to massacre innocent people. But what is interesting about this film is that both sides are the killers, both sides are the monsters, and both sides use faith in what they believe in to commit their respective crimes. It is this subtle change to the formula that makes this film feel less like a “fantasy” and more like a true social commentary on the world around us, a world in which religion and government have endlessly been at odds about what to truly believe in.
The film, which after seeing it I consider more a drama/horror/comedy, shows how both institutions are fueled by fear, ignorance and sacrifice. At face value the film appears like a mere B-action movie because of how it is filmed (Kevin Smith admits openly he isn’t the best director in the world), but if you look deeper than that you’ll witness a film that is about the human spirit and how easy it is to forever taint it.
I thought the acting was solid, some players over-acted a bit, but they each greatly played their part in the story, highlighting Michael Parks, John Goodman, and recent Academy Award winner Melissa Leo. The best part of the film, as I talked about above, is the script as it is the first Kevin Smith script to not be mainly about fucking, drugs, relationships and focuses it’s attention on the more important issues society faces which is the division of people who believe in God and people who don’t. That doesn’t mean the film isn’t packed with comedic moments, but what actually makes the film great is it’s dramatic moments and specifically the second half where the story climaxes to a Waco massacare type situation (Waco info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_massacre). The weakest part of the film is the directing but I feel it doesn’t really affect the quality screenplay very much because it focuses your attention on the characters and the obstacles placed in front of them.
I feel this film is the beginning of a new era for Kevin Smith and I’m glad he chose to step out of his element and create a film that is definitely worth seeing. By all means, it’s not a breakthrough in filmmaking but it’s a film that simply addresses vital issues that society needs to address before we can move together as ONE force, not a hundred. Great job Silent Bob, Great job.
- DIRECTING - 70%
- ACTING - 80%
- WRITING - 85%
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RED STATE = 78%
