Biographical Movies

After I finished the mystery movie series, it took me some time to think of another theme.  I finally decided on movies based on the life of a real person.  I watched a couple and then took a long hiatus.  But I’m restarting the project. 

The ground rules: the movie has to focus on a single person.  The person has to have really lived, of course.  They don’t have to be already dead. The movie can be loosely based on the person (and a lot of them are) but it at least has to use the person’s real name.  For example, Shakespeare in Love and Almost Famous are both out.

While I would like to read a biography or watch a documentary film about the person.  I’ve decided that it’s not required. (Behold, the laziness).

The person doesn’t have to be of great historical importance - they can be celebrities as well.  Also, it can be a documentary. 

I think that’s it. Here is a list of ones I’ve watched so far.

3: The Dale Earnhardt Story2004
Coal Miner’s Daughter (Loretta Lynn) 1980
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (PBS documentary)
De-Lovely(Cole Porter) 2004
Glory Road(Don Haskins) 2006
Miss Potter (Beatrix Potter) 2006

 

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These I’d like to watch but this is not a final list:

Dangerous Beauty (Veronica Franco) 1998
Ali (2001)
Becoming Jane (Jane Austen) 2007
Catch Me if You Can (Frank Abagnale) 2002
Good Night, and Good Luck (Edward R. Murrow) 2005
La Vie en Rose (Edith Piaf) 2007
Selena 1997 
The Insider(Jeffrey Wigand) 1999
The Queen (Elizabeth II) 2006
Warrior Queen: Boadicca 2006
When We Were Kings
Hollywoodland (George Reeves) 2006
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Queen Christina (1933)
Ray (Ray Charles) 2004
Hilary and Jackie 1998 (Hilary and Jacqueline du Pre)
Passion of Joan of Arc
People vs. Larry Flynt 1996
Scarlet Empress (Catherine the Great) 1934
Sid and Nancy 1986 (Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen)
Henry and June (Henry Miller and Anais Nin) 1990
Whole Wide World (Robert E. Howard)
Boys Don’t Cry
Brother Sun, Sister Moon 1972
Immortal Beloved (1994)
Isadora (Isadora Duncan) 1968
Mountains of the Moon
Great Balls of Fire! (Jerry Lee Lewis) 1989
Elizabeth: the Golden Age (Elizabeth I) 2007
Hendrix(Jimi Hendrix) 2000

Flame of Recca disc 3

I actually do give away plot this time…

I enjoyed this one a lot.  We see Domon access the power of Earth with his nose ring of Saturn (not kidding). 

We also see Tokiya, a bishonen team member, show off his power of water with his sword Ensui.  I have to say that Tokiya doesn’t have nearly enough hair in this episode to merit bishonen status.  His hair grows as the series progresses but I have yet to see it flowing in zephyrs full of cherry blossom petals yet.  Just saying.

I could have used a lot less or none of the Yanagi electrocution.  It was obviously filler, especially when contrasted with the simple thrashing of the villain.  However, Recca did an excellent berserker rage.

I like the little girl Ganko who is drawn into the team on  this disc.  But I doubt that she will be a permanent part of the team.  She’s not in the credits.

Flame of Recca (1997) disc 2

Flame of Recca (1997) disc 2

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER  SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

The female characters will become inexplicably less than dressed every couple of episodes.

I am really enjoying this total shonen (boy) series.  It’s got melodrama  — goofy humor — comradery — sweet romance.  And lots of battles.

Kagehoshi (the mysterious crazy woman) offers the rejected Fuko (the busty fighter) a madogu (magic weapon) of wind power.  Fuko quickly gets the knack of using the weapon and challenges Recca again.  This particular madogu turns its user into a seductress. Fuko gets purple-eyed and sends forth gale winds and double entendres.  Domon (the muscles) indirectly declares his love for Fuko; Yanagi (the princess) faints a couple of times.

One of the things I love best about the series is how it undermines the characters’ dignity.  For instance, Yanagi starts crying and snots all over Recca’s jacket.  Recca takes on postures and expressions that would wow the Azumanga Daioh girls.

Recca accidentally sees a girl naked and has a nose bleed bad enough to smack his head against the pavement.  The girl in question punches him, her boyfriend punches him, and then Yanagi yells at him.  A disheveled Recca says, “You too, princess??!!!”  Yanagi doesn’t punch him.

Yanagi is abducted by villains and Recca’s new team sets out to save her.  Each character battles an opponent on a each floor of the stronghold.  It feels like a platformer though I don’t point it out as a flaw.

Flame of Recca (1997) disc 1

Flame of Recca (1997)

disc 1

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Hero Recca might appear ready to lose the fight but he will rise up to conquer his foes via his inextinguishable spirit and his sheer fire power.

Recca, an-ordinary-Japanese-schoolboy, is obsessed with ninja culture and his family traditionally makes fireworks.

I equate fireworks with noisy lights and ninja with silent concealment, so this character choice makes no sense to me.  But then I’m not Japanese, and I enjoy the show too much to worry about petty details.

The series starts with a goofy battle between Recca and a good-hearted brute named Domon.  Domon describes himself as the strongest high school student in history.  Recca and Domon trade blows and insults.  Recca wins handily with one of his few displays of wit rather than guts.

Later in the day, Recca discovers that he possesses the legendary ninja power of flame.  He discovers this while defending a classmate and healer named Yanagi from a crazy woman named Kagehoshi.

Recca then declares that Yanagi is his princess and he is her ninja.  One of their teachers laughs and says, “You say that with a straight face.”  But Recca is sincere.  He will protect his rather ordinary ‘princess’ at any cost.  It’s lucky for her that he has made this vow because her safety is constantly in jeopardy at least up until disc 6.

Fuko, a busty classmate, is distraught that Recca has chosen to be the sweetheartninja of the noncombatant Yanagi.  She challenges both of them.  When Fuko demands that Recca explain why he has pledged himself to Yanagi - Recca looks rather sweet here - he proclaims that he just wanted to.

Mariko & Usagi pt. 2

Mariko and Usagi: Part One

8 Essential Elements

Stages of Attraction

The Attraction:

Mariko is desired by both Usagi and Kenichi. She is a highly attractive and passionate character as presented in Usagi’s flashback. She mischeviously paints a moustache on Usagi and plays a sexy game of tag with him.

When she and Usagi are reunited, she briefly loses her self restraint and flings herself into his arms, asking him why he had to leave. Then she berates herself for acting ‘lovesick. Mariko asks him at one point, “Remember out last pinic, Usagi?” He replies, “I could never forget.” They smile in a tender, shy way, it’s hard not to adore them here.

He is a superb fighter and an honorable man. Elsewhere in Circles, he is praised by his former teacher and spared by the shogun who sees his potential even as a child.

Usagi does not find out till years later that he is the father of Mariko’s child. Part of the reason he does not even guess is that she quickly married Kenichi and he felt broken hearted over that and the second reason is that he has been fighting for survival ever after. The story in this volume does not reveal why she did not inform Usagi as soon as she knew. You’d think she would at least present him with the information, and make plans based on his reaction.

She did tell Kenichi, however, which is another hint that their relationship is more important to her than it appears to be. In the volume following Circles, Usagi tells his friend Tomoe Ame that Jotaro is his son. She’s sweet on him so this shocks her a bit. I think that the fact that Usagi and Mariko each turn to someone else to discuss Jotaro, shows that their relationship with each other is not that trustworthy.

The characters don’t move from the infatuation stage to the attachment stage as they don’t form a durable and long-lasting bond. They seem unable to make room for each other in their daily or public lives. They seem to remain something of fantasy figures to each other.

In a typical romance, the act of saving the secret baby from a kidnapper would be ample proof that Usagi is a suitable lover and father. But, since this is not a romance, it simply drives the couple further apart.

Usagi nearly dies after rescuing Jotaro and he is saved by Kenichi. This deed ends any sort of eloping-with-Mariko plans Usagi might have had.

The Recognition Scene: null

The Betrothal: null

Scapegoat Exiled:

Usagi, though a good person, is a disruptive character who brings unlawful passion and violence and instability to his village home.Kenichi and Mariko close rank and make Usagi unwelcome in his own home. Thus, Usagi exiles himself at the conclusion.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by Ang Lee. About as close as you are going to get to the Usagi/Mariko love story.

Stages of Attraction

Stages of Attraction

Pamela Regis’ description of the “attraction” element in romance stories was deliberately general. However, I didn’t find the broad definition as helpful. So, I looked further afield. These four stages of attraction come from Jennifer Crusie’s essay Dating Death: Love and Sex in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The original article is highly entertaining.

According to Crusie’s essay, there are basic psychological stages through which lovers progress: assumption, attraction, infatuation, and attachment.

1. Assumption: Crudely put, this is a mental “hot or not” list maintained by the characters. I think assumption must cover all love at first sight; the ‘wow’ factor; or anytime a character asks, “Who is that girl/boy?”

2. Attraction: Crusie says the couple then adds social approval and physical and emotional cues to their initial wow reaction.

I think that negative social reactions could be incorporated into the attraction stage. The overbearing parent who disapproves of the ‘bad’ girl or boy might increase the attraction, for instance. Romeo and Juliet probably felt that their families’ disapproval made each other more attractive rather than less.

Dancing is probably the most traditional example of a physical cue.

An emotional cue, according to Crusie, is when the couple believes that the other person feels the same emotions. For example, Jasmine and Aladdin from the Disney movie both feel ‘trapped’ in their situation.

3. Infatuation is built from shared joy and pain. Experiences with high doses of pleasure or stress unite the couple. Any action movie couple would be an example of this stage.

In this stage, the couple acts on a conditional love for each other. The characters are focused on how the other person makes them feel. Crusie stresses that all couples go through this stage.

4. Attachment, on the other hand, is unconditional love. The well-being of the other person outweighs any possible good for oneself.

Crusie doesn’t specifically mention this but I wonder whether a couple’s affection for each other might not include the stages in a staggered way rather than a linear way. To be kissed by someone who has no possible benefit from the action is a rather chilly thought.

I have the second part of Mariko and Usagi ready to post soon.

Guest Blogger

Hello avid readers of Murcia, I bet you’re wonderng WTF?

I’m the little sister of Murcia (yes, the obnocious one she talks about).  Since Murcia has WIS (Without Internet Syndrome) I will be filling in to keep everyone coming back….Or quite possibly running everyone off.

Let me introduce myself before I continue.  I’ll go ahead and do the traditional manga-ka introduction:
Kat was born in late September on the twenty-ninth under the astrological sign of Libra in the town of Les Cayes, in Haiti.  Kat’s blood type is O positive.  She is attending college and has become a recluse over the last two days because I’ve been in my new apartment with no job and no homework.
*shoves glasses higher on nose*

Well, ow that formal introductions are ove let’s get to the nitty-gritty.
Over the last few days I have been without anything to do, and unlike most kats I need some sort of hobby or goal.
So in place of any activities I’ve been holed up in my bedroom reading manga.  Specifically reading Kaho Miyasaka’s Kare First Love.  Shy Karin has glasses, does homework and attends an all-girls school where she daily gets bullied by her “friend” Yuka.  Then one day on her commute to school by bus she gets teased by some boys also on their way to school.  You can probably guess the rest of it.

Until recently Murcia owned this series, but we traded.  She got a million volumes of D.N. Angel and I got the better deal.  I’ve read 7 out of the 9 manga I own in a matter of hours.
Not that gorging on manga is a bad thing, but it tends to warp the mind if there is a lack of social interaction.

Throughout the series the sweet couple has a series of issues that they work out, be it not communicating, or cheating or walking elephants in an elephant free zone.  This morning while reading one of the 9 I thought “wow, I remember when my boyfriend and I had this problem we worked it out by saying…” I thought the exact scene I had just read.  I immediately felt ashamed, that situation had never happened between me and my beau.

I had become delusional because I had lost touch with reality.  I don’t know if this is common, or if I am just so lost in thought that I can’t separate the two realities.

Today I have made goals for myself, even if they are just to empty the trash, or sort through laundry.  Something to keep my reality.    Just remember if you read too much manga and don’t talk to anyone real, your thoughts and memories can meld and wander.

I hope that everyone will enjoy this pitiful replacement for Murcia’s usually informational and interesting manga/book/and/movie blogs and look forward to her next installment.

–Kat

by any other name

Moving has made me more scattered than I realized and Internet access has been less than plentiful. So this is just a quick note to let you know that Shine a Light a film by Martin Scorsese is advertised as being a documentary.  It isn’t a documentary even by VH1 standards.  It is a nicely filmed concert. Odd.

I may have a guest blogger post later today.  I think she’s calling herself KatGirl. 

Please treat her kindly.

ta,

Murcia

some other beginning’s end

It seems like celebrations are the order of the day.

To begin with, it is my mother’s birthday today. She had breakfast with her best friend, my sister, my brother and his fiancee. Then she came to help me move out of my apartment. Because packing is not fun and celebrating birthdays is fun - I did no packing after she arrived. We spent the afternoon enjoying ourselves. Part of that was spent at my library because it was fresh hunting ground for her.

At dinner, she pulled out a small “Buddy Christ” figurine (gift from my brother) to grace the table. My mother also told me that she had resolved the egg problem. I didn’t know there was an egg problem but apparently it is simply that she likes to order her eggs sunny side up but wants to receive eggs over easy. The phrase “sunny side up” sounds delightful to her but she prefers the look of “over easy.” She’s decided to tell the waitresses at her favorite restaurant that even though she will be ordering eggs sunny side up to always bring her the eggs over easy. (She lives in a small town and knows everyone and their mother, so this is possible.) She is moving into eccentric old-lady-hood with astonishing ease.

The second happy thing is that I’m finally done with school. I feel giddy with relief. I am also trying not to be nervous that someone will suddenly announce that I have missed an essential class or that I don’t have enough hours or something. But it’s over. Whew!

The third good thing is that I just read Michelle from the Underwear Drawer has announced her pregnancy. Oddly enough, this is as exciting to me as if she were an actual friend. Her son Cal’s going to be a big brother. That’ll be interesting.

So, a good day all around.

Bollywood/Hollywood (2002)

The plot: an Indian-Canadian, Rahul Seth (Rahul Khanna) is successful and wealthy with an Anglo-Canadian woman as his fiancee. She dies in levitating accident.

Then his mother insists that he find a bride before his sister’s wedding. He picks up a Spanish-speaking woman, named Sue (Lisa Ray) in a bar and pays her to pose as his fiancee. Things play out in the expected, romantic comedy way.

The topic: multiple identities. The opening number had the Caucasian woman singing that she can be whatever her lover wants from her. A number of the characters have multiple identities depending upon the situation. The heroine’s father figuratively takes on the role of characters in famous Bollywood movies to deal with events. Even the minor players question their roles in life.

The hero is quite traditional. The hero obeys his mother, listens to his grandmother, made a death bed promise to his late father. The father’s ghost pops up occasionally to guide his son.

The hero’s impostor fiancee is so unconventional that she manages to annoy him at every turn. But she charms his family and fits in quite well into his culture.

I liked it that, at the end, the hero still did not know most of the other characters “real” identities. In one case, neither does the audience.

The wedding dance was the most delightful. The ending credits with the cast and crew dancing was fun too with a great song.

I quite liked it.