C2 - THE JOURNAL, Thursday, June 14, 2012
O
PICKS OF WEEK
"Big Miracle" (PG) --
This based-on-a-true-story
• family flick tells the tale of
three trapped whales and the
people who come together to
save them. A likable young
TV reporter in small-town
Alagka (John Krasinksi) finds
out iibout a family of whales
stuck under the ice, cut off
from the ocean. What starts
as a local news piece becomes
a story watched by the whole
nation as an activist (Drew
Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston in "Wanderlust"
The bottom line is this: David ful of middle-class suburban
Wain writes, directs and edits teenagers throw a mega-
funny things. He has many huge party, and film the
funny fiiends whom he casts whole thing. It's not a wild
Barrymore) and many others in his movies, and they usu- premise. The most auda-
(it's a big cast) get involved, ally give great performances, cious thing about it is that the
Krasinski brings his "Jim His works usually fall in with movie uses the found-footage
froni' I'he Office" charm, and the absurd, subversive and perspective, and expects that
hel keep the movie light. It cultish, but this film is aimed
is, all, a movie set in the at a slightly broader audience.
"Wanderlust" (which he
directed and co-wrote) isn't
his finest work, but it certainly
produces laughs.
"Jeff Who Lives at Home,
(R) -- Jeff (Jason Segal) is 30,
lives in his mother's basement
and doesn't have much besides
a finn belief in destiny. His
older brother, Pat (Ed Helms),
has a wife (Judy Greer), a job
and an unimpressive place to
live. While nmning an errand
for their mother, Jeff gets
caught up in Pat's neurotic
plot to catch his wife cheating.
An awkward, funny, authentic
story comes together over the
rest of that day.
"Project X" (R) -- A hand-
to bring this non-story to life.
The resuk is 87 minutes of
mean-spirited adolescent
humor. The characters and
filmmakers have seized
upon the tenets of repug-
nant high-school mentality:
women are sex objects sent
to earth to frustrate young
men; anybody different must
be ridiculed; and everything
is a competition.
TV RELEASES
"Louie: Season 2"
"Wilfred"
"Tyler Perry's House of
Payne 9"
"Franklin & Bash: The
Complete First Season"
"Web Therapy -- The Com-
plete First Season"
(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
real' world where saving
the whales: requires help
from such cynical source.s as
politicians and oil executives.
The balance between reality
and feel-good is impressive,
and successfully delivers the
warm, fuzzy feeling.
"Wanderlust" (R) -- Emda
(Jennifer Anniston) and
George (Paul Rudd) are a
Manhattan couple frayed and
overpressured by the big city
life. When George loses his
job, the couple decide to pack
it in and start over somewhere
rise. On their way to Atlanta,
they stumble upon Elysium, a
sort ofhippie commune full of
friendly weirdos who invite the
couple to stay.
By Charlavan
Love or Lust. Is there a
chance we are missing the
point here? The line is
really murky when we try to
separate love and sex. I am
not sure they are even the
same subject. I decided to
do some research here. I'll
be right back.
"I am madly in lust with
you." I am afraid that is
the real meaning for let's
have sex and talk about it
later. Being in love is a
whole different issue but the
result is often the same.
Being 'in love' is something
that happens in the brain, not
just the body. The very same
thing that drives a drug addict
to need a fix is the brain
chemical dopamine. It is
driving the boat. Just loving
something is very different
than being 'in love'. Love
is something you can control
without chemicals. In fact, I
may withdraw my love if you
screw up: It is an option.
See, I knew there was more
to it than just the physical
thing. It is a crime on so
many levels when the sexual
drive is directed to involve
abuse on any level. Yet, it
is the driving force in many,
many cases. That is not love.
It is NOT LOVE.
We think it is funny to
watch a film, for instance,
about animals and their need
for 'pro-creation'. Depend-
ing on the size of the brain,
do you really think that rabbit
is in love? No, that is lust.
Really, really urgent lust.
Now I am the last to ques-
tion the programming of
the body to fill this universe
with more and more people
to further the need for 'love'
because I don't have a better
plan myself. I just know
that this one is flawed and
abused. This one certainly
is driving the courts, the
churches, the counselors,
the entertainment industry
and just about every other
faction of our lives. No, I
couldn't have done it that
well.
Even with the plan in place,
we may just need to enjoy the
dinner and movie. I presume
that is still in place?? Get
back to me.
V;:¸ } )! !/ .
Dependency, is it a
good thing? Western
culture has for decades
deemed the answer to
be a resounding "NO!"
Independence is what
our forefathers fought
for and the idea of being
independent has trick-
led down and become
the goal of every man,
woman, teenager, tod-
dler and country in the
21 st century.
Youth strive to be
independent of their
families, taking the big
step of moving out of
their parents' home with
the promise of fun and
freedom once the move
is made. Intellectuals
strive to be independent
thinkers sloughing off
the mores and ideologi-
cal teachings of an out of
touch generation. Entre-
preneurs work their tails
off to become financially
independent answering to
no boss or shift supervi-
sor. I have to admit that
I have come to believe
independence is truly
nothing more than a con-
cept unless the specific
constraints one seeks to
shed is established.
Parents and grandpar-
ents are usually willing
to help their children
even after they establish
their own residence. The
degree and type of "help"
varies from family to
family, but their remains
a dependency that actu-
ally runs both ways.
Youth may at times rely
on parents for a small
monetary loan. Single
mothers or young parents
may, in a pinch, phone a
family member to baby-
sit. My father took it
upon himself to warn
and notify me Of upcom-
ing daylight savings time
changes and followed
through to be certain I
changed all my clocks.
For him and me and the
other examples listed,
the benefits are mutual.
Parents continue to have
purpose; children have a
pillow of sorts. For both
there is a connection, a
dependency.
Thoughts may be original
and creative, they may
even be arranged in a way
that is new; yet thoughts
are dependent on a mas-
sive number of ideas
that have been taught to
the independent thinker.
What is "new" is actu-
ally a fresh realization of
concepts and beliefs that
most likely come from
hundreds of thousands of
other peoples' thoughts.
Textbooks, advertising,
media and conversation
all contribute to an inde-
pendent thinker's bright
revelation.
Similarly, financial
independency is noth-
ing more than freedom
from a 9 to 5 job, for a
mere glance at econom-
ics reflects the truth
that in the marketplace,
everyone is dependent
on someone else. Be it
the farmer who harvests
the cotton for the q-tipS
or retaining the end
consumer's favor, eco-
nomics relies on others.
Even inherited, wealth
came from somewhere.
Years ago I read a
Thor Heyerdahl book
He told of
him and his new bride
heading to a South Sea
island to live off the
land for one year. First
meeting with the island's
chief, the Chief refused
to let them attempt the
excursion without two
things--a cast-iron
skillet and shoes. The
couple depended as well
on accumulated knowl-
edge of survival skills,
local flora and fauna,
knowledge of the island,
etc. Their "independent"
endeavor still required a
degree of dependency,
though in no way does
this diminish their feat.
Dependency is not a bad
thing it is a human thing;
even more than human, it
is an earthly thing...all
species in some way
depend on another spe-
cies for survival. Why
then has mankind devel-
oped such an aversion to
the word and concept of
dependency? Could it be
an attempt to divide and
conquer?
Recognizing and
accepting our depen-
dency on each other, on
other species and (heaven
forbid) on an unseen
higher power grows the
flower of compassion in
our heart. Recogniz-
ing and accepting others
dependence on us helps
us to step up and lend a
hand or a hug. Recog-
nizing and accepting our
own dependent nature
keeps us from a false
sense of isolation; we
realize we are not alone
in our need for others.
Dependency, is it a good
thing? It just depends.
........ ! ............................... I -7-i iliZ ...................................
