The Oscars are on February 22, and though the awards are not necessarily a reflection of the best films of the year, it is always a fun event. In preparation for Oscar night, everyone is encouraged to fill out the Official 2009 Oscar Ballot at: http://wk.awards.portnoy.org/ or if you are in NY come watch at our place. Remember if you do fill out the ballot, please send $10 to the pool. (I am very serious about this!) You can email me directly to get the address.
Reviews of the main contenders have already been provided in previous blogs. Slumdog Millionaire is the juggernaut for best film (and should be) while Milk could be a sly underdog. Doubt had strong individual performances but the whole did not sum. The Dark Knight was robbed of a best picture nomination
I’ll also provide my $0.02 on the other movies that were recognized this year, but I couldn’t figure out how to interweave into previous postings.
Ron Howard’s Frost/ Nixon is an ingenious retelling of the infamous Nixon interview. Several years after his impeachment, Nixon provided a set of interviews to set the record straight on his political contributions. Everyone was hoping for a formal apology on Watergate, or at least recognition of wrongdoing. The oral statement never occurred but the President’s expression at the end of the interview articulates his acknowledgement of power lost and integrity never regained. Frank Langella embodies the fallen leader in presence, tone and impact – easily the strongest best actor performance of the year.
Kung-Fu Panda is the sublime story of a pot-bellied hero striving to become a ninja warrior through introspection and good noodles. Borrowing from Japanese anime and the martial arts genre, the film provides a bewitching story that makes the Chinese incredulous that it was created outside the Mainland. My pick for best animated picture.
WALL-E is the tale of a trash-compactor completing his task on a post-apocalyptic Earth. A blithe spirit, he watches scenes from Hello Dolly and yearns for companionship. The Pixar animation stuns as always, but the fable falters as it moves from the robot’s search for love to a Brothers Grimm story of human fallibility. This is likely to win the best animated film Oscar, but I’m rooting for the Panda.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is well named, because I am still questioning how this Forest Gump meets Hurricane Katrina story garnered 12 Oscar nominations. It undoubtedly has excellent effects, and Brad Pitt is handsome but best picture and best actor? The allegory of a man forced to live his life backwards provides insight into the need to have a purpose for being, the inexorable whims of fate, and how love can carry across generations. But the movie bites off much more than it delivers. In the end, we’re left with three hours of southern accents and impassioned pleas to love people as they are. Brad should be ready to give up the trophy with his usual poise.
In Tropic Thunder, Robert Downey, Jr is an actor so serious in his role that he is willing to don black-face and continue in character despite the obvious fact that his movie is no longer shooting. Robert Downey is back in force after some troubled years, but his turn in Iron Man demonstrated much subtler acting, and Tom Cruise’s cameo is the real show-stealing Thunder. This year, the best supporting actor category belongs to Heath Ledger.
Surprisingly, Kate Winslet wasn’t nominated for Revolutionary Road, but she should have been. A suburban wife unable to unleash her creativity finds a solution to captivity through unbearable means. This Hedda Gabbler redux brings an upsetting update to women’s rights in the modern age. Best actress should go to Kate W. this year.
Woody Allen wrote Penelope Cruz’s part in Vicky Christina Barcelona with her in mind. Javier Bardem is dapper, svelte and charming, but Penelope’s reckless artist wife throws morality to the wind and becomes the essence of true love. A grand performance, but one of the ladies from Doubt is going to get best supporting actress in the end.
The movies I haven’t had a chance to see yet are: The Wrestler, The Reader, Rachel Getting Married and The Changeling. If you have seen them, please do add your comments and critiques. Good luck on the Oscar pool next Sunday.
February 15, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Some thoughts on… A Tale of Two Cities
In January, we visited two Arabian cities – Dubai in the Unites Arab Emirates and Amman in Jordan. Formally, the two countries are recent creations. Jordan moved from British Rule in 1946 and was ruled by King Abdullah. The UAE was formed in 1971 out of the expiration of the Trucial States Council, when the Sheikhdoms united in the region to be governed by the Emirs.
Today, the countries are monarchies dating back to the Islamic caliphates. Yet Jordan’s written history goes back to the 2000 BCE. The countries are vibrant. Jordan has a population of 6.2 million in 2008 with a gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms of $28 billion; UAE has a population of 4.6 million and $164B GDP PPP – a distinct per capita difference.
Yet when you visit the countries you never meet an Emirati national, whereas in Jordan you encounter locals in the streets, villages and stores. In Jordan, every one we met from the hotel security guard to the people in the stores, were all kind and welcoming. In the UAE, the population is mostly immigrants from South Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia. According to the CIA Factbook, the immigration rate for UAE is extraordinarily high at 25 migrants/ 1000 popn. Jordan has immigration as well at a rate of 6 migrants / 1000 population – much of this Palestinian. As a benchmark, despite our strong migrant population, in the US we have 3 migrations/ 1000 people.
Why is there a difference in the attitude of the locals between these two countries? Oil is an obvious answer to the exceptional economic performance, but why can you meet so many Jordanians and so few Emiratis?
The first reason may be that the Jordanians recognize the value of earning a living. Without a steady source of oil money, many Jordanians work at white collar and blue collar jobs. But the work goes beyond a source of income. There is a pride in the work that they are doing, and a purpose for a job well done. Waiter bustle around tables, gas attendants welcome you, and taxi drivers speak kindly. The people have pride in their work and in their country; and it seems that employment is not looked down upon. In Dubai, almost every sector of the economy from day laborers to business middle-men is imported. Emiratis hold top positions in domestic companies, e.g. EMAAR (real estate), Emirates (airlines), DEWA (gas and power), etc; and I would guess these appointments are influenced by the monarchy. But most of other workers are not Emirati. It would seem that the society does not take pride in a hard day’s work for their citizens.
The Jordanians also have a historic culture of engagement with the rest of the world. Located next to Jerusalem, the area is a holy land to the three Abrahamic religions. We visited the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and also went up Mt. Nebo where Moses led his people and viewed the Promised Land before he died. The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea have been crossed and re-crossed for millennia by travelers and civilizations – Nabatean, Parthian, Sassanian. The need to intermingle with foreign cultures is apparent in the attitudes of villagers and city folks – people are interested in knowing where you are from and at the same time have pride in their own country. We encountered only one child who asked for money (at one of the tourist sites), otherwise people sold their goods, but had the pride not to beg – a welcome relief from India and Egypt where one is consistently accosted. In Dubai, there is a distance from strangers or foreigners. Even if you are eating at a restaurant or café and other Emiratis are present, they will rarely speak to you let alone acknowledge you. The Bedouin roots may still be strong in these interactions.
Finally, the Jordan Valley and surrounding areas are a cornucopia for agriculture. Driving through the country side we saw tomatoes, romaine, and oranges selling by the road side along with fruit/ juice stands even in the smallest villages. Such abundant land requires maintenance and fealty. One doesn’t just invest in the land and then walk away a few years later once it is used up. This practice of disposable land use may be possible in the middle of the desert where it is easy to keep moving to new areas without leaving much behind. In Jordan though once you leave the fertile valley, there are not many other areas to settle. Arable land is not plentiful in Jordan, and is practically non-existent in Dubai. Land in Jordan is protected and maintained. Dubai in some ways feels like a disposable city. Of course massive structures are being built – indoor ski slopes, the world’s tallest building, a replica of the globe in the middle of the water. But in the end, the plastic quality (or Vegas on steroids feel) makes me think that if they tire of this city the Emiratis may just move on in their limousines and build another Dubai II a hundred miles into the desert.
In the post 9/11 world, there are so many stereotypes of Arabs, and it is very difficult to characterize a region, but I think anyone would do well to visit Jordan and see a gentler-side of Arab culture.
It will be interesting to see how these cities develop over the next few decades. But I would think that for Dubai to exist as a cultural entity for the next 1000 years, it will need to adopt some of the Jordanian practices.
February 1, 2009
Today, the countries are monarchies dating back to the Islamic caliphates. Yet Jordan’s written history goes back to the 2000 BCE. The countries are vibrant. Jordan has a population of 6.2 million in 2008 with a gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms of $28 billion; UAE has a population of 4.6 million and $164B GDP PPP – a distinct per capita difference.
Yet when you visit the countries you never meet an Emirati national, whereas in Jordan you encounter locals in the streets, villages and stores. In Jordan, every one we met from the hotel security guard to the people in the stores, were all kind and welcoming. In the UAE, the population is mostly immigrants from South Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia. According to the CIA Factbook, the immigration rate for UAE is extraordinarily high at 25 migrants/ 1000 popn. Jordan has immigration as well at a rate of 6 migrants / 1000 population – much of this Palestinian. As a benchmark, despite our strong migrant population, in the US we have 3 migrations/ 1000 people.
Why is there a difference in the attitude of the locals between these two countries? Oil is an obvious answer to the exceptional economic performance, but why can you meet so many Jordanians and so few Emiratis?
The first reason may be that the Jordanians recognize the value of earning a living. Without a steady source of oil money, many Jordanians work at white collar and blue collar jobs. But the work goes beyond a source of income. There is a pride in the work that they are doing, and a purpose for a job well done. Waiter bustle around tables, gas attendants welcome you, and taxi drivers speak kindly. The people have pride in their work and in their country; and it seems that employment is not looked down upon. In Dubai, almost every sector of the economy from day laborers to business middle-men is imported. Emiratis hold top positions in domestic companies, e.g. EMAAR (real estate), Emirates (airlines), DEWA (gas and power), etc; and I would guess these appointments are influenced by the monarchy. But most of other workers are not Emirati. It would seem that the society does not take pride in a hard day’s work for their citizens.
The Jordanians also have a historic culture of engagement with the rest of the world. Located next to Jerusalem, the area is a holy land to the three Abrahamic religions. We visited the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and also went up Mt. Nebo where Moses led his people and viewed the Promised Land before he died. The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea have been crossed and re-crossed for millennia by travelers and civilizations – Nabatean, Parthian, Sassanian. The need to intermingle with foreign cultures is apparent in the attitudes of villagers and city folks – people are interested in knowing where you are from and at the same time have pride in their own country. We encountered only one child who asked for money (at one of the tourist sites), otherwise people sold their goods, but had the pride not to beg – a welcome relief from India and Egypt where one is consistently accosted. In Dubai, there is a distance from strangers or foreigners. Even if you are eating at a restaurant or café and other Emiratis are present, they will rarely speak to you let alone acknowledge you. The Bedouin roots may still be strong in these interactions.
Finally, the Jordan Valley and surrounding areas are a cornucopia for agriculture. Driving through the country side we saw tomatoes, romaine, and oranges selling by the road side along with fruit/ juice stands even in the smallest villages. Such abundant land requires maintenance and fealty. One doesn’t just invest in the land and then walk away a few years later once it is used up. This practice of disposable land use may be possible in the middle of the desert where it is easy to keep moving to new areas without leaving much behind. In Jordan though once you leave the fertile valley, there are not many other areas to settle. Arable land is not plentiful in Jordan, and is practically non-existent in Dubai. Land in Jordan is protected and maintained. Dubai in some ways feels like a disposable city. Of course massive structures are being built – indoor ski slopes, the world’s tallest building, a replica of the globe in the middle of the water. But in the end, the plastic quality (or Vegas on steroids feel) makes me think that if they tire of this city the Emiratis may just move on in their limousines and build another Dubai II a hundred miles into the desert.
In the post 9/11 world, there are so many stereotypes of Arabs, and it is very difficult to characterize a region, but I think anyone would do well to visit Jordan and see a gentler-side of Arab culture.
It will be interesting to see how these cities develop over the next few decades. But I would think that for Dubai to exist as a cultural entity for the next 1000 years, it will need to adopt some of the Jordanian practices.
February 1, 2009
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