maryam's profileMaryamiePhotosBlogListsMore Tools Help

Blog


    06 May

    Movie reviews: We live in Public and Persepolis

    Haven't been doing movie reviews for a while on this site, only because I've been watching some stupid movies, I didn't think they even deserved a review: these include Step Brothers, Dewey Cox, Kung Fu Panda, Drillbit Taylor, Goodluck Chuck, and Mr. Woodcock. I realized in my quest for funny, and entertaining movies to watch, I keep renting dumbass DVDs not worth the disc they are burned on. So please if you know of any good funny movies, send me an email. Otherwise, I have to watch A Fish Called Wanda and The Rat Race over and over again.

    The last two movies that I have watched, the documentary titled "We Live in Public" and the anime titled "Persepolis",  have not been funny and entertaining so much as they have been thought provocative and controversial. I recommend watching both of them, as I enjoyed each in a different way and learned from them.

    Since the documentary chronicles a decade in the life of one of Internet pioneers, Josh Harris, it was interesting to watch "We Live in Public" with my husband, as Robert has been living in public as long as I've known him and in his own words is fanatic about the Internet. Robert called the movie, a cautionary tale when we let things go to extremes. For me, it was amazing to watch how the mind of a genius works and how often the society laughs and rejects those who tend to think ahead of their time. It has been my experience, that some of those who have extremely high IQs or are extremely intelligent, inventive or creative, have a hard time dealing with their emotions and come out as cold, detached, and socially inept. It was sad to see that for all his brilliance, Josh Harris had such a hard time relating to people he cared about and could not find and hold on to love. It was also sad to see that all his ideas that were thought foolish, and creepy are now picked up by the major networks and the masses as the popularity of social networks and reality TV soars. I definitely recommend watching this film, especially to those spending more and more time on the Internet. I think that includes many of us.

    While I found "We Live in Public" an eye-opening film about the Internet culture, and our culture in general, "Persepolis" hit me so much closer to home and heart. As an Iranian immigrant who experienced the revolution and war in an early age in my homeland, I could relate in such a deep level to the cultural issues explored in "Persepolis." I think that in many ways though this story of coming of age touches on many universal human aspects that we all share and it is sweet and sad, romantic and political, funny at times, and heart-rending at others. It is fantastic how this is all portrayed in the form of anime; no wonder it was nominated for an Oscar and has won so many awards.

    I think I need to watch more critically acclaimed movies, especially from Sundance Festival and Foreign movies and stay away from stupid Hollywood movies for a while. What have you been watching lately?






    Comments

    Please wait...
    Sorry, the comment you entered is too long. Please shorten it.
    You didn't enter anything. Please try again.
    Sorry, we can't add your comment right now. Please try again later.
    To add a comment, you need permission from your parent. Ask for permission
    Your parent has turned off comments.
    Sorry, we can't delete your comment right now. Please try again later.
    You've exceeded the maximum number of comments that can be left in one day. Please try again in 24 hours.
    Your account has had the ability to leave comments disabled because our systems indicate that you may be spamming other users. If you believe that your account has been disabled in error please contact Windows Live support.
    Complete the security check below to finish leaving your comment.
    The characters you type in the security check must match the characters in the picture or audio.
    maryam ghaemmagha​mi Scoble has turned off comments on this page.

    Trackbacks

    Weblogs that reference this entry
    • None