Charlie Chapman - The Great Dictator (1940)

I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor, that's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in:
machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.

Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish. . .

Soldiers: don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. 
Soldiers: don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written:
"The kingdom of God is within man"
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite! ㋡

No End In Sight

★★★★★

For a complete grasp of what was going on between 2003-06 in the Iraq war, No End In Sight is a perfect depiction. Not only does it put you in the shoes of the political figures in charge (under Bush), and the troops. But it gives you insight into the Iraq citizen who lived in and through this. It answers the question of why there is/was resentment of our American occupation.

To sum up the general feelings of the Iraqi citizen; "Saddam hurt us badly, it's true. This is something we won't forget. But what came is worse than Saddam." «« Listen to the words of the people we went to "help."
How would you feel if another country came to the U.S. and arrested your father, brother, uncle, and nephew because of suspicion, allowed hooligans to destroy and loot Everything, and killed the guilty and innocent? Let's bring it into some sort of perspective.
Take the national reaction of a Police officer, one of our own, killing an innocent man. We'll give that reaction a number: 1. Take that 1 and multiply it by 2, because now the Police officer is no longer one of us, so we are two times as upset. Take the 2 and multiply it by 220,000, because that's how many Police officers (American/Private soldiers) there are suspected of killing/wrong doing. Now our reaction level is at 440,000. Could you imagine being That upset/scared = PARANOID every single day for eight years?
Now let's jump out of the Iraqi's shoes, and let's see what it cost us to go over there and "help" them.
$1.860 Trillion. Along with a couple casualties of our own, caused by militia, and an uprising in paranoid citizens.
All for what?... Saddam Hussein? I thought we started out to get Osama Bin Laden. Eh... two birds, one war. I guess that's winning................. i guess.

It's Kind of a Funny Story ⚡ Under Pressure

Good movie. Great scene. ㋡

The "ecology" of love

The Ecology of Love… From the title, to the use of excessive cameras, to the poor accents, and SHORT lived story; this short film tried too hard and came up short on its meaning.

The phrase “ecology of love” isn’t artistic enough to take away from its miss use. Where was the love? In the 18 minutes, I never saw love. I witnessed the ecology of people… but “The Ecology of People” could be used to describe any movie. Therefore further pushing the point that the content of this short film was all over the place and nowhere. I saw a cause with little result, and then a reflection. I feel the reflection made the immature result even less fulfilling and less to think about.

Generally I’m a supporter of a large amount of Pharrell projects, but I wouldn’t standup next to this one. Maybe that’s why it was never released. All I can presume is, Dania Ramirez must have pushed for it’s leaking, because she was undoubtedly the greatest thing about this short. 

I did actually appreciate the game Andre put on Alila. The shadeless lamps, the music, the use of the thrift store. Very Cool! And s/o to Matthew Jensen. He did an awesome job directing.

★★

Movie Review ✖ Trancedent Man

★★★: Informative & Interesting

Inventor  and futurist Ray Kurzweil is the subject of this documentary that follows him on a world speaking tour in which he expounds on his ideas about the merging of man and machine, which he predicts will occur in the not-so-distant future. Here he raises eyebrows with his wildly optimistic views of a technology-enhanced future.

This is a poorly put together documentary predicting an “iRobot” type theme for the future, which will hold your attention regardless of its chaotic editing.

Kurzweil’s points and opinions around the advancing speed of technology seem to be correct, but you have to wonder how long can it continue to accelerate. When it reaches the point of advancing the human perceptive, I feel there will be a change in the rate technology progresses, or a complete evolving of something new. Perhaps Ray Kurzweil is correct in his predictions of the creation of Artificial Intelligence, but at that point in time I think we will have a small speed bump. The domination of A.I. over the world in twenty years doesn’t seem very logical. People have been predicting these sort of events since the 1960's. Maybe Ray's own intelligence and ego have gotten the best of him. Although this is a wonderful jumping off point in understanding the ideas behind technical advancements and their capabilities. The film isn’t potent or concise enough to really give us the full picture of Singularity.

Experience Human Flight

★Black Dynamite★

I’m a big fan of pimps because of their original vernacular. It’s pure comedy. -- This is a scene from Black Dynamite, which is a blaxploitation made in 2009, features a long list of black celebrities playing pimps.

THE UPSETTER: Life & Music of Lee "Scratch" Perry

Today we can present to you the official theatrical trailer of “The Upsetter”, a documentary telling the fascinating story of Lee “Scratch” Perry. In the 50s he burst onto the scene with a new sound that would become to be known as Reggae. He gained international recognition as the mentor of the young Bob Marley, but more importantly as a music producer and solo artist. The documentary tells the vibrant story of Perry’s downfall and his uprising again, leading to a world tourin 2006. The Upsetter is based on an interview that he gave in Switzerland in 2006.

Directed by Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala-Lough, the film will see its first screening March 25-31 in LA, with many more to follow.

"Transcedent Man" Trailer

This is a documentary on the American futurist Ray Kurzweil, a multi-millionaire, inventor, and author of numerous books, has proposed a theory that in less than five decades the speed of change occurring in society will be too quick for humans to comprehend without directly merging our intelligence with machines. It sounds very 80s sci-fi-ish. The first portion of his beliefs, the accelerating speed of change, is undeniable… but to enhance ourselves to keep up with it…? I have to argue, we can’t keep up with something that is already beyond the majority.

The movie sounds interesting enough, but a little far fetched. I’ll check it out to check to see what else there is to learn from the subject.

Watch This ➙ "EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP"

Videographer, Thierry Guetta, sets off to capture the underground world and culture of street art.  After years of tagging along with different artist, Guetta finally meets the illustrious and in(famous) Banksy, who is merely a pseudonym. Banksy is said Bristol’s, and one of the world’s most famous stencil artist. But his identity is a mystery. He seems to be everywhere and nowhere, but Banksy allows Guetta to follow him and document their activity.

[full length movie]

The documentary takes a complete turn that will have you questioning everything you saw before the change when Thierry Guetta turn's into ✩Mr. BrainWash✩ and steps from behind the camera to play his hand at this thing they refer to as “Street Art.” Whether you’re into art or not,  watch this movie and ask yourself, “What is art?” I recommend this film, because as an appreciator of art, I’ve found that I don’t like all “Great art.” For example, I am not a fan of Basquiat. I am merely interested in his story and who he was, because of the influence and impression he has left behind.

[Banksy’s intro for The Simpson’s from October.]