Woodstock

I heard and read about the famous music festival. Woodstock became a major event in U.S. history. I found the festival fascinating due to the music and peace amongst the attendees.

Some of the highlights were as follows:

Jerry Garcia's humor
Janis Joplin's powerful voice
The young, positive spirit
The number of attendees
Jimi Hendrix's instrumental skills and expression
Arlo Guthrie was so adorable
The Ivy League background of the founders
The Peace
The Safety
The Location
Music embedded in our minds for popularity
The attire

I wish that I could travel back in time and attend the festival.

Arthur Rubinstein - The Love of Life

Arthur Rubinstein was a classical pianist who scaled the highest achievements in the music world. The film documented his life from his childhood (being a prodigy) to one of his concerts.

I was immensely impressed with his precision in fingering and emotions attached to his history. I own several of his recordings. After viewing the documentary, I wished that I was an audience member of his playing. In a scene of a memorial, his eyes became swollen as he expressed most of his family was killed in the hands of the Nazi. He expressed gratitude of able to travel with his music from Paris to the United States. Music saved himself and his immediate family.

I read about his children in his biography profile. His son John Rubinstein is a current Tony winning actor. The late Rubinstein was proud of his son's successes.

I only knew his existence through his music. I was able to have a glimpse of his history.

Journey Into Self

I read the short summary of the film. The brief description of a therapy circle with a leading psychologist explained how complete strangers are able to communicate and connect on a personal level. Although everyone had their own situations and behaviors, they were able to explain their struggles and feelings about themselves and their close ones.

I love the concept of the therapy circle. I remember on several occasions that I had an arguing group of people go in a circle and explain their side. As a result, the communication breakdown and rebuilding made our team come together. In the film, the people were together for many hours. They had their inhibitions and hide behind their self. Being forced to communicate, the individuals were able to explain themselves and how they feel about the others.

I really enjoyed the lady's perspective about helping the white gentleman yet she couldn't due to racism. They sympathize with each other regardless of our conditioned society after they were open in communication. This means moving forward and connecting in a beautiful way.

In any group setting in a long duration either working together on a project or attending classes with others or friends social circles, we tend to bond quicker if the meetings are constant and productive.

I believe that I am successful due to a work group setting. I love motivating and bringing out the best in others. I would recommend this film for others to have empathy and understand someone's views and backgrounds.

I have my own struggles with connecting. I would love to converse and collaborate with others. I take my time. Therefore, I would volunteer to be a subject in a therapy circle.

Anderson Platoon

Anderson Platoon scenes took place in the jungles of Vietnam during the war between South and North Vietnam. I was captivated by the insider's camera into the missions of the platoon as they go into a dangerous territory to seek out the Viet Cong. As one soldier was introduced as the cameraman, each soldier was introduced by his location and a close up of their faces.

The core of a film is how the camera operator portray and display the storyline. The camera operation is the adventure of the piece. If someone is hired as the camera operator, he or she must have the heart and risk to go beyond the story. I gravitated to the camera action by this insider in this film as well the recently Oscar nominated documentary short "Karama Has No Walls" when a young man witnessed tragedy and involved in a conflict scene. I read and admire characters of the camera who became near to death and overcome barriers from political struggles, animal encounters, sickness, and catastrophes. I loved the biographical story of "Stories We Tell" by Sarah Polley as she was integrated into the story.

The second successful part of the film is the music. The music is the accent; punctuates the audience to be pulled into the film.

I believe that this film was viewed to make a basis for blockbuster films as "Saving Private Ryan" and other war films.

On a personal note, scenes of the film gave me a sense of comfort and understanding. I felt that I was there - technically I was. My mother left Vietnam in April 1975 while I reside in her womb on an airplane. We almost didn't make it. Thank you to my youngest aunt and military officer of their quick thinking.

My mother told me that she never witnessed the war scenes because she lived in a protective environment. Yet the sounds of war cradle my existence. I am a product of war and peace. We existed due to our past. I must love documentaries due to their content - the arrow to my heart. I heard horror stories after the war to the ones who stayed after South Vietnam fell to the communism. I am grateful everyday of my existence. My mother never told yet hinted - I heard from my stepfather who is my father - how her cousins, aunts, and uncles left by boat; then they were raped, killed, and left for dead by pirates. There is sadness and gratitude in my past. I have respect for the soldiers who fought in this war.

War Game

Humans have keen yet instinctual psyche with catastrophe whether natural or man-made. War Game successfully executed a worst case scenario film if a nuclear war attack happened in the United Kingdom from the Soviet Union. After the rise and fall of World War I and II, the filmmakers decided to research the reels of horrific war scenes, bombings, scientists predictions, and other resources. As a result, they pooled together a realistic scene of melting tragedy. I love the unfolding after affects from the time of the attack, the people, law enforcements, starvation, slow deaths, to the chemical wastes. Statistics, temporary solutions, anger, political strife, and frustration are all involved into state of hopelessness and desperation. One must practice on seamlessly use transitions and affect effects at its film making advantage. One can study these in films for a lifetime.

I play scenes in my mind at times when attacks resulting within and on U.S. borders from landmarks or an earthquake/tsunami on the West Coast. We already witnessed major catastrophes and without denial; we will face more in our history. Unfortunately, there will be a rise and fall of U.S. due to the histories of civilizations. The best stretch of imagination into reality if someone could beautifully yet ironically write and produce a realistic scene of our own demise. This film is a prime example of true destruction. As others chosen the journalism field, Walter Cronkite became a war correspondent and reported in the field.

I watched An Inconvenient Truth a few years ago. The same format was presented as in this archive film on how we can destroy our environment whether by our inventions or political struggles. Either way, we are screwed just as we are meant to die at some point.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story

The film chronologically narrates Eleanor Roosevelt's life from childhood to her role in public. Her figure was displayed correctly in terms of history and events. Video clips were shown of her humor and standing for human rights with human suffering and wars happening in the forefront.

I particularly only (really) enjoyed the last thirty minutes of the film. It showed her conquest of fighting for rights and her traveling throughout the world. I was bored with her history yet admire her upbringing and connection with her husband.

What I can come out of this film is a strong prominent female figure who stated her opinion and went against the grain and helped people in oppressed states. She was a role model or given in terms of a saint who will be admired by generations to come. I need to view this film twice. I rather read a book prior to this action.

Off on my own key, one should find the less fortunate and give aid whether by words or support. Imagine if one commercial showed that every human reaches their thoughts or hands and help their fellow man. The world would slightly move in even greater direction. Could we ask for only five seconds of our time to help?

There was a time when I was arriving back from Boston Logan Airport to Sea-Tac Airport. My flight was delayed and arrived to an almost emptied airport in middle of the night. Everyone left. I had to find transportation back to my loft. My original decision weighed on the Super Shuttle service. As I was way into my head, then I heard a very young woman crying and a baby (a newborn) crying. I turned and asked if she was okay. She expressed, No!" She was on the phone with her aged grandparents. She didn't have a ride home with no money - her family ignored and forgotten her arrival. She said that they (her sisters and brothers) rather be at an afterhours nightclub. I frowned. How in the hell do you allow a newborn stranded in this frigid rainy Northwest weather? Damn fucking people as Eleanor Roosevelt would curse about people as well.

I asked her, "How are you going to get home?" She tried calling and calling again. I spoke with her grandparents on speakerphone - they were very worried but couldn't drive due to night vision blindness. My grandmother had the same problem when she was alive.

I made a quick decision to rent a car and take the young woman and her baby to her grandparents' place. She had no one to help her. It took a hour and half for the drive but at the end - it was rewarding. I met her grandparents at the door as tears were coming down their faces. They were happy with the huge smiles and the cutest accents that their granddaughter and great grandbaby were safe. They were the nicest people who lived on a farm. I came out with the best Caribbean food and lots of fresh farm eggs. I will never forget that night. I came home around 9 a.m. and was awake for the rest of the day with a smile. I had no sleep but helping someone made up for it.

Le Monde Sans Soleil

I had low expectations of the film due to a second winning of an Academy Award by Jacques Cousteau. I was elevated to the summit of amazement based on the technologies, narration, and visuals of the underwater experiment of living in the ocean.

The same format existed as the first film- a futuristic flying saucer shaped submarine floating into the deep depths of the sea. In the film Le Monde Du Silence, the first scene had divers go deeper for explorations and analysis. I was impressed how the men lived, researched, and maintained their livelihood in an underwater habitat with the narration of Cousteau. Only a few can experience a life. The men, who were assigned for the project, were called Oceanauts. The world is fascinating by seeing the life for the first time - marine life in shapes of land and sky animals. The sights reminded me of the research with biofluourescence. A great book based on the subject is called A Glow in the Dark by Vincent Pieribone and David Gruber. Organisms have a natural lighting mechanism while moving in water.

Cousteau explained and filmed daily routines on a station system where there are three types of elevation levels. Rations and supplies had to travel in pressure containers from above and to the deepest station. The Oceanauts had to travel from one station to the next to sustain the life of the crew. There was a supply of air elements which had to be adjusted according to the human intake. Cameras were set and monitored for research and safely. There was even a parrot in the mix.

The men had numerous duties and had to battled tight quarters and psychological challenges from isolation and adjusting to a life underwater. Due to lack of sun, they had to lay on a UV bed. Each man had responsibilities and gather specimens for documentation and analysis as divers. There was an onsite lab in the station.

It was fascinating to see life unknown to man before the project. I could watch this film again. I watched a couple of films based on a clear glass tubing system which people can travel and live in water stations and homes. The film added to this realistic imagery of man living underwater.

Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World

The film is for sale through a couple of websites. The showings have been made through special screenings through the U.S. sponsored by UCLA Film and Television Archive.

I will purchase the DVD and look forward to owning this timeless masterpiece.

Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler

I lost sleep due to the grave, fascinating contents created by the minds of Adolf Hitler and Johann Wolfgang Goethe through an observed narration.

The film used a story of the fox paralleling the actions and behaviors of Hitler from his arrest in Austria to his ruling. Every time I reflect back to history on the Nazi topic, I become fathomed about the time when World War I and II took place. Less than a century ago, Europe was in a leavened, castigation state which humans and buildings were destroyed in the name of power. Alongside normal existence, art and cultures were being depleted and emptied out for deepest, bottomless dungeons of despair and death. Wars between allies and opponents will always result catastrophic ends.

The contents were a good pairing with the allegory. The timeline and events were seamlessly explained. I enjoyed the frame by frame artistic storyboard of Mr. Hitler and his power over people.

From this viewing of film, I had to listen and reread the poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Path. Then, I jumped to the Oscar winning short film of 2014 - The Lady in Number 6. I leaped to the Bauhaus house.

Good stories surfaces due to the nature of war.

Every winning content will be based on my own belief:

1. Inhumane to conquest
2. Deep ends
3. Hardships and deaths
4. War
5. Animals
6. Walt Disney
7. Overcoming fear and winning
8. Oui, oui, Jacques Cousteau

Sky Above Mud Below

The film is not available for streaming online. I found the film as a bonus feature along with Black and White in Color; a film that won a Academy Award in 1976.

I will order the DVD and move onto the next on the list for now.

Who is Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau?

Walt Disney's The Horse with the Flying Tail

I detest films that fill my tea kettle with tears. Soon, steam rises  - I am flabbergasted with emotions. With all means, the film is part of Walt Disney Pictures production.

The film features the Wild West horse from New Mexico raised in an open ranged farm. His purpose was to be a cow horse to keep the cattle in place. His remarkable jumping ability and strength paved his way to a prestige competition cup - George V. The film was rather short but compounded a sense of achievement and pounded on my aorta. The horse changed his demeanor and purposes with many ownerships' hands from being a hunting breed, a tortured moneymaker, resisting rebel to a U.S. equestrian team horse. Despite of fouls, greed, starvation, and overworked for the wrong reasons, he became a prize winning competing horse. I love this true story line.

I found the arc parallels with humans who beats all odds and wins a gold medal through great intuition and hardwork...along with an Academy Award, Nobel Prize, and other top awards. Although critics and the ills of life blocks add to the demise of survival, the underdog or a determined fellow works greatly and survive through strife to win and achieve their goal. In my days, I feel the weight on me and keep on going.

I highly recommend this film. The power of human mind and determination is shown through a horse who kept his roots yet adapted well despite all who and what was against him. The horse was believed to be destined for greatness by the ones who sees brilliance from first sight.

If you envision with the prize along with a perfect support system, you will receive your dream.

Seregenti Shall Not Die

The film is not readily available. I am unable to purchase for viewing. I shall research and find the contents along with Design for Death.

A book has been written and may be combed through my fingers.

Walt Disney's White Wilderness

The film provided a glimpse into the wildlife of the Arctic region. The film is known as the controversy of the lemming suicide as the species migrate and jump into the sea. A few survive and repeat the cycle of reproduction. The experts were asked if this is the truth. They said that they do not migrate and do not act in a suicidal behavior; rather of traveling across a body of water. They die due to exhaustion and drown. The scene of lemmings was supposedly staged for cliff hanging and excitement. Due to the nature of films, the idea of staging is what becomes a commonality.

I enjoyed seeing the behaviors of the animals. I traveled to Alaska before and watched from a bus in Denali National Park and glacier sightseeing cruises. I saw the caribou, bear, arctic foxes, wolves, fowls, fish, polar bears, whales, and many others shown in the film. One of the sly, dangerous animals was the wolverine. The wolverine is a vicious loner which will attack five times its weight and will climb trees. The characteristics of the bear and the raccoon are combined into this clawing creature. I rather not encounter this creature versus a bear. I was thinking about the movies based on animal characteristics and behaviors. The current movie X-Men surfaced in my mind as how characters and comic writers studied via real life and movies to mimic imagination with reality. I watched the role of Hugh Jackman's character (Wolverine) with the animal. I love the personification. All Disney cartoons have to portray the concentrated studies of animals and plants and how humans interact with them. There is an importance of studying real life to recreate fiction especially for entertainment. It must relate to the audience.

Another observation that I had was the changing of seasons from winter to spring as the tundra melted the ice. I saw the change as the curtain of a screen opened to the act of dynamics interplays between the animals with its Arctic background. The beauty of the film was staging according to close-ups of trees, glaciers, snowbanks, river scenes, burrows, and icebergs to create the more realistic film. There must have been a longstanding cameras to capture the scenes.

This film probably won an award because it was a first view of animal interactions and an area where a majority of humans will not travel to see real life wildlife. The film does give an overall information on what exists in the Arctic as the other films shown through other terrains.

Albert Schweitzer

The film is based on Albert Schweitzer who displayed true altruism on his services to help build and provide medical care in Gabon, Africa. He displayed gentleness and compassion for all living things and humans. His devotion to help others earned him a medical degree and a Nobel Peace Prize.

He wrote the narration for the film. I enjoyed the contents and admired his work. Before viewing the film, I watched a documentary based on 2004 tsunami in Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. These documentaries are changing my course of direction. Due to seeing unselfish dedication of humanitarian, my focus is evolving for some greater than myself. I made a hard decision. I usually visit the Venice Biennale exhibition in architecture every two years. I was about to book my flight and lodging. After some consideration and being impacted by these films, I decided to visit Vietnam for the first time. I was born in the states and never stepped on its soils. Instead, I would like to see where from and what I am. I am nervous due to my detest of mosquitoes. In October, I am heading to South Vietnam in a town called Bien Hoa where my mother and (I believe) my biological father was born. I have to ask my paternal grandfather about our history.

I will meet family that I never seen before except in photos. I will meet my maternal side. This experience will change my life again.

In the film, Schweitzer visited a Gabon village located deeply in the terrain. He had a vision that he must build a hospital. It was his mission. It took numerous years, money from the prize, and intelligent thinking for sustainable design and success. He described and shown visually with full details and concentration on how the hospital was being built. After completion, the filming showed how they aid the population with medical care.

Although I cannot quite critiqued the film's contents at this moment, I can say that it impacted me to walk somewhere else.

Le Monde Du Silence

Jacques Cousteau, the leading man and legend oceanographer, pioneered the idea of filming underwater with a camera device and scientific experiments. He was able to combine his innovative breakthroughs through marine research and technology. Before the filming, he wrote a book based on the sea underworld. I found the film to be an accurate depiction on how scientists study and analyze data that they gather and document. They dived, killed, and showed the everyday life of a research crew. Although the general audience does not understand the death and dissections of animals, the viewing of the crew killing the marine animals from the sharks to fish may turn heads away from the screen. Throughout history of science, killing or gigantic accumulation of experimenting allows a scientist to figure out the characteristics and behaviors of animals. In return, the data can be manipulated by chemicals or by the knife to determine either a medicine or a medical procedure can be done on humans. Or if a certain solution can isolate a condition or heal it.

Throughout the years, the idea of animal cruelty has been a topic of discussion and shun by the sights of the outside world. Behind doors or out in the field, universities, science institutions or biotechnology companies are experimenting and pipetting discoveries to help mankind or other animals. I am relieved that the film portrayed how scientists need to gather specimens for studies. In my days of studying biology, I had to put mice into jars, cut them open, and pour solutions. Then I had to collect the blood, smear the cells onto a slide, and study the after effects through the microscope. I had to figure the physiology of organs and the animal systems. I lost count on how many that I killed for science. Imagine if I had to work on humans even though I had views. Even humans are experimented on through vaccines, medicines in war, or chemical warfare tests.

Based on the film, the technology won the award in terms of opening a world to the viewers. The beginning miraculously showed divers going into the deep end. The visual and the music are fascinating where no humans have witnessed via film. I believe that documentary films are successful when they can grasp the audience into a tunnel of visionary insights. The unknown and the exposed are the key components of a documentary filmmaker. I should brainstorm in the areas that viewers do not have the courage or the brain power to enter into a certain world. Once someone discovers a certain topic, they bring a certain technology to the table.

I would like to go deep into dangerous areas with a disguise and figure out how to expose the truth if humanity is at stake. I always thought that one day I would travel to Falkland Islands and live there for a year. I would accurately conjure a brilliant topic as I sit in mere isolation. I believe that stories will arise when you have a blank slate. There is a story to be told by me. I will find that damn core which will penetrate through the minds of the audience even if it kills me in terms of exhaustion and complete force. If only I could take a camera, rescue, and imprison them who destroy the innocent. Recently, a friend told me that I reminded them of Nelson Mandela. If I only had a courage and eliminate the distractions. I would really like to help people in a just and humanitarian mind. I believe that turn points of self-discovery will be significant in my later years.

A side note, I enjoyed seeing the dachshund as the crew's companion.