Martha Marcy May Marlene

The main character is living in a cult with a satanic leader when she calls her sister to retrieve her. Little information is shared between any of the characters in this movie. It is as if they were all living underwater not just in the actual swimming scenes of which there are many, but in the murky exposition of the story.

It is frustrating to hear the older sister ask repeatedly "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and not really mean it. She does not wait for the answer. She does not get it, and neither do we. Poor Martha. She has no one to turn to. Her sister and her sister's husband seem like they want to take care of her, but there is something off in the tone of the direction that makes you doubt it. Poor audience who don't really know what the meaning of the movie is, except that at the heart of it is a sterling performance by the young actress, ...

Well photographed, with effective music, the movie's editing includes transitions that are out of a horror movie.

Who would you become if you had a sketchy childhood with no present parents and then joined a commune where you had to sublimate your better instincts to the abusive leader. What is most spooky perhaps is how Martha repeats the phrase, "I am a teacher and a leader" because it is what her guru told her she was. But we never learn who she really is, even with this string of names.

Occupy Wall Street

When I first visited the occupiers at Zuccotti Park, I was struck by the civilization that had been created, with tables for information, medicine, supplies, and clothes. Clusters of tourists made it hard to move as they snapped pictures of the occupiers. It felt like they were taking pictures of animals in a zoo. The police had erected a tall ominous tower and there were those stiff metal barricades that feel like an instant jail complete with bars to separate people from each other, and make it difficult to assemble. Overhead, a helicopter hovered.

Then the protesters came into my neighborhood. I heard them through my window. The sign says

The Solution:
Campaign Finance Reform
Public Option Health Care
Corporations are NOT People
End the Wars
Close Tax Loopholes
Tax the Rich
Regulate the banks
Pass the Jobs Bill
End corporate lobbying

These are all specific reforms that would reduce waste, garner income, and save lives.


They marched up West Broadway toward Washington Square and Times Square beyond. I walked with them a little, upset at the injustice of the economy.

There are so many police everywhere the marchers go it is as if they are fully expecting something to go wrong. I wonder what the ratio is of police to protesters. It seems greater than 1 to 1.

Good Hair

Chris Rock is a good interviewer. He chooses well who he wants to talk to and gets them to say what he needs to know, and he treats everyone with respect. Yet you know he wants to be funny and sometimes he is. Good Hair is about African American women's desire to have straight hair. He finds the mogul who controls the "relaxer" industry, he has one brief moment with the inventor of "Jeri curl", Al Sharpton chimes in on his experience with James Brown and how they got the look together. Other subjects he chose are Nia Long who is a pleasure to watch and listen to, and all of the competitors at the Bonner Hair Show in Detroit where there is a style contest whose rules.