There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood
Feast of Love

Well, yesterday was the anniversary of the U.S. Congress passing of the amendment to allow women the vote (it still had to be ratified by the states) (thanks to Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac). And yesterday was the presumed crowning of Barack O'bama as the Democratic presidential nominee (right here in downtown St. Paul).

And the connection, Ralph?

Glad you asked. Since black men got the vote (technically or theoretically) way before women did then it follows that a black man will get the chance to be the prez before a women. Follow?

Sure, but what's with the apostrophe in Obama?

That's to help him get the Irish vote in Alabama since the university football team there is known as the 'Bama.

Wow, just like your Irish cousins who started O'berlin College in Ohio.

You got it. Now get this--

"1st Revelation: Jesus born of an Immaculate Conception

2nd Revelation: Christ returns from the dead, opens doors of heaven

3rd Revelation: the endtimes -- Jesus returns w/ his father and the Holy Ghost, raises the dead, and sits in judgment of all humanity for eternity.

The Church of the Third Revelation, then, is the church of the end of the world. Daniel is the 3rd revelation, because he is the final evolution of American capitalism. He goes from poor lone independent worker (first scene), to small wealthier entrepreneur (all business ventures before Little Boston), to stratospherically rich monoplolist (stranglehold on SoCal oil). Note that each permutation leads to more people under his control, and progressively less family/community."

Ralph. what the hell are you talking about?

There Will Be Blood. It's from an unlinked webpage I found that tries to explain the background for the Church of the Third Revelation which seems to be a central metaphor in the movie. The other central "metaphor that hits you in the face" is a how-to guide on how to acquire end-stage alcoholism. No wait, that's not a metaphor; that's a depressing movie to sit through. The opening music should be a clue. If you can sit through that then you can sit through the movie. Daniel Day-Lewis' extraordinary acting makes it worthwhile unless you were thinking there might be a more-than-two word speaking part somewhere in the movie for a woman. Of course, this makes it a good movie to watch in honor of Obama becoming the nominee since it is unlikely that Hillary will get a speaking part in the race.

Ralph, you should get the nomination for your genius in being able to make really stupid connections.

Thanks, but wait, there's more.

Daniel Day-Lewis' character is named Daniel, he is married to Rebecca Miller (Arthur Miller's daughter) who has a brother named Daniel, and the Book of Daniel in the Bible provides the background for the spiritual theme of the movie. And to continue this extraordinarily brilliant thread, his mother is Jewish, his wife's father is Jewish, the Hollywood industry is Jewish (as evidenced by a comment from a reporter who said "Hollywood is so Jewish that if you move there, your foreskin falls off after six weeks," and the movie was filmed in Marfa, Texas, which is where No Country For Old Men was filmed (at the same time) as well as Giant (not at the same time) and everybody knows that the Coen Brothers are . . .

"Are" what?

I can't say it. It's too brilliant.
I'm sure it is, but isn't it true that the Marfans still like Giant a whole lot better than these Jewish movies?
Bosley, you just asked that so you could say "Marfan."
Moving on to Feast of Love. WARNING! Men, make sure you know what color your significant other's eyes are before seeing this movie. Women whose significant other is a woman: Don't worry about it. You already know.
Alright, we loved this movie. Cliches and tears aside (and great sex), it is a sweet, funny, predictable, fluffy movie. Very good, and it has a Leonard Cohen song which makes most movies watchable. It also has Morgan Freeman as God (who else since George Burns died?) and Greg Kinnear who I first saw in As Good As It Gets so I always thought he really was gay, but in this movie he's just really happy. All the time. Even when he's filleting things he shouldn't be. It's his wife who is gay.
Lots of sex. Lesbian sex, straight sex, teddy bear sex. Rated R probably because the teddy bear is naked and the lesbians are white.
But the best part (yeah, right) is that it's filmed in Portland since the actual location in the book is really boring. Filmed in actual coffee houses in Portland and using my alma mater, Portland State University, as a backdrop, even though the campus scenes were shot on Reed College since PSU is really boring.
And to make another brilliant connection, it's directed by Robert Benton who co-wrote No Country For Old Men. No wait. He co-wrote Bonnie and Clyde. No Country For Old Men was the remake. Did I mention the sex?

When I lived in Portland (where Linda and I met on a forest trail on the first day of spring) I was very involved with what was called at the time the Association for Retarded Citizens, now just called the ARC, and was part of the Citizen's Advocacy program. A major friend of the program had been Lloyd Reynolds (1902-1978) a long time professor at Reed College. He was a champion not only of the rights of people with disabilities but also of the art form of italic handwriting. He also studied Zen poetry extensively and used a form of it he called Weathergrams. I do this with my class every year.

from The Calligraphy of Lloyd Reynolds by Gunderson & Lehman:

“Weathergrams are poems of about ten words or less. They are written on narrow strips of kraft paper cut from used grocery store bags. They are hung on bushes or trees in gardens or along mountain trails. There are generally seasonal and are left out for three months or longer. The name means ‘weather writing’ — notations by sun, wind, rain, and possibly ice. Written with the proper inks, the writing lasts. Let them weather and wither like old leaves. In composing one, let the meaning grow out of things, with some action involved if possible — in a here and now. The meaning is not all on the surface. The unexpected is essential. It is not a condensation, but a moment of vision.”

Here's an example:
"Bud,
blossom,
then fruit,
the final
goal.
But,
the seeds . . ."