WCBE 90.5 FM: "Munich," "Brokeback Mountain," and Memoirs of a Geisha"

WCBE#249-FINAL
“Munich,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,”
It’s Movie Time co-hosts, writers, producers:
John DeSando & Clay Lowe
For: WCBE 90.5 FM
Record Time: 1:30 pm, December 28, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 and 8:01 pm, December 30, 2005
Streaming Live on the web “It’s Movie Time” is now On-Demand at: www.wcbe.org

The Script

Clay
“Munich” is a soul searching tale of violence and revenge . . .

John
“Brokeback Mountain”  should BRING BACK  BEAUCOUP Oscars  . .

Clay
“Memoirs of a Geisha” is visually sumptuous and thickly romantic . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
“It’s Movie Time” in central Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe.’’

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

John
I’m John DeSando

Clay
And I’m Clay Lowe

John (“Munich”)
Clay: I brought too much of that old great-expectations baggage to Munich, Stephen Spielberg’s account of the vengeful Israeli aftermath of the 1972 Olympic games, in which  athlete hostages were murdered by the Palestinian terror group Black September.

I hoped for Spielberg’s insights into the endless battle between Israel and Arabs.  What I got was a high-class espionage tale about Israel’s attempt to assassinate the Olympic terrorists one by one and a slight nod to the plight of the Palestinians. 

The director does his best work by suggesting the endless cycles of crime and revenge, the endless routine of two countries fighting without changing things.  Wisely an assassin observes, “All this blood comes back to us.”

I didn’t witness the Spielberg magic of childlike wonder and hope (even those were present in War of the Worlds); I didn’t learn much about the complicated conflicts or felt the Spielberg presence.

I conclude: Even Homer nods.

Clay “Munich”
Hmmmmm, does Homer nod yes or no? No matter, for he’s earned his right to sleep, but not so the memories of those violent acts depicted in Spielberg’s Munich.

Framed by the original Palestinian acts of horror, we are witness to the equally horrible acts of vengeance that follow as the leaders of the Israeli government carry out their determined acts of retaliation.

To Spielberg’s credit he keeps the emotions, on both sides, human. The targeted Palestinians get to voice their anger and the Israeli agents get to express their considerable remorse, even as they carefully plot and carry out their acts of revenge.

There is no wonder in this movie, folks, no wonder. Just as there is very little hope. I guess where we go from here is up to us, or is it?

HIT MUSIC: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, THEN UNDER FOR
John (“Brokeback Mountain”)

My choice for  best picture of 2005 is Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee’s majestic tale about two lonely cowboys who find love in the wilds of Wyoming during endless nights of shepherding. It couldn’t be a better presentation of alternative love for those of us who avoid the subject out of sheer ignorance or outdated notions of the right way human beings should mate.

Lee shows the painful longing that hiding love brings, the disorientation it offers to the wives who may or may not know the double lives of their husbands but who suffer with them the dislocation of emotions that reach for permanence. 

*But this is as modern life should be portrayed with people leading productive lives amid demanding variations of love  . . .

*Heath Ledger should win the Oscar playing the reluctant lover.

Remains of the Day expressed the same theme of loss and longing but in a different setting and without sex to complicate things.

MUSIC UP, THEN UNDER AND OUT

Clay (“Memoirs of a Geisha”)
Well, folks, sex is only one of the subtexts of the lushly photographed “Memoir's of a Geisha.”

No more overblown than the musical “Oliver,” that over romanticized the tragedy of Charles Dicken’s young waif. Nor, no less phony than Puccini’s westernized version of Madame Butterfly. “Memoirs of a Geisha” is the story of a 9 year-old girl, sold by her widowed and penniless father, to the owner of a Geisha house. There she is schooled in the arts of servitude and seduction, but there she also, surprisingly, gains self-respect.

Starring Ziyi Zhang (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) and Ken Watanabe ("The Last Samurai"), the acting is superb; John Williams’s musical score is hauntingly exotic; and the movie’s visual design is equally flawless.

Sure it’s sheer fantasy and, sure, it’s all too, too romantic, but then so is King Kong.

So, come on guys, give the ladies have their day, eh.

But enough of assassination squads, sheep herders with starry eyes, and geisha girls who swing, John, because it’s grading time.

John
Holy Sexual Diversity Hooray!

HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR

John
“Munich” earns a “B” for it’s BOURNE-LIKE unsupremecy  . . .

Clay
“Munich” gets an “A” because Spielberg ATTEMPTS to get at the heart of the matter . . .

John
“Brokeback Mountain”  earns an “A”  for ALLOWING ALL cowboys to roam the range. . .

Clay
“Brokeback Mountain” gets a “B” because it is not the BEST overall movie of the year . . .

And “Memoirs of a Geisha” gets an “A” because it IS one of the best made movies of the year . . .

DRUMS OUT

John
Clay:  Did I mention my Russian interpreter is female?
Not that gay love is a bad thing . . . . I’m outta here.

Clay
All love is gay, John, when you’re able to get things straight.

I'm outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks, and Have a Very Happy New Year.

HIT CLOSING MUSIC THEN
UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
The award winning “It’s Movie Time” is co-hosted, written, and now produced by John DeSando and Clay for WCBE 90.5.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

Copyright 2005 by John DeSando & Clay Lowe