WCBE 90.5 FM: "Battle in Seattle," "Miracle at St. Anna," "Elegy"

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Battle in Seattle," "Miracle at St. Anna," "Elegy"
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Air Time: Friday, 3:01 pm & 8:01 pm, September 26, 2008On demand: http://wcbe.org

John"Battle in Seattle" shows a war yet to be won . . .

Clay"Miracle at St. Anna" is Spike Lee's take on what it was like to be a black soldier during World War II . . .

John"Elegy" is about life, not death. .

HIT MUSIC ("Star Wars"), THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle"It's Movie Time" in Columbus with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC DOWN AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando . . .

Clay

And I'm Clay Lowe .

MUSIC DOWN AND OUT

John ("Battle in Seattle")

Clay: As a liberal, I empathize with the protestors in the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. The need for world organizations to consider the health of poorer countries is paramount.Battle in Seattle uses stock docudrama devices: intercutting between scenes of police and protestors and interspersing authentic footage with the dramatized. The dilemma of how far either side should go is palpable.

Clay

At the very least.JohnBut the facile mixing of truth and fiction leaves me a bit cold, as if I were the victim of a fraud.

ClaySounds like real life to me.

John

Yeah, I’ve been victimized more than once.

Clay

Do tell.

John

No.

As history has written, little progress has been made though the WTO talks were stopped in Seattle. But as one of the combatants points out, only by small steps and persistence can the battle be won.

Clay ("Miracle at St. Anna")

Well, folks, if you had to come up with the number of steps it took to defeat the Germans in WWII Italy, that number would be at least comparable to the amount of money we're currently dumping into our failed banking system.

John
Gov. Palin will solve the problem.

Clay

Sure she will.

Clay (continues)

Fortunately, Spike Lee's new film, "Miracle of St. Anna," confines its coverage to a series of battles that an all black company had to fight in order to turn the tide against the Germans in Italy's rural Tuscany in 1944. Outstanding cinematography, brilliant editing, and a core of actors who are as loveable as U.S. soldiers are supposed to be in Hollywood war films; the storyline, unfortunately, is so complex that it deadens the impact of Lee's intended message.

John ("Elegy")

Then here’s life:

As a professor, I bring to Elegy experience and sympathy. Ben Kingsley's performance as a still-sexed sexagenarian professor is a gem of understated accuracy for those of us who, as in my case, have been there seldom but memorably.

Clay

Well, John, as Lyle Lovett once wrote: Once is enough to fall in love.

John

More than capturing the ripe world of higher education dedicated to advancement of the mind and spirit, Elegy poetically portrays an aging Lothario facing his loss of time and independence: He falls for voluptuous student Consuela (Penelope Cruz), more than thirty years his junior, and proceeds to act like a teenager in love with all the jealousies and diffidence of inexperience. The ending of this slow-moving but absorbing drama is too easy and sentimental. Nothing about love is ever that easy—in life or in film.

Clay ("Elegy")

Well, folks, the movie "Elegy," of course, is based on one more of those Philip Roth's novels that re-work the obsessions of his brilliant professors who become totally befuddled by the forces of desire. Particularly, the desires he has for all those bright young students out there who hang on his every word and nuanced gesture. Talk about power. Who better to play the self-deceitful professor, than Ben Kingsley, who has developed a knack for playing evil hearted leads who have disdain for the rules of behaviour.

Think of his villainous portrayal of the mobster in his award winning "Sexy Beast."

John

Great movie, great role.

Clay (continues)

For the softer side of Kingsley/Roth's character, note his relationship with Patrice Clarkson, who finally provides him with fulfillment, merely by talking. That's my kind of lady, John

But enough of retro protestors, black, white, Italian, and German soldiers, as well as unaware professors, John, because it's grading time.HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR:

John

Holy HITLER, Hooray!"Battle in Seattle" earns a “C” for CAREERING to the left . ..

Clay

"Miracle at St. Anna" gets "C" because it's far too CLUTTERED and needs to be CUT down to a more manageable size . . ..

John

"Elegy" earns an “B” for depicting a profession never BORING . . Clay"Elegy" gets a "C" for too much wine, soft music, and rolling waves of the ocean to be realistically CONVINCING . . .

Hey, John, don't ugly beer drinkers ever fall in love?

John

Yes, with their beer. (Pause)

Clay, did you see yourself at all in Kingsley’s randy old professor?
I'm outta here.

Clay

I'll tell you what Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell taught me, that I too often forget: for people, both public and private, it's always better not to wash your dirty linen in public.I'm outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CLOSING THEME MUSIC ("AIN'T WE GOT FUN"), THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle

The award winning It's Movie Time is produced, written, and directed by John DeSando and Clay Lowe and is on demand at WCBE.org.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

Copyright by John DeSando & Clay Lowe 2008