First, I’m an artist. Second, I’m a surgeon. –Dr. Marcie
In 2003, Dr. Marci Bowers left her family and thriving OB/GYN practice in Seattle to take over Dr. Stanley Biber’s genital reassignment surgery (GRS) practice in Trinidad, Colorodo, and a former coal mining town of 9,000. “Trinidad . . . for the transgender community became kind of a spiritual place and of course the sex change capital of the world,” said Dr. Marci Bowers. Marci is the first transgender woman to perform GRS.
“It’s not gender reassignment surgery but genital reassignment. It’s aligning the genitals with the gender that’s always been in place,” explained Marci.
The medical aspect is unnecessary. Dr. Marci shows close-ups of hairy post-op reconstructed vaginas with clitoris, vulva and proper symmetry. It steers away from the true point of the film: understanding the people behind the surgical procedures. This isn’t a surgical show. All of a sudden I felt we were delving into the blood and gore of surgery. Bloody skin being stretched and stitched.
Trinidad would have maintained greater understanding for transgendered if the filmmakers, PJ Raval and Jay Hodges, keep their cameras on the characters instead of delving into the surgical suite.
The true beautiful aspects of the film are the moments it focuses on three different transgender women. There is Marci’s story, as well as that of Sabrina Marcus, an engineer and founder of the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference, and Dr. Laura Ellis, a family practitioner. Both women are working to establish a recovery bed-and-breakfast for post-operative transgender patients.
Sabrina is the most interesting woman of the three as she is honest and sincere about her decision. She came out as transsexual in her late teens to early 20s and started dressing as a woman but then met and married a woman, and had children. I adore her refreshing candor. She and her wife divorced though she still has parental and visitation rights of her teenage children who are very easy going and supportive.
Due to the fact that she was transitioning from a man to a woman, Sabrina lost her job as a shuttle engineer. She admits to her life’s dichotomy and complexity as she was living as “½ man, ½ woman.”
Sabrina adds: “You’re almost pushed into this environment where you’re either a boy or a girl. There really needs to be an allowance for someone who needs to be in the middle. I consider myself a transsexual woman.”
At one point she admits that she misses aspects of being a man and that few transgendered people would ever share that thought. That comment was really eye-opening to me. I would never think that after so many years of being trapped in the wrong body that someone would miss the old body.
Trinidad tries to be a film that opens up the audience’s eyes to the little know transgender community. The filmmakers have interviews with townspeople: some who do not understand the transgender community at all and a few more open minded people who say that whatever makes someone feel comfortable should be accepted. But it does seem that a line is drawn in the sand between the transgendered and many in the community. Trinidad is a film about tolerance, individuality and being oneself in one’s body and one’s own skin.
Invisible Girlfriend is a strange, yet compelling documentary about Charles Fihoil, a bipolar/ paranoid schizophrenic 42-year-old father of three who sets out through rural Louisiana on a 400-mile bike trip to New Orleans about a couple of girls: one imaginary and one who may or may not be. Right from the beginning he introduces the viewers to his “invisible” girlfriend Joanie who is actually Joan of Arc. A bronze statue of Joan of Arc stands right in a New Orleans park. Charles expresses his feelings that they are destined to be together and that she speaks to him and guides him in one way or another. Charles remains adamant that Joanie will present herself to him in one way or another. [He said that Joanie promised him “she would manifest herself as a flesh and blood woman.] He claims that he was there with her in the 1400s and he even held her hand as she was being burned. He thinks that he needs to return to New Orleans for Joanie but also because he felt a connection with another woman, a bartender named Dee Dee. He talks about Dee Dee and the kindness that she showed him when he was in New Orleans several years before. Charles also describes this New Orleans trips as active seeking and that it would not upset him if Dee Dee was actually Joanie. “She’s a lot like Joanie,” Charles remarks. “She has angelic qualities. She’s also a female warrior.” Along the back roads from Monroe to New Orleans, Charles meets random people including a witch, a Tin Man, and a farmer preparing to deliver a calf. Invisible Girlfriend provides a glimpse into a little-explored or seen area of the country where hope thrives and people demonstrate the existence of Southern hospitality despite the intense devastation that engulfs them. The final moments of Invisible Girlfriend could not be more stunning and thought-provoking.
Grade: B+
Screening at IFFBoston. 4/23, 7:45 p.m. and 4/25, 12:30 p.m., Somerville Theatre.
Filmmakers Ashley Sabin and David Redmon met Charles Fihoil several years ago when filming another documentary called Kamp Katrina. Charles had been living in a tent down in New Orleans. I spoke on the phone with David Redmon on Monday.
Amy Steele: How did you find Charles?
David Redmon: We made a film called Kamp Katrina and Charles was in that film and had this invisible girlfriend but then he suddenly disappeared. We wondered what happened to Charles and called a number (we had for him) and he was in North Louisiana living with his parents and he said he wanted to return to New Orleans to thank the people who helped him out. He couldn’t drive. He had to ride a bike. We decided we would ride the bicycle with him and have a car as a back-up. One of us was on bike with a camera and the other was miles ahead in a car.
AS: When do you know when you actually have a good subject matter to go ahead with a documentary/ how much of the filming is a “gamble” to get good footage to put together a film?
DR: It’s almost impossible to tell a story with one person. People told us not to do it. We had a hunch something was there and decided to trust his decision and take the ride with him. We thought something would happen in rural Louisiana. He would have an epiphany. Something would change in his life.
The decay/dilapidation/symbols of death make sense in hindsight. The abandoned ship indicative of decay, of the economy. Gas stations abandoned. A lot of abandonment but life as well.
AS: What surprised you the most?
DR: How witty and sharp and clever Charles is. He’s in tune with people. He has a sixth sense about people. It’s easy to stereotype and pass judgment on this crazy guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing. But of course the conclusion we didn’t expect this at all.
But also people were so kind along the way. A lot of really kindhearted people who opened up their homes for a small moment in time. No one was afraid of the camera.
AS: How did you manage to keep yourself out of the film? (I think of the scene where his bike was upturned and he seemed to accuse you of sabotage and another time when his mother said, “Be careful.” and Charles replied, “That’s what they’re for.”)
DR: Examples of paranoia in action. Given degree of reality TV. Illustrates a breakdown of trust. He thought he was being watched and there were invisible people in his house (Truman Show syndrome). Not CIA, FBI, new form of invasiveness where people feel they are being watched. Culture combined with something going on with the brain is what psychiatrists say. Our presence had an impact on him thinking are these people for real.
Ashley and I are very much a part of the film. It is creative non-fiction. We are not detached observers. He demanded, got angry.
AS: What would you most like people to take away from Invisible Girlfriend?
DR: If you go into the film with a stereotype, what am I getting into and then feel a degree of shame for feeling that way. There’s a degree of human kindness and consideration and zaniness.
Do not let the diagnosis or label define my interpretation of Charles. It’s more nuanced than schizophrenic/bipolar label. Much more layers of meaning behind that term.
AS: While filming, what did you learn as filmmakers?
DR: We have moved in a direction more toward literature, toward telling a story. Playing with the line toward telling a story. That three act structure but understanding it more as a story than a didactic narrative. Not trying to send a message. Not trying to tell people you should think this way or that way. Define the story and Charles in a more nuanced way.
AS: How do you work together- technically and personality-wise?
DS: I have a sociology background so take an ethnographic approach. It requires us to spend time with people participant-observer. I’m more cold. I’m the observer.
Ashley participates more. She gets more attached. She wants to repair the situation. Of course she wants to understand it but wants to open up characters in a way I can’t. She would be asking questions: “Are you okay?” “What’s going on?”
Thebes and I lay on the living room floor and talked. Well, she talked. She talked about her friends. We’re all mostly white nerds, she said, with minor physical and emotional flaws that do not require medication but do brand us as losers in the bigger picture.
Wonderful writer in top form in The Flying Troutmans. I need to read her other books. I loved this story Hattie who returns from Paris to take care of her 11-year-old niece and 15-year-old nephew when their mother, Min, gets admitted to the psychiatric ward, again. Hattie decides to take them from Canada down to California to their find their father. Through her thoughtful writing, word choices, descriptions and characterizations, Toews makes The Flying Troutmans simultaneously touching, amusing and thoroughly engaging.
I decided to call Marc. I’d been trying in countless futile ways to disengage, to detach and drift away from him, from thoughts of him, but I was having moments, like this one now, where he managed to slip back in and wrap himself around my brain and there was nothing I could do about it. I thought I loved him. I think I did love him. I wanted him to love me, I knew that. But that may not be the definition of love, wanting someone else to love you and then deciding whether you love them back.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent returns for Season Eight. Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe reprise their long-running roles of Detective Robert Goren and Detective Alexandra Eames while Jeff Goldblum joins the cast as Detective Zach Nichols. He will work alongside Julianne Nicholson (Detective Megan Wheeler). Eric Bogosian returns to play Captain Danny Ross.
Academy Award and Emmy nominee Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Big Chill) joined the cast for season eight and will be playing Zach Nichols, a detective who was born and bred in New York City.
Guest stars include Kathy Baker, Janel Moloney, and Lynn Redgrave.
USA Network will be airing 16 all new episodes for season eight of Law and Order: Criminal Intent is different from the other Law and Order shows in that it allows viewers to access the minds of the criminals by showcasing the psychological approach the Major Case Squad uses to solve the crimes.
LAW and ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENTpremieres Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 9/8c.
Recently, I had the opportunity to join a question and answer session with Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe about their roles on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
Starry Constellation Mag: I was wondering, Kathryn, what about your role continues to challenge you?
Kathryn Erbe: Finding ways to – let’s see. That’s a very good question. I don’t know, every day we have new challenges, just in dealing with the new actors that we get to work with. We have new writers on the show, new producers and I feel like it’s a challenge just staying involved with the work that we’re doing and staying actively involved in finding ways for Eames to stay important to the stories and to bring a positive – just have a positive effect on what we’re doing.
J. Steinberg: And Vincent, after so many seasons, how do you all continue to maintain chemistry between each other?
Vincent D’Onofrio: I think it’s been eight years now, so I think that anything the audience sees is just whatever has happened naturally in the eight years. I think that both of us kind of just rely on that – the history of the show and the history of the characters – to just somehow translate to the audience in some way.
Media Blvd: This first question is for Vincent. You’ve played quite a variety of topics. What kind of role do you enjoy the most, or does like playing maybe evil have a different set of challenges than what you’re doing now?
D’Onofrio: Is the question which I prefer?
J. Ruby: Yes, what kind of role; because you play good and evil, so –
D’Onofrio: I don’t know, I think I’m – it’s the same as most actors. Anything that’s interesting, you know. Like whatever comes my way, like the most interesting parts of those are the ones that I would do. I don’t really have like a dream role or anything like that. I just go script by script and see what’s interesting, and if not, then I don’t do it. You know, it’s like that.
Ashley Aikens: My question here is for Vincent and I’d like to know, what is it like to be developing a character over several TV seasons as opposed to having to develop a character in a two-hour film?
D’Onofrio: Yes, it’s completely different. When I first started the TV show, I kind of thought it’s ostensibly about the character, and did a lot of planning and stuff. Most of the planning went out the window, and then I just kind of tried my best after that. With a film, it’s much more – it’s really planned out scene by scene and there’s a real solid arc hopefully most of the time. The structure of the film is in three acts, you know it’s going to end – it’s easier to plan out a role like that. It’s just as interesting but it’s a completely different thing.
With the show, it’s just wide open. We just keep doing it, and there’s different crimes, different little stories to tell. So it’s two different things. I think I just always will prefer films. I just think that’s my favorite thing to do. But Goren’s a great character, so it’s good to do.
Pop culture Madness: What do you feel it is about a show like Law & Order that resonates well with viewers?
D’Onofrio: I think in our show I think it’s the characters, and I think we investigate weird crimes and I think it’s a popular thing on TV, these kind of crime shows and – just like people were not – and still are – into like crime novels and short stories. That’s what we’re doing, but we’re doing like a TV version of that, so – you know, it takes off and people like it.
K Clarke: Do you have a favorite type of case to tackle on the show?
D’Onofrio: Yes, I like simpler stories. Like we just finished one like a spree killer type story about one guy doing bad things, and Kate and I had to like, you know, catch him. It was more direct, not complicated, and it had heart, and I like that kind of thing.
Examiner: My first question is for Vincent: Your character goes into some very dark places, and we’ve seen a lot of changes in him since the beginning in the last season, and I was wondering what kind of toll that takes on you as a person, what effect that has on you, if any, in your real life.
D’Onofrio: Well, it takes a lot of time. It used to take a lot more time before we started sharing the episodes with another detective. But – you know, it’s – how do I answer this? The first four years, or maybe the first three years of the show, when we were trying to make the show a show, you know, just make it distinct from the other Law & Orders and just a plain old good show that people would watch, that was – that was hard. It was like a 24-hour job and it was with me all the time.
But that’s a long time ago now, and we all know how to do the show, and we know what the show is. And so it’s not that exhausting anymore. The hours are long sometimes, and when we are working we don’t see our families as much as we want. But that’s part of our job, so we have to do it. And as far as Goren, bringing Goren home, that just doesn’t happen anymore. I’ve been playing him too long, and it’s – it’s not something that stays with me.
Stuff We Like: I wanted to know … all the Law & Orders deal with heavy subject matter and I was wondering what you guys do during downtime on the set.
D’Onofrio: What do we do?
Erbe: How do we deal with heavy subject matter and what do we do in our downtime?
Dawson: Yes. What do you do like on breaks from filming?
Erbe: Lots of different things. Eat, read, I walk my dog. What do you do, Vin?
D’Onofrio: We run our families, over the phone. We try to participate in our lives out of our dressing rooms. Mostly that’s what I do.
Erbe: Yes, exactly.
D’Onofrio: And then if we can, if we have a moment of relaxation, like Kate said, we read or Kate walks her dog or something like that, exactly.
The deadbolt: When you guys first took on these roles, did you go into it knowing full well that this might become like a lifelong fulltime job … Law & Order franchise –
D’Onofrio: Lifelong, huh?
Erbe: I don’t think either of us thought that we were going to be doing it for eight years.
D’Onofrio: No way.
Erbe: No. They never would have gotten you to agree to that.
D’Onofrio: No way. And the first – what did we do, we did 13 at first, Kate?
Erbe: Right, yes.
D’Onofrio: The first 13 was such a blur that I don’t think either of us was even thinking about – I don’t think it was – I don’t know, it wasn’t weighing heavy on me what was going to happen. Was it weighing heavy on you, Kate?
Erbe: No. We had no idea. It was just getting through each day, really, trying to make it to the end.
D’Onofrio: The first 13 scripts were really, really good scripts and maybe there was like one clunker out of the 13, but they were really good scripts and very tough to figure out how to pull the show off while we were doing them. The last thing on my mind was like – it was just a blur. I wasn’t thinking about whether the show was going to run, honestly. That’s the honest truth. And I think we knew earlier than most people do with a – when you shoot 3, right? I think we knew pretty early that it was going to go.
Erbe Yes.
Moderator: We have a question from Amy Steele with Entertainment Realm. Please go ahead.
Amy Steele: Vincent, I have to mention The Whole Wide World is one of my favorite films. But I wanted to ask both of you what you like best about your character.
D’Onofrio: What do you like best about your character?
Erbe: What do I like best about my character? What I like best about my character is she usually has the right thing to say. She knows what to say; she’s fairly straightforward and doesn’t seem to have difficulty making choices. Nothing like myself in real life. I rarely know the right thing to say and she seems to almost have infinite courage and she’s sort of like my fantasy of what it would be like to be like that – strong all the time and know what to do all the time and have a clear idea of what the right thing is to do and that sort of thing. So I like that about her. I like that she’s a strong woman in a tough job and a scary job. I think they’re both courageous. I think most of NYPD is very courageous. So that’s what I like about her.
Media Blvd: This is for both of you: What got you started in acting in the first place?
D’Onofrio: I was introduced to it by my dad at a very young age, because he was always involved in community theater and stuff. So I used to run lights and sound and stuff like that for plays and things. But I really didn’t think of acting until I guess I was like 18, and then – I don’t know, it just – I just thought I’d try it out. I don’t really know why. I think it was just in my life, really. I think it’s my dad’s fault. So I just thought I would give acting school in New York, in Manhattan, a try, so I did. And then I guess I just caught the bug and went for it.
televisionwithoutpity: I just wanted to follow up on some of the stuff you guys have been saying. Vincent, Kathryn said that if you’d known it was going to be eight seasons, they probably wouldn’t have been able to lock you into the character. Why – I guess I have to ask – how have the managed to keep you two on and interested for so long, especially you, Vincent? You’ve certainly looked for a lot of variety in your film roles. Is it a love of the characters or is it a comfort zone or are they writing you the big checks, or is it a combination of all three?
D’Onofrio: For me it’s a combination of all three.
Erbe: Yes, for me too.
D’Onofrio: I have a lot of freedom because of Law & Order. I have a lot of creative freedom. I have a lot of creative freedom on the show and I have a lot of creative freedom with my own time to do other films and do anything I want, so – it’s a very good situation.
Erbe: Yes, and it gives us a structure for our lives. I mean, as actors, I never – I was ready to give up acting because I could not handle never knowing when I would have a paycheck or where the job would be, where it would take me; and having a daughter and now my son, I just couldn’t – it was just too hard of a life. And this gives us a – when we have time off, we know that it’s time off; it’s not time out of work, looking for other work.
And it’s really such an amazing experience to work with the same people for this length of time. It’s challenging and it’s so gratifying to know everybody’s families and – it’s just a very different experience from the sort of crash and burn of going from one job to another and really never knowing – this like gypsy lifestyle, never knowing where you’re going to be when. So it’s a very different, much more stable, if it’s even possible to say that – a stable environment.
Media Blvd: Do either of you have any new, I guess, acting projects coming up?
Erbe: You have lots, right, Vin?
D’Onofrio: Lots?
Erbe: You did like 17 films on the last hiatus – directed, starred.
D’Onofrio: That’s good, I’ll talk about that. I directed a film over the summer, a kind of new genre that I invented, slasher musical. I just finished it, and we’re taking it to L.A. in a week to sell to a distributor, so it’ll probably be out sometime, I hope, soon. I have a movie, The Narrows, coming out, and a movie called Staten Island coming out that I acted in – both of those. And that’s all.
Erbe: And I have a movie with Edie Falco and Elias Koteas called Three Backyards.
Why are you on-line? Why do you have a blog? Why do you Google? Why do you look at videos on YouTube? We all are on-line for various reasons. Mainly we want to share ourselves with others, we want to connect, we want to be involved in the world and form a community in cyberspace.
We gather on Facebook to connect with old and new friends and update people on what is on our mind. We email because it is so instant and we can read and write emails whenever and wherever we want. We send text messages when we do not want to pick up the phone (or cannot make a call). Some people like to engage in IM sessions (which I find rather tedious).
If you have yet to discover Twitter, you are missing out. It is addictive. Twitter lets you send out brief text messages from the web or via your mobile phone. I downloaded the Tweetie application to my iPhone and I think it is great on the go—one of my British friends suggested it to me. I do find it unusual that Bluetooth and IMing and Twitter seems to have picked up first in Britain (60% of Twitter’s traffic is outside the U.S.– mostly in the UK, Spain, and Japan) and now is catching on in the States. A few years ago, I dated a guy from England, and he used to text me all the time. I thought it was so annoying. He said, “We do it all the time in the UK.”
Ever since I stumbled onto Twitter, I’ve spent many hours thumb-typing messages. I do it frequently and I love it. It’s fantastic fun, like writing a personal blog but without the effort. –Joel Comm
Once I started to read Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm, I realized that there is so much more I should and could be doing on Twitter. There remains a plethora to do: tons of sites to search to find people and to enhance my presence on Twitter. I actually may have approached Twitter differently if I had read the book before I started to Twitter. I definitely intend to utilize all the informative nuggets I’ve amassed from Twitter Power.
As with any new site or product, sometimes it is difficult to navigate and easy to get others upset with your newbie style or faux pas. I found Twitter Power to be an organized, enjoyable, easy-to-follow guide to Twitter. Even if you are not an on-line marketing person, you will benefit greatly from this book. If you are relatively new to Twitter, as I am, Joel Comm walks you through every aspect of Twitter you could want: the basics of setting up your profile (even choosing a name); proper tweet writing etiquette; how to decide who to follow and how to attract your own followers; and how Twitter enables you to increase the hits to your blog, web site or product.
It should be clear now that Twitter can be used in two ways. One way is convey information—to tell your followers what you’re doing, thinking, or have been doing until now. [sic] The second types of tweets are those that intended to spark discussions, or which form a part of a discussion. –Joel Comm
Megan, I too have read your articles. I know you are a serious writer. I do not doubt that terrorists are incubating in Paris and Madrid. But this is an Arab country. Nothing is as it appears. Secrets here are the most valuable of currencies. The Arabs in Europe are outré. They will talk because they are isolated and perhaps desperate. Here you will get only polite nonsense. –Abdel Lahani
Yet another attorney turned thriller writer, James LePore adeptly draws the reader into a page-turner involving a faked suicide, a young journalist on the run and a possible terrorist plot. His simple, straightforward writing style propels the story and sets its pace and mood. LePore’s exhaustive research on the various countries, as well as the unique historical elements, provides authenticity and increases the level of intrigue of A World I Never Made.
Expatriate American journalist Megan Nolan has lived abroad off the luxuries of well-to-do lovers (and freelance articles) for well over a decade, accumulating an impressive array of passport stamps. Megan’s father, Pat Nolan, gets a call that she has committed suicide and he needs to come to Paris to identify the body. Megan has actually faked her suicide and left some clues for her father. Pat teams up with a beautiful, savvy French detective named Catherine Laurence and the two risk their lives to find Megan. They also fall in love. Meanwhile, Megan is in Morocco seducing her latest man and also doing some risky research on a terrorist cell. The Saudi Arabian businessman Abdel Lahani is more dangerous than even worldly Megan can handle and she soon finds herself in grave danger. Soon the FBI, French police, Saudi version of the FBI, gypsies and some terrorist thugs are all searching for Megan, Pat and Catherine.
Pat had not talked Megan into anything since she was in high school, maybe even grammar school. But this was not as hollow a statement as it would have been a few weeks ago. He was convinced that his one-of-a-kind daughter had laid down a trail for him, a trail through a minefield, trips wires everywhere.
The characters zigzag through France, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic. While there are some superfluous moments with the romance between Pat Nolan and Catherine that slow the story down, in general it is a fine debut. A World I Never Madecontains plenty of unexpected twists and red herrings to keep the reader guessing until the shocking ending.
Since it was pouring rain today, I decided to go to a movie. I was soaking wet but I got a hot tea and a tub of popcorn and headed in to the Coolidge Corner Theatre to see Sin Nombre. [I wanted to see a funny film like Adventureland but the timing was just right with this film.] Sin Nombre holds a basic premise in which a young girl in Honduras, Sayra [Paulina Gaitan], reunites with her father who now lives in New Jersey. Once in Mexico, they plan to travel across the U.S. border along with her uncle. The journey is far from easy. The trio must take a train there and avoid any trouble: border patrol, police, and gangs which are plentiful in Latin America. Simultaneously, we are introduced to Willy [Edgar Flores], aka El Caspar, who runs with the viscous Mexican Mara gang but he seems ambivalent about his participation. He also has brought in a young recruit named Smiley [Kristian Ferrer] who eagerly takes to the gangster lifestyle while Willy withdraws further and isolates himself more and more. Willy has fallen in love and does not want to follow the leader’s orders any longer and wants to spend time with the girl. He vehemently protects her from his lifestyle but soon the two worlds collide with disastrous results. The gang leader is furious and the consequences turn severe.
In a split decision, Willy decides his fate with the gang and finds himself on the same train as Sayra. Both are escaping Mexico but for very different reasons. Sayra is drawn to Willy and Willy cannot help but to become protective of Sayra. While Sayra remains filled with hopes for a new future in a new country and plenty of opportunities, Willy can only think short-term as he knows there’s a hit on him. This heartfelt film surprises the audience by constantly showing aspects of people you’d never expect. Sin Nombre is a remarkable, thought-provoking, potent thriller that will stay with you for days.
Last night I watched a VERY moving film that interviews Israeli and Palestinian children. It was so interesting to get their take on the fighting, who the land truly belongs to etc. Most children were adamant that it belonged to whichever side they lived on.
There is despair, heartbreak, insight and promise here. But the conflict has gone on for so long it may never change. This young Palestinian says that maybe his grandchildren will be able to go back to the land that is rightfully theirs. This film makes the Arab/Israeli conflict intensely personal.
But as children, you get the sense that they understand that it is the adults who are fighting and the children are not responsible. There is one child who says he wants to kill all the Palestinians and just get rid of them all and does not feel sorry for them and it is very scary because he looks adorable and like a sweet child until he opens his mouth and spews such hatred.
At the end, two Jewish twins travel to a Palestinian camp with the filmmaker to meet some Palestinian children and they bond and become friends and have a wonderful time which shows how you can have much in common with someone who you are supposed to be politically and ethically opposed to. It is sad because the Palestinian boy, who seems very tough, cries because he knows the cameras will leave and the check points will keep him from seeing his new friends.
Katy arrives on stage in silver sequined bustier and black hot pants. She has killer long legs. The band wears white suits. That great shiny bob and bangs suit her so well. Her voice is great as she works into her first few songs. The impressive vocal range hits high/ low notes and swings into high energy pop songs and slower ballads. All her songs exude attitude, independence and sexiness.
The highlights:
She pulls a flaming gay on stage to dance and sing with her for the super upbeat and danceable, catchy “Hot N Cold.” Wonderful! She has such intimate interaction with the crowd. I love that about Katy.
Before one song—“Self Inflicted”– she talks about not being very good with boys and that she used to go to a Christian roller skating rink and had a crush on a boy who looked like Jonathan Taylor Thomas. “JTT where are you? I had a crush on him,” she says.
At another point, she talks to a couple in the audience and then says that in relationships there is “no warranty, no guarantee, no nothing. And you know we all still look through your phone.”
“I don’t need a boyfriend. I’ve got one hand.”
She then dedicates “If You Want Me” to “those not giving it away for free” (so that counts me out)
Then she re-emerges in a pink, sparkly leopard cat outfit. Leggings with a tail and a pink bra to sing her most well-known song “I Kissed a Girl.”
Katy Perry is a magnificent performer. Outstanding! Dynamic and charming.
———————-
Since this was my first outing to the House of Blues, I must say, I am not at all impressed. It looks just like Avalon. They just added to balconies. The bathrooms were not even renovated. I wish they had at least put hooks on the back of the bathroom doors. A girl needs to put her purse somewhere while she pees. There are now bathrooms when you enter the club but who wants to wait in a huge line?
‘);
Posted by Amy Steele 
