Author Archives: jsk382

An Amalgamation of Great Music, Comedy, and Action

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The Blues Brother, a film I hadn’t seen before, stuck out to me in so many ways. As a jazz trombonist and enthusiast, I absolutely loved the film’s music. Encompassing a great assortment of bluesy tunes was a phenomenal supporting cast, with the likes of  Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles. The film’s capacity to entertain, however, goes far beyond its great soundtrack. Although the plot seemed predictable at times, the comedy packed action scenes were vastly entertaining, and the directors struck a great balance between introducing new storylines and continuing/building upon previously introduced ones. An example of this is seen with the gas station scene, where Elwood Blues is chatting up Twiggy (a British culture icon in the late 20th century who made a cameo in the film). When Elwood is leaving, he tells Twiggy to show up to a particular hotel if her date doesn’t show up. The movie continued on with its plot, and during the falling action/end of the film, we get a short scene of Twiggy waiting outside that particular hotel — a short continuation of a plot line that I got a kick out of. The car chase scenes throughout the film were amongst the best I’ve ever seen — painted a nice color of action. In some scenes, the stunt crew destroyed as many as 70 cars in pile-ups!

Outside the cult-film status The Blues Brother has acclaimed in late nite cinema, it also presents a considerable amount of moral symbolisms and themes. If we take a step back and look at the grant goals of our dual protagonists, Elwood and Jake strive for something selfless, although the means through which arrive at such a goal may not be completely correct, with their quest of helping the orphanage. When Aretha Franklin sings to stop her husband from leaving the restaurant to go play in a band, we get a nod at how personal goals and goals of a relationship can often misalign. Altogether, it’s simply a great film. 10/10 would recommend.

Yoga: A Great Way to Start the Morning

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Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to began my morning with Rose’s yoga event. The event introduced me to a variety of new yoga stretches and exercises that were not only a good workout, but were very relaxing. At one point in our yoga routine, we did the shavasana pose for some period of time, which I found to be a great way to release stress and simply relax instead of thinking about one pressing issue or another. One of the plus points of the yoga session was that we had an enthusiastic teacher, who critiqued are poses and was cheerful and jovial. One of the shortcomings of the event, however, was that it was quite easy to get distracted by the ambiance: surrounding dining hall, people looking in from outside and the dining hall, music played by the instructor etc. Given the importance that ambiance and environment would seemingly play in the spiritual and physical aspects of yoga, the location really didn’t make much sense. Maybe this can be fixed by moving the event to a more secluded space, like the Rose seminar room in the first floor? Ultimately though, for me, the yoga experience was a great way to clear my head and prepare for the upcoming and busy days. For me, it seems clear that yoga can have innumerable health and spiritual benefits when done properly. I’d recommend for anyone who hasn’t tried the weekly Rose yoga series (or yoga of any form before) to at least give it a shot!

A 50’s Classic? North By Northwest

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When North by Northwest hit the theaters in 1959, it provided both critical and commercial acclaim. Many critics raved over the Hitchcock classic. As David Gurney exclaimed for Common Sense Media, “the film is a true cinematic pleasure with an impressive pedigree.” For me, however, the movie failed to live up to its “100%” on Rotten Tomatoes and “5/5” on Empire‘s review . By no means did I find the movie “bad’ per se, as I did enjoy watching various scenes of the film, but the movie didn’t seem as memorable as I thought it would be. It seemed that plot, dialogue, and acting performances were all sort of jaded. In particular, Cary Grant’s performance of Roger Thornhill didn’t really bring the character alive — especially for a character who goes through various conflicts throughout the film. The movie is filled with an array of suspenseful or enigmatic situations, yet he seems to react the same way in each situation. I realize however, in making this judgement, that my view is quite biased. I’ve watched very few movies from the early and mid 20th century, and the modern movies I watch today often overflow with special cinematographic effects and vivid backgrounds. It’s entirely possible that I’m simply not used to the feel of these older movies, which could have distracted me from the movie’s stronger aspects, resulting in my mundane review. I plan to watch more of Hitchcock’s films in the future, and hope to be able to appreciate Hitchock as the “master of suspense” he’s so commonly referred to as.

Dead Poet’s Society: An Inspiring Classic

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Some films get into your skin — they’re stories that remain with you over the years for one reason or another. Dead Poet’s Society isn’t simply a melodrama. Despite some overly dramatic scenes, which critiques have often pointed out, the film is largely regarded as a cinematic masterpiece. For me, like with many, it’s the phenomenal acting of the late Robin Williams that leaves the everlasting impact on the viewer. William’s character of Mr. John Keating, a teacher at the preparatory Welton Academy, is depicted as both charismatic and unorthodox. A Rhodes scholar and former pupil of Welton, Keating makes a significant impression on his students by bringing poetry alive. The sheer passion Williams is able to portray upon Keating makes watching nearly every scene to be a joy. As someone who wasn’t particularly interested in poetry as a high school student, watching this movie definitely changed my perspective on not just poetry, but English literature as a whole. It may not have convinced me to peruse poetry daily, or to work on authentic poetry myself, but it instilled in me a respect and understanding of others’ appreciation for such literature. I’d highly advise for someone who hasn’t watched Dead Poet’s Society to give it a chance.

A Relationship Built Upon a Stutter

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Last Friday’s movie, The King’s Speech, concerned the journey of a duke becoming a King, all while living with the challenges of having a stutter. The stutter impacted virtually all aspects of his life, from being able to read a bedtime story to his daughters to giving a public announcement. Although the story of how King George overcame his lifelong struggle with his stutter is remarkable, the highlight of the movie for me was the unique, and frankly unlikely, relationship he formed with Lionel, his speech therapist. At first meeting, King George’s distaste for Lionel was clear. Considering himself above Lionel in social class, he would often question Lionel’s actions, beliefs, and advice. The turning point in this relationship, in my opinion, came at the time of King George’s father’s death. At this time, George went to visit Lionel after-hours, where they shared drinks and we saw, for the first time, George open up about his personal life. The two shared conversations and a sense of trust that continuously built on throughout the rest of the movie. Another major progression of their friendship came after, despite hearing Lionel’s confession of not being medically trained as a speech therapist, King George decided to continue working with Lionel. It truly seems that the impactful friendship Lionel and King George shared played a significant role in the success King George had with his stutter. Without the friendship with Lionel, it’s unlikely King George ever would have been able to target the emotional roots of his stutter problem.

The Value of Life – An Analysis of The Martian

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In the midst of everything the space epic, The Martian, offers lies an interesting question regarding the inherent value of life. The movie’s plot revolved around a rescue mission of an astronaut that was mistakingly left on Mars during an emergency evacuation. As implausible as such an event may seem today, the implications of how to tackle the situation is something that is quite relevant. This brings us to the question that arises when viewing the film: is it worth risking lives and vast resources for one individual’s life, and if so, why? Say NASA decided that it wasn’t worth the money and risk of losing more lives to save Watney (the protagonist) of the film. Likely, as this news was released, media attention and public outrage would only worsen NASA’s reputation to the public, which could very well lead to even more cuts in aeronautics & space research funding. On the other hand, if NASA did attempt a rescue mission, and failed to bring Watney back, or worse, resulted in more lives lost, NASA would have again faced global scrutiny. The film conveniently shows us the results of what a successful rescue of human life could entails, though such success would be very improbable given the circumstances. Crowds of individuals across not only the nation, but the world, stood together cheering for the success of the mission. Although the movie describes the safe return and progression of Watney, we are told very little about the large-scale impacts of the mission. Does this successful rescue increase financial and public support for NASA? Do we see more transnational collaboration focusing on space exploration and inhabitance? Regardless, looking at all the outcomes, the logical conclusion seems to be that the risks for a dramatic rescue mission are too high to be worth taking a chance on. Humans aren’t always drawn to logic, however, and emotion plays a large role in the decisions we ultimately make. Plus, changing The Martian to a movie where the world simply doesn’t try to rescue Watney would be very puzzling.

A Visit to the Farmer’s Market

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Last Saturday, I had a great opportunity to go with fellow rose scholars to the local farmer’s market. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, as its been many years since I’ve been to any farmer’s market. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised. The food — something I’ll touch on later — was amazing. I also really enjoyed the local atmosphere, with a nice venue, great waterfront views, music, and participation of many different local farms, craftsman and eateries. I was surprised to learn that the farmer’s market wasn’t a one-time thing, and that it actually was open regularly throughout the fall and spring! Before I get to the food, I have to address how in some ways, the trip was an enlightening experience. To escape the stress of classes and impending exams, and get to meet local members of the Ithaca community in a social setting was something that I haven’t had many experiences to do.

Going back to the food, there were a plethora of different tastes and cuisines one could try. I enjoyed meals from two different places: wood stoved pizza from a local pizza stall and some lo mein from the thai cuisine stall. Both of the food items were great, although I must admit the portion size for the lo mein was a bit small. Regardless, after the meal I also went to a stall that was serving an assortment of Indian snacks and drinks. I tried one of the vegetable samosas, which was splendid, alongside an organic iced chai. I must admit, the organic iced chai was amongst the best chilled drinks I’ve ever had. I’ve included a picture of it below.


10/10 would recommend