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Year: 2011

Living in the Moment

Living in the Moment

Living in the moment can bring tremendous delight to one’s life — and answers to its big challenges, a major theme of the new Hawaii-based comedy-drama, “The Descendants.” Read more about in my latest VividLife review, ‘Descendants’ seeks solutions to trouble in paradise, available at VividLife.me ...
A Singular Vision

A Singular Vision

“Transcendent Man: The Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil” (2009). Director: Barry Ptolemy. www.transcendentman.com What lies ahead for mankind’s future? That’s a question wide open for speculation these days, with predictions ranging from glorious enlightenment to utter degradation. And then there are those whose prognostications are truly visionary, such as those of inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, subject of the engaging documentary “Transcendent Man: The Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil,” now available on DVD. While Kurzweil may not be a household name, his impact on modern society has been significant nonetheless. He holds 24 patents, having invented devices as diverse as optical readers for the blind and various types of synthesizer equipment. He’s also author of the best-selling book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, a treatise that maintains we must become bionic beings in order to keep up with the ever-accelerating rate of change. Such unconventional views have earned him labels ranging from “the best in the world at predicting the future,” according to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, to a “highly sophisticated crackpot,” in the eyes of others. But no matter what opinion one holds, Kurzweil is a captivating figure, and this documentary provides an intriguing ...
Timing and Tribulation

Timing and Tribulation

Two new online posts are now up! Isn’t it great when everything comes together perfectly at just the right moment? That’s the power of synchronicity at work, the subject of my latest FengSHe post, When Timing Is Everything. Read more at www.FengShe.org. How would you cope with the end of the world if you knew it was coming? That’s a key theme probed in the new science fiction fantasy, “Melancholia.” See my review, Life and death collide in murky ‘Melancholia’, now available at VividLife.me. Photo by Christian Geisnaes, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures ...
Metaphysically Surveying the Political Landscape

Metaphysically Surveying the Political Landscape

Is political reform really possible? Not if the metaphysics supporting it are off. To find out what I mean, read my latest VividLife movie review, ‘Ides of March’ critically surveys the political landscape, by clicking here ...
Life in Two Worlds

Life in Two Worlds

“George Harrison: Living in the Material World” (2011). Director: Martin Scorsese. www.georgeharrison.com George Harrison lived in two worlds, one being the everyday reality of physical existence with which we’re all familiar, a world in which he attained great notoriety as a musician, film producer and activist, and the other being the world of spirit, the ethereal realm wherein we seek to discover our place in the Universe and our relationship to the Divine, a world in which George engaged in a perpetual quest for meaning. It made for a very full life, one that he savored in all its aspects, as is apparent in director Martin Scorsese’s new two-part HBO documentary, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World.” Scorsese’s take on Harrison’s life shows him to be more than just the former Beatle who pursued a solo career in his years after the Fab Four. In fact, the director portrays his subject as being someone who lived a very rich, varied, sometimes-contradictory life, one that was just as much about preparing for what comes after this incarnation as it was about experiencing what was going on at the moment. This balanced approach portrays Harrison as more than just a celebrity ...
Opening Up

Opening Up

Think you’re open to what comes your way? Are you sure? If you’ve got any doubts, check out my latest FengSHe post, Leaving Ourselves Open to Receptivity, available by clicking here ...
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