The Gift Wrapper
Posted on November 28, 2009 at 8:16 am
I am delighted that this charming film is available again this year. Enjoy!
Glee: We All Need Somebody to Lean On
Posted on November 27, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I love “Glee” and I especially love this great number, a wonderful choice for a week of thanks and family.
‘Idols’ Around the World
Posted on November 16, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Cynthia Schneider, former US Ambassador to the Netherlands and specialist in international culture, tells the TED audience about the impact of “Idol”-style television programs around the world. We know how winning can transform the lives of the performers. She helps us understand how watching these shows can transform the lives of the audience.
TED’s Compassion Initiative
Posted on November 2, 2009 at 3:55 pm
In 2008, TED gave its annual award to Karen Armstrong, author of more than 20 books about what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common and their effect on world events. She is a former nun who now calls herself a “freelance monotheist.” Receipients of this prize receive $100,000 and “One Wish to Change the World.” Armstrong’s wish was for a compassion initiative:
“I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect.”
The Charter for Compassion will be released later this month. But TED has posted six short videos of religious leaders with their thoughts on compassion and how to make the values of compassion a vital form of meaningful engagement. Watch these two and then go to the TED website to see the rest.
Viral Video Film School/Rotten Tomatoes Show
Posted on October 10, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I’m a big fan of Current TV’s weekly Rotten Tomatoes Show with Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox. They have smart, funny reviews of each week’s movies with their own take and comments from viewers, looks at what’s coming next, top 5 lists from stars and directors pushing some new film, and very clever compilations — clips from a dozen different movies with characters saying things like “I have a bad feeling about this.” (It would be nice if they would include a non John-Hughes movie made before 1990 once in a while, though.) I get it as a video podcast and highly recommend it.
Erlich also has a “Viral Video Film School” series on Current that is wonderfully astute, a sort of combination of arts criticism, anthropology, and stand-up comedy. He compiles clips that illuminate YouTube trends I would never otherwise have known about and his commentary is hilarious and ill. Did you know that there are zillions of YouTube clips of people talking about what they just bought? Or about getting laid off? Erlich does, and curates them so expertly you don’t even get the usual “I just spent half an hour watching idiots on YouTube” feeling. (Some mature material)