Cybernethics / Cybernéthique

Ratatouille (2007) - Excellent! ( Note: 9.5 - Lire la critique... )
Renaissance (2006) - Immonde! ( Note: 3 - Lire la critique... )

I love Yukito Kishiro's japanese comic book series Gunnm (tastelessly published in the US as Battle Angel Alita). It is not just another ultraviolent scifi superfighter story: it is beautifully drawn, it is masterfully told, it has odd black humor, it contains a lot of cultural and scientific references, and it has an actual and deep philosophical and ethical content, that goes to the heart of what being human is.

At the end of Gunnm Last Order, Vol. 2, Kaos, one of the characters from the first series, says:

I finally understand... ...what I never saw before! To speak of dreams... to stir people's hearts... ... to gain their trust... and then let them down! I think I've come to see... ...how grave a sin... ...it is to dream!

And after reaching his patron-to-be Vector, he concludes:

Without a dream in their souls... ...people wither, people die. And without action, a dream grows stagnant. The only way to atone for my sin, my dream... is to make it a reality!

This has such resonance in me. Following the example of Kaos, I commit to raise from my moral slumber, and advance TUNES.

( Read the whole article... )

I pay homage to Ayn Rand, for how she helped me live better. Not just me, but millions of readers. She was not my prime inspiration: my first libertarian author was Hayek, and my favorite was and remains Bastiat, through another lover of which I discovered Ayn Rand. But my! an inspiration she was, in the literal meaning: not so much for ideas that I already knew, though she certainly helped me articulate them like I wouldn't otherwise have, but more so for the lofty ideal of the self to which she raised me. How glad I am she wrote what she did write! I never ascribed Rand any kind of infallibility, and I see no reason why she should be either held or rejected based on such an absurd standard, even though she may have claimed such a standard for herself amongst her followers. I admire her, and that doesn't require me to follow her blindly. Actually I think you can't fully appreciate an author if you're unable to partake in that dynamic critical conversation with her work, by which you see her deep failings as well as her lofty genius, that only appears greater by contrast.

When downtown, be sure to go the Zocalo, the great central market plaza, with the presidential palace and the Cathedral, where the ruins of the Templo Mayor was recently unearthed. The ruins and their museum are well deserving of a two hour visit.

( Meet Martin... )

Unlike what its name suggests, the museum of Bellas Artes doesn't have a lot of Fine Arts, but it still is well worth the short and cheap visit. You won't find classics there, but mostly copies of those Funny Arts that our XX^th century ancestors used to call Modern, where conceptual jokes replace the exaltation of natural shapes. It notably contains a few mural paintings and other works by well-known mexican and other latin american artists, who obviously spent more time learning communist ideology than acquiring mastery of perspective and anatomy. On the other hand the over-the-top architecture with its marble halls illuminated with sunlight from the glass cupolas is quite worth the visit in and of itself.

Right from the airplane's windowpanes, you can see that Mexico City is an immense dense city, with monuments as beautiful as the weather. Speaking of weather, websites predicted rain and thunder for my stay, which wasn't quite what a bostonite would imagine for a similar forecast. My days were bright and sunny, and rain lasted but a few minutes, in the beginning of the evening. Bring clothes for a sunny weather, and add foldable rain gear and/or an umbrella.

( More tips... )

Comics review: Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.

I liked their take on The Punisher. I was unimpressed by many other things they did. But I was wowed by Preacher. Preacher is every I hate, put together in a way I can but love. It's got those usual heaven and hell bromides, turned upside down in an original way. It's got fallen angels and not yet fallen angels. It's got not just serial killers, not just vampires, but the Saint of Killers. It's world-wide plots and universal nay metaphysical conspiracies. It's got God not-so-almighty, and it's got the Duke. It's got lots of graphical violence and gore, once in a while more so than I can withstand. It's got plenty of wild sex and perversion, too, but less so graphically. It's got colorful characters that have some depth, including villains. And it's got twisted stories and slick dialogues. For instance, the über-depraved Jesus de Sade begins As the blessed Oscar put it: there's nothing worse than being talked about... and before he completes with Wilde's except not being talked about, the Preacher retorts ... an' that's doin' two years for buggery. From Texas to NYC to Los Angeles, with a stint in France, an all-american ballad in the land of evil on earth and beyond. Two thumbs up.
Note: 8.5

This summer, I saw Hamlet played on the Boston Common by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. It was a memorable moment indeed, with great actors, and a very creative direction, that managed to be very original without sacrificing the least either the letter or the spirit of the text.

But after seeing the play, I could not repress a strong feeling that the whole story was but a huge lie hiding an unsavory truth. Here's my take on the real events behind Hamlet, much more serious than the version by Gotlib & Alexis. Call me paranoïd, I am much less so than Hamlet is alleged to have been...

( Read more... )

To complete this series of quick movie reviews, here's for animation movies I saw this year.

Nausicaa, 1984 ( Note:8 )
Mind Game, 2004 ( Note: 8.5 )
Shrek, 2001 ( Note: 5.5 )
Pom Poko, 1994 ( Note: 7.0 )
Corpse Bride, 2005 ( Note: 7.0 )

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2005 ( Note: 6 )
Run, Lola, Run, 1998 ( Note: 4.5 )
Team America, 2004 ( Note: 5 )
Robot Stories, 2003 ( Note: 7 )
Moulin Rouge!, 2001 ( Note: 7.5 )
Sin City, 2005 ( Note: 7.5 )

My friend Jay initiated me to Bollywood movies. Here's the deal so far.

( Read the reviews... )

The wrap-up: what's funny about all this kind of indian movies is that traditional culture is so controversial that the authors avoid ever discussing any specific of it, particularly so with two main opposing religions and zillions of sects that could gather violence against the authors of any movie that would go past censorship. This leaves western civilization as the culture by default of indian movie: something neutral, that doesn't force any belief upon you, and is thinly wrapped in little enjoyable bits of local folklore. No, there is no open defense of western civilization, of its actual culture, of its values; it is just civilization winning by corrupting the mores of backwards tribes with the technical advances that liberate individuals.

By trying to be consensual so as to sell more, filmmakers are forced to avoid evil -- to the point of lying in a historical movie. The largest the market, the least evil they can afford, because all evil has victims, and all victims are diminished market. Of course, sometimes, seeking justice against yet unpunished criminals also creates victims of sorts, which means a diminished market, and so movie-makers will never actively seek justice against bad guys; they might just spit on bad guys who have already been punished -- or on good guys too good to make any opposition. Thus, mass-market movies are seldom the vanguard of good, they often partake in some limited insidious evil, but they are mainly the average bulk of a civilizing process. The same can be said of all mass-market things: the average bulk of an immensely good process -- civilization.

In those weeks without posting, I've accumulated a huge backlog. I'll start pouring the overspill with some movies seen this year...

The Monkey King

An early Stephen Chow movie, loosely based on the legend of the Monkey King: the Monkey King, a trickster god, is ordered by the Celestial Emperor to atone by accompanying a buddhist monk on his quest to India. The Monkey King does his best to evade his fate, in a two-episode epic with many characters and a complex plot meant for a chinese public. Lots of cheap special effects and vulgar chinese humor, for a result too artificial for a westerner. Still somewhat enjoyable, though. And we already get to see Stephen Chow in his forever role: the trickster superhero who is turned good in the end by higher forces.
Note: 4.5

Kung Fu Hustle.

Zoom to quite a few years later, and give Stephen Chow access to computer generated special effects. You get this great fun movie, with rhythm and martial arts. It doesn't have to make too much sense -- it will just to exhilarate you. And so far, so good. I still prefer the unpredictable God of Cookery: A great story beats special effects any day. But hey, the Hustle was pretty good already!
Note: 7.0

A quoi ça sert l'amour? (Cám ơn, Tamu) [Aussi là: 1, 2, 3 -- voir aussi ces autres courts-métrages.]

My friend Tamu is organizing a special screening of Jason and the Argonauts in presence of Ray Harryhausen on July 24th in Montreal (not 23rd, not 25th), I unhappily won't be able to attend (I wish I could), but I thought some of you might appreciate, especially since you might be around Montreal at said date for Fantasia. I think Tamu clearly underpriced the session, at a 9 measly canadian dollars. Maybe she'll make up the difference selling beers and cheesecakes. Flock in and have fun!

I can but recommend the beautiful animation movie Howl's moving castle, by Hayao Miyazaki's studio Ghibli, based on a story by Diana Wynne Jones, which I recently had the pleasure to see. The movie tells of individuals striving to live for their own purpose, against collectivist calls to sacrifice for the sake of others. It is about learning to be free despite the curses cast by meddling aggressors who want to impose their will by force, most prominently including the government. It is about the power to create, versus the power to destroy. It is about genuine love, as opposed to cheap plastic imitations thereof.

A great libertarian movie.

At the ITA movie night this week, we watched Mulholland Falls by Lee Tamahori (1996). A good film noir on the Evil of Power. Synopsis: little evil meets Big Evil and gets a glimpse of what Evil is. The philosophy of evil is randianly summarized thus: "The cornerstone of civilization is human sacrifice."

I wonder what is the class of statements that a movie can illustrate. Could it be possible for a movie to illustrate that "Power is not evil in itself, Power is Evil itself"? How can a movie provide for economic reasoning rather than mere accounting fallacies? (Using "Run, Lola, Run" techniques, maybe?)

House of Fools. The greater madness takes place outside the walls. Made me laugh. Made me cry. What a movie.

Si vous cherchez un endroit romantique pour une soirée à Bruxelles, allez donc au Grand Mayeur, restaurant tsigane russe, place du Grand Sablon, où un petit orchestre tsigane au violon virtuose vous ravira de 21:00 à 02:00.

It has lots of consistent retro-modern late 1950's like design, including the music score. It has developed psychology for all characters, be them heroes, villains or secondary characters. It knows how to build upon clichés rather than blandly restate them. It has great acting and impeccable story-telling. Last but not least, what I always fall for, it has a didactic story, -- and what more, one where adults learn, too. Where ethics and esthetics join. I'm sure Ayn Rand would approve. The greatest movie I've seen in quite a long time.

( Lire ce qui précède... )

Avec son ton léger, très vivant, ponctué par les chants des griots, Madame Brouette est un conte de fée réaliste qui ne tourne pas rond, un condensé de la société sénégalaise et de ses drames structurels, et une ode à la vie qui reprend toujours le dessus malgré tous les obstacles. Le film sent le manque de moyen et l'amateurisme d'une partie de la production; mais loin de chercher à le cacher ou à le nier, le film en prend son parti, et le tourne en un avantage, une note de spontanéité et de vérité, prise avec humour. En fait, comme c'est un film sur la vie dans un pays pauvre, cette pauvreté survécue avec brio est l'objet même du film autant que son cadre. (Spoiler Alert: la suite de cet article révèle trop de l'histoire du film.)

( Lire la suite... )

Je pourrais en raconter plus, mais j'en ai déjà dit plus qu'assez. Je vous laisse découvrir un bon moment de magie nègre, débordant de l'exhubérance de l'Afrique.

Vient d'ouvrir en mars dernier au 4 rue Portalis dans le centre ville d'Aix Brun'ch, un petit snack pas cher dont la tourte aux épinards mérite le détour -- et je ne l'aime que davantage quand elle est au chèvre. Madame est aux fourneaux, madame sa mère à la caisse et sert dans une ambiance familiale super sympa une cuisine toute simple comme à la maison, sur place ou à emporter. Près de la place des Prêcheurs, l'échoppe ne paie pas de mine, mais l'endroit est bondé à midi, et on comprend aisément pourquoi. Ouvert tous les jours sauf le dimanche de 10h à 21h. Souhaitons le succès à cette entreprise naissante!

Last wednesday, I met Mr. Libertarianism @ Japan, one of the happy few japanese libertarians. Quite a nice fellow.

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Le soir entre sept et neuf heures, les rues des quartiers animés sont pleines de japonais et japonaises qui sortent et sont ouverts à la rencontre. Mais bien vite, la rue n'est plus qu'un lieu de transit, toute l'action se passant à l'intérieur -- l'intérieur de quoi? Difficile à dire, pour un gaijin. De nombreux bars tout petits; à l'étage, des bars à hôtesse, des jeunes gars en complet racolent à l'entrée, encadrant parfois une ou deux hôtesses sur le trottoir.

Au cas où vous votre guide l'aurait omis, un bon plan à Kyoto pour qui parle anglais mais pas japonais est le club Metro, un peu excentré (prix immobiliers obligent) mais facilement accessible, sortie 2 de la station Mutaramachi ligne Keihan. La piste est complètement pleine de onze heures au matin. Bonne musique. Surtout des étrangers, mais quelques japonaises intéressantes (et une seule suffit).

This weekend, my brother took us to the Izu peninsula, to enjoy the beach, and I swam in the Pacific ocean. Once again, America was an ocean away, but this time looking eastward.

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This week-end, I was in Brussels for the Capitalist Ball organized by the CNE. I met a lot of libertarian people from all over Europe and other continents, including many friends with whom I usually communicate but through the internet. There were beautiful women in splendid dresses. The music was just my kind of music, swinging and lively, mostly 1950s (but they could have picked more recorded songs, so as not to re-run the same ones several times during the dinner). Anthony de Jasay received one of the three awards during the dessert. Great dessert: I never thought crème brûlée could be that good. The amplifiers were set a bit too loud at times, but the band had us dance and swing the way I like. Having fun with a lot of like-minded people makes you feel just great. I met people with whom I greatly enjoy disagreeing. And I learnt a small trick of magic. Such a lovely evening it was, and I haven't started telling about my dancing partner yet. To boot, Hubert and Rita picked me as a speaker for the next Libertarian International conference in Leiden in April. Thank you a lot, Cécile for inviting me.