The Useless Tree

Film

  • Precious: A Confucian Nightmare

    The holidays were busy for me (thus the fall off in blogging).  Lots of people at our house; a trip to the city; various and sundry nights out.  I saw a couple of movies, and will see a few more… Continue reading

  • Suing Confucius (the movie)

    Just saw this brief item in the Global Times.  Let me re-post it in full and respond below: Confucius in court A descendant of Confucius has threatened to take the producers of a biopic of the ancient sage to court,… Continue reading

  • The Men Who Stare at Tao

    Went to see the movie, "The Men Who Stare at Goats." It is a satire, a goof, on the psychological operations – psy-ops – used by the US  military; and in that satire is a critique of those methods, especially… Continue reading

  • Confucius Movie Trailer

    UPDATE: more on the Confucius movie here. This just came out.  It doesn't reveal anything about the plot (how will his wife be portrayed?) but the pictures are pretty.  CCTV reports on it here.  Continue reading

  • The Tao of Woody Allen

    Went to see Whatever Works the other night.  I was ready to not like it, since I have never really embraced Woody Allen's comedy (too much upper-middle class angst for my taste).  But I was pleasantly surprised!  Perhaps because it… Continue reading

  • The Politics of Cultural Openness

    Here's a story from the Time of India (hat tip CDT): Chinese critics believe that Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscar awards because of its political content. Some sections of the Chinese media are using the movie to indirectly complain that… Continue reading

  • The Tao (or would it be the Te) of “The Wrestler”

    Last week I saw the movie "The Wrestler."   I liked it – not a great film but good (and I can see how, even though Mickey Rourke was quite good in the lead role, Sean Penn was deserving of this… Continue reading

  • The Tao of Benjamin Button

    A couple of days ago we went to see the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Its premise is, at once, unusual yet obvious: it traces the life of a man born old and who, as he ages, gets… Continue reading

  • 18th Century British Confucianism

    It's been a crazy week: lots of work, lots of distractions (third presidential debate), and various meetings thrown in for good measure.  I've thus gotten behind in blogging.  But before the week gained momentum and stole my time and attention… Continue reading

  • Shadowlands and Redemption

    We watched the movie, Shadowlands, last night.  It is based on the life of C.S. Lewis and his late-in-life love and marriage to Joy Gresham.  It is a tragedy.  He discovers her, or she him; she challenges him fundamentally to… Continue reading