Alison Lyke's Blog, page 8

Oldboy

    With its realistic violence and cringe-inducing themes, the South Koren revenge film "Old Boy" isn't for sissies. Drunken cad, Oh Dae-Su is kidnapped and locked up for 15 years. He's drugged throughout his captivity, and the audience is privy to his vivid hallucinations.

    When he's set free, Oh Dae-Su swears revenge on his captor, soon discovering that he's the victim of a man named Woo-jin's own monstrous revenge plot. I can't tell you why this movie is so sick without ruining one of the twists, but I promise that you will gasp and/or hold your hand over your mouth at least once during the film.

    This Cannes Film Grand Prix winner is loosely based on a manga, and I could see the influence. In one scene, Dae-Su uses his hammer to beat down about 20 thugs in a narrow ally. This super-human feet is shown so hyper real, that it's actually believable. "Old Boy" swings from these instances of urgent brutality to dizzy, point-of-view trances, keeping you guessing  all the way to it's queasy culmination.

Chick-Fil A Overreaction

    I live in Upstate New York, so there aren't a lot of Chick-Fil As around. I've never even eaten at one, but I know all about them because of this week's media blitz.

    I'm pro gay marriage and gayness in general, but I do think that Chick-Fil A CEO Dan Cathy can say whatever he wants. And, no one should be be surprised that an uber-religious company donates to questionable, conservative causes.

    The mayor of Boston (Thomas Menino) went too far. If we want free speech we're going have to protect opinions that we don't like. The government should stay out of it whenever possible.

    The general population and government officials can also stand up and say that they don't like someone's opinion without it becoming a free speech issue. Dan Cathy doesn't support gay marriage - so people don't support Chick Fil A - both are valid.

    It’s unfortunate that Menino actually harmed his cause through his actions. Now, all the bigots are rallying for Chic-Fil A under the guise of free speech. I'm not saying that everyone supporting Chick-Fil A is a bigot, I understand that a lot of folks are just standing up for freedom of speech, but there's a lot of hate involved as well. If Menino just stated his opinion instead of promising government intervention, the gay haters would have no leg to stand on.

    On a related note - Dan Cathy wants to deny gays their rights, I wonder how he feels to be on the other end of the deal. Discrimination sucks for everyone. Imagine Cathy stood up and said that he was against civil rights for other minorities, like women, the disabled, or African Americans. The backlash would have been way worse and that’s still free speech.