Las Vegas Film Critics Society 2008 Sierra Awards, Tantric Shamanism Institute, Deep Space Communication, Clint Kicks the Dog, Brad Pitt Wants to Channel, Movies This Week, and more…

 

LVFCS 2008 Sierra Awards.

 

I guess my ballot got lost in the web! Frost/Nixon swept the awards! I hated it and didn’t vote for it in any category. So, here are some of the winners. For the complete list, please go to www.lvfcs.org.

 

Best Picture: “Frost/Nixon; Best Actor: Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon” (I voted for Brad Pitt); Best Actress: Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road” & “The Reader” (I voted for Kate); Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” (my vote); Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”; Best Director: Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted): Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon” ; Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (my vote); Best Film Editing: Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill, “Frost/Nixon” (again!), and to complete the “Frost/Nixon” take-all, the William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award went to Frank Langella!

 

 

Tom Cruise Embraces his Les Grossman persona.

 

Along with the news this week that he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in Tropic Thunder as sleazy movie mogul Les Grossman, Tom Cruise revealed to E! Online that he and Ben Stiller are talking about making additional short videos, and possibly a feature film, starring the repulsive, profanity-obsessed producer and sometime bootie dancer.

 

Cruise got my vote for his role as Grossman in my Las Vegas Film Critics Society ballot for Best Supporting Actor. And I liked his portrayal of a German officer in “Valkyrie”.

 

 

The Tantric Shamanism Institute.

 

TSI offers tools for healing and spiritual transformation that can unlock the doors between ordinary reality and non-ordinary reality. According to TSI’s mission statement, “when these doors open, it is possible to expand your concept of what is possible. That expansion can free you to live a bigger life, liberating you to become a fuller manifestation of yourself than your previous self-concept would allow you to be, making the possible probable.”

 

TSI has an online program as well as private and group healing sessions in the San Francisco Bay area of California and in Las Vegas.

 

What is Tantric Shamanism? Through Tantra, a person is given tools to expand their consciousness and weave our perception of all creation as limitless and indivisible as the Divine experience. This expansion liberates one’s energy, increasing one’s potential on every level. Some tantric tools for transformation are meditation, visualization, the recitation of mantras, pranayama (breath practices), Awareness exercises, devotional practices, and physical practices, such as hatha yoga. Some tantric practitioners, particularly in the West, practice Tantra by approaching sexuality from a sacred perspective. http://tantricshamanism.com/

 

My new friend is the fascinating, dynamic Sylvia Brallier, founder of Tantric Shamanism Institute.  Sylvia’s blogspot is http://weavingworlds.blogspot.com that featuring videos, travelogues and interviews with various shamans. Here you will find a video about Bijli Mahadev Temple and a snake swami. Weaving Worlds is part travelogue, part spiritual adventure series and part cross-cultural investigation. Sylvia, a psychic and healer, also takes small groups on spiritual journeys all over the world.

 

 

Bijli Mahadev Temple is situated at an altitude of 2,438 metres (8,000 ft) and can be reached by a tough, 3 hour climb through a 6 km long trek. From the temple site, a panoramic view of Kullu and Parvati valleys is possible. It is said that in this Temple of Lightning, the tall staff attracts a divine blessing in the form of lightning. With every flash of lightning, coming down the staff, the Shiva Lingam is shattered into pieces. These are put together by the priest and covered with satto and butter. The image is restored to its original oneness until another similar flash repeats the miracle.

 

Deep Space Communications.

 

Want to send a message to your alien baby’s father? Deep Space Communications is a private organization that was formed to communicate with outer space. The staff consists of communications experts and broadcast engineers who transmit signals regularly from the space centre into deep space. For a fee – and it’s not cheap - you can also hire Deep Space Communications to send your own personalized message into deep space.

 

Twentieth Century Fox likes to think big. Keanu Reeves’ new movie, “The Day The Earth Stood Still” will be the world’s first “galactic motion picture release”. The film will be beamed into space by Deep Space Communications Network.

 

“We at Fox always like to think big, and what’s bigger than a ‘galactic’ release of a major motion picture event? We look forward to sharing The Day the Earth Stood Still with our galactic neighbours near Alpha Centauri - and look forward to their feedback...eight years from now,” said Bruce Snyder, president of Twentieth Century Fox domestic distribution.

 

The film, which I liked very much, will move through space at 186,000 miles per second. The deep space transmission began to coincide with the film’s opening and can be intercepted and viewed at various points in our own solar system. Any civilizations orbiting Alpha Centauri will be able to receive and view the film through 2012.

 

Clint Kicks the Dog:

 

Deleted Scenes We'd Like to See. It started with a comment from a fellow film critic and member of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society regarding my review of “Gran Torino”. My opening quote said in part: “He kicks his dog.” Tony Macklin, in discussing his Top Ten Movies of 2008, sent an email out to the members recommending “Gran Torino”:

 

“Gran Torino. I loved that he never fired his gun, and the last shot we have of him is in his coffin. What a guy. (Aside to Victoria -- Walt (Clint) did not kick his dog; I don't know what movie you wandered into. He loved Daisy.)”

 

My response, which went out to Tony and all the other members was:

 

“Ha! Of course I know he didn't kick his dog! But he could have! If you read any of my reviews, I often exaggerate or help explain a character by adding something that wasn't shown but suits my opinion of the character. I expect my devoted readers know this since I do it quite often. If not, well, Clint did do a great ad-lib to his dog when walking into his house and the dog was in his way. Remember it? Wasn't Walt the kind of man who would kick his dog?”

 

And thus began a stream of emails called

Clint Kicks the Dog: Deleted Scenes We'd Like to See begun by LVFCS member Matt Kelemen. Here are Matt’s contributions:

 

“Dark Knight”. The Joker (Heath Ledger) says "I just can't quit you. Let's wrestle!" to Batman (Christian Bale). My favorite!

 

“Sex in the City”. Sarah Jessica Parker walks into a bar and the bartender (Jeff Goldblum) says "Why the long face?"

 

“The Reader”.  An elderly Tom Cruise appears in the courtroom wearing his Valkyrie eye patch, kicks Ralph Fiennes' ass, and announces "She was my girlfriend first!"

 

“The Wrestler”. Former actor Gary Busey stages an intervention for Mickey Rourke and says his angels told him to do it.

 

“Rachel Getting Married”. An INS agent (Benicio del Toro) shows up and asks everyone for their green cards.

 

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (the Director's Cut): Benjamin (Brad Pitt) in the final stages of reverse aging, undergoing rapid reverse cellular mitosis and becoming an amoeba that cries "Help meeeeee!" with director David Fincher using authentic audio from the original “The Fly”.

 

“Slumdog”. The whole cast breaks into a Bollywood number during the end credits, drawing the ire of everyone with the Las Vegas Critics Society who think director Danny Boyle should have been blacklisted for “The Beach”. Heywaitaminnit ...

 

From LVFCS member Tony Malkin: “Doubt”. At the end of “Doubt”, shaken Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) sits on a bench in a grotto with a young nun (Amy Adams) beside her. Suddenly Sister Aloysius lowers her head and utters her final words. She cries, "Mamma Mia!"

 

“Kung Fu Panda”. Jack Black asked one of the pandas, "Can I call you 'Ku' for short?" The panda replied, "Sure. Hello." Black answered, "Haiku."

 

Brad Pitt Wants to Channel.

 

Brad Pitt is having a mid-life crisis and turning to spiritual leaders, including the Dalai Lama, for advice. He’s also taken up deep-trance spirit channeling, trying to commune with ghosts, after watching the documentary Tuning In: Spirit Channelers in America. Says the source, “He’s looking for a script about channeling, but Angie’s afraid that if he tries to bring it into the mainstream, people will really think he’s gone off the deep end.” (Pictured: On right, sleeping prophet Edgar Cayce)

 

 

Movies This Week

 

Seven Pounds (YES)

 

 

 

---

 

The Spirit (YES)

 

 

 

---

 

Marley and Me (NO)

 

 

 

---

 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (YES)

 

 

 

---

 

Yes Man (YES)

 

 

 

---

 

Gay Penguins

 

Gay penguins have been given eggs to care for. Gay penguins caught stealing eggs from straight couples in an attempt to become fathers have been given their own to look after following protests. Zoo keepers had moved the male birds away from the rest of the penguins to avoid problems as hatching season approaches.

 

 

But angry visitors to Polar Land in China complained it was not fair for the males to stop becoming surrogate fathers. Following the protests, zookeepers gave the pair two eggs laid by an inexperienced first-time mother.

 

"They've turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo," one zoo keeper said.

 

"We will try to arrange for them to become real parents themselves with artificial insemination." Despite being gay, it is understood the three-year-old male birds are still driven by an urge to be fathers.