Frequent commeneter Dennis recommended I watch The Civilization of Maxwell Bright and it arrived in this weeks Netflix shipment.
This 2005 “Indie” was a little choppy, but quite enjoyable. The title character is basically a total prick who has given up on American women after several relationships failed violently. So, he procures a “mail order bride” from China. They say a leopard doesn’t change his spots, but he is charmed by her demure Asian ways. And she has her work cut out for her in trying to help him understand the error of his ways.
The film was actually quite charming. Funny in places, if not a bit over the top. I think I enjoyed watching the dynamics of the cultural differences between East and West in the realm of relationships. Mrs. Bright is a devout Buddist and I really found the religious underpinnings in the story quite fascinating.
No big name stars in this movie, althought Carol Kane who I haven’t seen in forever, made a brief appearance. The cinematography was crap, which was somewhat distracting. Overall though, the story made this a nice way to spend the evening. 3+ stars out of 5.
Oh, my goodness, where to begin……???
Back in town, John, and to find, no less, your awaited review of this flick, mainly rendered no doubt, to quiet my bleating heart.
Well, good on you for whatever reason, true story. I somewhat enjoyed and was certainly enlightened by your take on the flick, and learned something in the process, like how fricked up our given opinions can be and maybe how our own bias’s might figure in.
Now for the real meat. I have to say that I totally, well not totally……… maybe completely………. well, maybe not that either……..maybe, pretty much, yeah that’s it……..I pretty much disagree with your assessment, sadly so………..none the less. I was stupidly counting on your enthusiasm, which is an uncertain thing by any measure, and when measuring others, certainly.
I’m not gonna prick-apart, (pun intended) so very totally where I disagree with you but might make some points, or at least try to……..and except to say that you missed the proverbial ‘bubble’, IMV, in that the flick was not about any of that blather……..yes, blather you wrote………. blather……. good word, that……fit’s I think too……..but was about coming to know one’s self when every normal opportunity to do so is completly obscured by cultural debris, such that, absent devine intervention it hasn’t much chance of happening at all…….gorgeous devine intervention……. and not just physically……………. how deluded we can be by social pressures, and how our culture is totally fuxked up by the headlong pursuits of materialism and self-centeredness……. and how old, ancient even, cultures pretty much figured this out thousands of years ago and yet…….. here we are……. chasing our beers, our good times, our neat stuff, our dollar jobs and how big they are…… and our this and that and the other…. yeah, missing the bubble….the bubble of what really matters…….. My goodness John, how could you have missed the lessons of the Tibetan Book of the Dead…???…. and of the shaved head, and of the pre-positioned coffin……….and of the gloriously peaceful and redeeming and forgiving and overcoming and wisdom-laden nature of the gorgeous, former Buddist Nun (and once ordained, always ordained, did you know?) Ms. Bright….?? How could you, dude? Obviously brain-damage from too many darts, yeah, that it…. the darts…….
In any case, no offense intended…….. and if you haven’t yet blocked my access to your site after this dressing down……. well, then, I’ll go further…… watch it again……….and maybe again…..this time take the time to do so…..and maybe have a significant other beside you, if there is one……and solicit…….and more importantly, listen to her observations………….
In any case, forgive my enthusiasm whether it fits or not and above all, thanks a ton for trying to satiate me with your effort…. I shall herewith give up on movie suggestions…. if you had that planned in this whole process you, I admit, are far more capably adept at execution of a well-laid plan than I have ever been able to before observe.
So, I’m thinking of sending this entry by personal email to you, versus this blog entry. I’ll decide after this next beer……. or two……
In any case, thanks, I think, for trying with this movie. I learned something here…..and maybe something else too.
Regards,
(((And BTW, art house cinema is always grainy and un-pristine………….that’s part of the cache’………….true story, ………….as in, we did good, in spite…….so to speak…………. and please forgive any lack of humility or in the obverse, arrogance and pontification on my part………… any present is only poorly disguised put-down and solely egocentric, I assure you))).