I'm Married

Continuing on his saga to look for the man who tormented his deceased father in the distant past, reclusive goth rocker Cheyenne got to his grand daughter Rachel who is a single mother of a boy named Tommy who has a fear of water. This clip is a bit long, lasting 15 minutes and 6 seconds. It shows a wacky, witty, emotional and caring gentle soul of a sad man aptly portrayed by Sean Penn, in which, again, the title song of the movie is repeated. After viewing the three clips of "This Must Be The Place" here, if you want to see more, I recommend you check out this movie and watch it a few times. You may like it after all.

I'm John Smith

Sean Penn, in the role of retired goth rocker Cheyenne, went to America to look for the man who tormented his father to seek closure after his estranged father's death. He first found a former school teacher, Dorothy Shore, from whom he learned about her grand daughter Rachel. Dorothy (is she the wife of fugitive Lange? This movie is very mysterious... and I am trying to figure out who is who etc... she says her husband was dead for 10 years, but she must be lying...) is walking with the woman in the walker and Cheyenne is tracking her in this scene. The main music theme of the movie is heard at the beginning of this short clip of 5 minutes and 32 seconds. If you want to see the developing story of Cheyenne finding Rachel, return here in a few days to see the third and last clip of this movie.

A Love Song

There is a new movie with Sean Penn in the role of a burned out Irish rock star that screened in Cannes film festival in 2011. This Must Be The Place was directed by 40-year-old Italian director Paolo Sorrentino. This is a difficult film to watch and it is not liked by many reviewers. I think these critics just don't get it when they see a good movie. Here is the first clip to give you a peek at one of the scenes that is lauded by many critics. It shows a stunned Sean Penn watching the performance of David Byrne in a live concert singing his band The Talking Heads' signature song "This must be the place." You may not know that that is a love song so the lyrics that follow below may help:

"This Must Be the Place" written by David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz.

Home, is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me around
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
Guess I must be having fun

The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong, nothing

I got plenty of time
You got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money, always for love
Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight

Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home, she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place

I can't tell one from the other
I find you, or you find me?
There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I'll be, where I'll be

We drift in and out
Sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view

I'm just an animal looking for a home
And share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me till I'm dead

Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head.

This movie has many beautifully composed scenes and I will add a few more in the coming days. Come back here to see them ...

Demon Buster Li

Here is a clip from The Sorcerer and the White Snake, as promised, to show you the what and how of oriental mythology of demon exorcism, akin to the western style ghost buster craze. Unlike the werewolves, the oriental demons often times originate from forest foxes. The demonized foxes impersonate beautiful women to lure unsuspecting men, young and old, into having sex with them. Not unlike draculas, the foxy ladies deplete vital energy from the men and they eventually expire without fail. Jet Li, chief demon exorcist hunts them down and capture them a la ghost buster in this scene. This is a minor job because the foxy ladies did not put up any serious fight. When it comes to the White Snake Bach Xa, that is an entire different deal. He almost got killed... suffice to say, he prevailed and put an end to the illicit love between Su Su and Xu Xian.

Green Snake-White Snake

The Sorcerer and the White Snake, previously known as "It's Love" and "Madame White Snake" is a 2011 3D-film directed by Ching Siu-tung and starring Jet Li. It is based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake. This movie was released in Hong Kong in September 2011. Jet Li, a major martial art Chinese star is a safe bet for a wide audience. In this movie, he plays the role of a monk "Ghost Buster," Fahai. The Legend of the White Snake has been a major subject of several Chinese operas, films and television series. In VietNam, the same legend is known as "Thanh Xa, Bach Xa" (meaning Green Snake, White Snake.) In oriental mythology, it is widely known that animals, with adequate time in meditation, become demons and can take the form of human, usually beautifully seductive women. Bach Xa, the White Snake, has under her belt a thousand year of meditation and thus has acquired super dark power (she's a demon) and can transform into a beautiful woman in white. Green Snake, with only 300 hundred years of training, is less powerful but nonetheless can become a beautiful woman in green. Other animals can do the same thing. The most formidable one is a female tiger. More common are foxes. All these demons seduce men to have sex the purpose of which was never explained in mythology. In any event, men always succomb after such adventure so that is to be avoided, and the monks are the force to prevent that to occur. So this movie is about that premise and Jet Li is the Chinese Ghost Buster. This movie is really a love story. The love is doomed, of course, but the medicine man Xu Xian and Bach Xa Su Su are truly in love at first sight. The Sorcerer and the White Snake was produced by Yang Zi, Chui Po Chu, assisted by several other producers. The acting is ... what can I say? But the computer graphic and special effects are products of a big budget of 200 Million Hong Kong dollars (about US $ 26,000,000.)

This movie has received less than stellar reviews in the US. Rotten Tomatoes gave it only 1 star out of 5. I was looking for a movie to talk about Chinese mythology, so this one is just perfect. Besides, you may be interested to know that many Chinese movies are beautifully filmed and this one is one such movie. One main complaint is that it has too much computer graphics and digital special effects.

The first clip lasting 4 minutes 10 seconds introduces the main characters Su Su, Qing Qing and Xu Xian. Su Su and Xu Xian fell in love after she saved him from drowning because the poor man can't swim! Come back in a few days and you'll see a full fledged ghost buster scene against the foxy ladies.