The Ultimate Luddite Movie

If you have watched Eagle Eye like me in a cinema, you’ve been probably drained by the rush of excitement taking you at the edge of your seat. I fortunately watched this film in a new cinema in SM City Marikina, where quite a few watched it. I’m here to tell you why this is a movie really worth watching, especially if you want that geeky brain to feel a rush of cold water.

Imagine opening your ATM, and you find out that you have $700,000.00 in your account. Surprised, you take some of the money (which is A LOT) and then going back to your tiny little shabby apartment only to be surprised by the packages inside your abode. You open them, and you find you have some guns of different sizes, ammos and other military stuff, and then later your mobile phone rings. “You have 15 seconds Jerry Shaw to leave the premises…” and suddenly all those things that the voice is saying will be a total blur as you’d probably resort to panic. Seconds later, the FBI crashes on your window and arrest you.

That’s probably the short intro to “Eagle Eye” starring Shia LaBeouf (I still see him as Even Stevens). I can’t tell you the rest of the story because I don’t want to spoil you with the experience but rest assured this is highly recommended especially if you want to be paranoid with every form of technology. There’s an advice there advices tells everyone that cellphones can be tracked by the FBI just be merely turning it on. They can hear you through the phone’s microphone and so the best thing to protect your privacy is to turn it off and remove the battery.

All I can say is the story is action-packed, witty, and the director is most probably a geek. The tension in the story builds up as the thought provoking questions rush into you after the film: Is freedom worth sacrificing for security? The limits of logic of the machines and the flaw of being human when it comes to right and wrong is the meat of this cinematic experience. The scarier part of this is that we’re nearer to this futuristic possibility than ever before.

I’m not encouraging you to be a Luddite, but the whole film makes sense, coupled with breathtaking action packed scenes and paranoia.

I highly recommend this film with Die Hard 4, and Wall-E.

~resplend3nt

Libraries as marks of civilization

i’ve always been fascinated about libraries. a library is not just a boring repository of printed material. instead, i’ve always seen it as a mark of civilization. it describes what kind of civilization a culture has or what sort of potential a society has. whenever i watch asian films, i get instantly captivated by the “books” kept in the libraries. the circular library in Hero for example, is so wonderful. books in the form of bamboo scrolls. in beijing, i actually saw sun tzu’s art of war carved in one such bamboo scroll. very interesting. in dae jang geum, the medical library had shelves of books on oriental medicine, complete with the illustrations of ginseng and even an octopus.  the massive library in ancient egypt, which is lost to history, makes us imagine what sort of things were kept as a foundation for the next generations.  in the west…the trinity library built by queen elizabeth the first, is overwhelming to say the least. it’s as if you’re swimming in an ocean of books.  in the playful vein, what about the library in lemony snicket’s a series of unfortunate events? haha… very amusing. who can forget the futuristic library in star wars??!! whoa… that’s something.  even the world of super hi-tech can’t live without a library! whatever form a library has, it necessarily sheds light on the salient characteristics that are crucial in forwarding culture. there’s a simple rule of thumb that is useful. a small decrepit library of a large population denotes a lack of vision and a lack of importance given to learning. a large library on the other hand (think about the 14 floor national library of singapore), denotes the recognition that the cultivation of the person through learning is integral in the building of a culture, society or nation.

one time, i was in the restroom of a five star hotel. some ladies were chatting. one lady had the problem of not knowing how to spend her 1 million.  her friend advised her to spend it on a diamond. i almost blurted out…. BUILD A LIBRARY! but in the end, building a library THAT WILL MATTER FOR THE AGES TO COME, does not depend on who has the most resources. rather, it’ll depend on who carries great visions & dreams and who bears a big heart for the future generations.

–The Fool