Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Women face celluloid ceiling in U.S. film industry, study finds

(Reuters) - Women lag far behind men in reaching the top jobs in the film business as a study on Tuesday found only 9 percent of directors of the top 250 grossing Hollywood films in 2012 were women - the same level as 15 years ago.

The figures from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University were released a month ahead of the Oscars, where no women have made the shortlist for best director.

"Zero Dark Thirty" is the only movie nominated for a best picture award to have been directed by a woman - Oscar-winning Kathryn Bigelow who was the first and still only female director to win the best director award, in 2010, for "The Hurt Locker." Bigelow was not nominated this year in the best director category

Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, said the number of women directors of top films was up from 5 percent in 2011 but back at the same level as in 2008 and even 15 years ago.

She said the percentages had bounced between 5 percent and 9 percent for the past 15 years with the exception of 2000 when women accounted for 11 percent of directors.

"The bottom line is that the percentage of women directors has been declining for the last 5 years," Lauzen told Reuters.

She said women's representation in key positions in the film industry was important not only as an employment issue but also as a larger cultural issue as people tended to gravitate to creative projects that reflected their own personal reality.

"If (white) men are directing the vast majority of our films, the majority of those films will be about (white) males from a (white) male point of view," said Lauzen.

"Increasingly, this perspective does not reflect the community of filmmakers in this country or the community of moviegoers."

The survey found that in 2012, women made up 18 percent of directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 U.S. grossing films. This was unchanged from 2011 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998.

Women were most likely to work in the documentary, drama, and animated film genres. They were least likely to work in the action, horror and sci-fi genres.

A second survey released this week by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles also found women lagged men in the industry, but the numbers were not as bad in the independent film world.

The survey found women made up 29.8 percent of 11,197 directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors on films between 2002 to 2012 at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, the world's leading showcase for independent film.

"This data shows us that there is a higher representation of female filmmakers in independent film as compared to Hollywood - but it also highlights the work that is still to be done for women to achieve equal footing in the field," Cathy Schulman, president of Women In Film Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Film industry professionals, many of them women, suggested to organizers of the survey that steps to address the "celluloid ceiling" could include mentoring and encouraging early career women, improving access to finance and raising awareness of the problem.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/women-face-celluloid-ceiling-u-film-industry-study-204027487.html

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Report: Schwarzenegger says he still loves Shriver

(AP) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted in an interview in Germany's top-selling newspaper saying he's still in love with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver.

The actor and former California governor is quoted in Tuesday's Bild newspaper as saying that despite their separation, he spent Christmas with Shriver and their children.

Schwarzenegger is cited as saying "we're not fighting any war: I still hope for reconciliation; I still love Maria."

Shriver filed for divorce last year after 25 years of marriage following Schwarzenegger's admission he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper.

He has also acknowledged other affairs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-22-EU-Germany-Schwarzenegger/id-c057c5fe056c437e849c26e926e4de54

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Spin Cycle: The Social Realm of the Laundromat

Photo licensed under CC. Click on image for license and information.

Sunday afternoons should never be spent in a laundromat if you can avoid it. One of the outcomes of our recent move is that I went from having my own washer and dryer to having a washer that floods the basement and a landlord who isn?t inclined to fixing it. That means I?ve had to spend some time getting reacquainted with coin-operated laundromats?and their particular social nuances.

Clean clothes are a luxury

In places where access to water is an issue, laundry means either bringing water into your home (maybe using buckets or pots) or traveling to a water source. It?s labor intensive and time consuming. And if getting water for laundry is an issue, then it?s also likely an issue for bathing, cooking, and drinking. Given those needs, laundry drops to the bottom of the list as a priority. However, once you can meet those water needs, laundry becomes important because having clean clothes is a sign of social status. It places you within the boundaries of being socially acceptable.

The most basic means of cleaning clothing is to wet them and beat them against a rock. It gets the job done, but doesn?t do much to preserve the life of the fabric. Before indoor plumbing, washboards were fairly common. They were basically a framed ribbed surface that you could rub wet clothes against. It got your clothes clean without reducing them to shreds. But this still meant hours of work?and that was before waiting for the drying to complete.

While washing machines have been around since the late 18th-century, they were largely hand and steam operated, and still required a fair amount of attention from the user. It was only when electric washers began to appear in the early 20th-century, that a more mechanically-guided process became a possibility.

In the United States, the popularity of washing machines rose steadily until the Great Depression hit which put the cost of a washing machine beyond the reach of many people. However, it opened the door for laundromats which allegedly took hold at this time because people who could no longer count on a washing machine, could use the laundromat. Hopeful entrepreneurs purchased washers and began the practice of renting them. Users could deposit coins into the machines to purchase their use for a period of time. Unlike commercial enterprises, which had been around for some time, laundromats were geared specifically to individual users who were solely responsible for the operation of the machine during their rental period.

Following the Great Depression, washing machines were once more pursued as a desirable household appliance. However, the laundromat never quite disappeared. They provide an alternative to having to own your own machines, and put clean clothes within relative reach of many people. Laundromats weren?t just for people without the means of purchasing machines, they provided a degree of convenience.

The code of the laundromat

For most of my early teen years we were renters, which meant that part of my weekend was spent helping my mom do laundry. I hated it. It was two or three hours spent in a space that smelled damp?like a moldy dishwasher?trying not to let strangers see my underwear (I was fourteen; I didn?t want anyone to see my underwear) and making sure no one stole our detergent. My biggest worry was that something would be left behind in the commotion of transferring clothes from the washer to the dryers to the folding tables. And it came true: a favorite blue sweatshirt went MIA during this time, and I?m sure it fell victim to the laundromat. In any case, we bought a house when I entered by midteens and my life took me away from the coin-operated laundromat. Until last month. And it seems the some things have not changed:

  • Never, ever, ever go on a Sunday afternoon. Friday nights are bad too, as are late Saturday afternoons. Everyone wants in, and there?s a line for dryers, and double-washers. You?ll have to negotiate or be prepared to aggressively claim the machines you?ll need.
  • Children will not be supervised. They?ll run laps around the laundromat, yelling at the top of their lungs. Or they?ll ride in the laundry carts and use them as bumper cars, in which case you?d better be on alert so you aren?t involved in any accidents. They also have a tendency to try to climb into dryers and you?ll run the risk of getting chastised by a harried parent if you say something.
  • Protect your underwear. People are watching, particularly if those people are teenage boys who have yet to see lingerie in real life.
  • Your detergent matters. Are you bringing your detergent or buying it from the vending machine? What brand are you using? Do you have dryer sheets? Hangers? You will be judged on the brand of detergent you use?and the extras you bring you to the laundromat. These things all change the way you are treated by laundry regulars?and and whether you?ll likely fall victim to laundry fishers who are waiting for your attention to waiver (we?ll talk about them more in a bit).

There is a hierarchy that exists at the laundromat. It?s a complicated system where rank is issued by degree of regularity, products used, and the ability to commandeer as many carts as you need.

Regular patrons know which machines to use and which to avoid. They?re familiar with the attendant and with each other. They may get access to bathroom facilities that others do not. They?ll keep an eye on each other?s machines and supply additional quarters for each other?s dryers (which are paid back) if the owner is not present. They?re the ones to stop bored children from riding in carts or from climbing into dryers?at least without repercussion.

The status of regular patrons is enhanced if they bring their own laundry supplies. It suggests preparedness and efficiency: they?re there to get in and out. And if those supplies expand beyond laundry detergent, that status is enhanced because it demonstrates (1) having the means of obtaining additional supplies and (2) an understanding of how to enhance your laundry experience.

Laundry carts are a form social currency as well. You have to be able to claim at least one or else you?ll not only find it difficult to transport wet clothes to the dryer, but you may find that your laundry supplies vanish when you aren?t looking. The cart gives you a temporary space that you can claim as your own. Within this space, you can store laundry supplies and transport your clothing without worry. The more carts you can claim, the more ?space? you can claim, which forces others to find ways to work around you.

Watchful washing

The laundromat also makes public something that has become somewhat private. Personal washing machines and dryers take dirty clothes out of the public eye. Dryers mean that you don?t have to wait for your clothes to dry, but they also mean that you don?t have to air your laundry (so to speak). Whatever you choose to wear, it can be cleaned and dried within the private confines of your home.

Because you are sharing facilities at the laundromat, people may pay more attention to what others have to wash. For example, if someone puts something particularly soiled into a machine, you might not want to be the next person to use that machine. We?re far more aware of the possibility of contamination in this environment; we?re faced with the need to ?protect? our possessions to the best of our ability?and that means watching.

But all that watching can leave you feeling exposed. Clothes are public markers of who we are. The ways in which they get dirty can also be telling. As can fabric patterns and qualities. When worn, clothes are a form of armor. However, as limp, sodden pieces of cloth, they can expose our vulnerabilities: blood from a cut, a tear from a fall, and a stain from a harried lunch are all revealing in how we interact with the world.

Contamination and exposure aren?t the only concern. The public nature of the laundromat means that anyone can walk in off of the street and wait for the right opportunity to claim unwatched clothing. Last week a pair of women came in during the bustle of the Sunday afternoon laundry crush and began opening dryers, apparently feeling the clothing inside to see if it was dry. Under the cover of a busy Sunday afternoon, their behavior wasn?t suspicious?until another woman confronted them as they were putting clothes into a laundry bag. They had taken a load of her clothes from the dryer and were preparing to take it with them. ?It wasn?t an accident,? explained the laundromat attendant. ?Some people fish the laundromat to freshen up their closet.? That is to say, they come in and take a gamble with a load of unwatched clothes. They can redistribute anything that doesn?t fit.

Suddenly as boring as it is to watch the spin cycle, it seems like it might be worth it?if you watch closely enough, you might learn something new about yourself.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c8a58f0f33e3c8703b22c94fa7dee921

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Monday, January 21, 2013

Take Yourself To The Next Level With These Self Improvement Tips ...

How about taking a few minutes of your time in order to learn simple steps on improving the rest of your life? If you pay attention to what we have to say, that is what this article can do for you. Read the tips and tricks that we have provided for you, so that you can start to reach your true potential.

Don?t look at your outside beauty; seek out inner beauty. Wearing the latest styles or looking like a movie star does not make a real difference. Your personality will be what matters in the long run. Try and change the person you are inside rather than focusing on the outside.

Identify what is keeping you from being successful. Doing this is extremely hard for a lot of people. The first step in dealing with our weaknesses is actually identifying them. Your future will look much brighter if you acquire new strengths.

TIP! Set realistic goals that you can accomplish, and you?ll enjoy life so much more. Figure out what you do and do not do well, and you will learn a lot about yourself.

When working on your self improvement, it is often helpful to see what others have done. You can avoid both personal and business mistakes by knowing the trials that others have faced. Knowing that other people have succeeded at the same goal will make it seem more attainable to you.

It isn?t possible to care for someone else at your own expense. No matter your path, or whether you?re failing or thriving, take time out to restore and rest yourself.

Prospective employers will be more concerned as to whether you can do the job well. There are only very few exceptions to this rule, such as working with a large financial institution. It is really more important to simply have a quality degree that will open up opportunities for you.

TIP! Change should be a conscious choice, and is in fact a result of it. We need to choose the change if we expect to really grow.

Emergency Fund

Begin a fund for emergency purposes. Many people think that a credit card counts as an emergency fund. By putting aside only a few dollars each week, you can rapidly build a respectable emergency fund. These reserves can be of great assistance now and in the future, because the amount owed will drop, rather than build.

Leadership is essential in your personal development. Although there are many different definitions of leadership, the most common being ?influence?. Examine yourself as a leader. Think about the circumstances that have had the most influence in your life. What changes did those events bring forth in you? What do you feel makes you a good team player? By knowing yourself and your motives better, you can more easily integrate into a leadership role with others.

TIP! Fostering a strict sense of self discipline is a great way to improve yourself. Your body yearns to give into temptations, but you can control the desires with practice.

You can be unnecessarily stressed if you overact to situations. Think about the situation, and try to find constructive ways to deal with it. If a mistake is the issue, there are ways to correct it or cope with living with your mistake. When you start feeling anxious about a situation, focus on the positive things, not the negative ones.

Follow your own principles as strictly as you can. Your personal beliefs create the foundation for who you are. If you have good reason to have these beliefs, you will feel more confident and grow your self esteem by adhering to these beliefs and principles. This will also promote consistency in your life and actions, which is a trait almost everyone finds admirable.

Begin a special savings for emergencies. Most of us depend on credit cards to pay for unexpected expenses. All you will need to do is save a couple of dollars per week. This fund will help you stay out of debt if you have to face an emergency.

TIP! Your willpower can help you find more positive things in your life. Your attitude towards others will affect what happens to you.

Regular Exercise

Exercise even if you are at your ideal weight. There are many other benefits from regular exercise. For instance, regular exercise is a great way to boost your mood.

You should shoot to be the best at whatever it is that you do. Follow your passion to the greatest possible aspirations. You can?t be the best at everything, but you can inspire people in the same field as you. Enhance your standing in your niche, and your self-esteem will climb too.

TIP! Part of setting goals to better yourself is having an idea of where you want your life to go. Having long-term goals is great, because you could have a big change in your perspective.

When you are actively trying to improve yourself, failing to do well at something can hurt your self-esteem more than it otherwise would. However, failure is really an opportunity to grow as a person. Failure is only another way of learning about your strengths and weaknesses. Look at failure as another opportunity for you to improve and overcome.

As hard as it may seem, you must eliminate worry from your life. Most of the things you worry about never materialize, and creating them in the present is of no value to your self improvement. Instead of worrying, consider the worst case scenario, and start taking concrete steps to address that worst case. You will then be prepared and able to move forward.

One simple step to your personal development is doing things for the benefit of other people. You can cultivate a strong, positive character, by learning how to make sacrifices for the sake of helping others. When making sacrifices that help others without hurting your well-being, you can become that kind person that you wanted to be.

TIP! Often, the enemy of happiness is stress. When our minds are busy dealing with stress, we are causing damage to our entire body, both mentally and physically.

Try to make each day more excellent than the previous one. Discover innovative ways to increase your character development. Focus on a specific task that you want to do better today than yesterday.

Staying positive takes a lot of willpower and it might mean that if you are positive towards others, then good things will come to you. For this reason, it is important to wish only positive things for the people in your life. You are less likely to get burdened with bad feelings if you are striving to stay positive.

Are you having a difficult time meeting someone that you want to share your life with? Use the net to jump start your search. Almost half of all couples, about 40%, met their partner online. You may find one that is looking for someone like you. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

TIP! Sexual capitol is an important new trait that?s being researched. This means using your charm rather than your sexuality to acquire things you want.

Therapy might be beneficial if your problems are severe. Books that teach self help are helpful, but do not contain the one-on-one personal touch you can get from a therapist. Sometimes, simply talking through your problems can help you conquer them. Reading even the best self-help book cannot start up a back-and-forth dialog, the way a therapy session can.

Seek out those with similar positive attitudes. This will reinforce the aspects of your personality that you are seeking to develop, while allowing you to distance yourself from toxic individuals in your life.

Everybody makes mistakes, and making healthy food choices is definitely one field in which mistakes get made. Admit your poor choices, and move on with your life.

TIP! Failure at some task can seem like a devastating injury to your self confidence. However, failure is really an opportunity to grow as a person.

There is no way to make everyone in your life happy, so it is best to focus on first pleasing yourself. This doesn?t mean that you should only think of yourself, but in some cases, you really need to put yourself first. Whatever you do, make sure you follow your own values. The more you are a person who you like and respect, the happier you?ll be.

This information is so great that you probably are itching to not only put it into practice for yourself but share it with your loved ones, too. Diligently applying the suggestions in this article can generate positive changes you?ll enjoy for the entirety of your life. When you dedicate the time and determination to making serious personal change, the benefits are endless.

Do not overdo it when you are trying to achieve your personal development goal. Take your best shot, but know when you have reached your limit. You need to be careful about your physical health even while you are striving to achieve your goals. You will not be able to continue improving yourself if you don?t take care of your body.

TIP! Always have the attitude that you are worth it when working on your personal development plan. You need to be aware that you owe that to yourself.

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Source: http://www.samuellevitz.com/take-yourself-to-the-next-level-with-these-self-improvement-tips

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The Fifth International Conference on Wireless & Mobile Networks ...

The Fifth International Conference on Wireless & Mobile Networks (WiMoN ? 2013)

June 1 ~ 2, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey
http://netcom2012.org/wimon13/index.html

The conference looks for significant contributions to the Wireless and Mobile networks in theoretical and practical aspects. WiMoN-2013 addresses topics regarding integration of latest technologies to realize wireless, mobile and ubiquitous service environments for advanced applications and services. Original papers are invited on Wireless and Mobile communications, Network protocols and security. The goal of this conference is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced Wireless, Mobile networking concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to the conference by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the following areas, but are not limited to

Topics of Interest:

  • Mobile and Wireless Communications
  • Network Protocols & Wireless Networks
  • Wireless & Mobile Network Architectures
  • Wireless & Mobile Network Operations & management
  • Wireless, Mobile Internet and Web applications
  • Wireless Multimedia systems
  • Wireless Sensor Networks
  • Spectrum Allocation and Management
  • Wireless LANs and Wireless PANs
  • Heterogeneous wireless networks
  • Measurement & Performance Analysis
  • Mobile Computing
  • Next Generation Mobile Networks
  • Mobile Adhoc Network Routing and sensor networks
  • Measurement & Performance Analysis
  • Wireless & Mobile Network Security
  • Routing, switching and addressing techniques & algorithms
  • Internet access and broadband technologies
  • Traffic and congestion control, QoS, Resource Management
  • Ubiquitous networks
  • Recent trends in wireless & Mobile Networks

Paper Submission

Authors are invited to submit papers through the conference Submission system by January 29, 2013. Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this conference.

The proceedings of the conference will be published by Springer (LNCS) in Communications in Computer and Information Science(CCIS) Series (Confirmed).Hard copy of the Springer Proceedings will be distributed during the Conference. The softcopy will be available on SpringerLink

Selected papers from WiMoN 2013, after further revisions, will be published in the special issue of the following journal.

Important Dates:

Submission Deadline : January 29, 2013

Authors Notification : February 25, 2013

Final Manuscript Due : March 10, 2013

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Source: http://cfptech.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-fifth-international-conference-on-wireless-mobile-networks-wimon-2013-2/

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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Movie Review: 'Mama,' and 'The Last Stand' - Herndon, VA Patch

January. Everyone knows it is when the mediocre to the truly awful hobble off to die a quick death?after beating each other senseless for a quick buck in the box office arena. When a film gets slated for release it is because there are no other contenders to fight for those dollars, or it won't survive any other time anyway.?

After all, everyone with any sense is scrambling to see the Oscar nominees. So one approaches January movies with a mix of optimism and dread. Two genre-specific movies are being released this week. If you are a fan of horror or ultra-violent action flicks, the studios are expecting you to gravitate away from those Oscar-nominated and towards these unproven offerings.?

The Last Stand is a "comeback" vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger directed by Korean auteur Jee-woon Kim in his first American film. Mama is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, offering a feature-length version of director Andres Muschietti's impressive terror-filled short of the same name, and stars box office and indie darling Jessica Chastain.?

While both movies have their strengths, they both fall significantly short of filmgoers' expectations, and neither rise far above the usual January fare.?
Mama is respectably creepy but uneven from the start, and ultimately unsatisfying and muddled.?The Last Stand, which should be far more ashamed of itself,? amounts to just so much NRA porn. ?

The film Mama starts off well enough. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays a husband who snaps, killing his wife and running away with his two small daughters, whom he intends to kill as well. The something or someone who (surprise! ?not a spoiler as it's in the trailer) kills him instead, leaves his kids alone in a cabin to fend for themselves.?

Five years later, they are discovered subsisting on cherries and bark, and placed with his (it is assumed, but not stated) twin brother, also played, the script allows, in true soap-opera fashion, by Coster-Waldau. His bass-playing, rock and roll girlfriend played by Chastain, sporting a black-dyed blunt cut, heavy mascara, and band tats, is expected to dutifully fall in as foster mom. ?

Did something unearthly come to live with them and these now creepy, grunting, feral kids? The rest of the movie seeks to answer that question and why. It too often stumbles into the world of cliches to maintain the arty European horror aesthetic that is clearly its inspiration and aspiration. Fans of Del Toro expecting something in line with the modern classics he directed, Cronos or The Devil's Backbone, might be vaguely satisfied at first but will find too little tension building and too little story evolving to place it in the same cinematic strata.? ?

There has been a movement lately of A list actors taking on horror roles that offer more diversity to their filmography, and sometimes it pays off in a great fresh new take on an old ghost or murder story. The trouble is if a movie wants to play in the big pool with the big boys, it has to have enough water. By the inexplicable ending, this one dries up like a desiccated moth, many live ones of which are batting their creepy quivering wings on the camera, close up, throughout the film. ?

Chastain is Mama's brightest spot, usurping attention from the two surprisingly compelling child actors. She exposes her character's fears, showing us an arc from reticence to acceptance of motherhood. The audience is witness to her self-discovery, which keeps us rooting through scenes that were written more compellingly in ghost movies like The Woman in White, The Innocents?and its remake, The Others. ?

Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), whom I've loved as an actor since the great Danish thriller Nightwatch and the pre-vamp fad vamp show New Amsterdam, does his best with very little screen time, much of which is spent in thanklessly trite action. Too bad, because I still expect great things from him. It is Chastain who creates, in the audience, compassion and a desire to see them survive to become a family living in safety and love. ?

By the time the ending blasts onto the screen, we've been creeped but cliched out. What might have been a great twist is wasted. Back to the drawing board for all those involved. No harm, no foul. For a passible diversion and a bit of a scare, it will do. Is that worth $12? You decide.

Far more troubling, is the mind-numbingly violent bigotfest The Last Stand.? This vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback has him holding big guns and spouting one liners again, which he does with affable aplomb. To say that he is one of the better aspects of the movie is a more terrifying proposition than anything in Mama. ?

Director Kim Ji-woon's stylized take on a blood-soaked action-er has its charms.? He uses lovely camera angles, inventive lighting and interestingly composed shots, especially during car chase scenes and showdowns in which he obviously wishes to evoke a topsy turvy '80s version of High Noon. ?

The script is so full of cliched dialogue, it made Cinema Siren want to start a petition to ban the lines "Let's DO this!" "You wanna play? Let's play!" and "Game ON!" from films in the future.?

The representation of Latino and Latina characters is shockingly one-dimensional.? The drug cartel jokes about border control, the reluctant deputy whines about getting involved, and the arc written for the female agent taken hostage will likely equally puzzle and piss off most women in the audience. I am going to ignore the fact that Forest Whitaker is in this film. I love him and always will, no matter what movies he inexplicably chooses to support with his monumental talent.

As to violence, it goes way too far. By the time the movie is over, the audience will feel like they've been through war. So many secondary characters get shot in the head, it's like we are all sitting in the back of Vince and Jules' brain splattered car in Pulp Fiction.

Most troubling is the violent extremes the film goes to, without any substantive reason. At one point, a large group of policemen get machine gunned to death. ?While censorship in movies is the last thing Cinema Siren supports, it is valid to ask why filmmakers feel it's OK to show a whole stationhouse full of policemen riddled? by machine gun bullets. If children are still sacred in film, why are policemen the new and acceptable sacrificial lambs? We should perhaps question the necessity to use that particular circumstance as a plot device to manipulate the audience's sympathy. ?

This movie does gun lobbyists proud. There is even a gun-toting grandma who gets into the action. The audience laughed. Maybe you will, too. Maybe you don't mind a body count in the dozens, with blood splatter becoming as ubiquitous as the cliched one-liners. As for myself and any discerning movie fans, let me suggest there are less offensive flicks starring Scharzenegger on Netflix. This movie doesn't deserve your dollars. ?

This is Cinema Siren guiding you through a sea of celluloid. Listen. It's January.? Pace yourselves. There will be plenty of great, empty-headed films waiting for you come Memorial Day. For now, either venture out to one of the great movies nominated for Oscars:?Argo, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, or Zero Dark Thirty, or stay home, and see an old action classic.? ?

There is plenty to keep you busy until the Oscars on Feb. 24. Until then, the less blood splatter and moth flutter, the happier I suspect you'll be.?

Source: http://herndon.patch.com/articles/movie-review-mama-and-the-last-stand-fe753b90

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