A list of interesting films
This is a special list of videos which I have stumbled upon, and found particularly insipring. These films are embedded
on my website, and can be found if you touch on the title of the article. Remember the fragile nature of this kind of thing I’m doing. These videos could disappear from off the net at any time…
or the other website could go down for maintenance, and the page may thus appear to be broken. Such is the nature
of the internet. I’ll try to keep on top of this. But please forgive me if you find one missing.
The children at the school in Indonesia where Barack Obama spent his third grade year celebrate Obama’s election as president of the usa.
This is a charming old film which imagines the life of Hans Christian Anderson in a very unique way. It’s fascinating that all these wonderful movies were made in the middle of the 1900s, and then the quality of film overall has gone down since.
These filmmakers and actors and actresses gave it their all to put together such marvelous productions… but it didn’t seem to set any lasting precedent. It’s also interesting to see that even in the mid 1900s… the people of the day were close enough to remember the elements of what life was like earlier, in the 1800s. As we walk the road of history we forget more and more. Our history books in the usa are all too often defined by the dates of wars which were inscribed in the king’s annals, and the narrative by folks who believe in a dour kind of social interaction between social classes.
It’s ironic how even in a comical fable like this film, there is more truth about the past than we find in many history books.
It’s also a fascinating commentary on a personality type which I am quite familiar with.
This film was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, a jewish immigrant to the usa who, according to wikipedia, left Warsaw Poland, on foot and penniless himself at a very young age. He eventually ended up in the England, and then in the usa. His name is the G in MGM - the film company. It’s fascinating how folks these days don’t realize the kind of wealth of experience and inspiration which people have to offer who have been very impoverished in the past. That may be a reason why there isn’t any quality in the mainstream performing arts out there today. People who are just trying to go through all the motions in life to get ahead don’t ever have the kind of perspective on life that Goldwyn had.
Sadly, this film has commercials. I earnestly try to avoid posting films which have commercials, because of the visual pollution which ads make on the internet. In this case, however, I’m willing to make an exception to my rule.
Jonathan Haidt explores the differences which he sees between what drives conservatives in the usa, as compared to the ideas and ethics which drive liberals there. Watch this presentation from the TED conference.
French engineers have teamed up with Indian factories and have created a production ready car which is powered solely by compressed air - in much the same way pneumatic power tools are. It goes 125miles on a fill up at 65mph and costs a little over $2 to fill up at any gas station. The cheapest model of the car will cost about $5000 new. Quite cool, huh? Watch the film.
This is a concept that I’ve mused on deeply. I’m glad to see someone is actually pursuing it. We need to redesign our manufacturing processes to allow for full recycling of all products. This film is by Rob van Hattum and features the ideas of William McDonough and Michael Braungart.
This is a recent interview that Bill Clinton gave to John Stewart, in which he explains a very straightforward and sensible answer to this financial market crisis which we are seeing in September of 2008.
