Tag: drama

Now Available on Laserdisc: State of Grace

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Sean Penn belongs to the same club of hellions as Rex Harrison. He may have flip-flopped a few times from lovable drunk to violent wife beater but this was the same actor who bit off his toenails in At Close Range. How can you predict the unpredictable? Did anyone think that Nicholas Cage would get himself into debt from buying dinosaur bones? And while we’re on the subject of controversial celebrities, why does Kevin Spacey lose his career while Sean Penn is still allowed to work? Is it because one abused minors while the other abused women? Shouldn’t everything evil be equally bad? Maybe Penn’s recent philanthropy has cleaned the slate for a good deal of people; but his charity has felt largely like penance for his mean streak, even though he just can’t seem to keep his trademark temper under control! Come on man, you were banging Charlize Theron! And she was not putting up with ANY of his shit. Can we say the same for Robin Wright? What about his State of Grace co-star Gary Oldman’s ex-wife? Can we say the same for all victims of abuse and trauma? What about Gary Oldman? When will I stop digging this hole for myself?

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the shotgun room

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The first entry in the “Shotgun Room” trilogy. For mature readers.

“An overburdened mother starts her first day of work for a new legal euthanasia program.”

No one wanted to admit to the idea, even when it was passed unanimously through Congress. The right to die. Lethal injection was tried and passed-on: there was never any real guarantee those people were conscious enough to legally decide whether to press the shiny red button – nestled atop a comfort handle in a debilitating grip; not to mention specialized staff that required specialized training that only a country in a recession could fantasize of. “Heaven forbid,” said the Men In Suits who decided everything for everyone else. They had to be sure these selfish casualties knew what they were doing, and that there would be no court action. No future action, period. A shotgun. One slug to the face would take anyone out; and anyone ballsy enough to shoot themselves in the face were prepared to die as far as the government was concerned. Every hospital was given a modest sum – taxpayer-supported, of course – to retrofit an unused area of some set measurement in the most private area of their grounds. Each was to be insulated with an industrial-sized FDA-approved compostable vacuum bag made of one-hundred percent consumer-grade recycled plastic, connected to a high pressure suction system powered by a sponsored vacuum system by Inc in an adjacent room. After willing participants were “sure this was what they wanted” and all the proper paperwork was signed they were escorted to this room. The bag would be zipped open for the volunteer and inside was a chair and the single-shelled shotgun. All they had to do was sit down and make the necessary adjustments: the federally-mandated sign that hung off the back of the door facing the chair helpfully suggested in a clear, legible font that your eyes should stare directly into the barrel.

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Selected Scenes: The Mustang

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Roman and his horse Marquis are like twins: both are stubborn and prone to anger; both have to hit themselves over the head a hundred times until they make any progress; and both are incorrigible, wild beasts, out of place in their respective worlds. Roman has been in prison twelve years for a crippling assault on his wife; in and out of solitary confinement and unwilling to rehabilitate consciously, the horse training program is maybe his last opportunity as a normal life. But what is normal? To Roman, normal is living with the pain of what he has done, and a debilitating hostility that could explode into violence at any moment. Marquis (pronounced Marcus) is a brutish mustang, part of a cull to help control the wild population and to rear the captured for auction. Marquis is resistant from the very beginning, even leading a frustrated Roman to physically beat the horse in resentment, but a bond forms between the two on a mutual understanding and of course the unconditional love of this horse to his human (like Roman’s unconditional love to his estranged daughter). The ten week program is over and it’s the day of the auction. Roman and Marquis are last on the block, and Marquis is restless, unable to stay in formation for the national anthem and now uncontrollable on the reins. He throws Roman from the saddle and drags him, before head butting him, giving him an injury much like the one he gave his wife all those years ago. Are we able to reform if we are already congruent to our faults? Is the choice between physical and emotional freedom as cut and dry?

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Selected Scenes: Game of Thrones 806

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it all would come down to what jon decided to do. it was his choice. becoming lord commander was not something he asked for, neither was defacto leader of the wildlings. now, on top of everything, the last male targaryen heir to the iron throne? he didnt ask for any of it. fate was thrust upon him at every turn and when finally faced with a choice that only he could make, he decided to take tyrions advice and act quickly and swiftly, just like when he hung his predecessor to lord commander and his conspirators. jon had never been afraid or reluctant to duel out justice when it was called for, but he has been a reluctant leader. a brave fighter but a humble diplomat. he allowed himself to love again after ygritte and not only did the woman turn out to be his sister but another tyrant leader and threat to his family. a threat to his crown! he was the only one who could kill daenerys but did he ever imagine in a million years that he would end up where he began? being sent back to the nights watch, exiled from westeros with his secrets intact. maybe he thought that it would turn out differently, just a little glimmer in the back of his mind that lured him with the thought of being king, all he had to do was do what he had always done, which were the needs of the many over the needs of the one.

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Selected Scenes: The Apostle

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sonny is as devout as southern ministers come. once a prominent revivalist preacher with his own congregation and the ideal life, it all seems to come crashing down on him: his wife is having an affair; his church votes to remove him; and his previously unspoken alcoholism and temperament get the better of him and force him on the run from the police. however, through his ordeal his faith never wavers. he is congruent and admits to his mistakes. he feels his only way out is to atone and to be reborn. after self baptizing he is resurrected as “the apostle EF” (his first and middle initials) and finds the salvation he is looking for when a small town devoid of a place of worship follow him.

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