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“BUMPY” KANAHELE STARS IN ALOHA In 1993, “Bumpy” Kanahele organized an occupation at a famous tourist beach, protesting the illegality of America’s possession of Hawaiʽi, which was annexed by military force without a plebiscite. After fifteen months, Governor John Waiheʽe offered his group a 45-acre parcel if the protesters would leave. They agreed and received […]

THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH SHOWS THE LIMITS OF BUDDHISM IN HOLLYWOOD An egotistical Hollywood star, Aaron (played by Harry Hamlin), is in trouble with the law. His attorney suggests that he see a meditation specialist, Rachel (Kristen Kerr), who can report on his improvements so that the judge will give an appropriate sentence for his

GOOD KILL ESTABLISHES THE TITLE AS AN OXYMORON Few anti-war films about Vietnam occurred until after the American military pulled out. The same appears to be the case with the “war on terror,” which (according to one line in the film) is doing as well as the “war on drugs.” But Good Kill, an anti-war

CAMBODIANS ABANDON AMNESIA IN DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN A documentary of the musical history of Cambodia from 1954 to 1975, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten traces the country’s music stars until most die in the Pol Pot era. Directed by John Pirozzi, Cambodia is depicted as a musical capital of Southeast Asia, with Prince Sihanouk as

SKIN TRADE EXPLOITS THE SKIN TRADE Titles at the end indicate that 20-30 million persons, 98 percent of whom are women and children, are involved in human trafficking each year. Directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, Skin Trade involves efforts to free women captives and eliminate an small army involved in the trade. The head gangster is

Meanwhile, Hungary has not ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals of 1987, unlike neighboring Bulgaria and Romania. The film White God (Fehér isten) implicitly implores the county to do, thereby joining most of the rest of Europe. The term “white god” is presumably selected to challenge the view that Hungarians act

FAR FROM MEN IS ALSO ABOUT SEEKING NEUTRALITY IN A WAR ZONE Albert Camus’s short story L’Hôte has now been brought to the screen. Daru (played by Viggo Mortensen) is a Spanish settler born in Algeria who was a major on the side of France in World War II. Having lost his wife in 1944,

1915 DENOUNCES THE FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE WAR CRIMES In 1915, the Ottoman Empire, allied with Germany, decided to force millions of Armenians out of Turkey toward Armenia. They were not transported by bus or train; instead, many were forced to walk in what became a death march. Armenians want the world to acknowledge that the

Protests began even before The Longest Ride opened on April 10: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was in full force at the premiere in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Directed by George Tillman, Jr., and based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, the film features the rodeo, where untrained bulls object

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY IS PSEUDO-PORN BUT HIGHLY POLITICAL All films are political because there is a power structure, and Hollywood traditionally belittles those in power. The film Fifty Shades of Grey, based on a recent novel by E. L. James, has never before been analyzed by political scientists, who will soon realize that the