. . .
Ellipsis (Randyjw; October 31, 2017)
There is an ellipsis
which connects our dots
forever and always
in my heart
. . .
Ellipsis (Randyjw; October 31, 2017)
There is an ellipsis
which connects our dots
forever and always
in my heart
Filed under Poetry
Forevermore (Randyjw; October 29, 2017)
The torch in my hand
in my heart
and at the door
remains lit
always
and forevermore
Filed under Poetry
Ocean (Randyjw; October 27, 2017)
Like the ocean,
I wish you would always flow
Sometimes high,
Sometimes low
Sometimes raging
other times mellow
Seeking the inlet
never having to go
Filed under Poetry
Cracking Up (Randyjw; October 26, 2017)
Wearing reactionary emotions that dance across my face
I do not hide well these types of things, and never did!!!
So my tremendous smiles, shy blushes, out-loud laughter and unbottled tears
Just leave people wondering about my inner ideas
I’m super-glad my imaginings are something they can’t hear
but it gives me the greatest feeling and leads to so much inner cheer
So, if you know that reason, and I hope I’ve made that clear
I can’t pretend to secret when it always reappears
To complete and utter strangers, who see me in the day
It just appears I’m homeless; Thank G-d is what I say
It legitimizes my seeming craziness, walking in a daze
and validates my reason for being so distracted in this way
Filed under Uncategorized
FLIFF 32: IN SHORT (Randyjw; October 25, 2017)
Hooray for Hollywood!!! And Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise, and Davie, for acting as host home to the 32nd annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), kicking off festivities on October 27th, and screening exhibits through November 19th.
Showing at several South Florida venues scattered throughout the above towns, the film festival represents more than forty countries, with 167 entries in this, the world’s longest film festival.
Included are many special collaborations, engagements, and soirees, apearances by Burt Reynolds and Karen Allen (I loved the movie, Starman!), themed dinner events, cruises, and more.
Signature Parties include FLIFF’s Exec At Large Board of Directors’ Steven Savor’s party, November 18th, in his home, Villa DePalma, to honor Karen Allen with the FLIFF Lifetime Achievement award. Open Bar, eats, entertainment by OTIS DAY & THE KNIGHTS, film screening (ANIMAL HOUSE) aboard-barge in the canal. Dress code is strictly toga; what else?
Karen Allen, who played a role in ANIMAL HOUSE, and hence the party theme, directs her first feature film, A TREE. A ROCK. A CLOUD. I love her take on the premise of the film, of a meeting between an older man and young boy. It’s one of my film picks of the festival.
Steve Savor helped renovate Cinema Paradiso Fort Lauderdale, now known as the Savor Cinema, one of several event locations hosting the films, and which, itself, hosts most of the food-themed reception dinners. The other screening locations include: the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood; Bailey Hall on the Broward College campus; the Museum of Art, in Fort Lauderdale; Cinema Paradiso Hollywood; and Sunrise Civic Center.
The Opening Night Party will be held November 3rd at Hard Rock Live to honor Burt Reynolds, who is adored worldwide, with another Lifetime Achievement Award. His new movie with Chevy Chase, DOG YEARS, will also be screened.
At The Centerpiece Film & Party on November 10th at Sunrise Civic Center, the soiree will include serving stations, a buffet, pasta stations and a cash bar. It follows the screening of SERIOUS LAUNDRY. The movie’s director and stars will be in attendance.
Other themed food-party receptions include:
– Festa Italiana, an Antipasti Buffet served al fresco following MOGLI E MARITO;
– Another Italian extravaganza of pasta Alfredo, meatballs in marinara sauce, minestrone soup, and tiramisu, following LOVERS;
– Arctic Chiller sushi sampler, following HEAVEN’S FLOOR;
– Chinese Reception of steamed dumplings, Sweet & Sour Chicken, and fortune cookies, following KING OF PEKING;
– Madras Party of Chicken Tikka Masala and biryani rice, following NEWTON;
– Estonian Party, with fried herring, cold cucumber soup, and rye bread, following THE SPY & THE POET;
and my probable favorite,
– Israeli Reception, with a make-your-own Pita Station, including falafel, kibbeh, and more. Yum! This follows the movie screening of IF & WHEN.
The films include a week-long retrospective of the past thirty years of Best Film awardees from the European Film Awards (EFA), free for FLIFF members, running October 27th through November 2nd. FLIFF member benefits are many — too numerous to mention — so, please call for details: 954-525-FILM, or visit FLIFF.COM. Some of them include: discounts, special FREE screenings, seating priorities, concession specials, parties, and more.
On Veteran’s Day, November 11th, there will be a FREE event, featuring an 11:30am snack, followed by KELLY’S HEROES, starring some classic class actors and acts: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Carroll O’Connor — I think I might have to stand and clap as each appear on-screen.
On the two days following festival end, there will be four screenings at Savor Cinema to benefit the recently hurricane-ravaged islands:
November 20th: Barbuda and Dominica
November 21st: Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
Here are some of my screening picks, which sound promising, based on their descriptions:
Feature:
A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. – Karen Allen’s directorial debut, based on the short story by Carson McCullers.
Acorn and the Firestorm – Documentary. Andrew Breitbart’s sting operation into the affairs of the non-profit ACORN organization
After You’re Gone – Russian ballet dancer faces questions of his legacy
Cries From Syria – Documentary. In the streets with the people, fighting this Syrian war
Darkest Hour – Winston Churchill weighs a negotiated peace versus a waged war against Nazi Germany
Dede – In isolated Georgia, men and women begin to address the issues of modernism versus tradition
If & When – Coping daughter makes Divorced father realize he’s not yet ready for romance. Can love return with the woman he fell in love with, one year ago?
Intent to Destroy – Armenian Genocide, Turkish Denial.
Larger than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story – A retrospective of groundbreaking makeup artiste, Kevyn Aucoin’s life, until his passing in 2002
Mogli e Marito – A Freaky Friday premise, but husband and wife doing the body switcheroo
Newton – Present-day problems and escapades of pollworkers on assignment
Pinsky – Crazy life for liberal (sorta), Russian Jewish family
The Bird Was Not A Bird – Afghani birdseller is recruited for a suicide attack
The Cinema Travellers – Documentary. Travelling film exhibits and their exhibitors. India.
The Cutlass – A woman is abducted by an unstable man
The Earth Is Flat – Emotionally non-expressive parents leave an Amish compound for the outer world, and their son discovers his inner artistic brilliance
The Sense of Wonder / Le Gout des Merveilles – Eccentric man meets a family
The Spy and the Poet – Secret Service officer falls in love with the enemy
The Tree – Two girls are friends since childhood
Young and Innocent – Past life loves and precognition in this retake like Psycho
European Film Academy (EFA):
Amour – Love in later years
Ay, Carmela! – Republican musical troupe team of husband and wife run into danger during Spanish Civil War
Goodbye, Lenin! – East German Mother awakes from coma in unified Germany
Ida – Poland, 1960’s
Life Is Beautiful – Father and son in Holocaust concentration camp
The Lives of Others – Stasi secret police in 1980’s East Germany
Short:
Assisted Living – A man who wants to dance, facing dementia
Girlfriend Killer – Man becomes obsessed with empathetic woman
Norman Pinski Come Home – Frankenstein for the Modern Age
Our Ghosts – Two girls, friends their life long
Peace of Heart – Non-communicative girl with autism and new possibilities
Program – Lost Love, Revisited
Rotten Mangos – Two estranged brothers, one now homeless, reconnect
Streetwrite – A graffiti art musical about freedom of expression
The Choice – Estranged daughter travels to United Arab Emirates to meet family after father’s death
The Luck Bird – Foolish decisions and bullying by others, leads man on quest to seek happiness
The Peculiar Qualities of Mr Mahler – A special investigator in 80’s East Germany
The Pirate Captain Toledano – Sixteenth century Jewish man escaping Inquisition
Rose’s Turn – A homeless woman lives in the park beside an upscale condo
Speak – Trauma gets in the way of a woman and her potential suitor
We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn’t – Set in middleclass Germany
Filed under Uncategorized
A Butterfly Kiss
(Randyjw; October 25, 2017)
Catching butterflies with a net
The catcher has caught nothing yet
At times, elusive, as often they get
Weaving through dreams, at last they met
Love (Six) (Randyjw; October 24, 2017)
When I was young
the kind of child I was
was patient, kind,
sensitive, blind
No faults to be found
with others’ minds
Everyone had their reasons
for doing what they’d done
No excuse was unaccepted
all songs were to be sung
Without judgment,
black circles and white
melted and melded then turned
In the overlap of the Venn diagram
the colors indistinguishedly merged
they began to fade slowly to grey
and morals quite often
would vanish this way
Inside that narrow path, then
those footsteps led away
Selfless giving
aspired to selfish living
imitating others, these days
Taken advantage of
and trampled like a doormat
Why was it that others
could easily prosper
while doing exactly just that?
My love was given
in this same vein
deep in devotion and true
Beyond the duty,
the convocation
for worse
as abuse only grew
There came a time
deep inside my mind
that said love shouldn’t hurt like this
I didn’t know how
I could break forever vows
although something was wrongly amiss
I held on and on
thinking I was crazy or wrong
but I found I was right, as I thought
I learned to be strong
it was there, all along
a one-sided marriage won’t work
I understand martyrdom and sacrifice
my Middle East mind is complex
but born in the US, a feminist
It seeped over and deeply within
I, unfortunately, won’t die “just because” of love
there’s no point in just ending a life
were a bullet be shot in between of us
I’d die happy having been your wife