Born on this day – David Bowie:

David Bowie

Singer

Songwriter

Actor

January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016

Albums:

David Bowie (1967); David Bowie (1969); The Man Who Sold the World (1970); Hunky Dory (1971); The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972); Aladdin Sane (1973); Pin Ups (1973); Diamond Dogs (1974); Young Americans (1975); Station to Station (1976); Low (1977); "Heroes" (1977); Lodger (1979); Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980); Let's Dance (1983); Tonight (1984); Never Let Me Down (1987); Black Tie White Noise (1993); The Buddha of Suburbia (1993); Outside (1995); Earthling (1997); Hours (1999); Heathen (2002); Reality (2003); The Next Day (2013); Blackstar (2016).

Movies:

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014); Bandslam (2009); August (2008); SpongeBob SquarePants (1999); Arthur and the Invisibles (2006); The Prestige (2006); Extras (2005); Nathan Barley (2005); Zoolander (2001); Empty (2000); The Hunger (1997); The Nomad Soul (1999); Mr. Rice's Secret (1999); Il mio West (1998); B.U.S.T.E.D (1998); Basquiat (1996); Full Stretch (1993); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); The Linguini Incident (1991); Dream On (1990); Tina Turner & David Bowie: Tonight (1988); The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); Labyrinth (1986); Absolute Beginners (1986); Into the Night (1985); Yellowbeard (1983); Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983); The Hunger (1983); The Snowman (1982); Baal (1982); Christiane F. (1981); Just a Gigolo (1978); The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976); The Looking Glass Murders (1970); The Virgin Soldiers (1969); The Image (1969); Theatre 625 (1964).

Adulterers (2015) - free will ... and its consequences:

Adulterers

Adulterers is a cautionary tale, a powerful drama inspired by true events, and far more compelling than the contrived Fatal Attraction (1987) and Unfaithful (2002).

How you feel at the end of Adulterers may depend on your personal experience of the subject it deals with.

It’s right there in the title.

If you’ve ever been cheated on by your significant other – then this movie might sting.

If you have cheated on your significant other – then this movie should rightly sting if you have any conscience and sense of guilt about the choice you made.

Consequences for making the wrong choice is the theme unflinchingly examined in this movie, released in the United States on January 5, 2016, written, produced and directed by H.M. Coakley.

Lead actor, Sean Farris threw himself into this role of a betrayed husband.

We see the anguish of his character, his pain, regret, broken heart, broken life, and ultimately broken mind.

Sean Farris is Samuel, a store assistant, working extra hours during a sweltering New Orleans afternoon.

It’s his first wedding anniversary; a special day in any marriage.

Samuel is a proud and happy man, deeply in love with his wife, Ashley (Danielle Savre).

He regrets having to work so many hours and laments at their lack of money, but he plans on making it up to Ashley.

He swings by his home halfway through his day, carrying his wife’s favorite flowers and chocolates.

Besides their money troubles, all seems right with Samuel’s world until he catches Ashley and her lover, Damien (Mehcad Brooks), naked, having sex in the bedroom.

Devastated, Samuel shoots them both.

This is not a spoiler; it happens within the first twelve minutes.

Downstairs, he sits on the couch, and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle.

Suffering a psychological break, he rethinks the situation.

This time, in his imagination, he doesn’t pull the trigger.

What if I’d waited instead of acting on impulse?

What would I say to them?

How far would I go to punish them?

What would they say to justify their sin, or lie their way out of the situation? 

These questions are the basis for the imagined trial and torture he puts his wife and her lover through in that stifling room.

As Samuel struggles with the pain of betrayal and infidelity, the wedding ring, crucifix and Bible often the focus of the camera, he struggles with his faith.

Finally, as Samuel himself points out:

"You ain't sorry. You're just sorry that you got caught. It's time that you dealt with the consequences of your actions."

In forcing them to face the consequences of their actions, Samuel is then left to face the consequences of his own.

There are no winners in this story; everyone is destroyed.

Adultery … it’s all fun and games ... until you get caught!

The Telephone Box (1972) - it’s enough to give you phone phobia!

La Cabina / The Telephone Box (1972)

Shortly before New Year, we watched Phone Booth (2002) again, a great thriller starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Farrell plays an unscrupulous New York publicist who answers a ringing phone in a booth he’s standing next to.

The caller warns him he’ll be killed if he attempts to leave the booth … and … the story develops from there.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of Phone Booth reminded me of a 1972 Spanish short movie I saw on TV during the mid-‘80’s called La Cabina (aka The Telephone Box).

A unfortunate guy (José Luis López Vázquez), in a world long before the invention of the cell phone, attempts to make a call in a street booth.

The door closes on him as he discovers the phone doesn’t work.

He tries to leave, but the door is locked tight.

He’s trapped in there a long time as a crowd of onlookers gather … and … the story develops from there.

La Cabina is quirky and dated, but still worth the half-hour to watch, with an original story that delivers a surreal and scary twist.

Although street booths have mostly disappeared, La Cabina is a great reason to own a cell phone … but then you have to consider what happened in Stephen King’s novel: Cell.

Yikes!

I read that folks in Spain, shortly after La Cabina was released on December 13, 1972, took to preventing the door in phone booths from shutting completely by keeping their foot in the gap.

I can’t imagine why.

A timeline and pictorial tribute to the work of Stanley Kubrick:

A timeline and pictorial tribute to the work of Stanley Kubrick.

In celebration of his movies:

Day of the Fight (1951)

Flying Padre (1951)

The Seafarers (1953)

Fear and Desire (1953)

Killer's Kiss (1955)

The Killing (1956)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Spartacus (1960)

Lolita (1962)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

The Shining (1980)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Video created by Jack Kost.

2022.

Music credit:

Cryptic Sorrow by Kevin MacLeod.

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed.

– Stanley Kubrick.

In memory of Stanley Kubrick

Director

Producer

Writer

Photographer

July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999