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"Did you ever go clear?"
Jul. 6th, 2015 10:02 amA very mixed weekend, where I hid from the sun in the cinema, and avoided the rain in a clubhouse....
I picked my dad up early on Saturday morning, for our annual round of golf at his club. Cowglen has an invitational tournament, where guests play with whoever they like. At one end of the spectrum, this means a lot of scratch golfers turning up for the day, and winning the tournament with ridiculous scores (when I left on Saturday, the best round in was a 63) and at the other a lot of father and son pairings hacking their way around ahd having a chance to catch up. My dad and I were quite happy with the 79 we turned in. I played reasonably well for a once a year golfer.
After quenching my thirst I left my dad to quench his more comprehensively, and headed over to Edinburgh. I had an excellent Thai meal, and then into the Cameo for a late night showing of Taxi Driver. I'd never seen the movie on the big screen before, and only had hazy memories from a TV showing a couple of decades back.
The new print is pristine, while remaining scuzzy, and it's a genuinely disturbing movie, still. I found myself rejecting the ending, in the same way I rejected the ending of Birdman this year, and that's always a sign that it's stirred up something in me. Highly recommended, if you get the chance to see it.
Yesterday was a lazy morning, followed by an afternoon showing of "Going Clear", a documentary on Scientology. The first half or so is a recap of the cult from L. Ron's detrmination to creat a religion, since that's where the money is, to the takover in the 80's by his "children" (a purer breed) and the abuses, financial and physical, which have gone on since then.
To be honest, I didn't learn that much new about the history, and the nasty nature of the punishment beatings and intimidation didn't surprise me. I did notice that they steered clear of any talk of sexual abuse. This might be partly explained by the frequent fades to a white screen with statements from the "church" denying any allegations, including one BEFORE the opening titles. They must have thrown quite a scare into the movie makers to get those on screen.
What makes it worth the price of admission is the straight talking to camera by ex-members of the cult. Their reaction on reaching Level 8, and being given the secret documents with Scientology's creation myth is priceless, and much the same as my own when reading it way back in the 70's. If you haven't come across it, it's Space Opera, and bad Space Opera at that. The footage of Hubbard himself shows what I can only describe as Issac Asimov's evil twin.
Blinking out of the showing sometime before six, I got together the makings of a tapas dinner, which went over well with friends.
This is my last working week, before heading off to the Spanish hills for a fortnight and, to be honest, I just can't wait.
I picked my dad up early on Saturday morning, for our annual round of golf at his club. Cowglen has an invitational tournament, where guests play with whoever they like. At one end of the spectrum, this means a lot of scratch golfers turning up for the day, and winning the tournament with ridiculous scores (when I left on Saturday, the best round in was a 63) and at the other a lot of father and son pairings hacking their way around ahd having a chance to catch up. My dad and I were quite happy with the 79 we turned in. I played reasonably well for a once a year golfer.
After quenching my thirst I left my dad to quench his more comprehensively, and headed over to Edinburgh. I had an excellent Thai meal, and then into the Cameo for a late night showing of Taxi Driver. I'd never seen the movie on the big screen before, and only had hazy memories from a TV showing a couple of decades back.
The new print is pristine, while remaining scuzzy, and it's a genuinely disturbing movie, still. I found myself rejecting the ending, in the same way I rejected the ending of Birdman this year, and that's always a sign that it's stirred up something in me. Highly recommended, if you get the chance to see it.
Yesterday was a lazy morning, followed by an afternoon showing of "Going Clear", a documentary on Scientology. The first half or so is a recap of the cult from L. Ron's detrmination to creat a religion, since that's where the money is, to the takover in the 80's by his "children" (a purer breed) and the abuses, financial and physical, which have gone on since then.
To be honest, I didn't learn that much new about the history, and the nasty nature of the punishment beatings and intimidation didn't surprise me. I did notice that they steered clear of any talk of sexual abuse. This might be partly explained by the frequent fades to a white screen with statements from the "church" denying any allegations, including one BEFORE the opening titles. They must have thrown quite a scare into the movie makers to get those on screen.
What makes it worth the price of admission is the straight talking to camera by ex-members of the cult. Their reaction on reaching Level 8, and being given the secret documents with Scientology's creation myth is priceless, and much the same as my own when reading it way back in the 70's. If you haven't come across it, it's Space Opera, and bad Space Opera at that. The footage of Hubbard himself shows what I can only describe as Issac Asimov's evil twin.
Blinking out of the showing sometime before six, I got together the makings of a tapas dinner, which went over well with friends.
This is my last working week, before heading off to the Spanish hills for a fortnight and, to be honest, I just can't wait.
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