Movies: Under The Skin

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Aliens are fascinating, if they really exist. They could be very strange and different, because they might be the result of a distinct evolution chain; and if they reach the earth they must have a superior technology.  No wonder that there are many science fiction stories & movies about visiting extraterrestrials. "Under the Skin", which is now running in US cinema theaters, is the newest exemplar of this genre (imdb).

The movie is the most electrifying film I have seen for a while. Director Jonathan Glazer, with the help of co-scriptwriter Walter Campbell,  distilled Michel Faber's 2000 complex novel of the same name into an intoxicating cinematic masterpiece. As in the novel, 2 aliens are visiting earth, taking human shape and are abducting young males. 

The film version doesn`t elaborate these ideas, instead Glazer focuses on Scarlett Johansson as a sexually predatory alien camouflaged by a human skin. The camera follows "her" closely and shows how the alien tries to learn and to handle the humans. This leads to visually stunning allegories which leave room for the imagination. 

Watching Scarlett Johansson alluring her "prey" is breathtaking. The movie is almost a one-woman show - and highly erotical. The film benefits a lot from the outstanding cinematography. Jonathan Glazer, his cinematographer Daniel Landin and the post production team created pictures which are burning into the brain. Some scenes could make you fall in love with the Scottish landscape, others create surrealistic and other intoxicating optical effects Stanley Kubrick would be proud off. The hypnotic soundtrack by Mica Levi completes the masterpiece (theguardian). 

The movie goes literally "under the skin" - my film of the year so far.

Economy: The Swedish Experiment - The Future Of Labor?

(Drivebycuriosity) - Do you want to see the future of the economy? You might get a glance if you look to Sweden. The Scandinavian country dares an interesting economical experiment: "The Swedish city of Gothenburg considers a year-long trial that would divide some municipal workers into a test and control group at the same pay rate, with the test group working six-hour days and the control group working the traditional eight", writes there magazine "The Atlantic" (theatlantic). According to this report the city wants to find out whether the reduced working time lifts the productivity enough to compensate for the less hours worked.

I think this experiment could be very costly. But it is just part of an ongoing long term trend. Since the industrial revolution the average working time has been shrinking amid rising incomes - thanks to the increasing productivity (output per working hour). At the begin of the 19th century the typical work day lasted anywhere from 10-18 hours per day, six days a week - and even children had to work many hours in the factories (today). I believe that rapid automatizing and the growing use of robots could reduce the average working time further and the trend might indeed go to the 6 hours average working day.

However, I would prefer keeping the average 8 hour working day and reduce the working week to 4 days. This would save the cost and trouble for commuting.

Economy: Does Capitalism Only Enrich The Few?

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - "Capitalism enriches the few at the expense of the many", claims Washington Post writer Harold Meyerson (washingtonpost). Really?

The liberal writer bases his claim upon his review of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty, a Paris-based professor of economics. It seems Meyerson is not alone. This book is glorified by the the left-wing and its author is celebrated like a rock star.

At least Meyerson´s interpretation and résumé are quite nonsense. Yes, the rich are getting richer, but so do the majority of the Americans & European, thanks to the capitalism.

In the last century happened a gigantic experiment. A whole country got split in 2 parts. One part was communistic organized, the other capitalistic. After around 40 years the experiment got aborted. Guess in which part the masses (average population) got much richer and in which the average citizen stayed poor?

The experiment was the division of Germany into the capitalistic Western Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and the communistic part (Deutsche Demokratische Republik = DDR) in the  late 1940s. In the year 1990 both parts reunited. Then the Western part  (and its whole population) was much wealthier than the Eastern part. Even Western Berlin, which had been a capitalistic island in a socialistic ocean, was much richer than Eastern Berlin.

Capitalism is based on profits.They are the motivation to work, to save money, to invest and to innovate. Therefore capitalistic countries like the USA, but also Switzerland or Singapore, have been growing and their population is on average wealthier than the citizens of the rest of the world.

And: The average American - and European too - is today much wealthier than 100 years ago.  No wonder that China, still ruled by a monopolistic communist party, integrated capitalistic elements like stock markets in order to catch up to the Western and capitalistic standard of wealth.

It seems the cult around Piketty and his book is based on envy. The aversion against the extreme wealth of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and likes obstructs the vision of the wealth we all are enjoying. 

Culture: Italian Futurism - Reconstructing The Universe, @ Guggenheim Museum, New York City

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - At the begin of the last century prevailed optimism, at least in Italy. There was a group of artists who created forward-looking paintings, posters, sculptures, architecture, poems and films: The Italian Futurism.

This week I enjoyed the exhibition "Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe", @ Guggenheim Museum, New York City (the show continues trough September 1, 2014 guggenheim). Unfortunately the place - as many museums - has a stupid no photography policy (what harm does a picture inflict when taken without flash). 

Apparently the Italian futurists, who often were left-wing and anarchists, were fascinated by factories, machines, energy & technology, contrary to the present time left-wings who seem to be afraid of the future and anti-technology. Remarkably, Mussolini´s fascists embraced Futurism and used it for their propaganda, while Hitler´s nazis abhorred and haunted abstract art, which they denounced as "entartete Kunst" (abnormal art). 

I was fascinated by the beauty, power and gaiety of the exhibited images. Many reflect the power and dynamics of technology: Cars, bicyclists and airplanes. It seems that the Italian Futurism has a great influence on contemporary art, but also on movies and advertisement.

The exhibition is a must - not just for art lovers.

Urbanism: Why New York City Is Growing Again

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City is growing again. "For the third consecutive year, New York City last year gained more people than it lost through migration, reversing a trend that stretched to the mid-20th century", reports the New York Times (nytimes). According to the paper "an influx of foreigners combined with a continuing decline in the loss of migrants to other states increased the population by more than 61,000" in the year ending July 1, 2013.

The rising attractiveness seems to be surprising. Live is very expensive in the metropolis. Rents are high and they are climbing. Restaurants and other services are expensive too, the streets are crowded and it is noisy day and night. There must be some advantages which overcompensate high costs and other disadvantages.

I believe the most important reason for New York`s rising popularity  is the fact that the metropolis offers plenty of Jobs. The city clusters a lot of companies in branches like finance, law, health care, advertising, publishing, fashion, internet media (for instance Tumblr) and more. And there are many public administrations. The huge diversity and number of jobs makes it is much easier there to find an employer than in smaller cites; it is also relatively uncomplicated to switch to a new workplace if that is needed (layoff) or good for the career.

And there are more advantages. The metropolis is home to a lot of Universities and colleges  (New York University, Columbia University, Fordham University, Pace University, Fashion Institute of Technology, The New School, New York fFilm Academy, Hunter College, Baruch College and more). Science and education are getting more important because the global economy is changing faster and faster demanding more knowledge and skills. New York´s immense education possibilities attract not just students & teachers, they also allure ambitious parents who want to foster the development of their offspring. 

New York City also is getting more attractive because the ongoing gentrification is turning former ugly neighborhoods in classy areas. You can see that for example in Manhattan`s Lower East Side & Chinatown, but also in Brooklyn, Queens and in the Bronx. Part of the gentrification are the sinking criminality (less risk to get robbed on the streets) and an improving environment thanks to stricter environment laws and better technologies (less car exhausts, less industry, more service providers = clean industries).

People aren't just interested in jobs & education, of course, they want to enjoy their leisure time as well - and New York has almost endless leisure time facilities. There are plenty of nightclubs, cafes, bars, cinemas and other leisure places. Thousands of restaurants cater almost any taste. And every night some dozens of rock concerts and other performances will happen there.  The high density of the city also makes it easier to host and to attend parties.

If you are hungry for culture, New York City is the place. Museums like MoMa, Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Museum and other collections entertain and enrich their visitors. The Metropolitan Opera and dozens of theater stages satisfy your tastes for ambitious entertainment and mental enrichment.

There might another reason why people flock back to cities like New York: Gasoline costs today twice its price from the 90s. The high costs of commuting from suburban areas for jobs & leisure activities make it more feasible to live in a center and are compensating partly the high cost of living there.

Today you can see a lot of construction sites in New York creating room for more people to come. It looks like that the metropolis will continue its growth in the coming years gaining more jobs and leisure time facilities. Welcome to New York City.

Movies: Only Lovers Left Alive

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Being a vampire is hard: No sunlight, a permanent thirst for blood and being an odd outsider in a world dominated by humans. But the rewards are rich: A sheer endless life; wealth, knowledge and taste accumulated over many centuries, supernatural skills and memories of encounters with many historical persons. These are the topics of many vampire movies, especially the better ones.  "Only Lovers Left Alive", that is now playing in US cinema theaters, is one of the best (imdb).

Jim Jarmusch, the director & script writer, showed again that he belongs to the masters of contemporary cinema. Once more he translated his original and often funny ideas in mesmerizing pictures.

The film tells an episode in the "life" of a married couple, both centuries old vampires, living in nightly suburban Detroit and Tangiers (Morocco), which combines the dullness of American suburbs with the exotical flavor of Northern Africa. Their strange existence gets more and more complicated and challenged (no spoilers as usual on this blog). Jarmusch, who gave an introduction last week at New York´s Sunshine Theater, calls his film a comedy.

I was fascinated by how realisticly Tilda Swinton impersonated a vampire. Her natural paleness, her androgenous style and her restrained way of acting made her to the most convincing exemplar of the bloodsuckers I have ever seen on screen. Tom Hiddleston, as her husband over many ages - a somewhat somber musician (composer for centuries!) and collector -, is a congenial partner.

It was heartwarming to see their literally endless love and perpetual affection for each other. I also was enthralled to watch them when their predatory instincts awake. Then they resemble cats who coldy spot their prey. John Hurt, an icon of British cinema ("Alien"), Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin and Jeffrey Wright also had remarkable appearances.

The cinematography, which blends nightly impressions of suburban Detroit and Tangiers with stylish interiors, creates a dense & enthralling atmosphere. The movie benefits a lot from the intense soundtrack, especially the heavy metal & grunge pieces by SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch himself together with Carter Logan & Shane Stoneback). The musical climax was a live performance by Yasmine Hamdan, a singer from Lebanon - priceless (you can watch the scene on YouTube  youtube)

"Only Lovers Left Alive" is a very modern interpretation of the vampire theme and one of the best movies of the genre. Highly recommended!

Stock Market: Reality Check April 2014

(Drivebycuriosity) - Today the US stock market closed with a solid gain (S&P 500 + 0,8%). The panic from last week is almost forgotten. I think this is partly a response to the massive selling of the recent days which made especially technology stocks significantly cheaper. The S&P 500 trades at about 17 times earnings. While that’s near the highest level in four years, it’s close to the average since 1937, writes Bloomberg (bloomberg).

Today´s stock market gains may also be the result of a reality check. This morning we learned that the US economy is sounder than the alarmists want us to believe. We got news that US retail sales increased 1.1% from February to March (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 3.8% from March 2013 - the best sales data since 2012 (bloomberg). This shows that the US consumers don´t care about the fearmongers in the media and ignore the hysterical behavior of hedge funds and other speculators. The consumers show still optimism and spend money.

Since the retail sales are an important engine of the US economy the consistent consumer spending will continue to create economic growth which will translate into further stock market gains, I believe. I also think investors could learn from the consumers and show more reliance. The panic we saw in the last week doesn´t make any sense.