Kajillionaire by Miranda July - 8 out of 10

 

Kajillionaire by Miranda July

8 out of 10

 

 

Kajillionaire has had its premiere on HBO, a few days ago, and there are some mixed feelings about it in this corner of the world, however much it was appreciated by experts – the proof is the metascore of 78, which means that most of the critics have found this movie exhilarating, and you should take their word for it

 

By the way, what follows is not of much, if any interest, and having said that, the duty of putting in a spoiler alert, warning, disclaimer is fulfilled, and from now on, if you continue, well, I am absolved – somebody asked for a spoiler in a comment, and by saying that – with modesty – I do not think these lines worthwhile, I have gone above and beyond my duty towards the audience – which is actually a mirage

Old Dolio is the main character in the narrative, and she is portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood, an actor (I guess the days of using actress are gone, for feminist reasons, I wonder) that has been at the center of a documentary, looking at her relationship with the bizarre and apparently abusive Marilyn Manson

 

Think of the warning above – to be idiotic, I would just mention as a sort of stupid joke, when you look at the fellow, you must see that it is not going to be an easy connection, come on, this is the Devil tempting you (kidding, remember, and besides, I do not believe in Satan or his counterpart) and you better stay away

Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html by glorious Malcolm Gladwell is the book to read, a classic of psychology, to understand the effectiveness of The Thin Slicing Effect, or The Harding Effect, this is at work in the research of John Gottman

 

The latter is the ultimate expert on relationships, he is able to tell within a minute or so, if a couple would stay together, or they would separate, and his accuracy rate is over ninety percent, and he has also written a classic of psychology, The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-seven-principles-of-making-marriage.html with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to be worried about, Contempt, Stonewalling, Defensiveness, Criticism…

To return for a moment to Kajillionaire, Old Dolio has this bizarre name, first of all, because her parents are really peculiar, rotten we could say, they are swindlers and thieves, unable to show emotion, sharing with her the spoils of their schemes, but so disturbed and sick that -spoiler – they rob her

 

The father, Robert, is the incredible Richard Jenkins, who brings panache, and makes the role complex, combining that loathsome side with a humorous attitude, this abject father does have some charm, albeit on the whole, it is disgusting to see someone push their child into a life of crime and depression

Theresa is the mother, and we have here another giant of the big screen, Debra Winger, taking on the part – Debra Winger is the Jennifer Lawrence of some three decades ago – although we must see what Ms. Lawrence will do in the future, her last role was a major disappointment, an annoying film – and she shined like a real star

 

To mention just one major success, Terms of Endearment http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/02/terms-of-endearment-written-by-james-l.html is a fabulous motion picture, however difficult she seemed to have been on the set – I have seen that somewhere, but maybe it is just gossip

And the way it works (better said it does not) I jump from one topic to another, in a real browning movement, chaotically, and now let me tell you about gossip – the story comes from the stupendous Doubt http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/note-on-doubt-with-p-s-hoffman-m-streep.html which is a must see

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman is the corrupt priest, Meryl Streep is the nun that exposes him, Amy Adams is a more tolerant and doubtful sister, and Viola Davis the mother of a boy that is the target of the pedophile clergy…the father however is very angry about gossip and tells the congregation this symbolic tale

One woman was very free with the things she said about her community and spread rumors and the like, until her priest told her that she has to go home and cut the covers of her pillows and set free all the feathers outside the house, and then he told her to go collect all those feathers, to which she said ‘but father, this is impossible, they have been taken by the wind all over’, and she was rebuked ‘you see, that is gossip’

 

It was not quite like that – maybe not at all – but hey, it is so enchanting to know that ‘you have been warned’, if you are still around and thus I can get into Games People Play http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-people-play-by-eric-berne.html which is our third psychology classic for today

Anyway, Miss Evans kind of spoils some of the excellence of the film, she has chosen, maybe with the writer-director Miranda July – some sort of outré take on the role (which clearly has had massive appeal, because, hey, look at the metascore again) which annoyed yours truly, but then I am no good judge, mea culpa

 

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

From To The Heritage:

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“the Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special…Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”