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The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for Robert Paul Wolff Marx."





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Monday, July 8, 2013

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

Susie and I are inveterate movie goers, and the summer season ought to see a flood of seeable movies.  But this year has been a disaster.  Despicable Me 2?  I mean seriously.  So yesterday we went to see The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp [as Tonto, needless to say].

When I was a boy, my sister and I were tasked with doing the dishes each evening after dinner in the tiny kitchen of our tiny house.  I would wash and Barbara would dry.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as we worked, we would turn on the tiny radio by the sink and listen, between seven and seven-thirty, to The Lone Ranger.  The catchphrases and music of that show are burned into my brain, and it was with considerable trepidation that I ate my nachos and cheese [no jalapenos] and waited to see what Depp and done to my childhood.

The good news is that the movie is as campy, as bizarre, as over the top as Pirates of the Caribbean.  One reviewer suggested that the real star was Silver [the Lone Ranger's horse, for the one or two readers who do not know].  The bad news is that the movie, at two and a half hours, is about an hour too long.  But it has several memorable lines, including the very last line of the story within the story, uttered, of course, by Depp as Tonto.

My nachos barely made it through the Previews of Coming Attractions.

4 comments:

Chris said...

You may want to consider seeing The East. It's one of the best films I've ever seen. It's about a group of underground eco activist (or eco terrorist depending on your point of view, who hold CEOs accountable for corporate crimes against the environment, e.g., water pollution), and an undercover agent working for a private security firm whose sent in to infiltrate their operation and protect corporate clients.

The movie is, oddly but justly, sympathetic to the eco warriors, and suspicious towards corporations.

You'll be the edge of your seat for the entire film.

I've attached a link to the trailer, albeit it doesn't do the movie justice:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_east_2013/trailer/

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Can I find it on Netflix?

Chris said...

It's in theaters at the moment. Select theaters too. Only one of a dozen where I live (jax florida) has it. So no, it's not for rental yet. When it is I'll let you know.

I brought my fiance and her sister, and they also thought it was one of the best movies ever.

I might add that the writer and main star of the film spent a year on the road living with anarchist and collectivist in order to prepare for the film and make the writing as accurate as possible.

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Well, I just checked, and I can see Man of Steel or Despicable Me 2 either in two-D or Three-D [Man of Steel as an IMAX experience], but The East, not showing. This is one of the disadvantages of living here. Oh well.