Cowboys of Paradise (2009)

I had heard of the phenomenon of Kuta Cowboys, but couldn't really figure out what it was.  Kuta is a region of the Indonesian island of Bali, which is kind of a tourst trap, with a lot of bars catering to foreign tourist.  Kuta Cowboys are a kind of gigolo, who start relationships with foreign tourists, and eventually gets money from them.  I have heard stories about some local Balinese showing a tourist a remote village, claiming it is their home town, and hoping that the tourist, seeing how poor the village is, would give the person who took them to the village some money to help them, but it often turns out that the person who took them to the village had no connection to the village at all.  I have also heard of Thai women convincing foreign boyfriends to buy some property (which has to be bought under the Thai person's name, due to the laws in Thailand) and then turning around and selling the property without the foreigner knowing.

Strangely, I never hear of female Balinese pulling these types of scams of male tourists, though I would be shocked if it didn't happen, at least occasionally.  In general, I didn't see any mixing of Balinese women with foreign men, but again, I would be shocked if it didn't happen (though I know of some stories of that happening many decades ago).

When I looked up this film, the first thing that came up was that the Indonesian governement was cracking down on the Kuta cowboys, which I thought was rather odd.  In the film, the men shown do not do anyting illegal, and any money given to them by foreign women is done so willingly.

One thing to note is the economy of Bali is so poor that small amounts of money to people from western nations is much more valuable in Bali.  I remember the largest bill I had in Bali was a $3.50  (50,000 Rupiah) , and most stores would refuse to accept it, saying they didn't have enough money to make change for it.  In fact, whenever I was owed change smaller than 1,000 rupiah (7 cents, the smallest bill they have in circulation), I was given candy, instead of coins.

I was also kind of surprised that the men shown in this film do not appear to be remarkablely good looking or muscular.  It seems that looks are not what women are after.  There is a belief that Asian women cater to their boyfriends more than those in the west and while this does not generally apply to Asian men, it seems to be different in the case of these Kuta cowboys., as the women are attracted to these men because they pay more attention to them and show them more affection then they would get in their home counties.

While I keep hearing that western women don't treat their male companions well, as Asians do, I think this is not completely true, as it various from person to person,, though I do think that once people get married there is a tendency to take the other person for granted, and get wrapped up in day to day life, so that they no longer show their partner the affection as they did at the beginning of their relationship.

Nobody Waved Goodbye (1964)

So, as I said in one of my previous reviews, this film in the precursor to Unfnimnishd Business, filmed 20 years later, with the same two actors reprising their roles, and the same diretor.  Whiel I am really impressed that they were able to make a sequel that look place 20 years later that takes place 20 years after the same film, the film doesn't really build on or continue the original story.

Even a bit odder, is in this film the lead character, Peter, played by Peter Kastner, is a very good looking young man, he is not parfictually good looking in the sequel.  Strangley, Julie, played by Biggs, doesn't really look outstanding in this original, so her look isn't all that different in the sequel.

I cam some what sypathize with Peter, in his ideas that he should not work for money alone, and appears to want to get more out of life.  While he seems stuck on the idea that all the adults are working jobs they don't like for money alone, I am rather shocked that no one said to him that they are doing the job that they want to do, feel it is a worthwhile career, and are happy with their life.   Peter suddenly decides that he doesn't want to study, and would rather work and be on his own, which offers no benefits to him, and his experieices would lead most other people to realize the benefit of completing high school and going on to college.

Also, John Vernon appears in this film, and it impossible to ignore his distinctive voice, as he made such a big impression in the films Animal House and is voice work in the animated movie Heavy Metal.

Being filmed and set in Canada, it is interesting that a few of the people they encounter have british accents.  I am guessing that Canada has a system that allows British people to settle there more freely than in the US, or perhaps I am reading too much into that.

The ending of the film is quite odd, as Peter abandons Julie, at her request, on the road side and leaves to go to another city, which was the idea that appeared to be Julie's  In the sequel, it appears that Peter and Julie had gotten married at some point, and then later divorced.  Also, Peter doesn't seem to impress upon his daughter Izzy, the mistakes he made, and she almost repeats his exact same mistake.

Empire of Dreams (2004)

I was pretty sure I had seen every film about Star Wars and the making of Star Wars, but some how I had missed this film, which was released 16 years ago.

The film is largely about the struggles George Lucas had in making the Star Wars films, and how he was about to remain an independent film maker.

I was a bit surprised at situation in Hollywood leading up to the release of Star Wars, as I was completely unaware of those conditions at the time when Star Wars was released.

Lucas himself said in this film that Hollywood had changed it's attitude, getting away from having the marketing department make all of the choices regarding what films would get made, and elected to back young directors.  This, in part (the other part being Lucas' great success) which allowed the backing of original and creative ideas, leading to large number of incredible films to be made in the late 70s and 80s.

Unfortunately, we have gone back to making films dictated by the marketing department, as Hollywood is no longer willing to take any risks, meaning that we only get films that are sequels, 'reimagining' or brainless action or superhero films, featuring b-list superheros.

This is a spectacular film, as it covers all the relevant events, has interviews with every person who made contributions to the films but never delves into the criticism of Lucas regarding the prequels (which I felt was unjustified) nor did it get into the problems his company faced with the release of Howard the Duck, which lead to his selling off Pixar.

Unfinished Business (1984)

The only reason I watched this film was because I heard that Patrica Cullen had created the score for it.  Patrica Cullen is the composer who made the spectacular score for Rock & Rule, one of my favorite films.  Patrica Cullen died, or was murdered, only a few years after creating the score for Rock & Rule, and I have always hoped she would get some recognition, and perhaps a recording of her works would be released.

The film itself is a Canadian production, which you don't see to many of, but it is a bit of an odd film.

The film follows character named Izzy, who lives with her divorced mother, who is trying to make sure that Izzy study for her upcoming finals, but Izzy becomes detracted, and begins to take her life in a different direction.

One thing that really stood out to me, is that Izzy is attracted to Jessie 'Fixit', who has a white walls hair cut, which seems really odd, and out of date.  I have only seen such a hair cut on Marty's father in the 1950's scenes in Back to the Future.  Jessie also wear some odd 'overalls' which appear to have a skirt and the bottom, though Izzy's father refers to Jessie's clothing as a dress.

The film also features a group called Parachute Club, which I have never heard of, but it appears their song "Rise' and has been used for a number of campaigns and causes.

Even odder, there is a scene which shows his friends, who have even odder haircuts then does.

The film is a sequel to the 1964 Canadian film Nobody Waved Goodbye, from 20 years earlier, making that film a required addition to my must view list.