Wow, 4 movies in one week. Into the Wild confirms yet again that Sean Penn is one of Hollywood's most gifted actor and director. The casting on that movie was sooo good. Scenes with Hal Holbrook made me cry. Rainey, the old hippie was initially on the set as a river rafting consultant. He and Sean hit it off and Sean offered him a major part. He never acted before but he was great. Sean also wrote the the screenplay. Such an intense man -- no wonder he smokes 4 packs of cigarettes a day.
Every year I always attend at least one film from the Northampton Independent Film Festival. Sunday's Dhamma Brothers was perhaps one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. The film was about bringing the 10-day Vipassana Insight Meditation course into an Alabama prison and how it transformed some of the most violent prisoners within that system. It was so well done -- showing not only the effect of this intense training on the men, but also the respect they earned from the prison staff. The in-depth profiles of some of the prisoners invoked deep emphathy for these warehoused humans, many who committed horrific acts they took full ownership for. Having sat for 10 days twice (ten years apart) I am in awe that these men were able to embrace this discipline so fully, maintaining their practice for years (even after they were forbidden to do so by the chaplains who feared the effect of Buddhism on their flock).
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