Capture of Culture- Meet the Patels

The good news that if you don't find anyone after 6 months you get your money back. It's more like a savings account.




Ravi is a first generation, American born Indian. He had only ever had one real relationship and he didn't even tell his parents. He knew that if he told them he had been dating an American girl for two years in secret that they would be disappointed. In December, they broke up and the family went on their yearly trip to India. While in India all anyone could ask Ravi about was when he was going to get married. In their culture, marriages are controlled by a system and often selected by the parents. Patels have to marry Patels. While in India, Ravi decides that he is willing to try their system, and they promise within the year he will have found the one. Using the Americanized system for finding their kin for marriage, Ravi's family sends out his "biodata" or resume for other families to look at, and in turn Ravi gets hundreds of eligible Indian women's biodatas to review. From there, Ravi sets up dates with these women. He travels all over the country and even into Canada during this stage. Then it was wedding season. During wedding season, Ravi's parents encouraged him to go after every Patel at the wedding. When that didn't prove successful, they decided to send him to the annual Patel marital convention where Patel's from across the nation would meet up. A year had come and gone and Ravi still hadn't met the "one". He was feeling like giving up, but that's not the Patel way.




The Indian culture, especially when it concerns marriage, is interesting to view from an inside perspective. Ravi is between wanting the traditional family feeling of an Indian wife without all the restrictions on type when it comes to dating or finding someone to marry. The interesting commentary all comes from him telling his sister, who is one of his closest friends, his whole story and emotions through the process. The entire time he's comparing every girl to his ex which is not helping him move forward with the process but does help him decide what is important- love.

Stream of the Week- Nanny McPhee

When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go.




Mr. Brown has lost his wife and has been left with 7 very ill behaved children. They've run off every nanny they've ever had, and it looks like Mr. Brown is out of options. When all hope is lost and it looks like he won't ever be able to handle life without his wife, Nanny McPhee arrives. Armed with her magic and calm demeanor, Nanny McPhee quickly begins to wrangle the children teaching them the five essential lessons. On top of trying to wrangle his children, Mr. Brown must also deal with his aunt who has been supporting him and his large family since his wife's death. She states that if he does not get married by the end of the month, she will cut off all income and the family will have to be split up. The older ones may end up in work houses, and the younger children would have to be sent to new families. While his children are learning their lessons, Mr. Brown is in search of anyone he knows he can marry quickly. He stumbles upon an old client of his, a Miss Quickly, which he knows he can marry in a short amount of time. The children, determined to break them up, are faced with the knowledge that Miss Quickly, even if she is horrid, is the only way their family can stay together. Well almost the only way.




Written by the nanny herself, Nanny McPhee brings together a delightful cast of adorable children all with very bright personalities. Based on the Nurse Matilda books, this film is an easy family film that mixes the importance of family and a bit of magic. As each lesson is learned, the quite ugly looking Nanny McPhee turns a little bit more into the beautiful Emma Thompson whom we all love. And happy endings are always a nice way to end a family movie night.

Capture of Culture- Tyke Elephant Outlaw

I've never been worried about a rogue elephant getting out and running me down within my community. Apparently I should be because it's happened in my community.




Tyke the African Elephant belonged to the Hawthorne corporation, and during a show in 1994, she broke free from her chains and trampled her trainer and groom as well as several audience members before breaking free from the building and running the streets of Hawaii. Prior to this final incident, Tyke had two other events while on the road that prompted her trainers to tell the corporation not to send her out. In Altoona Pennsylvania, a stone's throw from home, Tyke broke free of her bonds before the show and entered the arena building. She broke several doors and frames before getting trapped on the loading bay. She had to be lead back to the barn by her trusted trainer. Later that year in Minot North Dakota, Tyke attempted to kill a groom before a show at a state fair. Her trainer set her aside from doing the show and asked the Hawthorne corporation not to send her on the road anymore. The trainer and his preferred groom had their contracts run out and moved on to The Ringling Brother's Circus. At this time, Tyke's trainers were changed agitating her even more before heading to Hawaii. After she escaped the Hawaii's Circus center, Tyke ran down several main streets which had to be evacuated by cops. She was becoming a danger to the public and was shot down by the authorities. It took 87 shots. After her death, Animal Right's Activists took up her cause and attempted to ban the use of wild animals for entertainment purposes. Since then, many countries, cities, and regions have made the use of animals illegal in shows which has made the art of the circus begin to die out in performers.




I'm not here to take a stand on animals in shows or zoos or anything to that nature. I am here, however, to present you with an interesting piece of work that examines something that I had never heard of before. By presenting ample interviews and justifications for both sides of the debate this documentary gives audiences a chance to pick for themselves while gaining insight into the circus workings of animal entertainment shows.

Stream of the Week- The Wedding Date

Women have the love life they want.




Kat was engaged to the man that she thought was the love of her life until out of nowhere he broke her heart. Now Kat's stepsister is getting married, and her ex is the best man. In order to make him jealous, Kat decides to hire a male escort to be her wedding date. Thus, the attractive and level headed Nick is hired by Kat. Kat is so worried about her appearance around other people; it's important to Kat that everyone thinks she's happy, even if she's miserable. At first, Kat is controlling of the situation. She tries too hard to make everything seem perfect, only to realize that love isn't. Her sister, who loves to be the center of attention, isn't perfect but her fiancé loves her anyway. Somewhere along the line, Kat begins to really fall for Nick, and Nick finds that he'd rather argue and fight with Kat than love any other woman he's been with. It's not simple though, because what Nick knows will break Kat's heart all over again.




It's a romantic comedy with a wedding- of course I Netflixed it. No matter how many times you watch a rom com with actors who have British accents, you can always find time for just one more. This one has little plot, and can be somewhat contrived, but there is an incredibly fun sense of history to this film. All the characters have stories that span before and after the events of this wedding. Like a real family, they're messy and tell stories to strangers that embarrass each other. That part of this film feels real. There are things that they've done together, secrets that they've shared, and stories that they have that really bring together the idea of a fun family. No matter what, they have each other, and that makes up for how entirely screwed up they are.

Capture of Culture- Unbranded

"I wanna leave one mile undone." "He's just being eccentric."




Four college friends have decided to go on one great adventure as they attempt to go border to border on back roads riding wild mustangs. Starting at the Mexican border, these four backwoods boys have a herd of moderately tamed once wild horses that lived on the public land of the west roaming free under government protection. The wild horse population has grown too large on the public land within the designated area and has forced for routine gatherings of wild horses so that they can be contained in government facilities and adopted out. Enamored with their stamina and hardiness, Ben the group leader decides they are the perfect animals for their huge journey. They spend three months before the trip training the horses to be able to carry loads and men through rough terrain. They lose two horses early on in their journey to injuries and are forced to keep going while their horses heal, adding more to their heard as they go. The tensions in the group start to rise as they realize that they have different goals for this journey, and clearly they don't want to talk about it. Throughout their journey, interviews of the great horse debate are dispersed. Many horse activists see the rounding up and adopting out of these wild animals as infringements on their rights. They believe that the horses can regulate their own population issues and take care of themselves without the involvement of the government. Other groups, however, see the rounding up of the mustangs as necessary. Otherwise, the population issue would be even worse than it already is, and they would run out of available resources to feed both the cattle that graze on the same lands and the horses.




This documentary brings up a debate that I didn't even know needed to be addressed. It's a smart mix of adventure, people, and politics. Throughout the journey you can see how powerful and dangerous nature can be while getting the necessary information to make an informed decision on the debate. This is what documentaries are supposed to be like. It also helps that the cinematography is fantastic!

Stream of the Week- Silver Lining's Playbook

Excelsior.




Pat walked in on his wife with another man. He lost it. He's better now though, he promises, and when he gets released from the hospital 8 months later he's going to prove it. Pat starts working out and living by a new motto. He's going to take negative comments and energy and turn it into fuel for his passion- getting his wife back. When he gets home, everyone treats him like he needs special taking care of, and he's sick of it. Then he meets Tiffany who is maybe just as messed up as he is. Tiffany promises to get a letter that Pat has written to his wife if in return he is her partner in a local dance competition. Hesitant, Pat agrees, but only because he thinks helping Tiffany will make his wife see that he's improving. Slowly, Pat gets into a routine, and the dancing is constructive for him. His parents, however worry about him- especially his dad. Pat's father believes that being with Tiffany is ruining the "Eagle's juju". Pat used to be his father's good luck charm when it came to betting on his favorite team the Eagles, but now they are having a rough season and he's losing a lot of money. He blames Tiffany. It all comes down to one last game though, otherwise he'll lose everything. It's on the night of the dance competition. And Pat's wife is going to be there. It all comes down to one moment and one letter.




From the same team of American Hustle and Joy, this film started the Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper team up. It examines something that can be a little difficult for people to deal with watching sometimes and that is bipolar disorder. It's a topic that people don't discuss because they don't understand it, but when you look at characters like Pat and Tiffany trying to find some sort of normalcy in their lives which they can't control, it becomes obvious that it needs to be talked about. You can't just give someone medication and put them in a hospital to get fixed. Someone with any kind of disorder has to live with it their whole lives and need to find ways to cope. Pat isn't something to be afraid of; he's someone who needs help which is why Tiffany is the perfect antidote.

Capture of Culture- Woody Allen: A Documentary

He's worked every day of his life since he was sixteen. I don't think he'll ever stop.




Allan Stewart Konigsberg has directed over 50 projects and has roughly 76 writing credits. He's been considered a comedy genius and has every one convinced he's going to live forever. He is the infamous Woody Allen. His films like Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris have been some of the most influential films on the public during his career and have also been highly awarded. Despite all his success, Woody Allen never seems to notice. He writes a film while directing another every year and always does something new. His mind gets bored of the same old things so he quickly turns to a new topic or subject so that he never gets tired of his work. His colleges are in constant awe of his process, and his actors have no idea what to think of him. "He is an actor's director" claims Naomi Watts while others claim his directing is the most stressful thing they've ever dealt with. He doesn't offer a point to go, he merely says do what feels natural, change the lines I don't care just get it done so I can go watch a game. Actors live in constant fear of being replaced but also remain completely star struck by working with such a legend. He's not a happy person by any means. He dwells constantly on the idea of death and questions how big the universe is. He wants to write tragedies, never comedies. Allen claims that he got to fulfill his every childhood dream- he got to be a movie star, a director, a comedian. But despite all that, he still feels like he got jipped by the universe.




I've been minorly exposed to Woody Allen's films. I've seen his "classics" and have always enjoyed them. What I didn't know, however, was how crazy their writer/director was. He's someone who everyone respects, but he's deeply melancholy. He never seems happy with anything. And maybe that's the point. If you're never completely satisfied with your art, you keep trying. Maybe Woody Allen should never be completely satisfied with his work just so we can get more from him.

Stream of the Week- The Da Vici Code

The answer to all of the world's questions- a woman.




An ancient cult of Christ's followers kept a secret hidden for centuries. They knew the location of the "Holy Grail" and kept it hidden. Their name was the Priory of Sion, and their roots were labeled as satanic by the Church. One of their leaders is murdered in France and leaves a code to be cracked. The code brings together the leader in the field of symbolic studies Robert Langdon and the granddaughter of this leader, Sophie. Because the code is so specific and in his last moments the murder victim wrote the name of Robert, the French police believe Robert Langdon is the murderer. Sophie manages to get Robert out in time before he is arrested, but the two still don't know what the next step is. Following a set of clues laid out by Sophie's grandfather, the duo learns of the Priory's practices and beliefs through a professor named Lee. Lee believes that the Priory was made to protect Mary Magdalene, the bride of Christ. The Priory believed that Mary bore the child of Christ and that his bloodline continued into the modern day. It was their directive to protect this bloodline, and the secret of Mary's burial place where they would come to worship Christ. As they learn more about the Priory, Sophie and Robert come closer and closer to finding the burial place of Mary Magdalene and the identity of her living heir.




Based on the hit novel by Dan Brown, this Ron Howard film takes on the classic adventure mysteries of history format popularized by other films such as National Treasure and Indiana Jones. With a confusing, and some would argue offensive, plot line this film contains a large number of dialogue based scenes that are supposed to drive the plot. The villain is difficult to discern and the character of Robert Langdon is a bit weak, but the concept is an interesting one. It brings into question some of the basis of the Christian faith. The Bible very well could have been limited and reedited by political and religious leaders in it's time which begs the question- what do we believe.

Capture of Culture- Fresh Dressed

It's all about expression. You might not have a dollar, but you had a fresh pair of sneakers.




With the culture of gang life rising in the projects, fashion became an integral part of defining who you were and who you belonged to. Gangs had their own symbols and these symbols were sewn into their clothing-jackets, sweatshirts, hats- in order to identify their allegiance. When the gangs of the New York area began to ban together, they started a new culture based on the music coming out of the area- hip hop and rap. The hip hop and rap culture opened up the way for designer brands and large labels to enter the street fashion market. On the streets, designer brands like Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren were desirable because they had prominent places in the lyrics of rap and hip hop artists. Faced with a demand, street venders would find ways to get their hands on these products and sell them to the public. Whether they stole the products from the high end stores or used the fabric to create their own designs, these vendors and designers focused on a high class brand image. With the rise of a company called Cross Color, hip hop and rap fashion took a turn towards street style made by and for the average street level citizen. Baggy pants and highly labeled clothing were essential to the wardrobe of many. Small business would find their branded shirts on famous rapper's bodies and would suddenly become the "must have" of the season. The market suffered over saturation, however, and slowly started the cycle over again with a resurgence in high style brand lust from the hip hop and rap community.




You don't often think of fashion being so influential in a culture, but street style has become such a prominent part of the industry that it shows the importance of fashion cycles for the average consumer. It's important for many to portray the image of the person they want to be, so they might not have the money to spend, but they will have the branded shoes with the fat laces to show the status they want to have.

Stream of the Week- Ray

He never let anyone or anything make him a cripple.




Ray Charles Robinson grew up in southern Florida as the son of a washer woman. At a young age his brother drowned in a wash basin, and he began to lose his sight. By the time he was seven, Ray lost all of his vision and had to learn how to get around without the use of sight. His mother sent him away to a school where he could learn with other challenged students but she made him promise before he left that he would never let anyone or anything turn him into a cripple. Before he lost his sight, Ray learned the piano from an old man in town and as he continued his education it became a great comfort to him in the darkness. When he was done with school, Ray found places to play. He started out in an old club called the Rockin' Chair. He played weekly and made all the customers get up and dance with his brilliant covers of classic musicians like Nat King Cole and Charles Brown. HE was signed to a record that sent him on tour as a piano player for other great musicians until he was signed to Atlantic Records. It was at this time where he found his sound- R&B mixed with gospel. Ray, taking his middle name as his last, rose in the charts with his first single "The Mess Around". He married a girl from Texas and started a family while he was still on the road and on tour. However, Ray often felt alone in the "darkness" while on the road. He took to drugs and took mistresses while on the road. Nothing seemed to catch up with him as his records kept coming up as hits. After a tour in Montreal, Ray was arrested at a check point for carrying drugs, and in order to wave the sentence he had to get clean. He had allowed his addiction to get in the way of his family and his music. It had such a strong hold on him, but when he kicked it he was finally free. His music continued to top charts and his song "Georgia on My Mind" became the State of Georgia's State Song.




Some of the best stories in film come from real events. The story of Ray Charles Robinson is an excellent example of how real people can overcome their demons. The film depicts the kind of world Ray lived in without sugar coating it and managed to bring in hints of his past and childhood as a motivation for many of his acts. Of all the performances, Ray, played by Jamie Foxx, was right on par with the real Ray Robinson and modeled everything after the great singer.