The Talented Mr. Ripley

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is an Hitchcockian and blood-curdling study of the psychopath and his victims. At the centre of this masterpiece, set in the exquisitely decadent scapes of Italy, is a titanic encounter between Ripley, the aforementioned psychopath protagonist and young Greenleaf, a consummate narcissist.

Ripley is a cartoonishly poor young adult whose overriding desire is to belong to a higher - or at least, richer - social class. While he waits upon the subjects of his not so hidden desires, he receives an offer he cannot refuse: to travel to Italy to retrieve the spoiled and hedonistic son of a shipbuilding magnate, Greenleaf Senior. He embarks upon a study of Junior's biography, personality, likes and hobbies. In a chillingly detailed process, he actually assumes Greenleaf's identity. Disembarking from a luxurious Cunard liner in his destination, Italy, he "confesses" to a gullible textile-heiress that he is the young Greenleaf, traveling incognito.

Thus, we are subtly introduced to the two over-riding themes of the antisocial personality disorder (still labeled by many professional authorities "psychopathy" and "sociopathy"): an overwhelming dysphoria and an even more overweening drive to assuage this angst by belonging. The psychopath is an unhappy person. He is besieged by recurrent depression bouts, hypochondria and an overpowering sense of alienation and drift. He is bored with his own life and is permeated by a seething and explosive envy of the lucky, the mighty, the clever, the have it alls, the know it alls, the handsome, the happy - in short: his opposites. He feels discriminated against and dealt a poor hand in the great poker game called life. He is driven obsessively to right these perceived wrongs and feels entirely justified in adopting whatever means he deems necessary in pursuing this goal.

Ripley's reality test is maintained throughout the film. In other words - while he gradually merges with the object of his admiring emulation, the young Greenleaf - Ripley can always tell the difference. After he kills Greenleaf in self-defense, he assumes his name, wears his clothes, cashes his checks and makes phone calls from his rooms. But he also murders - or tries to murder - those who suspect the truth. These acts of lethal self-preservation prove conclusively that he knows who he is and that he fully realizes that his acts are parlously illegal.

Young Greenleaf is young, captivatingly energetic, infinitely charming, breathtakingly handsome and deceivingly emotional. He lacks real talents - he know how to play only six jazz tunes, can't make up his musical mind between his faithful sax and a newly alluring drum kit and, an aspiring writer, can't even spell. These shortcomings and discrepancies are tucked under a glittering facade of non-chalance, refreshing spontaneity, an experimental spirit, unrepressed sexuality and unrestrained adventurism. But Greenleaf Jr. is a garden variety narcissist. He cheats on his lovely and loving girlfriend, Marge. He refuses to lend money - of which he seems to have an unlimited supply, courtesy his ever more disenchanted father - to a girl he impregnated. She commits suicide and he blames the primitiveness of the emergency services, sulks and kicks his precious record player. In the midst of this infantile temper tantrum the rudiments of a conscience are visible. He evidently feels guilty. At least for a while.

Greenleaf Jr. falls in and out of love and friendship in a predictable pendulous rhythm. He idealizes his beaus and then devalues them. He finds them to be the quiddity of fascination one moment - and the distilled essence of boredom the next. And he is not shy about expressing his distaste and disenchantment. He is savagely cruel as he calls Ripley a leach who has taken over his life and his possessions (having previously invited him to do so in no uncertain terms). He says that he is relieved to see him go and he cancels off-handedly elaborate plans they made together. Greenleaf Jr. maintains a poor record of keeping promises and a rich record of violence, as we discover towards the end of this suspenseful, taut yarn.

Ripley himself lacks an identity. He is a binary automaton driven by a set of two instructions - become someone and overcome resistance. He feels like a nobody and his overriding ambition is to be somebody, even if he has to fake it, or steal it. His only talents, he openly admits, are to fake both personalities and papers. He is a predator and he hunts for congruence, cohesion and meaning. He is in constant search of a family. Greenleaf Jr., he declares festively, is the older brother he never had. Together with the long suffering fiancée in waiting, Marge, they are a family. Hasn't Greenleaf Sr. actually adopted him?

This identity disturbance, which is at the psychodynamic root of both pathological narcissism and rapacious psychopathy, is all-pervasive. Both Ripley and Greenleaf Jr. are not sure who they are. Ripley wants to be Greenleaf Jr. - not because of the latter's admirable personality, but because of his money. Greenleaf Jr. cultivates a False Self of a jazz giant in the making and the author of the Great American Novel but he is neither and he bitterly knows it. Even their sexual identity is not fully formed. Ripley is at once homoerotic, autoerotic and heteroerotic. He has a succession of homosexual lovers (though apparently only platonic ones). Yet, he is attracted to women. He falls desperately in love with Greenleaf's False Self and it is the revelation of the latter's dilapidated True Self that leads to the atavistically bloody scene in the boat.

But Ripley is a different -and more ominous - beast altogether. He rambles on about the metaphorical dark chamber of his secrets, the key to which he wishes to share with a "loved" one. But this act of sharing (which never materializes) is intended merely to alleviate the constant pressure of the hot pursuit he is subjected to by the police and others. He disposes with equal equanimity of both loved ones and the occasional prying acquaintance. At least twice he utters words of love as he actually strangles his newfound inamorato and tries to slash an old and rekindled flame. He hesitates not a split second when confronted with an offer to betray Greenleaf Sr., his nominal employer and benefactor, and abscond with his money. He falsifies signatures with ease, makes eye contact convincingly, flashes the most heart rending smile when embarrassed or endangered. He is a caricature of the American dream: ambitious, driven, winsome, well versed in the mantras of the bourgeoisie. But beneath this thin veneer of hard learned, self-conscious and uneasy civility - lurks a beast of prey best characterized by the DSM IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual):

"Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior, deceitfulness as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others to personal profit or pleasure, impulsivity or failure to plan ahead... reckless disregard for safety of self or others... (and above all) lack of remorse." (From the criteria of the Antisocial Personality Disorder).

But perhaps the most intriguing portraits are those of the victims. Marge insists, in the face of the most callous and abusive behavior, that there is something "tender" in Greenleaf Jr. When she confronts the beguiling monster, Ripley, she encounters the fate of all victims of psychopaths: disbelief, pity and ridicule. The truth is too horrible to contemplate, let alone comprehend. Psychopaths are inhuman in the most profound sense of this compounded word. Their emotions and conscience have been amputated and replaced by phantom imitations. But it is rare to pierce their meticulously crafted facade. They more often than not go on to great success and social acceptance while their detractors are relegated to the fringes of society. Both Meredith and Peter, who had the misfortune of falling in deep, unrequited love with Ripley, are punished. One by losing his life, the other by losing Ripley time and again, mysteriously, capriciously, cruelly.

Thus, ultimately, the film is an intricate study of the pernicious ways of psychopathology. Mental disorder is a venom not confined to its source. It spreads and affects its environment in a myriad surreptitiously subtle forms. It is a hydra, growing one hundred heads where one was severed. Its victims writhe and as abuse is piled upon trauma - they turn to stone, the mute witnesses of horror, the stalactites and stalagmites of pain untold and unrecountable. For their tormentors are often as talented as Mr. Ripley is and they are as helpless and as clueless as his victims are.

The Sting (DVD) Review

Recipient of ten Academy Award nominations and winner of seven, including Best Picture, The Sting is widely lauded as one of the best films ever produced. Written by David S. Ward, whose unorthodox genius has produced such Hollywood hits as Major League (1989), King Ralph (1991), and Sleepless In Seattle (1993), The Sting boasts a superbly well-written screenplay, ripe with perfectly constructed dialogue and a plotline riddled with suspense. Directed by George Roy Hill, who previously teamed with Paul Newman and Robert Redford to produce Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969), it paints a colorful picture of 1930s Chicago. Complete with gangsters, card games, illegal gambling, sex, and murder, what else could a movie lover wish for?

The Sting follows the life of a two-bit grifter named Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford). Hooker runs small-time jobs with Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) and Joe Erie (Jack Kehoe). Business is decent until they pull the con of a lifetime on a greedy numbers runner. Hoping for a few dollars, they end making off with several thousand. But Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), the organized crime boss whose money they stole, places a hit on all three men that results in Luther’s death. Caught in the crosshairs of dirty cop Lt. William Snyder (Charles Durning) and a mysterious hit man (Dimitra Arliss), Johnny follows the advice of his dead mentor and contacts the best conman in the world, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), in hopes of becoming his understudy.

Gondorff promises to pull “the big con” (the ultimate score for con artists), and to sweeten the pot, he promises to make the mark Doyle Lonnegan himself. Gathering a star-studded team of con artists, pick-pockets, and grifters, Gondorff and Hooker set out to take Lonnegan for millions. Together, they set up a rival gambling operation in Chicago under the names of Shaw and Kelley. Hooker (a.k.a. Kelley) endears himself to Lonnegan so as to win over the gangster’s trust. Convincing Lonnegan he has friend at the Western Union who can telegraph winning horses moments before a race is reported, Hooker gets Lonnegan to place a series of winning bets at Gondorff’s gambling parlor. Under the impression Kelley’s goal is to break Shaw (a.k.a. Gondorff) and take over his establishment, the two agree to one last bet, with Lonnegan set to place a million dollars of his own money on the line. It’s a bet Gondorff and Hooker intend for Lonnegan to lose… But one problem remains. The FBI is hot on the trail of Gondorff, and they’re determined to break his operation at any cost…

Far ahead of its time, The Sting redefined the Hollywood plot twist with its ingenious organization of multiple subplots. Newman is masterful as the veteran cheat Henry Gondorff, and it’s well worth watching the entire film just to see the scene where he out-cheats the ultimate cheat at cards. With a parade of eccentric characters, well-developed sinister figures, and clever exchanges of dialogue, The Sting isn’t your typical sensationalistic Hollywood potboiler. Like a great novel, the film takes some time to establish its characters and develop its plotline. Patient viewers will be well-rewarded…

New hairstyle miley cyrus style

Musician, This time trying to make news about the young artist may be the same age with me maybe ..
Her name is Miley Cyrus
1992 Birth of tennessee
He began his career in Nashville, Tennessee, the city where Cyrus was born.

Breakthrough in 2006 with Hannah Montana
Relationship status Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are still a puzzle to this day. Neither of them ever caught on camera together since reportedly broke up although Miley continued to deny the news end their relationship. However, in a recent interview the singer of hits "We Can not Stop" as if hinting that he had indeed broken up with Liam. Miley admitted she had sacrificed everything for his career at this time, including an affair.
Not only that, the 20-year-old actress also revealed now he just wants to focus on her musical career. and photos of hair styles Hair cut.

The young artist has just cut hair, as written on his Twitter. "Just got a hurrrr cut." The tweet got a lot of response from his fans shocked. Miley made ​​a confirmation that he was no longer making a splashy madness. He just cut his hair 3 inches long. Indeed, Miley had a hard time lately because his photo furore

I took the news from wikipedia and browse from search engines

thanks for coming my blog 

Can the ignorant stranger qualify the crown?

Cown maybe just like you job.. choose you way maybe like thar ?

The Sopranos (Season 5) DVD Review

The Sopranos centers around the life of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a middle-aged father of two, husband, and successful businessman. But unlike most sitcom families, Tony is constantly irritated by his children, Meadow and Anthony (Jamie Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler). Furthermore, he regularly cheats on his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), and to top it off, he’s the head of a mafia crime organization. The constant confusion and stress in Tony’s life pushes him to seek out a therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), so he can unload his problems. Following a the outline of a traditional prime time soap opera, The Sopranos shies away from the glorification of the mobster lifestyle and paints a picture of a world not much different than that of the average middle-class family… The Sopranos (Season 5) DVD offers a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere “Two Tonys” in which Tony makes a play for Dr. Melfi following his recent separation from Carmela, but Carmela calls on Tony for help in fending off a bear that keeps returning to their house. Meanwhile, Christopher gets in an argument with Paulie when he realizes he’s always stuck paying for dinner… Other notable episodes from Season 5 include “All Happy Families…” in which Tony and Carmela fight over A.J.’s behavior while Carmela becomes interested in A.J.’s school guidance counselor, and “Marco Polo” in which Tony and Carmela reunite (at least for one evening) after she invites Tony to her father’s birthday party… Below is a list of episodes included on the Sopranos (Season 5) DVD: Episode 53 (Two Tonys) Air Date: 03-07-2004 Episode 54 (Rat Pack) Air Date: 03-14-2004 Episode 55 (Where’s Johnny?) Air Date: 03-21-2004 Episode 56 (All Happy Families…) Air Date: 03-28-2004 Episode 57 (Irregular Around the Margins) Air Date: 04-04-2004 Episode 58 (Sentimental Education) Air Date: 04-11-2004 Episode 59 (In Camelot) Air Date: 04-18-2004 Episode 60 (Marco Polo) Air Date: 04-25-2004 Episode 61 (Unidentified Black Male) Air Date: 05-02-2004 Episode 62 (Cold Cuts) Air Date: 05-09-2004 Episode 63 (The Test Dream) Air Date: 05-16-2004 Episode 64 (Long Term Parking) Air Date: 05-23-2004 Episode 65 (All Due Respect) Air Date: 06-06-2004

The Sopranos (Season 4) DVD Review

Recipient of numerous awards and critical acclaim, The Sopranos has solidified itself as one of the best shows of the past decade. A sitcom family version of The Godfather, although not to be confused with family-friendly programming, the show provides a fresh glimpse of the vast underworld of organized crime. Putting a middle-class family twist on the mafia lifestyle, it creates a seduction world that it is simultaneously easier to relate to for most viewers. James Gandolfini plays the role of Tony Soprano, loving husband and father of two. He also happens to be an organized crime boss. But the glamour life portrayed in the movies isn’t the one enjoyed by Tony. He grapples not only with the high stress of his job, but out-of-control kids, a strained relationship with his wife, and a growing bout of depression. Seeing a therapist on a regular basis, the show follows his day-to-day exploits… The Sopranos (Season 4) DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “For All Debts Public and Private” in which Tony and Carmela deal with the strain on their household finances in the midst of a recession, and Adrianna brings a friend of great interest to the Soprano family dinner. Meanwhile, Tony creates a special bond with Christopher when he gives his blessing for Christopher to avenge his father’s murder… Other notable episodes from Season 4 include “No Show” in which Meadow has a fallout with Tony and Carmela when she decides to drop out of college and travel the European continent, and “Pie-O-My” in which Tony develops a deep interest in Ralphie’s new race horse, prompting him to spend more time away from home than Carmela likes… Below is a list of episodes included on the Sopranos (Season 4) DVD: Episode 40 (For All Debts Public and Private) Air Date: 09-15-2002 Episode 41 (No Show) Air Date: 09-22-2002 Episode 42 (Christopher) Air Date: 09-29-2002 Episode 43 (The Weight) Air Date: 10-06-2002 Episode 44 (Pie-O-My) Air Date: 10-13-2002 Episode 45 (Everybody Hurts) Air Date: 10-20-2002 Episode 46 (Watching Too Much Television) Air Date: 10-27-2002 Episode 47 (Mergers & Acquisitions) Air Date: 11-03-2002 Episode 48 (Whoever Did This) Air Date: 11-10-2002 Episode 49 (The Strong, Silent Type) Air Date: 11-17-2002 Episode 50 (Calling All Cars) Air Date: 11-24-2002 Episode 51 (Eloise) Air Date: 12-01-2002 Episode 52 (Whitecaps) Air Date: 12-08-2002

Megyn Kelly says she's displeased

Entertaintment - Fox News Channel Megyn Kelly says she's displeased by a male colleague's suggestion that youngsters of mothers do not work do further as those of stay-at-home moms. A study showing ladies that ladies that girls are currently the first breadwinners in households with youngsters lit a pointy discussion with 2 of Fox's most distinguished women taking over male colleagues. In an electrical section on Kelly's show Fri, she criticized Fox contributor Erick Erickson for language that in nature males ar dominant. She aforesaid to Erickson, "What causes you to dominant and American state submissive and World Health Organization died and created scientist-in-chief?" Earlier, Fox's Greta Van Susteren wondered: "Have these men lost their minds?" The study was done by the Washington, D.C.-based.