Monday, February 25 – Tuesday, February 26
City of God – Professor Cline
Celebrated with worldwide acclaim, this powerful true story of crime and redemption has won numerous prestigious awards around the globe! The streets of the world’s most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro’s “City of God,” are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go, and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 10. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye: the eye of an artist. In the face of impossible odds, his brave ambition to become a professional photographer becomes a window into his world and ultimately his way out.
Wednesday, February 27
Super-Size Me - Professor Brandes
Why are Americans so fat? Find out in Super Size Me, a tongue in-cheek - and burger in hand -- look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food. Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the "Fattest City" in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth. During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules: 1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!) 2) No supersizing unless offered 3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone. The film explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health. Super Size Me is a satirical jab in the stomach, overstuffed with fat and facts about the billion-dollar industry besieged by doctors, lawyers and nutritionists alike. "Would you like fries with that?" will never sound the same!
Thursday, February 28
TBD
Friday, February 29 – Sunday, March 2
Breach - Professor Hart
In February, 2001, Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, is arrested for spying. Jump back two months: Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Hanssen and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation of Hanssen's sexual habits. Within weeks, the crusty Hanssen, a devout Catholic, has warmed to O'Neill, who grows to respect Hanssen. O'Neill's wife resents Hanssen's intrusiveness; the personal and professional stakes get higher. How they catch Hanssen and why he spies become the film's story. Can O'Neill help catch red-handed "the worst spy in history" and hold onto his personal life?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and
the UC Washington Center
Cordially invite you to a discussion with the author of:
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Bush Military Buildup
Prof. Daniel Wirls
Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz
Monday, February 25, 2008, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
University of California Washington Center, 1608 Rhode Island Ave. NW,
Cordially invite you to a discussion with the author of:
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Bush Military Buildup
Prof. Daniel Wirls
Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz
Monday, February 25, 2008, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
University of California Washington Center, 1608 Rhode Island Ave. NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036
From 2000 to 2008 defense spending increased over 70 percent. That might not seem like a lot for a nation at war, were it not for the fact that the 70 percent increase does not include the over $500 billion separately appropriated since 2002 to cover the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The attacks of September 11, 2001 not only triggered a declaration by the Bush administration of a “global war on terror,” they also facilitated, under the cover of that conflict, a military buildup separate from the funding for the war on terror -- one of the largest increases in military spending in the country’s history. This buildup is one of the most important legacies of the Bush presidency and yet one of the less understood and least controversial. The politics of war protected and obscured its size and significance. Daniel Wirls is author of, among other works, Buildup: The Politics of Defense in the Reagan Era (Cornell 1992) and The Invention of the United States Senate (Johns Hopkins, 2004).
Please join us to hear Prof. Wirls discuss the background and politics of the buildup and its implications for future budgets.
Please RSVP, acceptances only, to Joseph R. McGhee at the IGCC Washington office: Phone (202) 974-6295; Fax (202) 974-6299; email: joseph.mcghee@ucdc.edu.
Monday, February 11, 2008
UCTV Week 6 (February 11 - February 18)
Monday, February 11 – Tuesday, February 12
Blow – Professor Cline
Based on a true story, Blow chronicles the high-speed rise and fall of George Jun (Johnny Depp) who became the largest importer of Colombian cocaine in the United States, forever changing the face of drugs in America. Set in the decadent 70s and 80s, Blow traces George Jung’s partnership with Pablo Escobar, one of the most infamous and dangerous drug lords in history.
Wednesday, February 14
Mostly Martha - Professor Brandes
Mostly Martha is a rich addition to the recent banquet of movies about food. Martha (Martina Gedeck), the domineering chef at a fancy restaurant, has her rigid routine broken when her sister dies in a car wreck, leaving behind her 9-year-old daughter Lina (Maxime Foerste). Martha takes the girl in, but has no gift for maternal expression; she offers Lina food, but Lina refuses to eat. Meanwhile, her control over her kitchen is threatened when her boss hires a buoyant Italian named Mario (Sergio Castellitto) to assist, and Martha finds herself flailing in an effort to reestablish control of her life. While Mostly Martha may not hold many surprises, the writing, direction, and particularly the acting are as sumptuous and sensual as the cooking and eating. The relationship between Martha and Lina is portrayed with all its awkwardness and complications intact; the result is wonderfully affecting.
Thursday, February 15
The Natural History of the Chicken – Professor Carter
Most people best know the chicken from their dinner plates -- whether as thigh, wing or drumstick. Consumers barely pause a moment to consider the bird's many virtues. Filmmaker Mark Lewis (Cane Toads: An Unnatural History and Rat) expands the frontiers of popular awareness and delightfully reveals that this small, common and seemingly simple animal is as complex and grand as any of Earth's creatures.
Friday, February 16 – Sunday, February 17
Dr. Strangelove - Professor Hart
Stanley Kubrick’s celebrated 1964 black comedy about the cold war. U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Machine" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Premier and the former Nazi genius Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious". Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world?
Monday, February 18
Traffic – Professor Cline
It’s the high-stakes, high-risk world of the drug trade as seen through a well-blended mix of interrelated stories: a Mexican policeman (Benicio del Toro) finds himself and his partner caught in an often deadly web of corruption; a pair of DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) work undercover in a sordid and dangerous part of San Diego; a wealthy drug baron living in upscale, suburban America is arrested and leans how quickly his unknowing and pampered wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) takes over his business; and the U.S. President’s new drug czar (Michael Douglas) must deal with his increasingly drug-addicted teenage daughter.
Blow – Professor Cline
Based on a true story, Blow chronicles the high-speed rise and fall of George Jun (Johnny Depp) who became the largest importer of Colombian cocaine in the United States, forever changing the face of drugs in America. Set in the decadent 70s and 80s, Blow traces George Jung’s partnership with Pablo Escobar, one of the most infamous and dangerous drug lords in history.
Wednesday, February 14
Mostly Martha - Professor Brandes
Mostly Martha is a rich addition to the recent banquet of movies about food. Martha (Martina Gedeck), the domineering chef at a fancy restaurant, has her rigid routine broken when her sister dies in a car wreck, leaving behind her 9-year-old daughter Lina (Maxime Foerste). Martha takes the girl in, but has no gift for maternal expression; she offers Lina food, but Lina refuses to eat. Meanwhile, her control over her kitchen is threatened when her boss hires a buoyant Italian named Mario (Sergio Castellitto) to assist, and Martha finds herself flailing in an effort to reestablish control of her life. While Mostly Martha may not hold many surprises, the writing, direction, and particularly the acting are as sumptuous and sensual as the cooking and eating. The relationship between Martha and Lina is portrayed with all its awkwardness and complications intact; the result is wonderfully affecting.
Thursday, February 15
The Natural History of the Chicken – Professor Carter
Most people best know the chicken from their dinner plates -- whether as thigh, wing or drumstick. Consumers barely pause a moment to consider the bird's many virtues. Filmmaker Mark Lewis (Cane Toads: An Unnatural History and Rat) expands the frontiers of popular awareness and delightfully reveals that this small, common and seemingly simple animal is as complex and grand as any of Earth's creatures.
Friday, February 16 – Sunday, February 17
Dr. Strangelove - Professor Hart
Stanley Kubrick’s celebrated 1964 black comedy about the cold war. U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Machine" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Premier and the former Nazi genius Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious". Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world?
Monday, February 18
Traffic – Professor Cline
It’s the high-stakes, high-risk world of the drug trade as seen through a well-blended mix of interrelated stories: a Mexican policeman (Benicio del Toro) finds himself and his partner caught in an often deadly web of corruption; a pair of DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) work undercover in a sordid and dangerous part of San Diego; a wealthy drug baron living in upscale, suburban America is arrested and leans how quickly his unknowing and pampered wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) takes over his business; and the U.S. President’s new drug czar (Michael Douglas) must deal with his increasingly drug-addicted teenage daughter.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
UCTV Shedule for Week 5
Week 5) February 4 – February 10
Monday, February 4
The Official Story – Professor Cline
Set during the Argentine Dirty War of the 1970s, where the government “disappeared” -- imprisoned, tortured, and killed -- Argentine citizens whom they considered subversives, this film won the 1985 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. A fictional Buenos Aires couple with an adopted child personalize the story of children of the disappeared.
Tuesday, February 5
Ratatouille – Professor Carter
A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.
Wednesday, February 6
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman - Professor Brandes
This film tells the story of a retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) and his family living in modern day Taipei, Taiwan. At the start of the film, he lives with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. The three daughters represent three stereotypes of woman: the oldest one an old maid school teacher with a broken heart, the middle one the career woman who is afraid of commitment, the youngest one the school girl who is growing up to be a woman. As the film progresses, each daughter encounters new men. When these new relationships blossom, the stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes. The film concludes with a surprise ending involving the chef himself. Directed by Ang Lee.
Thursday, February 7
Maria Full of Grace – Professor Cline
María Alvarez (Catalina Sandino-Moreno), a bright, spirited 17 yr old, lives with three generations of her family in a cramped house in rural Colombia. Desperate to leave her job stripping thorns from flowers in a rose plantation, María accepts a lucrative offer to transport packets of drugs—which she must swallow—to the United States. The ruthless world of international drug trafficking proves to be more than María bargained for as she becomes ultimately entangled with both drug cartels and immigration officials. The dramatic thriller builds toward a conclusion so powerful it could only be based on a thousand true stories.
Friday, February 8 – Sunday, February 10
The Day the Earth Stood Still - Professor Hart
Robert Wise’s groundbreaking 1951 Sci-Fi film. A spaceship lands in Washington DC, capturing the attention of the world. But the alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings refuses to reveal his mission to any single government, leaving the military, the politicians, and millions of ordinary people to wait in fear. Soon their distrust turns to calls for violence. But one young woman and her son befriend him and soon realize that they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction. Now being remade with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connolly and Kathy Bates. Klaatu barade nikto.
Monday, February 4
The Official Story – Professor Cline
Set during the Argentine Dirty War of the 1970s, where the government “disappeared” -- imprisoned, tortured, and killed -- Argentine citizens whom they considered subversives, this film won the 1985 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. A fictional Buenos Aires couple with an adopted child personalize the story of children of the disappeared.
Tuesday, February 5
Ratatouille – Professor Carter
A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.
Wednesday, February 6
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman - Professor Brandes
This film tells the story of a retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) and his family living in modern day Taipei, Taiwan. At the start of the film, he lives with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. The three daughters represent three stereotypes of woman: the oldest one an old maid school teacher with a broken heart, the middle one the career woman who is afraid of commitment, the youngest one the school girl who is growing up to be a woman. As the film progresses, each daughter encounters new men. When these new relationships blossom, the stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes. The film concludes with a surprise ending involving the chef himself. Directed by Ang Lee.
Thursday, February 7
Maria Full of Grace – Professor Cline
María Alvarez (Catalina Sandino-Moreno), a bright, spirited 17 yr old, lives with three generations of her family in a cramped house in rural Colombia. Desperate to leave her job stripping thorns from flowers in a rose plantation, María accepts a lucrative offer to transport packets of drugs—which she must swallow—to the United States. The ruthless world of international drug trafficking proves to be more than María bargained for as she becomes ultimately entangled with both drug cartels and immigration officials. The dramatic thriller builds toward a conclusion so powerful it could only be based on a thousand true stories.
Friday, February 8 – Sunday, February 10
The Day the Earth Stood Still - Professor Hart
Robert Wise’s groundbreaking 1951 Sci-Fi film. A spaceship lands in Washington DC, capturing the attention of the world. But the alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings refuses to reveal his mission to any single government, leaving the military, the politicians, and millions of ordinary people to wait in fear. Soon their distrust turns to calls for violence. But one young woman and her son befriend him and soon realize that they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction. Now being remade with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connolly and Kathy Bates. Klaatu barade nikto.
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