Sexy Easter film reviews: Heaven is real

CC Liu, Irma Quintero, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; SCPR/FilmWeek with Larry Mantle and critics Tim Cogshell, Henry Sheehan, Charles Solomon

Jesus has a pony?

Let's give this pony to Jesus to ride in on.

(SPE) Based on a book by a Christian minister whose 11-y.o. son died (had an NDE), went to a heaven -- perhaps the celestial World of the Four Great Kings (Catumaharajika Deva Loka) or the Thirty-Three (Tavatimsa), and returned to tell about it.

Jesus rides in on an ass, the keychain

The boy (who is based on Colton Burpo) reports that Jesus is white with a tunic and a beard and swears he has a pony, just like his father expects heaven to be. It's an Easter miracle! Or it could be that visions of "heaven" (sagga) during a near-death experience accommodate our views and expectations, as reported by the spirit Seth (Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul) as channeled by Jane Roberts -- whether those expectations are heavenly or hellish.

St. Issa's Jewish Heaven on Earth

Happy Patriots' Day, Mass. Happy Holy Week, Christendom. The New Testament says Jesus rode in on an ass (WARNING: do not click!), butt this is not what the Bible's author(s) had in mind, nor this. 

SCPR reviewers talk about the week's new film releases including Greg Kinnear in "Heaven is for Real," H2O in "Watermark" (about dams, their consequences, and our relationship to water), Johnny Depp as Him or a computer program or virus in "Transcendence," flagging Woody in "Fading Gigolo," Jane Goodall in "Bears," Kristin Wiig, Hailee Steinfeld, Guy Pearce, and Nick Nolte in "Hateship Loveship," money-thriller "13 Sins,"  "Hank and Asha," Japanese animation from "Short Peace," Marlon Wayans in "Haunted House 2," and more. LISTEN

Wanna? - What, hunt for 'shrooms? (CH)

Holy water on Holy Week comes to a head on Easter, which is based on a sacred entheogenic mushroom forage rather than bunny egg hunt. These practices are Pagan throwbacks. Yet that does not stop Catholics, Christians, and some Eastern Orthodox adherents from wanting more coverage. Well, Hollywood is obliging. And that is rarely a good thing for truth, accuracy, or the long run. So first the nice movies then the perverted sexy ones:

 

Watermark

 

Water is precious but treated poorly.

(TD) Beautifully weaving together diverse stories from the USA and Mexico (Colorado river, etc.), Canada, India and Bangladesh (Ganges), China (Yangste and the largest human construction in history), and around the globe, this documentary shows in stunning detail humanity's relationship with water through the ages. It expresses the magnitude of our need for this rapidly vanishing resource. By showing the various roles water plays in all of our lives, this breathtaking and haunting doc paints a vivid portrait of our planet, illustrating the magnificent force of nature that is being depleted before our eyes. Directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky, released in April 2014.

Bears

Disney Ambassador Jane Goodall (BT)

(CM) "Bears" is in theaters today from DisneyNature not for Easter but for Earth Day. In an epic story of breathtaking scale with the help of super heroine Jane Goodall, this new True Life Adventure "Bears," which showcases a year in the life of two mother bears as they impart life lessons to their impressionable newborn cubs. Set against a majestic Alaskan backdrop teeming with life, their journey begins as winter comes to an end and they emerge from hibernation to face the bitter cold. The world outside is exciting -- but risky -- as the tiny cubs' playful descent down the mountain carries with it a looming threat of avalanches.  The brown bear families must work together to find food, while staying safe from predators in the wilderness, including an ever-present wolf pack.

Short Peace

Short Peace (ショート・ピース Shōto Pīsu) is a compilation of four short anime films produced by Sunrise and Shochiku. The films were released in Japanese theaters in July 2013 and will be screened in North America in April 2014. Sentai Filmworks have licensed the films for North America. A video game based on the series, Rinko Tsukigime's Longest Day, released in Japan as Short Peace: Tsukigime Rinko no Ichiban Nagai Hi (ショートピース 月極蘭子のいちばん長い日), was developed by Crispy's Inc. in collaboration with Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda, and published by Bandai Namco Games for the PlayStation 3.

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

Let's live on a tropical island, like in the Tropic of Cancer maybe (zeitgeistfilms)

Sexual intrigue, tropical love, and utopia

Fleeing conventional society, a Berlin doctor and his mistress start a new life on uninhabited Floreana Island. But after the international press sensationalizes the sexual exploits of the Galapagos' "Adam and Eve," others flock there -- including a self-styled Swiss Family Robinson and a gun-toting Viennese Baroness and her two lovers. Clashing personalities are aggravated by the island community's lusty free-love ethos. And when some of the islanders disappear, suspicions of murder hang in the air leaving an unsolved mystery that remains the subject of local lore even today. To bring this extraordinary story to life, newly unearthed home movies of these original back-to-nature drop-outs, testimonies of modern day islanders, stunning HD footage of native flora and fauna, and powerful voice performances are interwoven. Macabre yet inspiring, "The Galapagos Affair" is a gripping parable of adventure and utopian dreams gone awry. This biography/documentary (NR) is directed by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller. The cast includes Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Josh Radnor.

 

Fading Gigolo

Hey, they weren't my biological daughters

(MC) Accused child molested (WQ) Woody Allen made a movie about a threesome, prostitution, and a Don Juan gigolo? No, some John did. He just co-stars. Synopsis: Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray as "manager," the duo quickly find themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money. (Featuring John Turturro, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Liev Schreiber, Sharon Stone, Woody Allen, and not directed by an accused pedophile whom Scarlett Johansson defends as unindicted and Mia Farrow condemns as unconvicted).

Under the Skin

Earth boys are easy, and I'm a bad deva.

REVIEW: Shelly and J.S. talk about crude sex goddess Scarlett Johansson's role in Johnathan Glazer's film, and Scarlett chimes in, too. What is great about this very creepy "alien sex fiend" movie is that a lot of it was filmed with unsuspecting men using hidden cameras. They don't know this is Johansson, and they don't know it's a movie. She picks up hitchhikers and kills them. But they're happy to get in the car because a beautiful female is doing the inviting. One is reminded of a certain yakshini who recently made the news (FTZ).

Nymph()maniac

"Nymphomaniac: Volume II" from Denmark and starring Charlotte Gainsbourg is directed by Lars Van Trier co-starring Shia LaBeouf and Willem Dafoe. It is the continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life as it delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.

Transcendence

 

We love Will power! - Me, too, kids.

Depp as Dr. Will Caster examines the promise and threat of AI (artificial intelligence) as he works to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments make him famous, but they also make him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. As they attempt to destroy "Will," they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed -- to be a participant in his own transcendence. Should his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, stop him? Can they? Will's thirst for knowledge evolves into a what seems an omnipresent quest for power.

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Woman able to leave her body at will

Amber Larson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Douglas Main, "The case of the voluntary out-of-body experience," Popular Science, March 6, 2014 (popsci.com)

The "Out of Body Experience" (OOBE) may be as natural for children as sleep and NDE for us.

 

March 2014: Science of Sleep

After a class on out-of-body experiences [like lucid dreaming], a psychology graduate student at the University of Ottawa came forward to researchers to say that she could have these voluntarily, usually before sleep. "She appeared surprised that not everyone could experience this," wrote the scientists in a study describing the case, published in February in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

• Eckankar.org
• Meetups: Astral Projection
• Int'l Academy of Consciousness
• Astral Projection: Anyone can do it
• School for Out of Body Experiences

International Academy of Consciousness (iacworld.org) on the science of "projectiology"

 

OOBE? I thought you said NDE.

Pretty crazy, right? One would think that if you could leave your own body and float above it, you'd be a little more... vocal about it. But since it was a common experience for her -- one she "began performing as a child when bored with 'sleep time' at preschool... moving above her body" instead of napping -- it may have appeared unremarkable. This is way more interesting than what I did, which was indeed napping.

Free book to leave body

The most exciting thing about this case, to me, is "the possibility that this phenomenon may have a significant incidence but [is] unreported because people do not think this is exceptional," as the authors wrote. "Alternatively," they continued, "the ability might be present in infancy but is lost without regular practice.

This would be reminiscent of the discovery and eventual study of synesthesia [confounding colors with sounds] that some researchers now hypothesized is more prevalent in young people or can be developed."

 

Those are fascinating suggestions -- both that these out-of-body experiences may be more common than previously thought, or could be learned during a critical window early in life.

 

But back to the case study. The 24-year-old "continued to perform this experience as she grew up assuming, as mentioned, that 'everyone could do it.'" This is how she described her out-of-body experiences: More

Dr. Moody: Everyone will believe in rebirth

Wisdom Quarterly; Dr. Raymond Moody, M.D., David Randle (LogicOfNonsense.com)

Everyone's "island" is different. So be an island (dipa) unto yourself! (SN 22:43)

 
Near death experience (NDE) researcher Dr. Moody, M.D. has been studying and documenting the reality of rebirth, post mortem consciousness, and the existence of other dimensions. On Jan. 17-18, 2014 he is conducting a seminar and claimed on Coast to Coast that he will reveal a bombshell breakthrough in the scientific study of future and past lives. 

Neverland, Nonsense, Afterlife, Living Wisely

The story of Peter Pan has long been described as a metaphor for childhood and immortality.

Dr. Moody's new and groundbreaking work Nonsense (following Life After Life) shows that Peter Pan's story may also be a metaphor for understanding how nonsense can be a key to creating new language and thinking regarding the afterlife.

Understanding the afterlife offers us wisdom for living now. J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, shared that Neverlands are found in the minds of children. Although they always seem to be more or less an island resembling one another, they are not the same from one child to the next.

For example, John Darling “had a lagoon with flamingos flying over it,” while his little brother Michael “had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it.”  Like Dr. Moody describes in his research on Near Death Experiences... More

  

The Power of Nonsense

Beauty and the bullet, Mona mad for the MIC?

"Nonsense wakes up the brain cells," according to Dr. Seuss. Science has brought humanity a long way during the last 400 years. We have cured [or at least developed profitable "treatments" for] innumerable diseases, mastered human flight, split the atom, and sent humans to the moon. So why do so many of our deepest mysteries remain beyond the reach of reason?

I have discovered a hidden collective cognitive flaw that impairs our ability to think cogently about some very fundamental problems of science, philosophy, and religion.

I am a psychiatrist and professor of philosophy and logic. During my almost 50-year career, I have examined a glitch that is practically built into the way we think. When Aristotle codified logic [for the Western world, having borrowed so much from India] 2,300 years ago, he left a gap, an area of incompleteness that compromises our ability to think rationally about important questions that do not fit easily into the literal frame of... More 

Neverland 
So how does one get to Neverland? Walt Disney popularized the directions to Neverland by giving the nonsensical directions, “Second star to right, straight on til morning.”  In the novel, however, Barrie said the directions were “second to right, straight on til morning.”

This is a great metaphor both for both entering the dream world and dying. One second to the right is the difference between being awake (alive) and being on our way in flight in dreams (death) until we wake up in the morning (make our passage to the new afterlife realm).

  

THE SEMINAR

Prof. Moody is a medical doctor and author

The program will guide participants through a process that awakens an important but forgotten power of the mind. The purpose is to enhance critical, analytical, and creative thinking in a rapid, observable way with three main objectives:

1. Increase critical thinking skills. Democracy depends on citizens' ability to think and debate logically. So this program teaches participants how to think more logically with entertaining exercises that enhance critical thinking skills.
2. Open new possibilities for advances in numerous fields including science, psychology, and advertising. There are direct applications in many fields, widening the scope of the mind in a way that is useful in any profession.
3. To enable us to study mystical states of consciousness including near-death experiences in an entirely new way. A study is in progress using the information in this program to understand the language of dying patients in more depth, which will help improve our care of the terminally ill. More

Life after Life: SHARED Near Death Experiences

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Lisa Garr, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Mario Martinez, KPFK.org/Pacifica Radio/TheAwareShow.com, 12-4-13

The Wheel of Samsara shown here represents the "continued wandering on" through innumerable rebirths and re-deaths in various realms of existence (Hanciong/flickr.com)

 
Paranormal: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife

Host Lisa Garr engages Dr. Raymond Moody in conversation on the topic of rebirth and his latest book, Paranormal: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife, exploring aspects of his many years of research in near-death studies.

Dr. Raymond Moody, M.D. (lifeafterlife.com) is the bestselling author of 11 books which have sold over 20 million copies. His main work, Life After Life, has completely changed the way we view death and dying and has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Dr. Moody is the leading authority on the “near death experience” (NDE), a phrase he coined in the late 1970s. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on the near death experience among the living and what happens when we finally actually die. The New York Times calls him “the father of the near death experience.”

SHARED NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES are when living bystanders also experience what the nearly-dying person sees, hears, and feels. This is amazing evidence that the afterlife is real rather than a hallucination. We live again and again, life after life. These are the findings of famous psychiatrist, researcher, and author Dr. Moody, M.D. with 40 years in the field. NDEs cause profound spiritual changes in the living, including losing our fear of death.

Harvard neurosurgeon’s NDE

There are many heavens

To explore a transcendental  near death experience, we follow a neurosurgeon’s journey into the afterlife. The DVD Conversations with Eben Alexander & Raymond Moody discusses Dr. Alexander’s firsthand experience. Spend two hours with Dr. Moody, "father of the near-death-experience," and Dr. Eben Alexander, author of the New York Times’ No. 1 bestseller Proof of Heaven, as they go beyond the death experience. They explore issues surrounding the transcendental  near-death experience. Their conversation takes the discussion to a whole new level questioning the scientific and spiritual methodology, offering new insights into the ultimate human question.

Debunking the Myths of Genetic Helplessness

(Nov. 27, 2013) Dr. Mario Martinez is a clinical neuropsychologist and founder of Biocognitive science. He lectures worldwide on how cultural beliefs affect health and longevity beyond genetics. Biocognition explores the learning of illness and the causes of health. It defies the genetic helplessness proposed by our reductionist science. Joy, on the other hand, requires sufficient self-esteem to accept it without self-sabotage. His research demonstrates that thoughts and their biological expression co-emerge within a cultural history, even as current science continues to separate mind and body. To be healthy and youthful, we can ignore the influence of cultural contexts have on the process of health. For example, cultures that view growing older as positive are associated with increased wisdom and have higher numbers of centenarians living healthier lives than cultures like ours which view aging as a process of inevitable deterioration.

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