Pixote is defintely a gritty and disturbing movie. In a classic example of life imitating art, I understand the kid who played Pixote was murdered.

I will look for City of God. Thanks for the tip!

I love that movie. And that scene resonated with me as well, I kept playing it over and over. I think, in part, because the Tears for Fears song brought back a lot of memories from my college years.

More like art imitating life imitating art, Videodrome. Hector Babenco, the director, found the kid who played the title role on the streets (I think of Sao Paulo), and when all the hoopla surrounding the film was over the kid slowly gravitated back to his old lifestyle. He was killed by the police before he was out of his teens. Pretty sad...

Speaking of Tom Cruise. Now that it's been confirmed that he lost his mind. I think The Last Samurai was pretty good. I don't use it as reference material.

Movies I really like and can watch several times: The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me,Leon The Professional, Sideways, Good Will Hunting and Kapax. None of them are Epic's, but fun movies to watch.

If you want to hear a CD that's a great blend of different Styles, then checkout Tripswitch: Circuit Breaker. It's a cross of Electronic Ambient/House with some great guitar mixed in. It's a very unique album. Very relaxing IMO. They do have it on iTunes.

Retep: That's the thing about Mr. Cruise. He's the actor you hate to like. Utterly bizarre on a personal level, but he can deliver on screen. You can't take that away from him.

That said, I'll never forget a comedian's reponse to a girl who, when asked what her favorite actor was, said "Tom Cruise." To which his retort was: "I love that movie where he plays the young cocky guy."

Glad to see there's another person out there who likes ambient and electronic music. With the advent of Internet radio and my Squeezebox, I'm hearing a lot of interesting stuff that's never played on FM.

Best,

- VD

Anyone who might like beats, jazz, funk, or all 3 combined, I would advise to check out the Greyboy Allstars (more jazzy/funk) or just DJ Greyboy (a.k.a. Greyboy a.k.a. Andreas Stevens) (more funk/beats/taste of hiphop.)

You might find yourself surprised.

Greyboy is my musical ace-up-the-sleeve. Good for whipping out at your parties. People are alwayys asking 'who's that.' Keep it a secret. :p

Videodrome,

Nice setup in your place. Is that your craftsmanship?

If you do checkout Tripswitch and like it, then definitely checkout Mirror System with an album by the same name. Here's their website: http://www.a-wave.com/mirrorsystem/#

Just picked up "Curse of the Golden Flower" on Blu-Ray in preparation for the imminent arrival of my Playstation 3.

I've seen it on standard def DVD already, and the colors were just amazing.

Oscar