>> The Switch
>> Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
>> The Other Guys
>> Salt
>> Inception
>> Cyrus
>> The Last Airbender
>> Grown Ups
>> Toy Story 3
>> The Human Centipede

Opening 9.1.10
>> The American (R) [trailer]

Opening 9.3.10
>> Going the Distance (R) [trailer]
>> Machete (R) [trailer]
>> Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (Limited) (R) [trailer]
>> The Winning Season (Limited) (PG-13) [trailer]
>> White Wedding (Limited) (Not Rated) [trailer]
>> A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (Limited) (R) [trailer]

Coming To DVD/Blu-Ray 8.31.10
>> Sons of Anarchy: Season Two [buy]
>> House, M.D.: Season Six [buy]
>> The Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season [buy]
>> Once an Eagle [buy]
>> Brothers & Sisters: Complete Fourth Season [buy]

Las Vegas: Satan Vacations Here
by Victoria Alexander
January 15, 2007

The Wizard of Mind Control?, Santa Angelina, Jolie-Madonna Baby Feud, The Highest Altar, CineVegas Art House Screening Series, The Amaz!ing Meeting 5, Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, and more...

“What do you think the devil’s going to look like if he’s around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. He will look attractive, and he will be nice and helpful.” From “Broadcast News”

The Wizard of Mind Control. Am I married to the architect of the CIA’s Mind Control program? Have you ever been to my house and my husband John spoke directly to you? Did he wave his hands at you like a stage hypnotist? Are you now hearing voices? Sharon Weinberger, writing in the Washington Post, Sunday January 14, 2007, titled her article: “Mind Games. New on the Internet: a community of people who believe the government is beaming voices into their minds. They may be crazy, but the Pentagon has pursued a weapon that can do just that.”

Weinberger interviewed John responsible, some say, for ruining their lives by beaming voices into their heads, having them followed, and re-arranging their sock draw. Mind Control, eh? So that’s what John is up to when he says he going to Washington, D.C. for a few “meetings.” Mind Games - washingtonpost.com.

There are a lot of people who believe they are being targeted by a shadow government. They call themselves TIs, - “Targeted Individuals.” Weapons used to beam voices or sounds into their heads are called V2K "voice to skull.” Finally, in Mind Control jargon, "gang stalking" refers to the belief that they are being followed and harassed by neighbors, strangers or colleagues who are agents for the government. Now that being abducted and sexually assaulted by The Reptilians (pictured) is passé, why not join the Mind Control “Wavvies?” Mind Control and Inteligence Services

John views most of the folks who report these experiences as in need of medical attention. John had his first meeting with Harlan Girard who, interviewed for Weinberger’s article, believes John is responsible for causing the voices in his head. John was chairing the first Non-Lethal Defense conference at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in 1993. Girard, and a few others, showed up to picket the meeting. Girard asked John to hold a minute of silence for the 50,000 victims the Government had killed in mind control experiments. Amazon.com: Winning the War: Advanced Weapons, Strategies, and Concepts for the Post-9/11 World: Books: John B. Alexander

Santa Angelina. Jolie used to brag in interviews about cutting herself, having lesbian affairs, her padded sex room, the astonishing virility of scary old Billy Bob Thornton, and an alleged stay in a mental hospital. However, adopting poor children, donating large sums of money, and taking Brad away from America’s PR Promoted Golden Girl, has been a brilliant PR campaign!

So good, that even the most selfish woman on the planet – Madonna – is using her catalog-ordered, semi-orphan adoption of Malawian David for publicity and – you’ll see – a money-making industry of baby clothes, books, CD nursery rhymes, and The Madonna Kiddie Kabbalah Centers.

And now comes this. A painting titled 'Blessed Art Thou,' by North Carolina artist Kate Kretz, features actress Angelina Jolie and her three children hovering in the heavens above a Wal-Mart. Kretz says she's intrigued by the public fascination with celebrities. (AP Photo/Chelsea Galleria, Kate Kretz)

Madonna-Jolie War. Woe to Jolie – she’s crossed Madonna! Who dares do that? Brad Pitt was in “Snatch,” directed by Madonna’s husband Guy Ritchie. So why is Jolie attacking Madonna for adopting a child 'illegally'? Does it have to do with Madonna horning in on Jolie’s glorious PR route to the hallowed international status of Relevancy? Jolie told French magazine Gala Madonna should never have visited an impoverished African country with the sole intention of choosing an infant. Her comments follow accusations that Madonna used her fame and money to speed the adoption of one-year-old David Banda (pictured, David’s poor biological father) late last year.

“Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born,” said Jolie, who has adopted two Third World youngsters of her own. “It's a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption. Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal.”

CineVegas Art House Screening Series. On Friday I took my FilmsInReview.com colleague David DelValle to see “Sherrybaby” and “Sleeping Dogs Lie” at the Tropicana Theaters. The 9th Annual CineVegas International Film Festival, which runs June 8-16, 2007, has launched an Art House Screening Series. The film community here is thrilled! The lineup of little seen but much discussed films is impressive for Las Vegas movie fans. In coming weeks we will be seeing “Lunacy” and “Come Early Morning” on January 19th and “Tideland” and “Old Joy” on January 26th.

Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Sherry Swanson in “Sherrybaby,” for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. The film follows Sherry as she returns home to New Jersey after serving a three-year prison sentence. Sherry is eager to reestablish a relationship with her young daughter, who is being raised by her brother and his wife. Gyllenhaal is sensational in a quite shocking role – lots of nudity and sex with my favorite ex-con-turned-actor, Danny Trejo. Trejo, a Robert Rodriguez regular, is wonderful as a sweet man trying to help Sherry.

I really would like to praise CineVegas’ president Robin Greenspun (pictured with Brendan Theater’s Johnny Brendan) for continuing to develop the CineVegas Film Festival into an important venue for new films. Under Robin’s guidance, Las Vegas may very well become a more weather-friendly (and with more hotel rooms) alternative to Sundance.

Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait was at both Friday evening screenings of “Sleeping Dogs Lie.” He introduced his film and stayed for a Q&A. I was surprised. “Sleeping Dogs Lie” is charming, wonderfully directed film with clever and funny moments. It leaves you answering an important question in the affirmative: Is it better to let some silly, youthful indiscretions die? Not all secrets should be revealed – not if you have to spend the rest of your life apologizing. In Goldthwait’s hands, the secret is way too kinky to reveal. This is a must-see film that will give Goldthwait a second, more illustrious career as a filmmaker than as a stand-up comedian. CineVegas Film Festival

The Highest Altar: Unveiling the Mystery of Human Sacrifice by Patrick Tierney. I just finished reading this book and for many reasons found it interesting. I have been to Peru many times, Bolivia, and trekked in the high altitudes of Nepal and Tibet. Tierney is a journalist interested in high-altitude archaeology. The first part of the book is a fascinating account of high-altitude archaeology – how did those Peruvians build hundreds of shrines at 20,000 feet? - and Tierney’s discovery that human sacrifice was still widely practiced in areas of Peru and Chile!

The middle section of the book is Tierney’s investigation into the fact that human sacrifice was occurring and the religious reasons it is still being practiced.

The last section of “The Highest Altar” is the most fascinating for me since it was the religious history, highlighting the Old Testament, of human sacrifice. Cain really sacrificed Abel; Yahweh demanded and got Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Issac. Moses tried to kill his son as a sacrifice to Yahweh – saved by Zipporah’s circumcision of her son. Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby (“The Sacred Executioner” - one copy is available on Amazon for $185!) suggests that the practice of circumcision began as a substitute for human sacrifice.

What is the message of “The Highest Altar”? Tierney quotes classics scholar Walter Burkert: “Through solidarity and cooperative organization, and by establishing an inviolable order, the sacrificial ritual gave society its form.” Tierney, a great fan of Maccoby’s (I’ve read Maccoby and he is obsessed with marginalizing Jesus, like John Dominic Crossan, who insists on mocking Jesus as a “Mediterranean Jewish peasant”), relates his theory that Jesus’ death on the cross was Saint Paul’s basis for a new religion by transforming a political crucifixion into a sacrifice for the benefit of humanity thereby resurrecting the ancient practice of human sacrifice for earthly and heavenly rewards.

This past week a 600 year old mummy (pictured) was found in a hidden burial vault in the Amazon. This was no happy sacrifice. She has survived thanks to the embalming skills of her tribe, the Chachapoyas or cloud warriors. Eleven other mummies were recovered from the massive cave complex used for worship.

The Chachapoyas were one of the more advanced ancient civilizations in the area. Adept at fighting, they commanded a large kingdom from the year 800 to 1500 that stretched across the Andes. The Chachapoyas were eventually conquered by the Incas. Virtually all record of the tribe was lost when the Incas were themselves overrun by the Spanish conquistadors who landed in 1512. Amazon.com: The Highest Altar: The Story of Human Sacrifice: Books: Patrick Tierney

The Amaz!ing Meeting 5. James Randi’s very popular conference, now in its fifth year, will be held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino on January 18 to 21, 2007. The theme this year is “Skepticism and The Media.” The guest speakers include Michael Shermer of The Skeptics Society, the always articulate Christopher Hitchens (the much quoted "Why Women Aren't Funny" Vanity Fair, January 2007 and the very popular “As American as Apple Pie: An Oral History of the Blowjob.” Vanity Fair, July 2006), UK savant Richard Wiseman, and very special guests Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park. I attended last year’s conference and the crowd was overflowing with people who had come all over the country to spend the weekend with Randi. On Friday, January 19, magicians and Randi devotees Penn & Teller will be guests. My complete wrap-up on the TAM5 will appear on TDH, Monday, January 22nd. http://www.amazingmeeting.com

Seeking Instant Fame and Money? The Nityananda of Ganeshpuri is Tamerlane Phillips, the son of The Mamas and The Pappas founder John Phillips, spiritual guru. Phillips says: "I am completely and totally in love with Nityananda because not only can he heal the blind, but he can grant fame. Any time someone wanted to become famous in India they would go see Nityananda and say, 'Bede Baba Nityananda, please make me a superstar, ' and Nityananda would take a tiny pebble and throw it at them and they would become stars in India, sometimes overnight! So I pray Nityananda of Ganeshpuri throws a pebble at me."

If Tamerlane Phillips becomes a superstar, we’ll know how it happened. Who do we blame for Paris Hilton?

Dreamgirls. Ever since I made contact with the spirit guide, The Great Uncle, in Zimbabwe, I feel a real kinship with the black community. This past week I was a guest on “Ashe” the Arts & Entertainment radio show on whcr.org – The Voice of Harlem. “Ashe” hosted by Moniifa Maht and Shawn Seymour. Shawn had read my review of “Dreamgirls” and wanted to discuss the film in depth with me. We had so much fun gossiping about Beyonce Knowles, Diana Ross, and Jennifer Hudson that my segment ran over 40 minutes. We failed to mention Eddie Murphy’s fondness for “counseling” transvestites and his nasty paternity battle with former Spice Girl Melanie B. He says he’s not her baby’s daddy. In a few months, a DNA test will settle the matter.

If you would like to contact me about this column, or be included on my private distribution list for a weekly reminder, just email me at Masauu@aol.com.

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