Samuel L. Jackson Shines in Black Snake Moan

Review of Black Snake Moan

This review is for one of those movies that when I saw it the first time I said I would see it again. Well, I did exactly that—saw it again. A few years had elapsed since my first viewing of the film so I had forgotten much of the plot (My memory isn’t what it used to be), but upon seeing it again, I agree with my initial review: Black Snake Moan is a definite See-Again movie.  

Review of Black Snake Moan, Starring Samuel L. Jackson

Released in 2007, Black Snake Moan was both written and directed by the quite talented Mr. Craig Brewer and filmed in the Deep South, mainly the environs of Stanton, Tennessee (Wikipedia, 2014). A “little movie,” meaning the kind of movie that some people make the mistake of labeling “artsy” or “pretentious,” Black Snake Moan earned the designation solely because it wasn’t a major box-office draw. And why wasn’t it a magnet for audiences? Well, it’s probably not only because the movie has a script that is literate and intelligent, but also because it does not contain any gratuitous violence, profanity, nudity, or computer-generated special effects. In other words, this “little movie” was not a box-office draw because it did not appeal to Hollywood’s target audience—namely testosterone-laden 14-to-17-year-old adolescent males with noodles for brains—even though Christian Ricci spends a good bit of time running around in skimpy underwear.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Lazarus Woods, a god-fearing man who is determined to lead Rae Doole, a young, worldly, head-strong nymphomaniac played by Christina Ricci, down the pathway of righteousness to a far better life than the one she has been living—even if he literally has to drag her kicking and screaming all the way. 

Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci

Although Jackson is always extremely watchable, in this film, he literally shines. In fact, Jackson proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the finest actors in Hollywood today, right up there with Morgan Freeman, because, not for one single moment, do you, the viewer, ever think, “Hey, I’m watching Samuel L. Jackson act.” Instead, you believe, and never doubt for a moment, that Jackson is Lazarus Woods; and the ability to make the audience believe you are someone else is the hallmark of a great actor. Ricci, on the other hand, never once lets you forget you are watching Christina Ricci pretend to be someone she isn’t. You know it from the first moment she enters the film, and although she’s fun to watch, you never once mistake Ricci for anyone other than who she is, and that is Christiana Ricci acting like Rae Doole.

Samuel L. Jackson in Black Snake Moan

Ricci’s performance aside, this movie is a must-see film for anyone who likes a good story, enjoys quality cinematography, and appreciates seeing a real actor act. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson plays the guitar and sings the Blues. Now what more could anyone ask for in a film?

Rating: See again—and again and again if I live long enough.  

Source:

Wikipedia (2009) Black Snake Moan; para. 1; retrieved March 16, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Snake_Moan_(film)

Is Bottled Water Better for Us or Only Fancier?

Bottled Water Consumption

“Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” says the narrator in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s masterful poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” The funny thing, however, is that most people today must feel the same way, even here in the real world, specifically right here in the good old USA. Water, water, everywhere, yet we haven’t a drop to drink. Well, that is unless it comes in a plastic bottle, which must be the case since with each year that passes we Americans are spending more and more on bottled water.

 

Yearly Cost and Consumption of Bottled Water in the United States 

 

According to Quentin Fottrell (2014), “American consumption of bottled water has surged 2,700%, from 354 million gallons in 1976 to 9.7 billion gallons in 2012.” Moreover, according to statisticbrain.com (2014), the annual spending for bottled water in the U.S. is currently at $11.8 billion, and that’s a heck of a lot of money. And just think about it; if the current expenditure is almost $12 billion, what will it be 20 years from now—$15 billion? I wouldn’t doubt it, especially if one takes into account not only increased consumption but also increased prices.

And, yes, my hubby and I are just as guilty as any other American. In fact, I buy bottled water in packs of 24 and sometimes 36 containers, and Chet and I each consume an average of two bottles per day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Why do we consume bottled water? Well, it’s because it’s better for us, right?  Not according to Mae Wu, attorney in the health program at National Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

 

Bottled Water Is Not Healthier or Safer

 

Wu contends, “The general public thinks bottled water is going to be safer and cleaner than tap water,” but “For the most part, that’s not true” (Fottrell, 2014).

Tap Water Is Safe to Drink

The reality, according to Peter Gleick, scientist and author of Bottled and Sold: The Story behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, is that “nearly half of bottled water brands are sourced from the municipal water supply—the same source as what comes out of the tap. Some 45% of bottled waters in the U.S. are actually purified tap water” (Fottrell, 2014).

What really should give us food-for-thought are the startling results of studies conducted in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France—one published in 2011 and the other in 2013—by Martin Wagner, a scientist at Goethe University Frankfurt’s Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology. Fottrell (2014) cites Wagner, who says, “Bottled water had a higher contamination of chemicals than glass bottles. There are many compounds in bottled water that we don’t want to have there. Part is leaching from the plastic bottles, lids or contamination of the well.”

 

Fottrell (2014) also relates that among the main compounds Wagner identified during the studies were “endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, which can act like hormones in the body and have been linked to diabetes, breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.”

Filter Water at Home and Save Money and the Environment

Obviously, bottled water isn’t a better alternative than tap water, yet each year we Americans spend 300 times the amount we would spend if we instead consumed tap water. And if we have any doubts about the purity of our water source, we can always purchase a purifier and purify our own water. As Nick Colas, chief market strategist for ConvergEx, maintains, filtering your own water is “more economical and better for the environment, and one way to avoid using a lot of scrap plastic” (Fottrell, 2014).

Purify Water with a Water Filter

The reality is that we can drink tap water for free—or at least for a price that is considerably lower than what we pay for bottled water—but, instead, we choose to purchase water with fancy names like Opium Springs, Aquatic Liqueur, or Super Duper Dipperful of Water (I made those up), and the question is why.

Why We Spend a Fortune on Bottled Water

The answer is because we are gullible. Yes, we are gullible, which is why when we see ads for fancy bottled waters on television, in magazines, or in newspapers, we believe what the advertisers tell us. We believe that drinking bottled water is better for us because the water that comes in those bottles is purer and, therefore, safer.  As previously demonstrated, however, that simply is not true.

Of course, some people also believe that carrying around a bottle of water with a fancy label on it makes them appear more urbane (That means sophisticated). Yet others believe that bottled water is more thirst quenching than regular water. Yeah, right, I say to this latter group. In case you haven’t noticed, one type of water is just as wet as the other. Water is, after all, water; and regardless of whether it comes from a bottle, a faucet, or the sky, water will quench your thirst. So, with that in mind, save yourself some money and go stick your head under the faucet. Of course, if you want to appear a bit more sophisticated, you can always reuse one of those fancy plastic bottles you bought. Just fill it from the tap. Trust me, no one will ever know the difference.

Sources: 

 

Fottrell, Q. (2014) Why You Should Stop Buying Bottled Water. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-should-stop-buying-bottled-water-2014-08-04

Amount of Bottled Water Consumed in U.S. (2014). Retrieved from statisticbrain.com

Gott, P. “Bottled Water not Worth Cost.” The Advocate. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Thursday, August 07, 2008. p. 1E.

Wlpba.org. (2014) Boy Drinking from Hose Photo. Retrieved from googleimages.com

A Woman's Work Is Never Done

I recently painted the master bedroom, which wasn’t an easy task considering I had to move a monstrous chest of drawers, a king size bed, a wardrobe that weighs more than my Tundra, and other assorted pieces of furniture, then tape the baseboards and trim before I could even begin painting. I also painted the adjoining bathroom. And while I was doing all this labor, did my darling hubby even once offer to help? Well, not unless you consider it help for him to wander by every now and then, with his pipe clenched between his teeth, poke his head in the doorway, and mumble, “Looking good, honey.” Then again, I guess you could qualify that as help of a sort, rather like when fans cheer on an athlete from the sidelines; it counts as moral support. 

Tina Jenkins, Google Images 2014

Chet’s contribution to this project, though, was the same as his contribution a few years back when I painted the entire outside of the house, a chore that took me three weeks to complete, because at the time I was teaching on campus Monday through Thursday and could devote only three days each week to painting, and that was between doing all the other chores, for instance, mowing the lawn, shopping for groceries, cooking the meals, doing the laundry, and cleaning the house. 

Taking Care of a Home Is a Full time Job

Raquel English, Google Images 2014

The reality, of course, is that I do all of the manual-labor labor around our home, and for the jobs I can’t do, I hire someone, for instance, to do anything related to plumbing or electricity. I most certainly cannot rely upon my hubby because, while Chet may very well be the most brilliant man I’ve ever known (He does have a Ph.D. and a head filled with trivia, after all), he is completely and totally helpless when it comes to anything manual. And that reminds me; he once had the audacity to tell me that one of the reasons he had pursued a higher education was so he wouldn’t have to do any manual labor. My response was, “Well, in that case I think you needed to find a higher paying profession than teaching.” Then again, he married me, and I work for free, so maybe he had a point.

Questions to Ask a Prospective Husband

Marriage to Chet has taught me an invaluable lesson that I would like to share with other women, which is that not all men are born with a hammer in one hand and a Phillip’s screwdriver in the other. In fact, some men don’t even know which end of a hammer to use, and they wouldn’t know a Phillip’s screwdriver if it walked up and bit them in the behind. 

Smartgreenbuild.com, Google Images 2014

Therefore, I believe that before a woman says “yes” to any marriage proposal, she needs to ask her suitor the following questions:  

•  Do you own a socket set?
• Do you own a Phillips head screwdriver?
• Do you own a hammer?
• Do you own a drill, electric or otherwise?
• If you answered in the affirmative to the first four questions, do you know how to use the aforementioned items without causing yourself—or anyone else—serious bodily harm?
• Can you change the oil in a vehicle?
• Can you change a flat tire on a vehicle?
• Do you even know where the jack and spare tire are located in a vehicle?
• Can you crank a lawnmower?
• Can you maneuver a running lawnmower around a yard without pushing through the flowerbeds?
• Can you tell the difference between a paintbrush and a hairbrush?
• If you answered yes to the previous question, can you dip a paintbrush into a can of paint and then apply paint to a wall without dribbling paint all over the floor or splattering it on adjoining walls or the furniture?
• Do you know how to repair a malfunctioning electric light?
• Do you know to turn off the main breaker when you tinker with the wiring on anything electrical?
• Do you know how to replace a leaky faucet on a sink?
• Do you know to turn off the water under a sink before attempting to replace a leaky faucet?
• Do you even know where the shutoff value is located under a sink?
• 18. Do you know that toilets are not meant to flush entire roles of paper towels into the sewer system?
• Have you ever attempted to flush an entire roll of paper towels into a sewer system?
• Are you allergic to physical labor of any kind?

There are other questions I would suggest one ask, but it’s now almost midnight here in in the murky, alligator-infested swamps of south Louisiana, and tomorrow I need to mow the lawn. I also have to drive to Home Depot, purchase 20 bags of mulch, bring them home, unload the bags from my truck, then scatter the mulch in flowerbeds lining the front of the house, but only after I weed the beds. Oh, well, as the old saying goes, “A woman’s work is never done,” especially when she’s married to Chet.