Denzel Washington

 


Deja Vu Directed by Tony Scott

DOB: 28 December 1954 at 12:09 AM in Mt. Vernon, New York

Sun 5°56' Capricorn, ruler Saturn - Moon 9°02' Aquarius, ruler Uranus
Ascendant 7°27' Libra the Scales, ruler Venus
Midheaven 8°37 Moonchild the Shellfish, ruler the Moon


Sun in Capricorn, the tenth zodiacal sign – Saturn, Lord of Time and Space - day of the week: Saturday
Symbol: The sea-goat, mountain goat, dolphin, or scapegoat. The goat with the fish’s tail signifies extremes of height and depth.
Reflex action: Moonchild, or Cancer, the Shellfish, ruled by the Moon
Tarot Trump: Trump X, The Wheel, The Wheel of Fortune
House System: The Office and Den
Metal: lead – Power Gemstones
Capricorn governs the following places: churchyards, monasteries, convents, places for storing lumber, arsenals, barren or stony fields, mountain roads, the summit, cattle pens, vaults.

Emotional characteristics: the emotions are inhibited, feelings are often turned upon the native resulting in questions about belief in personal ability, the mind rules the heart too completely.
Mental characteristics: powerful, concentrative, laborious, forceful, cautious, economical, conservative, thrifty, scrupulous, trustworthy, detailed thinkers, stubborn, good friends and bad enemies, brooding.
Spiritual keywords: the individuality, the seat of the sense of separateness, the competitive spirit, that which does not sense reality.
Physical anatomy: knees, kneecaps, hair, outer epidermis, various joints of the body, skeletal frame, teeth, left ear. Capricorn is said to rule the sense of hearing.
Zodiacal Physiology: nucleolation, accumulation of energy, limitation, crystallization, preservation of strength.

Nutrition: Capricorn

The cell salt of Capricorn is calcium phosphate, which utilizes albumen from the food to help build up and to maintain the body’s bony structure. Some foods that supply calcium phosphate and provide nutrition include almonds, asparagus, barley, brown beans, blueberries- berry compote, cabbage, celery, coffee ice cream, Corellian Stuffed Potatoes, cucumbers, egg yolk, figs, Green Tea Ice Cream, lean meats, lentils, Minute Steak Highland Style, parsnip, plums, Soup of the Day by Mama Leone, spumoni, spinach and shrmx, strawberries, and whole wheat. Foods that are easy to eat are preferred – soup more than hor d’oeuvre, porterhouse with lemon thyme butter, root vegetables, vegetables generally served mashed (potatoes/a>, cauliflower, carrots, rutabagas, etc.) – stuffed squash, tenderloin fillets, Zefram Cochrane Cheese Pierogies, nutrition over the appeal of gourmet ambiance.

Herbs and plants traditionally associated with Capricorn and which have both medicinal and nutritional uses are Amaranthus, Hemp, Holly, Ivy, Knotweed, Mandrake, Moss, Nightshade, Quince Tree, Red Beet, Rue, Slippery Elm, Sage, Senna, Solomon’s Seal, Tamarisk, Thyme, Vervain, Wintergreen.
Saturn: Cypress, Elm, Pine, Willow, Yew.

Capricorn Countries include: Afghanistan, Albania, Borneo, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Cyprus, Greece, Hesse, Illyria, India the Punjab, Isle of Wight, Lithuania, Macedonia, Manchuria, Maui, Mecklenburg, Mexico, Morea, The Orkney Islands, Parts of Persia about Circan and Maracan, Samoa, Southwestern Saxony, Styria, Thrace, Wyoming
Cities: Antibes, Appalachian Mts., Bonne, Bradenburg, Brussels, Cologne, Constance, Delhi, Feyence in Province, Haddington, Keighley, Marseilles, Oxford, Port Said, Prato in Tuscany, Salisbury, Tortona, Trier

Denzel Washington introduced himself in Interview magazine when his career first got underway:

My name is Denzel Washington. When I was in college an acting teacher asked everyone why they were in the class. My response was that I wanted to be the best actor in the world. Everyone turned around and looked at me and said, “Who do you think you are?” That’s why I came to Hollywood, why I’m in the business. No one else from that class is doing anything.

The first movie I did here was called Carbon Copy, with George Segal. I was the co-star so I got the 40 ft. Winnebago and the crushed ice in the sink with the fresh fruit and the beer. See, I’m a New York stage actor and I was so totally unaware of what Hollywood was about. It blew my mind. I didn’t even do any work. I was too busy worrying about whether I had food in my refrigerator in the Winnebago. Now I’m not as overwhelmed as before.
Some days I think I’m successful and other days I’m not. For example, I’m doing a play right now and for various reasons it’s not quite working. So, does this mean I’m a failure? Maybe today. But that’s the nature of the business. Acting is like a laboratory—you’re not going to discover gravity every day. You can break your neck for hours and hours and then an apple falls on your head and you go tell somebody and then they call you a genius.
CREDITS: A Soldier’s Story (Columbia) and Power (20th Century Fox).
Source: Interview, September 1985

Sexy, svelte Denzel Washington on the October cover of GQ
Inside man: Michael Hainey interview with the two-time Oscar winner and box-office giant. Cover photo by Nathaniel Goldberg here, a couple of questions below.

Hainey You’ve worked with Gene Hackman. Any other titans you want to shoot with?
Washington All of ‘em. Anybody whose last name ends in an o. De Niro. Pacino. I cut my teeth watching them. Going back to the idea of learning things from other actors—Laurence Olivier was an outside-in kind of guy. He’d find a handle, something on the outside. The Method guys were inside-out. I use a little bit of both. For Mo’ Better Blues, I’ll pick up a trumpet. Not “Oh, what is the emotional innards of a jazz musician?” Hurricane? Start boxing. Sometimes it starts on the outside. Sometimes on the inside.

Hainey If you had one thing to say to African-American readers of GQ, what would you say?
Washington Take responsibility. One of the things that saddens me the most about my people is fathers that don’t take care of their sons and daughters. And you can’t blame that on The Man or getting frisked. Take responsibility. Look in the mirror and say, “What can I do better?” There is opportunity, you can make it. Whatever it is that you choose, be the best at it. You have an African-American president. You can do it. But take responsibility. Put your slippers way under your bed so when you get up in the morning, you have to get on your knees to find them. And while you’re down there, start your day with prayer. Ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding. I’m not telling you what religion to be, but work on your spirit. You know, mind, body, and spirit. Imagine—work the brain muscle. Keep the body in tune—it’s your temple. All things in moderation. Continue to search. That’s the best part of life for me—continue to try to be the best man.
read article review in The Grio

Denzel Washington is a spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). He has worked with the organization for over twenty years in an effort to counteract the dropout trend that is gaining ground in the USA. In an interview with Echo Garrett, Washington said, "Like so many parents these days, my father worked two and three jobs to take care of us... the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. are critical. That's when kids need homework help, tutors, and mentors, but many are going home to empty houses."

Washington said, "More than 67% of the dropouts happen before 10th grade. We've got to start early." Learn more here

Denzel Washington is brilliant when he climbs into the part of Dis Pater, ancient Lord of the Underworld [ancient Saturn as King of the Golden Age] in several films that include Deja Vu, Man On Fire, and American Gangster. Dis Pater, 'the rich one', presided over the souls in afterlife, kept the cape of invisibility, all wealth beneath the surface of the earth that includes gold and precious gems, oil, and potable water. The degree will address passing to and from the celestial river, the Milky Way [the bridge] over which immortals pass to this domain. The power and the secret "sacred fire" that regenerates life above the Earth crust in Spring is associated with the degree as well. Manilius wrote, "For whatever needs fire to function and demands a renewal of flame for its work must be counted as of your domain. To pry for hidden metals, to smelt out riches deposited in the veins of the earth, to fold sure-handed the malleable mass—these skills will come from you, as will aught which is fashioned of silver or gold."

Ptolemy makes the following observations about Aquarius: "The stars in the shoulders of Aquarius operate like Saturn and Mercury; those in the left hand and in the face do the same: those in the thighs have an influence more consonant with that of Mercury, and in a less degree with that of Saturn: those in the stream of water have power similar to that of Saturn, and moderately to that of Jupiter."

When the power of the Sun and Moon combine the nature tends to turn to promotion of idealistic and humane ideas, promotion of mental stimuli, enterprise and a sense of justice. These lights convey a sense of strength and flexibility combined and this often shows up in the chart of people who can put force behind their reasoning, yet be flexible.

Dream Analysis holds the key to understanding this mysterious figure in the west. He appears as a dancer, usually nocturnal, and frequently linked with Shiva/Shakti mythology. The quality of Akasha is almost always present.

Demeter is protector of the mysteries. The Earth Mother women in Deja Vu, Man On Fire, and American Gangster, are excellent portraits of the goddess as the mother Demeter, and the daughter, Kore, Kore-Artemis, or Persephone.

 

The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life
is to unlearn what is untrue. -Antisthenes

 



The Book of Eli
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (2010)

The Book of Eli combines the powerful archetypes
of Trump XI and Trump 0/XXII

Combined reserves for several planetary ores: Moon, Saturn, and Pluto:
Weather the storm when passing over the long road through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Movie about the rebirth of a wanderer during turbulent times. Luna and Pluto provide the Phoenix [self-renewal], and Saturn echoes strength of character that views restraint as good luck. Washington has a Lunar Midheaven @ 8° Moonchild 37' with Pluto 26° Leo 36' rx, in his Eleventh House of collectives, aspirations, and rapport with others [usually clubs, organizations, teams, and so on]. Aspects that contribute to the deeper transformations Pluto offers as the silent dancer [in dreams], include Neptune sextile Pluto and Venus square Pluto. The planet Pluto represents the two spiritual extremes in the star chart - the highest, most glorious soul power vs. the coercive, sadistic, and self-destructive tendencies. Those who have a prominent placement of psycho-kinetic energy generated by Pluto constantly encounter personifications of both sides of the spectrum. Saturn is deposited 18° Scorpio 00', the zodiacal sign governed by Pluto. Aspects include Venus conjunct Saturn with an exact Mars trine Saturn. Traditionally, an exoteric translation would read: Washington's Saturn represents, "a network of sensitive strings, waiting to be played on by every factor in life."

 

INSIDE MAN
Spike Lee (2006)

 

Denzel Washington [Detective Keith Frazier] -   The Soul Urge
Clive Owen [Dalton Russell] -   The Soul Urge
Jodie Foster [Madeleine White White] -   The Soul Urge
Christopher Plummer [Arthur Case ] -   The Soul Urge

Denzel Washington was born with Neptune 27° Libra 56' in his Ascendant, sextile Pluto, the planet that rules Scorpio. This visionary gift provides a far-seeing ability [Book of Eli], with an option to exercise a magical influence over the masses [Deja Vu], as with the linguist and journalist [The Pelican Brief], orator [The Great Debators], attorney [Philadelphia], actor and politician [Arnold Billing, in Power, the guy we love to hate 1986]. The subconscious takes the initiative and tries to force things under the surface to come to light in order to assist in the recognition [Crimson Tide] of new and entirely novel ideas [Virtuosity]. An ideal insight for someone who must estimate quickly and accurately [Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate]. It attracts one to peculiar people [American Gangster, Inside Man], psychic centers [Deja Vu] and mysterious strange places [Unstoppable, Virtuosity]. It gives an ability to cultivate psychometry [Fallen], clairaudience and mediumship [The Book of Eli].

The aura field can exhibit forms that are generated during meditation, such as lines circling the physical temple similar to “The Grand Man of the Zohar” or as Eliaphas Levi describes “the Great Prototypal Man,” especially circling the solar plexus. The mirror would be closer to The Book of Eli, where book and man are one, than to Inside Man, but there are strong Neptune themes that run through Inside Man from the first scene through the final curtain.

The influence of this planet is always more or less mediumistic and the native will either consciously or unconsciously take on the conditions of the surroundings and of those with whom he comes in contact. Known as a ‘contact high’ or sympathetic psyche fingerprint of others' sensorium, Neptune may also be prone to feel the influence exerted by other people. Christopher Plummer [Sun 21° Sagittarius 14', Neptune 3° Virgo 34' rx] delivers an excellent portrayal of Neptune in his toxic state, a weak, afflicted, amoral character subject to an avenue of temptation that appeals to the passional sense-loving and emotional side of the nature, bringing uncertainty and confusion through instability, indolence or lack of energy. This worst-case chemistry ushers in extreme danger through plots, schemes, enmities and deception.

Director Spike Lee is a human bridge between the signs governing the lights in his chart. His Sun is 29°49' on the cusp between Pisces and Aries, in a solar chart constructed for Noon. His Moon bridges Scorpio and 0°36' Sagittarius at noon. Neptune is 2° Scorpio 03', probably a strong incentive to select players for this intense, subterranean movie. Clive Owen has Neptune 16° Scorpio 14', on the same page with Lee, as does Scorpio native Jodi Foster, with her Neptune 13° Scorpio 44'.

 

 

DEJA VU
Director: Tony Scott (2006)
also MAN ON FIRE (2004)

 

Denzel Washington [Agent Doug Carlin - ATF]
Paula Patton [Claire Kuchever]
Val Kilmer [Agent Paul Pryzwarra - FBI]
James Caviezel [Carroll Oerstadt (as Jim Caviezel)]
Adam Goldberg [Dr. Alexander Denny]

 

The opening scenes of Déjà Vu are among the most fascinating movie introductions to a film for those of us who work on building a better dream world. Tony Scott provides step-by-step terms for dual consciousness with expanded sustainment thereof, in a cinematic version of ‘dream yoga.’ The quicksilver quality of streaming images complement the high tech management of time in fluid form.

First few images move from left to right across the screen, as though we are holding onto a trailing dream parade that shifts us to waking consciousness. The Captain says, “Can’t believe it – they’re right on time!” With this, time and space are set up as two systems that work best when they work together.

Strike up the band. Two classic American songs float over each other into the crowd boarding the New Orleans ferryboat on Fat Tuesday. A car radio sings the Beach Boys’, “Don’t Worry Baby,” while the band aboard the ship begins a lively rendition of, “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Tony Scott connects the dots between past, present, and future with a dream bridge; it can carry ‘the chosen’ across the waters. He sustains a sensational balance – his three-part blend of the ticking clock at the level of conscious perception – throughout the entire film.

When the ferry explodes it is already away from the dock, in the Mississippi River. Everything stops, frozen and in shock. ATF Agent Doug Carlin [Denzel Washington] appears on the scene to investigate the disaster. He studies every aspect of the tragedy and its circumference, taking into consideration the area outside the crime scene, and the murder of a young woman [Paula Patton] that seems incongruent because her TOD is established as an hour before the blast.

So time is gently disjointed, at first, by an out of sequence murder that links a beautiful local girl to the terrorist for an unknown reason. FBI agents, also on the case, factor in Carlin’s discovery of chemicals plastered under the bridge as a result of the enormous blast. FBI Agent Paul Pryzwarra [Val Kilmer] and Carlin suspect the explosion was not accidental; they begin to study evidence that suggests sabotage. One thing leads to another and soon Agent Carlin is welcomed aboard a secret first flight into the world of past track surveillance wherein, effectively, the past is accurately recreated in minute detail on the big screen, using multiple combined technologies. This is one government job I would love to have – watching the dream while it is being dreamed by the dreamer. We can consciously enter the poem, or ‘re-enter’ it, observe and record anything we see, but the visual/audio run through happens only once – the surveillance unit has only ‘one bite at the apple.’

Agent Carlin offers an alternative approach to solving the mass murders by finding clues via any variables in Claire Kuchever’s life. Naturally, Carlin immediately starts to dismantle these ‘self-imposed’ rules once he figures out the trick to the images projected on the screen. Things move quickly from the semi-firm world of observation into the gutsy world of pro-creation and co-creation. He takes charge of the process and the investigation takes off like a rocket. The team decides to pursue Carlin’s theory and, with the help of some cool toys and gadgets, prove Claire’s murder is the key to the capture and confession by the terrorist. Twists and turns in time, space, and trajectory keep the audience guessing until the case is solved in a way no one but Ian Fleming could expect.

STUDY KEY

Tarot Trump VIII Adjustment: Agent Doug Carlin joins an elite FBI investigation that employs spacefolding technology; time windows, space windows, wormholes; suspension of laws of physics suggesting creation of a power site using experimental technology; romantic relationship at the door of life/death.

Tarot Trump XV Typhon: Priest and sacrifice must merge as one - Agent Doug Carlin cannot save his partner from the terrorist, but offers to possibly sacrifice himself in an effort to save the victims of the ferryboat explosion - and the young woman he is falling in love with, Claire Kuchever.

Tarot Trump XVIII The Moon: Parallel universe and altered states are employed as raw material tools to solve the mystery of the Mardi Gras murders.

Tarot Trump XIX The Sun: Soul Mates, allusion to The Royal Marriage - recognition of the astral light.
BACK The Etheric Double

 

Man on Fire

MANZANO This is my jurisdiction. I want these men as much as Creasy does.

RAYBURN He'll deliver more justice in a weekend, than ten years of your courts and tribunals. So stay out of his way.

MANZANO I plan to. I'll even help him if I can. He's going to lead me to the 'The Dreamer'. Someone I want very badly. But I'd like to understand him. Give me that.

RAYBURN Pita Martin Ramos is just a number to you. Tragic, a public outcry, but a number. One more dead.

MANZANO What was she to Creasy then?

RAYBURN Light. At the end of a long, dark tunnel. Somehow, she showed him it was alright to live again.

MANZANO And they took that away.

RAYBURN A man can be an artist in anything. Stone, paint, words. Food. Anything if his soul is true to it. Creasy's art is death. And he's about to paint his masterpiece.

The words sink in. Manzano understands their magnitude.

 

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Man-On-Fire.html

Man On Fire gives us a rare look into the many faces of the Goddess. Tony Scott is able to capture Our Lady of Guadalupe and the idea of the tripple Goddess: Radha Mitchell [mother], Dakota Fanning [daughter], Rachel Ticotin [investigative reporter] – the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a VIP cameo. In Deja Vu, [another gem by Tony Scott 2006] Paula Patton plays the kidnapped daughter and 'Goddess of the Dead' as a composite Artemis/Kore, psychopompus in the ancient underworld.

Lisa: I'll call you from Detroit, baby.
Pita: You're going to miss Mexican
         Halloween. The day of the dead.
Samuel: You enjoy it for us, Pita.

The Eleusinian Mystery rite - probably transfigured over the passage of time - represented Dis Pater as Ploutos, whose name means 'wealth,' and Hades, the Olympian God of the Dead, whose latinized name is Pluto, also the suggestion of the dance through heaven and hell [Shiva]. He is not considered evil, rather he is known for holding onto his subjects once they enter his domain. Demeter's daughter, Kore or Persephone, was also born in Crete, fathered by Zeus in the form of a serpent. The foster son of Demeter, Triptolemos, King of Eleusis ['thrice ploughed'], was the star of the ritual drama who, like Osiris in Egypt, taught the people how to grow wheat and grapes. His initiation into the mysteries of agricultural knowledge and the treasure of regeneration were central to the Eleusinian Mystery Ritual.

The Akasha Black, Emerald Green, and Golden Wave

 

THE BAD GUYS

AMERICAN GANGSTER
Ridley Scott (2007)

Denzel Washington Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe Richie Roberts
Chiwetel Ejiofor Huey Lucas
Josh Brolin Detective Trupo
Lymari Nadal Eva
Ruby Dee [Mama Lucas]

 

Gangstaghetti

American Gangster - Ridley Scott 2007

This is for all you gangstas, thugs, and players out there. Quick and easy to store in freezer if someone doesn't show.

INGREDIENTS

· Spaghetti
· 40oz Olde English
· Fried Chicken
· Oregano, lemon pepper
· Brown gravy with dash of Tripple Sec

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook Spaghetti until tender, ok to sub water for the 40.
2. Cook fried chicken [marinade to taste], strip it from its bones.
3. Make brown gravy, add dash Tripple Sec.
4. Combine Spaghetti, fried chicken, and gravy.
5. Garnish with oregano and lemon pepper.
6. Serve on TV trays
7. Pop in the first CD:

You didn't hear it from me: this recipe was lifted from the Food Fight: Desperation Dinner Challenge.

 

James Verini wrote the following in Summer 2004, and the application remains true now

A wave of paranoia is engulfing books and films; in fact, conspiracy's cool. But it's not just mind candy -- there are real-world lessons.

You're not just imagining it

... From the studio blockbuster to the documentary, cabals of crooked intelligence agents, CEOs, politicos and police seem to be everywhere.

And paranoia has become, well, kind of cool...

"Ever since the Kennedy assassination there's been enough room for paranoia everywhere," said Sidney Lumet, who directed "Fail-Safe" and "Network." "The years of government betrayal and government lying. There is enough going on, there is good reason for paranoia. Whether Hollywood responds to it is another question."

... Good conspiracy movies can raise our ire and help us indict our worst impulses: greed, complacency, institutionalized thought.

... "They give us a certain amount of closure and explanatory comfort," said Timothy Melley. And look at the history of great fictional characters: It is rife with nuts. Would Hamlet have been so cool if he wasn't a grade-A paranoid? (Really, a ghost told you?). Or Sherlock Holmes? Include in the group every Alfred Hitchcock character who ends up alive, and half the characters played by the coolest man who ever lived, Humphrey Bogart. Paranoid characters exhibit the kind of quasi-religious fervor for truth most of us only wish we had. They don't care what other people think. They figure things out.

If conspiracy has become formulaic and paranoia banal, we may have some quality -- or at least nerve-racking -- movies to look forward to. And if not, we can be sure of this: The characters will look good while flailing.

 

American Gangster
- Ruby Dee is Earth Mother 'Mama Lucas'
Inside Man
or The Pelican Brief.
If you're hosting a fund raiser, go with Power
directed by Sidney Lumet (1986).

see The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
and Mo' Better Blues (1990) [back pages @ Crescent City]
Capricorn page

 

 

Capricorn, the Sea-goat, is discussed here. Capricorn rules the Tenth Department of Life

Other well known people born with the Sun in Capricorn include: Alvin Ailey, Muhammad Ali, Steve Allen, Joan Baez, George Balanchine, Humphrey Bogart, Walter Bothe subatomic particle physicist (Nobel 1954), Louis Braille, Al Capone, Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, Paul Cezanne, Laurent Clerc 1st deaf teacher in U.S., Gerard Depardieu, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Nelson Doubleday, Faye Dunaway, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (astronomer who confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity), Ava Gardner, Asa Griggs Candler, developer of Coca-Cola, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, Gurdjieff, Anthony Hopkins, Howard Hughes, John Paul Jones, Diane Keaton, Sandy Koufax, Annie Lennox, John Muir, Charles Osgood, Jimmy Page, Bert Parks, Louis Pasteur, Les Paul, Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Isaac Pitman, Elvis Presley, Puccini, Sir Carol Reed, Cokie Roberts, Soupy Sales, Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, & Mary), Richard Widmark, Tiger Woods

 

Man on Fire: Joyhn W. Creasy
Washington as a master assassin turned body guard who hires on to secure the safety of a young girl [Dakota Fanning] and by extension her family, in the midst of the corrupt flesh-trade business in Mexico City. Christopher Walken, his clear visioned, long time stand up partner, provides details about Creasy's former 'job description.' Creasy cuts to the under belly of the growing child snatching syndicate.

Note:

Nekuia (neh-kew-ee-ah)
Underworld home of the dead. It is presented somewhat inconsistently as a remote northern location on the earth's surface and as an underground realm. Odysseus journeys there in book 11 to get instructions from the prophet Tiresias and meets the shades, or ghosts, of several figures from his past and from Greek mythology. The shades of the dead suitors appear there as well at the end of the poem.

Temple Notes:

The plan of the Temple as arranged this grade is shown on the adjoining diagram; therein it will be seen that it contains two pillars or obelisks. These two pillars, which are respectively in Netzach and Hod, need careful explanation.
They represent Mercy and Severity, the former being white and in Netzach, the latter black and in Hod. Their bases are cubical and black to represent the Earth Element in Malkuth; the columns are respectively white and black to manifest eternal Balance of the Scales of Justice.

 

           

Title: Crimson Tide
Director: Tony Scott 1995
Stars: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Matt Craven, and George Dzundza

Crimson Tide is launched with a fiery prologue narrated by CNN Reporter Richard Valeriani onboard the French Carrier Foch. There is civil unrest in Russia that threatens to compromise international nuclear treaties. Rebels have raided the Russian Navel Base, seized ICBMs, and threaten to use them.

We are taken into international waters where life is deep, dangerous, and yet territorial forces demand observance of nebulous boundary lines. The United States is forced to deploy nuclear subs in response to the situation in Russia, and intercept any hostile entity that could advance an overt attack.

Captain Frank Ramsey [Gene Hackman] summons the crew of The Alabama on the dark night, in the pouring rain, with a new member of his team, Lt. Commander Ron Hunter [Denzel Washington]. Ramsey and Hunter are two first-rate officers who share appreciation for U.S. Navy philosophy but they work with two different kinetic codes. Although both men are masters in their own right, if the boiling point is reached aboard a nuclear vessel, it may constitute a second war zone, within the submarine.

Ramsey has authority, experience, and sensory alertness acquired over years of active duty and feels compelled to follow orders "by the book" and act once the ship receives a message to launch its missiles. He clearly draws much of his power from competitive reasoning. Hunter, first in command, who must second Ramsey before orders can be enacted, uses kinetic and right brain chemistry, often referred to as "The Phoenix". In a situation like the one in Crimson Tide we are reminded how important ‘negotiating’ rituals can be. If both men don’t find a way to work together to resolve their differences, and observe the chain of command, the entire system might break down.

Note: Is the only true enemy, these days, war itself?

Capt. Ramsey: At the Naval War College it was metallurgy and nulear reactors, not 19th-century philosophy.
[Stifled laugh]
Capt. Ramsey: "War is a continuation of politics by other means." Von Clausewitz.
Hunter: I think, sir, that what he was actually trying to say was a little more...
Capt. Ramsey: Complicated?
[Men Laughing]
Hunter: Yes the purpose of war is to serve a political end but the true nature of war is to serve itself.
Capt. Ramsey: [laughing] I'm very impressed. In other words, the sailor most likely to win the war is the one most willing to part company with the politicians and ignore everything except the destruction of the enemy.
You'd agree with that.
Hunter: I'd agree that, um, that's what Clausewitz was trying to say.
Capt. Ramsey: But you wouldn't agree with it?
Hunter: No, sir, I do not. No, I just think that in the nuclear world the true enemy can't be destroyed.
Capt. Ramsey: [chuckling, tapping glass] Attention on deck. Von Clausewitz will now tell us exactly who the real enemy is.
[laughing]
Capt. Ramsey: Von?
[Men Laughing]
Hunter: In my humble opinion, in the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself.

 

Title: The Pelican Brief
Director: Alan J. Pakula 1993
Stars: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, and Sam Shepard

Law student Darby Shaw [Roberts] uncovers a conspiracy after the violent death of two Supreme Court Justices. College professor Thomas Callahan [Shepard], who clerked for one of the two men, quickly spirals down in a deep depression, after he hears one of his heroes was assassinated. Darby is his star student, also his lover, so he reads her research. Her theory ties loose threads together and links both judges to a case about the endangered brown pelican. Callahan gives Darby’s brief to an FBI friend and takes some time away with Darby. Callahan does not survive and Darby seeks help from investigative reporter Gray Grantham [Denzel Washington], another Callahan hero, who has connections and the integrity to rescue her and uncover the conspiracy.

Gray Grantham: Do you want to talk about the brief?
Darby Shaw: Everyone I have told about the brief is dead.
Gray Grantham: I take my chances.

 

 

Title: Virtuosity
Director: Brett Leonard 1995
Stars: Denzel Washington, Kelly Lynch, Russell Crowe as SID 6.7, and Stephen Spinella

Roger Ebert has given high marks to Virtuosity, in his August 4, 1995 review.

Los Angeles, 1999. A city of zombies in gray business suits, walking unseeing in the streets. Only two people seem aware of their surroundings. One of them is Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington), who moves easily through the crowds, in search of something. His quest leads to a Japanese restaurant, where there is a bloody struggle with a bad guy who has taken hostages. There is a shoot-out, which does not develop quite as it should. . . .

And this has all been a computer game, as we suspected, since some of the shots of the sky fluttered as if the screen were repainting itself.

full article

Film critics seem to enjoy the 'change of pace', twists and turns that stream throughout Virtuosity. I have yet to read a negative review. The film is an obvious Trump XI take off, an unchartered turn into the high tech zone where anything people can imagine is fashionable with raw materials, natural or man made. The twisted super scientist working behind vaulted doors has no rules except those he chooses to accept. Without oversoul in the laboratory all hell can break loose. Trump XI refers to the Promethean warrior who, at the dawn of time, gave the saving gift of fire to mankind. He lives in all of us. His positive acts are complete game changers inside the framework of human destiny. His negative acts are recognized by the brand of cleverness that goes too far for its own good. Other comments follow.

The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 200 serial killers. LETAC would like to train police officers by putting them in VR with SID, but they must prove the concept by using prisoners as test subjects. One such prisoner is ex-cop Parker Barnes [Washington]. When SID manages to inject his personality into a nano-machine android, it appears that Barnes might be the only one who can stop him.

The first great film for Russell Crowe, and a very interesting film to say the least. Cyber culture is rarely ever depicted in movies, but this was one of those films which brought some of these underground tendencies to light. What was even more interesting was how evil Sid 6.7 was. Crowe did an excellent job of portraying the demented cyber villain. I especially liked Denzel Washington, who always manages to be believable in his role when he doesn't try to be a 'soul brotha.' Granted, the cinematography was pretty average as well as the music, but then again, the performance of the two main stars really made this film a winner.

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