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Tuesday, December 10, 2013



The Blistering Threat for the Academy Awards: Dallas Buyers Club with Matthew McConaughey,  Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner.

Very rarely,   does this blogger ever reviews movies but in this particular case,   I have just watched a ‘blockbuster’.
  Many of you know my standard credentials,  as a physician/writer.    However,   I have been fortunate to become a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences,  a fancy title for the ability to vote for the Oscars.   In my particular category of so-called ‘expertise’,   I  vote for the ‘Best Screenplay’,   and in effect,  the ‘Best Picture’.    As a result of my membership,   I receive several of the major films that are shown at the movie theaters or on Netflix/Amazon.

I rarely spend more than the first ten minutes watching a film as the quality of the script and therefore of the movie itself,  will organically reveal it’s strengths and deficits in the first ten minutes of the film.    In the movie business,   there is a very legitimate assumption that each page of a script represents one minute of shooting time.     Another basic principle of assessing the quality of a movie script is the simple dramatic ruse that within the allotted ten minutes,  the audience should recognize the protagonist;  identify the dramatic conflict that should be both compelling and intellectually interesting [this is a very difficult duo to create];  as well as surmise a potential resolution.    That’s only the first ten minutes!    Just imagine how good your script has to be.    Another movie axiom of script writing is that unlike the novel or a theater performance,   dialogue is kept at a minimum.    In fact,   the fewer the words,   the more film texture and action portrayed,   the better the movie.
In theoretical terms,  the clearest exemplar of the aforementioned principles of movie script writing would be a ‘car chase’ franchise,  "Fast and Furious" which portrays endless car chases,  car accidents and good guy-bad guy scenarios ad infinitum.    That’s why they are in general quite successful commercially speaking.


However,  once in a long while,   a film is made that completely floors me for its emotional power.    Dallas Buyer's Club immediately grabs me from the very opening shot,   where a rodeo cowboy,  Matthew McConaughey,   bereft of words and replete with images,  is mauling not one but two women in the bull stalls, while in the distance I can see the bull rider and clown performing.
You have to see what I saw.
  It’s not the sex itself which was quite graphic.    But the story then evolves again with few words and many dramatic confrontations about a rodeo cowboy who is homophobic and becomes infected with HIV because of his incessant unprotected sex and drug addiction.
No knee slapper here! 
  For a moment in the film,   I thought  I was going to listen to a message or narrative on the ‘evils of AIDS’.    Fortunately,   for the screenplay writers,  Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack,   they avoid this classical trap.    As Jack Warner once sent one of his writers a note which said something like this:  'If you want me to receive a message,  please send me a telegram.   We are writing a ‘movie picture'.
You get the idea.
Next I watched the camera work of Director Jean-Marc Vallee which was sparse, intense, and highly textured.    Each frame of the film suffused with emotion,  meaning and even symbolism ---yes,  without being heavy handed.    I find out that the director is French Canadian,  born and raised in Quebec.    Again,   I asked myself,  still in a respectful trance of professional awe,   how can a ‘French Canadian’ know so much about Texas and cowboys?
  Clearly,  I was being provincial and myopic.
  But as the issue of how Ron Woodruff survives the doctor’s prognosis of death in thirty days because of his AIDS is  one of the most forceful dramatic actions that I have ever seen in a movie.    Without revealing too much,  the film dares to courageously indict medicine,  the FDA,  and Big Pharma,  all the while refusing to descend into maudlin emotions or congratulatory self-pity.    In fact,  the entrepreneurial skills of the Ron Woodruff to obtain all kinds of ameliorative medicines for himself and his fellow ‘infected prisoners’ makes one of the most intriguing,  original narratives that I had seen.     Moreover,  the fact that my fellow physicians,  the FDA,  and Big Pharma are portrayed accurately as ‘arrogant’,  ‘ignorant’ and ‘dangerous’ made the film even more engrossing for me.
  Then we must talk about the ACTING!
  We all saw,  Robert De Niro gain weight as Jake LaMotta in the Martin Scorcese brilliant homage, "Raging Bull".    But to watch,  McConaughey embody the physical, emotive personification of an emaciated AIDS victim---is a ‘wonder to behold’!    Not only is McConaughey the ‘body/face of AIDS’  but his co-star,   Jared Leto,  is equally brilliant in his incredible portrayal of a Drag Queen with AIDS.

The Dallas Buyers Club,  in my humble opinion as one of six thousand voters,  should win:
[1]  The Best Film.
[2]  The Best Screen Play.
[3]  The Best Director.
[4]  The Best Male Actor.
[5]  The Best Supporting Male Actor.

  Having given you my assessment of the film,  let me also tell you,  that in ten years of voting,  I have lost every time.     This time, for the sake of a great film,   I hope that I am right.    Congratulations to all who were involved in the making of this movie.     No matter what happens on Oscar night,  all of you involved in the making of the Dallas Buyers Club,  are definitely….. WINNING FILM MAKERS!!
  Bien Fait!!  Monsieur,  Le Directeur!  Sois fier!


19 comments:

  1. Being as I am a real Texas cowboy of sorts... I look forward to the movie.

    I haven't seen a great movie in at least 5 years.

    Thank you for the review Dr..

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    1. I am of course the real Texas anti-cowboy and I'll see the film. I graduated from film school at the University of Texas and was the only student in the history of that place who really doesn't like film, and sees very few of them.

      McCaunghey or whatever his name is has made as sudden transformation from matinee idol/hunk into a gritty down and dirty menacing swamp thing.

      He's found his calling.

      Please Dr.P lemme know if you are pursuing the Smedley Butler thing because if not I'm gonna start working on it myself.

      Also I would like to do a feature or series on Marcus Garvey. Yes, actually he was the only black leader in history to preach SELF-RELIANCE instead of dependence. IMHO everything with blacks went terribly wrong when he was destroyed. His movement was international and had millions of followers. He was a force of nature.

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    2. Hey Mit, I hear they have sound now ! : )

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  2. I digress a bit because I haven't seen the movie yet, but witnessed a similar real life version of this "quest for life", when I was attending Loma Linda University many years ago. I dated a girl there who had an aunt (who was a retired R.N. whom everyone called aunt Sadie), who was diagnosed at the time, with advanced breast cancer which had spread to her spine. After some time and treatment, her oncologist from Loma Linda eventually told her that she had "better get her things in order, as he believed that there was no more that they could do for her medically", (and this after her mastectomy, and some time after she had finished her last rounds of 5-fluorouracil and radiation treatments at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Again some time after her last treatments ended, they noticed among other ominous signs; that her SED. rate was increasing). Essentially a diplomatic way of the conventional medical establishment saying "this is it". She then consulted with her brother who was a well respected general surgeon, (also Loma Linda University educated), and to his dismay, aunt Sadie decided to fly out of the U.S., and try an alternative therapy in the Bahamas at a clinic called I.A.T. (Immuno Augmentive Therapy) Founded by a Dr. Burton (not an M.D. I might add but a Phd. in Zoology). When I met aunt Sadie she was in her 70's, some 15 years after her initial diagnosis, and what later must have seemed like a death sentence after her oncologist spoke those aforementioned dreaded words. When I met her, she was hiking and climbing in the hills behind her home with her Doberman Pincher with a broad smile on her face and the warm sun on her shoulders. She had beat the odds somehow, against all conventional wisdom. She outlived her oncologist who verified (before he passed) via various blood tests, as well as medical imaging, that no signs of cancer were evident. He stated to her, that he could not explain this medically.
    Dr. Burton, the founder of I.A.T., with his disdain for the F.D.A., was interesting to say the least. He spent some time on research at Sloan Kettering, however, the FDA was not interested in allowing this therapy to be utilized on humans in the U.S by Dr. Burton at that time.
    Dr. Burton on the other hand, felt it was unethical to spend years doing more trials on animals when people were dying, and believed that the F.D.A., should allow it to be used to help people, which he surmised was not going to happen anytime soon, so he moved outside the jurisdiction of the F.D.A. to Freeport Bahamas.
    It appears that I.A.T. manipulates one's protein chemistry to try to induce one's own body and immune system to shrink cancer tumors.
    Dr. Burton called his then newly formed I.A.T. clinic "The Court of Last Resort", and felt that perhaps 1 out of 10 people could possibly benefit from his treatment of immune therapy. I had an interest in visiting the clinic to see for myself as to what goes on there, and I eventually satisfied my interest and curiosity, by flying there, and was able to talk with several patients with various cancers at the Freeport clinic. Of the dozen and a half patients I talked with, 1 middle aged male, stood out to me because of an original diagnosis being advanced colon cancer, (and he too was given up on by conventional medicine years ago, and after much conventional treatment in the U.S.) seemed at the time to me to have beaten the then stated survival rates for just such an initial diagnosis and subsequent prognosis.


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  3. Certainly not a large enough sampling to hold up to a peer reviewed medical journal's standards by any means, but when one is drowning, who wouldn't reach out for a possible life raft?
    On the other hand, my late mother who was married to a pharmacist with a Phd. in Pharmacology, at the same time I met aunt Sadie, opted for 100% conventional treatment for her breast cancer, as my late father would have "nothing to do with that voodoo medicine" in the Bahamas, co-administered under the supervision by "someone who was not even an M.D. no less". So my late mother; trusting that some magic bullet could be pulled off of my late fathers pharmacy shelf (with the help and persuasive powers of my late father who I believed to be in total denial), was disappointed along with the rest of us, to not have realized that dream. She lived 7 years from initial diagnosis. Slightly better than the average 5 year survival rate at the time (1980's), with initial diagnosis including lymph node involvement. Watching the slow decline in her health while i was in college, made me question the conventional modalities of treatment offered to her and those like her at the time. It also sparked my interest in healthcare, as well as an interest in biomedical ethics and thanatology, and it helped me to clarify in my own mind at least, where to draw the oh so personal line between prolonging life, and prolonging suffering. It also helped me to realize the benefits of hospice care and comfort care. And made me realize the limits of science and medicine, as well as to clarify again in my own mind; that even though we all must die, "it shouldn't be a horrific process" as one thanatologist stated in a more recent L.A. times interview. And this not so unique event of losing a loved one to cancer, sent me on a quest to better understand such issues, the highlight of which was when I had the pleasure of taking a biomedical ethics class from a Dr. Jack Provonsha while at Loma Linda University, who with his 3 doctorate degrees lent a uniquely broad perspective on just such a topic, (M.D., a Phd. in psychology, and a Thd. in theology), in regards to making such tough end of life decisions. About that same time in my educational process, Dr. Provonsha had the unenviable task of being the spokesperson for Loma Linda University Medical Center's Biomedical Ethics Department, when they attempted to save baby Fae, with a cross species heart transplant that failed shortly thereafter to save her life. I felt Dr. Provonsha's ethical imperative was displayed simply and powerfully, even though his ethics were not so unique to him in that they came from an ethic of love; while asking "what is the most loving thing that we can do for this patient" and i believe what set him apart in this regard is the way in which he stayed true to that ethical code in practice throughout his professional life.
    Anyway, hope to see the movie and thanks for the post Dr. Pieczenik, you always seem give us an interesting perspective and read on our world.

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    1. People all over the world are curing their own melanomas with ALDARA, an immunostimulant cream which obliterates almost any skin leision, cancerous or not.

      Over the many years there have been treatments for cancers involving immunostimulation of different kinds.

      Cancers happen all the time in all persons and they are always killed off by a host of immuno-mechanisms. It's only when these mechanisms aren't functioning for some reason that the cancerous cells form colonies, nests, clusters, and tumors, and then spread.

      There are many cases of rare situations in which advanced cancers will suddenly reverse into dramatic remissioins due to the immune system suddenly kicking in.....

      Dr.Lorraine Day, an MD, was terminal when she induced such a remission in herself using sunlight and dietary changes....

      I lived for years with a horrible diet, little exercise and constant fatigue and stress. I developed a small cancer some of which was removed surgically and the remaining cells died off after I changed my diet and way of living.

      "Livestyle" is the key to most cancers.

      "Cancer is the Turning Point" is a good book about the coincidence of cancer spreading and other stresses which occur at the same time in patients.

      I knew someone who was exposed to uranium and plutonium from Atomic bombs tests and he lived with small cancers in his lungs for sixty yerars. Then when he had a few months of constant stress suddenly his cancers grew for the first time in sixty years and he suddenly was overwelmed and died.

      IMHO any cancer can be cured if it's understood as a breakdown of the immune system, and repairing the immune system is the key.

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  4. LFH- Thanks so much for your contribution to the blog. I am sure our readers appreciate your wisdom and your sharing as much as I do. Things must change.

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  5. What happened to preventive medicine??? This should be the primary issue!

    More pills and more pills....! WHY? Because, they (the EVIL GOVERNMENT (F.D.A.) "in bed" with BIG PHARMA) just want to make a profit while they (the EVIL GOVERNMENT (F.D.A.) "in bed" with BIG PHARMA) "EXTERMINATE" all of "U.S."!

    Let U.S. all ware a "Swastika" and state: "HAIL OBAMA!"! What a Führer??? Not really! Illegitimate Obama is just a "bad" actor, with a "bad" scrip from CITY OF LONDON, England!

    Hey, I have got an idea! Let us get CITY OF LONDON, England to produce a "horror flick"! Talk about legendary EVIL! "Pinhead," Jason Voorhees, and Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger would be "JEALOUS"! Illegitimate Obama will be the "main character"! Oh, that is right; he (illegitimate Obama) already is!

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  6. To Dr. Steve Pieczenik M.D. Ph.D.:

    There is another large "BRANCH" for THE ILLUMINATI "TREE"! This is the MORMON CHURCH. The MORMON CHURCH? Yes. Joseph Smith (FOUNDER) was a member of the "ILLUMINATI MASON," and this is how the "ILLUMINATI" work!

    They ("ILLUMINATI") either form small groups or infiltrate other small groups! This particular strategy was originally initiated by the JESUIT ORDER; and in later years (during 18th Century), Johann Adam Weishaupt (6 February 1748 – 18 November 1830), who was educated and trained by the JESUIT ORDER, furthered this said strategy of infiltrating an organization or creating a "false front"!

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  7. Raymond I did a Google search and I think I found a picture of you on the internet playing a guitar with a tattoo on your left forearm. Is that really you Raymond?

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    1. To Dr. Steve Pieczenik M.D. Ph.D.:

      I do not have any tattoos. I do have a mole near
      my right ear; and my left thumb nail is significantly deformed, because of what the C.I.A. and support (WEED AND SEED) did to me during the middle of 2009. They (C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED)) attached something to my left thumb that broke the skin just below the joint (middle of my left thumb). Within a couple of days, there was a rash that started spreading up my arm! Radioactive virus??? Maybe! However, the rash disappeared within a year. All that is left is the said deformed left thumb nail!

      I believe the C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED) have injected with several different things to see what would happen! I believe some of the said injections contained deadly viruses and possibly radioactive substances! However, GOD DOES NOT WANT ME TO DIE! Since I sleep outside, the C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED) have easy access to me! All they (C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED)) need to do is KNOCK ME OUT and injected me with something!

      I am currently losing mobility in my legs! Therefore, they (C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED)) must have injected me with a type of neurological disease! Furthermore, I am always somewhat tired and out of breath to a point! There is some respiratory damage due to the cocaine use (smoking "CRACK") "off and on" from 1989 to February 18, 2012; however, this would NOT cause me to lose mobility in my limbs, especially my legs!

      What is unfortunate: I am completely "ISOLATED" (NO FAMILY and NO CLOSE FRIENDS)! My mother (Eunice Pauline Carlson) died at Anaheim Memorial Hospital on March 5, 2002; and by 2006, my father (Roy Emmanuel Carlson Jr.) and two (2) of my brothers (Richard Earl Carlson and Ronald Lee Carlson) were dead! I believe, just recently, Robert Arnold Carlson also died; therefore, all of my immediate family are now dead! My mother had three (3) sisters (Esther, Lois, and Phillis) and I believe one (1) of her (mother) sisters have died since 2002! Almost all the relatives on my father's side are now dead!

      My demographics: 6' 2" TALL, Hazel Eyes, Brown Hair, and about 250 lbs.. I am a Caucasian of European descent, and I was born on January 5, 1964. However, thanks to the C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED) I do not have a birth identity, because they (C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED) have illegally modified all of MY RECORDS!

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    2. To Dr. Steve Pieczenik M.D. Ph.D.:

      I now believe, based upon circumstantial evidence, that Matthew Alan Faris was chosen to get my "watered down" identity! Matthew Alan Faris' demographics: 5' 10" TALL, short Blond Hair, Blue Eyes, and about 200 lbs. (chubby)! Recently, I heard Matthew Alan Faris may have some facial hair, and Matthew Alan Faris may have lost some weight (lost possibly 20 lbs.)! I made a mistake of Matthew Alan Faris' birth date. Matthew Alan Faris' birth date is June 6, 1979; therefore, Matthew Alan Faris is 34 years old! Matthew Alan Faris was possibly born in Kentucky or Tennessee!

      During 2007 and 2008, Matthew Alan Faris was arrested twice (2007 and 2008) for being a felony fugitive from Kentucky; however, on both occasions, all the charges were dismissed! WHY? Currently, the COURT FILE seems to be destroyed regarding said two (2) felony charges! Remember, this was the warrant! What happened in Kentucky???

      My understanding, after brief conversations with Matthew Alan Faris, Matthew Alan Faris' daughter died under mysterious circumstances; and immediately afterward, Matthew Alan Faris' family "supposedly" disowned Matthew Alan Faris over said tragic death of the daughter! Did Matthew Alan Faris do something criminal to the said daughter??? Maybe, the C.I.A. and THE BUSH FAMILY saw an opportunity; and gave Matthew Alan Faris a second chance with my "watered down" identity!

      On my mother's DEATH CERTIFICATE, the place of birth is Tennessee; however, my mother was NOT BORN IN TENNESSEE! I do not think, during 2002, the C.I.A. was looking a possible individuals in Tennessee! I believe, during 2007, the C.I.A. started looking in Tennessee and Kentucky for potential individuals based upon what my mother's birth certificate stated! And, the C.I.A. and support found Matthew Alan Faris, who also claims to be a member of the "ILLUMINATI MASONS"!

      The "LIST" John Edward Addington talked about may have been a distraction; however, I would NOT completely rule out the said "LIST" of potential individuals to possibly get my "watered down" (prior felonies removed) identity!

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    3. [CORRECTION] ......

      On my mother's DEATH CERTIFICATE, the place of birth is Tennessee; however, my mother was NOT BORN IN TENNESSEE! I do not think, during 2002, the C.I.A. was looking [correction] at possible individuals in Tennessee! .....

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  8. Raymond you should post a picture of yourself on this blog site in my opinion. That way if anything were to be anywhere near what you say to be true about your identity switch, you would be like a undesirable mark, a hardened target if you will. What do you think of my suggestion?

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    1. A picture would NOT WORK, because THE C.I.A. would just "switch" the picture! This is the reason why I did NOT post my picture at my YOU TUBE CHANNEL or any of my E-Mail accounts.

      The only way I would be able to prevail is for someone to hire me a lawyer that can practice law in the STATE of California. A different strategy would be needed. Because, the regular strategy or routine has already been dealt with by THE C.I.A. and support (including WEED AND SEED)! Unfortunately, Dr. Pieczenik M.D. Ph.D. does NOT WANT TO HIRE ME A LAWYER!

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  9. Raymond what do you want the lawyer to do for you?

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  10. Connecticut hospitals changing routine due to communist BARI Malik Shabazz.
    http://www.theday.com/article/20131213/NWS01/312139944/-1/NWS#.UrU1dn-9KSP

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  11. Golden Globe Winners! you nailed it! It is disappointing that no one in DC will believe your wisdom and Intuition!

    "Also performing well at the awards show considered a key indicator for Oscar gold: the AIDS drama "Dallas Buyers Club." Matthew McConaughey won his first Golden Globe as lead actor in the film, as did Jared Leto for supporting actor in the film."

    http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-golden-globe-awards-2014-main,0,5157661.story#ixzz2qG9nLZL4

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