Movie Reviews from The Fox Hole – Possession (2009)

Today I’m test driving a possible new feature here at The Pagan & the Pen. As some of you know I do a Sunday feature  where I interview author’s on my own blog because my main passion is writing, but I have another passion–movies. In particular I adore horror, fantasy, suspense…oh, hell I just love movies. 😀 My collection of movies is huge some dating back to the early 1960’s. I came up with the idea to review movies from that collection and this is my first review.

So, here goes nothing folks! 😉

Possession (2009)

POSSESSION

TRAILER HERE

Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace, Michael Landes

I admit going into this movie with a bit of hesitation. After all, Sarah Michelle Gellar isn’t on my Top 10 List of best actresses. Yes, I openly admit to being a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and their creator Joss Whedon, but Ms. Gellar wasn’t the one I watched Buffy for, actually, her character, although the star, annoyed me to no end. That’s a discussion for another day though.  Possession caught my eye because of Lee Pace and William B. Davis’ names attached to it and the subject matter. Sadly, Davis aka The Cigarette Smoking Man of X-Files fame is in the movie all of maybe three minutes.

Possession is an American adaption of the 2002 Korean film Addicted. I haven’t seen the original film so I have no source of comparison, but I was pleasantly surprised. For a remake of an Asian film it was better than most and actually had me second-guessing myself at times.

Sarah Michelle Gellar portrays Jessica, an attorney in San Francisco, who is happily married to Ryan, an artist, played by the adorable Michael Landes. As the movie opens, they are celebrating their first wedding anniversary, but their life isn’t as perfect as you might think. The biggest problem, although Ryan doesn’t see it, is his brother Roman, played by the exquisitely delicious Lee Pace.

Roman is the complete opposite of Ryan, on the wrong side of the law, and the bad boy. We’re impressed with the idea early on that he lusts for his brother’s wife and that there is a possible history between Jess and her now brother-in-law. Lee Pace does a superb job of making Roman the type of character that sends your skin crawling along your bones. Having only seen Pace in one other thing (ABC’s Pushing Daisies) I was surprised how wicked he was capable of being.

After a freak traffic accident on the Golden Gate Bridge, Jess’ discovers her world collapsing, her husband and his brother both ending up on life support. One year after the accident, Roman wakes from his coma a changed man in more ways than one. The memories he has are not his own, but rather his brother’s. It appears that the soul of her husband has taken over the body of Roman his brother, who she despises, while his body lingers on the verge of physical death in the hospital. This sets off a chain of events that has Jessica believing either she’s losing her mind or that something sinister is going on.

Now although this isn’t the traditional version of a walk-in it definitely fits the bill. For those who are unfamiliar with the term a walk-in occurs when one soul leaves the body and another takes over. Those who believe in walk-ins claim that a deal, made on the other side between two souls, agrees once the first soul has accomplished what it wants to it agrees to walk away from the physical body and the second soul walks in.

As the truth unfolds, the writers tease the audience with subtle hints. For some viewers, especially those of us who’ve seen one too many suspense or horror movies the ending might not be that big of a surprise. It’s not as scary as it could have been and there’s a distinct lack of blood and gore, which I applaud.  I have to give the writers credit though for trying their damnedest to keep you in suspense.

In my opinion, the story is solid, but the pacing is a bit slow. My biggest complaint and perhaps this is just me; I have a hard time believing Sarah Michelle Gellar as an attorney. Lee Pace though steals the movie with his portrayal of Roman a man, who is at first slime on toast, and then does a complete 360, to tug on our heartstrings.

Possession is one of those movies that are perfect for a rainy afternoon when you just want to curl up on the couch with a drink, bowl of popcorn, and under a favorite blanket. Surprisingly there is even a message about love that might surprise you.  It’s well worth the rental fee and a lazy afternoon viewing.

Final Rating: 3/5 Fox Pups

~*~

Rating System:

5 Fox Pups – Must See/Can’t Miss

4 Fox Pups – Excellent

3 Fox Pups – Good

2 Fox Pups – Passable

1 Fox Pups – Skip It

Hot News Item: Pagans Request the Reburial of Bones!

How do you feel about your Ancient Ancestors being dug up, being plopped out, and being stuck inside some horrible basement somewhere because no one knows what to do with them?

 

Thanks to Bryn Colvin, we received this link and video of Pagan Emma Restall Orr speaking for a Pagan cause. The video is featured on BBC news, so please check it out and tell us what you think.

Should our Pagan Ancestors be returned to the Mother Earth?

Click for Video

Pagan Holidays for March 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 2010

I am going to do the holidays from March 8 (Moon-day) to March 14th (Sun-day) this week. That way Pagans or whoever can plan ahead if you are wanting to do something special.

Now, grab your stuff and let’s step back in time and see what our Ancient Pagan Ancestors were doing!!!!

Monday March 8

The Greeks are having their Festival for their Goddess Artemis today. Artemis is honored today for protecting animals and or crops.

And in Welsh -land today is Welsh Witch Day–when women who were of magic walked among the common folk being able to do so without finding themselves recognized or harmed.

Tuesday March 9

Get ready because so far the Greeks are kicking the week off with huge celebrations. Today, they are at it again, only this time women were honoring Aphrodite and Adonis.

Wednesday March 10

Rome will not be undone by the Greeks lol…so today they are raising one of their most ANCIENT deities up high and having a feast of Anna Perenna. This grand celebration would be held inside a crop of fruit trees. For every wine you raise and drink in honor of the Goddess, you shall then be blessed one year of wondrous life. So needless to say, men and women were raising as many cups of wine as they could….and probably NO ONE was walking home.

Thursday March 11

Ah so the Greeks in this week long competition will honor their Heracles today while matching the Romans who will also honor their Hercules.

Friday March 12

I think the Greeks and the Romans are all passed out and recuperating. So moving them over, because the Egyptian Sekhmet is moving in because on this day, long, long ago, she almost destroyed the entire world. Yep, someone or something ticked her off. Know who it was? A group of men plotting to destroy Ra. Yep, so Ra sent his daughter out to destroy these mortals. Sekhmet did so, but like any enraged and angry daughter, she went a little overboard, getting lost in her blood thirst by slaughtering every mortal in her path. In order to calm her down, Ra distracted her with red beer—which Sekhmet confused for blood…in guzzling it all, she ended up getting drunk and passing right out. Once she woke up, her temper was cooled.

Now, while Egypt remembers how they once bit the dust, the Babylonians will be having a feast for their Marduk who slew his own mother, Tiamat.

Saturday March 13

Burgsonndeg—welcoming Spring and the rebirth of the sun. Pagans will be lighting the bonfires at Twilight.

Sunday March 14

Egypt will be honoring the Goddess Uadjet. Does anyone remember the spitting cobra which helped to conceal and hide Isis when she was pregnant with Horus? Well, that was the Goddess Uadjet taking form. Pharaohs wore her image proudly for her same protection.

Meanwhile, Rome takes the lead again as the Ancile –(a shield of protection given to Rome by the Gods) are carried by their Priests through the streets. Sacred to MARS, and at the end of the parading, a great feast was held called Mamurius Veturius—who made eleven of the shields to protect the Ancile—the one made by the Gods.

Today the Runic Half Month of Beorc shall begin.

See you all next week,

C.H. Scarlett

www.chscarlett.net

Families and Rites of Passage

Pagan folk very naturally want to celebrate their rites of passage in pagan ways. Some places you can even do that legally, but the bigger issue lies in handling non-pagan wider families, and possibly also friend circles.

Part of the point of a rite of passage is to have an important personal event – be that the birth of a child, a marriage, or a death – witnessed by the wider community. Rites of passage ask those around us to accept that our circumstances have changed in a big way. Consequently, it doesn’t really work or make sense to exclude the non-pagans from such events.

Where there are serious tensions over religious differences, this can be a minefield, and I can’t really cover that here. What I want to offer today are some strategies for including non-pagan family in pagan ritual.

1) Talk a lot before hand. People tend to fear what they do not know. Make sure non-pagans attending your rite of passage know what is expected of them, how they should dress and what they should bring. Give them a sense of the shape the celebration will take so that they can better follow events as they happen.

2) Never, ever in this kind of ritual speak for others, or require anyone to voice prayer in any way that may conflict with their own beliefs. Make it clear beforehand that you will not do this and that no one will be compromised in their own spirituality.

3) Invite participation. If you can have one or two non-pagan folk taking a small active role in your celebration, it will help all the others to engage, fell comfortable and part of it. If possible, allow everyone time to speak and offer their own things in their own ways.

4) If you have a celebrant leading the ritual, make sure they are aware of the presence of non-pagans, and that they feel comfortable working with that. (Most will).

5) Be patient with people if they find it hard. This is most true when you have a non-pagan family trying to bury a loved one in a pagan way, when they don’t really understand what is called for. Listening compassionately and answering questions will enable people to do what is needed.

Rites of passage create the most amazing opportunities to share aspects of your spiritual life with your wider community. It can be a scary thing to do, but it can also be powerful and affirming. It can ease fear and further understanding. It’s a way of bringing pagan practice out into the open. Seeing the sincerity, celebration and beauty of pagan ritual can dispel a lot of myths and fears for folk. It’s well worth going the extra mile to make that happen.