The Secret, directed by Drew Heriot, 90 minutes, available on DVD, in book form, in three-CD audiobook form, debuting at Edge Life Expo on November 10-12 at Minneapolis Convention Center, online at http://thesecret.tv
What allows some people to lavish in unbridled wealth while others wander the streets panhandling for spare change? Why do some people experience joy each and every day, while others suffer?
The secret to wealth and happiness may, in fact, not be a secret at all. It may be the universal Law of Attraction, a principle that keeps the universe together, that governs how anything in our reality is created – from the initial thought to its manifestation in three-dimensional form.
What is astounding is that this process works the same for every human being, and yet, some of us are aware of it and others are not. Some of us have used it to our advanatage and others have languished in despair for a very long time.
Enter The Secret, a video in the same vein as What the Bleep!? – a word-of mouth phenomenon that took us into the quantum field and back out again – with the intention of telling each and every viewer how to use the Law of Attraction to create happier and more fulfilling lives.
The Secret is a series of interviews with authors, motivational leaders, physicists, financial advisors, investment trainers, philosophers, psychologists and others who tell us that "the secret," the Law of Attraction, transformed the lives of all those in history who knew it – Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein – and can transform ours in comparable ways. More importantly, these testimonials speak to the ability of each of us to integrate the Law of Attraction into our lives and share wisdom on how to do just that.
It is my personal opinion that this could be the most important video you ever purchase in your life. I only wish I had seen it 20 years ago, or perhaps a few lifetimes earlier. Live long and prosper!
Zen Noir, starring Duane Sharp, Kim Chan, Ezra Buzzington, Debra Miller, Jennifer Siebel and Howard Fong, directed by Marc Rosenbush, 71 minutes, opens Nov. 10 at Lagoon Cinema, Minneapolis
Elderly monk falls over dead while meditating. Detective wearing trenchcoat enters monastery to investigate a murder. Detective’s job is to identify the killer. Early investigation yields several suspects. One older monk. A younger monk who assumes the dead monk’s duties of ringing the bell. And a bald woman dressed like a Buddhist nun.
At first, in a somewhat corny style, detective begins questioning each suspect, only to realize that there is no direct evidence that a murder even took place. Perhaps the dead monk died of natural causes. So why is the detective still trying to solve the murder? And why did one of the suspects kill himself? And why is detective falling in love with the woman who may or may not be a nun? And why won’t the remaining elder monk answer any questions? And why is detective having flashbacks of his long-departed wife? And more importantly, why does detective stay at the scene?
This film is not for the movie-going crowd that seeks instant gratification with action, special effects or intensity. In fact, many people who catch this film will not stay around long enough to see it to its end. Some will walk out. Some will fall asleep. And some will demand their money back. That is just the effect, I suspect, that Zen Noir’s writer, director and producer Marc Rosenbush might have expected. In fact, he probably anticipates his film to be totally panned by mainstream film critics.
The key here, however, is not to fall for the trap of comparing Zen Noir to every other piece of cinema that comes along. It is art reflecting life reflecting art. It’s a highly experiential piece that, if you stay with it, and watch the mind make judgments and clash and argue and throw a fit, and then settle down to what is, you just might come out on the other side with glimpse of what this film is able to do.
Zen Noir is for the inward-seeking filmgoer who is willing to use cinema as a mirror, as a koan – and nothing more. Any attempt to pigeonhole it as anything else is missing the point entirely.
