"Shangrila Towers?"

If you've never seen the movie "Brazil," directed by Terry Gilliam, then I believe you're missing out on one of the best portrayals of how a man can at once be a victim of the society he inhabits and also complicit in helping that society function.

In "Brazil," Sam Lowry, a lowly worker at the Ministry of Information's Records department, delivers a refund check to the wife of Harry Buttle, who was killed when the police mistakenly raided his apartment looking for Harry Tuttle. The name of Buttle's apartment, was, of course, Shangrila Towers.

Shangri-La is, of course, what many of us seek in these disturbing times. But too often, we get Shangrila Towers instead - dark, dirty, and isolating.