And let's not forget which nation is the only one to have unleashed a nuclear weapon on a foreign population - twice.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Syria: An Important Point....
... graphically made, and forwarded to me by Paul Kaskiewicz -
And let's not forget which nation is the only one to have unleashed a nuclear weapon on a foreign population - twice.
And let's not forget which nation is the only one to have unleashed a nuclear weapon on a foreign population - twice.
Monday, September 2, 2013
"Closed Circuit": A Quick Review
The British political thriller "Closed Circuit", starring Eric Bana and splendidly British Rebecca Hall, is on wide US release this week, though it seems to have received little publicity and few reviews.
The film is exciting and suspenseful for its first half, but then loses its nerve and wanders around, throwing away many opportunities for drama, including "how would the New York Times react if its deputy London Bureau Chief was suspiciously killed while investigating a British Government terrorism cover-up?"
And it's careless, even amateurish, in small ways, such as not bothering to explain or explore that Bana, an excellent actor, has a marked Australian accent. I'm sure there are Aussie barristers practising in London, but nationality would play a role in how Bana's character came to be where he is, in this ominous political trial as well as in his troubled relationship with Hall's "proper lady". Instead the filmmakers just ignore the implications of their own casting.
Having muttered all that, the film is well worth seeing for those who like to explore alternate "War On Terror" realities.
So far, most of the big newspapers don't seem to have reviewed the movie, which may tell us something in itself.*
Here's a clip to whet your appetite: http://humanoidmanipulator.com/closed-circuit-movie-clip-paranoid-2013-eric-bana-movie-hd/
Socialist David Walsh has written an excellent review, which analyses the political aspects of the film, and nails many of the salient points about the film's significance in our current tumultuous global political situation:
"If Closed Circuit is not as riveting as it ought to be by rights, considering its subject, that may have to do with the artistic limitations of its creators, but, in my view, inadequate social conceptions also come into play. The filmmakers still tend to take the “war on terror” and associated developments at face value, even as they strenuously criticize the authorities’ repressive and even homicidal over-reactions.
The hydra-headed military-intelligence apparatus, which soaks up enormous sums of money and employs enormous numbers of people in the US, the UK and elsewhere, has not emerged primarily to confront the danger represented by a few thousand Islamist fanatics. The terrorist threat from that region exists in the first place because the great powers have been plundering the resources of the Middle East, propping up hated, brutal dictators there and supporting repression of the Palestinian people for more than half a century.
The present social order, with its gaping social inequality, is incompatible with the old democratic norms. London is home to financial criminals in large numbers, while conditions for masses of people, especially young ones, worsen unrelentingly. The cameras and police and spies and military have arrived on the scene for that reason, to deal with the coming social explosion.
This is not something within the thinking of many artists at present. The drama here unfolds almost entirely apart from British conditions and British life, it doesn’t point toward them, it remains the province of two high-minded, isolated Good Samaritans—and that weakens the proceedings and their emotional impact.
In any event, artistically incomplete though it may be, Closed Circuit is a chilling, disturbing film. Its weaknesses have no doubt helped generate the generally lukewarm or negative reviews in the American media, but it is also a movie that makes the critics nervous, because it comes too close to what everyone knows is home. Broadbent, as the attorney general, gets to deliver one of the strongest lines in the film, whose implications Closed Circuit only hints at, when he tells Bana’s Rose: “There are powers at play that neither you nor I may even hope to control.”
You can read the full review here.
(*ADDED NOTE: There's a review in the New York Times by the unimpressive Manohla Dargis, whose lacklustre writing used to "grace" the LA Weekly. Don't waste your time reading it; she ignores the political significance of the movie, and hides behind a chuckling front of "oh-what-fun-to-be-so-paranoid-in-a-movie". Come to think of it, maybe that is how the NYT would react to a foreign Government murdering one of their own.)
The film is exciting and suspenseful for its first half, but then loses its nerve and wanders around, throwing away many opportunities for drama, including "how would the New York Times react if its deputy London Bureau Chief was suspiciously killed while investigating a British Government terrorism cover-up?"
And it's careless, even amateurish, in small ways, such as not bothering to explain or explore that Bana, an excellent actor, has a marked Australian accent. I'm sure there are Aussie barristers practising in London, but nationality would play a role in how Bana's character came to be where he is, in this ominous political trial as well as in his troubled relationship with Hall's "proper lady". Instead the filmmakers just ignore the implications of their own casting.
Having muttered all that, the film is well worth seeing for those who like to explore alternate "War On Terror" realities.
So far, most of the big newspapers don't seem to have reviewed the movie, which may tell us something in itself.*
Here's a clip to whet your appetite: http://humanoidmanipulator.com/closed-circuit-movie-clip-paranoid-2013-eric-bana-movie-hd/
Socialist David Walsh has written an excellent review, which analyses the political aspects of the film, and nails many of the salient points about the film's significance in our current tumultuous global political situation:
"If Closed Circuit is not as riveting as it ought to be by rights, considering its subject, that may have to do with the artistic limitations of its creators, but, in my view, inadequate social conceptions also come into play. The filmmakers still tend to take the “war on terror” and associated developments at face value, even as they strenuously criticize the authorities’ repressive and even homicidal over-reactions.
The hydra-headed military-intelligence apparatus, which soaks up enormous sums of money and employs enormous numbers of people in the US, the UK and elsewhere, has not emerged primarily to confront the danger represented by a few thousand Islamist fanatics. The terrorist threat from that region exists in the first place because the great powers have been plundering the resources of the Middle East, propping up hated, brutal dictators there and supporting repression of the Palestinian people for more than half a century.
The present social order, with its gaping social inequality, is incompatible with the old democratic norms. London is home to financial criminals in large numbers, while conditions for masses of people, especially young ones, worsen unrelentingly. The cameras and police and spies and military have arrived on the scene for that reason, to deal with the coming social explosion.
This is not something within the thinking of many artists at present. The drama here unfolds almost entirely apart from British conditions and British life, it doesn’t point toward them, it remains the province of two high-minded, isolated Good Samaritans—and that weakens the proceedings and their emotional impact.
In any event, artistically incomplete though it may be, Closed Circuit is a chilling, disturbing film. Its weaknesses have no doubt helped generate the generally lukewarm or negative reviews in the American media, but it is also a movie that makes the critics nervous, because it comes too close to what everyone knows is home. Broadbent, as the attorney general, gets to deliver one of the strongest lines in the film, whose implications Closed Circuit only hints at, when he tells Bana’s Rose: “There are powers at play that neither you nor I may even hope to control.”
You can read the full review here.
(*ADDED NOTE: There's a review in the New York Times by the unimpressive Manohla Dargis, whose lacklustre writing used to "grace" the LA Weekly. Don't waste your time reading it; she ignores the political significance of the movie, and hides behind a chuckling front of "oh-what-fun-to-be-so-paranoid-in-a-movie". Come to think of it, maybe that is how the NYT would react to a foreign Government murdering one of their own.)
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Added Topless note
As my dear friend evan said about an earlier Topless in NYC post,
(This is a cheeky way of telling you that our count now stands at 174 - will we break 200 by day's end, which I believe is something like 4 pm Pacific time?)
"FREE THE TOPLESS TWELVE!"
But evan, why are you picking out only six girls?
Bah-boom!
(This is a cheeky way of telling you that our count now stands at 174 - will we break 200 by day's end, which I believe is something like 4 pm Pacific time?)
Topless Girls Break Something...
Good to see some serious reading going on...
I've been dead chuffed all day, with having resoundingly broken the Century barrier - we're now at 169 and still climbing! So much so that I don't even resent our lovely topless friends in New York, when they report,
"Yesterday, following a post about us on Reddit, more than 100,000 people visited our site, by far the most we’ve ever had in one 24-hour period, and this flood of traffic somehow broke something. Don’t know what. We’ve contacted WordPress to see what we need to do to fix it...."
As you will know by now, these are the ladies of New York's Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, who have their blog here.
As a Comment on their site said, "Every year we get closer to European attitudes towards the nude human body. I think this is wonderful."
Soon, I hope, they'll be reading my book "The War On The 60s"!
I've been dead chuffed all day, with having resoundingly broken the Century barrier - we're now at 169 and still climbing! So much so that I don't even resent our lovely topless friends in New York, when they report,
"Yesterday, following a post about us on Reddit, more than 100,000 people visited our site, by far the most we’ve ever had in one 24-hour period, and this flood of traffic somehow broke something. Don’t know what. We’ve contacted WordPress to see what we need to do to fix it...."
Savoring the sweet taste of success...
... and attracting a following
As you will know by now, these are the ladies of New York's Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, who have their blog here.
As a Comment on their site said, "Every year we get closer to European attitudes towards the nude human body. I think this is wonderful."
Soon, I hope, they'll be reading my book "The War On The 60s"!
We did it!
Hi dear readers!
I just checked in quickly to the blog, and found that we have had 144 pageviews today. We broke the Century barrier! In fact, we scored a gross, whatever that is!
Thanks everyone! Must admit, I'm a little surprised, as what I have posted today was a story about Dick Van Dyke, and a correction!
However, it inspires me to continue. As always, I would love to have comments and followers.
As Labor Day weekend begins, Suzi Weissman's excellent "Beneath The Surface" on KPFK radio has a good interview with a Palestinian Professor of Politics about Syria (he thinks the poison gas was likely launched by the Syrian opposition, presumably to provoke an American attack on the regime. I think that makes a lot of sense.)
But especially, Suzi covers the Fast Food Walkouts, which seem to be working in terms of raising public awareness - a fascinating discussion, which you can listen to - anywhere in the world - by clicking here.
Peace and Love, all, and thanks again!
I just checked in quickly to the blog, and found that we have had 144 pageviews today. We broke the Century barrier! In fact, we scored a gross, whatever that is!
Thanks everyone! Must admit, I'm a little surprised, as what I have posted today was a story about Dick Van Dyke, and a correction!
However, it inspires me to continue. As always, I would love to have comments and followers.
As Labor Day weekend begins, Suzi Weissman's excellent "Beneath The Surface" on KPFK radio has a good interview with a Palestinian Professor of Politics about Syria (he thinks the poison gas was likely launched by the Syrian opposition, presumably to provoke an American attack on the regime. I think that makes a lot of sense.)
But especially, Suzi covers the Fast Food Walkouts, which seem to be working in terms of raising public awareness - a fascinating discussion, which you can listen to - anywhere in the world - by clicking here.
Peace and Love, all, and thanks again!
May I correct myself?
When I ranted the other day about Obama's spinelessness, I didn't mean to imply that we should rush into an invasion of Syria, or anything like it.
The whole issue is very complicated, from the point of view of Middle Eastern intrigue as well the point of view of America's long history of using false pretexts to attack other countries. "Remember The Maine!". Not to mention what the British Press referred to as W's "dodgy dossier", the lies that dragged America's allies into the ghastly Iraq mess.
I hope to get myself together soon to write something about Syria, but don't wait for any profound conclusions....
Also the very timely new movie, "Closed Circuit" -
The whole issue is very complicated, from the point of view of Middle Eastern intrigue as well the point of view of America's long history of using false pretexts to attack other countries. "Remember The Maine!". Not to mention what the British Press referred to as W's "dodgy dossier", the lies that dragged America's allies into the ghastly Iraq mess.
I hope to get myself together soon to write something about Syria, but don't wait for any profound conclusions....
Also the very timely new movie, "Closed Circuit" -
Sophisticated Hollywood Judgement
So you're the owner of the hugely profitable James Bond franchise, a series of hard-charging spy thrillers with a hero who never fails to beat up the bad guys, heroically withstand torture, and unfailingly bed a string of gorgeous women in every film...
As was said of Ian Fleming's books back in the Cold War 50s when they began, "sex, sadism and snobbery"....
Now James Bond, inimitably played by Sean Connery, announces he's quitting the role - wants to be taken seriously as an actor.
What can you possibly do to replace such a screen icon? Well, if you're highly respected multi-millionaire Hollywood Producer Cubby Broccoli, you offer this, possibly the biggest role in popular cinema, to....
Wait for it....
Dick Van Dyke!
Yep, you'd have to be nuts, wouldn't you?
But Van Dyke himself tells the story in an amusing article here, about his interview on Kevin Pollock's chat show.
Quote: `If Van Dyke had really wanted the role, he was in the right place at the right time. Broccoli produced "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and Ian Fleming, who created James Bond in a series of novels, wrote the story that was the basis for "Chitty Chitty." But instead of the American funnyman, Broccoli cast Australian model George Lazenby as Bond in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."'
As was said of Ian Fleming's books back in the Cold War 50s when they began, "sex, sadism and snobbery"....
Now James Bond, inimitably played by Sean Connery, announces he's quitting the role - wants to be taken seriously as an actor.
What can you possibly do to replace such a screen icon? Well, if you're highly respected multi-millionaire Hollywood Producer Cubby Broccoli, you offer this, possibly the biggest role in popular cinema, to....
Wait for it....
Dick Van Dyke!
Yep, you'd have to be nuts, wouldn't you?
But Van Dyke himself tells the story in an amusing article here, about his interview on Kevin Pollock's chat show.
Quote: `If Van Dyke had really wanted the role, he was in the right place at the right time. Broccoli produced "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and Ian Fleming, who created James Bond in a series of novels, wrote the story that was the basis for "Chitty Chitty." But instead of the American funnyman, Broccoli cast Australian model George Lazenby as Bond in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."'
`Daniel Craig is already committed to the next
two James Bond movies, the first arriving in 2015. But after he's
done, perhaps the current producers of the Bond might consider giving
Van Dyke another chance. Judging from his recent work, at 87 years of
age he's still sharp, he has great timing, and he can dance. And he's
even nimble enough to escape from a burning car. Now if can
just work on that accent.'
There's a long video of the entire TV interview here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RJiptMYGA4
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