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Friday, August 30, 2024

Anarchism in America


"Anarchism in America" is a 1983 documentary directed by Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher, and produced by Pacific Street Films. It was re-released on DVD by AK Press. The film includes interviews with influential anarchists such as Murray Bookchin, Paul Avrich, Jello Biafra, Mollie Steimer, and Karl Hess, as well as the poet Kenneth Rexroth. "The state is essentially violent"

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Milk & Serial

Milk & Serial is a 62-minute, found-footage horror by YouTuber Curry Barker, and it manages to be at once ruthlessly effective and wonderfully authentic. Racking up 348,000 views in the two weeks since its release, its popularity has been supercharged by raves on Reddit that have since crossed over into traditional media. Bloody Disgusting called it “one of the year’s best-kept secrets” and this week Barker found himself being interviewed by no less than Variety.

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

 


The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is a 2013 British music documentary on the acclaimed band The Stone Roses directed by Shane Meadows. The film stars band members Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary Mounfield and Alan Wren. The film was released on 5 June 2013 in the United Kingdom.

The film, which has received positive reviews from critics, follows the band reforming in 2012 after a 16-year split, capturing the band at work and in their everyday lives as they practise for their much-anticipated reunion on a tour across Europe, which culminated in three triumphant homecoming gigs at Manchester's Heaton Park.

Thursday, August 22, 2024

The Quiet American (2002)

 


The Quiet American is a 2002 political drama film directed by Phillip Noyce, and stars Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, and Do Thi Hai Yen. The screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan is adapted from Graham Greene's bestselling 1955 novel of the same name set in Vietnam.

In contrast to the prior 1958 film version, which abandoned Greene's cautionary tale about foreign intervention in favor of anticommunist advocacy of American power, the 2002 film is faithful to the source novel, illustrating the moral culpability of American agents in arranging terrorist actions aimed at the French colonial government and the Viet Minh. Going beyond Greene's original work, the film utilizes a montage ending with superimposed images of American soldiers from the intervening decades of the Vietnam War.

Miramax paid $5.5 million for distribution rights in North America and some other territories, but the film was shelved after test audiences perceived it as unpatriotic in the wake of the September 11 attacks.[1] The film finally received an Oscar qualification release in November 2002 and went on to gross US$12.9 million in limited theatrical release in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics and Caine was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The Quiet American (1958)


The Quiet American is a 1958 American drama romance thriller war film. It was the first film adaptation of Graham Greene's bestselling 1955 novel of the same name, and one of the first films to deal with the geo-politics of Indochina. It was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and stars Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave, and Giorgia Moll. It was critically well-received, but was not considered a box-office success.

The film flips the plot of the novel on its head; it turns a cautionary tale about foreign intervention into an anticommunist advocacy of the use of American power abroad. In writing the script, Mankiewicz received uncredited input from CIA officer Edward Lansdale, who was often said to have been Greene’s inspiration for the American character he had called "Pyle" in the novel. (In the 1958 film, this character, though unnamed, was played by Murphy). However, in fact, Greene did not meet Landsdale until after completing much of the novel. According to Greene, the inspiration for the character of Pyle was Leo Hochstetter, an American serving as public affairs director for the Economic Aid Mission in Indochina who was assumed by the French to “belong to the CIA”; they had lectured him during the “long drive back to Saigon on the necessity of finding a ‘third force in Vietnam.’”

The film stirred up controversy. Greene was furious that his anti-war message had been excised from the film, and he disavowed it as a "propaganda film for America."

Click on the image above for the entire film.

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Human Traffic

Human Traffic a 1999 British-Irish independent film that perfectly captures the essence of the 90s rave culture. Directed by Justin Kerrigan, this cult classic dives into the lives of five friends as they navigate a wild, drug-fueled weekend in Cardiff, Wales. The film brilliantly explores the highs and lows of the club scene, relationships, and the desire to escape the monotony of daily life. Featuring a talented cast, including John Simm and Danny Dyer in his film debut, Human Traffic stands out for its raw portrayal of youth culture and its iconic soundtrack.

Wednesday, August 07, 2024

Begotten (1990)

Begotten. God dies, Mother Earth, the Son of Earth, Flesh on Bone.

Presented in a surreal, gory and entirely visual manner, Begotten tells of the death of religion, the abuse of nature by Man and a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is.