Films watched Aug 28

Machotaildrop

Watch this movie if you love skateboarding. Shackle Me Not + Clockwork Orange (sans 'ultra'violence)
Charlie and the chocolate factory except you don't buy chocolate bars to win, you send in a skating video, winner gets sponsored by Machotaildrop; Willie Wonka is The Baron. Skateboarding is presented as a high cultural pursuit. Machotaildrop skaters live in a mansion filled with kitsch Victorian art e.g. plastic busts, a plastic horse, rococo wallpaper etc. The retired skaters work in the basements making skateboards. The young protagonist hunts for untouched concrete to grind in some forest and comes across a group of lost boys called the Manwolfs (who dress like Pussy Riot).
Shows the use of what Barthes called 'motivated' symbols. Great old school skating reminiscent of H-Street.
Good one to watch on class A drugs but not booze cause you will lose the intricacies of the plot.
BTW they are fucking 'manwolfs' every retarded review I read writes 'manwolves'. geesh

Your Highness

This movie is soo bad. My guess is the actors all have the same agent who was in debt to the mafia and to pay them back he had to force all these actors into this retarded movie. Natalie Portman shows true professionalism by even turning up; she has a body double so they can do a 'spy on the girl while she bathes in a waterfall' scene, for fucks sake. James Franco seems to be in to it though. They smoke some weed.... so I guess it has that going for it.
Like all fantasy its about losing your virginity - guy is inadequate because he acts childish - he overcomes trials and tribulations finally beating the dragon and learns self-confidence and maturity - he wins the maiden. (Unless she turns out to be your fucking sister - thanks George) Fantasy gotta be my favourite genre - better than realism where the plot basically represents anxiety over sexual inadequacy due to the failing performance found in middle age.

Bernie

Jack Black made a reasonably cool film for once - go Jack. He plays a squeaky clean funeral director who befriends a lonely old woman and eventually murders her and puts her in the fridge Alex DeWitt style. Great scenes where Jack sings Christian songs.
The genre is dark comedy but the message is really 'the crime is irrelevant, sympathy or condemnation is proportionate to the amount of charisma you possess'. No one in the town liked the old woman and they all loved Bernie so they were willing to overlook his one minor indiscretion.
We see this all the time - for example when white collar criminals get a slap on the wrist while sex offenders can't leave prison even when they have done their time.

The Hunger Games

I just don't get it? This movie was less than average. My guess is that the book is good and people who have read it just fill in the gaping huge plot holes with their knowledge from the book. I don't even understand why they even have the Hunger Games in the first place, it wasn't clear. No one looked even slightly hungry? If they can build huge super-fast trains and giant tv screens and have a fight in a lush green forest surely they can grow some cabbage or something to eat. Made absolutely no sense to me. Fuck I hate films that are supposed to be good but aren't. Everyone should be shot.

Never Let Me Go

I like it when an alternative society is portrayed as simultaneously a utopia and a dystopia depending on your placement in the social structure, because that is what real life is like.

Sort of seemed like a blending of themes that have already been done such as short-life spans: Blade Runner, organ clones: The Island, brainwashing: Brave New World, what does it take to be considered a human: Blade Runner.

Mad Men: Season 5

This last season wasn't really necessary as they had basically tied everything up in season 4. I see it as a 'thank you' to the fans. Nothing really 'big' happens but I watched it over 3 nights so was satisfied, if it was stretched out over 12 weeks I prob would have got bored. In the end Don ends up where he started - married to the girl who does the commercials, drinking wiskey, smoking luckys and attracting the young ladies. I really enjoyed this series. The message is: 'fuck it' just do what you are good at and enjoy life.

American Reunion

I thought it was funny. But its just French fries - not really worth talking about.

Bladerunner

This is a classic science fiction film. Ridley Scott did a fucking great job.
It strikes me as a movie about masturbation. If we see Deckard as a replicant whose job it is to hunt down and kill other replicants then it symbolises that he is constantly beating himself up or beating himself off. He tries to quit but he is pulled back in. In the final fight even having his fingers broken can't stop him from jacking off. Sure in the end he finds a girl but she herself is a replicant and hence being but a 'fake' woman represents a fleshlight.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Obi-Wan Kenobi is hermitting when he meets a kindly Hutt who wants to import trout into a lake on his palace grounds on the far side of Tatooine. Tusken Raiders sabotage the plan but Obi Wan is resilient.
The message: Don't fuck with the Jedi.

Use of dialectic in Utopian Literature (5000 word essay)

Use of Dialectic in Utopian Literature

In this essay I take a post-structuralist approach to the question of when and where utopian literature is set arguing that no matter what the historical or cultural context the reader will always inject their own values thus bringing the text into the present.

He didn't have Green hair! - James Holmes and the 'Joker' killings

OK this mutherfucker kills innocent people - that is messed up... but instead of letting the media think for us lets look at it with our own eyes.

There are some things that simply don't stack up -
If James Holmes was meant to be the Joker, why the hell did he dye his hair pink?
Was the store out of green dye?
Come on! Here is a guy who meticulously planned the shootings months in advance, he stock piled guns and ammo, he booby trapped his house with sophisticated explosives and he had a brilliant escape plan which almost worked. (No I'm not praising the jerk – just trying to think objectively)

His plan was almost genius.
Are you telling me a guy who engaged such a degree of foresight and planning messed up a detail like which colour to dye his fucking hair? Hell no.
He chose pink hair because he never intended to be the Joker -
The psychotic persona he adopted before he went on his killing rampage was that of Ronald McDonald.

Who even said he was the Joker? – it wasn't James Holmes, go find one shred of transcript where James Holmes says ' I am the Joker'. You won't find nothing. Some cop thinks he said that when he was arrested. The media is just putting words in his mouth and words in your mind. Let's not forget when this story first broke they were saying James Holmes was imitating Bane.
Sure it seems obvious and 'logical' to link him to the Joker but as any reader of detective fiction knows the obvious choice is usually a red herring.

Why dress as Ronald McDonald and kill people?
Well here is a guy studying towards a Ph. D in Neuroscience who can only get one job... you guessed it... at McDonalds.
Who could imagine a more soul destroying occupation for an intelligent young man than working as a fucking French fry flipper, a frosty cone dispenser, an apple pie heater upper. Surrounded by a montage of retards and serving jerks who complain because their burger tastes like semen.

Our ego balances our conscious and unconscious, when our identity and purpose is destroyed or ruined it leaves the individual in the dark and in danger of being swamped by the dark side: the chaotic unconscious images that make up the 'shadow' – the inferior uncivilised and animal qualities which the ego holds at bay. James Holmes the thinking neuroscientist became the feeling performer, the clown prince of crime – the shadow – Ronald McDonald.
When he dropped out of Science he had nothing left, his Ego was forced into the only role left to him that of the McDonald's employee.
In the end all it took was -one bad day-

Ronald McDonald is the Joker in so many ways.
Like the Joker, Ronald serves death.
James Holmes saw behind the counter he saw the horrific scenes: the sacks of lard, the frozen and putrid semi brown substance called 'meat patties', the unhygienic preparation rooms, the obese customers drenched in steaming fat, the stink of sweat dripping from their neck beards; the regulars – walking heart patients, the open mouthed diabetics and the puss filled white heads around their extremities.

Ronald McDonald is the Joker.
He is a mad scientist who mixes poisonous chemicals and adds addictive qualities then feeds it to the peanut crunching crowd, the opened mouthed babies like chirping birds with beak opened waiting for their fix of sugar diffused in lard. Like the Joker's laughing gas the flocks feed and it puts a smile on their faces, once they are hooked, young or old they can never wipe that smile away – and they die with a grin – WHY SO SERIOUS?.

James Holmes armed himself with an assortment of weapons, his tools of death. And each gun was a different burger – the cheese burger, the quarter pounder, the big mac, each bullet was a condiment – an apple pie, a raspberry shake, a fanta; each grenade a happy meal! Not so happy now.
When he shot those poor people his mind was screaming “Do you want fires with that!”.
Muther fuckers!

Why did he choose the theatre?
Because they are the customers. They represent the people who demand celebrity over science, escapism over education, instant gratification over thoughtfulness. Buy some popcorn, buy some mackers! Entertain us, feed us, give us pretty pictures and sugary food. Turn us off – OK – here's a bullet!

Why did James Homes do it?
Because he wanted rebirth. His ego had been utterly destroyed, his ambitions destroyed, all the endeavours of his life added up to being a McDonald’s worker – he was Ronald.
But he wanted a new life, he wanted a new ego. The way to rebirth is through death, not his own, but the sacrifice of lives at the altar of consumerism, the ritual of sacrificing customers to the lord of capitalism, Maloch or as he is otherwise known in the secret occult languages – Ron-ald Mac Don ald-us.
James Holmes made a Faustian deal with the devil, he sold his soul in order to have a new life.
He killed innocent people and hubris destroyed him.

How can we stop this happening again?
Easy – destroy Maloch

 

Highlander review

It's a kind of magic - Homophobis in Highlander

As I watched Highlander it struck me that the underlying message was one of repressed homosexuality. The immortals portrayed represent homosexuals who have had to hide their sexuality. The catch phrase “There can be only one” actually means “No one can know”.

In the opening scene we see MacLeod engaged in watching wrestling. Men in their underwear play-fighting inspires the hero with homoerotic desires. MacLeod then leaves and ventures into the car park. The initial fight between immortals represents a homosexual encounter with another male. The sword fighting represents man on man sex, with the sword play representing penis play. The decapitation the end of the sexual encounter represents the need to 'forget' or repress each sexual encounter – No one can know.

The flashback to medieval Scotland represents the highlander's 'coming out' or first homosexual encounter and a realisation that he is a butt pirate. The persona of Victor Kruger represents both MacLeod's first homosexual encounter and his fear of his own repressed sexuality.

MacLeod awakes after what should have been a mortal wound invigorated and in high spirits. He has finally found sexual satisfaction that he could not find in his straight relationship. But he is driven from his tribe because of society's homophobia. He then realises he must find a female partner in an attempt to hide his sexuality and return to 'normality'.

But his repressed desires return in the form of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez. Where Kruger represents his fear of his own homosexuality Ramirez represents the joy and sexual fulfilment he finds in man on man love. Ramirez tries to persuade MacLeod to abandon his heterosexual relationship with Heather MacLeod as it will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction but MacLeod is fearful.
Fear destroys joy as Kruger destroys Ramirez. MacLeod cannot allow himself to enjoy his sexuality instead his fears overcome him. Throughout the ages Macleod engages in homosexuality in the form of sword fights with other immortals but after each encounter he must remove his partner's head or repress and 'kill' the memory of the encounter - No One Can Know.

On the surface the ending of Highlander appears problematic in the terms of my thesis but on deeper penetration it reinforces it.

Eventually MacLeod enters into a heterosexual relationship with Brenda Wyatt and destroys Kruger. The protagonist has destroyed his fears of homosexuality by finally destroying his homoerotic urges. Rather than being problematic this ending confirms the homophobic elements of the film. The conclusion made is that eventually we can overcome homosexuality and become normal through persistent denial and repression. This of course represents the consensus of many over the ages who have tried to 'cure' homosexuality. This film represents the violent crushing of homosexuality and as such is a homophobic film.

But... as we see in the final shot of MacLeod he is wearing a very gay pink shirt. The repressed will always return - as we see in Highlander part two when Ramirez is resurrected from the dead and Macleod become immortal again.

Also did I mention Freddie Mercury did the soundtrack... (It's a kind of magic)

Books read 28 July

Books read in the last few weeks:
Erewhon, Samuel Butler (current)
* OK. Read if you have nothing else to read. Guy in Canterbury in late 1800s finds a Utopia hidden in the Southern Alps. In this land crime is treated as a illness and illness is treated as a crime to be punished. Maori are ugly and stupid the Erewhons are intelligent and look Italian.

Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
Average. R

ead if you have to. The films tend to show dumbed down versions of the first part, there are 3 more. Political satire.

Utopia, Thomas More
Average. Read if you have to. More coined the term Utopia.

The Republic, Plato
Average. Read if you have to. The analogy of the line is good but I don't think the analogy of the cave stands up so well. Classical mythology is fun but I find the philosophy flawed.

The New 52
Basically DC Comics rebooted all of their titles about 10 months ago, I have read about half of them up to issue #6.

Action Comics 1#-6
Superman has been reimagined as a left wing struggling journalist (he doesn't work at the daily planet). Good premise but turns into pro wrestling by a few pages. Lex Luthor is played as a mad scientist. Legion members appear and confuse everything.
2 stars

Catwoman
Neckbeard porn. First issue ends with Catwoman mounting Batman - yes they are fucking.
1 star

Detective Comics
They didn't seem to reboot Batman except to make him younger - been a good run lately I guess they thought if it an't broke don't fix it. New villain called the Dollmaker and he cuts off Joker's face 'Face Off' style. I liked it.
3 stars

Justice League Dark
Basically Justice League style team but with supernatural heroes.
B-listers or heroes all the but the super-geek (ie me) will recognise: Madame Xanadu, Shade, Mindwarp, Enchantress, Deadman, Zatanna and.... John Constantine.
JC fans are most likely ganna hate this but they do play JC true to his original character as best they can in a superhero team-up. I thought they did OK considering how bad it could have been.
Peter Milligan. 3ish stars

Supergirl
WTF did I read this? Cosplay fetish? Im not even ganna attempt to try to justify it. Brony lit.
no stars

Wonder Woman
Before you judge me it was written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Cliff Chiang. Surprisingly good. Love the art. Wonder Woman looks like an empowered feminist hero rather than some male jackoff fantasy. Azzarello has gone for the Greek god angle which I really enjoyed - Zeus is creating illigitamite children with white trash, his wife is pissed and his brothers Hades and Neptune want to take over. Great scene with WW, Hermes and Strife (Ares sister) hanging out in a grunge bar.
3.5 stars

Justice League
It was average - pro wrestling. All the heroes are younger and don't know each other. Batman tries to lead but no one really listens. Green Lantern is a arrogant (but funny) jerk. Flash tries to keep the peace. Wonder Woman is strong but innocent / naive - Superman is kind of the same. Aquaman is well ... boring. Cyborg is normal, gets wounded, gets made into a cyborg and enters the pro wrestling fight all in about 5 minutes.

GL: "Aquaman? I thought Aquaman was a sketch on Conan O'Brien."

Batman
Not bad I liked it. Introduces a new shady organsiation called "The Court of Owls" which has been manipulating Gotham city and the Waynes for over a century.
Worth a read.
3 stars

the build up to the New 52 DC reboot was called
"Flashpiont"
Basically a copy of Marvel's House of M
The reverse flash goes back in time and alters reality. Superman is gone. Bruce Wayne was shot with his mother and Thomas Wayne is the Batman. Wonder Woman's Amazons and Aquaman's Alantians are at war. Europe has been drowned and only the Flash remembers the real past. There are a shit load of tie ins and they all suck.
Rubbish rubbish rubbish I dont even remember how it ends.
I think its an apocolypse or something.

FIlms watched 28 July

Films I have watched in the last few week:

Public Enemies
Director didn't pull it off

Brothers
Kind of predictable. War sucks boo hoo. For a serious movie they made the arabs look like comic book villains reminded me of the first iron man movie. Had Natilie Portman tho and every fan boy loves her. AND Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire.

Highlander
read my review above

The Hurt Locker
So that's how Hawkeye got famous. Like Chuck D said "Don't believe the Hype"

Dar Knight Rises
Lives up to the Hype. Go see it now. There are some holes in the plot but fuck man no matter how much realism they inject into it its still a comic-book movie fucking deal with it!

Wanderlust
Haha funny movie. An Anti-Utopia. Couple leave the rigours of the city to become hippies. Not bad passes the time while you wait to die. There's a watered down moral message in there somewhere too.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Yeah I'm a D&D geek of course I'm ganna watch this. Made it to about an hour before I turned it off. Movie was shit but I respect Nick Cage for hanging in there, he is a true professional.

Haywire
think I enjoyed this movie although I am struggling to recall it and I saw it 4 days ago.
Obi Wan was a baddie and there was some tough woman who was set up. Magneto was in it too. Pointless escapeism but worth a watch.

Zach and Miri Make a Porno
Finally watched this Kevin Smith outing. Enjoyed it had all the cast from Clerks- cool!
Even had the Pixies in the soundtrack!
I get sick of the Kevin Smith "I understand women cause I go down on them BS" Not that I don't...
Was OK but Smith is cursed with never being able to live up to his first movie like in that Eminem song "Way I am" although Shadey did...

God Bless America
AWESOME! One of my favourite movies of the year! Not even ganna try to explain it. Watch IT! I posted a link to the torrent.
Guy gets sick of reality TV and decides to kill Reailty TV stars and other misc. fuckwits.
So much better than Ntural Born Killers but of the same genre.

No Heroics
TV series. British. cool deconstruction of the superhero. DL it now!

And thats all I have watched in the last two weeks.
Might put some best of so far for the year 2012 later