Tuesday 3 March 2020

Iron Curtain
(1948)


:
Unknown
:
Image of the source for this work
needed to precede following dl
:
1948
:
Image of the national flag of the United Kingdom
:
87 minutes (Uncut)
Review Format:
DigitalDVD
:
Image of the national flag of the United States
Predominant Genre:
Non‑Fiction
Director:
Director



Image of Director William WELLMAN
:
None.
Premiss:
Soviet cipher‑clerk Igor Gouzenko was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa in 1943 and defected to reveal the extent of Soviet espionage activities directed against Canada.
Themes:
Aggression | Alienation | Atheism | Capitalism | Character | Communism | Courage | Cowardice | Destiny | Emotional repression | Empathy | Family | Fortitude | Free Speech | Freedom | Guilt | Honesty | Human nature | Humanity | Identity | Ideology | Love | Loyalty | Materialism | Paranoia | Personal | Personal change | Political | Political Correctness | Propaganda | Self‑Esteem | Self‑Expression | Society | The State | Stereotyping | Totalitarianism | Virtue | The West | Western culture | White culture | White people
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Fiction:
Unknown
Non‑Fiction:
Image of a similar work
:
None.
Awards:
None.

Summary: Caucasian propaganda disguised as entertainment.

Propagandist view of history which pretends to realistically‑present the clash of civilisations represented by the ongoing Cold War between Communism and Democracy.

All it really succeeds in doing is to pretend that inside every Communist is a Democrat desperate to escape, with no attempt made to explain why any sensible person would believe in the merits of Communism, in the first place - as if Communism were somehow a self‑evidently insane proposition.

Like the movie’s black & white photography, the political issues are presented in the most simplistic black & white terms. Communists are presented as two‑dimensional cartoon villains and obviously‑soulless robots, who could not possibly hide‑in‑plain‑sight as real spies must in order to be effective. This, in the desperate hope that the audience do not get to like them; as hypocritically and in exactly the same manner in which the Communists are shown warning all of their number not to empathize nor to fraternize with the allegedly free‑born White Westerners.

As drama, this movie fails because the characters of both sides of the political divide are so unconvincing and because they are really political mirror‑images of one another - that there is no inherent conflict here is a fact which the film is politically and dramatically unwilling to be honest about. After all, Russians who commit treason are labelled “Defectors”; while Americans who betray their country are called “Traitors”, yet there is no real moral difference between one form of treason and another.

If it were not for the presence of good and likable actors doing their best with political speeches disguised as dialogue, this would be quite unbearable. L'Affaire Farewell was far superior to this propaganda nonsense.

Sunday 25 February 2018

Day of the Triffids
(1962)


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Unknown
:
Image of the source for this work
needed to precede following dl
:
Irrelevant
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1962
:
Image of the national flag of the United Kingdom
:
94 minutes (Uncut)
Review Format:
DigitalDVD
:
Image of the national flag of the United Kingdom
Predominant Genre:
Science‑Fiction
Directors:
Directors

Image of Director Steve Sekely
:
Uncredited Directors

Image of Director Freddie Francis
:
None
Premiss:
After an unusual meteor shower leaves most of the White population blind, a merchant navy officer must find a way to conquer tall, aggressive plants which are feeding on people and animals.
Themes:
Aggression | Capitalism | Character | Civilization | Compassion | Courage | Cowardice | Curative | Destiny | Emotional repression | Empathy | Family | Fortitude | Humanity | Identity | Ideology | Individualism | Irrationality | Justice | Logic | Loneliness | Love | Loyalty | Materialism | Narcissism | Nostalgia | Paranoia | Parasitism | Passivity | Personal | Political | Rationality | Schizophrenia | Science | Self‑Esteem | Self‑Interest | Social class | Society | Snobbery | Solipsism | The State | Stereotyping | Totalitarianism | Vice | Virtue | The West | Western culture | White culture | White guilt | White people | White privilege | White supremacy
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Fiction:
Image of a similar work Image of a similar work
Non‑Fiction:
Unknown
:
Unknown
Awards:
Unknown

Summary: The Great White Fear of what would happen if the Caucasian world were threatened by aliens.

Effective, cheap ‘n’ cheerful science‑fiction horror movie from the 1960s. The special effects could have been better, but it is amazing what you can do with a few empty Fairy Liquid bottles and some Christmas decorations.

The Caucasian social‑parasite politics of John Wyndham’s source novel are still much in evidence, as the White world divides into the blind and the seeing (those who witnessed the blinding alien invasion & those who did not); a distinction that is purely a matter of luck – as are birth circumstances in snobbish cultures. Even survivor guilt is touched upon.

The moral character of the hero is highly involving as we see the collapse of a White civilisation which only had a paper‑thin veneer to begin with. Presumably, making this plain was the original author’s intention?

However, this movie has two parallel and geographically‑separate stories; charting different solutions to the Triffidus celestus menace. An alcoholic research scientist with a still‑supportive wife; a lone mariner saving a girl and a woman – eventually ending‑up protecting the family he lacked the commitment toward before the Triffid invasion.

These latter scenes were added by an uncredited Freddie Francis after the original cut of the movie came in under its intended running time; partly explaining why these plots are never fully‑integrated into a greater dramatic whole. This makes it harder than necesary to get emotionally worked‑up in the hyperbolic (albeit entertaining) dramas of each: A pity, since this is an above‑average science‑fiction movie based on a book by an under‑rated science‑fiction author.

Sunday 18 February 2018

Quiz Show
(1994)


:
Unknown
:
Image of the source for this work
needed to precede following dl
:
Irrelevant
:
1994
:
Image of the national flag of the United Kingdom
:
133 minutes (Uncut)
Review Format:
DVD
:
Image of the national flag of the United States
Predominant Genre:
History
Directors:
Directors

Robert Redford
Image of Film Director Robert Redford
:
Outstanding Performances

Entire cast
Image of Entire cast
Premiss:
A young lawyer investigates a potentially‑fixed game show featuring a big‑time show winner.
Themes:
Advertising | Aggression | Alienation | Art | Atheism | Black culture | Black people | Capitalism | Character | Christianity | Civilization | Coming‑of‑age | Compassion | Communism | Corporate Power | Courage | Cowardice | Curative | Curiosity | Destiny | Eastern world | Emotional repression | Empathy | Equality | Erotophobia | Ethnicity | Evolution | Family | Fortitude | Free Speech | Freedom | Friendship | Genocide | Globalisation | God | Grieving | Guilt | Gynophobia | Hollywood | Honesty | Human nature | Humanity | Identity | Ideology | Individualism | Irrationality | Justice | Logic | Loneliness | Love | Loyalty | Mankind | Materialism | Mercy | Narcissism | Nationality | Nature | Nostalgia | Original Sin | Paranoia | Parasitism | Passivity | People Of Color (POC) | Persona | Personal | Personal change | Political | Political Correctness | Pornography | Positive Discrimination | Preventive | Propaganda | Psychology | Rationality | Redemption | Religion | Religious fundamentalism | Republicanism | Role modeling | Sadomasochism | Schizophrenia | Science | Self‑Esteem | Self‑Expression | Self‑Interest | Sex | Sexism | Sexual Repression | Social class | Society | Snobbery | Solipsism | The State | Stereotyping | Terrorism | Totalitarianism | Vice | Virtue | The West | Western culture | White culture | White guilt | White people | White privilege | White supremacy
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Fiction:
Unknown
Non‑Fiction:
Unknown
:
Unknown
Awards:
Unknown

A revolution is not a dinner party or writing an essay or painting a picture or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous.

Image of the founder of the People’s Republic of China: Mao Zedong (18931893), founder of the People’s Republic of China. Report, March 1927 (published in Selected Works, volume 1, 1954).

Summary: [Review Summary].

Unlike much drama, which is a lie that tells the truth, this movie is based upon a true story about the lie at the heart of White culture: That Whites are only superior at cheating. So much so that, when discovered, the liars are forgiven (lying is generaly not a crime in White culture) so that those who wish to be lied‑to can continue listening to flattering lies about the alleged superiority of their culture.

John’s first work was a set of Monarch Notes. Some of you may remember these from high school, a way to get by in English class without doing the required reading! At any rate, Gatto’s first book was originally published in 1975, a Monarch Notes guide to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.