Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://www.virginmedia.com/)

The amusing writing style of Dr Hunter Stockton Thompson does not translate well into film language, despite the apt first-person narrative and director Gilliam’s obvious affinity for the absurd.

The drugs, alcohol, violence and insanity on display here remain unexplained in their use as an attack on the emptiness of the American Dream. It is easy to understand the poor taking drugs, but why would an affluent man do so?

Essentially, this is a cynical tirade against the inevitable failure of the 60s’ hippie dream. Its reluctance to face reality foreshadows its author’s suicide in 2005 after failing to find any viable dream to replace it.

An absurdly romantic Don Quixote with no windmills to tilt at whose journalistic critique of ‘bogus objectivity’ merely leads to bogus subjectivity.

A movie that does not convince one that the accompanying book is at all worth reading.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Jumeogi Unda [Crying Fist] (2005)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://asianwiki.com/)

An emotionally-affecting but rather meandering story of two men of different social backgrounds with the selfsame problem. One is a criminal who learns boxing in jail; the other a former boxer down on his luck. That they both meet at the end of the film is as inevitable as it is ultimately life affirming.

The movie’s sole problem is its excessive length for its single premise. There is just not enough that can be said that could not have been said in less time. And a movie about the self respect and self discipline required of any sport that is not disciplined itself fails to complement its own premise; thereby partly contradicting it.

(Image: http://www.dramab.com/)

However, having said that, the performances of the two principals – CHOI Min-Sik & RYOO Seung-Beom - are second to none. They completely inhabit their respective roles and practically force us to want to know how they end up.

The repentance theme is well grounded in reality; the boxing match itself grueling; and, the emotional payoff well worth the longeurs.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Pafekuto Buru [Perfect Blue] (1998)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://infini-tropolis.com)

Psychological thriller about excessive celebrity fan-mania coupled with a need to avoid type-casting so that performers can expand and develop their careers. And yet so many fans want to keep their idols firmly locked in a career straitjacket such that the celebrity can never move-on because the fan cannot. This is made worse here by the career-changing celebrity who secretly feels she should have been loyal to her more obsessed fans.

This movie cleverly plays with reality and public image as we watch the central character haunted by her alter ego; while portraying a character on tv in a similar situation – as a serial killer is on the rampage in real life. It soon becomes as difficult to tell fact from fiction for the central character as it is for the audience.

An interesting hybridization of Silence of the Lambs with Adaptation that plays with the idea that celebrities are more exploited by their publics’ failings than exploiting of them: That fantasy and reality can become confused in the struggle between what you want to be and what your fans want you to be. The ego-conflict here is produced when the celebrity wants to change, but fears their fans negative reactions.

Despite the mediocre animation, this is a first-rate thrill-ride because the characters make complete sense.

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Déjà Vu (2006)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://flickfeast.co.uk/)

Inevitable response to 9/11 in Yanks desperately trying to convince themselves they possess absolute power; while Al-Qaeda still remains a potent fear for Whites & Zionists. What if it were possible to stop 9/11 after it had happened?

Accept the absurd premise, the illogical plot and the unconvincing necrophile love story and this overwrought melodrama is exciting fun because it is essentially about a common response to emotional loss: Crying over spilt milk.

Terrorism obviously has the same effect as Christmas since people of the same ethnicity act nicer to one another in their need to share their suffering. Nevertheless, this is still just an example of the immaturity of crying over spilt milk: An ineffectual sticking plaster to a great cultural wound.

The movie also tries to have its cake and eat it through the terrorist being simultaneously successful and unsuccessful; satisfying both the bloodthirsty and those hoping for rescue.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

SILK ROAD: Volume 2 (1980)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	CD

(Image: http://en.wikipedia.org)

This instrumental music makes for a very pleasant background while you're doing something else – cooking, making love, etc - but its essential mediocrity offers little for the inquiring mind to grasp and call its own.

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

The Man (1964)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	Book

(Image: http://www.amazon.com)

Unusually perspicacious novel about White supremacy written by someone who has a lot to gain from its perpetuation; namely, a White, middle class male. Irving Wallace’s Jewishness helps him understand the situation of Blacks, so they’ve never criticized him for representing them unrealistically. Angry Whites condemned it – however - the author receiving death threats on first publication in 1964.

Interestingly, if a Black had written it, it would have been less likely to have made the New York Times’ bestseller list. Few Whites come-off very well here, and Whites could then have easily dismissed it as anti-White propaganda. Thus, the book - itself - is ironic monument to the enduring legacy of Western culture’s arrogance in being squarely aimed at Whites who either knew little about their own ethnic complicity or who cared just as little about it.

Still highly relevant.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Edge of Love (2008)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://www.cinemagia.ro/)

Although well-directed, with clever special-effects that accurately match the characters’ emotional states, these very personalities are actually quite unlikable. That fact makes this a decidedly-unempathetic piece of drama - without even the solace of its audience knowing why the characters are so ethically mediocre.

A self-indulgent film about self-indulgent people under whose skin we never get. The ménage à trois presented has no real reason for existing other than to show the moral disintegration of the Bohemian social set depicted; inevitably produced by unloving childhoods. The sex-obsessed art and Communism-drenched politics so created are almost always worthless – save to their creators: Those unable to sustain meaningful personal relationships.

Ultimately, a pitiable waste of quality actors.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Keeping Mum (2005)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://thecia.com.au/)

An old fashioned, Ealing-style black comedy with a hard modern edge; while remaining somewhat light and superficial.

The ostensible story of a married couple losing their way in their marriage is touchingly re-enacted by expert performers; alongside a beautifully self-parodic supporting turn from Patrick SWAYZE as a narcissistic and sex-obsessed golf trainer.

This somewhat unrealistic film relies heavily on its many amusing performances, in fact, no more so than from Maggie SMITH as the catalyst for practically everything that happens. As a woman who murders people she disagrees with, she is at once both horrifying and cloyingly sweet. It is also clever of Rowan ATKINSON to play someone without a sense of humour who slowly (through faith & sex) comes to develop a way of talking that is both funny and profoundly communicative.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Huevos de Oro

(1993)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	DVD: 1st-generation

(Image: http://www.latina.com/)

[Golden Balls]

all that glitters is not gold

Unconvincing rags-to-riches drama with fine actors and performances. Intended as a satire on parvenu, nouveau riche, machismo, Spanish bad taste in general (especially Julio Iglesias) along with the cynicism of those loaded with ambition, but no talent with which to achieve their ambition. (The technical quality of the DVD transfer is not first-rate, but does not lower itself to VHS standards.)

The virility on show here masks an inner emptiness that regular sex with various girls can never mask, until the hero meets a woman who mirrors and reminds him of his own rapacious sexuality. Macho men repress their intellect and replace it with boundless energy tempered by having nothing to do with it except endlessly prove how manly they are through prodigious sexual expression.

Here, everything is paired: Two women made-love to simultaneously; two Rolexes; two eggs; two testicles. There is too much unresolved hate from the creator of this film for it to be much more than a list of loathed items; rather than the dramatic exploration it could have been of either why they are hated or why they are hateful - or both.

This film is as superficial as its characters despite its also possessing their boundless energy. Citizen Kane it most definitely is not.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

War of the Worlds (1953)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

(www.hometheaterforum.com)

Welcome to California!

Terrific science-fiction melodrama which, despite dated special-effects, still packs a sensational emotional wallop.

Like all of the best, most spontaneous sex, this does not bother with any foreplay. It just gets on with telling the story by getting stuck right in.

(www.hometheaterforum.com)

Bloated, recent mega-budget spectaculars could certainly learn something from how it used to be done. (This movie is also a very welcome relief from the sheer awfulness of Mr Spielberg’s silly remake.)

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.co.uk) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Kung Fu Panda

(2008)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com)

Yet another tale-wagging-the-dog computer animation in search of a good story, characters and a plot: Form and content are identical.

This violent, would-be comedy wastes the talents of Dustin HOFFMAN and Jackie CHAN in favor of violent set-pieces that bear little relation to classical dramaturgy.

Jack BLACK’s character animation inaccurately renders his delivery style; rendering his participation pointless. Ian McSHANE’s villain comes across best of all.

There is no attempt to justify the cultural milieu presented by offering Western audiences any insight into Chinese culture and, specifically, the meaning of a martial art like kung fu. This ugly-duckling tale could have been set anywhere in the world; making the background mere exotic wallpaper - about as interesting as the decor in an Indian restaurant in the Fulham Road.

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

In This World (2002)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://film.com.tr/)

Semi-documentary look at the struggles of war refugees to get to the West for a better and safer life. This being the inevitable corollary of the West’s desire to keep the Third World poor, dependent on the International Monetary Fund (& the World Bank) &, therefore, all the more easily exploitable.

And yet the West vocally complains about such migration when the West has been its prime cause as a direct result of the enthusiasm of its governments to invade Eastern countries.

An eloquent critique of those who refuse to take moral responsibility for their political actions and a testament to the enduring toughness of humanity in the face of desperate odds. Yet, being a contextless travelogue weakens this important point somewhat, since the journey here is – in many ways - more important than the characters undertaking it.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Europe’s Full Circle

(1996)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	Book

(Image: http://www.amazon.co.uk/)

Although Rodney Atkinson is right to point out the essentially fascist nature of the European Union, he does so by revealing in his own fascism in claiming, for example, that the British Empire was a ‘liberal trading order’.

This lack of consistency leads him to the usual egregiously repetitive, whining tone of fascists; making this book somewhat unreadable, to say the least – except to other fascist whiners.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Serenity

(2005)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	Cinema

(Image: http://moviesbestownload.blogspot.co.uk/)

Very good science-fiction movie that actually contains ideas rather more than mere special-effects desperately looking for a theme to justify their existence.

The style is fast paced and to the point; the acting sincere and characterful. The visuals are impressive for a low-budget space opera and successfully complement the central theme that utopias can only be created with rivers of blood – ours.

(Image: http://webodysseum.com/)

Funny, sexy political satire with knobs on.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Fascist Europe Rising

(2001)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	Book

(Image: http://www.amazon.co.uk/)

Attacks fascism with its own version of same: Nationalistic claptrap. Although Rodney Atkinson is right about the anti-democratic and fascist nature of European Integration, he fails to admit his own inherent, right-wing BNP type of national pride.

One can only be proud of one’s personal achievements, not of one’s birth circumstances. Otherwise, the latter would mean being a parasite; living off the accomplishments of one’s forebears for no better reason than that they are one’s forbears. Mr Atkinson offers no credible alternative to the European Union other than Little Englander insularity wrapped up in false pride and petty-minded jingoism.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Casablanca

(1942)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(http://mirahashmi.wordpress.com)

Despite the highly perfunctory plotting and often risible dialogue, this is excellent wartime propaganda.

This is a cast to die for since all of the performers are having fun in a melodramatic pot-boiler that eloquently and intelligently sums up why you cannot sit on the fence when the balloon goes up. For one thing it is unmanly to not take sides; for another, the respect of a beautiful woman like Ingrid BERGMAN is at stake!

This is a movie about the sacrifices necessary to achieve your goals, because you cannot have your cake and eat it, too; hence the downbeat ending. Given a choice between La BERGMAN and Claude RAINS, I am not sure fighting Nazism would figure all that highly in my plans!

A film you can watch over and over again and never get bored with it: They really, really don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Maltese Falcon

(1941)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://1001afilmodyssey.blogspot.com)

BOGART before Bacall, but a brilliant movie nonetheless - with the ever dependable star power of Humphrey BOGART.

The source novelist Dashiell Hammett’s understanding of neurotic women is brought to the fore in the many ladies in this film who admire Sam Spade for his cynicism because they see it as a challenge to their exploitive wiles. The mistress of the art here is the supremely brilliant Mary ASTOR, who easily steals every scene from Mr BOGART. Sidney GREENSTREET is superbly oafish as the obsessive art collector with a suitably intense Peter LORRE as a highly strung sidekick. Not much happens; it’s all about character – or the lack, thereof.

(Image: http://sigloscuriosos.blogspot.com)

Unlike Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, it's hard to imagine Hammett’s detective not becoming corrupted by the sheer awfulness of those with which he regularly deals.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Very Best of Hancock

(1961)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://www.peeperstv.com)

Brilliant comedy about a classic example of the tendency of many people to be empty vessels making the most noise.

Aided and abetted by the truly exceptional writing talents of Ray Galton & Alan Simpson, Tony HANCOCK essays a dramatic performance of a lonely man going nowhere – which just happens also to be incredibly funny. His declamatory, sing-song style enriches what are, essentially, the dramatic monologues of a fool who knows very little about very little, yet who expounds at length to an often genuinely surreal extent.

The most amazing aspect of all this is that there are no punch lines – only frequently bizarre observations on the world from a man who lives firmly outside much of it. The supporting cast is superb but HANCOCK is really little more than a one man band who does not actually need a sidekick or a partner.

Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Paranormal Activity

(2007)

RATING:	40%
FORMAT:	DVD

(www.cinemagia.ro)

Plagiarizing Activity

Yet another tiresome Blair Witch Project rip-off that makes even less sense than the first film made - as well as being pretty predictable.

The causes and motivations for what happens are never explained and so we are simply left with an empty mystery that does not allow us to care for the thinly-drawn characters. The actors do their best, but their roles are not empathetic enough to attract our emotional engagement: The plot development is weak and repetitious and so we soon cease to care. Allied to this is the decided lack of a unifying theme that would allow us to enjoy the film at all.

(www.cinemagia.ro)

The central gimmick of a camera being present as the story unfolds is about as likely as a car crash being filmed. One would have to know when, where and at what time such an event was about to happen. This explains why such events are rarely caught on camera – except by cctv. The greater use of the latter, in the Western world, explains why these films continue to be made without any thought for logic or creativity. This reflects the generalized meltdown of creativity in US movies that struggle to find new forms to replace hackneyed plots – and fail.

In this movie, we are expected to believe that rather than film events unfolding, events actually unfold for the benefit of the camera. This shows what a silly first-person dramatic device this is and that its application to cinema as a whole is somewhat limited. It is also hard to take seriously a lover who would much rather film what is going on in his house than actually do something about it. The only good thing to be said in favor of the largely-static camerawork is that it works well when we hear something off camera and wait for it to enter center stage. These are the only frissons of suspense offered by this empty spectacle.

A movie made by someone who wants to become a filmmaker but who has no idea about creating and telling stories. The alternate ending makes much more sense (as per Fatal Attraction) than the theatrical close, but is less exciting and less visually interesting. And visual interest is the only thing this watching-paint-dry film is really all about.

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Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.