Some issues that are bothering me...

Wednesday night is my African American History class which is a fascinating forum to hear different viewpoints from a wide range of people and I learn stuff and sometimes get frustrated by humanity.  Then I got home, jumped on my computer, and to start found these links:

• Abortion Billboard in SoHo Calls Out African Americans During Black History Month 
• Glenn Beck Accuses Planned Parenthood of Abetting Sex Trafficking

I know I may seem like a misanthrope, argumentative to a fault, pig-headed, ignorantly over-opinionated drunken blaggart and in some instances I am.  However, when I see this kind of idiotic drivel I am sickened to my core by the actions and words of some people.  

Then there's the Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham who is proposing (in MO Sentate Bill 222) to repeal certain "restrictive" child labor laws.  As I snarkily said to Moxie when I read this piece, "This is great! Now we won't have to outsource our sweatshops to Asia, we can send them to Missouri!"  A knee-jerk response of course but still (as an aside - these laws were developed as part the Fair Labors Act of 1938) I can't help but worry about the cans of worms that the passing of this bill would entail.  Certainly there will be legislation developed to prevent the exploitation of children but my concern is that children will be exploited by unscrupulous folks (whether their families or employers is another issue) and I agree (in many aspects) with Jeff Tucker's The Trouble With Child Labor Laws (he has some convincing rhetoric).  However, again this is a knee-jerk response, there suddenly seems to be some kind of insane shift in rational thought by American elected officials:  Arizona's new round of anti-immigrant bills, battles over "right to work" laws (anti-Union practices), the assault on funding for Planned Parenthood, and...

• Dallas Mavericks Star Disses National Anthem

Now, as we all know I'm a strident proponent of the historical "What if?" the United States had remained British.  In fact I call myself a Royalist, yeah roll your eyes but during the American Revolution only about 20% of the Colonial population were anti-Crown.  Yet hypocritically I consider myself a patriotic person.  I love my country (I just wish that we could unfuck ourselves and truly be the shining city on the hill).  Hell, I like the fact I can write this blog and not have the Death Squads bust in at any moment.  Truth be told I don't even have a problem with someone not "Pledging Allegiance to the Flag" (because it's kind of spooky and group-thinky for me) and I don't put my hand over my heart when I hear the National Anthem.  I do however, out of respect of those around me, take off my hat, stand and act with proper solemnity.  It's Josh Howard's sentiment, "I'm black." which confuses me.  Perhaps confuse is the wrong word, I can understand his thinking but something about it seems...well, it was a stupid thing to say when a camera phone was in his face.

And finally,

• Texas poised to pass bill allowing guns on campus

I posted this yesterday on my Facebook.  I feel that I need to expand my thoughts a little.  In response to one comment I replied:

Texas is no more gun crazy than where we grew up nor any less dangerous than anywhere else (in the United States). 
I personally abhor firearms in RL (no I don't mean a hunting rifle or granny's double barrel or a .22 - I mean .45s, fucking Desert Eagles, military grade hardware). I know it's a complicated issue with many variables but I have an interesting example for you: Replace the word "firearms" with "chainsaws" and see how utterly absurd this "armed society" is.

If your home is a castle then I suggest you use boiling oil, crossbows, swords, and peasant levies to defend it.

I was being facetious but I am, at my current age and status in life, scared of guns.  I play a lot of video games with guns and watch a lot of movies that involve guns but in reality I have a deep dislike and distrust of guns.  I won't own one and I won't have one in my home.  The idea of guns on college campuses terrifies me.  People can barely manage to operate their automobiles on North Street and you want these assholes armed?  Will I feel comfortable in a classroom wondering if the person I disagree with intellectually is armed?  "An armed society is a polite society.  Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."?  Heinlein's famous line from Beyond the Horizon  is ripe for out-of-contextualization.

I'm losing my righteous indignation steam.  I hope that some of you readers will respond because frankly these are important questions and issues that are happening today.  I'm not saying that I or we have any answers or that we can enable great change but I'd like to open the floor up to some comments and polite intellectual debate.

I close with a quote from one of my favorite authors that popped up on my google "Quote a Day" RSS:

Human Dignity has gleamed only now and then and here and there, in lonely splendor, throughout the ages, a hope of the better men, never an achievement of the majority. - James Thurber 

Dragon Age II: The demo.

I'll be honest with you folks, I have a strange relationship with RPGs.  Considering I've been playing them for over a quarter century I think I know my way around the genre a bit but lately I've noticing a trend - in particular with Bioware and Bethesda.  Each company does somethings I like and others that I don't (I want to see them merge into an uber-RPG company but that will never happen) and frankly I've figured out how to break each system.  With each successive game the bloom fades from the rose faster and faster.  I love the blending of gaming genres with RPG and I believe that full incorporation of multiple game play modes would truly move the genre to the next level.  All that being said I played the demo for Dragon Age II last night.

I wasn't excited about Dragon Age II - especially considering the price debacle that ended up costing me an arm and a leg with Dragon Age and attendant expansions - so when the demo froze on me last night I had to laugh at it.  I gave it a second chance though and I wasn't thrilled.  Granted it looks pretty and the combat is fancy and faster and the skill trees have an interesting set up but I'm not impressed.  I ended up button mashing A with ranged attacks and ended up fast switching to another character to heal her.  I set up the tactics from the get-go and had no problems whomping the hordes.

I will end up buying Dragon Age II but not until the GOTY edition comes out with all expansions included - thus avoiding getting hosed on pricing thanks to DLC.  

Movie Review Extravapalooza! Predators, The Expendables, Black Death, Deathwatch, Machete, Prince of Persia

When it rains it pours!  I've been remiss in my movie reviewing as of late.  Mainly because I haven't been watching that many movies (mainly been rewatching stuff or simply watching SVU or PBS documentaries about things eating things).  This last week though I've put in some movie time so 'ere we go!  'Ere we go!

Predators (2010) I used to really dislike Adrien Brody but I've grown to like him since Splice.  I really wasn't expecting much from this installment of the Predator series (I'm a Predator fanatic but every other one has been as disappointing as an alcohol free wake).  In fact I was expecting it to suck.  In all honesty I was surprised, I not only enjoyed but I thought it was a pretty solid action flick with a solid action movie cast (except for Adrien Brody's stupid gravelly voice).  In no way shape or form is Predators as good as Predator but still worth watching while sucking down lager.

The Expendables (2010)  This movie was awesome.  Was it good?  No.  Was it...?  Who cares?  This ain't Becket in the Park!  Shit blows up?  Check.  Stallone and Statham have a good rapport?  Check (actually some of their lines are so funny I did a spit take).  Jet Li kicking ass without being The One?  Check.  Mickey Rourke being one of my favorite actors ever (except for that one movie I'm not gonna talk about)?  Check.  Convoluted evil plot taking place in a banana republic?  Check.  I had fun watching this movie and that was/is the entire point.  Seeing the old warhorses up on screen glowering at one another, battling for scenery to chew on, and generally seeming like they are having fun being there.  A great double feature with Rambo (2008).

Black Death (2010) This is one of those movies I watched and went huh.  A period piece set during the 14th Century about a novice monk accompanying a band of witch hunters to investigate a heretical village and mete out justice where needed.  It's a very well done movie (direction, cinematography, acting, action, lots of gore, and scoring) but two factors kept me from really enjoying it: hand held cam and a vaguely foundering plot.  The handheld cam was actually not distracting during combat but during scenes with no action it was really...off putting.  The plot is straight forward, the resolution was good, but for some reason there were some elements that should have been developed further or cut in order to streamline the film.  Well worth seeing, if only for the action sequences and the last third of the movie.

Machete (2010)  Trejo!  Segal!  Machete!  Mayra Leal buckassnekkid!  Amusing dialogue between hired goons!  Jessica Alba sorta nekkid!  A low rider army!  Alicia Rachel Marek topless!  Decapitations!  Score by Chingon!  "Machete don't text."!  With so many exclamations why was I disappointed by "Machete"?  I don't know.  I enjoyed it but for some reason I was just left going, "Meh.  Rodriguez sure can get chicks to take off their clothes."  Worth watching but perhaps better as a concept piece than in execution.  That being said the first fifteen minutes are fucking bad ass.

Deathwatch (2002)  This movie is a rarity among rarities - a supernatural thriller set in the trenches of World War I.  Written and directed by Michael J Bassett (who also directed Wilderness [2006]) this movie is now on my list of to buy movies.  I enjoyed everything about this movie - which truth be told played out like a really top notch Twilight Zone more than a modern horror movie.  The premise works on the standard of the squad of troops cut off from their company, spooky shit starts to happen, they all go mad.  Complicated?  No.  Excellently done with little to no cheeky humor to lighten the mood?  Yes.  The acting is solid (though I kept expecting Sean Pertwee to show up), the effects are great, hell I can't really find fault with this gem.  Andy Serkis is one of the highlights of the movie.  You have to watch to find out why.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010)  Don't asked me why I watched this last night.  It was on netflix for free and I needed something to stare at slack jawed before I went to bed.  I also wanted to see how bad it really was.  Y'know...yes it was pretty bad in pretty much every regard (except Alfred Molina was awesome of the brigand Sheik Amar) but I watched all of it and realized that it was even worse because if it weren't for the crappy CGI, wretched acting, cheap Jerry Goldsmith knock off score, gaping plot holes, annoying repetition of plot devices, and no one seemed to be having a good time (which I can forgive a lot for example: The Rock or Brandon Fraiser and any movie they're in), I also don't like the cut of Gyllenhaal's jib - He came across as hating his role (a la the dickhead Colin Farrell in Miami Vice) and that's not cool - but when all is said and done Prince of Persia could have been a pretty good swashbuckler.  I also was put off by the bizarre social commentary on the invasion of Iraq: non-existent WMDs (in the form of high quality swords), a vaguely Cheney-esque character, and some snippets of dialogue that were starkly out of place - Sheik Amar: "Tch, secret government killing activity! That's why I don't pay taxes!"  Sigh.  On the upside I am inspired to write a retrospective piece on Sir Ben Kingsley.

A Conversation While...Ch. 3

Conan was right and so are these guys.  Nicely done gentlemen.  The next round is on me.

Two reasons why people "hate" poetry and literature:

1. "Of course I pretend to no originality in either the rhythm or metre of the "Raven".  The former is trochaic - the latter is octametre acatalectic, alternating with heptametre cataletic repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrametre cataletic.  Less pendantically, the feet employed throughout (trochees) consist of a long syllable followed by a short, the first line of the stanza consists of eight of these feet..." Edgar Allan Poe (1846) The Philosophy of Composition
2. Harold Bloom How to Read and Why.  Hey Bulldog you write shit like this and then wonder why people wanna curbstomp intellectualism?  Title your book, How to be a smug Ivy League prick and take and the fun and joy out of what was popular entertainment of the time by painting a veneer of elitism all over it.

Before all you literature fans start jumping up and down, yelling, 'Kill!  Kill!  Kill! please realize that I do respect and love literature but my eyes are crossing at attempting to read something this dry.  This is like math with words.  I'm going to go console myself with some nice safe history.  Mmmm, history.  Mmmm, Chicago Manual of Style.

p.s.  MLA can suck it too.

Freedom Fighters (2003) - IO Interactive

Here's a blast from the past.  One of my all time favorite games (in my top ten). 

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes announcement trailer

Far Cry 2 (2008) Ubisoft Montreal- I finally picked it up in 2011 you should too.

My two previous semi-reviews  (12/18/08 and 12/19/08) never amounted to a full review, which is kind of a a shame because my love of Far Cry 2 is kind of insane.  As far as a gaming experience goes I'm very pleased with it.  There are a couple of tweaks I would like to see and maybe a few more options for side quests and the like but in all honesty those are minor quibbles. I'm still about 3/4 through the story arc and am considering starting over since I don't remember most of what's going on (plus it might be fun).

What might turn some people off of the Far Cry 2 experience is that there are times when you're just travelling, driving or boating along.  There is a fast travel system but you're kind of missing out on the pacing of the game experience if you do that.  Most of the time I enjoy just bopping along because I like exploring and finding secrets.  The downside to the amount of travelling is you're travelling in a war-torn country with a sign on you that says, "Will trade hand jobs for being used as target practice."  Seriously, everyone shoots at you.  Granted your reputation proceeds you but damn.  One of the tweaks I wish that the game had was more of a faction balance (like in Mercenaries) so not every road block would turn into a bullet orgy.  I have to admit though that driving like hell through a checkpoint with gunfire all over the place is kind of fun sometimes.

So far my favorite weapon is the flare gun.  Combined with the fire dynamics in the game (which are astoundingly awesome) and the amount of panic caused on the enemy (understandable, I'd panic if someone shot a flare gun at me) and well I just like setting people on fire in combat games (often I will laugh my ass off and yell, "Stop drop and roll motherfucker!"  I have issues).  Also the flare gun doesn't degrade as fast as some of the other weapons.  Weapon degradation is a major factor in how combat works in FC2.  There's nothing more harrowing than your weapon jamming in the middle of a gun battle (during one mission my SAW jammed, I was out of grenades and molotovs so I basically had to forage for weapons - the downside being enemy weapons are pieces of shit and jam or break on you very quickly).  Fortunately your machete doesn't degrade or consume ammo. 
I haven't delved into the multiplayer yet so I'll put something up about that experience once...I uh...experience it.  I'm a little worried that there won't be much of an online presence but I'm hoping that the fans who are still playing are a cut above the majority of Halo or COD players. 

What I have started tinkering with is the map editor.  I'm still trying to figure out the basics but there are some seriously insane folks out there like Animattronic and RaptorIGN (their maps are below).  There's even a book I want to pick up called simply From Gamer to Game Designer: The Official Far Cry 2 Map Editing Guide.  If I manage to come up with something cool I'll post it.  I'm thinking insane trench warfare or perhaps a recreation of a famous battlefield...hmmm...crap what was I supposed to read for class?

"A Conversation While..." - a kind of sort of initial review.

Normally I'm not a fan of this kind of thing, it almost reeks of the reasons I left Austin (well one of the reasons) however, this is actually cleverer and smarter than it pretends or wants to be.  Chapter One is pretty good and has some really brilliant lines ("Picayune? here's a term for you - you pendantic fuck") but Chapter Two had me laughing my ass off.  It kind of sort of turns Godwin's Law on its head.  Plus there are some choice lines about Woody Allen - on another viewing of the video I realized that these guys used Woody Allen's font during the credits.  Well played.

Truth be told I think it's my love of Woody Allen movies (way back in the 20th Century, pre-Scarlett muse days ex. Love and Death) that allow me to appreciate the jokes in these clips.  Additionally the production quality and Mr. Joiner's scoring bring these clips up several notches (to me production quality is kind of important as a mark of quality - it's like the difference between a shitty horror movie with shitty production and a shitty horror movie that's filmed well and might have something going for it).  Additionally, it's the bringing of absurdity, reality, and pragmatism into philosophical concepts, thus rendering these concepts as onanistic as they really are.

I look forward to the up-coming releases from these guys.  At the very least watching these clips will give us something to fill the time while waiting for updates from XKCD.  

A plug for something actually pretty good (if you're smart enough to get the jokes)

Exciting news! Well, exciting news for me.

So this semester is a very intense reading and writing course load, plus I'm gonna have to come up with topics that I can dig through and poke with a stick.  Women's History is going to be the most challenging mainly because my knowledge is pretty limited (though I think I might focus on women travelers/adventurers/travel writers/journalists).  I'm stoked about African American History (though I have to admit I'm beginning to develop an interest in African history - ex. Slave narratives and cultures in the Caribbean and South America).  English 200 - Literature not so much; not because I don't care about literature'n'stuff but because my interests lay in genre fiction and creative non-fiction.  Ethnobiology is gonna be a blast and in all honesty I'm beginning to think that it's the field I am truly interested in, especially in being able to meld my love of food, history, and cultural studies.  Frankly, except for the science stuff of ethnobio, the topics and possibilities for exploring those topics excites me.

More news to follow.  Hope you fine hooligans have a good and safe weekend.

Reviews pending! Movies! Huzzah! Old and New!

Finally Deathwatch has come to netflix instant download!  A supernatural thriller set in the trenches of World War I.  I'm pretty excited to watch this.  I don't think enough is done with World War I these days, in any form of "entertainment".  Hopefully this movie delivers the goods.

Since one of my movie buddies has never seen Hellraiser or Hellraiser II (my favorite of the two) and we recently watched Candyman and Lord of Illusions I figured it's time for her to watch those two classics.  Now it's going to be the first time I've watched them in maybe about a decade so I figured I'd put together a retro-review.

What's on my mind...possibly a juxtaposition of themes. Discuss.

Game news and reviews! Yay!

Thanks to a fine Christmas gift from BC3 and Mrs. BC3 I was able to download a pile of XBOX Arcade games I had been wanting to play.

ilomilo is a puzzler that is pretty darn cute and bizarre.  The whole premise is navigating ilo to meet milo through a multi-layered/dimensioned series of block puzzles.  Some of the puzzles have been pretty cut and dry and as I've been progressing the puzzles have been (quelle surprise) increasing in difficulty.  ilomilo is definitely worth the 800 MS points, especially if you're looking for something different from FPS or the trudge of sequels.

Costume Quest is an excellent kid's game from Tim Schafer's production company.  Hell, it's an excellent game all around.  Simple enough plot, fun exploring, interesting combat, nice elements of collection and gathering, and a rather touching story about siblings.  My first playthrough took me about eight hours but I accidentally erased my save and have to playthrough again to regain all my unlocked stuff to carry over to the sequel Grubbins on Ice.  I've already downloaded Grubbins but haven't cracked it open yet.  Maybe this weekend.

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue.  A sequel that is Death-ier, spank-ier, and more-ier.  DS:TOV is the same as the first game.  Pretty funny, lots to blow up, clever graphics, gingerbread men to set on fire, leprechauns to throw grenades at, and Thongs to rescue from the clutches of evil.

There's nothing really coming out in February but Homefront comes out March 8th as does Dragon Age 2.  Sadly, I'm not terribly excited about Dragon Age 2.  I still feel a bit pissed about getting burnt by the DLC and Awakenings for Dragon Age. 

An experiment with xtranormal.

Thirty Six Exposures per Roll: The Impact and Effect of Ronald L. Haeberle’s Photographs from My Lai March 16, 1968

This is an experiment of xtranormal.com - a version of a paper I wrote in 2010.

Capital's war against WikiLeaks - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Capital's war against WikiLeaks - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

I jokingly say, "You can't stop the signal." but I've been trying to keep up and catch up with Assange's trials and tribulations. I admit that I have never been to the site and in some regards I feel apprehensive about visiting WikiLeaks because I don't want anything negative to go on my permanent record. Again I joke but isn't freedom of information one of the basic tenets (am I using the right word/concept correctly?) of the World Wide Web? I know how naive that statement is and maybe I rely too much on my nostalgic feelings for cyberpunk. However (and I might sound like a conspiracy nut) doesn't the amount of international muscle being brought to bear on Assange mean that he and his site/sources/etc are simply right? Assange isn't the homeless lady on M Street in DC who bore signs declaring that the CIA killed her son or some tinfoil hat wearing nutcase camped out at Roswell, hell there's not even a hint of Alex Jones in what I've been reading about Assange and his site.

As with other topics I need to educate myself further and more extensively but the entire WikiLeaks debacle fascinates and frightens me. While I don't subscribe to NWO Black Helicopter theories I do worry about the concepts of freedom of information (a vague concept at best I am not educated enough to speak further on) on the Net because how am I supposed to educate myself? How am I supposed to answer/address/explore questions and issues I have if I don't have access to information? Nevermind that I am never going to do anything with that knowledge and frankly I'm too self-centered and worried about paying rent and worried about passing Spanish III and most of my internet time is spent pissing away hours on FB apps but for some reason I also deeply worry about being able to find information freely. I worry about logging into or subscribing to certain sites. I worry about writing about certain topics and issues on this site. I might get on my soapbox from time to time and time again but ultimately I don't want a knock on the door from a suit holding my internet history. Or maybe I'm just being narcissistic and paranoid and gutless. Or maybe the nebulous "they" have won, turning my worries into silence.

Kidnapped by Israel, forsaken by Britain | Al Jazeera Blogs

Kidnapped by Israel, forsaken by Britain | Al Jazeera Blogs

I'm going to look into this further because these kinds of actions, by any nation, are deplorable but I need to know why they occurred.

China: A force for peace in Sudan? - Features - Al Jazeera English

China: A force for peace in Sudan? - Features - Al Jazeera English

News from Thursday the 13th:

Sometimes with FB instafeed I forget that once upon a time I used to post all that stuff on HYR.  So here's a scattershot of interesting stuff I found today:

Scientists Find That Squid Beak Is Both Hard And Soft, A Material That Engineers Want To Copy huh huh huh...hard.  Still joking aside, fascinating and I'm a sucker for potential biotech.

 

Islamophobia in Western Media

 

U.S. Becoming Less "Free"

 

2011: The Dark Year Ahead - a piece from Pravda that is pretty grim but certainly worth reading.

 

Three Giant Spaceships to Attack Earth in 2012?  Sweet!

 

My Russian is not very good but I think this headline reads "Fucking Giant Icicles!"  Additionally that Russkie news site has loads of pictures of hot chicks.  Skernik!

 

 Sharks in the Streets of Brisbane.  If this is true then Australia's floods make Katrina look like a kiddie pool.

 

Shane Black Brought on to Death Note - the live action version of the crappy anime.  Suck. 

 

From the geniuses over at somethingawful.com a Combos Factory Maintenance Report

 

Niall O'Dowd's Violent films,video games played role in Gabbie Giffords shooting, killings makes me miss Jack Thompson.

 

 

 

UnderwaterTimes | Scientists Find That Squid Beak Is Both Hard And Soft, A Material That Engineers Want To Copy

UnderwaterTimes Scientists Find That Squid Beak Is Both Hard And Soft, A Material That Engineers Want To Copy

Look! Stuff about games that aren't Red Dead or Fallout!

Video Games | Demon's Souls | Review

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

I recently heard about the PS3 game Demon's Soul and I have to say that I really want to play it.  It sounds like an excellent game that brings back good old fashioned the RPG hates you gameplay.  For me that's part of the appeal because, as I've written before, most games are pretty easy these days - unless they are plagued by crappy mechanics, gameplay, or camera control.  This game apparently dishes out the punishment.  Too bad I don't have a PS3 or the desire to buy one.

On good old XBOX Arcade puzzler ilomilo just was released and I'm excited to play it.  Arcade has some really good little puzzle games that really warrant downloading the demo at least, example: The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom. I'm gonna give it a play ASAP.

A real surprise was Snoopy Flying Ace. It's a dog-fighting game (aerial combat not Michael Vick though I bet Snoopy could beat the shit out of Clifford or Marmaduke) that is surprisingly fun and has some really hectic combat.  I'm looking forward to downloading a full version.

Microbot could be fun or it could be crappy.  I'll let you folks know when I play it.

One game I really want to play (and can pick up new for $20...well whenever I get $20) is Darkstar One: Broken Alliance.  The game hearkens back to good old fashioned spaceship combat/rpg.  This is one of my favorite genres of all times, one that I feel is sadly under-represented in today's gaming industry.  Apparently the graphics aren't top-notch and the story stumbles at times but to paraphrase Vasquez, I just need to know one thing about my enemies, where they are.  Space combat woo!  Plus I like dusting off chesnuts like, "This ain't like shootin wumprats kid!"

More reviews pending, including news about Homefront and Elder Scrolls V: Return of the Load Screen.

12/22/10 - 01/05/10 Gamestravaganza (aka The Scourging of the Mojave Wasteland and clobbering of New Austin)

Happy New Year to all you fine Hooligan (and non-Hooligan) readers.  Hope you had a decent holiday season.  Mine was fairly quiet, spent too much time playing Lord of Ages on teh F4c3b00kz, and primarily spent my time whuppin and whompin the living tar out of Fallout: New Vegas and getting truly stuck in with Red Dead Redemption (again).

Fallout: New Vegas is dead.  Long live Fallout: New Vegas!  Except for a few acheivements I did pretty much everything that I could do in that game; all storylines, all NPCs, several different character builds.  Granted I haven't picked up Dead Money - the new DLC - nor will I pick up any of the expansions until they are all released and on sale as the GOTY edition.  One thing I realized this last playthrough was having a stupid brawler character severely limits your options as far as NPC interactions, cracking safes, hacking computers, and pretty much anything (I consider) fun goes.  My brawler, "Punchy", was an alcoholic meathead who was capable of killing a Deathclaw with melee attacks but couldn't think his way out of a urine soaked paper bag.  He was so stupid he couldn't even be nice to NPCs.  Moron.

Red Dead Redemption has been an interesting counterpoint to New Vegas.  Redemption is a superior game in many regards.  I wish the two games could be glommed together like fucking peanut butter and chocolate to make a videogame with Voltron-like powers (add in Borderlands for funzies).  I know I love the Fallout series but in all honesty I think I care more about the story, setting, characters, and role playing factors (i.e. Punchy the boozer) than I do the actual gameplay mechanics, the suck ass load-times, the ability to nerf a character from the get-go, the bugs, the graphics engine is in serious need of a tune-up, lack of a cover system, and third person mode -and third person camera control - is frankly fucking worthless.  I get really tired of wandering in first person mode, I feel like I have blinders on.

RDR is gorgeous, 99% bug free, loading times are scarce, camera control is damn fine, the characters and storyline are better than most Rockstar releases as of late, and that's not mentioning multiplayer (even playing multiplayer in a private match greatly expands gameplay) or the excellent DLC.  What's lacking in RDR is setting and RPG factors/elements.  Why is it that Rockstar seems to refuse to make an honest to goodness RPG?  Additionally what's lacking in RDR is Rockstar's Achilles Heel - character collision detection can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.  Having your character bumbling around in front of a doorway in a Chaplin-esque manner while being shot at can be frustrating (unless you're the one firing then it's hilarious).  What really set RDR  apart from New Vegas is how god damn fun RDR is.  A buddy of mine came over and we set up a LAN and spent the evening blasting, knifing, hootin and hollerin and guffawing like crazy people while playing (additional heavy quoting of Serenity, Firefly, and Deadwood also occured).  It was awesome.  I can't wait for him to get the DLC so we can have tomahawk fights (it's my new favorite weapon).  The fun continues with sidequests and unlockables.  One of the quests was "Blow up a mountain lion with a stick of dynamite."  Much easier said than done.  There's a trick to it that I learned after dying many many times (get the asshole to chase you while cooking the dynamite and hauling ass on horseback - it's all a matter of timing).

Both games are worth playing but in my opinion, for the most bang for your buck pick up RDR.  Vegas can wait until all the DLC are out and the game is sold all in one for thirty bucks.

The Dream Act fails but "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" is repealed...

It's rare I get political on HYR - it's a review site after all (66% of the time) but I feel that I have to put down my thoughts after reading the news today.  There will inevitably be some soapboxing about issues I do not have the full facts about nor have I followed every piece of news because it doesn't directly impinge on my day to day existence.  What can I say?  I'm an average American.

The Dream Act, which would have given illegal immigrant youth the ability to gain citizenship through either a college education or military service, did not pass in the Senate today.  I had not heard of the DREAM Act before a few days ago but I thought it was a perfectly reasonable idea and when I read about it for the first time I said to myself, "Finally the Government has figured out that what I've been saying for years makes sense.  Good thing I kept that thought recording chip in my head."  I joke but for quite some time I have been soapboxing about how to solve the "illegal immigrant" problem - to paraphrase Starship Troopers "Service Equals Citizenship".  The volunteer American Armed Forces have, over the last decade, have had a difficult time meeting quotas.  Since I am not El Jefe of the United States I cannot incorporate my idea of good old fashioned penal legions (which, historically have been some of the most bad-ass dudes around) but I was -and am - a strong proponent of what would become the Dream Act.  And why not?  Immigrants still believe in the fabled American Dream - a concept a good cross-section of the American population scoff at.  I'm not saying that immigrants are naive and silly for believing in what our country once stood for, I'm saying that immigrants still believe that America is the Land of Opportunity - otherwise why would they risk life and limb and leave their families behind to come here?

FDR's Good Neighbor Policy and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and the establishment of an immigrant population is a topic I would like to research further because I'd like to understand the impact this New Deal program and FDR's administrations policies have had on current events.  I realize that sounds like a thesis statement and there are probably a pile of research papers and academics texts asshole deep to an adult giraffe but these are important issues to consider.  In reading the news (or admittedly scanning the headlines and reading the news that interests me) it seems that the concept of a Good Neighbor Policy went out the window with the Cold War.  But I digress.

So, the Dream Act.  Give immigrants the opportunity to better themselves and in turn better our nation.  That's the gist of the Act right?  Sounds pretty reasonable to me.  Take care of people and their families, give them a safe port in the storm, honest pay for honest work, and a chance to make better lives for themselves.  Call me naive but isn't that what decent human beings do and by reason (A government by and for the People) their elected officials should strive for?  Isn't common decency towards your fellow man the cornerstone of most major religions?  Aren't the basic Ten Commandments about not being an asshole (okay I have a problem with Thou Shalt Not Worship Any Other God But Me and a couple of others but the basics, Don't kill people, Don't steal, Don't fuck your neighbor's wife...those are pretty solid givens.  Y'know laws and rules are made for a reason and usually because the rule didn't exist before and therefore needed to be implemented.  That being said Old Testament times were batshit crazy)?  Aren't we a Christian nation (more or less - that's what FOX and the 700 Club told me)?

Maybe the Senate Republicans didn't want more gay immigrants in the Armed Forces.  You'd think that some of those Senators didn't know ferocious some of the Latin trannies can be.  I bet some of those Senators have some lady boys set up in apartments in Rosslyn.  The Senators should know those bitches will cut you.  Amusing scenario: Lady Boy on coke vs fundamentalist insurgent - "Bitch I know you dinnit point that AK at me.  Gimme that shit.  Bitch, I will cut you."

God forbid we get some hard ass Latinas in the Armed Forces.  Haven't any of those Senators seen Aliens?  Vasquez has got a bigger set of huevos than I will ever have.  Fuck that - how about some hardcase ladies who like ladies?  I mean paladins for women's rights...with the US military might backing them up.  Female genital mutilation?  Yeah that shit would be over.

A historical point, once upon a time was a waste of semen to be with a woman (I'm talking about Greeks, Romans, and Samurai).  Women were for breeding and taking care of the homestead.  Only non-military men (kids, old folks, pussweeds and shit shovellers) stayed at home to tend the home fires.  Manly men only loved other manly men and after they were doing manly man stuff they had manly man sex.

All joking aside, I view the repeal of DADT as a good thing.  I hadn't realized that it had only been established seventeen years ago.  To me if an American citizen is willing to potentially put their lives on the line, no matter what their race/creed/color/social status/economic bracket, (this goes for police, fire fighters, EMTs, and any civil servant who does their civic duty in a time of crisis as well) then who gives a shit?

My sentiment is that right now, at this juncture of American history, we have the opportunity to elevate ourselves from mundane bullshit like whether or not a person feels emotional and physical feelings towards a member of their same sex (and could get married).   As far as immigrants go I feel that the United States should support and encourage immigration anyway we can.  Education opportunities?  Roles in our military?  Programs that provide living wages and opportunities for personal growth?  Yes to all three.  In some ways it's a starting point to making America great again, being that shining beacon on the hill, and making up for our Cold War policies which have fucked us in the ass over the last decade.

Erotic Grotesque Ultraviolent Japanimation (and a few others): a brief retrospective 1986-1998

WARNING:

These films and hence this retrospective = NSFW.  Additionally, if you dislike movies which might potentially make you physically or mentally ill I suggest avoiding them (except Akira but even that might freak you out).  These movies will warp your fragile little minds.

Once upon a time, before the American manga/anime boom in the early-mid aughts and upswell in wall scroll bedecked millenials clamoring for Avatar, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece and wretched "emo" Americanized yaoi, and when Japanime was still Japanime, you had hardcore violent, sexual deviant, perverted, bizarre, questionable (by Western standards) morals, BDSM, Nazis, demons, BDSM Nazi Demons, psychotic heroes, psychotic villians, and gore and nudity and gore and tentacles.  This ain't no Miyazaki touchy feely bullshit about earth spirits and healing nature or flying pigs (though Catbus in My Neighbour Totoro is really fuckin creepy).  This was splatterpunk, balls to the wall mental shit, and I loved it.  Here are some my personal favorites, in no particular order from the heyday of animated filth flarn filth.

• Legend of the Overfiend (1988)  I still remember the first time I saw this in '95(?) at a friend's house.  None of us had seen it before and it had come as a recommendation from a video store clerk.  Let's just put it this way - none of us had seen tentacle rape before or even seen most of what was going on in the movie.  The level of violence and horrific sexual violence is beyond pornographic.  This is things you can't unsee shit.  AND WE LOVED IT.  That night we ended up watching it twice in a row.  I haven't seen it since after I moved to Austin and got obsessed with Japanese cinema and animation but I remember enjoying it but not as much as the first time. 
• La Blue Girl (1992)  Hentai, plain and simple, with hot chick sex ninja demon hunters who bang demons to death.  Smut, filth, garbage, so awesome. 
• Battle Angel Alita (1993)  Now Alita is a different story than the previous two entries because there no sex but some brilliant action, plot, setting, and characters.  It's also a very dark and in some respects bleak movie.  Out of this list, this film is the friendliest (non-tentacle rape-y that is) but the level of violence might freak out some faint hearts.
• Ninja Scroll (1993) I LOVE NINJA SCROLL.  It is certainly in my top three faves on this list.  Ninja Scroll, man talk about a fucking epic classic.  It's got everything.  Ninjas, demons, an immortal bad guy, a snake chick, political intrigue, lots of violence, sex, violence, hordes of ninjas, and now I want to watch it right now.  I can't give away the plot or my favorite parts because if you haven't seen it - go pick up the DVD.
• Wicked City (1987)  The movie I usually double feature with Ninja Scroll for similar characters and parallel themes.  Wicked City is creepier than Ninja Scroll, with a mean misogynistic lean (almost all of these movies are rife with misogynist themes and tones - except Battle Angel Alita), there's a spider woman with vagina dentata (who is actually frightening and awesome), and some really twisted concepts.  Wicked City is not the action cheerfest that Ninja Scroll is but is well deserving of being on this list.
• Fist of the North Star (1986) and Doomed Megalopolis (1991) are "classic" anime from this era but I'm not a huge fan.  Initially, when I was building this list, I thought I liked them and then I remembered that I didn't enjoy them.  They are still must-see if you're serious about your Japanimation.
• Akira (1988) Classic.  The remastered version with a new English dub sucks.  Japanese is the way to go but I recommend finding a copy of the original dub.  The English dub is actually really good.  Akira, yup nothing I can say about it that hasn't already been said.
• 3x3 Eyes (1991) Demons.  Fan service.  "Yokomo they've got the statue!" 
• Anything by Go Nagai from Violence Jack (1986) to New Cutey Honey (1994).  Go Nagai, man, there was a time I would watch anything with name Go Nagai slapped on it.  He's the perverted Japanese Russ Meyers.  I prefer Kekko Kamen (legendary panty mask) myself - a superheroine who wears her panties as a mask an stuns Nazis with her vagina.  No seriously, her glowing vagina stuns them and then Kekko Kamen breaks their necks with her thighs.
• Plastic Little (1994) one of the funnier and more "traditional" space trader adventure with some bouncy bouncy thrown in for good measure.

Now these are just a few of the Japanese animated features I enjoy.  I only really rewatch Ninja Scroll and Wicked City and the films of Satoshi Kon.  My taste in anime shifted as the market shifted - I don't go out of my way to dig through endless episodes of series though I have some on my queue.  I keep my ear to the ground for feature films but haven't hear of anything grand.  Oh well, maybe I can revisit these twisted gems and view them from a new perspective.

Every once in a while...

I try to write to fiction but it always ends up being everything I want to say or am too afraid to say or too afraid of people reading.  And as I suck down another Champagne of Beer and worry my pipe and keep turning up the volume on Dylan my fingers falter, nails two weeks uncut I don't and can't type the way I normally do.

I'm worried that the fiction, the caricature, the lyrics of Mama, You Been on My Mind, the dregs of my last six beers, the failed flirtations with Millienials, and dredging monetary karmic debt...

And I'm amazed it's only 9PM CST.

My nails are too long and I need a haircut though I brushed my hair tonight and I had to smile at the way I looked.  I'm not abhorrent to look at but I couldn't look myself in the eye.

Valhalla Rising (2009) Dir Nicholas Winding Refn

I'm gonna say it and you heard it here first folks!  Vikings are the new pirates.

However Valhalla Rising is not going to be a high water mark on the resurgence of Vikings in pop culture.  Refn's film is too bleak, too dark (literally, the film is very dark and washed out), too slow, and thematically/philosophically/intellectually meandering to really capture mass appeal.  My movie buddy said she felt sick while watching it (not because of violence - she's a gorehound).  Valhalla Rising is an art film and if it weren't for the brilliant action, cinematography (never has Scotland looked colder or wetter than in this movie), pacing (of the first half of the movie), and Mads Mikkelsen's silent protagonist the movie would have been a total snooze-fest.

Mads Mikkelsen and the level of psychotic violence his character can dish out really kept me watching.  In some ways he (and the film) reminded me of some of the chambara films I have seen.  Mikkelsen plays "One-Eye" a country-less, nameless, silent force of violent nature.  In the first half of the movie he is either caged or kept in chains or at the end of a rope, he barely moves or even registers the slightest emotion on his face in his eye.  But when he is pitted against other fighters he's terrifying.  He crushes his opponents - in one case he smashes the brains out of a fallen foe with a rock.  As the film progresses though and One-Eye gains his freedom, Mikkelsen allows some subtle expressions play across his face and it's a true testament to his skill as an actor at he can convey emotion and thought with only one eye (without any need for melodrama or tears or going moon eyed).

If you're a fan of Herzog (especially Aguirre, Wrath of God -1972) or Skandinavian and Japanese slow-paced actioners you might want to check it out.  I'd be interested in your thoughts and responses to Valhalla Rising.

Babysitter Wanted (2008) Dir. Jonas Barnes

I read a review somewhere of Babysitter Wanted though I can't remember where or when.  However I watched it last night and I was actually surprised at how good it was.  That being said it is in no way as good as Ti West's House of the Devil (2009) but they would make for a great double feature.

Babysitter Wanted is a horror movie about you guess it - a babysitter in danger.  What set this one apart from the standard teen scream fare was: the decent writing (though there are some absurd plot holes), the action - while this is a splatter pic, the really hardcore gore is either just out of frame, obscured in shadow, or only heard (which in someways is worse), Bruce Thomas out Bruce Campbells Bruce Campbell as Jim Stanton, Kai Kaster is awesome as the son Sam Stanton, and Sarah Thompson (who played Eve on Angel) was a pretty kick ass heroine (though she's about ten years older than her protagonist is supposed to be).  The movie isn't high art or the best horror movie ever made but it certainly is better than your standard fare these days.

Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions (1995) Dir. Clive Barker

Watched this movie for the first time in a month of Sundays, and truth be told I don't I think I'd ever seen it in it's entirety.  I used to be a huge Clive Barker fan (particularly Everville and Imagica) but over the years I stopped reading his books.  As far as the movies he directed I only really enjoyed Hellraiser and even then I think I'm more of a fan of Hellraiser II.  So I wasn't expecting much at all from Lord of Illusions - in fact I expected it to pretty much suck.  I was mistaken, Lord of Illusions was actually pretty good.  Creepy and gory (borderline ero-guro) in that way only Clive Barker used to be able to do - this mid-90s horror flick is pretty solid.  Sure the CGI effects are pretty dated (not as bad as Altered States but still amazingly crude by today's standards) but the good old fashion gore and splatter is still wince inducing.  The movie is solidly constructed, written, acted (surprisingly Scott Bakula was pretty good), and though Famke Janssen kept her clothes on she was still stunning.

What was kind of funny is the person I watched it with was only familiar with Barker's young adult novel Abarat.  I guess that, for me, Clive Barker was such a well known name - what with Hellraiser being released in 1987, The Books of Blood, Barker's name on Candyman (1992), The Great and Secret Show, Everville, and my favorite dark fantasy epic Imagica.  Hell, Barker was excellent when it came to splatterpunk (one of the best) and I read a shit ton of splatterpunk in its heyday (1987-1995).

I really had a good time watching Lord of Illusions and was pleasantly surprised.  It's not as good as some horror releases from the mid-90s but it's definitely one of the better ones. 

Upcoming reviews from HYR:

Was just trying to organize my netflix queue for instant download since you can now have just a streaming account - about fucking time in my book - for about six bucks a months, unlimited viewing.  In any case I am gonna stack up some gems and hopefully have a good bumper crop of reviews over the holiday break.  Here some highlights and movies I'm looking forward to watching:

• Blood into Wine a docu about former Tool frontman Maynard opening up his own vineyard.  Potentially pretty good.
• Valhalla Rising (2009) Mads Mikkelsen stars in this Viking/supernatural/horror/action movie.  Why wouldn't I want to see this?  I really hope this doesn't disappoint.
• The Good, The Bad, the Weird (2008) a Korean weird Western set in the Manchurian desert.  I'm in for a penny.
• Whispering Corridors (1998)  I'm looking forward to this late 90s (now classic) Korean murder mystery about a new teacher investigating the "suicides" of students.  At least it won't have most of the tired tropes that ended up plaguing Asian horror cinema of the 00s (hopefully).
• Sweet Land (2005) A quiet period piece set in the 1920s about Scandinavians in Minnesota.
• Alix Lambert's The Mark of Cain (2000) a docu about Russian prison tattoos.

There are also a truckload of other movies but nothing really worth writing home about.

Don't tell Mom the baby sitter is a psycho pervert: My favorite evil nanny/babysitter horror movies

Last night I watched the made-for-cable gem The Sitter (2007).  It wasn't particularly great but it wasn't particularly awful either, on a scale of one to ten I'd give it a 5.5 or 6.  The basic premise is - and there are no spoilers because if you've seen one movie like this you've seen them all - lonely psychotic young woman worms her way into a nice upper middle class family's house, psychologically manipulates the family members in an attempt to replace the wife, ends up murdering a bunch of people, ends up dying.  Personally I'd love to see one of these movies where the psycho ends up winning in the end.  But while watching The Sitter I remembered that for a brief period of time there were a rash of evil babysitter/nanny movies so I'd thought I'd try to highlight my favorites or ones that I have always wanted to see.

1. The best of the bunch is undeniably Curtis Hanson's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) with Rebecca De Mornay at the height of her hotness and crazy-ness.  Not just at the top of the evil nanny in our midst heap but also one of my favorite early 90s suspense/thrillers (a.k.a. rich white people in danger - if it's poor people it's a horror movie).
2. The Guardian (1990) dir William Friedkin.  I never got to see this movie which is a shame because I love William Friedkin movies (The Exorcist, Sorcerer, The French Connection, To Live and Die in LA).  Additionally this movie is unavailable on netflix, which is kind of a drag because now I really want to watch it.
3. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead (1991) dir Stephen Herek.  I don't know how this hold up because I have seen it since the 90s.  I really enjoyed the movie but then again it might have just be my love for Christina Applegate.

Huh, this is turning out harder than I thought.  I know there are more evil babysitter movies than this.  I was going to include Poison Ivy but that's just a stranger in our midst movie.  Any of you fine folks remember any gems?

Citizen Kane (1941) Dir. Orson Welles

Many times I watch a movie and wonder, "Why isn't this a classic?"  Normally the movie in question is an obscure genre piece from the 1970s that most people today have never seen - e.g. Report to the Commissoner (1975).  Sometimes I watch a movie and wonder, "Why is this a classic?" - e.g. Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970), Andrey Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972), Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990), or It's A Wonderful Life Frank Capra (1946).  Welles' Citizen Kane is a movie I understand and recognize as a very important piece of American cinema but frankly the movie leaves me...shrugging and wanting more and frankly wondering what the big deal is about Orson Welles.

I have to say that I've seen Citizen Kane several times, especially when growing up.  My father took me to a revival theater to see it back in the 1980s.  At the same theater I had seen noir classics served up as double features and had a deep love of Bogie and Bacall, Lorre and the Fat Man, and even loved Widmark though he scared the shit out of me.  Hell, thanks to my father and grandfather I had seen Triumph of the Will (1935) - as a follow up to a UHF airing of World at War.  So when I was a kid I loved Citizen Kane.  I certainly didn't pick up on some of the details that my film professor pointed out but growing up I was a big fan of Welles.

Now, nearly two decades since I had seen Citizen Kane in it's entirety - until today - I must say that I am not impressed.  If I was going to be snarky I would say that Welles was the Tarantino of his day.  A gross sweeping generalization but at the core I think that statement has merit - a subject for another article.  Kane is an amazing piece of American cinema but not because of Welles (certainly the man influenced every aspect of the film) but because of cinematographer Gregg Toland, composer Bernard Herrmann, editor Robert Wise, and Mel Burns' make-up department.  Citizen Kane is brilliantly shot, lit, scored, acted, dressed, recorded, and written.  In some ways I wish that I could have seen a stage production of Kane by these men instead of their movie.  

But I was bored and I'm not sure why I was bored.  Maybe it's the same reason Olivier's Hamlet (1948) makes me want to claw out my eyes or why the majority of Jim Jarmusch movies fill me with an urge to dig for, study, and eat my boogers.  In all honesty, I think Kane is so frightfully dull is because of Welles.  Not as director, writer, or iconoclast but he's kind of a shite actor.  Don't get me wrong, Welles is a brilliant Harry Lime and Hank Quinlan but as Kane he just is...frankly...pretty lacklustre.  Every time Welles was on screen he was outshone by the Mercury Theater cadre.  The search for the truth about Charles Foster Kane is more compelling than anything involving Kane on screen.  In the confrontation with James W. Gettys (Ray Collins) Welles just doesn't deliver the on screen impact that Collins does.  Joseph Cotton is brilliant in his role at C.F. Kane's old friend and Cotton brings out aspects of his character that I had never seen (or been able to understand during previous viewings) before.

However, Welles does have one shining moment as an actor.  The building audio/visual cuts leading up to his bombastic speech and the way he delivers his campaign speech is brilliant.  Maybe it's the remastered cut of Bailey Fesler and James G. Stewart's sound design but Kane's speech has an amazing reverberation and resonance.  During this scene Welles is projecting to the balcony and he sells it.  Fuck, I would have voted for him.

While watching Citizen Kane I kept thinking about Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007) and comparing the two.  Lewis' Daniel Plainview is a magnate through strength of will - with a heavy dose of psychosis.  Welles' Kane is a magnate through charisma - with a heavy dose of...I do not know...narcissistic Freudian issues?  Charles Foster Kane is a pathetic creature where as Plainview is simply, and ultimately, a monster.  Perhaps this is what Welles was going for, not an "absolute power corrupts absolutely" but more of a tragic Shakespearean (Lear not Richard III) character.

Interesting that in the course of writing this review I want to watch Citizen Kane again just to make sure I didn't miss anything which, in the end, causes me to dislike the movie.  Unlike There Will Be Blood, Kane  does not grab me by the lapels and shake me but unlike There Will Be Blood I'm not attempting to analyse why I did or did not like the film.

Maybe, and this may sound a bit obtuse, but that's what makes a great piece of cinema (or art or literature).  You might hate it and want to rub the offending object on your nether-regions but what you saw evoked a response, and more importantly and vital, an intellectual exercise.  I know that sounds trite but how many times (or how easy is it) have you or I dismissed things out of hand?  I pissed and bitched and moaned about having to watch Citizen Kane however I feel that I've taken something away from the movie, and, really, when it comes down to it...ain't that what movies are about and the reason we keep watching them?

      

Reviews! Waxwork (1988) and Centurion (2010)

Waxwork (1988) was one of those movies that when I was a kid I saw the box for it at the video store and was fascinated by the cover and tag line, "Stop on by and give the afterlife a try." I finally saw it, probably when I was twelve or so and the movie really creeped me out.  There are a couple of scenes from that movie that have stuck with me since then so when I saw that Waxwork was available for download I knew I had to rewatch it.

This movie is awesome!  It's one of those movies that you watch and think, "Only during the 80s could this movie have been made."  It's nuts and you just have to go along with it, the movie is just too fun and bizarre not to go all out with.  There's gore, weird sexual themes, David Warner, the dude who played James Hurley in Twin Peaks, the dude from Gremlins, nudity, gore, and an ending that has to be seen to be believed.  Now I'm not a fan of camp or most cult movies but Waxwork is just too much fun to ignore.  Hell I might add it to the Saturday afternoon movie roster.

Centurion (2010) is Neil Marshall's (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday) newest pulpy actioner with buckets of claret splashed around, Scotland, and squads of grizzled guys doing kick-ass grizzled guy stuff.  It's also my least favorite of Marshall's films.  I still enjoyed it and will probably pick it up if I see it on sale but it really seemed to lack the spark of his other films.  The dynamic of the squad was lacking and kind of poorly developed - especially in comparison to Dog Soldiers or The Descent - which is a shame because I think that's one of Marshall's strengths as a writer.  The action is still solid though, with some wince inducing kills, the writing ain't bad, and when the chips are down Marshall still cranks out a solid action movie even the genre seems to be faltering these days.  Definitely worth seeing but run out and buy ten copies...not so much - though I recommend Dog Soliders as a Christmas gift for anyone who likes action/horror/werewolf movies, it's really the best werewolf movie ever made.

Thoughts after class today, in no particular order:

The lecture I attended today focused on how America and Americans dealt with the Vietnam conflict.  A vast topic that unfortunately was limited by time to one lecture.  I'm going to attempt to put down some thoughts (hopefully I can write a more cohesive article soon for HYR).

• I was born in 1977 and in a certain respect grew up during the time period when America was trying to come to grips with Vietnam; politically, socially, and culturally.  What's interesting is being able to look back and recognize moments in my early years that, at the time, I had no idea what was going on or if I did I was too young to understand the significance of events.  Some of the important series of events for me were 
• The bring 'em home movies of the early/mid 1980s - Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Missing in Action (1984), 
• Vietnam vets are nutcases movies, Lethal Weapon (1987), Blind Fury (1989), 
• Oliver Stone's Vietnam trilogy
• the building of the Vietnam Memorial (1982)
• POW/MIA bumper stickers and flags
• Tour of Duty (1987-1990)
• an Uncle telling me about his experiences in Vietnam
• the first time I saw Apocalypse Now
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• Stanley Karnow's PBS Vietnam series
• 'Nam - the comic book
• The CIA is evil movies
• Air America (1990)
• growing up with Dad and Grandpa being military history nuts and movie nuts
• the collapse of the Soviet Union
• I realize that most of those influences are from Hollywood or TV but then again I think that's the way it was for a lot of my generation (and the generations that follow and maybe Americans in general).  However, Vietnam is shifting into ancient history.  Hell it seems to me that people think anything pre-9/11 is ancient history.
• In the last decade I have read a fair amount and watched more than a fair amount of documentaries about the Vietnam conflict, Vietnamese culture, and want to learn more about the country's history of invasion and how it dealt with invaders.  That might be key to helping me understand the nature of the conflict and why America was doomed from the start in Indochina.
• The armchair historian that I will forever be strongly believes that if the United States had supported Ho Chi Minh in 1945 (hell another example of the US training and supplying insurgent forces - in this case by the OSS to combat the Japanese and Vichy in Indochina - and then discarding them  when they were no longer useful and then suffering the consequences) and been able to keep Charles de Gaulle's lunacy in check then the United States could have - in theory - created a bastion of pro-US support in the region.  Thus doing so could have prevented decades of needless chaos and bloodshed (not only in Vietnam but Laos, Cambodia, and Burma).  
• In January 1944, in a memo to Sec. of State Cordell Hull, FDR wrote "The case of Indo-China is perfectly clear,  France has milked it for one hundred years.  The people of Indo-China are entitled to something better than that."  The Vietnam Declaration of Independence written by Ho Chi Minh (September 1945) cites and extols the virtues of our own United States Constitution.  How different things could have been.
• Conspiracy theory time!
• Did JFK step up American involvement in Vietnam because he was Catholic...as was Ngo Dinh Diem?!?  Dun dun dun!  Where's Glenn Beck and his chalk board when we need them?

I think that there might be some coherent points in there some where, though as to which and where I'm not sure.  Maybe I'll just write a massive tome about the history of Quang Ngai province or if I wanted to be a real egghead - the historiography of the Indochina conflicts...but that's probably been done.

Faery - Legends of Avalon (2010) Focus Home Interactive

So it's that time of year when I've played through most of the games I wanted to play and start digging through the catalog of XBOX Live games and DLCs.  Last night I was wading through demos, some good, some not so good but I stumbled across Faery - Legends of Avalon from Parisian indie designer Focus Home Interactive.  I downloaded the demo and I have to admit that I am kind of charmed and impressed at this little release.  It's a well done classic turn based RPG with a 3 member party system, elemental magic, minimal inventory management, and a "get to the root of the problem" story arc filled with step'n'fetch and puzzle quests along the way.  It's not ground-breaking and it's probably not going to wow a lot of fans of shit that blows up or fans of jabbing plastic instruments with their pudge paws but for fans of classic non-JRPG styled games it certainly fits the bill.

The basic premise is Avalon, ruled by Oberon, is fading as modern man forgets and disrespects the magic of the Old Ways.  The player character is awoken from stasis within a crystal to find out if there is anyway to salvage the realm.  The adventure begins.

Four things really work for me while I've been playing Faery:

1. The art design is brilliant from NPC to level to monsters.  There's a very clever and understated Brian Froud-esque quality to the characters - vaguely menacing and ugly though, in some cases amusingly adorable.  My favorite character so far is Grim who looks like a cross between the Artful Dodger and Jacob Marley.  
2. This is one of the rare games that I would let children play but I would enjoy playing with them.  Hell I think the text based speech would be fun to read out loud to a kid, especially since each character has their own style of dialogue.
3. Though the levels initially seem small the ability to fly from the beginning of the game creates an excellent illusion of scale.  The second level (based around Ygdrassil) was a lot of fun simply because of  zooming through the leaves and branches of the tree exploring.  I am currently on the Flying Dutchman but have yet to explore it.
4. Just because this might be a game I approve for children doesn't mean it's for slack jawed troglodytes.  In fact many of the jokes are only funny if you know anything about mythology and folk tales (no Greco-Roman bullshit either) or 16th-Century French literature (okay I had to wiki one joke in the game to understand it, I think it's a funny joke - now that I get it - but you won't).  It's nice to play something that intellectually amuses as well.

I expect the game to top out at maybe 12-14 hours of gameplay but for the low price point I'm over-joyed at the experience.  Faery is like a meal at a fancy French restaurant.  You may be disappointed by the tiny portions at first but the meal is so delicious and filling and satisfying.

Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare: Initial impressions.

Video Games


Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Undead Overrun Trailer

XBox 360

Playstation 3

Nintendo Wii

I'm pretty sick of zombies and the zombie genre in general.  That being said Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare DLC is totally fucking awesome mayhem.  I was up way too late last night running and gunning on multiplayer Undead Overrun missions.  I cannot stress enough how much fun I had battling the Undead hordes.  For a ten dollar DLC this is excellent fun and I've barely gotten into the storyline.  More news to follow.

Full review of "The Passion of Joan of Arc"

“I wish it was one of those good American light things.”[1]

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Since its release Carl Theodor Dreyer’s depiction of the trial and execution of the French Maid continues to stun audiences and film critics alike.  In 1995, the Vatican included The Passion of Joan of Arc in their “Top 45 [Great] Films”.  This list is subdivided into themes of Religion, Values, and Art (Joan is entered into the Religion category).  Their brief review describes the film “as [a] Silent screen masterpiece portraying the heresy trial, confession, recantation and execution of the Maid of Orleans (Maria Falconetti) in a performance of such emotional power that it still stands as the most convincing portrayal of spirituality on celluloid.”[2]  Mordaunt Hall’s two pieces for The New York Times (March 29 and March 31, 1929) extol both the cinematic virtues of the film and Maria Falconetti’s performance as Joan.  Richard Watts, Jr. echoed Hall’s sentiments in his The Film Mercury review (April 12, 1929). However, it is the poetess H.D.’s review in Close Up that truly does The Passion of Joan of Arc justice.  Her review masterfully captures power of the film and the myriad of confused responses it draws from the viewer.

I find it impossible to clinically or objectively review The Passion of Joan of Arc.  My own impressions and responses to Dreyer’s film are simply too complicated.  My feelings during every viewing range from disgust to awe to claustrophobia and dread (often shifting within moments of each other).  The film elicits a physical response from me, I feel unwell while watching.  The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen (along with Bergman’s Virgin Spring, Rossellini’s Germany, Year Zero, and Resnais’s Hiroshima Mon Amour) and one of the more difficult to come to terms with on a personal level.  I have been unable to watch the film in one sitting since my first viewing; I have to break it into chunks.  My copy of Einhorn’s Voices of Light score has become one my favorite scores yet I am unable to separate the score from the imagery of the film.  The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of the rare films that will stay with me and I will continue to puzzle over and discuss and read about for a long time to come. 

            But why?  I’ve watched ero-guro pink-u eiga (Japanese erotic grotesque films).  I’m familiar with the works of Fulci, Bava, and Argento.  I love Herzog/Kinski films.  Dark Scandinavian films, American and European ruminations on the nature of evil, chillers, thrillers, Night of the Hunter, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Triumph of the Will, and many other of my favorite films have never gotten their claws into me this deeply before (except maybe Fanny and Alexander or Peeping Tom).  Joan is not a grand guignol or a penny dreadful or a “roughie”.  Certainly the panchromatic film[3], Hermann Warm and Jean Hugo’s minimalist (and rarely fully visible) sets, Dreyer and Joseph Delteil’s script, and brutal edging given to the cast’s faces (unadorned by makeup) create an oppressive and discomfiting tone that is difficult to endure.  The Passion of Joan of Arc evokes in me the same sensations as reading Kafka’s “The Trial” or Orwell’s “1984” and this is part the intellectual and emotional tug of war at work in The Passion of Joan of Arc.  As H.D. wrote, “[this] is one film among all films, to be judged differently, to be approached differently, to be viewed as a masterpiece…but there is a Jeanne sobbing before us, there is a Jeanne about to kicked by huge hob-nailed boots.”  H.D. reminds me of Orwell again, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face -- forever.”  Dreyer denies his audience any catharsis, not Joan’s death nor the resultant riot provide any release from the level of tension the film creates.  The climactic riot only allows the viewer to be swept along, frustrated and unsure, with the violence, an Orwellian “Five Minute Hate”.

Dreyer is a master of the close up (not only in Joan but his other films as well – e.g. Vampyr): tight shots of the Judges - craggy, menacing, darting suspicious eyes under heavy brows, cruel bemused expressions, the camera does not mask the subtle ticks and contemptuous askance the Judges deign to award Joan.  Maria Falconetti’s performance is as far removed from Angella Salloker’s in Das Madchen Johanna (1935) as it is from Milla Jovovich’s in The Messenger.  Falconetti’s Joan is not beatific, nor angelic, nor warrior woman.  Her Joan bears a rapturous expression that borders upon the madness imparted by the divine.  Falconetti and Dreyer also bring out a deep pathos for Joan who one moment looks like a confused, filthy, ignorant peasant girl and another looks like she truly could be the Maid of Orleans. 

All of these points make for a truly impressive cinematic experience however it is deep undercurrent of madness that makes The Passion of Joan of Arc such a powerful film.  It is not simply an issue of whether Joan is mad (schizophrenic or autistic by today’s standards) or whether the Judges are malignant sadists (though historically the Catholic Church during this time was corrupt and twisted).  It is the sense of stark realism Dreyer creates and the performances that creates the feeling of madness.  The Passion of Joan of Arc does not make excuses for protagonist or antagonists.  While our natural inclination is to side with Joan, Falconetti’s performance instills feelings of doubt.  Often I wonder if Joan is cognisant of her surroundings or her trial and the charges leveled against her.  Falconetti’s Joan at times seems like an idiot savant, as uncomprehending of her impending doom as a cow to the abattoir.    Yet, just as quickly and concurrently, I am filled with un-erotic love and adoration for Joan, the desire to defend and fight for her.  Pauline Kael wrote, “No other film has linked eroticism with religious persecution” and while I can understand Kael’s point I (as I often do) have to disagree with Kael.   

 Contradictions and doubt and uncertainty and fear are the strongest themes in The Passion of Joan of Arc but it is Falconetti’s resolve as Joan, her depiction of true Faith (religious or otherwise), that, in the face of adversity she remains unbowed.  I watch Dreyer’s film and am plagued by questions, not about the film, but about myself.  Would I have the testicular fortitude to stand by my convictions?  Would I refuse to admit that 2+2=5?  Sadly, I lack the resolve of Falconetti’s Joan.

---

[1]

[2] http://www.usccb.org/movies/vaticanfilms.shtml

[3] http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=81387

Syed Irfan Haider

Every once in a while I find music that grabs me and I feel the need to find out more ASAP.  This usually happens while listening to "World" music - a term that I find revolting because "World" music means anything that isn't Western/American.  I recently stumbled across Syed Irfan Haider, a Shia Pakistani with an amazing voice and cuts that appeal to my love of work songs, shanties, soulful rhythms and and call and response, fight songs, and a brilliant heartbeat tempo.

 Jheetay Rahoo Aun-o-Muhammad is the cut that hit me and hooked me.  No offense intended to Mr. Irfan 

Haider but the tempo appeals to me on several levels - whether bhangra or aforementioned religious/labour songs.


I am attempting to find out more about the man and his music.  When I do I will certainly post my findings.

It's funnier of you know what the Hays Code is

A 1942 Warner Bros. cartoon, "A Tale of Two Kitties", features two cats attempting to catch Tweety, in his first appearance. One cat says, "Give me the bird! Give me the bird!" To which the second cat replies, "If the Hays Office would only let me, I'd give him the bird, all right!" ("Give the bird" means to stick up one's middle finger, an obscene gesture prohibited by the Hays code.)"

The Descent: Part 2 (2009) Dir. Jon Harris

My movie buddy and I watched this last night because we were trying to find something to watch on teh netflix and we normally watch horror movies and we are both fans of Neil Marshall (me especially) so we figured, "Meh, fuck it why not?"

I have to say, not bad...not bad at all.  It's not a sequel, it's a continuation of the first movie with the same protagonist (Shauna MacDonald) and takes place two days after the events in The Descent.  Does it hold up as companion piece to the brilliant Neil Marshall movie?  Yes, yes it does though I have to recommend watching them back to back - unless you've recently watched The Descent and remember what happens.  I haven't because I don't own it and I usually end up watching Dog Soldiers instead.

The Descent: Part 2 has two, possibly three problems with it, all of which involve spoilers so I won't say nothin about them.  However, the tension is high, the claustrophobia is (for someone like me who is as terrified of spelunking as I am of going in the water with sharks) really discomfiting, and I absolutely love Shauna MacDonald.  She's a brilliant protagonist with a great back story and, for me, very identifiable - not because of her character's history or motivations - but because I completely empathize with her.  She's not some half-wit that I want to see torn limb from limb because her ineptitude makes her deserving of it.

A solid horror gore-fest, though none of the effects or direction are as good as Marshall's film.  Well worth watching if you're looking for a horror movie to watch that isn't some teen slasher flick.

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) Dir. Leo McCarey

Having only seen Ruggles of Red Gap's Charles Laughton, as the eponymous lead, in serious roles (Mutiny on the Bounty and Spartacus) I was unsure of what to expect from him in a comedic role in this 1930s Paramount social satire.  Laughton, with his Droopy Dog demeanour, was actually an excellent comedic actor.  Director Leo McCarey, with his experience with actors like W.C. Fields and Harold Lloyd, brings out an almost natural humor from Laughton (in a way it reminds me of the humor that was drawn from Denholm Elliot at times).

Ruggles' plot is fairly simple: Ruggles is a very proper butler for an English Lord whose services are lost to an American in a game of poker.  Hilarity ensues.  Eventually, while in America (after a brief comedy of errors), Ruggles learns to stand on his own two feet and pursues the American dream.  What could have come across as treacly as a Jimmy Stewart vehicle is, through Laughton's performance, oddly stirs feelings of patriotism and pride in the immigrant's American Dream (a great deal has been written about the influence of the immigrant studio heads during this era by far better educated folks so I won't presume to write about what I'm ignorant about).  I think these feelings are roused because Laughton sells it honestly.  His interactions with the widow Mrs. Judson (ZaSu Pitts) in her kitchen and his brief reverie about cooking just work at creating an empathetic bond between Ruggles and the audience.  I wanted Ruggles to succeed in his endeavours and to prevail.  Which by the end of the movie he does and the bad guy gets his comeuppance and the spirit of the American Dream triumphs.

But Joshua, really?  Have you finally succumbed to your head injuries and gone potty to embrace and enjoy this American Dream nonsense?  What happened to cynical and angry Joshua?  Well folks, I'm still cynical and cranky but, as some of you might know, I'm also a sap for a well-crafted under-dog movie, whether rags to riches to rags back to riches (e.g. Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels (1941) ) or a Henry Fonda vehicle, hell, I even (though I am loathe to admit) enjoy It's a Wonderful Life.  Sure, it's a rose-colored view of the American Dream but for some reason it works for me.  Does it make me want to listen to "I'm Proud to Be an American"?  Hell no.  Does it make me think that the truth is always different than what's on the screen?  Of course not.  What I do take away from movies like Ruggles of Red Gap is an understanding and appreciation of the promise and draw of the American Dream to immigrants.  At the risk of drifting into the (continuously) controversial issue of immigration, legal and illegal, into the United States - watching Ruggles of Red Gap makes me wonder how some US citizens can rail against immigrants (if not the Irish then it's the Chinese, if not the Chinese it's the Italians, if not the Italians it's the Jews, if it's not the Jews it's the Germans or the Poles or the Swedes or the Mexicans or...you get the idea) and still claim to espouse the virtues of the American Dream.  Perhaps it's another topic for another time.

Ruggles of Red Gap is a finely acted, written, and directed movie.  If you have the opportunity to watch it then I wholeheartedly recommend it.