The genre of this film approaches, but fails at, social realism. Why can't working people afford a house, or an apartment, even a rented room, or medicine, or good food? Why do these general conditions of want exist? A facile try at an answer is proffered early in the film, then abandoned - that we are at fault for our condition because we have voluntarily accepted the "yoke of the dollar". You were born, the dollar got here before you, did someone offer you a choice? "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings". So what is poverty then, a character flaw? There is a system we all live under. Do fish ever wonder of us if we realise we swim in an economy? It works. It works for the right people, it is unbroken. It is not a mistake. Is cause and effect no longer operative? This film works as a minimalist slice-of-life, never broaching the why. It presents a cleaned up version of the condition yet tells us nothing of the pathology.The film offers sentiment in its stead; of good works, charity, and the golden rule. (All suggested as a proper way of life by the victims for other victims to follow). Now operative is a more contemporary golden rule, "Them's with the gold, makes the rules." You have likely tried to suss this all out. In future, ask yourself this question: Who is the economy for?
Reviews
14 Reviews
Tapestry
(I) (2019)
Evangelical Christian-themed drama
30 June 2019
TAPESTRY is a Evangelical Christian-themed drama that repeats the plots of many other Evangelical Christian films: bad things happen to a very good Christian person and that person copes by adopting an Evangelical Christian worldview., These films comfort believers by buttressing their existing beliefs, whilst attempting to entice troubled non believers into adopting Evangelical Christianity as an answer to their problems. Producers, directors, and investors of these films, themselves Evangelical, focus on their messianic message whilst all other aspects of filmaking are given short shrift. This film no exception. Believers are comforted whilst others might come away disappointed as the film itself is so poorly executed. I should note here that Morman Church affiliated production companies put out scores of this genre promoting the Morman-Christian worldview, but with more money so production values are somewhat better.
Journey's End
(I) (2017)
Class & War
21 April 2018
R.C. Sheriff wrote this play based on his experience as a British officer in WW I. Beginning 1928, the play had a two year run on the British stage. The futility of war and class conflict are themes. Class, so important to who has power, is no longer a topic in Western literature and what passes for journalism. Other than mortality, heirarchy is the most determining factor in one's life. Academic studies elucidate, all important decisions which determine liberty and quality of life are made at the top. As the world now operates, neither you, nor I, decide. Those who came before us engaged in class conflict to; protest war, gain full citizenship and the right to vote, to extract from elites a living wage, safety regulaion, no child labour, and something called the weekend. It is essential to note- always the highest classes call for war, stir up the masses.
La peste
(2018–2019)
A time of plague, the Inquisition, superstition, and hyper-religiosity
24 March 2018
Spain had become an empire by the 1500's, the most powerful country in Europe at the time. A time of plague, the Inquisition, superstition, and hyper-religiosity. The plague struck terror in people because it killed so quickly and so many, with no known cause. People had an inkling of what infection might be, but without science, they turned to omens and to the supernatural. Solid acting, sets, costumes, locations, & CGI.
The Arroyo
(2014)
round up the usual others
11 May 2015
to get people to ignore the corporate takeover of the republic you need distractions. for instance.
threatening or uppity; women, blacks, browns, gays, foreigners, leftists, unionists, atheists...
this film is of the is the brown threat variety, and poorly done.
keeping in mind that the National Socialists (Nazis), had nearly the same list as above, all we need do is remove blacks and browns from the above list and enter Slavs and Jews and we're left with the same depraved formula. every society has a significant percentage of people with obsessive tribalist personalities. they are the loyal voters and thugs that authoritarian, anti-democratic leaders can count upon. if you are downgrading this comment, and you are welcome to do so, you are likely one of the loyal tribalist thugs.
threatening or uppity; women, blacks, browns, gays, foreigners, leftists, unionists, atheists...
this film is of the is the brown threat variety, and poorly done.
keeping in mind that the National Socialists (Nazis), had nearly the same list as above, all we need do is remove blacks and browns from the above list and enter Slavs and Jews and we're left with the same depraved formula. every society has a significant percentage of people with obsessive tribalist personalities. they are the loyal voters and thugs that authoritarian, anti-democratic leaders can count upon. if you are downgrading this comment, and you are welcome to do so, you are likely one of the loyal tribalist thugs.
IndoctriNation
(2011)
The bible doesn't say anything about democracy
2 May 2015
All fundamentalisms are authoritarian by nature and by design.
The Authoritarian model in democracies:
play the victim, use the rights of the open society (freedoms of thought, speech, assembly, religion, and the vote) to gain power, consolidate power, proceed to remove the rights of the open society, eliminate all who oppose, enjoy the privileges afforded elites in your new authoritarian society, for the purposes of show continue to claim your transformed society is a democracy.
Quote from Sheldon Adelson casino multi-billionaire who gives tens of millions to conservative politicians:
The bible doesn't say anything about democracy.
The Authoritarian model in democracies:
play the victim, use the rights of the open society (freedoms of thought, speech, assembly, religion, and the vote) to gain power, consolidate power, proceed to remove the rights of the open society, eliminate all who oppose, enjoy the privileges afforded elites in your new authoritarian society, for the purposes of show continue to claim your transformed society is a democracy.
Quote from Sheldon Adelson casino multi-billionaire who gives tens of millions to conservative politicians:
The bible doesn't say anything about democracy.
American Sniper
(2014)
from Bertrand Russell
30 April 2015
A quote from Bertrand Russell; philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic and political activist. Russell was a prominent anti-war activist; he championed anti-imperialism and went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, he campaigned against Adolf Hitler, then criticised Stalinist totalitarianism, and attacked the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War. Here is what he said briefly and with wit:
The State is primarily an organization for killing foreigners.
That's its main purpose.
There are, of course, other things they do.
They do a certain amount of educating;
they try very hard to make the young think it's a grand thing to kill foreigners...
...Bertrand Russell
The State is primarily an organization for killing foreigners.
That's its main purpose.
There are, of course, other things they do.
They do a certain amount of educating;
they try very hard to make the young think it's a grand thing to kill foreigners...
...Bertrand Russell
People got their heads busted in for something called the weekend
24 April 2015
People got their heads busted in for something called the weekend, for the forty hour week, an end to child labour, the right to organize, to negotiate with owners about working conditions, work safety, and wages. Rich elites deployed the usual thugs to deny these rights; politicians, the Pinkertons, police, the military, and hired goons. Women and men in the labour movements struggled together to overcome that substantial force. They won concessions for some of the rest of us. Labour has had a harder time in the developing world (twenty assassinated union leaders in one year in Colombia alone). All those rights won are now being challenged once again, rolled back by the same reactionary forces. This documentary relates some of the history of the struggles of labour (most of us are labour). Most of our history is left out of the history books. It is wise to ask, why.
Holy Ghost
(2014)
you don't know me
7 November 2014
Did you read the description of this thing? Did you read it? Read it now, I'll wait... ...Okay so how was I supposed to make a movie, I'm a disembodied spirit. And editing, don't get me started on editing. How am I supposed to edit? I have no fingers. I HAVE NO FINGERS.
And who is this director? I never heard of him. Did you ever hear of him? And cheeky. He claims to know me. He doesn't know me.
And talk about raising unrealistic expectations, calling me HOLY Ghost. Don't call me HOLY Ghost. My name is Ghost. Holy Ghost is my slave name.
Kind regards,
Ghost
And who is this director? I never heard of him. Did you ever hear of him? And cheeky. He claims to know me. He doesn't know me.
And talk about raising unrealistic expectations, calling me HOLY Ghost. Don't call me HOLY Ghost. My name is Ghost. Holy Ghost is my slave name.
Kind regards,
Ghost
Kill That Bitch
(2014)
the defenseless are harmed by those charged with defending them
26 October 2014
films, and books, and art, and poetry, can inspire people to take risks and try something new. it is said that opera-goers, so inspired by a performance, raced out of the theater to attack occupying troops. what does a film with the title KILL THAT BITCH inspire? what happens in the brain of the viewer? a defenseless girl is graphically killed. as modern life becomes more complex, there is a rising tide of hatred against women, but misogyny is ancient. most women come to harm by men they know well, not by strangers. who harms women and girls? - the men who are supposed to love them. people who seek this type of film out like to watch a person killed graphically. what form of empowerment or of pleasure comes from that?
Even the Rain
(2010)
who is the economy for?
1 October 2014
This film relates something about the privatisation of water in Bolivia and the enforcement of that private ownership by the government. Water, previously owned by the people through their government, then water rights sold to a trans-national corporation by operatives within the government. Lest we think that this sort of thing only happens in the lesser elsewhere, please note the following:
A US judge declares Detroit residents have no right to water 1 October 2014
In a ruling on Monday, the federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Detroit declared that workers, youth and retirees have no "fundamental right" to water, as he threw out a lawsuit challenging the city's policy of shutting off tens of thousands of residents from one of the most fundamental necessities of life.
A US judge declares Detroit residents have no right to water 1 October 2014
In a ruling on Monday, the federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Detroit declared that workers, youth and retirees have no "fundamental right" to water, as he threw out a lawsuit challenging the city's policy of shutting off tens of thousands of residents from one of the most fundamental necessities of life.
..."I welcome their hatred"
20 September 2014
Government, backed by masses of people organised to craft a government that works more for ordinary people than it does for hyper-rich elites, can help to engender a more benign and inclusive society, worth living in by ordinary people...
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been in office nearly four years and was up for re-election when he made a speech in New York's Madison Square Garden on 31 October 1936. Here is an excerpt:
"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace-- business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been in office nearly four years and was up for re-election when he made a speech in New York's Madison Square Garden on 31 October 1936. Here is an excerpt:
"We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace-- business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred."
Silver Circle
(2013)
Selfish, good. Empathy, evil.
7 March 2014
Takes a view of the world and humanity popular in the United States and other Anglo countries. Regret to inform, Libertarianism has captured the imagination of many around the world. Popular with many elected politicians,the Wall Street set, entrepreneurs,rentiers, activist billionaires, and other rappacini. Where the investors,producer, director, and writer coming from?: Government is evil. Markets should be worshiped. Everything of value must, by law, be privately owned. Selfishness is good. Empathy for others is a mental disorder. Takes the reactionary, Libertarian view of the world, which boils down to this,"you claim you are thirsty. if you want a drink of water, pay for it, or drop dead". The untested theories of Ayn Rand are prevalent, however,the basic principles are quite similar to those of an older organisation in America,the proto-fascist, John Birch Society.
Kind regards
Kind regards
The Mound Builders
(1976 TV Movie)
a great American tragedy
9 November 2012
One of the great American tragic plays. Playwright, Lanford Wilson's work holds up to the tragedies of Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tenessee Williams. It reveals some important aspects of society and it is unpretty. As the world now operates,value is placed on those things of a lower order, whilst those of a higher order are devalued. We have been R.W.A. to wipe out aboriginal people, and when they are gone ,to wipe out their culture. In this case a Paleo-Indian culture that preceded arrival of Europeans into the Americas. Theatrical works such as this serve to remind us that the theater is one of the first places to uncover, to warn, and to protest.
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