list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around This is England on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/This_is_England/290380/default.aspx Title: This is England
Year: 2007
Director: Shane Meadows
Plot: British filmmaker Shane Meadows looks back at his own youth in this semi-autobiographical comedy drama which examines skinhead culture in the U.K. It's the summer of 1983, and Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a 12-year-old boy edging into adolescence without a father, his dad having lost his life the year before in the Falkland Islands War. A gang of skinheads -- tough guys in their teens and early twenties who shave their heads, wear Ben Sherman polo shirts, and Dr. Marten boots, and listen to ska music -- walk the streets in Shaun's neighborhood, and one day they start picking on him. Shaun, however, shows he can give as good as he gets, and gang leader Woody (Joe Gilgun) takes a liking to the boy. Woody takes Shaun under his wing, and he starts hanging out with the skins, getting advice on dressing right from Woody's girlfriend, Lol (Vicky McClure), and learning about Jamaican music from West Indian skinhead Milky (Andrew Shim). However, the gang begins to change when Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and returns to the neighborhood; like many skinheads, Combo has been recruited by the National Front, an openly racist right-wing political party, and soon the gang begins to fracture, with Combo taking one faction toward violence and petty crime against blacks, Indians, and Pakistanis, while Woody and his friends follow a more benign path. This Is England received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 45
Number of Lists: 19
Number of blog posts: 26
Number of discussion threads: 7
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:23:50 GMTThis is England2007Shane MeadowsBritish filmmaker <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___213819/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Shane Meadows</a> looks back at his own youth in this semi-autobiographical comedy drama which examines skinhead culture in the U.K. It's the summer of 1983, and Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a 12-year-old boy edging into adolescence without a father, his dad having lost his life the year before in the Falkland Islands War. A gang of skinheads -- tough guys in their teens and early twenties who shave their heads, wear Ben Sherman polo shirts, and Dr. Marten boots, and listen to ska music -- walk the streets in Shaun's neighborhood, and one day they start picking on him. Shaun, however, shows he can give as good as he gets, and gang leader Woody (Joe Gilgun) takes a liking to the boy. Woody takes Shaun under his wing, and he starts hanging out with the skins, getting advice on dressing right from Woody's girlfriend, Lol (Vicky McClure), and learning about Jamaican music from West Indian skinhead Milky (Andrew Shim). However, the gang begins to change when Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and returns to the neighborhood; like many skinheads, Combo has been recruited by the National Front, an openly racist right-wing political party, and soon the gang begins to fracture, with Combo taking one faction toward violence and petty crime against blacks, Indians, and Pakistanis, while Woody and his friends follow a more benign path. This Is England received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide45Tag Target (>10)192674http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/u48925y4nrr.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/This_is_England/290380/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2009/2/3/40196.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 2/3/2009 12:02:47 PM
Body: It was 30 years ago this week that Sid Vicious rang the death knell for punk rock, overdosing on heroin on February 2nd while awaiting trial for the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen. So in honor of the spike-haired rebel who was the face (if not the sound) of punk, and whose chaotic life ended at the tender age of 21, I present five punk rock films that really rock. Suburbia Suburbia was released in 1983, and though Sid Vicious had flamed out along with punk’s heyday years before, America’s hardcore scene was in overdrive with bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys reinventing the music by playing at the speed of light, pumping up the adrenaline from coast to coast (and causing this minor threat to later consider the Ramones as slowpoke as The Beatles.) Director Penelope Spheeris, best known for docs like Decline of Western Civilization and her later forays into sellout Hollywood, thrillingly applied the original punk DIY ethos to filmmaking, using guerrilla tactics and nonprofessionals to create a time capsule of L.A.’s underground scene. In other words, the film not only documents punk, it is punk – and a must-see for a young punk as much as the latest Bad Brains album was a must-hear. In fact, I must’ve seen this film about a group of runaways who form a punk family a dozen times during my anarchistic teenage years, never sober and usually with my own extended, Mohawk coiffed, leather-and-chain-wearing family. Indeed, the image of lead character Evan kicking at white walls like a trapped animal, futilely trying to fight his way out of society’s cage, often would be the last I’d see before passing out next to a spike-toed Doc. Repo Man Emilio Estevez has never been as good as he was in Repo Man. Appropriately released in that Orwellian year of 1984, Alex Cox’s surreal take on the world of mercenary repossession agents is every bit as bizarre as anything Terry Gilliam ever put onscreen. As punk rocker Otto, Estevez stoically faces losing his job, being dumped by his girlfriend, UFOs and government conspiracies – not to mention a quintessentially slimy Harry Dean Stanton as his mentor – all set to a soundtrack featuring everything from Iggy Pop to the Burning Sensations (whose ditty “Pablo Picasso” has some of the punkest lyrics ever written: “All the girls would turn the color of an avocado/ When he’d drive down the street in his El Dorado/ Though he was only five-foot-three girls could not resist his stare/ Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole…not like you”). Sid & Nancy I’ve already waxed rhapsodic about Sid & Nancy in my recent Criterion Collection essay at The House Next Door, but suffice to say that this true love story of the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his junkie groupie-turned-girlfriend Nancy Spungen is anything but your typical tabloid biopic. Alex Cox’s 1986 film is nothing less than a masterful visual translation of the greatest punk rock story ever told. As with Repo Man, the director digs deep, discovering the surreal in the everyday while mining the humanity and even humor of the nihilist 70s. Songs by The Pogues and the late Clash front man Joe Strummer round out the soundtrack. And of course, Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are equally unforgettable as the leads. Valley Girl Martha Coolidge’s 1983 film is basically “Romeo and Juliet” set in the San Fernando Valley with no sword fights, a happy ending and, most importantly, as Sparks would say, “music that you can dance to.” Nicolas Cage plays the punk rock, knight-in-shining-armor Randy to Valley Girl Julie (Deborah Foreman) with just the right mix of lovesickness and weirdness. Equally impressive is the soundtrack, with such classics as Josie Cotton’s “Johnny, Are You Queer Boy?” and songs by virtually every new wave band that mattered, from The Psychedelic Furs to Sparks to The Plimsouls. And as an added bonus, it contains one of the best pickup lines ever, “I like tacos, ’78 Cabernet and my favorite color is magenta.” Totally awesome! This Is England My awestruck review pretty much sums up my passion for Shane Meadows’ semi-autobiographical 2007 film about growing up skinhead in the early 80s of Thatcher’s Britain. Defying every cliché with subtlety and specificity Meadows follows 12-year-old Shaun whose dad has been killed fighting in the Falklands War as he discovers a father figure in the leader of the local skins, taking tough love and hard lessons from his new Doc-stomping, Ben Sherman shirt clad family. In fact, This Is England is the perfect companion piece to Spheeris’ Suburbia , released nearly a quarter century before, proving that punk rock really didn’t die with Sid, and that it never lost its heartfelt cool. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:02:47 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog2/3/2009 12:02:47 PMIt was 30 years ago this week that Sid Vicious rang the death knell for punk rock, overdosing on heroin on February 2nd while awaiting trial for the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen. So in honor of the spike-haired rebel who was the face (if not the sound) of punk, and whose chaotic life ended at the tender age of 21, I present five punk rock films that really rock. Suburbia Suburbia was released in 1983, and though Sid Vicious had flamed out along with punk’s heyday years before, America’s hardcore scene was in overdrive with bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys reinventing the music by playing at the speed of light, pumping up the adrenaline from coast to coast (and causing this minor threat to later consider the Ramones as slowpoke as The Beatles.) Director Penelope Spheeris, best known for docs like Decline of Western Civilization and her later forays into sellout Hollywood, thrillingly applied the original punk DIY ethos to filmmaking, using guerrilla tactics and nonprofessionals to create a time capsule of L.A.’s underground scene. In other words, the film not only documents punk, it is punk – and a must-see for a young punk as much as the latest Bad Brains album was a must-hear. In fact, I must’ve seen this film about a group of runaways who form a punk family a dozen times during my anarchistic teenage years, never sober and usually with my own extended, Mohawk coiffed, leather-and-chain-wearing family. Indeed, the image of lead character Evan kicking at white walls like a trapped animal, futilely trying to fight his way out of society’s cage, often would be the last I’d see before passing out next to a spike-toed Doc. Repo Man Emilio Estevez has never been as good as he was in Repo Man. Appropriately released in that Orwellian year of 1984, Alex Cox’s surreal take on the world of mercenary repossession agents is every bit as bizarre as anything Terry Gilliam ever put onscreen. As punk rocker Otto, Estevez stoically faces losing his job, being dumped by his girlfriend, UFOs and government conspiracies – not to mention a quintessentially slimy Harry Dean Stanton as his mentor – all set to a soundtrack featuring everything from Iggy Pop to the Burning Sensations (whose ditty “Pablo Picasso” has some of the punkest lyrics ever written: “All the girls would turn the color of an avocado/ When he’d drive down the street in his El Dorado/ Though he was only five-foot-three girls could not resist his stare/ Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole…not like you”). Sid & Nancy I’ve already waxed rhapsodic about Sid & Nancy in my recent Criterion Collection essay at The House Next Door, but suffice to say that this true love story of the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his junkie groupie-turned-girlfriend Nancy Spungen is anything but your typical tabloid biopic. Alex Cox’s 1986 film is nothing less than a masterful visual translation of the greatest punk rock story ever told. As with Repo Man, the director digs deep, discovering the surreal in the everyday while mining the humanity and even humor of the nihilist 70s. Songs by The Pogues and the late Clash front man Joe Strummer round out the soundtrack. And of course, Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are equally unforgettable as the leads. Valley Girl Martha Coolidge’s 1983 film is basically “Romeo and Juliet” set in the San Fernando Valley with no sword fights, a happy ending and, most importantly, as Sparks would say, “music that you can dance to.” Nicolas Cage plays the punk rock, knight-in-shining-armor Randy to Valley Girl Julie (Deborah Foreman) with just the right mix of lovesickness and weirdness. Equally impressive is the soundtrack, with such classics as Josie Cotton’s “Johnny, Are You Queer Boy?” and songs by virtually every new wave band that mattered, from The Psychedelic Furs to Sparks to The Plimsouls. And as an added bonus, it contains one of the best pickup lines ever, “I like tacos, ’78 Cabernet and my favorite color is magenta.” Totally awesome! This Is England My awestruck review pretty much sums up my passion for Shane Meadows’ semi-autobiographical 2007 film about growing up skinhead in the early 80s of Thatcher’s Britain. Defying every cliché with subtlety and specificity Meadows follows 12-year-old Shaun whose dad has been killed fighting in the Falklands War as he discovers a father figure in the leader of the local skins, taking tough love and hard lessons from his new Doc-stomping, Ben Sherman shirt clad family. In fact, This Is England is the perfect companion piece to Spheeris’ Suburbia , released nearly a quarter century before, proving that punk rock really didn’t die with Sid, and that it never lost its heartfelt cool. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/2/3/40193.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 2/3/2009 12:01:46 PM
Body: It was 30 years ago this week that Sid Vicious rang the death knell for punk rock, overdosing on heroin on February 2nd while awaiting trial for the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen. So in honor of the spike-haired rebel who was the face (if not the sound) of punk, and whose chaotic life ended at the tender age of 21, I present five punk rock films that really rock. Suburbia Suburbia was released in 1983, and though Sid Vicious had flamed out along with punk’s heyday years before, America’s hardcore scene was in overdrive with bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys reinventing the music by playing at the speed of light, pumping up the adrenaline from coast to coast (and causing this minor threat to later consider the Ramones as slowpoke as The Beatles.) Director Penelope Spheeris, best known for docs like Decline of Western Civilization and her later forays into sellout Hollywood, thrillingly applied the original punk DIY ethos to filmmaking, using guerrilla tactics and nonprofessionals to create a time capsule of L.A.’s underground scene. In other words, the film not only documents punk, it is punk – and a must-see for a young punk as much as the latest Bad Brains album was a must-hear. In fact, I must’ve seen this film about a group of runaways who form a punk family a dozen times during my anarchistic teenage years, never sober and usually with my own extended, Mohawk coiffed, leather-and-chain-wearing family. Indeed, the image of lead character Evan kicking at white walls like a trapped animal, futilely trying to fight his way out of society’s cage, often would be the last I’d see before passing out next to a spike-toed Doc. Repo Man Emilio Estevez has never been as good as he was in Repo Man. Appropriately released in that Orwellian year of 1984, Alex Cox’s surreal take on the world of mercenary repossession agents is every bit as bizarre as anything Terry Gilliam ever put onscreen. As punk rocker Otto, Estevez stoically faces losing his job, being dumped by his girlfriend, UFOs and government conspiracies – not to mention a quintessentially slimy Harry Dean Stanton as his mentor – all set to a soundtrack featuring everything from Iggy Pop to the Burning Sensations (whose ditty “Pablo Picasso” has some of the punkest lyrics ever written: “All the girls would turn the color of an avocado/ When he’d drive down the street in his El Dorado/ Though he was only five-foot-three girls could not resist his stare/ Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole…not like you”). Sid & Nancy I’ve already waxed rhapsodic about Sid & Nancy in my recent Criterion Collection essay at The House Next Door, but suffice to say that this true love story of the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his junkie groupie-turned-girlfriend Nancy Spungen is anything but your typical tabloid biopic. Alex Cox’s 1986 film is nothing less than a masterful visual translation of the greatest punk rock story ever told. As with Repo Man, the director digs deep, discovering the surreal in the everyday while mining the humanity and even humor of the nihilist 70s. Songs by The Pogues and the late Clash front man Joe Strummer round out the soundtrack. And of course, Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are equally unforgettable as the leads. Valley Girl Martha Coolidge’s 1983 film is basically “Romeo and Juliet” set in the San Fernando Valley with no sword fights, a happy ending and, most importantly, as Sparks would say, “music that you can dance to.” Nicolas Cage plays the punk rock, knight-in-shining-armor Randy to Valley Girl Julie (Deborah Foreman) with just the right mix of lovesickness and weirdness. Equally impressive is the soundtrack, with such classics as Josie Cotton’s “Johnny, Are You Queer Boy?” and songs by virtually every new wave band that mattered, from The Psychedelic Furs to Sparks to The Plimsouls. And as an added bonus, it contains one of the best pickup lines ever, “I like tacos, ’78 Cabernet and my favorite color is magenta.” Totally awesome! This Is England My awestruck review pretty much sums up my passion for Shane Meadows’ semi-autobiographical 2007 film about growing up skinhead in the early 80s of Thatcher’s Britain. Defying every cliché with subtlety and specificity Meadows follows 12-year-old Shaun whose dad has been killed fighting in the Falklands War as he discovers a father figure in the leader of the local skins, taking tough love and hard lessons from his new Doc-stomping, Ben Sherman shirt clad family. In fact, This Is England is the perfect companion piece to Spheeris’ Suburbia , released nearly a quarter century before, proving that punk rock really didn’t die with Sid, and that it never lost its heartfelt cool. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:01:46 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com2/3/2009 12:01:46 PMIt was 30 years ago this week that Sid Vicious rang the death knell for punk rock, overdosing on heroin on February 2nd while awaiting trial for the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen. So in honor of the spike-haired rebel who was the face (if not the sound) of punk, and whose chaotic life ended at the tender age of 21, I present five punk rock films that really rock. Suburbia Suburbia was released in 1983, and though Sid Vicious had flamed out along with punk’s heyday years before, America’s hardcore scene was in overdrive with bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys reinventing the music by playing at the speed of light, pumping up the adrenaline from coast to coast (and causing this minor threat to later consider the Ramones as slowpoke as The Beatles.) Director Penelope Spheeris, best known for docs like Decline of Western Civilization and her later forays into sellout Hollywood, thrillingly applied the original punk DIY ethos to filmmaking, using guerrilla tactics and nonprofessionals to create a time capsule of L.A.’s underground scene. In other words, the film not only documents punk, it is punk – and a must-see for a young punk as much as the latest Bad Brains album was a must-hear. In fact, I must’ve seen this film about a group of runaways who form a punk family a dozen times during my anarchistic teenage years, never sober and usually with my own extended, Mohawk coiffed, leather-and-chain-wearing family. Indeed, the image of lead character Evan kicking at white walls like a trapped animal, futilely trying to fight his way out of society’s cage, often would be the last I’d see before passing out next to a spike-toed Doc. Repo Man Emilio Estevez has never been as good as he was in Repo Man. Appropriately released in that Orwellian year of 1984, Alex Cox’s surreal take on the world of mercenary repossession agents is every bit as bizarre as anything Terry Gilliam ever put onscreen. As punk rocker Otto, Estevez stoically faces losing his job, being dumped by his girlfriend, UFOs and government conspiracies – not to mention a quintessentially slimy Harry Dean Stanton as his mentor – all set to a soundtrack featuring everything from Iggy Pop to the Burning Sensations (whose ditty “Pablo Picasso” has some of the punkest lyrics ever written: “All the girls would turn the color of an avocado/ When he’d drive down the street in his El Dorado/ Though he was only five-foot-three girls could not resist his stare/ Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole…not like you”). Sid & Nancy I’ve already waxed rhapsodic about Sid & Nancy in my recent Criterion Collection essay at The House Next Door, but suffice to say that this true love story of the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his junkie groupie-turned-girlfriend Nancy Spungen is anything but your typical tabloid biopic. Alex Cox’s 1986 film is nothing less than a masterful visual translation of the greatest punk rock story ever told. As with Repo Man, the director digs deep, discovering the surreal in the everyday while mining the humanity and even humor of the nihilist 70s. Songs by The Pogues and the late Clash front man Joe Strummer round out the soundtrack. And of course, Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are equally unforgettable as the leads. Valley Girl Martha Coolidge’s 1983 film is basically “Romeo and Juliet” set in the San Fernando Valley with no sword fights, a happy ending and, most importantly, as Sparks would say, “music that you can dance to.” Nicolas Cage plays the punk rock, knight-in-shining-armor Randy to Valley Girl Julie (Deborah Foreman) with just the right mix of lovesickness and weirdness. Equally impressive is the soundtrack, with such classics as Josie Cotton’s “Johnny, Are You Queer Boy?” and songs by virtually every new wave band that mattered, from The Psychedelic Furs to Sparks to The Plimsouls. And as an added bonus, it contains one of the best pickup lines ever, “I like tacos, ’78 Cabernet and my favorite color is magenta.” Totally awesome! This Is England My awestruck review pretty much sums up my passion for Shane Meadows’ semi-autobiographical 2007 film about growing up skinhead in the early 80s of Thatcher’s Britain. Defying every cliché with subtlety and specificity Meadows follows 12-year-old Shaun whose dad has been killed fighting in the Falklands War as he discovers a father figure in the leader of the local skins, taking tough love and hard lessons from his new Doc-stomping, Ben Sherman shirt clad family. In fact, This Is England is the perfect companion piece to Spheeris’ Suburbia , released nearly a quarter century before, proving that punk rock really didn’t die with Sid, and that it never lost its heartfelt cool. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/18/38568.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/18/2008 5:00:50 PM
Body: Don’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people. Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust. Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated. Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956) Compared to many classic westerns, John Ford’s The Searchers is not necessarily racist towards Native Americans. Yet it does feature one of the most unapologetically racist characters in film history, one who influenced many subsequent intolerants like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. Ethan is such a badass bigot that he’d even kill his own niece for mating with a Commanche. Despite all his racism, though, audiences can’t help but like Ethan throughout much of The Searchers, because although Ford clearly looks down upon his hatred, the film also treats the character as a heroic man of his time. It’s a love him and hate him at the same time sort of thing. Pino (John Turturro) in Do the Right Thing (1989) In a way, almost everyone in Spike Lee’s classic is at least a little bit racist, evident in the famous slur montage. But it’s Pino who is the most ignorant, calling black people “the N word” on a regular basis. Yet we may forgive him, just as Mookie (Lee) does, because his bigotry is brought about through a combo of stupidity and culture. After all, if he’s a fan of Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, he can’t be a true racist. Right? Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997) He’s portrayed as mostly hateful towards gays and women, but Melvin is also plenty racist. He tells Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to “think white” and earlier, when yelling for police, he shouts, “Assault and battery! And you’re black!” But who can resist Jack? He may be a total bigot, but it’s okay, because he’s got OCD and he’s ultimately good to a sick little boy and his mother (Helen Hunt). He even reluctantly bonds with the gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). What’s not to love about this Oscar-winning character? Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) Whether you’re Rob Corddry in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay or Billy Bob Thornton in any number of films, it’s okay to be a bigot if you’re hilariously extreme in your intolerance. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the cake with his Borat character, though, when it comes to loveable racists. Hey, it’s satire! He holds up a mirror to explore our own racism, displayed best in a pre-film scene from Da Ali G Show, in which an audience of rednecks joins him in singing, “Throw the Jew Down the Well.” In the movie, he similarly gets applause at a rodeo for suggesting America kills all Iraqi men, women and children. Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) in This Is England (2006) He’s the most adorable little skinhead ever, so how can we stop loving Shaun when he ignorantly joins up with the Nationalist ex-con Combo (Stephen Graham)? Isn’t it cute when Shaun is being racist towards the Pakistani shopkeeper? It’s not like he’s the real bigot; that’s Combo. Shaun is just too young to understand at age 12 that losing his father to the Falkland War is not an excuse for racism. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:00:50 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/18/2008 5:00:50 PMDon’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people. Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust. Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated. Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956) Compared to many classic westerns, John Ford’s The Searchers is not necessarily racist towards Native Americans. Yet it does feature one of the most unapologetically racist characters in film history, one who influenced many subsequent intolerants like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. Ethan is such a badass bigot that he’d even kill his own niece for mating with a Commanche. Despite all his racism, though, audiences can’t help but like Ethan throughout much of The Searchers, because although Ford clearly looks down upon his hatred, the film also treats the character as a heroic man of his time. It’s a love him and hate him at the same time sort of thing. Pino (John Turturro) in Do the Right Thing (1989) In a way, almost everyone in Spike Lee’s classic is at least a little bit racist, evident in the famous slur montage. But it’s Pino who is the most ignorant, calling black people “the N word” on a regular basis. Yet we may forgive him, just as Mookie (Lee) does, because his bigotry is brought about through a combo of stupidity and culture. After all, if he’s a fan of Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, he can’t be a true racist. Right? Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997) He’s portrayed as mostly hateful towards gays and women, but Melvin is also plenty racist. He tells Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to “think white” and earlier, when yelling for police, he shouts, “Assault and battery! And you’re black!” But who can resist Jack? He may be a total bigot, but it’s okay, because he’s got OCD and he’s ultimately good to a sick little boy and his mother (Helen Hunt). He even reluctantly bonds with the gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). What’s not to love about this Oscar-winning character? Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) Whether you’re Rob Corddry in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay or Billy Bob Thornton in any number of films, it’s okay to be a bigot if you’re hilariously extreme in your intolerance. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the cake with his Borat character, though, when it comes to loveable racists. Hey, it’s satire! He holds up a mirror to explore our own racism, displayed best in a pre-film scene from Da Ali G Show, in which an audience of rednecks joins him in singing, “Throw the Jew Down the Well.” In the movie, he similarly gets applause at a rodeo for suggesting America kills all Iraqi men, women and children. Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) in This Is England (2006) He’s the most adorable little skinhead ever, so how can we stop loving Shaun when he ignorantly joins up with the Nationalist ex-con Combo (Stephen Graham)? Isn’t it cute when Shaun is being racist towards the Pakistani shopkeeper? It’s not like he’s the real bigot; that’s Combo. Shaun is just too young to understand at age 12 that losing his father to the Falkland War is not an excuse for racism. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/37946/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: seely
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/4/2008 2:46:41 PM
Body: Thanks for reminding me about Michael Clayton--I forgot that was '07. I really enjoyed Clooney's performance, and the movie dealt with ethics in a very deep, real way without making everything obtusely black and white. But... Ocean's 13? Really? I liked the Ocean's series and the Rat Pack/heist flicks they harkened back to, but I thought this to be the weakest of the bunch with a scattered plot and what seemed like endless inside jokes delivered at a pace that left the audience trying to catch up through the entire film, and further obscured any attempts at humor or storyline. Maybe I'm just too slow for it :-) [quote user="SkyPilot"] I agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time. [/quote]
]]>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:46:41 GMTseelyCommunity Recommendations12/4/2008 2:46:41 PMThanks for reminding me about Michael Clayton--I forgot that was '07. I really enjoyed Clooney's performance, and the movie dealt with ethics in a very deep, real way without making everything obtusely black and white. But... Ocean's 13? Really? I liked the Ocean's series and the Rat Pack/heist flicks they harkened back to, but I thought this to be the weakest of the bunch with a scattered plot and what seemed like endless inside jokes delivered at a pace that left the audience trying to catch up through the entire film, and further obscured any attempts at humor or storyline. Maybe I'm just too slow for it :-) [quote user="SkyPilot"] I agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time. [/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/37944/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: csprague
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/4/2008 2:20:49 PM
Body: [quote user="SkyPilot"] I agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time. [/quote] There Will Be Blood was great, but I don't really want to see it again if you know what I mean. It's not like a good friday night movie at all, unless you are feeling in a particularly dark mood, and maybe it's a terrible idea then too. I'm not sure what the proper mood or motivation to watch this movie would be. I eventually just bit the bullet and watched it. When it was over, I was tired and felt like a crazy person, but I loved it. So hard to explain. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the longest movie title in the world (I would actually really like to know what the longest movie title is). It's so hard to spit it out when people are like "what's good movie you've seen recently?" But, nonetheless, I do spit it out because it was beautiful and interesting and I loved the characters. Skypilot, how on earth did Hot Fuzz beat The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for your top ten? Were you just trying to be diverse in genre? I only say this because I think making a movie about a guy who can only communicate with one eye is incredibly difficult. I expected it to be the most arts, boring piece of crap I have ever seen. Ya know, the sterotypical french new wave kind of stuff that ends with "fin". But it wasn't, it was surprisingly human and colorful and full of life. It fits with something I read recently that "your plight is also your redemption". Good times.
]]>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:20:49 GMTcspragueCommunity Recommendations12/4/2008 2:20:49 PM[quote user="SkyPilot"] I agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time. [/quote] There Will Be Blood was great, but I don't really want to see it again if you know what I mean. It's not like a good friday night movie at all, unless you are feeling in a particularly dark mood, and maybe it's a terrible idea then too. I'm not sure what the proper mood or motivation to watch this movie would be. I eventually just bit the bullet and watched it. When it was over, I was tired and felt like a crazy person, but I loved it. So hard to explain. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the longest movie title in the world (I would actually really like to know what the longest movie title is). It's so hard to spit it out when people are like "what's good movie you've seen recently?" But, nonetheless, I do spit it out because it was beautiful and interesting and I loved the characters. Skypilot, how on earth did Hot Fuzz beat The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for your top ten? Were you just trying to be diverse in genre? I only say this because I think making a movie about a guy who can only communicate with one eye is incredibly difficult. I expected it to be the most arts, boring piece of crap I have ever seen. Ya know, the sterotypical french new wave kind of stuff that ends with "fin". But it wasn't, it was surprisingly human and colorful and full of life. It fits with something I read recently that "your plight is also your redemption". Good times. http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/37929/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/4/2008 12:01:28 PM
Body: I agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time.
]]>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:01:28 GMTSkyPilotCommunity Recommendations12/4/2008 12:01:28 PMI agree with a lot of picks from the other people. In no specific order, these are my favorites: 1. Ocean's 13 A heist film with a conscience. 2. Michael Clayton Deceit, courage, human connection, mission. 3. Eastern Promises A frightening gangster film that made London feel like a separate, exotic country. 4. Gone Baby Gone A private detective movie with a conscience. 5. Hot Fuzz Like Leeroy, I liked this one even more than Shaun of the Dead. 6. The Orphanage The closest I've ever come to screaming in the theater. 7. 3:10 to Yuma This really made me soul-search, and the ending leaves me breathless. 8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Like falling asleep from a flavorful and slow-acting poison. 9. No Country for Old Men Looks like 2007 was Year of the Western. 10. American Gangster Not perfect, but I thought it was intense and affecting. I'd like to include The Fall, This Is England, and Rescue Dawn,but Spout says they were made in 2006. Maybe they were released in the US in 2007, but I'm not sure. Movies that didn't quite make my Top 10: Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and There Will Be Blood. The last one in particular is great, but after seeing it 3 times I won't need to see it again for a loooong time. http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/37894/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/3/2008 2:24:33 PM
Body: I've decided to list some movies from 2007 that not only should you see but that you might have otherwise missed. 1. The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson's newest and probably my favorite of his. He did some great work with color pallets in this one. Not to be missed. 2. Eastern Promises - I'm not really a big Cronenberg fan, but this one was quite exceptional. 3. Hot Fuzz - I actually like this one a bit more than Shuan of the Dead. I thought the story was a bit more fun and the action sequences at the end were really cool. 4. This is England - Shane Meadows is on his way to big things, I loved his 2004 film, Dead Man's Shoes and this one is a great period piece that probably gives a more accurate depiction of England in the 80s than you are used to. 5. The Orphanage - I have to admit that I didn't really love this film as a whole. But the final "one two three.......knock on the door." scene was incredible. 6. Lars and the Real Girl - This one was everything I wanted Juno to be. I was a very status-quo indy flick with quirky characters. But I think it actually took a bigger risk with the subject matter.......... and I think the cast was better as well. 7. War Dance - This is one of those docs that Americans are supposed to watch and be challenged by. It totally works, there are some incredibly tragic stories told in here. Watch it.... now. 8. Black Snake Moan - I'm not even sure why I loved this movie as much as I did. The cast is fantastic (Justin Timberlake included) and I really liked how the music and the backdrop set the unbreaking tone for the entirety of the film. 9. Reno 911!: Miami/Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon.... - I laughed..... a lot. 10. The Host - It's a Korean monster movie with a badass monster. And somewhat of a screwball comedy at the same time. Definitely worth a look. So, it should go without saying that y'all should see No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood & The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. These are some of the best of the year. The Fall was another of my personall favorites but I refrained from including it on this list because it has allready been mentioned and it was made in quite a bit before it's release date so I'm not really sure what year it's supposed to be. Anyways - check these ones out and I'd love feedback - tell me what you thought.
]]>Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:24:33 GMTleeroy711Community Recommendations12/3/2008 2:24:33 PMI've decided to list some movies from 2007 that not only should you see but that you might have otherwise missed. 1. The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson's newest and probably my favorite of his. He did some great work with color pallets in this one. Not to be missed. 2. Eastern Promises - I'm not really a big Cronenberg fan, but this one was quite exceptional. 3. Hot Fuzz - I actually like this one a bit more than Shuan of the Dead. I thought the story was a bit more fun and the action sequences at the end were really cool. 4. This is England - Shane Meadows is on his way to big things, I loved his 2004 film, Dead Man's Shoes and this one is a great period piece that probably gives a more accurate depiction of England in the 80s than you are used to. 5. The Orphanage - I have to admit that I didn't really love this film as a whole. But the final "one two three.......knock on the door." scene was incredible. 6. Lars and the Real Girl - This one was everything I wanted Juno to be. I was a very status-quo indy flick with quirky characters. But I think it actually took a bigger risk with the subject matter.......... and I think the cast was better as well. 7. War Dance - This is one of those docs that Americans are supposed to watch and be challenged by. It totally works, there are some incredibly tragic stories told in here. Watch it.... now. 8. Black Snake Moan - I'm not even sure why I loved this movie as much as I did. The cast is fantastic (Justin Timberlake included) and I really liked how the music and the backdrop set the unbreaking tone for the entirety of the film. 9. Reno 911!: Miami/Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon.... - I laughed..... a lot. 10. The Host - It's a Korean monster movie with a badass monster. And somewhat of a screwball comedy at the same time. Definitely worth a look. So, it should go without saying that y'all should see No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood &amp; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. These are some of the best of the year. The Fall was another of my personall favorites but I refrained from including it on this list because it has allready been mentioned and it was made in quite a bit before it's release date so I'm not really sure what year it's supposed to be. Anyways - check these ones out and I'd love feedback - tell me what you thought. http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/10/13/36248.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 10/13/2008 10:01:04 AM
Body: Not to diminish any of her myriad accomplishments (and I will never, ever begrudge her creative partnership with David Fincher), but it seems inarguable that history will remember Madonna most vividly as a cultural vampire: a supernatural creature (who, if not verifiably immortal, then certainly in hard-earned denial about her age), she’s sustained herself by sucking the lifeblood other artists, images, trends, cultural movements. From the punkish red scrawl of the opening credits forward (Is dotted with white Xs), Madonna’s feature directorial debut Filth and Wisdom seems of a piece with her previous work, in that it’s in some way about Madonna herself hiding behind borrowed aesthetics. Madonna has previously namechecked everyone from Godard to Pasolini as an inspiration, but while Filth and Wisdom has traces of the invention via ignorance seen in those auteurs’ early films, that’s where the comparisons end. The influence of Shane Meadows is definitely felt, both as a love letter to the youthful romance of punk rock in poverty in the pocket of a British city, and in the presence of co-star Vicky McClure, late of three Meadows films including This is England. But Madonna gets the bulk of her borrowed essence from her star, Eugene Hutz, lead of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. The clumsy brilliance of Filth and Wisdom is the way it wraps material that’s clearly personal to Madonna in the irresistibly goofy trappings of Hutz’ Joe Strummer-of-the-Eastern Bloc persona and performance style. For fans of Hutz and his band, Filth has the makings of an instant music-movie classic. Fortunately for Madonna, whose major misstep as a filmmaker is the compulsion to divide her own personality traits and obsessions equally among her characters, Hutz is so likeable that he attracts a lot of fans at first sight. Hutz plays A.K., a punk singer who pays his share of the rent in a London flat by moonlighting as a dom to insecure businessmen. He lives with two young ladies, ballerina-turned-unhappy stripper Holly (Holly Weston), who A.K. loves (mostly) from afar, and Juliette (McClure), an androgynously sexy pharmacist who dreams of hopping off to Africa to work with AIDS orphans. Throughout, Madonna references her own past (her ambitous lean years, her discovery that her dancer’s body could function as a “cash box” if (un)dressed appropriately) and present (her Kabbalah fixation, her –– here admittedly partially self-serving –– interest in African AIDS orphans), with a transparency that’s often clunky but always earnest and often endearing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as a filmmaker Madonna proves as inept at crafting and shooting dialogue as she has been at speaking it under the direction of others, but she seems extremely comfortable (and is usually successful at) filming bodies in performance to music, whether at the barre or in a dingy rock bar or twirling around a pole. Episodic and light on plot, Filth often feels like a number of music videos stitched together; refreshingly, Madonna seems almost uninterested in using her own music. Other than two “Erotica”-era cues in the strip club (where Holly at one point wears an outfit that looks like a costume from the Girlie Show tour, and elsewhere milks the most out of an easy but irresistable joke involving one of Madonna’s famous consorts), all of the music in film is performed by Hutz and Gogol Bordello. Filth is close enough in structure to a classic music narrative, that its actual lack of narrative weight becomes easy to overlook. Hutz is so compelling that he’s able to convincingly transmute a good deal of clearly Kabbalah-inspired voiceover into his patented, gypsy exotica. Though whole patches of the script are fuzzy with vague notions of duality that never seem to quite connect to the events of the narrative (the words “filth” and “wisdom” are inserted into Hutz’ monologues liberally, to the point where one gets the feeling that neither means quite what Madonna and co-writer Dan Cadan think they mean), this crack-pot claptrap seems to flow so naturally out of Hutz that it ends up being far less pretentious than you might think. (Less elegantly rendered is the theme that all children suffer abuse of some sort at the hands of a patriarch; “Oh, Father” said about the same with much more grace.) The jury is still out as to whether or not Ms. Ciccone-Ritchie has much to offer the world as a filmmaker, but she does have the, uh, wisdom to make the most out of her star’s natural charisma. Just for creating a vehicle which offers the pleasure of watching Eugene Hutz being Eugene Hutz, she’s done the Kabbalah version of a mitzvah. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:01:04 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog10/13/2008 10:01:04 AMNot to diminish any of her myriad accomplishments (and I will never, ever begrudge her creative partnership with David Fincher), but it seems inarguable that history will remember Madonna most vividly as a cultural vampire: a supernatural creature (who, if not verifiably immortal, then certainly in hard-earned denial about her age), she’s sustained herself by sucking the lifeblood other artists, images, trends, cultural movements. From the punkish red scrawl of the opening credits forward (Is dotted with white Xs), Madonna’s feature directorial debut Filth and Wisdom seems of a piece with her previous work, in that it’s in some way about Madonna herself hiding behind borrowed aesthetics. Madonna has previously namechecked everyone from Godard to Pasolini as an inspiration, but while Filth and Wisdom has traces of the invention via ignorance seen in those auteurs’ early films, that’s where the comparisons end. The influence of Shane Meadows is definitely felt, both as a love letter to the youthful romance of punk rock in poverty in the pocket of a British city, and in the presence of co-star Vicky McClure, late of three Meadows films including This is England. But Madonna gets the bulk of her borrowed essence from her star, Eugene Hutz, lead of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. The clumsy brilliance of Filth and Wisdom is the way it wraps material that’s clearly personal to Madonna in the irresistibly goofy trappings of Hutz’ Joe Strummer-of-the-Eastern Bloc persona and performance style. For fans of Hutz and his band, Filth has the makings of an instant music-movie classic. Fortunately for Madonna, whose major misstep as a filmmaker is the compulsion to divide her own personality traits and obsessions equally among her characters, Hutz is so likeable that he attracts a lot of fans at first sight. Hutz plays A.K., a punk singer who pays his share of the rent in a London flat by moonlighting as a dom to insecure businessmen. He lives with two young ladies, ballerina-turned-unhappy stripper Holly (Holly Weston), who A.K. loves (mostly) from afar, and Juliette (McClure), an androgynously sexy pharmacist who dreams of hopping off to Africa to work with AIDS orphans. Throughout, Madonna references her own past (her ambitous lean years, her discovery that her dancer’s body could function as a “cash box” if (un)dressed appropriately) and present (her Kabbalah fixation, her –– here admittedly partially self-serving –– interest in African AIDS orphans), with a transparency that’s often clunky but always earnest and often endearing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as a filmmaker Madonna proves as inept at crafting and shooting dialogue as she has been at speaking it under the direction of others, but she seems extremely comfortable (and is usually successful at) filming bodies in performance to music, whether at the barre or in a dingy rock bar or twirling around a pole. Episodic and light on plot, Filth often feels like a number of music videos stitched together; refreshingly, Madonna seems almost uninterested in using her own music. Other than two “Erotica”-era cues in the strip club (where Holly at one point wears an outfit that looks like a costume from the Girlie Show tour, and elsewhere milks the most out of an easy but irresistable joke involving one of Madonna’s famous consorts), all of the music in film is performed by Hutz and Gogol Bordello. Filth is close enough in structure to a classic music narrative, that its actual lack of narrative weight becomes easy to overlook. Hutz is so compelling that he’s able to convincingly transmute a good deal of clearly Kabbalah-inspired voiceover into his patented, gypsy exotica. Though whole patches of the script are fuzzy with vague notions of duality that never seem to quite connect to the events of the narrative (the words “filth” and “wisdom” are inserted into Hutz’ monologues liberally, to the point where one gets the feeling that neither means quite what Madonna and co-writer Dan Cadan think they mean), this crack-pot claptrap seems to flow so naturally out of Hutz that it ends up being far less pretentious than you might think. (Less elegantly rendered is the theme that all children suffer abuse of some sort at the hands of a patriarch; “Oh, Father” said about the same with much more grace.) The jury is still out as to whether or not Ms. Ciccone-Ritchie has much to offer the world as a filmmaker, but she does have the, uh, wisdom to make the most out of her star’s natural charisma. Just for creating a vehicle which offers the pleasure of watching Eugene Hutz being Eugene Hutz, she’s done the Kabbalah version of a mitzvah. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/13/36247.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/13/2008 10:00:47 AM
Body: Not to diminish any of her myriad accomplishments (and I will never, ever begrudge her creative partnership with David Fincher), but it seems inarguable that history will remember Madonna most vividly as a cultural vampire: a supernatural creature (who, if not verifiably immortal, then certainly in hard-earned denial about her age), she’s sustained herself by sucking the lifeblood other artists, images, trends, cultural movements. From the punkish red scrawl of the opening credits forward (Is dotted with white Xs), Madonna’s feature directorial debut Filth and Wisdom seems of a piece with her previous work, in that it’s in some way about Madonna herself hiding behind borrowed aesthetics. Madonna has previously namechecked everyone from Godard to Pasolini as an inspiration, but while Filth and Wisdom has traces of the invention via ignorance seen in those auteurs’ early films, that’s where the comparisons end. The influence of Shane Meadows is definitely felt, both as a love letter to the youthful romance of punk rock in poverty in the pocket of a British city, and in the presence of co-star Vicky McClure, late of three Meadows films including This is England. But Madonna gets the bulk of her borrowed essence from her star, Eugene Hutz, lead of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. The clumsy brilliance of Filth and Wisdom is the way it wraps material that’s clearly personal to Madonna in the irresistibly goofy trappings of Hutz’ Joe Strummer-of-the-Eastern Bloc persona and performance style. For fans of Hutz and his band, Filth has the makings of an instant music-movie classic. Fortunately for Madonna, whose major misstep as a filmmaker is the compulsion to divide her own personality traits and obsessions equally among her characters, Hutz is so likeable that he attracts a lot of fans at first sight. Hutz plays A.K., a punk singer who pays his share of the rent in a London flat by moonlighting as a dom to insecure businessmen. He lives with two young ladies, ballerina-turned-unhappy stripper Holly (Holly Weston), who A.K. loves (mostly) from afar, and Juliette (McClure), an androgynously sexy pharmacist who dreams of hopping off to Africa to work with AIDS orphans. Throughout, Madonna references her own past (her ambitous lean years, her discovery that her dancer’s body could function as a “cash box” if (un)dressed appropriately) and present (her Kabbalah fixation, her –– here admittedly partially self-serving –– interest in African AIDS orphans), with a transparency that’s often clunky but always earnest and often endearing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as a filmmaker Madonna proves as inept at crafting and shooting dialogue as she has been at speaking it under the direction of others, but she seems extremely comfortable (and is usually successful at) filming bodies in performance to music, whether at the barre or in a dingy rock bar or twirling around a pole. Episodic and light on plot, Filth often feels like a number of music videos stitched together; refreshingly, Madonna seems almost uninterested in using her own music. Other than two “Erotica”-era cues in the strip club (where Holly at one point wears an outfit that looks like a costume from the Girlie Show tour, and elsewhere milks the most out of an easy but irresistable joke involving one of Madonna’s famous consorts), all of the music in film is performed by Hutz and Gogol Bordello. Filth is close enough in structure to a classic music narrative, that its actual lack of narrative weight becomes easy to overlook. Hutz is so compelling that he’s able to convincingly transmute a good deal of clearly Kabbalah-inspired voiceover into his patented, gypsy exotica. Though whole patches of the script are fuzzy with vague notions of duality that never seem to quite connect to the events of the narrative (the words “filth” and “wisdom” are inserted into Hutz’ monologues liberally, to the point where one gets the feeling that neither means quite what Madonna and co-writer Dan Cadan think they mean), this crack-pot claptrap seems to flow so naturally out of Hutz that it ends up being far less pretentious than you might think. (Less elegantly rendered is the theme that all children suffer abuse of some sort at the hands of a patriarch; “Oh, Father” said about the same with much more grace.) The jury is still out as to whether or not Ms. Ciccone-Ritchie has much to offer the world as a filmmaker, but she does have the, uh, wisdom to make the most out of her star’s natural charisma. Just for creating a vehicle which offers the pleasure of watching Eugene Hutz being Eugene Hutz, she’s done the Kabbalah version of a mitzvah. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:00:47 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/13/2008 10:00:47 AMNot to diminish any of her myriad accomplishments (and I will never, ever begrudge her creative partnership with David Fincher), but it seems inarguable that history will remember Madonna most vividly as a cultural vampire: a supernatural creature (who, if not verifiably immortal, then certainly in hard-earned denial about her age), she’s sustained herself by sucking the lifeblood other artists, images, trends, cultural movements. From the punkish red scrawl of the opening credits forward (Is dotted with white Xs), Madonna’s feature directorial debut Filth and Wisdom seems of a piece with her previous work, in that it’s in some way about Madonna herself hiding behind borrowed aesthetics. Madonna has previously namechecked everyone from Godard to Pasolini as an inspiration, but while Filth and Wisdom has traces of the invention via ignorance seen in those auteurs’ early films, that’s where the comparisons end. The influence of Shane Meadows is definitely felt, both as a love letter to the youthful romance of punk rock in poverty in the pocket of a British city, and in the presence of co-star Vicky McClure, late of three Meadows films including This is England. But Madonna gets the bulk of her borrowed essence from her star, Eugene Hutz, lead of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. The clumsy brilliance of Filth and Wisdom is the way it wraps material that’s clearly personal to Madonna in the irresistibly goofy trappings of Hutz’ Joe Strummer-of-the-Eastern Bloc persona and performance style. For fans of Hutz and his band, Filth has the makings of an instant music-movie classic. Fortunately for Madonna, whose major misstep as a filmmaker is the compulsion to divide her own personality traits and obsessions equally among her characters, Hutz is so likeable that he attracts a lot of fans at first sight. Hutz plays A.K., a punk singer who pays his share of the rent in a London flat by moonlighting as a dom to insecure businessmen. He lives with two young ladies, ballerina-turned-unhappy stripper Holly (Holly Weston), who A.K. loves (mostly) from afar, and Juliette (McClure), an androgynously sexy pharmacist who dreams of hopping off to Africa to work with AIDS orphans. Throughout, Madonna references her own past (her ambitous lean years, her discovery that her dancer’s body could function as a “cash box” if (un)dressed appropriately) and present (her Kabbalah fixation, her –– here admittedly partially self-serving –– interest in African AIDS orphans), with a transparency that’s often clunky but always earnest and often endearing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as a filmmaker Madonna proves as inept at crafting and shooting dialogue as she has been at speaking it under the direction of others, but she seems extremely comfortable (and is usually successful at) filming bodies in performance to music, whether at the barre or in a dingy rock bar or twirling around a pole. Episodic and light on plot, Filth often feels like a number of music videos stitched together; refreshingly, Madonna seems almost uninterested in using her own music. Other than two “Erotica”-era cues in the strip club (where Holly at one point wears an outfit that looks like a costume from the Girlie Show tour, and elsewhere milks the most out of an easy but irresistable joke involving one of Madonna’s famous consorts), all of the music in film is performed by Hutz and Gogol Bordello. Filth is close enough in structure to a classic music narrative, that its actual lack of narrative weight becomes easy to overlook. Hutz is so compelling that he’s able to convincingly transmute a good deal of clearly Kabbalah-inspired voiceover into his patented, gypsy exotica. Though whole patches of the script are fuzzy with vague notions of duality that never seem to quite connect to the events of the narrative (the words “filth” and “wisdom” are inserted into Hutz’ monologues liberally, to the point where one gets the feeling that neither means quite what Madonna and co-writer Dan Cadan think they mean), this crack-pot claptrap seems to flow so naturally out of Hutz that it ends up being far less pretentious than you might think. (Less elegantly rendered is the theme that all children suffer abuse of some sort at the hands of a patriarch; “Oh, Father” said about the same with much more grace.) The jury is still out as to whether or not Ms. Ciccone-Ritchie has much to offer the world as a filmmaker, but she does have the, uh, wisdom to make the most out of her star’s natural charisma. Just for creating a vehicle which offers the pleasure of watching Eugene Hutz being Eugene Hutz, she’s done the Kabbalah version of a mitzvah. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/kowalski76/archive/2008/10/11/36205.aspx Post By: Kowalski76
Post To: Rebellious Celluloid
Post Date: 10/11/2008 6:27:46 PM
Body: A gem! This Is England is director Shane Meadows semi- autobiographical exposé of skinhead culture and life growing up in Thatcher's council estate Britain. My anticipation for this film was immeasurable, to the extent that I had to visit my local cinema and beg that they showed the film. My begging eventually paid off and I got exactly what I expected. Like Meadows previous releases this is a perfect mix of social commentary and biting humour. He handles the difficult subject matter here with masterful skill showing that the skinhead culture was not built on racial hatred but in fact the opposite. It was built on the back of the Jamaican ska movement. The original 60's skins shaving their heads to look more like their Jamaican co-workers, and inheriting their musical tastes. This Is England is not all about being a skin. It's about Sean's loss of innocence, his struggle to accept and understand the death of his father, and the cruel world surrounding him. As far as I know Thomas Turgoose (Sean) has never acted before. And this for my money is quite possibly the best debut performance from a child actor I've ever seen. Meadows is the man...
]]>Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:27:46 GMTKowalski76Rebellious Celluloid10/11/2008 6:27:46 PMA gem! This Is England is director Shane Meadows semi- autobiographical expos&eacute; of skinhead culture and life growing up in Thatcher's council estate Britain. My anticipation for this film was immeasurable, to the extent that I had to visit my local cinema and beg that they showed the film. My begging eventually paid off and I got exactly what I expected. Like Meadows previous releases this is a perfect mix of social commentary and biting humour. He handles the difficult subject matter here with masterful skill showing that the skinhead culture was not built on racial hatred but in fact the opposite. It was built on the back of the Jamaican ska movement. The original 60's skins shaving their heads to look more like their Jamaican co-workers, and inheriting their musical tastes. This Is England is not all about being a skin. It's about Sean's loss of innocence, his struggle to accept and understand the death of his father, and the cruel world surrounding him. As far as I know Thomas Turgoose (Sean) has never acted before. And this for my money is quite possibly the best debut performance from a child actor I've ever seen. Meadows is the man... http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/comedy/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomedy
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