Blu-Ray
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FILM WATCH: The Rarely Seen “Extended” Cut of Kenneth Lonergan’s MARGARET
NOW AVAILABLE ON THE CRITERION CHANNEL AND AMAZON PRIME! One of the best American films of the past few decades, Kenneth Lonergan’s MARGARET has a long history and the version that was officially released – while still an impressive film in many ways – cannot hold a candle to the magnificence of vision that is… Continue reading
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Removing Historical and Cultural Context From Friedkin’s THE FRENCH CONNECTION: aka The Dangerous Re-Writing of Our Past at the Expense of Our Present
As a lover of cinema and not a lover of censorship or rewriting history under the pretence of political-correctness, I was immensely disappointed and a bit enraged to see that a sequence containing racial slurs was recently removed from the film THE FRENCH CONNECTION. This censored version is now streaming on multiple platforms without any… Continue reading
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The Honour Of Working With Late Cinematographer Bill Butler and the Restoration of THE PLAGUE
Legendary cinematographer, Bill Butler, passed away recently at the age of 101. For me and many others, Bill’s passing marks the end of an era. It also, ironically, marks the early stages of the resurrection and restoration of a little-seen project we made together. It was my sincere pleasure and honour to have Bill Butler… Continue reading
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Disagreeing with Carol Cadwalladr’s Assessment of THE REVENANT
I couldn’t possibly disagree more with Carol Cadwalladr‘s assessment of THE REVENANT in her recent piece in The Guardian titled “The Revenant is Meaningless Pain Porn.” I would agree that our culture displays a whole lot of meaningless violence, yes, even to a pornographic level, but of all the films to accuse of this, THE REVENANT… Continue reading
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STAR WARS: Another J.J. Abrams’ Jedi-Mind Trick
Contains Spoilers. I know people were very excited for this newest STAR WARS film. I also know that some people hate to be disappointed and will hold onto anything that feels positive and that perpetuates their most-cherished narrative. I also believe that audiences have become so accustomed to comic-book movies and Hollywood origin-story rehashes that they… Continue reading
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Fear The Walking Dead Writers
You know things are off to a bad start when you can feel the writers’ fear more than the characters’. I always thought the writing on THE WALKING DEAD was terribly inconsistent. Sometimes downright awful. But I love the zombie genre (saw NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in a movie theater at age 9 and… Continue reading
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Observations on Cinema vs. the Capitalist Feeding Frenzy
Filmmaker William Friedkin was recently interviewed for a piece in The Telegraph titled “Superhero movies are ruining cinema, says Exorcist director William Friedkin.” I agree with Friedkin’s sentiment and I would take it one step further and say that it’s not “Superhero movies” that are ruining cinema, but that those films are a product of what has so… Continue reading
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Does “SELMA” Shine A Light On More Than Just Its Story?
I liked SELMA. And I thought it suffered a bit from the usual standard biopic pitfalls of not digging more deeply into the complex areas inherent in its story and characters, as well as not trusting actual events to be powerful enough of a story to not have to alter history to create extra drama… Continue reading
Academy, Art, Ava DuVernay, biopic, black men, black president, civil rights, David Oyelowo, events, Ferguson, Gender, History, I can’t breathe, Imitation Game, marketing, Martin Luther King Jr., Mike Leigh, MR. TURNER, offensive, Oscar, police officer, race, racism, Selma, Sexism, shot, Theory of Everything, unarmed, voters, white -
Churning Pessimism: Harrison Ford To Star In “BLADE RUNNER” Sequel
I’m not gonna lie. This sounds just awful. In truth, I can’t see any way it could be anything but. Not in today’s filmmaking climate and not with whatever oversized budget this puppy’s gonna have. I suppose it’s a good thing that Ridley Scott isn’t directing again since the original BLADE RUNNER was the last film he… Continue reading
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Mourning Leonard Nimoy
Waking up to the news of the passing of Leonard Nimoy was like being hit in the face with an unexpected left hook. It reverberated throughout my body and is breaking my heart in a thousand different ways. Like losing a dear friend. Continue reading
About Me
Filmmaker, live music photographer, writer, film/video editor, acting teacher, traveler and political junkie who finally realised that the United States government and its two ruling parties has undergone what Chris Hedges refers to as “a corporate coup d’etat in slow motion.”
This site is dedicated to my thoughts, observations and inspirations regarding politics, film and music.
Recent Posts
- Quote Of The Week: “We Celebrate Our Religion, Our Nation, Our Identity, Our Superiority, By Negating And Erasing Yours.”
- The Staggeringly Dangerous Language Of An Empire In Collapse: How Anti-Genocide Protestors Are Framed As Anti-Semitic Terrorists – And What You Can Do About It
- The Real News Cancels Chris Hedges’ Show Because of his Criticism of the Biden Administration and its Role In Committing Genocide: How the United States Purges Its Most Courageous Voices
- The Biden Administration, Israel, and NATO Race Toward World War While American Citizens Shrug Their Shoulders, Tighten Their Blindfolds, and Repeat “But Trump”
- Appalling Quote of the Day: The Existential and Violent Artifice of Hillary Clinton