WORKERS ARE DEHUMANIZED AND DISCARDED IN HUMAN RESOURCES Tension between the imperatives of business and the dispensability of workers in the current era of economic globalization is featured in Human Resources, a French film (Ressources humaines) directed by Laurent Cantet. Frank (played by Jalil Lespert), a business school student in Paris, returns home for the […]
Political Film Review #83 Read More »
AN UNLIKELY PEACE ACTIVIST EMERGES IN BELFAST The Titanic was built and launched in Belfast, only later to run into an iceberg. The paradigm of a sinking ship with many lost lives due to irresponsible behavior by those at the helm is perhaps one way of understanding the conflict in Northern Ireland over the last
SUBURBAN AMERICA’S PROBLEM IS THAT IT DOES NOT READ DOSTOEVSKY The theme of angst of suburbia, from Over the Edge (1979) to American Beauty (1999), is replayed with far more raw intensity in Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, directed by Rob Schmidt. Based loosely on the Dostoevsky classic, the film contains many voiceovers from Vincent
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AN UNLIKELY PEACE ACTIVIST EMERGES IN BELFAST The Titanic was built and launched in Belfast, only later to run into an iceberg. The paradigm of a sinking ship with many lost lives due to irresponsible behavior by those at the helm is perhaps one way of understanding the conflict in Northern Ireland over the last
Political Film Review #82 Read More »
THE CELL WARNS JUDGES TO SEND ABUSED CHILDREN TO FOSTER PARENTS A plot involving the pursuit of a serial killer is not uncommon among the many suspense movies for those who like to bite their nails when they run out of popcorn. This year’s best addition to the genre so far is The Cell, directed
THE CELL WARNS JUDGES TO SEND ABUSED CHILDREN TO FOSTER PARENTS A plot involving the pursuit of a serial killer is not uncommon among the many suspense movies for those who like to bite their nails when they run out of popcorn. This year’s best addition to the genre so far is The Cell, directed
Political Film Review #81 Read More »
ABBIE HOFFMAN’S REPUTATION IS VINDICATED IN STEAL THIS MOVIE! Founder of the Yippies in the 1960s, Abbie Hoffman is sympathetically portrayed in the biopic Steal This Movie!, produced and directed by Robert Greenwald. Early in the film, Abbie (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) is registering African Americans to vote in Mississippi in 1965, only to receive
Political Film Review #80 Read More »
ABBIE HOFFMAN’S REPUTATION IS VINDICATED IN STEAL THIS MOVIE! Founder of the Yippies in the 1960s, Abbie Hoffman is sympathetically portrayed in the biopic Steal This Movie!, produced and directed by Robert Greenwald. Early in the film, Abbie (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) is registering African Americans to vote in Mississippi in 1965, only to receive
A BRITISH “LIEUTENANT CALLEY” ORDERS A MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich, provides much insight into what the American Revolutionary War was all about and why participants lined up on opposite sides. The action takes place in South Carolina, beginning in 1776; though there is some effort to provide
A BRITISH “LIEUTENANT CALLEY” ORDERS A MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich, provides much insight into what the American Revolutionary War was all about and why participants lined up on opposite sides. The action takes place in South Carolina, beginning in 1776; though there is some effort to provide
Political Film Review #79 Read More »