They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #22

The Invisibe War (2012)


I watched this documentary the other day. It inspired me to post this in hopes that I may be less invisible.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #21

I have been waiting a long time for this Danish masterpiece. The Hunt has finally been released on DVD.


 The wait is over. Rent or buy this film ASAP.

Mads, who has made more than one appearance in my They Make Good Films These Days list, won best actor at Cannes for this performance.

Please read this commentary: The insidiousness of false allegations.

The (dis)Honorable Judge John C. Stritehoff, Jr., ladies and gentleman.

Law clerk's complaint dismissed

Retired judge was accused of sexual harassment. He kissed the woman.

Express-Times, The (Easton, PA)-May 22, 1999 / Author: WILLIAM GUHL

       TRENTON - The state Supreme Court on Friday reprimanded a retired Warren County Superior Court judge for kissing his law clerk, but dismissed the clerk's sexual harassment complaint against the judge. 

      Retired Judge John Stritehoff Jr., who retired in May 1998, was reprimanded for "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute." 

       A law clerk who worked for Stritehoff from 1997 to 1998 claimed that the judge on numerous occasions kissed her against her will, discussed intimate matters with her and often asked if she was thinking of him. 

       She filed a complaint with an assistant trial court administrator in January 1998. 

       Stritehoff denied the allegations, but admitted kissing the clerk on the lips to congratulate her on passing the bar exam and to wish her happy holidays at Christmastime in 1997.

The People of New Jersey Have Been Warned

Domestic-violence registry a flawed plan
Daily Record - Nov. 30, 2013

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora announced on the radio that he was going to save the women of New Jersey from abusive “husbands and boyfriends” by introducing legislation that would create a registry for those found to have committed domestic violence.

Never mind his gender-biased language. Never mind studies sponsored by the state Department of Corrections, Rutgers and others that have shown sex offender registries have had no effect on sexual offense statistics. Repeat sexual offenses have actually increased slightly because of the climate of fear created by the Scarlet Letter-like list, which gives offenders nothing left to lose. Never mind that restraining orders are handed out in divorce cases like candy by the courts.

No one wants to think, much less talk about the climate of fear these lists would create. The honorable assemblyman scored some points for women. Ostensibly.

It turns out that he did introduce the legislation on Tuesday but made no announcement whatsoever about it. Not even on Wednesday.

In the media, this is called a holiday eve news dump.

Erik B. Anderson
HACKETTSTOWN

LETTER: 'Obama lied' is a smoke screen

By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
on November 20, 2013 at 12:35 AM

The claim is “Obama lied.” He said Americans can keep their insurance plan. He allegedly lied multiple times to pass the loathsome Affordable Care Act. That is the claim: over and over, on and on we hear this shrill claim, ad nauseum. Why now?

In June 2010, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said “health plans ... will lose their grandfather status; Health and Human Services announced “substantial changes in coverage are common;” and The New York Times reported “about half of employer-based health plans will see such changes by the end of 2013 (June 14, 2010).” Way back in November 2009, the Congressional Budget Office explained “relatively few non-group policies would remain grandfathered by 2016.”

Why all this shock and outrage now? Why has the right not played gotcha like this before? Why: to distract from the spectacular bad press of the government shutdown. Did they think we would forget that the House failed to repeal the bill 46 times? The desperation is palpable.

ERIK B. ANDERSON 

Independence Township 

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Veteran's Day 2008 Was Very Special

It was the first Veteran related holiday after I saw the BBA Flag for the First time.

Professor Awoonor Has Been Killed

I can't believe this.

Ghanaians Mourn a Poet and Scholar Killed in Nairobi Mall Attack




It was a great honor for the poet and former UN Ambassador to speak to our small group of West Chester University students in 1995. He spent at least two hours talking to us about so many things about Ghana. When he signed his book for me, he asked me about my name, which means King. He noticed that my name was Scandinavian because it is spelled with a K. Most people with my name are spelled Eric, which has more of a German origin. This is so sad.

I have been seeing little things here and there about this attack in Nairobi. Unfortunately, I have limited internet access here in Wales. I hope I have paid proper tribute to him. I have always remembered him and will always remember him even more now. He was a tireless advocate for African people and for all people really. This will have shockwaves all through the African diaspora. Pay attention people.

The BBA Flag got waved on top of a Medieval Castle

Cardiff Castle's a nice place. I respect the people there a lot but I just had to do this:

Hey, at least I didn't leave graffiti in the stones like some people have been doing since medieval times. 

More: http://www.cardiffcastle.com/

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #20

The Big Picture (2010) - Directed by Eric Lartigu

Excellent! It has been ages since I have seen such a good neo-noir. I am really glad I watched this without knowing anything about it. I highly recommend watching it without even reading the rest of my review. I wouldn't say the synopsis below is a spoiler exactly - watching the two minute trailer definitely is, that is why this is the first time I have not included one in this series - but, as I said, this is a film best seen with as little knowledge about it as possible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Something bad happens. It is not exactly the protagonist's fault, at first. Under the right circumstances - with the right defense lawyer - it could easily be portrayed as just an accident, but that wouldn't be much of a noir, would it? It wouldn't be much of a story at all.

The darkest shadow of suspicion imaginable soon descends on the protagonist and he seals his own fate doing what appears to him as his only choice. However, in classic Chandleresque fashion, every step he takes with purpose to protect himself and his loved ones backfires, making things worse and worse.

At the end, there was a touching and very appropriate moment of redemption, but the atmosphere, score and acting still make this one of most deliciously dark noir films that I have seen in a long time.

Niels Arestrup, the mob boss from A Prophet, plays a non-criminal, yet equally menacing authoritative figure in this film. Fans of this film will also like "The Square," directed by Nash Edgerton.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #19

We do not live in a "litigious society." We live in a world that is afraid to be litigious because of the relentless jokes and talking points paid for by the US Chamber of Commerce and other lobbyist vampire squid groups like them. We need to be more litigious. There is no other way to settle legitimate disputes and redress real grievances. watch this film. it's amazing.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #18

Unfinished Sky



I can't get enough of these Australian crime dramas.

This trailer seems to have a couple of spoilers. I feel bad posting it, but as a caveat I will recommend just jumping right in to the film without doing too much research. You will not regret it.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #17

Harakiri is a timeless parable of poverty, charity, family, class, honor, cruelty, ritual disembowelment and, last but most important of all, dimples.

If Dickens himself had been born in Japan, he could not have written a more compelling, anguished story than is told by this film.

I first saw the Takashi Miike remake of this 1962 classic when I randomly chose “Hara-Kiri: Death of aSamurai” on Netflix Streaming the other night. I was instantly captivated. The dread and foreboding in the first few scenes captured so well, it is no wonder that Miike is best known for modern horror classics like “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer.”  But this is no mere horror movie. The horror of it all is the key to a door leading to an infinite number of larger themes, the most elemental of which are listed above. As Alfred Hitchcock knew so well, suspense is much more horrifying than the splatter violence so many of us are desensitized to by now.

Unlike Hitchcock, neither Harakiri (1962) nor Hara-Kire (2011) takes enjoyment in the cruelty which it depicts. It is there, bold and beautiful, but with purpose. No jouissance, as Zizek would say.

I am glad that I saw the remake first. The first act of the remake is superior to the original. The actors in the 1962 film sound almost like they are simply reading lines. The cinematography and the editing – especially Miike’s use of silence – is exquisite. However, it is the second act when the remake begins to veer off course into a muddled, sentimental version of this timeless story. I would not call it bad, but the original was smoothly paced and never left me waiting for a scene to be over.

Ultimately, it is difficult to recommend to anyone else which one to view first. I am glad I saw the remake first and then the original. Although it was not a perfect viewing experience, I got to see the best first scene first and the best last scene last: so yeah, there’s that. But I have not had, and cannot physically have, any other experience to recommend to others: so yeah, there’s that too.

As an American, I do not recall ever seeing a foreign remake of a foreign film from the same country. It is quite interesting. I have been supremely disappointed in the past, enraged even, watching classic films – The Omen comes to mind – being remade into downright trash for purely commercial purposes. If you have seen the original film  and love it, I do not recommend watching the remake without this caveat.

Most remakes, in my experience, are done for commercial exploitation, however I feel like there was more than just commercial exploitation intended here. There was definitely some of that. There is no other way to explain why any film is made in 3D after 2009.

But at the end of the day, I have had one of those film experiences that I cannot stop thinking about long after the credits have rolled. I look forward to repeat viewings of both films.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

Roger Ebert Gave Thumbs Up to a Video About the First King of Funny Faces

Proof

It's this video:

St. Patrick's Day Parade - Hackettstown 2013

This is a multi part video playlist from the parade today. Click the next button to skip forward.

LTTE: Violence Against Women Act steps on due process

By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
on March 07, 2013 at 12:50 AM

The problem is not that the Violence Against Women Act discriminates against men by not “protecting” alleged victims who are men. It’s that it purports to be protecting “victims” against so-called “abusers” without allowing the due process of law to determine exactly who is a victim and who is an abuser.

Since complaints of this nature are now heard in family court instead of criminal court, the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard is replaced by the much less stringent “preponderance of evidence.” Restraining orders and protection-from-abuse orders can be granted without the accused even knowing about the complaint, much less able to defend against it

And what a scandal if anyone objects! After all, if you’re against VAWA, your political opponents can say you are for violence against women!

This is not a free country.

ERIK B. ANDERSON
Independence Township

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This is The King's Werewolf Face

Dear God, Please Let Me See This Film

This is Not my Last Post