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!

The head of the APA got paid.

An excerpt from Wired magazine:

I recently asked a former president of the APA how he used the DSM in his daily work. He told me his secretary had just asked him for a diagnosis on a patient he’d been seeing for a couple of months so that she could bill the insurance company. “I hadn’t really formulated it,” he told me. He consulted the DSM-IV and concluded that the patient had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“Did it change the way you treated her?” I asked, noting that he’d worked with her for quite a while without naming what she had.

“No.”

“So what would you say was the value of the diagnosis?”

“I got paid.”

The Dissociated Evil Impulse

My friend Ken made this:




"It has always been recognized that if you split Being down the middle, if you insist on grabbing this without that, if you cling to the good without the bad, denying the one for the other, what happens is that the dissociated evil impulses, now evil in a double sense, returns to permeate and possess the good and turn it into itself."
-R.D. Laing

New Jersey: Look Before You Laugh

I got teased by a Mixed Martial Artist from Manchester UK yesterday. Why did I get teased by this guy? I got teased because I'm from New Jersey and The Jersey Shore has given my entire state a bad name. It doesn't matter that I live in the mountains. It doesn't matter that I have only been to the shore on rare occasions. It doesn't matter that I'm not Italian. It doesn't matter that I don't even have cable and I have never watched that program. Ha Ha! "You're from New Jersey!" That's what I hear. I heard it yesterday and I've heard it before.

I did some research today and guess what I found out.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is from Staten Island.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is from Chile.
Jenni "Jwoww" Farley is from Upstate New York.
DJ Pauly D is from Providence, RI.

I'm actually from New Jersey. Leave me alone about those clowns.


New Jersey: Look Before You Laugh

Published Again - September 16, 2010

Express-Times Newspaper - Letters to the Editor- September 16, 2010

Cut through the pretext to uncover real message

A tyrant will always find a pretext for his (or her) tyranny.

A recent letter writer’s is that people find fault with the Taxed Enough Already party’s activities. The TEA critics’ very presence here “indicates that there are now Americans who prefer to become subjects rather than citizens” — so watch your back, people! She believes that people, such as me, audacious enough to criticize her party, are voluntarily making ourselves slaves to the federal government and this is all very “tragic.”

But Nancy Baumgartner is wrong. She does not think Tea Party critics are tragic. She thinks we are stupid: “It is not surprising that a significant number of vocal Tea Party critics know what the acronym even stands for,” she writes. That sentence is the real object of her letter.

What is unsurprising to me is that a militant Tea Party supporter does not know the definition of the word “tragic.” A real tragedy is a contradiction of principles.

ERIK B. ANDERSON
Independence Township

I know this is not my best letter. It has got a lot of abstract concepts in it, like "pretext" and "tragedy" and "contradiction" and "principles". But I am grateful for the opportunity to be heard. I made my point about Nancy Baumgarten's tragically twisted letter of September 6. I just wish the editor who chose the title of the Letters page online could understand that the one who is offbase is Nancy Baumgarten, the one who criticized the Tea Party critics, but I guess I fell into the same conundrum that the movie Inception (or the play Marat/Sade) did.

That's what living with Asperger's is like. you say something, and it makes sense. It objectively makes perfect sense. But expecting other people to understand what I have just said is a whole other thing.

It's like a game of telephone. Just look at my words, not the editors words. Think about it. You are free to think what you want. They will be the same words today, tomorrow and they will still be there, at the Warren County library 50 years from now, assuming another fire doesn't destroy those records too.

If I had to write it over again, I would say: Nancy Baumgartner wants to be Desdemona or Ophelia, but she doesn't understand that tragedy does not mean loss. The fact that tea parties are a bunch of losers who will never get anywhere is not tragic. The fact that Tea Party cricis like me will never go away. Tragedy means a contradiction of principles. She does not belong in one of Shakespeare's tragedies. She belongs in his comedies. Nancy Baumbartner is Katherine.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey


* * *

"A tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." is from:

The Wolf and the Lamb
by Aesop

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 6

Example #6

Dirty Filthy Love

"I am Mark. I have always been this way, and I probably always will be."
This movie about a guy with Tourette's and OCD starts out like a funny, quirky romantic comedy, but by the third act, it is a deadly serious film about a very serious problem. The problem is not Tourette's Syndrome, or OCD. The problem is what society does to people who have multiple serious mental disorders like Tourette's and OCD.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Actually, Here's One From Hollywood (Sort Of)) - #5

Example #5 - Greenberg



I can't wait to own this DVD, so I can watch it over and over again. Not for the faint of heart. My librarian heard it was funny. She asked me to tell her if it is funny. I have been avoiding telling her about it, because it's funny - rolling on the floor laughing my ass off funny - but the humor is as dark as it gets. I don't like to discuss the merits of abortion humor near the kids' section of the public library. Maybe I should go and discuss it. Face my fears. I'll probably end up like the lead character. Isolated and alone, and miserable - but wait, I'm like that all the time anyway.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 4

Example #4 - The Cove

"Never depend upon institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated and seen through by the passion of individuals. "
—Margaret Mead



An awesome documentary about some people, including Flipper's trainer Ric O'Barry, trying to stop the Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji, Japan. That red stuff at the end of the trailer is not a special effect.

The only thing that I didn't understand was the part about Mercury poisoning and how it causes Autism. RFK, Jr. said something about how there are no 30 year old autistics in response to some government study that said something about autism not getting detected until people are in their 30's. I really didn't understand what he was talking about because I am 35 years old and I did not even suspect that I had Asperger's Syndrome until 9 months ago. Everything else in this movie was awesome.

I wish there were more Ric O'Barry's in this world.

Please go to this website to find out more about what you can do:
http://www.takepart.com/thecove

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 3

The new King of all Movie Gangsters is A Prophet named Malik:



So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 2

Example #2 - The White Ribbon
Dir. Michael Haneke



Michael Haneke is a Belgian director. Move over Hitchcock! A new master of suspense has arrived. This German Language film just came out on DVD last month. I saw Caché, a French language film starring Juliette Binoche, at the art-house theatre in Montclair a few years ago. I thought that was the most suspenseful film I had ever seen until I saw The White Ribbon.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) 1

Example #1 - Bronson
Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Star: Tom Hardy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKC-FKGMeCY


This movie floors me every time. It's one to watch over and over and over.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a Danish director, second only to Lars Von Trier in influence. I saw Pusher (1996). That one floors me every time. I'm looking forward to seeing Pusher 2 and Pusher 3, as well as Valhalla Rising when that becomes available on DVd.

Bronson is just flat out amazing. Tom Hardy deserves every award in the world for his performance.

So sayeth the King of Funny Faces.

Sepultura - "We've Lost You"

No offense, but...what happened to the old Sepultura? Who is this guy bouncing around....the reason he can't stop bouncing, in my opinion, is because he does not belong in the band. Sepultura is not Sepultura without Max and Igor.

They have indeed lost me.

Someone Questioned What Planet I Live On in the Newspaper!

I’d feel safe walking with folks in a Tea Party rally

Express-Times Newspaper - April 03, 2010

In response to the letter from Erik B. Anderson, I would like to ask “What planet is Independence Township on?” I think I know. It’s the planet that only receives the alphabet networks on TV.

Anderson sounds like all the other sound-bite political gurus. I ask him to do some research on the Tea Party movement to find out what the protests are all about. They’re about big government, high taxes and out-of-control spending. How are these people terrorists?

He might also do a bit of research about how the “left” handles themselves during their protests. Go back and look at the hatred that was spewed from the “left” about the previous administration. I think you’ll see a marked difference in behavior between them and the Tea Party protests.

And if you really want to see what’s going on, research how the mainstream media covers both kinds of events. You may be surprised.

I guess The Express-Times hasn’t been covering the massive unrest and crime wave in Independence Township, but here in Nazareth, I am safe both on the streets and in my home. Although I haven’t attended a Tea Party rally yet, I would feel perfectly safe there also.

CRAIG RIFENDIFER
Bushkill Township

This is exactly the tactic that I described in my March 31, 2010 letter to the same newspaper. Craig Rifendife slandered my name. People like him depend on Ad Hominem attacks to win their arguments.

They also depend on Straw Man Fallacies. Who is "The Left" he is referring to? I'm right handed.

I am writing a response now.

Sincerely,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Erik Read's ShakespeareNJ's Gareth Saxe Star-Ledger Interview - Critically

Read this review with the actor playing Hamlet at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
True to himself: Gareth Saxe tackles Shakespeare's most difficult role
by Peter Filichia/For The Star-Ledger

I posted what I wrote below in the comments section of the Star-Ledger.com and also under the link to the article that The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey posted on their Facebook site.

***

It is offensive that this actor plays Hamlet like he is feigning madness. How is the Tragedy of Hamlet not a tragedy of inaction?

Hamlet was the lawful heir to his throne. That was the action that should have been taken before the play started. It was interfered with by Hamlet's incestuous mother and his incestuous uncle. Then it was interfered with by the wretched rash intruding fool Lord Polonius who told his mother that he is mad because he is mad. They are the ones who decided he is mad. Madness is not a medical disease. It is a social position. It allows the one who is labeled mad to be marginalized and removed from his or her proper role in society. In Hamlet's case, his proper role in society was to be King. The few characters who did not interfere directly were Polonius, Marcellus, Rosencrants and Guildenstern, but they took no action. This play is certainly a tragedy of inaction.

I highly recommend that Gareth Saxe read Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin and The Politics of Experience by R.D. Laing before he goes onstage again and gets more reviews like the one like the one on CentralJersey.com that says he looked like he was poring over his notes and then got interrupted by the "obligatory" to be or not to be speech, in which he is questioning whether to kill himself or to take action to end a sea of troubles.

Get mad, sir! Get mad! Get really mad! Remember the old rule, acting is not pretending. Acting is taking action. I'm not sure, but I think Sandy Meisner said that.

I say again. Get fuming mad! Froth at the mouth if you have to! You're playing Hamlet, for God's sake!

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

More about Erik:
http://thetragedyoferik.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIR2nUcsiRw

This is not Erik's best performance, but it will have to do for now.

This blog is cross-posted on MySpace.

Žižek’s showing off again

Žižek’s showing off again
By Erik B. Anderson


This piece in the London Review of Books was like most of Slavoj Žižek’s work. It is Žižek showing off again, an exercise in how smart Žižek is, how much he knows about other people's ideas. He obviously takes great delight in what he knows about, but it's a hodge-podge of other people's ideas put together. Does Žižek have a fundamental idea of his own? If so, I haven't found it. His work is a pastiche in the Jamesonian sense. I myself am guilty of putting together other people's ideas, so I don't think I'm better than him. I just don't know what his point is, other than being an ambassador to the world for Lacanian Psychoanalysis and Leftist Marxism with his zeal and his obvious energy for writing and publishing non-stop, all day, every day. He does a lot of good for this world, I think. He makes me want to read all about Agamben, Badiou, Berlosconi and Hitchcock, but I also think he's over-compensating for something: Namely, the lack of any fundamental idea of his own from which to grow and flourish.

If he would focus on his own idea like it were a garden, he could relax a bit and watch it grow - stop and smell the flowers, and all. But instead, he hops from garden to garden to garden all the way around the world, yanking at a weed here, watering some dry ground there...giving a little advice to the owner of the garden. He reminds me of my mother, who cannot sit still. Since my father died, she has moved to Mexico, taken cruises to Alaska, Hawaii, all over South America and the Caribbean, spent a lot of time in Guatemala...gone on road trips around the state of Baja California and the Western United States, celebrated her birthday in New York City and Williamsburg, Virginia...gone to London, Ireland, Spain and Beijing...and those are just the places she has told me about. I stopped talking to her about all those places because she just makes me sad. She doesn't seem to get anything out of those experiences.

Besides visiting my mother in Mexico, I have only been out of the country three times, myself: to Hong Kong when I was twelve; to Ghana when I was twenty-one, and to Jamaica when I was twenty-eight. Each time was a very powerful experience which became part of who I am. I probably wouldn't mind dying in any of those three places because what I got from my visit there was so monumental. But my mother just buys a T-shirt, or a piece of art, and then can't wait to get to the next party spot. I feel like Žižek is similar, except he does it with ideas. He likes to extol the virtues of the Psychoanalysts and the Leninists, but would he put his life, or his livelihood, on the line for any of those ideas? I just don’t know. As critical of Postmodernism as he says he is, he just can’t shake the ironic detachment that makes him want to ramble from Ahmadinejad and Berlosconi to Ronald Reagan and Kung Fu Panda, ultimately arriving at Agamben. These are all excellent points, but what is their effect? It doesn’t make this reader stand up and compose a stirring tribute that would surely get him nominated for the Nobel Prize. It makes me want to exclaim, “Cool! Let’s Hang Out!” in a very immature way. Watching a movie with Slavoj Žižek would be one of the highlights of my life, I would do that in a second if the oportunity presented itself. But, would I want him with me when the shit hits the proverbial fan? I'm not certain.

I hope I'm wrong. I used to collect Žižek’s books compulsively. At one point, I had almost twenty of them. So I have an idea what I'm talking about, but I didn’t read a single one past the first chapter. . Unfortunately, the only thing of his that I actually enjoyed was the first chapter of The Sublime Object of Ideology. That's the only thing I remember. It's the only thing worth memorializing, in my opinion. I just stopped reading his stuff because so much of it was exhausting and too dense. Maybe some of his books are substantial, but when I read any of his other books and articles, I always find myself just looking at signposts directing me to Freud or David Lynch or Kung Fu Panda. I am grateful for it, don't get me wrong. But, I enjoy reading more substantial writers like Andre Green, James Baldwin or R.D. Laing – Ann Rule, Dennis Lehane or Doris Kearns Goodwin -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Shakespeare or Thomas Mann. My time on this planet is short, and there is much to read. Žižek’s on my radar, for sure, but what he writes is just clutter compared to these writers.

I honestly hope that Žižek never stops writing. My life changed after I discovered him in 2001. I saw him speak just a few days after my father died in 2003. He shines lights on subjects that no one else in the world would consider looking at; using colors that no one else in the world would consider using. He is quite remarkable, and he is definitely making a name for himself in the annals of human history. He will be remembered by many people, which can't be said for most people in this world. He is an excellent cultural critic. I wish I could be published as widely as him, but I feel sorry for him that he can't just take his time and write a few good pieces. I wish he would stop writing with so much ferocious intensity. His method has turned into his madness. He should write something truly awesome, something that would change the world or make it stop entirely. Then...THEN..well, wouldn't we all like to do something like that?

Stop showing off, Slavoj, and show us something!