50 Years Ago

I used to watch this film every day. I can still watch it anytime, anywhere.

I especially love when Gene Hackman's FBI Agent gets called "Mr. Anderson" by Willem DeFoe's "Mr. Ward". I wish it would catch on as a meme more than that Matrix asshole.

Ward: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!
Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.
Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!
Anderson: These people are crawling out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be! 

 That's sheer poetry, ladies and gentlemen! The true events that inspired this film happened 50 years ago now. It would be naive and silly to go on about how anything's better now than before. I just really like the film and think everyone should watch it and decide what's what for themselves. So sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #23

The Act of Killing (2012)


Nominated for Best Documentary? It's sure to win, but that's it? Is that all? Why was this masterpiece not nominated for Best Picture? Why doesn't someone create a new category: Best Film of All Time?

If ever a film could literally save the world, this is it. That's not hyperbole. I mean what I say.

I really wish my best friend, the great filmmaker Venkatesh Veeraraghavan, were still alive to watch this with me.

It is the epitome of what all documentary film, all psychodrama, all humanity should aspire to be.

So Sayeth The King of Funny Faces!

Erik's First Newspaper Story - August 18, 1996

Daily Local News - Chester County, PA

Click on Picture to Read Article

This is a follow-up to the previous blog post:

WFB, Jr. - April 1996: "This is the reason America will never get anywhere."

The Western Ancient Forest Campaign is now known as the American Lands Alliance.

Here is more about my time at the Chester County Historical Society.