_kelly's Talk

In the Realm of the Senses

"A girl like you can stab a man's heart without a knife, huh?"

Ai no corrida (1976)

Director: Nagisa Ôshima
Country: Japan / France
Genre: Drama / Romance
Length: 108 minutes



Ahhh, yes... the beauty of sexual intimacy, the great variety of sensations felt during the most beautiful act of love, the very emotions of the human being reaching an extreme point of pleasure. Ai no Corrida is the most cinematically graphic representation of a fully-developed study on human eroticism, but what is often confused with either a strictly pornographic film or with a fully perverted movie is actually an essay of political ideas depicted with extreme liberalism. Audacious and poetical Japanese director Nagisa Ôshima directs his definitive masterpiece, a controversial work of art of impecably explicit proportions that awakens the very human reactions of denial when sexual content is mercilessly displayed on the screen, a reaction that, ironically, people do not posses towards mindless, bloody and nonsense action films. Why is sex banned in a larger scale than violence? How far can cinema really go? To make such questionings, three more important questions have to be asked beforehand:

1) How big is the envelope that this film has to push?
2) Did the film actually pushed such envelope?
3) Was there a significant purpose behind this?

Based on a true story set in the pre-war Japan of 1936, a man and one of his female servants, who was once a prostitute and sought for work in a brothel as a maid, begin an affair. Their torrid relationship grows so strong and begins to be exaggeratedly based on obsessive sexual encounters that their emotional connection is completely erased and their respective lives are utterly threatened. Director Nagisa Ôshima won the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards. Tatsuya Fuji won a Hochi Film Award for Best Actor also in 1976.

The film does not only take liberalist ideals to the most extreme level and parallels them with the influence of an imminent political war; it also shares some parallelisms with the real-life human condition. The sole premise of the film is absolutely fatal and terrifying, covering the tragic consequences of an uncontrollable obsession and contrasting them with extraordinary decisions, such as being part of a World War. In order to play a nostalgic role, the pace and the art direction beautifully decorate what seems to resemble a medieval Japan, where an ancient way of living has not been completely forgotten and erased. The performances are superbly desperate, and although the budget is noticeably ridiculous, it is one of the most controversial and scandalous films in Japanese history and of all time.

Nagisa Ôshima directly questions the censorship moralistic measurements. It is interesting how Japan's filmmaking has been famous during the past decades because of the quantity of violence they usually have, not to mention their explicitness. Ironically, if a penis is briefly shown on screen, the film is banned in case such scene is not erased. The MPAA shares the exact same characteristics, where notable displays of violence such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and The Passion of the Christ (2004) receive an R rating, but films of harmless, sexually explicit nature like The Dreamers (2003) are immediately slapped with an NC-17 rating. Because of Japan's strict censorship policies, the film had to be shipped to France for development. Several countries confiscated the film as suspected pornography and several years had to pass in order to be released theatrically without any cuts.

It may be flawed, but a wonderful visual style and a not-so-common artistic craftsmanship make up for them. To make such a powerfully sexual manifesto is an audacious task, and to do the homework of shocking audiences is not an easy accomplishment. The cinema of the 70s were subject to heavy censorship, but important pieces in the history of cinema were released and these were the ones that made audiences and censorship controls to actually question the subjectivity of art. It was the highest point of expressionistic surrealism that covered very important ideologies. Ai no Corrida has divided audiences, originating the eternal and rather senseless debate of porn versus art. However, the purpose of the film and the societal issues that it implicitly involves reached milestone levels. With an unnerving approach towards impulsive eroticism and a haunting cinematography, Ai no Corrida has positioned itself among the most horrifying and memorable tales of pre-war Japan, and it is much better than its sequel Ai no Borei (1978), which missed the original nature of this film and became more of a ghost story rather than the original intention of taboo extermination that Ai no Corrida represented. It answered the three aforementioned questions positively. Do you approve?

91/100

Sweet Movie

- Hitler! DirtyJew!
- They call me... Neanderthal."

SWEET MOVIE (1974)

Director: Dusan Makavejev
Country: Canada / France / West Germany
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Length: 98 minutes



Delicious, scandalous, expressionistic and controversial Yugoslav provocateur Dusan Makavejev is clearly one of the most misunderstood poets of complete self-destruction. Sweet Movie is a film with such audacity, such gorgeous poetry, such supposedly "disturbing" and "nauseating" sequences, that any lover and supporter of all artistic expressions and the instantly implied subjectivity of both of the terms "art" and "beauty" willl find ultimately impossible not to fall in love with. This complete cult masterpiece is arguably the sexiest and most gorgeous and orgasmic attack towards capitalist authoritarianism and Communism, not to mention the most daring magnum opus ever thought by a brilliant human brain.

Sweet Movie alternatively tells two stories. On one hand, we have the shocking story of a beauty queen, Miss Canada, who slowly descends into a catastrophic life of existentialist madness and depravity after winning a virginity contest (that's right) denominated Miss Monde 1984, denying to have sex with a golden penis (that's right), having sexual intercourse with a possibly Mexican singer named El Macho and getting stuck with her vagina (that's right) and moving to a bizarre anarchich community who celebrate food feasts with orgies of vomit (that's right) and excrement. On the other hand, we have the story of Anna Planeta, possibly the sexiest, non-porn character name in existence, brilliantly interpreted by Anna Prucnal, a beautiful actress who was exiled from her native Poland for seven years after her role in the film and was denied a Visa so she could see her dying mother. She plays the role of a philosophical and pedophile, demented killer who is constantly travelling through the canals of Amsterdam in search of lovers who want to have sex with her and subsequently killing them in a pool of sugar. Her boat is named "Survival" and it has a giant face of Marx with a tear on his eye, and it is in that boat where she makes candy. If this wasn't enough, real documentary footage is shown, portraying the camps that were near the city of Smolensk, where the Soviet Army held more than 14,000 Polish prisoners of war under inhuman conditions. In 1943, after Germany had seized the region, rumors of a mass grave containing the Polish corpses were investigated by an international medical team, revealing that actually more than 14,000 Polish prisoners were killed. Moreover, it was not until 1992 when it was confessed that Joseph Stalin was the one who had authorized the killings.

Sweet Movie is the result of the work of a visionary auteur that actually dared to establish his filmmaking style through a groundbreaking and controversial perspective, slapping the face of totalitarian anarchy. Symbolism may be a very adequate interpretation of the sickening events that take place through a relativelty short running time that, consequently, is felt like an eternity. It is one of the most representative samples of scandalous filmmaking that fully represent the nature of cult and envelope-pushing cinema of the 70s. Most of its political influence comes from the fact that Yugoslavia was a Communist country at the time, an event that may justify the complete explicitness and demented nature of Sweet Movie. The importance of the screenplay and the performances are lost, although not completely, since they are still complementing elements. The true anathematical brilliance of Sweet Movie can be found in its complex symbolism, in its shriek-type-of direction and in its underlying layers of absurdity, constantly suffering a transformation from complete shock value with substance behind to a state of pure absurdity and, yes, hilarious comedy... a comedy that is originated from the criticism that is made towards how degraded the human condition has turned out to be.

Of course, degrading and repulsive acts was the most logical and adequate measure for faithfully representing the negative influence that degrading and repulsive authoritarian Communism and Fascism has imposed over the weak will of a highly dependent society. The destruction of Marx's ideals is emminent, thus the tear on his face is justified, sailing aimlessly in search of grotesque feverishness and sexual perversion. Sexual liberation is not precisely the topic here, and that is hilariously explained through the happenning of an unsuccessful sexual intercourse with a random, supposedly handsome singer in the Eiffel Tower. Elegance and class collide with external degradation. If such cinematic project is released, any financial ambition will meet its doom, so it is obvious at some extent that such hypocritical ambition was not in Makavejev's mind. He wanted to shout and be heard. It is a political and liberalist shout, a shout that was obviously destined to be rejected and catalogued as "depraved". Directors like Nagisa Ôshima, Pier Paolo Pasolini, John Waters, Norifumi Suzuki and Peter Greenaway had to go through the same injustice.

Perhaps it should not be seen as an artistically political act. Perhaps it should be perceived as a merely funny spoof towards the process of political overpowerment, or perhaps it should be seen as a kick in the balls to an audience that relies and trusts in its particular government... not to call it "anarchy" or "dictatorship". Films of this calibre have the power to trascend. People are still talking about Sweet Movie. People still talk about Salò o le 120 Giornate di Sodoma (1975). However, coward (not the sensitive and weak of stomach, since they are excused, but coward) audiences keep avoiding them, but if a film is surrealistic, then it is pretentious nonsense. If a film is slow-paced, it is dull. Moving from a shrewd depiction of the "mysteries of the organism" to a "sweet movie", these are the films that clearly strengthen the statement that implies that modern censorship is preposterous. A woman having sexual relationships with children and an orgy of food and vomit is immediately rejected, but nauseating measures such as organizing and authorizing(!) events such as Katyn Forest massacre... F#ck, people! Open your eyes! Choose a side and promote this type of art. This is not a pretentious and fun piece of crap like Pink Flamingos (1972). This has substance and an inevitable, unique brilliance.

98/100

Joshua (Joshua: The Devil's Child)

Recommended by JDFortuneFan.

Totally NOT what i was expecting,i was expecting some crappy horror movie (mostly due to the title The Devils Child) but Joshua was an unusual artsy thriller. It was different from all the other evil kids movies,me and my daughter laughed at Joshua's evilness all the way through the movie but the final scene was chilling and worth the wait. He was one evil clever little ****er!

Vera Farmiga must adore evil brats because after this she went on to film Orphan.

The Devil's Miner

The Devil's Miner

The Devil's Miner (2004)
Directed and Produced by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani.

The Devil's Miner is about Basilio Vargas, a bright, ambitious boy who is curious about the world and sees the value of an education, but is trapped in a dangerous and deplorable third world quagmire. Fatherless, Basilio must work in the notorious Serra Rico silver mines of Bolivia to finance an existence for himself. Over 8 million people have died in the mines since they were established 450 years ago. That comes out to almost eighteen thousand deaths a year.

The mines are mostly depleted of minerals, long abandoned by the companies that once ran them. They are now owned and operated by a local workers cooperative. The miners lack the resources to excavate safely using modern equipment. Their work environment holds a plethora of fatal hazards. The miners know with certainty that they will be dead by age 40 from silicosis, if they are not killed in gruesome accidents first. Despite this, many have chosen to sacrifice themselves in order to support their families, having no other viable options in the ruined local economy.

Basilio chews coca to stay awake during the lengthy 12 to 16 hour shifts. Working many hundreds of feet underground he must employ constant vigilance to avoid a multitude of dangers such as cave-ins, untimely explosions, falls, becoming lost and many other appalling work related hazards.

He goes to school as much as possible, where he has to conceal the nature of his employment to avoid social rejection. He contributes what wages he can to assist his mother and siblings. The mines are so inconceivably primitive and dangerous that it becomes a symptom of human nature that even an ordinarily rational person is compelled to total fatalism.

The miners adhere to the perceived need to make a variety of material offerings and ritual sacrifices to the Devil which they believe inhabits the mines and controls their destinies. The devil persona it turns out, is one created by the Spanish Crown and perpetuated by foreign mining companies to trick the workers into accepting terrible conditions. They were forced to spend six months at a stretch underground working ever harder in twenty hour shifts with only four hours of rest in between, for an insultingly low wage. Although the current miners understand the origins of the devil myth and the mining companies are now long gone, the hopelessness and sheer horror of their situation ensures their continued belief in the threatening entity.

Basilio's working conditions, home life on the mining site, and his community life are objectively documented. The film takes no position, but instead presents the awful facts which speak for themselves. The story is subtitled and told in via Basilio's own recorded voice as his compiled responses comprise a striking monologue describing his experiences.

There is extensive, spectacular footage of the bowels of the mines and stark, local geography which paint a depressing and utterly bleak portrait of despair and hopelessness. The picture that is presented of the local dilemma is so dire as to make anyone feel fortunate to lead a monotonous, humdrum, workaday existence in the first world.

This is a first rate documentary. It is one entry in a multitude of recent, compelling films that comprise a rebirth of the genre, all of which spur deep thought, reveal disturbing facts, and take no position in order to let the viewer make up his or her own mind.

Mad Money

Enjoyable movie even with all it's flaws.

Mad Money

Enjoyable movie even with all it's flaws.

Fireworks (Hana-bi)

An ex cop tries to spend time with his dying wife during her final days, but a Yakuza loan shark refuses to leave him in peace. A typically understated marriage of violence and poetry from Beat Takeshi, Hana Bi examines loss and mortality in a deeply personal way. It shares many of the themes of Sonatine, but is not as brutally nihilistic; there is much warmth in the often wordless scenes with his wife which have far more humanity than the contrived schmaltz we are used to from most mainstream film making. Takeshi's laconic persona is taken to the extreme in this film as he silently deals with the loss of his child, his wife's illness and his guilt over his suicidal ex-partner's crippling injury, although he still manages to find humour with the use of some oddball supporting characters. In other words another typically brilliant and artful Beat Takeshi film.

The Uninvited

This has been done before and in many cases done far better but I actually quite enjoyed it. Never going to be a horror.thriller classic but the end twist just about made up for the rest....

The Horsemen

This film promo had it being a mix of Hellraiser and Saw. Okay there are some gruesome clues to follow and there is quite a few steel banded industrial sized fish hooks involved but I cant quite agree. But dont let that put you off, this was really well written, the acting particularly from Quad was brilliant and the story seemed to flow. I really felt for Quad and his boys....big softy me...

The Horsemen

This film promo had it being a mix of Hellraiser and Saw. Okay there are some gruesome clues to follow and there is quite a few steel banded industrial sized fish hooks involved but I cant quite agree. But dont let that put you off, this was really well written, the acting particularly from Quad was brilliant and the story seemed to flow. I really felt for Quad and his boys....big softy me...

Rabid

The story is good and bizarre and full of political and social context. The horror scenes are good and effective.
Chambers is beautiful and has a killer body, for sure, but she also delivers a surprisingly good performance.

The Box

Norma and Arthur receive a box at their front door early in the morning. Inside the box is another box and a letter telling them that a Mr. Stewart will be stopping by at 5 o' clock to explain. Before this we're informed that Mr. Stewart had been making these boxes and sending them to many people. This stuff is classified information and somewhere along the line Mr. Stewart is part of a conspiracy from the people in NASA where Arthur also works.

There's lots of talk about Mars, gateways into other places, bright lights which may or may not mean something about the after life. Lots of stuff is quietly unanswered because much of it kind of makes sense if you look at the film in a science fiction way.

When Mr. Stewart arrives at the house, he meets Norma. They go into the kitchen where he explains the box. "If you push this button two things will happen: One of them will be that somewhere, someone you never met will die. The second you will receive a payment of one million dollars." Sounds great, but wait what was the first part? Oh, yeah, If I hit the button I'll kill someone. Heh. Must think this over to make the right decision........

Norma tells her husband about this and he doesn't buy it in fact he kind of eggs her on until she reaches the point where she hits the button. They receive the money and all doesn't seem well. In fact it all boils down to NASA and Mr. Stewart. Let me just tell you it doesn't end well.

Aside from this film being one total mindfuck, it's extremely well made and I have to admit I was slightly giddy by how nostalgic the filmmaking was because it has such a 1970's feel to it. I mean it literally screams the 70s but in a supernatural way like Spielberg's Close Encounters.

My favorite scene would have to be the gateway scene where Arthur is in a library and he meets Mr. Stewarts wife who informs him to choose the one gateway for salvation. After he steps through there's this trippy sequence of blinding white light. That was cool. He's then hovering over his wife while she be in bed except he's in a pool of water which then shatters causing him and the water to fall to the bed. It floods much of the upstairs.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

This film is fucking hilarious.

Why does Bob Wilton go to Kuwait? Well, it's because his wife left him for a one armed man. When there he meets Lyn Cassidy and he reveals to Bob that a long time ago in the 80's the military tried to create a band of psychic soldiers. Now Bob is a reporter and he sees this as an opportunity for a story. So he tags along with Lyn who has to get to Iraq because he's been reactivated and is on a mission. Actually, it's not a real mission. Please Note that every character is delusional. I'll repeat: DELUSIONAL. Keep that in mind.

While on this trip Lyn discusses the time he spent in the military and how he became part of the New Earth Army which was founded by Bill Django played by Jeff Bridges who should be nominated for this role. How did Django come up with the New Earth Army idea? I'll explain. While in Vietnam he fell off of a chopper, hitting the ground below. Many of his fellow soldiers followed behind him and as they were taking heavy fire he noticed that every one of his soldiers couldn't hit this one particular enemy who ended up shooting Django in the chest. After this he made the realization that his fellow soldiers did not want to kill anyone.

This lead Django to seek out new experiences and since it was the late 70's it was going to be easy to find those experiences. When he came back to the military he began work on creating the New Earth Army. There's even a theme song to the whole thing.

The New Earth Army is to create a super soldier or a Jedi Warrior. Maybe both. Lyn Cassidy was the highest ranking soldier due to his impressive way of "seeing into the future". Unfortunately, every great mind must have an enemy and that was Larry Hooper, he was the dark side the evil Jedi if you will.

So Lyn and Larry were both at odds, but Lyn didn't know this or sense it. Some special powers. When another newbie comes into the group Larry uses him as the fall man. He gets the kid high on LSD and before you know it he's out in the courtyard where everyone is marching and begins shooting at them before shooting himself. This is where Django gets in trouble. He's discharged and the New Earth Army is passed to Larry.

All of this is told as Lyn and Bob get kidnapped by Iraqi's and getting stuck in the desert after their car blows up by an IED. It's hilarious how all of this stuff happens. The best thing though would have to be the very end where Django and Bob spiked everyone's food and water with LSD so they could escape from Larry Hooper's control. Even Larry gets his dose of LSD and becomes hungry due to the effect.

I can't rate this highly enough. It's very funny shit. I'll never stare at a goat the same way again. Or a hamster for that matter.

2012

Ludicrous disaster film details details how the people of earth react after an explosion on the surface of the sun starts events that bring about the end of the world. Hackneyed script full of inane dialogue is hilarious in the extreme. Audiences will have fun counting how many times a character assures everyone that things are fine, only to be struck with another disaster immediately following those words. There isn't one genuine emotion in this entire overblown 158 minute film. These aren't characters, but rather devices which exist solely to recite poorly written dialogue while everything around them blows up in beautiful demonstration of CGI technology. However you have to admire director Roland Emmerich. Not only does he have the chutzpah to rip off other people's films like Armageddon, but even his own The Day After Tomorrow. Film's sole entertainment value is the stunning display of special effects which are indeed impressive.

The Final Cut

The Final Cut

THE FINAL CUT (2004)

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Omar Naim.

FEATURING: Robin Williams, Brendan Fletcher, and Stephanie Romanov.

PLOT: Robin Williams plays a funeral director with access to highly intimate personal information. When he becomes compromised, so does the information, raising questions about the consequences of a total surveillance society.

The Final Cut is a slick, believable, striking science fiction film which has been mischaracterized and very poorly represented in its trailers and marketing. Without a social agenda it forces the viewer to contemplate the frightful ramifications of the permanent recording of individual experiences and the loss of the most intimate personal privacy. The Final Cut does so in a manner that is not a play to morality but which is riveting and awe-inspiring without being preachy. It brings the old school marm's threats about one's "permanent record" to a devastating new level.

COMMENTS: We live in a near total surveillance society. The average person is allegedly photographed 200-300 times by government and proprietary cameras when they venture into the streets. Additionally, many people now posses, and surreptitiously use such devices as unobtrusive cell phone cameras, tiny digital cameras, and concealed "Nannie cams."

Imagine a world in which one in twenty people would possess a biologically built-in surveillance system that records everything they see and hear from cradle to grave, irrespective of their memory of the events. Any interaction one has with them becomes permanently preserved.

When the carrier dies, the surveillance device is retrieved. Everything is seen by a third party, and the information is edited into a flattering epitaph to be shown at their funeral. It may even be displayed in a movie on their grave site. Consider what might become of the rest of the information.

The technology is far fetched, but the idea is not when one takes into account behavior such as all of the self reporting that people engage in. It ranges from voluntarily reporting their income, itemizing their possessions and other personal or family information on product warranty cards, to recording and internationally broadcasting their every move on services such as Twitter.

Think about the fact that under The Patriot Act, every book you read can be discovered by the government, every move you make on the internet is now recorded by the FBI, and every phone call you participate in can be monitored without a warrant. Most people seem to be oblivious to, or complacent regarding such monitoring. They have an attitude that "if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to worry about." (Answer them by asking them to look through their wallet or purse. It is enlightening that they universally decline.) Because of this acceptance it is not a stretch to foresee the institutionalization of even more invasive monitoring when technology makes it feasible.

Now imagine that your parents, perhaps without you ever knowing it, had a surveillance implant embedded in your brain, invitro. You will never be able to take advantage of using it to retrieve lost memories, but everything you do, every second that you experience of every minute of every day will be accessible to others after your death. Think about that. Have you ever done something, or ever had a private moment that you don't want to share? Is there any moment in your life that you would not want to see broadcast on MTV's "The Real World?"

Do you masturbate? Wish not to be observed having sex? Do anything kinky? Want others to see you on the toilet? Have you ever broken rules? Embarrassed yourself? Ever used illegal drugs? Cheated on a test? Blown off your duties at work? Swindled a client? Gone where you shouldn't have? Cheated on your spouse? Committed an embarrassing, or taboo act? Have you ever committed a serious crime? Have you ever done something that was legally justified but that could be misconstrued out of context as a crime? Might you one day?

The ramifications of a stranger being able to watch these private moments is what The Final Cut is about. In the not so distant future, a Zoe (pronounced "Zoey") implant makes total life event recording possible. Robin Williams plays a "Cutter," a funerary professional with supreme confidentiality obligations, who sorts out the unbecoming and damning details of implanted people's lives and edits them into a flattering, family-friendly movie. This enables the friends and loved ones of the deceased to view the production at the implantee's funeral in the way that they want to remember the person.

Suppose the cutter became compromised, or the information fell into the wrong hands. Suppose that somebody you know, with whom you had interactions of a type that you never want discovered, had such an implant and the postmortem information was misappropriated?

The trailers and reviews for The Final Cut simply do not do the film justice. They lead the potential viewer to conclude that the film is a reprise of Robin Williams' One Hour Photo role. Worse yet, they make The Cutter look like a movie with a message, or like a morality play. One description reads, "While cutting a 'rememory' for a high-powered colleague, Alan discovers an image from his childhood that has haunted him his entire life. This discovery leads him on a high intensity search for truth and redemption." True, this is an element of the film, but a corny "one man's 'search for truth and redemption,'" is not what Final Cut is about. If it were, I would have gagged and converted the DVD into a Girl Scout signal mirror after the first five minutes.

Williams plays a cutter who gets into trouble while dealing with a very naughty and controversial client's memories. This incident is a vehicle used to further the "what if?" factor off the surveillance concept described above. The Final Cut examines a simple scenario involving a mind boggling idea, one that would surely be instituted now if feasible. This is a movie that makes one's mind race with ideas and questions. It compels one to contemplate the double edged sword of the surveillance society we live in today, yet it is not a film with an agenda. The film is inspired by an already existing phenomenon, but does not seek to deliberately comment on it.

The Final Cut is also a gripping, compelling movie because of the way its imaginative imagery portrays the access and use of other people's life memories from birth to death. The production design is stunning. While not lavish, it is very well thought-out and credibly suited to the topic, as well as pleasing to the eye.

In , what seems to be far fetched technology is treated with remarkable realism. While it is science fiction, it is very believable. The Final Cut is in my opinion, an example of the best sort of science fiction, No change in the current status quo is required to facilitate the plot, other than the introduction of new technology.

The world in Final Cut is no different from today's except for the ramifications created by this one technological twist. This makes it a very heavy film that will leave a lasting impression long after viewing it. Perhaps you will remember it all of your life. Maybe a third party will one day view that memory.

The Final Cut

The Final Cut

THE FINAL CUT (2004)

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Omar Naim.

FEATURING: Robin Williams, Brendan Fletcher, and Stephanie Romanov.

PLOT: Robin Williams plays a funeral director with access to highly intimate personal information. When he becomes compromised, so does the information, raising questions about the consequences of a total surveillance society.

The Final Cut is a slick, believable, striking science fiction film which has been mischaracterized and very poorly represented in its trailers and marketing. Without a social agenda it forces the viewer to contemplate the frightful ramifications of the permanent recording of individual experiences and the loss of the most intimate personal privacy. The Final Cut does so in a manner that is not a play to morality but which is riveting and awe-inspiring without being preachy. It brings the old school marm's threats about one's "permanent record" to a devastating new level.

COMMENTS: We live in a near total surveillance society. The average person is allegedly photographed 200-300 times by government and proprietary cameras when they venture into the streets. Additionally, many people now posses, and surreptitiously use such devices as unobtrusive cell phone cameras, tiny digital cameras, and concealed "Nannie cams."

Imagine a world in which one in twenty people would possess a biologically built-in surveillance system that records everything they see and hear from cradle to grave, irrespective of their memory of the events. Any interaction one has with them becomes permanently preserved.

When the carrier dies, the surveillance device is retrieved. Everything is seen by a third party, and the information is edited into a flattering epitaph to be shown at their funeral. It may even be displayed in a movie on their grave site. Consider what might become of the rest of the information.

The technology is far fetched, but the idea is not when one takes into account behavior such as all of the self reporting that people engage in. It ranges from voluntarily reporting their income, itemizing their possessions and other personal or family information on product warranty cards, to recording and internationally broadcasting their every move on services such as Twitter.

Think about the fact that under The Patriot Act, every book you read can be discovered by the government, every move you make on the internet is now recorded by the FBI, and every phone call you participate in can be monitored without a warrant. Most people seem to be oblivious to, or complacent regarding such monitoring. They have an attitude that "if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to worry about." (Answer them by asking them to look through their wallet or purse. It is enlightening that they universally decline.) Because of this acceptance it is not a stretch to foresee the institutionalization of even more invasive monitoring when technology makes it feasible.

Now imagine that your parents, perhaps without you ever knowing it, had a surveillance implant embedded in your brain, invitro. You will never be able to take advantage of using it to retrieve lost memories, but everything you do, every second that you experience of every minute of every day will be accessible to others after your death. Think about that. Have you ever done something, or ever had a private moment that you don't want to share? Is there any moment in your life that you would not want to see broadcast on MTV's "The Real World?"

Do you masturbate? Wish not to be observed having sex? Do anything kinky? Want others to see you on the toilet? Have you ever broken rules? Embarrassed yourself? Ever used illegal drugs? Cheated on a test? Blown off your duties at work? Swindled a client? Gone where you shouldn't have? Cheated on your spouse? Committed an embarrassing, or taboo act? Have you ever committed a serious crime? Have you ever done something that was legally justified but that could be misconstrued out of context as a crime? Might you one day?

The ramifications of a stranger being able to watch these private moments is what The Final Cut is about. In the not so distant future, a Zoe (pronounced "Zoey") implant makes total life event recording possible. Robin Williams plays a "Cutter," a funerary professional with supreme confidentiality obligations, who sorts out the unbecoming and damning details of implanted people's lives and edits them into a flattering, family-friendly movie. This enables the friends and loved ones of the deceased to view the production at the implantee's funeral in the way that they want to remember the person.

Suppose the cutter became compromised, or the information fell into the wrong hands. Suppose that somebody you know, with whom you had interactions of a type that you never want discovered, had such an implant and the postmortem information was misappropriated?

The trailers and reviews for The Final Cut simply do not do the film justice. They lead the potential viewer to conclude that the film is a reprise of Robin Williams' One Hour Photo role. Worse yet, they make The Cutter look like a movie with a message, or like a morality play. One description reads, "While cutting a 'rememory' for a high-powered colleague, Alan discovers an image from his childhood that has haunted him his entire life. This discovery leads him on a high intensity search for truth and redemption." True, this is an element of the film, but a corny "one man's 'search for truth and redemption,'" is not what Final Cut is about. If it were, I would have gagged and converted the DVD into a Girl Scout signal mirror after the first five minutes.

Williams plays a cutter who gets into trouble while dealing with a very naughty and controversial client's memories. This incident is a vehicle used to further the "what if?" factor off the surveillance concept described above. The Final Cut examines a simple scenario involving a mind boggling idea, one that would surely be instituted now if feasible. This is a movie that makes one's mind race with ideas and questions. It compels one to contemplate the double edged sword of the surveillance society we live in today, yet it is not a film with an agenda. The film is inspired by an already existing phenomenon, but does not seek to deliberately comment on it.

The Final Cut is also a gripping, compelling movie because of the way its imaginative imagery portrays the access and use of other people's life memories from birth to death. The production design is stunning. While not lavish, it is very well thought-out and credibly suited to the topic, as well as pleasing to the eye.

In , what seems to be far fetched technology is treated with remarkable realism. While it is science fiction, it is very believable. The Final Cut is in my opinion, an example of the best sort of science fiction, No change in the current status quo is required to facilitate the plot, other than the introduction of new technology.

The world in Final Cut is no different from today's except for the ramifications created by this one technological twist. This makes it a very heavy film that will leave a lasting impression long after viewing it. Perhaps you will remember it all of your life. Maybe a third party will one day view that memory.

The Magdalene Sisters

A brilliantly acted, very down to Earth story depicting realistic activities within the many of the asylums in Ireland during this era. Horrific circumstances that allows women to be treated as prisoners for shaming their families, whilst repenting their sins.

The individual stories of each are tales within a tale and are a harsh reality reflected of the time, where pride is thicker than water!

Hard hitting British Drama at it?s best.

Downfall (Der Untergang)

"Der Untergang" or "The Downfall" is not the typical Nazy movie because it gives the Nazy's a human face, but this is exactly it's strongest point. They were not extraterrestrial monsters, they were as human as you and I.
The acting were excellent, specially Bruno Ganz as Hitler.
I consider this movie an Impressive achievement, realistic and shocking

Che: Part Two (Guerrilla)

Second film begins with Argentine-born revolutionary Che Guevara having left Cuba on an ill-fated campaign in disguise, eventually smuggling himself over the Bolivian border, leaving behind a second wife and 5 children. Throughout, there is never any mention of what would happen to them, how they feel, or how he even feels about all this. Still, Steven Soderbergh seems a lot milder and more sentimental as a director with a slower pace. Although I knew the outcome, Soderbergh does his best in showing how frustrating the fight in Bolivia might have been with a fading echo of what was possible in Cuba.

I would've like some of Che's failed campaign in the Congo to have been showcased, but I'll take what I can get. Regardless of how you feel about it politically, Soderbergh makes nice use of dilemmas that characters are confronted with. In real life, these were moments in the struggle where people made important decisions based on ideas of strength and weakness.

Saw VI

After "Saw V" I thought this franchise would turn worst but guest what?! It didn't. It's well written, well directed, well edited, well paced and surprisingly well acted.
Many of the questions we have had have been answered, and the twist at the end, as usual, surprised everyone and of course the traps is what the Saw fans come for and there are the most inventive traps since Saw III, by the way, this installment has a lot of relevant social commentary permeated throughout.
The choice is yours...