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Out Of The Loop

So I saw the science fiction movie Looper a couple of weeks ago. A lot of stuff is going on. Some of it is time travel stuff and it gets kind of complicated, but I want to focus a bit on the family dynamics. The two main male characters become mass murderers in response to losing their mothers. One . . . . Continue Reading »

Holidays and Hobbits

Earlier this month I fell ill with the horrible flu that is going around and lying abed in misery decided not to pay too much attention to the news for sanity’s sake.  Of course, the space between not too much and no attention leaves plenty of room for discouragement and distress.  . . . . Continue Reading »

The Pat Healy Of American Politics

Sometimes, when Romney is trying so hard to convince an audience that he agrees with them (on what? who cares? Romney doesn’t), he comes off like the Matt Dillon character in There’s Something About Mary , when Dillon is trying to explain how much he likes the mentally handicapped. . . . . Continue Reading »

Carl’s Rock Songbook #63: ALMOST FAMOUS, Pt. 5

Having written one , two , three , four ALMOST FAMOUS-driven posts and now this one, I obviously do think it is an excellent film. Its one weakness is a certain complacency, underlined by its ending. I don’t have a problem with happy endings per se, but the one it provides really is too easy. . . . . Continue Reading »

What Are the Best Films on Communism?

I’m currently working on an introduction to a book I’m co-editing on one of the greatest films about communism, The Lives of Others , and I’m wondering what other films there are that portray life under communist oppression that our readers know about. There don’t seem to be . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hobbesian Games

The Hunger Games is a dystopia about a country named Panem, in which one city, the Capitol, rules twelve other districts.  Due to the districts’ rebellion, the Capitol has instituted the Hunger Games: each district submits two children to a contest where they fight to the death.  . . . . Continue Reading »

Films About Something

Thomas Hibbs has updated his book Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture in light of films and TV shows of the last decade like Christopher Nolan’s movies and AMC’s Mad Men. He says Nihilism has been the reigning philosophy in Hollywood since the 1960’s.  By Nihilism, . . . . Continue Reading »

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