Taxi to the dark side

Taxi to the dark side 2007 - Alex Gibney

A documentary that tries to retrace the disappearance of an Afghani taxi driver who was captured, tortured, and eventually murdered in the hands of our military trying to seek out terrorists.

This film documents the methods of interrogation our government condoned under the Bush regime.

I saw this in the theatre right before leaving for Egypt for two months - needless to say it made me really ashamed to be American.

And even with our new found hope in Obama, the closing of Guantanamo, and hopefully the end of the war in Iraq - you should be aware that we are still sending hundreds of troops into Afghanistan for reason that aren't so apparent??

Darwin's Nightmare

Darwin's Nightmare 2004 - Hubert Sauper

The story of how the introduction of a simple fish to Lake Victoria decimated the biodiversity, industry, and society of a region.

The 'nile perch' was introduced to the lake in the late 60's as a way for the locals to feed themselves and bring in money to the region through exporting the surplus. Unfortunately, no one perceived how well this fish would thrive in this new environment and what change this would bring to those so dependent on Lake Victoria for their livlihood.
I think this quote from the director is really telling of true status of developing regions around the world:
"I could make the same kind of movie in Sierra Leone, only the fish would be diamonds, in Honduras, bananas, and in Libya, Nigeria or Angola, crude oil."

Makes you really think about the fish you stick in your mouth!

Trailer:

STROSZEK

Stroszek-1977, Werner Herzog

Director Werner Herzog delivers poetic juxtaposition and melancholy cynicism in this grim tale of three displaced Germans seeking a new life in rural Wisconsin. Stroszek (Bruno S.), a destitute ex-con, and Eva (Eva Mattes), a luckless prostitute, are plagued by misery in their home of Berlin. When Stroszek's neighbor immigrates to Wisconsin, the couple follows but finds that the bleak landscape of a depressed Midwest offers little hope or solace.

Have you seen this movie? If not rent it today. I would say this movie is a masterpiece in realism, i mean real realism really, Bruno S (the actors real name as well) was institutionalized and abused until he was 23, all the actors in Wisconsin were actual townspeople and that chicken was really dancing...turns out the town they shot this in Wisconsin is actually the hometown of one of Americas most twisted serial killers Ed Gein. The movie is a play on the concept of the American dream and though there have been many movies on the dissapointments of foreigners this is the most biting, bleakly humorous take ive ever seen. The shots are long still photographs of the American Midwest adn Dark, grey shots of urban Berlin. They did an amazing job dividing the two with the changes in music, In Berlin it was rambling quiet Glockenspiels and piano and in America we heard some 70's soft porn muzak and some guy yodeling with a harmonica...perfect...I see it as a film about people so peculiar and eccentric that they wouldn't fit in anywhere, even Plainfield, "Railroad Flats" Wisconsin. Herzog brilliantly weaves extremely odd yet compelling images into an astonishing tapestry, culminating in one of the most unforgettable scenes in the history of cinema...

MON ONCLE

Mon Oncle- Jacques Tati, 1958

Jacques Tati plays Monsieur Hulot, a self-absorbed chucklehead wrestling with neoteric gadgetry -- and losing -- in this satirical masterpiece that makes sport of mechanization, class distinctions and modernity. While visiting his sister's surreal, ultra-trendy home, Hulot finds himself incessantly at odds with newfangled contraptions that get the better of him. The tongue-in-cheek French comedy garnered a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Ive heard people compare this movie to other physical comedies like Pink Panther, Charlie Chaplin and Mr. Bean, (Mr Bean being the closest in similarity) but its really much more...i also thought it was pretty ironic how the super mod stylings of Hulot's sisters house is pretty in line with a lot of peoples super silly, uncomfortable mod furnishings of today! The seperation between Hulot's old world Paris and the super hip Paris modern world is also made distinct by the accordion music and exaggerated Paris street life in Hulots neighborhood, people mill about grumbling, complaining, living, but never really saying anything, there is almost no distinct dialogue in the entire movie, one of my favorite scenes is when the brother in-law calls Hulot and when he does accordion music comes blaring out the phone, pretty clever gag...this movies full of them...for having been made in 1958 its pretty timeless and alot of the underlying morality, the desperate social climbing aspects of the sister, (who turns the fountain on and off constantly depending on the importance of the visitor) and themes apply to today more than ever! I would say watch this when youre in the mood for something light and humorous but dont expect to be rolling around on the floor laughing, maybe a guffaw or a harumph maybe even a few chuckles but the shots are beautiful and nothing compares to Paris in the 50's...

ZARDOZ

ZARDOZ- 1974, John Boorman

In this cult favorite from John Boorman (Beyond Rangoon), 23rd century society is split into two castes -- the overly civilized Eternals and the barely civilized Brutals -- one of which is constantly controlling the other. The Brutals worship a huge stone figure known as Zardoz. When Zed (Sean Connery) begins to question the authenticity of this god, the film is able to offer some pointed commentary on class structure and religion.

Ok...before you judge this book by its cover, (or lack thereof) lets go back to a magical time for post apocalyptic movies, the mid 70's...sure the special effects leave you wanting, and sure the movie looks like it was filmed in someones backyard over the weekend but the story holds its own, sorta...the story, though full of plot holes, is an interesting one, in wich a race of immortal humans live in a forcefield bubble, ala the wealthy and elite of today, while the rest of humanity starves and live in a savage world where the red underwear people, or "exterminators" pluck them off one by one whilst heeding the word of Zardoz "the penis is bad, the gun is good." The story is thin and not much about this world is explained, its more of what i would imagine an ancient Greek post-apocalyptic play would be like, the basic moral of this movie is that man needs mortality to be a man, a mortal mind in an immortal body leads to certain insanity (as seen in the "apathetics" within the immortal society) I drew what i could from this movie but if youre watching it for more than a mild intelectualy stimulating plot than you might be dissapointed, Its Sean Connery in red speedos and lots of sweet random boob shots, for fans of post-apocalyptic themed movies...

THE TENANT

THE TENANT-1976, Roman Polanski

Trelkovsky, (Roman Polanski, who also directed), a timid file clerk, moves into a rundown apartment with a history: The prior occupant jumped to her death from the dismal room's window. In the psychotic environment of a dark Parisian building that's filled with odd characters, Trelkovsky feels himself overcome by a kind of madness. His slow mental deterioration compels him to contemplate emulating the woman's final, tragic hours.

This was probably one of the creepiest movies i have seen in a long time, i had seen Rosemary's baby a few years ago and wasn't a big fan, in Rosemary the evil prescence was quite literally a satanic cult that ran the apartment building, In Tenant we never learn or see what the ominous evil is that is lurking around in his impossibly quiet apartment building, though the movies are somewhat similiar in theme the similarities end there. At some points the movie is laugh out loud ridiculous but it was all done purposefully and briliiantly to make the characters seem all too real unlike most horror movies of the time where characters are usaually painfully one-dimensional. The cinematography is beautifully creepy, and the still images of the tenants staring at him from the bathroom across the courtyard is one of those haunting and eerie images sure to keep you up when your all alone in the middle of the night, really my only complaint with this movie was that the version i had watched was dubbed! does anyone know what language this was originally in? it looked like some people were speaking english and some french, and at some points it looked like a kung fu flick, but other than that, this movie was brilliant and if you think that you can't be creeped out by a movie then i recommend you watch the tenant, or just watch it anyways...