Archive for June, 2002

Minority Report

Friday, June 21st, 2002

Like PLANET OF THE APES, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and soon STAR WARS PART 2, MINORITY REPORT is a sci-fi picture that will mainly be discussed in context with the politics of the time. (the time being now. because it came out today.)

Again like the Yoda picture, it has been in the planning stages long enough that director Steven Spielberg (JAWS) and co-writer Scott Frank (I only remember him because he did OUT OF SIGHT. who knows who the other writer is) couldn’t have known how timely it would turn out to be. The movie takes place in Washington DC, 2056, where Tom Cruise is an agent in the flagship “Pre-Crime Deparment” – cops who use three water-submerged psychic “precogs” to track crimes of passion that haven’t even happened yet.

So the most timely question the picture asks is – can you really bust somebody for something they haven’t even done yet? Is it okay to lock somebody up forever, with no trial, because you think they were GOING to do something? I mean, what if you’re wrong? And one thing I liked about the picture is that it doesn’t stack the deck. Of course you get an ominous feeling about the very idea of “Pre-Crime”, but you can see why the people go along with the system. As you see little Mr. Cruise at a day on the job, controlling windows of digitized precognitions like an orchestra conductor, you understand why he enjoys and believes in his job, even before you find out his backstory. And since the system has brought the murder rate down to zero without anyone knowing about any mistakes, it’s not an easy black or white question. So it’s a fair analogy to our current “lock people up if John Ashcroft says he has secret evidence about them” methods of “terrorism” “prevention”, or even the rising controversy about our country’s love of a good execution despite case after case after case after case after case of executed and almost executed individuals proven to be innocent. (more…)

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Missing Persons

Tuesday, June 11th, 2002

First of all I saw MISSING PERSONS which is a low budget computer animated feature done by two twin brothers named Matt and Dan O’Donnell. At least I think there are two of them, they are twins. And no these are not the creepy american twin animators who speak with british accents, you’re thinking of the Quay brothers. This is a completely different set of twin animators, as far as I can tell.

The credits only list these two guys, and then the songs, so apparently they did the entire thing themselves (all the animation, all the voices, even apparently designed the software, etc.) so it’s pretty impressive. On the other hand, for this reason it is not always up to the technical standards expected by most grown adults who watch cartoons.

But that didn’t bother me too much, because underneath it you got real good characters and story and a completely original use of the cartoon type medium. The story is about two sets of characters who are connected by events but are not really related – there are no good guys and bad guys, or people opposing each other. You just got two relationships – an older cop who maybe sees too much in his eccentric/stupid young partner “Snookie”, and an ex-con drug dealer and his robot partner Computo. The drug dealers interested me more because early on Crazy Legs gets shot in half by cops (yes, SHOT in half – always worse than a mere CHOPPING in half) but is man enough to stick it out for a while. So he’s crawling around on his hands, dragging what’s left of his spine and intestines out the ass end, trying to accept his lot in life and get by just like you or me, but instead of discussing the films of the Cinema on the internet like us he just has a robot who sells shrooms for him. (more…)

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Pistol Opera

Tuesday, June 11th, 2002

Hey don’t feel bad twins, because I saw even more walkouts at PISTOL OPERA and that one’s by one of the old masters, Seijun Suzuki. And I’m not gonna make any excuses for these fuckers walkin out because this was truly a wonderful picture.

That’s one of my favorite parts of the film festival is watching people trying to restrain from walking out just long enough that they feel like they’re still open minded. And as soon as one person walks out there’s another two or three on the same aisle who follow while they have their opening.

My guess is they wanted a little more pistol and a lot less opera. Especially at the end, it gets so stagey and artistic-like they must’ve felt like they accidentally bought tickets to the legitimate theater. But if you’ve seen some Seijun Suzuki movies (I’ve only seen the obvious ones, BRANDED TO KILL and TOKYO DRIFTER) you know what you’re in for and it’s not some pre-curse-of-Jean-Claude-Van-Damme John Woo shootout spectacular. It’s got a kitschy plot about colorful, nicknamed assassins competing for the coveted #1 killer slot, told with bold colors, very theatrical sets and often with dance-like movements. Not like Gene Kelly type dance, more like Butoh or something. The movie is at times very disorienting but I think I followed it better than the relatively more normal BRANDED TO KILL. It’s everything Suzuki is known for pumped up for the modern day. Everything I like about Seijun Suzuki, but more extreme. (more…)

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FBI takes advantage, To Afghanistan and Back by Ted Rall

Friday, June 7th, 2002

Man I can’t believe this shit. I was too slow to see it coming. When FBI people right and left were coming forward to admit they blew it in regards to this whole September 11th deal, who woulda thought they would use it to their own advantage? Yeah, we knew alot of things, we didn’t do shit, 3,000 people died. The only way we can prevent this from happening again is if we get rid of all those stupid “don’t spy on your own people” and “probable cause” rules.

If you step back and take a look at it, you see that there is no logic in this. They had information that they refused to act on (whether out of incompetence, laziness, or pressure not to screw up the pipeline negotiations with the Taliban – take your pick) – so the way to fix this problem is to get more information to not act on? It makes about as much sense as the sport “rollerball” in the movie Rollerball (2002).

Is anyone else sick of being asked to swallow this kind of Alice in Wonderland logic – and then watching tv and seeing the fake journalists pretend to actually do it? We must take away your freedom to protect freedom. We must install more zealots in Afghanistan to promote democracy throughout the world. Practicing the democratic process is anti-american. Investigating what happened on September 11th would interfere with stopping terrorism. History’s most brutal and expensive military couldn’t stop 19 dudes with knives from killing 3,000 people, so we need to have a MORE brutal and expensive military. I don’t like the taste of shit, so instead I am going to put this shit in my mouth.

I gotta repeat my request from the last column, friends. Don’t let this shit go. Don’t forget about it. Don’t stop talking about it.

The reason I’m Writing another column so soon is to recommend a really spectacular book I read this week. That’s right, I said I read a BOOK. And it wasn’t even by Iceberg Slim or Chopper. Admittedly, it had alot of pictures. (more…)

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Biggie and Tupac

Monday, June 3rd, 2002

Dearest Harry and Moriarty,

It has been a while since I’ve had my works printed on your page there (ain’t it cool news) but this time I got somethin that I think will move your heart. I know how much Tupac and Biggie Smalls mean to you young people today so I’m sure both of you are very anxious to see BIGGIE AND TUPAC, the new documentary about them from Nick Broomfield (who directed the Heidi Fleiss picture and maybe more in this vein, KURT AND COURTNEY). Because Tupac means to a young man like Harry or Moriarty the same thing Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash meant to their dads, only with more tattoos and brighter colored suits.

This is the story of Tupac and Biggie, who started as friends, then had a rivalry, then both were murdered in what was seen as the culmination of an “east coast, west coast” rap feud. It is told through photos, blurry archival video, but mostly Broomfield’s usual style of interviews, which often come as a surprise to the interviewees. He talks to many friends of the rappers, bodyguards, police, witnesses. The obvious reason why this is an important story: these are two of the biggest stars in music, they were murdered less than a year apart, and neither of their murders have been solved.

How is this possible? If Carmen Electra and some dude from ER got murdered, do you think they’d just let the case sit there and collect dust? I think the shooters would have their death certificates on Access Hollywood by the end of the week. But America doesn’t treat rap stars that way. David Letterman made fun of Tupac in his monologue for the days he sat in a hospital dying. And there’s a reason why they don’t want this case solved. More on that in five paragraphs. (more…)

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