Originally released in 1981, The Killing of America is a “documentary of the decline of America.” The film is a collection of news footage and interviews about violent events that have happened in the United States up until the murder of John Lennon in Manhattan in 1980 and the violence at the gatherings following his death.
Tag Archives: politics
Help Fight for the Right to Fair Use
If you’re an independent artist, aspiring web celebrity, hoping to start a web show, or want to just talk about movies and want to seek your career through youtube, this video requires your immediate attention. Fair Use is under attack, and studios are attacking free speech as you read this.
If this hasn’t affected you yet, it will soon.
The Fab Four & The Fab Foul
You can’t just put any band on a film and expect laughs. And chemistry and appeal. That’s what happened to “Spice World.”
The directors and creators behind it seemed to basically assume, “Hell, this band is popular, they’re a pop band, they have massive appeal with the male audience, they make catchy music, and they’re British, so they’ll be perfect equivalents to The Beatles.”
And… well… if you saw the movie, you’ll know that the logic behind that theory was slightly eschew.
Lincoln (2012)
I love how Steven Spielberg continues to skirt expectations from his core fanbase by providing them with films that are mature and often times thought provoking. Where in “Lincoln” could have been another hollow biography about one of the greatest presidents of the United States, he transforms it in to an intellectual exercise and exploration in to the most important event in American history. “Lincoln” is a beat by beat relaying of the events before and during the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation and how the passing would come to affect everyone within the inner circle of Abraham Lincoln. “Lincoln” is mostly a look in to the seething fear of the American status quo whom spent most of their time worrying how freeing the slaves would affect their own luxuries and lot in life. The irony of the conflict is that most of the men featured were against the bill passed because they worried the African Americans would soon become an equal voice in America thus turning the white man in to a minority.
John Lennon & The Dixie Chicks: And We All Shine On
I hate country music, I really do. But the only band I can hold any sort of tolerance for is The Dixie Chicks. Am I a fan? No. Am I fan of their views? God yes. Particularly Natalie Maines that little hot firecracker. Outspoken, charismatic, and intelligent, you just have to love her. Hats off to you, babe. In 2006, no two documentaries were more inadvertently paralleled than “Shut up & Sing,” and “The US vs. John Lennon.”
A long time ago, John Lennon, sitting with the Beatles, explained to a reporter, in sheer shock, that he couldn’t believe the way fans were gushing. It was almost as if they were more popular than Jesus.
Fans, thanks to the media, took it out of proportion, and wholly out of context.
American Zombie (2007) (DVD)
“Jesus was the original zombie.”
I guess zombie movies have reached the point where they’re basically self-consuming niche titles that have nothing new to offer. They’re either vague remakes of Romero, or vague remakes of “Shaun of the Dead” which is where “American Zombie” comes in. It’s a mock documentary that also tries to be social commentary, and more often than not it manages to work well as a tongue in cheek little satire on society and its fear of immigration and outsiders. Every society has to have a minority of individuals who choose a lifestyle that we have to chastise and condemn, and director Grace Lee takes an interesting step in exploring this collective action of a fearful society through the scope of the horror genre that turns zombies into a group of re-animated beings seeking to go about their lives in a world that has little room for them.
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Edward R. Murrow: You cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
I was saddened after watching “Good Night and Good Luck”. Not because it’s the focus of someone who spoke out against what he didn’t believe in, but because it’s the mark of what reporting used to be, and how excellent it was to watch a real reporter go against what he perceived as wrong and un-American. Sure, you can tell me that perhaps Edward R. Murrow wasn’t as valiant as he appeared, but I won’t buy it. Not because of this film, but mainly because he stood up for what he believed in and nearly sacrificed his colleagues jobs and his own reputation in the process.