Category: reviews

a most wanted man

went to see “a most wanted man” last night. went for philip seymour hoffman so didn’t read any reviews or do any research. if msm doesn’t do a good enough job for u, as far as stereotyping muslims and islam, then this is definitely the film to see. terrorism is articulated exclusively in terms of islam, the surveillance of mosques isn’t even an issue, safety lies in recruiting loyal informants inside the muslim community (and hugging them every now and then to prove western sincerity), a lawyer for asylum seekers is called a social worker for terrorists – she’s told not to spout nonsense about trampling all over the constitution because we are at war with a “nation” called islam, well-integrated tolerant muslim leaders are probably a front for al-qaeda (they fund “rockets” through their “charities”), finally, never have people praying in a mosque or at home looked as ominous as in this film. my husband has faith in le carré and tells me much of this is irony. yes, there is the pushy arrogant american official who lords it over her european counterparts, yes german intelligence is truly concerned about the insiders they use as bait in their entrapment schemes, yes the chechen youth is child-like and looks a bit like ryan o’neal (after he’s shaved his unkempt muslim beard), but seriously, when can we paint a religious or ethnic minority in such unidimensional, exotic and threatening colors (however ironic) and get away with it? the dehumanization project continues.

Force of Nature

Peter Rainer: In the extraordinary Korean film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring, all the action takes place in the vicinity of a Buddhist monastery floating in a tree-lined lake that seems sealed off from the universe. The pastoral setting initially gives off intimations of deep repose—and dullness. But the film turns out to be far from placid. It’s about the terrors, as well as the beneficence, of the spiritual life, and its five sections are the seasons of a man’s life. More here.

Theatre in England

in 2012-13 i spent three weeks in london for a university of rochester class called “theatre in england,” in preparation for writing my own play someday (hopefully soon). during that stay in central london i saw 25 plays which i reviewed extensively over the following couple of months. lo and behold, they decided to upload my entire theatre journal on the u of r website. here it is, replete with beautiful photographs of all the performances.

these birds walk

hope everyone can make it to the little theatre today at 7 pm to see “these birds walk.” it’s made by two filmmakers who’re originally from pakistan and it truly speaks to the spirit of the place and its people in a v direct, non-manipulative and beautiful way. the film focuses on runaway boys in an edhi home in karachi. i will be there for a post-screening discussion with linda moroney. hope to see u there!

“Omar is a young runaway boy in Karachi, Pakistan, whose life hangs on one critical question: what is home going to mean for him? Is it going to be in the urban streets where he has made his life, an unstructured home for runaways, or the difficult rural family life he has been trying to flee? And might Omar find an answer in the hardened young man Asad, himself a former street kid and now an ambulance driver for the humanitarian Edhi Foundation who helps the children at Omar’s orphanage return to their homes, often in dangerous territory and at great personal risk? A glancing, non-hagiographic examination of the work being done by humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi.”

THESE BIRDS WALK – Official Theatrical Trailer (HD) from Oscilloscope Laboratories on Vimeo.

12 years a slave

saw “12 years a slave.” questions that haunt me: how does one even start to make reparations for slavery? how does one come to grips with the magnitude of its depravity? how does one recover from it? how can one ever move beyond it? when we say that harriet tubman, sojourner truth and frederick douglass were “born slaves” and went on to become abolitionists and humanitarians do we truly understand the staggering immensity of what that means? speechless.

The good white folks of the Academy

Willie Osterweil: Modern filmmakers who want to accurately convey the evils of slavery could do so through the stories of Toussaint Louverture or Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass — or any of the other thousands of slaves who didn’t look to white saviors to escape their bondage. But you’d never know from watching Hollywood movies that a single slave ever freed herself. “Django Unchained,” “Glory,” “Lincoln” — these films all feature the benevolent intervention of white protagonists. Even Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad,” about a slave uprising, is as much about the white lawyers arguing the slaves’ case. A particular narrative about slavery is told over and over: The institution was a historical aberration perpetrated by evil white people, but luckily there were good white people who listened to the black people, and they helped free the slaves, and now it’s all over.

the wolf of wall street

thoughts about “the wolf of wall street”: (1) misogyny is as embedded in capitalism as it is in hollywood. the film could have been an hour shorter, easily, but it looked like marty and leo were having too much fun. (2) as repugnant as the so-called wolf might have been, it strikes me that it was precisely because he didn’t have the kind of “class” and “ivy league” network that guys at goldman sachs have, that he was rounded up by the FBI. it’s nice to have a story with a moral, where the flamboyantly bad guy gets his comeuppance but the wolf was a pip-squeak as compared to the big boys. he was able to smuggle $25 million into a swiss bank account? that’s a joke no? the AIG bailout alone was worth $182 billion. but that’s a class of criminals we don’t want to portray in film cuz frankly the script would be a dud: no sleazy-looking small-time crooks, no FBI agents, no retribution, no moral of the story. who’d wanna see that?

Her – Official Trailer

so much to think about after seeing “her”. altho it’s not a flawless film (the script is less than dazzling and the overall tone of the film is a bit too schmaltzy), it touches upon and gently investigates extremely important questions. what does it mean to be human? in a world of texting and email, what do we mean by social connectedness? at a time of fb networks, how do we conceptualize the idea of a friend? in a future where siri will acquire complex, individualistic traits, what will we expect from traditional tropes such as love and intimacy? many parameters of human psychology are changing rapidly and it’s critical for us to understand and incorporate those changes into existing norms and behavior patterns, into the institutions that govern our society. the film is not a cautionary tale but a disinterested peek into a future that seems to be already here.

prime suspect

watched all of “prime suspect” on netflix and loved it. helen mirren is masterful all the way thru, from the beginning of the series in 1991 to its end in 2006. the first three series, written by lynda la plante, are incredible in their complexity and gritty realism. not only do they locate crime in a richly textured racial, socio-economic and political milieu but they investigate and expose sexism and corruption within the police force with a kind of unflinching sang-froid that is unthinkable in american television. such is the unvarnished, convoluted reality we are confronted with in the series, that even the successful conclusion of a case does not satisfy. it’s impossible to wrap things up neatly and unambiguously. mirren’s performance, as DCI jane tennison, is intelligent, precise, full of restrained intensity. the evolution of her character’s career, life and disposition is truly mesmerizing. the hard choices tennison had to make as a woman driven primarily by her work and society’s reaction to an aging woman in a position of authority continue to resonate strongly to this day.

Ken Burns: The Central Park Five

watched “the central park five,” an excellent documentary by ken burns. it’s heartbreaking and infuriating but, unfortunately, the institutional racism it exposes is not that shocking. the NYPD, the criminal justice system, the media, the politicians, and the public were all complicit in destroying the lives of five kids. it’s disgusting that the lawsuit filed by the 5 victims against the city of new york remains unresolved to this day.

Dirty Wars on Nov 12 at 7pm at the Cinema Theater in Rochester!

DON’T MISS THIS!!! RCTV presents Dirty Wars, Tuesday, November 12 at 7pm at the Cinema Theater, on the corner of Goodman St and Clinton Avenue. The film will be followed by a conversation with Director Rick Rowley. This is a groundbreaking film which premiered at Sundance this year, received the award for best cinematography and was featured on Democracy Now! More about the film here.

my review:

i saw “dirty wars” this week at the cinema theater here in rochester. the film is based on jeremy scahill’s investigative work as a journalist. i have been aware of the quality and integrity of his reporting for many years and the film does justice to it. the cinematography is superb and so is the tight, almost breathless editing of the film – no wonder it was a favorite at sundance. i knew many of the events covered by the film: the night raid and killings in gardez (afghanistan) where US soldiers dug out bullets from the bodies of pregnant women in order to create a counternarrative; the strikes in al-majalah (yemen) where 45 innocent people were killed, most of them women and children; the extrajudicial execution of anwar al-awlaki and later his 16 yr old son. however, there were a few things that jumped out at me. (1) JSOC (joint special operations command) which was responsible for gardez, and is known for its super secrecy and ability to fabricate and distort reality, was the exact same elite force that carried out osama bin laden’s murder. something to think about. (2) JSOC was described by an insider in the film as having become the paramilitary arm of the white house. when asked whether things had gotten better or worse under obama vs bush, he said that global operations under obama had become “harder, faster, quicker – with the full support of the white house.” america’s covert wars have expanded from 40 to 75 countries. (3) afghan civilians described american soldiers who had beards and wore local clothing. they said those were the worst US soldiers – more violent and cruel than anyone else. they called them the “american taliban.” we see pictures of them in the film. so funny that when i was in islamabad a week or so ago, many people told me about americans living in the tribal areas in the north who had beards, looked like pashtuns, and stirred up trouble in that part of the country. i didn’t pay much attention until this. (4) i loved how jeremy concluded the film by saying that the war on terror has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. that’s my take exactly. these secretive, illegal and morally repugnant covert wars r preparing the ground for endless backlash and destroying entire countries as they become engulfed in increasing violence. american citizens are not immune to these nefarious operations – the president has carte blanche to kill anyone of us, whenever he likes.