tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post6940111492638033028..comments2024-03-15T20:52:26.967-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: "Eastern Promises"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27745872485031530402007-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:002007-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:00As a film about immigration, eastern promises woul...As a film about immigration, eastern promises would be, say, almost a century late. I'd say it's much more a film about nothing or at best a film length Law and Order attempt to make sensational news about Russian crime into a semi-story. Viggo's performance is singular and the only positive thing I can think of to say about this hackneyed movie.<BR/><BR/>I am not sure why no one notes the secret agent twist, which ruined what could have been a more interesting psychological portrait of the criminal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-76213785425652526032007-12-24T12:40:00.000-08:002007-12-24T12:40:00.000-08:00Steve is quite correct, audiences generally don't ...Steve is quite correct, audiences generally don't like gore.<BR/><BR/>Consider this weekend's box office total. Charlie Wilson and Sweeney Todd both came around $9 million, as opposed to $45 million for National Treasure 2.<BR/><BR/>Gore and ultra-violence are the hall-marks now of the "arty" film designed to appeal to a rather degenerate and status-obsessed elite who are determined not to resemble ordinary people in any way.<BR/><BR/>Francis K is quite correct.<BR/><BR/>Of course in a society like Eastern Promises where only the toughest survive, a complete lack of innovation, change, and growth occurs. You get the sterile stasis of say, Meji Japan, and then suddenly the Black Fleet of a dynamic society where the rule of law, large-scale trust networks, nationalism, and other Anglo-Saxon innovations bring steamships, cannon, and repeating firearms to your doorstep. Against which you have useless Samurai swords and "fighting spirit" of the toughest of the tough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86195241229054854692007-12-24T07:33:00.000-08:002007-12-24T07:33:00.000-08:00I think the gore is to appeal to a broad demograph...I think the gore is to appeal to a broad demographic.<BR/><BR/>The present company is getting excited about the Russian mafia in London, and what this means about immigration policy.<BR/><BR/>Most people aren't going to get that. But they will come away from the movie and tell their friends how cool the eye stabbing scene was.<BR/><BR/>As for the male nudity, perhaps that's to make it seem like an art-house film and thus get Oscar consideration from the Academy Award voters, who would otherwise ignore this as a macho gangster action film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-17823517464391290082007-12-24T03:12:00.000-08:002007-12-24T03:12:00.000-08:00>What does this say about the state of our culture...>What does this say about the state of our culture?<<BR/><BR/>the current american culture is unable to produce greatness in most any artistic field because the culture is now actually a counter-culture which is spiteful angry insecure and not at all confident and interested in truth and beauty. this is the post-modern descent into nihilism and narcissism. the result is a disposable culture featuring flashy products hyped by a sophisticated marketing machine - but with no shelf life. <BR/><BR/>contrary to bob zimmerman's view that "great art subverts a culture" - great art actually celebrates a culture. that is the historical record. it is understood to be the case in all time periods but the present. does anyone give a damn about period art that mocked ancient greece or satirized ancient egypt? whether it's european chinese or african art the common thread is a celebration of culture. celebration. and not vivisection of the culture.<BR/><BR/>when the wealthy of a society degenerate to a point where they hold the culture in contempt (and funnel financial support only toward "critical art works") the resulting artwork will be crap every time. so now is the time for regression self-hatred self-mutilation scatology and infantilism. this is the stuff that attracts backing or funding. the situation is not too far removed from the drunken master's act of firing bullets at a slave's feet and screaming at them to "dance!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-1048222714850395302007-12-24T01:44:00.000-08:002007-12-24T01:44:00.000-08:00I'm probably stating the obvious but I think the r...I'm probably stating the obvious but I think the reason for the extreme graphic goriness is to show how extremely violent these people -- whom, on the street, appear as "normal" -- are. <BR/><BR/>Also, perhaps this may have to do with the fact of Anglo culture' 800-year old trials and tribulations to provide an alternative safety net (known as rule of law) to family protection: that crime has gotten more and more "civilized" (i.e. more sophisticated in plan and execution, less and less centered on actually physically hurting the victim) in the West. <BR/><BR/>Throat slitting is not only very gory and very painful for the victim, it is also very messy. But then, therein lies the social reality of it as a culturally-specific act: <BR/><BR/>1) only the toughest manage to lead lives under the threat of such violent threats; <BR/><BR/>2) if your only protection is the family, why bother with elaborate crime schemes? Why waste so much energy, resources, brain-power to protect yourself from a known address -- rather than an anonymous protection which may be everywhere (rule of law)?<BR/><BR/><BR/>JDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38604947050072433862007-12-23T23:08:00.000-08:002007-12-23T23:08:00.000-08:00Similarly, the TV-edit version of Cameron Crowe's ...Similarly, the TV-edit version of Cameron Crowe's "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" is much better than the R-rated original. Lots of movies from the 1970s-1980s had lots of gratuitous sex and nudity that's out of fashion today -- e.g., when they show "National Lampoon's Vacation" on television, they leave out the housewife mom's two topless scenes.<BR/><BR/>Many current movies would likewise benefit from TV-edits of the violence and gore. <BR/><BR/>In general, the trend in American movies has been away from sex/nudity and toward violence/gore.Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-6051836307416705512007-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:002007-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00Is it me or have the movies become ridiculously vi...Is it me or have the movies become ridiculously violent as of late? Most of the highly recommended recent releases, such as this film, "No Country for Old Men", and "Sweeney Todd", contain graphic violence. What does this say about the state of our culture? I have no desire to see throats being slit in graphic detail, so I'm probably going to avoid all of these films, despite the temptation to see them dictated by my love of film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-59216810432874291742007-12-23T19:23:00.000-08:002007-12-23T19:23:00.000-08:00I got grief from my friends for many years after I...I got grief from my friends for many years after I recommended that we all go see "Boogie Nights" while in high school. The nude wrestling scene is what kept me from recommending this movie to my acquaintances. <BR/><BR/>A TV edit of this movie would actually be vastly superior to the original. Now I feel like an old man for saying that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73440649831348911102007-12-23T19:18:00.000-08:002007-12-23T19:18:00.000-08:00The Main Line Mafia. Awesome. I hear the crew from...The Main Line Mafia. Awesome. I hear the crew from Bala Cynwyd is especially bad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com