Five Easy Pieces: a sad commentary on the rootless and nihilist condition of American society
Bob Rafelson, “Five Easy Pieces” (1970) One of the saddest films I have seen, “Five Easy Pieces” was conceived as a character study vehicle by the…
French and French-language Films
Thérèse Desqueyroux (dir. Claude Miller): straight story-telling narrative turns psychological study into mere historical soap drama
Claude Miller, “Thérèse Desqueyroux” (2012) Claude Miller’s swansong film is a historical drama piece starring Audrey Tautou in the eponymous role occupied by Emmanuelle Riva in…
Money As Debt 3 (Evolution Beyond Money): pointing to a renewed and sustainable world beyond debt-based money systems
Paul Grignon, “Money As Debt 3 (Evolution Beyond Money)” In the final episode of the series, Grignon looks at how the world can rid itself of…
Money As Debt 2 (Promises Unleashed): a homely ramble through the global financial system
Paul Grignon, “Money As Debt 2 (Promises Unleashed)” (2009) Where the first episode in Paul Grignon’s “Money As Debt” series is a general overview of the…
What the Heck is a Bail-Out? – a very brief, simplified exposition of how debt-based financial systems lead to collapse and ruin
Paul Grignon, “What the Heck is a Bail-Out?” Part of a body of work investigating the role of money in modern society and how banks came…
Money as Debt: global finance and banks explained in easy-going and colourful documentary
Paul Grignon, “Money as Debt” (2006) While looking for something else on Youtube.com, I found this very informative video on how the modern US banking system…
Overdoing the satire and toilet humour in “Team America: World Police”
Trey Parker, “Team America: World Police” (2004) A silly and puerile satire on American society, culture, the nature of power and the celebration of style over…
Code of samurai honour and Japan under Tokugawa shoguns under superficial examination in “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”
Takashi Miike, “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai” (2011) As this is a Takashi Miike film, this flick has the requisite blood-letting shock factor to satisfy Miike’s…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Confession of Pain: glossy tale of vengeance long-planned with an implausible plot
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, “Confession of Pain” (2006) Ain’t no bad time like Chinese New Year for a police officer to come home one night…
Obey: important message about 21st century corporate fascism is obscured by fast narrative, tricky visual imagery and annoying music
Temujin Doran, “Obey” (2012) Initially this documentary promised to be an inquiry into the rise of corporatism as the dominant ideology in the West during the…