Tag: Mannerbund

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1. What Kind of Hero is Sigurd?

The previous installment offered a summary and interpretation of Julius Evola’s writings on alchemy. This was to prepare us for what we will begin in this essay: an alchemical interpretation of the dragon slaying episode in the saga, as well as related events.

Before we can develop such an interpretation, however, we should take account of the larger context in which Sigurd’s exploits occur. We shall do so by asking a very basic question: exactly what kind of hero is Sigurd? (more…)

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There aren’t a lot of good movies these days. Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders is the best new film since Todd Field’s Tár, which came out in 2022. The Bikeriders is set in the Chicago area in the mid-to-late sixties. It tells the story of the Vandals Motorcycle Club.

The movie is based on Danny Lyon’s book of photographs, also called The Bikeriders, about a real-life club called the Outlaws. Lyon also recorded interviews with the club, and some of the script is simply copied verbatim from Lyon’s tapes.

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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

I have had a difficult relationship with Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Parts of this film are so emotionally powerful as to be almost unendurable. Indeed, before I began work on this review, I had seen Once Upon a Time in the West only one time in full, on a rented VHS tape in the 1990s. I knew it was a great film, so I bought the VHS. But I could not bring myself to watch it again. (more…)

You can buy James O’Meara’s End of an Era here.

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“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” ― H. L. Mencken [1]

“We gotta get out of this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do.” ― The Animals.[2]

Living in the post-lockdown world of streaming, I find myself more than ever revisiting the good old days, including the early, superior seasons of Mad Men, the world of which looks even more alien — in a good, Golden Age way — than before. (more…)