Tag: movie reviews

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“A splendid little war” was how Secretary of State John Hay described the Spanish-American War of 1898. Since Hay had served in Abraham Lincoln’s administration, he had had a lot of experience with more jaundiced wars like the one in the 1860s. The Spanish-American War was little, and its splendor depended upon where you were when it occurred. In DC’s clubrooms and in Congress, it was quite alluring, and was to most of the country. But if you were on the front line taking rounds from Spanish Mausers or suffering agony from malaria or dysentery — which a good part of the army was — it was not so splendid. (more…)

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It’s Gay Pride Month, and I’m casting about for ways to celebrate this awesome event. Even as early as three years ago, I observed shampoo and mouthwash coming out of the closet at Target stores. Yes, really! And now that Burger King Whoppers are turning fruity, that really got my attention. Fast food without sociopolitical messages is way too twentieth century, after all; it’s the Current Year! Fine, I’ll get with the times already! What better way to commemorate the joys of same-sex attraction than with a movie review? (more…)

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Duty and freedom are two things responsible people must constantly consider when making personal decisions. Too much of the former can make one rigid and overbearing. Too much of the latter can make one self-centered and soft. In a perfect society, I would imagine, people should be able to achieve balance according to their personal circumstances. But how?

An all-but-forgotten movie which touches upon this problem as it relates to today’s transgender wokeness is the 1992 English romantic comedy Just Like a Woman. In this charming — if somewhat formulaic — movie, a London man lives a double life as a transvestite and seeks love after a painful divorce. (more…)

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After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water-activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. (more…)

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I read a lot and always have, but there is only one book I have ever finished and immediately gone from its last line straight back to page one and started reading it again. It was Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The movie version featured Johnny Depp with Benicio del Toro as his lawyer (and I guess Depp has met his fill of lawyers just recently, although hopefully not on acid). But it wasn’t at all bad, I thought. Thompson’s famous gonzo style of writing (much better than precursor H. L. Mencken, who I have to say I could never stand) put a fishhook in my upper lip I could not shake free of. (more…)

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In the documentary What is a Woman?, Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh and director Justin Folk have delivered a must-watch assessment of the transgender movement. This program should be viewed with great urgency by anyone concerned about the further disintegration of Western Civilization.

Over the past several years, transgenderism has opened up a new front in the ongoing war upon the traditional understanding of the human condition which had informed much of the public policy in the West until just over 50 years ago. (more…)

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Extremity = “the furthest point or limit of something.”

I watched the suspense-thriller movie, Extremities, for the first time in the late 1990s. It was one of those rare films that really grabbed me and remained stuck in my memory. Not being sure why that was, I recently watched it again to try to understand its impact. Having done so, the title now has a special significance for me. (more…)

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Recently, a friend who has rubbed elbows with the highest echelons of haute cuisine recommended that I see Babette’s Feast, a 1988 Danish film about a French lady chef coming to a quiet Danish village. This film has apparently been a cult classic among chefs ever since it came out. Being something of a gourmet, I was intrigued by the idea of a film about food, and of course much of my work within the Dissident Right has focused on observing the contrasts and tensions between the Northwestern, Eastern, and Mediterranean poles of European civilization. (more…)

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Unlike many moviegoers, I was never that enthusiastic about Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s response to the arms race. I remember that back in the 1980s, a girlfriend and I saw the film and she thought it made light of a serious issue. This was at the height of President Reagan’s sending more missiles to Europe, his Star Wars missile defense plan, and everyone’s lugubrious viewing of The Day After. (more…)

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Robert Eggers’ The Northman, a retelling of the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, is a masterful tribute to the Viking era. Eggers recreates the world of the Vikings with painstaking attention to detail and great respect for his subject.

Eggers does not have Right-wing sympathies. He has condemned the so-called “misappropriation” of the Vikings by White Nationalists. Yet his dogged commitment to authenticity has resulted in a film of which Joseph Goebbels would approve. (more…)

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Introduction to The Batman

The new Gotham city, presented by director Matt Reeves and inhabited/stalked by Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, is gothic and atmospheric. On the first of two viewings, I found myself so enamored by the backgrounds and music that I was less focused on the dialogue. Gotham is not merely a backdrop to the events taking place but is brought to life and is almost a character in its own right. Bruce Wayne’s “Batcave” is an abandoned subway station beneath Wayne Tower, which also houses his gothic-styled manor. (more…)

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The poets and dreamers wove their magic webs, and a world apart from the world of actual experience came to life. But it was not all myth, nor all fantasy; there was a basis of truth and reality at the foundation of the mystic growth . . . — Jessie Weston, From Ritual to Romance

My friend said, what are you doing these days? I said, I’m working for Killing Joke. He said, Killing Joke? Are you mad? They’re evil. They’re devil-worshippers. — Chris Kimsey, music producer (more…)