B&B Presents: Wack History Month
This Sunday we present an alternative to the innane speeches of the Oscars. Most of my friends are geeks who focus on either film, politics, or history, this Sunday we get to have a surreal mixture of all three
7:00 pm
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004 / 2006 ) (- it took a while to be distributed and was eventually picked up by Spike Lee)
What if the South had won the War?
Directed by Kevin Willmott in the voice of a BBC documentary film crew, this mockumentary is a must for the historically or politically inclined. The hilarious, yet chilling, version of history posits what the last 150 years would have been had the Confederates won the American Civil War. The most frightening aspects are the ties to actual events both past and present in American policy and culture, replete with commercials.
9:00 pm
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Wild In the Streets (1968)Max Frost, a 24 year old charismatic rocker, has just successfully lowered the voting age to 14 (Something I’ve been in support of for years), and he’s now rolling the wave of popularity from a babyboom majority right to the American Presidency. Following the 60s edict of “Never trust anyone over thirty”, his first presidential edict turns the new hippie state to a totalitarian hell for anyone over thirty by requiring them to live in retirement homes where they are force fed LSD.
This psychedelic exploitation flick riled a generation and it has Richard Prior in it as a character named Stanley X.
I wanted to show some Blaxploitation Flicks focussed on the Black Nationalist movement to match up with the CSA, but instead Wild in the Streets seemed to be a much better fit with the themes of CSA. If I can't get wild in the streets, fear not... I will book it with My first choice.
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) about a Black CIA agent who works throught the system to set up the Nationalist cause behind the backs of his own agency.
Labels: Documentary, Explioitation, Movies
B&B Presents: Samouraï Noir
February 11, 2007
This Sunday night we present two films about non-Japanese hitmen obsessed with the Samurai Code of
Bushido.
7:30 pm
Le Samouraï (1967) FranceJef Costello is a perfectionist hitman who never gets caught. After a hit gone wrong with surviving witnesses and an ever elusive alibi, Jef is backed into a corner. His code of solitary honour predisposes him to complete his task, yet under an air of the inevitability of death. Jean-Pierre Melville’s use and deconstruction of the American Noir Genre in this picture has heavily influenced other film makers. John Woo noted that everything about Le Samouraï is perfect, and was a central inspiration for
The Killer (1989).
9:30 pm
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) USAAcclaimed writer and director Jim Jarmusch was also heavily influenced by Le Samouraï in the development of Ghost Dog. The story follows an African American hitman, played by Forest Whitaker, who is self-retained within the local New York mob and strictly follows the Bushido code of Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai. When he becomes expendable can Ghost Dog maintain his code of honour and still confront his mob superiors? Jarmusch’s films often capture and are based around moments, yet his slow direction style in this picture is balanced by a beat heavy soundtrack compiled and composed by Wu Tang Clan’s the RZA. This is one of my favourite films, even though I haven’t seen it since it came out. I’m exited to see it through new eyes along with its French inspiration.
Labels: Movies, Noir
The B&B Presents: Christian Scare Films
Just in case anyone questioned my fears of religion... This Sunday, I will be presenting two recent flicks about when Evangelism thinks too much of itself and goes too far.
7:00 pm
Jesus Camp (2006) USA"Onward Christian Soldiers!" A documentary on the not so innocent side of Evangelist Summer camps. The Trailer proved terrifying.
9:00 pm
1950s Christian Scare FilmsAs a treat, and only if there is time, I will show some Christian Documentary Shorts from the 50s. I hope these documentaries prove to be edifying, if not hilarious.
9:30 pm
Saved (2004) USA"They without sin cast the first stone." When a girl in an Evangelical Christian highschool winds up pregnant she finds herself becoming ostrasized and demonized, by her classmates and former friends. Maculay Culkin shows up as a Blastphemous Parapalegic. I am told this one's very funny.
Let me know if you're gonna make it out.
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