documentary

1086 – The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley (2019 documentary)

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a 2019 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alex Gibney. The film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes, and her former company Theranos. (wiki)

imdb   /   rt

documentary, music, Uncategorized

1075 – Charlie and his Orchestra

In the twisted annals of the Third Reich, few stories are so improbable as that of “Charlie and his Orchestra.” Even as Nazis campaigned against “degenerate” jazz music, persecuting musicians and throwing “swing kids” into concentration camps, behind the scenes Joseph Goebbels and his Propaganda Ministry were creating a jazz orchestra that would serve up Nazi propaganda backed by the latest music.


Let’s go bombing

You’re Driving Me Crazy 

Elmer’s Tune (German Submarines)

Thanks For The Memory 


wiki: Charlie and his Orchestra (also referred to as the “Templin band” and “Bruno and His Swinging Tigers”) were a Nazi-sponsored German propaganda swing band. Jazz music styles were seen by Nazi authorities as rebellious but, ironically, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels conceived of using the style in shortwave radio broadcasts aimed initially at the United Kingdom, and later the United States, after the German declaration of war on 11 December 1941.

British listeners heard the band every Wednesday and Saturday at about 9 pm. The importance of the band in the propaganda war was underscored by a BBC survey released after World War II, which indicated that 26.5 percent of all British listeners had at some point heard programmes from Germany. The German Propaganda Ministry also distributed their music on 78 rpm records to POW camps and occupied countries.

Propaganda Swing: Dr. Goebbels’ Jazz Orchestra (1991 documentary)

 


 

documentary, movies

1066 – The Highwaymen (2019)

timespace coordinates: 1934 Texas,  Oklahoma, KansasLouisiana

highwaymen

The Highwaymen is a 2019 American crime film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by John Fusco. The film follows Frank Hamer and Maney Gault (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson), two Texas Rangers who attempt to track down and apprehend notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s. Kathy BatesJohn Carroll LynchKim DickensThomas Mann and William Sadler also star. The Highwaymen began a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 15, 2019 and was released digitally on March 29, 2019 on Netflix. (wiki)

“The art direction is equally meticulous in illustrating the time period: the migrant camps and other settings, the clothes and incidentals, including old-time chenille bedspreads. In addition, the film doesn’t gloss over Bonnie and Clyde’s merciless brutality.” (Diane Carson review)

imdb


Remembering Bonnie & Clyde, documentary (youtube)

animation, Uncategorized

1059 – Mutafukaz (2017)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s Dark Meat City / New California

MFKZ poster

Mutafukaz (Japanese: ムタフカズ -MUTAFUKAZ- Hepburn: Mutafukazu, released as MFKZ in some markets)  is a 2017 adult animated science fiction film based on the comic series of the same name.

The film is a French-Japanese co-production between Ankama Animations and Studio 4°C  and is directed by Shōjirō Nishimi and Guillaume “Run” Renard.

The comic was published in English as Mutafukaz by Titan Comics with only one volume released on October 27, 2015.  Mutafukaz was released in France on May 23, 2018 and in Japan on October 12, 2018. (wiki)

Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life… into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous forms prowling around all over the city… Is Angelino losing his mind, or could an alien invasion really be happening this quietly…? (imdb)

MFKZ poster 3

THE ART OF MUTAFUKAZ – THE MOVIE

movies

1043 – The Wild Pear Tree / Ahlat Ağacı (2018)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s coastal Turkish town of Çanakkalewild pear tree posterThe Wild Pear Tree (TurkishAhlat Ağacı) is a 2018 Turkish drama film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus reads, “The Wild Pear Tree uses a young man’s post-graduation experience to pose thoughtful, engaging questions about life in modern Turkey — and the rest of the world.”

According to Nuri Bilge Ceylan, The Wild Pear Tree is about a son’s unavoidable slide towards a fate resembling that of his father.

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imdb   /  rottentomatoes

movies

1032 – The Last Samurai (2003)

timespace coordinates: 1876 – 1877 California > Japan25b37ffea8d32331The Last Samurai is a 2003 American period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz. The film stars Tom Cruise, who also co-produced, with Timothy SpallKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyTony GoldwynHiroyuki SanadaKoyuki, and Shin Koyamada in supporting roles.

Tom Cruise portrays a United States Captain of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai warriors in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 19th Century Japan.

The film’s plot was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and the westernization of Japan by foreign powers, though in the film the United States is portrayed as the primary force behind the push for westernization. To a lesser extent it is also influenced by the stories of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War and Frederick Townsend Ward, an American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army. (wiki)

imdb   /  Criticism and debate