Movie Review: AFTF

A couple of days ago I watched the authorized director’s cut of America: Freedom to Fascism (available on Google video). The Aaron Russo documentary looked like promising at first, but in the end was very dissatisfying. The documentary deals with how ever since 1913 America has been slowly turning fascist. Specifically the film talks about the illegality of income tax, the evil IRS and how bankers rule the world. The movie seems to be tailored to delusional capitalists that want to see someone more capitalist than themselves in hopes of feeling better.

The whole film is badly edited and badly composed. Random black screens with quotes and text are inserted through out. They interrupt the flow at illogical places and are never consistent as to the narrator reading them or not reading them. Aaron tries to narrate the movie himself, much like Moore does in his documentaries, except Aaron comes of as unintelligent, highly biased and flippant. The only good part of the film was not having to listen to the standard narrator voice at first. However, you soon realize that Aaron has no voice acting skill and his constant nagging becomes annoying.

As an interviewer and debater Russo lacks even the most basic competence. He forms arguments like “American has a central bank like the commi bastards in USSR” and then goes on about how it is bad to have a private bank running the United States. I don’t think he understands a basic principle of the communist central banks: it is controlled by the state and thus the people. When interviewing public figures he does not listen to them and gives himself more speaking time than the people he is interviewing. The point of interviewing a public figure and then showing more footage of yourself talking than the public figure escapes me.

To make matters worse, Russo constantly boasts about being a famous, award winning director. I think the random woman in the first street interview says it best:

“Russo: My name is Aaron Russo I produced the mo…

Woman: is this a joke; am I on a gag show?”

I do not recommend this video at all, and the only reason it has gotten any stars is because it is available for free on Google. Aaron Russo does not belong directing “documentaries” he is better as a random person on American are NOT stupid.

Movie Review: Bon Cop Bad Cop

I saw Bon Cop Bad Cop for the first time a while ago (first semester) but I did not have a review section back then (except for books, of course). I watched it again a couple of days ago, and decided to do a proper review this time. I don’t think most people have heard of this movie outside of Quebec, and I doubt anyone has heard of it outside of Canada. However, in Quebec it is a huge hit and for good reason. The film manages to dig to the core of being Canadian (including the French-English tension) in a great bilingual style.

The story is uniquely Canadian, centered on hockey and Quebec-Ontario relations. The villain of the movie is disappointed by the export of the Montreal “Patriots” (Canadians) to the states and is willing to go to any length to stop it. The plot combines comedy, drama and action into a well balanced and well paced package. You never feel like the movie is slow or rushed. Every scene is properly selected and directed.

The only scene that could have been taken out of the movie was the random sex scene in the middle. It did not really move the movie forward (except for reinforcing the French character’s separatist views, but you could figure it out as is). However, you can’t have a popular movie now-a-day without at least some sex. All in all, the movie is near perfect, and as much as I hate to admit it to the Frenchies, the movie deserves a full five starts.

Movie Review: 300

There must be an internal competition in Hollywood for the most dead bodies and/or soldiers in one shot, and 300 is defiantly leading. The movie, with its blood splatter title promises action, blood and… more action. It delivers stunningly. Arthur Millar’s graphic novel sheds the confines of pages and comes to life with a distinct comic book flavour in this action flick.

The movie as not nearly as stylized as predecessors like Sin City, but still makes you feel like you are taking part in a good graphic novel. Each shot is well planned and well staged, like a picture. With the constant slow motion you have plenty of time to appreciate the frame and small details of the shot, as well as marvel at the amount of buffing up the actors had to do for this movie. The action sequences are cleanly shot, full of body and, of course, blood. The filmmakers don’t follow the cheap strategy of shaky camerawork and constant angle changes to represent action, but instead depend on the physical power of their actors, extras and stuntmen. This approach to filming makes for beautiful and rewarding action sequences. The movie’s stylization also makes it more accessible to the viewer who might have found the style of Sin City or Sky Captain too heavy. By weaving between the harsh and noble sides of Sparta, the movie establishes a very dark theme. The opening shot of baby skulls, already sets you on the track for a dark and gloomy story. The storytelling itself captures comic book elements through a overlooking narrator and short, to the point, dialogue.

The overall dialogue in the move is very weak. The constant mismatch between the characters’ personas and words beg for a better writer. Every word uttered is needlessly dramatic, and quickly looses its effect; much like people that overuse powerful quotes, the writers have squandered all the drama inherent in their words. Thankfully, the story is not word driven, but action driven.

The story itself is well known and predictable. You never face surprises, and everything is clear cut and expected. The only thing that can surprise you is how many kick ass moves the choreographers can imagine. It feels like the writers tried to incorporate surprise and shock into the story, but they failed at it. The story is interesting, and hints at history, but in general is lacking.

In the end, you don’t watch this movie for dialogue or story. This movie was created for watching muscular men and women in kick-ass action scenes. The movie achieves everything it promises, but does not excel past this. This is perhaps the only reason it can not rate about a four on my scale. However, all in all this is a wonderful movie, and I recommend it to all action fans.

For a more positive analysis, read Oliver’s review.