Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied France

That's the title of Inglorious Basterds' first act; it embodies the tone of Tarintino's grimly whimsical, romantic dramatization of a historical period rarely approached with anything besides solemnity. Since I suspect Anna and M haven't seen the movie I'll keep this review brief and speak in general terms, but I can say right from the start that I highly recommend it.

The flim's structure is theatrical; each act is a masterfully detailed episode in which very little time is wasted on pointless transitional scenes. All of that energy has gone into populating each scene with interesting characters and unconstrained, un-contrived dialogue which follows the pacing dictated by the scene rather then by timing or 'plot development', which sometimes seems to degenerate into over-explication of the directors favorite element of the storyline. It's very natural and, in my opinion, engrossing.

Tarintino has certainly taken hold of the historical material at hand and bent it to his vision; I call Basterds' 'romantic' because it places nations and armies at the mercy of individuals, rather than the other way around. I'd like to say that there are heroes and villains in sharper relief than what we're used to in movies concerned with WWII, but villainy is incarnated more clearly than heroism, strictly speaking. The Basterds', who are 'the good guys', are also casually cruel and by nature vengeful. Their Jewishness seems a little like a vehicle for a remorseless, usually unconsidered brutaility toward every and all Nazi's encountered in the film.

Which brings me to the issue of violence; I found it violent but not spectacularily so, and Alex seemed to disagree. Without spoiling anything, I can say that there are violent acts which, while not being particuraily bloody, are still cringe-inducing by virtue of what they are. But it's not a protracted bloody mess.

All in all, one of my favorites without a doubt: I think I'll pick it up on DVD when it's avaliable, which would be pretty rare for me. =O

Not Really an Update

Hello! I've decided to implement a Monday/Friday update schedule for my blogs, so I will have something up tomorrow; that being said, I've updated my other blog and figured I'd let ya'll know.

So, 'The Damascine Roadside' now has an intro post; check thou it out. ^_^

Tonight, on Tales from the Crypt Keeper...

...an exquisitely horrifying, chilling, mind-boggling bit of blog-fiction concerning a deceptively unassuming house and the people drawn into it's grim orbit.

The Dionaea House.

You can look forward to two or so hours worth of reading that will pay immense dividends in sleeplessness and paranoia. =D

The story is told over the course of several blogs, which are linked to each other in chronological order; you'll know which links are story relevant based on where and when they appear. It really is fantastic; I look forward to discussing it with everyone. ^_^

Smooth Criminal

Hm, it's been a little while, hasn't it?

I'm hoping to get a more regular update schedule going, and we might as well start it off by discussing some local news: Mayor Larry O'Brien is not a crook!

Or so he says. And Justice Douglas Cunningham apparently agrees, given his dismissal of the bribery charges leveled against O'Brien in relation to offers made by our councilor-in-chief to one Terry Kilrea, which may have concerned something to do with a post that might have been on the parole board. Possibly in exchange for Kilrea's dropping out of the race. And maybe some money too, either by way of cheque or a wad of bills slipped coyly into Kilrea's quarter open shirt...

*ahem* Anyway, even though I couldn't resist titling this post as I did, it's not really a fair to label O'brien as such for two reasons:

Firstly, in the eyes of the law he is not a criminal, and I don't presume to credit my own personal distrust of O'Briens Lex Luthor-esque appearance over a well considered legal ruling.

Secondly, even if a crime took place, by no means can it be described as having been 'smooth'. It's like robbing a bank and sliding away on a banana peel so quickly that the cops can't ID you; the main reason O'Brien got off was that the content of the meetings weren't corroborated by any independent sources and all the ancillary testimony(concerning things O'Brien may have said to others concerning a job for Kilrea) was confused and unreliable.

There are some interesting questions about the nature of bribery percolating at the core of all this: O'Brien defense, in an early motion for a direct verdict which would have sidestepped all this trial business, insisted that the law was designed to prevent cash incentives from being offered for political advantage, not political offices in and of themselves. The judge rejected this rather narrow concept of 'bribery' and I'd have to agree, especially in light of the fact that most political offices guarantee a salary and thus can be construed as carrying a financial value.

And so concludes the all time high point of my interest in municipal politics. We'll finish with a quote from O'Brien concerning the speed of his campaign and election, offered up to explain his hazy recollection of some of the finer details of his meetings with Kilrea.


"I fell asleep on my boat in July drinking a beer and when I woke up I was the mayor of Ottawa. That's how fast it went."

Imagine what he might have woke up as if he'd actually had a proper sleep in his own bed.