You wanted the best? YOU GOT THE BEST. 80 straight minutes of Mike Russell talking movies, and nothing but movies. Sure we sidetrack, but when we sidetrack? We sidetrack into MORE MOVIES. The last show of 2011 hearkens back to the last shows of 2008: It’s the return of the Mike Russell Power Hour (plus 20 minutes) where we indulge our inner movie nerd like a chubby kid indulges himself in a pile of Halloween candy. The films discussed? Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. TinTin. Primer. The James Bond films. The Indiana Jones movies. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. Okay, near the tail end, we trip and stumble into discussions about 90s comics, Laphroaig-Nog, The upcoming NERDFIGHT courtesy of Chronicles of the Nerds, Courtenay Hameister’s Yellow Fate, and some other stuff. But other than that? PURE MIKE RUSSELL MADNESS. Enjoy your Holidays, check back on Christmas Day for “What Could Possibly Go Wrong,” and be nice. Until it’s time to not be nice.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
This episode is the size of Texas!!
The fact that Cort got me to laugh as loud as I did 15 seconds in told me it was going to be a good episode.
Random thoughts as I listen…
I rewatched ALWAYS a few months back and honestly think it’s an underrated Spielberg film. Definitely not perfect but for what he was trying to do, it’s pretty great.
Holloway was quotes as saying once LOST wrapped he was taking two years off.
Honestly, “Swedish Rape: The Movie” is a fitting title for the movie, considering the actual title translates to “Men Who Hate Women”
80 minutes of Mike Russell? Santa, you *are* real!
Thanks for all the film reviews! Big help with my cinema choices next weekend. Merry Christmas to you and your families. Here’s to a wonderful 2012!!
I swear on more than one occasion I’ve heard football announcers (or highlight anchors) say a team has “matriculated down the field.” I could never figure out by what definition the usage is proper. They’re graduating down the field? Pick a different word, clods.
The story goes about the inspiration behind The Girl of the Dragon Tattoo is that when Larsson was young, he witnessed the gang rape of a girl named Lisbeth and did nothing to try and stop it. So it was inspired by guilt he felt as a result of being a complete cunt. I do enjoy the books, but they’re not my favorites ever. The big draw of them for me really is the character of Lisbeth Salander. Fincher is one of my favorite directors so I’m looking forward to his version of the story. (My favorite movie is Zodiac.)
This downer comment brought to you by Ghost of Real Christmasses Past. Warning: discussion of rape, abuse, etc.
The thing about Larsson’s books is how obviously his background as an investigate journalist has influenced them. They’re littered with actual facts about the things they concern – be it violent rape against women, human trafficking or whatever else. I personally am stuck on the second book, which deals with human trafficking (from Eastern Europe to wealthier countries in Europe, including Sweden) and it is just horrible because Larsson has not exaggerated this problem for dramatic effect. It’s as real a problem as violence against women, and I recently had to read an article on the subject for university – it matched the reality painted in the second book, of authorities who don’t care enough to do enough to control human trafficking (mostly of young women, mostly into prostitution) or who don’t have the means to do it, who just don’t recognise victims etc.
The book has factoids about custody in the Swedish system surrounding the rape scenes. Essentially the scenes after illustrate Lisbeth’s helplessness – she cannot turn to the authorities because to them, she’s a crazy girl and her “guardian”, her rapist, is the reliable adult with a steady job. So in the book the whole reaction is very much due to a survival instinct mixed with revenge.
I’ve not seen any of the films so I can’t justify their takes on it, nor would I wish to. There are two takes on depiction of these kinds of events in any media, I suppose. One is that it’s “social pornography”, essentially displaying all these horrific things to pique a modern viewer or reader’s interest. Weird, horrible things like incest, abuse, rape, sadistic violence, these are all interesting because they are so fucking terrible. The other one is that because these are real problems, happening in the real world, you shouldn’t shut your eyes from them, no matter how horrible they may seem.
I’m of two minds. I can’t get through these books, even though the first one I read within a day, precisely because the realism is so depressing. Even in societies like Nordic welfare states, where equality between genders is generally recognised as an important value and promoted, there are problems like violence against women. On the other hand, I think books like these can demonstrate the kind of pattern for example people who commit intimate violence (abusing a spouse, partner, child) fall into. So hopefully people who get into relationships that may turn abusive can see the signs (for example, trying to alienate one’s partner from their friends, so when the abuse gets bad they have nobody to turn to) before anything bad actually happens.
I liked the original title, even though I also recognise that the new English ones try to promote Lisbeth as the real central character, which she undoubtedly is. But one thing I can’t stand is when people say the things that happen in these books are exaggerated – certainly some things are, it is fiction, but a lot of the most gruesome things that it portrays do actually happen. Sad, but true.
Downer comment over.