Trailers: Pitch Perfect, Resident Evil, Farewell My Queen

First view of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, no release date.

I AM SO SORRY: I am so close to getting the Rock Of Ages post done, but others have needed a great deal the last couple of days, and so I may grow in the fruits of charity, I have put off what I wanted to do to assist those in need; thank you so much for your patience! Here are some of the latest trailers,  I hope you enjoy them!
Since last year, we have been talking a lot about expanding the vocabulary of film and film's use of various means to communicate to audiences; Pitch Perfect, due out in October, incorporates a number of subtle and interesting means of communication:

There's a number of interesting issues being brought up here, for example, the "rape whistle," which, according to the rules of Shakespeare, you do not introduce a device in the first act unless it will be used by the third. It won't be an actual, physical rape: for example, just the lead character being in the shower and being "imposed upon" by the other girl refusing to leave until she hears some singing is a form of "rape" because the lead girl is having to do what she doesn't want (that she's naked and a naked guy walks out just emphasizes that).

There's an interesting case of reversed censorship going on: "You call yourself  'Fat Amy?'" "Yes, so skinny b*** like you won't do it behind my back." Amy is bringing out what is usually kept within one's mind or under one's breath so, by bringing out what is usually kept hidden--commentary about her weight and figure--we may discover how this is a trick for Amy to cover up something else.
Resident Evil: Retribution, being released in September, is going to be important because of what is NOT original about it, in other words, we should be looking for similarities between this and other films:

1). Destabilized sense of her personal identity and reality; 2). the zombie face-sucker exploding through the door is similar to the alien face-sucker we just saw in Prometheus and a weapons being developed against humanity; 3). end of the world scenario which it would be easier to relate the films not talking about the end of the world than all those that have; 4). like the postponed G.I. Joe Retaliation, both films talk about international organization that have gained power (Umbrella and Cobra) which are going to destroy/take over the world; just as the Joes are going to (eventually next year) retaliate for something, so Resident Evil is going to seek retribution for something, and those are probably the same thing.
Asking us, "What is real?" Total Recall due in August asks us many of the same questions we just saw in the Resident Evil trailer:

What other film this year has had "recall" as its topic? The Vow. The Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum film had the wife lose her memory of the last five years, so it will be interesting to see if there are other similarities between the two films.
In the meantime, God Bless America was released in Russia in May (I have no idea at this point about a US release date). Synopsis: On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy... come on, admit it, we have all wanted to do this before (there is a lot of bad language in this trailer):

Who's the one with the tumor?
The medical condition of Frank mirrors the moral/social/cultural condition of parts of American society. Frank and Roxy going on a murdering spree also mirrors those same conditions in society, because the people they are targeting as deserving to die (by what we see in the trailer at this point) are people who are all ready dead because they have "killed" someone by their actions. For example, the man who parked his car in two spaces and then refused to move it to take up only one, has failed to recognize other people as being equal to his own humanity; Frank and Roxy have committed the same act of failure by forgetting that people can grow and be converted. It will be interesting to see, then, which side wins: will some American display redeeming virtues, proving that Frank and Roxy are the ones who have lost their humanity, or will Frank and Roxy choose to see good in people, even when it isn't readily seen?
But speaking of bad people, there is no one "badder" than Marie Antoinette (at least to the French); in Farewell, My Queen, which was released in Belgium in March, let's keep in mind that history/period films are never ever never about history, but about the present, the here and the now. The film stars Diane Kruger who you might remember from Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards and Lea Seydoux who was the blond female assassin working for diamonds in Mission Impossible 4:

Marie Antoinette was not gay, nor bisexual. This is a political metaphor for the government today (by the way, the Socialists just gained power in the French elections). Lea Seydoux plays the "reader" to Marie  Antoinette and several people have been curious about that: why would anyone need a reader? It's the status of luxury that the queen would not do that herself but have someone do it for her. What's important is what we see the queen reading herself: the names of people to be beheaded and she's the second name on the list. What is being read, by whom, at what point in the story and what the audience is asked to read (including anything we have all ready read about the French Revolution and are bringing with us to the film) is going to be of crucial importance to interacting with it.
But, speaking of The Queen Of Versailles, please know that if you are currently suffering from the financial woes in the country, you are not alone:

Being released in the US tomorrow, The Queen Of Versailles was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the directing award. I hope to see it, I think it will be important, politically and financially. Due out in October is Ethan Hawke's new film Sinister which is is scary, I couldn't even finish watching it!

The Angel's Share, all ready released in Ireland, is winning a lot of critical acclaim; it's a bit difficult, though, to understand what's being said:

Also being released in Ireland (in August) is one I very much hope to catch, not just because of Clive Owen starring in it, but because of the intense atmosphere of the film: set in Belfast in the 1990s, an IRA agent agrees to turn double for British intelligence to protect her son in Shadow Dancer:

The next trailer is perhaps the one I am most excited about. Released in director's Bela Tarr's native Hungary last year, The Turin Horse looks to be a masterpiece although it won't be for everyone. Tarr is internationally acclaimed (this is the first encounter I have had with his work, but I am deeply impressed) but those who have seen the film write that the entirety is like the clips in the trailer (which I, personally, am grateful for!). The story is about a rural farmer who has to face the death of his horse (the loss of his livelihood) and an epic gale storm:

Where does the title come from?
I am so glad you asked. The basis of the story comes from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who, traveling through Turin, Italy, witnessed the brutal beating of a cart-horse by its master; Nietzsche threw his arms around the horse to protect it from the beatings; in a month, Nietzsche would be diagnosed with a mental disorder that would leave him speechless for the next eleven years (until his death). What happened to the horse? The Turin Horse is the fictionalized accounting of that possibility.

A large part of the film is about going to draw water. The daily routine of drawing water in the summer, in the fall, in the winter, and this repetition is what Tarr uses to create a sense of heaviness about life but also give us information, because repetition like this is meant to startle us when that repetition is broken.

Like other films, this film is about the "end of the world," at least for these farmers. Horses usually symbolize the Holy Spirit because, just as horses were the primary means of transportation in earlier times, the Holy Spirit is the means of transportation for the heart, the will and the soul. How have we beaten to death the Holy Spirit (the calling of God) within us? How is that connected to our "livelihoods?" (It is life, because without the Holy Spirit, there is no life). The wind you hear in the trailer is like the wind Elijah hears when the Lord passes by Mt Horeb (but the Lord is not in the wind) and this destruction is what we ourselves have created. Below is the first scene of the film, which might seem ridiculous, a beluga whale listening to Mariachi music, but there is a delicate point being made:

The whale seems to be responding to the rhythms. It can't respond the way you and I do, but even a dumb animal (without rational and logical thought processes) can understand a movement and the pattern of the notes being played. The whale will mirror the horse in the film, and perhaps we are going to see how much greater the horse's understanding is about life than our own.
Himizu, released in Japan earlier this year, is much like God Bless America, in that two teenagers who just wanted normal lives go on a violent spree in a post-tsunami Japan:

Even the Rain, which is just now making the international critical rounds, is about the production of a film about Christopher Columbus being shot in Bolivia at a time when plans to privatize the water supply is causing outrage and protest (very similar to what we saw in James Bond's Quantum Of Solace):

Chris Rock's new film being released in August, 2 Days In New York, mixes the French culture with the American and paints disastrous consequences (a metaphor for socialism and capitalism?):

Again, terribly sorry about the delay in getting Rock Of Ages up, but I can't thank you enough for your patience. This Friday, June 22, is the one year anniversary of The Fine Art Diner, (it was June 22 last year that I fully committed myself to keeping up the blog although I had been posting a little longer, I was still considering bailing out on it up to that point) and you could say that I am celebrating it with the release of the film I am most anticipating and fearing: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, which has not been reviewed critically at all by anyone... a sign of its poor quality?  I won't know until I see it but the wait is almost over!
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner

Commentary On Liberals: Pat Condell

Sorry I haven't gotten a post up: it's been a rough week; I receive frequent criticisms of my views, so I wanted to post British comedian and writer Pat Condell; while he is an atheist and I am a convert to Roman Catholicism, we do share political sentiments which he expresses in this video:

Rock Of Ages Pre-Review

This is quite sophisticated.
I wish I had the means and time to have all the lyrics to the songs to carefully compare what is happening in the song to the action in the film, because the songs aren't just songs, they are commentary and self-reflection. I am a bit disappointed in what happens with Catherine Zeta-Jones' character (she's not really a religious figure, she's just using the churches to help her husband who is the mayor, but I am kind of disappointed in her character).

Should you go and see it?
If you are interested in seeing it: yes, go see it. Especially if you were young during this time, you will really enjoy the songs (it is, in terms of genre, a musical) and flashbacks to the culture at the time. I would give it a high B for grading, because I am also a little upset with Alec Baldwin's gay character that didn't really need to happen; I can understand it to some degree, but I wish they would have averted it. There is blatant sexuality (not really sex itself or nudity, but very sexually loaded) and of course bad language. Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is also being rumored in the film to be participating in satanic rituals.

It is a pro-capitalist film, with a good, moral critiquing of capitalism that needs to happen and the critique is justified. It's very socially liberal, however, but it makes--what I think to be--very accurate statements about the relationship between art and money. It will be at least a day before I get this review up, but I am working on it!

Trapeze Americano: the Capitalist Circus & Madagascar 3

Don't do what I did, please, and expect from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted a show reflecting the trailer; it does have moments of being slightly annoying, however, the film demonstrates the ups and downs of capitalism over the last couple of years in sophisticated array and why it is imperative not to abandon the system. Madagascar 3 does four things extremely well: one, it reminds us what has happened to capitalism the last several years; two, it draws differences between the American and French Revolutions; three, it makes a surprising judgment on what happens in a capitalist system when faith in God is abandoned which leads us into the fourth point, the reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed and how Russia is vital to America today. Yes, this is all in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

This film is very much like a group of immigrants making their way to America, and if they aren't enough for you, then the European Circus they join with should convince you that the American dream is still alive and well in Europe, and that's probably what's meant by Europe's "most wanted": what does Europe most want? A high-standard of living, security, and personal freedom.

The film starts in Africa, and Alex the lion is worried that the penguins, who took off to Monte Carlo, aren't going to come back to Africa to return the gang to their home in New York City. It's Alex's birthday, so the gang formed a mud model of New York City for him: Gloria the hippo becomes the Statue of Liberty, saying, "Give me your huddled masses," (line from the plaque on the statue), there is 5th Avenue and Times Square and the Zoo, their home; what's the point of this? The animals made this from memory, and the exile of the animals is the same as the exile of capitalists; the longing they have for New York City is the longing we have for the traditional American monetary system (please recall, if you will, The Avengers, and how a warhead had been fired at Wall Street but billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) diverted it and saved Wall Street, i.e., American capitalism).

The penguins, cleaver creatures, made an airplane and flew to Monte Carlo for a "gambling spree." What gambling spree would that be? The Wall Street Crash of 2008, the subject of Margin Call, as well as the greed of corrupt investors such as Bernie Madoff, which prompted films such as The Descendants to call for the end of American capitalism and start socialism (please see Hollywood's Political Scorecard: the Capitalists & Socialists for more). The animals being marooned in the barren grass land of Africa is because New York City is mud, it's not just a model for Alex's birthday, but a sign that--like Alex's nightmare of growing old--capitalism, too, has grown old and is exiled, never to return. Alex decides, however, that it's best to go to Monte Carlo, find the penguins, and force them to return them to NYC.

The penguins in their torn up room in Monte Carlo. They have a pillow fight, one of them ripping open the pillow, feathers flying everywhere and Skipper crying, they are full of baby birds! What does that mean? The humble pillow-stuffing and the guests in the luxury room are the same, birds (i,.e., the upper class) and it's self-destructive to take advantage of the lower-class and think it won't have repercussions on the upper-class, contrariwise is also true.

This is where everything gets really interesting.
The penguins and monkeys have wrecked their room but when we go down to the gambling floor, the monkeys, Phil and Mason, have dressed up like "the King of Versailles" (much more on this below) and are winning all their bets. When Alex sees the Penguins, Skipper asks, "What's New Pussycat?" punning off Alex being a cat (a lion) and the 1965 Peter O'Toole/Woody Allen film of the same name. Why is that important? Peter O'Toole's character plays a womanizer who can't be faithful, even incapable of taking responsibility for his actions at times. Without a doubt, this innuendo and the penguins behavior in wrecking their room demonstrates one of the well-known problems of capitalism: just like Bernie Madoff and Lehman Brothers' unethical actions (to say the least) when greed escalates, capitalism becomes unruly and ugly; that's why there is a need for faith (more on that below).

Alex has a four part plan for Operation: Penguin Extraction: first, get the penguins, then really chew them out for not coming back to get them sooner; then apologize for chewing them out, then get back to New York City. When Alex and Marty the Zebra finally get the penguins to a good spot, Alex asks Marty, where are we in the plan? Marty answers, part three! So Alex immediately apologizes to the penguins, skipping over the beating they deserve. What does this reflect? The Wall Street bailout enacted by the Obama Administration to save those who had brought America into a financial crisis instead of punishing them for poor oversight and a lack of regulation.

Now we can begin the surprising lesson of the film: the differences between the American and French Revolutions. Chantal DuBois is the head of animal control in Monte Carlo and is called in to take care of the threat the gang poses. DuBois, the "crazy" as the penguins call her, is crazy. What do we first see about her? All the "heads" mounted on her wall. What are the French best known for? The French Revolution.  What is the French Revolution best known for? Beheadings. Thousands and thousands were decapitated during the political upheaval, including the "King of Versailles." What DuBois

At times moving like a spider, and other times like a blood-hound, the animal tendencies of DuBois are meant to remind viewers that the Republic of France is officially of no religion, hence, officially, it subscribes to the evolutionary model of the creation of the universe (Darwinism, simply stated but not wholly accurate). Later, when DuBois tries to awaken her injured force, she sings,  Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, (I Have No Regrets)  made famous by Edith Piaf who was portrayed by Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose; in turn, Cotillard also starred in Christopher Nolan's 2010 hit Inception which incorporated the song when the extraction agents have to be woken up. Why is all this important? It counters the evolutionary universe with the chaotic universe. Again, a chaotic universe understands the development of the world in very different terms from evolution which excludes the role/being of God. While chaos does not include God, it does not rule God out in creation. In Madagascar 3, having the French woman DuBois at the inner-most circle of a spiraling set of references based on the song she sings, suggests that the film--along with numerous action sequences--supports a chaotic universe, not the evolutionary one.

While films such as Dark Shadows, The Descendants and The Hunger Games are calling for a French Revolution in the United States to burn down the upper-class and the religious orders, Madagascar 3, however, calls for us to remember why our ancestors and founding fathers chose capitalism as the economic model for America: the freedom to invent. While the intelligent but irresponsible penguins (rather like billionaire Tony Stark of Iron Man fame) are the vehicle (the plane) for the return to New York (the plane crashes and the monkeys working the plane run off because in France, "The labor laws are more lenient and they only work 2 weeks out of the year") it's the re-inventing of the circus from the regular animals (the "middle class") that allows them to fulfill their own dreams and get to America (like the immigrants flocking to Ellis Island). It's the penguins, though, who had the cash to buy (read: invest) the circus so the gang had the chance to get back to America (read: proving that capitalism is still a good working system and needs to be given another chance).

Alex rallying the circus animals to re-invent themselves and helping everyone, like in Moneyball, to understand what their real talent is and use that, not only for greater personal happiness, but for the greater good, as well.

Something quite interesting happens, which brings us to our third point of discussion. King Julien, the lemur, falls in love with Sonya the bear who rides a tricycle. Sonya breaks the tricycle and Julien promises to buy her "something better,"; we see them in Vatican City and Julien kisses the ring of the Pope, stealing the ring off the Pope's hand in his mouth, then Julien and Sonya are on a motorcycle, riding out of a bike shop. Later, the Italian seal lion Stefano tries to pray as Vitaly the Russian tiger is going to do his act and Stefano tries to pray the Hail Mary (uttering Santa Maria, over and over until he can't remember the words and doesn't know what to say) as a prayer to help Vitaly. What does this mean? The "trade in" of faith (the Pope's ring) for material goods (the motorcycle) means that later, when we need God's help, we won't remember how to ask for it (Stefano trying to pray).

Three questions need to be asked about Vitaly the Russian Tiger: first, why does he jump through such small hoops, why does he use olive oil and why don't we see him jump through the hoops? The conditioner which Alex gives to Vitaly helps Vitaly to have a "healthy" coat, that is, the leadership in Russia isn't "greasy" like the olive oil, or going to "burn" the people because of corruption, but the coat has become more natural with the right "cleansing agent" that will help to strengthen it and make it strong.

Catholics will know that Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917 asking for prayers for the conversion of Russia. As Stefano is praying, it's at the same moment that Vitaly is trying to "be converted" from not jumping through his hoops anymore to jumping through them again. While Stefano messes up his prayers, he still wants to be able to pray, and Vitaly needs the prayers. Madagascar 3 is suggesting that we need to continue our prayers and that leads us to understanding who Vitaly is and his importance to "the circus."

Vitaly's original act was to jump through super small hoops after dumping olive oil on himself so he could get through, however, we the audience never saw it, just saw him on the other side. The hoops the Russian jumps through symbolizes the "tight squeezes" throughout Russian history that, somehow, they always managed to get through (consider the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Napoleonic Wars, the October Revolution, World War I and World War II, the reign of Stalin, Chernobyl and then the transfer to a market economy); somehow, Russia always "squeezes by"; why don't we see it? The Iron Curtain hid most of Russia's activities, and they still aren't very trustful today, and that helps to explain why Vitaly dumps flammable olive oil over himself.

Where does olive oil originate? Greece. What is Greece known for? It's debt crisis caused by corrupt government officials hiding the real nature of their spending. Russia has the second most corrupt government in Europe (after Ukraine) and that is reflects part of the reason the country's GDP hasn't grown faster because other countries are simply afraid of the corruption of doing business with Russian officials, hence, when Vitaly pours olive oil (Greece's "greasy political practices") over himself he gets "burned" (the Russian economy lags behind and the people are hurt by the very practice they thought would protect them, the oil). This point is "vital" to make because it reminds us that it's not capitalism that is the cause of Russian economic woes, but their own corrupt leaders.

Why "can only people and penguins drive?" People because we invented cars and we have the necessary intellectual and physical means to do so; penguins because they work together as a team in unison while taking directions, which is why the penguins are so successful. Skipper is a "skipper" of the ship of state (the state of the penguins, at least) and his strong leadership allows each of them to be employed in what their strengths and talents are, as in Moneyball.

But Vitaly is also "vital" to the circus for another reason: the circus symbolizes capitalism in general, and the "trapeze Americano" is the "balancing act" America can do between the upper-classes and the middle-class self-realization (the circus re-inventing itself and getting to America)  and the turn-around in difference between the Soviet Union to Russia is vital to the international community in remembering the successes of what the market economy can do:
Since the turn of the 21st century, higher domestic consumption and greater political stability have bolstered economic growth in Russia. The country ended 2008 with its ninth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually between 2000 and 2008. Real GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) was 19,840 in 2010. Growth was primarily driven by non-traded services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports. The average nominal salary in Russia was $640 per month in early 2008, up from $80 in 2000. In the end of 2010 the average nominal monthly wages reached 21,192 RUR (or $750 USD), while tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on most incomes. Approximately 13.7% of Russians lived below the national poverty line in 2010 significantly down from 40% in 1998 at the worst point of the post-Soviet collapse. Unemployment in Russia was at 6% in 2007, down from about 12.4% in 1999. The middle class has grown from just 8 million persons in 2000 to 55 million persons in 2006 (Wikipedia).

Towards the end, the gang goes back to the zoo and Alex, the lion and "king" that DuBois wants beheaded (read: French Revolution), is about to get sawed in two. The circus animals that the gang has parted ways with have the choice of going to help Alex and the others or seeing to their own circus. The motto throughout the film is, "Circus sticks together," and when one of the animals suggests that Alex and the others were never really circus, Vitaly the Russian Tiger responds, "That's Bolshevik!" (as a play on the phrase "That's bullsh**!") and he's right: the circus, again, is a symbol for how capitalism works globally, and Vitaly saying that for him to not come to the aid of his capitalist friends is Bolshevik is Bolshevik. Skipper the penguin says, "I never thought I would say this on American soil, but the Russkie's right!" and that's because, by virtue of re-inventing himself, Vitaly can make the call that capitalists look out for each other, and that brings the penguins in line, too.

What got the gang and the circus to America, besides the clever re-inventing of themselves to be opposite the Cirque du Soleil (an all-human circus) to be an all animal circus, is the American investor looking to offer the circus a contract-tour through America if they can impress him. It's a great shot when Phil and Mason, dressed as the King of Versailles, stands beside the American investor with the deed between them in an obvious statement that America won't do to our upper-classes what the French Revolution did to theirs; but there's another reason for that as well.

Whether it's Gloria the hippo on the tightrope or Marty the Zebra being launched through the air, or Alex the lion on the trapeze, these animals are flying in a clear indication of "upward mobility," i.e., they are not bound by social structures the way a solid gold airplane is bound by the laws of physics to be unable to fly (the penguins want to be a solid gold airplane, not only revealing frivolity, but that there is a law of physics which contradicts capitalism's law of social and class mobility). The animals flying not only demonstrates how all of us in America can "reach for the stars," but also actually attain it.

In conclusion, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted steps up to the plate to bat for capitalism. Every aspect of the film contributes to a anti-socialist agenda by showing honestly showing us the faults with capitalism and how it got in the state it's in (the penguins gambling spree) but how it can not only still work, but is the desirable state for America. I know I laughed more than the kids did, but just because it's an animated work, it's definitely one for adults, imparting a valuable lesson for us all.

Madagascar 3 Is Excellent!

Just saw Madagascar 3 last night and cannot contain my enthusiasm for the thoroughly pro-capitalist film! Fabulous and sophisticated, I'm sure I laughed more than the kids in the audience because I was surprised at the blatant supports of capitalism and the creatively woven-historical references about the Soviet Union-Russia conversion, as well as the comparisons between the American and French Revolutions! If you are wanting to take the kids to something, this is it, but like I said, smart enough for adults, the penguins are great! I am working on that post, but I also just realized there are quite a few comments that I need to address, so I am working on that as well!

Rock Of Ages: Correction

I am not going to be looking for what I thought in this week's new release Rock Of Ages: there have been so many good films being released, I haven't given this the thought it deserves.  What's the vehicle of the film? The Bourbon Room is shutting down and "Stacee Jaxx" is their only hope of staying open. This relationship between art and money was seen in The Artist (which won the coveted Oscar for Best Picture last year), The Raven with Edgar Allan Poe and Men In Black III (with Andy Warhol's role).

Catherine Zeta-Jones' character is running for mayor of Los Angeles. This mixing of politics and religion is going to be the definition of what the "Rock Of Ages" for America is: were we founded on religion or capitalism? This is a good, strong diametrical opposition going, but there is probably going to be a wake up call for Stacee Jaxx and the lifestyle he's been living.

Underneath the noise and the bad hairstyles, we should be looking for money: who is making it, how, what is being done with it and why (please see the picture below). What is being sold? Music, i.e., art, and how is that being portrayed by the film? Is the money ruining Stacee Jaxx, so we should do away with capitalism so everyone is equally poor and not ruined? Or is money and power ruining the church lady running for mayor? On the sideline, but still in full-play, is sexuality and what happened to our sexual identities in the 1980's and 1990's, not only in terms of promiscuity, but the gender break-downs between male and female. I am suddenly looking forward to this very much! Regardless of which side it comes out on, this is a great example of how art is meant to increase our discussions in society about what is taking place and why!

What are they doing? The books.

Trailers: Django Unchained, Ice Age, 360, Wreck It Ralph, Flight

Here is the latest batch of new trailers; top of the list is Quentin Tarantino's latest, Django Unchained due out Christmas Day:

Due out in July is the fourth installment of Ice Age: Continental Drift:

Wreck It Ralph from Disney is being released in November; I have some instinct issues with the Ice Age trailer and this one, but I am going to save them for now:

Denzel Washington's newest flick, Flight, due out in November, may not be in time for the election, however, we can understand the symbols now. If you take the airplane to be the economy (which was done in the Liam Neeson thriller The Grey), then this is about President Obama's handling of the economy and how, maybe he's guilty of some things, but he's "The only one who could have landed that plane."  It's interesting, though, the part about going to jail...

360, with an all-star cast, being released next month in France, is the story of many different people effected by intersecting relationships:

The Invisible War is about our military, which I love and am grateful for with all my heart; I support our troops and their families completely; but no one has the right to commit a crime and get away with it, especially when those are sex crimes. Female soldiers risk their lives equally, so they should have equal rights and access to justice but this documentary suggests that it is seriously being corrupted:

Rock Of Ages opens this weekend in theaters; what am I hoping for? That the "anything you want" is what you need mentality presented in the opening lines of the trailer will be debunked as being unsustainable and self-destructive. Essentially, that's the kind of vehicle I see in the Democratic party, (not that this will be a Democrat film, even if it does convey that kind of message) but the "church ladies" being led by Catherine Zeta Jones will undoubtedly look ridiculous and that will be intentional:

Under the Bridge: Red Hot Chili Peppers & Film Noir

I was listening to Pandora over the weekend and heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers platinum 1992 hit Under the Bridge and was surprised at the sophisticated structure of the song's lyrics. Let's examine the structure because it actually fits in with our film noir series:

I was trained as an art historian so I love research, but sometimes it's not possible to research a work of art, or even if you do, to gain access to the most important information (it's being withheld from the public, it's mis-remembered, no one simply knows) so let's place ourselves in a realistic situation that we are just seeing this video or hearing this song for the first time, (the tabula rasa paradigm as it is called, that we have a blank mind) and don't know anything about the song's background, and we are just given the information provided by the lyrics (full lyrics are below).

Frusciante (who is no 75 on The Rolling Stones list of all-time greatest guitar players) standing on a pedestal with inverted superimposed images behind him in the music video for Under the Bridge. Please note the multitude of surrounding clouds in the open image--probably referring to a storm--but also that something is hidden, in this case, the real details and meaning of the song. It's also the image of a desert behind him, which long-time readers should recognize as coming from the 1950s science fiction films we recently completed. Why the desert? There is not only the obvious symbolism of the desert spirituality being invoked--the song's narrator talking about loneliness--but also the desert is where atomic bombs are tested. In the video, at 3:23 and following, if you look behind Anthony Kiedis, an atomic explosion goes off behind him, at specifically the moment the narrator discusses what happened "under the bridge."

Immediately, the narrator of the song talks about loneliness and "my only friend, Is the city I live in," which is an animation of what is not animated: "Together we cry," "she's my companion," "she knows who I am," "she sees my good deeds," "she kisses me windy," "at least I have her love, The city she loves me." Each bold-faced action has to be performed by an animated being and the city is inanimate, having no life. This state of contradiction, however, is re-enforced later when the narrator sings "Oh, no, no, yeah, yeah, yeah," pulsating negative then positive, to enhance the state of confusion for the listener; there is also the dread of the place under the bridge where something bad happened, but then longing to be "taken to the place I love." Why? What does the narrator gain by creating this subtle confusion? By listening, the audience affirms participation with the narrator, so the ambiguity of the song allows each person to unconsciously fill in times when they themselves were in such a state of confusion and contraction, permitting the sought-after catharsis.

Anthony Kiedes, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this still, we can see the atomic mushroom cloud exploding behind him as he runs towards the viewer; the explosion occurs at the same time in the song when the explosion of the lyrics take place, when the narrator "drew some blood" under the bridge on that day he wants to forget. In the upper-right portion of the still (and even better in the video at this shot) you can see airplanes in bomber formation. Why? The previous year of the song's release, 1991, is considered to be the end of the Cold War as the Soviet Union collapsed and there appeared to be a general end to the threat of nuclear war. The image is ambiguous, and how we answer it reflects ourselves more than anything else--as all art does--but the image of him running, while it immediately lends the interpretation of the great explosion going off within him in the event he discusses happening under the bridge, also fits in with the very traditional images of the "Space Race" and America's rush to out-produce the Soviet Union in nuclear warheads (the idea of the race was particularly popular in the 1960s with images of drag races, such as in American Graffiti and Carnival of Souls). There is the suggestion that whereas the crumbling of the Soviet Union ended the guilt of the atrocities of the Soviet regime (and believe me, there were atrocities) America couldn't out-run what it had done in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What had finally ended for the Soviet Union was still going on for America, and the video seems to suggest that many of our problems still in the 1990s were from the World War II era, perhaps even the drug problems the song is reputedly about (more on that below).

It should not surprise us then, that in the last stanzas, the back up vocals are high-pitched females' voices, almost like the Greek chorus of ancient plays, both commenting upon the narrator's actions, drawing out more and more information from him as he approaches the climax of what happened "that day" and a part of the drama, the female voice of the city of Los Angeles the narrator compares to a woman, being given life by the narrator like Frankenstein's monster, the city his lover and his destroyer.

In 1992, if you just wanted one song off an album, you bought a single, and this is the single cover for Under the Bridge. The video was directed by Gus van Sant of My Own Private Idaho and Good Will Hunting fame. It's interesting the variation of people's ethnic backgrounds within the video: the lyrics discuss loneliness and specifically the differences between animated and non-animated personas (the city as being a person or person-like, and the absence of people, a friend or girlfriend) . The Hispanic and Asian by-standers on the street as Kiedis walks by, while I am sure not meaning to invoke their foreign-ness in the city, is meant to demonstrate the difference in Kiedis' own ethnic background and theirs'. In other words, the same animating of the city achieved through the lyrics is also achieving the de-animation of the narrator as he walks about really not belonging to any of the groups of people he passes by, kind of like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. (If you look at the cover above, the cloud formation above the building structure echoes that mushroom cloud in the video).

We don't need to inflate the techniques of the song to impart an artistic value to it, but it is also helpful to acknowledge where certain techniques have appeared before in culture because it will alert us to details which might escape us otherwise. The whole song is really upside-down, because if we heard the information provided by the last stanza first, we would understand why the narrator seeks out the friendship of the hills and streets, but because that is the last information we are given, that blood spill becomes shocking against the sterile world we have been touring with the narrator. Was it his own blood? Was it someone else's? How much blood? What were the circumstances? None of those questions matter, and that's why they aren't answered. What does matter is that the drawing of blood of another human is what caused his entire life to fall about, loosening another person's blood was loosening his own because he "gave his life away" that day and lost his love and that's the point, whatever we do to another is visited back upon us a hundred-fold.

The mushroom cloud from the Nagasaki explosion.

And this is the point leading us to the comparison of  film noir. As we shall see in Shane and other upcoming films, when a man has taken the life of another, like Cain who killed his brother Abel, they are not allowed to live amongst others, but are cast out from community life. Just as the narrator of Under the Bridge animates the city to be a female, so film noir was animating America to be the femme fatale so popular during this time. As we shall see in my next post on Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai, and as we have all ready seen in Out Of the Past, men in World War II had lost their humanity, but the country as a whole seemed to take it on, as if America was gaining strength from the loss of the souls of the men who had fought for her, specifically because of the dropping of the atomic bomb (please see The Second Original Sin: Art In the Atomic Age for more). Is this part of what is happening in the song, the narrator "gave his life away" to the city because of a crime against another human, so he has lost the right to participate in life? This is what I like so much about the song, the value it places on human life, because it was "some blood," not even a murder seemed to be committed, but that act against another person causes the narrator's own life to become less valuable because he failed to value life.

MacArthur Bridge in Los Angeles has been identified as the bridge in the song (invoking the great World War II hero General MacArthur). Supposedly, the lead singer had come to this location to buy drugs but ran into a gang controlling the area. This is where the singer would come to do speed balls, not caring who he was doing them with or what he had to do to get the drugs, and this sinking that his addiction caused him is what he never wanted to re-live.

This was a bit of a detour, but it's nice to find golden nuggets where you didn't expect them to be, and the great examples of conflicting life and death provides some valuable insights into artistic means of encoding, catharsis, and the employment of history to reach an audience and communicate a moral.
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner

Under the Bridge,
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sometimes I feel
Like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of Angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I drive on her streets
'Cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills
'Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds and
She kisses me windy and
I never worry
Now that is a lie


I don't ever wanna feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all that way (yeah yeah yeah)

It's hard to believe
That there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe
That I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I don't ever wanna feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way (yeah yeah yeah)
Ooh no (no no yeah yeah)
Love me I say yeah yeah

Under the bridge downtown
Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge
I could not get enough
Under the bridge "
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge
I gave my life away (yeah yeah yeah)
Ooh no (no no yeah yeah)
Here I stay yeah yeah

Here I stay...