Bei Familie Hoover geht es drunter und drueber. Onkel Frank hat gerade einen Selbstmordversuch ueberlebt, Vater Richard versucht vergeblich ein Selbtverwirlichungsprojekt a la "The Secret" auf den Markt zu bringen, Opa Edwin ist gerade wegen heroinkonsums aus dem Altersheim geflogen, Sohn Dwayne hat… Read full post »

Jedes jahr, wenn sich irgendwo auf der Welt eine verheerende Naturkatastrophe oder ein Terroranschlag ereignet, vereinigen sich viele bekannte Gesichter der Musik- und Filmbranche und geben ein Benefizkonzert oder nehmen eine Single auf, deren Einspielergebnisse den beduerftigen in den betroffen… Read full post »

In einer heruntergekommenen Umkleidekabine der Sporthalle einer High School sitzt eine einsame Gestalt, die auf den ersten Blick kaum als die eines Menschen auzumachen ist, so aufgedunsen ist sein geradezu tierisch anmutender Koerper, zu vernarbt und vom jahrelangen Alkoholkonsum gezeichnet ist sein… Read full post »

On university campuses the world over, including the one where I am a student, a certain item of clothing has become virtually omnipresent-university sweatshirts. Since enrolment, I have perceived them as a major threat to the values I hold dear (individualism, freedom, courage, to name just a few) b… Read full post »

I recently watched Shutter Island, directed by Hollywood mastermind, Martin Scorsese. The latter rose to prominence as a part of the Hollywood Revolution in the 1970s, directing such masterpieces as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull during that era. Both these pictures were groundbreaking and subversive in… Read full post »

commemmoration at Duisburg

Just short of one week ago, Germany was struck by a disaster of epic proportions when 21 people were killed at the "Love Parade", an electronic dance festival, in Duisburg, due to poor organization and lack of space.

Eva Herman

One day l… Read full post »

A citizen of one of the so-called "Western Democracies", I have recently become aware of certain trends that may very well cause these societies to veer in a wholly undemocratic derection.

Whether or not a person derives pleasure from their mode of work is completely immaterial, instead what is truly… Read full post »

Since the collapse of the Communist Regime of East Germany, a number of films that dealt with life behind the iron curtain such as 'Good Bye Lenin', 'The Lives of Others' have been released. So too 'The Legend of Rita' ("Die Stille nach dem Schuss") that juxtaposes this narrative with the… Read full post »

Inspired by the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and Peter Handke, Wings of Desire (“Der Himmel über Berlin”) is frequently referred to as Wim Wenders’ finest and most unconventional film. This may sound surprising to people who haven’t seen it, given that the film is essenti… Read full post »

Over the past years a denomination of the Baptist Protestant Church has reached public notoriety for their vocal hatred of Gays, Jews, and American society as a whole. Their belief is that the world is presided over by a wrathful, malevolant god who manifests his hatred of the 'sinful' life style… Read full post »

Having previously reviewed Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather films as well as The Conversation, I feel I would be paying great disrespect to the director’s ingenious body of work if I were to omit his 1979 masterpiece Apocalypse Now, the Redux of which was released in 2001. This film revie… Read full post »

Up until very recently I was a regular attendee of a local meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Furthermore, I was raised in a moderately Christian household, forcibly attending services as well as interacting regularly with friends of my mothers’ who were active within the Ch… Read full post »

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a professional eavesdropper in the service of the U.S. government. His latest assignment is to record the conversation of two perfect strangers. Caul listens to the recording repeatedly in an attempt to figure out why this seemingly banal exchange of words interests… Read full post »

When Avatar was released at the end of last year I had strong misgivings about going to see it. Everyone around me was enthusiastic about the film’s stunning 3D visuals but at the same time willing to acknowledge that its plot was weak and formulaic. This was the main contributor in… Read full post »

This may sound surprising to some, but whenever I feel down and out the most effective cure seems to be to treat myself to watching Fargo, one of my favorite films. The crimes depicted in the movie are so abhorent and a favorable outcome so unlikely that the problems affecting me… Read full post »

It is not unjustified that whenever some lonely teenager or frustrated middle-aged person blows his top, goes to his school, work place or local shopping mall and starts firing indiscriminately into the crowd, the public demands an answer to the question of how a disaster like this could occur.… Read full post »

I am in no way ashamed to confess that I feel comtempt or at least profound indifference towards 90% of the people I interact with in my day to day life. These sentiments are a result of the constant manifestations of human kind's self endulgence and general inadequacy that seem to… Read full post »

The question of whether or not the federal government should execute convicted murderers is one that is frequently debated but rarely receives the degree of scrutiny that it deserves. The purpose of this article will be to demonstrate that the issue is nowhere near as clear-cut as most activists on&n… Read full post »

It has been more than thirty years, but unlike so many other motion pictures of it's genre, Dawn of the Dead sticks out as a ground breaking cult classic. It has served as a source of inspiration to horror fans the world over and spawned coutless remakes, spin-offs, and spoofs. First… Read full post »

Whenever artists of any kind, in this case film makers, set out to produce a motion picture that deals with a complex historical or socialogical subject matter, there is inevitably a strong temptation to portray it in simplistic, "good" and "evil" terms. Saddly most film makers succumb… Read full post »

One of the biggest misconceptions in existence today is that political and military leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, George W. Bush, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat who use nationalistic ideology to justify their expansionist and genocidal policies are in fact genuine o… Read full post »

 Beneath my most recent blog entry someone posted a comment asking me to rationalize my non-interventionist politics which I mention in my bio. I believe that this provides me with an excellent opportunity to convey my anti nation building position to a wider audience.

I am a non-interventi… Read full post »

70 years after the outbreak of World War II, the sweeping conflict that saw vast portions of Europe being invaded by the Nazis as well as the deaths of around 50 million people, is still a well remembered if even an extremely influential period in the minds of many young Europeans.

However,… Read full post »

Released over 30 years ago the first two installments of The Godfather trilogy are still groundbreaking in every sense of the term. Before outlining why this is the case however, I will first provide you, the reader, with a brief summary of the films. It will contain spoilers, so if you… Read full post »

Over the past years, there has been a surge of films telling more or less the same story. That of an underdog hero who triumphs in the end by becoming either a millionaire, getting the girl or scoring a great interview against an intimidating political figure. The three films I have… Read full post »